Being Thankful…When You Don’t Feel So Thankful
This is the time of year that should be full of excitement and celebration. Sadly, for many of us the dread of spending extended time with family has already begun to settle into our bones. With the crushing weight of...
The Big Picture
The following story is based on Jesus’ own words in John 15 where he states “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch that bears no fruit.” And later in verse five,...
What Are You Begetting
In my childhood The Stuart Ranch was known for outstanding Brahman cattle who had strong breeding and gentle spirits. Growing up around the purebred cattle business one of the lessons you quickly learn is the value of production, in every...
Right Where We Are
“So, Mrs. Shafer, I have a few questions to ask you about your friend, but before we start, I need your information. Let’s begin with your occupation. What do you do?”“I’m just a homemaker,” I replied.“Wonderful! Do you do anything...
What Bach Teaches Us about Work, Worship, and Service
Christians have been unable to escape the cultural compulsion of instant gratification. Our western society has so corrupted our expectations that we have not only grown impatient, we have also failed to grasp the profound negative impact this kind of...
When Justice Fails
Recently, Americans have been through a rough season that has been bookended by horrendous hurricanes known as Florence and Michael. The storm in between had no name but has wreaked no less havoc, although of a different kind but long-lasting...
Accountability = Church Effectiveness (Part 2 of 2)
Today’s blog post is a continuation of last week’s discussion when we identified care for the individual as one of the traits of a missionally effective church. Another trait is accountability which is where we will turn our attention. Robust...
Individual Care is Critical to Church Effectiveness (Part 1 of 2)
What traits mark a missionally effective church? In today’s blog post we are going to take a closer look at caring about individuals. It is part of the church’s version of loving thy neighbor, but is an area that is...
Begin at the Beginning
Hard work. Ew. No one enjoys moving heavy objects, putting in overtime, cleaning the house, or eating healthy, but these are just unavoidable facts of life. We are, as humans, exceptionally lazy creatures in at least one if not hundreds...
An Unexpected Gift of the Recession
My core Evergreen business, Spraggins Inc., is a building products and construction services company based in Orlando, Florida and focused on the contract residential market. In 2007, the great recession hit our business extremely hard. Homebuilders just stopped building.By the...
Subscribe
Receive blog entries from The Collaborative, delivered right to your inbox!
