http://russbutcher.com/christian-and-an-atheist-go-to-church-together/ A churchplanter's missional influence in the lives of those "least likely to go to church". Fri, 28 Oct 2011 01:37:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://russbutcher.com/christian-and-an-atheist-go-to-church-together/comment-page-1/#comment-60 William Guy Sat, 01 Sep 2007 22:25:39 +0000 http://russbutcher.com/christian-and-an-atheist-go-to-church-together/#comment-60 Mr. Fussell, you have posted some astute remarks. The money, time, and energy that churches spend building these recreational megastructures must truly be astronomical. Not to say that they don't do good in the community, but nevertheless, it magnifies a fundamental problem in perception. By the way, I too, love the fact that I can have coffee with my church service! Mr. Fussell, you have posted some astute remarks. The money, time, and energy that churches spend building these recreational megastructures must truly be astronomical. Not to say that they don’t do good in the community, but nevertheless, it magnifies a fundamental problem in perception. By the way, I too, love the fact that I can have coffee with my church service!

]]> http://russbutcher.com/christian-and-an-atheist-go-to-church-together/comment-page-1/#comment-59 Jack Fussell Sat, 01 Sep 2007 10:40:56 +0000 http://russbutcher.com/christian-and-an-atheist-go-to-church-together/#comment-59 These are some amazing observations. I think what's interesting is that there's no mention of having good coffee, casual dress or perfectly planned services. I know from firsthand experience (as well as you) that we often deal with surface issues while avoiding the underlying issues. People say the church isn't friendly so we create greeters. People want to see us involved in community so we create a staff person to do it. What would happen if we taught our people to truly love God? What would happen if instead of creating our own sub-culture events (our own sports activities, our own gymns...) we enabled and equipped our people to become salt and light at their gym, baseball teams etc... Basically I think alot of times we major on the minors, they don't really care if the music is cutting edge or slick they want authenticity. The problem is that dealing with underlying issues is messy and a lot more work. But when we take the time and get dirty in peoples lives amazing things will happen. Good stuff. These are some amazing observations. I think what’s interesting is that there’s no mention of having good coffee, casual dress or perfectly planned services. I know from firsthand experience (as well as you) that we often deal with surface issues while avoiding the underlying issues. People say the church isn’t friendly so we create greeters. People want to see us involved in community so we create a staff person to do it. What would happen if we taught our people to truly love God? What would happen if instead of creating our own sub-culture events (our own sports activities, our own gymns…) we enabled and equipped our people to become salt and light at their gym, baseball teams etc…
Basically I think alot of times we major on the minors, they don’t really care if the music is cutting edge or slick they want authenticity. The problem is that dealing with underlying issues is messy and a lot more work. But when we take the time and get dirty in peoples lives amazing things will happen. Good stuff.

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