perspective.

"In a desperate search for significance, validation and fulfillment, we attach ourselves to money, relationships, power and prestige...until one day we awake and realize we have connected ourselves to leeches. In darkness, we have reached for the closest tangible thing; however, rather than comfort and healing we find ourselves united with something that is sucking out our life. When the light is turned on, we see ourselves, empty, lifeless, deflated and covered in leeches. The truth emerges-- we are in desperate need of redemption...we must receive a blood transfusion or death is our fate. Blood that is pure, without blemish or defect, is the only thing to save us from our current state of emptiness. As the eyes of our weary heart open, before us we see a Lamb; a gentle creature who has willingly sacrificed Himself. With a last gasp of breath He whispers, Drink this all of you. After the last drop of blood makes its way down--covering us completely--the Lamb comes to life again. But now He lives inside of us."

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life...but with the precious blood of Christ, a Lamb without blemish or defect." 1 Peter 1:18

the problem.

There's got to be some reason for all this misery
A secret evil corporation somewhere overseas
They're pulling strings, arranging things
It's a conspiracy

Or what about the ones who shape the course of history
What if we petitioned for one grand apology?
I'll write to my prime minister
You, write your president

Everybody's wondering how the world could get this way
If God is good, and how it could be filled with so much pain
It's not the age-old mystery we made it out to be
Yeah, there's a problem with the world
And the problem with the world is me

Some will say the devil and his legions
They put us in a headlock of submission
But they lost all power over me
A long, long time ago

And since I was a kid you know I've caused a lot of hurt
And no one ever taught me how to put myself first
It came so very naturally
But I'm not a prodigy

So I will look no further than a mirror
That's where the offender hides
So great is my need for a redeemer
That I cannot trust myself
No, I cannot trust my self
I dare not trust myself
So I trust in someone else

The sooner you can sing along
The sooner you can sing this song
The happier we'll be
The problem with the world is me


the problem//downhere

why do people stay with/leave a church?

Taken from churchrelevance.com:


QUESTION:
Do you have any statistics that show the top 5 reasons why people stay or connect with a church? - Debbie :: California

ANSWER:
In recent years, there have been several research studies hoping to discover what motivates church attendance. I previously blogged about research from LifeWay Research and Gallup. Both of those studies offer good insights but can be general.

My favorite resource on the topic is Thom S. Ranier’s book Surprising Insights from the Unchurched. It discusses the following three surveys.

Top 13 Reasons that Unchurched People Choose a Church
(research conducted by Ranier)

1. 90% - Pastor/Preaching
2. 88% - Doctrines
3. 49% - Friendliness of Members
4. 42% - Other Issues
5. 41% - Someone Church Witnessed to Me
6. 38% - Family Member
7. 37% - Sensed God’s Presence/Atmosphere of Church
8. 25% - Relationship Other than Family Member
9. 25% - Sunday School Class
10. 25% - Children’s/Youth Ministry
11. 12% - Other Groups/Ministries
12. 11% - Worship Style/Music
13. 7% - Location

Top 9 Reasons that Church-Attenders Choose a Church
(research conducted by the Barna Group in 1999)

1. 58% - Doctrine/Theology
2. 53% - People Caring for Each Other
3. 52% - Preaching
4. 45% - Friendliness
5. 45% - Children’s Programs
6. 43% - Helping the Poor
7. 36% - Denomination
8. 35% - Like the Pastor
9. 26% - Sunday School

prayer.

"Prayer is not made so that God can find out what we need, because Jesus tells us, "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him" (Matthew 6:8). God wants us to pray because prayer expresses our trust in God and is a means whereby our trust in him can increase. In fact, perhaps the primary emphasis of the Bible's teaching on prayer is that we are to pray with faith, which means trust or dependence on God."

-Wayne Grudem

give it away.

The following is a reply from Steve Sellers to a question about Campus Crusade's biggest ministry opportunity:

"I think the greatest opportunity for us as an organization is in giving the ministry away.

I feel God is calling us to take all that we have and using it to empower others to do ministry.

Home Depot has the saying, "You can do it, we can help." I often think about how that phrase applies to us.

Too often we think of ministry as what we do. But what we ought to do is work with others and tell them, "You can minister, we can help."

The question then becomes, "How do we give the ministry away? How do we help people own it so when they are out in the workplace, campus and inner city, they minister to those around them?"

Instead of just thinking about what we do as staff members and how the professionals do ministry, we need to make it simple, motivational and exciting so the average person is able to take the lead and do it on their own.

Right now, with the economy the way it is, people are worried about home foreclosures. Their families are struggling, people can't make their payments and they're losing their jobs.

We can try to run out and do more ministry, but we can only do so much on our own. The real answer is to help people learn how to minister to those around them who are going through these trials.

Campus Crusade for Christ has about 500,000 donors who give regularly to the ministry. Instead of thinking about how we can make our 5,000 staff members more effective, we need to enlist 500,000 people in ministry and help equip them to minister in the context that God has placed them in."

this world.

From John Piper’s biography on Wikipedia:

“On January 11, 2006, Piper announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. According to a letter sent to his church, he and his doctors believed that the cancer was fully treatable. Piper's reaction to his diagnosis was: "This news has, of course, been good for me. The most dangerous thing in the world is the sin of self-reliance and the stupor of worldliness. The news of cancer has a wonderfully blasting effect on both. I thank God for that. The times with Christ in these days have been unusually sweet." Piper underwent successful surgery on February 14, 2006.”

The “stupor of worldliness.” Wow, I love that he calls it what it is, and I hate that I am in that stupor more than I should be. Aren’t we all, though? It's bad when we are, but what's worse is when we think we aren't.

the desk.

I am typing this from my old laptop, which is sitting on allison's desk in the office of our little white house. I thought, now that people have stopped living with us over the summer, maybe I could use the office/guest bedroom as an office. But I gave away my old hand-me-down desk. Allison is allowing me to use hers. She is very nice. So is the desk.

The desk is a key piece of furniture in my eyes. I need a place to focus, peace and prayer- there will be many, many prayers said aloud, and in silent, at this desk. Depends on the day. Depends on the hour of the day, really. Or even the minute. Raising support is such a rollercoaster somedays. Most days. Speaking of frustrations, no word on when the new laptop will be fixed. Hoping soon. And hoping free.

Hm. Well, for now, back to singing along to a burned cd whirring in the background, and back to work. It's a nice desk, and I think it will serve me well while I am here.