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Well…this blog has been up and running for a few months. Little did I know what I was getting into as the “blog world” is one confusing place! ATOM feeds. Blogger. Commenting. FeedBurner. Following. Gadgets. Google Analytics. Linking. RSS feeds. Subscribing. Tracking. TypePad. Widgets. WordPress. My head is spinning. Feeds still confuse me…but, perhaps one of these days I will master this world. Until then…I’ll just pretend.
I somewhat feel like an outsider. The “blog world” is full of people with buddies, friends, and smarts. Me? I’m just looking through the window…pretending. Huh? What about the un-churched? What must they feel like?
First off…where do you even start? Apostolic. Assemblies of God. Baptist. Catholic. Lutheran (which one). Methodist. Non-denominational. Presbyterian. Seventh Day Adventist. Oh no. My head is spinning again.
Let’s take it one step further. Amen or zipped lips. Baptize adults or babes. Confirmation or not. Grape juice or wine. Guitar or organ. Khakis or jeans (now, that’s an important one). King James or Message. Raise hands or not. Women leaders or not. Oh boy…
And we wonder why. Why do people mock the church? It’s pretty obvious to me.
Let’s look at some statistics from The Barna Group.
There has been a 92% increase in the number of un-churched Americans in the last thirteen years. In 1991, there were 39 million un-churched Americans compared with 75 million currently (2004).
Yet, more than three out of five (62%) un-churched adults consider themselves to be Christian. And…44% claim they have made a personal commitment to Jesus. However, 64% believe Satan is merely a symbol of evil and not a living being. And…51% believe Jesus sinned (2006).
We…the Christians…look at the un-churched as being confused. They…the un-churched…look at the Christians as being confused. So, everyone seems confused. What to do? Until next time. Jed.
I somewhat feel like an outsider. The “blog world” is full of people with buddies, friends, and smarts. Me? I’m just looking through the window…pretending. Huh? What about the un-churched? What must they feel like?
First off…where do you even start? Apostolic. Assemblies of God. Baptist. Catholic. Lutheran (which one). Methodist. Non-denominational. Presbyterian. Seventh Day Adventist. Oh no. My head is spinning again.
Let’s take it one step further. Amen or zipped lips. Baptize adults or babes. Confirmation or not. Grape juice or wine. Guitar or organ. Khakis or jeans (now, that’s an important one). King James or Message. Raise hands or not. Women leaders or not. Oh boy…
And we wonder why. Why do people mock the church? It’s pretty obvious to me.
Let’s look at some statistics from The Barna Group.
There has been a 92% increase in the number of un-churched Americans in the last thirteen years. In 1991, there were 39 million un-churched Americans compared with 75 million currently (2004).
Yet, more than three out of five (62%) un-churched adults consider themselves to be Christian. And…44% claim they have made a personal commitment to Jesus. However, 64% believe Satan is merely a symbol of evil and not a living being. And…51% believe Jesus sinned (2006).
We…the Christians…look at the un-churched as being confused. They…the un-churched…look at the Christians as being confused. So, everyone seems confused. What to do? Until next time. Jed.
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