I don't want to be churched

In my Life Group Saturday night, we were looking at the story of Peter defending himself for going into the house of a Gentile and eating with him (Acts 11:3). This is a pretty powerful story about going against everything you have been taught. Here is Peter. He has grown up being taught that Jewish law forbids Jews to associate with Gentiles. God reveals to him in a vision that we are not to call anything impure that God has made clean.

Immediately, he is challenged to put into practice what God is teaching him. Cornelius has sent for Peter to come to his house and teach him about Jesus. Peter decided to put aside his tradition, the way he had always done things, in order for the gospel to be spread.

Apply that to today. Many believers have a hard time changing their beliefs. Some do not want to hear what the Bible says, they would rather be lead by what they have always been taught or how they feel. If Peter had been like that, the gospel may not have been taken to the Gentiles. Most likely, that would include you.

Now if you are one of those believers that want to hold on to traditions and teachings that do not matter to God, who is it that you are keeping the gospel from?

In our Life Group on Saturday, one of the people who is a new to the Church and Jesus asked, How can they could keep from becoming a Christian who loses their passion for God and lost people? That is a great question! What this person was saying is, I do not want to be churched, I want to follow Jesus.

Here is another question to think about. If you are one of those people who have lost their passion for God and lost people, how are you going to get it back?

Where have we gone wrong?

While I love the church and love being a part of it, there are moments I ask myself why am I a part of it. What I love about life in the church is seeing the beauty of being a part of a movement that was started by Jesus, the Messiah, our Lord. It is an honor and privilege to think that God allows us to be a part of His kingdom, a kingdom that makes a difference in the world (or at least it should).

While on vacation last week we had a great visit with my dad. Cole got baptized in the Atlantic Ocean right before a storm hit the beach. We stepped into this vast ocean, that God created in the very beginning and the story of redemption was proclaimed as one of his children made a pledge of a good conscience to this great God.

We had every intention to go to church before we left for Florida. But on Saturday night, we decided not to drive the 35 or 40 minutes to church the next morning. We chose to spend time with my father and go to the beach. I took Eli (my oldest son) fishing that day. We had some good father and son time together. We saw dolphins. We had a couple manatee swim by right in front of us. Both are creatures God the father created and are another testimony of His presence.

Here is what I hate about being a part of the church. I felt some guilt not going to church. I felt guilt not because I think we did something wrong. I felt guilt because I almost fell in to the trap of thinking we can only experience the presence of the Father in a church building. The truth is, God was present all around me. His presence was at the beach. His presence was in the creatures of the sea. His presence was in the relationship I have with my children, my wife and my father. To quote Rich Mullins, "Everywhere I go I see Him." It is in the acknowledgement of His presence, that we truly worship Him.

I am not trying to promote getting in the habit of not going to church. There is a benefit for every believer to regularly worship with other believers. But, it is not a have to, it is a get to. We get to acknowledge the presence of God in our lives and worship Him with other believers who come to acknowledge His presence also.

There are thousands of people who go to church on a Sunday without acknowledging His presence and they think they have dome something good. When in reality they have just fulfilled a duty. They think God is limited to a building when in fact he is everywhere. Where have we gone wrong?

Day two in Florida

Here is a picture of the beach where we have been going. There is nobody here, just us. So far we have found three sharks teeth, maybe we will find some more today.



I took some time yesterday afternoon to kayak. And no, I did not get stuck!

Great Start to Vacation

We arrived in Florida yesterday to visit my dad for a week. We got to go to the beach for a little this afternoon. Before the storm hit I got to do something really cool. Every time I have the opportunity to baptize someone it is a special event. Every time it has been one of the boys it is at a whole new level. Today, I waded out into the Atlantic Ocean, took Cole's (my middle son) confession and baptized him.

We had talked about it before we came down and I gave him four options of when and where. He chose the beach. What a great way to start a vacation!

I am Shocked!

We are getting ready to fly to Florida to see my father. I printed off the things you are not allowed to carry on the plane with you. I was shocked by some of the things in the list. Here are top ten items you can not carry on the plane with you:

10. No BB guns - Maybe it is because you might shoot your eye out.

9. Meat Cleavers - What does this scare the Vegans on board?

8. Bows and Arrows - Does this mean I can carry a bow and not an arrow? Or an arrow and not a bow?

7. Cricket bats - What about crickets or bats?

6. Ice pick - But I like my ice picked into fine pieces

5. Spear guns - But what if giant goose is headed for the plane?

4. Axes and hatchets - "Please? I was going to trim my toe nails."

3. Stun guns/shocking devices - Shocking!

2. Swords/sabers - How will the Samaria Warrior cut his sushi?

1. Here is my favorite because everyone has one and needs one to keep the crowd moving on the people movers - A Cattle Prod


You can't bring these but you can bring a Cigar cutters, corkscrews, knitting needles, toy weapons and toy transformer robots (just not real transformer robots).

The Social Gospel

Last night our family went to a Church and helped them pack grocery bags of food to be handed out today. We packed 150 bages with a variety of goods. 75 of them are for a retirement home and the rest are for people who come to the church today for a free meal. What an awesome ministry to those in need.

As I was driving away I began to think about what we just did. The thing that struck me was that we had just worked side by side with a church that does not believe the same way I do. They are more liberal in their beliefs, even moral issues we face today. They take a loose interpretation of the scriptures. Doctrine is not as important to them as it is for me. But as a denomination they truly serve people who have specific needs.

Sunday at Northwest Interfaith begins. Interfaith is a non-profit organization that helps people who are homeless due to circumstances beyond their control. They are mostly made up of lower income families who need a break to get on their feet. Interfaith has a day home where a social worker helps them find a job and a place to live. One of the criteria for getting into Interfaith is that there have to be children involved.

Northwest is a host church. We open up our church for up to 4 families to stay for a week. We provide an evening meal, snacks, breakfast and a place to sleep. Most, if not all of the churches we partner with are churches who take a more liberal stance on some moral issues.

I am so glad, that I serve at a church that takes a strong stance on moral issues, holds God's word at a high level and practices a social gospel. Keep up the great work.

Here is a question I often ask myself, which is more important, to take a strong stance on doctrine or to practice a social gospel?

Have you ever heard of Laminin?

I was checking out the blogs I frequently look at this morning and this one was something you guys need to see. Louie Weber has been a friend of mine for a long time and if you have not checked out his blog you need to: http://louieweber.wordpress.com/

He embedded this youtube video by Louie Giglio. I am going to make it easy for you and embed it here for you, but you need to go to Louie Weber's blog. Watch the video all the way to the end - it is unbelievable!

Keep praying for Zimbabwe

I did not know I would fall in love with people I have never met. I met Dereck several years ago at a basketball camp. He is from Zimbabwe and is the one who we were going with this year to do a basketball camp. We have suspended the trip for now becasue of all the violence in that country.

I got an email from Dereck last night that had an article about a popular manager at the local Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority. They found him dead after the ruling party raided his office. This is the third relative of Dereck's that has been killed in the last three weeks.

Please pray for Zimbabwe, Dereck and his Family. Pray for the church in the village that they will stay faithful to God during such a terrible time in the history of Zimbabwe. Pray that things will settle down in that country in the future so we can take the basketball camp there and develop a plan to start new churches.

Takin' "it" to the Streets - The Office

I have had some of you ask me about positing this video, here it is.

Yoking with Unbelievers? (part two)

If you have not read the article yet, go to the last post and read it. If you don't this may not make since to you. Here are my observations:

1. We have become as Donald Miller said a Utopia Society. He explained that literally a person could go to Christian pre-school, elemtentary school, Jr. High and High School. They could then go to a Christian college all the way through and get a doctrate. They could then work for a Christian organization. It is possible, to go through life in our country today and never interact with a non-Christian.

The article believes this would be a better way of life. But what does that say about the commission Jesus gave his followers "To go into the world and make disciples."

2. The argument the writer of the article makes is that by working with unbelievers, a Christian may be influenced by the unbelievers. Not if they are totally sold out to Jesus. As a matter of fact if they Loved God with everything they had, that should not be a problem. And if they loved people (even those they did not agree with) they would want to hang out with anyone they had a chance to hang out with. Which brings me to number three.

3. The article makes this statement, "It is good to mix with unbelievers to love and convert them. If you convert them, then you can happily yoke together." Interpretation: If you can convert them then they will be just like you (Utopia Society). This is one of the reasons that people get all wierd about hanging out with Christians. They think the only reason they are hanging out with them is to convert them. They think that we just see them as some church project.

The reason I hang out with people is because I like to hang with them. I mean there are Christians I do not like to hang out with and there are unbleivers I like to hang out with and it has nothing to do with their spirituallity. It has everything to do with them, what they like, their personality and what we have in common (the job we may have together).

Honestly, I am around church people so much it has become very refreshing to hang out with people outside the Utopia Society. That has become a refuge for me. It is therapeutic to hang out with real people, who do not hide there problems, who do not come with an agenda and who are authentic in their approach to life. My prayer is that when I am in the streets, I bring a little of the kingdom with me wherever I go. As Robertson said, “The Christian has to keep his feet on the earth, but his head in the heavens. He must be heavenly minded on earth and so make earth like heaven” (Word Pictures of the New Testament).

Unequally Yoked?

We are in a series called, "Takin' it to the Streets." We have defined "it" as being the kingdom. We are to be kingdom people, who bring the kingdom of God to the streets. Last week the teaching was on taking the kingdom to the marketplace. We looked at Colossians 3:1-17 and talked about the transformation that needs to take place when we die to ourselves and are raised with Christ. In the first two verses we are told to "set our hearts and minds on things above."

Here is how Robertson describes this verse in "Word Pictures of the New Testament":

"The Christian has to keep his feet on the earth, but his head in the heavens. He must be heavenly minded on earth and so make earth like heaven.”

That is awesome! When we take "it" to the streets we must be heavenly minded and make earth like heaven.

This week we are bringing "it" to "The Office." We are to be kingdom people in the workplace "and so make the office like heaven." We are staying in Colossians. We are going to look at Colossians 3:22-4:1 and apply it to the workplace (Workers and Managers).

So while I am studying I came across this article READ.

I was blown away by the article.

I want to know what you think.

I will do a follow up post on my opinion of the article.