The perfect Church

I've been thinking a lot about Church lately. Unfortunately, this has been because of a disappointment in my current Church experience. It's tough because there are things in your life (like Church!) that you want to be part of a fluid experience, but what do you do when something rudely disrupts the pattern of that familiar experience? Do you ignore it or do you ask the tough questions?

It's these questions that have been on my mind. What would the ideal Church be like? And let me clarify that when I say "Church", I am referring to a specific set of believers who meet in a singular place as opposed to the body of Christ as a whole. And so back to Church.

I have often been struck by the segregation of the modern day Church. We have white churches, black churches, rich churches, poor churches. Pretty much the stuff we all think of when we say "segregation". But we don't stop there, what about style of worship? Traditional, Contemporary, Gospecl, Bluegrass. Or what about age and marital status? Young twentysomething singles, retirees, newlyweds. You get the idea...

I went to a Church the last two weeks that a friend suggested. This was a Church in very much the modern style of being focusued on social justice / service and being set in a warehouse type environment with coffee in hand. I liked the Church. I found the preaching to be strong and the people to be friendly and open, and a strong commitment to serving the needy and the community. These things are clearly the most important. However, there were two things that nagged me about this Church 1. I'm not sure that I could of found someone over the age of 40 and few folks that you would expect to find in a traditional Church 2. It was too casual (the Pastor wore flip-flops). I'm not one to get too caught up in what people wear to Church but whatever happened to the holiness of God's house? If I would never weak flip-flops and shorts to work, why should I to Church?

And so this brings me to another Church that a person I repsect told me about -- Kairos Church. They have been meeting at another Church at 4 and are probably only 40 or 50 folks. I went and the Pastor and the people just felt authentic. The Pastor challenged the congregation on topic that has been on my mind for a long time and saying that you will not be comfortable in this Church. I even received an email the next day from him saying hi and asking how he could pray for me -- wow. It's hard to sum up in just a few words, but this felt like what I've been looking for. This looks to be a place on the move, committed to service and committed as a diverse and a whole community. It's not the perfect Church, but then again the only perfect church is on McDaniel Street in Downtown Atlanta :)

Edgar, me, and the Casino cigar room

When you’re in the cigar room of a casino with Edgar Martinez at 2 in the morning, you have to ask yourself “How did I get here?”. It is only then that you have to shake your head and realize that only Brent could have gotten you here.

Incredibly, this was not my first bizarre run-in with a celebrity (I once chauffeured and gave my cell phone number to a very drunk Shooter McGavin). Shooter notwithstanding, this evening took the surreal cake.

So Brent was celebrating his 27th birthday at the Snoqualmie casion. He was there with probably 10-15 of his fellows Sports Administration Grad students that included a U-Dub Tennis player and a former NFL nose tackle.

One of the girls had found herself at Edgar’s Blackjack table and before long another girl took up Edgar’s offer of a free $25 to play at one of the empty seats. And then things really took off. At one point, everyone pushed all in where everyone except another high roller went bust, but he quickly bankrolled the other players including Edgar himself. Then the girls started hitting it big and at one point players were taking shots for getting blackjack.

And if the night couldn't any stranger, I soon found myself as part of a group of 12 or so to caravan over to the Casino cigar lounge with Edgar. Granted, I was at the far end of the table and Edgar didn't say 2 words to me all night...but he saw me! I can also say that I know the man behind the women behind the blackjack table. So if you ever find yourself behind a blackjack table with Edgar Martinez and he's offering you $25, you should probably take that bet.