This weekend, snow permitting (LOL), I'll be asking the congregation to reinvigorate their marriages. In order to get the point across, I wrote a drama for our contemporary service, "Where's Jesus?" You can  download it here, and use with permission under creative commons license for non-commercial use (i.e. you're not gaining profit with it's use).

We'll use this earlier in the service, just before the Offering time, ending with a band song, "I Will Be Here" by Stephen Curtis Chapman and leading into an invitation to ask Jesus to become a powerful part of your marriage or other relationships right now - again.

License Information:

Where's Jesus? by Sandy Boone is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at sandyboone.com.

Picture David and Goliath and then Melanie Oudin. This 17 year old from Georgia charmed the Tennis world with her lion heart and her sneakers. "Believe" is what her sneakers shouted, and believe is the way she played! No one thought she could really do it.

She made it into the 4th Round of the US Open - unexpected to say the least. She was not sure exactly how to speak in front of a large stadium crowd, a fresh teenager learning the ropes of the "big time." Regardless of her preparedness for "the big time," she was determined to win and press her opponents until they couldn't take it any more!

Her boyfriend suggested the word which is on Melanie's sneakers, designed for the competition of all competitions: Believe. How far can one go with that little but mighty word? Well, at least to the 4th round of the Open.

Keep on believing Melanie!

In a world gone hostile to Christian faith and churches, it's going to get tougher. So far, there's been a 10% drop in self-identified Christians according to the recent Pew study. We are no longer considered the chaplain of this community, and in fact if we try to say anything in opposition to whatever anyone thinks - we are charged with being "intolerant, uncaring, judgmental, and not friendly." Have I thrown in enough words yet?

How about this? "We can't limit the freedom of someone's ideas - that's unfair."

How are we going to approach the deepening gap between what people believe in America and who Christ is actually?
Ed Stetzer gave a recent interview about that subject in "The State of the Church." Here's a summary of his insights for "reforms" needed in our churches - 'ala Ed Stetzer' (and because I agree):

* We must be Preaching scripture first - Preaching that talks about what Jesus says and is - because we are not to model ourselves after "Oprah"

* We must Become better at Christian community rather than Christian/cultural individualism

* We must Be Clear about how the identity of the church is different than 'spirituality' in the more eclectic sense. And we must get more serious about who Jesus called us to be - in church and personal life.

* We must Be Careful not to confuse context with gospel or of diluting the gospel - a tricky balancing act because as Ed says "when you're more afraid of the one [being too much like culture, or too unlike culture], you'll probably end up on the other side [too far]."


Easier said than done.

I've noticed something recently as I've listened to people online. They take immediate offense in the gospel. I wonder if they don't want to be left alone to their own belief systems? Or if it's assumed to be "unkind" if anyone challenges their belief systems? I wonder if the online world assumption is that "this is my personal playground, and it is not a thinking place, but a playing place"?

I'm trying to figure out how to dance between the worlds of "thinking clearly online" and "engaging culturally online." How about you?