The Whirlwind of the Week

So, there are quite a few things that I have been thinking about this past week.

First of all, I went to the doctor on Friday and now I need to get an ultrasound of my liver and kidneys to determine if there is anything wrong.  I tend to think that there is something wrong physically, not something psychologically.  

I went to a baseball game last night with a large group from Providence Christian College.  It was pretty enjoyable overall and I definitely enjoyed the fireworks afterwards.  I think that one of the most fun things to do in my life is to do just that, go to a baseball game and see fireworks.  

This morning I realized one very harsh reality.  I have witnessed the dying of two churches in my life.  I cannot, however, say that the same thing happened in both churches.  Whereas my church in South Holland simply died because so many member were advanced in years with no new members coming in, my church that I attended in San Diego is dying because there is no outreach and members are simply leaving.  It makes me think about why people attend churches in the first place.  Has church given into consumerism, or have people treated churches like they are simply another store to go to?  Do we try to find the church that makes us feel the best and continue to shop around until we find that church?  Or, do we find a church based on our ethnic background?  Do we simply go to a historically Dutch church because we are Dutch?  It is really interesting as I reflect upon that.  I want to go to a church that makes me feel good, but at the same time tells me the truth.  Yes, we always want good news, but it is like those conversations you have with coworkers or underlings.  They always ask if you want the good news first or the bad news.  Well, you know what, I want the bad news first, then the good news because it will stick with me better that way.  If I know where I have been I can definitely be assured of the greatness of where I will go.  We need churches that preach the good news while also telling us the bad news.  If we ignore the bad news we will not really understand why the good news is really that good.  

Considering Church

I started going to a college and career group at the church that I currently go to.  It is quite an interesting array of things and definitely reminds me of what I used to do back in Illinois.  It is a great and wonderful thing.  Ever since I moved out here I have felt like I was being drawn away from church (they say the devil goes after would-be and actual pastors the most).  Now that I am free from having that label (rather sad about this at times) I feel that I can have better interaction with God's Word and it is always a joy to have fellow believers around me that share in this joy.  This past week I met a guy named Wes who is very much on fire for the Lord.  He, apparently, has been going to New Life for about a year now and has also visited other churches but has never found what he found at New Life.  But, I consider it great joy to know that there are people out there who are actually brought to such a great church after growing up a non-believer.  Most of the time you find these kinds of people in the starter churches (the ones that water down the gospel so much that they just tell you what you want to hear instead of the whole truth).  Anyways, about the meeting:  They finished up Jude this week and it was amazing.  I studied Jude last summer because I figured on writing some sermons on it (that never happened) but I gained many great insights into this book.  Jude is giving us such a great warning to be weary of the false teachers that surround us, telling us what we want to hear instead of what we need to hear.  If only the church followed this I would not be so bitter towards some churches.  

I also recently ran across a post on revelife.com speaking of how someone went from a protestant church to the Catholic church because it was liturgical.  This person then went on to speak of how the two churches are separated because the Protestant Church does not believe in liturgy.  This greatly shocked me, since all liturgy is is the following of the same order every week for how the service is conducted.  The outline in your bulletin (prelude, song, prayer, scripture reading, sermon) is the liturgy of the service.  Therefore, does that mean that the Protestant church is supposed to be spontaneous and not follow any order at all?  I am left to wonder.  

This Past Week

So, this past week I have been sick. Combined I took 10 hours of "compassion time" from work so that I could go to the ER and also go to the doctor. I had an EKG and a Chest x-ray to be told I have heart palpitations on Monday and then on Tuesday I was told that I had stomach flu. Anyways, that gave me a little bit of time to think and it made me very scared. I think this is the first time in my life where I have ever regretted anything that I have done. My combined student loans payments for a 25 year term are about the same as my rent payment per month, which absolutely freaks me out and makes me wonder if coming out to Southern California was a huge mistake in my life. I did definitely learn a lot at WSC, but it put me back $50,000 and I really have little to show for it besides the knowledge that I gained. Yes, there can be a price put on knowledge, but I do not have a degree for it. I think it was a mistake to say that I would keep going to WSC until I flunked out, which is what happened. Now I live from paycheck to paycheck, I guess, trusting that the Lord will provide for all my needs. It is a great thing to have this kind of trust, but it is also scary because many of us do not trust God as we should. Yes, I am not technically emptying my bank account every month paying bills, but having very little money does definitely scare me. We shall see what the future will hold for me.

Some Questions

You know I heard some really awesome sermons today. But then I started to think. What about those people that cannot hear the awesome sermons? I have always been in these Dutch meccas so I have had solid, theological churches to go to. But, what about those people that are not in these meccas? Would you move to an area of the country even if you knew that you would not get fed spiritually in that area? It troubles my heart that some people will. Even in this very San Diego area there are people that are going to churches where they are not fed. The best church to go to could be 45 mins to an hour away and that troubles me. Do you just go to a church that does not fit your identity then? Do you just go to a close church just to say that you go to church?
We run into problems sometimes at churches. Hey, here is a joke for you. There was a rescue chopper that came to an island to rescue a man who had been stranded there for a long time. He was the only one on the island, but when the rescuers looked around they saw that there were three buildings there. So, they proceeded to ask the man what the three buildings were. The man pointed to the first building indicating that it was his house. He pointed to the second building and indicated that that was his church. He then pointed to the third building and indicated that that was the church that he used to belong to. Everyone, therefore, can run into problems with a church. I ran into problems when I was back in Illinois and left my original church. I, however, was lucky enough to find another church in the same town also preaching the good news of Jesus. Most people will not have this. Most people, through arguments and disagreements, will lose that true church identity. And I pray that those people may realize what is happening to them and they may go back to being spiritually fed the right way.