Junk Drawer Spirituality

Are Cool Church Names Really That Cool?

I have to admit.  When we first talked about planting a church 2 years ago, I got very excited about the possibility of having a really cool church name.  Naming your church after the street you sit on or your denomination seemed so lame when there are churches named "Paradox" and "Epicenter" down the road.  I wanted the kind of name that only sounds right if it's spoken like Macho Man Randy Savage as he's snapping into a Slim Jim.  

When we first considered the name for our new church we originally landed on the name "Water's Edge."  I liked it because it sounded "edgy."  Unfortunately, a church located about 3 miles south of us thought it was edgy too, and they beat us to it.  So we had to keep looking.  Since Jim really wanted a name that brought to mind the feeling of being on a lake shore, I started searching thesauruses and Google, looking for catchy synonyms.  I stumbled upon "Waterfront."  I was only familiar with the word because of the Marlon Brando movie.  Jim thought it sounded like a real estate development.  But in the end we decided to go with it, naming the church "Waterfront Community Church."  And it was a nice name, but I'll be honest . . . I didn't think it had the same bite and "reach out and grab ya" power of a church name like "Mosaic" or "Mars Hill" (both very large, popular churches).

That was 2 years ago.  And now  "Waterfront" has become a community and a family, not just a name.  And I've begun to realize a few things about church names. . .

The Unusual Allure of Guilt-Inspired Preaching

I had an interesting conversation a few days ago with a pastor friend of mine.  We were talking about the Church's role in encouraging people to spend regular time reading their Bibles.  It's an area I think my church has only done moderately well.  We don't have an 'F' in that category, but we certainly don't have an 'A' either.  As the conversation went on, I started feeling a little defensive as my friend started becoming unusually intense in the way he was presenting his case that this was something I should start doing better.  I didn't totally disagree.  But it suddenly felt as though I was on trial for something.

There was no problem with the content of what he was saying.  I agreed in principle.  The problem was the way he was presenting his thoughts.  It was more jagged than usual. . . not as grace-filled or understanding as he normally is.  After about 20 minutes of discussion as I was straining to understand the reason for all the octane, the smoke cleared a bit.  There was a revelation!  

He told me, "Being consistent in reading my Bible has always been a personal struggle for me."  

Suddenly, the whole conversation made sense.  You might ask, Why was he so amped up about the church's failure (and my church's failure) to convince people to read their Bibles when he can't get himself to read the BIble?  

Multi-site Preaching: Holograms?

I just read on Tony Morgan's blog that the technology is now available to project a life-like, full-size holographic image of a preacher at a church venue, and he believes the price may be entering the range where we might even begin to see churches using holographic imaging in the next 12 months.  The above image was a demo of the technology.

I have a love/hate relationship with this type of news.  I LOVE, that churches are being innovative, using new technology to build the Kingdom.  But, I have the same criticism of holograms as I did for video-casting technology for preachers -- I think creating a church culture that is too dependent on a single personality is VERY dangerous.  And before up-and-coming churches head down some of these roads and build entire organizations around their awesome preacher, I think we really need to pause and reflect on the wisdom of that.  You know, we really haven't yet seen the fallout of one of these current mega-super-star pastors dying or retiring. 

Worshipping Saturday Instead of Sunday

 A few weeks ago, Waterfront went through a fairly significant change.  We have been meeting in Schaumburg High School at 10 AM Sunday mornings since we launched alittle over a year ago.  But after much prayer and consideration we decided to move to a new location and a new time . . . Saturday evening.

Here's what happened.  We loved meeting in the High School, but our rent rates were changing, and the venue was a little large for us . . . so we were looking at other options.  Another local church offered to let us rent their facility for a much better price, and the facility size made much more sense for out needs.  But that meant we had to move to Saturdays since the existing church needed it Sunday mornings.

I was actually a little nervous about making the move to Saturday nights.  I personally loved the idea (I'm more of an evening person than a morning person anyway), but Sunday morning church is such a cultural norm.  I wasn't sure how people would respond.

Well, we've been in our new facility and our new time for 3 weeks now, and let me just say, this was SUCH A GOOD DECISION!!!!  The facility is great.  Perfect size, feel, and atmosphere, for our needs.  But I love the new time, and our people love it too.  So for anyone considering church planting, let me give you five reasons why you might consider doing a Saturday evening service rather than a Sunday service.

Does Church Online Work?

One recent phenomenon that we're beginning to see at a few churches around the country is the use of the internet to broaden the church's reach to folks who might not be interested in physically stepping inside the doors of a church.  Now days, you can create a live streaming video of an entire worship service with professional quality camera work and audio, and at the same time operate within a chat room where people sharing the same experience can chat back and forth about the message and service, pray for each other, and even participate in an online small group later in the week.

I am not 100% sold on the experience.  I think time will tell how valuable of a service an online campus really is in helping people love God and people well.  I'm glad churches are trying it, but I continue to have trouble with the idea that a person could watch an online service, enter a chat-room, never meet a single person from my church face-to-face, but we would somehow be OK with that and not push them to experience "real" church.  On the other hand, I do truly believe in online community.  I think real community DOES happen through internet technology (blogs, twitter, facebook, etc.).  I suppose the question is whether or not "church community" can happen online where people are somehow loving God better, loving people better, and finding their way back to God.

Well, today, I came across this video that put another plus in the column for online community (if you're keeping score).  Check it out.

http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/2009/08/13/why-church-online/comment-page-1/#comment-165763

Music, Art, and Worship

So here's a practical question relating to the design of worship experiences.  When it comes to the type of music played in a worship service, should popular songs, written and sung by secular artists, be permitted in the lineup?  Not an easy question.  I know people on both sides of the issue who would go to the mat on this one.  There are some people I've encountered recently who strongly oppose the use of secular music during a worship service.  And I suppose I can understand that.  In fact if you had asked me 4 or 5 years ago, I probably would have opposed the use of popular secular music in a worship service in MOST cases too.  I'll give you 3 reasons why I opposed it then, before I tell you how I changed my position more recently:

1.  4 years ago, I would have told you that popular, secular music is for performance, not worship.  Worship, by it's nature, in some way needs to be participatory for the people.  In other words, what I saw in the use of secular songs was a theological shift where it was no longer the congregation performing worship for God as our audience, but rather worship bands performing entertainment for the congregation as the audience.  Therefore, because secular, popular music was not designed to be participatory in the way that praise music or hymns were designed, it felt decidedly out of place to include them in an environment of worship.

2.  I also would have argued that secular music is often inappropriately misused by some churches when they choose a song that sounds as though it's related to something Christian, spiritual, or worshipful, when the artist who authored the song actually intended something totally different.  From my Seminary Biblical interpretation classes, I learned the importance of trying to discover the original author's intent before deciding what a passage of Scripture meant.  I figured the same principle should apply to the use of music.  If the author intended that a song was meant in a certain way when he wrote it, then to perform it in a way he did not intend seemed disingenuous to both the author and to God.  Who are we to take a love song written by a musician about his girlfriend and plug it in as a worship song we sing about our love for God?  Something just seemed a little "off" about it.

3.  And maybe the most important criticism I had of this type of worship selection was that I felt the motivation behind it had less to do with honoring God in the most genuine way possible and more to do with looking cool.  I realized there may have been some evangelism benefits to that type of style, but really . . . to me it seemed more like an attempt at impressing people, not glorifying God. 

But as I said, I have changed some of my thoughts on this subject to the point where I now actively search for good secular music to use in conjunction with our services at Waterfront rather than avoid them like the plague.  How did I change my mind?

How Well Does Seminary Train a Person For Ministry?

I just read an article in Christianity Today about the gap that exists between the staff roles available for people seeking ministry and the trained ministers that seminaries are producing.  The author (Bobby Ross) suggests that seminaries should do a better job training seminary students for senior pastoral roles that require not only a dynamic pulpit ministry, but also the ability to manage personnel.  Right you are, Mr. Ross.  But let me even take that one step further.

Megachurches and Young People

I just read an article that talks about some research that was done suggesting that, contrary to popular opinion, the vast majority of younger church attenders attend megachurches (churches with an average of 2000 or more attenders) rather than non-megachurches.  I suppose it shouldn't be that surprising, but in recent years, there has been alot written by folks who've suggested that the new, upcoming, "postmodern" generation is tired of the megachurch model of their baby-boomer parents and they're ready for closer, more intimate, more "authentic" fellowship when they go to church.

According to this research, that thinking is ridiculous.  "Nearly two-thirds of megachurch attenders are under 45, double the numbers in Protestant congregations of all sizes. The vast majority are between 18 and 44."  That's pretty amazing when you consider the fact that the average attender age in a protestant church is 53!  Young people gravitate toward megachurches, not smaller more intimate churches.

Now, the big question is why . . . Why do younger people like their churches BIG?  Is it a quality issue (bigger means better music, more programs, facilities, speakers, etc.), an anonymity issue (it's easier to slip in and out of a megachurch without being noticed), an enthusiasm issue (bigger means the church leaders must have a compelling vision)?  It's hard to say.  

Is John Calvin Changing the World?

I just read a Time Magazine article in their latest issue titled, "10 Ideas Changing The World Right Now."  Now, after examining the other nine ideas, scratching my head thinking, "Is that really changing the world?" I suppose "the New Calvinism" isn't too far of a stretch.  But there it is. . . number 3 on the list. . . "The New Calvinism."  Time is referring to the recent popularity of "Reformed" gurus John Piper and Mark Driscoll, and the churches emerging (no pun intended) from their ministries.

So this introduces 3 big questions for me with regard to this article.  First, by who's definition is the theology espoused by Driscoll and Piper new?  Calvinist?  Yes.  New?  I don't see it.  If somebody can, I'd be more than willing to listen, but as far as I can tell, Driscoll's and Piper's theology is the same Calvinism we've been hearing since Jonathan Edwards.  The only thing different is the music and the dress code.

Second question . . . Other than Mars Hill and Bethlehem Baptist, which pastors, churches, writers, or thinkers, are elevating this "New Calvinism" to such rock star status?  The largest and most popular church in America is still (by far) Lakewood church in Houston - a church that is about as far removed from John Calvin as one could get.  And even beyond Osteen, it appears to me that some of the largest and most influential churches within Evangelicalism include churches like Mars Hill Seattle, but Mars Hill Grand Rapids seems to be having just as wide of an impact with a different set of Doctrines.  The point is, they're doing great stuff. but I don't see any basis for believing that this theology has suddenly rocketed to an exclusively influential position within Evangelical thought. 

Third question. . . Who decided that "New Calvinism" is "changing the world?"  I could be convinced that evangelicalism is changing the world (with lots of numbers and pie charts).  I could be convinced that certain movements within evangelicalism are changing the world (movements toward global concerns, social justice, etc.).  But Neo-Calvinism?  Somebody enlighten me please.  

Outliers, Chapter 1

This is the first chapter of Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers.  So to begin with . . . Pop quiz.  If you were a little boy growing up in Canada, and you dreamed of being a professional NHL hockey player, in which MONTH of the year should you have been born?

Give up?

The answer is either January, February, or March.  Don't believe me?  Just check out the birthdates for all of the hockey players in the NHL.  Not the year.  The month.  In fact, check out the rosters for any elite group of hockey players in North America.  It's astonishing!  "In any elite group of hockey players - the very best of the best - 40 percent of the players will have been born between January and March, 30 percent between April and June, 20 percent between July and September, and 10 percent between October and December."  It's an iron-clad law of Canadian Hockey, as predictable as the sunrise.

So the natural question is 'Why?' 

The Changing Face of Religion In America

I just read a Washington Post article written in response to recent research in the field of religion (the largest survey of it's kind).  Here are some of the interesting (and some scary) trends this article found. . .

• Far fewer people are willing to call themselves "Christian" than they were when the same survey was conducted 20 years ago.  Today, only 76 percent of the population identify themselves as Christian, down from 86 percent in 1990.
• The number of people who identify themselves with the term "Non-Denominational" has jumped through the roof . . . 194,000 in 1990 and today, more than 8 million.
• The only group that grew in every U.S. state since the 2001 survey was people saying they had "no" religion; the survey says this group is now 15 percent of the population.
• Northern New England has surpassed the Pacific Northwest as the least religious section of the country.

The Trials of Ted Haggard

I remember the first news story that appeared on the Denver local news when I was still living in Colorado.  Ted Haggard, the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, Senior Pastor of New Life Fellowship in Colorado Springs, a church of 15,000 members, advisor to President Bush, and spokesperson for conservative Evangelical Christians all over America, was accused of having sex with a male prostitute.  I watched him deny it.  Then, over the next few days I watched him backpedal.  It was like watching a car accident.  He gradually admitted to more and more, and by that Sunday, Haggard resigned from his church, and had been removed from every position of influence that he held.  It had become clear that Haggard had in fact engaged in extra-marital homosexual encounters with another man as well as drug use and other offenses.

I watched in amazement as the whole thing unraveled.  I remember feeling angry.  Funny story . . .

"Being" The Church

I don't think I've really mentioned it here before, but I have been very impressed by the churches that have consistantly stepped up to the plate to help us out, especially when such help didn't benefit them at all.  So let me give a brief "shout out" to a few of the churches who have been really awesome to Waterfront.

Community Christian Church: Many of our people came from CCC including myself, Jim, and Greg (the 3 staff guys), and the relationship we have continued to have with them has been priceless. . .

Historically Inaccurate Christmas Carols

Not to be too much of a Scrooge, but it is interesting to look at the Christmas Carols many of us can sing from memory and compare the details of those early songs to the Biblical and Theological history from which they derive.  I thought this was an interesting article looking at the "Top Eight Historically Incorrect Christmas Songs."

Book Review: Rapture Ready

On the plane ride to Texas over Thanksgiving, I had the opportunity to finish reading the wildly entertaining, sometimes offensive, but usually enlghtening book, Rapture Ready: Adventures In the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture.  It is a book by a guy named Daniel Radosh who describes himself as a "liberal New York Jew," who took it upon himself to spend a few months trying to better understand the subculture of evangelical Christianity.  He talked to popular Christian authors, visited a Christian theme park, went to Christian concerts, music festivals, raves, visited Christian bookstores, entered "Hell Houses" on halloween and attended Christian WWE style wrestling matches in the south.  Radosh wrote about his experiences, the things he saw, the conversations he had, and the impressions that were left on him. 

As an evangelical, I appreciated the book. . . 

Seven Days of Sex

Ed Young from Fellowship Church in the Dallas area, just made the New York Times because of his latest sermon series where he challenged all married couples in his congregation to have sex for seven straight days as a means of strengthening their marriage.

It seems like a great idea for a sermon series, and as my friends Jim and Sheri Mueller say, who lead a not-for profit marriage minsitry called Growthtrac, sex is one of the most important areas of marriage enrichment couples need to work through.  I'm glad to hear Christians are trying to tackle it . . . no pun intended.  

How To Leave A Church

I found this interesting article written by a guy named Ray Pritchard.  It's a short article about how to leave a church with integrity.  As a person who has both been left AND done the leaving at different points in my life as a church-goer and pastor, I know that sometimes leaving a church to go elsewhere is a part of life.  It's not a part of the Christian experience that I particularly like, or that I always feel is necessary.  But sometimes it needs to happen in order for both people and churches to learn and grow.  I thought it was a pretty interesting article, and something church-goers should discuss before bolting any place of worship.    

Church Marketing And Starbucks

A friend of mine sent me a link to this video.  It's a "parable" exploring what it would be like if Starbucks were to market their business like churches market themselves . . . it's an interesting critique of the way we try to reach people and pretty funny too.

Emergent Village "De-Institutionalizes"

There is a press release coming out tomorrow (yes, I feel pretty cool that I knew about all this before the press release came out) written by Tony Jones and the group at Emergent Village.  I don't know all of the details but it looks as though they are attempting to dissolve some portions of "Emergent Village," and Tony Jones will no longer be the chief . . . and apparently there will not be a replacement chief.  Here's the statement: "To this end, Emergent Village will “flatten” the organization by discontinuing the national coordinator position and significantly reducing the organization’s fundraising."

The way they're pitching it is that this is an attempt by Emergent to move away from an institutionalized method of living their mission . . . which makes sense, since their primary function seems to me to offer a critique of the modern institutionalized church.  So to that end, I applaud Emergent for walking the talk.  It does get me thinking about how often an organization, a non-profit, a church, a business, anything that has started off with a very simple, grass-roots mentality tends to gravitate toward institutionalization and complexity.  Even for an organization who's primary function for existence is to critique institutionalization, the natural tendency is always to create structure, and layers, and bureacracy; and that's not nearly as sexy as a "grass-roots" or "organic" movement . . . and arguably not as effective either. 

On Being a Progressive Thinker in a Traditional Church

There's an interesting blog discussion going on today on Scot McKnight's blog.  Scot McKnight is a New Testament professor from the area, an accomplished author and an academic advocate in the Emerging Church movement.  A young pastor wrote him a letter asking his advice on what to do if you're a progressive thinking, emerging, youth pastor in a more traditional church that tends to frown on thinking that colors outside of the lines.

I don't know that I would classify myself or ever will classify myself as "emergent" but I certainly know the feeling of being at odds with certain streams within the church in which I'm employed.  I've been there, and it's tough.  There's a continual awkward tension of trying to teach with conviction and honesty, always knowing that if you stray too far from the party line, you could get shot for mutiny.  But there was one comment on this blog post that I found to be especially profound concerning this topic.  Here was the comment:

"When I started to feel emerging leanings, it became so enticing to become cocky and let everyone know anytime I disagreed with a conservative pastor about something. It’s easy and sexy to do, but somewhere along the way, I quickly forgot the importance of submitting to Spiritual authority. Preach with conviction, but submit to authority- if you can’t do both, then it may be time to move on."

Simple, humble, and wise. 

Redefining the Emerging Church Movement

I have had a kind of love/hate relationship with the emerging church movement since about 2002, when I first became aware of this conversation younger pastors were having.  I originally learned about the movement when I read Dan Kimball's The Emerging Church, a book that challenged alot of people's thinking (mine included) with regard to the way modern churches are equipped to reach a postmodern, post-Christian world.  Around the same time, Brian McClaren introduced his character "Neo" in his fiction book A New Kind Of Christian, and the subsequent trilogy.  It was a book about a pastor wrestling with (you guessed it), how to be a Christian in a postmodern world.

Why The Church CANNOT Be Political

I had an interesting weekend.  There was a buddy of mine from High School who came into Chicago for a friend's wedding, and I decided to head downtown on Saturday to hang out with him.  He's a guy I've known for a very long time, but we haven't talked much in recent years.  Today he works as a lobbyist in Austin, Texas, involved in real estate issues.  He went to Law school . . . real smart guy.

I've also known for awhile that he wasn't a Christian.  In fact when we were in college, he was at the University of Texas and I was at Texas A&M, and we were both on that sorta anti-establishment, "screw the church" journey and we spoke about that often.  God got ahold of my life my junior year of college, but my friend continued his path, which eventually led him into atheism and now a sort of agnostic/deism.  We've talked some over the years, I've prayed for him often (at some points in a judgmental way, and at other points just as a friend that I love . . . that's been part of my own spiritual journey).  But it's been at least 4 or 5 years since we've talked.