Church Time

Hopefully everyone here goes to church, I assume that all of you go at least go once a year?
For a lot of us, church is a building that we walk into every Sunday morning. Repeating the same routine, go to youth service or go to service with parents, buy a soda, sit there and wait until you go home. This is the idea of church in America, a place where we go and get it over with. I hope this isn't the attitude that you take with you into church, but if it is lets take a look at who the church is and what the church was created to be.

WHO:
The church is not a building. Jesus made many statements about the church. The one that angered many Jews most was His announcement that if the Temple was destroyed, He would build a new one in three days (See John 2:19-21). Though Jesus was referring to the Temple that exised in the architectural sense, He was really speaking of His body. Jesus said that after this temple was destroyed, He would raise it up in three days. He was referring to the real temple-the church-which He raised up in himself on the third day (see Ephesians 2:6).
Since Christ has risen, we Christians have become the temple of God. At His resurrection, Christ became a "life-giving spirit" (1 Corinthians 16:45). Therefore, He could take up residence in the believers, thus making them His temple, His house. It is for this reason that the New Testament always reserves the word church (ekklesia in the greek) for the people of God. It never uses this word to refer to a building of any sorts.

WHAT:
The church was made to represent Christ on earth. Having Christ in our lives, in our hearts, and in our actions is the church being the church. The church is not about seeing how big of a building you can have and slapping the name church on it. The mission of the church is the same mission of the Gospel, to spread the news of Jesus resurrection and redeeming love. The church is not a building, but a movement of believers that share the love that has been given to them by God through Christ death and resurrection.

Questions to think about and respond:
1) Do you see yourself as "the church"
2) How has the church being inside of you and not a building changed the way you live? Has it changed the way you live? Have you ever thought about this before?
3) How can we continue to "be the church"?

Don't get me wrong here, I am not saying we should do away with church buildings. The reason for these buildings is a gathering place of believers to worship their creator. But when it gets distorted, when things get out of whack and people start to see the church as a building is when there is a problem. The church is you and me, not a building, it is our responsibility to continue to share the gospel and grow the church.

Respond

Happening Now....

The times we are living in right now are very important. With the economy struggling, a new president starting his role as the leader of a nation, and people making important decisions about their future we are faced with decisions and choices that will greatly affect our lives and others.
Have you ever thought about the decisions you make now will affect you forever?
I know I never really thought about that until it was too late and I was dealing with the consequence of my decision.
Part of the reason are economy is doing so bad is that people made choices to live outside of what they really could afford. Buying houses and other expensive items and not being able to pay for them will lead to a struggle for the upcoming years. These choices are now affecting you and I whether you like it or not. With these important times ahead of us, and the feeling of being helpless I ask you two questions to respond to:
1) Have you ever thought about how the decision or choices that you make affect others? Whether it affects you or another, how has selfish or sinful decisions left a lasting affect? Is it a positive or negative affect?
2) How do we work with or respond to someone who has made a decision that brings a negative affect against us? Whether it be the government or a friend, how do respond to them or work with them?

*Mr. Reed

Interesting Statistics

Read this article first:
HARTFORD, Conn. - The Catholic population of the United States has shifted away from the Northeast and towards the Southwest, while secularity continues to grow in strength in all regions of the country, according to a new study conducted by the Program on Public Values at Trinity College. "The decline of Catholicism in the Northeast is nothing short of stunning," said Barry Kosmin, a principal investigator for the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS). "Thanks to immigration and natural increase among Latinos, California now has a higher proportion of Catholics than New England."
Conducted between February and November of last year, ARIS 2008 is the third in a landmark series of large, nationally representative surveys of U.S. adults in the 48 contiguous states conducted by Kosmin and Ariela Keysar. Employing the same research methodology as the 1990 and 2001 surveys, ARIS 2008 questioned 54,461 adults in either English or Spanish. With a margin of error of less than 0.5 percent, it provides the only complete portrait of how contemporary Americans identify themselves religiously, and how that self-identification has changed over the past generation.
In broad terms, ARIS 2008 found a consolidation and strengthening of shifts signaled in the 2001 survey. The percentage of Americans claiming no religion, which jumped from 8.2 in 1990 to 14.2 in 2001, has now increased to 15 percent. Given the estimated growth of the American adult population since the last census from 207 million to 228 million, that reflects an additional 4.7 million "Nones." Northern New England has now taken over from the Pacific Northwest as the least religious section of the country, with Vermont, at 34 percent "Nones," leading all other states by a full 9 points.
"Many people thought our 2001 finding was an anomaly," Keysar said. We now know it wasn't. The 'Nones' are the only group to have grown in every state of the Union."
The percentage of Christians in America, which declined in the 1990s from 86.2 percent to 76.7 percent, has now edged down to 76 percent. Ninety percent of the decline comes from the non-Catholic segment of the Christian population, largely from the mainline denominations, including Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians/Anglicans, and the United Church of Christ. These groups, whose proportion of the American population shrank from 18.7 percent in 1990 to 17.2 percent in 2001, all experienced sharp numerical declines this decade and now constitute just 12.9 percent.

Most of the growth in the Christian population occurred among those who would identify only as "Christian," "Evangelical/Born Again," or "non-denominational Christian." The last of these, associated with the growth of megachurches, has increased from less than 200,000 in 1990 to 2.5 million in 2001 to over 8 million today. These groups grew from 5 percent of the population in 1990 to 8.5 percent in 2001 to 11.8 percent in 2008. Significantly, 38.6 percent of mainline Protestants now also identify themselves as evangelical or born again.

"It looks like the two-party system of American Protestantism--mainline versus evangelical--is collapsing," said Mark Silk, director of the Public Values Program. "A generic form of evangelicalism is emerging as the normative form of non-Catholic Christianity in the United State s."

Other key findings:

• Baptists, who constitute the largest non-Catholic Christian tradition, have increased their numbers by two million since 2001, but continue to decline as a proportion of the population.

After Reading this article. What is your first initial reaction to this? How do we as Christians respond to the stats that were presented? Will this continue to affect the Church over the next 20 years? Why are people becoming "non-religious"?

Setting Accomplishable Goals

I asked my dad to write a blog post for us on Goals. Here is what he said:

You out there, being all you can be and living a life worthy of God's calling is an undaunting task. So let's keep our goals in a realistic and healthy perspective, not what some would preach as what we should or could do which means cut out "the crap" .
First of all, begin with simple goals and plan to build upon them, like you would walk up steps, a hill or a tree. The success of your first step will be essential to build your confidence. For example, on Mondays in January, I will write down my assignments I need to complete for this week.

Second, make your goal manageable, like beginning where you at now and build on top of what you are doing. Like with the above example, if you never write down your assignments or never have made a "to do" list, the above goal could be what you should do, not what you can do. So make it simplier like, This month I will ask ______ (someone who can help you) to help me write out an assignment list for one week.

Third, identify what could be a barrier (something that gets in your way) to you accomplishing your goal. Could being distracted by video games, a friend who likes to talk or forgetfulness? Then find out how you are going to overcome this barrier before it happens, because you know it will happen.

So write up a goal, based upon the above recommendations, being sure to answer how you are going to overcome any barriers.

Thanks for letting me be a part of your blog today! The older Mr Reed

Why do we Believe

Have you ever asked yourself this question: WHY DO WE BELIEVE IN GOD?
I have, often wondering how people started to believe in God and what makes people continue to believe.
If you have ever wondered the question asked above in red, what is your answer?
Why do you continue to believe?

Answer these questions and then check back in on Thursday after we watch the video: "The God's Aren't Angry"
After watching the video, if your answer changed, make another comment pertaining to the questions asked.

*Mr. Reed

pastor-of-mega-church-8000-sells-12-million-dollar-campus

From the Associated Press –

Hiam Shatir may look like your average pastor, but he’s not acting like one. In a nation filled with expensive mega-church buildings popping up, Hiam instead chose to sell his mega-church, Crestview Community Church, and attempt to live into what he says is the call to “be the church.” And although many doubt him, Hiam just knew it was the right move to make.

“We just felt it was the right thing to do,” said Hiam, a businessman turned pastor, from his converted basement where he now administrates the church. “We couldn’t put our foot on the problem. People were sitting in the pews and not doing anything. They would come and sit and leave. And we began to ask if this is the Gospel.”

Crestview was known for its amazing stage productions, heartfelt contemporary worship, and relevant sermon topics often based on current events and pop culture. It quickly grew in numbers—adding two satellite “video campuses” and a recently launched online church campus—and was cited as one of the fastest growing churches in the nation. “Having someone validate what we were doing like that was really cool at first. We were really good at creating the ‘Wow’ factor that would have them wanting more,” Hiam says in reflection. “But I would go home exhausted and consistently wonder what difference we were making. I didn’t like that. And I just reached a point where I couldn’t do it anymore.”

In what many would consider a stunning move for a 8,000-member mega-church, Hiam and the board of elders chose to sell their recently developed $12 million dollar campus to a local technology company, which is now planning to convert the sanctuary into a manufacturing facility. “Selling the building was easier than we thought,” one elder stated.

So what made this ultra-successful pastor of one of the city’s largest suburban communities take such a radical step? Hiam shared that it was faith. “One day I walked into the main sanctuary, and it was empty. It was this huge building that we were paying a mortgage on and it was dark. I just had this sense of wonder if this is really what Jesus would do. Would he have created this building? And then when the economy took a downturn, paying the mortgage became our primary concern. But everyone was hurting. We had to let people go from their jobs. All of a sudden paying the bills became our primary motivation.”

Hiam shared that his messages became motivated by how much those people could give to the church rather than the Gospel. And then a moment of clarity hit me. “I was standing there on a Sunday and, right in the middle of my sermon, I just stopped. I looked around and just realized that, if we let go of this burden, everything would change. It was at that time I started to really question our intentions. At the same time, some really good people asked if we were living ‘missionally.’ Were we really releasing people to minister to their neighbor? I didn’t have a good answer to that question.”

Hiam began to doubt his own faith and purpose. “It was a dark time. More than once I told my wife I wanted to quit and go back to business,” Hiam said. “I felt like I was losing my soul. But the board of elders stuck with me, and they began to ask how we could begin to use money to solve real needs when we saw them. We suddenly realized we had the power to release people to be ‘missional.’”

Hiam wrestled with the decision over a six-month period. He knew that letting go of the building meant doing things in a completely different way. “The show would be gone, and, in some ways, that was hard for my ego to let go. It essentially meant trusting God to work in the people and not being everything to everybody. It was like we had new glasses on. We quickly realized that, before, a small majority of people were doing almost everything. They were burned out and completely exhausted. Now everyone has responsibility and purpose. So many people came to me, thanking me,” Hiam said.

When the building was sold, many felt lost in the transition. “We immediately lost about 30% of the people who attended our church,” Hiam shared. That number roughly translates to almost a thousand people. “Everyone called me and told me they just wanted a place to go on Sunday. They didn’t want to go out into the world. People’s primary concern was the loss of our children’s program.”

In talking with several families that had left, one woman expressed what has become a common refrain of ex-Crestview members, “Who will teach our children about Jesus? We just felt we needed a good children’s program and didn’t want to lose that.”

Life for Hiam and the church is now more complex but, he says, more rewarding. To accommodate the lack of facilities, Hiam took the radical step and converted his basement into an administration center. “We slimmed down everything and focused on following Jesus into mission. We asked what it would mean to love God and our neighbor as ourselves. We now meet once a month for a large gathering and meal, and put all of our focus on meeting in homes. It meant really getting serious about discipleship and putting our trust into the hands of our gifted leaders.”

Once a regular speaker at evangelical conferences on topics such as leadership and church growth, Hiam says the invitations to speak have all but dried up. The shift has allowed Hiam to focus almost exclusively on meeting with leaders. He now meets almost daily with those who run discipleship groups in their homes. One leader, Bill Jarvis, liked the transition, “For the first time, I feel like I am understanding what Jesus meant when he said, ‘Go and make disciples.’ And I like it.”

The lack of mortgage has allowed the church community to give almost 80% of their tithe away. “We’re now seeing people take initiative where they wouldn’t before. We’ve empowered them to be Jesus right where they’re at. And they like it. One part of the community is using their money to help single mothers get through college. Another group has renovated an old warehouse and turned it into a community art complex. A third group builds fresh water wells for third world countries almost every month.”

Hiam is now more aware of his impact on the community and can’t imagine going back. “Someone just yesterday came up to me and said, ‘I don’t have to drive to the church to feel like a Christian anymore. I just have to go out my front door.’ That right there told me we made the right decision.”

This is a work of satire (meaning fake). We hope it causes some reflection and sparks some good discussion about how we steward the church in the midst of this economic crisis.

What do you think about this article?

How would you have responded?

*Mr Reed

Are we in a Battle?

As veterans day approaches and as we conclude a day of honoring veterans we are reminded of the dear price they paid for our freedom, but more importantly we are reminded of the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, and the grace that was given to us.
Over this last couple of weeks we have seen a "war" take place, a battle between two candidates for power. A battle of who is right and who is wrong. As well, in a lot of people's mind there is a battle that is taking place, a battle for our youth's minds. A battle between truth and lies.
Remember back to the email that I read in class a couple of days ago. Remember the formula that I gave you for truth and lies=hear it=believe it=act on it.
Because truth is such an important thing, how do you determine what is true and what is not true?

Because truth is challenged everyday. Whether it be on TV, through friends, or through the internet. Truth is a hot topic, a thing that is challenged everyday.
And to look back on this whole idea that we are in a battle over truth and lies is to think that we have someone to fight. But ultimately the fight is between our sinful selfs and our desire to honor God.
But the battle has been won, Christ has defeated sin and death on the cross and has been raised from the dead.
Because of this, who is the war between? People who do not agree with us or the lies that the devil tells us?

What are lies that you have been told about that tempts you to doubt God?