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The Word for 2012: Community

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CommunityWithout fail, the Lord provides a burden for me each year that I have typically shared here. Over the last few months, the one aspect of our walk with Christ that has been most apparent and problematic has been the way we American Christians practice community—or fail to practice it, as the case more often is.

A few questions regarding community that never seem to be far from my thoughts:

Do we meet together and practice community in the same manner as the Spirit-directed early Church did?

Do we value community in such a way that we ensure that the spiritual gifts of individuals in the church community are allowed to operate when we assemble together?

Do we lay down our selfish selves so that we are always thinking of what is best for the church community?

Do we maintain a belief that corporate sins are just as heinous as individual sins and live in such a way as to address and correct them?

Do we ensure that each person in our church community has his or her needs met, physically, emotionally, and spiritually?

Do church leaders identify and stoke the gifts of people in the church community?

Do we maintain a “flat hierarchy” leadership style that ensures that leaders are considered equals in the church and not an elite class within it?

Sadly, in most churches today in America, the answer to most (if not all) of those simple questions is no.

Changing those answers to yes will be the major theme of Cerulean Sanctum in days to come.

Stay tuned.

A Tough Month

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The faster you go, the bigger the messApologies to readers looking for new posts! Harried best describes my experience of life this month, as a huge, regular editing project has now been pushed from January into December—and I also lost a week to complete it. Couple that with a massive, new, musical Christmas production at my church (where I am the drummer), the annual Christmas season runaround, some annoying health issues, and trying to run a business while maintaining a household (did I mention the roof repair, vehicle maintenance, doctor’s appointments, and such?)—well, old Dan ain’t gettin’ younger. Cerulean Sanctum suffered as a result.

I believe normality will return in January—at least I hope it will! Look for new posts in the next week or so.

Zoo Update

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Sorry for the extreme silence lately, dear readers. It’s been a zoo here in recent days. Good stuff for the Edelen household, but it makes me wonder how bloggers who write epic posts every day manage the feat. Plus, since I write for a living, sometimes I don’t want to spend my nonworking time writing. Fellow writers know what I mean. Riding the chair all day can be a grind.

The good news is that my wife found a job outside the home while finishing some college classes she was taking to supplement her existing degree. This was a blessing from God, most assuredly. Our family is adjusting to this change, especially since I was assuming she would be home during my son’s summer vacation. Needless to say, that has been an unexpected responsibility for this work-from-home dad.

Business is typically down a bit during June and July, but this year has proven the most welcome exception. I’ve been in business for myself since 2003, and I’ve never seen this fall-off fail. But it has. Again, a good thing, but more business writing means less leisure time for writing deep thoughts about the state of the American Church. And then there’s our farm.

Stay tuned. I’m sure life will settle down here and you’ll see more posts soon.

Thanks for being a reader!