The Missional Church

By Steven Norris      “Muraho.” We all echoed tentatively, “Muraho.” It was our first lesson in Kinyarwandan, one of the primary languages spoken in Rwanda. Members of the FBC family currently live in Kigali and work with Rwandan Christians, training and mobilizing...

Building Gospel Bridges

By Steven Norris      As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” The cartoons of David Hayward have certainly illustrated this statement for me. In a single pane, he is often able to capture more than I could say in a 2,500-word sermon.      In his...

An Invitation to the Potluck

By Steven Norris      My wife and I love finding new foods and experiencing cuisine from around the world. Our greatest joy, however, may come from not having to prepare, tend to, or clean up in the kitchen.  We just show up and let someone else do all the work for...

God’s Handcrafted Masterpieces

By Steven Norris      The first time I toured Matt’s Asheville studio, I couldn’t take my eyes off the large pile of yard clippings lurking in the corner. To me, it appeared to be little more than a common brush pile — one you might find in the backyard after a...

No Seating Charts in the Kingdom of God

By Steven Norris      “Why don’t you come sit over here with us?” It wasn’t really a question — more of an invitation, really. The day had arrived. I was being asked to sit…at the adult table. For years, I had been relegated to the kid’s table at Thanksgiving, but...

A Vulnerable Church

By Steven Norris      “That group is a lot more passionate about what they are against than what they are for,” declared my friend in a stinging rebuke of a Christian organization with which I am affiliated. It was a fair assessment. The rhetoric of the organization’s...