The World I know

Are we listening?
Hymns of offering.
Have we eyes to see?
Love is gathering.
All the words that I've been reading
Have now started the act of bleeding
Into one.

So I walk up on high
And I step to the edge
To see my world below.
And I laugh at myself
While the tears roll down.
'Cause it's the world I know.
It's the world I know.

"Has Christianity Become UNCHRISTIAN?"

That is the title to a recent article in Youth Worker Journal by David Kinnaman. The key point in this article is that for millions of Americans "Christianity has come to represent hypocrisy, judgmentalism, anti-intellectualism, insensitivity and bigotry. It's easy see why the next generation wants nothing to do with it."

I posted the collective soul lyrics because this is how I feel. This article has shed light onto the world I know. It is the world in which I was raised. A friend of mine told me that he could find the American church in the New Testament without reading any of the Gospels. After thinking on that statement for a while I came to one conclusion. That's it! We have focused on the rules of church so much that we have missed the heart of Christ's Church. Simply said if you show up and you don't drink or smoke you are considered spiritual. As long as you look good on Sunday morning and are good at hiding your dirt no one will ever say a word about your questionable life choices aside from Sundays.

The sadness to me is that the world I know fits the findings in the study. When I look at the words of Christ I see a man absolutely opposed to these traits. To be the Church Christ began we must have His heart. Christ has always been more impressed with whats inside than the outward show. The world is not starving for the rules of Christianity. The world is not starving for flashy programs or slick speakers. The world is starving for the Body of Christ. The world is starving for a place that is real. That doesn't hide its bumps and bruises. If the Church will accept that is full of sinful people and allow Gods grace to take care of it, the world will begin to see Christ at work and therefore Christ will be lifted up instead of our programs and our styles and sinful hurting people will be drawn to Him.

While this is the world I know, I am not worried. I know Christ Church cannot be destroyed. I know that God is still at work in our lives. I know that a generation who loves God will have the chance to become the Church Jesus intended.

True Relgion

True relgion is not about the name on the building or the acts that are done inside that building. These may be important however too many of us get caught up in the acts and lose the heart. James 1:27 says, "Relgion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

U2's Bono recently made a speech in which he made the following coments:
True Relgion will not let us fall asleep in the comfort of our freedom. Love thy neighbor is not a piece of advice it is a command. That means a lot. It means in the global village we're going to have to start loving a lot more people. His truth is marching on!
Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die! To those in the church who sit in judgement about the AIDS emergency let me take your pulpit for just a moment. Whatever thoughts we have about God, who He is, or if He even exisist, Most will agree, that GOD HAS A SPECIAL PLACE FOR THE POOR. THE POOR ARE WHERE GOD LIVES! GOD IS IN THE SLUMS IN THE CARDBORAD BOX WHERE THE POOR PLAY HOUSE. GOD IS WHERE THE OPPORITUNITY IS LOST AND LIVES ARE SHATTERED. GOD IS WITH THE MOTHER WHO HAS INFECTED HER CHILD WITH A VIRUS THAT WILL TAKE BOTH THEIR LIVES. GOD IS UNDER THE RUBBEL IN THE CRIES WE HEAR DURING WAR TIME. GOD MY FRIENDS IS WITH THE POOR, AND GOD IS WITH US IF WE ARE WITH THEM.
This is not a burden, this is an adventure. Don't let anyone tell you it can't be done. We can be the generation that ends extreme poverty!

innerchange

I'm not very good at writing in things like this. I would much rather sit down with you discuss what I have to say and hear what you have to say. I like the face to face discussion. However I am aware of this tool and I do find some enjoyment out of writing my thoughts. So I have broken down and joined the army of bloggers in a hope that at some point I will have something beneficial to say and that I will hear from some others who definitely have good things to say.

At this moment I am in the midst of a great time in my life. God has blessed my wife and I so that we are expecting our first child in April. My life as for work is also great. I am a youth minister at the Airline Dr. church of Christ. Our ministry there is called innerchange, hence the name of the blog. We call it innerchange because of the change God requires inside each of us. Our goal is to give kids who cross our path the building blocks for deep faith in God and when they have grown out of our ministry to mature as Christian adults in active service in God's kingdom and Church. The reason why life is great in this area is because the church I am at is currently in a struggle to find the reason for it existence. Our leaders are actively seeking God's vision and purpose. I believe if we are going to be a congregation in the future we must address the futures needs now! We must recognize the importance of young people (birth - 25yrs) and their differences from us. I'm not that old but I can tell you that I don't express myself the same way these young people do. Nor did I when I was their age. We must not sacrifice the gospel but we must package it in a way that will nourish the spirit and growth of our younger generation. Instead of throwing water on whatever fire is bu ring inside them for God. I heard a preacher put it this way, "If our teens aren't proud to wear the name of Christ, we need to do a better job of telling His story!"