so, for those of you who like American Idol, you should check out Nashville Star and support our boy Coffey. he is a member of our church and just an all around great guy. check it out mondays at 9pm on nbc and don't forget to vote for him.
here is a video of him with our worship team.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMmM0jBk1Zw&NR=1
Saturday, June 14, 2008
A few issues i have been wrestling with
Milk vs Steak
During my years at bible college, especially my senior year, my fellow students and I were continually warned by our professors not to become snobby bible college grads. And I fear that I might not have heeded that warning so well.
Cami and I are so blessed to be a part of a church that is truly transforming lives. Every time we gather all I have to do is talk to the person next to me or look up to the balcony and I see at least 100 people who were hopeless but are now finding hope here. My church is an odd mix of extremely wealthy (not to mention extremely generous) people and those at the bottom end of poverty. The whole mission of our church is to bring in those the rest of society has given up on, give them a place to belong and a place to get back their feet and hopefully find Jesus in the process. That is why I love my church so much. But that means that the sermons are milk to the spiritually immature. Sundays often tend to feel like motivational meetings. I just feel that we could be giving more substance to our people. But perhaps this is my selfish desire to be fed myself. How much meat do you bring to the immature?
I guess I have just found myself in a place where church is no longer a time to be fed, but a time to encourage those around me. It is a time to come together and make sure we are still all on the same page - knowing that everything we do is for the hopeless. I must continually remind myself of the youth pastor's words, "Why don't you every find steak on a kids menu? Because if you want it, you need to be able cut it up and eat it yourself."
Wealth and Poverty
Cami and I recently watched an episode of the show 30 Days. It was created by the same guy who did the movie Supersize Me. The premise of the show is to spend 30 days in the life of someone else. In this particular episode, the main character and his fiancee move to Columbus, OH and get minimum wage jobs to discover what it is like to be amongst the thousands of working poor in the USA. For 30 days they lived in a dumpy apartment in a dangerous part of town, relied on public transportation and were without health care. The man ended up get two full time jobs, spending an average of 18 hours a day away from home and his fiancee walked to work to save the 2.70 it would cost them in bus fare.
In addition to the harsh reality of how difficult life in the shoes of the working poor actually is, this episode also brings up some rather disturbing statistics. From 1997 to 2007 Congress did not raise minimum wage a single penny, but received cost of living increases of their own, to the tune of $27,000. How can we live in the richest country in the world and have so many people struggling from day to day. I live in a city full of people hoping to survive from one day to the next, when less than ten miles away live people who have abundantly more than they could ever need and continually gain more. Why is it that the rich just get richer and the poor never seem to get a break? Greed is so ugly! And I wonder how much of it is in me. Why can I not be more like my friend Andrea who gives everything she has away? Why do I need a nice home and nice clothes? Is it wrong of me to desire to own a home some day? Do I really need to own a home, could that money help turn someone's life around, give them the break they have been waiting for?
Now I know owning a home is an exercise of financial wisdom, but what about all the other things I so desperately "need", like my new indoor soccer shoes. When does it become greedy and selfish ambition? Do any of you ever ask these questions? Lord, am I faithful with all that you bless me with?
During my years at bible college, especially my senior year, my fellow students and I were continually warned by our professors not to become snobby bible college grads. And I fear that I might not have heeded that warning so well.
Cami and I are so blessed to be a part of a church that is truly transforming lives. Every time we gather all I have to do is talk to the person next to me or look up to the balcony and I see at least 100 people who were hopeless but are now finding hope here. My church is an odd mix of extremely wealthy (not to mention extremely generous) people and those at the bottom end of poverty. The whole mission of our church is to bring in those the rest of society has given up on, give them a place to belong and a place to get back their feet and hopefully find Jesus in the process. That is why I love my church so much. But that means that the sermons are milk to the spiritually immature. Sundays often tend to feel like motivational meetings. I just feel that we could be giving more substance to our people. But perhaps this is my selfish desire to be fed myself. How much meat do you bring to the immature?
I guess I have just found myself in a place where church is no longer a time to be fed, but a time to encourage those around me. It is a time to come together and make sure we are still all on the same page - knowing that everything we do is for the hopeless. I must continually remind myself of the youth pastor's words, "Why don't you every find steak on a kids menu? Because if you want it, you need to be able cut it up and eat it yourself."
Wealth and Poverty
Cami and I recently watched an episode of the show 30 Days. It was created by the same guy who did the movie Supersize Me. The premise of the show is to spend 30 days in the life of someone else. In this particular episode, the main character and his fiancee move to Columbus, OH and get minimum wage jobs to discover what it is like to be amongst the thousands of working poor in the USA. For 30 days they lived in a dumpy apartment in a dangerous part of town, relied on public transportation and were without health care. The man ended up get two full time jobs, spending an average of 18 hours a day away from home and his fiancee walked to work to save the 2.70 it would cost them in bus fare.
In addition to the harsh reality of how difficult life in the shoes of the working poor actually is, this episode also brings up some rather disturbing statistics. From 1997 to 2007 Congress did not raise minimum wage a single penny, but received cost of living increases of their own, to the tune of $27,000. How can we live in the richest country in the world and have so many people struggling from day to day. I live in a city full of people hoping to survive from one day to the next, when less than ten miles away live people who have abundantly more than they could ever need and continually gain more. Why is it that the rich just get richer and the poor never seem to get a break? Greed is so ugly! And I wonder how much of it is in me. Why can I not be more like my friend Andrea who gives everything she has away? Why do I need a nice home and nice clothes? Is it wrong of me to desire to own a home some day? Do I really need to own a home, could that money help turn someone's life around, give them the break they have been waiting for?
Now I know owning a home is an exercise of financial wisdom, but what about all the other things I so desperately "need", like my new indoor soccer shoes. When does it become greedy and selfish ambition? Do any of you ever ask these questions? Lord, am I faithful with all that you bless me with?
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