What if you really put your whole self into neighboring? Not the polite wave. Not the occasional “let me know if you need anything.” But the kind of neighboring where you lean in far enough to actually discover the person living ten steps from your front door. Living near someone is geography. Knowing someone is a choice. And when you make that choice, something surprising happens: you begin to notice things you would have otherwise missed — small habits, routines, and sometimes wonderfully unusual passions. That was the case in a heart-warming story shared by Steve Hartman on CBS. In one ordinary neighborhood lived an elderly woman whose joy in life could be summed up in three words: the hokey pokey. She loved the song. Not casually. Not nostalgically. But wholeheartedly. She played it often. She sang it loudly. And whenever it came on, she didn’t just listen — she danced. Now, it would have been easy for neighbors to dismiss this as quirky background noise. The ki...

We serve a God of order so this rule of physics can apply to our efforts neighboring initiative. "Significant change will occur with minimal force if applied over an extended period of time." We are off to a good start on the neighboring initiative here at Ridgecrest but to change the cultural narrative we need to keep taking steps to emphasize neighboring. We are ready in one week to move on to the second challenge in our neighboring initiative: meet and talk with your eight closest neighbors! I was reminded a few weeks ago that neighboring begins with prayer. I realized I had never met one of the widows living on my street. My wife and I prayed that we would have an opportunity to meet and help her. The next day, God orchestrated a moment for me to meet Harriet. Her dog Buster escaped and found my dog Otis and me on our walk. I carried Buster back, and that led to a conversation about her north-facing driveway and the danger it posed for her when snow is on the ground. ...

  Dear Representative, I had an opportunity to be at the capital on Wednesday, Feb. 16, to testify in front of the Tourism Committee in favor of a bill proposed by Representative Bishop Davidson. I am writing to ask you to support this measure as it passes through the legislative process. HB 1560 -- Recognizes September 28 as "National Good Neighbor Day" and designates the week of September 28 as "Missouri Good Neighbor Week." Five years ago, my wife and I discovered that we only knew the names of neighbors in two houses enar us (we have lived in the same house for 18 years). We were convinced that our apathy was not the best way to live. Together, we set out to re-introduce ourselves to our neighbors and to learn our neighbors' names, use their names, and find ways to interact with them socially. Over the last four years, my wife and I have been blessed to build relationships with our neighbors. Doing so has improved our quality of life. At the same t...

Ridgecrest Baptist Church has a long tradition of organizing a luncheon near Valentine's Day for the widows of our church. The deacons help set-up, serve and clean up as a way to minister to the widows of our church on this holiday that often represents the love of couples. There is a growing program at Ridgecrest called Righteous Oaks that is focused on developing friendships and a network of believers among those in the church that are widows or widowers. The program needs champions who help market it, get people there, and serve in the ministry. More information about Righteous Oaks and the Grief Share ministry can be found on the church website . Some of the statistics on widows in the United States are startling. Widows are the fastest-growing demographic in the United States as baby boomers age.  Widows lose 75% of their friendship network when their spouse dies. 60% of widows experience serious health issues in that first year.  One-third of widows meet the criteria for...

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.   Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." • Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers from the Ridgecrest Baptist Church out into our own neighborhoods. • Ask the Lord to show you a few neighbors that He would like for you to develop relationships with in your neighborhood. We recommend starting with the people being the eight closets front doors to your door. • Ask the Lord to give you eyes to see what is going on in each of your neighbor’s lives and then ask Him to give you a heart of compassion. • Ask the Lord to show you what He is doing in each ...