These encounters create for me a real sense of angst. I start to ask myself hard questions: What is the point of church? Where do we go wrong? Why do we so often get it wrong? What should church look like? How should we preach and teach? What's the point of everything we do?
The answer to these questions aren't obvious, at least not to me. I don't even want to try and answer them right now, except to say, I am hungry for something I can't quite articulate. I want something that's real, thoughtful, grace-filled, and life-transforming. Something that touches our everyday world with beauty and goodness. I'm tired of sermonizing, even though to my own shame, I've spent too much time doing it. I'm tired of empty promises and simplistic slogans. I want something less than what is often offered and yet something more, something deeper.
I'm still thinking, still searching . . . hoping to find . . . hoping God will lead.
Peace.
2 comments:
I asked an FBI Agent how he was able to tell a fake $100.00 bill from a genuine one. He said that in his training he spent a number of days sequestered in a room doing nothing but looking at all aspects of the genuine article. He had to visually and mentally focus, locking his energy of observation upon the Real McCoy, that was set before him. To know everything about the nature and the character even the odor and the feel of that genuine article.
Several days later he was put in a room with dozens of bills to proof. He was amaized at the level of accuracy and reliability he had obtained from his training to discern the phoney from the real deal.
Moral of the Story; Fix your gaze upon Jesus The Word of God. Know Him. Read The Word. Pray The Word. Breath The Word, Sing The Word. Share The Word. Take Joy in The Word. Declare all His wonderful deeds.
Just want to share in relation to the topic...
Why go to Church? (This is good)
If you're spiritually alive, you're going to love this! If you're spiritually dead, you won't want to read it. If you're spiritually curious, there is still hope!
Why Go To Church?
A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday.. 'I've gone for 30 years now,' he wrote, 'and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all.'
This started a real controversy in the 'Letters to the Editor' column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:
'I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this ... They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!' When you are DOWN to nothing.... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!
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