I love this! But I also know how difficult it is. Just last week my husband and I got all arguementative about how old Mary was when she had Jesus!
What if we look at this as part of the body? Some parts we treat with special modesty. If Christ is the head, I do not think that he would decide to cut out those who do not fit what is considered normal. Our daughter is engaged to a woman. She holds her sexuality up like a flag and celebrates it loudly. What do we do? She is our daughter and we love her. We will attend her wedding and we will stand by her in this strange journey she is on. Why? Because the gospel in one word is love. What if she wants to join the church? I think we would have to help her realize that her sexuality does not define her. It is who she is in Christ that defines her.
So we walk in love, then we struggle with it, then we pray, then we return to love, then we struggle with it, and then we pray again, always returning to Romans 13:18: Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.
This is so refreshing to hear. I am on a journey where I have called on God to tell me what our churches need. I feel he has directly told me. So I went to the church, confident that they would want to hear what God has shared with me. I did not think I was a prophet, but I do know God still talks to his people. I was ignored. My job was to politely sit in the pews while the leaders do all the work. They did not want me to rock the boat. Their "gig" was working. As a person in the pews, I saw how it was not working. Every church I visited had all these blank faces, watching the stage, waiting for something to happen. For two years I have studied the scriptures and talked to people. I can't stop sharing what I feel God wants. Some receive it and some don't. Not having any outer Spiritual authority, I have no say in the churches. Do we dare add apostolic leaders, evangelists, and prophets? It would be too unpolished!
Yes, I do see how God is using Covid to make us aware of what we are doing as a society. I truely believe that our churches are becoming more secular. We expect our leaders to be powerful people movers and shakers. And if they show any weakness, we try to find ways to find a more polished leader. We expect our leaders to be the head when Christ needs to be the head. We need our leaders to dance before the Lord and weep in front of the altar. We need them to be the body part that God created them to be with all the rest of us doing our parts too so that we can work as a real body. Something has become lost and we are looking to God to set it right. The people of the past thought Christ would get rid of the Romans and give them their freedom again. Instead he gave them eternal life. What are we looking for right now, and is it what God has planned. How do we seek God with all of our hearts so that we do hear him at this time. I keep calling out to Him but he keeps telling me to wait. He is faithful!
I was writing it more for those of us who have read these stories so often and forget how multi-dimensionally God works. I was worried that some might take it as gospel truth, but I have also been told that if I have a message, to put it out there. My character here is "preachy" because he feels he has kept this story secret for too long and knows it will benefit others in finding out who Jesus is.
I have another one on Isaac that I would like to present.
So many of our churches in my area must not have proper training then. I went to so many churches and they all played louder than the congregation. I am convinced that they do this so that everyone outside will know there is a party going on in the church and want to come in and enjoy it. This is totally "tongue in cheek" but nothing else explains it. A "tent revival" came to our city. There were about twenty people in attendance and the leaders also had to have the sound system up at a high level. I politely inquired why and was politely ignored. Sigh...
But don't you find that we are becoming like the rest of society in that we sit, listen, and at the end give our "all important thumbs up or thumbs down"? We can't really participate. One worship leader noticed that not many people sing any more. I stopped singing because I can't hear myself or anyone around me. What does she expect? Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Why is the congregation drowned out? Have we made our church services into performances? I know our worship leaders and pastors are under a lot of pressure to give a good church service.
Because I needed a different type of worship, I went to different denominations in our city, looking for the variety you speak of. Every church had the same type of worship. It felt like every church was trying to be better and louder. And as I looked around at the congregation, there were all these empty faces, watching for something... I talked to the leaders and they all told me that if it was not broken, there is no need to fix it. When I talked to the people in the pews, both old and young felt we were missing something too. They too wanted to be the church on Sunday morning, not just watch another good performance. God is telling me to wait, but I know there is a new wave coming along. I am impatient for it.
But what do you do if you are kind of forced to "ghost"? We started attending a small church because we really wanted community. We were very involved and were realistic about not being accepted right away as most people are basically shy and cautious. But after five years of no community, I went to our pastor and told him how hard it was being a part of the church. He had no answers so I started quietly looking for a church where there was community. My husband agreed to follow me but decided to stay with this church while I looked. Someone once told me that "Christians are like porcupines: they have a lot of good points but they are very hard to get close to". I found every church in our area the same: a lot of loud music, a message, and no outreach to strangers. I do believe that we have forced our pastors and our worship teams to be performers so that we can complacently sit back and critique. We are no longer a body of believers. I refuse to go to a church where my only job is to sit in the pews and be good. So I am a ghost that even my elder is too scared to approach. It makes me so sad. I want to see Christ's kingdom grow. I want to see us work as a body of believers with Christ as our head. Along with the rest of the human race, I want to belong. Can the church pull together it's ghosts and give them a place to belong?
Too bad Montreal CRC is so far away! I am in BC. I have visited a lot of churches. I do not want to change church because a lot of people like it the way it is. I am looking for something less polished. If I want to learn soccer, I do not go to a place and listen to someone tell me how to play soccer, I also want to practice it. I feel like church tells us how to be the church, but we never get to practice it.
Because our pastors and worship teams are expected to "give us something good", they do not often want to leave the tried and true path of teaching in church. I am told that all these ideas can work in a small group setting. But I see all the empty faces watching the stage when I go to church and know that many are wanting something more. I am participating in a very small church. I get to lead the singing because no one else wants to. I encourage input constantly. Slowly we are getting out of 'me running the show' and into corporate worship where others contribute as the Spirit leads. The pastor loves to teach so I try not to impose on him. I have asked if I could pray in tongues. As nervous as the group is about it, there have been some powerful interpretations, but I do not want to insist on doing this every week either. I would love to have a place to try out these ideas, but I have no authority as a layperson.
Scripture and prayer should be the core part of worship. Thank you for your questions. It helps me clarify my own ideas. Because God is calling us to be a body, I am saying that during a church service, the people need to proclaim God's word and move as the Spirit leads. We have so many mature Christians in the churches. They are led by Christ daily, but we tell them to sit in our services and be fed by our leaders. If our leaders would act as facilitators so that members of the congregation could read and interpret scripture as it applied to their own lives, then the facilitators could discuss with the congregation if this is a true interpretation of the word of God. I find our leaders too concerned about false teaching to let anyone speak. Jesus was unknown, but he went into the synagogues, read the scripture and interpreted it. The leaders listened carefully and could find nothing wrong with what he said. The rest of the congregation listened carefully and because the leaders accepted what he said, then they did too.
I would like to see more of a reliance on the Spirit. He leads us daily. If we stopped trying to create perfect, polished services, and instead focused on awkward silences, taking baby steps in using our Spiritual gifts, and working together, I do think we would be a truer body of Christ.
What if we used our Heidelberg Catechism as a weekly guide? One could do a whole service just on Lord's Day 1, Question 1. We could read the question and answer together, and then read through the scripture verses, meditating on them and having individuals read them out loud and give their input on it. The facilitator can maintain order in worship but all the congregation would have to be actively engaged. Maybe this has been done before, but I do think that our "seekers" in this culture need to be a part of the process of finding out who God is.
Posted in: Human Sexuality Report: Challenging Conversations Toolkit
I love this! But I also know how difficult it is. Just last week my husband and I got all arguementative about how old Mary was when she had Jesus!
What if we look at this as part of the body? Some parts we treat with special modesty. If Christ is the head, I do not think that he would decide to cut out those who do not fit what is considered normal. Our daughter is engaged to a woman. She holds her sexuality up like a flag and celebrates it loudly. What do we do? She is our daughter and we love her. We will attend her wedding and we will stand by her in this strange journey she is on. Why? Because the gospel in one word is love. What if she wants to join the church? I think we would have to help her realize that her sexuality does not define her. It is who she is in Christ that defines her.
So we walk in love, then we struggle with it, then we pray, then we return to love, then we struggle with it, and then we pray again, always returning to Romans 13:18: Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.
Posted in: Apest: We Need It for Full-Orbed Jesus-Incarnating Ministry
This is so refreshing to hear. I am on a journey where I have called on God to tell me what our churches need. I feel he has directly told me. So I went to the church, confident that they would want to hear what God has shared with me. I did not think I was a prophet, but I do know God still talks to his people. I was ignored. My job was to politely sit in the pews while the leaders do all the work. They did not want me to rock the boat. Their "gig" was working. As a person in the pews, I saw how it was not working. Every church I visited had all these blank faces, watching the stage, waiting for something to happen. For two years I have studied the scriptures and talked to people. I can't stop sharing what I feel God wants. Some receive it and some don't. Not having any outer Spiritual authority, I have no say in the churches. Do we dare add apostolic leaders, evangelists, and prophets? It would be too unpolished!
Posted in: Small Gift Ideas for Church Volunteers?
I really liked the five dollar coffee gift cards. Cards of encouragement were great too.
Posted in: Why the Church Needed COVID-19
Yes, I do see how God is using Covid to make us aware of what we are doing as a society. I truely believe that our churches are becoming more secular. We expect our leaders to be powerful people movers and shakers. And if they show any weakness, we try to find ways to find a more polished leader. We expect our leaders to be the head when Christ needs to be the head. We need our leaders to dance before the Lord and weep in front of the altar. We need them to be the body part that God created them to be with all the rest of us doing our parts too so that we can work as a real body. Something has become lost and we are looking to God to set it right. The people of the past thought Christ would get rid of the Romans and give them their freedom again. Instead he gave them eternal life. What are we looking for right now, and is it what God has planned. How do we seek God with all of our hearts so that we do hear him at this time. I keep calling out to Him but he keeps telling me to wait. He is faithful!
Posted in: Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
I was writing it more for those of us who have read these stories so often and forget how multi-dimensionally God works. I was worried that some might take it as gospel truth, but I have also been told that if I have a message, to put it out there. My character here is "preachy" because he feels he has kept this story secret for too long and knows it will benefit others in finding out who Jesus is.
I have another one on Isaac that I would like to present.
Posted in: What Songs Bring You Comfort? Let's Make a Playlist
I am amazed at how old songs are coming to my mind as I deal with the world around me.
My God and I go through the fields together, we walk and talk as good friends should and do...
Everybody ought to know, everybody ought to know, every body ought to know who Jesus is...
And Ten Thousand Reasons always calms and focuses me.
Posted in: A Closer Look at Corporate Worship
So many of our churches in my area must not have proper training then. I went to so many churches and they all played louder than the congregation. I am convinced that they do this so that everyone outside will know there is a party going on in the church and want to come in and enjoy it. This is totally "tongue in cheek" but nothing else explains it. A "tent revival" came to our city. There were about twenty people in attendance and the leaders also had to have the sound system up at a high level. I politely inquired why and was politely ignored. Sigh...
Posted in: A Closer Look at Corporate Worship
But don't you find that we are becoming like the rest of society in that we sit, listen, and at the end give our "all important thumbs up or thumbs down"? We can't really participate. One worship leader noticed that not many people sing any more. I stopped singing because I can't hear myself or anyone around me. What does she expect? Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Why is the congregation drowned out? Have we made our church services into performances? I know our worship leaders and pastors are under a lot of pressure to give a good church service.
Because I needed a different type of worship, I went to different denominations in our city, looking for the variety you speak of. Every church had the same type of worship. It felt like every church was trying to be better and louder. And as I looked around at the congregation, there were all these empty faces, watching for something... I talked to the leaders and they all told me that if it was not broken, there is no need to fix it. When I talked to the people in the pews, both old and young felt we were missing something too. They too wanted to be the church on Sunday morning, not just watch another good performance. God is telling me to wait, but I know there is a new wave coming along. I am impatient for it.
Posted in: How "Ghosting" Hurts Your Church—and What You Can Do About It (Part 2)
But what do you do if you are kind of forced to "ghost"? We started attending a small church because we really wanted community. We were very involved and were realistic about not being accepted right away as most people are basically shy and cautious. But after five years of no community, I went to our pastor and told him how hard it was being a part of the church. He had no answers so I started quietly looking for a church where there was community. My husband agreed to follow me but decided to stay with this church while I looked. Someone once told me that "Christians are like porcupines: they have a lot of good points but they are very hard to get close to". I found every church in our area the same: a lot of loud music, a message, and no outreach to strangers. I do believe that we have forced our pastors and our worship teams to be performers so that we can complacently sit back and critique. We are no longer a body of believers. I refuse to go to a church where my only job is to sit in the pews and be good. So I am a ghost that even my elder is too scared to approach. It makes me so sad. I want to see Christ's kingdom grow. I want to see us work as a body of believers with Christ as our head. Along with the rest of the human race, I want to belong. Can the church pull together it's ghosts and give them a place to belong?
Posted in: Instead of Church
Too bad Montreal CRC is so far away! I am in BC. I have visited a lot of churches. I do not want to change church because a lot of people like it the way it is. I am looking for something less polished. If I want to learn soccer, I do not go to a place and listen to someone tell me how to play soccer, I also want to practice it. I feel like church tells us how to be the church, but we never get to practice it.
Posted in: Instead of Church
Because our pastors and worship teams are expected to "give us something good", they do not often want to leave the tried and true path of teaching in church. I am told that all these ideas can work in a small group setting. But I see all the empty faces watching the stage when I go to church and know that many are wanting something more. I am participating in a very small church. I get to lead the singing because no one else wants to. I encourage input constantly. Slowly we are getting out of 'me running the show' and into corporate worship where others contribute as the Spirit leads. The pastor loves to teach so I try not to impose on him. I have asked if I could pray in tongues. As nervous as the group is about it, there have been some powerful interpretations, but I do not want to insist on doing this every week either. I would love to have a place to try out these ideas, but I have no authority as a layperson.
Posted in: Instead of Church
Scripture and prayer should be the core part of worship. Thank you for your questions. It helps me clarify my own ideas. Because God is calling us to be a body, I am saying that during a church service, the people need to proclaim God's word and move as the Spirit leads. We have so many mature Christians in the churches. They are led by Christ daily, but we tell them to sit in our services and be fed by our leaders. If our leaders would act as facilitators so that members of the congregation could read and interpret scripture as it applied to their own lives, then the facilitators could discuss with the congregation if this is a true interpretation of the word of God. I find our leaders too concerned about false teaching to let anyone speak. Jesus was unknown, but he went into the synagogues, read the scripture and interpreted it. The leaders listened carefully and could find nothing wrong with what he said. The rest of the congregation listened carefully and because the leaders accepted what he said, then they did too.
I would like to see more of a reliance on the Spirit. He leads us daily. If we stopped trying to create perfect, polished services, and instead focused on awkward silences, taking baby steps in using our Spiritual gifts, and working together, I do think we would be a truer body of Christ.
What if we used our Heidelberg Catechism as a weekly guide? One could do a whole service just on Lord's Day 1, Question 1. We could read the question and answer together, and then read through the scripture verses, meditating on them and having individuals read them out loud and give their input on it. The facilitator can maintain order in worship but all the congregation would have to be actively engaged. Maybe this has been done before, but I do think that our "seekers" in this culture need to be a part of the process of finding out who God is.