Apostle David Johndrow - Fire And Grace

For the love of God, will somebody tell me why everything bad has to be the fault of someone, or something? I have read a few blogs in a row that address, or question who's to blame. A plane crashes, a child drowns, you don't win the lottery... the list goes on and on. If you watch the news, the Republicans blame the Democrats, Obama blames Bush, and BP blames the contractors; the contractors blame the well drillers. The finger pointing is epidemic - and for the big guys, they pay their image consultant and lawyers to make it go away. We live in a Culture of Blame! Even separating couples with "no fault divorce", waste their time assigning blame as a smoke screen to some ancient principal of "personal responsibility." Folks play a lot of emotional games trying to get the upper hand in life. HERE 's a book full of them. The Blame Game is the worst. It squary tries to put all the responsibility on any other party or object that was within a few mil...

For years I have attended small groups, or home fellowships as they are sometimes called. They are an interesting blend of intimacy, arm chair theology and the real Jesus. Here is my take on the anatomy of a home or small group meeting -1 Worship: This is the time when we tell the Lord how much we love him in song. We praise him as the wight of the world lifts off our shoulders and we come into the presence of Almighty God. Err - get something to drink, take a large handful of chocolate covered pretzels because we skipped dinner, and make a plan for the soft couch instead of the miniature folding chairs from kids church. -2 Unofficial Potty Break: On the 15th chorus of I Could Sing of Your Love Forever (how come no one dances to that song?) it's a good time to beat the rush. Beware, once someone gets up, it is a sign for others to make their moves for the coffee pot, the peanut dish and the brownies. It is a li...

I don't know about you, but when I go to church, there is some pretty specific paraphernalia that Christians seem to need to make the experience fuller, and engage God more deeply -1 The Bulletin: An essential accessory for every service. A list of this week's happenings, contact info for all the important folks, and maybe some sermon info - well if the pastor plans ahead. It doubles as a "shut the kids up" personal coloring device and a fan when the A/C wasn't turned on in time for the service. Usually free for the taking. -2 Leatherette Zipper Bible Case: The coolest ones have a Jesus fish or a cross on them. But they have them for kids, camouflage, and bright magenta! Or you can have Footprints and verses about swords on there too. They can hide sermon notes, bulletins from 1996, high-liters, pens, "Jesus Paid it All" personal checks, small handguns along with phone numbers and emails of folks that you'l...

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if churches were run by big corporations? I have. -1 First Church of Walmart - it would be be the biggest church around for miles. A real come as you are fellowship. You'd be sure to be greeted, but don't expect too much expert help after that. The pastor would man the Customer Service desk single handed. Sermons would be broadcast from the mother-ship in Arkansas to big screen HDTVs in every price range. Folks that serve would receive rewards cards. There would be an express line for folks only wanting a little church on Sunday. And Kid's Church in the Toy Department! Hey, you might even get a roll-back on tithes and offerings. Photo: PeopleOfWalmart.com -2 Dunkin' Donuts Family Church - Fellowship time would rock! The decor, a bright pink and medium brown would give spiritual comfort to caffeine deprived. The kids would be on a sugar high until Monday morning. Double-Shot Latte Sermons, Iced Home Fellowships and Sunda...

In life the average person will change jobs 10 times , and move to a new living situation 11.7 times . In 2009 the Pew researchers discovered is that 44% of Americans have changed faiths at least once. Some converted from one religion or denomination to another; others grew up with no tradition only to adopt one as an adult; still others left their childhood faith and found themselves with no religious home. That's a lot of change! I think that the trend shows that Americans are looking for something they can't easily find. It probably shows some immaturity as well. Why tough it out, if you can move on? So let's say hypothetically that you are able to move - put your house on the market, look for a new job and find a new life. How would you know that you were at the right church? I have some ideas. - Inner Witness: Everyone is going to answer, "God said this is the place." so here I am. I am not buying that as the only way to know. If we were that certain...

I read some blogs and they are outlined in perfectly numbered topical points. Matt at The Church of No People often uses three examples. I think it is a Japanese thing. The Japanese almost always use odd numbers - particaulry 3 and 5 in the number of objects in a painting. Maybe Matt is Japanese, I don't know. Then there is Brett that writes Godly Sheep ; he has his Monday High 5 series. Of course there is Tony C , he rarely makes a point. I am not sure if he can even use numbers yet, but I'm glad to call him a friend - and he does make me laugh. Well, I don't want copy those guys, even though I worship them - so I am going to do a 5 1/2 series. You'll get 5 complete points, and a 1/2 finished one - sort of like teenagers clearing out the dishwasher. So here is my first one. Five and a half things I don't think I need to hear in church again as long as I live. Let's face it, the Christian-ese vocabulary is limited and that is a formula ...

If you are as old as me, you might remember Louden Wainwright III singing Dead Skunk. You got yer Dead skunk in the middle of the road Dead skunk in the middle of the road You got yer dead skunk in the middle of the road Stinkin' to high Heaven! It sort of makes me think about what some folks call truth - I mean you've got your whole truth, your half truth, your stinking truth, your subjective truth, your absolute truth, your objective truth, your personal truth, your universal truth, your human truth, your social truth and your relative truth - and white lies. And after all that vomit, there are theories of truth such as correspondence, coherence, pragmatic, consensus, and my favorite - performative. But, I am simple guy. Here are what I think, the top reasons that people don't tell the truth. - Shame: I think that a lot of folks that I know lie because they are ashamed of what they have done. If you stole your grandmothers food an...