Rob- I'd come all the way to California to connect with you man. You just get me there and I'll buy the coffee!
Ken, I want to take you to coffee too – wasnt there some place in Oklahoma where we could meet half way. Miss seeing your face, hope the studies are going well.
Amanda- yea…
James- I hear your sarcasm! Right, there are no churches in calgary that could relate to this at all. : )
i'm sure we can find a time for coffee. i hardly ever turn down a good customer friendly java experience. i'm consumeristic to the core… oh you mean for the conversational aspect of the experience… the relationship and theological building we'd do over the cup of joe. Ahhh.. let's work it out.
Paul- i actually enjoyed the torment you put yourself through. That was fantastic! And real. You got me thinking that it does sometimes feel like we treat church like going to a movie… and no wonder we leave feeling empty. we like going to movies because it's low commitment, expectation for pleasure, escapist from our real lives, and 2 hours of selfish fun. When church doesn't feel like those things, we struggle with "what's wrong with our church?". When we think this way, we are way off in the way we approach "church".
hahaaa. i just laugh & say, "yeaa. quite sadly, …yea"
I assume this parable is referring to the Jewish Synagogue at the time of Christ. Surely this is a not a reflection of North American evangelical chuches, or even evangelical churches in Calgary?
This reminds me however that since you've been to Calgary, I haven't taken you to Starbucks – Some people say they make great coffee (although personally I don't drink coffee). Would you have time next week for me to take you to Starbucks or do you only do Irish pubs now?
okay, so, as i watched this all i could think of was, "Jeesh, just leave those people alone so they can just relax and consume some coffee." and then i realized that my reaction was very consumer driven; that i thought what would be best is if the starbucks people just served the beverage and shut up.
and yet it struck me that perhaps neither of the approaches (the one in the video or my reaction against it) would be the ideal/appropriate way of "doing church." because honestly, the barista at starbucks the other day who asked my wife and i what we were doing on a sunday morning as we strolled through her drive-through window wasn't a question i was prepared for…kind of awkward actually, because if i tell her the truth that i'm going to consume a few hours of christians gathering (what would be called "church") may lead her to assume things about me that i would rather not have her assume.
so yeah, i wasn't expecting my initial reaction to be just as questionable…
i know. i laughed and cried. people can never get into the doors of our church on sunday mornings cuz they are always locked!! Argh!
There is something absolutely brilliant and disgusting about that.
Rob- I'd come all the way to California to connect with you man. You just get me there and I'll buy the coffee!
Ken, I want to take you to coffee too – wasnt there some place in Oklahoma where we could meet half way. Miss seeing your face, hope the studies are going well.
Amanda- yea…
James- I hear your sarcasm! Right, there are no churches in calgary that could relate to this at all. : )
i'm sure we can find a time for coffee. i hardly ever turn down a good customer friendly java experience. i'm consumeristic to the core… oh you mean for the conversational aspect of the experience… the relationship and theological building we'd do over the cup of joe. Ahhh.. let's work it out.
Paul- i actually enjoyed the torment you put yourself through. That was fantastic! And real. You got me thinking that it does sometimes feel like we treat church like going to a movie… and no wonder we leave feeling empty. we like going to movies because it's low commitment, expectation for pleasure, escapist from our real lives, and 2 hours of selfish fun. When church doesn't feel like those things, we struggle with "what's wrong with our church?". When we think this way, we are way off in the way we approach "church".
hahaaa. i just laugh & say, "yeaa. quite sadly, …yea"
I assume this parable is referring to the Jewish Synagogue at the time of Christ. Surely this is a not a reflection of North American evangelical chuches, or even evangelical churches in Calgary?
This reminds me however that since you've been to Calgary, I haven't taken you to Starbucks – Some people say they make great coffee (although personally I don't drink coffee). Would you have time next week for me to take you to Starbucks or do you only do Irish pubs now?
okay, so, as i watched this all i could think of was, "Jeesh, just leave those people alone so they can just relax and consume some coffee." and then i realized that my reaction was very consumer driven; that i thought what would be best is if the starbucks people just served the beverage and shut up.
and yet it struck me that perhaps neither of the approaches (the one in the video or my reaction against it) would be the ideal/appropriate way of "doing church." because honestly, the barista at starbucks the other day who asked my wife and i what we were doing on a sunday morning as we strolled through her drive-through window wasn't a question i was prepared for…kind of awkward actually, because if i tell her the truth that i'm going to consume a few hours of christians gathering (what would be called "church") may lead her to assume things about me that i would rather not have her assume.
so yeah, i wasn't expecting my initial reaction to be just as questionable…
i know. i laughed and cried. people can never get into the doors of our church on sunday mornings cuz they are always locked!! Argh!
There is something absolutely brilliant and disgusting about that.