Thursday, February 17, 2011

Why?

Why is the Christianity I read about it Acts so radically different than the Christianity I see here in America?

This questions was stated by Matt Carter on a Right Now video.  I think it is a good question that many people are asking and that has many answers.  What do you think?

God be with you in the Journey!
Kevin 

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Inventive Church can be sloppy

Here is a link to a story about church as inventive.  When you get into the whole article, you can see illustrations of the sloppiness of life together!  I hope you enjoy it.

God be with you on the Journey!
Kevin

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Why do we have a problem with Sloppy?

I really enjoy the contemporary Christian song How He Loves that was written by John Mark McMillan, sung by artist Kim Walker, and then altered slightly and put on David Crowder Band's Church Music CD.  The song helps me experience God's grace, mercy and, above all, His wonderful love.  I like the video too (link below). Some folks like to discuss this song, tear it apart and critique it.  Nothing wrong with that, but I think it is interesting that so many people get hung up on the line that Crowder altered:
So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss and my heart turns violently inside of my chest 
Crowder made it into "unforeseen kiss".

In his discussion of this McMillian says in his Sept. 14, 2009 blog entry (click to see entire entry):

"I don’t have a problem with David changing the line because he knows the people he is serving, and that line would have isolated the song from those people.

What I do have a problem with though, is that the condition of greater Christianity would be as such that he would even have to change it. I think the fact that a line like 'Sloppy wet kiss' could be controversial is ridiculous. Are we in kindergarten? Has any one out there not had or at least expected to some day, engage in a sloppy wet kiss?
  ...It seems that people either hate it or love it because they think I’m some how talking about kissing God. Please folks, I never ever, ever, ever, thought of this line as though it was talking about kissing God. Please read the words.

'HEAVEN meets EARTH like a sloppy wet kiss'

The idea behind the lyric is that the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of earth converge in a way that is both beautiful and awkwardly messy. Think about the birth of a child, or even the death of Jesus himself. These miracles are both incredibly beautiful and incredibly sloppy ('gory' may be more realistic, but 'Heaven meets earth like a gory mess' didn’t seem to have the same ring). Why does the church have such a problem with things being sloppy? Do we really think we’re fooling anyone on Sunday morning, especially God? Are we going to offend him? I mean, he’s seen us naked in the shower all week and knows our worst thoughts, and still thinks we’re awesome. What if we took all the energy we spent faking and used that energy to enjoy the Lord instead? That could be revolutionary!"

I can't agree more.  I see too many hurt and broken lives in need of God's amazing love to have a problem with sloppy.  I also like things a bit sloppy because it keeps us from faking it.  I hope you can experience His great love today!

God be with you on the Journey!
Kevin

click here for the youtube video


lyrics:
He is jealous for me
Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
and I realize just how beautiful You are and how great your affections are for me.
Oh, how He loves us so
Oh, how He loves us
How He loves us so.

Yeah, He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves.

So we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking
So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss and my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way

That he loves us,
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves

He loves us,
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves