The Imperfect Church

The Imperfect Church is an upcoming series at CrossCurrent Ministries. You can check it out on CrossCurrent's podcast if you can't make it in person. Search for "CrossCurrent Ministries" on iTunes or go here: http://www.crosscurrent.org for more info.

Here's a description of the series:
Skeptics have lost hope that organized religion has any value. Believers are suffering discouragement with the local church, being bored, disenchanted, and unsatisfied. Most people want more from God, but cant absorb another Sunday of lifeless ritual or another split of petty divisiveness among the people who are supposed to be called brothers.

Simply put, most churches are a mess. They have a perennial tendency to shoot their wounded, bicker over non-essentials, divide over useless doctrines, pour countless dollars into ineffective programs, dig their heels in on trivial decisions, and generally turn off any non-Christian they can get their hands on. And yet, at least in the offerings of scripture, the church is the promise of God, His one and only plan for carrying on the message of the redemption of the world.

In this 5-part series, we will explore what to do with the messy and broken, the fractured and flawed, beautiful and glorious thing called the church, see what its relevance to our lives may actually be, and discover what God was thinking when He created the Church. Join us for a provocative and scandalously raw discussion on the reality of the imperfect church.

9/13 - Part 1: Imperfect Church: Is It Supposed To Be This Way?
9/20 - Part 2: Imperfect Organization: Was Organized Religion Really Gods Plan?
9/27 - Part 3: Imperfect Expectations: Why the Church Seems to be Failing When Indeed She May Be Thriving
10/4 Part 4: Imperfect Relationships: The Tragic Transactional Nature of Relationships in the Church
10/11 - Part 5: Imperfect Pastors: What Every Christian Should Know About the Broken Heart of Pastors

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• crosscurrent
• ministries
• imperfect
• church
• hurt
• pain
• redemption
• hope

[TheNerdworm11]

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[jennyyang1984]

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[khadijagwen]

@Scriipto I really try to be a peacemaker because that is what I think Allah SWT has set for me to do. Yet at times bitterness from the past sneaks up on me, and catches me unaware. It is not good when I criticise Christians, because I put myself in the same place as those Christians who were so awful to me. My stepfather was Amish of all things and I now live in Ohio. The more I learn about the Amish and Menonites, the more I see the similarities between that and Islam.

[Scriipto]

@khadijagwen Salaam, yeah I understand what you mean, I was raised a christan but never really believed then I found Islam, alhamdulilah (: And I must agree about to out of context thing, it's ignorant and it makes Islam look bad. But you know, we just have to do our duty and inshallah we will be in paradise (:

[khadijagwen]

@Scriipto Wa Alaykom Salaam: Yes, I am an American Muslimah convert to Islam. I have to say American because if you talk to some of the Middle Eastern Muslims, doctrinal dogmas creep in that Muhammad PBUH did not say; like the 72 virgins, and the "slay the unbeliever" thing is waaaayyyy taken out of context. I was Christian for over 30 years and am well aquainted with scripture passages being taken out of context. LOL

Ma Salaama

[Scriipto]

@khadijagwen Salaam wa alaikum, This sums up everything I would want to say :D I assum you are a muslim since you said Allah (swt) ?

[khadijagwen]

They have such narrow viewpoints on what it takes to please God (Allah SWT). Ever wonder where the Trinity idea came from; whose idea it was? Did you ever actually LOOK at the documents? Did Jesus say that he was God? Of course not. But in America Christianity has gotten so bizzare and fixated that I finally gave up on it.

You will only listen to me long enough to start thinking about what you are gonna say; so you end up not listening at all. Did you ever dig deep inside?

[MissDia97]

@sockmonkey6 yeah, but you also need to:

1. follow the Ten Commandments

2. be charitable

3. pray (the original prayers not the new junk people came up with

4. be kind

5. do penance

6. fast

7. go to Church, or if there isn't a real ordained priest near u, say Mass prayers at home (like I do)

8. and more.

Well, that's what Catholics are supposed to do. I'm Catholic.

[MissDia97]

@khadijagwen Most traditionals (Christian or Catholic) are like that. My family had something similiar happen to us at a private Catholic school and church. Mom dropped us off wearing pants and they didn't like that. There's nothing immodest about that, right? The pants weren't even skinny jeans! But no, they didn't like that. And that's just one of the probs. But we moved on, and right now, I'm going to my third school. We're still Catholic and didn't let others get to us.

U shouldn't either.

[khadijagwen]

I was Christian for over 30 years, my children went to Christian school, I served constantly, I loved God with all my heart. When I had a problem, they threw me out. Everytime I see a church, or someone talks about the love of Jesus, I get mad.