How Should Christians Respond to the Economy?
One of the exciting and challenging parts of ministry at City Reformed has been the large amounts of young professionals connected to our church. In recent months it has been challenging in a different way, because we have recently started to feel the effects of the economic climate. I now know of several people in our church that have had major financial losses including being laid off, many because they were the newest hires they are becoming the first to be laid off.
I know that I have personally shrugged off the economic times, figuring its not as bad as people say it is, but I am becoming convinced that Christians need to start asking some tough questions about how we should respond to the current economy. Many lower income churches wrestle with how to deal with the poor around them, but I think that many more affluent churches might soon begin to feel the same tightening. The Bible is full of examples of how the poor should be taken care of during famines. I am beginning to think that in our current American context people out of work in a recessed if not depressed economy should care for in similar terms. Several of the NT books are penned to thank givers, to challenge those in better positions, or to encourage those in the midst of famine.
At what point do Churches fall into a James 2:16 situation when we simply pray for our members who are falling on tough times?
Are we willing to server and to be served if need be?
If economic depressions are the modern equivalent to famines how should the example set down in the books of Acts effect how we minister to other churches?
Does anyone know of any church taking up an offering for another church even within their denomination for our present famine? I am especially thinking of places in the midwest where automotive plants have recently closed.
Are churches beginning to ask themselves how can we care for people who have recently been laid off in our church? Especially when we consider that the chances of finding another job is becoming more difficult.
Could God be using our current situation to break much of the American church of its prideful and individualistic understanding of finances?
*by the way click on the picture above.
Presbyterians and Ash Wednesday?
Today is Ash Wednesday which is a liturgical day celebrated by different denominations, particularly the Roman Catholic Church.
I know that historically some of the reformers argued that we should participate in other parts of the christian experience on days other than traditional liturgical days. Butzer argues in De Regno Christi, that we should not fast on Ash Wednesday, but instead have other times of fasting. In their defense, most people don’t want to look like the group that is persecuting you.
To be quite honest I can see both the benefits and dangers of participating in the liturgical calendar in general, and Ash Wednesday in particular.
Around the twittersphere lots of other church-folks have been talking about how or if they are participating in ash Wednesday.
Do you know of any Presbyterian Churches or Reformed Churches, that participate in Ash Wednesday or in the liturgical calendar more specifically?
Tuesday Tunes: The Octopus Project
As I have noted before one of the benefits of emusic is that you are perpetually being introduced to new artists. Such was the case with The Octopus Project, and their Hello, Avalanche release. The octopus project is a energetic, and eclectic mix of many influences. Rather than butcher the comparisons I’ll let their music speak for them.
Some Recent Thoughts about The PCA
I was reading some blogs last night and noticed that Jonathan Hays brought up some questions about the PCA.
I wanted to spend a few minutes explaining some of the reasons why I am really happy to be a part of the Presbyterian Church in America.
Read More
Tim Keller on the State of the Church
The kind of outsiders Jesus attracted are not attracted to contemporary churches, even our most avant-garde ones. We tend to draw conservative, button-down, moralistic people. The licentious and liberated or the broken and marginal avoid church. That can only mean one thing. If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus did. If out churches aren’t appealing to “younger brothers” they must be more full of elder brothers than we’d like to think.
The Real Deal About My Tattoos
I got a frantic call from my mom at 11m last night. Normally I would have let it got to voice mail, but then I thought “what if something happened to my grandmother” so I picked it up. She was frantic, but my grandmother was fine. She was frantic because she had just gone on facebook–yup Im friends with my mom–and she had freaked out about a photo she saw on facebook.
So let me set the record straight about my tattoos:
This is real:
This is fake:
And Im thinking about getting this one, but I don’t have it yet:
New Tattoo Idea
Im thinking about getting this tattooed on my elbow.
Its a seraphim which is an angel described in Isaiah 6:
Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
Pastors are Sinners Too
In the Apostle Paul’s letter to his friend Timothy he gives a list of guidelines for who should become an elder, or a pastor, in the church.
If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
The thing that is significant is that Paul says he must be grounded, that he should interact with people in a beneficial way. That he should care about how nonchristians see him as a representative of Christ. That he should not be a man of excesses.
What Paul doesn’t say is that he should be a super Christian. That he should or will have to pretend as if he does not struggle with sin(everyone does). Paul doesn’t say that he can never fail(everyone does), that he if he falls into sin that he will never be restored (Peter did and was).
I am not a good person.
Pastors aren’t pastor because they are good people, they are pastors because Jesus saves broken people. They are pastors because Jesus chooses to redeem and to use the redeemed in the process of redemption.
Tuesday Tunes: Yeasayer’s All Hour Cymbals
When I was a kid my grandmother gave me her old record player, and at the same time I came into a collection of my father’s and step father’s records. Among those records was To Our Children’s Children’s Children from the Moody Blues. As as kid I remember falling asleep listening to the b-side of that album. In many ways that album was the soundtrack to my dreams.
Yeasayer’s All Hour Cymbals is similar in many ways. While TOCCC evoked a feeling of a majestic world that time forgot, All Hour Cymbals evokes an equally majestic feel, but for a time that is yet unborn.
If you are unfamiliar with TOCCC than this might mean much to you. All Hour Cymbals stands on its own as a stirring and beautiful album. I would recommend you give it a listen.
The Benifits for the Church to Use Social Networking
Every other month we host a discussion of a hot topic and offer folks free food. The topics of discussion have ranged from seeking justice, to missions, to sexuality and marriage. This month we are talking about Holiness. In preparation for this event I made a facebook event and sent it out to 70 people that I knew might be interested in attending.
Now here comes the magic. 109 people have been invited. that means that folks in our church are using facebook to let people who are not yet connected to our church community about events that we are hosting. It also gives us a decent headcount so that we can plan for food.
Score one for Jesus.
You can subscribe to either the entire site or to one of our three categories.
The DeSocios.com RSS Feed Faith RSS Feed Family RSS Feed Life RSS Feed