Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas Everyone,

This has been a long year of struggle, change and personal growth.  Not a very pretty string of words in that last sentence, but apparently much needed.  God has a way of giving you all and just what you need; so it is with personal growth.  Growing (if you remember) is difficult at times, friendships made and broken, first loves, broken hearts, great times, times of sorrow, and all growing us.  God came into this world as a child, grew up into adulthood for the express purpose of freely giving over that life in ransom of all of mankind.  Let that sink in for just a moment. If faced with that kind of decision, would you freely give your life? We are celebrating once again (and I have celebrated many) Christmas; it’s not about gifts although they are very nice and fun to receive. No, it’s all about the God who made everything and gave it all for you and me.  This God could have shown up anyway he desired, and he chose to show up as an infant.  Why? Not sure I can answer that question. Perhaps he came as something we see as weak and helpless as a demonstration of his real power; in that perceived weakness came the strongest thing on earth, love! So, this Christmas make Christ the real centerpiece and remember this: Love Wins!

The ME Church

We live in a ‘me first’ society. The world encourages us to think of ourselves first and others . . . well, rarely. We can sometimes be so consumed with this mentality that we even expect our church to cater to us. It is a reminder that we should not ask our church to serve us.

We should eliminate our grumblings about the style of music, whether I’m hearing my favorite words spoken, our dislikes and other issues. We should instead remember that Christ came to serve, not to be served. If we then are following, living like Christ; then we are part of the local Church to serve and grow the Kingdom of God. We do look out for one another to be sure; it is not however about making the Lord's Church customized to our liking, but to pursue and make his vision for the local body a reality on earth.

The Offering - Is it a break in Worship or part of Worship

Offering should be every bit a spiritual part of worship and obedience to God.  Check this article for one perspective.  http://manofdepravity.com/2010/04/13/church-offering/

 “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully around hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless- it will change. It will be not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, and irredeemable. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of love is Hell." 

 C.S. Lewis in the Four Loves

Wondering About the Term De-Churched?

       My wife shared with me recently that she heard a radio program discussing the term dechurched. The program, she said indicated that the conversation within the church world was turning from the unchurched to the dechurched. So I did some surfing and have found a fair amount of information flaoting around. Pleanty of articles and even a Facebook page. So, I will contiune to dig in and learn some things about this idea over the next few months. If it is worth talking about, I will post here my thoughts as well as resources that are sound.