For over ten years I have been in some way involved in a home based bible study or community group. A good deal of that time I have been in  leadership or some type of facilitating role. For the past six weeks I have had the pleasure of facilitating a community group as we have journied through the" Not a Fan" series. It has been one of the most remarkable and challenging studies I have ever witnessed. This series has challenged me, and I believe everyone else that has attended to really start to examine exactly what this "christianity" thing is all about. Are we merely fans in the bleachers filling out a scorecard, or are we in the game? We have had an unbelievable amount of participation, and no doubt the Holy Spirit has moved in the midst of this group. The ultimate validation of what God has done in one of the lives of someone who has been attending is that they made a decision, and now want to be baptized at our next community group night. Praise God!!!

The other night at our community group we got into a discussion about the homeless people on the street and how cold it was getting in the evenings. After a bit of discussion we decided we would gather blankets and bring them to an area where we knew they were much needed. We worked out a plan and would promptly get to work on it.the very next morning when I arrived at work the warehouse men were unloading storage crates. There were dozens of them we received. Wouldn't  you know it everyone of them had used blankets in them to pad the contents. All total l gathered about 25 blankets and washed them and they ended up at the shelter a few days later. Praise God couldn't of scripted it any better.

-Mark Messner