What are we doing?

The question of the day is, what are we really doing? I've been reading a new book...actually a second edition (updated with a cooler cover) called Pagan Christianity. If you want to read an interesting take on how the modern day church arrived in their current situation then please read. If you aren't quite ready to have your religiously conservative mind blown, then I suggest you wait a while. It's definitely not for everyone.

But the question remains...what are we doing? I've been a minister for the past several years...9 almost ten to be exact, and I still wonder occasionally what we are trying to accomplish. Is it teaching and experiencing the life of Jesus through Scripture and relationships? Is it to become good people? Is it to promote the values of Moralistic America?

I'd love to hear your take on this. Because, once we discover what we're trying to accomplish for an hour or two on Sunday, then maybe we'll also discover better ways to communicate that answer. I'm not a pessimist by any stretch, and I think that there are some great things about worshipping together in a building on a Sunday morning...but honestly, when it comes to communicating the truth of Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the dependance of his people...I don't think we're even close to communicating well.

So, the question on the table is this...'What are we doing?' Please let me know your response and it should give way to some good discussion.

For God so loved

I've been studying about our upcoming sermon series on John 3:16. This was probably the first verse I learned as a child growing up at Bethel Baptist Church. It was all about 'Belief.' You didn't have to do anything except 'believe.' I wasn't sure what that meant exactly, but I knew I wanted to believe. When I came into the churches of Christ, I didn't hear that verse alot. I heard acts 2:38 and a few others that are C.O.C. standards, but John 3:16...I rarely heard mentioned. Maybe it wasn't spoken of because the premise behind the verse seemed a bit fuzzy. You know, many people look at the bible as instructional. They want to know What to do and in what order to do it. This verse is pretty simplistic and offers no real instruction on how one should 'believe.'

It says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life."

After being involved in the churches of christ, I can see why this isn't a focal point. It's pretty basic. I'm sure people would say, "well of course we know that God loves us. That's a given. Yes you should believe. But if you want to know how to believe you have to read this verse...."

I'm not a proponent of taking one verse and hanging my christianity on it's principles because I think the bible should be looked at as a whole, in context. But the context behind this verse did change everything. Love is explained and an alternative to death is offered. It doesn't explain it all, but then again, which verse does explain everything?

I'll be writing more about this...these are just a few of the things I'm thinking.

Amazing

It’s amazing really. To think that the picture on the left is actually my little boy safely growing inside my wife. Our doctor recently got her new machine and we weren’t expecting this, but when she started the camera, he started the show. Legs flailing. Arms moving. Mouth opening and closing. Actions we would be trying to stop were it 5 years later in a doctor’s office…but now, it’s magnificent.

We’ve been waiting a long time. Makes me wonder about the sending and arrival of God’s son. I wonder if he was excited about the stir his Son would cause when he placed him right in the middle of the world? He knew that he would cause commotion even as an embryo. God only knew what a baby that created that much uneasiness while in the womb would do once unleashed into the world. I also wonder how he could have parted with him. How he could have sent him to endure so much…it’s not that he couldn’t stand the pain or the solitude or the life set out before him. I think the difficulty was that he was coming to help. He was coming bringing truth that anyone in their right mind would be glad to listen to. His love for his people was about to be rejected in huge ways. To send your son into a world that is overflowing with fear and hate. That kind of love I can only hope to partially understand.

I look at this strange picture and I know what he is in for. The heartache, disappointment and trouble. But, I also know that one day he’ll meet the God I’ve met. He’ll meet the Jesus who has saved me from myself. He’ll know the lineage and history of those who have come before him…their mistakes, problems and successes both spiritually and physically. I also know that he’ll experience love so profound that he will not know how to process it. And one day, God-willing he’ll be sending his son into the world too…with prayer and expectation.