It seems a very nice young couple recently reserved the local church they attend for their wedding rehearsal. They made this arrangement several months in advance. It turns out their “reservation” was withdrawn at the last minute so a local community college could rent out the church for some type of ceremony they were holding.

Would you care to guess the reason, or should I say lame excuse they were given as to why the promise made to them to was rescinded without so much as a notice, much less without getting their approval?

“We hadn’t heard anything from you the last few weeks so we just assumed you didn’t want it anymore.” How’s that for an excuse? It sounds like a cop out to me.

My first thought was to question why someone from the church did not call them to make sure of their plans before just pulling the rug out from under them. Is this the only church in North America without a phone? Somehow, it wouldn’t surprise me if that was their first thought also. They chose to be gracious and not make an issue of it when they would have been justified if they had.

My concern is what kind of example this sits for these young people about to start their life together. I can’t speak for them. I don’t know what they are thinking. However, I can tell you what I would be thinking in their shoes.

I would wonder why the commitment my church and those running it made to me suddenly couldn’t be honored when money got involved in the situation. I would be giving serious consideration to finding a church that cared a little more about me.

Am I being too critical? Or does this whole situation turn your stomach too?

Let me start by apologizing to anyone who may be offended by reading this post.

In the church I used to attend there is a lady that I have spent more time than I should have spent trying to figure out her ’style of worship’. That is the nice way of putting it.

Let me describe her worship in the most blunt way I can. She wails. I don’t mean one of those quiet cryers either. The best analogy I can think of is to imagine what it would sound like if the siren on an emergency vehicle got stuck. Yes, it is one long monotonous shrill moan that only stops long enough for her to draw a breath and start again. Although the length of times she can go in between breaths in staggering. Her lungs must be HUGE.

The volume of her wail would put any siren to shame. I knew a rocker type guy that had one of those shirts that said “If it’s too loud, you’re too old”. After sitting in front of her one Sunday morning he went home and burned it. True story. OK, not it’s not, but it makes the point about how loud she wails.

I can attest from personal experience that sitting near this woman is a guarantee that you will leave church with a headache. Many people have simply moved, usually across the church from her. Some people have actually got up and walked out. Once or twice people have even asked her to tone it down. Nearly every time a baby is anywhere close they too begin to wail. I’m pretty sure they hear her and believe she is issuing them a personal challenge.

It also helps to understand when she wails. During the whole song service . . . she wails. While the rest of the congregation is singing words to all the songs she on the other hand is wailing her megadecibel monotone shrill noise. During times of prayer . . . she wails. If it is corporate prayer the wailing is at full volume. If the pastor is leading a prayer while everyone else is silently praying she wails at a volume only slightly louder than that of the pastor. During the altar call . . . she wails.

I hope you can imagine this. If you find yourself thinking it can’t be as bad as you are imagining it I can tell you that it really is. This has all led to some questions that I would love to get some opinions on from anyone who reads this.

1) Is this a legitimate form of worship?

2) Can anything which is a distraction to everyone else around you really even be considered worship?

3)Should the leadership of the church put a stop to this? (they seem to be hesitant to do so)

4) Couldn’t something that causes this much confusion, discomfort, and even pain actually be classified as the opposite of worship?

Over on the Free Believers Network there is a blog post entitled Freedom From The Tree.  This is one of the best pieces I have read about the real freedom that we have in Christ.  It is a little lengthy, but I guarantee it is worth your time.   Click the post title above and read it now.

Sinners - those people that should be avoided at all cost so that our church friends won’t think we hang out with the wrong crowd, besides Jesus would never hang out with sinners, right?

Witnessing. Three verses in the Bible that say a lot to me on the topic are listed below. The first one everyone uses to witness. It is the most well known verse in the whole Bible. I believe the two verses that follow should mold and shape the way we witness to others.

“ 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
- John 3: 16-18 New King James Version

Thank God for the grace to allows us to have eternal life. Did you catch the other parts though? The part about God making salvation possible because of his love for each of us. What about the part about salvation coming from belief in Jesus? It isn’t through condemnation of our sins or imperfections. It is through belief in Jesus brought about by God’s love.

What does this say about the way we should witness? If Jesus came to bring salvation through love and not condemnation shouldn’t our witness follow that example? Yet, how often do we use condemnation of someone’s sins as a starting point for our witness? Every time you start pointing out what you perceive as someone’s sins you are taking part in condemnation. Verse 18 tells us that not believing in Jesus is condemnation all by itself. In other words we could be sinless and still be condemned if we don’t believe in Jesus. So it is pointless to tell a non-Christian about all the sins they are committing. Allow the Holy Spirit to bring about conviction. That’s his job. Your job as a witness is to show them the way to salvation so they can understand God’s love. The Holy Spirit can convict and condemn much more loving than you ever could anyway. If you really feel the need to point out to someone that they are a sinner just show them that in Romans 5:8 it says Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. At least then you put a positive spin on things.

Why do you think it is important that John 3:17 pointed out that salvation does not come through condemnation? Think about it. I’ll use a over the top example as illustration. Imagine you are introduced to two people. One of them immediately starts pointing out everything they perceive to be your faults and wrongdoings. The other accepts you and loves you despite your shortcomings. You then find out they are both part of differing clubs. They are each representative of the people in their particular club. Both have asked you to join. Which one would you join? We would all join the club with the person that loves and respects us no matter what. You wouldn’t want to be like the obnoxious people in the first group that expect you to make multiple changes before they accept you, right? The same thing applies to your witness. If your witness makes Christianity look like a stuck-up country club I can promise that you are pushing people away.

In my experience the most important part of witnessing is timing. Are you one of those Christians that anytime you are around a non-Christian you think you must be witnessing to them? There are times people simply are not going to be receptive to any witness. Maybe they have so much on their mind at that moment that not only do they not want something else to think, but they simply couldn’t process it at that time anyway. Maybe they are just in a bad mood. The best witness in these situations might simply be to show them God’s love instead of telling them about it. Your actions can be much stronger than your words. God made every person different. That means you can’t use a cookie-cutter approach to witnessing. What works for one person may not work for everyone. So you have to let the Holy Spirit lead you. There are times when you will be prompted to speak about Jesus and salvation. There will be times when you are prompted to simply take action to help or love someone. There will even be times when your witness would be best served to set back, shut your mouth and give someone the time and space they need at that moment.

If you never give a spoken witness shame on you. God has not called any of us to silence when it comes to telling others about him. There is a flip side of this coin though. If you always give a spoken witness to everyone there is a good chance you have pushed people in the wrong direction. Because a word spoken at the wrong time no matter how well intended can have disastrous results. So, yes timing is important.

When the chance to tell someone about Jesus and the salvation he offers presents itself don’t overdo it. It’s a fairly simple message. Adding extra to it doesn’t help get the message across. You may even find you have added something that causes a problem for the person you are witnessing to. You should make it seem simple, because it is. This is definitely a situation where less is more. As you go about your witnessing from now on remember one thing. By witnessing to someone you are presenting yourself as an example of Jesus to that person. If you are going to be someone’s example of Jesus it better be loving.

19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. - New Living Translation

19 Therefore, stay put in your churches and pray that people will walk through your doors. In this way your pastor can preach to them so that they will become disciples. Baptize the rare convert that walks through your door in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Choose a method and ritual for your baptisms. Ensure that you criticize those whose method differs from yours. You may even choose to question the salvation of those that were not baptized by your preferred method. - Modern Church Translation

Jonathan Brink at Missio Dei has a great post today titled “Guy Walks Into A Bar“. Read it below.

Guy walks into a bar and sees three guys engaging a passionate conversation about something. Curious that he is, he walks up to them and asks, “What’s the ruckus?”
“We’re trying to figure out what kind of beer this is,” the first guy says, a little taken aback by the interruption, but immediately turning back to his two friends. “It’s amber color reveals the rich texture of an bass pale ale.”
“I would say it’s a porter,” the second man says. “I’ve had porters before and they look just like that. I’ve even made porter’s. I used to make them in my house.”
I know it’s a dark lager,” the third man says. “The rich color is closer to a darker amber color. The rich pigmentation from the darker malts does that to it.”
“No it’s not,” the first man said, his voice rising in temperament. “Dark lager is darker than that.”
“A bass pale ale doesn’t sit in the glass like that,” the third man said, exhausting his disgust as he pointed to the pint.
“What’s that supposed to mean,” the first man said, throwing out a guffaw in furious passion.
“What do you think?” the second man said, looking at the guy who was still watching the conversation. All attention was turned on him.
The guy looked at the beer, picked it up and drank it. Set it down on the bar and said, “It’s good.”
————————————————————–
I want to be the guy who drinks the beer in life.

That says a lot. I know I have been guilty myself of trying so hard to debate and classify something that I should have just be enjoying.

I started a new blog.  Modern Church Translations.  Check it out.  It’s fun.

I was reading the story of Jonah and it struck me that the whole culture of modern Christianity has very much the same attitude. When God called Jonah to go to Nineveh he didn’t want to go. He took it much further than that though. He ran the oppopsite direction of Nineveh. He went to the port city of Joppa and found a boat to take him to Tarshish.

Jonah was willing to let the people of Nineveh suffer. He was willing to let them go without hearing the message that God had for them. He did not want to be around the people from Nineveh. He was scared and repulsed by these people.

Look at what is happening with todays’ Christian culture. As followers of Christ we are called to be his witnesses. Just as Jonah was. It would be great if the similarity ended there, but it doesn’t. Christians today are doing very much the same thing as Jonah. They are actively running away from the world they are called to minister to. Christian culture today has surrounded itself with everything Christian. Chuch, Christian music, Christian schools, Christian clothing, special events at our churches on all the holidays, and whatever other stuff carrying a Christian label we can possible cram in to our lives.

It is taboo to hang out with the “secular world”. Somehow, those who need Jesus have become as repulsive to modern Christianity as the Ninevites were to Jonah. Christians have found their own port of Joppa in their church buildings. They have found their transport to Tarshish in all the various “Christian” activites they surround themselves with to keep out the secular.

Just like Jonah the culture of modern Christianity is willing to let the “secular world” suffer. The majority of Christians don’t care who is going to take the message of God to those who need it. As long as it isn’t them. The acceptable culture in the Christian world is so scared and repulsed of anything un-Christian it even applauds those who are the most successful at keeping from spreading the good news of Jesus to those who need it.

Who is going to take the message of Christ to those who need it if Christians are going to hide it from them? Preachers? Evangelists? Radio and TV programming? Most non-Christians pay little to no attention to those things, and when they do all they usually see are the charlatans and shams begging for their money. The best witness is for them to see Christ alive and well through our lives. When they see it lived out each and every day in the lives of the Christians around them maybe we will start reaching the world for Jesus. They aren’t going to see Jesus when we act scared and disgusted of them because they are “sinners”.

It’s time for each and every Christian to quit running to their own personal Joppas trying to reach Tarshish. It’s time to go back to the Ninevehs in our own lives, and then let our actions show Jesus to those who need so desperately to see him.

Is it gonna take God throwing all the Christians in the belly of a big fish to shake things up enough that we are willing to take his message to those who need it?

I realize when people put up what they think are cute sayings on their church signs they have good intentions. However, they have no clue what it is they are really saying to those who actually read it as they pass by. Especially those who do not follow Jesus. I passed a sign a couple of days ago that makes this point.

“To get to heaven, turn right and stay straight”

What is this really saying?
1) You gotta get perfect and stay perfect to make it to heaven.
2) Getting to heaven (salvation) is all about what you do.

In other words they have just taken salvation and made it all about works and totally removed grace from the picture. How is this supposed to appeal to anyone? This is bound to make people think Christians are arrogant to believe we have got it “right” and are keeping it “straight”. It even smacks of condemnation.

It would serve churches and Christians everywhere very well to remember the words to one of the all time classic hymns when trying to present Christ to the world around us. Read these words from Just As I Am:

Just as I am, thou wilt receive, wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve; because thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Maybe the language is a little outdated, but wouldn’t that be a better message to send to those who need Jesus?

I have been really studying Romans 14 a lot recently. No, I’m not thinking of becoming a vegetarian. Ever since I was a kid I could never reconcile the things I was always taught about “stumbling blocks” with the actual words I was reading in this chapter.

1) I was always taught that if a Christian did something “questionable” and a non-Christian saw them we might prevent them from becoming a Christian. As I read this chapter over and over I don’t see this. The discourse is in reference to others who are already Christians. It calls them weaker brothers, but it never once mentions someone that does not believe in Christ. As a matter of fact that stumbling referred to is that we cause someone who is already following Christ to do something they believe to be wrong because they don’t have the same freedom we have. Which in that case it says both have sinned. Sin itself points to this only being about other Christians. Why would a non-Christian view these things in terms of sin. They aren’t playing by the same rule book that we are. Sin comes from our rule book, not theirs. Which brings me to point #2

2) Of course I was also taught that a “questionable” action around another Christian that does not agree with it was also a stumbling block. I see this as only partly right. In verses 3 and 4 Paul says:
“Those who think it is all right to eat anything must not look down on those who won’t. And those who won’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. Who are you to condemn God’s servants? They are responsible to the Lord, so let him tell them whether they are right or wrong. The Lord’s power will help them do as they should.”
This simply says don’t condemn someone who believes differently than you. It specifically says God has accepted them. It even says each person is responsible to the Lord. There is no directive here to stop doing something just because someone else doesn’t agree with it. Read verse 10:
“So don’t condemn each other anymore. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not put an obstacle in another Christian’s path. ”
Again, we find an admonishment here not to condemn another Christian for believing different than we do. It doesn’t say those who don’t believe in something must stop everyone else from doing it. It doesn’t say that those who do believe in it should force others to do it with them. It gives some latitude. It gives some personal freedom. It appears that the stumbling block here is not the act itself. It is condemnation of someone who does not agree with your interpretation.

3) So, am I saying I believe it is OK to do anything I want, anytime I want? No, I do think there comes a point where certain acts can be sinful even if they aren’t wrong. Read verse 21:
“Don’t eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another Christian to stumble.”
At first glance that appears to be a blanket statement against doing anything another Christian might disagree with, although the above verses simply don’t agree with that. It is important however to understand the context. Paul is writing to the Roman believers about issues that have arisen when they gather. The issues of eating meat or drinking wine were only issues because eating is part of what these believers did when they gathered together. This was common practice. They understood this. That means Paul was not issuing a blanket condemnation. It seems he was saying if certain people believe eating meat is wrong but they can’t stop themselves from eating it when available then don’t make it available to them. Don’t give them reason to sin against their own conscience. It doesn’t say don’t have something around just because someone else thinks it is wrong. If someone believes it is wrong and is strong enough to refrain even if available then I can find no condemnation to have it around.

In conclusion, from what I read in this chapter the church has cherry picked a couple of verses to come up with a meaning that simply isn’t there. It seems that there are 2 stumbling blocks listed in this chapter:
1) Condemnation of other Christians for not agreeing with you interpretations of right and wrong.
2) Providing another Christian with the means to do something which would cause them to sin against their own conscience and morals.

Any thoughts?

Politics - a way to force others to live by Christian principles because we are too cowardly to show them Jesus in our own life

Here is an oldie but goodie from Tony Campolo (my favorite radical). I ran across again this week and decided to share it here:

I would urge you to consider this fully, and to think about the words of St. Augustine: “The church is a whore, but she’s my mother.” That statement brilliantly conveys how I feel about church. It is easy for me, like so many of the young Evangelicals I know, to note the ways the church has been unfaithful as the bride of Christ. You don’t have to look too hard to see that the Evangelical church in America has a great propensity for reducing Christianity to a validation of our society’s middle-class way of life. Unquestionably, the church too often has socialized our young people into adopting culturally established values of success, rather than calling them into the kind of countercultural nonconformity that Scripture requires of Christ’s followers (Romans 12:1-2).
[Tony Campolo from Letters to a Young Evangelical]

Embedded in Tony’s comments is this remarkable quote from St. Augustine: “The church is a whore.” I guess thoughtful Christians have fully recognized the failings of the church for quite a long time, huh? But it is the second part of the Augustine quote: “she is my mother” that gives me pause today. It’s easy to bash the church for not being everything she’s supposed to be. [Although I’m not everything I’m supposed to be.] However, it is also the church that has given us the saints, teachers, reformers, and martyrs of the faith. It is the church that gave rise to the great social reform movements . . . that gave us Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, and Desmond Tutu, to name a few.

Disillusionment with the church can really only come from an accurate interpretation of what the church is meant to be, . . . and that doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens in the womb of the church . . . at least it did for me (that the desire to experience the kingdom of God “on earth as it is in heaven” is birthed) and at the bosom of the church (where that desire is suckled into a proper understanding of God’s mercy, peace, and righteousness). Even Jesus’ ministry came from within the temple culture of Judaism.

Jesus had myriad criticisms of that religious system (as did his prophetic predecessors), as only an “insider” can. Yet, it was that system that had spawned his devotion to the God, Yahweh. And it was his study of the Hebrew prophets that helped him to conceive of what Tony dubbed “the kind of countercultural nonconformity” exhibited by Jesus and his earliest followers.

Last week, the Journey gathered at The Creme Coffee House in downtown Owensboro. We had a great time visiting, drinking coffee, and discussing the Bible together. You should join us at a gathering sometime . . . it’s fun . . . really.

Anyway, as we were leaving, Graham noticed what looked like a $100 bill in the “fishbowl” tip jar on the counter. So he said, “Is that a hundred dollar bill?” The barista immediately fished it out of the bowl, only to discover that it was a fake. But not just a fake bill . . . a Christian evangelistic tract dressed up as a $100 bill. How disgusting!

It was such a poor fake you knew it almost instantly. Then it opened to reveal it’s real purpose—to influence its reader to become a Christian. And get this . . . the first word on the inside of the fake bill asks: “Disappointed?” Well, duh . . . who wouldn’t be?

What kind of knucklehead would leave this in the tip bowl? Did he/she think it was amusing? Did he/she really think this was the way to make people impressed with Christianity? What world are they living in? Wouldn’t a real $50 (or a $20, or a $10, or even a $5, for that matter) be a more effective witness, than a fake $100?

Here I am, a follower of Jesus, standing at the counter when the barista opens the fake bill. I feel for her. I’m thinking, this sucks! Suddenly I’m embarrassed to call myself a Christian, to be associated (if only in name) with this sham artist.

There’s got to be a better way to tell people about the love of God than to stiff them on their tip with a fake $100 bill!

[And I secretly wish there were a way to turn the tables on this “counterfeiting Christian” . . . let him/her know what a jerk he/she is. Any ideas?]

I plan to do one of these occasionally. I will first give a verse or verses from the Bible. Then I will give a re-write that I call the Modern Church Translation. Which is the way I see the modern church actually applying these verses.

10 Now, dear brothers and sisters, I appeal to you by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop arguing among yourselves. Let there be real harmony so there won’t be divisions in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. (New Living Translation)

10 Now, dear brothers and sisters, I appeal to you by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to separate into groups. Each group must consist of people who all think exactly the same. Each group must break fellowship with all other groups. Each group will be called a denomination. Let there be real harmony among those of your group, but remain separated from anyone who doesn’t see eye to eye with you. I plead with you to form a set of doctrines based on your opinions and make sure that anyone who wants to join your denomination promises to agree with them. Never under any circumstances should you question or challenge these beliefs. This will allow you to be united in thought and purpose without ever having to form an opinion for yourself. You won’t have to because you will have your church and denomination to do it for you. (Modern Church Translation)

After publishing my last post I went looking around the website for Mr. Young’s Church, Fellowship Church, and I found something that made me angry. They have a whole page of their website devoted to giving to the church. Click the link above to see. They have a section on this page titles “Creative Giving Ideas”. It says “If a cash gift is not an option for you consider some of these creative giving ideas”. It then goes on to list:

• Stocks
• Bonds
• Gold/Silver
• Land
• Homes
• Car
• Jewelry
• Coin collections

How perverse is this? In other words, if you are in such bad shape financially that you can’t give monetarily to this church they are actually encouraging you to give whatever valuables you may have. Mere words can not begin to express how wrong this is. I don’t know what else to say. I am disgusted they try to pass this off as Christianity.

Many different posts have already been written by many different people concerning the talk Ed Young, Jr. gave concerning what he deems to be “church pirates”. I don’t know if I have anything to say that hasn’t already been said elsewhere, but I definitely had some thoughts after watching this. If you haven’t seen the video, you can watch it here.

After watching this I understand that Mr. Young is angry and hurt. I’m sorry he has been hurt. I never like to see anyone suffering. However, in my opinion his pain comes from a faulty understanding of what church is, and the authority he assumes himself to have.

First, the people that attend the building he happens to preach in every Sunday morning are not his. He has no claim over them in any way. They are part of God’s church. They do not owe him or his building any loyalty. The only allegiance they owe is to God. They are free to attend wherever they wish or nowhere. No one can steal something from you that was not yours to begin with. Frankly, the fact that he thinks these people somehow owe him and his building something scares me. He seems to literally think he has some type of ownership over them.

The other issue I find disturbing is the fact that he obviously feels he is justified in condemning all these other pastors. Maybe they are doing what they are supposed to be doing, maybe they aren’t. Either way am I supposed to believe God tells Mr. Young what every other pastors motives truly are? Mr. Young may very well be a fine man, but God has not appointed him judge and rulemaker for other pastors.

To me the bottom line is that he is making an issue based on false and dangerous assumptions about the importance of a building along with it’s various staff and programs.

Keith over on subversive1 has a great post: The Parable of the Fourth Talent. It is a great read. I’m copying the entire post below. If the Bible were written today this parable would be included (it’s that good).

The Parable of the Fourth Talent by Keith Giles

Then the Master turned to the man with the fourth talent and he said, “Show me what you have done, my servant.”

The man with the fourth talent replied, “Master, I knew you were a savvy business man and that you require a substantial return on your investments, and so come and see the building I have purchased for many millions of dollars. See, I have placed photograhps of you throughout the facility and there are 46 inch flat panel plasma screens from which hundreds of people may watch me as I tell them to send me their money so that you can bless them. On Super Bowl Sunday we can even use this as an outreach to the community,” he said. “Master, look here, we have recently installed a thirty thousand dollar sound system with a state-of-the-art mixing board and flipping sweet Bose speakers powered by a killer amplifier.”

The Master looked at the man with the fourth talent and said, “You foolish man. Did you not realize that no one can build a house for me? In all the years you have served me did I ever, even once, ask that any of you build a temple for me to live in? All the Universe belongs to me, and Earth itself is my footstool.”

The man with the fourth talent scratched his head, “Did I mention that the building seats 3,000 people and has a heated baptistry?”

The Master rebuked him and said, “This building was built with money that could have fed the poor, comforted the sick and provided shelter for the homeless. Take this building and rent it out to the local rescue mission so that my people can have a warm place to sleep and safe place for their children to live, for whatever you have done for the least of these you have done it unto me.”

The man with the fourth talent replied, “Can we still have the Super Bowl Party in January?”

I used to have a friend. (He passed away about a year and a half ago.) He didn’t go to church, hadn’t been in a church for over twenty years. Robert lived across the street from the church where I was the pastor. Every so often I would walk across the street and visit with him on his front porch. We talked about a lot of different stuff. At first, Robert was leery of me and skeptical of my motives. I never asked him to come to my church, because I knew he would be uncomfortable.

One Sunday, we were having our worship outdoors and everyone would be in jeans and t-shirts. I thought Robert might find it less intimidating, so I asked if he’d like to come . . . and, to my surprize, he did. And the next week he came to worship indoors. And the next week, the same. He told me that he kinda enjoyed that first Sunday outdoors, and that people treated him OK. The second and third Sundays were tests, to see if people would keep being nice to him. “I figured I’d scare ‘em,” he said. [Robert was a large man . . . he wore bike leathers, sported large, dark tatoos, a bushy beard, and long (usually dirty) hair. I’d have been frightened if I’d met him in a dark alley, rather than his front porch.] He was surprised that people were still nice to him on his subsequent visits. (Truth be told, I was little surprised myself, but I couldn’t have been happier).

After a few months of never missing worship, Robert wasn’t there one Sunday. Monday morning I was walking toward the church and Robert was sitting on his porch. He waved me down and started to cross the street toward me. I couldn’t read his expression from where I was standing, so I considered running. [Remember, he was a big, burly bikeman.] But I stood my ground. “Brother Bob,” he called out (I don’t know when he started calling me that, but it was a good sign). “I wanted to explain where I was yesterday.”

“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” I replied.

“But I want to,” he insisted. “We have a friend who’s in jail. The prison visitation is only on Sundays and we went to see her yesterday. I’m so sorry we weren’t at church.”

I was taken aback by his explanation . . . not so much by what he said he was doing, but because he felt it necessary to rationalize his absence from the church service. I wanted to say, “Robert, please don’t come back to my church. I don’t want that kind of attitude rubbing off on you. I don’t want my church to ruin you!”

Instead, I said, “Robert,” “that’s God-work! Visiting people in jail is just the kind of stuff Jesus taught us to do. And it’s much more important than being at church.”

I’m really careful about who I invite to church nowadays. I wouldn’t want any of my friends to be ruined. To them I say, “please, don’t come to my church”

[Actually, my church is a great church and I don’t think it would ruin any of my friends. But a certain kind of mindset sometimes kicks in sub-consciously. It’s part of the “church culture” baggage that we seem to have in this country . . . but I guess I’ll save that rant for another day.]

Nicholas Gray has written an interesting post over at Essential Shift. Here’s an excerpt:

If I had it my way I would do away with outreach events. I would get rid of every event we hold at our church that is geared towards bringing non-Christians to our church. Now let me explain. Non-Christians are non-Christians for a reason, and they don’t come to church for a reason. 99% of everyone here in America has been to a church, has been invited to a church, or has been witnessed to, and there are still those who want nothing to do with the church. Why do we think that inviting them to a murder mystery night get them to change their mind? I’ll tell you why, we want it on our turf, we want to call the shots. . . .

. . . I think we have forgotten how important communication is. People don’t like to be talked at, they like to discuss, ask questions, and unfortunately we don’t give that type of atmosphere at the church. There is a preconceived notion among non-Christians that when they are at church they will be talked at. We don’t give them a whole lot of evidence the other way either. If we go to them, they are comfortable, they are in control. In that situation, they can ask questions and even leave if they want to. You can read the whole post here.

Nicholas is absolutely right. Of course, Christians aren’t alone in preferring our comfort zone, but we sure can’t BE the church by remaining cocooned in our little safe sanctuary. Real ministry . . . real love . . . is done out there, not in here. Never once did Jesus set up camp and hold a “y’all come” blueberry pancake breakfast. He was always among the people . . . touching, talking, healing, teaching.

Following the Jesus way is messy, but it’s the only way to be real. A friend of mine said it this way, “If you’re going to be a real Chirstian, you’ve got to sit in the smoking section.” If we want to be real we have to risk being out of our comfort zone; we’ve got to risk uncomfortable questions; we’ve got to enter the “unsafe” discussion; and take the risk of letting others call the shots; even the risk of letting them walk away (something Jesus was never afraid to risk).

In my next post, I’ll give you yet another reason to say, “Don’t come to my church.”

I was reading Daniel’s latest tongue in cheek post over on AvantGardeFaith about “constructive” ways a church could allow keeping your cell phone on during a service. As one of those people who no longer go to a traditional church it got me thinking about what things, if any a church could do that would make me interested again. These thoughts are also very much tongue in cheek, so don’t get offended thinking I am blaspheming. I just thought it would be fun to think along the lines of what could churches do to really pack the pews every Sunday.

1) On the cell phone theme. The service could be done game show style. The pastor would post his cell number up on the video display screen. He would have three closed boxes full of door prizes next to him. Then after each segment of his sermon he could ask two or three questions about what he just said. The first person to call him with the correct answer each time would get a chance to choose a door prize from one of the boxes. Somehow, I actually think a pastor that did this would have more people actually listen to his sermon than ever before.

2) Hold services at about lunch time on Sunday and have food catered in for a buffet meal during the service. For charismatic churches the food could only be served after the worship service. Can you imagine the messes that would be created if people were trying to hold plates of food during a pentecostal worship service? There would probably have to be a monitor at the end of the buffet line to ensure that no one got more food than they really needed. We wouldn’t want any one to be a glutton, would we? People would also have to be willing to make concessions for the abundance of bodily noises and odors that would accompany this. I’m not trying to be gross, but just saying. Overall, I really think this one would go over well. We all know if there are two things most Christians love to do. It is go to church and eat. Combining the two might convince some that they had already made it to heaven.

3) Church service bingo. Yep, you heard me right. Give everyone that comes through the door a bingo card. Numbers will be discreetly called off all during the service, usually right in the middle of something else. That way you have to be paying close attention to get them all. The music minister might call out “B4″ in between two lines of the chorus. The pastor might end his opening prayer with “Amen O-60″. Everyone that has gotten a bingo during the service can redeem their card for a prize after the conclusion of the service. Maybe one of the prizes could be a “you can skip church next week with God’s blessing” card.

Anyway, I could probably come up with lots more. But this post is already too long, and I am really hoping traffic will magically pick up to this site and I will get lots of responses from others of you out there. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

Just when I think there is nothing that today’s Christian sub-culture can do that will surprise me they prove me wrong. I just discovered the “You’ve Been Left Behind” website. This isn’t a website to promote the Left Behind series of books. It isn’t a tribute to the Larry Norman song of the same name. What is it? If you clicked on the link you may already know. If you didn’t let me tell you.

For $40 a year you can leave email messages for up to 62 of your unsaved friends and family to be delivered in case of “the rapture”. No, I’m not kidding. This is a real website. Read the rest of this entry »

Occasionally I am going to take something that the modern culture of Christianity has labeled as “Christian” and tell you what it should be called.  At least what I think it should be called.

For entry #1 we will take an item that requires two different names. We will be renaming the “Christian” T-shirt.

1) The “I can’t be seen hanging out with sinners, so I hope the message on here makes you realize you need Jesus” T-shirt - this is for all those “witness” T-shirts.

2) The “Don’t you realize you are a despicable, disgusting sinner that needs to repent of your heathen ways” T-shirt - this is for all those “condemnation” T-shirts you see Christians wear pointing out what they perceive to be everyone’s sins. You know like the one that looks like the Budweiser logo, but says bud wise up instead.

I read Darin Hufford’s blog entry today entitled “Will Chasers“. It really struck a chord with me. I was told all my life of the importance of seeking God’s will in every aspect of my life. It was a constant theme. There was no question a Christian could ask that could not be answered with some variation of telling the person they needed to seek God’s will.

It seems God has a “perfect” will for any given choice in our life. I really think there are some people who take it to such an extreme they probably pray and ask God which stall to choose in a public restroom.

Here’s the thing about looking for God’s will in every decision we make. It is a cop out. Read the rest of this entry »

My daughter recently volunteered to sing in the “worship team” at the youth group she attends. I was a little dismayed when she told me her offer was met with an opportunity to try out for the worship team. I gave things the benefit of the doubt though. It was possible that she had simply misunderstood and the youth pastor was giving her a chance to try it out and see if she liked it.

If you have been part of any churches recently you know that she had not misunderstood. She really had to try out. Read the rest of this entry »

To start click here and read the article.

Is it just me or does anyone else find this distasteful? Is there no end to the ways people who call themselves Christians will commercialize and exploit God for their own personal ego and gain?

I simply have a hard time believing this has anything to do with ministry. How long before churches start putting together vacation packages to take their members to the Christian themepark? You know they will all want to go. The majority of Christians will turn a blind eye to the hypocrisy of the whole thing. They will be excited and enamored with this supposed shrine to God because it is marketed as being “Christian”. Read the rest of this entry »

I had a conversation today that gave me some real insight into why so many of the people I used to attend church with have such a problem with the fact I have decided not to attend church at all anymore. I may not get this word for word, but I will get the point across.

CG (churchgoer): I have come to the conclusion that I have no other choice but to believe that not going to church is a sin.

Me: I wish you didn’t feel that way. May I ask you why you say you have no other choice?

CG: Yeah. What if there isn’t anything wrong with not going to church? What if you are able to be a good Christian without attending church? What if it is totally acceptable to God?

Me: Are you saying you want it to be wrong, and that you don’t want God to be cool with it?

CG: Exactly. Read the rest of this entry »

One summer a few years ago, our daughter was part of an all-state orchestra event. It involved her being away from home under the supervision of others. There would be several days of learning and practicing music, followed by a short tour of performances around the state. Parents were allowed to attend to any of the performances. We chose a couple that were closest to home.

At one of those performances we introduced ourselves to the director of the orchestra. “We’re Leigh’s parents,” we said proudly. “Oh,” he replied, “she has such a disarming sense of humor.” Not sure if that was meant as a compliment we stammered some response like, “Uh . . . thanks (I think).”

We knew all about disarming humor. We had a teenage daughter and I worked with teenagers professionally. Disarming humor is also called sarcasm. Teens are experts at it! Read the rest of this entry »

After being on this journey outside the “normal” church for a few months now I have looked back to figure out what it is that held such appeal to me in that setting for so many years. I have also been curious as to what changed that started me down such a different path.

At first I simply could not place a finger on why my attempts to follow God kept me rooted in church for all those years. I finally started thinking about when I first became a Christian. I wanted nothing more than to please God, but I had no idea how. The church provided an answer for me. They gave me a set of rules and rituals that if followed would assure that I was saved, sanctified, and pleasing to God. Do this and don’t do that. Believe this and don’t believe that. All I had to do was follow the rules and believe all the things they told me to believe. It was God by the numbers. Follow the simple formula and you have a ticket to heaven. In essence they gave me an easy button. Read the rest of this entry »

I have a seperate blog (The Untried) that I maintain.  Feel free to check it out, the only thing you will find different is the very few comments that have been made there in response to some of my posts.  It has all the same entries I post here.  This post comes from a comment that someone made there about my “Church Idolatry” entry.

In the comments section of my last post (Church Idolatry) “divine” left a comment with several questions that I felt deserved answers. So, rather than make a lengthy comment back I decided to make a post with his questions and my answers. His statements and questions are in blue. My replies are in red. Read the rest of this entry »

I have been asked by a couple of people recently why I no longer “go to church”. It seemed like something good to start writing about also.  There are lots of reasons I don’t go to church anymore. Each of them even have their own subcategories. But for now allow me to focus on the thing that first started to push me away. Read the rest of this entry »

What makes a good Christian?  Growing up that answer was shaped by the teachings I received in church every Sunday.  I’m not talking about the actual words said during a Sunday School lesson or sermon either.  I’m talking about the things I learned from watching the actions and words that weren’t part of the “official” teaching.

Read the rest of this entry »

All of my previous posts on Old Testament law have led up to this one post. The pressure is on me now to make a good point. Well, here goes.

I had the misfortune of witnessing a woman get all bent out of shape over one of these supposed Old Testament laws. She thought the youth pastor was doing something wrong by allowing a young woman to help with the youth group that has a nose piercing. She thinks the Bible teaches against this. She thought this set a bad example for all the teens in the youth group including her daughter. Read the rest of this entry »

A few days ago, in response to a post about “dirty words,” I left a comment cocerning how the Apostle Paul used the equivalent of the word, “shit” in Philippians 3:8:

“I consider everything else shit by comparison to knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (my translation).

You can read the original post and my comment here, but I thought a full post (and a story) might be warranted.

Paul used dirty words intentionally, provocatively, and prophetically. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday I poked fun at the way the church world responds to all those dirty words. I wanted to take a more serious look at it today.

I work with a woman who has very recently decided to follow Jesus. She attempts to start each morning with a prayer when she wakes up. One day at lunch this woman realized she forgot to pray that morning. In her displeasure with herself she said, “Shit, I forgot to pray this morning.”

Read the rest of this entry »