Christians leaving the church

Billy
Originally uploaded by hawkenstein.

Here's a quote from an article from Charisma Magazine Online

But even those with serious concerns about the results of so many Christians bailing on church commitment see a potential silver lining in it--if, rather than just deciding that they don't like what church is, those leaving get serious about what they think it should be.

'I'm happy that people are asking the questions,' Hunter says. 'I'm sad that it is keeping them away from church.'

Many people are disenfranchised with the institutional church. And for good reason.

Many churches are dead. Others are all show and no substance. Still others are all tradition and no relevance. Some are intolerant to the point of sin and others are so open-minded that their brain falls out.

I often struggle with my place in the current church landscape. I find I am a mutt when it comes to polity and doctrine. I feel that no category fits me or maybe I don't fit any categories.

My spirituality is contemplative and studious, contemporary and ancient, congregational and hierarchial, liturgical and free, incarnational, missional, relational, relevant.

Maybe that's why I pastor yoked congregations that are very different in polity and practice. I would feel cheated if I only pastored one and not the other.

Yet at the heart of the church is to be love. Love for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Love for others. Remember these are the two greatest commandments.

Yet many times lack of love, not polity or doctrine or worship styles, is what drives a wedge between my churches. And sometimes that makes it so I want to leave...

But where would I go? Maybe I'll stay home.

The Mindjet Blog

2 Timothy 3.14-4.5 10.17.04
Originally uploaded by hawkenstein.

I recently received a request from a pastor asking about my mindmapping sermon practice. I am hoping to write about this more in the coming weeks but I haven't been able to lately as I have been too busy. To help wet your appetite let me steer you to the Mindjet blog. Mindjet is the software that I use to create my sermon mindmaps. Check it out, it's full of lots of great information on mindmapping and the Mindjet software.

Wind power in Wray

Jay
Originally uploaded by hawkenstein.

Found this great story from the Denver Post today about a teacher in our church who is working hard to use the windpower to generate electricity for our local school and community.

Columbine High School massacre

Columbine, friend of mine.

We remember.

Young Adults Search Spiritually

Check out some stats and quotes from a recent study regarding spirituality among young people. No wonder the Disciples of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (USA) are in decline!

While 44 percent of respondents called themselves 'religious,' 35 percent said they are 'spiritual but not religious' and 18 percent said neither.

At Roanoke College, in Salem, Va., where he has been chaplain for more than 20 years, Paul Henrickson said he is quite familiar with the 'spiritual but not religious' phenomenon.

'You have a lot of kids that understand in their hearts that there is a mystery about life that is larger than they are and larger than they understand, and they would call that 'spiritual.' And they are very interested in that,' Henrickson said.

But, he added, 'they pursue that in private ways' and 'in kind of a shotgun approach. They'll look at all kinds of things from Eastern religions to yoga to New Age stuff to the standard Christianity. But they are unlikely to have that solid commitment to a religious institution (like) church membership.'

Check out this quote:

The survey's authors challenged American colleges and universities to be more responsive to the spiritual hunger of their students. They said previous studies have indicated older college students are disappointed with how infrequently they have been challenged to think about "meaning of life" issues in class.

Is this criticism true of our churches as well? And finally:

Previous research by Chris Smith, a University of North Carolina sociologist and adviser to the UCLA study, found 13-17 year-olds are highly conventional in their religious practices, following how they were raised. But just 9 percent of the UCLA respondents said they felt compelled to follow their parents' religious practice. While 42 percent described themselves as "secure" in their spiritual and religious views, 10 percent said they were "doubting," 23 percent "seeking" and 15 percent "conflicted" (respondents could choose more than one response).

So kids are often not continuing in the religious practices of their parents. I wonder why that is? I know that my spirituality and relationship with God looks rather different than my parents. And my sister, who is Catholic, also has a very different experience.

Bethel Church of San Jose - Pastor's Page

I haven't blogged in quite some time as I have been really busy. Here's a quick link to a tribute page for my aunt and uncle, Don and Loretta Steiger. They are leaving their ministry at Bethel in San Jose and moving back to Colorado. Don and Loretta, we are praying for you! If you ever get the chance to come out to Wray, we'd love to have you!

50 people see the Eiffel Tower

50 people see the Eiffel Tower
Originally uploaded by brevity.

Check out these great averaged "photos" from flickr. The creator wrote code that grabbed 50 different photos tagged with in this case the Eiffel Tower.

This got me thinking about interpretation and religious tradition. I am currently reading Grenz's book, Beyond Foundationalism and find that much of the book resonantes with me.

Maybe this series of photos is an illustration of what happens with reading and hermenuetics. Each person "sees" the truth in the text but when compared to what others "see" we find that the images can be very different. Yet, the original concept is still there.

I'm just playing around with this idea but for some reason this concept is resonating with me today.

Perhaps the "truth" does lie there somewhere within the readings and interpretations however varied they may be just as the true image of the Eiffel Tower is in this rendering.

Blogs give us an opportunity to do this; in a sense "50 people see...God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, truth, culture, whatever.

Yet the "norming norm" is still there. In this picture the norming norm is the Eiffel Tower. In interpretation the norming norm is the Holy Spirit speaking to us through the biblical text.

Wray from space

Wray from space
Originally uploaded by hawkenstein.

Here's a picture of Wray from space thanks to Google maps new satellite feature. So that's what a town of 2000 looks like from space!

Pope Gunman Grief-Stricken Over John Paul's Death

Forgiveness is so powerful and so infrequent!

TallSkinnyKiwi: Are We A Threat to the Gospel? (Restored)

Here's an excellent response to D. A. Carson's recent pronouncement that the emerging church is a threat to the gospel.

New Scientist :13 things that do not make sense

I took astronomy in college and it has lead to some of the most fascinating questions I have ever pondered. Here is a list of 13 things that do not make sense. Many of them come from astronomy. Enjoy the list!