Thoughts About the Church

Tall Skinny Kiwi strikes another (although not original) thought about the church. Bridge and I have felt similarly for some time, although not necessarily as strongly as we once did. This is a great reminder about what being the church means. Makes me think. How about you?

Soli Deo Gloria

Audience Participation: Which Is Worse?

Some of these are humorous; some are thought provoking. I encourage you to participate and answer in the comments section (I know, I know - where else would you answer, right?). My answers are in italicized (obviously), but they are in no form the "correct" answer. These are simply my opinions. What's yours?

Which Is Worse?

1. Obama or McCain?
2. taking another cookie in front of your son or having him call you a cheater for doing so?
3. the economic "crisis" or the government "bailout"?
4. high gas prices or no car to get you there?
5. having to help a lizard give birth or realizing that's not a foot you're pulling on because lizards lay eggs?
6. missing out on an opportunity to grow and realizing it or having no clue?
7. Barney or "Tickle Me" Elmo?
8. two birthdays in two days or a birthday and Christmas in two days?
9. waiting for Jesus to return and doing nothing or not knowing Jesus?
10. changing a dirty diaper or mopping up the "didn't-make-it-to-the-toilet" mess?
11. disciplining your child in front of people or watching someone else not discipline their child?
12. singing off key or having no rhythm?
13. going to class and having a pop quiz or going to class for an open book test and forgetting your book?
14. running ahead of God or dragging your feet?
15. taking this survey or ignoring the requests of a friend and repeatedly not commenting on his blog?

Now, go answer before you read my answers.

My Answers:

1. Obama - for lots of reasons
2. "you cheater" - he said it with this look on his face like he was "gonna do me in"
3. the bailout - why are we rewarding greed and bad money-handling again?
4. no car - I know walking is good for you, but still
5. the realization - this was a story I read from an email - very funny
6. again, the realization - it burns to know you could have gotten so much more out of an opportunity
7. Barney - I never did like the big, purple dinosaur
8. birthday and Christmas - who likes having your present intake cut in half?
9. not knowing Jesus - tough one - can there be a tie?
10. mopping - at least with a diaper, it's all contained (in theory, anyway)
11. watching someone else - you don't help the child learn anything but how to be a spoiled brat
12. singing off key - you could still play drums if you had rhythm
13. open book - that's just plain off if you don't take your book to an open book test
14. running ahead - another tough one - surely there can be ties
15. being a heartless friend who reads every blog posted but never comments on anything - but I'm not bitter

BONUS:

not posting in 5 days or realizing nobody reads your blog unless you prod them?

I think you know the answer. Don't you?

My Sacrifice

It's a Creed song. But that's not the point of this post. As I've mentioned before, my alarm goes off at 4am. Notice how I always say that my alarm goes off then, and not that I get up then. A couple, ten presses of the ole snooze button allows me some extra sleep. I'm usually out of bed by 4:30.

My morning routine consists of bathroom time, batcave time, bathroom time and leaving. Sometimes, I sneak a breakfast time in there, but not very often. It's just hard for me to eat at 4:30/5 in the morning. Besides, I'm usually hungry again around 10-ish.

My batcave time consists of Bible time, blog time, between-God-and-me time (you knew I had to keep the whole "b" thing going) and body building time. That sounds grand, but it's usually just some push-ups and sit-ups. The only thing really consistent in the the batcave time is the between-God-and-me time. I hit the rest most of the time, but some mornings I may spend more time in the Bible and not get to blog, or vice versa, or I won't build my body, or whatever.

My morning routine seems to get easier everyday. It's still not easy. But it has come a long way from whence I started. I fought God on it for a long time. It's just very, very early. My turning point came one morning (before I started writing down stuff) as I was doing my sit-ups. I remember laying on the floor and asking God why it has to be so hard. You know? I was tired; I was trying to do sit-ups; I wanted to be back in bed. Why are things so hard, God?

"It wouldn't be a sacrifice if it was easy."

Whoa. You answered me? I'm sacrificing for You right now? Talk about an attitude change. Here I was thinking I was just going through some tough times, and God saw it for what it really is. It's a season. And, during this particular season, some sacrifices have to be made. So, me getting up every morning to have my time alone with God is a sacrifice. You know, Psalms talks about bringing the "sacrifice of praise." And look at Romans 12:1

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to
present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is
your spiritual worship."

Even now, what can I say? My early morning hours are an act of spiritual worship to the creator of the universe. I'm sure it's much sweeter to His ears now. I don't gripe and complain nearly as much as I used to.

What is your act of spiritual worship? Is God asking you to sacrifice anything right now? Remember, it's a season; seasons change. God is here, lovingly walking you through this time, and He's already in the next season lovingly waiting for you. Are you kicking and screaming your way through this time? I was. Maybe it would help if you could see it for what it is. A season. A season of sacrifice. Your living sacrifice; your spiritual worship. Be encouraged.

Soli Deo Gloria

Huh

Since I seriously started writing stuff down two days ago, I've seemingly been writing something down every time I turned around. I thought, "Wow, this is great! I'll never forget a thing!" Today, on the other hand, I haven't had anything to write down. I've written nothing down.
Morning time with God - great scripture passages - nothing.
Prayer at church - nothing.
All day long - waiting, listening - nothing.
Was God not talking to me today? Was I expecting too much? What happened? Where's the beef?
You know, I could go all psycho and think God doesn't love me today, and that I've heard all I'm going to learn. But, I'm not. Curious, and honestly, a little disappointed, but not upset or frustrated or anything like that. Just wondering. Out loud. Or at least online. Huh.

A Question

Does the church today, in particular the American church, enjoy peace and increase in numbers? If so, why? If not, why not? Ok, so I have more than one question.

Acts 9:31 says:

Meanwhile the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was built up. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers. (NRSV)

Now let's look at the question again. Do we in the American church live in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit?

Please, I look forward to your thoughts.