Community Chat

How good is good enough? Religion can be spelled "DO," while a relationship with Christ is spelled "DONE." That's because religion is about all of the dos and don'ts, but a relationship with Christ is about what He has done for us. He lived a perfect life (that we couldn't live), died on a cross, and rose from the dead to give us the opportunity to have a relationship with Him, be forgiven of our sin...

The word "legacy" has been on my mind a lot lately. What does it mean to leave a legacy? The reality is that we all will leave a legacy, so how do we leave the kind of legacy we'd want to leave? In this episode, let's talk about what it means to leave a legacy of loving God and loving people.

Links:

Community North Baptist Church website: ⁠communitynorthbc.org⁠

Music: Lookin' Up by Shane Ivers - ⁠https://www.s...

What are 3 things you could do to help prepare for your own Celebration of Life service? In the spirit of Stephen Covey's "Begin with the end in mind," it's a question worth asking - and answering. I reflect on the Celebration of Life service I had the honor of conducting recently and offer up an answer to that question that I hope you'll wrestle with.

Links:

Community North Baptist Church website: communityno...

We experienced a significant death in our church family this week, and I'm preparing for the Celebration of Life service. We'll chat in the near future about "a life well-lived," but for today, you can rest assured that the person we'll be celebrating fits that title well.

Please be praying for the family and for our church as we celebrate his life and walk through our own season of grief. Thank you for your ...

This episode's title obviously comes from the book (and movie) Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. We've all experienced days like that, haven't we? If you haven't, I hate to tell you, but you will. And we'd like to think that following Christ would prevent this, but Jesus promises that "in this world you WILL have trouble" (not "MAY have trouble"). It's a promise...

Where does your value come from? Where do you get your worth? Were you designed as a carbon copy of someone else, or were you created to be an original masterpiece?

In Luke 15, Jesus answered His critics who said that He loved to eat with "sinners" and tax collectors by saying these are the very people He came to save. He tells 3 stories about people who lost something or lost someone and who rejoiced when the thing or th...

Birthdays are an exciting time for reflecting, being reminded of the incredible people who have blessed us throughout our lives, and to be reminded of God's faithfulness to us in the past and to be reassured that He will be faithful to us in the future.

As I (Kevin) celebrated my birthday this week, this was a good chance to reflect on these things!

Kevin can be reached by email at kevinr@communitynorthbc.org.

Links:

Community ...

Welcome back to Community Chat after our second summer hiatus! In this episode, we'll take a quick look at the upcoming sermon series at Community North Baptist Church: "Discover Your SHAPE." God has made each and every one of us unique, and He has wired us with our own Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, and Experiences. When you put all of that together, you get your SHAPE. Discovering your SHAPE and fig...

We're going to go ahead and take a break until after Labor Day. Before we do though, let me remind you that "leaders are learners." Whether you attend conferences, read books, have great mentors, or whatever learning may look like for you, always be learning! We look forward to seeing you again after Labor Day!

And P.S. Thank you for your prayers for our Vacation Bible School! The kids who came had a great time learni...

This is a SUPER short episode (38 seconds or so) as this week is our church's VBS. Please be praying for us as this is one of the biggest events we (and other churches) have for impacting the kids and families in our community. Thank you!

P.S. It's not too late to register (if it's before the end of the weekend of July 28th-30th, 2023)! The link is below!

Links:

Community North Baptist Church website: ⁠communitynorthbc....

I like big tents! I'm not talking about camping (although you might as well have a big tent if you can). I'm not even talking about tents and canopies at the beach, although I am grateful for the shade they provide. I'm talking about big tents in Christianity - where as many people (and churches) as possible are welcome.

It's easy for churches and/or conventions to focus on the things that could divide them rather t...

Sometimes it feels like life is just rolling along. Sometimes it feels like you're hanging on for life as you navigate changes, moves, and transitions. That's the season I've been in lately.

On this episode, I share about the last couple of months for our family: selling our house in Arlington, moving to a rental house in Coppell, surprising the ABU softball team in Kansas City, graduation, family trips, a soon-to-be ne...

Welcome back to Community Chat after our month-long break! TransWorld Radio (TWR) is an incredible ministry that is spreading the Gospel literally around the world, utilizing radio and other forms of media.

I met Rachel Mehlhaff when I started as Pastor at NorthPointe Baptist Church in Arlington, TX. Rachel had grown up at NorthPointe and was in the process of raising support to go to Singapore with TWR. After serving there for 3 y...

After 22 weekly episodes to start the year, Community Chat is going to take a break for the month of June. The last few weeks have included a trip to Kansas City (with Arlington Baptist University softball), a move, and a graduation, and the next few weeks include an anniversary and a couple of trips. June is a good time to catch our breath for a short moment.

In the past 22 episodes, we've heard from pastors, leaders in compas...

In part 2 of "Chatting About Politics and the Church (with Brandon McCarroll)," Brandon McCarroll continues the discussion of how a church can not avoid talking about politics while also not being torn apart by politics. Once again, what should the relationship of the church be with politics? How do we keep politics from dividing the church while still having conversations we need to have? These are questions we must wres...

Politics! What a loaded word! Some of you probably get excited when you hear that word. Others probably feel anxious. Others probably brace for a fight.

What should the relationship of the church be with politics? How do we keep politics from dividing the church while still having conversations we need to have? These are questions we must wrestle with if we want to maintain and use our prophetic voice in the world while also protec...

IMMIGRATION. It's estimated that over 1 million immigrants enter the United States each year. In 2021, that number was estimated to be near 1.5 million. Immigration is a complicated, and often controversial topic.

Jennifer Scarborough is an immigration lawyer in Harlingen. In this episode, she shares valuable insights on how the process works, many of the challenges faced by those in the system, the complexity of immigration po...

I vividly remember the Cowboys' 3 most recent Super Bowl wins, and I was thrilled when the Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat to win the 2011 NBA Finals. Baylor's 4 combined National Championships in women's and men's basketball brought me great JOY. And I still feel the agonizing pain of how close the Rangers came to winning the 2011 World Series - "one strike away" multiple times.

But, as we discussed ...

I love sports! And I'm not the only one.

Davis Beaver and I have known each other since 1993, when he was a sophomore and I was a senior at Lamar High School in Arlington. After graduating from Lamar, Davis earned a bachelor's degree from Northwestern State and a master's degree from Oklahoma. In addition to various high school stops, Coach Beaver coached college basketball for over a decade at NCAA Division 1, Division...