I heard someone say the other day how thankful we should be that we don’t serve a mean, vicious, spiteful, or angry God. We don’t serve a God of ancient Greek mythology who meddles in our lives for self-gratification or, worse, out of boredom.
No, we should be thankful because we serve a good God–a kind, generous, faithful God. I’ll admit, though, that I had never really contemplated the fact that our God could have been some other type of God. He could have been a mean, forgetful, neglectful God.
And what if He was? What if God treated us the way we treat Him? It’s not a perfect, apples-to-apples comparison, but play along anyway.
Today’s guest post is from Antwuan Malone, a truth-speaking, word-slinging writer and blogger. Antwuan has appeared on Modern Reject before (and rocked it, I might add) and I am excited to have him back. I hope you enjoy this post as much as me.
I received a rant from a fellow writer and friend of mine, about some of the more frustrating things going on in the church community. It was so great a list, it inspired me to create my own. So here it is. At the end, I hope you comment with some of your own suggestions too.
I don’t want this post to become a mindless bashing of Church culture. That’s not the point at all. The things on the list are things we feel stand in the way of true Christian community as God intends. In essence, it’s an iron sharpens iron kind of thing, not a “let’s look at all the things wrong and make fun of them” thing. In fact, you should be on the lookout for the next Seven Thingspost, “Things I Hope Never Change About the Church.” coming very soon (you can comment on that as well if you’d like to get a jump start.)
The gathering of believers via the Internet is not a new phenomena. In fact, it is a growing one. More and more churches are offering online “church services.”
Can’t make it this Sunday? Traveling? Sick? Well, then maybe online church is just what you need. There is, however, the growing number of individuals who only experience church through a computer screen. They do not simply use online church services as a supplement, but rather the sole source of their church life.
As our culture shifts towards more dependency upon technology and as the Internet begins to infiltrate our daily lives at an ever increasing rate, is online church for the masses inevitable? More than that, is online church what God has in mind? Is it really “church”? Continue reading Is Online "Church" Really Church?
Shortly after becoming a Christian, while sitting in church one Sunday morning, my pastor gave a sermon that helped shape my view about sin forever.
He asked us to imagine that God had declared a day, Free Sin Day (which he pointed out would of course never happen). On Free Sin Day, we believers could commit whatever sin we wanted with no consequences or repercussions. We were absolutely free to sin that day, no shame, no guilt, no worry.
My best friend who was sitting next to me looked over at me. She smiled. I smiled. We both knew exactly what the other one was thinking. I knew what sin she would commit and she knew what sin I would commit. Continue reading Free Sin Day
Yesterday I posed the question: What is the purpose of church? It seems, at least based upon the comments left, that many of us agree on the answer to this question.
Yet, as I set out to write this post, I did a little research to see how others answered this question. There are wildly varying answers, to be sure. After a quick Google search, I found thousands of articles and blog posts asking this very same question, each with a different answer.
Some say that the purpose of the church is to evangelize. Others say that the Great Comission sums up the Church’s purpose. Even C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity says “the Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs.”
Depending on who you stop on the street, you will most likely receive wildly varying opinions to the question “What is the purpose of the Church?”
Is the Church meant to do good? Feed the hungry? Care for the orphan and the widow? Is the Church’s purpose to be a light to a dark world or to edify the saints? Does it have to be one or the other?
As my husband and I are venturing into the new world of house church, we have been “talking church” and this question inevitably came up. We have also met some resistance from other Christians (big surprise) who question the practice of house church because they feel it falls short in the area of evangelism.
When you think of danger, what comes to mind? James Bond? Racing cars? A haircut at Great Clips? Or perhaps the ever-gripping-television-phenomena, Ice Road Truckers?
When I think of danger, I think of “Mayday, mayday! Get out of the way!” To me, the word danger signifies a potential danger, something to come. I tell my kids not to cross the street alone or to touch the stove because it is a “danger.” It is the trouble that could come from not obeying the rules.
The word “danger” and Christian are not often associated unless someone is, unfortunately and incorrectly, stereotyping Christians. Christians are thought to be kind, gentle-natured, loving folks. Or they are portrayed as hypocritical, judging, fundamental, big-fat meanies. But can a Christian be dangerous and should they be? Continue reading The Dangerous Christian
Today’s post is a guest post from my awesome, talented, and brilliant husband. I asked him to write this and he kindly agreed.
It’s not a competition. So why use such a divisive title? Because, somehow, that’s what it’s become.
When Nicole and I started down the road of beginning an organic church–The Foundation, for those interested (pardon the placeholder website)–we knew in our earliest of conversations with people that the greatest “persecution” we would face would be from those we loved most. From other believers, friends, even family.
The reason Nicole asked me to write this was due to my sadness, confusion even, in reading some of the comments she’s received the past few weeks when writing about organic church. They are the same types of remarks we have become accustomed to hearing firsthand. Things like… Continue reading Organic Church vs. Traditional Church
Today’s guest post is from Darrell Vesterfelt whose blog is called This is Me Thinking. Darrell blogs about blogging, the creative process, and its relationship to the church. He also happens to be a pastor. I am also guest posting over at his blog about the “affair” I once had. Check it out.
Growing up a lot of little boys have heroes they look up to. Whether it is a famous athlete or their favorite musician, most young boys idolize someone, wanting to be like them when they grow up. For me, it was neither an athlete nor musician; it was my pastor.
I started volunteering at my church (willingly) in my teenage years. It was during that time that I decided that I wanted to be a pastor. Deciding on post-high school education, I applied for schools where I could study formal church ministry. I was accepted into a school in Minnesota where I studied Church Ministries for four years. While in Minnesota, pursuing that degree I accepted several staff leadership positions at churches in the area. Two months ago, I accepted my first official job as a pastor at a church plant in Palm Beach Gardens, FL called Shoreline Church.
In all these years of experience with the church, I have learned an awful lot about being a pastor. First of all there is a lot more responsibility, then I initially realized. I also realized that even though pastors generally have a lot to say, and aren’t afraid to spend a lot of time talking about the things they believe in, there are a lot of things that a pastor wants to say but cannot without the scrutiny from their members.
Over the last few days my husband and I attended an organic church (house church) conference, THRESHOLD, in Orlando. Despite being sore and tired both emotionally and physically from the car accident, we boarded a plane, knowing God had something for us there…and He did. I have so much that I hope to share and write about on Modern Reject over the next few weeks, including today’s post…
Growing up I used to love Chinese food buffets. I loved the variety, the endless row of choices. I would gorge myself of crab rangoons and sweet and sour chicken. My single mom liked buffets because they were cheap and easy. She could feed her growing girl for half the price.
The traditional Sunday church is very much like an all-you-can-eat buffet. There are 3 reasons, in fact, why Sunday morning church as we know it resembles a buffet: Continue reading The Buffet vs. the Potluck
I heard someone say the other day how thankful we should be that we don’t serve a mean, vicious, spiteful, or angry God. We don’t serve a God of ancient Greek mythology who meddles in our lives for self-gratification or, worse, out of boredom.
