State of the Church

In the United States in 2008 (Barna, PEW research, recent Newsweek magazine article)

• Over 4,000 churches closed.
• Over 1,700 pastors voluntarily left the ministry every month.
• 1,300 pastors were terminated every month.
• 3,500 members left the church every day.

From 1990 to 2008 in US (past 18 years)

• Total % of those claiming to be Christians dropped 10%, from 86.2% to 76%.
• % of Catholics dropped from 26.2 to 25.1 (1% drop).
• Other Christians (Mainline, Protestant, Evangelical) dropped from 60% to 50% (10% drop).
• Other Religions rose from 3.3% to 3.9% of population
• Those with "No Affiliation": rose from 8.2% to 15% (nearly doubled)
• "Don’t know/refused to answer": up from 2.3 to 5.2% (doubled+)

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Columnist Dick Staub, in addressing "the cause and cure of what ails us", asserts that "in the Age of the Hungry Soul faux Christianity dominates American religious life, as Christians have failed to represent Jesus to the world."

• The hypocrisy of sex scandals (catholic priests and head of the National Association of Evangelicals)
  
• The spread of greed, consumerism and “affluenza” (churches directing money to their own campuses rather than the poor and needy)
  
• Instead of "in the essentials unity, in the non-essentials liberty, and in all things charity", we have 3,800+ denominations
• Evangelicals have declared "war" on, and seeking political power over, “outsiders” instead of loving them
• Churches have become consumer-driven entertainment centers, demographically shaped special interest groups divided by age, ethnicity, education, income and worship style.

The Road to Recovery:

• We must restore God to the central place of our lives and churches (lukewarm, lost first love)
• We need to rediscover a holistic gospel boiled down to the essentials (Jesus didn’t come to make us Christians but to make us fully human, restoring what unraveled in our rebellion against God)
• We need to rediscover a sense of authentic community that fosters unity in diversity (more concerned with the direction of people’s lives than with the immediate perfection of their lives)
• We must serve our local community in word and deed (love God; deep faith lived out rather than talked about; moral compass; sharp, accurate, and fair ethics)

God's Tattoos

God's tattoos by John Fischer

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. (Isaiah 49:16)

Not in the sky, because the sky is too high
Not in the clouds, because the clouds can't hold you
Not on a stone, for a stone is too cold
Not on silver or gold, lest anyone think you could be sold
Not in a book, because a book could be lost

But on the palms of His hands
On the flesh
Where you can't be lost, sold or forgotten
On the flesh
Where He sees you all the time
On the flesh
Where the pain was measured out in love
On the flesh
In the warm skin of the Savior

There you are…
Permanent
Indelible
Part of…

Engraved
Cut into
Scarred forever
As God's tattoos

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One of my favorite authors, John Fischer, posted the above poem several days ago. I love this small piece of poetry and the picture it paints of God who loves us. Not everyone was so taken with it. The next day's post was entitled A funny thing happened on the way to a poem.

John apparently stirred up controversy among some of his readers for portraying God as having tattoos (and Jesus had body piercings) to describe our names that have been engraved upon the palm of God's hand.

Some, who share his daily posts with the whole family, were concerned their kids might see the metaphor as encouraging the practice of marking their bodies which as parents they disapprove of.

Still others were elated to find at least an inclusive reference to tattoos in a context they wouldn't expect. They were overjoyed with being able to take what had been for so many a source of division, and use it as a link for parents and kids—a bridge across a formerly insurmountable cultural divide.

This was the lesson John drew from the discussion: We should have an attitude of seizing every opportunity for reconciliation that we can find. There is so much that divides us without even trying. We need to put our efforts into what brings us together.

"…with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
(Ephesians 4:2-3)

Amen.

Rite of Passage

This was passed on to me as true, and while I cannot confirm it, I pass it along for the spiritual lesson it teaches.

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee rite of passage into manhood?

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. The boy is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.

He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own. The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man!

Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.

We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us.

God's True Colors

God is love.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails…(1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

Since God is love, then God is patient, God is kind, God does not envy, God does not boast and is not proud. God is not rude and is not self-seeking. God is not easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. God always protects, God always trusts, God always hopes, God always perseveres. God never fails.

God cannot NOT love... it is His very nature...He cannot be otherwise. Our society typically does not believe those things about love so we find it near impossible to believe those things about God, or that God is love.

Our culture says love is not patient. A young couple says that because they are in love they just can't wait. If you can't wait, then it's not love.

I know men and women who go from relationship to relationship with one unkind person after another. "Bad boys" often get the girl and "nice guys finish last". Kindness is not often popular in our society. If there's no kindness, then it's not love.

When I ask most couples whom I counsel who are preparing for marriage, "Why do you want to get married?" most of the reasons they give have to do with getting their own needs met--what's in it for them. Love is not self-seeking so if you're looking out for your own self-interests then it's not love.

Love keeps no record of wrongs. If you're keeping score, or use past infractions as ammunition when in the heat of an argument... then it's not love.

In a nation with a near 50% divorce rate among first-time marriages can we even make the claim that love always perseveres. Real love does. Always. If there is no perseverance then it's not love.

Because we see love as the opposite of what it really is we often see God as the opposite of who He really is. That distorted perception keeps so many people from trusting God. God loves you and wants you to love Him back. It's impossible to love someone you do not trust.

The Living Jesus

Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (John 14:19-20)

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When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. (Mark 16:1-6)

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"Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. (Rev 1:17-18)

Modern "Believers"

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?

He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" Then they remembered his words. (Luke 24:1-8)

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Christianity is supposedly founded upon the belief that Jesus was raised from the dead and is still alive. I’m wondering lately how many who claim to be Christians really believe that. I don’t mean to sound harsh or judgmental, I'd just like you to give serious consideration to something.

Here’s what I’ve been pondering lately: Suppose someone dear to you were killed in an automobile wreck. That spot where the incident occurred would be marked in your psyche; that place would become sacred ground.

You might do like many others do these days and erect a marker, a roadside memorial. You might revisit that place on the anniversary of the event, returning each year at the same time to remember the one who was no longer with you.

Now suppose someone dear to you were killed in an automobile wreck. The paramedics and EMTs worked tirelessly and were able to resuscitate your loved one! You’d no doubt be ecstatic, overjoyed.

How often would you return to the spot of that incident and relive the events of that day? My guess is not very often. And if you did for a while after the event, it would eventually become less important to do so. Why?

Because the person was alive. They are with you. You could talk to them each day and share life together. The incident would become a memory of the past.

I’m wondering if most of the “believers” in Jesus' resurrection really believe. We relive the death every year, we return to the tomb, but would it really be so important to do so if we really talked to him each day and shared life with him?

If the angels appeared at the tomb today they might ask those making the pilgrimage, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" “What are you doing here? Why are you still stuck in the past? Jesus has been done with this place for a long time and he’s not looking back. He walked out of here and wants you to follow him and share life with him."

Just something I've been thinking about.

Saying No to Sunday Church

The following article is by Tom Ehrich who is a writer, church consultant and Episcopal priest. His Web site is morningwalkmedia.com I found his following article quite interesting...

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For five decades and in growing numbers, American Christians have been saying no to Sunday church. I think it is time we listened.

We have labeled them “unchurched,” “nonbelievers,” “former Christians,” “happy pagans,” “lost” and a “mission field” that’s “ripe for harvest.” These negative terms imply that the absent have a flaw that needs to be addressed.

New congregations have harvested some of these former mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic churchgoers. But even their numbers rise and fall — especially when the founding pastor slips up or retires, and the overall trend in church participation remains down. In some Western states, Sunday churchgoing has fallen below 10 percent of the population.

When this slide commenced in 1964 as baby boomers began graduating from high school, many church leaders didn’t even acknowledge it. For years, they kept counting the absent as present. Then, when the losses couldn’t be ignored, they blamed them on whatever hot-button issues were roiling the religious establishment, as if new liturgies, women in leadership and liberals (or conservatives, take your pick) had driven people away.

We need to see that these “formers” aren’t saying no to God, or to their Christian identity, or to their yearning for faith. Many are simply saying no to Sunday church.

They are expressing a preference for something other than getting up early on Sunday, driving across town, sitting in a pew for an hour or more, making small talk with people they don’t really know, and driving home again.

They are saying no to Sunday, the only day they can get a slow start in this everyone-works-hard era.

They are saying no to being an audience in an age of participation and self-determination.

They are saying no to institutional preaching, repetitive liturgies and assemblies controlled by small cadres usually older than themselves.

They are saying no to being told what to believe.

They are saying no to having their questions ignored.

Instead, they find spiritual enrichment on the Internet and on television. They read faith-related books. They pray on their own. They find their own networks of faithful friends.

The problem isn’t their faith. The problem is Christianity’s delivery system. We are stuck in trying to lure people to physical locations at a time of our choosing, to do what we think they ought to do, and to be loyal in paying for it. It is time we looked beyond the paradigm of Sunday church.

I think the future lies in “multichanneling”: a combination of on-site, online, workplace and at-home offerings that create networks of self-determining constituents, many of whom might never attend Sunday church.

The first challenge, however, is to recognize how deeply wedded we are to Sunday, on-site participation as the only true expression and measure of faithfulness. Almost everything about our institutions — facilities, ordination training, staffing, budgeting — aims to draw people to a central location on Sunday.

We need to see that what works for some doesn’t work for others. Not because the others are flawed, nor because our culture has collapsed and turned against God, but because things change. Just as Jesus took his ministry out of the synagogue and radically rethought the meaning of Sabbath, so God is drawing us away from “former things,” even ones we treasure and consider our duty.

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I think Tom offers an accurate analysis and I think that the root of the problem is that many church-goers believe the ORIGIN of the institutional 'church' as we know it today was created and ordained by God Himself. The system - the once-a-week service - the offering plate - the paid staff - the choir - the CEO Pastor - is NOT a system that God created and put in place.

Many see the current system as in need of an overhaul--needing to be 'tweaked'. What we fail to see is that it's not what Jesus had in mind when He established the Church (literally, 'The Called-out Ones'). When people believe that the system came from God, they usually can't make the separation between the "system of church" and the "body of Christ." They see the two as being the same.

They've grown up hearing the system calling itself 'the body' for so long, they just believe it without thinking. They believe that ALL fellowship is found only within the system. All Christian growth, all learning, all relationships, all knowledge, all communication with God, everything that is Christian and everyone who calls themselves Christian exist ONLY within the modern-day system. Stepping outside of that system is seen as spiritual suicide.

Perhaps the current system needs to collapse in order for the church to discover its intended identity and recapture its original mission. Or better said, as Christ-followers discover their intended identity and mission, the current system will continue to dwindle in size and influence. Stay tuned... more to come.

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God No Longer With Us

"and they shall call his name 'Emmanuel', which being interpreted is 'God with us'."
The incarnation--God breaking into history in human form--the 'miracle of Christmas' is that God is with us. Hold that thought.

Move forward 33 years to the night that Jesus was arrested, just hours before his crucifixion, he told his closest followers...

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many places to dwell (often incorrectly translated 'many mansions'); if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there (where God lives) to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."

Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
(Gotta love that Thomas guy, always questioning; always wanting proof or further explanation)

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him... Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father... Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.
On the day I return you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (John 14:1-20)

Jesus said that it would no longer just be about God being with us, but now God would be in us, and we would be in God. What would make this new relationship, this new level of intimacy, possible?

I've always been taught that Jesus' "going away" was his ascension into heaven (43 days after his death and 40 days after his resurrection), and his "coming back" will be his second coming (2,000+ years and still waiting).

That last night with his disciples Jesus had been telling them he was going away as a reference of his death. He was saying, "in my going away (death) I will prepare a place for you, and I'm coming back (resurrection) so you can make your home in God and God will make his home in you."

Because of the death and resurrection, it's no longer just "God with us", but God IN us. Jesus' death and resurrection makes it possible for us to live in God and God to live in us.

God is not a person, but a spirit. Although a spirit, God does have a distinct personality. He is real, and we can know him, and be known by him... that is the best life... not reserved for the hereafter, but can be experienced in the here and now.

Leaving Empty Religion

As Jesus was in the Temple, in what turned out to be just a few days before his death, he said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." (Matthew 23:37)

But look at what he said next...

^"Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

Then Jesus left the temple… (Matthew 23:38-24:1)

He had just finished saying that the religious order at that time was not a safe place for prophets because the people didn’t want to hear God’s voice, especially if it was a rebuking voice. God longed to engage them with a mother-like love, but they rejected Him.

He was finished working through the religious system and basically said they could have their temple or “house”. They’d rejected God’s spokesmen. For three years—at least once a year—he’d tried to speak like a prophet into the mess and they’d rejected God and His Son, it was full of corruption and HE WAS OUT OF THERE.

"I’m leaving it to you desolate"—("I'm no longer having anything to do with it and in a few years it will be destroyed."). Why would he do that? Dead religion, using religion to rip people off financially ("a den of thieves" to be exact), no longer a house of prayer, and no longer for all the nations (races). Instead of helping people connect with God the religious institution was actually getting in the way of people knowing God.

"So Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." (Matt 24:1)

Notice the progression: from "temple", to "buildings", to "things", to "stones".

From the house of God to a pile of rocks.

This was "the temple of the living God" and Jesus walked out. All their lives the temple has been the center of the disciples' faith and religious expression, now it was being rejected by the One who said, "If you've seen me, you have seen the Father."

Now let’s bring the story into present tense: we’re in the group of disciples and Jesus tells us our ‘church’ is corrupt, out of date, not doing the job it was created to do. “I’m out of here! I’m no longer going to connect with this place!” The Hebrew Scriptures have a word for it: "Ichabod": “The glory has departed”.

"Church" is not a building, a business, a religious system, an institution or an organization—a church is people who have heard the call of Jesus and are following Him at all costs.

"Church" is a living thing, and it's only alive and life-giving as long as it is doing the right things. When it stops doing the right things…Jesus is OUT OF THERE!!! Churches can be busy and active, but worthless, just a pile of stones. A church can die…or lose its way.

Misuse of money, failure of leaders, conflict over petty issues. When "the faithful" are more concerned with winning political power over "outsiders"--the people whom they were simply called to love-- than they are with serving people in Jesus' name, then the church has gotten off course.

Does God still depart from outdated religious systems? Was God ever part of the religious system to begin with? It's not about religion, it's about relationship. Religion always gets in the way of relationship.

"And this is the real and eternal life: That they know you, The one and only true God, And Jesus Christ, whom you sent". (John 17:3)

"But the time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:23-24)

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'"(Acts 17:24-28)

God's Intent

God is not an angry Judge, just waiting for the chance--for an excuse, or reason--to punish people.

In spite of a track record of rebellion, defiance and independence on humanity's part; God is patient and merciful:

Yesterday, Christians around the world celebrated Palm Sunday, commemorating the day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, just days prior to his crucifixion.

"When Jesus came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem, the whole crowd of disciples began to wave palm branches and throw their cloaks in the roadway, and joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

"Hosanna! Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!"
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, Jesus wept over it and said, "If you had only known on this day what would bring you peace...

I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town...

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." (Luke 19; Matthew 23)

I love the picture of God as a mother hen gathering her chicks. When would a hen do that? I didn't grow up on a farm, but my mother did. She tells me that a hen would do that when there is danger--a fire, a storm, a predator--she will give her own life to protect her chicks.

I heard the story of a farmer whose barn burned down. The next day as he surveyed the damage he notice a charred clump of something on the ground. Unsure what it was, he kicked it, surprised when it toppled over a several chicks scurried from underneath.

It is not God's intent to destroy but to rescue. What happens to chicks who refuse to be gathered under the mother hen's wings? What becomes of people who refuse God's care?

God has intention, a will. He gave you one, too; and never violates yours in the process of exercising his own.

Spiritual Waterboarding

Last week I was with a group of people when a conversation about religion broke out. A couple who were present jumped into the deep end. It became apparent rather quickly that the Christian woman had been trying to convert the wayward man for some time. They had had this conversation before.

She was deathly serious about the whole topic; he was amused by her and trying to be amusing in his responses.

I guess she thought now would be an opportune time to mount another offensive (pun intended) since she had the "preacher" with her to help double-team the poor guy. Not that he was at a disadvantage--with a very sharp intellect, as well as a sharp wit, he quite enjoyed sparring with her although he had no interest in "buying into" her belief system.

I'm sure I frustrated her because I didn't play along. Part of me was sympathetic to the plight she had brought upon herself and thought of coming her rescue. But I didn't "have a dog in that fight" and personally disagreed with much of what she was saying. I just didn't want to get into it.

Why not? He wasn't interested. He wasn't curious or seeking. It was her issue, not his. I finally joined the conversation, but not as aggressively as she would have hoped. I had no interest in arguing with him, but was genuinely curious in what he believed.

A fellow sitting about 15 feet away had been eavesdropping on the conversation and came over to add his observations, giving the woman some much-appreciated back-up, I'm sure. About that time someone else got my attention and I excused myself.

Here was my take away from that encounter: We need to be careful not to force-feed someone when they're not hungry; or trying to get someone a drink of "living water" when they have not indicated they are thirsty.

I've seen some evangelism encounters that were the spiritual equivalent of the infamous "water-boarding" interrogation techniques, with the same desired outcome: "we're going to give them more than they can handle, or put the fear of death in them, until they tell us what we want to hear."

That may be a harsh description on my part, but I've seen some stuff over the years -- where innocent people were the victims of an evangelistic ambush-- some encounters that were just so disrespectful of the person being "witnessed" to and in the long-run did more harm than good for the cause of Christ.

Just love the person God has put in front of you at any given moment. His Spirit is at work doing whatever convicting and convincing He wants done at the time. Just love people, and always be ready to give a reason for the hope that lies within your own heart.

...Forgive Us Our Trespasses...

"You don't know what's in my storage space, you can't tell me what I need."

I overheard one end of the conversation between a Purchasing Agent for a large business and a supplier. The supplier, states away and looking at a computer monitor, was apparently trying to tell the purchaser what items the purchaser had "on hand". The purchaser, actually standing in the supply room and surveying its contents, was trying to set the supplier straight and acquire the items she needed.

"You don't know what's in my storage space, you can't tell me what I need."

Until we've been invited into someone's storage space -- that place where they keep the treasures, resources and even the broken things in their lives-- we need to be careful in telling the proprietor what they really need. We certainly don't need to barge into that place uninvited. It's called trespassing.

Some people affiliated with certain religious groups are notorious for forcing their way into people's storage spaces and telling them what they need.

It's not about trying to "sell" your beliefs to someone who's "not in the market"; or about trying to "win the case" by having an "airtight defense". It's not about winning an argument or proving that I'm right and they're wrong.

It's just about loving the person that God puts in front of you at any given moment. Then, if in the course of conversation, you're invited into their storage space-- if they trust you enough to reveal a need or point out something that's broken--then you can enter that sacred space; but even then you need to proceed gently and with incredible respect.