Numb3rs.

Yea, there is a TV show by that name. I have to admit I've never seen it. My understanding is that it is a crime mystery show that uses math and numbers to solve whatever the crime is on that show. I'm not really sure how one makes a show about that, but actuaries around the country are probably really excited.

Numbers can say a lot and I think that, when used correctly, they can help to at least identify problems that need to be worked on. This is true, even in the church. I ran across this interesting article from the Gallup organization (http://www.gallup.com/poll/117382/Church-Going-Among-Catholics-Slides-Tie-Protestants.aspx). In the article, it discusses how individuals who consider themselves "Christian" regularly attend church. The fascinating statistic is not that Catholics are now on par with Protestant Christians in their weekly church attendance, but rather, how on average, only 45% of all Christians say they attended church within the last week.

Now, statistics can say a lot of different things, and these numbers may be variable based on the time of year, area of the country (http://www.gallup.com/poll/122075/Religious-Identity-States-Differ-Widely.aspx), and age (only 38% of Protestant and 30% of Catholics in their 20's have attended church in the past week) of the sample, but I don't believe any of these variables hit the root of the issue. Church is losing its draw and attendance because we, as the Church, have lost sight of what Church is. For many of us, church is something we go to on Sunday's to hear a message, sing some songs, give our money, and maybe get some coffee. For others, church is the place that makes us get up early on the weekend, or miss the big game. It's something that we do on one or maybe two days of the week. We can check it off our list, put it on our schedule, and if we can't make it for a while, that's OK because our faith is personal. This idea is also unbiblical.

When we look at idea of the Church in the New Testament, it is vibrant and alive. It is a community of individuals where life is shared and individuals are urged on in the faith. Jesus did not say, "go into all the world and put on good shows and give good speeches about me." He said that we are to "go and make disciples", to help bring people into relationship with Him. This idea of community runs rampant throughout the Bible. Paul even says, "don't give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing." Church then turns into something we are, as a collective group. Really, without a community of other believers, our faith is lacking at best, and non-existent at worst.

Now the Church has not always been all that it should be, and some people have very good reasons as to why they don't go to Church. Abuse, scandals, bad doctrine, hypocrisy; there is no such thing as the perfect church. But truly living in a community of faith means that we don't go into it thinking about "what can this church do for me?" but rather, we enter into a partnership to help others seek and honor God according to the scriptures and to be helped in that process. We come together to fight against our spiritual enemies, for our world, our marriages, our faith, our communities. Our culture has lost a vital ally when the Church becomes something we do rather than something we are.

This is the great part of being involved in a new church start up. We don't have to work through the years of tradition and bad habits that have brought many churches to the point of irrelevance. Instead, we can focus our efforts on being a community where Jesus is exalted above all else and we can partner with one another to live out God's passions in the Lehigh Valley and around the world. You can check out how we are (trying) to do this at www.riverbendonline.org

in death reflects life.

The circumstances surrounding the shooting in Pittsburgh at an LA Fitness are incredibly sad. The scary part is that I don't think the scenario leading up to the shooting is all that uncommon. I took some time to read the shooters online diary. I don't know what made me do that, perhaps it is my psych/counseling background but it can be found here: http://georgesodini.com/20090804.htm

A couple things stood out to me in his writings. Psychologists would say he had major depression (which is probably true) and that he had an obsession with women (also true). However, the aspects that are more common than we like to admit in this scenario are a wounding (by family and church) and a lack of authentic community/friendships. These build off each other in most cases. I know too many people who have been hurt/wounded by family members (especially fathers) and by churches they have been a part of. The saddest part is, they still need and seek community, but refuse to find it because of how they have been hurt.

We, as a church, need to be a part of the restoration process God is doing on this Earth. "We need to be conduits of God's Grace" I once heard someone say. Our culture wants nothing more than to be connected, to be a part of something; but they have the wrong idea of God and the Church (many for good reasons) so they do not seek either. We need to enter into their world, enter into the messiness that is the unredeemed life, and expose the Truth of the Gospel for what it is. We all need it. Forgiveness. Grace. Passion. Life. Seeking God.

The Gospel is hard to accept. It's a life change that causes us to recognize our inefficiencies, and rely on One we cannot see. But people are looking for that truth to be told to them. They are not looking for us to dance around the subject and make it sound as nice as we can make it. We need to present the Gospel as it is, allow people to decide, and love them no matter what. I am not sure if this is what that shooter was looking for, but I hear that in his diary. I see that in those around me.

timing.

I don't think I have followed my advice from my last posting. I am still as stressed, over-tired, and somewhat directionless as I was before. But today I have had the opportunity to read and listen to a couple pieces of sage advice that (hopefully) will help me move past this lifestyle of being overwhelmed.

Last night, Lindsey challenged me with the thought that perhaps I am looking at life, and all that it entails, from the wrong perspective. She may be right, but turning around when travelling too fast rarely ends the way we intend. This posting from John Eldredge is the first piece of advice of the day: http://www.ransomedheartblog.com/john/2009/06/a-quart-in-my-tank.html

Like Eldredge writes, "It is so easy, dangerously easy to get caught up in the pace of this crazy world that rest feels uncomfortable; doing nothing feels awkward; as soon as we feel even a little bit refreshed, we’re back out on the highway, blasting ahead." This may be why I make myself so busy, but more so, I think that when we aren't sure where exactly we are going, we just go faster. I guess I'm not the type of guy who asks for directions when I get lost, I just go to where I think is right faster.

A good friend sent me this sermon to listen to today, and I think it hits exactly where I may be, what to do while waiting for what God has for you next:
http://media.northpointministries.org/northpointministries/podcasts/npcc/Sunday_Sermons/The_Waiting_Room/WaitingRoom_Part2.mp3

The three points of Gratitude, Persistence in Prayer, and Surrendering our plans for His, go against my immediate gratification, get it taken care of now so I don't have to worry about it personality. But its true. No matter what I do to try to make things happen quickly or in my type of timing, it won't work. For its not our timing, but God's, and the longer it takes me to recognize that, the longer I will spin my tires in vain.

As we tell Jonathan (repeatedly) when he's waiting for his dinner... be patient... it's coming.

deeper.

So it has been over two months since writing here. I don't feel like I have had much to say over those last two months, or maybe, I have actually had to say too much. I have been thinking alot lately about my use of time. When I am at work I have actually put myself on a "time study" to see how well my time management is (apparently I spend too much time on the computer) and at home it's either chasing around a 1 year old, planning house projects (that inevitably get delayed due to a more immediate house disaster), or working on various projects for Riverbend. Add to that list trying to nurture a relationship with my wife, keeping in touch with friends, and trying to stay healthy (and less stressed) and I don't know where to schedule all of this.

This isn't the first time I have struggled, or written, about not enough time. I spend half my time figuring out how to effectively spend my time. But where does the line between responsibility, relationships, work, and even church turn into overworked, over stressed, and missing the "easy yoke" that Jesus has promised us? There are people that say that we need to sacrifice in order to do great things. This, I believe, is true. But what are the things that are worth sacrificing? And what are the things that are actually great? I suppose that it is based on what we prioritize most.

But what happens when we super-size what our priorities are? If we say that a priority in our life is to share Jesus with others, does it actually matter if this is 2 people or 20? Perhaps we need to stop looking at what we want from a "bigger is better" perspective and move to a "deeper is better" perspective. It may be better to have a small group of friends who knows you enough to be invested in your life, than to know tons of people who think you are a nice guy. Perhaps it is better to spend your time building relationships with a couple people who may want to know more about Jesus than to find new ways to tell more people about Him.

Maybe, it might be time for me to focus on the people I can make a difference with, rather than try to make a difference with everybody.

soundtrack of your life.

I think everybody has some song or music that brings them back to a moment in their history. A wedding dance, a special song, sports warm up music, or just a favorite song from college. It's amazing how listening to that song will transport you back to that moment in time. It's a soundtrack to our history.

I was at a conference this past weekend at LCBC (lcbcchurch.com) and they mentioned that one of the benefits of the worship music is "it is the emotional tie to the message." They recognized that we are probably more likely to remember a song than a message and that hopefully that song points to the message.

If we had to pick a soundtrack of our life, what would that be pointing to? What is it that we remember most? Perhaps we need to listen to more music, or perhaps we need to make our lives into the emotional tie to the message we proclaim. We need to be the soundtrack to life.