I love my kids and they often say the wildest things. The other day when were chowing down on some of my wife’s hamburgers, my oldest, who can also be the most creative, wanted to debate why a “hamburger” is called a hamburger when there was no ham in it. Yes, I know many of us have wondered the same things. I don’t know the story or the origin of the name. But it is clear that most hamburgers do not have ham, or even real beef in them for that matter either. They’re just something with a name and something else as its contents. It all kind of reminds me of the Church. There are many ideas of what the Church is and should be. But I’m glad to be part of a Christian fellowship where we don’t claim to be the only Christians and the only ones with the right answers to “church.” But we do strive to emulate the true body of Christ and the pristine, original church found in the Bible. Now that’s pretty good even without fries.
There are so many things that I really love about NHCC. One of those is the diverse number of folks and talents in our church family. It really reminds me of Revelation 7:9-10 where the apostle John saw a great multitude in heaven praising God. The text tells us that the number of people was greater than anyone could count and that they were from “every nation, tribe, people and language”. One of those talented guys put his skill to work today as we hosted a lunch for the faculty and staff at Navigator Elementary school. Ron is a 
professional chef and we were able to bless the folks at Navigator during their teacher appreciation week with a lunch consisting of a whole lot more than pizza from Costco. Ron made quite the spread and I even got some. You Rock Ron! On a humorous note, Ron was using an open flame for his gourmet dishes when I thought of the fire alarm and sprinklers in the Library. So I opened some doors and then prayed in an adjacent room that the alarm and sprinklers would not go off. The custodian actually came in about 10 minutes later saying that a warning light on his system did go off, but no alarm or sprinklers. Thank God. Thank God for Ron and NHCC.
We’re always trying to engage those around us here in Rancho with the love of Christ through as many means as possible. So I just posted a link on Craig’s list today offering to answer spiritual questions that folks might have in our area with no strings attached. The post is below and you can also check out the link at: craigslist Enjoy!
Answers to Spiritual Questions.
We don’t have all the answers; but we’d love to have you throw us your questions and we’ll give it a shot. Questions about: God / Religion / Jesus / The Original CHURCH / You name it. So feel free to send your questions and we’ll do our best to get back to you as soon as we can.
Steve with NHCC
Bob Roberts Jr.
The 2009 Exponential New Church Conference was a blessing in a lot of ways. (Wish you all could have been there with us) I was encouraged to hear Bob Roberts speak on Wednesday afternoon and touch base with him quickly following the main session. I met Bob in Dallas last October and have followed his blog for close to two years now. Bob has a huge heart for world evangelism and the Church. You can check out the skeleton for the message he gave last week on his blog at Glocal.net. One of the underlining themes throughout the week was that of going back to a relationship with God and personal discipleship. This was most clearly illustrated through the life of Onnuri Community Church in Soul, Korea. Read the complete Post.
We’re about half way through the 2009 Exponential National New Church Conference and there’s a lot to talk about. Don’t worry, I won’t unload on you. But one of the things that I love the most about these types of gatherings is not just the info you can glean, but the encouragement and camaraderie of other folks in the fight. It has been great hanging out with two of my best friends, my “little” brother Eric, and Leo, whom I’ve known since late 96 from a ministry in Indiana. It kind of reminds me of one of the things we see in the biblical model of authentic church, and that’s just the daily encouragement of the saints toward one another. I like that. That’s also a HUGE reason why I love our community here at NHCC. So thank God for THE Church. Thank God for Eric and Leo. Thank God for NHCC.
Hey Folks, there are a number of things I’d like to blog about today, including the start of our new series, From Strife to Life, but I wanted to share a thought from Ruth Gallo on the importance of Community. Ruth, and her husband Steve, have been with us since summer of 05 and it has been a total blast getting to know them. So enjoy!
Steve and I were involved in a wonderful church for many years in Roseville even after moving to Mather. Because we loved our church so much and we felt a strong sense of community with them, we stayed though it was a long drive (30-45 minutes each way). We stayed for several more years and as each year went by we felt more distant from the other members in our church. We realized we weren’t able to get involved in all of the wonderful things our church was doing because we were just too far away. That’s when I ran into someone promoting a brand new church that was meeting in the school near our house. I decided to check it out and now, three years later, we are more involved in the lives of the people who live near us. Read the complete Post.
