Church is here

From the mouth of babes God has perfected praise! What great hope your story brings out of the broken body of Christ. Thank you.

Amen!!! One thought, I do not mind the home-brewed beer, but please remember the people who come to Emergent who cannot even have one drink of alcohol because of their addictions. An addict usually realizes that they cannot drink like other people, therefore they cannot drink at all and need support for their journeys.

@Calvin, thanks so much for you affirmation!
@Gary. Thanks for taking the time to ingest my article and story…such a crazy weird experience for me to have the opportunity and freedom to share it.
I do appreciate your concern for our brothers and sisters who struggle with addiction. You point is well made sir…thanks for sharing it!~Peace

Joy,

This is well written and honestly expressed. It’s great to see that the next generation will be able to see church as something completely different than the generation we grew up in and the generations before us.

Thanks for bearing your soul to us.

Joy, thanks for sharing a bit of your story here. I enjoyed meeting you in NM and the continuing casual conversations since then on FB.

It’s amazing how this statement has become a sort of turning point for our group as a whole. I love it!

Joy,

It’s been a blessing to get mixed up with this “messy collection of questioners and quitters”. It’s been not only been faith affirming for me, but faith building as well.

Frank Viola quoted Reggie McNeal about this… “A growing number of people are leaving the institutional church for a new reason. They are not leaving because they have lost their faith. They are leaving the church to preserve their faith.”

Joy,

I thoroughly enjoyed your writing, and I can certainly relate to some of your ups and downs in the search for spiritual “home.” BTW, you should do more writing. It is enjoyable to read.

thanks for the great blog. I have just taken on the oversight of a mid-size trad-type church. Although this is where God has called me I love the whole emergent outlook on body-life and hope to be able to shape the outlook of the people in my church, a church that is already very inclusive and loving. Emergent thinking keeps me fresh and less likely to fall into the stereotypes of trad church (or at least I hope so!)

Great post Joy… thank you for sharing your story! We are a great mess of wonderful folks, and we are blessed at EmDes, as are many other cohorts, to have found one another.
God moves amongst us, no matter what size!
Keep writing!

Thank you everyone…It is so good to to able to be honest and legit about my journey…without fearing chastisement from people who were previously in ‘authority’ over me…I be able to using my voice in this format is incredibly affirming and gives me more hope! I wasn’t always so fortunate…I truly appreciate all of your wonderfully warm comments!

DOH…TYPOS )o:

“Look, Mom! Church is here!”
You can BET I’ll be quoting that for years to come! Thank you for sharing.

Joy,

What a story! I’m so interested in that little cricket on your shoulder whispering, “This isn’t really church!” What is it that we’re supposed to think church is supposed to look like? And why? Where do these expectations come from?

@ Lori…it’s a great phrase isn’t it?!
@Emily, Oh those stinking expectations…they have almost RUINED my life! (o; Thankfully I am learning to let go of them It’s been said that
expectations ‘limit’ possibilities and I have found that to be absolutely true!

Yeah! Amen! Hallelujah!

Church isn’t rules & regulations, jumping through hoops & striving to be “perfect” Church is enjoying each other, relaxed, learning, growing, talking, being!
Thank God this generation “gets” that…..teach us oh young ones!

Hi Joy,

I know so many people who have been pushed away or judged instead of loved by church; So many who are diss’d about church and its demands on us and lack of freedom. It makes me feel like giving up on it altogether; my wife just can’t face it anymore she’s been hurt so bad and finds it hard to trust church now and also feels that church is a list of demands. But then I remember how the word says that we should gather and I am in a quandalry. I also hate that so often people are written off and pushed aside and have wasted, unused gifts because of personal circumstances or their ‘working class’ faces don’t fit. I am excited to have come across this ‘Emerging Church’ and look forward to finding out more about it. Maybe church needs a new expression in the town in England I live in, one of love, acceptance, forgiveness, openness to things of The Spirit and community without selfish ambition, territorial behaviour, judging and churchianity.

Paul, a 41 year old truck driver.

thank you for sharing your story!

Balance is certainly a key. God is very merciful (thankfully) and does love and forgive but He also does have commands, laws, standards, rules, and regulations. As the Holy Spirit controls our life we will learn to assimilate both into our life and ministry. The Old Testament has a lot of God’s law and we see His judgement on sin. That is the same God who rules this church age as well. God’s laws and judgment should be balanced with His love, mercy and forgiveness. Freedom in Christ certainly could not mean the ability to live as we please apart from rules, regulations, standards, etc. That is the way the world tries to live but the Bible says, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 16:25). Jesus is LORD / Master.

Michael Rains.

After reading this article and some of the comments that followed, I must admit I feel very sick and very saddened. Clearly, there is a great ignorance of the scriptures and who is the church, and most importantly no mention of Jesus. Jesus died on the cross for every person who ever lived and every person who will live. He took upon Himself all the sins of the world. “Without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sin.” Jesus who knew no sin, became sin. He paid the price for our sins. And let’s not forget, He arose on the third day. He is seated at the right hand of the Father and He ever lives to make intercession for us. Christ is the head of the church. The church is the body of believers. A believer is one who recognizes that Jesus is God, Lord of lords, King of kings and asks God to forgive them of their sins and to come into their heart and be the Lord of their life. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by Him. So if you want to spend eternity in heaven, Jesus is the only way. I suggest you keep looking for a Spirit filled Church that preaches and teaches the Word of God.

Kathy….
You wrote “I suggest you keep looking for a sprit filled Church.”

Joy has.

Debbie

@Michael…thanks for taking the time to read this very small slice of my story here at Emergent Village. I agree that balance is imperative; I experienced so little of it in my 25 years as an adult inside the Evangelical Charismatic Mega variety of church…The micro church is a much healthier alternative for me.
@ Kathy…I think you are assuming a lot regarding my personal faith…and that of my current community. I respect your zeal and convictions…however, this article isn’t meant to be a testamony or a theological manifesto…but a story that exposes a very tiny glimpse of my journey as a follower(READ believer…disciple…) of Jesus.
My faith is multidimensional and complex as I suppose yours is…I think it’s too bad that you missed the point of my article completely.

@Kathy I totally get where you’re coming from, if you were expecting this article to give an in-depth of view to the entire emergent conversation and our group in general. But that wasn’t the intention. We’ve struggled with this idea of the local church for some time. We don’t have any issue with the universal church – Jesus’ people. Instead, the issue comes in when we’re describing a local assembly as a “church” – mostly because several of us have been burned by churches (like Joy and her husband). I work with people who have been burned by my company, and they want nothing to do with anything remotely related to us. But once they see good in us, they feel a connectedness again. That’s a similar dynamic that has happened here. We’re a bit skittish to call what we’re doing a church when we’ve been burned by that label in the past, but we don’t reject the idea that as a whole. We are the church. The “you didn’t mention Jesus enough” argument isn’t a very good one. You never mentioned the Holy Spirit who fills every man and woman of God, so should I assume you do not believe in Him? Of course not, that would be silly. Plus, the point of your post wasn’t on the trinity, so why should I expect you to state that. It’s the same thing with Joy’s story. She wasn’t talking about Jesus. She was telling a story about her local community. But, if you would like to see Joy talk about Jesus, visit her blog at http://giveandtake67.blogspot.com

Joy, thanks so much for sharing this…what a great story with an encouraging conclusion, especially with the little girl’s description of church! Children living the Kingdom of God!

@kathy. I don’t think the argument/conversation here is about doctrine or beliefs. It seems to be saying that ‘the church’ ought to be more about the people than the institution. (For example: how churches treat depressed people fearfully as tho they were a burden with nothing to offer. Do they ever stop to wonder that a poor self image and low self esteem cause this and the church does well to affirm it? Strangely depressed people are often very gifted) I don’t think anyone is trying to alter biblical truths, they’re just trying to be Jesus to the people just like Jesus was. As long as they don’t add or subtract from the Word and follow Jesus(as per scripture), all is well surely.

@michael. We’re called to follow Jesus, not the institution and its leaders! Also isn’t ours a doctrine of grace not of law! Afterall love covers a multitude of sins does it not? Wasn’t God slow to become angry and quick to forgive?
Laws and rules judge and alienate people. A church is very quick to chuck someone out for a mistake for example but not always good at gently restoring! Is it me or does one have to jump through many hoops to be accepted!

@ Paul…thanks so much for taking the time to offer your thoughts here…YOU GET IT…I absolutely was trying to express how the church is people…not the building…or the programs or the pastor/leadership. I thought I already knew all that…until I had the rug pulled out from under me…and then I found myself in full on crisis trying to get out from underneath my ideologies…The whole point was how effortless the deduction came for the child…when I agonized over the details for so very long!
Thank you Paul!

It sounds like you have a group of people who have trouble submitting to authority, who may stumble into heaven with your home-brewed beer.

@Jesse. That may be true for some. However, sometimes the ‘authorities’ don’t always have our, or indeed Gods, best interest at heart! I submit to the will of God and His Word. I am currently between churches as I find unfortunately that I cannot wholeheartedly trust them. Sad really, as I desperately want to.

@Jesse…You’re absolutely correct…especially those who have caused us spiritual and emotional harm…as far as the beer goes…well…we don’t secularize much in our cohort…it’s all spiritual. We may stumble in but we’ll make it! Thanks for at least taking the time to read our story! Peace.