And I Wonder...

Another Saturday chalked-up dry-erased on the month of March for Kyle...
MaKayla commented yesterday that simply put, it doesn't feel like winter will ever end...
The cold...
The gloomy...
Her dad working Saturdays...

It's wearing on her.

When the sun peeked it's head out Thursday afternoon, that was the only motivation I needed to start in on some cleaning. The breezeway rugs were scooped up, beaten out & tossed in the washer. The floor was swept & things were rearranged in order to create a place for Mal's greenhouse. :) It's a project for 'Botany'. MaKayla was busy working on a sewing order yet when she saw me in "cleaning motion", something she dearly loves to do (no kidding), she & Mal both joined in on the excitement. :)

On any given day in the past several weeks I look around our main living area & spot Bibles here & there & everywhere. One day I spotted 13 just between our living room-dining room area. We've been spending a great deal of time in the Word & we use different translations for different types of reading/studying whether it be for our daily Bible reading or school work or reviewing something from Sunday's message or Wednesday evening's study... So as I was in my cleaning element on Thursday, I knew we needed to figure something out. When Kyle called after work that day I said, "Hey Babe, do you think you could design/construct me a quaint little book shelf for our Bibles & study books?"

His response, "Sure."

I replied, "Like...today...this afternoon... Like when you get home from work...?"

As always, "Absolutely. I'll see what I can do..." ♥

I love it... ♥

Rustic...
Simple...
Just the right size...
Made by hands that I love more than anything...
And designed by a heart that tenderly & faithfully cares for mine...

A few months ago Kyle & I began discussing the idea of getting satellite television. For the fourteen years we lived at our previous home in our previous town we didn't have it, but then when we moved to our current abode we signed up. Due to the added expense & the time wasted & the lack of morality, once the contract was fulfilled we cancelled. As the Olympics approached both girls voiced interest in watching the winter games & every football season Kyle so wishes we had it (satellite) in order to watch some of his favorite college teams. We go through the agony of trying to locate games on-line but the feed is slow & the picture is grainy & it just isn't all that he could enjoy it to be (the girls & I very much like watching as well)... So we started checking into it & after hashing it around as a family & learning that we could pause the streaming for nine months out of the year for a fraction of the cost & establishing some very intentional boundaries, Kyle made the call, the installer came & voila', we instantly had programming. It was fun watching the competitions that we most enjoy...figure-skating, ski-jumping, bobsledding, luging...but we were more than ready for them to be done & over with. Other than the girls having one show in particular that they try to take in most every afternoon & HGTV (I love the variety of homes & neat ideas they offer) as my go-to channel if I'm wanting something to watch, we don't have it on much.

House-Hunters...
Bargain Beach Hunters...
Island Hunters...
Property Brothers...

Briana told MaKayla that she hated watching those shows because people are so picky & ungrateful & demanding & critical. And you know what, for the highest majority of the people they show, she's right.

"I don't like this..."
"And it's not in the right neighborhood..."

"En suite..."
"Marble..."
"Open-concept..."

"The color isn't right..."
"And it's not close to shopping..."

"Hardwood throughout..."
"Big yard..."
"Soft-close cabinets..."

"I don't like that..."
"And it doesn't have an outdoor kitchen..."

"High-end appliances..."
"Granite..."
"Modern..."

"It's outdated..."
"And the dog has no place to run..."

"Five bedrooms..."
"Five bathrooms..."
"Swimming pool..."

The master bedroom the size of our entire living area...
"It's too small..."
"And there are no amenities..."

"An area just for the kids..."
"An area just for the guys..."
"An area perfect for entertaining..."

"The ceilings aren't high enough..."
"And it has no curb appeal..."

And then you have those simple few who just want a home to raise their family, to grow their family, to be a family...

Something comfortable...
Within their budget...
That meets their needs.

It's not coincidental that just a few months ago MaKayla & I shared a discussion about the contemporization/commercialization of churches today.

~contemporize~

to make modern or contemporary, as in style or décor

to modernize, streamline, update

to remake, refashion, revamp

to revise, redo, rework

~commercialize~

to apply methods of business to for profit

to do, exploit, or make chiefly for financial gain

to sacrifice the quality of for profit

Sadly it mimics the people of these shows...

And I wonder...
I wonder how God feels about it...

I will admit that I'm not of the modern-eclectic nature...
Rather more of the old-fashioned, antique, simple variety.

Comfort over fashion...
Eastlands over platform boots...
Warm & cozy over leather...

I joy over the hardwood floors of our home...
Not modern, rather the same boards that my grandpa laid nearly 60 years ago.

Chicken & noodles over caviar...
Minivan over Cadillac...
My worn Bible over ipad convenience...

I affectionately wear the delicate pearl heart necklace that Kyle gave me for my high-school graduation...
The simple black pearl earrings that Dad brought me from Hawaii...
And the handmade ID bracelet that Mom had made for my wrist that contain the girls' names...
Rather than the bulky, flashy, heavy jewelry of today.

Mary-janes over cork heels...
Fleece/flannel over satin...
Tozer over Idleman...

I very much prefer a warm burning candle that produces a comforting glow & a gentle fragrance...
In place of the Scentsy pot I placed on my Christmas list.

My mom's like that...
And my sister...
The simpler the better...
It doesn't take much to please or satisfy.

I am thankful.

But it takes me back to my original thought...
I wonder...

I wonder what God thinks of His church being modernized...
Commercialized...
Contemporized...

Brought up to date...
Up to speed with society...

And then I ask the question...
Why do we feel the need to do so...

As I processed this & prayed about this & did a bit of research, I came across this...
"...the new owners of the old-line French restaurant plan to contemporize the menu & make the place seem less intimidating..."

Ah... It makes sense...
We contemporize as a means to make our sanctuaries feel more inviting & less intimidating.

Coffee bars...
Modern features...
Newest worship music...

We want them to be enthralled...
But never uncomfortable (in the spiritual sense).

That's the draw...

We commercialize maybe not to generate a financial profit, although for some churches this might be the case, but to build our numbers & increase the entries in the membership book.

But in it all, what happened to God?
Where did He go?

In our approaches...
In our methods...
In our logistics...

We've become so focused on the amenities that we've lost sight of God.
And we compromise quality...
To gain quantity...

We highlight what we have to "offer"...
Rather than the One we are there to seek.

I mean it's kind of like these people searching for a house to buy...

Their focus is the cabinets & the size of the bathrooms & the floor coverings & the style of the fixtures & the grade of the countertops that they don't notice the house itself or the foundation on which it is built upon. As a matter of fact I have never watched even one of these shows where they inspect the foundation...
The whole solidity of the house...

They are simply focused on the external features... 

What people see... 

Look at...
Are impressed by...

The amenities...

What makes it easier...
More comfortable...
Desirable...
Intriguing...

And I see the similarity...

Between this...

And the church of today...

Rather than the meat of the Word...
That nourishes...
We'd rather people be entertained.

The conviction of the Spirit...
That corrects...
We'd rather people be comfortable.

Rather than the fellowship of the saints...
That exhorts...
We'd rather socialize & talk about the temporal things of life.

The moments in prayer...
That usher us into the throne room & connect us intimately with God...
We'd rather breeze through "the list" and move on.

Rather than the breaking of the bread...
That cleanses & restores...
The focus is worship & announcements & offering &...

And I wonder...
Isn't God enough?

Isn't He to be the Essence...
The Meaning...
The Reason...

When did God lose His place of being enough?

To draw us in...
To satisfy our longings...
To quench our thirstings...

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; 

but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, 

that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

~John 4:14-15

We've become so distracted by the external impressions...

That we've lost the Internal Purpose...
The Foundation...

And my heart is saddened.

And as I read in Tozer yesterday & the day before & the day before that...

The last mark of identity with the apostolic church is our identity of worship. Jesus Christ our Lord located the kingdom of God within. God is within you, and some have told us that it means the kingdom was among you. It did not mean anything of the sort. It meant the kingdom of God lies inside your breast. Paul later said, "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27). In addition, Jesus said, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). We have an inward worship; the whole center and core of Christianity lies inside the heart.

We have externalized worship in our churches. Jesus put it in our heart and we have put it in side rooms. Jesus put it in our heart, but we have put it in the projection booth. The average Christian cannot practice his religion now any  more than a Catholic priest can without his oil bottle and beads. If you cannot practice your worship with nothing in your hand but your Bible, you have not got victory. Nobody needs to claim succession from the apostolic church if he has to support his Christianity with a lot of gadgets, spending millions of dollars.

Most churches and pastors are addicted to gadgets and could not run their church without being more cluttered up with a small truckload of junk than you can climb up a moon beam. We have fixed it that way, and it is taught in Bible college.

It used to be that a boy on one end of a log and William Tennent on the other end made a Bible college. It used to be that one man of God surrounded by a little company of people made the church. Not anymore, and yet we piously say that we are in lineal decent from the apostles. "We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God" (John 8:41). Jesus patiently said, "I know your creed is the same, but this did not Abraham."

We have to have an identity of worship with that apostolic Church. This worship is absent in the average church.

We have bushels of religious gatherings but only once in a great while is God in the midst. I would walk through mud up to my knees to get to a group where nobody was showing off, where only God was present. The Early Church prayed-talked to God. When they sang, they talked to God and sang about God. Today we have programming, that awful, hateful word "programming"; but God is absent.

The Early Church were worshipers; and when an unbeliever came in among them they said, "God is among them, of a truth." It was not the personality of the speaker; they might not have even had one. It was the presence of the Lord that made them fall down and worship. I will join anything, any group, when I can go in to and spend 10 minutes and come away relaxed and say, "I've been where God was." They were like that in apostolic times.

We say that we believe what they apostles believed, but I wonder if we are one with them in the succession of spiritual worship. I doubt it.

While waiting on God to show our family where He wanted us church-wise, I shared with one of my closest friends that I longed for a church containing structure, boundaries & accountability. A church were God was the focus... Not programs or support groups or committees or outreach or worship or planning this event or that one... Just God. For if God is the focus, He will align the vision of the church. Yet so many churches lack vision & many of the ones that claim to have it, put programs & support groups & committees & outreach & worship as the focus/forefront of that vision rather than God, Himself. 

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. 

If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

~1 John 2:15

And people come...

And people go...

And they leave never being where God was.

And I wonder what He thinks...

He...

The One who is the Beginning...

And the End...

The Alpha...

And the Omega...

The First...

The Last...

The Everything in between.

We as a church have allowed the things, desires & attractions of life to overshadow...

To replace...

Our First Love has been exchanged...

And candidly, I'm pretty sure I know what He thinks...

For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

~Deuteronomy 4:24

**Honestly ask yourself the question... Where is my focus geared, what is my hope of finding, where lie my affections when I enter into the physical sanctuary (church building) of God? Is it in the surroundings? The people? The worship? The activities? Or is it God, Himself?