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.