The Entertainment Value of Church and the Gospel

Ok, more television confessions. While I was watching the noon news there was a commercial for a local church. We're not talking large market television where I live so the local commercials have that 'homemade and low budget' flavor. Something I have come to appreciate since leaving California. I live in Kentucky now, where folks are just that friendly and homespun really is their lifestyle.

The commercial had a lovely picture of a church with a voice-over saying the church's name and location. Then they used a split screen with the church on one side and a string of fresh faces with sound-bytes on the other. Each friendly, smiling face used a one word descriptor of the church to entice people to come and attend. I am assuming they used the people in their fellowship to make the commercial. The folks came in all ages and sizes and they used some decent descriptors for a church; fellowship, support, and encouragement among them. Here's the part that made me cringe.... they had one little girl who was especially animated and perky and they spliced her in multiple times in between the serious words. Her one word description for her church? "Fun!"

That's right, fun. The gospel of Christ, the holiness of God, the desperate need for salvation are all trumped in favor of fun. What was that pastor thinking? Did he completely lose his mind and forget the reason for the church in the first place? You have got to be kidding me! People's souls are at stake and right here in the heart of the Bible Belt fun is the best thing you have to offer? No wonder the rate of depression among those who profess faith in God is the same as those who don't. People come in search of answers for the great pain and agony of their lives; the huge burden of sin on their consciences and instead of getting the truth they get a quick veneer of fun! How much fun can you have while you ignore the cancer of sin eating away at your soul?

Is it any wonder that our churches have become little more than breeding grounds for apostates, rabid atheists and skeptics? Does it take membership in Mensa to connect the dots between offering a man-centered gospel and producing completely self-focused professing believers who are willing to do anything as long as it feels good or entertains them?

We do not need a social club. What we do need is a remedy for sin. Why is that so hard for the people of God to understand?? Oh how grateful I am to Almighty God that he has seen fit to place me in a church family where He is the focus of our worship. A fellowship where having fun together is a byproduct of worshiping and enjoying Him first and foremost.

Please Lord, let me never take for granted the gift you have given me in putting men and women who are faithful to You and Your Word in my life. Like my friend James White says, what you win them with is what you win them to. Theology Matters.

Character Flaws, Sin and Remediation

I have been thinking about my last post in which I offered to talk about how having a job has shown or magnified my character flaws. Before I do though, I want to distinguish between character flaws and sin. My character flaws predispose me to sin in certain areas more readily than in others. Indulging in my character flaws is sinful. Entertaining the idea of indulging my character flaws is sinful. They are the weaknesses in me where my flesh makes itself known by screaming, "You know you want to!!" Too often I hear Christians lamenting that they "make mistakes" or are victims of their genetic make-up and intimate that they should, therefore, be excused from culpability for being prone to certain activities. Our cultural dependence on a medical model to define our behavior has given many what they see as a plausible excuse for sin. I don't see that caveat in the Word. For Christians, the Word is always our standard. It is the standard by which all will be j

Fear Down, Hope and Peace to Go!

Last night I had the honor and privilege to present some information to the women of my church. I cannot begin to tell you how much I love and appreciate them. The seminar I did was on fear. God is clever and He had me present the information to them because I needed it. It's not that I don't want to study things for my own benefit and growth, but whenever I do a topical study to teach it, I see how badly I needed it and how much more I have to repent of than I realized. Sometimes you don't know what you don't know. That's a topic I want to return to in another post. I want to talk about the ladies for a moment. They are an incredibly loving group of women. Women who seek God and are teachable. They have gone out of their way to include me and love on me, which speaks volumes of their characters because I am not all that lovable. I am not being self-deprecating here. I am a mix of endearing and maddening qualities like anyone else. What I am telling you is

Super Church a song for the Emergent-sy

In the early 70s I was in a youth choir at my church. Our youth pastor was a musician and his way of connecting with us as a group was through the choir and music. Somehow there was an affiliation between him and The Continental Singers, New Hope and Jeremiah People. He was worked with Moishe Rosen of Jews for Jesus too, I think. Are any of these names familiar to you? Though I remember the church fondly I was a profoundly lost and troubled young woman during my years there. That and time have muddled the memories quite a bit. Today I was digging through some old paperwork and one of the books to the musical we did. It's Getting Late For the Great Planet Earth, a folk rock oratorio by Cam Floria. Yes, that's right. Cam Floria put Hal Lindsey to music. There's a lot to laugh about and some to groan about but as I was looking through the songs and remembering, I found this little ditty and I only wish I could sing it for you. Just remember that this is circa 1972 and even th

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