???

i'm not sure of what to say. i don't know how to put my thoughts into words. perhaps that is better so i don't sin by talking about anyone. maybe i'll find them if i keep writing. i have spent a great of time thinking about church in america...not anywhere else...in particular where i live for it is the world i live in. my journey began when we planted the harbor. i never realized i had so many questions. perhaps i should have waited for all my questions to be answered. i'm not sure any of these questions will even make sense to people who can not get into my head and to experience what i do. i have questions about tithing...why do we give a tithe? we say we trust in God, yet we tell people to give a tithe or they are wrong. what happened to Jesus loves a cheerful giver? i wonder if we would teach people to give b/c they love God and trust in Him completely if we would not only have bigger offerings (even though that is not what i am getting at) but christians who share their possessions not b/c they have to but b/c they want too. i have more questions too. first i want to make a statement...i think i am convinced that almost every church should sell their building and meet somewhere else. here is one reason why...we waste too much money on the stinking thing when it won't save a single soul. people will come to Jesus with or without a building! this morning i attended a prayer meeting of some local pastors (these are men who love God very much) and one minister was praising God b/c they were $7,000 over budget for Oct. he has a real big concern about his churches financial struggles. i sit there listening to him and i wonder is this what the church is suppose to be. are we really supposed to be worried about our finances? maybe if we didn't have a building we could spend the money on other things that are important. i don't know i hear other ministers in the meeting talk about finances and first of all i'm grateful i don't have a building. second it makes me wonder is that what the church was designed to do...take care of a building. i don't think so. i'm sure i didn't express these things very clearly. i know i'm not perfect at leading. i didn't have the intent to put anyone down b/c i'm better. sometimes i just wonder if we think about what we say. i think some changes are on its way to the congregation of the harbor. i'm sure exactly what they are. i just know that we need to fall in love with Jesus and TAKE (emphasis added) him to others. i was talking with a lady today and she was telling me how her brother was a drug addict for about 40 yrs and then a church helped him change. she said she didn't understand how that was possible. i said it was Jesus. Jesus changes everything. i guess these questions and thoughts have started to come to my mind b/c i realize i can no longer rely on the sunday morning worship service to save people. i have to rely on Jesus. can someone become a christian without going to church? i would love to hear your thoughts on these random thoughts if you can follow them. words of a ragamuffin

words of a ragamuffin

to serve is a humbling thing.
words of a ragamuffin

i ate lunch with Jesus

on sunday our church had the opportunity to eat lunch with Jesus. it was awesome. we had about 7 street people come and eat lunch with us. we had a luncheon to help support a local ministry in the area. and there are two ladies who have begun ministry to a group of homeless people by taking luch to them. they took lunch that morning to them and invited them to come to the church and they did. it was so wonderful to see them and the way our church responded to them. they welcomed them with open arms. one of the street men started to cry b/c he was overwhelmed by the love he received. the truth of the matter is that i was more grateful to them that they came. that they let us eat with them. we actually got to share a meal with Jesus (Mt. 25). he is beautiful.
words of a ragamuffin

words of a ragamuffin

does God have an open univere? i mean can our prayers change things? do our prayers effect the future? or do we pray to show God we desire his will? does God just want to hear from us or do we really have power in our prayers? words of a ragamuffin

Oh Glory !!!!

fastforward to the bride and groom.

Monte Barrett gets TKO by Nikolai Valuev

this dude is a scary, hairy beast.

wondering

hey everyone that reads my blog...oh wait that's nobody. i want everyone to know i don't disagree with my brother jake about the church. i ask him questions, to play devil's advocate on occassion, but never once have i thought he was dead wrong. the only time i disagreed with him is when he takes one or two churches and makes it sound like every church. anyways, the reason i write that is b/c i want everyone to know i love my brother and appreciate his thoughts. you know if i would spend less time trying to prove him wrong or playing devil's advocate he might actually see that i agree with him on a lot of things if not everything. our church is trying to be a church that is serving our community. that is going to where the people are and living out our faith. but i'm not writing to defend our church. i want everyone to know i have similar thoughts about the church as my brother.

now i also have some other things i am wondering about as far as the church goes. i'm hoping maybe i can get some answers. i don't know if anyone has any. i would like your thoughts though.

if your local church took it signs off the building would the community even know you still existed?
i'll say it another way...would your community miss you if you left?
is sunday morning worship a prime time of evangelism b/c we have made it that way, the culture we live in (people seem to associate church as sunday morning) and is that okay?
should we gear sunday morning for non-believers?
these aren't new questions...but they are for me. these are the things i am wrestling with amongst others.
the way church exists today in america is that the way God meant for it to be? is there really any formula or clear picture for us to look at to tell us the way the church should look like and be?
i have somethings i am tossing around...i would like to hear from you...peace.
words of a ragamuffin

this is for bill

have you ever been to the valley of achor?

words of a ragamuffin

whiners vs. workers

you know i am noticing something about people in the Church. i'm talking about the church universal. in my opinion i see two kinds of people that make up the Church, whiners and workers. on one hand you have the whiners. these are the people who complain about how imperfect the church is and that people need to get back to what it was originally about, whine, whine, whine, etc...
then on the other hand you have the workers. these are the people that don't complain about the church. they understand she isn't perfect, but they love and stay involved regardless.
here is what i notice about these two groups. the whiners are the people that sit around and complain, while doing nothing about what they see as wrong. these are the people who don't ever commit to a local congregation to be apart of. these are the people who go from one church to another b/c they can't find the "right one" for them. or these are the people who aren't even involved with a local body. somehow i missed where they got the authority to tell Jesus' church what is wrong with it. these must be the super spiritual people that have a direct line to God that allows them to the rest of us what is wrong with the church. they must be the people "being" the church. but i don't think so. i think the whiners are wrong. i think it is time to get over it!!! more importantly get over themselves. they have made church to be about themselves. instead of serving they whine. they want a church were they don't have to do anything. that's not the church. get over it!! be more like the workers. they understand the church has some crap, but they still love her. they don't feel the need to point out what is wrong with her. they feel the need to be more like Jesus and serve her. they feel the need to use their gifts and talents to expand her. the workers don't make church about "me" they make it about the others. workers keep up the good work. whiners i think they are having a sell of kleenex at wal-mart right now.


words of a ragamuffin