Church

Way back in April (2007) John Wilkerson of JesusGeek.info dropped us a line concerning his experience with children in worship. We did respond in a timely fashion.... but it only just now got published.

Sorry for the delay, John!

- If you like the show, tell a friend about it!
- If you don't like it, tell someone you don't like!

A Discussion About Church and How We Do Things, and How Others Do Things, and it's Okay

Tell someone about the show:
- If you like the show, tell a friend about it!
- If you don't like it, tell someone you don't like!

We make another assault on the doctrine of tithing. This time, we actually stick to the topic, and make a little progress. We didn't reach the summit this time, but we covered some good ground. 

Tell someone about the show:
- If you like the show, tell a friend about it!
- If you don't like it, tell someone you don't like!

We got a little feedback from 'person who will remain nameless' about our use of the word "Shutup." Then we talked a little about what we tell the world about our relationship with Christ by the way we set our priorities.

Tell someone about the show:
- If you like the show, tell a friend about it!
- If you don't like it, tell someone you don't like!

For the most part, when we read the parable of the "Prodigal Son," we focus on the beautiful image of the "lost/dead" son coming home, and the great party. When the "other/elder" son is referenced, usually it's as an illusion to the Jews. We would like to disagree. We think that the older son is the type of the Church. It's a funny kind of paradox. When you're on the outside, or just grafted into the family, you're the younger son. Once you're on the inside/grafted in, you immediately become the older son.

John Wilkerson of the Jesus Geek podcast dropped us some audio feedback based on last week's show, but refocussion on children in church, and how we feel about some specific issues. The most interesting part of the question for us was, how we deal with churches that don't want to deal with children in the service.... Grab a bag of popcorn, Dan and Jody hit it on the head.

 Tell someone about the show:
- If you like the show, tell a friend about it!
- If you don't like it, tell someone you don't like!

Thank God for the church ladies who type them. These sentences actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services:

The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.

The sermon this morning: "Jesus Walks on the Water." The sermon tonight: "Searching for Jesus."

Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday at 8 PM in the recreation hall. Come out and watch us kill Christ the King.

Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.

Christians need fellowship. In fact, all people need fellowship, but Christians need Christian fellowship. It's an essential part of the healthy Christian Life diet. Don't forsake it. Don't fail to do it, and don't fail to do it for others.

When we say, "I do," there's more than the commitment we're making to our spouse. There's more than the commitment we make before those witnesses. When we say, "I do," we make a commitment to God. When we say, "Come into my heart," we're not just making a commitment to God, but we're also making a commitment to God to care for our brothers and sisters.

There are things in those words we will never understand, but we need to understand what we can. We need to take our commitment to the Church (fellow believers) seriously. The commitment we made to each other before God, and in His name.

Five times, I've almost skipped over this short discussion, and just made #42 out of the next. Five times I've been brought back to the fact that a disciple needs to hear this... needs to know this can happen. Sometimes, some people are going to just stop loving you. Sometimes it's going to be because you've become unlovely, and we have to face that fact, but sometimes it's because they can't accept that you're right and they're wrong. Always, it hurts.