Have we forgotten how exceptional happens? It does not happen through our presentations on social media. It does not happen through our arguments with the pundits on the nightly news. It does not even happen through an intensified application of individual willpower. So many try harder every day and do not take hold of exceptional. Often the result of personal desire is that we are little different from the world around us. Is it true that you have found some answers, through faith in Christ but the life you live is not exceptional? Martin Lloyd-Jones has written, “If Christianity is what it claims to be, then it should be producing a type and order of life which is quite exceptional. If therefore, we are to meet the challenges of the modern world we must be living the Christian life; and the question arises how we are to do so.” As Christians living in 2020, we are presented with one of the greatest opportunities ever afforded any generation of people. Does this opportunity land in our laps at a time when we are confused about the value of church attendance and participation? Is church merely the backdrop for our expressions of our individual journeys? We are the stars and all else is useful only as it makes us feel good or look good? Have we fallen for the trap of wanting to be accepted just as we are with no requirement to change … and expect to be exceptional as a result? It will not happen! We require a healthy Christian community! Hebrews 10:24,25, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing…” If you desire a transformed life, an exceptional life lived to God’s glory, it happens best within the church. This is God’s plan. If we desire to be a changed people, we must change the church. If we would find our lives, we must first lose our lives within a redeemed and redemptive community where the Redeemed is central to all else. This is how we raise the bar on our discipleship. Gerald