deep and wide

where is the deep and wide church? seems like every hip church is a mile wide and an inch deep (code: seeker). weary of preachers without theological grounding -- guys in leather jackets and $100 jeans whose charisma quotient rivals Anderson Cooper without a clue about sanctification or spiritual disciplines -- but a ready arsenal of three point acrostics and glib, stand-up patter.
hungry, hungry for soul shaking, seismic worship and grounded, informed teaching that stretches my intellect and world view.
pfish

alt-worship

"Jesus replied, 'Believe me, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father here or in Jerusalem...But the time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.'"
- John 4:21, 23-24



so just what is alternative worship, anyway?


When many of us think of worshiping God through painting, writing, reading, studying, conversation, it seems odd, and it is then called alternative worship. But if all that is required for worship is the right spirit and a heart of truth, then why would any worship be considered "alternative?"
It is a spiritual exercise to go outside of your normal boundries of worship and give God the invitation to speak to you in a new place. So do it.

dont

funny anecdote
anecdote turns serious
serious turns bible story
bible story turns moral for our lives
three easy steps to accomplish this in our lives.

nononononono
here's a trick: that formula has been flowing in and out of our ears for our entire lives. it doesn't work. it doesn't hold our attention, and as a Christian College student, I am appalled that you think I am not intelligent enough to just dive into the Bible that I have been memorizing since I could speak:

"a little bit of fish, and a little bit of bread, fed a whoooole lot of people..."

Ever since the idea of starting my own worship service was planted in my head, I've been wondering what it's going to look like.
I've realized that I have things to say, and now I have an opportunity to say them, discuss them.
My goal, and hopefully the goal of others involved, will not be to entertain you for an hour or more on a sunday morning, but to challenge your life to change, to become God's creation rather than your own. And I know I can't do that through entertaining anecdotes and spewing a few bible verses at you. So bear with me as I try to figure out how I can do that.

naming

it was 1971 and everyone was a freak. drug culture made you a pot freak or speed freak, music made you a beatle freak, grateful dead freak...you get the picture. it was natural, upon becoming a christian, to be a jesus freak. did you hear the classic, "I Just want to be a Jesus Freak for the rest of my life." tough for vetern christians. It was watered down to jesus people. easier for the veterns.
music was important, but what to call this new music with christian lyrics but rock & roll rhythms? randy matthews called his gospel rock, others used jesus rock. along came chris christian producing an album for an unknown teenager named amy. he called the music "contemporary christian." not as easy to say, not as fun to say, but easier for veterns, alas another watered down name. gospel rock can be said with guts, contemporary christian is a wimpy term, even when the music is good.
little fish uses the name "indie" for everything. she drinks coffee at the indie starbucks, listens to indie music, reads indie books. i like "indie.' i want to start the indie church. little fish will. this fall she and screaming jon will start the indie church in a house on the edge of the continent next to the atlantic ocean.
george mcdonald had curdie name things because it gave them reality.

and every good indie kid has an emo picture...or 5

the small pond

there are certain advantages to being in a small pond... you know the other fish, it's easier to make waves, swimming in the same direction is sometimes the only option. you stick together. at the core of the jesus people movement of the 1970s was a tight, outsider community. people who just didn't belong.
counterculture, they didn't understand the old hymns or formal dress styles of christian culture. counterculture, they didn't champion (at least not wholesale) the free love and experimental drug culture of youth culture.
like the new believers in Acts, they were neither gentile nor Jew. and so began a small movement.
a very small pond.

little fish

Danger Group.
It's not dangerous because we jump off bridges, dance at gay bars, or talk to homeless people, although we do all of those things.
It's dangerous because every week we pour ourselves out on the table and say "Think what you want, but here I am." We share confession, communion, laugher, tears and life-altering challenges. And every week we to choose love each other. Like Jesus loves us.

We are about community. As Christians, we don't convert, we love. Our highest goal is to have someone see Jesus in us and through us.

And small group is no longer about bible study.
It's about figuring out Jesus together. Taking the text beyond talk and into every day life.