service

the first church visited was saddleback. after hearing the sermon casper's reaction to it was something like this. "well it is good to hear about what i should do. but i would rather hear stories about how they are doing it."

stories of helping in the world will receive a better reaction then hearing directions on how to achieve it. i tend to agree that it is not hard to go find someone or some organization to help. i can think of a few places right of the top of my head with out referencing the yellow pages.

actions will always speak louder then words.

it is interesting however that later in the book that casper himself does not go out to his community and serve. he does expect the church to but the standard is different for himself. casper is an atheist, who says he does not have any beliefs. but believing in no God is a belief in and of itself. but not having a belief system entitles him to not have to help out others.

later in the book he says he might go serve in some capacity. but if he never does, we the church still have the responsibility to serve.

i ask myself on a somewhat regular basis, how can i bring people to Christ. as i am learning more and more it is not about bringing people to Christ but bringing Christ to the people. isnt that what Christ did by coming down to earth. he brought himself to the people.

i am reading another book now named "organic church" it is all about bringing the church to the people. starting churches in homes, coffee shops, bars, and any possible place where there are people who need Jesus. we need to become invested in the lives of the people.

i will finish this short blog with a quote from organic church. "every christian is a church planter, every home is a church, and every church is a training center." every thing about our lives need to transcend the love of God. how are we at living this out?

insights from jim and casper go to church

jim and casper go to church
by jim henderson and matt casper

a book about two people, a christian and an atheist going to churches all over the united states. they write their observations about the church and their unlikely relationship.

i really suggest every pastor, christian, and atheist to read this book. anyone interested in the church would have a lot to take away from it.

casper, the atheist, has some great insights about relationships, service, transparency. it will only help the church if you take the time to read this book. i will try later to write a post on some quotes from the book.

for fans of saved by the bell

thanks heath for this hilarious video

churches and the economy

the last few weeks i have heard some stories about some churches helping out different people during the rough times. i wanted to share what some of them are doing.

newspring church, pastor perry noble-- for mothers day gave away two paid off houses to two single mothers. the church purchased the two homes and fixed them up with volunteers from the church to bless the two families. this is something they do every mothers dsy.

12stone church, pastor kevin myers-- also for mothers day gave $50 to every single mom in the congregation and if anyone know a single mom they could take the gift for them as well.

mars hill church, pastor rob bell-- the church had an offering above regular giving to come up front and put money in the basket. if you needed money you could come up and take money out of the basket.

first of all, i want to applaud the churches because of their heart for helping out others. some of the gifts stand out to me because they seem to have put more effort into it. so it leads me to this, what has your church done? have you heard of any other churches that have helped out people during the economic downturn?