Keith Knight

As I continue to read this thread, and take part in discussions now and then, I am struck by the fact that we are making every effort to make our church language palatable for those who may be new to the church or to the faith.

As we 'water down' our language, is there a subsequent desire to water down the Gospel? Will the time come when we find the terms 'sin' or 'hell' or 'damnation' offensive to the pew-sitter? I certainly hope not. And I hope that we continue to speak of justification, sanctification, propitiation and the notion that, unless we believe that Christ died for our sins, we're going to hell.

It's one thing to be stuck on our structural language as long as we don't attempt to rewrite the creeds and doctrines to make it more palatable.

I've made the ecumenical rounds, serving as director of communication for the CRCNA, The Presbyterian Church in Canada and The Anglican (Episcopal) Church of Canada.  Talk about structural language, try figuring out what a primate, a diocese, a presbytery or the eucharist is.

There are at least two kinds of responses to this question:

1. How does the church respond to those within the church who have lost their jobs?

In some cases, they will require only temporary assistance as they seek employment elsewhere. The probably have marketable skills and should be able to land something else relatively quickly.

In some cases, these members may require career counselling or skills training. Employers within the church may be able to provide the necessary training to make them employable.

2. How does the church respond to those within the neighbourhood who are unemployed?

I just returned from a two day conference in Ottawa ON called Capitalyze .

It was hosted by a broad range of Christian organizations and ministries within the city - most of them associated to a church. One church responded to the need of pervasive neighbourhood unemployment by creating a social enterprise -- a non-profit organization -- that trained participants in entrepreneurship and cooking. They created a successful catering company. Other churches -- and they are all surprisingly small churches -- created non-profits to provide various forms of skills training.  These non-profits were generally accompanied by Alpha courses to attract most of them into the faith and the local church.

It would seem logical to have some unemployed church members provide leadership and become involved in these kinds of social enterprises.

This leads to a fundamental question: When church members become unemployed, can this be seen as a 'nudge from God' to become engaged in some other kind of work, ministry or activity? These are certainly moments to have folks wonder about God's purpose/calling in their lives.

That's great news, John.

I think that the key is mobilize pew-sitters to become activists within their communities. I would hate to see churches create yet one more formal program of community outreach, Mobilize the members to do that.

I have seen groups of Christian men and women involved in business or the professions who spend Saturdays throughout the summer beautifying their communities: picking up garbage, painting public spaces, painting derilect buildings. I have see groups of business owners collectively raise $100,000 to build a Habitat for Humanity house and turn it over to a needy family. I have seen business leaders build self-storage units and then turn over the profits each year to local youth ministry.

As I said, I'd hate to see the church formally take on those community projects. Let the church focus on preaching the gospel, leading their members and those from the community in their spiritual walk. But have the church create an atmosphere within the congregation that encourages community involvement in a wide variety of ways.

It would be wonderful to have young men and women -- after they have publicly processed their faith -- to ask: "What's next?" How can I use my gifts within the Kingdom of God ... recognizing that that Kingdom does indeed stretch beyond the church's walls.

All of us Christ-believers spend at least 95% of our time outside of the church's walls. We are called to make a difference in the lives of those we meet, and that certainly includes our local town, village, city, province/state, nation.

Greetings, Richard.

The Canadian Ministry gatherings are always great events. That's where I fell in love. With the Church, I mean. It is as much a social event as it is a spiritual event.

As I look at the Canadian cultural landscape and the growing absence of Christ and faith, I hope that the next National Gathering has more of a Kingdom focus. How does -- and should -- the CRC impact, shape, and transform the Canadian culture? How do classes and congregations bring Christ into the communities they serve?

These gatherings -- as wonderful as they are -- need to bring Christ to the nation. And while there is considerable merit in having CRC types serving on various interdenominational boards and committees, there is a passionate need to bring the Kingdom into the hearts of our pew-sitters.

In my role with the Canadian Christian Business Federation, thousands of Christian men and women who are involved in business or the professions are being regularly challenged to reflect Christ in the marketplace. That involves, at minimum, bringing a culture of integrity to those in business.

Imagine the thousands of CRC folk across the country who focus on living lives of integrity, daring to share the gospel with neighbors and co-workers. Thousands of men, women and children who dare to wear the name of Christ on their sleeves ... figuratively, of course.

My hope for the National Gathering is that it becomes a place where action speaks louder than words; where the Kingdom is proclaimed instead of celebrating our fine organizational structure.

Let's talk about Real Estate and the tremendous cost of building and maintaining a church building.

eg A medium sized CRC is undergoing a $4.6 million renovation.

Is that simply 'the price of being a church' and offering ministry programs?

$4.6 million could fully fund 10 missionaries for 10 years, reaching potentially thousands of families for Christ, transforming those families and communities.

Is it time to consider a move to house churches or renting more modest facilities?

We have a vibrant youth/young adult ministry. We bring in five busloads full of university students from three area universities (about 300 students) every Sunday morning. This 'bus ministry' is a vital part of who we are as church. The church's dedication to this bus ministry really hit home last summer -- during August -- when there appeared to be a communication glitch with the bus company and they didn't show up to pick up the students. The church arranged for a large fleet of taxis to pick up all of the students, take them to church, and return them when it was all over.

The fall season is formally kicked off when we launch the Adopt a Student program. Students sign up to be paired with church families. We have three rules for church members before they adopt a student: they must be part of a small group, you can't adopt the same student two years in a row, and if you're single you must adopt a student from the same gender.

Angela, you asked what study material we use for our young adult/university students.

These are millennials. They have tons of questions about faith and, more importantly, they don't know how to defend their faith.

They wanted meaty content so we're offering an apologetics course provided by 'Answers In Genesis', taking them especially through the first chapters of Genesis.

These students tell us that they have enough opportunities to socialise with friends on campus. They crave biblical content, so we give it to them.

Imagine hundreds of Christian young adults, equipped in apologetics, let loose on our secular university/college campuses!

There are two other areas that apply equally to young adults and to all of us.

1. Pornography. Today's culture is saturated with pornography. I  can't imagine a fall session of young adults, students -- probably all of us -- without a serious, biblical treatment of pornography. Genesis 2 and the treatment of male and female as God's image-bearers can't be stressed often enough.

2. Technology. We are an inter-connected society. We literally have the "whole world in our hands" as the old song goes.  While we regularly preach the importance of sabbath rest from our work, we also need to build in sabbath rest from technology ... whether that is turning off our cell phones and emails for an hour or two a day, an entire day on the weekend, whatever.  Do we control technology or does it control us?  During Sunday worship, young adults/students are encouraged to turn their cell phones ON: mute the calls but open up the Bible app when it's time to read scripture.

Do not use Scripture to convince your fellow CRC members of the beauty of full inclusion.  That single piece of advise will either 'make' or 'break' the CRC.

If the CRC returns to, or sticks with, biblical preaching then the LGBTQ agenda will always be seen as perversion, sin, contrary to God's teaching. Love the sinner; hate the LGBTQ agenda

Once one uses 'story' or personal experiences or sappy moralism, the denomination stands for nothing and falls for everything.

Sam Allberry's Is God anti-gay?  should be must reading for every CRC member. Kevin DeYoung refers to this book as "the perfect book to hand to skeptics and wobbly believers." It's a concise 90-page booklet that pulls no punches.

The gospel doesn't define us by our temptations but by our righteousness.

And while the discussion continues, I am thinking of a few gay men who I know who have read the scriptures and who have decided that to practice homosexuality is sin, that they need to live holy lives and that, for them, it means a life of celibacy. They are part of a support group that includes recovering alcoholics and those dealing with addiction to pornography.

While theologians debate context, exegete to their hearts content, and question what Jesus really meant, gay men and women simply pick up their Bibles, read what it says, and conclude that a homosexual lifestyle is not conducive to holy living.

Gay marriage is NOT consistent with what scripture says about marriage.

God doesn't want us to be  happy; He wants us to be obedient.

When we are burdened by our circumstance -- whether it's same gender attraction, poverty, mental illness, debilitating illness -- that's when we turn to Christ who carries all our burdens. That's when we find our strength in Him. That's when God is enough.

Undervalued? Well, I hope not.

The most foundational trait of a leader -- especially a small group leader or a leader within the church's council-- is someone who lives and breathes a Christian lifestyle; ie one who is known and seen to be 'walking with the Lord', one who has a strong prayer life and who knows the scriptures intimately.

That is, as I said, foundational. One's Christian character obviously translates into someone who is humble, a servant leader, focused on God's kingdom rather than trying to create his or her own.

A leader also isn't one who backs down when calling 'sin' a sin. A leader disciples, mentors and trains.

The rest is 'gravy'.