Church Planting and Church Buildings

On a number of occasions, after telling people that I am a minister within a church, they have responded with this question: "Where is your church?" I've often wanted to respond by saying, "Our church is scattered throughout Anderson County." Of course, such a response would likely be met with a look of confusion because such an answer is theological in nature. The questioner wants to know about location--where our building is--not theology.

The first definition given for "church" at dictionary.com is "a building for public Christian worship." For many people, the first thing that comes to mind about a "church" is a building, not the body of believers. In some ways, church planting can help believers remember that the primary definition of the church is theological--the Church consists of Christians, not physical buildings or a location. For those involved in church planting (or Christian ministry as a whole), we cannot allow buildings to be our primary means of "advertisement" to our communities. Instead, the church--the people--must be primary. Let us live as a distinctive, gospel-driven community. Let our lives be our apologetic.

No Need for Proof

Our children know that Amy and I are their mom and dad. We have been with them (almost) every day of their lives. Therefore, it would be quite strange if one of them said something like, "Could you give me some proof that you're really my dad?" This would be strange because they have every reason to believe that I am their father. For example, I live with them, I play with them, I look like them, etc.

In his book, Apologetics to the Glory of God, John Frame makes a similar point regarding those who grow up in a Christian home. He writes:

...many people grow up with God and receive him gladly. They hear about God in church, in Sunday School, around the family dinner table, and in Christian school. They see their parents making decisions based on the Word of God. They learn Scripture verses and catechism from memory. God is literally the head of their home. They could no easier doubt God's existence than they could doubt the existence of their own father or mother...God's norm for us is that we live and raise our children in such a way that proof will be unnecessary (65-66).

So, for those of us who are Christian parents, let us ask ourselves these questions: Are we raising our children so that they know that God's existence is as certain as our existence as their father or mother? Are we raising children in a way that proof will be unnecessary?

Collision

You can check out a couple of trailers for the Collison Movie, which is a film based on the recent debates and conversations between Chrisopher Hitchens and Douglas Wilson.

The Shack...Again

This is a great review of The Shack. Check it out.

Is Christianity Good for the World?

Yesterday, I linked to one of the debates between Hitchens and Wilson, but I forgot to put a link to a book that they wrote together: Is Christianity Good for the World?

Christopher Hitchens and Douglas Wilson Debate

Recently, Westminster Theological Seminary held a debate between atheist Christopher Hitchens (God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything) and pastor Douglas Wilson (God Is: How Christianity Explains Everything) . You can view the debate here.

Throwing Each Other Out of the Window

In a recent post, Reggie Kidd laments the Churches tendency to engage in civil war instead of going to battle with our common enemies of the faith. Today, we do find ourselves in the midst of conflicts with those who oppose our faith in the Triune God. Whether the attack is coming from militant Islamics, Mormons, or some other group the battle is certainly raging. Yet, instead of placing our time and energy into battling against our common foes we are more concerned with going to battle with our fellow brothers and sisters. Granted, those internal conflicts do need to be addressed, but we shouldn't be throwing our allies out of the window when our mutual enemies have engaged us in battle.

Reggie Kidd writes:

There are times that call for a sense of measure and proportion — times when you need not to be doing a smack down on each other. Fifth century B.C. Greece it figured out. Will we?

On one front, we face militant Islamists who have declared a reverse Crusade on us, demanding we either grovel before a disincarnate cosmic monad, or die.
On another, Mormons, arguably the fastest growing religion on the planet, knock on our doors with their terminal niceness (with, as Jon Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven chillingly recounts, notable exceptions) and their uber-Disney promise that not only can you wish upon a star but you can get your own star where you’ll be a god or goddess.

Then there are the angry atheists who grouch about the immorality and intellectual suicide of faith. And just wait until this Christmas season’s (how deliciously ironic) release of the movie based on Philip Pullman’s vision of anti-Narnia: The Golden Compass.

Meanwhile, mainline Western churches languor under the sway of pre-pagan eros and post-Christian heterodoxy, embodying in a way that couldn’t be more precise Jude’s prescient warning about “ungodly persons who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 4).
Meanwhile evangelicals headbutt each other … and do everything we can to our nearest neighbors to let them know we’re more against them than against what should be our common enemies.

Read Reggie's entire post here.

Staring at a Tree

Okay, so here is a not-so-interesting-or-creative-story, but it should bring up a good point of discussion:

A man was walking home one day, when he noticed two women staring at a tree. The man was curious (and a bit nosy too), so he walked over to the ladies.

"Why are you staring at that tree," asked the man.

The short lady said, "we are having a debate over whether this tree was created by God or if it is the product of millions of years of evolution. I think that God created all things, including this tree."

"But I do not believe that God exists and I think that this tree is a product of chance," responded the tall lady.

The man was still puzzled: "Well, if both of you are looking at the same tree, why do you come to such different conclusions? You are both looking at the same tree aren't you?

"Of course we are looking at the same tree!" responded the ladies in unison.

Bewildered by the series of events, the man continued to make his way home, while the women continued to stare at the tree.

So, here is where the discussion comes in. If the women are looking at the same tree (i.e. they are observing the same "facts"), how do you explain their disagreement? What is the source of their differing opinions?

Abortions and Scholarships

This morning, I came across an online article--"Clemson criticizes ESPN story on student-athelete abortions"-- from the Anderson Independent-Mail. The ESPN report focused on student atheletes (some of whom were from Clemson) who fear losing scholarships if they become pregnant. Some of the women say that the school's policy (i.e. “pregnancy resulting in the inability to compete and positively contribute to the program’s success will result in the modification of your grant-in-aid money.”) made them feel like they had no choice. So, some of them had abortions. When one student became pregnant she said:

'How could this happen?' she told ESPN. 'My career was going to end. I’m not going to go to the Olympics or get to finish my four years. I was just like, This is a dead-end road. You’re not going anywhere else.'

I am not really interesting in debating over whether or not the policy was good. But I do want to say this: As the previous quote shows, our society has mixed-up priorities, to say the least. It is a sad indication of the state of our world when we are willing to hold careers, scholarships, or aspirations as move valuable than the life of a child.

But as believers, we cannot be satisfied with merely pointing out the problems of the world. We must also be ready to engage the world with the gospel. Let us point our neighbors, friends, city, state, nation, and world to a new way of living. Let's take them the message of the cross. "But in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you" (1 Peter 3:15).

Christians, Atheists, and a Lot of Warm-Fuzzies

The Good

There has been a lot of discussion between atheists and Christians lately. A lot of this has to do with the highly polemical books written by atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens. Of course, some Christians have not allowed those books to go unchallenged. American Vision recently published two books (Letter from a Christian Citizen by Douglas Wilson and The Return of the Village Atheist by Joel McDurmon) in response to Sam Harris' book, Letter to a Christian Nation. In addition to the book, Douglas Wilson has been doing some excellent apologetic work as he responds and challanges men like Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens. Be sure to stop by Wilson's blog or visit the online debate between Wilson and Hitchens.

The Bad and The Ugly

Unfortunately, not all the interactions between Chrisitans and atheists have been as helpful as Wilson's. Some Christians are more concerned with get warm and fuzzy with atheist, instead of challanging them to turn to Christ.

Honestly, I knew that this article ("Christians and Atheists Start a Calmer Dialogue") was going to be ridiculous before I even began reading it--but it was far worse than I imagined. Take a few minutes to read the whole article, but here are a few of the interesting--or should I say, sad--quotes. My comments will be in italics.

Mr. Henderson set out to learn how "the unchurched" respond to various kinds of worship services – what it is they find appealing and what leaves them cold. He began to pay nonbelievers $25 to go to a church and tell him what they thought.

This points us to a major problem in the evangelical world. Often, pastors and other leaders place more emphasis on learning from "the unchurched" rather than learning from God's Word. Do we really have to stoop to the level of paying people to tell us what they think about our worship services? The apostle Paul reminds us that "the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). I would be willing to bet that the people Mr. Henderson paid told him something like this: "The coffee and donuts appealed to me, but things got a whole lot colder when that preacher started talking about sin and Jesus dying on the cross. Keep the coffee and donuts, but you better 'warm-up' the message!" Maybe we should have just listened to Paul. Granted, I wish that churches would rid themselves of needless, cultural baggage that unnecessarily pushes people away (i.e. expecting people to wear dressy clothes, take out their body piercings, etc.),but that is a far cry from what some church leaders have in mind.

Henderson also conducts interviews with men and women who are non­believers as an event at church and pastor conferences. Many Evangelicals "are obsessed with conversion," he says, and always speak of non-Christians as "lost."

How else should we speak about non-Christians? There are only two options: saved or lost. Okay, maybe we should just abandon the whole pesky issue of conversion anyway. I'm sure that it comes across as cold.

Finding Different Plot Lines

I came across an interesting post that deals with the way we present the gospel non-Christians. The author suggests that we may need to take different "plot lines" or starting points when we confront others with the good news. The author points to the fact that in the book of Acts, we can see how Paul used different starting points with the Jews than he did when he spoke to the Gentiles. Check out the article and tell me what you think. But until you take time to read and comment, I'll give you a few of my thoughts:

Ultimately, our aim is to point people to Jesus and the cross--to boldly proclaim with the prophet Isaiah, "Your God reigns" (Is. 52:7). We do this because we want to see God glorified and mankind satisfied in God. Or if we can use the language of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, we want to see men and women live for the end in which they were created: "Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." So, let us endevour to speak the gospel in ways that will connect and challange those whom we are addressing.

Incarnation

While watching a television show this week, I heard the song an old Joan Osborne song called, "What If God Was One of Us?" Although I do not like the song, it did spark a few thoughts that I'd like to share. In case you are not familiar with the song, the chorus of the song contains the following lines:

What if God was one of us?/Just a slob like one of us/Just a stranger on the bus/
Trying to make his way home

Although this song came out in 1995, it continues to find its way into the soundtracks of movies and television shows. In my opinion, this demonstrates two things: First, there are still people who view "God" as distant, uninvolved, and uncaring. Second, there are still so many people who are walking in the darkness of sin, denying their Creator. Yet, these thoughts should not bring us to despair because we know that our God is great. Fortunately for us (and the world), God has not been silent. He has spoken to us through His Son, Jesus! The writer of Hebrews puts it this way: "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world" (Hebrews 1:1,2). Or in the words of John: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). Our God is not a distant and uninvolved god; rather, He is the God of grace who chose to come and dwell among us. The world does not have to ask "what if" anymore. "For we do not have a hight priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:15,16). As we encounter people each day (co-workers, friends, family, neighbors, strangers), let us boldly proclaim what God has done in His Son. Jesus is Lord and Savior, and He has disarmed Satan. Let us expand His kingdom with the gospel, by the power of the Holy Spirit--all for God's glory.