A new survey of Megachurches found that they have a far higher percentage of younger and single congregants than smaller churches. Megachurches, despite being symbols of the baby boomers are actually more likely to attract the younger generations than smaller churches. Further, there are proportionally far more singles at megachurches than at smaller more traditional ones. Over a third of people who attend megachurches are single. They are also usually better educated and wealthier.
Which leads me to a question I never before considered. Are Megachurches Christian meat markets? It seems a valid question. As the pastor of a small church that doesn’t have many singles, especially in the 20-40 range, I know how hard it is for those in that category to find the community and relationships they are looking for. I spent 5 years in NC as one of the only churches in town who had specific ministries geared towards this crowd and I was one of the few pastors for whom young adults was a focused part of my ministry. Because of that we became very successful at reaching single young adults. We also became successful at helping them find each other and I did a lot of weddings there for a while.
I have advised some of the single young adults in my church to go to small groups or other gatherings at some of the larger churches in town so that could meet more friends and look for people to date. It seems as if I am not the only one, and that the young and single crowd definitely prefers that megachurch option to a smaller church. The survey also found that a large number of megachurch attenders also attend another church regularly, so it may be that many are attending the larger church to connect with people but are still rooted in a smaller church at the same time. But if you are Christian, young, single, professional and educated, megachurches simply offer a far better opportunity to find a partner than in a smaller church.
What does this mean for the church? Probably nothing, other than telling us what we already know, which is most churches have a really hard time reaching the 20-40 crowd, especially if they are single, professional and educated. Tell me something I don’t already know. But it is worth considering how we can make smaller churches more friendly to this crowd and help them feel more comfortable in our communities.
Megachurches simply offer an opportunity for those in this category to find community and relationships that historically existed in more traditional churches, but is something megachurches evidently offer in a better way. The question remains as to whether or not the ability to attract this crowd actually results in life change and demonstrable discipleship or a high percentage of people who want to go to church and simply meet some friends. That is not a negative comment, just a question about some interesting information.
God loves whores. He loves those who unapologetically give away their fidelity and sacredness and righteousness to whoever will have it. He loves those who not only allow others to pay for their purity, but indeed pay others to take it. He loves those who advertise and beg for those of the lowest character to come and take their purity. He loves high priced escorts and street corner addicts who give themselves away for whatever they can convince someone to pay them. God loves whores.
There is a phrase I have never written before, but it is one that has been stuck in my mind today. I was reading through Ezekiel this morning and I have gotten stuck on chapter 16. In a chapter of judgment that echoes the story of Hosea, God spends a very long time explaining all the ways that Jerusalem has whored herself out.
God describes Jerusalem as a new born who was unloved and tossed away to die in a field. But God saw this child and said, “Live!” And God took the baby girl and cleaned it up and loved it and raised it to maturity. Everything this girl needed she got. She got more than she needed, even though she was tossed out like the garbage by her parents. The finest clothes, the best food, great beauty, fame, and renown all came to this child as she grew into a great queen. But how did she use these gifts of the only one who ever loved her? She used them to prostitute herself. She used her wealth to build idols to other gods. She even took her children and sacrificed them to other gods. She forgot all that the one who loved her had done for her and continued to prositute herself in more and more dispicable ways.
And yet, even as he passed judgment on Jerusalem and her horrific whoring God promised to restore her. God promised to remember the covenant promises that he made when he found her as that bloody child tossed out in a field. Jerusalem may have forgotten everything her savior did for her, but God never forgets the promises he makes to us.
This image of God seeking out and forgiving those who have betrayed his love in the most awful ways possible should be a resounding image for us in the church. As we consider who we are called to bring God’s love to, as we consider the message the world we bring to the world, as we picture God’s calling on our lives, we should start with whores because in one way or another we are all whores.
We are all whores because we have all given away the life given to us by God. We have taken the gifts he has given us and used them in self indulgent and self destructive ways. We have begged the world to give us a small pitiful piece of the incredible purpose and love God has given us in abundance. We have paid the world to take our righteousness and purity. We have made infidelity our past time, our job, our hobby, our obsession, and our purpose. We have found every conceivable way to dishonor our covenants with God and to whore ourselves to the world. And yet God loves us and desires to atone for our whoring.
God desires to redeem us and restore us and to use us. This truth trumps any other truth in the world. What truth could possibly motivate us to live more so than this kind of love?
God loves whores. So should we. Let’s go and change the world bringing God’s love to all the whores we can find.
I am sitting here at the beautiful cafe and fellowship area at Kokomo Church of the Nazarene watching the Missions Convention on the simulcast. I have my drink from Sonic and I am chilling with some other pastors. Later today I will be giving my first pastor’s report at District Assembly. Tonight we get to ordain some people. Should be a fun day so let’s get on with some ramblings.
Nazarenes Like to Party
Last night at the opening worship service with all the youth who were in town for DA, there was a great spirit. What was especially fun was seeing the generations really worshiping together. The music was loud, the bass was thumping, there was some yelling and lots of clapping (although not in rhythm, there are far too many white people here for that) and everyone seemed to just enjoy being together.
One thing I have always appreciated about Nazarenes is their worship. Even though there are plenty of things that can be lacking from our worship, Nazarenes have always been serious about it. My dad is not an guy who dances around while he worships, but growing up I would often see him raise his hands, or pray out loud, or give a hearty amen during a sermon. He felt free to worship in his own way. Looking around last night it was apparent that people felt free to worship, even if it wasn’t there thing. There were a couple of songs that were really rocking and some of the crowd were just sitting down and taking the whole thing in, but many of the group, especially from the older demographic had hands raised and were offering prayers, thankful to see hundreds of youth worshiping freely.
Guns and Churches Again
Well, one pastor finally went there. This guy is encouraging his congregants to bring guns to worship in a celebration of their second amendment rights. This is not the Sunday to bring your friends! Or it is the ultimate Sunday to bring your friends. What do you even say about that? I can see the church signs out front now.
Got Jesus, Got Guns, We are the Place for Both!
Come this Sunday, Our Pastor is a Pistol!
This Sunday Worship brought to you by Remington!
Gun Safety begins at Church
My Pastor’s Report
Here is the report I am offering on my church this year. We are under strict guidelines about giving only a two minute report. I like this rule. Anyways, here is what DCC will be reporting this year.
Pastor’s Report Duneland Community Church 2009
The heart of our story as Christians is an astounding belief. The heart of our faith is belief in resurrection, that Jesus who died was raised back to life by God the Father. We believe the one thing it is not rational to believe: that which is dead can come back to life again. It is not just the story of our Lord, but it is our story as followers of Jesus. We experience this resurrection in our own lives. We die to self and are raised with Christ that we may live and have life abundantly. Our faith simply cannot exist without resurrection.
So it shouldn’t surprise us when we see our churches experience resurrection as well but it still does. Just as watching every life that is redeemed through being united with Christ in his death and resurrection, it is surprising, joyful, and overwhelming every time we see a church redeemed and saved from the death through the resurrecting presence of God. We at Duneland Community Church know all about God’s ability to bring life out of certain death. The story of our church is sown in a church that was willing to lay down and die that new life could spring forth. In the ten years since there has been moment after moment of resurrection.
After losing a founding pastor, there was resurrection. After a church split there was resurrection. After a reunification there was resurrection. After yet another pastoral transition, uncertainty of sustainability, a vision vacuum and the loss of so many who called this church home, once again there has been resurrection. This shouldn’t surprise us, yet it still does. It still amazes us every moment we get to live inside the perfect moment of resurrection. To see certain death rendered inert by the life giving presence of the Spirit of God is a mystery which could never cease to amaze and inspire.
So we at Duneland Community Church have this to report: Resurrection! We know the resurrection presence of God. We know the reconciliation of members of a family long held apart by brokenness that comes only through God’s grace. We know the return of the Spirit of God, rushing in like a mighty wind to breath life in old bones and to raise up an army of God devoted to his glory. We know what it feels like to see our young men and women prophesy, and our old men and women dreaming dreams and all our people to see visions of what God has for us as his church.
We report that we are still here, and that is an act of God itself. We report that we are not simply hanging on, we are moving forward. We are searching desperately for the heart of God in our community and seeking our place in furthering the Kingdom of God here. We report that Jesus’ promise that he would build a church that the gates of hell could never overcome because it is a church of resurrection is still true. The forces of evil can only threaten death but God can and does promise and deliver resurrection. So we gather here to celebrate and to proclaim the truth of our faith that we all already know. God is still in the resurrection business and we are here as a testimony that business is good.
A random confluence of events and pseudo-events has led me to some interesting questions this week. First,the conversation that has been taking place around the widening view of the pro-life movement in this country as further stirred some great conversations about what it really means to be pro-life. Second, the ridiculousness of millions of people watching and debating the life of one family (Jon and Kate plus 8 ) has brought up an whole other set of issues regarding Christians and the ethics of procreation. Somehow, at least in my mind, these two ideas are really linked. read more…
The horrific shooting of an abortion doctor in Kansas by an antiabortion zealot is forcing us to take a look at the current state of the Pro-Life movement in our country.
In many ways these are hard days for the Pro-Life movement. First, President Obama, while working towards civility and understanding from the both sides of the abortion debate is clearly working from a more left wing agenda on the issue. Some of his first actions as president were to repeal executive orders from President Bush aimed at protecting unborn life. Secondly, with the appointment of one Supreme Court Justice soon and possibly several more in the coming years, the court may be making a shift that will not help the Pro-Life cause.
So how should pro-lifers proceed through these difficult days? I think that first and foremost there needs to be some readjustment on our perspective on what it means to be pro-life. Believing in the sanctity of all human life, born or unborn, is not simply an issue in regards to abortion. It is a major component, but life is life wherever it exists. I have stated numerous times in sermons and through my writing that the church needs to focues on the unborn and the already born alike. Poverty, AIDs, and genocide are affecting more children each year than abortion. So let’s just make sure we are focusing on all sanctity of life issues that God is calling us to make a difference in.
With the changing landscape there needs to be a shift in how we are trying to accomplish the ultimate goal of lowering the number of abortions as much as possible in our country and in our world. I do not believe that Roe V. Wade will ever be overturned in our country. If it was in some way altered, it would most likely become an issue that was sent back to the states to rule on. The majority of states will most likely still legalize it. Even that happening is a huge longshot.
But, regardless of the legality of abortion, we should be working to eliminate abortions. Taking the choice from women doesn’t actually address the issue that leads most women to abortion anyways. Eliminating poverty, providing support for single moms, helping to rebuild the family, providing sex education, talking about abistenence, and helping those who need them get the means to prevent pregnancy will make a huge impact on the number of abortions in our country. To find models for this we need to look outside of our countries to ministries that operate in countries were abortions and orphans are so prevalent. Ministries in these countries are trying to change the culture around women and children to help give them life. There are no hopes of eliminating abortion in these countries so people have had to find other ways to help prevent them. These are the models we should be looking towards in our future to provide better preservation for all life.
Personally I am excited to begin partnering with a new organization called Doma that my friend Julie Clark has started. Doma is going to be doing a lot of this kind of work in the Ukraine, Russia, and throughout Africa. Models like theirs are the kind of models we need to adopt here in the US as well. There are so many passionate and committed people who want believe in the sanctity of all life. My prayer is that we will increasingly find more effective and even more Christ honoring ways to pool our efforts and make a difference in the lives of those who have no voice for themselves.
We live in strange days. We live during days when the government is about to own 60% of GM, we have an all Disney NBA finals (Orlando and LA), 10 million people watched Jon and Kate plus 8 to see the train wreck of their marriage, the president is about to name a Cyber Czar, and Iran and North Korea keep trying to one up each other in the race to be the most terrifying nuclear power on earth. Good thing we know the end of the story isn’t it!
Everything a Senior Never Learned
Yesterday I had the privilege of preaching at the Chesterton High School Baccalaureate. It was a fun opportunity to share in this special time with some graduates. The essence of my message was this: Being a high school graduate doesn’t mean you know anything about how to live well. I encourage the graduates, looking at Philippians 2, to seek their purpose and fullfilment in this world by identifying the needs of others and serving them. In the midst of that service that is where you learn about yourself and find what you need to live life well. Building of Bill Hybels excellent book and sermon Holy Discontent, I further talked about how we find our God given purpose where our gifts meet the needs of the world and the heart of God. This intersection is the most gratifying place to live. This is a message that I, along with the graduates, really needed to hear.
Another Church Shooting
You have probably heard already about the abortion doctor in Kansas who was shot at his church while ushering yesterday. Where do you begin in a horrific situation like this. Dr. George Tiller was one of the few doctors around who would do late term abortions, up to a point when many babies may have been able to survive outside of the womb. The thought of what he was willing to do makes me physically ill. But there is no justification for what happened yesterday. Shooting someone in church? Dr. Tiller’s practices are the worst case scenario in the world of legalized abortion that we exist in, but so too is this shooter the worst case scenario for those of us who are so concerned about the lives of the unborn.
In many ways the two people involved, Dr. Tiller and the murderer, who police believe to be Scott Roeder, are perfect foils for each other. You have a many who kills babies and yet serves as an usher in his church being murdered by a man who was willing to do anything to protect these same babies, including committing the very same crime he hated this man for committing. The hypocrisy is overwhelming in both cases. If this murderer really believed in what he was doing so much why did he then jump in a car and drive away from the scene. Why not stay and willingly give yourself up as a sacrifice if you believe in the justice of what you have done This whole thing is evil through and through. God is weeping that anyone associate with his beautiful church could partake in such an evil situation.
The state of Virginia is banning smiling at the DMV. (Insert Punch Line Here) As if anyone ever smiled about heading to the DMV anyways! It is true, to help a facial recognition software program the state is eliminating smiling for your drivers license picture. When I got my license in Indiana they told me the same thing, just don’t smile. Sounds unAmerican to me, but whatever.
This headline, however, has made me think of other unnecessary headlines we could read one day.
Washington DC bans white people from anywhere but NW
Indiana weather frustrates local weather forecasters
North Carolina bans street lights
NBA leery of good officiating
MLB bans accountability
NFL discourages veterans from walking after age 50
Church of the Nazarene rules against the Lambada
Liberty University gets rid of Democrats (Oh wait that is a real headline from this week)
President Obama orders Bush presidency struck from records
Any headlines you want to add?
On Sunday I have the privilege of preaching at the Chesterton High School baccalaureate. It is a great opportunity, especially since I am the new guy in town and a rather unknown around here. The question is, however, “What do graduating seniors need to hear?” I can’t remember if I heard anything inspirational as I prepared to graduate, or if I would have remembered even if I did. I want to avoid cliches as much as possible. I want to challenge them. I wan to help them identify parts of themselves that are changing during this process that they may not even notice.
Mainly I want to simply give voice to what they are experiencing and offer them some perspective for the next step in their journey. Any suggestions for what you would say to graduating seniors? If you give me a good enough suggestion I will even quote you and give you a credit in my sermon! Offers like that don’t come around every day!
Just a bunch of quick thoughts and links to get you going on this holiday shortened work week. Hope you enjoyed your day off?
I have spent the past three weeks negotiating for a new location for our church to meet. I am very excited to say that this week we will sign a 4 year lease on a warehouse space at a lumber yard that will give our church a 24/7 space for worship, education and offices, for the first time in our almost ten year history. This is really exciting as God has opened up an exciting opportunity for our church that will dramatically change our visibility and availability for our community. Fun days ahead!
We are going through an extensive visioning process as a church. Check out my blog for DCC to hear about the process and to add your thoughts.
I am fairly patriotic, with some struggles around American idolatry, but wow, have you seen the Patriot Study Bible?!?! Greg Boyd thoroughly dissects it over at Out of Ur, but this thing is an abomination. Yikes.
This word game is incredibly addictive. Click here to waste the next hour of your life.
With all the speculation leading up to the NBA Draft, test your draft knowledge and see how many #1 picks you can come up with in ten minutes. I missed six, which is either a good sign or a bad sign for how my brain works. I am evidently slightly below average in my early 70’s draft pick knowledge.
I have been checking out a bunch of new music the last couple of months and have found some sweet new tunes. (At least new to me) Here is a quick rundown of some great stuff to check out.
Bon Iver – For Emma – This is the best CD I have heard this year. Dude went through a tough break up, went to a cabin in the woods for a couple of months and emerged with this album. It is haunting.
Pocket Full of Rocks – Song to the King- Didn’t know them till a week or two ago. Grabbed a couple of albums, this is the best one I have heard. Great worship tunes, especially the lives ones at the end of the album. Lead singer has a very emotionally expressive voice, almost Tom Waitsish
Gateway Worship – Wake Up the World – This is an awesome worship CD. Highlights are an updated version of the doxology and a couple of want to sing them to the rafters anthems
Coldplay – Left Right Left Right Left – Free live CD you can download on the web, (click here for link) has some nice live versions of beloved songs. Enjoyed Fix You and Death and all his friends.
Iron and Wine – The Trapeze Swinger – Another free download song and there is also an album if you go to the main page of the website that you can download for free. Classic Iron and Wine; subtle, elegant, emotional, great music for driving through cornfields on a beautiful spring evening.
U2 – Medium, Rare and Remastered – You have to join up and pay to be a member at U2.com to get this two disc set. It is really good. Great alternative and early versions of some classic songs such as Yahweh, You Can’t Make it on Your Own, and All Because of You. Also sweet pre-vertigo version of Native Son and the humorous Big Girls are Best. Another one sounds like a Joshua Tree leftover, it is called Jesus Christ. Best new song is Love You Like Mad. All in all a surprisingly great cd set.
Anyways, there are some thoughts and links to get your week started off right. Have a good one.
You are a dreamer, a visionary, and a straight up idea person. You are very creative.
