does the heart of a person really matter? in my four years of ministry i have seen some people with great big hearts. it really is an amazing thing to come to the realization that when someone cares one can change change the world, maybe not the whole world, but atleast the whole world for somebody. the same can be said when hearts are cold. it can bruise an wound other hearts around it.
in my first ministry, the song leader would lead the congregation in worship but would refuse to pray out loud. whether it was nerves or lack of confidence i am not sure. it did not matter if it was in front of the congregation or in a board meeting the man refused to pray. was it his heart?
during the last few years there has been a war of sorts. traditional vs modern worship. hymns vs choruses. hymnals vs projectors. unfortunately for the most part young vs old. i have attended churches with both styles. when i was in college i was in a traditional setting. with all the chapels during this time being more modern. in my first ministry position the pastor was trying to take the congregation to more of a contempory/early 90's setting. in pulaski we were relatively modern. at fall creek we have a service for each. at any time while attending these churches i have never really considered changing the style of music. but in so many other churches people are arguing about style. i question why this actually happens. is the argument about the style of music or an issue with the heart?
i have visited mega-churches that are very traditional but yet are thriving and tiny churches with a very modern feel. not to say that the size of the church reflects the heart, but to show that the style of music does not reflect being relevant.
in greenville one sunday right before the service was about to start a teen came to me and told me that an adult blew her off when she had handed her a flyer for our fundraiser coming up by laying it down 2 seconds after it was given to her only to walk away. this situation not only reflected the heart of this lady but also crushed the heart of the teen. how is it that the heart can be affected this much?
when will this end? not that all churches have all sorts of trouble. i bet the percentages are less then one thinks. but i think it is the the smaller percentage making a bigger splash. all of these are issues of the heart. when i go into a church and music plays it doesnt matter how it is played or what is playing it. but the squabbles of the few are affecting those outside the church. they are starting to take notice.
in a recent article on thechristianpost.com titled how do unchurched americans view christianity, "A full 72 percent of the people interviewed said they think the church ‘is full of hypocrites,’" said LifeWay Research director Ed Stetzer. "At the same time, however, 71 percent of the respondents said they believe Jesus ‘makes a positive difference in a person’s life’ and 78 percent said they would ‘be willing to listen’ to someone who wanted to share what they believed about Christianity."
unfortunately what the world sees is not the truth. while the church does have some hypocrites, i truly believe with all my heart that it is full of loving and faithful people who occassionally mess up. i believe the church has a good heart. while sometimes misrepresented or misguided at times i believe their is a lot of loving God and loving neighbor being done. what my hope and prayer is that the world starts to see it.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Monday, January 07, 2008
change
everyone is discussing change. it seems that 2008 might be the year for change. from politics to the church to the environment everything is changing. technology has never stopped changing and as much that has changed in the past year more things will change this year.
1. president- by the end of 2008, the united states will have a new president. this has already been decided. obama is running on the campaing of changing washington. if he or hilary are elected it will be a quite the change as well. them being the first multi-racial or woman in the oval office. either way we will have a change.
2. technology- with the iphone and the wii, technology is becoming more interactive. people are choosing the interaction of the wii over ps3 and xbox360 even though the graphics might be better with the latter two. with sites like facebook people are becoming less interactive. the need to call your friend who lives 500 miles away is no longer needed but we can check in on him and be updated on their life.
3. environment-people are becoming more green. this process has taken a lot longer then it should have. but people are being more aware of global warming. as i type this it is 65 degrees outside. and while this might not be directly effected from the warming of the globe, one still has to wonder. smaller cars are going to become increasingly popular. not just because of the new standards by the government but it is the more trendy vehicle to own. gone are the days of the bigger suv and gladly welcome the hybrids, smart cars and vehicles with 40mpg or more.
4. church- agreeing with books like unchristian and revolution, you will see more community. people are now wanting to be closer to a few then friends with a lot. this community will happen more outside the walls of the church building in homes, restaurants and coffee shops. you will continue to see more home church plants. the church will become smaller and bigger. there will be less church buildings with a lot more closing their doors. the bigger churches will absorb the people from these other churches.there will also be more mega-ministries. places like lifechurch.tv will grow more. other megachurches are planning on going multi-site life newspring church in south carolina.
nothing that i have written here is new info. but what are we supposed to do with the info on this. we know everything is changing. but how are we as pastors adapt to change our ministries to cope with all this change. if all this change is happening then what do we do in order not to fall behind. church has essentially been done the same way for hundreds of years with a few adaptations here and there. will we allow all these changes to happen but not change our ministries. it doesnt mean adding a projector to the sanctuary, and it doesnt mean singing the newest worship songs with a rock band. but it definately means the times they are a changin.
1. president- by the end of 2008, the united states will have a new president. this has already been decided. obama is running on the campaing of changing washington. if he or hilary are elected it will be a quite the change as well. them being the first multi-racial or woman in the oval office. either way we will have a change.
2. technology- with the iphone and the wii, technology is becoming more interactive. people are choosing the interaction of the wii over ps3 and xbox360 even though the graphics might be better with the latter two. with sites like facebook people are becoming less interactive. the need to call your friend who lives 500 miles away is no longer needed but we can check in on him and be updated on their life.
3. environment-people are becoming more green. this process has taken a lot longer then it should have. but people are being more aware of global warming. as i type this it is 65 degrees outside. and while this might not be directly effected from the warming of the globe, one still has to wonder. smaller cars are going to become increasingly popular. not just because of the new standards by the government but it is the more trendy vehicle to own. gone are the days of the bigger suv and gladly welcome the hybrids, smart cars and vehicles with 40mpg or more.
4. church- agreeing with books like unchristian and revolution, you will see more community. people are now wanting to be closer to a few then friends with a lot. this community will happen more outside the walls of the church building in homes, restaurants and coffee shops. you will continue to see more home church plants. the church will become smaller and bigger. there will be less church buildings with a lot more closing their doors. the bigger churches will absorb the people from these other churches.there will also be more mega-ministries. places like lifechurch.tv will grow more. other megachurches are planning on going multi-site life newspring church in south carolina.
nothing that i have written here is new info. but what are we supposed to do with the info on this. we know everything is changing. but how are we as pastors adapt to change our ministries to cope with all this change. if all this change is happening then what do we do in order not to fall behind. church has essentially been done the same way for hundreds of years with a few adaptations here and there. will we allow all these changes to happen but not change our ministries. it doesnt mean adding a projector to the sanctuary, and it doesnt mean singing the newest worship songs with a rock band. but it definately means the times they are a changin.
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