Last night, I tied an untied shoelace I've been walking around with for almost three years. The last time I was in Holland I met a young man named Cor and things didn't end well between us. He came back to visit when he found out our team was staying here and suffice to say the new millinnium hasn't been kind to Cor. I presented the Gospel to him in a highly relational fashion. He listened. Last time, he argued. When author Eugene Peterson wrote, "Spiritual formation is a slow business," I'm not sure I realized what that meant when I first read it, but I think I'm beginning to get it. I see it in myself and I see it in others almost daily, but rarely with the clarity I see it in this case.

My pastor's wife (who has been "voted off the island"--e.g., "relegated upstairs for sleeping purposes because of snoring"--by her all-girl bunkies) made a statement last night that I wish other churches could honestly say. Upon hearing my frustration in communicating what our church does well, she chimed in, "Crossroads isn't a church, it's a culture." That's true, too. I believe that...even if our website doesn't communicate that effectively.