Churchless Christian

Worship as Evangelisim (is not working) by Sally Morgenthaler (Author of Worship Evangelisim!)
Two years ago I taught my last seminar focused solely on worship. A year ago I disbanded my worship resource site, Sacramentis. My colleagues were concerned. How could I leave the work I'd begun? Did it mean I no longer believed worship was important? Who was going to take up the torch of worship evangelism? Was I just going to waste my legacy? Was I crazy?

To be honest, I wasn't surprised. The attitude he described certainly didn't fit every congregation out there in contemporary-worship-land, but it matched too much of what I'd seen. The realization hit me in the gut. Between 1995 and 2000 I'd traveled to a host of worship-driven churches, some that openly advertised that they were "a church for the unchurched." On the good occasions, the worship experience was transporting. (I dug a little deeper when that happened. Invariably, I found another value at work behind the worship production: a strong, consistent presence in the community.) Too many times, I came away with an unnamed, uneasy feeling. Something was not quite right. The worship felt disconnected from real life. Then there were the services when the pathology my friend talked about came right over the platform and hit me in the face. It was unabashed self-absorption, a worship culture that screamed, "It's all about us" so loudly that I wondered how any visitor could stand to endure the rest of the hour. Read the rest of the article here.

heads up to David at www.edgenet.org.nz for pointing this article out

Just before this picture was taken I was sitting out sun bathing and chatting God with Wayne enjoying the spring sunshine. In fact the sun was so bright we were squinting away and remarking on the ozone hole and then bam hail! The weather is so bizare these days

It has been interesting to see a Christian party trying to form to fight the next election in New Zealand next year. Being a Christian Socialist it does not affect me much but my prediction is that it wont work and it wont last. I don't think most political commentators understand that most Christians are very suspicious (and uncomfortable) with the way Bishop Tamaki presents himself and his American brand of religion. Most Conservative Christians are white and middle class in new Zealand with a sizeable minority of pacific islanders and Asians. Compare this to Tamaki who models himself on an Black American style of church (which is just the opposite of N.Z Christian culture) and surrounds himself with what comes across as pretty macho Harley driving guys. I don't have anything against the Destiny Church (I'm a Tokoroa boy just like Tamaki and Richard Lewis) but the mood I feel in the church is a massive culture clash between the run of the mill Christian and Destiny which is to large to overcome in regards to mobilizing voting. The reality is that Christians once again will vote as a block for the National Party in an attempt to force out the labour government. I on the other hand will continue to vote for Labour and the best Prime Minister we have had in my lifetime!

May God save us from the Destiny Party (in what ever mutation!)

Seems like a new House Church web site is being set up at www.housechurchresource.org It is planning to have a part of the site just for ex pastors which sounds interesting. Does anybody else know anything about this site or who is getting it up and running etc?

We are off to the South Island today for a wedding over the weekend. its the first time in about three years that I am going back to the island of my birth.

I am wrestling about whether to stop blogging for a while. I don't know if this is because I am at a spiritual crossroads or whether it's simply blog fatigue after 2.5 years of doing it. My stats for this blog continue to build but I just can't be bothered to play the stats building game which www.technorati.com forces you to play. really when blogging it's important to be posting comments and linking to other blogs on a regular basis but I cannot be flagged and have not done so for three or four months.

House Church Resource

House church Simple church Emergent

In his new book "A Second Resurrection" , author and consultant Bill Easum says we may need to rethink our attempts to revitalize churches, because revitalization isn't enough:

Is it possible we have underestimated the seriousness of Western Protestantism's situation? What if the metaphors of reformation, renewal, and revitalization don't get to the heart of the problem? What if the situation is much worse than those words describe? What if the vast majority of congregations in the West are spiritually dead and God no longer considers them churches? What if God has one foot out the door of most of Western Protestantism? What if the vast majority of churches are like the church of Laodicea in the Book of Revelation? What if God is about to spit us out of his mouth?

Reformation, renewal, and revitalization assume some pre-existing foundation of faith from which to raise up a new church. But what if that assumption isn't correct? What if that assumption is part of the problem?...
from an article on www.edgenet.org.nz

House church Simple Church Emergent

I found some beautiful koru today in the bush. the Koru is one of the symbols of N.Z. I am really enjoying my Palm Treo phone, especially for pics like this, not to mention the free internet access I have at the momment. I think its because I'm using a British Vodaphone Palm on the N.Z Vodaphone network with a pre pay sim card. I rang Vodaphone but they did not seem to want to know. So all thumbs up to me I say

House Church, emergent

Managed to singe half my hair off burning gorse up at the camp this week. It's incrediably satisfying to see the camp starting to take shape and really neat to see a vision come to reality.

I wonder if talking church and church practice is largely a waste of time and a distraction from what is important or so I have come to think at this moment.

As the book of Ecclesiastes says its all meaningless. Whether institutional non institutional normal church or house church we waste a lot of our brain space talking about it. Why? because talking about it will not lead to any life giving conclusions. I don't think there is going to be a eureka moment where we figure out the perfect way to do god / church.

for me at the moment The only topic I wonder is worth wrestling with is around Jesus Christ.

House Church Simple Church Emergent Church

Blind faith is not a virtue in itself. I think the freeing of all the Korean Christians yesterday showed how sometimes 'faith' is an excuse for not taking realistic and sensible decisions when needed. The Koreans in a surge of blind faith went to Afghanistan to fulfill the great commission, but in the end came away with no conversions, two murdered, a possible ransom paid, and the Korean Government forced to pull out its troops (which were there on humanitarian grounds). Now the second largest missions sending nation on earth has been shamed by its Christian activity and huge anger is being expressed in South Korea about the Christian groups activities.

Christopher Hitchens has a point when he writes today about the damage 'blind faith' has had on the world today

"How do I dislike President George W. Bush? Let me count the ways. Most of them have to do with his contented assumption that "faith" is, in and of itself, a virtue.
This self-satisfied mentality helps explain almost everything, from the smug expression on his face to the way in which, as Governor of Texas, he signed all those death warrants without losing a second's composure." read the rest here

House church church Simple church Emergent