Observations That Leave Me Perplexed

DISCLAIMER: The following comments have nothing judgmental towards the people who are a part of the building I am about to comment on. These are just my thoughts about a physical building called a church.

We were celebrating a special occasion that took place in a church building. While awaiting for this beautiful event to begin, I walked around the building to pass a little time. I took some pictures of some things that just perplexed me. Now, just to be clear on this, you have to understand my working definition of church. I have come to understand that the "church" is really made up of people who have strive to be one in mind and heart under the leadership of Jesus and His teachings. A word picture that sums it up would be that of a body where the people make up the various parts to the body and Jesus serves as the Head.

So now on to the first picture. I have blurred the name as the person whose name is there may not have had any say in the matter. This really perplexes me. Where does honoring one another that the Bible says we should do cross the line? In this building, the purpose of it was designed to be a place where believers come together to worship. What purpose does it serve to name portions of the building after mere men? Let me just add this. I picked up one of their newsletters and found that this atrium connects the old building to a new multi-purpose building in which they fell short of $1.7 MILLION. They were contemplating a 10 or 20 year loan to repay the DEBT.

So now there is pressure (dare I say, bondage to the lender) to make sure there is enough money to pay back the loan. For the next 10 or 20 years, how many times will the people here a message, be begged to give more money, to pay for a building? Instead of helping people in need or focusing on helping people grow spiritually, there will be a huge focus on maintaining members and givers to alleviate the debt. Does this perplex anyone else?

Let me say once again, I am not judging anyone's hearts or motives. I just think people have lost sight of what the "church" really is, and many people are not finding their desire to grow spiritually being met by attending the services held in these buildings.

I may post some other pics I took of things in the building that bothered me a bit as well.

Transparency

One of the most valuable and yet dangerous places you can be in life is the place where you can be completely transparent. How often do we find ourselves in a place where we cannot admit to our struggles, our feelings, or our thoughts to others because we fear what will become of our admission? I have found that there are few places that we have that opportunity and for different levels of transparency.

I have one level that is for the general populace. Here my thoughts and concerns are not my inmost thoughts or struggles but a level in which most can relate and realize I don't have all the answers. The next level deeper is in a smaller setting of more trusted people where I can share my struggles with ideas and concepts that have been passed on to me and accepted as normal. Our gatherings have been really good for this. I feel that we have created a place where people can share their questions, their struggles with understanding spiritual truths, and question the very foundational elements without fear of being labeled, rejected, or scorned for having such thoughts. Then there is the level that goes another step, and that is the level of best friendship. Here is where one can share intimately with another knowing they are accepted for who they are and there is no judgment.

I am curious as to how many people recognize these levels and feel like they have all of these levels present in their lives. I have had conversations with people on three levels. Some people will share with me on the deeper level, but it is not reciprocal. The deepest levels are reserved for about 3 or 4 people in my life. Even for those 3 or 4, I find I struggle to be completely open. Which brings me back to my thought, transparency can be immensely beneficial to us or the most dangerous.

Common Concern

I noticed the following question popped up and would post who it was from but I haven't received permission yet. I will acknowledge the source if they grant permission.

Can I ask a question that will probably have people thinking (again) I'm so judgmental? When did it become OK for Christians to drink alcohol with not even a thought of how it could cause others to stumble or hurt their testimonies? It's not what I've heard in any church I've ever attended, yet it seems all too prevalent. I think the "everything in moderation" thing is a cop out, so... I'm looking for a legit answer.

This continues to be a topic of serious misunderstanding among those who follow after Jesus. I responded to the above with the following:

May I suggest a reading of the following: Lev. 23:9-14 (notice what is part of the offering); Deut. 14:22-29(use the silver to buy what?); Isa. 5:22 (the warning); John 2:1-11 (the very best); Mt. 11:16-19 (the difference between John and Jesus); and one last one, Eph. 5:15-20 (the first verse being the key about living our life).

I think it is easy to point to drinking as being a stumbling block. There are so many other things that make us stumble that we never address. What about television? How many times do we see people gossiping on TV and yet that is a sin that has devastating effects on our lives and relationships. Cable could be the cause of stumbling for someone struggling with a porn addiction (internet also in that category). The bottom line in my opinion isn't the "everything in moderation" but living life as an example of one who has a real relationship with God through Jesus.
Food for though. May I post your question on my blog?

There was one response to the question that included a good link (Is It a Sin for a Christian to Drink Alcohol?).

In my previous days as a youth minister, it was prudent for me to abstain. One, the leadership of the church would have fired me for partaking. Two, I was an influence to many teenagers who looked to me as an example (as much as you try to point people to look at Jesus as the example, they still looked to you).

In my present situation, I find myself enjoying much more freedom. I enjoy a drink on an occasion and always with self-control. My co-workers find it a bit funny that I only have one or two drinks when I am out with them but I am setting an example of what it means to have self-control.

I know that this topic is a touchy one for many but I share this with the hopes of having good dialogue.

Finding Your Place in Life

There are times in our lives that we wonder if we are doing what we are "supposed" to be doing. We make decisions in our teen years about what we want to occupy our working time for the next possible 40-45 years. So often, the path we originally chose was adequate for the time being, but once you head down that path, you find out what that life is truly like.

I began with the idea of earning a salary from paid ministry to answer the call of God on my life to serve Him. As I look back, each place in my life has served a purpose in bringing me to where I am today, and I am grateful for that. However, what I am doing now doesn't appear to be on track with what I started out to pursue. God has rearranged my thinking about paid ministry over the last couple of years. The last year and a half have proved to be a time of searching, searching for my place in the working world.

I am now at a place where I feel very confident in what I am doing is making a difference in the world. Not only am I still serving in a coaching/training position with The Journey so as to help people spiritually, I am also working in a field of financial services to help people in another big area of their lives, monetarily. I, personally, find the greatest satisfaction in doing something that makes a difference in the lives of people in big ways. My experiences in selling furniture and cars, helped people, but not in significant ways.

It takes time and patience to find your place in life. When you do find it, you will find joy and excitement. May you find your place in life to be fulfilling.

Our Casas Build

Here is some photos from our build in October in Juarez, Mexico. (There is a pile more pics posted here. You just have to sift through all the misc pics from the trip.)

The first picture gives you an idea of the area in which we built. There was a lot of open space, a very desert looking area. There were not a lot of buildings or houses in this particular area. In fact, we did not have an outhouse available at the work site.

The rest of the pictures give you an idea of how quickly a house goes up. We made forms for the foundation and poured the concrete relatively quickly after they were built. While a couple of people (Travis and I) smoothed out the foundation, others were constructing the walls. By the end of the day, we had the walls up.

The second day we completed the roof, siding and the wiring on the inside. All the insulation on the inside was up and all the windows were in as well.

The third day, we finished the house as the drywall went up and the stucco was put on the outside. By mid-afternoon, the house was finished. We dedicated the house and left gifts for the family that we built for.

This house was only 11' by 22'. It will house four people. The opportunity for them to have a place to live, was truly appreciated beyond words.

Thank you to all of you who prayed for us and/or sent us some financial help to make this possible. Together we have made the world a little better place. If anyone would like to know more about the organization that we built through, you can check out their website here: Casas por Cristo. We would appreciate if you would designate your funds to go to Travis Sanders. He not only serves as a staff member there, but he is also a part of The Journey in El Paso, TX. He and his wife Roberta, are supported as missionaries who are responsible for raising their own salary to serve in this great ministry.

A Second House

I just returned from El Paso, Texas having helped build a second house with The Journey group. It was a great trip. Our group was able to finish the house in less than three days! When I get a hold of some pics, I will update this posting with a few. Thanks to all who prayed, sent money, and encouraged us for this trip.

A Defense

I feel compelled to write a rebuttal to a blog posting that I read. The title of the blog post is:

Why We Need The Institutional Church

My intention here is to share my experience with the house/simple church in light of my experience of 16+ years of serving in a paid ministry in an institutional church(IC). I am not going to bash the IC, I am simply going to share my thoughts.

Let's begin with the first point.

"1. An institutional church provides an effective way for individuals to use their resources to help their community."

This really depends on how large the IC is, the affluence of the IC, how many staff salaries the
IC is paying, how much money is going into programs to benefit the members of the IC, and how much money is spent on buildings. I have seen rather large, mega churches (1000+) do some amazing things with their combined resources. I have seen some mid-size churches (250-999) struggle to do anything for their community because the pleas for money to maintain the budget strap them down (not to mention those churches that have the chains of debt to build bigger buildings).

When I look at the simple/house church (HC), there are no expenses of salaries, buildings, and programs. Most, if not all, of the offerings are directly used to help others within the body of Christ or for the purposes of blessing other people. You also have the added benefit of people being able to reach out and be the blesser without having to go through committee approvals, budget meetings, and the like. Our HC network has been able to bless many people because we have very little expenses. We have even built a house for a family in Mexico and will be doing so again this fall. I share this so that people who are skeptical of the house church will know that we do accomplish things for the Kingdom without buildings and staff.

Now on to point two.

2. An Institutional church can equip individual believers for more effective ministry.

My question is this: does the equipping of the saints have to be done in a sanctioned building? Is the training and discipleship that we do in the HC less because it isn't in an IC building with funded classes and programs? The HC and the IC can both equip and train people for effictive ministry.

The last point.

3. An Institutional Church can protect an individual from being led astray by false teaching.

Can I just mention a few groups here? Jehovah's Witnesses, the Mormons, Scientologists, should I go on? An IC can (emphasis intended) protect from false teaching or keep a false teaching from being reputed through manipulation and fear. Can the same be true of a HC? Absolutely! You will not get an arguement from me there. But to say that an IC can be the protector from false teaching, I have to disagree. You can have charamatic leaders in both the IC and the HC that can lead people astray. That is why it is so important to let Jesus be the Head of the Church as He should be and is of the true body of believers.

Perhaps in writing this, we can find that both the IC and HC can exsist at the same time without saying one is better than the other. If Jesus is truly in THE leadership role in either setting, the church will continue to make advances for HIS Kingdom.

Interesting Reading

I want to share a link to a couple of items I read through this morning (read through one of them and started the other). The first one is on a practical side of simple church. Frank Viola has a couple of chapters in a book called: Nexus: The World House Church Movement. You can read one chapter entitled: How to Have Participatory House Church Meetings. Frank captures the essence of what a house church meeting might look like.

The second link is from an eBook that Frank wrote that can be distributed freely. It is a short read (I was able to read the first section this morning) on Jesus's encounters in Bethany. Check it out here. Let me know what your thoughts are on these two items. I will post my thoughts in the coming week.