I heard about this band today thanks to Twitter folks.
Enjoy.
also, this:
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Church Chicken (Not to be confused with Church's Chicken)
I just finished reading a chapter in George Barna's book Revolution. The chapter is titled How Is The Local Church Doing? It goes right along with what I'm thinking and praying through in regards to ministry. George said something I've known for awhile and it encouraged me today to hear it from someone else: "...we are not called to go to church. We are called to be the church."
The Church! What an amazing thing! I'm learning more about what this all means. This group of people on the earth set apart for God and called to make him known; it's certainly not made up of perfect people but it should consist of people who have decided to live their lives in a passionate pursuit of Christ...no matter who they are. Francis Chan makes an intriguing comment during one of the videos on his Crazy Love DVD. A missionary friend told him about converts to Christianity in India and said that "what we call sanctification they call prerequisite." All at once, that thought strikes a nerve and calls us to reconsider what we're teaching people about Jesus. It's so true! Instead of total life-change we offer Jesus in steps.
I think of the disciples who left everything. And I was reading in Matthew where Jesus says that we should love him more than even our own families. And the people in India lose their reputations, jobs, and I think sometimes families.
Jesus calls us to a new way of life in which he is everything, foremost, pervading.
We often call people to fit Jesus in.
Sometimes I just feel like a chicken. Sometimes I don't know what to say to church people because I believe they already know that Jesus is central and we are The Church and we are Christ's disciples and we have a mission. But even people in church can miss it.
This is not a new conversation but one I'd like you to share with me. What are your thoughts on this all? What great experiences have you had that run contrary to this struggle? Have you ever eaten Church's Chicken and if so, how did you survive?
The Church! What an amazing thing! I'm learning more about what this all means. This group of people on the earth set apart for God and called to make him known; it's certainly not made up of perfect people but it should consist of people who have decided to live their lives in a passionate pursuit of Christ...no matter who they are. Francis Chan makes an intriguing comment during one of the videos on his Crazy Love DVD. A missionary friend told him about converts to Christianity in India and said that "what we call sanctification they call prerequisite." All at once, that thought strikes a nerve and calls us to reconsider what we're teaching people about Jesus. It's so true! Instead of total life-change we offer Jesus in steps.
I think of the disciples who left everything. And I was reading in Matthew where Jesus says that we should love him more than even our own families. And the people in India lose their reputations, jobs, and I think sometimes families.
Jesus calls us to a new way of life in which he is everything, foremost, pervading.
We often call people to fit Jesus in.
Sometimes I just feel like a chicken. Sometimes I don't know what to say to church people because I believe they already know that Jesus is central and we are The Church and we are Christ's disciples and we have a mission. But even people in church can miss it.
This is not a new conversation but one I'd like you to share with me. What are your thoughts on this all? What great experiences have you had that run contrary to this struggle? Have you ever eaten Church's Chicken and if so, how did you survive?
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Talkin' 'Bout My Generation
Here's an excerpt from my article in our church's March 2009 newsletter. We're realizing a need to minister to young adults and young families in our community and we're in the developing stages of doing so. We're asking, "How do we minister to these?" I have some ideas and I'd love to hear some of yours, no matter who you are. (But if you happen to be a member of my youth group who read your newsletter and are now reading this blog because of it, then you might just win yourself a nifty little gift certificate...if you are my first student to respond by posting a comment about this blog entry.)
"If we’ve been raised in the church, wouldn’t we realize something was lacking if we all of the sudden discontinued our involvement in a routine gathering of fellow believers? There’s a deeper issue going on here. Like many, I was raised with an understanding that church is just another part of life; work on Thursday, family-time on Friday, baseball on Saturday, and church on Sunday. But here is the reality: being part of the “church” isn’t just another thing we do, it’s our very way of life. Are we raising a generation whose lives are centered in Christ or a generation whose faith follows the priorities of sports and shopping? For parents to pass on their faith to their children is a beautiful thing. But far too often the children never establish their own faith identity and when they leave their parents to move out and go to college, they’re left wondering what all that “church stuff” meant. Was it just songs on Sunday? Was it just rules and regulations and tradition? That’s what it seemed like."
Have you experienced that? Have you seen that happen to someone you know?
Here are some questions I've asked my youth group. These are questions that I will continue to ask. I will continue to guide my students as they process their answers. These are important:
What is the church?
What does God want the church to do?
Why do we attend gatherings?
Who is Jesus?
What does it mean to follow Him?
I firmly believe that if we have a better understanding in our youth of what God intends for the church and for His followers, our lives would maintain a course in pursuit of Christ. I think we're striving but I also think we've missed some things. I've missed some things.
Please join me in prayer for our ministry to young adults as well as our entire community!
"If we’ve been raised in the church, wouldn’t we realize something was lacking if we all of the sudden discontinued our involvement in a routine gathering of fellow believers? There’s a deeper issue going on here. Like many, I was raised with an understanding that church is just another part of life; work on Thursday, family-time on Friday, baseball on Saturday, and church on Sunday. But here is the reality: being part of the “church” isn’t just another thing we do, it’s our very way of life. Are we raising a generation whose lives are centered in Christ or a generation whose faith follows the priorities of sports and shopping? For parents to pass on their faith to their children is a beautiful thing. But far too often the children never establish their own faith identity and when they leave their parents to move out and go to college, they’re left wondering what all that “church stuff” meant. Was it just songs on Sunday? Was it just rules and regulations and tradition? That’s what it seemed like."
Have you experienced that? Have you seen that happen to someone you know?
Here are some questions I've asked my youth group. These are questions that I will continue to ask. I will continue to guide my students as they process their answers. These are important:
What is the church?
What does God want the church to do?
Why do we attend gatherings?
Who is Jesus?
What does it mean to follow Him?
I firmly believe that if we have a better understanding in our youth of what God intends for the church and for His followers, our lives would maintain a course in pursuit of Christ. I think we're striving but I also think we've missed some things. I've missed some things.
Please join me in prayer for our ministry to young adults as well as our entire community!
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