Some Quick Observations on Church Life in America

The guys over at Resurgence.com have posted an interesting study on church life dealing with staff, worship, and pastors’ job duties. Here’s a sample:

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  The number of paid staff for the average congregation is three. But nearly half of all congregations have one paid staff member.
  
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  The median pastor who is paid by the congregation works about 50 hours per week.
  
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  In almost all congregations, about half of the attendees stay after the worship service to socialize for about 25 minutes.
  
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  53.4 percent of congregations have small groups meeting regularly.

You can read the rest by clicking here.

Teenagers Then and Now: A Comparison and Contrast

I’ve been involved in youth ministry for the past 25 years, but driving a school bus for the past year has given me the opportunity to observe the teen culture outside of the church walls. I graduated high-school in 1983, and I’m amazed at how much teenagers have changed over the past quarter of a century. I’m perhaps even more amazed at how much they have remained the same.

Here are a few quick observations without much commentary. Feel free to add your own . . .

The Likenesses

Boy/Girl relationships – You can see the awkwardness when the opposite sexes start to notice each other. Middle school boys chasing girls are like the classic dog-chasing-car scenario – they wouldn’t know what to do with one if they caught it. The maturity disparity is on full display:

• Middle school girls are young women.
  Middle school boys are big children.

Outcast kids – Some kids seem to be born with a target on their backs

Cool kids – Some kids are born cool, some achieve coolness, and some have coolness thrust upon them (apologies to the Great Bard).

Insecurity – Over school, family, friends, overall social position . . .

Peer pressure – The world still revolves around what everybody else thinks about you.

The Differences

All-access to anything – There are many more entry points into their lives – both good and bad.

Innocence Lost – Kids today are exposed to so much more at a much earlier age. As a teen, my biggest temptation was to sneak downstairs and watch an R-rated movie on HBO when my parents were asleep; today, that’s laughable.

Peer Influence – The internet allows MUCH MORE peer influence – Used to be parents had a certain amount of control over who their kids hung out with and were influenced by.

Language – Language seems to be in a transition. The profane is accepted, and words that were once innocuous are becoming offensive. Seated behind a keyboard, teens today are emboldened to express themselves in ways that only the worst of kids used to.

Order of service at Cornerstone Church Sunday, April 5th

• A44.5 – All This For A King
• G67 – God of Wonders

Announcements
Special Music

• B57.5 – Blessed Be Your Name
• W135 – The Wonderful Cross
• H152 – Here I Am To Worship

Greeting
• H195 – Holy, Holy, Holy (Worthy to Receive Glory)

Ransomed – Bluefield College Drama Team

Song of Dismissal
• H195 – Holy, Holy, Holy (Worthy to Receive Glory)

Vending Machine Jesus???

Here's a clever video produced by Community Christian Church that makes a point about our prayer lives. What do you think? Is it accurate?

Worried About the Future?

Salvation by Chicken Wings and Napping

Last week, ABC's Nightline aired a debate on the existence of Satan - and all the things that go along with that. Arguing for the Biblical position of the existence of the devil were Mark Driscoll (pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle) and Annie Lobert (former prostitute and founder of Hookers for Jesus - not what it sounds like).

Arguing against the existence of Satan were Deepak Chopra (New-Age author of many popular books who dresses like a classic James Bond villain) and Bishop Carlton Pearson (former evangelical demon-caster-outer).

Here's a short YouTube clip:



One of the best lines came when Mark Driscoll said (as only Driscoll can say) that if people would have made up a religion and voted on it, they would have come up with something like a "salvation by eating chicken wings and napping". At least he said that is what he would have voted for.

You can watch the entire debate by clicking here. Scroll down and click on the video labeled "Driscoll Slams Pearson's Religious History" to see a great exchange.

Diversity: Is It Really All That Great?

Okay, that title was intentionally inflamatory - but still an honest question. For the record, I'm not talking about racial diversity, or physical diversity of any kind. I'm talking about a spiritual and philosophical diversity that threatens our relationship with God. Hear me out.

Here's the article that sparked the thought: Parents Sue Florida School District Over Religious-Themed Song.

Apparently, some parents were outraged that their children were being taught an overtly religious song in a public school. The song - "In God We Still Trust" by Diamond Rio - contains the following lyrics:

"You place your hand on His Bible/When you swear to tell the truth/ His name is on our greatest monuments/And all our money, too/And when we pledge allegiance/There's no doubt where we stand/there's no separation/We're one nation under him."

Now, there are a lot of directions my mind went on this story, but the one I wanted to explore - and get your thoughts on - was the idea that we can't publicly teach our children songs about the Christian God of the Bible because we might offend the devotees of some other religion (and that includes Atheism, btw).

Even though this country was founded on Christian principles by mostly Bible-believing men, we are taught - in the name of diversity - to honor, respect, and treat as equal other belief systems. We are told over and over again how rich our culture is to have so many varied inputs into our "melting pot". Other cultures have so much to teach us we hear them say. But I can't help thinking (over there in the stubborn, politically-incorrect portion of my brain) that the "melting pot" has become a standing cesspool of diluted truth (how's that for a word picture!).

You know, there's a reason why God warned Israel about fraternizing with diverse cultures and "learning their ways". He knew it would cause them to fall away from Him and eventually bring about their nation's demise . . .