An interesting couple of weeks

Greetings All,

Okay, a bunch of you have e-mailed me about my silence the past couple of weeks, and I apologize. Here's the story.

My parents came into town two weeks ago and I ended up spending a lot of time with them because I don't get to see them very often. While they were here I started to feel pretty sick. That feeling soon turned into strep throat. Soon after I developed a sinus infection on top of the Strep. Just as I was beginning to recover from the whole mess, I had a couple of speaking engagements, right in a row which required a lot of study time. Sunday morning I woke up and my throat was hurting again even after a week of antibiotics. I returned to the Doctor to find that I now have bronchitis!!! I"M A MESS!

Anyway, being the intelligent man that I am, I attempted to continue working through all of my issues. Needless to say, this was a bad idea! Now....I'm even sicker.

Long story short, I'll get back to blogging A.S.A.P.

The Conversation: Part Two

On small groups:

Rachel: “From the time I was 11 or 12 I have been involved with two different branches of what one might consider a “mainstream” church. It follows the common liturgy and has regular small groups, but it also encourages genuine fellowship, both with God and each other. My impression of small groups (and still is) that they are not at all a “church growing” tool, but a more in depth and personal form of fellowship aside from the main congregation. I feel that small groups remind us that we are a family and can be very powerful tools to effectively prepare the church to reach out.”

Joshua (Me): I believe in small groups. I too have been in the mainstream church for most of my life (since the sinful age of four). I’m a third generation pastor, and my family (Dad, uncle, brother, grandfather) has always been at the forefront of the mainstream movement in some regard. I’ve led small groups, helped build small group ministries, and attended countless groups, so please understand I truly have a heart for small group ministry.

Clearly there are thousands of amazing small groups just like yours across the country which are functioning wonderfully. I believe this is due in large part to the hearts of those involved in the groups, and has almost nothing to do with the strategy of the institution. However, it is very difficult to separate the two these days.

In my years of ministry there are few things which have remained the same, but one of the things that has remained consistent is this; small groups grow churches, and the primary purpose of small group ministry is church growth. One would be hard pressed to find a small group strategy launched by a church institution which was not first intended to grow the institution. Although small group ministries are presented to the congregation as fellowship gatherings, almost without fail, they are implemented by the leadership for growth. I can honestly say I have never been involved with a small group ministry that was launched for any other purpose. Fellowship, although a valued result of small groups, is a secondary concern to the institution.

I believe small groups are beneficial because they foster true interaction and relationship development. I believe small groups are great for the encouragement of the saints and I believe small groups are an essential part of spiritual growth. But, my heart is broken by the intentions with which they are frequently established, and at its roots this is where I see the problem.

What is the purpose of a small group? Why are small groups seen as supplemental to the “main gathering?’ I can’t help but wonder why the institution has to present small groups as secondary to the main service. Are small groups not “church?” In my opinion, small groups are presented as supplemental because they can be dangerous to the bottom line of the institution if not handled correctly. If small groups are presented as legitimate church services, countless people would never attend the big service. Why? Small groups are places where the church has the opportunity to be the church. They are intimate. They encourage interaction with the text, they allow for questions. Friendships are made, and lives are changed. Bottom line, it’s biblical and God blesses biblical. I’m not saying it’s the only way to do things, or that we should do away with big services, but doesn’t it seem that the paradigm is flipped around some how? Shouldn’t the big production services be designed to funnel people into small groups? There is a place for large Sunday morning gatherings, but in my opinion they should be secondary.

Unfortunately, if the institution allows the small groups to be seen as “church” the need for big organizations goes away. The results would be profound. Subsequently, small groups are billed as supplemental gatherings that help to keep people going through the week until the return to “CHURCH.”

The Conversation: Part One

I’ve started a conversation with a new friend on the “Christianity vs. Christian Spirituality” series I posted. I thought some of you might be interested in the dialogue. My new friend has some great insights into the subject and the conversation is thought provoking. Let me know what you think on the subject.

On the post-modern problem:

My Friend: “I also understand your position of starting a place like Tapestry Belltown, because many are repelled all together from the mainstream church. Sometimes the best way is to start over and lead by example…but I also get frustrated at the post-modern views that the western church has it all wrong. I think both sides have something to bring to the table.”


Joshua (Me): Although it may be hard to believe, I mostly agree with you on this issue! I do not advocate separating from the “mainstream church” in every situation, and I’m not a fan of the post-modern movement. In my opinion, the post-modern movement is nothing more than mainstream Christianity with a paint job. They paint the walls neutral tones, offer emo worship, light a few candle, curse a bit more, and use real wine for communion then call themselves post-modern. In addition, I don’t agree with, or appreciate their desire to through out the tradition church. However, I do believe the that the western church has lost sight of Christ’s heart.

I have an uncle who works with, and is part of the “who’s who” Christian world. He circumvents the globe multiple times a year, and consults the church at large. I only say this because he is a trusted voice in my life and in the lives of some very influence people in the Christian community whom I respect. Much of his research sits on the desks of pastors worldwide. I’ve had many conversations with my uncle and many like him about this very issue. The common theme of conversation is this; the western church is completely lost. The international Christian community is now targeting the west for missions. The church is growing at staggering rates worldwide, but is drastically declining in the west. We’re opening a couple thousand churches a year in the U.S., but we’re closing several thousand. The decline is widely attributed to poor leadership, and apathetic believers. Christians in the west are so tied to their institutions; they’ve lost sight of being the church and reaching the world surrounding them. People are blindly following leaders who are leading them to nothing.

I will never separate from the “mainstream” church, but if I have to separate from the institution to accomplish the work of the kingdom, I will. Sadly, after countless conversations with countless pastors, I don’t see much hope for the institution. George Barna recently said that he believes the majority of mainstream church institutions will close their doors in the next 15 to 20 years. I don’t know if this is true or not, but what I do know is that the numbers continue to point in this direction.

To be honest, in my opinion, there is no such thing as the mainstream church. If we were to accurately describe the situation, we would call it the “Institution of the past.” The church is simply the church. Some of the church is wrapped up in the institution, and part of it is not. I love the church, but I don’t believe the institution can be retrofitted to be relevant again. Subsequently, I think the institution will soon be replaced, and many professing Christians will be lost, because they have no home.

If the church that is wrapped up in the institution is to be saved, it will take people who are willing to remain in the institution to be voices of change. The institution will go, but the church can be saved. In fact, much of my vision for Tapestry is rooted in this belief.

Tapestry is not an attempt to start a post-modern church, it’s not about being “emerging,” it’s not about being “progressive,” or anything of the sort. Tapestry is a result of exegeting an urban culture and finding ways to reach that culture for Christ. Seattle is the most unchurched city in the country, has the highest homosexual population pre-capita in the U.S, and is home to more dogs than children or Christians. In addition Seattle is less than 7% “churched, and the Belltown district is even worse. Belltown is Sodom and we have to find new ways to present Christ in one of the only remaining pre-Christian cultures in the country. The church has never taken root in this city and Belltown spits out church planters like a trucker sucking on sunflower seeds. Because of the extreme nature of our little sub-culture we are in a prime position to help educate the church within the institution of what is headed their direction.

Tapestry is designed to be a “Trusted voice of spiritual and cultural instruction…” We are about taking Christ to an extreme culture, and educating the church on how to do the same. What happens in the urban core will ultimately end up in the suburbs and if the institutionalized church is to survive they will have to adapt to meet the needs of a culture that is headed their direction. If they don’t…….their dead.

My Problem

I seem to have bloggers block!!! What's the deal?

Beauty and the Geek

I’m about to admit something I’m not proud of. You ready for this? Okay, here you go; I am officially of a fan of Aston Kutchers show “Beauty and the Geek.” There, I said it; I’m out of the closet!!!

If you haven’t seen the show, try to catch an episode sometime. It’s a reality show that has focuses on 16 people living in a house. Eight of the people are beautiful women; the other eight are academically inclined men. Okay, honestly they’re the absolute perfect pictures of geeks. These guys are so far gone it’s not even funny! The show forces them into situations in which they have to challenge the boundaries of their comfort zones. The geeks are faced with social issues, and the women with academic. It’s really quite entertaining.

I mention the show because the other day they showed a re-run of the final episode from last season. The final two couples where interviewed and given the opportunity to share what they had learned. Every one of them said the same thing in one form or the other. The common thought was that we can learn something about ourselves from anyone. For some reason this has stuck in my head this past week and I’ve been thinking it through a bit.

I’m a firm believer in the fact that God has purposely created each of us unique. We’re like living works of art, and although some of us look similar, much like a painting, we hold our own unique qualities that set us a part from everyone else. Billions and billions of unique paintings living life every day knowingly and unknowingly affecting each others. Each of us has had different experiences that have shaped us into beautiful expressions of God’s creativity. It’s a beautiful thing.

What if we were to start living life with this perspective? What if we actually believed there was something beautiful and meaningful about every single person we come in contact with? As I read scripture I can’t help but notice that Jesus seemed to have this perspective on people. Aside from his obvious distain for the religious legalists, Jesus truly enjoyed the presence of people.

I wonder how I would treat people if I believed they were a beautiful work of art that held information I knew could be important for my life. Better yet, what if I believed it was important to God that I treated people this way? What if I saw a piece of God in everyone? I bet my perspective on people would be completely changed.

What about you? Do you see the beauty in people?

Love/Hate

I have a love/hate relationship with New Years. Every year at this time I enjoy the process of thinking through the things I’d like to change in my life. However, I also find myself thinking through all of the things I failed to achieve the year prior. For some reason my second list is always longer than my first one. In other words, rarely do I actually change anything. This year I’ve been asking myself why this is and I’ve come to a conclusion.

A true journey of change isn’t about changing my scenery; it’s about changing the way I see. Anything less is nothing more than the same sh*t in a different place. In other words, changing my external circumstances, without addressing my internal ones is worthless.

Just something to think about.

I truly pray that your new year will be a time of real change, success, and growth, but more importantly I pray that you will experience a renewed and strengthened relationship with your creator. Have an amazing year!

Christianity vs. Christian Spirituality: Part Five

Christianity vs. Christian Spirituality: Part Five

DICLAIMER: Please understand that these are broad brush strokes and intended to incite conversation, thought and action. This is not intended to include, and or define everyone calling themselves a Christian.

Now let’s turn to the matter of Christian freedoms. This is an interesting subject and one that has more room for interpretation than pretty much any other matter in the Christian world. The difference between Christians and those who practice Christian spirituality really boils down to one view of what is acceptable for a believer to take part in and what is not.

Basically it’s as simple as this; we believe that the church is not the believer’s moral compass. In other words the church does not, nor should it, define morality. In many ways the church has established a set of moral standards that have become the test of mature Christian behavior. Good Christians don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t hang out in bars, listen to secular music, have friends of different beliefs and or lifestyles, and so on. As I mentioned earlier in this series, this has happened because the church lives in fear of loosing people. Because of this fear the church has made an attempt to vilify anything that isn’t “holy” in order to keep people away from the potential damage that could come at the hands of the wicked world. When people are separated from the world they will naturally look for community and where better to find it than in the church.

I believe that this trend is an unintentional one, but the damage its doing is profound. Where judgment exists there will be problems. As the culture of regulation has progressed it’s taken a natural turn toward “classification of sin.” What I mean by that is the church has propagated a culture that will tolerate certain sins, but others are in a special class of their own. An example would be homosexuality.

In countless churches across the country there are men and women living together outside the confines of marriage. For some reason these folks are taken into the fold and loved on, and yet the homosexual couple is shunned and made to feel un-welcome. The mentality of regulations is so ingrained in the minds of Christians, that they can’t see the blatant hypocrisy in their midst. Although this is denied by almost everyone I talk to, the evidence is staggering. The bottom line is, the culture of regulations has inadvertently created a classification system for sin and it is turning the church inward, in sort of a spiritual nepotism.

“If you’re not a pervert (said with a hillbilly accent), we’ll tell ya bout’s Jesus.” Christianity has become the suburban, conservative republican’s religion of choice. Jesus and the other bible characters are portrayed as white men and women to the children, and the programs are geared towards certain demographics. On the flip side, churches are opening their doors and affirming every type of behavior as acceptable in the sight of God. The extremes are ruling the Christian culture and the message of Christ is lost.

The church looks at people like myself and those who live their lives with Christian principles, outside the institution of the church, as rebels. We have beer in our refrigerators, cigars in our humidors, and gay friends. We’ve been known to be seen in bars, at secular rock concerts, and from time to time smoking on the fire escape. We talk about Jesus over wine and cheese, and elder meetings usually include cigars. Our love for each other is deep and our commit to Christ is unwavering, but we refuse to accept rules that are not explicitly or implicitly instructed in scripture. Jesus is our moral compass and morality is defined by scripture.

In addition, you will find that we have a tendency to maintain a friendship base that is just as large outside the gathering of the church, as it is within. We believe, as Christ said, that we are not called to those who already believer, but to those who desperately need Christ. When the church gathers the couches are filled with an eclectic mix of sinners. Liars, thieves, gays, gossips, boastful, arrogant, promiscuous, and worse gather together to explore the truth of scripture. Some believe, some don’t, but everyone is seeking. The journey towards true saving faith is a long one for some, and rather quick for others, but no matter where an individual falls on the faith journey they will be loved and accepted for who they are, and not judged based on what they do. Sin is still sin, and truth is not watered down, but the message isn’t rules, its Jesus.

(Of course the pendulum swings in both directions. There are churches within the institution that work differently, they will actually pull seekers into their midst through doing away with the issue of sin and regulation. There has been a great influx in the institution in this direction. In these cases liberalism is running ramped and the church is being destroyed from within. However, this is an entirely different subject that we’ll get into some other time.)

Have you ever seen “Forest Gump?” A certain point, after he had been running for months, he simply stopped. Well…..I’m gonna pull a Forest Gump….

Merry Christmas

Greetings all,

I wanted to take a moment and wish all of you a truly amazing Christmas. I pray you're all surrounded by those you love and enjoying yourselves very much. Lets focus on Christ this weekend and get back to our blogging next week. I love you guy.

Warm Wishes

Joshua

Christianity vs. Christian Spirituality: Part Four

DICLAIMER: Please understand that these are broad brush strokes and intended to incite thought, conversation and action. This is not intended to include and or define everyone calling themselves a Christian.

I’ve received a lot of e-mail regarding these posts and I’d like to thank all of you for your thoughts, even those telling me I’ll “burn in hell.” Statements like that just go to prove that there is some truth to the ideas I’ve been raising in this series. Once again thanks for all your idea and I hope that this series has provoked thought and maybe even some conversation amongst those you worship with.

(Continued from Part Three)

Having already discussed the matters of the nature of the Church, and salvation/conversion I’d like to bring up the matter of Christian leadership again, as well as, the matter of God given freedoms (if we make it that far).

I’ve long said that there is a problem with the leadership of the church. I call it the “Titanic Mentality.” The titanic mentality is simple to understand and even simpler to spot. As we discussed in part three, Christian leadership is standing by as the magnificent ship of what was once the church as it sinks into a bottomless pit of complacency.

It never ceases to amaze me how self-centered, blind, or plain old stupid many Christian pastors/elders have become. Church attendance is dropping in the majority of church, and those who are growing are not growing by conversion they are stealing people from other churches. It’s called transfer growth, and it’s mostly unchecked. The pastors of the growing churches are reveling in their success, and propagating the bastardized version or Christianity, and the pastors of the struggling church keep trying to implement the strategies of the mega churches in the hope that something will catch on and cause growth. In both cases, the issues that need to be addresses are being ignored.


The titanic mentality is simple. Pastors are on a sinking ship, they know the ship is sinking, but they still walk the decks with a smile on their faces, whistling a happy tune hoping on hope that no one will notice the water pouring into the boat. Why? If the boat sinks, they’re out of a job!!! Pastors know that their churches will be dead or dying in the next ten or fifteen years, if it’s not already. But, they also know that if they tell the people, the process will be accelerated as people seek refuge in lifeboats; i.e. the church down the street. It’s horrible, sad, and pathetic, but in my opinion, job security is one of the major reasons the issues in the church are not being addressed.

Pastors hold a tremendous amount of authority in the lives of the people they “shepherd.” People trust their pastors to keep their finger on the pulse of the church and to seek Gods wisdom in regards to the direction of their assembly. The vast majority of Christians are not aware of the devastation in the church, so if the pastor doesn’t have the intestinal, and or moral fortitude to speak truth to his people, they will continue moving in the direction they are moving without a care in the world, just like the good little sheep they are. Meanwhile, the pastor keeps his paycheck one more week. Never mind the fact that the pastors salary is 49% of the church annual budget, and that not a single penny has gone to the actual work of the ministry, aside from a couple hundred bucks a month split between six missionaries in foreign lands.

This is how it plays out. Pastors read, so pastors know what is happening in the church. Trust me; there are very few pastors who are unaware of the reformation that is beginning to take place in the church internationally. Pastors begin to see a trend taking place in the church. If that trend will not effect the bottom line (growing and collecting) they will at least give it a courtesy sermon, and some may even order a few books on the subject and sell them to the patrons for a reduced cost. Having “progressive” material available make the church appears to on the cutting edge, when in reality it’s not even close.

However, if the movement of the church is beginning to look like it will completely change the way the world views God, religion, church and Jesus (as the current movement does) they begin to establish a battle plan. Mind you, it’s a covert operation. Neither the leadership, nor the congregation can know until the plan is in place. It may not be a conscious deception, but its deception none the less. I’ve been amazed at how many pastors I’ve sat with who will look me in the eye and tell me that they are aware of the movement of the church, and then give me some lame ass excuse as to why they think it’s unhealthy, or unbeneficial. They know the movement is coming (the titanic mentality), but they also know the movement will require dramatic change and possibly even some restructuring. In most cases this is a problem, because they have allowed “growing, getting, keeping, and collecting” to turn their congregations into apathetic, lukewarm, possibly saved, people who have no intention of changing, or stepping up to the plate to engage the radical call of Christ.

The Church is the west is sick. We’re anemic, emasculated, lazy and pathetic!!! No longer is the church in the west the once powerful catalyst of change in the world! No longer are we a sending nation! No longer are we the center of our communities! No longer are we the voice of truth! We are nothing, and we will continue to be nothing until the men of God who lead his church stand up, grow some ______ and lead the church into the next century! Pastors who have allowed their churches to become lazy, must, I repeat, MUST be called on the carpet, confronted, and removed if they are unwilling to call the people of God to action!!!

Not long ago I sat in a congregational meeting at church and witnessed the most pathetic display I have ever seen. The church was in a time of transition, they were between pastors. The chairman of the elder board presided over the meeting and there were probably one-hundred people present. The conversation quickly went downhill.
The church was cutting a missionary out of the budget because her husband had died. Their rational was that she was no longer doing the same work her husband had been doing. I didn’t speak up at that point. I spoke up when someone suggested that they reassigned the money to the building maintenance fund!!! I came unglued. My comments were brushed off, the vote passed, the money was reassigned, and the meeting went on. The next order of business was to discuss the salary of the new pastor. The candidate had submitted a certain number that he would be willing to take and the church was deliberating on whether or not to accept it. The number was half the annual budget for the entire church. Now put this into perspective. An additional 10% of the budget had just been assigned to the building fund totaling about 20%. Now 49% of the budget was going to be approved for the new pastor, and less than 5% of the budget was being spent on missions, or outreach. The remainder of the budget went to things like paying bills, decorating, Sunday school materials, secondary staff costs etc. I lost it, and I called on the elders of the church to do the right thing. The vote was taken, the vote passed, the candidate was accepted, and now the church has shrunk by 50%.

Folks this is more common than you would ever want to know. The American church is impotent and dying because of this kind of mentality. Pastors are the primary expenditure, evangelism is a second thought, and the congregation sees no problem with it. What’s worse? Pastors are willing to suck the life out of a church with their salaries because they think they have the ability to GROW the church to the point that it makes more money!!! WHAT THE HELL (literally)!!!

Pastors, I beg you, please, please, please, consider the love you once had for the church. Evaluate yourself by the standards of scripture. Are you leading the flock to the lush green pastures of Christ’s call, or are you leading them to the butcher. You will stand before God and give an account for the souls of your people (Heb 13); will it be a beautiful day?

Pastors, and I know some of you read this blog; the church is at the threshold of a major reformation! It’s time, it’s needed, and it’s coming whether you’re on board or not!!! Put your people before your job, and make decisions based on the call of God. Have you forgotten who lifted you to the office of pastor in the first place? Do you truly fear that your savior will leave you unemployed and in the cold? If so you need to resign and make way for a man of faith!!! The Church, the Bride, is not your retirement fund, it’s not your meal ticket and it’s not your kid’s college fund. The Church is Christ’s vehicle on earth for the purpose of saving those who would be lost!!!

If you no longer have a passion for seeking and saving the lost, jump ship, before you’re thrown overboard. There’s a new generation of Godly men hot on you heals and we have no tolerance for the dead weight!!! Step up to the plate, or get off the field.

My fingers hurt……More to come….

Stay tuned for Part Five

Christianity vs. Christian Spirituality: Part Three

DICLAIMER: Please understand that these are broad brush strokes and intended to incite thought, conversation, and action. This is not intended to include, and or define everyone calling themselves a Christian.


So now that I’ve made some very broad brush strokes about Christianity, and asserted my opinions (undoubtedly flawed), lets take a look at the differences between these to views.

Christian Spirituality, as its name reflects, is birthed out of the Christian faith. We believe in the triune God (Father, Son Spirit), the Holy Scriptures, and most of the standard Christian truths. However, as I stated in part one, most of the differences exist in the practical outworking of those beliefs. Christian Spirituality is not a religion; it’s a belief system that is manifest through a relevant lifestyle. In other words, it’s not something you do, it’s who you are.

Christian spirituality is rooted in and upon the revolutionary life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The fundamental differences lie in the in a couple of main areas.

1). The Church is not an institution, a building, a non-profit organization or anything of the sort. The Church is a living breathing organism made up of those who have truly and fully committed their lives to Christ. Those in the Christian religion will claim that this is their belief system, but there is little evidence to support such a claim. Those who embrace Christian Spirituality place little importance on formal church services. Although they believe that the saints need to gather together as instructed in the scripture (Heb. 10:24-25) they see no specifications in scripture that dictate how, when, or where such gatherings should be held. Subsequently, often times there is little organization in this regard, and it’s most assuredly not the primary focus of the believer.

Believers with this sort of mind set gather together in many different ways, at different times, and in different places. Some meet in home, some in bars, coffee shops, or restaurants, still others meet on a larger scale in what looks similar to a church service. However, these services are likely to look and feel different than a standard Christian meeting. These meetings are externally focused in that they point outwards toward the world and emphasize that the believer be in the world up to their foreheads.

Some will argue that these smaller meetings also take place within the Christian church, but there is a fundamental difference. Small groups as they are commonly called in Christian circles are designed to be stepping stones that help move people towards the larger church assembly. Small groups provide a non-intimidating environment for the wary to experience church before they take the big step into the main assembly. They are inwardly focused.

This idea is frequently seen in the small group development material that is put out by many of the larger organization out there. The entire focus of the small group plan is to bring people into the church. In other words, small groups are a church growth strategy that can also be use in a secondary fashion as fellowship. Do you see the problem? The fellowship of the saints is secondary to the growth of the organization. The paradigm is seriously out of whack.

2). Secondly, the matter of salvation must be addressed as a difference. As discussed earlier, within the Christian religion conversion takes place at the time the mantra is vocalized. Although the vast majority of Christians will claim that this is not the case, the reality of the situation is there is nothing to prove this statement as inaccurate. The sinner’s prayer is the moment in time that Christians use to identify when conversion took place. This prayer also allows believers to make judgment calls as to whether or not someone should be approached as a believer or as an unbeliever. If the prayer has been recited, the person is saved, if the prayer has not been recited, the destination is hell.

Although I believe that most Christians would claim that the prayer must be accompanied by a true heart of faith, I have seldom heard it explained. Countless times I have heard it said, “If you don't feel that you can believe, simply ask God for the faith and pray the prayer.” Once again, the prayer comes before the faith, which would lead on to believe that the faith never truly existed in the first place. It doesn’t take much to see the dangerous patter that has taken root in the Christian church. One would have to wonder how many of those claiming to be “saved” have no claim on heaven other than that they recited a prayer.

Those who hold fast to Christian spirituality would say that Salvation occurs when a persons heart is convinced by the Spirit of the living God that Jesus Christ died on the cross, rose from the grave, and is now seated at the right hand of the father in heaven. There can be no mistaking the call to faith, or the conviction of Jesus’ divinity. Although there may not be a specific date that can be attributed to this “conversion”, the resulting change in the life of the convert is dramatic. The belief is that when someone comes into contact with the extreme nature of God there will be extreme change. At the moment of conversion the individual has no choice but to believe, due to the immensity of conviction place on their heart by the Spirit of God! In other words conversion takes place at the moment a heart is convinced that their sin requires a savior and that that savior is none other than the living God who sent is son Jesus Christ to die in his or her place.

What I find to be most frustrating about this issue is that nearly all Christian leadership is fully aware of what true conversion looks like, but they do nothing to promote it. Christian clergy have become lazy, cowards who are more concerned with numbers than salvations. Countless people sit in their pews on Sunday morning fully convinced that they will see the face of Jesus upon death when in reality that have no claim on heaven. Silence is maintained on the issue because true salvation has teeth, and today’s clergy no longer have the balls to hold their parishioner to the extreme nature of Christ’s call!!! If the dramatic call of Christ is preached, their number will diminish, because the true call of Christ is not what most believers have signed up for.

The false promises of peace and prosperity have backed clergy into a corner. Their lies are now defining their strategy. Think about it, who wants to pick up and instrument of death (the cross, representing dying to the world), deny themselves, and follow after a revolutionary (Luke 9:23-27) who requires everything of them, after they have been promised peace and prosperity. The silence of Christian clergy is contributing to the eternal death and ultimately the damnation of countless souls. Yet, nothing is said, and nothing is done.

Need to stretch my legs......more to come.

Stay tuned for part four.....