Flashy Cards

I walked into a coffee shop last night to get my favorite Carmel Latte. I try other things once in a while, but I keep going back to the old standby for some reason. Anyway... I picked up a flashy card from a local church that advertised their upcoming services, promoted their uniqueness, and proudly stated they were free from religious mentalities. Since when did religion become a bad word? I know where they were going with that, but I think too many churches today have made being relevant and different a religion of it's own. We have just replaced the set of church rules our grandparents lived by with the ones we have made up now. You have to have fun at church, you have to dress casual, you can't sing hymns. Is no rules a rule? I can pretty much guarantee you that ever since Acts, people have been substituting one church thing for another and jumping from one new paradigm shift to the next. The problem is that somewhere we lost the ability to have an original thought. The problem is that we have lost a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and can no longer hear His still small voice amidst the noise of the world, culture, and the Christian religious life. When we present our minds as a living sacrifice to the Lord, He will transform our thoughts and give us the mind of Christ. Then we will no longer feel pressured to jump on to everyone else's ideas, but we can let the Lord speak His ideas to build our churches and reach a dying world. I think sometimes we just don't trust the Holy Spirit. We think if we let Him do His thing, we won't get to where we think we need to be. Lack of trust comes from a lack of intimate relationship with Christ Jesus. He is all that matters!

Anyway, I think once we really learn to yield to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to build our churches we won't need flashy cards. Hurting, hungry people who need the love of Jesus will be beating down our doors and we will not be able to contain all the blessing God will pour out on His people.

I looked at my son and said "Turn to your neighbor and say 'No more flashy cards' " :)

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