Ya know...for years I have heard the alarming statistics about how people age 18-29 view the church as irrelevant, judgemental, old-fashioned, out-of-touch with reality, insensitive, hypocritical, boring, etc... They're just overall disenchanted with the church, and it alarms everyone. There is a key point to the statements though...they all pertain to THE CHURCH. They have no problem with GOD or JESUS, but they have a problem with His FOLLOWERS and how those followers ACT. This used to alarm me, but even more so, it made me sad. It made my heart HURT because there was a gap between the people my age and Jesus because THE CHURCH is supposed to fill that gap. It is supposed to be the connector...and it is FAILING.



Well, today I was working and had a revelation. For the first time in my life I realized that I AM ONE of those statistics.

The only difference between me and most of those numbers...is the fact that I am trying to change the face of the church. I am trying to make the church more relevant, realistic, and accepting. I didn't run away from it. I am trying to help it fulfill it's mission of being the bridge between people and Jesus.....but I am still "disenchanted" with it. The overall church of today, I believe is irrelevant, hypocritical, unaccepting, and judgemental...so I feel JUST LIKE the people in those surveys. I just responded different.

There is a gap between what the church is doing and what Jesus created it to do. I'm trying to bridge it. I make mistakes... and I fix them. I fail, but I fail forward. I fall down, but Jesus lifts me up.

There's a gap....What are you gonna do about it?

From Gabe Lyons, co-author of unChristian:

"Ministry in general relates to mission, and mission in general relates to context. You need to understand the context of the world your ministry is trying to reach.

Non-Christians aged 16-29 years old were asked, “What is your current perception of Christianity?”

• 91% said antihomosexual
• 87% said judgmental
• 85% said hypocritical
• 78% said old-fashioned
• 75% said too involved in politics
• 72% said out of touch with reality
• 70% said insensitive to others
• 68% said boring
• 64% said not accepting of other faiths
• 61% said confusing"

Some things to think about:

Which perception most closely applies to your ministry or church in general?

How did we get here? Maybe we actually are these things.

What do you think?

I saw the video in my last blog entry and posted it for you all to see!! Then I saw that Vanessa had done the same one last night!!

WOW! Great minds think alike!! Guess I shoulda done my homework, huh?

Check out this video about how fast our world is changing!! Crazy!! I love it!!

Lots of info....

Now...whatchu gonna do with it...?

Or better yet....

What are WE gonna do with it...???

THIS IS SOOOOOO US!!!

CHEERS!

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Real Life just finished a series of 6 teachings on some of core values. The series was called "GET REAL", and we had a great time with them.

I was reading a blog from Mark Batterson (remember that name...you're gonna hear it a lot around here), the Pastor at National Community Church in Washington, DC (3 movie theater churches and a coffee house church). He shared some of their churches core values. Those were:

• Everything is an Experiment
• Maturity does not equal Conformity
• Expect the Unexpected
• Love People when they Least Expect It and when they Least Deserve It

I love that. Here's my translation of that:

Love people, do it in a UNIQUE way (even when it isn't easy), be flexible, and break the molds.

What's your translation of those values? Post a comment and share what that says to you.

Hey All,

It is a glorious Thursday morning and this is my first ever "Blog". I have read blogs from many different people about many different topics. I have to say, that the whole blog experience has been very enlightening for me. When I first learned of this "blog" thing, I really didn't get it. Why would I want to sit around and read random thoughts from someone else's mind? I have enough problems dealing with the thoughts of my own mind sometimes! But, as I have been able to learn over the past year, when you think that you have something, or anything for that matter, figured out, that is really when the world can come crashing in and let you know how small you really are. So as I have been re-focusing my heart this past year to be open to new and different ways to be taught, I have embraced the "Blog" in a major way. I have been challenged by the blogs that I follow in a major way. I am able to hear the heart and passion that others have for their cause, AND it helps me to process my own thoughts and grow and dream and LIVE for what makes my heart on fire! Any and all of you who know me, realize that passion is for Jesus and sharing His message to PEOPLE. Real People who are living among us who need to know CHRIST Loves them AND that no matter how screwed up things are in their life.........HE wants them and cares for them more than anything in the world! He wants their brokenness, their hurt, their pain, their incompleteness, their disease, their addiction, their sexual preference, their bills and debts, their broken marriages, their divorces, AND their desire to be in control........................................He doesn't need you, He wants you!!! Is this blog going to change your life? Maybe not. Will it challenge you to think differently than you have done in the past and ask you to get uncomfortable? Probably so. Guys, we have to share our All-Loving Jesus with those that don't know, don't care, don't want to know, in a manner that speaks to them and in a way other churches and people aren't. We have to be different. We have to think different. We have to act different.

I watched a video this morning that touched me in a big way! We all have our problems like I listed above, but God wants us to use the heart and the talents He has given us to share a relationship with someone so that they may come to know Him.

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=8616c1559ab4221b3910

I hope you enjoyed my first blog and come back for more..............
Loren

"The difference between impossibility and possibility lies within a person's determination."
-Unknown