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Are you faking it at church?

By Jeremy Myers
8 Comments

Are you faking it at church?

Here is some random wrap-up stuff which I thought fit this “Is Your Church Worse than Porn” series (Part 1, Part 2).

First, a movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5JaXoy_5Ic

Second a comic strip from The ongoing Adventures of the ASBO Jesus. (Subscribe to this comic blog if you don’t already.)

How Are You? Fine

Finally, a quote from Vince Antonucci’s book I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt (p. 81). Prior to this quote, Vince writes about how Moses glowed after he met with God, and how we can “glow” too if we meet with God.

But many of us, most of the time, are not glowing. And when we aren’t glowing, like Moses, we cover our disappointment with a veil. We don’t put on a literal veil; we use a veil of smiles and denials. Christians are famous (or infamous) for this. We wear fake, plastered smiles as a twisted badge of honor, pretending that everything’s great all the time. We say things like, “It’s another great day to praise the Lord!” “This is the day the Lord has made!” What? No, nothing’s wrong! God’s blessings just keep getting better every day!” “God is good all the time!” We hide our true disappointment.

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: attending church, church, Discipleship, honesty, Theology of the Church

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5 Signs you might be in a fantasy church. #3 actually happened to my wife

By Jeremy Myers
26 Comments

5 Signs you might be in a fantasy church. #3 actually happened to my wife

In a previous post I introduced the idea that in some ways, church can be worse than porn. The reason is that while porn causes people to feel inadequate with their sex life, many churches cause people to feel inadequate about their spiritual life. Both are presenting a fantasy that does not match reality. Today, (with a head nod to Jeff Foxworthy) I want to present some signs that you might be in a fantasy church.

5 Signs you might be in a fantasy church

fantasy church

1. If everybody in your church seems happy, fulfilled, and satisfied all the time … you might be in a fantasy church. (Did you ever sing that “Happy, happy, happy all the time” song in Sunday school? Yeeeaaah …. nobody is truly happy, happy, happy all the time.)

2. If you are in a church where everybody seems to have devotions every day, their prayers are always answered in miraculous ways, and everybody seems to be talking about God all the time … you might be in a fantasy church.

3. If during the greeting time, someone asks you how you are doing, and when you answer “Terrible” they smile, nod their head, and say, “That’s nice,” … you might be in a fantasy church. (This actually happened to my wife!)

4. If you are in a church where people never seem to sin, have fights with their spouse, get speeding tickets, have trouble with lust or alcohol, or have questions and doubts about what the pastor preaches … you might be in a fantasy church.

5. If all you ever hear from the pulpit is how great it is to be a Christian, and how God will supply all your needs and take care of every problem … you might be in a fantasy church.

(If you can think of others, please post them in the comments below!)

If you find yourself in a fantasy church, beware!

Trying to be real and authentic in such a place will only get you hurt more deeply. The best thing a person can do who finds themselves in a fantasy church is to leave quietly and find a group of people with whom they can be authentic, open, and honest (even if they are not all Christians!).

One of favorite Christian music groups, Casting Crowns, has experienced this also, and sings about it in their song “Stained Glass Masquerade”:

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: attending church, church, Discipleship, honesty, Theology of the Church

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Is Your Church Worse than Porn?

By Jeremy Myers
6 Comments

Is Your Church Worse than Porn?

I watched a debate last week between porn king Ron Jeremy, and porn pastor Craig Gross. Apparently, the two are traveling around to college campuses and debating the pros and cons of porn. I love what Craig is doing at XXX Church, and his book The Gutter is one of the better books I have ever read.

So I really hate to say that in my opinion, Craig lost the debate. There are multiple reasons why, which I won’t go into here. (This is NOT to say I am in favor of porn!)

But something was said during the debate which really got me thinking. One of Craig’s arguments was that porn is fantasy, and people who watch porn are bound to be disappointed by sex, since reality never matches fantasy. This is certainly true, and even Ron Jeremy didn’t deny that porn presents a fantasy.

But Ron’s rebuttal is what really made me think. Ron argued that we all live in a fantasy world. Everything we see on television is fantasy and does not match up with reality. Most of what we see and read in books and magazines is hyped-up, glossed-over, air-brushed fiction.

church worse than pornHis argument was that if porn is wrong because porn is fantasy, then almost everything we read and watch and get involved in is wrong as well, because most of it is fantasy. Even the way most of us live our lives is fiction. We rarely let people see the inner hurt, pain, depression, frustration, fear, loneliness, and anger.

As my wife and I were talking about this, she made the observation that this fantasy-life fiction is magnified in most churches.

The Fantasy World of Church

We seem to think that since the Bible talks about peace that passes understanding, joy in the midst of trials, contentment in times of need, faith in the face of fear, and happy lives full of holy ambition, that if we don’t have these things, something is wrong with us.

And when we look around at others on Sunday morning, and sing the happy songs, and listen to the motivating sermon, we are tempted to think, “Everybody else seems to have what we are so loudly proclaiming. I better act like I do too, or they will think something is wrong with me.”

A pretty good case could be made that church fantasy is more damaging than porn fantasy.

The reason is that most people in most churches don’t know that everyone else is in just as much pain as they are. Most people wear painted smiles to church. The suits and skirts hide scars. And the pastor isn’t really that excited about God; he’s just high on caffeine (I’m speaking to myself there!).

Most people are afraid to be real and authentic at church because then people will think they’re unspiritual.

fake smiles at churchMany churches are bigger fantasy playgrounds than the porn industry.

Which is Worse?

So the question is this: Which is worse? Thinking that your spouse will never be satisfied with you in bed, OR thinking that God will never be satisfied with you in this life? The first is a result of looking at porn, the second is a result of attending some churches.

Future posts will look at some possible indications that you are attending a fantasy church (Worse than Porn Part 2, Worse than Porn Part 3, and what you can do about it.

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: church, Discipleship, honesty, porn, Theology of the Church

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My New Preaching Hero

By Jeremy Myers
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My New Preaching Hero

I have certain Bible teachers that I listen to all the time, some for the content, some for their style and delivery. Recently, I found one who has it all. His sermon is 27 minutes long, and is on YouTube for you to view.

After watching this video, you will see that Seminary was a complete waste of time. If you want to preach, all you need to remember is these seven things:

  1. (Mis)read several Bible verses.
  2. Say “Glory be to God Hallelujah” a lot.
  3. Speak in tongues when you get tongue-tied.
  4. Tell Satan to get behind you.
  5. Wave your arms.
  6. Tell people rock music will damn their souls to hell.
  7. Tell people they’re going to hell if they don’t tithe.

If you ever wonder why many people think church is just a religious circus, it because of preachers like this.

I shouldn’t be too hard on the guy though… It’s his first time preaching after all…

My first sermon was terrible as well. It was awful. I was about 14 and I preached to a group of inmates at the Montana State Prison. I remember thinking afterwards, “Let me out of here before they kill me!” I don’t remember what I said, but it was so bad, no one even tried to tell me “Good sermon” afterwards.

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: burn in hell, church, Discipleship, humor, Preaching, sermons

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Church Plant Rant

By Jeremy Myers
1 Comment

Church Plant Rant

Below is a post from Gary Lamb (which is no longer available on his site). Lots of people see glory in church planting, but what most don’t realize is that to plant in such a way that genuinely reaches lost people, there’s more gore than glory.

church plant rant

Here is what Gary wrote about that:

Every church planter I meet says they are starting their church to reach those that are disconnected from God. Many of them grew up in church, became Christians at a early age, and don’t even have a relationship with someone far from God, but they are going to reach those far from God. I listen to a lot of podcasts, watch a lot of videos from other churches, and it breaks my heart to know they are doing a lot of things and a lot of things well, but reaching those far from God is NOT one of them.

I have learned that most church planters REALLY don’t want to reach those far from God, they really want to do church in a cool way. There is a difference. Just because you have great video, loud music, dress casual, and use movie clips doesn’t mean you are reaching those far from God.

I honestly believe most planters would freak out if they started having to deal with the issues that come from reaching truly unchurched people. It is messy, ugly, scary, and actually can keep you from growing because it scares the hell out of those who grew up in church.

We had a person on our staff a couple of years ago who came here because he wanted to be part of a church that reached unchurched people.  The first time his wife sat next to a couple of lesbians, he was rethinking that.  This guy was a nice guy, but he couldn’t handle the ugliness that comes with reaching those that are far from God.  He literally walked around the church on Sundays with a look of terror in his eyes.  He didn’t want to reach lost people, he wanted a church where he could come and wear whatever he wanted and impress other Christians because he was at an church with a little edge.  It wasn’t long before he was running for the hills.  He couldn’t handle the messiness of reaching those with problems.  The sad thing is he isn’t alone.  Most guys can’t handle it.

When I say it is messy, I don’t think most guys understand what I mean, so allow me to walk you through my week that just got done. This is a pretty typical week at Revolution and the side 99% never see.

  • I have a bottle of pain pills worth about $400 on the streets sitting in my desk that one of our people’s spouse brought me after finding them. The name on the prescription isn’t the name of the person who brought them because they were bought on the street.
  • I had another one of our people lose their job for stealing thousands of dollars from the company they work for.
  • I have a addict in our church who has relapsed and in the process is about to lose EVERYTHING and he doesn’t even know it.
  • I set up an intervention for an addict that will take place this week. This is his last chance and he doesn’t even know it.
  • Last night I was at the ER until 3 in the morning because one of our people took a razor blade and slit both his wrists, his neck, and took around 80 sleeping pills. He’s alive, but I have to say it was the most horrific thing I have ever seen in my life.

All of that was just from this week. That is the life of reaching those disconnected from God. None of those people care how “cool” our church will be tomorrow. All they care about is we have created a place where they can come with all their crap and feel loved and connected.

I’ll be honest and tell you that there are times when pastoring Revolution freaks me out. There are times when I think it would be easier to do what most guys do and plant a church that really is a place for other Christians to come hang out and talk about how we are reaching unchurched people instead of doing it. I think that would be easier, but we would not be charging the gates of hell with that mindset. There are enough guys around doing that and doing it well.

Canton didn’t need another church. Canton didn’t need another church with loud music, casual dress, and “relevant” teaching. Neither do most of the towns where guys are planting. However, Canton did need a place that was loving the unlovable. It needed a place that was willing to get it’s hands dirty and deal with the messy crap that takes place in the lives of those far from God.

When a guy wants to tell me they are starting a church to reach the disconnected, I always ask them if they are sure they want to do that. I don’t think they understand the cost that comes with it. It literally can almost kill you at times.

BUT, if they do understand the cost, they will realize it is nothing compared to the reward of seeing lives changed with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is worth whatever cost there is. I would put everything on the line to continue to do what we do because the payoff is so huge.

Most guys won’t.

end rant.

Thanks Gary, for laying it out for us!

2013 UPDATE: I am not a fan of church planting any longer. I now believe that we don’t plant churches, we simply be the church by loving others whom God places in our life. Simple. Easy. Natural. …And it looks like Jesus.

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: church, Church planting, Discipleship, love, mission

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