People Are Saying…

Kroc Church had a visitor in the congregation last Sunday.

While not unusual in itself, this visitor came with a specific mission in mind: to report his experience at our church to the wider world.  Something like a restaurant review, but for churches.

Read author Matthew Lickona’s perspective on how it felt to be a first-time guest to The Salvation Army’s Kroc Center Corps.  We’re faithful readers of his “Sheep and Goats” column, and we can unashamedly admit that we’ve secretly wondered all along if we’d ever receive a visit.

Here’s the article, which you can also read in print form in this week’s San Diego Reader:
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2009/nov/11/sheep-goats-kroc-church/

And, just for fun, you could even check out the video right here:

Okay, so after you’ve had your chuckle, remember the grace of God, and one of my all-time favorite verses:

Did you think that because he’s such a nice God, he’d let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he’s not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.

Romans 2:4

We all need those occasional reminders of who we are. You know, keeping it in perspective, as in: “who we are in Christ,” and “who we are in community with others.”

Our church grows when we’re ready for people who’ve been confronted with the goodness of God, his goodness that leads to radical life-change. I think it’s safe to say that nearly 100% of new churchgoers are people who are at this very point in their lives, and if we’re not ready to receive them, then shame on us!

(P.S. – For the record, I think we are. )

Photojournalist Linda Solomon met Brittnie’s family in August when she came to their facility and taught boys and girls, ages three-and-a-half to 13, how to take pictures. She gave them all disposable cameras and told them to capture images that reflected their dreams.The children’s images – a big house, a church, a playground, a backyard and more – are on 14 cards in boxed sets that were unveiled last month. They are being sold as a fundraiser for the Salvation Army, one of six programs sponsored by General Motors around the country where Solomon worked with children on a project called “Pictures of Hope.”

“I wish to go to college, so I took a picture of the sign out in front of San Diego State University,” Brittnie said last month.

One thing led to another, and now Brittnie’s dream is coming true!

Video files now online – see below:

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