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Longing for More

February 20, 2012 in Church with 24 Appreciated Comments

Photo Credit: Vik Nanda (Creative Commons)

I love the church.
I believe it is meant to be the representation of Christ on the earth.

The church has the power to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and take care of those in need.
The church has the power to heal the sick and cleanse the lepers.
The church has the power to bring hope to the hopeless, love to the loveless, and faith to those who doubt.

The church is meant to be an agent of change in the world.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t always act that way.

Don’t get me wrong, some churches are doing great things that are providing physical and spiritual change.

But I’m longing for more.

The Almighty Doctrine

December 16, 2011 in Church, Living our Faith with 11 Appreciated Comments

Photo Credit: Riley Kaminer (Credit Commons)

Tuesday night, as I was scrolling through my Tumblr dashboard, I ran across a post that sparked a lot of controversy and debate:

What happened to childlike faith?

I’m not saying there needs to be no repentance nor am I implying those with hermeneutics are in the wrong…

But seriously—is Jesus going to give the striving, above and beyond Christian blogs a golden star in heaven just because you studied all the great theologians????

Honestly, both sides need to not make a big damn deal about this. Jesus Christ died on the cross so we could be with His father.

That’s what we should be spreading, not dividing just because you think Jesus and doctrine are one OR Jesus is not doctrine.

Childlike faith. CHILDLIKE.

Responses started flooding my dashboard.

Sermon: God of the Impossible

December 8, 2011 in Church, Czech, Life, Living our Faith with 8 Appreciated Comments

Over the past few months, you may have seen a number of blog posts, Tweets, Facebook updates and Tumblr posts revolving around this idea that we serve the God of the Impossible.

I’ve talked about how God is able to defy the laws of physics. I’ve written about His ability to fulfill His promises. I’ve encouraged and challenged and pushed us to understand just how big He really is.

It’s a message that has become a part of who I am. I have lived it, gone through the struggles of questioning if God really could come through, or wanted to come through, and was challenged to find hope in a hopeless situation.

Back in July, I had the opportunity to preach this message in full at Křesťanské centrum, the church that I and Ignite work with while in the Czech Republic. It was a powerful message that impacted a lot of lives.

And they recorded it.

So I want to share that message with you.

A Different Kind of Church

June 28, 2011 in Church with 26 Appreciated Comments

This past weekend, I experienced church. But not in the way you think.

I didn’t get up early on Sunday morning and make my way to a building. I didn’t sit in a padded chair looking at the back of someone’s head I don’t know. I didn’t sing along with scripted music perfectly timed to stir my emotions. I didn’t watch and listen as one man shared what he thought it meant to follow God, all the while wishing I was able to interact, share my thoughts and come to a deeper understanding of God.

I didn’t experience what many call “church” this weekend.

I experienced something that, for me, was much more needed, much more conducive to growing my faith.

I experienced community.

Church Without Walls

June 8, 2011 in Church with 21 Appreciated Comments

There’s a phrase many churches have started to use as a way to incite change within its body:

We’re taking our church outside these four walls.

Whenever churches use this phrase, it evokes feelings of being radical, making a difference, and truly impacting our cities. Church members get excited, start planning outreaches, telling their friends that their church is different – it actually cares about the city. They feel like they will be equipped to truly minister to others.

It really is a great phrase.

But the more I see this phrase, the more I hear pastors declare it from the pulpit (or on the stage, since newer churches don’t have pulpits) the more I realize that we just don’t get it.