more of the same ;-)

I was reading about a well known pastor and author the other day.  While he is barely over the age of 40, God has already used this man to start a church, plant 8 other churches, and help establish a seminary.  Pretty awesome resume if you ask me.

I got to hear 'awesome resume man' preach a little while back and there is no doubt about it, the man is a gifted communicator.  However, the question I couldn't help wonder was what would happen to his church if he was gone?  How many people go to this man's church because he has become somewhat of a Christian celebrity?  What if God's word was taught just as accurately, but not as creatively and enthusiastically by someone else... would this cause a mass exodus from his church?

My question is this... Do we attend church for the central purpose of worshiping our risen Lord and Savior, or, for reasons that are a little more consumeristic?  How is it that we listen and place such emphasis on the preaching of God's Word and very little on any sort of response of worship and adoration?  Worship is secondary... the response has become secondary... optional.  To me, this is a sure sign that church has become more of a place where, "I learn, I meet with people I know, I find community, I drink coffee and donuts in a cozy atmosphere, etc," as oppose to the place where I humbly enter the sanctuary to worship and celebrate the risen Lord.

north florida jr. high camp

This past week (July 18-22nd), I had the opportunity to head on down to Tifton, Georgia to be a part of an amazing week of camp with the North Florida District Jr. High Camp for the Church of the Nazarene.  The entire experience from A to Z was absolutely amazing.  I wasn't too thrilled about going there in the first place, but I am glad that I did.  God's Spirit definitely worked and moved in the lives of students and adults.  My heart hurt for students who were not aloud to attend camp because of the incredible experience that they missed out on.

Here is what I spoke about:

Monday:  As people, we must come before God being real, honest, and with humble and confessional hearts... No masks, no pretending to be someone else. The text focused in Matthew 3 with John the Baptist preparing the people for their encounter with Jesus.  At the end of the service, students were invited to take a piece of yarn and tie it around their wrist as a reminder of the call to humility and to be real before God.  It was a great start to the week and helped to 'set the table' for the remainder of the week.

Tuesday:  Looking mostly in Matthew 5 and 6, the way of Jesus is backwards when compared to our current culture.  The Kingdom of God is the way of the servant, the way of the towel and basin, and the way of the cross.  The most amazing part is that we have been invited by God to be co-workers in helping to bring about God's Kingdom to our world.  Again, a great morning and night looking at God's Word.

Wednesday: If we are to be God's co-workers, something else must happen first... God desires to take up residence in our hearts and begin to clean us from the inside out.  We looked at several gospel texts that addressed heart issues.  By the end of the service, several teens welcomed and embraced Christ into their lives for the first time while several other believers stood up and expressed a desire for God to continue to do a cleansing work in their heart.  We looked at the importance of a prayer like Psalm 139:23-24 that petitions God to continue to expose the sin in our hearts and lives and to lead us in the way of Jesus.  Again, an incredible night of responding to God's calling on our lives.

Thursday: As God's people, we don't sit back and simply enjoy the blessings of the cross and resurrection.  We are called to be a people who go out into the world sharing the message, story, and hope that we have in Christ.  As individuals and as a Church, we are called to be living portraits of Christ.  While many people use words like 'hypocritical,' and 'judgmental,' may we be people who love and serve with humble hearts and live out what we say we believe.  At the end of the evening, students were invited to take a small rag with them as a symbol of their call to be servants.  We also partook in the Lord's Supper together.  Incredible evening.

Friday: We gathered just before leaving to remind us of three essential truths: 1. May our faith never rise and fall based on the emotions we feel... emotions can come and go. 2.  The only way we can live for Christ is by staying connected to a local church... we are created to be in community, worship together, encourage each other, rebuke each other, etc. 3.  May we incorporate a daily rhythm of prayer and scripture into our lives so we may establish deep roots and daily roots in Christ.

Each morning we also had services as well.  The morning services looked at the previous nights message and expanded on it while also incorporating a time of prayer that was appropriate to the message... Maybe I will add those services when I have more time than I do right now :-)

I was and still am so humbled that God uses unworthy instruments to do the Lord's work.

the big church

"The only way the Christian life is brought to maturity  is through intimacy, renunciation, and personal deepening." -Eugene Peterson-

For awhile, I wondered why it seemed like the bigger churches in our area of the country seemed to be getting bigger while the smaller churches seemed to be whittling down in terms of size.  My conclusion is that it is a whole lot easier to create a false sense of community and involvement in a larger church.  At the big church, one can enjoy the benefits (a great children/youth facility, a more aesthetically pleasing building, an impressive media system, etc), while not really ever experiencing any sort of intimacy.  In short, I would guess that it is much easier to attend a larger church than it is a smaller one.  At the small church, it is much more difficult to hide.  It is a lot more difficult to not know others and be known by others.

In the city I live in, there is the obvious 'big church.'  It is quite common to bump into people whom I haven't seen in a long time who tell me that they have begun attending the 'big church' across town.  In all those situations, I can't help but wonder what the motivation is for going there... What is it that they have found there that they did not find at their previous church?  What is the draw?

The only way we experience genuine growth as believers in Christ is when we open up our lives to God and to others... when we welcome God to search the very depths of our hearts and lives and allow ourselves to fully participate as members of Christ's body.