Listen to this:
Two thousand years ago God started a revolt against the religion He started. So don’t ever put it past God to cause a groundswell movement against churches and Christian institutions that bear Hs name. If He was willing to turn Judaism upside down, don’t think for a moment our institutions are safe from a divine revolt I am convinced that even now there are multitudes of followers of Jesus Christ who are sick and tired of the church playing games and playing down the call of God. My travels only confirm that the murmurings of revolution are everywhere. I am convinced that there is an uprising in the works and that no one less than God is behind it. (Erwin Raphael McManus in The Barbarian Way)
This makes me want to get up and give a victory cheer. It’s not just me, not just us, all over people are tired of the stuff. Jesus….let us be released from the bondage of religion and learn to forge into the unknown of faith, spiritual risk and the expectations of something great happening! Yeahhhhhhh!
This weekend we had awesome worship. It was nice to have a full line up of musicians. We still need a bass player for full time. But the Lord is good. We will go forward with whatever the Lord provides. We are all excited about what God is doing here! As we continue to pioneer forward, our needs will be provided.
I don’t ever want to think that we can’t make do with what we have. We get caught up thinking if I just had this or we really need that. All we really need is faith to make it another day, nothing more…nothing less.
Good music is still cool though! There is nothing better then getting together to play high energy, modern worship with other quality musicians. We had a good time.
God has given you a great vision. You have accomplished something wonderful for the kingdom. You have kicked the enemy’s butt and taken the land. Everything is good….so why don’t I want to get out of bed.
Wow, reality check. God is beginning to do some great things in this body of faith. But today I realize even more the need to rely on faith and not my own understanding. The gifts we are given are to be used, my brain and thought type skills are to be used as well, but…..If I could figure it ALL out and do it all on my own….why would I need God? Understanding this make all the difference. I can’t face life on my own! I need friends, I need mentors, I need God. Cool!
Basic physics….if you exert force on an object the object is moved or changed.
So how does this relate to religion vs. Christian. Today’s churches have much religiousness, there are many churches and many rules but is the end result showing a force of positive change on people’s lives or does the end result show a empty self-serving controlling institution? Is it more interested in the program then the people, in status other then in serving, in judgeing other then encouraging? Thus…many people are put off by many current church structures.
Our generation looks at the end result, the experience from the point of completion or content of usefulness in its purpose. When the force of man (religion) acts upon our lives the result is clearly man, when the force of God (Jesus, love, true Christianity) is acting upon a persons life the result is also clearly portrayed. It is this end result that gives ”proof” to the ”force” acting in your life.
Is your change or movement clearly identifiable as pure and Jesus-like or does it stench of religion.
Basic physics….if you exert force on an object the object is moved or changed.
So I suppose this is where the story begins. This is about a dream or should I call it an experiment in what a church should be. Can a church function in America and believe in Fundamental values yet be relevant to our community. Can we be conservative in our theology yet progressive in its application? Is it possible to cut out the mundane of religion and yet stay true our heritage?
My desire is that church should be fun, exciting, safe and allow people in all phases of their faith journey. Anywhere from those that aren’t sure what they beleive to those that have been doing it a while. We should live our faith not talk about it, we should tell others what we believe not force our opinions of tradition.
I come from a business background in sales and marketing. I believe in customer service. This can and should be applicable in the church, after all if we are doing the business of God, shouldn’t it be run to the best of our abilities?
Last but not least, I believe in good coffee, churches should always serve good coffee! So here it is, day one on Pastor’s Rant
