MomminginMinistry

  "Their world has become small, and they have become big. Sometimes they need to be somewhere that reminds them that the world is very big, and they are a small part of it." One of our denominational youth leaders shared this during the first night of our district assembly last week. I thought about how true it is. Not just for the teens in my home and the classrooms I serve in, but for me. Technology and social media mean I can know what's going on "tomorrow" in Australia, while simultaneously assuming that what I have to say, or post is absolutely essential and needed by everyone. And maybe that's why being part of this global denomination has become even more important to me as my own congregation has become intentionally more intimate and cozier (aka small enough to fit in my living room). Because when I show up at these events like camps and district assembly I am reminded that I am a small part of something much bigger.  I love that when we say that w...

 Do you remember that movie "Home" where the Boov suck up all the humans with their reverse gravity vacuums and relocate them to another part of the planet?  This isn't going to be a perfect analogy so don't get stuck here. But there's this book I've been reading,  Thin Places,  that shows how it's become a habit of the Church to believe our job is to "extract" humans from their normal lives so we can hide them in a church building. And every time I read this word "extraction" I can't help but picture the Boov vacuuming people out of New York! Am I crazy or do you see it too?   The nicer wording for this habit is called having an "attractional model" of church. And that's not all bad, because I definitely want people to know Jesus and buildings can come in handy for that.  But, what if, as this book proposes, instead of trying to convince people to come to our building, we spend time submersing in the places God's ...