Alright, alright, alright! It’s pop quiz time!
If you can answer the following question, you will earn 10 Externally Focused bonus points (which consequently have little to no real world value…though you can cash them in for a high five if you ever bump into Brian Mavis or me).
So here it goes: What are Continue Reading…
This weekend I met two of my neighbors, I discovered that one of them runs a business on the weekends selling the best tamales you’ll ever eat, and I made $355. Successful weekend? I think so.
So how’d I do it? My wife and I Continue Reading…
Video Credit: Communities First Association
A few months ago, I was at a seminar in Denver called the Joseph Summit, an event put on by the Center For Neighborhood Enterprise. One of the themes that really stuck out to me was the idea that the solutions to a neighborhoods problems can almost always be found through Continue Reading…
Photo Credit: Comstock Images (from thinkstock.com)
A few weeks ago, our friends over at Verge Network put out two posts about practical ways to be missional in your neighborhood. Each post contains 25 suggestions of things to do that will Continue Reading…
Photo Credit: ROCKHARBOR Church
Today, I am very excited to share an email interview that I had several weeks ago with Tommy Larson, the head of family ministries at ROCKHARBOR Church in Costa Mesa, CA. In this interview, Tommy is kind enough to share with us why his church decided to move their annual VBS from a centralized location at their church building to multiple locations out in their community. After hearing from him, I believe that Continue Reading…
Photo provided by the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise
Today’s post is by Robert L. Woodson, Sr., the president of the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise. I was fortunate enough to meet Mr. Woodson and his team several months ago at a conference in Denver, and I am very excited to have him share about the work that CNE is doing in neighborhoods around the country. The Violence-Free Zone featured in this post is only one of many ways that CNE is transforming neighborhoods. I highly recommend checking out all that they do by going to their website, www.cneonline.org.
Dawn was an A student at Milwaukee’s South Division High School when she became the victim of bullying by a gang of girls who resented her success. One day coming out of a class, they jumped and severely beat her. Fearing for her daughter’s safety, her mother sent her Continue Reading…
“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” (John 1:14 Message)
“First home from Jesus’ time found in Nazareth.” Nope. This isn’t a headline from the National Enquirer—it’s from the December 21, 2009 issue of USA Today. It goes on to read, “Today in Nazareth, boyhood home of Jesus, archaeologists showed off the remains of a home that may have belonged to one of his neighbors.” An Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, quoted archaeologist Yardenna Alexandre of the Israel Antiquities Authority as saying, “It was likely Jesus and his childhood friends would have known Continue Reading…
This week, EFN will be honing in on the concept of neighboring. We believe that when Jesus told us to love our neighbor as ourself, He wasn’t just speaking figuratively. We believe that we are to literally love those that live in our neighborhoods.
To give you a better idea of what we mean by neighboring, check out the video below from our friends over at buildingblocks.us.
Shocked? Challenged? Convicted? Yeah, us too.
In the days to come, we will share with you practical ideas, encouraging stories, and Continue Reading…
*This is one of the stories that is included in our FREE e-report, “The Best Externally Focused Ideas of 2011.” If you like this, I highly encourage you to download this free resource which contains 28 other stories like this one. You can download it by clicking here.
What’s the problem?
The members of Pulaski Heights Baptist Church (PHBC) in Little Rock, AR came to a realization that they knew little to nothing about their neighbors. Carolyn Yeldell Stanley, the outreach pastor at PHBC, along with other church staff and members of the congregation, knew something needed to change.
What’s a solution?
PHBC asked, “What is something our community can relate to? What is something our community wants?” As time and prayers progressed, Continue Reading…
