Monday, December 31, 2007

Saturday, December 29, 2007

An Invitation

After months of revisions and prayer it is finally time to share with all an invitation. I am a part of the United Methodist Church in the North Central New York Annual Conference. For many years the people called Methodist have been experiencing decline in significant numbers. We have reached the point where we must change, or recapture the way of Christ taught to us through the ages and through the life, works and teachings of John Wesley. God has laid it upon the hearts of four of us to invite people to a radical Christianity. Radical meaning to return to the roots. Please read the linked document http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhjm6jn5_0cx22q77g . After taking some time to read through the invitation please join us in January, and before then on the Official blog of A Radical Call To Christianity . We are inciting all, United Methodist or not, to join in the revolution to return to the roots of Christianity, and be the people of God called the church.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Christmas Morning

Here it is Christmas morning and I am sitting at my computer. It was a blessed night here at the church and God is blooming in glorious ways. I want to take this time to say thank you to all the people who mean so much to me. I know that is more of a thanksgiving thing, but each of you give me the present of reminding me of His presence. Before all, to Sarah my wife. You put up with a crazy schedule and a husband that cannot stop dreaming of what could be. The long hours at church, in meetings, teaching, and just plain not being home. I love you and could not be in ministry without you. To my girls, Rachel, Leah and Hannah. I see the face of God in you every time I look at you. You are so precious to daddy, and I love you. To my mom, who has been and is patient with me every step of the way. To my brother, I am proud to have a brother like you. To my extended family, thank you for all the ways you support Sarah and I. To Bill, BJ, and Alan this has been an incredible ride, and I think it is just beginning. You three have helped me more than words can say. I am not sure I would still be in ministry today if it were not for the three of you. You are not as important as my wife and kids but it is close. Thanks and I love you guys.

Yo all my you be blessed this Christmas, and hey take time to tell those you love that you love them. Take time to embrace the Christ, and those who make life worth living.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Who Gets It First

Over the past week I have been impacted by the fact that the people who were considered outsiders were the ones who understood Jesus first. In the Gospel of Matthew you have the magi, who were most likely priests in a non-Jewish religion, who seek the Christ child to worship and give gifts to. Then in John 4 it is a Samaritan woman, an outcast among outcasts. The Samaritan women is contrasted by Nicodemus in John 3, who was a religious leader and didn't get it. All this is to say that we who are a part of the church, who think we get it, need to take great caution. In the midst of our perceived understanding, we might completely miss true understanding. In our religious fervor and certainty, we might not see God right in front of us. God works in all places and with all people, however, I think God takes special pleasure in using people who others have considered out of the loop to draw everyone back to focus.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Is This The End

Soon it will be time to take down the tree, and put away all the decorations. The resolutions set with great determination will soon begin to fade into obscurity, and the rest of January will continue. It is easy to see Christmas and New Years as time of culmination, a time of ending. However, it is important to refocus our attention into seeing this time of year as a blessed beginning. The Christ child in the manger was not the end of the story, it was not even the beginning of the story. It was, a blessed refocusing of what in means to follow God. Christmas morning is the beginning of another time to focus on what God is doing in our world and with us. The new year is the opportunity to break free from the patterns of what was, and claim new ground for what God is doing. Really Christmas should remind us that there is never really an ending, but a glorious continuation of God's plan to draw all people to Him. Eternity is not the present question, the present is the eternal opportunity.

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Worth The Time

This is a cool video, I am sure many have seen it. It is worth the time.




Hope you enjoy.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Equal Access

"He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit." -- Ephesians 2:17-18



The work of Christ was about bringing peace between God and people. And, now the church, the extent ion of Christ for today, seems to be working to show how different and separate people are, not only from God, but from each other. There are times when those who would take the name Christian us that name in a way to set themselves above other people. However, every single person on the face of the planet has equal access to the the father, through the son. It is not the job of humans to determine who is in and who is not. It is not the job of humans to be in the management of the Kingdom, we are called to be in sales. Additionally the way we are called to offer Christ is not with a flashy sales pitch, or with obnoxious words shouted in judgment. Rather, our witness is to be the way in which we live our lives. I wonder what kind of world we would have if Christians decided to spend more time living the life of God than determining who was qualified or not?

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Trying to Please God

So much of what we call a Christian life is spent trying to please God. We make sure to God to church, so god won't get mad at us. We give to the church and other ministries to get God off our back. When we take a few moments to slow down and ask the dangerous question of why, our life might not be the same again. I have to confess that for far too long I have been trying to keep God please with me, making sure that I do the right things, and stay away from the wrong things. Much like the followers of God in the Old Testament, I want to make sure that I give the right sacrifice at the right time, so God will be pleased with me a bless me. I have come to believe this to be faulty thinking. Understand that I have transitioned my thinking, just not all my actions to this point. God is already pleased with us. That is the whole point of Jesus. That God is pleased with us and longs to be in relationship with us. It is not God's unhappiness that blocks a relationship, it is our sin. At the root of every sin known, and not known, is placing something, or someone ahead of God on our relationship priority list. Anytime we make something more important, or bigger than God, we are practicing idolatry. At its heart all sin is idolatry.

Ironically the gods we place ahead of the Lord God, will never be pleased or satisfied with us. There will always be a demand for more of our attention and sacrifice. Yet we ignore the true God who is already pleased with us, and further separate ourselves from that God. What would happen if we shifted focus. What would happen if those who carry the name of Christ began to live like people who were in relationship with a god who was pleased with them. What would happen if we began to live a life that showed we have been blessed by God, not for our sake but for the sake of other people.

We are people, all people, who have a God that is pleased with us, and longs to be in perfect relationship with us. When are we going to stop trying to please this God and all the other gods in our lives?

Monday, November 26, 2007

God Knows What We Need

I shouldn't be, but I continue to be amazed at the ways in which God knows what we need. Not only is there a knowledge of the need, there in an amazing ability to provide in unexpected ways. Over the last few months in the church I have been doing some small group or one-on-one meetings with people from the church I serve. Through one of those meetings yesterday God has provided just what I needed. After the Sunday services, I was feeling less than encouraged about my abilities as a pastor. I had a stressful weekend, and have been watching the church attendance stagnate over the past few weeks. I had begun to wonder if I was reaching anyone. If people were growing in their faith, or if I was doing anything of value in the kingdom of God. Just to clarify, not a happy or good place to be. My plan was to call my covenant partners later in the evening, after this meeting with three women from the church. God knew I needed that meeting more than anything in the world. I sat with three women who have have been growing in their faith over the last year, and have decided recently to jump out of comfort zones and begin to serve God in new ways. They told the reason was that God was using me, to encourage them and show them the possibilities of what God could do. Thank you ladies and thank you God for the encouragement.

I do not write this for me, rather that we would know that we have a Heavenly Father who cares for us more than we can imagine. He knows what we need, what our soul needs, or responsibility is to be obedient in following his call and lead.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

What to Do When It's Broken

Whether we like it or not all of our lives are effected by organizations and institutions. There is not a single person who is exempt from this. Yet there are some who are able to function and do what God has called them to do in spite of a broken system. Usually these are the people who push a dead institution toward reform and renewal. This brings me to a question, when the system is broken what is the difference between reform and insubordination? I am a part of a broken and if not dead on hospice system and institution. The church organization that I belong to is in desperate need of reform, yet I want to make that like King David, I am honoring those who God has placed over me in the organization. I am balancing the drive and call to be a radical reforming voice of renewal and challenge to the system, and the need to respect and honor those who take actions and make decisions that seem to aid in the death of the church. The easy way out would be to become non-denominational, however I think the challenge still follows you. No, when it is broken and dead, revival is the only course of action. There comes a time when those whom God pushes are to step out and challenge the system. If we look at the life of Jesus he was constantly charges with insubordination. Jesus did not follow the rules and regulations of the established system, He advanced the Kingdom of God, even when the religious leaders tried to stop him. I is time to follow the leader, and advance the Kingdom, even if the religious leaders are not willing to go.

Matthew 11:12 says this, " Since the time of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men and women, take hold of it."

Status quo, playing inside the rules is not going to get the job done. If this means I am charged with insubordination, so be it, I am in good company.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Poor Representatives of The Truth

I have noticed that there are more and questions about God surfacing in our world. Actually I am not sure there are more, I am becoming more and more aware of the questions, and having a few of my own. Along with noticing the questions I have found myself at a deficit in answers. I have always thought as a pastor I was suppose to have the answers, so I learned many of the standard answers. additionally I learned to say them with great conviction and rudeness, hoping to reduce arguments. I have now reached a point of realizing that the questions of our faith are not questions which come with standard answers, and often the standard answers need to be challenged. The result of sticking with the standard answers is a church that cannot think in increasing numbers. These churches are producing individuals who are not able to think and examine critical issues. This has brought us to the point in our journey where Truth has taken a real hit because we, the church, have been poor representatives of the truth. I want to be clear, Truth, absolute truth, exists, however, there is not a single earth originated person who holds all of this truth. What this means is that we all need to approach discussions of truth with an appropriate measure of humility, understanding and willingness to journey with all people and God. I wonder what would happen if we spent less time trying to assert truth, and more time letting the God of Truth be revealed to us as we listen to and ask questions of each other?

Monday, November 12, 2007

Jumping Into a Rock

Now by most people's account jumping into a rock is not one the smarter things that one could do with their time and energy. In fact if done with enough force, and distance could have quite extreme consequences. There is a rock though, that we should all jump into, fore it is the Rock, also known as Jesus that we should be jumping into. I want to be clear that we are not to jump into the church, we are not to jump into some institution, we are not to jump into anything that is made by human hands, or gives glory to human hands. We are to jump with all our might into Jesus Christ. Yesterday, Sunday, November 11, 2007 was the day that both my feet left the edge of where I was at. I am now headed full speed ahead toward the Rock, Jesus Christ. While I am still a part of a dying, if not dead, institution, that is not where I am jumping to. I am jumping to Jesus. No longer will status quo living and minister have room in my life. No longer will I take the easy, comfortable, or casual way out. Every moment of my life will be aimed at following Jesus, no matter where that takes me. I invite you to jump into the Rock.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Reflection From Africa

Finally I am going to write a little about my time in Africa. I was excited about going and learning about the church in Africa, and worried that I might teach some of the bad habits of the American church unknowingly. Once I got to Africa I found a people who were for the most part still primal in their faith. The people of the church in Africa are some of the most committed people I have come across. Their devotion to the work God has called them, and their commitment to serve God with all their heart soul and mind was humbling. I could see signs of the American church creeping into the church in Africa, and it saddened me. I pray that is there is any transfer of learning it is that we in America re-learn what the African church seems to have not lost. My we have vitality, passion and reliance on God through the Holy Spirit like those I encountered in Africa.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Time For Action

Recently here in the city of Cortland where I live there have been some lively editorials concerning Christianity in the newspaper. Now at least one of the articles uses a questionable process of selecting biblical texts, and not using the fullness of a text. I expected better scholarship from some one who is a college professor, but that is not the point. The point is that both of the articles pointed to the same thing, Christianity is under attack, and I think it should be. However, letters to the editor, sermons, even blogs are not going to engage the battle on the best level possible. The only way to begin to answer the critics is to let religion and Christianity die, and to embrace what Erwin McManus dubbed the Barbarian way. We should be living a dangerous life, filled with risk and uncertainty. Institutions, religion, and tradition have never and will never bring the fullness of the kingdom of God. Only when individuals choose to live a more primal life, and those individuals band together to follow with all they are and all they have after God, as taught by Jesus Christ, then the Kingdom of heaven will be advanced. So what say you, are you just going to read this blog, possibly comment, and live your life the same? I hope not!

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Time to End Religion

It might seem odd for a pastor to call for an end to religion, but that is exactly what I am doing. The religion of Christianity is doing great harm to the movement of following Jesus Christ. So I ask all those who are more concerned with do's and don'ts, and are more concerned with doctrine and policy than people, to please put down the religion. Our world does not need another religion claiming to have the truth. What the world needs is people who radically live out the call of Jesus Christ in their lives. The world needs people who are going to ask questions, have doubts, be unsure of the course before us. Religion has held the beautiful Body of Christ hostage long enough, and it is time to set the body free. I realize that those who have an interest in religion are not going to willingly give up that which they hold dear. Therefore, I think the transformation happens when people begin to live lives differently. When people begin to live lives that reflect Jesus Christ, not the religion that claims the name of Christ. Basically it starts with people deciding to live differently, and inviting others on the journey of a lifetime. In the end religion is empty and will lead to death, radically following Jesus will lead to life, and ultimately to transformed living. Let's put the religion down and start walking with Christ.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Who is Disqualified?

I am just back from Africa, and logic might tell you that this entry would be about my time there, but I am often on the other side of logic. Today I am thinking more about the people that we as Christians disqualify from having worth. Churches are built both buildings and people, to reach people and this is good. he tragedy is these churches often are only looking to have people like us there. The "Boomer" thought of churches endorses such thinking. I argue that the Jesus way of thinking challenges this line of thought in some significant ways. As Christians we are called to build relationships with all people, especially those who are not just like us. The church is not to be a place where people look the same, talk the same and think the same. I guess it comes down to the words that many attribute to John Wesley, actually it is Augustine, in the essentials unity, in the doubtful things liberty, but in all things love. The only essential is Jesus, and what his life, death and resurrection opens for each person on the face of the planet. Everything else is a opportunity for growth and discussion along the journey of faith. There are far less absolutes than I once thought there to be, but there is still Jesus, and a call for people to radically live like Jesus calls us to live.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Adventures in Missiong the Point

To steal a title from Tony Campolo and Brian McLaren, I think often our lives become adventures in missing the point. The issues that we make significant and of greatest importance are often issues that confuse the call of God. The more I travel this journey of faith, the more I become convinced that buildings, budgets, and statistics are a waste of time if we are not staying focused on the work of God. So what is the work of God? I think the principle work of God is building relationship. Relationship with God first, and then as a product of our relationship with God, others. Not just the people who are like us, but with all people. People of different race, economic group, sexual preference, political outlook, or any other difference. The point of this whole thing called life is not to create division, but to build relationship with all people and God.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

More Than Salvation

I think that it is easy to miss the point in this thing called life. It is really easy to miss the point in this glorious and mysterious thing called the church. What if relationship is more important than salvation. Now before you think I have completely lost my mind hear me out. What if the key to our life and the church was found in relationship, not only human to human, but our relationship with God. I contest a full relationship with God can only be accomplished through the grace offered by Jesus Christ. Yet, I think God is looking for more than to simply have us all be saved. I think God longs to be in relationship with us, a deep, meaningful, and intimate relationship. In fact it is fractured relationship that brought about the need for salvation, but salvation does not repair the breech of relationship. The repair is only done by developing the relationship with God, that God longs to have with us.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Why Hold Back

I just got back from spending a week with some of the most amazing youth. For a little over 6 years I have been working with the program called Director's Invitational at Casowasco Camp and Retreat Center. This group of young people came together and challenged each other through discussion and exploration of who God is and the ways that we relate to God. It made me wonder why we, as supposed adults, have such a difficult time being in dialogue such as I say in these leaders of the church.

I wonder if we spend more time trying to keep people happy, or if we do not want to offend someone. I guess it could possibly be that we have not taken the time to think through our believes enough and we know if really challenged we would be lost. Could it be that we might have to face the fact that we might be wrong?

All told, it might seem more simple to just assume what another person thinks and leave it at that. It also might seem more simple to never challenge what we believe. However, do we ever grow then?

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

The Privilege and Responsibility of Invitation

“For it is by grace you have been saved, though faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. -- Ephesians 2:8

It is only through the grace of God, not our good works, not our human determination, or even through our will, that we gain full access to the riches and fullness of God. The only thing we did to receive this gift was to accept the gift. The grace of God was poured out for all humanity in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and is offered to every single person. Many of you reading this might have not only heard about the grace of God, but you have chosen to accept the gift. Still more of you may have gone from acceptance to living fully a life of grace. All who have accepted this grace are called to share the gift. Grace, while given to each person, is not only for the one person. As Christ Followers, those who have accepted the gift, there is a great privilege in inviting others to experience the grace of God first hand. A grace relationship with God through Jesus Christ is not something that we are to merely soak in the glory of. We are not to be selfish with what God has done through Christ. Not only is it our privilege to share the grace of God it is our responsibility. Part of being a Christ Follower is to act as Christ did, and that is to extend the grace of God to all people.

Establishing a grace relationship with God through Christ is not something we did. It is impossible for us to do enough good things to receive grace. It is a gift from God. It is not from us, and only for us. It is from God and for all people. There are many ways for people to experience this gift, one of the ways is through the church. I want to invite you to be praying about, and looking for people that you can share the grace of God with. Invite them to experience the grace God has freely given to all of us.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Let's Be Honest

Once again I found that I took a longer time between posts than planned. But here goes. Right now at the church were I pastor we are doing a sermon series called untouchable topics. We are looking at four issues that are often left out of the church and many peoples life. This week we were looking at racism, over the next few weeks we will be looking at politics, homosexuality, and greed. When these tropics are discussed in many places they are discussed from a purely emotional place. But what would happen if we, Christ Followers, began to have the discussion in a way that glorified God, remained true to our scriptures, and left room for God to be judge not us fallen human beings. Would the discussion be different? I think whether we identify ourselves with labels such as liberal, conservative, evangelical or progressive many of our discussions get put in theological terms, when in reality they are about our personal preferences and bias. It is time that we had honest, biblically sound, discussion around these and many challenging issues in the life of grace. Not providing of answers, or proving of our points, but honest dialogue. Anyone interested?

Thursday, May 31, 2007

The Importance of Relationship

I am at the annual meeting of the United Methodist Church in North Central New York, and have been making some observations. The most significant right now is the inability, or unwillingness to build relationships with each other. I am sad to say that I see this most in my clergy colleagues. Sure there are those whom we share the highest affinity with, but we are in connection with all those who are clergy persons. We should be building relationships with people who we view life differently than, especially those people. Why is it that what we were designed and created for, what we long for, we are so poor at doing?

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

The Best Teacher

It is said that experience is the best teacher, in some regards this is true, but by another it is not true. Think about the best teacher you ever interacted with. One of the reasons you learned from that person was because you choose to learn. Experience can only be the best teacher if we choose to let it be our teacher. We need to take each opportunity to allow God to teach us through what we are experiencing.

By the way, who was the best teacher you ever had?

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Who Are We To Be?

Life gets busy and things fall to the wayside, things like blogs, but I am back. I wanted to go back to the first entry about the biggest issue facing the church. There is no such thing as one issue facing the church in America today, the multiplicity of issues facing the church is truly staggering. At the core of all these issues however I thing one thing rises above all else. There are many ways to say it, are we more concerned with doing church and not being the church, or are we so concerned with being the church that we lose sight of being Christ-Followers? In the world of the church, which I traffic a majority of my time in, we are all too often caught up in the trappings of what we think church should be, and therefore confuse our image of the church with the Image of God. I don't think God has particular interest in many of the things that we as the church fret about. I do think that God has great concern about the things we wave a passing thought to. In the end, when all is said and done, what matters most is living the life that God gave us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and now empowers through the Holy Spirit. At its best our lives should be a grace-filled, love-oozing life patterned after the life of Christ. At minimum I think we all need to be able to say we don't know, and acknowledge that none of us has it all together, and we all do things that are in line with the verbal claims we make about out life.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Truths We Build

I was just sitting in a local Wegmans having lunch when I over heard two people having a great conversation about the Bible and relationships with God. I couldn't help but encourage their conversation and seeking. After a brief conversation, thank you to the two of you if you are reading, I drove the 30 minutes back to my home. During that drive I was reviewing the ways in which we as human beings add to the requirements to follow after God through Jesus Christ. Often we fall into the trap of building a system of rules, regulations and rights, instead of building a relationship with our creator and redeemer. As we shy away from relationship toward rules and regulations we think that we can reach a point where we have it all figured out. How tragic is it when we think we have it all figured out? I think the most liberating thing for me as a pastor is that I don't have to know everything, none of us do, and it is a good thing because we will never know everything. When we claim that we know something absolutely we are on some dangerous ground, all people are in process and on a journey. I wish that the church and fellow Christ followers would stop putting barriers in front of people seeking after God. To wrap us this entry I want to close with this. There are only a few things that I can say with certainty when it comes to God. God is the creator of all people and all of creation. Jesus is the only way to a full relationship with the God of creation. And the Holy Spirit continues to develop the people of God, through the church. Finally that we should fashion our lives after the life of Jesus. Everything else is food for great, important and necessary conversation.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Those who mean the most

Today I don't have as much a question, or an issue of the church directly. This whole week I have been really wrapped up in thinking about the people that are most important to me. For me that is my wife and three daughters. I do not have to even spend time thinking about who the most important people are to me, yet all too often they get the short end of my time. I have always had an inner and sometimes an outer conflict around this issue, but this week it is really intense. Having rambled long enough, I am challenging myself and all of us to not just talk about spending time with those who are closest to us, but to actually do it.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

By Judgment or love?

Once again I found myself reading yet another book, this time it was, "No Perfect People Allowed" by John Burke. Throughout the book he addresses the issues as to why people are turned off by the church. At the heart of the issue this key idea, do the people around you know more about what you stand against, than what you actually live for? I know in my own life I have been very proficient at determining what thinks I have thought to be wrong, or the things that the church should make a stand against. This in itself is not a bad thing. I think that people should have a sense of what they think is right and wrong, and that the body of Christ should have standards of conduct. However, these issues should not be how we are known. Taking a good look at Jesus shows that he spent more time showing what he believed, by how he lived his life. Jesus did not go around organizing protests, or yelling at the top of his lungs about all the things that society was doing wrong, he simply called people to a life based on the love of God, ultimately seen at Calvary. I am left to wonder if people know who I am and what I believe based on the judgemental attitude I too often carry, or do people know who I am by the moments where I actually live out the life God calls me to through Jesus Christ. Additionally, I am left to wonder how I can remain faithful to the truths and standards of God, while accepting people where they are and for who they are, without judgement. Jesus did not agree with all the lifestyles of the people he interacted with, yet I think that people walked away from an interaction with Jesus being overwhelmed by love, acceptance and grace. It is almost unbelievable that Jesus would ascribe value to everyone equally, enough to sacrifice his life out of love.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Whom Shall we Serve

I have been reading the book "The Myth of a Christian Nation" by Gregory Boyd. I have been just fascinated by what the author has to say in regards to the need for the church to be more like Christ and less like the rest of the world. He uses a great contrast of the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world. Boyd points out that the church, especially the "conservative evangelical" church has used the techniques of this world not of the kingdom of God. My take on what he has to say is that we need to not sit around and criticize the moral state of our nation, or call the action back to its Christian roots. What those who are Christ Followers need to be doing is coming along side of those who we would call sinners instead of judging them. I realize that classifying groups of people as sinners I am doing some judgement, and revealing some of my theological leanings. The point, however is that Jesus identified people as having sin in their life, but did not judge them, even though He is the only one who has the right to judge. Instead Jesus spent his time with those who were notorious sinners, and those that were the outcasts of society. The church of today has become sterile, dual meaning intended. We all too often like things nice neat and clean, and we expect the same of the people we interact with. The church has become sterile in that it often fails to reproduce, not itself but the Calvary love of God. So, we are left to ponder what do we do now? We could lament about what needs to be done, or we could answer the call. Not the call to programs and artificial care. But answer the call to be ever increasing in our Christlikeness. Every Christ Follower, not just a select few, should be spending their life serving those who Christ served. We should do with with all that we are and everything we have. Question to chew on: would Jesus be a republican, democrat or independent?

Monday, April 2, 2007

Join the Journey

After much debate and doubt I decided it was time to step into the arena of blogging. I am not real sure what will come of this space and effort but I know what I am hoping for. I am hoping that this can be a place where ideas will be exchanged about what many are calling the emerging church. Many think that the emerging church is just for those who are in a certain age bracket, however I think this is all wrong. The so called emerging church is more about people of any age, race, background or lifestyle who are seeking to know God. The so called emerging church is a gathering of people, and minds, who think the church has been missing the point to some degree in the past few decades and possibly centuries. The so called emerging church is a gathering of people who are politically active as individuals, but more concerned as a church with collectively being the Body of Christ. This means radically living a life based on the teachings and life of Jesus Christ. I want to be clear that no one, myself included, ever lives the life Christ taught and showed every moment of every day. Still there are some who are working to live more and more like Christ everyday. I invite you to join in this journey and see how God uses all of us. I will start with a question, what is the most significant issue facing the church today?