Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Dum dah dah, doo, doo, doo..


This week is Indiana Jones week. Thursday night the new movie comes out and i got to tell you, i am wicked excited. When i was a kid there was NO ONE cooler than Indiana Jones, for about a billion reasons. I honestly thought all adult males were just like him, even my own dad. i loved it.

This week we are actually teaching about the movie in our contemporary and early services. I will be preaching a message called "the Gospel According to Indiana Jones". It will be all about how we just feel we need total comfort in Western Christianity, but God wants us UNcomfortable. We will have tons of clips from the 1st 3 films and i gotta tell you, it is a dream come true for me. Granted it is a little self-indulgant to do a topic i love so much, but the scripture behind it will be very convicting and challenging. Should be cool. And with that said i have to tie all this together. So i shall do it now. Thanks, and keep up the e-mailing about my posts. Thanks,
Matt

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Why I dont wear "church clothes"


Before i answer a question that i field often I wanted to explain things for those of you who have been wanting me to answer the follow-ups to "Love & Respect". The truth is i answered them once, for about an hour, and then my laptop froze up and i lost the whole post plus alot of research. So now if you want my response just call or e-mail me and i shall let you know. But on to the fun stuff.

I often get asked why our ministry team in the Contemporary service doesnt wear "church clothes". Well to be honest with you i have a few answers i always give, but they all basically mean the same things. I will give you 3 reasons here

1.I think the idea of church clothes is all together odd.
What i mean is, the American/Western way of church has risen so far into how church should LOOK or ACT, that it even places requirements on how to DRESS. Its a little silly. I wear a shirt and jeans most sundays, and for me, that is church clothes. To a certain outfit like a tie, jacket, dress shoes, etc, for the one-hour Sunday service makes very little sense to me. What i mean is, why portray a professional outfit to people, when, we arent? We arent a BUSINESS. Some say we are, but they are 100% mistaken. Jesus isnt a product, he is a creator, lover of everything good, and a savior, but not a product we are selling. E-mail me and i will expand on this thought.

2. Worship on sunday is killing worship monday-saturday.
What I mean is, as a church we emphasize so hard on that hour, that we leave very little reverance or importance for the entire week. Worship is so many things, from service, so appriciation, to effort, to love. And to be frank, listening and singing songs and hearing we talk for 30 minutes is sort of "mailing it in" as far as calling yourself a worshipper of God. When we ask people to dress different (or better as some say) on Sunday, we are calling Sunday the numero uno of days so get ready to experience God, and that is, well, stupid. Every day is a new chance to serve and experience. As scholars say, worship is a positive response to what God has done, is doing and will do in your personal life. For why call Sunday a "worship service" and not the rest of the week? So to me, to dress up on that day only furthers the importance of that day over all others.

3. I'm not traditional.
I know, no surprise, but i am not. The old songs are just that, OLD. They arent evil, they arent lame, but they are out of touch with today's society. If you dont listen to that style on your radio, why choose it to praise Christ? And with the tradtional type, i think you border on being religious. And when we are religious we seem to lose touch with Christ to begin with. It seems like we kind of forget that we arent hear for religious "practices", but we are hear for Jesus. Now i know we have many who consider themselves traditional, and i am fine with that. You have your woredrobe i have mine. Dont tell our contemporary tribe how to act or dress, and they wont do it to you either.

And a bonus forther:

4. I am who I am.
If you are coming to join us on Sunday or Saturday night (will explain this later) then you are here to see us, not someone else. People who identify with me, do it because i am 100% transparent. I will tell you my weaknesess, my faults, my loves, and the things that annoy me within a 30 minute sermon, because you need to see me, not someone i want to be or someone that anyone else wants me to be. AS the author John Burke once said, when it comes to church, No perfect people allowed.


So yes, i wont change, at least not anytime soon. I have been approached to, but i respectfully decline, always. But if you have anymore questions, let me know.

Friday, May 9, 2008

I have lost 30 pounds so far!! (and other useless information)


So yes, i lost 30 pounds so far on my diet, just short of 2 months in, which is, great. its really cool to know that the exercise, dieting and all that is paying off, and i havent felt better in years, but then there are the tough issues. Emily and i have been saving up for a car for quite a while, and waiting for the beloved stimulus check to come in the mail. Today we got it and i get zero dollars for me, so instead of 1500 we get 900. which by my estimation makes it virtually impossible to get a reliable car anytime soon and we need two. so to say i am bummed is the understatement of the year. Not sure what we are going to do at the moment i guess, like alot of us right now. Gas prices are huge, everything is expensive and bills keep coming. But hey, prayer works, so we will see.

Thanks,
Matt