Presby-Musings

For those of you who might be struggling on Christian etiquette.  I'll be happy to provide you with some do's and don'ts to help you out.  This is the kind of guy that I am.  I'm THAT guy. Todays Lesson:  Lunch Prayer Christian-y people are often compelled to pray over their food in restaurants and fast food establishments---and mostly by other Christians, who happen to be dining with them.  Or their nonChristian friends who know that they are Christian-y, and sort of expect them to, even if it's a bit awkward. Here are some truisms... Truth #1:  When dining alone, Christian-y people will probably forego the lunch prayer.  It's not that they aren't grateful to God for their food, it's just that they don't want people to think they are holier-than-thou, especially when they probably butted in front of someone in line to get their food or yelled at the counter crew for screwing up their order. Truth #2:  When dining alone at Chik-FilA, C...

Yesterday I had the privilege of officiating at the wedding of a young man who was a member of my very first youth group.  Fourteen years ago, I became the part-time youth director of a very small Presbyterian Church in Tallahassee, FL .  We had six kids in our group. On my last day four years later, there were almost fifty kids in attendance. All because of those original six kids---who are all grown up now, many of them with spouses and families of their own. It was a fine wedding.  I stood there in the church where I preached my first sermon.  It smelled the same---a combination of old wood and hymnals mixed with something else.  Many of the same people were there, only older and grayer---just like me. It was a circle of life moment. As I drove around Tallahassee, which was my home for nearly five years, the memories of those early days in ministry came rushing back to me.  Every corner we turned reminded me of that time of my life.   T...

So at the end of Day 2 of the Drive Conference at Northpoint Community Church I have a few thoughts. First, the people at Northpoint are freakishly nice.  And I mean more than most people.  I don't think I have ever experienced a group of church volunteers and staff that were more committed to hospitality.  At some point someone went and bought THOUSANDS of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and the Northpoint pastors and staff donned Krispy Kreme paper hats and walked around giving them away.  Whenever I asked for directions to a room or to a building the volunteer or staffer would actually walk me to it.  It was pretty dang sweet.  Second, it's apparent to me that the culture at Northpoint-- a culture of hospitality and openness as well as a commitment to the overall vision of the church--is one that flows from the leadership to staff and then to everyone else.  I've been a pretty harsh critic of mega churches in the past.  I have been an even harsher ...