Greater Things

I should probably put this on my personal blog, but whatever. Check out this passage from Luke 7:33-34: For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.'  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' What would Jesus do?  Drink alcohol, apparently.  What this means is what my dad has taught me all along; drinking alcohol is not sinful, getting drunk on alcohol is. The Pharisees quickly labeled Jesus a "drunkard," though he wasn't.  I bet Jesus would be labeled the same by some of today's churchgoers.  Those same churchgoers should probably have a look at that passage.

Here is a snippet from a much longer post on my personal blog.  I felt it would appropriate for this blog too.  If you want to you can read the whole blog post at http://mindtravellers.blogspot.com/ . ... As I walked to the car the wind blew.  I felt it all over, it unsettled my hair and gushed across my arms, it rippled my clothes.  Alive.  I realized then and there what a joy it was to experience the wind, experience God, experience worship.  I wasn't singing, I was existing in God's grace and attributing to God the beauty of the creation; worship, in spirit and in truth. ...

Relient K has a song called "Give Until There's Nothing Else."  Go to http://www.myspace.com/relientk and list to the song called "Give."  Here is the chorus: Give give give (until there's nothing left) Give my all (until it all runs out) Give give (and I'll have no regrets) I'll give until there's nothing left to give Give give give (until there's nothing left) Give my all (until it all runs out) Give give Give until there's nothing left I'll give

A lot of talk now going on in church leadership journals about determining your fellowship's DNA -- what makes your fellowship unique. Check out www.theckn.com and search on dna or code for a great article on it. So using that as a framework what do you think CBC's DNA is? What makes us unique and is our particular bent in doing ministry? This is extremely important to determine because if we try to do things that are outside our DNA the "organism" will reject it as foreign. They do make the point that you can change your DNA - mutate as it were. Here are a few things I think are part of our DNA. 1. We are a racially, ethnically and generationally diverse fellowship. 2. Because of this we are a fellowship were interracial couples are comfortable and accepted. 3. We don't say "we don't see color" -- We see color in all its glory as a reflection of God's creative power and we celebrate our differing viewpoints and diversity as a "little t...

At the conference last week in Indianapolis, Rex Miller gave a keynote address.  Rex Miller is a "futurist" and the author of a book called The Millennium Matrix .  In the book  he explains how the major technology or medium of the day influenced life and the church.  According to Miller we have moved from oral transmission and the printing press, to the Internet.  Those born before 1992 are considered "Digital Immigrants"; that is to say that those born after 1992 have existed entirely within a world influenced by the Internet.  According to Rex Miller this new technology will cause a drastic change in society.  Because of this, Miller suggests that businesses, organizations, the government and the church need to  adjust the way things are done to ensure survivability and efficacy. He explained that the current model for businesses and churches is "attractional" in nature.  He describes the model as being an...

I'm here in Indianapolis at a church facilities conference (wfxweb.com).  There are some impressive and expensive church buildings in this country.  I toured one yesterday that was finished last year and cost $30 million.  It was stunning to say the least, and most definitely useful. There is an emphasis on meeting the needs of today's American culture.  An increasingly connected, visual audience apparently (based on the conference) "needs" multimillion dollar, multimedia experiences driven by the latest technologies. The four of us attending the conference have talked over meals and during breaks about CBC.  We've identified that there are definitely things we can accomplish in our current facilities and as we dream we wonder what we could accomplish in a new building. Should we build a new building?  What would a new building have?  How can we best reach Woodbridge?  What is the purpose of a church building?  How can we do c...

Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the LORD, who is good, pardon everyone who sets his heart on seeking God - the LORD, the God of his fathers - even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary." And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people. -2 Chronicles 30:18-20 I read this passage during my daily Bible reading today (Thank you, Richie!), and this verse got me to thinking. It is story of the celebration of the Passover by Hezekiah. In fact, it was the first mass celebration of the Passover in quite some time. What is interesting to note is that Hezekiah had sent out couriers to the the whole nation of Israel, including the northern kingdom, inviting them to come celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem. These Israelites from the northern kingdom were the ceremonially unclean refere...