Categotry Archives: Things that make our brains hurt

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What Makes It "Church"? A Followup Question…

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Categories: church, Things that make our brains hurt

Thanks to all of you who put in your two cents’ to the question on my previous post, about what specifically makes church “church” for you. (Let’s see…I think that currently adds up to 14 cents.)

That converstation has prompted me to ask a followup question:

Several of you made references to the church involving the gathering of believers. Where does this idea come from? Not to say we shouldn’t gather, but what exactly prompts us to include the idea of gathering in our definition of “church?”

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What Makes It "Church"?

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Categories: church, Things that make our brains hurt

I haven’t been on here in over a week–sorry, been juggling lots of little appointments and assignments while battling fatigue–but if you’re still on board here, time for a little interaction…

I was thinking about something that happened about 3 years ago, a friend of mine from a mega-church attended a weekly Sunday evening worship gathering we had in our home for awhile. He particularly enjoyed the worship time and the teaching, but he stopped coming. A few months later, I saw him, and he explained that he had no trouble with us, and he loved what was going on in our living room–but because it wasn’t on Sunday morning at a church building, he just didn’t feel like he’d been to church.

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What Is "Spiritual?"

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Categories: Things that make our brains hurt

Okay…brain rattling time again…

We throw some words around without really knowing what they mean–or perhaps we have differing meanings in our minds for them.

A lot of times I’ll hear someone say about their current journey (and I’ve said it myself): “I don’t feel very spiritual right now.” Or we’ll otherwise differentiate “spiritual” activity from other activities, or classify certain things as “spiritual” and others as “non-spiritual.”

You know, I think even Paul did this a little bit. He would talk about the difference between natural and spiritual sometimes, and on a couple of occasions he admonished the church to sing psalms, hymns, and “spiritual songs.” He didn’t just say, “songs”–he classified them as “spiritual” as opposed to other kinds of songs.

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I Can’t Help It…I Have to Try and Make Your Brain Ache

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Categories: food for thought, Things that make our brains hurt

So…deal with this…

Entry #264 from the Official Collection of Proverbs and Random Thoughts from Jeff the Twisted, Slightly Off-Center Philosopher:

God cannot be defined, but only described.

Think. Ponder. Grapple. Evaluate. Take painkiller.
True? Or not?
Discuss.

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Why Does He Insist On Making Our Brains Hurt Like This? Doesn’t He Have Anything Better to Do?

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Categories: food for thought, theological questions, Things that make our brains hurt

Don’t know why I was thinking about this…but during the Off the Map Conference in Denver last fall, Matt Casper (co-author of the book Jim and Casper Go to Church) sat down with Jim Henderson (the other co-author) and had a Q & A session with the audience.