Community

To My Brother, MIA

Standard

When I was a kid, they built this suburban church near I-275 that rivaled the Colosseum in Rome. You could fit four of my church inside it. Every time we drove past, my folks would comment on how big it was. In my mind, it was as close as you could get in the 1970s to a genuine megachurch. Imagine a sea of cars on Sunday nights. Heck, we’d even watch them park cars on the church lawn. (Hey, there were no Sunday night services at the Lutheran church, so yeah, we were out and about.)

Funny thing is, I’m 45 years old now and have lived in the Greater Cincinnati area for most of my life, yet I’ve never met a single person who attends that church. The Christian world is impossibly small, and I swear that while the world has its six degrees of separation, for Christians it’s more like three.

Still, I’ve never met anyone from that church. Doesn’t that raise questions about that church’s ability to evangelize? If they aren’t getting out and meeting people, including a fellow brother like me, how will they ever lead anyone to Christ? What is it about them that they have no presence?

Here’s the deeper question: Where there was once life...What’s wrong with me that I’ve never encountered one of them? What’s that say about my presence in the community, my willingness to share Christ with someone new, even if that someone new turns out to be another brother in Christ?

You see, it’s all a matter of perspective, isn’t it?

I drove past that church the other night, and it seemed small. And the more I stared at it, the longer I hunted for signs of life, the more it looked abandoned.

 


Sunday Fibbers

Standard

For nearly all my adult life I have been told that about 45 percent of Americans attend religious services (primarily Christian or Jewish) each weekend.

The Wall Street Journal of 8/2/08 had an interesting article (“When Voters Lie”) that showed, perhaps, we’ve been overestimating that number. And the way we’re polled may explain why.

When asked if they attend religious services most weeks, 56 percent of those asked by a human interviewer said they did. However, when people responded to that same question posed by an online computer survey, with no human interviewer involved, only 25 percent responded positively.

Something in us still wants to hold up religiosity as a positive trait when we interact with others, but the second it’s an impersonal connection, the truth comes out.

What’s your take on this phenomenon?

How You Can Support Cerulean Sanctum

Standard

Dan Edelen thanks you for your support!Cerulean Sanctum exists as a help for Christians who are seeking to experience the 1st century Church in 21st century America. From its inception in September of 2003, this blog has provided thousands of readers with support for their walk with Christ, comforting words in tough times, challenging essays on issues facing the American Church, and answers to difficult questions few are willing to ask. The number of Christian blogs today is an order of magnitude larger than when Cerulean Sanctum began, yet many blog readers continue to come here to find content rarely discussed elsewhere.

One of the unique aspects of Cerulean Sanctum is the readership. People from nearly every denomination in Christendom read this blog. Because the readers demand more than easy answers and bring a wealth of experience to every comment they leave, the discourse here remains unusual, insightful, high quality, and civil. The community of readers at Cerulean Sanctum is one of the best out there. Readers bless each other and bless me. I even have a few readers who have been with me since this blog’s inception. Whether a recent drop-in or a veteran of the dialog here, I thank you.

Over the years, I have received many private e-mails from grateful readers who inquired how they could support this blog financially. I have always thanked them for their offer, but requested instead that they use their gift to help someone in their local body of believers who is hurting. If you’ve read some of the posts here, you well know my views on this issue.

Today’s post exists because this past year has been a difficult one for my family and me. Myriad challenges continue to rise up, including ones I could never have anticipated. But God is faithful and good. I’ve considered my options and discussed them with some of my faithful readers. They all agree on the course of action I’m taking.

At the top of the blog you’ll see a tab labeled “Support Cerulean Sanctum.” If you click on the tab you’ll now have the option to financially support the writing that makes Cerulean Sanctum what it is. If you’ve been blessed by the content of this blog or have wanted to support it financially in the past, I’m making that option available to you as of today.

Thank you. I can’t tell you how much your support means to my family and me.

Most of all, I ask for your continued prayers. My family has been through a series of ordeals in the last few months and the end is not yet in sight. I know that many others are struggling in these times, too. If you have a prayer request you wish to share, please leave it in the comment section of this post or e-mail me. I pray for every person who writes me with a need.

I’ve written dozens of posts on how we in the Body need to support each other. I think the time is near when we’ll have to lean on each other like never before. I hope and pray that Cerulean Sanctum will continue to be a blessing to you and a place where you can find deeper truths in Christ to meet the challenges of days to come.

Blessings,

Dan Edelen