Posts Categorized: Community

Showing Hospitality to Strangers

By Jay Barfield in Highlands Blog on March 3rd, 2016

An Inhospitable Place I had a dream the other night. This isn’t a unique occurrence for me but my dreams usually tend to mirror my conscious fears—something disastrous happening to my children for example. This dream was different. I dreamed that I was in a strange city. I’ve traveled a lot around the country, so this would normally not mean much. However, this was a foreign city. More specifically, I am guessing that it was a city either in the middle east, north Africa, or the region known as Eurasia. It was predominantly Muslim, and non-English speaking. I knew nothing. . .
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What to Do When Sheep Act Like Wolves

By CJ Bowen in Highlands Blog on February 25th, 2016

Are They Sheep or Wolves? It’s easy to distinguish in our minds between wolves and sheep: Wolves are the ones attacking and eating sheep, sheep are the ones eating grass and listening to the shepherd’s voice. It becomes complicated though when we have to reckon with the reality of wolves in sheep’s clothing. Having been whacked a time or two or twelve by the shepherd’s rod, a wolf covers himself for a time in behaviors and actions designed to help him blend in with the sheep so that he can devour them on the sly. Thankfully, shepherds know to watch. . .
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Ministry isn’t Just Your Pastor’s Job

By CJ Bowen in Highlands Blog on December 17th, 2015

Imagine a lazy man who never gets anything done. He’s full of good ideas and noble intentions but his arms and legs stay pretty much right where they are. When you point this out to him, he responds that he has a fully functioning nervous system, thank you very much. Isn’t listening to the signals passed on from the brain enough? Or, if the brain really wanted things done, wouldn’t it do them itself? Hopefully that doesn’t describe any real people you know, but unfortunately, it is the attitude of some real churches. In Ephesians 4, Paul fires up his. . .
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More Than Facebook Friendship

By Job Dalomba in Highlands Blog on December 7th, 2015

We Need Friendship The deep need of many in our world is the need for friendship. Our society is bent towards making and growing friendships because we are made in the image of the Trinitarian God, a God of friendship. While many, myself included, decry what Facebook has done to the nature of friendships and community, Facebook is trying to be at the center of humanity’s deep desire for friendship. We can’t escape our need of friends because the One who created us is a Friend. “The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He makes known. . .
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American Traveler, International Christian

By Laurence Windham in Highlands Blog on November 12th, 2015

Having recently returned from a trip to Iceland and France with my two teenage daughters, I shared with the men of my church some of the benefits that I believe such an adventure can accomplish in the hearts and minds of those who travel. One of those benefits is the possibility of becoming more cosmopolitan than American and therefore more Christian. Now behind that statement there is no intent to denigrate my homeland; I only mean that the exposure to other places and people-groups helps to get the perspective that you and yours are not the center of the universe.. . .
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You Have the Power to Build Christian Culture

By Eric Owens in Highlands Blog on September 17th, 2015

There are lots of things in life that we cannot define, we just know it when we see it. When Wile E. Coyote sets some birdseed just below a large boulder and plans on dropping it on the Roadrunner, we laugh when it all goes wrong and he himself gets mashed. That’s called irony and few of us can define it but we know it when we see it. Culture is a lot like this. Every one of us humans has a myriad of built-in sensors that let data in, both as a way of offering protection, but also for. . .
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The Church is a Place of Wonder

By Alexandra Presley in Highlands Blog on July 30th, 2015

We Find it Hard to Believe The older we get, the more it takes to fill us with wonder. This is because it becomes increasingly difficult for us to believe in wonder-full things. Believing is easy for the heart that can hope anything is possible. But when certain possibilities have been chased away and certain glimmers doused, faith suddenly has to be worked at, and belief has to be practiced, and hope has to be memorized. Where do you go to practice something so sacred? To the brightest, most brilliant, spot of light you can find. Darkness might keep your. . .
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Loving Others the Way God Loves Us

By Jay Barfield in Highlands Blog on May 7th, 2015

The Love of God for David Throughout the Old Testament, a phrase or concept repeats itself over the course of the history of Israel. It almost serves as a frame or guiding principle for how God interacts with Israel, both in good times and in bad times. The phrase is this: For the sake of His servant David. God’s actions, in times of blessing as well as times of judgment, were all taken in light of His love for, and His covenant with, David. His covenant promises to David, and His love for His flawed but faithful servant, extended for. . .
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So, You Thought Philippians 4:8 Was About the Arts?

By Gregg Strawbridge in Highlands Blog on March 26th, 2015

This article was originally published in Every Thought Captive magazine. Subscribe today!   Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.—Philippians 4:8 (NIV) Do you have art problems or do you have heart problems? Do you have philosophical concept problems or do you have personal conflict problems? Philippians 4:8 is a well known verse. For many years in my mind, it was the “Christian art” verse. “In Philippians 4:8, Paul tells Christians directly what to pursue in art. . .
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What if I don’t fit in at church?

By Erika Schanzenbach in Highlands Blog on March 23rd, 2015

The following article is from a recent issue of Every Thought Captive magazine. Subscribe Today!  I am single, I attend worship regularly and want to be involved in my church, but I don’t fit in. Ministries are focused on parents, children, husbands and wives. It is difficult to connect with other church members. What should I do? You Are Not Alone Be assured that you are not the only one who feels out of place in church. When your life has taken a different turn than many of your peers, it is easy to get discouraged. You want to be. . .
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Let Us Journey Together

By Eric Owens in Highlands Blog on December 31st, 2014

Begin a Journey They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. That first step for me was listening in as my old friends R.C. Sproul Jr. and Laurence Windham held a powerful conversation on the subject of worldliness. That conversation, recorded as a Basement Tape, was the push that I needed to make a rather large step that began my journey. But to what exactly? Journey to Where? It has been a journey to something and away from something. A journey to the life spelled out in Scripture, that informs the motto of Highlands Ministries: to. . .
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Party On—Life in the Body of Christ

By Jay Barfield in Highlands Fellow on November 24th, 2014

Community in the Body of Christ If you were like me growing up, you probably had your milk doctored up by your parents so that you would drink it without complaining. This additional doctoring included chocolate. If your parents were the particularly conscientious sort, it was the chocolate milk mix that added “loads of vitamins and minerals,” so that they wouldn’t feel so bad about loading your milk with sugar. Who would have thought that good nutrition could be so fun? Unfortunately for many, obesity and diabetes wasn’t as much fun. As a culture, we have a hard time thinking. . .
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Drop the Cheetos & Exercise Your Spiritual Gifts

By Jay Barfield in Highlands Fellow on November 5th, 2014

All Christians Have Spiritual Gifts In Romans 12, Paul mentions a series of spiritual gifts as part of his exhortations to the church in Rome. The gifts mentioned in this particular list are prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, and mercy. If you move to 1 Corinthians 12, there is some overlap, but among the additional gifts mentioned are knowledge, faith, healings, miracles, discernment, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. If we are Christians, filled by the Holy Spirit, we will be gifted in some form or fashion along the lines mentioned in Scripture for service to the Church. None of. . .
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Acting Like the Church

By Eric Owens in Highlands Blog on October 31st, 2014

Does Socialism Ever Work? Years ago, during a job interview — strangely enough, for a job at Chilis — even stranger, I was asked if the tenets of socialism would ever work. I replied that it would work only in a purely voluntary context as in the days of the early church where in Acts we hear of those in the church with more giving eagerly to those with less and a sharing of all things. In this context, and especially when taken within a purely Christian context man is still faced with the reality that God is ultimately the. . .
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Sacrificial Living — A Sad Story

By Laurence Windham in Highlands Fellow on September 12th, 2014

Have I told you this story before? It is a sad story so if you are not in the mood then perhaps you might want to read this later. I truly do not want to spoil your day. Are you still here? Well then, here is my sad tale. Every so often I travel somewhere to do something, usually to speak to others about living like a Christian. This is a subject, by the way, that I am quite good at. There are times when my wife, Angela, accompanies me. We both like to travel and everyone who knows her. . .
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The Salt Talks: Planting in Good Soil, part I

By Eric Owens in on April 24th, 2014

There are two basic types of church planting. The first is when an ordained minister is commissioned to begin a “new work” in a particular location. The second type is when small group of folks desire to start a new church centered around particular distinctives that they feel that the churches around them are lacking. These distinctives are so cherished and thought of as necessary to preserve and propagate a chosen lifestyle, that honorable attempts are made to begin a sustainable congregation. Both endeavors are usually very hard and, along the way, the successes can be as tough to deal with as the failures.

In this Salt Talk, Rev. Laurence Windham has a conversation with three couples who were the founders, the church planters, of what is now a thriving church. They generously take us on that long and difficult journey of humble beginnings, false starts, heartaches, wonderful lessons learned, and ultimately great joy. The journey is often called the reward itself and you’ll find yourself inspired and moved as they take you on theirs.

Basement Tape #139: When is it Time to Leave?

By Eric Owens in on September 5th, 2013

The state of the church being somewhat in decline (at least here in America) it may occur to us that it’s wise to take our families where there is more salt and more light. May we? Should we? Must we? Join our conversation as we work through a few scenarios, acknowledging that wherever we go, there we are. And if we must go screaming “life, life, eternal life!,” or leave as friends, or stay, we need to do so while honoring those in authority over us and using wisdom to inform all these important decisions.

Basement Tape #138: The Errs of Our Ways

By Eric Owens in on August 5th, 2013

We worship the same God. We read the same Bible. Some of us share the same confessions of faith. Why is it then that our lives are so very different? Why do we seem to have so much trouble agreeing? Shouldn't the plain teaching of Scripture lead to common understanding and similar application? Join our conversation as Dr. Sproul, Rev. Windham, and their friends discuss the errs of our ways.

Basement Tape #125: Friends

By Eric Owens in on July 6th, 2012

“And friends are friends forever
If the Lord’s the Lord of them.”

Join us as we talk about friendship, about our friends, about our former friends and about our greatest friend.

 

We Don’t Understand

By Eric Owens in Highlands Blog on April 17th, 2012

We spelled this issue [kuh-MYOO-ni-tee] to emphasis the point that we Christians today don’t understand what this is. We know what activity is. We know what fellowship is. We even know what love is all about some of the time. What we fail to comprehend is the wonderful, challenging, painful, joyful world that exists within a Christ-centered community. I speak as one who didn’t understand and even today has a difficult time fully embracing it. I didn’t understand it when I joined my church, Saint Peter Presbyterian, in 2005, but it is what caused me to not only join that. . .
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