One of my favorite questions these days comes from Charles Lee:

How can we become a better expression of God’s love to the world?

When I came across this story about Sub Pop Records giving away college scholarships, I was both encouraged and challenged.

Encouraged, because I love the indie/punk DIY spirit — with this scholarship, Sub Pop is helping to foster music, creativity and the arts in the lives of three young people from the Pacific Northwest. Punk, to me, is not about three-chords and an attitude; it’s thinking differently about and making a difference where you live.

I am also challenged to deeply consider what kind of church I hope to be a part of and to help pastor — one whose community is better off because we are here.  I’m not only talking about funding scholarships or other humanitarian efforts (although, if we’re honest, the church in general could probably do a whole lot more of that) but fostering a spirit of generosity and creativity that reflects the head-spinning generosity and creativity of our God.

We want to become a church who serves, loves, prays for and is a good neighbor to those around us. We want to give more than we take, to bless more than we are blessed, and to become a better expression of what the love of God in Christ actually looks like.