Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Building Materials


I haven’t posted in a while. We have been working on our house with every available moment. The push is on to try and get it ready to go on the market. The sooner we sell the sooner we will be able to make the move to Port Washington. We have spent the last week painting over all the brightly colored rooms that we have enjoyed for the last few years. Our old floors are now covered with either laminate wood flooring or carpet. Pretty much every room in the house is now a somewhat neutral color. The thing the “experts” say when trying to sell a home is that you want people to be able to picture themselves living there. For that to happen you have to strip out all the clutter and put up only the basics. Your home needs to be a neutral shell, housing only what you need to function day to day.

All this home un-improvement has caused me to think back over the basics in my own life. We all have what many call core values. Core values are more than just things you believe in or claim to believe in. Core values are those principles that guide your life. You are so passionate about them that you are willing to live and die by them. They are who you really are. We have been putting some of our core values on paper over the past year as we are forging a mold of what our new church needs to look like. I thought I might share a few with you and would love to hear some of yours if you care to comment.

The church we are starting will have etched in its D.N.A. certain values of key importance.

We believe in creating an environment where people are genuinely loved and accepted no matter where they are currently on their spiritual journey.

Church should be a safe place to connect with God and make new friends without being judged or manipulated.

God has created us to do things that are beyond the scope of our wildest dreams. We only need to plug into a relationship with Him to begin to see those dreams take shape.

Authenticity is central to a church. We believe in being real, being ourselves. No pretending to be more religious than we really are.

Relevance is a relative term (ha.ha.) We will always adapt to remain relevant to our culture and the people in our community.

The fun factor is huge here. Church should be fun. It should be encouraging, inspiring, challenging, and a myriad of other things but if it isn’t fun we’ve missed something.

Dream big or go home. We will dare to do things that seem impossible. God constantly challenges us to do things big enough that we can’t possibly do them without Him.


Well, there are a few of our core values, let me hear a few of yours.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Jim, Whether you are preaching or writing, you always challenge me by what you say. Core values---hmmm, I talk a BIG talk about what I believe. Talking is EASY for me. Core values stumps me. It causes me to look inside and see what I am, not just what I say I believe. I can't do it very quickly. I can tell the core values you and Danell have take committment. I am so glad you both are JUST EXACTLY LIKE YOU ARE!!! What a blessing and encouragement you both are to me.
I love you, Mama