“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends”
John 15:13
We are often told by the church not to trust our “feelings”. The modern church’s penchant is to teach us to suppress our emotions and to distrust feelings. For the modern church, the Christian life is approached often through reason and the mind.
Live out of the facts we are told. Trust the head, not the heart.
But if we are to follow the logic implications of that way of thinking, are we then cutting off a significant way we experience Christ and the spiritual life? These questions are addressed in Mathew Elliot’s new book, Feel.
Feel – The Power of Listening to Your Heart shares Mathew Elliot’s journey of years of intensive study. He draws a practical map for understanding how God has created us to feel.
• Why does God care so much about the state of our hearts and feelings?
• How do emotions reflect the true depth and vitality of our spiritual lives?
• How can we learn to understand our emotions and through this learn to understand ourselves?
• How can we learn to live in and through and by our emotions?
• How can we become vibrant and joyful Christ-followers, letting our new heart guide us
to change our world for good?
(Read more of the review HERE)
Bill Reichart is a pastor at Big Creek Church in Forsyth County, GA. He blogs at his personal blog, Provocative Church and his ministry blog, Ministry Best Practices.
Filed under: Christianity
His book is loaded with charts, graphs and sidebars, and his research is based(as are his conclusions) on his study of a national database of some 200,000 churches.
And the upshot of his research – there is cause for concern.
For instance, despite some optimistic polls that otherwise suggest the American church is thriving, Olson writes,
“On any given Sunday,cthe vast majority of Americans are absent from church and if trends ccontinue, by 2050, the percentage of Americans attending church will be
half (of what it was in 1990).”
I know that in Metro Atlanta in the heart of the “Bible Belt” there are over 70 Mega-churches (defined by 2,000+) and one would think that almost “everyone goes to church”. And yet in our county, only 15.7% of the population actually go to church. We are not as “churched” as we are often led to believe.
According to Olsen, to avoid this dismal future, “the American church must engage with…three critical transitions …which have altered the relationship between American culture and the church.” Namely, Olsen defines these critical transitions as:
1. The transition from a Christian to a post-Christian society;
2. The transition from a modern to a post-modern society;
3. The transition from a mono-ethnic to a multi-ethnic society.
Of course, transitions 1. and 2. have long been foreseen and understood. It’s transition 3. – the new kid on the block – that’s getting increased attention from researchers, writers, theologians and practitioners, etc., alike.
According to Olson, it’s not only what’s needed; it’s the future.
He writes,
“In the mono-ethnic world, Christians, pastors and churches only had to understand their own culture. Ministering in a homogeneous cultures is easier, but mono-ethnic Christianity can gradually become culture-bound….In the multi-ethnic world, pastors, churches and Christians need to operate under the rules of the early church’s mission to the Gentiles.”
But this is the “money” quote:
“As the power center of (global) Christianity moves south and east, the multi-ethnic church is becoming the normal and natural picture of the new face of Christianity.”
The NEW FACE of CHRISTIANITY in AMERICA. If you are threatened by the idea of a church that is going to be less Anglo and more diverse, then this won’t perceived as good news. But if you believe and know that the heart of Christ and the gospel is a church for the nations, then it becomes exciting to see the church transformed from ethnic and cultural parochialism to seeing it transformed into a multi-ethnic mosaic.
What do you think, is this a crisis or a new and exciting opportunity?
Bill Reichart is a pastor at Big Creek Church in Forsyth County, GA. He blogs at his personal blog, Provocative Church and his ministry blog, Ministry Best Practices.
Filed under: Christian, Commentary, Real Life, Relevant Christian, Relevant Life
Jay Bakker who is the son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, and the pastor of Revolution Church in New York, has aligned himself with an organization known as Soulforce. Soulforce is a national civil rights organization whose main push is for “freedom for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from religious and political oppression through the practice of relentless nonviolent resistance.”
“Jay doesn’t believe in an exclusive God, only one that embraces us all for who we are, including same-gender-loving individuals.” (source)
According to an article today in the Houston Chronicle, and Soulforce website, Soulforce and Jay Bakker have extended invitations to six mega-churches to be a part of a “nationwide fellowship effort called The American Family Outing. The project, which aims to create dialogue between LGBT families and families at six American mega-churches”, including Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church in Houston, texas.
So far, Osteen has not agreed to or responded to the invitation. However, several other mega-churches, including The Potter’s House in Dallas(T.D. Jakes), Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois (Bill Hybells), and Hope Christian Church in Maryland (Henry R. Jackson jr., have agreed to meet lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender families through The American Family Outing.
I have no problem with the idea that we are supposed to love all people…even those who choose to be gay or lesbian…but where I start to have issue with the whole Soulforce connection is that it appears to be advocating their chosen lifestyle.
Contrary to Jay Bakker’s particular belief that Christianity is non-exclusionary, according to scripture there are those that will not be saved. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of their acceptance of the ‘alternative lifestyle’.
I don’t want to come off like some of our friendly ODM sites around the blogoshpere, but this is a very dangerous thing for Jakes and Hybells to ‘link’ themselves and their congregations to.
Filed under: Christianity, Commentary, Real Life, Relevant Christian, Relevant Life
The story of life already has a star, and the star is not you or me….it is The Christ!
If He is not the star of your life story, then the story lacks worthiness of the telling.
Just a thought!
Filed under: Christian, Christianity, Commentary, Real Life, Relevant Christian, Relevant Life
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:25&26
It is so easy for us to get so caught up in material things, cares and concerns, that we truly forget we have nothing of value without God in our lives. Without Him…all is a waste. Nothing is of value.
I am reminded of this every morning when I wake to see my beautiful wife’s face. She is a true gift from God and a constant reminder of His love, grace and mercy in my life.
Each day we wake is a gift from God. One to be cherished, nurtured, and not taken for granted.
There are reminders of God’s goodness to us everywhere, if we will but look.
He is our peace when we are in turmoil.
He is our comfort when we are hurting.
He is our rest when we are weary.
He is our strength when we are faint.
In Him, I lack nothing.
(originally posted at JimmyEldridge.net)
Hi, I’m Heather from A Deconstructed Christian. Jimmy invited me to post this here.
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I’ve decided. I’m going to the next level in God. I’m going to be empowered by an incredible, enthusiastic, visionary leader and take this city for Christ. I’m going to be a vibrant, passionate, charismatic believer who takes excellence seriously. I’m joining a vibrant, contemporary, growing church with a powerful message that impacts the world and has a vision statement that involves loving life, loving people and loving God. I’m getting connected to a small group that will move me into that next level and take me into the unknown, teaching me to drink that living water and walk by faith. I have a vision for this nation, I’m going to see revival sweep across this land.
Apologies to those who just choked on their coffee, but does any of that sound familiar?
These are words that echo in my mind. I used to love them, these broad sweeping christianese terms. They made me feel powerful and excited. They swept me up in emotion. They were often accompanied by music from the keyboard and shouts from the pulpit. They called me to action. Well, for a moment anyway. Then I had coffee.
Unfortunately, after all those years of proclamations, nothing changed. I didn’t change. I got whipped up into a frenzy, but I certainly didn’t impact anybody around me. I most definitely didn’t get to any “next level”. I really wonder what the “next level” is anyway. Is it like a coloured karate belt? A school diploma?
I also wonder what would actually have happened if I did instead of proclaimed. If I visited instead of excelled and gave that cup of water instead of drinking it myself.
I’m sure the lack of action can come down to my own decisions. After all, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. It just would have been nice to have an actual water trough in sight, though.
