Category: church

i saw this sally morgenthaler article via jordon cooper’s post. the article is all about how people interpreted her book “worship evangelism” as a way to just “do” quality worship to get the those who were not believers to come to church. of course, what happened was people actually stopped spending time with people who are not in a church. over the past few years she has been rethinking everything.

i think my favorite passage is the second to last paragraph.

jcpenney stores adopted a new motto a few years ago: “it’s all inside.” that may work well for clothes and housewares, but it doesn’t work so well for spreading the gospel. ah, but aren’t buildings important? yes, they are. jesus himself spent crucial time in synagogues and the temple. he affirmed that the worship of GOD is central to what it means to be a disciple. but here’s the catch. he did not make the building—or corporate worship—the destination. HIS destination was the people GOD wanted to touch, and those were, with few exceptions, people who wouldn’t have spent much time in holy places. JESUS’ direction was always outward. centrifugal. even in death, HE was broken and poured out for the sake of a needy world. GOD’s work may not be “all outside,” but if we look at where JESUS spent his time, i think we can safely say that most of it is.

instead of “if we build it they will come” maybe our slogan should be “if we’re faithful, we will go.”

my run for the day

one of the great opportunities that we have had in wisconsin is to visit lots of other churches. over the past three weeks we’ve been able to attend several different area churches and i’ve had the opportunity to spend some time with several local pastors. it’s been wonderful to hear these pastors’ hearts and to meet the parishioners of the churches they pastor. the churches we have visited thus far are (in alphabetical order):

• community church
• evergreen church
• fellowship church

all three of them have been wonderful and extremely supportive. it’s been wonderful to be around other communities of faith whose goal is to see the kingdom of heaven lived out.

my run for the day

i found this quote in the ed stezer book i am presently reading (“planting new churches in a postmodern age“):

the same can be said for north american postmoderns. churches need to be planted in buckhead (metro atlanta), marin county (san francisco), and at the university of wisconsin.

i think that sounds like a great idea.

today was my last day at parkview. it’s been a good seven years with allot of ups and a few downs. of course, that’s what happens with life and communities. i am very thankful for my time at parkview and for the people that i came to know and love there. i believe that good days are ahead for my friends at parkview.

goodbye and GOD speed parkview.

btw, if anyone has any old baseballs laying around that you no longer need or want i could use them for batting practice with my youngest son.

josh c sent this article to me earlier today. it’s an interesting review of a book on megachurches. my favorite quote from the article is:

“after a week of working in a major corporation, shopping in a food warehouse and megamall, viewing movies at a multiplex theater, and having children who attend a regional high school, it seems incongruous that this family would feel comfortable in a forty-person church,” wrote the authors. “so the force of cultural conditioning is on the side of megachurches.”

megachurches aren’t really my thing (said the guy who is youth minister at a church that ran 1,800 in average weekly attendance awhile back) but they are for some people and i’m glad they are there for them (i guess).

here’s the link to the article.

in parkview’s worship over the past two week’s chuck quarles has preached about the role of the pastor. i read this article on the ooze today and i thought it was interesting and good.