Recently Pastor Randy gave us statistics that identified only four percent of those around 18 years of age are attending church. Four percent! Wow! Can you imagine if only four percent of those in your age group were attending church? Well imagine this: you would look to your right, your left, behind you and in front of you and guess what? No one would be there, at least no one in your age bracket.

As it has been said, our faith is only one genearation away from extinction. If we fail to share our faith in a way that relates to and speaks to the next generation, then we will fail to share our Jesus. Today’s youth has grown up in a hugely different world than you and me. They have cell phones, PSP’s, Ipods, Ipads, laptops, Iphones, Xbox and a hundred other different ways to communicate digitially or electronically. If we fail to recognize how to use these methods of communication we will fail to share the most important message they need to hear.

Facebook and Twitter have emerged as the most popular mediums to communicate for the under 30 crowd. Don’t beleive me? Try to phone one of these folks and see if they answer the phone. Facebook or tweet them and the response is almost immediate. I know because I live it each day with my own children, They don’t answer the phone, but they do answer texts.

What are we to do as the church? Should we close our doors and just use Facebook and Twitter to communicate our message? Of course not (however, some have tried just that with some “success”), but we must be sensative to those who are different than us.

Would we be so opposed to adopting the customs of those in other countries we visited for missionary purposes? No, we try to understand their culture, learn their language and be sensative to how they communicate and interact. Why is it any different with this new culture in our midst? Make no mistake the under 30 is a mission field, look around most churches and you will see a huge void of these people. The exceptions are those churches that have made it their mission (no pun intended) to seek and attract this crowd. Music, preaching style, dress and even the buildings have been designed to be palatable to the under 30′s.

I can hear many of you now: we will not change the Gospel to attract people, we have done it this way since Christ came and why should we change now? Well, truth be told, the church has changed little compared to society, but the church has adapted to society. Don’t believe me? You have a printed Bible, instead of hand-written. Many churches have TV and Radio programs (Jesus didn’t use these), most every church has a website and many broadcast their services via their websites. Churches do change, albeit slower than others.

I don’t want to change the message either, but is the message or the way the messsage is conveyed sacred? If I were to give you a cup of water in a styrofoam cup it would be water, would the water change if I were to pour that same water into a glass container? In the same the way, the message God gave to us in Christ changes not whether it is delivered in the pastor wearing a robe or a pair of Wranglers. If we want the church in America to grow and change lives we must be willing to switch containers, as God allows. If we don’t I fear we may go the way of Western Europe.

By the way, if you are reading this on a printed piece of paper in the newsletter then you are way behind many others who have already seen it on the web. Times, they are a changing. I would love to hear your feedback, agree or disagree, via my website: www.toddbfreese.com. Peace.

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I pray you enjoy your day and you life knowing you are forgiven and not forsaken.  Enjoy.

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Parent Newsletter

Contents

1. Tools for Parenting Teens
2. Learn Their Lingo
3. Links to Learn From
4. A Little Encouragement…And Humor

1. Tools for Parenting Teens

From http://www.realworldparents.com/starters/

Zoom Out

Let’s help our kids to pull back from the moment right in front of them to think about their big “P” purposes as a follower of Christ—no matter where they go to school, what jobs they hold, or who they…
Read More:
http://www.realworldparents.com/starters/article/zoom_out/

2. Learn Their Lingo

Cow-Mo = Cow-Mo is a subgenre of country music that is a mix of country and emo.

Noted = A reply posted when someone puts a status on facebook, myspace, etc. Sarcastically shows that you care, and are going to write the status down in a notebook, when you really don’t care at all about the status.

3. Links to Learn From

Cortisol directly related to obesity in girls only
http://www.examiner.com/x-6180-Birmingham-Science-News-Examiner~y2010m2d24-Cortisol-directly-related-to-obesity-in-girls-only

Millenials: Confident. Connected. Open to Change.
http://pewsocialtrends.org/pubs/751/millennials-confident-connected-open-to-change

Teacher Tackles Shooter in Littleton School Shooting
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/6882913.html

4. A Little Encouragement…And Humor

Family: A social unit where the father is concerned with parking space, the children with outer space, and the mother with closet space.
- Evan Esar

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A Lutheran pastor shares all in this kiss and tell book. He had permission to tell the story of how this pastor fresh out of school comes to New Cana with his lofty ideals and a new PhD and finds, as one parishoner tells the new pastor, “This is our church and we will be here long after you are gone”. How true this turns out to be in his three year tenure.

The book is written from the perspective of the pastor, but he is not afraid to admit his mistakes. I loved the book because I have felt the feelings of both pastor and parishoner. It is honest and sometimes hard to read, but honest and earthy. I heartily recommned it to you. Buy it through my book store by clicking here. Happy reading!

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I commend it to all who are seeking faith in purity.  Read it and blog here, I would LOVE to hear what you think.  Some have been “challenged” by the way God the Father appeared, were you?  Let me know.  Peace!

Click the picture above to go The Shack website.

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Midland Lutheran Church, Midland, Texas

We visited the week after Easter and found few cars in the parking lot, in fact we thought we may have arrived at the wrong time. But we soon discovered we had the time correct, 10:30, so we went in and were greeted by a kind couple who welcomed us and told us to, “try us again, our pastor is gone this week”.

The regular was indeed there and started the service by telling us not to be disappointed that our numbers were so small, after all Jesus only had ten after Easter. The bulletin contained several pieces of paper with one having a order of service in a list on a small slip of paper. That would prove helpful.

The music was traditional and on this Sunday, only organ music was used, not my favorite. The songs were all hymns, difficult to sing. The message was about 15 minutes long and was on the reappearance of Jesus to his disciples. The pastor made a point I wished he would have elaborated on, namely that Easter was not for the world, but for us, Christians. This gave me pause for thought and I was looking forward to hearing more, but the sermon ended before I could understand what the pastor was really trying to say.

I got the feeling that the church was not growing, we were the youngest, and most were over 60 with only two visible youth or children. We were welcomed to take communion and we were made to feel welcomed by the folks in attendance.

The service lasted about 75 minutes, it seemed longer to me. I had a hard time following the service, a traditional Lutheran experience to be sure. We left through a side door, before we did the pastoral assistance said hello and made small talk, but we left before anyone else could talk with us.

I left our information on the pew, but as of yet have not been contacted by anyone. The folks were friendly, but I get the feeling that the church does not have an evangelism program. Next week we head to a larger church, I’ll let you know what we find there. Until then, be blessed.

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Today we visited a large church, Mid-Cities Community Church,  midway between Odessa and Midland, Texas.  It is a beautiful church, done in old European style.  You enter in through a foyer passing a round statue and sitting area just outside the doors.  You are greeted by several folks (a bit overdone) wishing you a good day in a sincere way.  Oh, the parking lot is well staffed with friendly traffic helpers.  We asked where visitors park and were told, “Wherever you want to”.

We were a few minutes early so visited a sitting area that was full of coffee, juice, donuts and other breakfast items and plenty of people partaking in this bounty.  There was a flat screened television in this room, as well as the foyer, that had news and announcments as well as a countdown as to when the next service was to begin.  I especially liked that part, as it gave an idea of what was next.

As it was Easter the sanctuary was very full.  We had ten people with us and no place where we all could find a place to sit together.  I asked one of the ushers if we could sit in the pew that was roped off, he said they were trying to push people forward since they were going to have a large crowd.  When I told him our number he readily agreed to let us sit in the pew that was roped off in the back.

The music was led by a song leader and orchestra that have to have had at least 25 members.  The music was excellent, but for me it felt more like a performance than a worship experience.  It was a typical evangelical service in many ways as we sang three songs, shook hands with our neighbor next to us and heard a sermon.

The sermon was 25 minutes and was good, but not great.  It being Easter I was surprised there was not more emphasis placed on non-believers than believers.  The message made an assumption we knew why you would want to be a Christian, rather than explaining how and why.  There was an attempt made to show how Christ could change your life with a cardboard sign display at the end.  I have seen this many times before and thought it “tired” but my kids quickly corrected me and told me it was “awesome” and they loved it.

Overall it was enjoyable, but was not a moving experience, or even one that provoked much thought.  It did evoke emotion, which is usually the goal in an evangelical and non-denominational church.  I thought it slightly manipulative toward the end with the use of personal cardboard signs.  We were asked to mimic those that carried large cardboard signs on stage with one side before Christ and the other sign after Christ.  We had miniature signs we were asked to fill out and share with a stranger or friend, awkward I think.

The service lasted 75 minutes.  It was done with excellence and attention to detail.  The use of media was good, not overdone, but certainly used to engage the audience.  If I were grading, I would give it a B plus.  If you are a big church fan you would feel right at home.  However if small churches are your thing, well you might feel a bit lost.

Next week a smaller church, maybe even Lutheran.  Until then, be blessed.

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In the middle of the book, he brings up an interesting proposition: is religion an illusion? Is it an illusion as Freud may have described, or maybe is it real but our participation in is an illusion? Interesting take on the subject, our pastor seems to think the more insidious of the two is the latter. If one is not able to trust their senses, feelings, thoughts and observations then what can you trust. However, in our day and age, we have so many different types of “religion” and even in my own, Christianity, there is wide and divergent thought. So much so that one may have to ask, “What is real”?

And here is the crux of the matter; if we doubt what we know to be, real then we will look for those who seem to know what is real, a person or ideology. We look for that which can be easily explained, understood even if it is being changed and ameliorated so that it barely resembles that which God intended it to look like in the first place.

Religious self-righteousness is described as one of the things that destroys the church and soul of those who practice and are affected by it. How often has this been the case in our churches and homes? I myself have seen it and, I’m sad to say practiced it on occasion. To be so right as to become self-righteous all in the name of our Lord, which of course is the furthest thing from the truth. When we practice self-righteousness, we are not concerned with anyone but ourselves. We determine what is right based on a twisted view of Scripture and experience and thereby become destructive even though our original aim was to build up the body, we in fact tear it down.

And most egregious of all is the damage done to those who are the innocents, those seeking a foothold in the world, looking for truth in which to live their lives and base their decisions. Oh how we do a disservice to them when we become self-righteous.

I agree with our preacher in the book when he says the most damaging thought is not that of Freud or Feuerbach, but of those in our midst who would deny what we know to be real and meaningful. To say to those around them it is not the “right” way to think or feel or do based not on truth, but on a self-righteous overly pious attitude that indeed comes from their own self-doubt.

What do you say? I would love to hear.

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