I stumbled across this video while searching for various Insane Clown Posse fan videos. These ICP fans, self proclaimed “Juggalos” and “Juggalettes,” consider themselves part of a family with a common interest in the previously mentioned band. They consider themselves outcasts who have found peace through their common interests.
I have great admiration of the evangelists in this video. It is difficult to conduct a Bible discussion with so much distractions. The distraction is most evident when someone tries to make a breakthrough, a “Woo Woo!” is shouted throughout the crowd bringing the discussion off track.
The discussion highlights what is wrong with much of the public. The average ICP fan (and American) might think that because they are a good person and have a belief in God, would allow them entrance into heaven or the proclaimed “Shangri-La.” What the evangelist (and the Bible) shows, belief and good acts is not enough to get into heaven. It is following God’s Word which is absolute in
The subject of the video, Ed, seems to have a background in Christian religion as he is able to quote some Bible verses and is familiar with the Ten Commandments. Yet he is not living according to the Bible and is off track. I hope and pray that he investigates God’s Word and grows to a better understanding of God’s will for him.

Out in the suburbs one cannot get away from the large amount of nondenominational churches poping up ever so often. The evolution begins thusly.

1. A group of Christians somehow feel disenchanted with current churches in their hometown. Whether it is doctrine, personalities or timing, is anyone’s guess. I have a tendency believe the reason is conflicting personalities among church members. Let’s face it, doctrine of these type of churches is similar if not identical.
2. Next is picking a name for the infant church. The name must not be tied to any established denomination. Rather is needs to be neutral sounding. “The Bridge,” “Crosspoint,” “The Fellowship,” come to mind. Denominational names harken back to bad childhood memories. Tying “Baptist,” “Methodist,” “Catholic,” or any other well established has prejudices attached to it for potential converts.
3. Picking a venue to hold worship services is a no-brainer, as they seem to pop up in local schools (if available), and sometimes even in established church buildings.

Where this church goes from here is anyone’s guess. Some stay for years meeting at a temporary venue. Some wither and fade. Some eventually purchase land to build, but it is rare, as it seems that a permanent structure is something which represents what the nondenominational church was setup to combat against.
It leaves me questioning these young pastors’ motives in starting a new church to begin with. What is wrong with established churches? Is a personality trait for someone to have a need to feel in charge of a flock and to call the shots? Aren’t there enough churches in this buckle of the Bible belt?
And it also makes me question the flock’s reason for attending these type of churches. Is it all about “me” ? For the most part I believe non-churchgoing people seek out churches for selfish motives initially. “What in it for me?” “I just didn’t get anything out of that sermon.” Instead I hope they eventually mature and find out church isn’t all about being a self help program. Instead worship is a humble offering to God.

Can I make an observation? I believe that most of the “new” churches today aren’t interested in worshiping God. Rather they are interested in putting on a good show.
When we worship God, He alone is the audience. We need to do it the way He intended it to be. I could go on about the examples in the Bible. Such as the humble attitude Abraham had when he journeyed to the mountain knowing that he could be sacrificing his son, Isaac. No party anthems or top 40 hits were played right before the journey.
When we worship God, we are offering Him praise and adoration, not putting on some kind of concert. I’m disappointed in this tweet above, showing the author and church are terribly misled. But more importantly from examples in the Bible, we could make inference that this is not what God intended.

When I was in high school I can remember being in what I later described as the most poorly prepared Sunday School class ever. I felt as though the teacher came up with the lesson while walking up the stairs to class five minutes before class began. This was a class of mostly redneck boys in high school who didn’t really know any better. I desired the meat of the Word. What I got was whatever was happening during the current events was discussed with little or no Bible verses to back it up. Probably due to this poor planning and fickle approach to God’s Word it is not surprising that many of the students in that class are no longer faithful.
I see worship service and Bible study as a haven to the wall to wall news coverage we find on CNN and others. I’m here to dwell on spiritual things, not as a forum for debate. That’s why I cringe when political issues like Chick-Fil-A is brought up in the adult Sunday School class I attend.
I realize that Jesus mentioned current events like the Tower of Siloam in Luke 13. Some people are looking for Biblical answers to today’s problems. However current events and church just don’t mix for me.

Possibly every teen Sunday school class has discussed how one should treat others. I can remember being told numerous times not to treat others with disrespect because one is different. After all it is one of the cornerstone verses of Christianity (Luke 6:31).
When I found there was a parody Twitter account of an older gentleman from my church, I was amused and at the same time troubled. Yet the underlying message of the account was “We’re going to make fun of you because you are different and are of another generation.” The parody account is now private (I guess in attempt to make sure the Twitter’s target cannot see the tweets easily). The description now gives some sort of weak disclaimer.
What I’ve found is that kids are cruel. Kids are cliquish. And some do not practice what they preach. One can easily shake their head in agreement when inclusion is preached in a Sunday School class. Meanwhile I’m shaking my head in disbelief at the hypocrisy exhibited.

There remains no excuse for arrogance within Christianity. Paul preached about it in 1 Corinthians. In 2 Timothy 3:4 he puts arrogance within the same scale as traitors.
And yet, time and time again I see arrogance creep into church circles. It makes me furious and sad at the same time. In the quest to be holy, just as Jesus was holy, they have become holier than thou, always trying to make themselves look good. “Look, see how much time I devote to God?” “Let me tell you what I did in Jesus’ name today.”
Instead of praying to a large crowd of people with the mindset of making one look good, we should be willing to pray in our closets. When we fast, we are to tell no one; not disfiguring our faces to look gaunt.
What causes arrogance? I did a web search and found that some people act arrogant in a way to hide feelings of inferiority. Building up oneself. There remains a fine line between self-confidence and arrogance. We are told that Christians should be humble, the exact opposite of arrogance.
I have found that since the church is made up of sinners, we will always have arrogant people within the church. In a Biblical way of gentleness we need to guide them to a sense of humbleness and humility, where talking about how good you are and what good you have done is not part of their vocabulary.

I’ll admit it. My faith could be stronger these days. My faith has been tested by depression, personality issues with fellow Christians, and a growing disillusion with what truly should be important in God’s work and what is propped up in false/implied importance.
Somehow I decided to write something down as if somehow verbalizing in a non-verbal sense will be able to make ideas tangible and make it easier to find a solution.
What it boils down to is arrogance. I see arrogance so frequently among Christians, it’s almost expected. The church is made up of humans and somehow we see leaven/bad apples/control freaks within the body of Christ.
Arrogance among Christ’s followers is nothing new. We may think that the Biblical episode of the disciples arguing “Who is the greatest?” (Mk 9:33-35, Mt 18:1-4, Lk 9:43-48) as being juvenile, however we do this all the time in the Lord’s church!
This smacks in the face of Christianity where one is supposed to be humble! Sometimes others get caught up in trying to make themselves look good, they forget to be humble where God is given the glory. This disillusionment has left me bitter and looking for some place where love can be found.
I haven’t given up on God, however at times I feel like giving up on His followers.

The church I attend helps support about half a dozen college students who are Bible majors or minors. This is primaily due to the encouragement of our current pulpit minister. My mom made the remark to me that had our current minister been around when I was a teenager I could have been persuaded to become a minister. It could have been a different route in life for me.
I’ve made plenty of mistakes in life, which probably would not have helped me to fulfill me becoming a minister (after all ministers are supposed to be perfect, right?). So now I labor in the secular field. I’ve preached occassionally. I am fulfilled when I do preach, but somehow I stress way too much in the days leading up to it. Therefore I don’t volunteer for it.
Still it makes me think about the road I could have taken and if I could have or would have stayed in the ministry.

Across the Christian world there are ongoing prayer lists within church bulletins and Sunday School classes.
While some ask for prayer for anything and everything (i.e. their third cousin’s hangnail to be healed), others never ask for prayer nor really want others to know much about their personal life. I’m convinced that I belong to the latter group.
And what happens if God does not answer prayers in the way that we would prefer? Would it be best not even to ask at all, rather than become discouraged?
I’m also convinced that some prayer lists are just vessels for gossip. Person A has a life threatening disease? Automatically put it on your public prayer list, whether or not the person affected by it asked for it to be made public. Someone is sinning? Put it on the prayer list. Others have felt the same way.
Meanwhile some people thrive on seeing human trainwrecks, one reason why shows like Intervention remains popular. Maybe its an effort to feel better about ourselves once we see the poor condition of others. Maybe it feels good to pray for someone in worse condition than oneself.

A while back I was leading a public prayer at my congregation. In the middle of it a cell phone rang which completely threw my thoughts off. I ended the prayer prematurely, said my amen and goodbyes.
Now, what would have happened if I stopped my prayer in midstream and made some statement about turning cell phones off? I dare say that I probably would have someone say something too me about saying the right thing at the wrong time. It seems like everyone is in agreement that cell phones should be turned off during worship, but no one is willing to take ownership of the problem.
The problem is that when many people come to church, they do not have themselves prepared for worship. Usually they rush themselves to worship, husling their kids and spouse into a car and arriving 5 minutes late with their cell phones still turned on. Many are just punching their card for the week; feeling good about themselves; getting business contacts; etc. Hence turning off their cell phone or leaving it in their car is not first on their minds. This is nothing new. Growing up in the church I witnessed and contributed the same problems.
Can you imagine what would happen if everyone sang with all their hearts? Can you imagine the amount of work for God which could be accomplished if everyone put forth all their effort into pleasing God?