Category: Church ponders (Page 1 of 2)

Meetings of the church have typically placed the consumption of carefully prepared and rehearsed sermons at the center of the time together.   The preacher is the central figure in the time, and the sermon is presented and received as “the main meal” for the “feeding of the sheep”.   In many gatherings, the words that the speaker says from the podium are treated as “the word of the Lord” – unquestionable and authoritative.

Is that God’s thinking, that a preacher would stand as the unique mouthpiece of God?  For that matter, do sermons have any part in the Christian experience? Continue reading

What is God’s purpose for the church?

Is the church merely the earthly holding pen for those who are looking forward to eternal life, someday?  Or, does God have other, current, intentions for the Bride of Christ?

In Titus 2:13, Paul talks about “… looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus …” (NASB)

What does that mean?  Especially the part about the appearing of the glory of Christ Jesus? Continue reading

If you are having a hard time seeing the picture you can save it and print it, or open it in a new window in a larger size.

I drew the above sketch a while ago in an attempt to work through and articulate the interaction of God with humanity, focusing on the transitions that happened when Jesus went to the cross.

Here’s what I see as the basic testimony of the Bible: Continue reading

This is the fourth installment in a series of blog posts that seek to speak to the topic of decision making in the organic church.  It seems good, before sharing my thoughts, to briefly summarize what has been brought out so far: Continue reading

I’m a white guy from Oregon.   I grew up in a small town on the Oregon coast, where the main ethnic distinction was between those of Scandinavian descent and the rest of the white people.  There was one black kid in my high school, the adopted son of a white family. Continue reading

It’s Sunday.  Did you go to a building for a worship service this morning?  Increasingly, the answer given by committed Christians is “no”.

In the past week or so, there have been a number of posts about the Dones.  These are the very involved and serious Christians who are dropping out of the organized church.  I’m one of them. Continue reading

#TheresGottaBeABetterWay

For me, one fingernails-on-chalkboard irritation  is lack of interest in understanding other people’s perspective.  Not lack of understanding, but lack of interest in trying to understand.

If you want to find how well-shaped my character is, one good test is to show no interest in understanding what I’m trying to say.  That frustration transfers over to conversations that I’m not a part of, too.  Which is why I love radio talk shows.  Maybe not. Continue reading

Adam and Eve carried within their DNA the potential for all of the physical variations – obvious or subtle – of the human race.  Ever feature and hue woven into the tapestry of humanity were hidden possibilities.   Every culture and clan; every nation, tribe and tongue; they all spilled forth, splashing and splitting and breaking into a thousand rivulets from the headwaters of creation.

At every division, sin was the stone in the way.  Like a massive rock outcropping in a stream, jealousy, pride, hatred, and murder split the flow, sending one group this way and others that.   Along the way God interacted, protecting and redirecting, sometimes encouraging the division, other times bringing divergent streams back together.  The Flood, the Tower of Babel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses.

Ultimately, when the time was right, Jesus. Continue reading

We like certainty.

We like to know we’re on the right side, that the things we believe are true.

Much of our security – our identity – is found in our certainty about political views, ideas about God, or the superiority of our country.

This tribal inclination, this embracing of ‘isms’, this staunch commitment to a particular church or political party or ideology – this is common.  This need to be right and sure about our affiliations and opinions – this is a normal part of being human.   Certainty is a comfort food for the brain.  But our certainty is often misplaced.  If one thing is certain, it’s that we can’t all be right all the time about all those things we hold so dearly.  And that’s a problem. Continue reading