That is an interesting question, which I once heard Pastor Perry Noble ask, and answer. It was actually a friend of his who asked him the question originally and his answer was “start a church.” Which is exactly what he did, planting what is now easily one of the largest, fastest growing churches in the […]
From time to time I like to give my loyal readers an update on what is going on around Nativity, just to let you know what’s new, what’s next, as well as what happened. Message Series We are this weekend finishing up our first series for the new year, Greater Than. It has been a […]
As we begin a new year, we are going to look at worry. And our goal is to learn to worry less and move in the direction of eliminating worry. And as we begin, I want to make two clarifications: There are some among you who believe that worry is inevitable. You would say that […]
Brian, Tom and I arrived in LA on Monday, around mid-day, after many, many hours of travel and delays. We rented a car and drove to Malibu, through a surprising lack of LA traffic. We were staying at the Serra Monastery, a beautiful facility, with stunning views of the Pacific. It was the location ABC […]
The year that is coming to a close was an interesting one from many perspectives. Personally it was one of the most consequential and fulfilling years of my whole life. And though there were some grave disappointments and set backs, I would say I enjoyed 2013 as much as any and more than most. Here […]
Nine years ago we did something unexpected and, to many, unwelcome. We moved Christmas off campus. We decided to end the annual exercise in dysfunction and disappointment that was our Christmas Eve. The plan was to relocate our celebration in a setting that could accommodate our parishioners and allow us to welcome the visitors and […]
Be patient. James 5.7 Patience is the virtue held high esteem in virtually every religious tradition: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. And it is a key characteristic of holding and having hope. It is about: – accepting delay peacefully – remaining calm through disappointments – not getting annoyed with distractions – not getting angry […]
We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to building him up. Romans 15.1 Instead of getting annoyed or angry with other people’s faults and failures, the Bible says we ought to bear them, and build them […]
I remember back before we started going to the fairgrounds for Christmas Eve we would try and have it at church. And everybody came to the early Mass and it was overwhelming and chaotic and it was a horrible experience. And then everybody would rush out as soon as communion was over. Side note: Some […]
Every year we take one Sunday (and only one Sunday out of the whole year), to talk about giving to our local church. We talk about money regularly, because Jesus did. But we only talk about giving to this church once a year, we call it Stewardship Sunday. And it is all about remembering and […]
