I am on a quest. I am on a quest to become immune to caring about what other people think of me. The trick is getting there without becoming hardened and bitter. This is trickier than you might think.
In the last year and a half or so, I have made some decisions that many people around me don't like. I have decided to stay committed to some things while more than half the people involved in those same things have decided to leave. I have based my decision to remain loyal completely and purely out of conviction that this is where the Lord is leading.
Those who decided to leave, I am certain, would say that they left based on the Lord's leading in their own lives. Not one person left as a direct result of me. Yet, for some reason, some people who have left have decided that this means we can no longer be friends; based on this one decision. I have not done nor said anything to anyone that would be a legitimate reason for de-friending me.
(As a side-note: it is amazing how being de-friended from someone on Facebook has just as much sting of rejection as being told straight to your face. Who ever would have thought a social-network site would have that kind of power?)
Some who have left have slandered and criticized on their way out. I have been caught up in the cross-hairs of some of the accusations thrown about.
In all of this I have done my best to treat everyone inovlved with the same love, honor, respect, kindness and compassion as I did before anyone ever decided to leave. I haven't done it perfectly, but I have tried. For the most part people have responded in kind, after perhaps an initial period of awkwardness while friendships are "renegotiated" in new settings or environments.
For some who have left, however, I have been completely and utterly rejected. I literally had someone who used to be a friend turn around and walk out of a store after seeing me there.
After almost a year and half of this, the sting of this has started to fade. I actually call this victory. I am learning to care more about what the Lord has to say about all of this and me than any person. Just because I am rejected by people, even people who were once close to me, does not mean I am rejected by the Lord.
This, to be quite honest, has been a hard lesson for an overcoming people-pleaser like me. It has been absolute death to me in my past to be rejected and scorned. I have in my past done almost everything possible to avoid this. So, to stand firm and tall and be able to declare that I am right with the one person it matters to and that is all that matters, is huge victory to me.
I am, however, noticing that the draw to become hardened and bitter is a strong one. The desire to swing in the complete opposite direction from where I have been and into bondage of another sort is one that I have to actively fight.
There are days when I succeed and I know the same loving, mother's heart, nurturing, kind woman who was always there remains. But, there are other days when I feel the numbness and hardness creep in around the edges of that same heart.
This is what I have to guard my heart from! It is the well-spring of life and I want to LIVE! I want to live a life ABUNDANT, not a life so fearful of rejection that it cannot be found beneath layers of protection and walls. I want my heart hidden in CHRIST so that anyone who wants to find it, must look to Him first.
Blessings,
Erin
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Another Paul Washer Message
Here's another. Seriously these are all well worth the time to watch. I might just post the link to one that's an hour-long message he preached a few years ago. It made even me question whether I was really saved or not. Meanwhile, here's a shorter one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRQdn5c8tQ0
Blessings,
Erin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRQdn5c8tQ0
Blessings,
Erin
Paul Washer
I have recently, as in the last two months, discovered a preacher named Paul Washer. I could listen to him preach/teach forever.
Here's just one of his gems.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7UyZYpeReY
Here's just one of his gems.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7UyZYpeReY
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Taxes
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do.The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. "Drinks for the ten now cost just $80."
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were
unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same percent, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so: The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"
"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
Erin
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do.The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. "Drinks for the ten now cost just $80."
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were
unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same percent, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so: The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"
"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
Erin
Friday, May 08, 2009
The Loneliness of Leadership
There are days when the loneliness I carry with me most of the time is so tangibly physical that some medical researcher somewhere could probably find some sort of prescription to fight its symptoms.
I started this blog entry on Friday and continued it today (Monday). Yesterday (Sunday May 10) I witnessed the third of my most recent roommates get married, all within a year of each other. I am so incredibly happy for her. I have prayed with her through her own loneliness and hopelessness that it was an absolute joy to see her so happy and in love and loved right back. But there are honestly times when I begin to wonder when will it be my turn? Have I missed my opportunity?
I want to be married. There, it's out there, I've said it. But, that hasn't happened yet. The reality of my heart's desire is clashing with the reality of my life's circumstances right now. This clash surfaces in me a lot of feelings, of which loneliness is just the beginning. It is also prime opportunity for me to begin to feel disappointment and blame.
I was reading in Matthew 15 the story of a woman who approached Jesus and his disciples requesting healing for her daughter who is plagued by a demon. I feel like I can relate to this story on so many levels:
Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession."
Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."
He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.
He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
There are many days that I feel like this woman. Instead of feasting at the Lord's banqueting table, instead of being one of his children I feel as though I am a Canaanite outsider waiting, like a dog, for a crumb to fall off of the master's table, for him to think of me after he's done taking care of those more important than me.
I know in my head that this is an absolute lie from the pits of hell. I know in my head that the Lord's heart for me is life and life abundant and that I am seated at the table with the father and not a dog searching for crumbs. When Jesus was speaking to this Canaanite woman, he was not saying that he would only help Jews (in fact, the fact that he does help her shows quite the opposite). He was not calling her a dog (he was actually using this as a metaphor). What he is saying is that the time for the message to spread beyond Israel had not come yet; that the Jews needed to hear the message first. But, this woman was persistent. She had huge faith and like many, would not give up until Jesus gave her what she needed. I have a lot to learn from this woman.
There is a disconnect between the knowledge of the truth of my position in Christ between my head and my heart. I feel like there is a block from this knowledge traveling the short distance from my head to my heart.
A lot of this boils down to old patterns of how I see the Father. Somehow I've forgotten that I am now adopted by Christ and no longer a slave (or dog) but a daughter. These old thought patterns are firmly rooted in my growing-up years and how I was given love/blessings/gifts as a child. I often was left feeling as though I were just short of being good enough, and praises and love were given many times as a reward for something I had done rather than just for being who I am.
This leaves my view of the Lord distorted too. It leaves me questioning: is he good? Is he pleased with me? Have I done something wrong? Do I have to earn his love? Does he have my best in mind? Is he a God who withholds?
Most of the time I can spew the answers to those questions out with the best of them. It's on the hard days when my eyes, circumstances and feelings tell me otherwise that the true beliefs of who God is and how he sees me that dwells inside my heart reveal themselves.
I know I get way better than crumbs and leftovers, but do I really *know* that? I mean *know* in my heart beyond just head knowledge.
So I am crying out for the Lord to have mercy on me and praying he meets me just as he did the Canaanite woman.
Erin
I started this blog entry on Friday and continued it today (Monday). Yesterday (Sunday May 10) I witnessed the third of my most recent roommates get married, all within a year of each other. I am so incredibly happy for her. I have prayed with her through her own loneliness and hopelessness that it was an absolute joy to see her so happy and in love and loved right back. But there are honestly times when I begin to wonder when will it be my turn? Have I missed my opportunity?
I want to be married. There, it's out there, I've said it. But, that hasn't happened yet. The reality of my heart's desire is clashing with the reality of my life's circumstances right now. This clash surfaces in me a lot of feelings, of which loneliness is just the beginning. It is also prime opportunity for me to begin to feel disappointment and blame.
I was reading in Matthew 15 the story of a woman who approached Jesus and his disciples requesting healing for her daughter who is plagued by a demon. I feel like I can relate to this story on so many levels:
Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession."
Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."
He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.
He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
There are many days that I feel like this woman. Instead of feasting at the Lord's banqueting table, instead of being one of his children I feel as though I am a Canaanite outsider waiting, like a dog, for a crumb to fall off of the master's table, for him to think of me after he's done taking care of those more important than me.
I know in my head that this is an absolute lie from the pits of hell. I know in my head that the Lord's heart for me is life and life abundant and that I am seated at the table with the father and not a dog searching for crumbs. When Jesus was speaking to this Canaanite woman, he was not saying that he would only help Jews (in fact, the fact that he does help her shows quite the opposite). He was not calling her a dog (he was actually using this as a metaphor). What he is saying is that the time for the message to spread beyond Israel had not come yet; that the Jews needed to hear the message first. But, this woman was persistent. She had huge faith and like many, would not give up until Jesus gave her what she needed. I have a lot to learn from this woman.
There is a disconnect between the knowledge of the truth of my position in Christ between my head and my heart. I feel like there is a block from this knowledge traveling the short distance from my head to my heart.
A lot of this boils down to old patterns of how I see the Father. Somehow I've forgotten that I am now adopted by Christ and no longer a slave (or dog) but a daughter. These old thought patterns are firmly rooted in my growing-up years and how I was given love/blessings/gifts as a child. I often was left feeling as though I were just short of being good enough, and praises and love were given many times as a reward for something I had done rather than just for being who I am.
This leaves my view of the Lord distorted too. It leaves me questioning: is he good? Is he pleased with me? Have I done something wrong? Do I have to earn his love? Does he have my best in mind? Is he a God who withholds?
Most of the time I can spew the answers to those questions out with the best of them. It's on the hard days when my eyes, circumstances and feelings tell me otherwise that the true beliefs of who God is and how he sees me that dwells inside my heart reveal themselves.
I know I get way better than crumbs and leftovers, but do I really *know* that? I mean *know* in my heart beyond just head knowledge.
So I am crying out for the Lord to have mercy on me and praying he meets me just as he did the Canaanite woman.
Erin
Monday, May 04, 2009
Everything
I am right in the middle of making a couple of decisions about my life and where it will lead in the next few years: 1. a possible job here in Tacoma that will mean that I am firmly committing myself to being "on the ground" here in the city for the next few years and 2. possibly just continuing my random job stuff, but freeing me up to be involved in missions things as well as any Call2All Next Generation beginnings that will probably take place here in Tacoma starting in November.
I have been, however, feeling woefully incapable of hearing God's voice lately. Well, lately, as in the last year or so minimum. Maybe even closer to to two years.
I had some wise counsel from a friend though, who encouraged me to ask "What do I do?" rather than bringing my specific options to the Lord and asking Him which one to choose. So, I did that the other night and felt in my spirit a clear direction: "Be available."
I am certain the Lord meant be available for ministry, though the singleness-factor is almost always in play :D This does not give me an immediate answer to my job choices, but I think is a clear focus from the Lord to just worry about what He is asking me today and the rest will take care of itself.
So, this week presents my first two opportunities to just say yes when I am available. On Friday we will be presenting a drama after school at a local high school as an outreach. I just happen to not have to work on Friday, so I am going to the school to pray for people after the drama is over. I am also going up to Seattle tomorrow to pray for people after a class as well.
I am most excited about the drama. It debuted last night at church and the end of it includes the "Everything" skit. I weep every time I see this and last night was no exception. I really and truly bawl. It is kind of embarrassing, actually, how hard I cry.
I have included a link to the video of another church doing the same skit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA
Blessings,
Erin
I have been, however, feeling woefully incapable of hearing God's voice lately. Well, lately, as in the last year or so minimum. Maybe even closer to to two years.
I had some wise counsel from a friend though, who encouraged me to ask "What do I do?" rather than bringing my specific options to the Lord and asking Him which one to choose. So, I did that the other night and felt in my spirit a clear direction: "Be available."
I am certain the Lord meant be available for ministry, though the singleness-factor is almost always in play :D This does not give me an immediate answer to my job choices, but I think is a clear focus from the Lord to just worry about what He is asking me today and the rest will take care of itself.
So, this week presents my first two opportunities to just say yes when I am available. On Friday we will be presenting a drama after school at a local high school as an outreach. I just happen to not have to work on Friday, so I am going to the school to pray for people after the drama is over. I am also going up to Seattle tomorrow to pray for people after a class as well.
I am most excited about the drama. It debuted last night at church and the end of it includes the "Everything" skit. I weep every time I see this and last night was no exception. I really and truly bawl. It is kind of embarrassing, actually, how hard I cry.
I have included a link to the video of another church doing the same skit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA
Blessings,
Erin
Friday, April 17, 2009
If It Makes You Happy It Can't Be That Bad
When I was in college I took a class called Philosophy 101, also known as Moral Philosophy. We spent the entire semester discussing different philosophies of morality. We looked at different philosophies (search for truth) that shaped people's ethics. We discussed and wrote paper after paper about each philosophical idea.
Each philosophy we deconstructed and looked at from various angles. There was NOT ONE philosophy that could not be dis-proved. Not one. At the end of the class we had to write a concluding paper about all that we had learned through the semester and I realized, as I was writing this paper, the truth: there has to be an absolute truth, a moral code, to go by because no other philosophy of morality stands the tests of scrutiny.
Lately, especially in Western culture, the idea that what we think is right and wrong is really all about what works for each person individually (or sometimes culturally). In other words, if it something is morally right or wrong for you or for your culture we should not make any judgments on it. The belief says that we cannot make a full-scale judgment that something is fully right or fully wrong. Or, in the words of one song writer: "If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad."
I wonder if those who believe in moral relativism (the belief that what's right for you is all relative) would be singing the same tune if say someone was breaking into their house and wiping them clean of all of their stuff. But hey, if wiping you clean makes them happy, it's right for them...so it can't be bad. Right?
Most people who advocate for this idea of a world without moral objective standards also embrace this idea of "tolerance." They will say things like "We ought to be tolerant" or "We should be tolerant." This is a direct contradiction of the very thing they are saying! If there is no such thing as standard of morality, according to them, I don't ought or should anything!
The other problem with "tolerance" is that anytime you disagree with someone you are practicing intolerance! If everything, every view, every opinion is moraly relative, than believing someone's opinion is wrong is practicing intolerance!
This idea that tolerance in allowing people to do whatever makes them happy just doesn't hold. I actually find it quite ironic that those who most tout tolerance as a virtue are themselves quite intolerant of those of us who disagree. Tolerance really only extends in these cases to those who's view is the same as theirs
I believe it is very possible, however, to disagree with someone's beliefs on an issue and yet still treat them with love. Isn't that what we're called to?
Erin
Each philosophy we deconstructed and looked at from various angles. There was NOT ONE philosophy that could not be dis-proved. Not one. At the end of the class we had to write a concluding paper about all that we had learned through the semester and I realized, as I was writing this paper, the truth: there has to be an absolute truth, a moral code, to go by because no other philosophy of morality stands the tests of scrutiny.
Lately, especially in Western culture, the idea that what we think is right and wrong is really all about what works for each person individually (or sometimes culturally). In other words, if it something is morally right or wrong for you or for your culture we should not make any judgments on it. The belief says that we cannot make a full-scale judgment that something is fully right or fully wrong. Or, in the words of one song writer: "If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad."
I wonder if those who believe in moral relativism (the belief that what's right for you is all relative) would be singing the same tune if say someone was breaking into their house and wiping them clean of all of their stuff. But hey, if wiping you clean makes them happy, it's right for them...so it can't be bad. Right?
Most people who advocate for this idea of a world without moral objective standards also embrace this idea of "tolerance." They will say things like "We ought to be tolerant" or "We should be tolerant." This is a direct contradiction of the very thing they are saying! If there is no such thing as standard of morality, according to them, I don't ought or should anything!
The other problem with "tolerance" is that anytime you disagree with someone you are practicing intolerance! If everything, every view, every opinion is moraly relative, than believing someone's opinion is wrong is practicing intolerance!
This idea that tolerance in allowing people to do whatever makes them happy just doesn't hold. I actually find it quite ironic that those who most tout tolerance as a virtue are themselves quite intolerant of those of us who disagree. Tolerance really only extends in these cases to those who's view is the same as theirs
I believe it is very possible, however, to disagree with someone's beliefs on an issue and yet still treat them with love. Isn't that what we're called to?
Erin
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
When a church is not really a church
Last spring while I was in Europe going to the various Youth With a Mission bases (by the way, I realize I have not really fully blogged about my time there other than at the beginning part of the trip in Scotland. Someday, maybe, I'll get around to that too) our team of OJ, Suzanna, their kids Ariel and Judah, Pete and I decided to take a trip into a town called Largs (I think that was its name, not sure now it's been so long) to go shopping. Immediately upon arrival in Largs began looking for a place to eat.
We walked around for a bit looking for something that caught our eye. As we were walking down the street we came upon what we thought was a church. However, upon entering the courtyard, we could see that what was once a church had now been converted into a pub! We decided to eat at this restaurant and as we walked in, I have to say, I was a little weirded out by being inside. It was very strange to be looking at what used to be the pulpit and seeing people eating there, or looking over to the side of the church and seeing a bar where alcohol was being served. It was a a surreal experience to say the least. I couldn't help but think of when Jesus threw the market out of the temple.
I have heard a statistic that there are now more pubs in Europe than churches. If my experience is normal...some churches are now pubs! The decline of the church in Europe is well on its way. Some even say they (Europe) are about where we in the US are headed in about 20 years.
I have spoken in previous blogs about how irrelevant the church has become to people's lives and the statistics that prove this in various articles like the Newsweek one or the one I posted from the Christian Science Monitor. One of the things Mark Anderson spoke on this weekend is how church has become something it was perhaps never meant to be. It looks nothing like it looked if you compare what we are doing now with the early church in the book of Acts.
I have become more and more interested over the last few days in what exactly the early church was like and how it is exactly that the church today came to look the way it does. What I have found is really interesting.
The church in the book of Acts looks NOTHING like it looks in Western culture. It actually more closely resembles the way the church currently works in China: meeting as groups in people's homes, eating together, sharing things, being relevant in each others' lives, the gospel being spread by word of mouth and because others seeing the changes in people's lives. The bride of Christ in Acts was full of power and love. Christianity spread in 300 years to include almost everyone in the Roman Empire. This caused Emperor Constantine to take notice and, like any good politician, made changes to accommodate this new majority in his kingdom.
The enemy worked for 300 years trying to eradicate Christianity by martyrdom and oppression, but his greatest work came from within. After Constantine made Christianity legal, he insisted on its elders (particularly those already IN Rome...smart man) getting together to come up with common doctrine (Council of Nicene), taking over old pagan buildings and implementing a hierarchy of leadership. This is when the church as we see it today began to take form.
There is a lot to go into on details, but basically what happened is that Christianity began to lose footing with everyday life and quickly became something only on Sunday, filled with hints and reflections of paganism (seriously...study the cult of Isis and how worship of Mary, the mother of Jesus is an off-shoot of that) to make Christianity more palatable to those coming out of polytheism and paganism, the church became entangled in politics to the point that men saw gaining positions in the church not as a calling to serve the Lord, but to serve their own interests. Christianity moved from everyday life and common men and women to buildings and men who used it to serve their own purposes.
Sure, Christianity spread (and the Dark Age right with it) but I suspect that many people were not truly saved. There have been attempts to make changes to the way we do church (Martin Luther, Jan Hus, Charles Finney among others) but many of those man were kicked out of the church for their beliefs or martyred. The Reformation happened and some things got better, the First and Second Great Awakenings helped, but I believe we need a Third Great Awakening.
I am becoming more and more convinced that the Western way of doing church is a death sentence to Christianity on so many levels. We have taken our relevancy and put it in a building on Sunday mornings and called it good. One of the things Mark Anderson said was that we expect people to get up, dress funny, sing strange songs, listen to someone talk about a subject for a bit and then pay for it! I don't even want to go to a church like that anymore.
Our beliefs were from the beginning meant to permeate every bit of our lives. Read the passage from Deuteronomy 6:
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
The Lord isn't saying here to literally tie His commandments on your hands or head or doorframe. What He is saying is His word should be a part of everything you do everywhere you go! It should be on your lips when you speak, it should be at your jobs, it should be in your dreams, it should be a part of all you are.
Is it any wonder non-believers are not attracted to our churches? They call us hypocrits and they are right! We have sold them a Christianity that is without power, without holiness, without the ability to change a person's life, and without relevancy. Sure, we're not perfect, but can you really blame a non-believer for not being attracted to what we've made our Christianity?
We tell them: "Oh just say a prayer and you'll be saved." Really? Where does it say that? And then we wonder why, after saying this nice little prayer and asking Jesus into our hearts (instead of TAKING our hearts and REPLACING it with His) people don't start coming to church or they come for a while and then stop.
Oh, friends, we HAVE to change some things about how we do church, about how we live our lives, and about the Jesus we preach. I don't have the answers for how to do this, but it is burning on my heart! May it burn on your heart too.
Erin
We walked around for a bit looking for something that caught our eye. As we were walking down the street we came upon what we thought was a church. However, upon entering the courtyard, we could see that what was once a church had now been converted into a pub! We decided to eat at this restaurant and as we walked in, I have to say, I was a little weirded out by being inside. It was very strange to be looking at what used to be the pulpit and seeing people eating there, or looking over to the side of the church and seeing a bar where alcohol was being served. It was a a surreal experience to say the least. I couldn't help but think of when Jesus threw the market out of the temple.
I have heard a statistic that there are now more pubs in Europe than churches. If my experience is normal...some churches are now pubs! The decline of the church in Europe is well on its way. Some even say they (Europe) are about where we in the US are headed in about 20 years.
I have spoken in previous blogs about how irrelevant the church has become to people's lives and the statistics that prove this in various articles like the Newsweek one or the one I posted from the Christian Science Monitor. One of the things Mark Anderson spoke on this weekend is how church has become something it was perhaps never meant to be. It looks nothing like it looked if you compare what we are doing now with the early church in the book of Acts.
I have become more and more interested over the last few days in what exactly the early church was like and how it is exactly that the church today came to look the way it does. What I have found is really interesting.
The church in the book of Acts looks NOTHING like it looks in Western culture. It actually more closely resembles the way the church currently works in China: meeting as groups in people's homes, eating together, sharing things, being relevant in each others' lives, the gospel being spread by word of mouth and because others seeing the changes in people's lives. The bride of Christ in Acts was full of power and love. Christianity spread in 300 years to include almost everyone in the Roman Empire. This caused Emperor Constantine to take notice and, like any good politician, made changes to accommodate this new majority in his kingdom.
The enemy worked for 300 years trying to eradicate Christianity by martyrdom and oppression, but his greatest work came from within. After Constantine made Christianity legal, he insisted on its elders (particularly those already IN Rome...smart man) getting together to come up with common doctrine (Council of Nicene), taking over old pagan buildings and implementing a hierarchy of leadership. This is when the church as we see it today began to take form.
There is a lot to go into on details, but basically what happened is that Christianity began to lose footing with everyday life and quickly became something only on Sunday, filled with hints and reflections of paganism (seriously...study the cult of Isis and how worship of Mary, the mother of Jesus is an off-shoot of that) to make Christianity more palatable to those coming out of polytheism and paganism, the church became entangled in politics to the point that men saw gaining positions in the church not as a calling to serve the Lord, but to serve their own interests. Christianity moved from everyday life and common men and women to buildings and men who used it to serve their own purposes.
Sure, Christianity spread (and the Dark Age right with it) but I suspect that many people were not truly saved. There have been attempts to make changes to the way we do church (Martin Luther, Jan Hus, Charles Finney among others) but many of those man were kicked out of the church for their beliefs or martyred. The Reformation happened and some things got better, the First and Second Great Awakenings helped, but I believe we need a Third Great Awakening.
I am becoming more and more convinced that the Western way of doing church is a death sentence to Christianity on so many levels. We have taken our relevancy and put it in a building on Sunday mornings and called it good. One of the things Mark Anderson said was that we expect people to get up, dress funny, sing strange songs, listen to someone talk about a subject for a bit and then pay for it! I don't even want to go to a church like that anymore.
Our beliefs were from the beginning meant to permeate every bit of our lives. Read the passage from Deuteronomy 6:
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
The Lord isn't saying here to literally tie His commandments on your hands or head or doorframe. What He is saying is His word should be a part of everything you do everywhere you go! It should be on your lips when you speak, it should be at your jobs, it should be in your dreams, it should be a part of all you are.
Is it any wonder non-believers are not attracted to our churches? They call us hypocrits and they are right! We have sold them a Christianity that is without power, without holiness, without the ability to change a person's life, and without relevancy. Sure, we're not perfect, but can you really blame a non-believer for not being attracted to what we've made our Christianity?
We tell them: "Oh just say a prayer and you'll be saved." Really? Where does it say that? And then we wonder why, after saying this nice little prayer and asking Jesus into our hearts (instead of TAKING our hearts and REPLACING it with His) people don't start coming to church or they come for a while and then stop.
Oh, friends, we HAVE to change some things about how we do church, about how we live our lives, and about the Jesus we preach. I don't have the answers for how to do this, but it is burning on my heart! May it burn on your heart too.
Erin
Monday, April 13, 2009
Paradigm Shift
Whoa. Whoa. I am utterly speachless and without words to describe my weekend this weekend with Mark Anderson, Call2All and Imact World Tours head guy. I have had many of my own thoughts on the state of the US, the times we are living in, and the anemia of the Western church confirmed. I have had my faith encouraged, my calling with clarity and my eyes opened like they never have before.
Seriously. I have never had things presented in a way as clear, as well-thought, as clear-cut as they were to me this weekend. I am blown away. I am changed. I very rarely say that about anything, so you KNOW it was good.
I don't know how to talk about briefly 12 hours worth of material in one blog post.
But, I am headed in June to Call2All conference in Hong Kong to be a part of something that is bigger than I had ever imagined I could be a part of.
A lot of what Mark talked about is on their website, www.call2all.org and I'll be posting tidbits of his talks here and there.
I am rocked and blown away and I think the quote by Jim Elliot says it all: ""He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."
Erin
Seriously. I have never had things presented in a way as clear, as well-thought, as clear-cut as they were to me this weekend. I am blown away. I am changed. I very rarely say that about anything, so you KNOW it was good.
I don't know how to talk about briefly 12 hours worth of material in one blog post.
But, I am headed in June to Call2All conference in Hong Kong to be a part of something that is bigger than I had ever imagined I could be a part of.
A lot of what Mark talked about is on their website, www.call2all.org and I'll be posting tidbits of his talks here and there.
I am rocked and blown away and I think the quote by Jim Elliot says it all: ""He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."
Erin
Saturday, April 11, 2009
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