Eugene Peterson in "Christ Plays in 10,000 Places" talks about a cancer that is taking place in   Christian Fellowship - that of the privatization of our faiths. God is a personal God reflected in the trinity, who works in personal relationship with His bride, the church. We are commanded to love one another and be in fellowship with one another. But community is messy, messy business. And no sooner than we get in relationship, we are misunderstood! That can be painful... Our toes get stepped on, our hearts get trampled and our souls desire to flee from the ongoing problems inherent in living in community. But of course, God's commands are never for the things that come naturally to us. And His command continues to be, throughout the New Testament epistles, to love one another. Loving one another implies a personal engagement of one to another reflecting that as the Father and Christ are one, so too, we are learning how to be one. It involves engagement in community even when feeling utterly misunderstood. So, how do we do this? How can we be a community that loves in the midst of not always being loved well by our own estimation? We hope that this month's newsletter encourages you to stay engaged even when everything in the flesh says to run!