I’ve heard this said before, and as awkward as it sounds, I agree with it: “If I had to choose between the truth or Jesus, I’d pick the truth.” Before anyone things I’m a heretic, let me explain: Unlike many other religions, Christianity is based on truth. For example, if Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead, Christianity is a lie. And if Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead, I refuse to continue as a Christian. That’s because I want to know the truth.  I’m a Christian because I believe it is the truth. Some people just want to find a religion that makes them happy, or that agrees with their sense of right/wrong, or that brings them fulfillment. Christianity for them is a good option for choosing how to live one’s life. But that’s not the basis of Christianity. It’s basis is that the events recorded in Scripture actually happened, and that Jesus is who He said He is. That means we can trust Jesus and we can trust His word. The apostles didn’t die for their faith in Jesus, because they could “dig” His way of life (it was actually a difficult way of life). They died for the faith, because they knew He had risen and He was the Son of God who died to save the world from its sins. If you are currently struggling to figure out which religion one should follow out of the many choices out there, let me give you some advice: go with the truth. Don’t go with what simply appeals to you. If after investigation, you determine that Jesus was a liar, or that He had deluded himself into thinking He was some sort of savior/messiah, then what can I say? But if you are convinced that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, then be confident in Him. Don’t shy away from the truth. Christians shouldn’t be afraid of the truth, even when it contradicts what we’ve always believed to be true. Either what we’ve always believed is a misrepresentation of what Scripture says, or the “truth” which contradicts the belief really isn’t true, and in the end will be proven as such. Or, the...

Dear People Who Read Me, To the countless masses of who read me so dutifully and faithfully, I ask a favor. After being hosted by (company name redacted) for a year or two, I feel it is time for me to move on to another place to rent out space. While I paid my rent each month, the space was a little cramped, and the landlord didn’t do a good job of fixing things up in a timely manner. So I’m trying out a new web host company to see if this works out better. How can you help? Well, of course I’d appreciate any money you could spare to pay the rent (it’s a bit higher here), but I’m realistic–I don’t expect that to happen. But what would help out is if you wouldn’t mind browsing through several blog posts today. I’d like to see what happens to my home (server) when lots of guests (web traffic and hits) stop by. My webmaster, Tim, (who dutifully and faithfully writes everything I tell him to) will monitor my status to see if this new home will hold up. And if you notice me being more sluggish than usual when you click on pages or anything, please send me a note (you can comment below on this post, or comment on Facebook), so I can pass it on to Tim. I mean, really…is this too much to ask? I’ve been giving you lots of deep thoughts and spiritual insights for almost a year now. It’s just a small way to give back. Live Long And Prosper, Out Of My Falkan...

Most congregants in your typical local church remain largely ignorant of what goes on “behind the scenes” at their church. It’s not until they are thrust into some sort of lay leadership role that much of this stuff becomes apparent. Many people thrust in these roles are unable to cope with the things they see or hear. Many leave the church, disillusioned.Perhaps it is a good thing that only a few people in a local church see these things; otherwise we might have a mass exodus from the Church. Some argue that this mass exodus is already happening. Maybe people see/hear more than we dare admit. Fewer and fewer people are attending church as time goes on. Despite our best tactics to get them to come, people continue to be turned off to church. As a person who has served on staff at a few churches, I can’t say I’m entirely surprised. As much “junk” as lay people see when they rise to leadership roles, often staff members see even more. Some of the things that seem innocent enough to congregants, if you were on staff at a church, you might feel differently. In my last blog post, I lamented over the way most churches are run: either with a government atmosphere or a business atmosphere. As a staff person who has served in both environments to a degree, I feel I can confidently say that neither atmosphere is spiritually healthy, even though it may appear so to many of the congregants. While it may look good to the congregant that their church is bringing in new visitors, that many high-quality programs/ministries are being implemented, and that people in the church have a positive vibe about their church and their pastors, etc–I would caution people that they may be making presumptions that are not warranted. My goal is not to be paranoid or make others paranoid, but I do feel that I’ve heard/seen quite a bit in the church world up to this point. Not only me, but other leaders see it as well. I think if your average staff person were to feel comfortable opening up to you about what they have endured during their tenure, you may...

Churches who have been around for awhile (say 30 or more years), tend to be run a certain way. The way I’ve often heard it said is, “Churches tend to be run like a business.” I hate the business model of church. Yet, in my experience, this isn’t really how these older churches are run. In my opinion, they’re run more like the government. Most people complain about how the government is run. The stereotype is out there that whatever the government does, the private sector could do it much better, with greater efficiency, and with better results. I think this is a great example of how these older churches are run. They are full of plenty of bureaucracy. For example, if you want to paint the walls of the church, the color must be approved by the trustees, and then the money has to be approved by the finance committee, and then the date needs to be approved by the calendar committee, etc etc etc. Simple, unimportant things tend to take up way to much of the church’s time and become too important in people’s eyes. So we moan about such a business-like mentality. To me, it seems more like a government mentality. You also find quite a bit of politicking going on in such churches. You need to know who to please, whose bad side you don’t want to get on, who the movers and shakers are, etc. You learn what the sacred cows are–and not to mess with them. If you want to get anything done, you have to “work the system.” To retaliate against this system that largely mirrors how the government operates, I think many modern churches have embraced what I would call the “business” model. In this model, these churches pride themselves in being more efficient and more effective than the older churches. These churches don’t have church splits over what color the carpet will be in the sanctuary. That’s because they have a mission statement, and everything they do as a church revolves around that mission statement. Usually, that mission statement is something about making disciples of Christ, or something along those lines. As a result, they try to pour as much...

I’m no longer a youth pastor, but I’ve been recently reflecting over my tenure in youth ministry. It hasn’t been all happy thoughts. In fact, much of it has been disappointing thoughts. I think being in youth ministry is one of the hardest areas of ministry, because you’re working with people who are usually not at all mature. Not only are they not mature in faith, they aren’t mature as people in general. They’re not stable. You can’t rely on them for very much. Yet you pour your life into them, looking for fruit, only to often find quite a bit of frustrating and disappointing results. I think with technology today, it makes it even harder. In the past, you could pour your life into kids, and just pray and hope that it would make a difference in their lives as they grow older, not knowing how their life would turn out. But today, with things like Facebook, you stay connected with them. I look at my friends on Facebook from both churches I youth-pastored at, and I am often extremely disappointed to see their attitudes, lack of faith in Christ, poor life-choices, etc. Part of me wonders if it was really worth it. Did Christ really do anything in their hearts? That’s why near the end of my tenure at my last church, I became increasingly aware that the best way to really disciple youth is to see their parents become genuine disciples of Christ. Too many parents think that being a Christian is just going to church and volunteering somewhere there. It’s been called “churchianity.” The parents do very little to teach their children what it means to follow Christ. They do not know very much about the Bible themselves, nor do they know how to lead someone to Christ. They struggle being able to even share with someone how to become a Christian and what that really means. On top of this, there seems to be very little eagerness in adults to change this. They don’t seem very willing to change. It’s a large reason why I tried to focus on working with teenagers, rather than working with adults. As a result, I shouldn’t be surprised...

Perhaps you’ve heard attempts to explain the Trinity like I have. The egg illustration (shell, white, yolk) or water illustration (water, ice, steam) immediately come to my mind. The problem is, all these illustrations come up very short in explaining what Christians fully mean by the word “Trinity” when trying to explain God. The Trinity is one of the doctrines of the church that is hardest for me to make sense of. I wrestle with it very often–even sometimes question its truthfulness. I think what it is trying to describe will always elude me to some degree. It’s not easily explained with rational arguments or illustrations. That being said, today a thought came to me. Maybe the concept of the Trinity is harder to understand than it really needs to be. The Church is supposed to be a reflection of God. We are supposed to illustrate who He is to this world–it’s our main job. But what do we see instead, a Church that is fragmented. A church that is not One. Yet that’s what the Trinity tries to portray, three persons–all equally God as singular persons, but yet one God. What if the Church looked like that? Local churches (who do not need other bodies to fully be the church), yet not many churches, but One Church. Just like God himself. Perhaps if the Church would do a better job of being one in unity, fellowship, resources, camaraderie, mission, outreaches, etc., then we could have something on earth that better reflects a Trinitarian God, and it might be a little easier to conceptualize God as...

I’ve written quite a bit about my frustrations with how church leaders view their ministries and whether they are successful or not. Yesterday, while at the bookstore, I saw a book I never heard of before, written a few years back by John Piper entitled, Brothers, We are Not Professionals: A Plea To Pastors. Not having read the book, I’m not sure what it all entails, but I love the title. I was thinking…you know, out of over 2,000 years of church history, it’s only in the past 60 years or so that churches have developed this mindset of “driven” ministry that seems to be commonplace all around us. It really is spiraling out of control, IMO. This idea that we must do everything “well” and do all we can to grow a successful church with a plethora of staff, ministries, resources and congregants simply isn’t the model of a healthy church given to us in past centuries. Instead, when we look back at history, we remember people of faith who were earnest to draw close to God and boldly follow His call, often losing it all in the process. It was those times when the church sought success, personal gain, or power that we are most embarrassed to look back on. This morning as I was driving, I was reminded of a sermon I heard awhile back on Jesus’ words in Luke 10:20: However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. The disciples, budding leaders as they were, had just returned from some “successful” ministry. Today, I think Jesus might say the same thing to us church leaders. I think He would caution us against this mindset of foolish frustration when things aren’t “happening,” and subsequent celebration when things turn around in our favor. We have become focused on the wrong things. I think today Jesus would call foul and blow the whistle on “excessive celebration” centered on what’s happening in the Sunday arena. Just like immature football stars, we are glorifying our successful plays. I think He would be equally disappointed in other church leaders who are coveting their neighbor’s “success.” Success now determines whether church...