Youth of the Nation

I'm typing today from Christian Life School in Kenosha, WI. I am a substitute today for a creative writing class. I was talking with the five students that are left in the class, and they said that seven of their other classmates have dropped the class. They said, "why would they do that?" My response was some youth are more analytical so they are drawn to science, some have a creativity that draws them to art, music, and writing, and others are more mechanical and are drawn to working with their hands. Creative thinking really is for a smaller group, but I believe sometimes technology takes away creativity because it thinks for you. You become accustom to a computer or other piece of technology to think for you.

But looking at these youth the past so many months, I have found that they are far more connected to life than those in my generation or maybe the one after. I would imagine that this age of technology where your mind is flooded with energy coming from every angle, you must be aware of the motion that is around you at all times. My daughter can watch TV, listen to her Ipod, do homework and attempt to keep a conversation going with me all at the same time. I guess I am one of the few in my generation that finds myself doing the same thing, but I believe that the "noise" of this world is pulling us from focusing on reality and the truths of life. We seem to fill our lives up with stuff to be ever moving, but not moving with focus or relevance. Maybe when I was a teen I only looked as far as going to work, getting that next assignment finished, or wondering if I was going to that party next Friday night, but I believe because we are not plugged into our Creator, we "fill" up with stuff because when we get drawn into that quiet place, we find ourselves fearful. Well the class is done, I gotta run, finish later........

The Unbelieving Church

I know, its been a while since I've typed here, but I have been had many thoughts to type but just haven't had the leading to put the thoughts into print.  Here are my thoughts today.

It is funny how God, through prayer can change your view of things.  Well its really not funny, its the truth of the Word of God.  The more you pray, the more God reveals the mysteries of the Word, and opens your eyes to truths that you did not "see" before.   I have been spending more and more time in prayer lately, and not just due to having no income stream, but just having a heart yearning to draw close to my Lord.  Through this process, my ideas of reaching the unchurched has been changing.   Over the years, I was caught up in the "if your music sounds the best, and everything looks professional, and you have the right look, and the right technology and really know what the people want, and...... well I hope you know where I am going?  I thought that we the church, or we the church leadership by using our talents.  Using our knowledge.  Using the best of what other churches did.  We would have a church that people would flock to.  We, me, us, I.  I had forgot that ~ 9 years ago, when I was helping plant a church, God showed me in his word, his basic model for the church.  Act 2:42-47.  The church was committed to prayer, growth from the Word, fellowship and accountability, and reaching the less fortunate in love and not condemnation.  Something that I can't say I totally forgot, but I believe through other influences I followed what others were doing to grow the church.  I was caught up in "models" of other church growth like many other leaders.  I believe many church leaders who want numbers that show growth begin to look at what others have done to grow.  I believe that the church in the 70's and 80's used marketing techniques from the corporate world to grow their churches, but many of the market grown churches had no Spirit.  They processed as a church and grew in numbers, but the individuals attending did not grow spiritually.  The current generation of 16-30 years who are unchurched reflect the lack of personal spiritual growth of their parents and guardians.  

Another thing lost in time was the belief in the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is talked about in churches, its in their statements of belief, and they may say they are Full Gospel or Pentecostal, but you see nothing and hear nothing when the church gathers.  The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is irrelevant or not needed, and there is a belief that you can do just as well without it, as well as you can receive the baptism without tongues.  In some circles, pastor's who have been baptized in the Spirit with the evidence of tongues do not want to see any manifestations of the Spirit because they are afraid it might scare someone off or affend someone. Here again they worry about what man thinks more than God.  It is time to get back to the basics and back to walking in he gifts.  Churches who have moved back to using what I call the ancient ways ave been seeing God move in their midst and guess what?  People are flocking into the church.  Yes a few leave as they were not grounded, but Paul put it right.  You don't need fancy words, and today we don't need pre-planned over the top services.  We just need to allow God to show up in full power, and do what he wants in our services, and do what Jesus laid out for the first church.  We would save a lot of time and money and frustration, and end up with a strong body of believers who draw the unchurched to Jesus because of the testimony of God's grace manifested through his power for everyone who believes in him.