Notes to My Siblings

Contrary to popular opinion, you do not need... -A Sunday -Music -Lights -Sound equipment -Ample seating -Live streaming -Money -A bulletin -Christianese -A pastor All you need is... -2 or more people -God The activity that we commonly label as "church" and attach all kinds of baggage to is simply 2 or more Christ-followers meeting together with God to worship the Him, seek His face, know Him more, and encourage each other. Read Acts if you don't believe me. We could "have church" hanging off a cliff. Upside down. With our heads in the ocean. Seriously. [Sidenote: you could pray that God would remove my cynicism. Sorry. But on the bright side, isn't it awesome that you need literally no external stuff to meet with God?!??]

 Dear Church (family), If a few of my friends and I had a dollar for every time one of you tried to set us up, recommended where to go to meet people or told us what we should be doing if we wanted to have any hope of ever getting married, we'd be rich ladies. Please stop. First, you should know that most of us do desire to marry and have families.  And most of us want it a lot. But, you should also know that we aren't going to be interested in someone just because they might be "available".  We aren't desperate, because we aren't made complete in a man. We are made complete in Christ. Second, you should know that we don't want or need to be surrounded by people the same as us. Many of us would love to be part of your life, your kids' lives- and just as we are, not when we are to the same "life stage" as you. We want to learn from you- the widow, the business man, the happily married for 30 years, the recently single parent, the ...

The first mistake we made was a church building. You see, by calling the four walls Christians often meet in a "church", we've lost something. We've lost the idea that we are the church. Not those four walls and a roof. By nominating the church to a building, we go to church. The second mistake we made was a set of activities that fill our Sunday mornings. By calling singing and preaching "church", we've lost something else. By following the same pattern most churches do, we do church. And we forget: we are the church. You. Me. Collectively, we are the church. "Church" isn't something outside of ourselves that we choose to associate with on certain days of the week. If you are a Christ follower, you are part of the body of Christ. You are a piece of the church. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and ...

You know what Build'a'Bear is, right? You go to this store, and can customize your stuffed animal. You can pick the shell, how full you want it stuffed, the clothes, the name, etc. You walk out with a personalized bear- one that you made to fit your desires and wants. While I might not want to admit it, sometimes I attempt to go to "Build'a'God" and get a customized God. I want God to do something, be like something, or stand for something particular, and I look for scripture, etc., to back up why God is what I want Him to be. But the Build'a'God store doesn't exist. The bear is personalized , God is personal . Did you catch the difference? God is personal, in that through Christ's death and resurrection we can talk with Him anytime, any place. However, God cannot be personalized. We can't customize God. It's all or nothing. People (myself included) try to customize God all the time. The church down the street teaches that God i...

It was an ordinary Wednesday night at AWANA. All my little Sparkie boys were filing in, the usual banter and craziness that usually accompanies 1st and 2nd grade boys filling the room. Everything was normal, except one of my little guys seemed out of sorts. Usually happy and sweet, Tim* was sullen and cross. In the weeks that followed, his attitude continued, and some of the younger boys would complain that he hit them, or mouthed off at them, which was not characteristic of Tim. Eventually, I heard that his dad had left several weeks earlier- the same time his demeanor took a nose dive. I could google a bunch of statistics about fatherless homes and crime rates, repeated patterns, etc, but to some extent, I think we all realize that fatherlessness causes problems. Girls look for the love they should have had from their fathers in other men. Boys look for the guidance and attention their father should have given them in other men. I heard of a former gang member once who, after he ...

This morning I went to Saint James Missionary Baptist Church. It is a true, southern "black" church (that's probably not politically correct, but it is what it is).  For a reserved little white girl, it was an experience!  But definitely a good one, and one I will repeat before the summer is over.  I'm sure that many people in both my church here and my church back home would have critiqued, belittled, or just plain freaked out during the service.  People clap, sway, dance, respond during the prayers and sermons, and just generally participate.  That, I think, was what struck me most.  They weren't there as spectators, but rather as a group of people brought together with the purpose of praising Jesus and encouraging each other. Corporate prayer there takes on a new meaning.  It is actually corporate, not just one person praying while everyone listens.  The pastor prays, and you can hear emphatic "popcorn" agreement throughout the prayer.  ...