I have borrowed the following link and excerpts from the CRASH blog http://www.crashdialogue.blogspot.com
for those of y'all who are family and such, and might not be reading at CRASH. It is a great article on the past, present, but most importantly, future state of the church. Awesome food for chewing on...

Monday, June 19, 2006

REVOLUTION::Barna's take
Following are some excerpts from George Barna's book, Revolution. Very good reading on the present state and predictable future of the church from a renowned source. If you want to know more about Barna and his decades of research and ministry, click here. Read on...This is a great time to be alive—especially for those who love Jesus Christ. The opportunities to minister are unparalleled: the millions of searching hearts and agonized souls, combined with the abundance of resources Christians have at their disposal, makes this a very special era for the Church. Throw in the rapid and profound cultural changes occurring as well as the struggles local churches are undergoing, and we have an environment in which the birth of a spiritual revolution is inevitable. The confluence of those elements demanded a dramatic response, and the emerging Revolution represents such a historic thrust.There can be no turning back at this point, no return to the old ways and the comfortable forms. Although we cannot accurately predict what the Church will look like twenty years hence, we can be confident that it will be more different than similar to the Church at the start of the twenty-first century. The Revolution is an extensive grassroots response to the undeniable and insatiable human longing for a genuine relationship with God our Father. The transformations it introduces are sometimes difficult to accept and oftentimes inefficient in their development, but the outgrowth is a stronger and more irresistible Church.The Church You’ve Always Wanted. As you seek to comprehend the emerging Revolution and describe it to others, keep in mind its central facets. It is comprised of a demographically diverse group of people who are determined to let nothing stand in the way of authentic and genuine experience with God. They are involved in a variety of activities and connections designed to satisfy a spiritual focus. They are God-lovers and joyfully obedient servants. They are willing to do whatever it takes to draw closer to God, to bond with , and to bring Him glory and pleasure. If that can be accomplished through existing structures and process, they accept that; if not, they will blaze new trails to facilitate such a Spirit-driven life.En route to this intimacy with God, they are integrating the seven spiritual passions of a true Revolutionary Christian into their life. Their daily expressions of worship refine their sense of the beauty, the creativity, and the majesty of God. Their joy at knowing Him naturally provides the impetus to communicate to others the good news about Jesus’ sacrifice and offer of salvation. Their infatuation with the kingdom fuels their consistent effort to know more about God’s ways. They respond to His love by seeking ways to invest the resources they control or influence for kingdom outcomes. Their friendships hinge on spiritual growth. They pursue opportunities to use their abilities to affect the quality of life in the world. And they recognize that their most important set of relationships is within their family, and that Christ must be the centerpiece of their experience together. These passions enable Revolutionaries to remain centered on God in a world of distractions and seductions. Their attention to these passions allows them to be the Church.

Read the entire excerpt here:

http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=Excerpt&ProductID=196

God's Kiss

I feel it...It's in the water, in the air, all around. HE is all around, and I can't wait to see what He has for us just around the corner. In the meantime, I am learning to take it just one moment, one step, at a time. "What do you have for me, Lord?" I ask. He is showing me small things. Things that I can do each day, to make a difference in someone's life. It may not be a big difference at all, but each time we show kindness, show love to someone, God is kissing them through us. Eventually, they will wonder where those kisses come from. They will be kissed by enough followers of Christ that they will wonder...

Why do we not dance through life singing His praise?

Wow, you Lord, are so awesome! You are all around me, never changing, always by my side. You answer my questions, providing me wisdom when nothing and no one else can. You are the Almighty One, all knowing and powerful. I love you, my Adonai! You speak to me in the darkness of the night and in the glow of the morning. You are my coming and my going, my alpha and omega, beginning and end. I long to praise you in your house forever. Your Word nourishes my soul and leaves me thirsting for more. I praise you that you have put the desire for your Word in my heart and in my mind. Purify me that I might reflect even a portion of your glory, Jesus. You are worthy of all my worship and all my desire for you. You are the Most High, Abba Father. Why do I not dance through life singing your praise!

So, a good portion of my day consists of answering phone calls, (well, not so much, anymore)and I am really working on inserting a bit of humor into my phone voice. I have figured out that smiling as you answer the phone (whether you feel like it or not) really does work! So also does a quick prayer for the person on the other end. But what works best is when I have a roomful of people talking as loud as they can, (paying no attention to the fact that my phone has just wrung) and me saying at least three times, "I'm sorry, but WHAT DID YOU SAY???" If you can't laugh about that, you might just as well hang it up--your sense of humor that is, NOT the phone!--so thank you to all of you who make my day brighter by your regular visits and the outrageous conversations that take place on a fairly regular basis...