I used this video awhile ago in a post entitled “The Best Church Video Ever”. I absolutely love it because it makes me laugh every time. I’m not going to judge whether or not this is real because I don’t know the guy personally, but it seems a bit over the top to me. Maybe God likes a person dives into a baptismal. Why not?
Although this is an extreme case of emotions running wild in a church, do you believe there is a place for big emotions in church?
Maybe you’ve heard about the controversy surrounding the way people could vote for the speakers at THE NINES. It allowed people to view hundreds of Christian leaders on a “twitter poll” page and either “like” or “dislike” a person. I’m guessing that the people with the highest number of “likes” gets to speak at the conference. I believe this is a great idea because it allows the audience to get involved by selecting who they want to hear at THE NINES. There’s nothing wrong with that, right? But, as Skye Jethani, the managing editor of Leadership Journal points out,
“it a poorly communicated idea that has deteriorated into a popularity contest among church leaders.”
What are your thoughts on the “twitter poll” idea? Do you believe other conferences should adopt this idea as well or do you see where Skye Jethani has a point on this matter?
I’ve been in church my whole life. Maybe you have been doing the church thing for a while, too. I’ve loved all of the churches that I’ve called myself a member of, but all in different ways. After saying this, none of them have been the perfect church. I always find something that I don’t necessarily agree with, whether it’s a big or a small deal. But, I do realize there’s not a totally perfect church out there. If you have found the perfect church please let me know, because I want to come check it out.
The one thing i miss about being in an old church is the purple carpet. I always wondered why churches have the weirdest colors. There are many things I miss about old time church. The hymns, choir robes, purple jackets, banners and the people playing off rhythm with tambourines. Makes me smile just thinking about it.
This video was posted on twitter by @freakyboocho. It has to be one of the greatest videos I have ever seen. You need to keep your eyes on the baptismal pool… [video after the jump]
First, I just want to say that I love what church is to me. Community, Love and Encouragement. With that being said, today in church some people had the chance to share some past experiences they had with the church. I heard people talk about their bad experiences and it made me sad and mad all at the same time. I mean from what they were saying, if church is supposed to be the representation of the Body of Christ here on Earth, we are doing a terrible job of showing people that. As you know, their stories are not the only bad ones out there. I’m sure you’ve heard some stories like this or maybe you feel that way yourself. Pretty much when I ask anybody outside of the church about their feelings of church, it ends up being a negative thing. I understand that churches are made up of people, and these people are not perfect. That includes pastors, folks. They will probably let you down at some point because they are still humans. This is where forgiveness comes in. I am actually writing a book on good things that churches are doing. Now I will agree, there are definitely some bad things that are in churches, but there are also a lot of great things. Here’s an example of a good thing: When my parents divorced and when my dad wasn’t there anymore, the church became a second family to me. Here’s the bad side to my church story: I grew up in church my whole life and when I was in my teens, our church actually went through a terrible church split. It messed a lot of people up in the church. But, I had a decision to make there. Was I going to blame people and dwell on that? Or, was I going to forgive and move on? I forgave and moved on as everyone in that situation should. But maybe, people have the view that we are all against each other and are just there to stab each other in the back. Or, maybe they have the view of the unforgiving and the judging side? I get a glimpse of this view on the church because after I read a book by a Christian author telling me that people hate the church, I then definitely know the world hates all Christians. I really would like to think that most people have something positive to say about church, but if you don’t I want to hear that, too. I’m mainly looking for honesty here. So, here’s your turn to speak.
What are your thoughts on the church today? Good? Bad? Whatever it is, I want to hear it.
I want to get something from you if you don’t mind. I know all of our churches are spectacular in their own ways and yet we probably do a ton of stuff, if not everything, differently. You can take the ideas from the comments below and implement them at your church, so I guess you can think of this post as a church creative thinktank. Tell me things that just blow you away, blow guests away, make your church different and things that you’ve stolen from other churches. Yes, I did use “stolen” and “churches” in the same sentence.
So tell me, what are some things that your church does that you think are crazy awesome?
I have visited a whole bunch of different churches. I grew up baptist, visited methodist churches for a while and then ended up in the Assembly of God denomination. I’ve seen churches where the Holy Spirit was allowed to move and then I’ve been to churches where God was put on a schedule and what was going on would be cut off. My human nature wants to take control of the situation, but then again, God should be able to do what He wants to. I’m not saying that God can’t do what He wants to in the fact that He’s not able to, because He can do whatever He wants. I just believe that we cut it short sometimes. So, should we let God take total control of the church service or should we still keep some control? Or, is there a healthy balance to this?
