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I was just thinking about Eric’s message on Sunday on Ephesians 4 about living a life “…worthy of the calling you have received” (Eph 4:1). I was thinking about how incredible it is that Paul gave us this charge to “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (Eph 4:2). I was also thinking about what it cost Paul to be this bearer of the gospel. He was writing this letter in chains- he was in prison. It cost him everything. I just thought we are kind of too fragile. I remember a few years back when I left my job because I really felt that I had to in order to maintain my walk with the Lord, and at the time I didn’t have another one. I was living home,single, and didn’t have a job, and I felt so completely stripped as a person. Read more »

This week’s guest blogger is Jim Quigley.  Jim has been a part of NewLife since last August, after moving up from New Jersey, and is an engineer who also works with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Trinity College.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. “  (Ephesians 2:8-9)

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:14-17)

Faith or works?  Which one makes us acceptable to God?  These two passages (among others) have often confused Christians and non-Christians alike as to which one is right.  Is this a contradiction in the Bible?!?  Of course not.  The more I grow in the Lord, the more He reveals to me that these verses are not contradictory, but complementary.  And though I am sure that volumes can be (and probably have been) written on this topic, I would like to (briefly) share how these concepts work together, not against each other, to help us in our walk with Christ. 
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“I want to seek the company of those who are looking for the truth, but run away from those who say they have found it.”

So said the philosopher Deepak Chopra on Nightline the other night, to rousing applause from the audience.  Chopra was one of four panelists in a discussion on the question “Does Satan exist?” and his words echo a sentiment that is attractive to many today in America, that to be a seeker of the truth is a noble thing, and to believe that there are many paths to God or heaven or enlightenment is to be commended, but to stand up and say that there is only one way to God is an arrogant, narrow-minded, and very unenlightened thing to do.
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Unfortunately, something has gone wrong with the server, causing us to lose the last month or so of blogs, sermons, and updates (that was one powerful Daylight Savings…).  Hopefully this will be remedied soon and we’ll be able to get everything back to normal soon.  Sorry for the confusion!

You’ve got to hear this: in case you missed it, here’s a copy of Sunday’s acoustic performance of Switchfoot’s Meant to Live by Jason Proulx (J Pru) and Rich Lacoss. Sound quality is fair at best, but the vocals & guitar work more than make up for it. Jason is a talented singer/songwriter (check out his MySpace page at www.myspace.com/jasonpru) and Rich is one of our worship leaders and an accomplished guitarist (check out www.richlacoss.com). Some day when they hit it big, they can include this bootleg on their “Rarities” EP.

The Switchfoot song is an incredible call to wake up to the fact that there is a quality of life available through Jesus Christ that surpasses anything you could ever experience apart from Him. He called it “eternal life”, and contrary to popular opinion, it’s not just “life after death” but something you can begin to experience right now. Over the next four Sundays, we’ll be awakening to that call and unleashing the limitless power of God in our lives so that He might bring us to that place where we truly, as Switchfoot puts it, “live for so much more.” Come and check it out – you won’t be disappointed.

The first annual Fido & Whiskers’ Big Day Out was a huge success this past Saturday, with approximately 400 people, 200 dogs, and 0 cats in attendance.  We gave out tons of free food & drinks, Sarah took lots of free photos, and people won all sorts of free prizes.  Plus the vendors did an incredible job, from the Central K-9 agility curse to the fun competitions.  Kristin Burns was an incredible MC, of course, and Rachel Lutzker was a great judge for the competitions.  Here are some of the best pictures from the day:

Flying through the Central K-9 agility course

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