Vegetables are what food eats.

Sunday night, and the preacher's cold has settled in, so this will be brief even by Sunday night standards.

I'm sure going to miss all the wonderful Christmas movies they show on TV this time of year.
Yeah.

The people are the best part, and the kids bring special joy. Megan (7) and Aaron (6) read Scripture for us this morning and did a great job, it turns out Brooke is a pretty confident evangelist - even at 3 years old - and the Christmas picture of John & Nichole's family is worth framing. We have some kids home with the sniffles and some gone with their parents to visit grandma and grandpa in faraway places, but Pathway is blessed with more little ones than most churches three times our size.

Keith Oberman is just annoying. Somebody put him back in his box, please.

Thank you, to those who asked for info about the ministry family I blogged about Friday night.

Say the word "fellowship" and most people think pot-lucks or coffee & donuts between services. But that word is the translation of the Greek, koinonia, and it has nothing to do with hanging out and socializing. Koinonia doesn't have a one-word equivalent in English, but think of tight family relationships where everyone takes care of each other. We come to each others' aid, we consider our resources - physical, financial, social - as a means for helping brothers & sisters in difficulty. It's the word Paul uses in Rom. 12:13, "Share with God's people who are in need." Koinonia is the ultimate expression of what it means to be one Body in Christ.

If biblical koinonia gets confused with socializing two unfortunate things may happen. First, a brother or sister's needs may go unmet. Apart from an awareness that caring for one another is a biblical responsibility, we may have the means but not the readiness to do what can and should be done. But we also miss the joy that comes with living out koinonia. I don't know how to explain it except to say that the bonds of (spiritual) family, when lived out through mutual care, bring a deep and satisfying sense of unity, connection and meaning. It's one of my favorite parts of being a member of the Body of Christ.