St. Matthew

I've herd phrases like, "We are only one generation from Christianity dieing out." I've read research findings like, "most Protestant pastors are neither called to nor competent in leadership" and "most 'church growth' is simply the recycling of church-goers from one congregation to another." And, yet, in this world where we have a lack of leadership and we have Christianity dieing out in western culture it isn't dead. In fact, it's expanding in the world. Despite our best efforts to screw up spreading the word it's still spreading, people are still coming to faith, and it's spreading to every corner of the earth without the use of force.

I dunno about you but I see this as a miracle and a mystery. It's God at work in the world and he doesn't need us. In fact, it's happening despite our superb ability to screw it up. Yet, He hasn't fired us yet.

I sit here this morning a bit amazed, humbled, and joyful.

Most of the preparing I do for the holidays involves presents, candy, decorations, and a little more stress than the everyday. But, is that really what's it's supposed to be about? Santa, as we know him, has been around for less than 100 years. The egg laying bunny comes from the 18th century. Yet, Lent and Advent have been around for a very very long time. The question I'm left wondering is what is a good way to prepare for this upcoming Easter where I don't get caught up in the commercialism and get to the heart of what it's all about?

The church screws up often, doesn't it. These mistakes get in the way of the mission of the church. It's like us tripping over our own feet in a marathon race. Last week we launched the Super Average Podcast (a.k.a. SAP) with an introduction episode. This week on SAP we dive into a little confession.

Here is a synopsis of the episode from the SAP website:

The church has screwed up! Since the very beginning of the church there have been mistakes. There have been sins. This should be no surprise since we are all flawed people. But, some of these sins have gotten in the way of people getting to know God. It's a case where the dysfunctional lives of Christians have gotten in the way of people learning about who Christ is.

God calls us to confession of our sins. So, as our first episode beyond introducing ourselves we dive into a three episode series where we confess some of the sins of the church. We confess our baggage. In this first of three episodes we dive into some pretty big issues with the church. Come join us for a bit of confession on this episode of SAP.

If you're interested in joining us for a little confession or you're just curious what were going to confess, head on over to the Super Average Podcast.

I've started to notice a lot of obvious untruths lately. For example, I was recently told that the theory of evolution had been proven to be true. You might think this is the case, too. I've herd this at least a half dozen times in the last 6 months. But, it hasn't been proven. The untruth here is not that it's not plausible and not that people believe it to be true but that we have proven it. This is where a great danger lies. I think the danger here is worse than blind beliefs. The danger is that people think something is known to be true when it hasn't been proven. I'd go so far to say they live a lie.

Have you noticed that when many people give to the church they are trying to look good to others? Trying to look good to the people who sit around them at church. Let me try to explain what I mean.

I go to a church where at some point in the service an offering plate is passed around. I've been to other churches where it's a basket but the idea is the same. I've noticed that a lot of people I sit around put something in the basket every week. This looks like a good thing, right.