Thoughts and Processes

I have been doing a lot of thinking and praying lately about “doing” ministry. I have read the books, the new ones, old ones, too. I love the new flavor many churches are including in the church, and I believe that methods of Grandmama’s day are LONG overdue for change! I can say that, I loved my Granny but what worked then is done… kind of like trying to force the Polaroid camera on a digital generation. It’s day is done. As a matter of fact, Polaroid has discontinued the cameras and the film is scheduled for discontinuation as well. It served its purpose in a time where Polaroid offered something no one else did… but there is little if any place for it today. (To read more about this, visit MoviePastor) To end this paragraph, I want to share a quote that is scary… I didn’t say it, Andy Stanley did, but I think it’s true… "When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near."

With all of that off my brain… I want to think outloud for a few minutes. There is a need for cutting edge church, absolutely. I am SO 100% for it. The church must evolve with the times. Even in the New Testament, the way “church” had been done in the Old Testament changed radically. They went from religious rituals to changing from the inside out through the power of the Holy Spirit. From the time Jesus came onto the scene and throughout the Word, we see a continual evolving… miracles, signs, wonders, resurrection, salvation and the power of the Holy Ghost… just as it was prophesied in Joel!

Fast forward to 2008, we have the BEST technology available to us, we are learning to be relevant and we are learning that church can be fun! In my heart of hearts, I am a HUGE cheerleader for every relevant preacher there ever was or is… I talked about it in “Finding the Sacred in the Secular…” BUT… can we have that relevance and also have the undeniable POWER of Acts chapter 2? Can we be relevant and see the lame walk, families healed, and destiny discovered, cultivated and fulfilled? Can the gift of prophecy flow after singing Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer” during praise and worship? Will our methods of “watering down” the compelling POWER of the Holy Spirit(again, I am thinking out loud… and processing what I have heard some people say to me lately) keep the drug addict sitting on the back row desperate for deliverance RIGHT THEN and THERE sitting right there on the back row checking a box on a connection card waiting for someone to contact them? OR, will he be able to check his box and then fall into the arms of someone at the altar who will agree with him in prayer and represent the hand of Jesus extended????

I am an extreme optimist. I believe we can have both! Maybe I am completely insane, but I believe the Gospel message should shed it judgmental garments, don some strobe lights and portray the life changing power of God that will awaken destiny in the hearts and lives of people. That destiny fulfilled will propel the Gospel in an even greater way than we see in Acts chapter 2.
Perhaps there are some who disagree, and on that note… allow me to say I MUST have a LONG haul ahead of me… because what I am proposing is a dream in my heart that outshines every memory I ever had of church!

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