For one of my classes last semester, I had to define what the local church is.  Fo the fun of it, I thought I would share with you what my definition came out to be.

This definition is heavily based on Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears, Vintage Church: Timeless Truths and Timely Methods (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2009), 38. I took a considerable amount of time studying the different elements of their definition and added where I personally thought it might be lacking.  Since I am a member of Mars Hill Church, I wanted to stay as close to Mars Hill Church’s definition of a church and only tweak it a little bit.

The local church is a community of confessing and covenantal believers of Jesus Christ who are organized under Biblically qualified leadership. They regularly gather physically for preaching and worship, and scatter in the unity and power of the Holy Spirit to carry out the mission of God by evangelizing and caring for people everywhere. They observe the Biblical sacraments of baptism and communion, and are disciplined to maintain the purity of the church in order to live out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission to the glory of God.

What do you think?  Would you change anything?  Do you have a working definition of the church?

photo by: Mrs. W.  

After recieving a lengthy email from a friend about my last post, I decided that I need to clarrify some things. 

My last post was ment to be more sarcastic than whiney (I probably should have added a few to help clarify that).  After rereading it, I realized that it did come across whiney.  I’m sorry if you look at me differently because of that now (and why exactly are you judging me? )

But I really am curious as to why people don’t leave comments on my posts.  I have my theory (which I’ll share in a second), but I don’t necessarily think it is completely my writting style.  I’ve been working hard at studying other blogs on the net and learning from their writting styles. 

Of all the blogs that I read none of them have problems with getting comments.  Now I don’t write exactly like them, but I’m not completely different.  So this makes me ask the question again…why no comments?

My theory is that it is my audience (yeah I’m passing off the blame ).  I know that the majority of the people that read my blog are friends who don’t really read any other blogs.  Therefore they don’t realize that commenting on a post is a natural part of reading blogs.

The beauty about reading blogs, unlike books, magazines, and other printed material, is that it gives you the opportunity to share your opinion.  It’s not a one way conversation. You get to interact with the author in a way that any other form of writting doesn’t afford.

For example, I wouldn’t be writting this post write now if it wasn’t for a freindly email from one of my readers/friends.  I would have just gone on with my merry day and put up a post on Photoshop Express. 

So tell me what you think. Am I wrong?  Do I need to change my writting style to be more provacative?  Should I give up looking for emails in my inbox that tell me I’ve recieved a comment on my site?  Should I just quick blogging all together and join a convent in Italy some where (I hear that they can revirginize you)?

Leave me a comment and let me know. 

A little while ago I posted a desperate plea for some suggestions of music to buy with my iTunes Gift Card. I still need suggestions. This wasn’t some creative plow to get people to come to my web site. I really am stumped about what to buy.

So would you please give me some suggestions. You can read the original post for my music preferences. When I buy the music, I’ll post my purchases and give the people responsible credit. Thanks in advance for everyone’s help.

Here’s a quick recap of last weeks blogs:

Monday: I forgot to write a blog (ok I was just lazy)…so I vowed to do two on Tuesday.

Tuesday: “Give it up.” was a post about the lack of generosity in the the church and people today. Huckabee Hater was one of my most commented blogs for the week. I talked about my dislike for Huckabee’s Christian platform.

Wednesday: You got another two for the price of one as I talked about the Belkin Podcast Studio and how I need one. I also put out a desperate plea for some suggestions for the use of my iTunes Gift Card.

Thursday: In Waaaaa. I’m Not Getting Fed, I commented on Vince Antonucci‘s posts by the same name.

Friday: The The Black Screen of Life covers our need to get rid of distractions.

Saturday: The book UnChristian gave me the idea to post my own survey.

Sunday: I used this Week in Review as a sly way out of getting to write a new blog.

I know some of you aren’t big book readers out there (which is weird…because you’re reading a blog), but I want to know what some of your favorite books are and why. They could be life changing books or just something fun to read. Here are a few of my recent favorites (not a comprehensive list).

Sex God – Rob Bell – One of the best books on sexuality and God out there (I don’t know if there are any others)

Planting Missional Churches – Ed Stetzer – Just a great book on what a missional church should look like. It’s very eye opening.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – J.K. Rowling – When I got done reading the series, I just wanted to stand up and yell, “I told you so.” (in fact I think I did) The final book was everything I hoped the story would be. (this might be a post in itself later on)

Blue Like Jazz – Donal Miller – Can’t explain it…just go buy it and read it. Right now.

Now it’s your turn…