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Can Christianity survive in a churched culture?

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Can Christianity survive in a churched culture?

We are on the road in Holland, Michigan. This is church country. 

Holland is a pretty and very upmarket tourist community with heated sidewalks to ward off the winter snow, and open gas fireplaces on the street to counter the chill wind. You can buy Christian-themed merchandise in almost every shop. Plaques and mugs are only the beginning. We even saw a plaque with a quotation from the Heidelberg Catechism. The window of the ladies’ wear store was festooned with verses between the dresses. “Fearfully and wonderfully made” was one of them. The toy shop had childrens’ devotionals. And the conversation was similar. In the art store, both conversations we overheard were on local church topics. We did not visit the craft brewery to see whether there were Bible verses on the beer mugs, but being Reformed country, it is possible there were. 

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Why do we lose vision?

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Why do we lose vision?

Most leaders start off as visionaries but wind up as managers. Or worse, as drop-outs.

I realize that’s a sweeping statement. And maybe one made to catch your attention. But I believe there is truth in it.

As a young man, I had an enormous vision for God. It propelled me to do all sorts of things that were way beyond my comfort zone and my ability. Some of those things were more successful than others, but at least I got out of the boat and headed out onto the water.

And then the waves hit, just like they did with Peter. We criticize Peter for getting his eyes off the Lord and beginning to sink, but at least he got out of the boat! The others sat in their seats and watched.

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What are we building?

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What are we building?

The building in the photograph doesn’t look like much. In fact, it doesn’t even exist any more. But it has quite a story to tell. And something to teach us about building the church and extending the kingdom.

I’ve been thinking a lot about buildings lately.

Here in southwestern Michigan, where we have spent a large part of the winter, the church has completed a major addition to the building, which in turn has enabled us to knock out the walls of the original structure, which is only ten years old, to create a much larger auditorium. This has created lots of excitement as it nears completion. And the Lord will use it in all sorts of ways.

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Seven quick steps to deal with conflict

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Seven quick steps to deal with conflict

Most of us dislike conflict, and run from confrontation as fast as we can.

And in one sense we should. My spiritual father, Duane Harder, used to say that anyone who loves confrontation is a dangerous person. And yet in all my life I never met anyone who handled conflict and confrontation better than he did.

He did it by modelling the ideal: someone who is fearless in confrontation without actually enjoying it.

It is so critical that we learn to deal with conflict rightly. If we can come without fear when we sit down at the table, then we can come in principle and not in emotion.

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Run to win

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Run to win

I have been running a lot. Only on treadmills, I admit, as I’m not dedicated enough to knock myself out running and freezing at the same time.

The truth is most of us spend a lot more of our lives running than we think. We are usually found either running away from something or running toward something.

We usually make mistakes at both ends.

Instead of running away from our fears or difficult situations, we should stay and face them. The only way to conquer fear is to look it straight in the face and ask God to show himself as the one whose perfect love casts all fear out. It is not easy, it is a process, and we desperately need God’s help and the help of others, but in the end it’s always worth it. Sometimes I think my whole life has been a process of overcoming different kinds of fear.