Spending a week apartment sitting while my friend Matt & his family are in Texas. Although I appreciate the many people who made me meals or took me out to eat, it is nice to cook for myself. Had good fellowship with the Tuesday morning gang at Jake's working through Hosea 4, an indictment of Israel that applies to 21st century America. Then fellowship with our brother Bud throughout the day & Monday.
One can't help thinking about the near total irrelevance of the North American Church. We rarely minister the gospel, spend most of our money on ourselves, and if we become Biblically literate, too many of us spend most of our effort arguing theological minutia.
On a happier note M. T. & Candice have asked me to marry them, an honor I have not ever received in the past. I've known and developed a good friendship with the groom over the past five years, and have known the bride since her birth. Looking forward to celebrating with them as they begin their married journey.
Speaking of marriage, only 4 weeks until I scoot out to CA for Dale & Laurie's wedding. Keep counting down the days, brother. You're almost there.
Waiting on the Lord for clarity of direction. "Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!" (Psalm 27:14ESV) Hope to see many of my friends in the New England area over the summer.
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There are quite a lot of evangelical movements gathering steam in North America, actually, many of which are charismatically-driven. Might I point out one example: the Anglican Renewal/revival. The Anglican Communion of North America is moving to plant 1,000 churches in 5 years - a feat never before achieved perhaps since the early church centuries. And these are church plants planting churches, a true vision of growth and outreach.
ReplyDelete"Ministering the gospel" as you put it, has a very broad range of coverage. Edifying the Body, reaching the unreached, and worshiping the Creator of the Universe have a ton of subcategories, from healing ministries to prayer meetings to Bible studies to theological discussion to administering sacraments to managing charities. When new denominations form, or new house church cells appear, they have to reinvent a whole host of ministries. And since the majority of American Christians are "low-church" Protestants, they have very little tradition available to them, so ministering the complete gospel is a challenge imposed upon them by lack of experience.
Much of the American Church is somewhat "irrelevant," yes, but I fear you're missing some great works of the Spirit when you say that. Don't worry so much about the economic flounderings of the country - every empire has its decline and fall. Granted, the USA is a superpower, but its fall is not necessarily the herald of the Last Day. That type of attitude actually has contributed to a measure of inaction on the part of many Fundamentalists. Focus instead on those good experiences you wrote to us about - the hospitality, the sincerity of faith, and the desire to know Jesus better through his written word. Therein you'll find the potential growth of the Church here. And don't despair about the Church's weakness, she's got a pretty strong kick still. Here's this for starters: http://anglican1000.org/