Hope.Coffee.Melody.

This is a picture that I took tonight while I was at church. Its an ad for milkshakes. My first reaction was to laugh at how much the free standing banner created a shopping mall feel. After only a few minutes of staring at the delicious looking desserts my heart broke.

Something is wrong. What has happened? Why do we have Advertisements for food in our church?
I have watched so many people bail on “Church”. I have seen people switch churches numerous times, I have seen people simply quit going, others slowly fade and some just create their own versions. In all honesty I cannot blame them. I may not always agree but I understand where they are coming from.

My heart is for the Church. I believe that the church is the hope of the World. The Church is the Bride of Christ. I fully believe that it is through the Church that the people’s lives are transformed.

We are called to live in community with each other. A friend of mine referred to the church as a “caravan”. We are a group of people on a journey together. We are called to take up our cross and follow Jesus, together. I don’t always see this happening in a lot of churches. Our American culture doesn’t exactly befriend this way of thinking. The modern day church must face this challenge. We as individuals must face this challenge.

I see a lot of Problems. But it is easy to see problems. It also always easier to become bitter. I am doing my best to not allow the negative to overshadow the positive. I see hope amidst the problems. I see lives being changed and people being cared for.

One thing I also must first deal with is that any sort of change must first start with me. I must allow God to rip me open and work on my heart. Many times we add to the problems much more than we realize. Humility is a key part to this.

Matthew 25: 40 “to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them,you did it to Me.”

Many people in this world do not have enough clean water to drink. But my church has a fantastic

Oreo Milkshakes. Lord help me.

A few quotes I found Interesting:

“You cannot have God as a father if you deny the Church as our mother” – John Calvin

“The Christian community is just one big dysfunctional family” – Jesse Gardner

“The church is not a museum for saints but a hospital for sinners.” -Morton Kelsey

“The institutional church has become a wounder of the healers rather than a healer of the wounded.” -Brennan Manning