The Anti-Building Project

June 25, 2008 in The Church | 1 comment

Friends, I came across Cornerstone Community  Church in Simi Valley, CA who, driven by their passion to really be the church Jesus intended it to be, has decided to not build a new building, but rather an amphitheater and more. Listen to the video below. I imagine a lot of this is pretty challenging for most people, but all of it resonates fully with me. I love it and long to see more and more of these kinds of churches. Let me know what you think.

You can check out more about the building project by clicking here. Let me know what you think.

Derrak

p.s. I discovered this video through the Catalyst blog. If you haven’t checked it out before, you should. It has some good stuff.

We Are Irrelevant

April 28, 2008 in Culture, The Church | 1 comment

relevant |ˈreləvənt| - adjective – Closely connected or appropriate to the matter at hand.

irrelevant |iˈreləvənt| - adjective – Not connected with or relevant to something.

I don’t know about you, but I am tired of the the church being irrelevant!!  We hold in our hearts, minds, and hands (the bible) the most relevant story and message of all time. Why does the church live, act, and communicate in what sometimes seem to be the most irrelevant ways possible?

Below is a link to a video that opened up the Association of Fraternity Advisors 2007 annual meeting.  They get that the rules have changed.  They get that this means they must adapt and change if they want to communicate and promote the value of fraternal organizations across this country.

Communication of the story of Jesus is too important to mess up.

The rules have changed.

Check out this video and then come back and share your thoughts.

derrak

Willow Creek and Their Big Change

April 22, 2008 in Culture, The Church | 1 comment

Willow Creek Community ChurchJust herd some pretty interesting news about Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL.  (You can get the scoop here.) This church has been one of the most publicly scorn “forward thinking” churches in the past 50 years.  And wether or not you agree with how they “do church”, it is hard to ignore the fact that God is working in the lives of people in and through this place.  Personally what impresses me most about Willow is not the size or how many lights they have, or any of that stuff.  Every time I have been there or been around willow people one thing has struck me,  their unwavering heart for God.

So, I applaud their tremendous courage to do what God is calling them to do. If more churches were like willow in this one area, I think we would see a very different church in America.  Hold tightly only to the right things, all else is up for grabs.

What do you think?

derrak

The House Church

November 21, 2006 in The Church | Leave a comment

Here is a link to an article that I found linked on the Shale Habor website. (a new kind of church model started by my friend Grag TeSelle) It is something that I thought was very interesting and worth a read. What do you think?

you can click here to read the aticle.

derrak

Hell

July 4, 2006 in Worth Thinking About | 5 comments

In a sprirt of seeking out and drawing closer to truth . . .
If I were to say that I wasn’t sure if I beleived in hell, what would you say?

derrak

Unity

May 26, 2006 in Jesus, The Church | 1 comment

To Jesus, unity is one of the most important things for the church to emulate. Of all the things he could pray for the night before he died, he prayed for unity . . .

“My prayer is not for them (the disciples) alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

I think the church sucks at this. If we really understood how important this is to Jesus, then we would make a better effort to persue it. I am looking at my own heart as I say this too. I suck at unity. My default is always to exploit difference to make myself feel better or seem better or more right.

Recently Harvey Carey, a local pastor from Detroit, spoke to our high school students about this. It was amazing. you have to check it out by clicking here.

The kicker here is what Jesus says is the result of our sin as it relates to disunity. Jesus says that unity will prove to the world that he is real. So, the result of our failure is that people will
turn away from Jesus.

WOW!!!

I am tired of this crap. As I think about this, I realize that I have been in too many “healthy” discusions about our differences, meant to sharpen one another, become more about building ourselves up so that we seem better that others.

I am sorry to my fellow blogging firends that I have done this with. I am sorry that my sin has turned people away form Jesus.

God forgive us . . . forgive me.

derrak

Question

April 3, 2006 in Worth Thinking About | 7 comments

Does God change his mind?

I Am A Podcast Junkie

March 24, 2006 in Culture, The Church | 1 comment

The last two days I have been listening to an interview with Don Miller, author of Blue like Jazz & Searching for God Knows What, on the Relevant Magazine Podcast. (His interview is on the 02/24 and 03/03 podcasts.)

Don has a lot of good thoughts to share about the church in todays world. If you have not read any of his books, you should. I think his perspective is really balanced but also very challenging. His greatest challenge is for us to really be about what Jesus was about.

I hope you click on the links above and check it out. Then come back and leave a comment when you are done. The conversation is what this blog is all about.

derrak

The Ressurection Life

March 23, 2006 in Jesus, Worth Thinking About | 2 comments

This morning I listened to the March 19, 2006 message by pastor Rick from Imago Dei Community Church in Portland, OR. It is a great message about lent, remembering the story of the resurrection of Jesus, and learning to live in the reality of it.

I have often wondered what is meant by the phrase “living the resurrection life”. This podcast is really helpful and challenging in understanding this. I recommend you listen to it. You can go through itunes and search under imago dei, or click here and dowload it off of the Imago Dei web site.

derrak

Pride

March 22, 2006 in Worth Thinking About | 2 comments

pride can kill a ministry. i was thinking about this, wondering what exactly it meant to me. i know pride is wrong and what stems from pride can be disturbing (see what happened to king Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4), but what effect does it have on my church and myself. in my pondering i came up with this.

pride can kill my ministry to non-believers if i am to prideful in my spirituality to admit. to admit to failing, to admit to being no better than any non-Christ follower, to admit to a life that is still undeserving of the gift i was given and to admit (and i think this is a big one for the church) to admit that things aren’t under our control and we don’t have it all together. i think, as christians we hate to seem like we don’t have it together.

i have jesus, of course everything is fine.

this separation will not attract non-christ following society. i propose it does the opposite. why would i have any interest in being in a group of people, that i have nothing in common with or who always come off a step ahead of me. i wouldn’t.

some of the best conversations i have had with people, the ones that most profoundly impact my life, are the ones in which pride is left at the door, and the person sharing is just letting out their frustrations and their failures. as christ-followers we all to often distance ourselves from this kind of openess with unbelieving friends. i wonder if a non-christ follower would like me more or less in light of this kind of self disclosure?