Stick to the Mission - Making Disciples
When I was in Graduate school I took a class called "Pentecostal Ecclesiology." The final project in that class was a presentation. I had to stand up in front of my professor and my classmates and answer this one question - What makes a church a church? In other words, when you strip everything down, what are the basic, essential elements a group of people need in order to be considered a church? I've been doing a great deal of thinking about this project lately and I'm coming to some conclusions regarding the church that are challenging me. I believe the church, particularly in American culture, has overcomplicated things. I've come to the conclusion that Church should be much simpler. Many people believe that the church must offer some sort of alternative to everything the world has to offer. Indeed, we have created a whole industry around this: Christian books, music, movies, bookstores, and much more. While there's nothing wrong with these t...