Staff Blog
Helping Kids Know They Are Beloved
Children are asking big questions long before they know how to say them out loud. Am I safe? Am I loved? Do I matter? Does God see me? Where do I belong? One of the great privileges of children’s ministry is that we get to answer those questions, week after week, not only with words,…
THIRSTY
She was ever thirsty, came daily to this well, Her bucket lowered down, a darkness of her hell. And each day she believed, “At last my thirst be quenched.” Sure this water splashing, her heart should now be drenched! Her thirst was much deeper, for deeper connection, To know and to be known, with…
Why Belonging Matters at Church
There is a difference between attending a church and belonging to a church. Attending means you showed up. Belonging means someone knows your name, notices when you are missing, prays for you when life gets heavy, and celebrates with you when joy comes knocking. At Pacific Church of Irvine, we believe belonging is not just…
BOOK OF JUDGES
The roller coaster lives we live. Do good, get good? Do bad, get bad? That doesn’t change anybody. We’ll just end up, like hornets, mad. “The good life,” man’s highest pursuit? Fools believe it’s life’s greatest bliss. Angry with God when it ceases. When it returns? Him, we’ll dismiss. Depends on what “the…
BOOK OF NUMBERS
Life is tougher than you imagine. Everything starts with high hopes, But the road is a bumpy one, And along the way come the mopes. You will wonder if you’ve missed your way. Unbelieving, Spoiled, “Why aren’t things better??” Muttering and mumbling, Sputtering and grumbling. Whining and griping, Complaining and sniping.…
INDEPENDENCE DAY
Oh, Independence Day! Blessed Declaration! The law above a king, blessed separation! Inalienable rights, endowed by the Lord God. Truths that we will hold dear. The governed have the nod. And for seven long years, a war of attrition. Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill, Concord and Lexington. Fort Ticonderoga, Trenton and King’s Mountain, Bloody…
AMERICAN HEROES
Monroe, Hancock, Knox, Jay, Franklin and Washington, Benjamin Rush, Sherman, Jefferson, Hamilton. Minutemen, patriots, Swamp Fox, Ticonderoga, Bunker Hill, Tea Party, Yorktown, Saratoga.
Refuge
High, atop a mountain, a place of comfort, there. A beautiful blue sky, puffed clouds, crystal clear air. Aspen leaves fluttering, a mountainside of red, I hear a rushing stream, grass and leaves for a bed. Away from grizzly bears, far from timber crashes, Away from hellish winds, far from lightning flashes. My place…
Connecting
Magnets connect each time, Easy as when words rhyme. But people connecting? Difficult effecting! Detecting. Objecting? Respecting. Reflecting? Directing. Correcting? Expecting. Injecting? Disheartening, And heartbreaking, Demoralizing, And frustrating, Disappointing And sobering. Learning, humbling, Praying, stumbling. Enjoying. Stumbling. Delighting. Fumbling. Giving. Bumbling. Grateful. Humbling.