Archive for the church
Spiritual Co-dependency
Posted by: | CommentsSpeaking of the way we do church, Mark Batterson (in Wild Goose Chase) says:
“…I’m afraid we’ve turned church into a spectator sport. Too many of us are content with letting a spiritual leader seek God for us. Like the Israelites, we want Moses to climb the mountain for us. After all, it is much easier to let someone else pray for us or study for us. So the church unintentionally fosters a subtle form of spiritual codependency.”
This is why it is so important for the church to encourage and equip people to be in the Word for themselves. It is also important for people to know that the church can provide opportunities for growth and equipping, but it is still up to the individual believer to take next steps in his relationship with God. The church cannot make anyone do that, and the church is not responsible to do that.
What do you think? Has the church made people spiritually codependent?
One Of My Favorite Quotes
Posted by: | CommentsI was going through my Evernote notebook clips last night and came across a quote that I found on a blog a couple of years ago:
“The greatest opposition to what God is doing today comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God was doing yesterday.”
- R.T. Kendall, pastor of Westminster Chapel
This had two implications for me:
- A lot of the people that I was taught to revere and respect as I was growing up were actually fairly progressive in their approach to ministry (for their time). What they did may not be considered progressive today, but it was then! In fact, today most churches have been there and done the things that were considered progressive back then.
- I am still just under 40, but I never want to be the opposition to God’s moving in this (or any) generation. Who has the right to say that God was done working in the 50′s. 60′s or 70′s? Who has the right to say that the 90′s Praise and Worship music was the ultimate sound that God wanted. None of us do. We need to allow God to work today just as He did in those decades. Creativity did not reach its pinnacle. Evangelism and preaching did not reach its final end. Things continue to progress. Things continue to change. They will until Christ returns. In fact, we will even sing a “New Song” in heaven. Some of you will not like that song either!
Does This "Church Math "Add Up For You?
Posted by: | CommentsRead this post at Tony Morgan’s blog. I am still processing through some of it, but I found it to be very, very accurate. What are your thoughts on it?
more staff = fewer volunteers
lack of planning = financial challenges
more meetings = less ministry
unclear vision = packed ministry calendar
packed ministry calendar = volunteer burnout
same methods = same results
Read more of them on Tony’s blog. Good thoughts or not? What do you think?
Worship Confessional: November 22, 2009
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Today we celebrated Communion together. I love to partake of the Lord’s Supper with my church family. It is always special time, and today was no different. We purposefully set a more reflective atmosphere. We started out with a slower, yet powerful choir song and we also only used an acoustic in our music today. It was a nice change to make, and went with the atmosphere we were trying to create. It was a very nice service and there was quite a buzz about the service afterwords. Now, on to the setlist!
Choir Special – Reveal (way to go choir!)
Baptism (It never get sold seeing people take steps towards Christ)
Drama - A short skit on prayer (Everyone did a great job!)
- The Wonderful Cross – Mason/Reeves/Tomlin/Walt/Watts
- At The Cross – Hudson/Watts
Special Music – The Old Rugged Cross (Lesley did a fantastic job!)
Message – Part 1 (Our pastor spoke about the meaning of Communion today so that our new people knew what we were doing)
- Nothing But The Blood – Lowry
- Once Again – Redman
Special – Lead Me To The Cross (one of my favorites! Wonderful job Randi!)
Message – Part 2
Time of response and receiving the elements
Offering
- How Great is Our God – Tomlin
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving this week! We have more than we deserve not only in possessions, but as recipients of God’s love and mercy also! This post is also part of Sunday Setlists at Fred McKinnon [dot] com.
Worship Confessional: November 15, 2009
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Today was the last day of our Missions Celebration, and it was a great finale! I am so proud of all of the people that were involved in making everything happen over the last several weeks! It is such a blessing to work with such creative and talented people! We had a lot of elements involved in the service again this week, including a dance by some of our kids as the grand finale! I will try and post a video if the dance later. Here is the set list and order for the week:
- Glory To God Forever – Beeching/Fee
- Mighty To Save – Fielding/Morgan
Choir – End of the Beginning
- A New Hallelujah – Smith/Smith/Baloche
Video intro for speaker
Speaker: Jerry Thorpe (former pastor of Crossroads Fellowship in Odessa – Jerry preached a terrific evangelistic message. We had several raise their hands to give their lives to Christ. That NEVER gets old!)
Offering
Drama finale – Won by One (Written by some of our own people)
I want to says thanks again to all of our people that were involved over the last several weeks to make our missions celebration such a success. It took all of you using the gifts you have to make it all work! You are awesome!
I am looking forward to wrapping up the Missions Celebration next week! This post is also part of Sunday Setlists at Fred McKinnon [dot] com.
