Oh no Dev's been lying.

Yes, I confess I watch soaps. All of them! I find them fascinating. But real life's not like that you say. It is and it isn't. Recently in Corrie, Dev, married to Sunita she being pregnant with twins was found to have a stash of kids all over the place. Sunita is dev..estated, no pun intended. Real life is like that, people do cheat on others and lie. Many people have secret children and even families in different locations. But soaps do what most other TV doesn't do.
All eventually gets outed. When someone in a soap does something in secret, it always and I mean always gets exposed. People never get away with anything in soapland. All is revealed.
And it shows the terrible consequences of their actions. Lives come crashing down.
But the only problem is they keep repeating their mistakes, they never learn. And there is no remedy, no matter how hard they try it happens time and time again.
That's where I despair of soapland. All the problems are aired but no one can help, except "let's have a nice cup of tea." At least in the real world Jesus can heal, forgive and do something fantastic with broken lives. What do you like/hate about soaps? Should a Christian watch soaps?

You're a what?

Is it just me or have christians stopped telling complete strangers they are in fact christians? I don't mean you slip up to an unsuspecting innocent member of the public quequing for a bus and grab them by the shoulders and say in a very loud voice,"are you saved yourself?"
I mean do you let people know you are a christian intentionally by slipping it into casual conversation somewhere down the line? Is it part of your worldview that the sooner people know you are one, the better it will be all round? Or should we wait until they notice some wonderful deed we perform and when they ask the question,"what is it about you?" We answer in aloud bold and Jesus like voice,"blessed art thou for thou hast noticed, that indeed yea He verily lives in me."
Personally I think we should we let people know as quickly as possible, whose we are and who we belong to. These days it's almost enough to mention casually that you belong to a church! Tell people sooner rather than later otherwise they will think you are either ashamed or your hiding something...or both. And that wouldn't be true would it???

Why culture's important.

Most people who visit a church for the first time notice your culture and style before they know the mission, theology or structure of that particular church. What!! Yes, they connect first with the culture of your church before the other three.
Our mission is communicated through a style which should be condusive to the culture we live in. If the style/culture jars with the prevailing culture outside they will find it hard to hear your mission.
We all have a culture. We don't wear hats, at least the women don't! Nobody has ever said "you're not allowed to wear hats here" but we just don't. If you came as a visitor with a hat on, you certainly wouldn't wear it the next time. What the culture is the culture grows. Therefore you should deliberately develop a culture, for if you don't someone else will.
Here at CFC we have developed a style/culture through which we communicate our misson.
1 Honesty. A culture of openness and vunerability. We tell it like it is and so you can be honest here and no one will shoot you.
2 Encouragement. We are appreciative and supportive of people. We build up and not tear down.
3 Expansion. We want to grow in our faith and we want our message about Jesus to be caught by more and more people.
4 Excellence. We want to be the best expression of what God has created us to be. Nothing is too good for God.
5 Humility. We need God's help! We are not better than anyone else just different.
6 Creativity. This means developing ministries around people's giftings not filling ministries with people who don't fit. Using creative ways to reach people.
7. Ownership. People are encouraged to take responsibility for all that goes on. One volunteer is worth a thousand conscripts.
8. Fun. Building bridges, pulling down barriers through having fun.
9. Inclusiveness. No in or out crowd. Peopel connect with others for they are genuinely welcome. Make opportunities for people to feel they can belong here.
10. Generosity. Were we are marked as being givers to God, each other and soceity. We show a generosity of love, grace and mercy.
You get to decide what the style/culture is. Make sure it's agood one.

Is acceptance the same as approval?

I found myself in a very tricky situation recently. I was in the company of someone whose lifestyle I have big moral questions about but as a christian I want to love them, affirm their humanity and show grace and mercy to them at all times. Fair enough. But it became apparent that while they were very appreciative of my acceptance of them, they also wanted my approval of how they were conducting their lives.
Can you accept someone, warts and all, and at the same time make it clear that you do not approve of their lifestyle? I think it's hard but necessary. Hard for them not to think that you are being judgemental and hard for you to maintain a healthy balance.
I rationalize it like this. I am accepted by God in Christ, He loves me, affirms me but doesn't always approve of the things I do. Do I know he loves me and am I secure in him? Yes but I also know that God makes a difference between the two.
We need to do the same. Unconditional love whatever someone may do or whatever way they behave. But our approval of their lifestyle needs to be regulated by God's Word. It will confuse them even more if we pretend the way they live doesn't matter.