My 21st Century Church

I ask myself what is the function of THE church today, and is that the function of MY church? My thinking takes me down several paths to conclusions about our meetings together. Places can vary from buildings, to tents, to caves, to a front yard. In the following list I will refer to the church as "she" based on the Biblical declaration that she is the bride of Christ functioning in various ways.

We fellowshipped with one another, sang hymns of praise to God, and prayed to the Father. It was a fellowship of caring and loving. The hospital had gathered. The social club came together. The party was filled with smiles and rejoicing. A museum of stories and memories were shared.

1. Sometimes she can be a museum for housing/archival/exchange of church history, stories, teachings, documents, memories, etc.
2. Sometimes she can be a social/country club for the gathering and interaction of Christians.
3. Sometimes she can be a hospital for sinners searching for a covering of or cure for sins.
4. Sometimes she can be an entertaining concert/party for celebration of the Savior.
5. Sometimes she can be an evangelical/edifying fellowship for its members.

Or...she can be some of all of the above depending on the needs, spirituality, and hearts of people.

Two days ago several hundred members of the Lord's church gathered in the front yard of a beloved constituent who is fighting cancer. He is ready to meet God. Some of us are not quite so eager for that event to occur. 

The subject of the celebration sat in a rocker on the porch surrounded by family, an arm lifted with outstretched hand toward heaven, a big smile on his face, and tears streaming down his cheeks...tears of JOY!

What we all experienced that evening in addition to the amazing faith of a brother in Christ was the absolute genuineness of one ready to meet his Maker. I can't wait to see him underneath the shade of the Tree of Life, surrounded by happy children supervised by Enoch, Elijah, and Jesus Himself! When we finally miss Kerry down here...rest assured, he'll be singing up there!

One of the songs might just be: "If you miss me singing down here and you can't find me nowhere nowhere, you just come on up to bright glory; I'll be singing up there!" I imagine he might be passing out candy as well...

Yes! Jesus loves me!

Celebrate!

photo by Ian Stauffer on unsplash.com

In Luke 15:31-32 (MSG), Jesus tells of the prodigal son's return and the father's reaction to the older brother's jealousy: “His father said, ‘Son, you don’t understand. You’re with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he’s alive! He was lost, and he’s found!’”

When I think about going to church tomorrow morning, I have a difficult time with the concept of having to celebrate. I like to think my attitude is one of getting to celebrate rather than having to.

Whenever I contemplate the wonder of heaven, I ponder several things:

1. God rejoices over us with singing! "The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17, NIV)
2. We win! "They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.” (Revelation 17:14, NIV)
3. How long is the party (the celebration)? "After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." (1 Thessalonians 4:17, NIV)

Years, perhaps decades ago, I heard a preacher/teacher use an interesting example to illustrate eternity. Select a person, any person. Tell that person he must perform these four tasks:

1. Pluck every leaf from every tree on the planet.
2. Count all the pine needles from every forest on Earth.
3. Pull up every blade of grass growing in the world.
4. Catch every fly buzzing over the ground.

After all that is accomplished, the party in heaven will have only just begun. Though I am not worthy, I still want to be part of that celebration. That is God's gift to me and you...made possible by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. As Kool and the Gang once sang, "Celebrate good times, come on!"