Browsing all posts in Connexus.

Shift Responsibility, Fuel Your Growth

So…who is responsible for your spiritual growth?
If you’ve hung around church for any length of time, you might be tempted to say “my church is”.
At Connexus where I serve, we’ve been talking about that recently.   I did a message last month about blame and responsibility that seemed to resonate as deeply as any message [...]

What Scandalous Thing Have You Done?

So yesterday we suggested that simply reaching people who don’t go to church by nature is scandalous.  The very thought of reaching non churched people can offend Christians. It’s not we intend to offend, but the Bible suggests we just will.  Religious people get upset when non-religious people become the goal of a mission.
Today I’d [...]

Helping in Haiti

A note for my Canadian friends…for some ways to help with the situation in Haiti click over to the Connexus Blog.
I’m grateful to be part of a generous community at a time like this.  I love people who pray and act.  Thank you!
- Carey

When The World Wakes Up, the Church Goes to Sleep…

We had a great day at Connexus yesterday.  A record or near record crowd (I don’t see all the numbers Sunday)…great feedback.  Lots of new families.  As any lead pastor, staff member or volunteer might be, I was pumped as I drove home.
But then this irony struck me – hard.  We start setting up church [...]

My Wish For You in 2010…Get Some Bible Going

Happy New Year!  If I had one thing I could wish for you this year in terms of your personal growth, it would be to get into the Bible in a fresh way.
If you do that:

Your prayer life will grow
The status quo will get shaken up
You’ll develop a fresh heart for people who don’t know [...]

What Happened Christmas Eve

So we rolled with our Christmas Eve services and I think our Service Programming team (the sweet team that creates our services) did a great job straddling the tension between giving people what they want and delivering what people need.  As last week’s post pointed out, Christmas is an especially tough service to plan.
So what [...]

The Christmas Dilemma

Christmas is an unusual holiday for Christians and church leaders.  It’s actually the only time of year in our communities where what happens in culture and what happens in church line up (even sort of). December is the only month you can hear songs about Jesus playing in malls.  Sure, there are more ‘happy holidays’ [...]

The Questions You Ask Tell a Story

I just posted some questions that excite me on the Connexus blog.  I love it when people ask me about what I’m preaching on a particular Sunday.  In so many cases, they’re asking because they are bringing a friend and want to know in advance that it’s going to be a great day.
I get excited [...]

Heart Attack

So I’m going to share a little piece of my world with you today.
One of the hardest battles I face internally is related to my heart.  Like you, I’m most effective when my heart is fully engaged.
But over time, it takes work to keep your heart fully engaged.  It usually unfolds this way – starting [...]

Good Church

Some great discussion on the blog and even some Facebook comments on this week’s Bad Church post.
If you’re like me, it’s so much easier to spot what’s wrong than to engage what’s right.  In part that’s human nature, in part it’s a product of being disappointed more than once, as Irene so aptly pointed out.
I’m [...]