I have a vision for a church. A simple church that is program light but discipleship heavy. A church built around steps toward spiritual growth not programs for "felt needs." A church where the lessons and sermons are steeped in orthodox Reformed doctrine but the style is anything but traditional. A church where the preacher can yell about God's holiness, our sinfulness, the necessity of atonement and the certainty of judgment without coming off like a big haired, hypocritical jerk with a bug up his you know what. A church community made up of goth kids, skater punks, yuppies, frat boys, ex-Jesus freak hippies, rednecks, immigrants, middle aged divorced women who wear so much make-up they look like they lost a paint ball war, twitchy addicts longing for help, raw fooders who smell like feet, homeless people who argue with parking meters, momma's boys struggling with their sexual identity and even Methodists who listen to K-Love (that last one's tough for even me to swallow). A church where people are loved and taken care of but challenged constantly to open themselves up to the sanctifying work of the Spirit (preaching on that this weekend as a matter of fact) so that they can storm the gates of hell as hardened soldiers following King Jesus.
In sum, a church that is a battleship not a cruiseship. Too many of the latter around as it is.
Where? When? How? More on that later.
