church

People keep leaving the “church” to go to house churches (which may be more of the “church” than our buildings in warehouses with pastors wearing cutoff jeans and bleaching their hair to be relevant), and now I understand why.

I’m hanging in there because I think the church can sort it out… but these are the five reasons I would cite to leave the church….

continue reading "5 Reasons I would claim to leave the church"

All

What do you believe?  It is a theme known universally, but it is not a universal theme.

The moment a word is uttered, the limitations begin.  Accused of teaching Universalism, Karl Barth faced the inquiry as to whether he believed all men would be saved.  His answer -- "I cannot say; and I cannot not say."  They answered, "Then you are a Universalist."  In a strange twist of language, could he have been showing us the limitations of descriptive language?

continue reading "Limitations of Descriptive Language"

Well, I've done it again. I've begun writing a simple blog post that has taken up a life of its own, multiplied, and left me struggling to gather up the strays and drive the herd toward a conclusion. This time, however, I'm going to try a different tack. This time I'm going to toss out what I'm trying to do, where the project is oozing out from around its original plan, and beg for help from others to help me figure out what I'm doing.

continue reading "Thinking About Church Governance"

The most potent source of conflict in churches should be easy enough to reduce, or at least to decouple from more important affairs of the organization. But the solution requires some major rethinking of what church is and what it's for. It requires rethinking organizational governance and spending significant time building relationship. And it requires an admission that people—all people, even leaders—are subject to selfishness and need regular review.

continue reading "Resolving Church Conflict"

In this short work by C. H. Dodd, he outlines what he means by the subject title above. Near the end of his work, he writes:

["The real problem for the student of the New Testament is not whether this or that incident in the life of Jesus is credibly reported, this or that saying rightly attributed to Him; nor yet whether such and such a doctrine. in Paul or John can be derived from Judaism or the "mystery religions." It is, whether the fundamental affirmations of the apostolic Preaching are true and relevant. We cannot answer this question without understanding the Preaching, nor understand it without painstaking study of material which in some of its forms is strange and elusive; but without answering this question, we cannot confidently claim the name of Christian for that which we preach. To select from the New Testament certain passages which seem to have a "modern" ring, and to declare that these represent the "permanent element" in it, is not necessarily to preach the Gospel. It is, moreover, easy to be mistaken, on a superficial reading, about the true meaning of passages which may strike us as congenial. Some of them may not be as "modern" as they sound. The discipline of confronting the Gospel of primitive Christianity, in those forms of statement which are least congenial to the modern mind, compels us to re-think, not only the Gospel, but our own prepossessions.]

continue reading "Apostolic Preaching and Its Development"

The really good things in life—happiness, love, joy—are not facts but truths. They cannot be learned as doctrine because they do not exist in doctrine. They have always been, but they only become under the right circumstances.

continue reading "Faith, Myth and the Truth Becoming"

Church is a place where people come together to seek spiritual nurture and to offer themselves for the transformation of the world. If there is one thing that the church absolutely has to be it is a place of connection, care, and challenge. Yet time and again I witness the isolation of people in church and those who work in churches.

As a pastor in a church, one of the great privileges of my job is to hear people's stories. It is a sacred and holy experience to sit with someone and to listen to their dreams, their histories, their joys, and their struggles. On the days during which someone has honored me with their story I come home fully aware of the Divine that exists in the sharing of our lives.

continue reading "why isoloation and the church shouldn't go together...remembering baptism"

Hello Faith Commons!

I need to go to Church. I need help. I need community. I need closeness, I need reassurance, I need feedback, I need people and I need friends. I cannot be alone.

Where do I find a church though? The ones here, in my local home, in Nashville, TN, I can't do them, at least not right now, I feel like I'm pretending. I even tried. I wish this place where a church. I mean, I think it already is. Just the small amount of reading and interacting with you guys has been so beneficial to me. How many places on the Internet talk about Christianity, Buddhism, Atheism, Politics, Post Modernism, Emerging Church, God, Peace, and The Future in such a stable environment? Is there a way to make it closer, faster?

continue reading "I need Church, I need closeness"

As president of the National Association of Evangelicals, and senior pastor of the 14,000 member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Ted Haggard lives in a glass house. And he throws stones.

You may already know about Haggard's problems stemming from allegations by Mike Jones of Denver that Haggard had a homosexual affair of sorts with, and bought methamphetamine drugs from him. If not, you're not too far behind. CNN is just getting to it this afternoon. Bloggers have been chewing on it since yesterday. The original story came out Wednesday on 9news.com. The best I've read so far is from Jeff Sharlet of The Revealer.

continue reading "Ted Haggard: If You Live in a Glass House. . ."

The thing needed in the 21st century is the ability for humans to see their dreams realized. It's always the thing free creative thinking beings have desired. I think Celebration of Existence, of Life, with Music, Dance, Family and Friends in Harmony in new colorful vibrant high-resolution displays is one of the most powerful methods for humans to communicate their shared dreams. This activity is done outside where everyone can see, where there is familiar nature and the loving light of the sun. The only example I know is the 60s.

continue reading "Limits, Freedom, Courage to test limits and take risks, Full Effort, Peace, Love, Happiness, and the 21st Century Transformation"