Author Archives: Pilgrim

Crowded – But spaced Out


Following closely on the heels of my post on Solitude, I offer this observation of our high tech society.

We live in a narcissistic world. Our tech gadgets, which have become increasingly portable, allow us to enter into our fantasy worlds no matter where in the world we might be. ‘Me time’ is experienced now anytime, anywhere and anyhow.

Sitting in an airport terminal, waiting on a delayed flight to resume? No problem, simply check the latest news and sports scores on your cell phone.

Waiting in a long line at the grocery store? Just whip out your MP3 player and tap your toes to your favorite tunes.

Bored with the Sunday sermon? Just crank up a favorite movie on your iPod and drift away.

Family get together at Grandmas? Forget about it! You have an appointment to take down the dragon’s lair with all your online buddies in a riveting massively multiplayer online RPG.

Itching to evangelize? No need to get your rear out of that chair. Just play on a virtual life simulation online, build a church and preach the gospel.

Notice what’s missing from all these scenarios? Continue reading →

What To Do With My Solitude


Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. (Pro 18:1)

I am often called a hermit by my family and peers. I shy away from social situations as much as possible. I am most comfortable in quiet settings, often desiring to be alone with my hobbies or my own thoughts.

Three years ago I moved out of the office suite I shared with my co-workers and into a workroom/office isolated from the department – and I just love it. A frequent comment I get from visitors is, “Man this place is quiet! How can you stand it?” My pat answer is simply “Four kids.” They nod in sympathetic understanding and leave me be.

I like solitude! Continue reading →

Church on the Downgrade


This is one of the most amazing quotes I have ever read from the pen of Charles Spurgeon. Did he really write this over 100 years ago? The Downgrade Controversy Spurgeon fought against was at heart the same battle the church is fighting against today in the Church Growth/Seeker Sensitive movement.

Spurgeon never compromised his commitment to Sola Scriptura. Will we stand with him?

“An evil resides in the professed camp of the Lord so gross in its impudence that the most shortsighted can hardly fail to notice it. During the past few years it has developed at an abnormal rate even for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out as the Puritans did, the Church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses. Continue reading →

My ‘Simple’ Sunday


Sorry I’m so late reporting this, but summer is a difficult time of year for me to post on a consistent basis. We have two computers, but my wife uses one for summer school and my kids stay up to all hours on the other one playing games and texting their friends. I can’t wait for fall, frankly.

Anyway, let me give a brief overview of how church services went Sunday. Pastor gave his first message on ‘Creating a Simple Church.’ I held my breath, hoping he didn’t propose a bunch of radical changes couched in corporate lingo to communicate the need to re-focus the church. I was pleasantly surprised, however. The message did not resemble much, if anything I had read of or listened to about ‘Simple Church’. He did center the message around the book’s thesis: We need to focus all the ministries in the church around the bible commission to make disciples of all nations. But it appeared to me he took the central idea of the book and built upon it without relying on the book’s methods to do so. He made the message his own. Here were his three main points: Continue reading →

Simple Church


My church is starting a new series this coming Sunday on ‘The Simple Church’ that has me more than a little nervous. I believe (but has not been verified yet) that it is based on the book, ‘Simple Church‘ by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger. Pastor will preach 4 messages each Sunday morning over the month of July. Evening services will not be held. In its place, we will divide into small groups and discuss the morning message.

So what has me on edge? Continue reading →

The One Thing Pastors Must Never Forsake


“In the great day, when the muster-roll shall be read, of all those who are converted through fine music, and church decoration, and religious exhibitions and entertainments, they will amount to the tenth part of nothing; but it will always please God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Keep to your preaching; and if you do anything beside, do not let it throw your preaching into the background. In the first place preach, and in the second place preach, and in the third place preach.

Believe in preaching the love of Christ, believe in preaching the atoning sacrifice, believe in preaching the new birth, believe in preaching the whole counsel of God. The old hammer of the gospel will still break the rock in pieces; the ancient fire of Pentecost will still burn among the multitude. Try nothing new, but go on with preaching, and if we all preach with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, the results of preaching will astound us.“

– Charles Spurgeon

Coming Out From Among Them – Epilogue


Are you familiar with the tale of the pied piper?

The story goes that a small German village called Hamelin suffered from a terrible rat infestation. A man calling himself a rat catcher boasted he could rid the town of every single rodent. The villagers promised the man, (known around those parts as the pied piper) a great sum of money for accomplishing this task. He played his flute, mesmerizing the entire colony, leading them to the nearest river, and drowning them all in the rushing waters. However the villagers weren’t as thankful as they ought to have been. Like many of us would do in the midst of a desperate situation, they made a wild promise they could not possibly hope to keep in order to rid the town of its plague. But once they were relieved of their burden they had no intentions of paying the man his due.

After all, the problem wasn’t all that bad in the first place, right? It’s similar to how quickly a sailor’s fear of drowning fades after the storm subsides. The pied piper did not take the villagers’ snub very well, so he plotted revenge. One day, while the adults were all gathered together for church service, he came into town and spellbound all the children with his soulful tunes. He led them away to a dark cave. All of the children entered without hesitation, but none of them ever walked back out. Continue reading →

Coming Out From Among Them – Part 4


I had arrived at a crisis point in my spiritual life and I just didn’t know what to do. Our church had bowed its knee at the altar of Purpose, worshiping the Church Growth Goddess, who had seductively lured it away to her sinful bed. She had successfully inflamed passion for numerical growth, fame and influence to a fever pitch among our leadership. They had yielded to her will in matters of faith and practice. I strongly felt God’s call to come out of her, that her sins would not be imputed unto me or my family. However, I didn’t know where to go. I felt I needed a well thought out plan before exiting stage left.

I still had not found a church home for us to root ourselves in. After 11 years in a pentecostal\charismatic type church and seeing a lot of goofiness done in the name of God, I was looking to make our home in a more conservative, scripture-saturated atmosphere. I didn’t completely rule out a ‘full-gospel’ church since there are a couple in our town with good reputations, but I honestly couldn’t bring myself to attend them. I have too many questions and concerns about tongues, prophecies, prophets and spirit baptisms to be comfortable in one right now. Most of the other churches I considered have been influenced, to some degree, by Rick Warren. So many choices, so few options. So while I pondered and prayed over our future, we continued to attend services on Sunday morning and on Wednesday nights. Continue reading →

To Fight or To Frolic


“In the early days, when Christianity exercised a dominant influence over American thinking, men and women conceived the world to be a battleground. Our fathers believed in sin and the devil and hell as constituting one force, and they believed in God and righteousness and heaven as the other. By their very nature, these forces were opposed to each other forever in deep, grave, irreconcilable hostility. Humans, our fathers held, had to choose sides-they could not be neutral.

For them it must be life or death, heaven or hell, and if they chose to come out on God’s side they could expect open war with God’s enemies. The fight would be real and deadly and would last as long as life continued here below. People looked forward to heaven as a return from the wars, a laying down of the sword to enjoy in peace the home prepared for them…

How different today. The fact remains the same, but the interpretation has changed completely. People think of the world, not as a battleground, but as a playground. We are not here to fight; we are here to frolic. We are not in a foreign land; we are at home. We are not getting ready to live, but we are already living, and the best we can do is rid ourselves of our inhibitions and our frustrations and live this life to the full.”

– AW Tozer