As we approach the end of the first year of The Original Church Community, and our 1 year anniversary, I want to thank all of our supporters, old and new! Now here's what I have planned for YEAR TWO:
Daily (ish) - The Cafe: Morning Insights
Weekly - The Journey: In-depth chronological Bible study
Bi-weekly - NEW! Meet the Parents: Podcast on the fathers & mothers
Monthly - The Piazza: Live Q&A; OR The Pub: face to face on zoom
Quarterly - The Forum: Panel Discussions with my colleagues
Semi-annually: The Auditorium: something with music, not sure yet
Annually (or bi-annually): Rome Pilgrimage
Now, full disclosure, with regard to supporting the community. When I first started this, I did not want to have "tiers" with some people having more access than others - I wanted it to be all equal. So to that end, there is only one level of supporter - just $10 per month. But what I didn't know at the time was that there is a way to be a "member" without being a supporter at all, and so we do have some "members" here in addition to our supporters. My way of dealing with that is to say that all are welcome here in the community, and when Saturday rolls around, I will not lock anyone out of the livestream Bible study, so anyone who wants to join us live for The Journey will be welcome. But it will always be the case (outside of my control) that access to the videos after any livestream is limited to supporters. Regular posts, like the Cafe, will be for everyone, but most things, like The Pub, and the Forum, and the other things, will only be accessible for supporters. So I encourage everyone to become a supporter, but if that's not right for you at this time, please feel free to remain a member and stick with us. I do expect that, once I take over the Way of the Fathers podcast from Mike Aquilina, we will get more folks joining us as well. Needless to say, I hope to increase the supporter base here, because I am not on social media - my "people" are here! Thanks for being here!
I'm back, up and running, and ready to go - I should have a new JOURNEY episode within the next week or so - and because you are my loyal peeps, here is an exclusive, just-for-you, behind the scenes SNEAK PEEK into my new office:
This was for March 24th, recorded for the Ascension App
Thanks for your patience - here is our next installment of The Journey - it's session # 96, but I'm also calling it PART 1 of a "miniseries" on John chapter 6.
Whoever watches it first, please let me know if it looks good or if there are any problems with it - I get through the first two sections of the text on the feeding of the 5,000.
Enjoy!
I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I hope you like the song!
