So, if you've been in church long enough or have gone to enough retreats, chances are that you've taken a number of spiritual gift surveys. I think some of them are a bunch of hooey, so I made my own :).
Answer Yes or No to the following questions:
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
If I could say 10 things to the American Church...
It's pretty self-explanatory - this isn't a list of "Why I Hate the American Church." Whenever I go home I'm always amazed at just how much God is using them. Rather, this is a list of things that I think would help the church in it's ability to grow closer to God and change people's lives. Feel free to comment or leave your own list behind!
10. The Good News isn't just about heaven or hell, especially now in our culture - over 80% of people believe they are going to heaven. The New Testament is full of good news and shortened versions of the gospel message, many of which are far more applicable to our worried, stressed, and lonely world.
9. Marriage is under attack, but the gay community isn't destroying marriages. They don't have anything to do with the high divorce rate within the church. That's 100% our fault!
8. Your God is too small, period. Please stop taking scriptures and conforming them to the God you have seen at work in your life instead of trying to reach for the God who is laid out in the Bible.
7. The body of Christ is bigger and more diverse than you could ever imagine. Heaven is going to have people who speak in tongues and people who think speaking in tongues is satanic, people who evangelize and people who have never told anyone about Jesus, people who were sprinkled at baptism and people who were dunked.
6. Even if you think it's a secret sin, it's destroying your walk with God. Anything you want to keep secret can be used against you and will hinder your freedom.
5. If you want to see prayers answered, don't start with the huge things like cancer. You don't throw a person in rush hour traffic to teach them to drive, or on a black diamond course to learn to ski - why would learning to pray be any different? When you begin to see the small things answered, then your faith will increase for the larger things.
4. If Jesus is your Lord, that means you have to do what He says even if it doesn't make sense. And He will ask you to do things that don't make sense to you.
3. If you are looking for direction from God, start with the small things instead of the big things. He doesn't care where you go to college nearly as much as He does about those moment by moment decisions that create your character. It's the small constant decisions that will define who you are in His eyes, not the big ones.
2. Start reaching the people Jesus would reach out to instead of the people you want your church. The poor, your co-worker no one likes, the person on the bus who smells bad, the people your friends make fun of... Those are the people Jesus wants.
1. You can't live the Christian life without supernatural help. That means everything - loving your neighbor, not sinning, being joyful, patient, caring - not just healing the sick, raising the dead etc... Stop trying - it was meant to be impossible so we would turn to God for help!
10. The Good News isn't just about heaven or hell, especially now in our culture - over 80% of people believe they are going to heaven. The New Testament is full of good news and shortened versions of the gospel message, many of which are far more applicable to our worried, stressed, and lonely world.
9. Marriage is under attack, but the gay community isn't destroying marriages. They don't have anything to do with the high divorce rate within the church. That's 100% our fault!
8. Your God is too small, period. Please stop taking scriptures and conforming them to the God you have seen at work in your life instead of trying to reach for the God who is laid out in the Bible.
7. The body of Christ is bigger and more diverse than you could ever imagine. Heaven is going to have people who speak in tongues and people who think speaking in tongues is satanic, people who evangelize and people who have never told anyone about Jesus, people who were sprinkled at baptism and people who were dunked.
6. Even if you think it's a secret sin, it's destroying your walk with God. Anything you want to keep secret can be used against you and will hinder your freedom.
5. If you want to see prayers answered, don't start with the huge things like cancer. You don't throw a person in rush hour traffic to teach them to drive, or on a black diamond course to learn to ski - why would learning to pray be any different? When you begin to see the small things answered, then your faith will increase for the larger things.
4. If Jesus is your Lord, that means you have to do what He says even if it doesn't make sense. And He will ask you to do things that don't make sense to you.
3. If you are looking for direction from God, start with the small things instead of the big things. He doesn't care where you go to college nearly as much as He does about those moment by moment decisions that create your character. It's the small constant decisions that will define who you are in His eyes, not the big ones.
2. Start reaching the people Jesus would reach out to instead of the people you want your church. The poor, your co-worker no one likes, the person on the bus who smells bad, the people your friends make fun of... Those are the people Jesus wants.
1. You can't live the Christian life without supernatural help. That means everything - loving your neighbor, not sinning, being joyful, patient, caring - not just healing the sick, raising the dead etc... Stop trying - it was meant to be impossible so we would turn to God for help!
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