By Brett McCracken It’s easy to dream about the “perfect” church–a church that sings just the right songs set to just the right music before the pastor preaches just the right sermon to a room filled with just the right mix of people who happen to agree with you on just about everything. Chances are your church doesn’t quite look like that. But what if instead of searching for a church that makes us comfortable, we...

From the book: “Uncomfortable: The Awkward and Essential Challenge of Christian Community” by Brett McCracken There is a reverse correlation between being comfortable and growing as a person. Growth only comes when there is a challenge, and challenge is not comfortable. This is something that begins every morning when we decide whether to stay comfortably in bed or get up and start the day. A couple of historical figures had a...

From the book: “Uncomfortable: The Awkward and Essential Challenge of Christian Community” by Brett McCracken Jesus, the Supreme Victim Watch: Jordan Peterson on Jesus. “To be a Christian is to accept the discomfort of a way of life inspired and empowered by a cruel, rugged old cross, a symbol of scorn and degradation.” (pg. 45) “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me,...

From the book: “Uncomfortable: The Awkward and Essential Challenge of Christian Community” by Brett McCracken The Core of Holiness From Relational Holiness by Thomas Jay Oord and Michael Lodahl “When you love others, you complete what the law has been after all along… When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love.” (Romans 13:8-10, The Message) Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians identifies these...

From the book: “Uncomfortable: The Awkward and Essential Challenge of Christian Community” by Brett McCracken A common claim today is that there is no actual Truth, that Truth is something purely subjective and personal, little more than a matter of an individual insisting that what they would like to be true IS true, simply because they wish it so. We are told to consider every person’s...

From the book: “Uncomfortable: The Awkward and Essential Challenge of Christian Community” by Brett McCracken Love is…? C.S. Lewis wrote about love in his book, The Four Loves. Lewis’ perspective divides love into four parts. He described four different Greek words that referenced four different ways of loving. Storge: Family love is the love between a parent and child, or between family members; it is driven by blood. Phileo: ...