Chamber Dinner

Well, we had the opportunity to go to the Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce Banquet tonight with all the staff @ Journey! We had a great meal, saw some great people, and met some new ones! It is great to be connected into the life of the community! Pastor Jeff has done a great job at building bridges with the Chamber and the community at large. We had our very own table since Pastor Jeff is on the board of directors this year! NO other church sponsored or even came to the banquet. I think being a part of the chamber is a MUST in church life! If you want to be a part of raising the standard spiritually, emotionally, physically, financially, practically then you HAVE to become part of the community! For so long churches have just stayed within their 4 walls and hope that what they do IN there changes things OUT there! But that just isn't the way you impact culture! You have to do things OUT there to bring them IN to a relationship with Jesus! If doing things IN the church was all that had to be done then why haven't communities been changed? I don't think the problem is IN the church (although I will say that most churches fail because lack of cultural relevance to the people and communities they are trying to reach) but it is the lack of OUT there that they do not do! I am not saying that one or the other is the way it should be because it is both combined that CHANGE communities. You have to go OUT there and impact them in order to bring them IN to something that is life-giving and impacting. On the same token you have to have something of significance IN the church in order to go OUT and change culture too! So it is both combined that churches are able to experience revival, life change, culture change and success in reaching the lost and raising them up to be ALL that God has called them to be! Anyway, it was great to be part of community life and speaking positive favor over our community here in Sallisaw!

By the way I painted a new painting the other day in my painting corner in the sun room. I kinda like it, how 'bout you?