Diane over at Crossroads alerted me to Michael Spencer’s latest blog post entitled ” Message to Tom Ascol: Write the Book.

She referred me to comments made by Pastor Scott Dontanville that told of his past years of church planting and how it has been a roller coaster ride. One of his comments really reminded me of something when he stated:

We have been down the road of the genuine postmodern, radical coffee bar, candle lit, visual driven, come as you are church. Our slogan was “wear jeans it’s cool.” If you had a tattoo, pink hair, and could say dude with a mocha Latte in hand, you were ready for worship.

It reminded me of the Vineyard I once attended when it became the ‘casual, Christ-centered, celebration’. Because we were close to the beach, the church heavily promoted the ‘come in your Hawaiian shirts, shorts, and flip-flops and after service, go enjoy God’s creation called the beach’ mentality. In the summertime, it was like this and in the winter, it was almost like the Parrotthead-Pentecostalism with the feminized guys who love their beach music and their virgin Bacardi’s.

However some time later, the church came under ‘conviction’ (or was it the rich daddys threatened to take their money elsewhere…), and suddenly the shift took place. Gone was the beach house mentality and when the beach house mentality was gone, so was a large church of the congregation that decided they could make the next aspiring big church in our city the ‘biggest church of Margaritaville (and today they are still searching for their lost shaker of salt)’. It felt ‘conviction’ but what happened? Instead of going deeper to the Scriptures, it bought into the coffee shop craze of beatnik / Jesus Freak Christianity as the Charismatic congas syncopated the spirit. Later on when the coffee shop craze ended. People in that craze left and made the next aspiring mega church the new mega church of beatniks and Jesus Freaks while the church decided on the “Third Rave’ mentality of the once a month ‘all nighter’ praise and worship services.

It is really a problem with church growth or is it a problem of people who are refusing the meat instead yearning for the milk and when the milk supply runs out, they find another congregation that will give them milk?

I think many Christians do not want to grow up Spiritually because growing up means responsibility. That was the beauty of the messyanic milk to many of these people. No responsibility and the pragmatic mentality of ‘there will always be another milk church to attend when the milk runs out’ permeates their actions. However, I have news.

One day, the milk will run out… What will you do then???? Will you eat the meat of the Word or will you choose Infanticide and die away?

The child who wanted to become an adult to make the choices others made for him are now the adults wanting to be the children again because they fear making the choice affecting destiny and desires. A people forced to grow up physically has the hardest time of growing up spiritually….

Why?

Is it because they fear that the reality of mature Christianity will turn out exactly like the reality of physical maturity where they became consumed of the fact that the adulthood was not what it was ‘cracked up’ to be? Are they afraid that by growing up spiritually that there will be no more pentecostal parties? Are they afraid that growing up spiritually that life will be full of trials and complications like their physical life?

Or is it the fact that because they struggle in the survival of their physical life that they see mature Christianity as another struggle and their milky baby step Christianity is their way of re-living their simplistic, non-responsible, easy, and joyous childhood they so desperately crave again even though age and biology is taking them into maturity?

What do you do when those around you refuse to eat the meat and still want the milk? I guess you have to do like Pastor Scott Dontanville had to do. Let these people leave to a land flowing with ‘milk and honey’ while you go onward for the meat.

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. 1 Corinthians 3:1-3

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. Hebrews 5:12-14 and 6:1-2

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2. From ‘Instant’ to ‘Extreme’
3. What To Do With The Bones
4. Spiritual Growth or Cultural Adaptation
5. I Knew This Was Coming