Lately, I've been thinking about "the church."  In this day and age, cultural pressures combined with information overload and numerous ways to distract ourselves make it difficult to understand what church is truly all about.   Those of us who may have grown up in a church know that the Bible explains  that the church is God's building, with Jesus as its foundation; that Christ loves the church, and gave himself for her;  that the church is the body of Christ, with Jesus himself at its head.   OK, I’ve got this part etched into my brain, and I even believe it on some mental level.  What...

This Sunday, Shirley and I visited Wayside Chapel in Sedona AZ. The church has been studying the book of Ephesians. During the Sunday School Hour, (yup, even on vacation we take the opportunity to join with others in the study of God's word), we were looking over Eph.4:11- 16 - "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure...