My faith is slowly being restored in churches and I hope they don't blow it.

I have been wanting to update the blog for at least a few weeks now. I had stop myself after watching an episode of a show I like where a character tried to commit suicide, I held my tongue so hard when the whole Duck Dynasty controversy was going on, but today I feel is an appropriate time to update. There are so many topics that I feel I hammer into the ground on here, and i'm sure i've already covered this, but here we go.

I guess I should start off by admitting that yes, I am a hypocrite, and maybe sometimes I am the problem for misconstrued views of the church, and for that i apologize.

Today I went to Church of Hope with my family, and Mark shared statistics he had found about Christianity and the church: every major world religion is growing except Christianity. In spite of the (i believe it was) 4 trillion dollars churches had spent, there wasn't significant movement towards Christ. It is abundantly clear that not only has christianity lost traction with some people, it has come to a screeching halt. A handful of Christians may be dumbfounded by these facts, however I am not and i'll take a minute to explain why.

There was a time in my life where I held some resentment towards God and the Church (I think i've blogged about this before so I will keep this short) There have been so many times where I felt unwanted and unloved by the Church, i'm sure it would sound embracing to mention. The week before last when I attended Hope my eyes misted up a little because why I was sitting there and watching all the people around me sing about love, not 24 hours before I saw them updating their Facebook status about how what I am is wrong and I shouldn't be treated equally. It made me mad that I had to sit in the same room with people that would sing about love, but only to a certain extent and to only certain people (I can only conclude, based on what I am reading of their updates) But enough about me, this post is about the church and trying to reach the lost. Anyway, my point is, as much as I hate to admit it, I feel and see myself in the unbeliever. Like I have one foot in the church and the other out the door. I see where the world is coming from and why church attendance has become so stagnant. It's partially because of people like me who hate admitting they go to church, furtherly showing that the church is filled with people you don't want to be around...but that isn't true. Not in all circumstances.

There are churches and christians around the world and around the United States that are doing truly great, new, and exciting things. For example where I go in LA, Mosaic. I love the living daylights out of that church and I will shout it from the rooftops. I won't expound because i've dedicated a whole post about them (said post) but it is a great place. Another christian that I think will change the face of Christianity is a woman/author/blogger named Jen Hatmaker. She is taking up the cross, seeking the truth, and laying it all out there, the defender of love. People start controversy about 2 people marrying, she says 'No. Love.' People get up in arms about politics, she says 'No. Love.' She see's the woman on the streets struggling to provide for her kids: love. The homeless man: love. Your annoying co-worker: love. Neighbor that has 2 sleeves (of tattoos): love. To me, she gets it. She absolutely knows that the whole world in looking at Christians and how they react to certain situations, and she chooses love. (If you would like, check out her awesome blog here) Today my old roommate in college posted a link to an article about the church she is attending, talking about how the church is becoming an inclusive and reconciling congregation. Included in the article is the associate pastor's greeting:

“No matter where you have come from 
and no matter where you are going...
No matter what you believe or doubt...
No matter what you are feeling or just

not feeling...

No matter what you have or don't have...

And no matter whom you love...

All of you is welcomed into this 

community of faith

by a God who loves you,

who knows you by name, and

who wants a personal relationship with you.
Thanks be to God - Amen!” 

It was really a good article. Some people and some churches have realized that they have, in the past, isolated and even pushed away some non believers or people from other walks of life. I kinda find it great that they call it reconciling...that they have a reconciling committee. I think it's time for the church and the world to have one big reconciliation. I know so many people have felt like they have been burned by the church. The church has hurt them in some way. Something happened that made them jaded. They met one too many unloving, judgmental Christians and it turned them off from church and Christianity all together. BUT THERE IS HOPE. There are people that are bringing back love to the world and showing that christianity isn't about their personal beliefs about how you should dictate your life and laws you need to follow and what you can't do....that it's about God's love and receiving that love through Jesus. That we were literally created to be loved by God. That EVERYONE was created to be loved by God. Not who the Christians think deserve to be loved by God, not the perfect ones, not the do-gooders and sinless, but everyone. I appreciate that this is something that Mark mentioned at Church of Hope this morning, love. It really isn't our job to take a stance on an issue and determine how holy or worthy someone is based on that stance. More and more churches and christians I believe are starting to see and understand how they ostracize people when they put them on a pedestal to shame them. Its happened before and it will most certainly happen again, the next controversy christians vs. the liberal God hating world, but when Christians and churches can take a back seat to being "right" and caring that they have had their "rights" taken, and instead at least pretend that everyone they look down upon has actual human feelings too and create an environment where the world might want to be, then maybe, just maybe, we might start to see the numbers of Christian popularity going up and the number of churches closing going down. God knows we have a long way to go with gaining back that trust and respect from the rest of the world, but I have faith that these churches and people will lead the way and i'm excited for their message the take hold, because at least as far as my knowledge in LA, while statistics show more churches closing that starting, Mosaic is adding new service after new service because of growth and nothing could make me happier. Here's to a reconciling 2014! 

Love you guys.