“Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, 
and they're always glad you came. 
You wanna be where you can see, 
our troubles are all the same. 
You wanna be where everybody knows 
Your name. 

You wanna go where people know, people are all the same.
You wanna go where everybody knows 
your name.” –Cheers theme song

Yeah I know the TV show took place in a make-believe bar. But I believe the show’s theme song really describes the deep longing of the human heart. I think we all want to be loved and accepted and to have people who are glad to see us—even though they know we have plenty of faults and shortcomings. Where life is real and friends are sharing their honest struggles and troubles. And whether they’re laughing uncontrollably or crying unashamedly—they’re doing it together.

"So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart..." Acts 2:46

I firmly believe the place God intended for that to happen is with His people. Where they’re meeting together, hanging out, talking about life and how God’s Word relates to our everyday problems. A place where encouragement is taking place and where people are experiencing the “one anothers” of the New Testament.

“America is becoming a nation of strangers.” –Vance Packard

Do you have some “real” friends who will love, encourage and be there for you as you navigate through this thing we call life? Sure you can find friendships or acquaintances in many places, but God’s plan is that we experience real community in the context of His church with other Christians who are—though not perfect, growing and sincerely seeking God’s will and guidance for each other. As someone said, “We all need a place where our mistakes aren’t rubbed in, they’re rubbed out!”

Small Group life is a key component in Highland’s strategy to grow deeper as we move forward in growing and reaching our community for Christ. I’m excited about what God is doing in our church and look forward to seeing the difference it will make in people’s lives! Because You wanna go where people know, people are all the same.
You wanna go where everybody knows 
your name!”

Let Freedom Ring

Dr. King was an incredible speaker and often spoke out against social and moral injustice. Clearly, he was not merely a hearer or speaker of the Word, he was a doer. And if he were here today, I have no doubt he would not only condemn but actively work against one of the greatest social injustices of our time.

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." --Dr. Martin Luther King

Isn't it ironic that the MLK holiday celebration and the anniversary of Roe v Wade occur in the same timeframe? As we celebrate Dr King and his dream, let us never forget "the abortion industry kills as many black people every four days as the Klan killed in 150 years." http://ow.ly/E6QR

I have a dream that America could one day be a place where the womb would no longer be the most dangerous place for a baby in America. Let freedom ring.

I want some calluses in 2010

While on a recent study retreat, the Lord kept bringing a verse to my mind which I'm claiming for 2010: "And as he taught them, he said, Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations' ? (Mark 11:17 cf. Isaiah 56:7)

In a time of terror attacks, war, an economy in trouble, friends with cancer, many marriages and families falling apart and many millions who need to know Christ, is there a time when prayer is more needed for God's people?

I remember hearing the story of two Kentucky churches located in a small community where there was a major whiskey distillery. Both churches complained that the distillery gave the community a bad image and contributed to the moral breakdown of society. What made matters worse was the owner of the whiskey company was a very outpsoken atheist. Church folks had tried unsuccessfully for years to shut down the distillery. Finally, the two churches gathered together on Saturday night in a joint prayer meeting asking God to intervene. All through the evening, a powerful thunderstorm raged. Then to the delight of the church people, a lightning bolt suddenly hit the distillery and burned it to the ground. The next morning, the subject of the sermon in both churches was "the power of prayer."

The insurance adjuster promptly notified the distillery owner that they would not honor the claim--they couldn't pay the damages because the policy contained an exclusion for "acts of God." The distillery owner was furious and decided to sue both churches claiming, "they had conspired with God to destroy the building and his business." The churches denied they had anything to do with the fire. The presiding judge opened the trial with these comments: "I find one thing in this case most perplexing. We have a situation where the plaintiff--an avowed atheist, is professing his belief in the power of prayer, and the defendants--all faithful church members, are denying the very same power!"

That's the irony. Most Christians say they believe in the power of prayer--but in reality, do we live like we are depending on God to do miracles in our lives and in our church? In truth, there is nothing we need more desperately than powerful prayer.

The apostle James was known as "Old Camel's Knees." The reason for the nickname was because he spent so much time on his knees that calluses had developed on them. He wrote what he knew to be true, "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." James 5:16b

What difference would it make if 2010 was truly a time of fervent prayer for God's people? It's time to make some calluses people.