It was just an idea...

My blog is worth $0.00.
How much is your blog worth?

"anna complex"

Frank Viola shares an interesting conversation about church in this article from THEOOZE

I like my own church. I enjoy the pastor’s sermons, and I like the fact that most of the people don’t know me and I don’t know them. I can come to church, enjoy the singing and sermon, and leave, not worrying about anything or anyone.

GodBlogCon

DJ Chuang reports on GodBlogging from GodBlogCon 2005.

His site provides several excellent links. If you're looking to listen in or join the conversation, it's a great place to start.

footnote...

I intended to say a brief word to those I shared the evening with:

Meg - shhhh.
Zach - go ahead. reach across me.
T-roy - it was good. Real good.
Dan - don't forget the simple heating instructions
D-rell - as always.

Enjoy the trip.

Village People

Tonight Darrell and I hit the road to Lewisville (literally Highland Village, Texas) to participate in the 5 p.m. service at The Village Church (formerly Highland Village First Baptist Church). Our plan was to meet up with some students from University of North Texas who attend there regularly.

We were greeted by a couple of ladies handing out small leaflets about the church. These were not programs for the evening's service, informational handout with a place on the back to take notes. I noted that one of the students in our group was actually taking notes during the service.

The music was typical for seeker friendly service; praise band and backup vocals accompanied the worship leader who played an acoustic guitar. Song selection was excellent and the corporate worship was open and free. Some individuals were more expressive than others but none were distracting. There were several spontaneous prayers between songs instead of the usual verbal transitions to move from song to song.

The Pastor sharing God's word had high connectivity with the audience. The mood of the sermon was instructive and personal, yet revelational and challenging. He encouraged everyone not to join another Bible Study or committee, but instead to slow down. How refreshing. In this day and age when organizations (including many churches) are struggling to find willing leadership, much less qualified and trained leadership, he was encouraging us to do less activity and make better use of our time by genuinely living out our devotion to God and family, etc. It was a sharp contrast to the sermon I heard this morning (at a different Baptist church) about being a more committed disciple increasing my program participation.

The service concluded with communion for believers. Afterwards, the students and I went to eat and talk about our experience. Our discussion centered around the application of the message. What a concept... It was natural and open, not coerced or contrived.

I left with these three thoughts:
1. I wish Gail were here to share the experience.
2. I wish we lived in Highland Village, Texas.
3. I wish everyone could have that kind of worship experience everyday.

Practice these things.

Mark Van S offers us 6 incarnational practices to help us BE church before we worry about how we "do" church.

Practice 1: Move and Observe
Practice 2: “Intentional Friend-Making”
Practice 3: Gather in 3rd Places and Homes
Practice 4: Mobilize Discipleship
Practice 5: Volunteering (instead of starting new programs)
Practice 6: Limit Your Attractiveness

This is just an excerpt from the article in the October issue of Next-Wave