"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody." I Thess. 4:11-12

"...so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders..."

Oh, Lord please let this be true of myself. May my daily life and the decisions I make draw Glory to You alone. Purge me of all unrighteousness, cleans me and make me holy.

My ideas of worship are everchanging. I'm always looking for a fresh expression of what I consider true worship.

Check out The Essence and Expression of Worship from the ooze. Some great thoughts/ideas are in there.

I was reading last night and this hit me. I think sometimes without even realizing it we don't minister to the poor because we know there will be no monetary return for us.

"Then Jesus said to His host, 'When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.'"
Luke 14:12-14

Ministries to the poor, or to college students are sometimes seen as liabilities to the church because they will be consuming funds without giving much in return. Isn't that what we are supposed to do? We spend the majority of our time and money to put on a show on Sunday morning instead of having a banquet for the outcasts of society to be fed. We aren't just talking bread to eat but the bread of life and the living water that has no end.

Should we meet in homes?...Yes
Should we meet in our church buildings?...Yes
Should we meet in other key places in our community?...Yes
Should we be intentional about getting the concept of "church" outside of the four walls of our church building?...Yes
Should we build more buildings that look like churches?...Maybe, Maybe not.


So if we have a big building already do we sell it so we can meet in homes instead?...I don't think so. Do we copy the physical and leturgical traditions of the church from centuries past?...I don't think so. We have become too involved in trying to recreate the outward appearance of the church of the past instead of the spirit of the church of the past.

Why did the early church meet in homes? That was all they had.
Would they have gathered in a bigger building if there was one to be used...probably.
Would they have actually wanted to meet as a large group then?... not unless they all wanted to be in prison together.

The model we need to look to is the lives, behavior, and ministry of the 1st century church, not the methods of their meetings or the places in which they met. Being the real church doesn't depend on where or how we meet, it has to do with living a life of worship wherever you are and forming relationships with the people around you with an intent of introducing them to the only One that can give them life.

McManus has a lot to say about the direction of the church. I like his thoughts.

"...Many of the young leaders were advocating a return to the pre-modern era and the medieval church in contrast to the modern expression of the church. Around the country, new expressions of the faith have attempted to discard modern frameworks in favor of a zealous commitment to the church of one thousand years ago. They seem less interested in going back two thousand years. The key to regaining an ancient faith is not the reclamation of the icons and rituals of pre-modern medieval Western Christianity. We must go back futher than this. It is essential that we return to the origins of the church and reestablish the elemental faith of the first disciples." He goes on to say in refering to the disciples, "Their spiritual pedigree was far from pure. This was a band of fisherman, tax collectors, and social outcasts...This was a movement of the all, not of the elite."

I don't think we should be recreating either the 1st century church or the church of one thousand years ago. We need to take the best aspects of the "church" throughout history and incorporate them into a movement that has the power and expression of the church of the 1st century.