“Our self-righteousness does not turn God from us, but us from God. It is not my sin that moves me away from God, it is my refusal of grace, both for myself and for others.” James Bryan Smith My first real heartbreak — I mean a first real full-on nothing-is-ever-going-to-be-the-same-so-why-go-on-living heartbreak — happened when I was in my early twenties. The girl had moved to Europe, and just flat moved on. I was left with a Grand Canyon-sized hole in my life. I remember so

“The early message was, accordingly, not experienced as something its hearers had to believe or do because otherwise something bad- something with no essential connection with real life- would happened to them. The people initially impacted by that message generally concluded that they would be fools to disregard it. That was the basis of their conversion.” Dallas Willard Friends, thank you for inviting me to facilitate this process for your community. Last Sunday night was a