Soul Pirates

Ever had someone that just sucks the life right out of you??  Somebody that continually does things, promises things, makes commitments to you  but never considers following through?  I wonder sometimes what it is that makes those people tick.

Bear with me here.  I’m in uncharted territory:  Why is it so natural for people to make commitments without any intention of doing what they promised to do?  What is it about our society that says it’s ok to promise the world and walk away from the situation as if you never did anything wrong?  I know that commitment is a huge thing.  We’ve talked about it alot in the church.  Most people don’t want to commit to anything because it might tie them down to something that they will regret later.  Unfortunately we all end up no committing and then missing out on alot of really cool stuff.  It’s like not going to Disneyworld because you don’t want to block out a whole day in case something else comes along.  Jeez….

It’s funny. I’m not really talking about church here.  It could be applicable, I’m sure.  It’s just that I’m seeing it all over the place and don’t really understand how we can walk away from stuff and not even twinge at the thought that we might have hurt someone.  I guess if you are going to talk church with this thought it could open up a whole Pandora’s Box of discussion.  Something like:

Is the fact that people don’t commit to church and religion any worse than the fact that we in the church don’t really commit to helping these people past the day they walk down the magical aisle to the front of the church so that they can be paraded in front of the congregation as the latest convert?

There’s a bit of soap box for ya!  (Ahhh, the magic of the internet.  You can offend so many people at one time……)

I pray that we will all start to realize the repercussions of our actions.  Our words are our bond.  Our life is our witness.  As I am one with the body of Christ I am also one of the human race.  No one is beneath me.  My commitment must be to follow what Christ taught.  Love One Another.

There’s a commitment we need to be able to keep.

Is church just a service or a whole?

The question sounds abstract, actually.  That’s ok, though.  Most of the things I write are rather abstract in form, but are there to stir up questions.  Hopefully you will have questions.

I was thinking about how church is usually defined by one thing: Sunday Morning Worship Services.  That’s what most people talk about.  It’s what you are usually inviting others to attend with you.  It’s also the way our churches and denominations gage the size of the church.  If there are 200 people showing up on Sunday then we say we "run" about 200.  Size is so important to us that we list on our websites how many people are attending, how many have been saved, how many baptized, and "how many lives have been changed by our ministry"!  (I have other issues with that last one that I don’t have time to go in to here.  Let’s just say that it’s a pretty presumptuous and egotistical statement.)

I’ve really been trying to imagine what it would be like if we saw ALL of our ministry as being on the same level as the "worship service".  What if the youth meeting, the women’s meeting, a small group out on the fringe, or a service project was just as important.  What if we considered the youth ministry to be "CHURCH" instead of just one of the ministries that we "offer".  (I love quotation marks…..)  What if a group of 5 or 6 people meeting on a regular basis to discuss life, love, and God was equal to the largest gathering we had?

What if we had no idea how many people were really a part of our church?  What decides who is really a part?  Do you have to be a card carrying member?  Do we have to walk the aisle and commit to the crowd? Do we have to take classes and sign a contract? 

These are things that have become a part of the church culture and I’m struggling with whether they are actually as valuable as people are saying that they are. You see, when you start a ministry you get a tremendous amount of "advice" on how it’s supposed to be done.  You need to start an elder/deacon board.  You need to have a children’s ministry right away.  You need to establish membership and start moving everyone into small groups before you lose them.  You need.  You need.  You need.

I guess I’m starting to look another direction.  What does God want?  What if what He wants doesn’t look like anything, anywhere?  Are we ready to walk roads that no one else wants to touch because people might not understand what we’re doing there?  Are we willing to be flexible and change when we need to?  Are we?

I foresee a church where we don’t really know how many people are actually a part of it.  There might be alot.  There might not.  People will be a part of so many different opportunities to express their journey that we won’t have a solid way to gage it.  There might be internet attenders that never set foot in a service.  There might be people that never come to a Sunday morning, but they are totally worshipping God in a relational group.  I see us knocking down the walls that so many people are scared or not willing to touch,  loving people who are unloved, forgotten, and hurt.  I see us going to the places that make "traditionals" nervous or angry.

I see us walking the footsteps of Christ.  May we all pursue the dangerous and unforgiving road so that we might experience the fullness of Him in our lives.

We’ve Got Sound!

The day has come and all the world celebrates:  NETChurch has online mp3s now!  We recorded our first gathering this past weekend and will now be posting them every Monday for you to download.  We’re fine tuning the process so that we can start podcasting within a few weeks.

Drop in to www.netchurch.tv and click on media to listen to the teachings.

Isn’t technology wonderful????

Andy

Better Late Than Never

I have truly become the worst blogger in history.  I can’t believe that it’s been 3 months since my last post.  I cannot consider myself to be technologically enlightened anymore!

Since it has been so long I guess I should update you:

1.  We’re still together and the church is moving.  I can’t say that it’s in numeric growth.   None of us seem to be worried about that.  Deepening the pursuit of the journey has become paramount to every member of NETChurch.

2.  We’ve lost some of our original group.  Some have moved on.  Some have gone on to other ministry or life opportunities.  Some have found that NETChurch just isn’t for them.  Some have just disappeared.  Don’t know exactly what to say in reference to the last group.  I wish everyone was always able to be upfront but that’s not always a possibility.  God bless everyone who has moved on, though.  There’s an amazing life waiting for each of you.

3.  There are new faces with new ideas and new experiences to share with us.  A big chunk of the people coming to NETChurch now have not been going to church or were really turned off to it.  Hopefully we are finding that ministry that God intends for us.

4.  We have found a really cool rhythm with the church.  The past 4 months have been such a huge change, but a good one.  Someone told me the other day that the difference is that before we were just like any church on any corner.  Now it seems real.  I’m not totally sure how that looks or communicates, but I like it.

5.  Today was Easter Sunday.  We had a much bigger than usual crowd, we took the Lord’s Supper (and served each other….), and had our very first baptisms.  The baptisms were done in the parking lot of Expresso.Com, the coffee shop where we meet.  It was an amazing, life changing, totally radical type of day that made sure that no one walked away unaffected.  That’s what church should really be all about.

My prayer is that we continue that every day, every week, and everywhere in our lives.  I pray that you will not be able to worship with us and leave thinking the same way.  It might make you think, your life may be impacted.  You might not even agree with what you see or hear.  It might make you search deeper within yourself than you ever have before.  You might just experience something that you can’t put into words.

My prayer is that status quo will never be enough again.  As we continue to journey forward I ask everyone that reads this to shake the bushes, scream at the mountain tops, and joust the windmills just so that you might be able to experience one slight moment of bliss in the presence of a God that wants you to live an unbelievable life.

It’s not about this moment.  It’s not about this day.  It’s all about the journey.

May we all embrace the journey.