Category - Faith

Yes I know, it’s been days since I’ve posted anything. Yes, I’m into the Christmas rush period.

Something has been intriguing me recently. What is the big attraction for the non-churched with Carols by Candlelight?

I know that it’s nice to be wih family and be at an outdoor event and all that, but let’s look at it. Thousands upon thousands of people who are not interested in anything the ‘church’ has to offer for the other 364 days of the year, will turn up at a park to sing ‘outdated’ songs about a religion they don’t believe.

I find it interesting that most of our churches want the latest and greatest music each Sunday to ‘attract people’, – (Yes I know it’s not just to attract people. Many believe they are using the best methods possible to worship God.) – yet what brings people together is an event featuring music that is centuries old. Have we misjudged what people want?

I already have a number of ideas as to why these events attract people – (And some aspects still baffle me.) – but I want to hear from others. Please drop in a comment.

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I was very surprised this evening to hear a familiar song coming from the television. I headed into our family room just in time to see that they were using an old Sam Philips (formerly Leslie Philips) song to back an ad for perfume or something.

Strange choice of song I thought.

They were playing a couple of grabs from her 1994 song I Need Love.

I love the lyrics of the song. (By now you’ve probably guessed that I get into lyrics in a big way.)

I NEED LOVE [Sam Philips]

I left my conscience like a crying child

Locked the doors behind me put the pain on file

Broken like a window I see my blindness now

I need love

Not some sentimental prison

I need God

Not the political church

I need fire

To melt the frozen sea inside me

I need love

Driving into town tired and depressed

Like a flare the streetlight bursts an S.O.S.

Peace comes to my rescue I don’t know what it means

I need love

Not some sentimental prison

I need God

Not the political church

I need fire

To melt the frozen sea inside me

I need love

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I was looking at my blog and noticed the banner ad at the top of the page.

Wow – I can have a bible with my name in it over 5000 times. What a wonderful idea. We can be even more self centred than we already are. Let’s make the bible focus on us instead of God. Brilliant.

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I was speaking to a pastor recently about the possibility of staging performances of Mark’s Gospel by Noel Christian in his area.

I talked about the possibilities of taking the performance to a secular setting such as the local pub. Noel recounted the story of how effective it can be when we do this kind of stuff in places like that.

We talked excitedly about reaching beyond the ‘church’ to people who really need the gospel.

The pastor, a guy who I really respect, seemed to be very caught up in the excitement. He then said that he could see Noel’s performance fitting in very well with a new concept they’re starting soon – ‘in their church.’ Aaaargh.

Like so often before, I’m left waiting for this guy to have that aha! experience. That moment when he realises that the people who need to hear this stuff and experience the performance won’t walk through the doors of his church. The people who will walk through the door are those invited as friends of members of the church – and hey – shouldn’t they be introduced to Jesus by their friends anyway?

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A friend of mine won’t be with me when I attend our Sunday service tomorrow. It’s not that he doesn’t have a spiritual hunger, it’s just that he’ll be ‘enjoying community’ with a bunch of other cyclists on his regular Sunday morning ride. This morning we sat around at a coffee shop and chatted for quite some time, and it was him that started a conversation about the Bible.

I’ve been riding with him and a bunch of other cyclists every Saturday morning for a few years now. We ride about 40 km and then sit around eating choc-chip muffins and raisin toast as we sip long blacks, flat whites and cappucinos. I’m one of only two Christians in the group. Everyone knows what I’m about but I’m still just one of the guys. I love being with this bunch. There is a natural friendship among the participants. There is an openess with each other. There is a real bond that most churches would do well to take onboard.

This friend has a few ideas about the Bible. He can see stuff that it talks about starting to happen in our world. He thinks that Mormons talk a lot of rubbish. He has a friend that ‘reads the Bible a lot.’ He is a unique kind of guy and while I’m praying that he’ll meet Jesus, I’d hate to see him forced into someone else’s idea of what a Christian should be.

I hope you’ll pray for me as I continue to build friendships within this group. I don’t want to build friendships so that I can peddle (excuse the pun) my message. I want to build friendships because these are good people that I want to know better and I want to introduce them to Jesus.

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