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Redefining Church

By Jeremy Myers
1 Comment

Redefining Church

redefine churchMy friend Kathy Escobar wrote an insightful post recently about her understanding of church.

Here is some of what she wrote:

the part that makes me sad, though, is that as a culture how little we value alternative forms of church–and not just unique worship services.

there are an awful lot of ways to grow, be challenged, and practice loving God, others, ourselves.  in fact, God’s awfully creative like that–showing up in all kinds of unexpected, ordinary, wild, beautiful places that have nothing to do with organized religion.

yeah, small dinner parties are church.
time with dear friends laughing & eating & sharing life is church.
online connections where we gather hope & are challenged is church.
intense theology conversations at the pub is church. 
sharing burdens with colleagues at work is church.
offering cups of cold water to thirsty friends on the street is church.
recovery meetings are church.
neighborhood potlucks are church.
regular worship services are church (as long as you talk to someone, ha ha).

a whole long list of ways that people gather & find hope & share love are church.

to me, the only for-sure ingredient of “church” is people–beautiful, weird, flawed human beings,  some how, some way, gathering with other people, in the midst of the reality of God, giving & receiving love and hope.

[Read more…]

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Theology of the Church

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14 Reasons Why I Never Returned to the Institutional Church

By Jeremy Myers
4 Comments

14 Reasons Why I Never Returned to the Institutional Church

This is a guest post by Sam Riviera. He spends most of his time and energy caring for others in his community so that through his life and actions they might see Jesus. See his other fantastic Guest Posts here:

  • 10 Reasons Why I Never Argue Theology
  • 11 Reasons Why I Never Discuss Politics
  • 12 Reasons Why I Never Argue Scripture
  • 13 Reasons Why I Left the Institutional Church

If you would like to write a guest post for this blog, check out the guidelines here. 

Love Your NeighborPreviously, I wrote about the 13 Reasons Why I Left the Institutional Church. Here are the 14 reasons I never returned.

  1. The day I told the pastor I would no longer be attending, all information about me was deleted from church records within hours.  The church never contacted me again.
  2. When I bumped into people from the church in local stores they pretended they did not know me.
  3. When I e-mailed several people from the church (including one person who had borrowed something from me which he had not returned and who I e-mailed three times) they never replied.
  4. I discovered people in the streets on Sunday mornings who don’t like churches, but who want to talk about Jesus.  I don’t remember anyone at church who wanted to talk about Jesus.
  5. I love the freedom in Christ, of not being told how I must believe and how I must interpret the Bible.  After I left, I discovered that most of what the church believed was taken straight from a book written by a “theologian” who they considered something like their guru.  That book was their primary resource.  The Bible was somewhere down the list, behind numerous other books.
  6. Now my time and money are available to help others.
  7. Now I have time to get to really know my neighbors and build community with them, and help them build community with each other.
  8. I no longer dread Sundays.
  9. I’ve discovered a huge community of people who have left church, many of whom are trying to figure out how to build new communities outside the institutional church, communities that include Jesus.
  10. Most of my friends don’t expect me to pretend I’m something or someone I’m not, as I was expected to do with the church people.
  11. Now I really grasp the idea that I am part of the church, all the time, with everyone with whom I come in contact.  Church is not a place or a time.  Church is the body of Christ, alive and active in the world.
  12. I no longer resent serving others.  Serving those who have real needs and who say thank you works so much better for me than does serving those who do not need what I have to offer and are demanding and critical.
  13. I’ve discovered the meaning of “Love your neighbor as you love yourself”.
  14. I’ve discovered where Jesus hangs out, and with whom Jesus hangs out.  That is where I want to be.

[Read more…]

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: guest post, Theology of the Church

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13 Reasons Why I Left the Institutional Church

By Jeremy Myers
6 Comments

13 Reasons Why I Left the Institutional Church

This is a guest post by Sam Riviera. He spends most of his time and energy caring for others in his community so that through his life and actions they might see Jesus. If you have neighbors (and you do), you must read his series of posts on Getting to Know Your Neighbors.

If you would like to write a guest post for this blog, check out the guidelines here.

Leaving Church

Which Gospel?

When I was a child, I loved my church.  I imagined Jesus sitting next to me when I was there.  Jesus loved me this I knew, for I learned it in Sunday school.

As an adult, however, something changed.  I could no longer imagine Jesus sitting beside me as I listened to a whole ‘nuther gospel, a gospel of money, power, authority, position, correct thinking, correct behaving and unquestioning acceptance of everything being taught.

Where Is Jesus?

I no longer knew what to call the institution.  Church seemed inappropriate.  So I called it religion and decided to look for Jesus elsewhere.

[Read more…]

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: guest post, Theology of the Church

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A Gay Twitter Conversation

By Jeremy Myers
28 Comments

A Gay Twitter Conversation

Gay Twitter LGBTI wrote a post a while back about loving LGBT people.

Recently I Tweeted about the post and ended up having an interesting conversation on Twitter about it.

Here is the conversation:

[2015 Note: Sandpiper64 deleted all his Tweets. So they no longer show]

The sin of Sodom was not homosexuality, but that they they ate too much food without taking care of the poor and needy. Ezekiel 16:49

— Jeremy Myers (@jeremyers1) May 16, 2012

Why we should love LGBT people — even if you think their lifestyle is sinful. tillhecomes.org/loving-lgbt-pe…

— Jeremy Myers (@jeremyers1) May 15, 2012

@sandpiper64 If we reject LGBT people from church membership we should also reject those who are liars, cheats, selfish, angry, and gluttons

— Jeremy Myers (@jeremyers1) May 16, 2012


[Read more…]

God is z Bible & Theology Topics: Theology of the Church

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The Decline of Christianity

By Jeremy Myers
46 Comments

The Decline of Christianity

church and cultureI got interviewed yesterday by Ken Briggs who is writing a book for Eerdman’s on the connection (or actually, the DISconnection) between the message of the church and the needs and issues of our culture.

He has noticed, as has many others, that although the church is trying harder than ever to get its message heard, fewer and fewer people are listening. Though in the past it has primarily been Mainline churches that were in decline, Southern Baptists are now in decline as well. 

Ken Briggs wants to know what the church can do about this… if anything.

He and I met at a Starbucks in East Stroudsburg University and discussed these sorts of questions for about three hours. It was quite an honor to be interviewed by him, since he has also interviewed other writers and theologians around the country, including Stanley Hauerwas, the most widely read and oft-cited theologian of our day.

Ken is conducting research and interviews this year, and the book is scheduled to be out in 2013.

[Read more…]

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Theology of the Church

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