Andrea O. Freeman

"Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 NLT) The Mission hasn’t changed, but how we carry it out must in some ways adapt. I had a conversation with my Dad over the holiday break, about the condition of some of our churches right here in our own community and the reality that how we do church is shifting in our culture. It’s shifting, and yet, many churches and more specifically many denominations are still doing it the same way it has always been done. I am personally witnessing this evolving process as my older 2 children are experiencing their faith journey. My oldest, Rylee, is 21 now and a senior at Missouri State University. She has in the past year found her place in a fairly new church in our community. Unlike myself at he

"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” (Lamentations 3:22-24 NIV) “How are you?” When somebody asks you this on any given day, what’s your first response? I think for most of us it is often the same, standard answer such as, “Fine”, “Good”, “Ok”. It’s not the norm to get an enthusiastic response. Most of us are so busy, just working our way through the daily grind. We get into this habitual rhythm of life, and it can become a rut if we are not careful. Before we know it, we are calloused, fatigued and comfortable in a less than flourishing mode. Last night my son Bailey and I had a talk, he shared about how he is struggling with how to respond to the question, when someone asks, “How are you?” I think it’s easy for many to assume as they hear what he is up to with his music and theate