That's not how we do it!

Been awhile. . .

I've been involved in some discussions on other blogs and emails about this thing we call the church. Everything from the right and left and inbetween. My dissatisfaction with the church at large, as we now see it, continues to grow. Not as a vile thing that needs to be spit out, but as a loving thing that needs to be nursed back to health.

Overall, I wonder if our histories and traditions have taken precendence to our reason for existing. How many people leave this place called church agreeing with Marx that religion is simply an 'opiet for the masses"? I do my church dance on Sunday morning, go home with a good feeling, and that's that. I start to imagine God smiling on me because I sit in a pew, listening to some feel-good music while I stare at the pretty artwork. What the hell has happened to God's people? Are we so numb to the existence of our loving God that we reduce his actions in this world to a pretty building? "Welcome to God's house!" the visitor sign reads. "Wow, I guess this is where god lives. . .we should come visit more often. . . like, maybe every sunday morning! Yeah, that'd be a good idea!"

Do you remember the time before Constantine? I don't, but this is what I know. In 313 the Emperor of Rome, Constantine, made Christianity legal. Before that time christians huddled in homes to praise God for loving them. They read their bibles in secret. They shared the good news, the truth about a saving God, to their family and friends with the threat of death always at their door. When Constantine made Christianity legal, it was a huge turning point. Churches went up and people no longer had to worship silently in their homes.
Sounds great. Sounds wonderful. But fast forward about 1700 years and what do you have? You have people who leave all this god-stuff at god's house and go home and get on with their lives. Church became a building, instead of a life. And the message of truth begins to mean so much less. I begin to do the church dance.



I thought I'd share a few quotes that have been sticking with me the past week or so.


"Emerging leaders sense not only change coming to our churches, but the critical need for change. In many churches it has already arrived. The emerging leaders of those churches are beginning to reshape and rethink church and the Spirit of God is doing wonderful things. But there is still a growing restlessness in many hearts and minds. People are emotionally pacing back and forth waiting and longing for change in the church to finally arrive."
Dan Kimball - Emerging Worship


"We don't display our respect for and loyalty to our fathers and mothers in the faith simply by repeating their words (although their words bear repeating). Instead, we go farther by imitating their example, by doing as they did: bringing (under the guidance of the Holy Spirit) resources from the gospel story to bear on the new situations that face us today, situations that have come to fruition in part because of the success of the gospel in undermining the status quo of the past again and again."
Brian D. McLaren - The Church in Emerging Culture

I'm Not Ashamed

CPH - (Concordia Publishing House)

Ok, so I like CPH just as much as the next guy. . . .hahahah, wait, no I don't.
(This post might be funny for you, but will be especially funny if you're a 20-something youth worker.) Here's the deal. CPH is horrible. I have an entire file cabinet dedicated to resource companies. Can you guess how many files are for CPH material? If I had my way there wouldn't be any, but I keep a current catalog handy just in case someone from my church wants to comment about how I never use CPH material. Just so I can ask them to point out what items are so great that I should be using tbem.

Here at St. Paul, we're gearing up for VBS next week. At our church this is a huge thing. We're a small church of about 400 people, but we'll see about 250 kids for VBS, most of whom aren't involved in our church otherwise. I get pulled in as a music leader for VBS, which is fine for me. I like leading music, and I think I'm kind of good at it. With that being said, let me, please oh please, run down some of the music/lyrics that CPH has graced us with in this years CPH VBS Curriculum, Construction I.N.C.

No it's not Spongebob, or is it?
Leave it to CPH to write a song titled "Here I Stand" (Subtitled, "No I don't have a Luther Complex, go away)
Lyrics in this gem include "Here I stand by grace alone. . . .Through faith alone."
Now, don't get me wrong, theologically I think CPH puts out great stuff, but this is a song supposedly written for 3 year olds to sing. Give me a break.

It reminds me of last years VBS theme song that included this line: "He was missed by the shepard who knew that he often had wandered." It was in a fast song too. The teachers could barely get through singing that line.


About a year ago I was in a meeting with local DFW-Lutheran church workers when someone mentioned that CPH wanted to start marketing themselves to other denominations, not just Lutheran. You know what happened? The room burst into laughter. The only reason any of us use it is because we're told we have to use it. I'm sorry to offend, but the stuff is generally horrible for youth materials. I feel sorry for my friends in ministry who are in churches that force CPH on them like it's pure gold. Some churches are so locked in that they won't use a resource unless it has that CPH stamp. What a load. Companies like Youth Specialties and Group are amazing for youth materials. Why? Because they're written by youth workers who know what kind of things will work and what kind of things kids will just laugh at and go back to their XBOX's. Oh wait, that's what I do too. . .

Do what you will.

I think my least favorite place to go on this planet is inside a christian bookstore. Today I went to Mardel, where I was pleased to see books such as:

What Would Jesus Eat?

Woman, thou art loosed: Recipes from T.D. Jakes

And of course, my personal favorite. . . .
The Makers Diet.
This one you've got to see. The cover looks oddly like the South Beach Diet books.


I just hate going into a place where WWJD bracelets abound, (for only 99 cents now!) And picking out a bible cover is like picking new jeans from A&F. What a bunch of crap. . .