“Lock in?  What’s that?” I said to my youth minister 30 years ago.

“We used to do that at Fort Walton Beach.  We stay at the church building and stay up all night playing games.”

And so the Lock in was born (at least at my church).  I was intually confused due to the nomenclature thinking that they actually locked the doors to the building where no one could leave.  In reality folks could leave with parent’s permission.

This article takes a good stand on why lock-in are counter productive.  I’d tend to agree now.

Way back in my 20s I was under the delusion that I just had to be somewhere on New Years Eve for it to be worthwhile.  The church lock-in, which always needed volunteers, was a low hanging fruit.  Now I look back and understand that lock ins are counter productive.

It is EXHAUSTING.  Sure it’s fun for a bound 3-4 hours, but around 3AM you’re just sitting around waiting for the sunrise so you can go home.

As the article points out, nothing good comes after 3AM.  You have to police these young people, making sure couples don’t go off alone to a classroom.  To my knowledge we never had this problem.  But it sends wrong messages to young people in that it’s ok to fall asleep with your significant other in a church pew, just not each other’s bed.

There might be a short devotional at the beginning of the lock in…or maybe around midnight.  But overall the night was devoted to movies and sports.  So the spiritual aspect was lacking. It was more or less an activity to keep young people safe and off the streets.

Consequentially you do have youth group members who are less involved spiritually to attend the lock-in, and bring friends.  As one commentator pointed out, there is an opportunity to sow the seed…and sometimes it takes a while to see growth.  But somehow lock ins seem so far from spiritual aspect it makes it difficult to justify it.

My lock in days are over, thankfully.  I sympathize with those adults who chaperone, but I’m glad I chose to be at home on NYE.

I’ve heard it said before frequently at church that “We’re all a family here.”  We sing that upbeat hymn “We’re Part of a Family….”  The idea is Biblical in nature.  And it’s true that first century Christians did refer to each other as brothers or brethren. I am reminded that individual churches were small as many met in houses or even underground.  It wasn’t difficult to get to know fellow Christians.

But when we speak of treating each other like family, I am uneasy about it.  I belong to a 1000 member church.  There are plenty of people there who I don’t know, and somehow they’re asking me to trust these people with my spirituality?  Sorry, I can’t do that.  I don’t know these people from Adam, nor should I be asked to trust these people if I’ve never had a conversation with them.  In order to let these people into my life I need to know them on a more intimate friendship level.  Just because we go to the same church doesn’t mean we should be best friend or even trust one another.  Trust is earned and not given, even in a church setting.

[fb_plugin video href=https://www.facebook.com/life.church/videos/10155555688413796/]

This post popped up on my Facebook feed. I cringed when I saw it.

I don’t need some band member from what amounts to a rock concert to lecture me on what worship is….especially with the background is photos of band members. Regardless of who he says the audience is in this context, the band gets the glory and credit and sings to the audience of congregants.

God is not a beggar when it comes to worship. He will not take any crumbs we offer Him. He authorizes what is designated as worship and what He does not accept as worship. If someone does not offer what is authorized then that person is not worshiping God.

The problem with these churches (including the one portrayed in the video) is that is just feel good religion. “You can feel God in the room.” These so called Pastors can try to justify their worship by trying to say they are playing to God, when in reality they are just having a rock concert. No worship is involved.

Church signs in some aspect can be a ministry…showing little bits of saying or uplifting thought which commuters see on their way to their destination.  Sometimes however it can be judgmental to those on the outside.

Other times it can be completely irrelevant such as the case with the one above.  Do a Google search for “Too Hot to Keep Changing Sign” and you will find a plethora of past offenders of what was a unique joke, but has since turned into a worn out cliche. What a grand opportunity to espouse an uplifting saying, and we get this.  The funny thing is that in this locality we have not had terribly hot weather.

 During the Nashville Predators’ Stanley Cup games (which they eventually lost), I came across this one.  So what’s wrong with a church supporting church teams?  It distracts from our real focus, that is the message that God sent His Son to die for us and if we believe on Him and do what He says we can have eternal life.  Anything else shown on a church sign is so irrelevant it would be embarrassing to place on there.  Again this is a sign of a church trying to stay relevant.  Are Pittsburgh Penguin fans welcomed there?  What message are you trying to say?  The Gospel is for all.  Endorsing a particular sports team, no matter how popular will only divide us and distract us from our real focus of Jesus.

As an addendum to this sign, I recently saw this particular church flash a caricature of Buddy Christ  with the message “Stay Weird Hermitage.”  Reading deeper into it, Buddy Christ was used in the R rated and blasphemous Kevin Smith movie “Dogma.”  This only goes to show that whoever is running the church sign is completely disconnected from spreading the Gospel and really only wants to stay cool with young people and hipsters.  It is likely that the church leadership has no idea what is going on with the sign nor understands what the Buddy Christ meme represents.

Yesterday my niece and nephew were baptized into Christ.  It was a blessing for me to attend on a long lunch break.

Yesterday they declared their independence from this world and declared their dependence on our Savior.

Looking back on it I am thankful for their tender hearts, knowledgeable and patient Bible class teachers and spiritually minded parents who helped guide their decision.

There is always a waiting time for Christian parents with unsaved children who wonder if they will make the decision to obey God’s commands.  Sometimes a very religious family has that son or daughter who, although a good moral person, yet never making that commitment to God.  It is heartbreaking.  And sometimes if you never reach them in early adolescence you may never reach them.  It becomes harder and harder for them to make that last step for salvation by being baptized if you try to teach them in their late teen years into adulthood.

This is also a tale of two families with children making religious decisions.  Just a few weeks ago a Facebook friend from high school posted to Facebook about how it was his son’s confirmation and how he became a full member of the church.

Yet I read in Acts 2:47

And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. – Acts 2:47

This is right after Acts 2:38 which declares

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. – Acts 2:38.

Confirmation is not in the Bible!  I’ve had many discussions with another denominational friend of mine about confirmation vs. baptism. Deep down I got the feeling that he knew that his church was practicing something unbiblical and probably passed down through tradition.  Years later he did admit that baptism in a biblical sense is immersion.  I pray that he one day finds the Biblical steps to salvation.

Back to my friend who’s son was confirmed at church.  They performed a song afterwards (also not worship; but performance driven entertainment). What was the song they sang afterwards? “Down to the River to Pray,” which ironically has the refrain “Good Lord, show me the way!” – Yes please show them the way.  Show them that confirmation and infant baptism is not Biblical!  Show them that tradition can be a salvation issue especially if one practices an act not authorized in the bible.

This appeared in my social media feed a few days ago.  I’m familiar with Snapchat but actually had to look up what a geofilter was (hint: It’s a logo you can associate with a certain geographic area and give users the option of having an overlay with it).

The whole post confounded me at first.  I thought it was a joke. Why would a church promote Snapchat?  It’s used by people who want to erase messages and photos just seconds after sending them.  It’s well known as a medium for sexting.

I run a few different social media accounts for my own church….including Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.  One thing that I’ve always tried to do is to glorify God in any message sent out.  Photos of baptisms go on Instagram.  Bible articles and sermon videos go on Twitter and Facebook.  The focus is not on an individual.  Rather I try to give all glory and honor to God.

Once I suggested to a fellow member how it might be interesting to have a church Tumblr account.  “Don’t do it,” he said.  After thinking about it, he was right.  Tumblr is far too well known for being vulgar and pornographic.  The church has no business being there.

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast. ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them. under their feet, and turn again and rend you.  -Matthew 7:6

As with Tumblr, I’m not so sure a church has any business promoting Snapchat.  I realize that many other sins are committed on other social media already mentioned…Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.  But somehow Snapchat is different.  It’s almost meant to deceive….to erase one’s tracks without being accountable for one’s posts.

For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. – Luke 8:17

The message above it clear.  Whatever you are trying to hide or conceal, it will be revealed.

But who would promote Snapchat among church members? I really think it may be a trendy church social media person trying to look cool among the youth group.  But why?  I would wager that Snapchat does very little to glorify God and instead glorifies narcissists.

I had flashbacks of this when I remember my own church’s youth group doing the obligatory harlem shake video which was abruptly removed from the Youtube account.  Just because something is trending or cool doesn’t mean that it necessarily glorifies God.

I should probably preface this post by saying my family has been extremely blessed throughout the years.  Rarely have we scrapped by living paycheck to paycheck.  My parents stayed together therefore I have no experience with being part of a single parent family.  I have great admiration for those single moms who keep their family faithful to God and go out everyday to be the sole breadwinner for the family.  I’m not trying to be critical of their situation with this post.
This popped up in my Facebook feed last night.  It makes me a bit uncomfortable….especially the part about the requirement that in order to enter the contest, the single mom has to register by attending services.  First and foremost worship is about glorifying God.  Our motive for worship should only be about a humble offering to God, not trying to win a contest.  If we attend worship with the first thought on our mind as to win that SUV we are no better than Simon offering money to Peter in Acts 8:18.

Secondly trying to win a SUV is borderline coveting goods, even if you really need it.  It is a selfish motive.  I realize that a good used car could really change a single mom’s life, but I am not sure the church should be in the business of running contests.  Just like I frown upon Bingo at churches.  The church’s first obligation is to glorify God and spread the gospel.  Some would say that giving away a SUV is a way of glorifying God, which could be loosely applied.  However I’m just really uncomfortable with this idea.  There’s got to be a better way of helping all people in need without running a contest.  For example find out which single mom needs it the most and give it to her.  Maybe someone without a car and barely scraping by.

I realize this church might have pure motives, but I just questions the ways and means of carrying it out…with the requirement that the winner attend a worship service.