Critiquing those who Critique the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Today at work, I saw the CEO of the bank I work for do the "ALS Ice Bucket Challenge." 

I take this as a strong cultural indicator that the challenge has reached its climax, and that within a few months, the challenge will be all but over.

The demise of this challenge will undoubtedly inspire some spin-off challenges that seek to emulate the social media phenomenon. I only hope with the winter months coming up, we don't take our clue from the movie, "A Christmas Story," and start sticking our tongues to frozen poles and video taping it because we received a #TripleDogDareYou hash-tag on Twitter.

I personally enjoyed and participated in the challenge.  Although I didn't give my money to ALS, instead, I  chose to give to another local charity that I already have a strong knowledge of, and find worthy of support.

Some people offered various social critiques of the challenge.

Some people found it simply silly; others refused to participate because they already make it a habit of being counter-cultural and going against the grain as a regular manner of life; others looked down their long noses at those participating in it, and dismissed them as being nothing but shallow and mindless lemmings who always get carried away in what the masses are doing; and yet others were people simply craving attention, and used the challenge as a chance to take a glorified "selfie."

Such criticisms, while they may have some validity to them, I think are a bit unfortunate, and really miss the bigger picture.

I think a lot of cultural critiques of this phenomenon have been made by people who have a tendency to over-think things.

Honestly, it reminds me of the Jewish leaders who used to slander Jesus because He performed miracles on a Sabbath day.  Crippled and blind people were healed miraculously right before their eyes.  Yet, instead of celebrating the miracle, the leaders of Jesus' day had the audacity to question if it was the moral thing to do!  After all, they were worried that He might have broken one of the Ten Commandments by choosing to do a good "work" on what was a commanded religious day of rest and worship.

Jesus was amazed at the callousness of such people in His day.  This callousness caused the leaders of His day to over-think the good thing they were seeing, and in my opinion, critics of the practice today are over-thinking the phenomenon that is happening in their own day.

Let us be careful to not become like the religious leaders of Jesus' day, who hardened their hearts to the good work that was being done right before their eyes.  Let us rather rejoice that something good is being done, and encourage such behavior in the future.

Seriously people, let's stop over-thinking the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.  If you are critiquing it, you are thinking too hard about it.

Receive the challenge for what it is:  a friendly "dare" that exists to inspire others to do something good.

Critique it no more than you would some kid selling lemonade on the side of the road in your neighborhood, or a Girl Scout selling cookies door-to-door. Stop to buy the lemonade.  Fork over the money and buy some cookies.  Take 5 minutes and use your phone to video tape yourself taking a nice wet icy dip, and cut somebody a check already!

Let's stop questioning if the people who are doing it are of the right mindset.  Instead of having a hard heart, let us simply rejoice over the fact that people are enthusiastically finding joy in challenging others to do a good deed, and help those in need.

Likewise, instead of using our intellectual powers to decry the Ice Bucket Challenge as somehow being morally suspect or bankrupt, let us soften our hearts and employ our minds in ways that inspire others to do good deeds.

Let's challenge as many people as we can to become givers instead of critics, and let us find creative ways to enrich those who are in much need.  Let us not be like the leaders of Jesus' day, who sat on the sidelines and ran their mouths, while Jesus reached out to heal those who He saw were in need.  Let us be people who seek to make a difference, and change the world around us.

Dear Christian University Freshman...

Dear Christian University Freshman:

If I did not say it already, congratulations on graduating from High School! Job well done.

Now that you are at college, you are at the place where you can begin to truly tell people what you want to do when you "grow up," and your response will be taken seriously, whereas before it was just considered kinda cute.

Of course, as you probably are aware, it is highly likely that the college degree you earn will have little-or-nothing to do with the actual job/career path you take once you actually graduate from college.

But that's ok, our lives are in God's hands anyway, and where we end up has more to do with the things and people God brings into our lives than the goals and dreams we aspire to achieve, and the degree we earn while in college. Be that as it may, set goals and don't be afraid to dream anyway. Seek God, pursue the stirrings you find in your heart, and leave the outcome all to Him.

Having once been something of a "professional college student," I would like to take a moment and make some observations about things you will probably experience, and give some helpful advice to those of you who find yourselves on this exciting new journey in your life.

1) You are going to see a lot of your good Christian friends from your youth group fall away from the faith.

Within 6 months to 1 year, especially for those who moved away from home, many of your Christian friends lives will be indistinguishable from somebody who has never known the Lord. They are going to fall, and they are going to fall hard.

There are a lot of reasons for this. Sometimes, it is because your youth group friends were never really saved to begin with. Others had a very shallow faith, and never learning to stand on their own, they let their guard down, and are soon overcome by a lot of temptation. And yet others get caught up in the cares of this life, and simply drift away.

Pray for your friends. For some, the problems that experience in college represents a temporary bump in the road on their Christian journey. Some will eventually come back to the Lord and the church. Be ready to love them along the way.

And if you find yourself among those who don't put the Lord first at college, keep in mind that no matter how far you stray from Him, He's always standing there with arms wide open, calling you back to Him.

2) Work on your relationship with the Lord.

While college life provides ample opportunity to delight yourself in expressing pent up carnality (even at a Christian college!), it also provides you with the opportunity to really plunge into the depths of their faith. What you get out of it ultimately depends on you.

Get involved with your campus ministry. Read your Bible. Pray. Share your faith. Get plugged into a local church. Just because you go to college doesn't mean you have to come home weaker in your faith. If you can graduate college strong in your faith, you'll be ready to tackle the rest of what life throws at you.

3) Don't simply study for the test, study to learn.

There are a lot of people in college simply looking for the piece of paper. Don't be one of those people.

While getting a degree can be a very valuable thing for your career in and of itself, there are some things more valuable than the piece of paper. The skills you acquire in college you can take with you wherever you go, and will still be with you long after you've forgotten who Voltaire was.

Develop good study habits. Learn how to actually do in-depth research. Develop critical thinking skills and listen to alternate points of view. Be the guy in class that always asks a lot of questions.  Become an expert at communicating and reporting what your research yields. Learn to juggle competing deadlines, and never ask your professor for an extension. You will seldom get extended deadlines at work, and you will often have conflicting priorities. Learn to manage these stresses in college, and you'll be ready for the real world.

Oh yeah... and ACTUALLY learn about whatever subject matter you study.

There is a difference between studying what you need to know for the test, and actually learning something. Seek to actually gain knowledge about whatever subjects it is you study, even the intro level classes that you think are a waste of time. Read broadly, and don't limit yourself to simply reading the material only found on your syllabus. If you do college right, you will feel that college actually gets in the way of your education. Consider what you learn in the classroom to be the minimum requirements. Learn even more on your own.

If your professor has office hours and allows students to stop by and talk, or if he goes to lunch with students, take the opportunity to hang out your professor outside of the classroom. Some professors love to make themselves available to their students, and the amount you can learn talking to them over lunch is a great opportunity that you should not neglect. What you learn may not appear on a test, but it may change the direction of your life. It did for me.

4) Work hard, and work at least 1 part-time job.

If possible, try to take entry level part-time jobs in your desired career field, or for a company you think you'd like to work for one day. The degree you earn is nice, but at the end of the day, most employers want somebody with actual real world experience over somebody with simply a degree. By the time you are done with college, try to have both in hand. It'll look much better on your resume.

If you can't get some sort of professional entry-level job, at least wait tables at a decent restaurant. You'll make better money this way, you'll be humbled through what it means to work hard at serving people, and you'll develop some strong people skills in the process.

5) Make a monthly budget, stick to it as best as possible, and stay away from debt.

College is not going to teach you about personal finances. So you need to teach yourself... and quick. Don't wait until you are 30 to learn about managing personal finances like I did.  If you've not read Dave Ramsey, grab some of his books right now!

Itemize your monthly expenses on a piece of notebook paper or on a spreadsheet. Track every dollar you have coming in, and every dollar you have going out. Take out cash at the start of every month, and declare it your "mad money" that you allow yourself to spend on non-essential expenses i.e. dinner with friends. That way you guarantee you can always pay your bills, and have money left-over for espresso's and pizza.

Don't sign up for credit cards, no matter how many free t-shirts the bank gives you. I did this and it got me into a LOT of trouble, some of which still haunts my personal finances years later. Minimize your student debt levels by paying for classes with cash, living with your parents, or getting reliable roommates. Whenever possible, try to save.

Seriously, you may think it's cool to live on your own while in college, and you may use your student loans to do so, but you know what's not cool? Living with your parents when you are 30 because your $700 a month student loan bill keeps you from affording $700 a month apartment.

If you graduate with $1,000 in your pocket, you'll have more money than most adults who've been working all their life do.

And always look to give.

6) Avoid dating for a year or two...

Seriously, dating in college is hard. Especially if you also have a job. The last thing you need is a drama filled relationship that is going to distract you from your studies, and cause you to do stupid stuff when your heart gets broken. It's hard to write a 20 page term paper on British literature when you are talking to Johnny or Sarah until 2 am. Wait a couple years before you get in a relationship. Allow yourself time to master college and being on your own before you start looking for a date, or Mr. or Mrs. Right.

7) Volunteer, join student government, and other clubs of interests.

These organized social gatherings are very positive. You can make a lot of friends this way, and chances are the people that are involved with them are positive people with definite goals in life, who plan on doing something meaningful. Get to know them. You'll probably end up becoming good life-long friends with a couple of them.

8) Fraternities are not cool. Bars are even more lame.

If a "party" doesn't involve having dinner at 6 pm, and ending the evening at Starbucks or a bowling alley, stay away from it.

Fraternities and sororities are generally for people who lack a social identity of their own, and need somebody to give them one. They contribute hardly anything good to your life or education, and the relationships cultivated in these tend to be superficial and shallow. How is it somebody is suddenly your "bestie" or "brother" simply because they pledged? And in spite of what some of their recruiters tell you, people join these primarily to party, and little to nothing more. The social causes they say they stand behind are usually just a cover story they pass onto the university, so as to make them a legitimate organization.

Hanging out at the bar isn't very exciting either. I've been to my share. All you do is stand around and drink, talk to people whose names you'll probably never really learn, talking about things that don't matter, and because of the noise level, you'll have a hard time hearing the nothing they talk about anyway.

Don't worry, you aren't missing out on anything by turning down the bar scene. There are a lot of people who are convinced that they have a "life" because they are hanging out at a bar. Such people have yet to discover what "life" is, which is why they hang out at a bar. Truly, it's a pretty lame scene. It's the place where people who have little to no life go to hang out with people who largely lack the same.

9) Coffee shops and cafe's are your friend.

Coffee shops and cafe's are a great place to unwind, and are pretty decent places to study and hang out with friends. Learn to drink widely from this menu instead of the menu at a bar, and you are likely to meet interesting people with things worth talking about. Chances are, you'll take a lot of dates here over the years anyway. I know I did. That's where I had my first date with my wife.

Side note: Avoid the $5 Frappuccino’s though. They'll hurt your budget and make you fat (they did me).

10) Have fun, but remember the best days of your life are still ahead.

People often entering college are fed the lie that these are the best years of their life, and not wanting to miss out, they do a lot of stupid stuff in the name of having fun. But the truth of the matter is, the best years of your life are still ahead. Whoever thinks college was the best years of their life has never really learned to live. I enjoyed college a lot.  But I've enjoyed the years since a lot more, and I always look forward to the next year being the best yet.  For true life is found in Jesus Christ, and having a strong relationship with Him.

In conclusion, it is my sincere hope that you find these aforementioned words something that finds a place in your heart. You have an amazing opportunity set before you. Seize it with all your might, and make the most of it.

Many blessings,

Jimmy

Naturally Born Haters

Whether we admit it or not, one experience that is common to all humanity is that we identify people who are our enemies, and then whenever possible, we hate them as much as we can.

It's as if we are naturally born haters.

Recent news headlines (which seem abundant lately) illustrate this point quite well:

• Riots and looting have overwhelmed the small town of Ferguson, MO, after a white police officer there shot and killed an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown.
• ISIS has been establishing an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria, persecuting Christians, and beheading small children.
• Israel and Hamas/Gaza have been lobbing missiles back and forth at one another.
• Russia and Ukraine have been under a tense stand-off, with possible war looming.
• A flood of immigrant children have been dropped off at our nation's border, and are overwhelming the system in place, leaving politicians sharply divided on how to solve the problem.
• Big banks have been paying out multi-billion dollar settlements for lawsuits over bad lending practices that helped create the last mortgage crisis.

A lot of these headlines stir up deep feelings within all of us. We often end up identifying with a particular person or issue in a story, and choose sides in the process. Our passions become increasingly inflamed as we learn more and more about injustices going on all around us.  We dig our heels in deep in support of our cause, and no amount of facts spoken to the contrary will ever convince us we are in the wrong.

Such a phenomenon isn't limited to global geo-political issues either. We see such strife in our everyday lives as well.

Managers and their employees square off against one another. Family drama creates factions that no longer speak to one another. Romantic relationships are soured. Neighbors feud. And the things that make for an episode of Jerry Springer abound.

It's as if we are naturally born haters.

At the end of the day, so many things boil down to "US" vs. "THEM."

Distrust abounds.  Dirty glances are exchanged.  Crossed words are spoken in haste.  People are vilified and demonized.  We speak in absolute terms about "ALWAYS" and "NEVER."  Fear and panic flood our minds.  Battle lines are drawn in the sand.  War erupts.

Such seems to be an endless cycle we simply cannot seem to escape from. And as much as we say we hate the cycle of violence that unfolds, at the same time we find it impossible to turn away from. It's as if we secretly crave it.

Instead of looking for reasons not to go to war, we look for reasons to "justify" war, and write long philosophical books on the subject. And soon, what was once only supposed to be done under exceptional circumstances becomes a way of life.

As soon as any sort of conflict raises its ugly head, somebody on TV or Facebook starts a campaign in the name of taking swift and decisive action against somebody tens of thousands of miles away.

It's as if we are naturally born haters.

No wonder Jesus had to command us to to "Love your enemies." (Matthew 5:44) He had to command it, for loving your enemy is not a naturally occurring thought or desire.  It is counter intuitive to our first impulse, yet in the command we find that which is God's very heart.

It's hard enough to like somebody you have a hard time getting along with, let alone loving them. But loving your enemy is another matter altogether.  Your enemy, after all, is not only somebody who you find it hard to get along with, but is somebody who feels hatred for you.  They hope for bad things to happen to you, celebrate when they do, and as much as possible, actively campaign against you, even to the point of taking your life.

Yet, these very enemies are the people that Jesus commands us to love.  

Love your enemies, Jesus said...

...even the young black man in the ghetto who hates you because you are white.
...even the trigger happy police officers who abuse their authority and oppress minorities.
...even the Islamic radicals who fly airplanes into towers and behead people on YouTube.
...even the Jewish solder who randomly kills unarmed civilians in Gaza.
...even the parents who abused you, and played favorites.
...even the ex-husband who cheated on you, and spreads lies about you.
...even the boss at work who writes you up to save his own tail.
...even the President who won the election, even though you voted against him.
...even the man who breaks into your house at night to rob you.

We need to get out of the business of hating people who are our enemies, and fighting against them.  We need to get out of the business of merely loving the people that love us back.  The most vile and godless men are capable of the same.  We need to think new thoughts, and think about the challenge of loving our enemies.

Of course, such a thing puts us in a tremendously vulnerable position.  Loving your enemies opens yourself to a lot of risk.  These same people may take advantage of you.  They may even harm you and your loved ones.  They may shoot you dead in the street.  They may bomb you into oblivion.  They may treat you even as they treated Jesus.

But we as the people of God can afford to take such risks.  Kill us though they may, we know that our lives are ultimately in the hands of God, and we know that even though we die, yet shall we live.  And we take the risk of loving those who hate us, with the hopes that through our demonstration of God's love for them through us, that they might be transformed from a people who are naturally born to hate, to a people who now even love their enemies.

Such is nothing short of a miracle.

And such is a greater cause to rally behind than any "justice" we may attempt to uphold and execute against those who wrong us and those whom we naturally love.  

Love your enemies.  It may not come to you naturally.  But it's not supposed to come to you naturally in the first place.

Robin Williams: The captain who went down with his ship

On August 11th 2014, the world lost the comedic genius of Robin Williams, who appears to have committed suicide by hanging himself to death.

Many of us are shocked as the gruesome news broke, as Robin Williams has been a household name for the past several decades.  Social media has exploded as fans across the world express something of their grief over a man who, at one time or another, had entered our homes through the magic of television, and has caused both young and old to share a good laugh.  He will be missed by many.

But there are some whose comments have been less than kind.

Some, stroking their own egos, have taken this as an opportunity to show themselves strong and bold, by denouncing Williams as a "weak" and "cowardly" man.  They paint him as a rich super star "who had it all."  He of all people, they say, should have been able to "snap out" of his depression, put on a happy face, and boldly face the things that ultimately led to his demise. After all, he had seemingly unlimited resources at his disposal.

The more I think about such comments, I can't help but conclude that such thoughts are way off the mark.

If you really think about it, suicide is not the exhibition of weakness, rather, it is the exhibition of great strength. And too much strength at that.

Feeling trapped and that the world is caving in all around them, without a hope in the world, people who kill themselves often feel there is only one way out, and that is to take their lives.  In suicide a person overrides the strongest of all human instincts given to us by God:  the will to live.

In order to kill themselves, a person will have to summon the greatest depths of their will and strength.  They have to summon the power to override their own subconscious and innate desire to live.  In suicide one doesn't just give up on life, and passively slip into death.  Rather in suicide, one becomes hell bent and absolutely determined on solving their problems by destroying their own life.

Suicide is not for the faint of heart, rather, it is a decision that requires an iron strong will to execute, and it requires that you give your all, and hold absolutely nothing back.

I'm sorry, there simply is nothing "weak" or "cowardly" about killing oneself.

Nobody calls the captain who chooses to down with his sinking ship while lost at sea a weak or cowardly man.  Nobody calls the people who jump from a burning sky-rise to their deaths weak or cowardly.

Robin Williams is one among many who have sadly decided that their ship is ultimately sinking, and like a captain  lost at sea, for one reason or another, has decided that he must ultimately go down with his ship.  The world around them is on fire, and they feel they have no other choice but to jump.

A person who kills themselves is making the worst of all decisions, but one that ultimately requires great intestinal fortitude in order to execute.  The decision ultimately requires one to summon almost super human strength in order to succeed.

Therein lies the problem.

God has not designed us as humans to summon everything we have, pick up ourselves by the proverbial bootstraps, and do whatever it takes to make it through this world. Instead of trying to solve our problems in our own strength and power, God calls upon us to live our lives out of His own strength and power.

But the awful truth is that we are so busy trying to make it on our own and pull ourselves up by the boot straps, that we all but block out God's involvement in our lives.

Instead of getting all of our ducks in a row and being strong, God calls us to be fantastically weak, and to cast all our cares upon Him. 

Whenever we are drowning and see no other way out, God calls upon us to trust Him through the trials and storms of this life. Whether we have a thousand options or feel like we have none, He doesn't want us to fight to survive, rather, He wants us to call upon His name for salvation. 

As the apostle Paul said, "All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."  He wants us to find Him alone to be our source and our salvation. He wants us to discover that only in weakness can true strength be found, and the strength is not ultimately ours, but His.

Robin Williams tragic death reminds me that no matter how big we may be, inside we are all but human, and are all in desperate need of great grace. When we find ourselves at the end of our rope and with nowhere to go, the Lord stands there with arms wide open, ready to receive all who cast themselves into His loving arms.  He will bottle all of our tears, and He shall take upon Himself all of our burdens.  And all who come to Him, He will by no means turn anyone away.

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, I encourage you to seek professional help.  I also encourage you to call on the name of Jesus, and turn to Him for help in your time of need.  He is always there, waiting on you.

Saying Goodbye to Our Pastors

According to 9marks.org, every month over 1,300 pastors are terminated from their jobs;  Over 1,700 leave the ministry altogether;  Only 1 in 10 professional ministers will actually make a life-long vocation out of pastoral ministry, and one day retire from this profession.

Personally speaking, as somebody who went to Bible college and has been engaged in various forms of ministry for over a decade, I have a lot of connections with pastors, who, for one reason or another, are no longer engaged in vocational ministry.  Sometimes the reasons are good, and sometimes the reasons are bad.

But, one thing that I have noticed that is common to most situations, whether the reason for separation was on good terms or bad, is that when a pastor or "staff" member at a church is no longer employed at their church, they almost always end up leaving their present church, and going somewhere else to fellowship.  

Even for those pastors who continue to live in the same town or city, and don't gain employment in another church, without fail many of these individuals will never darken the door of their former church, and whatever fellowship they had with anybody in that church will be largely (if not entirely) severed.  At best, any contact that remains exists largely through social media.  There are exceptions to this of course, but this tends to be the general practice.

There are a lot of "professional" reasons for doing this.  Some of it is to avoid the personal awkwardness of the entire situation, and some of it is to avoid possible leadership conflicts, especially one's that would "undermine the authority" of the new pastor.

Whatever the reason, it is altogether heartbreaking stuff, and I don't think things should be this way.  I think things are this way, however, because our approach towards pastoral ministry is way off theologically, and does not reflect the heart of our heavenly Father.

In our churches, pastors are seldom seen as "one of us."

Many pastors aren't truly "part of" the local church.  They may preside "over" our communities and lead them, but they often do such as "outsiders."  They are "the man of God" who goes up the proverbial mountain to hear from God, and return to speak the message he has.  Many often minister out of a sense of being a "professional" or "trained specialists," who function more like the CEO of a Fortune 500 company than they do as spiritual fathers taking care of the family of God.

CEO's can resign from their jobs or be voted out.  If a father attempts to leave his family, he is still the father of his family, whether he shows up or not.

The Biblical model of pastoral ministry is one of fatherhood, not corporate America.  Sadly, as a church we have largely embraced the model of ministry and church government that makes the church function more like a corporation instead of a household and family.

Think about it:  How many pastors at your present church grew up to pastor at the same church they went to as children?  Pastors are seldom home grown and nurtured.  They go away to Bible college and seminary, and then get sent somewhere remote and foreign to them and their families.  They seldom return to pastor in the city they grew up in, let alone the church they were raised in.

Pastors move around and are treated like professional sports athletes.  Some don't live up to their potential and eventually get cut from the team.  Others are traded away for a replacement to be named at a later time.

The vast majority of our pastors are imported from another region of the country, and often get hired by people they hardly know, to labor among people they will seldom develop meaningful long-term personal friendships with.

Statistics report that over 70% of pastors report not having a close personal friend at their church.

And why should they make friends?  They are hired professionals there to do a job, and within a couple years they will likely be traded away to simply work somewhere else.  According to a research poll conducted by Lifeway Research, the average pastor stays at any given local church a mere 3.6 years.  Other research shows the average tenure to be 5 to 7 years.  Either way... not a very long time.

No wonder so many pastors are so lonely.  They are alone and don't have many friends because we have created a church system in which pastors are largely treated as temporary hired hands, imported from distant lands, brought in to do a job for a short season, only before moving on somewhere else.  Apart from their spouses, they have few people they can lean on for spiritual counsel and support.  If they are struggling in an area of their life, very few people they pastor would ever know it.

When I read the New Testament and the writings of the early church, I see a very different way of "doing ministry."  Pastors were home grown members of the local church family.  They cut their teeth on the teachings of Jesus Christ among their brothers and sisters, only to one day grow into the very men who could provide spiritual oversight to that same family.  People knew them very closely.  They were loved as fathers of the faith, and had real and deep relationships with the people they pastored.  So much so, when persecution struck, many often sacrificed their very lives out of love for their Christian family.  And when they died, their churches took it to heart.

Sure, there were itinerant ministers like Paul, Timothy, and others that frequently traveled.  But, such men were the exception, not the rule.  And, even when they did travel to work in other churches, when we read the letters they left behind, we see that they treated the churches they ventured to merely as distant family members with whom they were visiting.  And, they were received as such.  They made close friendships and connections with the people they ministered to, and they longed to return to the church they grew up in.

Sadly, this experience in the modern church is very rare.

There is often a great gulf that exists between the pulpit and the pew, and this is not how God designed the church to function.  Pastors have become increasingly distant professionals, and less like a part of the family.  God's desire and will for the church is not only that we would have a close and personal relationship for Him, but that our churches would be known for the great love that exists between us, and that we would function not as a corporation, but as a family.

How we handle the hiring, firing, and resignation of pastors/church staff says a lot about our theology of the church as the family of God.  And it not only says a lot about our theology, but it says a lot about where we actually are spiritually in our walk with God.  If we are truly close with God, we must be close with one another.

What do you think?  Did I miss the mark, or am I spot on in my analysis?  Besides talking about these things on the internet, how can we as individuals in the church help bring meaningful change to the church, and return to a family oriented model of church life and ministry?  

Leave your comments below....