I wish someone had leaned on me hard on this point while I was married. I might still be married.

Nice. Very nice. My 14-year-old son needs to see this today.

There's a jargon in the church that can serve to alienate those outside it. I try to avoid church jargon even within the church.

I watched the video "Heartbreak on Schuyler Street, through a photographer's lens." WOW. I forgot TV could do that.

I'm going to think about your question -- I don't have much more than a sketchy answer at the moment. I may just end up answering it on my own blog, but if I do I'll link back here.

Perfectly said!

The terminology change has to be backed up by substance. The moment someone comes to Harbor Ridge for whatever and the place feels like a church.....

I have personally noticed a decline in blogs that served only to update the author's status for his/her friends. There used to be gobs of those. But it seems that people who have something to say are still blogging.

Dime stores were almost an anachronism when I was a teenager in the 1980s. There was one within bike-riding distance in my hometown, South Bend, in those days. They had a stainless steel soda fountain, a rack of penny candy (which actually cost 5 cents because of inflation), and all sorts of crazy items for sale you couldn't find anywhere else. When the owner wanted to retire -- in his 80s -- he couldn't find a buyer, and so he closed the store.

My experience has been that we worry too much about this holiday. I say go out and enjoy it.