Archive for the ‘Religion’ Category
Some Thoughts On Church Growth
“Church Growth” – it is now the stuff of books and seminars and college courses. Men dedicate their lives to understanding how to achieve this holy grail. Huge temples are built and marketing experts consulted with the goal of being “seeker friendly” and filling the huge hall with crowds of people. Different denominations and congregations find different ways of fulfilling this goal. Rallies and “Crusades” are held to “bring in the sheaves” (although that ancient hymn is not sung anymore by the majority of those seeking “church growth” ).
Over the years I’ve seen “revivals” and “crusades” and “rallies” performed with the intent of bringing growth to the church. And over the years I’ve seen the same people flocking to the “altar call”, time after time after time. Yes, there are some souls reached through mass means. Yes there are some lives transformed. But are they really effective? The last figures I saw for a huge “Crusade” were something less than five percent (if I recall correctly it was less than one percent, but let’s be generous anyway) of the “decisions for Christ” actually resulted in a person who joined in with a local congregation.
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Favorite Sins
Sin – the wedge that separates man from God. Ever since Adam and Eve went against God’s will there has been a great chasm between God and man. Through Jesus the Christ, God reached out to bridge that gap. And His grace allows us to come into His presence, cleansed by the sacrificial death and resurrection of His Son.
If we walk in the light then we learn to abhor sin. But as humans we all harbor varying degrees of attraction to sin. The big problem is that we also tend to have blind spots. We may say “I don’t smoke and I don’t chew and I don’t date the girls that do.” – but what about less obvious sins? What about that which we allow our minds to dwell on, taking comfort in “well, at least I didn’t DO it!”. And what about those thoughts and attitudes that do not reflect the mind of Christ?
The New Testament Church
Much has been written over the years about “restoring the New Testament Church”. Much has been preached on that subject and many battles have been fought over the “right way” to accomplish that goal. There is no doubt that the church has drifted from her moorings over the two thousand years which span the current time and that of Jesus the Christ and His Apostles. In MY mind, the important question to ask is not “how many songs were interspersed with the sermon and Communion” or whether or not they used instruments to accompany their singing, but rather the question should be “What did the Church DO that made her the church?” To many the answer to that question is sought in the area of “praise and worship” or “religious ceremony”. Read the rest of this entry »
The “absolute” for an age with no absolutes
Just got this from a friend’s Facebook status. Fracis Schaeffer had a way with words and some great insight into the human condition.
“In passing, we should note this curious mark of our own age: the only absolute allowed is the absolute insistence that there is no absolute” – Francis Schaeffer
The source of sin
And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” – Mark 7:18-23
For millennia people have sought ways to be ceremonially pure. Their conscience has burned and caused distress because they know that they do not match up with the Divine ideal. God, through The Law of Moses, helped them to search out this tendency – and find that mankind is incapable of attaining purity by elimination of externals. The Lord spoke to His people and told them that He was fed up with their ceremonies and celebrations and fasts – that He wanted a people who sought after justice and mercy rather than being obsesses with sacrifices.
The key to all this? Man is not defiled by that which he eats or drinks, he is defiled by that which comes out from within him. When his thoughts lead him to do that which is against God’s nature – that is what defiles him. Even today people search ways to eliminate externals. “If there is no opportunity to sin there will be no sin” is the rationale. But sin does not come from opportunity, it comes from desire.
What would the consequences be?
Have you ever thought to yourself what the consequences of your beliefs would be – if you REALLY lived them out? I’m talking about what you claim to believe, not what you show you believe by your actions. What would really happen if you lived out your truth claims to the fullest? Read the rest of this entry »
People
People. We are weird creatures. Given the ability to choose, too often we choose unwisely. Most seem to prefer to be told what to think rather than to reason through issues themselves. Over the years I’ve participated in various internet forums and e-mail lists, acting as moderator on a few. In that time it has been my privilege to observe humans interacting with each other. I was reminded today about something my friend Jim Taylor said years ago. “The internet is a great place to talk and a poor place to communicate.“ That pretty much sums it up right there.
And it is interesting to hear folks talk on the ‘net. Over the years it has been my pleasure to visit various internet friends in person. And getting to talk with someone over a cup of coffee or a meal is a great way to get to know them a bit better. Sometimes one forms an opinion about folks because of the way they “talk” on the internet. But once you get to know them personally you see a different face entirely. And then there’s the voice. Am I the only one who forms an “image” of what someone’s voice must sound like by reading what they write? The first time I talked with various people was an experience – because they didn’t sound like I’d thought they would. And what about SEEING them? That reminds me of my dad and a story he told about someone he used to talk with on the phone all the time. He built up an image of the person based on their name and their voice. But when he met that person in person he was in for a surprise. From physical stature to race – everything was different. Read the rest of this entry »
Thoughts on Brit Hume and Tiger Woods
Here are a couple of videos off of YouTube – the repository of all kinds of video stuff on the ‘net. I’m no sports fan, but even so I could not ignore the the scandals the rocked Tiger Woods’ world. It made the news clear down here. What did not make it down here was the criticism of Brit Hume for sending a message to Woods via some kind of sports commentary in which he inserted his opinion that Woods should turn to the Christian faith in which he would find forgiveness and redemption. Hume then did a follow up on O’Reilly’s show. Here’s the clips. Read the rest of this entry »
Revival
Revival. We hear the word a lot in the religious world. We are told over and over again that we need “revival”. Now I tend to be a bit contrary in my way of thinking. I’m slow to jump on the bandwagon and I tend to prefer to have my OWN bandwagon (preferably without drums unless they are accompanied by bagpipes) than to join in on one that’s headed the wrong direction or is badly out of tune. 
So here’s my thoughts (at least some of them) on the topic of revival.
First, I took a look at Merriam Webster’s online dictionary. It’s a great resource and one I find myself turning to again and again. I just wish I had a copy of one of the old Noah Webster dictionaries printed back in the 19th century as they were not yet full of so much politically correct garbage – but I digress. 
The “emerging church”
Thanks to Steve Harvey for pointing me in the general direction in which I found this excerpt from a book titled “Faith Undone”. It is a look at the current tendency to “candy coat” christianity. There are a lot of folks out there trying to come up with a “new and improved” version of the Gospel which was preached by Jesus the Christ and His Apostles. The original article Steve pointed me towards was written by Roger Oakland. It starts off with a quote by Doug Pagitt. Read the rest of this entry »
