I have only watch the show Extreme home makeover on a few occasions for a few minutes so i am not an expert on the show. what I have seen has made think, "why isn't the church doing this for people in their community?"
I was at a church in NB and they did something like this for a family in their community that didn't come to their church.
Any idea how many churches I know? Lots. I only have 1 story....
Here's how I see it.
Our church culture is very inward focused, more on that later. We are trying to build something that can reach out to people but we are missing the obvious... people don't care what we think. I believe we'll get people's attention when they see us doing some "Jesus" stuff in their communities, like building homes, helping people who have experienced a tragedy, paying for funerals for people who can't pay, coaching sports teams, giving free music lessons, the list goes on and on.
Rather than do these kinds of things we are focused on programs, meetings, budgets, attendance records, putting out fires, keeping everyone in the "Club" happy and the heat/ac just so.
My questions is this, "is this it"? is this why Christ came? Is this why He lived and died? So we could be happy, comfortable and have a say in next years budget.
Let's face it, we are playing games.
I had a conversation with the leader from a denomination and he said, "very little of what we do in church today has anything to do with the New Testament. I find it hard to argue.
I invite your comments.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Does God hate Heath Ledger?
I was watching a show last night and the host described how a church in the USA had made a statement that Heath is going to hell because of his role in Brokeback Mountain.
I went on their "church" site, godhatesfags.com and was disgusted with what I saw and read.
As far as I am concerned these wack jobs are not christians but once again they get the publicity and people associate them with christianity.
I read some place that God is a grace giver, not a hater of homosexuals, thieves, liars or murderers. He loves people. Shouldn't the church?
Has anyone read the Book recently. Let's get out of our ancient thought processes that have been drilled into our heads by frightened church leadership who said we needed to run away from the world rather than love it.
I went on their "church" site, godhatesfags.com and was disgusted with what I saw and read.
As far as I am concerned these wack jobs are not christians but once again they get the publicity and people associate them with christianity.
I read some place that God is a grace giver, not a hater of homosexuals, thieves, liars or murderers. He loves people. Shouldn't the church?
Has anyone read the Book recently. Let's get out of our ancient thought processes that have been drilled into our heads by frightened church leadership who said we needed to run away from the world rather than love it.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Come VS Go
Jesus tells us in Matthew 28:19, to go and make disciples. If Christians are truly on a mission from God we need to be “going”. I don’t mean necessarily going to a foreign land but going into our neighborhoods, schools, work, families. Unfortunately we have adapted a “come” mentality: “come to our church, its very exciting”, “come to our special presentation”, “come and hear our pastor preach, he’s funny and practical”.
Have you ever said these? I have. This may surprise you but the Holy Spirit is not confined to a building built by our hands. The last time I checked He’s a lot bigger than that. I believe he’s in your living room when your friend stops by just to “talk”. He’s at work when you are setting a good example to others around you. He’s with you when you are sick in a hospital and have little strength but you share your hope in Him with someone lying in the next bed, He’s with you when you stop and help a stranger with their flat tire, he’s with you beside the pool hanging out with your neighbors. I believe we, the church need to be “going” more than were “coming”.
Why have we slipped into this mentality? Is it our expensive buildings that we gravitate too? People used to say, “the church is central to the community”. No one that is aware of our culture can speak those words these days. When was the last time there was a traffic jam getting into your church?
You bring the hope of Christ where ever you go. I heard a pastor say, “bring your friends to church next week and we’ll share the Gospel with them”. What’s wrong with this dumb idea? Why can’t I share the Gospel with them in my home, at the gym, during a playgroup with my kids?
I believe that more people will discover Jesus in my/your living room than will even think about going to church.
Sounds good doesn’t it?
Have you ever said these? I have. This may surprise you but the Holy Spirit is not confined to a building built by our hands. The last time I checked He’s a lot bigger than that. I believe he’s in your living room when your friend stops by just to “talk”. He’s at work when you are setting a good example to others around you. He’s with you when you are sick in a hospital and have little strength but you share your hope in Him with someone lying in the next bed, He’s with you when you stop and help a stranger with their flat tire, he’s with you beside the pool hanging out with your neighbors. I believe we, the church need to be “going” more than were “coming”.
Why have we slipped into this mentality? Is it our expensive buildings that we gravitate too? People used to say, “the church is central to the community”. No one that is aware of our culture can speak those words these days. When was the last time there was a traffic jam getting into your church?
You bring the hope of Christ where ever you go. I heard a pastor say, “bring your friends to church next week and we’ll share the Gospel with them”. What’s wrong with this dumb idea? Why can’t I share the Gospel with them in my home, at the gym, during a playgroup with my kids?
I believe that more people will discover Jesus in my/your living room than will even think about going to church.
Sounds good doesn’t it?
The Useful Church.
When people look at your church on the corner what do they think of it? What has your church done for its neighborhood? Throughout history people have had many opinions about what church is about. Here are a few: irrelevant, disconnected, out for the cash(how else did they build those amazing buildings), caring, loving, concerned with outward appearances, etc.
As I read about Jesus and the early church I see a group of people who took care of the widows, orphans, feeding the poor, etc. These days the church has let the government do it’s job. We are more concerned about paying staff, bills, and making a name for our church with the big shots in our denominations.
When was the last time your church sponsored an event in the community that had nothing to do with “Jesus”, with no other motivation except to connect and help the community. When did the church give money away to another church in your town that was struggling. If you have every experienced a disaster in your area was the church prepared to house and feed people. What better place to gather than in God’s house during a time of uncertainty. Why not have your church sponsor a sports team in your community and have church people serve those athletes with no strings attached.
I believe when people see the church being useful for a change they will want to begin to have a conversation with people from your church in the locker room, street, PTA, about why you are doing what you are doing. You will have a chance to build that relationship and be a light in their lives.
When people look at your church on the corner what do they think of it? What has your church done for its neighborhood? Throughout history people have had many opinions about what church is about. Here are a few: irrelevant, disconnected, out for the cash(how else did they build those amazing buildings), caring, loving, concerned with outward appearances, etc.
As I read about Jesus and the early church I see a group of people who took care of the widows, orphans, feeding the poor, etc. These days the church has let the government do it’s job. We are more concerned about paying staff, bills, and making a name for our church with the big shots in our denominations.
When was the last time your church sponsored an event in the community that had nothing to do with “Jesus”, with no other motivation except to connect and help the community. When did the church give money away to another church in your town that was struggling. If you have every experienced a disaster in your area was the church prepared to house and feed people. What better place to gather than in God’s house during a time of uncertainty. Why not have your church sponsor a sports team in your community and have church people serve those athletes with no strings attached.
I believe when people see the church being useful for a change they will want to begin to have a conversation with people from your church in the locker room, street, PTA, about why you are doing what you are doing. You will have a chance to build that relationship and be a light in their lives.
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