I'm Getting Tired of "Church as Usual"

I know we each have our own comfort zones, but this ain't working. Doing "church as usual", you know, the way we've done it for a hundred years, ain't getting the job done!

Disciples aren't being made; the lost aren't being reached; churches are splitting out of worldliness; Islam is sweeping the world along with every New Age religion that comes along; and attendance to services, for most believers, is deemed optional. If attendance to worship with other believers is deemed optional you can imagine how "taking up our cross and following Jesus" is applied.

So maybe "church as usual" has got to change. I'm open to new ideas. How about mandatory discipleship classes -- that's right, I said mandatory. Maybe it's time we began to expect more from people whose names are on the church roll.

What if churches were to take attendance every Sunday morning, and evening, and Wednesday...to see who is really loyal and supportive. I can hear the uproar now from the occasional attender and "just-enough-to-get-by" church member.

Forget Sunday School. That's right, I said forget Sunday School. Sunday School was invented by visionary men that brought unschooled child laborers to a place on Sunday where they get educated and hear about Christ. It was invented for lost people, for heaven's sake. Now, however, most churches have Sunday School for saved people while the lost are left to fend for themselves. Our actions tell a lost world: "to hell with you." (Hell is not a bad word, just a bad place).

I've got other thoughts and ideas on this, but let those three be enough to get us started thinking: what does it mean, in a world hostile to the things of God, to be a Christian? I mean really, what does it mean to be a follower of Christ? I'm getting tired of the ineffective, powerless, impotent "church as usual" ritual we follow.

Latest Reading

Want you to know what I've been reading lately and recommend a couple of books to you.

First, is The Barbarian Way, by Erwin McManus.
Second, is Pagan Christianity by Viola and Barna.
And for fiction fans I've just finished The Shack by William Young.

I highly recommend these books to you. The first discusses the type of people God really intends for Christians to be. The world will consider them barbarians, uncultured, backward. But that's what they thought of Jesus, too.

The second explains all the church and religious traditions we follow and where they came from ... and how they have no foundation in Scripture.

The third is about a father who lost his 6 year old daughter to a violent death, and how God confronts him with His love, reasons, and abundant grace.

There's a few others, but supper is ready and Denise cooked it.... gotta try this.

Sad News Today

Some years ago there a great woman in my church that had committed her life to Christ. For several years she grew spiritually and was very active in ministry. I remember many days when she organized and facilitated a ministry to children in a mult-housing complex in Torrington, CT. She was great with kids. I actually saw her lead children to Christ.

But something snapped. She had a baby -- a beautiful baby girl that I saw just last year -- she's about 10 now. We don't know what happened...if it was related to post-partem depression or other factors. But she became a completely different person. She left home, left her family, left her church, and left all that was good to live on the street. It was really weird. And sad.

Friday, July 4th, she was found dead. Alone. Probably from an overdose.

I remember her daughter coming to the altar week after week to pray for her mommy to come home. The girl who still lives with her father, loved her mother and longed to have her home. But drugs and sin will distort a person's perspective and take their minds captive.

While other people post their MySpace blogs today and talk of partying, drinking, and taking drugs, my heart is broken for those who have lost their families, their comforts, and their lives to these addictions. :(

We're Now On the Web

Tell your friends -- you know, the ones you can't get to attend church -- to check us out on the internet. All you have to do is go to our website: www.gracekaufman.org and select the message you want to hear or watch. It's easy.

You can also view the messages in the event that you're out of town or ill that day. We're even thinking about streaming our services live on the internet so you can watch our services as they occur. That way if you're sick, you can still be a part of your church family.

Check it out.

Mercy

The word "mercy" has several applications in the English language. Two definitions found in the dictionary are:

1. Compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender
2. Compassionate treatment of those in distress

Whether a person is suffering stress and conflict, or they are guilty of offending another person, mercy cannot be received unless it is first given.

In other religious systems, such as Islam, mercy is not a dominate characteristic. But the heart of Christianity -- the very foundation of our salvation -- is mercy.

Christ was superior in showing mercy. From the helpless sick He healed, to the guilty offender He had forgiven (e.g. Zachias, dying thief etc), Jesus provided great mercy.

The process is supposed to continue with us. Christians, of all people, should be people of mercy. But we aren't. I often meet people who stay away from church because of the conflicts, divisions, and hostility they've seen among believers -- all without mercy for one another.

Mercy must begin in the church of Jesus Christ. No one but forgiven sinners are as qualified to show mercy. Let's apply the mercy we've received to others.