Name:
Location: Irvine, California, United States

E-mail Me

My Blog Profile

Technorati search

    WWW
    ...in the outer...

My Amazon Wish List

    Search Now:

Subscribe

Help fuel my writing dream...

My Bloglines Subs & Stuff

    Listed by category are subscriptions to blogs I monitor and read. Check them out!

    Note: Sites listed by this blog does not imply endorsement of anything except when they promote this site.

Other Cool Sites I Visit

Recommended for your Library


    Ethics: The Heart of Leadership

    Edited by Joanne Ciulla. An important collection of essays by philosophers, leadership and management thinkers considering the role of ethics in leadership


    Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness

    By Robert K. Greenleaf, Larry C. Spears, Stephen R. Covey. Servant and leader--can these two roles be fused in one real person in all levels of status and calling?


    Warranted Christian Belief

    By Alvin Plantinga. Third in a trilogy of works on the issue of warrant - the basis of the rationality of Christian beliefs written by arguably the most important philosopher of religion alive today


    Renovation of the Heart

    By Dallas Willard. A philosopher and quintessential Christian teacher relates and reflects on what it means to put on the character of Christ.


    Foreign Bodies

    By Hwee Hwee Tan. An impressive first novel by young new author from Singapore acclaimed as an up and coming Pulitzer Prize winner


    Mammon Inc.

    By Hwee-Hwee Tan. Second novel by this very important young new author from Singapore applauded the world over, including The Times in London and the New York Times


    Three Philosophies of Life

    By Peter Kreeft. Three life philosophies presented through the works of three of Scriptures most beautiful poetry books, Job, Ecclesiastes and Songs of Solomon


    Horrendous Evil and the Goodness of God

    By Marilyn McCord-Adams. A seminal response to the age-old problem of evil which attempts to take seriously the theological ramifications of the character of God


    Blink

    By Malcolm Gladwell. Blink is about the first two seconds of looking--the decisive glance that knows in an instant.


    Smart Mobs

    By Howard Rheingold. A social commentary about how "sophisticated mobile Internet access is allowing people who don't know each other to act in concert".


    Linked

    By Albert-Laszlo Barabasi. An engaging treatise about the fundamentals of interconnectedness and complexity that underlies neurology, epidemiology, Internet traffic, and many other fields.


    The Peaceable Kingdom

    By Stanley Hauerwas. A clear explication of a Christian ethic based upon the meaning of the gospel, highlighting virtues and character, and narrative as a mode of ethical reflection.


    The Goldsworthy Trilogy: Gospel & Kingdom, Gospel & Wisdom, Gospel & Revelation

    By Graeme Goldsworthy. A collection of masterful works expositing on the centrality of the Scriptures: the gospel of Jesus Christ.


    Grace and Law: St. Paul, Kant, and the Hebrew Prophets

    By Heinz Cassirer. A Kantian scholar looks at the Old Testament Law, and Paul's understanding of it, concluding that Kant's delimma is answered by the gospel of grace.

The Un-Right Christians

Progressive Christian Blogger Network

Church Directory of Evangelical Blogs

Friday, March 18, 2005

So, how do you do church?

When I was in Perth, Western Australia, I called this church "home." My family and I still miss the church in many ways.

Some of the things this poster wrote about the church may still be true about it although I didn't think it was too engrossed what he called the "prosperity doctrine" even when we were attending.

I was especially intrigued by his take on some of the things that he was critical about the church and thought that we Christians seem to be guilty of them universally.

One is "clique-ism." I remember as the young people at a smaller church we used to deal with this problem. Our youth leaders used to urge the regulars at the youth group to go out of our way to reach out to those who are new and not stick to those we like to hang out with all the time.

I also remember that the first time I attended the church I go to now, I stood after the Sunday service merely a few feet from some others who gathered around greeting, chatting, smiling, hi-fiving each other.

All seemed oblivious to me standing there. I don't remember even having eye contact with anyone throughout the entire time.

After about 10 to 15 minutes of standing around, I recalled that the Buffalo Bills were playing on TV (for a die hard Bills fan in Southern California, that is a real treat!).

So I headed towards the parking lot, walking past more folks who were busily greeting and catching up with old friends, got in my car and left. No one seemed to have noticed that I came that morning, and no one seemingly cared that I left not having met anyone else.

It took me a while to return for a visit, even though in my hunt for a suitable church all around Southern California, and in speaking with various Christians, quite a number recommended that I "check out" this church. Already did I would tell them. Crossed them off my list. I would say. A couple of times I was urged to reconsider and check them out again. That was why I came back, bringing my family along. This time, I came to stay though. But, what if these friends of mine didn't persist in their recommendations?

Another thing this guy criticized was the way the worship leader called the congregation to "celebrate." In the comments the poster suggested that it was better if worship leaders invited the congregation to worship only if they were comfortable.

I suppose nowadays, public worship services are no longer the gathering of a community of like-minded people who are linked by a shared faith, a shared custom and a shared passion. Different people at various point in their spiritual walk come into our midst. How then shall we serve them?

It might be interesting to observe our own gatherings from an outsider perspective, and see how "attractive" we are to first time visitors, or seekers who are not too used to what we normally do during our services.

How does your congregation or gathering measure up?