Feelin’ kinda’ like Kristen did the other Day.

Sometimes I wish I was more apathetic about some of my issues with the Church.(realize they are not mine alone) I wish I could just set back in my pew in some church building and believe that this is it. This is what Christ had in mind.

Now, I know the Church will never be perfect while we are all here on this earth with sin so prevalent. But to sit back and never strive for it….to never ask questions….tough questions, is to say we have reached maturity as the Church.

Because of where Heather and I are at right now we have questions about leaving our local Church. Are we leaving and giving up on working towards unity? Are we leaving because we can’t find anyone to listen? Have we tried real hard to find them? Or, is it that we realize that we are restricted in our growth here and God is calling us to continue to grow? I think that’s it….

We want to discuss our questions and yours and be able to tell our story. Sometimes I wander what that is for lack of telling it….

So many people here wander if we are going to Texas to join a cult. They don’t use the word ‘cult’, but it’s what they mean. I understand their concern. I am skeptical of new things. We pray for discernment. “Do they have a preacher?” “Do they have a mother-church to ‘govern’ over them?” “What do you mean there is no building?” - These are some of the many questions people are asking us. Why does no one ask, “do they love God?” or “do they love their neighbors?”? I think everyone is really asking “do they do things the way we do?”

You should see the look on peoples’ faces when I bring up a small group meeting in a bar. “What will people think?”, they ask. I ask, “What did people think of Jesus hangin’ out with prostitutes and tax collectors?”

I have realized the manner in which I have been speaking about the [traditional] Church is the same way people have been speaking to us about the ‘emergent’ Church. Or whatever we’re calling it. Pointing fingers and telling each other we’re wrong is not unity and it is definitely a waste of time. Oh,……..but we should never stop asking questions for fear of rocking the boat. Just like looking for new ways to do leadership that will not do away with it, but at the same time allow for more growth and discipleship, we need to ask these questions while at the same time not causing division. I am aware that there will always be disagreement with some folks. Heather and I do not always agree, but we MUST find a way to move forward together in unity.

For days now, I’ve almost been looking for reasons not to go to Dallas. We’ve had so much time to sit and worry and question, but Mark is right, there are “no promises and no guarantees.” But God had directed us here. He might change our direction, but I will not. He must do it.

We like what we see going on in Austin and Dallas and across this country and Europe. We do not see it happening around us at all, though. It needs to be. There are some people asking questions and having this conversation in Indianapolis, but we feel we could learn from what is going on in Texas.

We are afraid, but we can not set back and do nothing about all those people out there in this “Christian Nation” who are not being reached. We are uneducated, blue-collar workers who have seen very little of God’s world and the diversity of His peoples. We want to learn and grow and love. I am not artistic and I don’t know many big words. In fact, I often have a dictionary by my side when reading articles and books on the ‘emergent’ Church and postmodernity. We are a simple little family from a little red-neck town in Indiana, but we are children of God who want to be in on this conversation and feel God’s calling us to get involved. We know not what will come of us, but we believe it will be good things in our following Christ on this wonderful journey of ours.

Do not allow us to become apathetic. We need your prayers and support and we need to keep hearing from all of you that we will remain following Christ’s movement in His Church in this ever changing world.

What a wonderful opportunity to serve a God who allows us to do some of the work……….