We like compromise in our families.

We prefer it in our politicians.

We deal with it at work.

Overall, compromise makes us kinder, gentler, more tolerant.

But to what level do we want in matters of faith?

Maybe more to the point, what was the result of the tolerant compromise of the ancient kings of Judah and what in the world does that have to do with our lives?

You'll find out Sunday.

I happen to think it's a message many of us need to hear.

8:30.  10.  11:30.

Some random thoughts on life, faith, and Charlotte, North Carolina . . .

If Ann Patchett wrote it, I'm going to read it.

I work on two messages per week . . . researching and writing one that I will preach in four to six weeks and then internalizing one that I will deliver on the upcoming Sunday.  For some reason, I've never gotten the two confused.

Of all the doctrines that different Christians hold, dispensationalism with its secret rapture is my least favorite.

In my dark nights of the ministry soul I have a secret desire to go into the lawn care business.

It's fashionable in Methodism to dismiss Beth Moore.  Don't.  Her study on the Book of James is one of the best bible studies of any kind that I've ever encountered.

I have good hand writing for a man.  Even for a woman.  Hand written notes have been a core part of my practice of ministry since way back in 1990.

I can't fix or build anything.

The main lesson God has been teaching me this year is that people belong to Him and not to this church.

I love Pardon The Interruption as long as both Wilbon and Kornheiser are there.

James 4:13-17 = Psalm 39:4-8.

The blinking yellow left turn signals are the worst thing about living in Charlotte.

I didn't really know how to read Genesis 1 until James-Michael Smith showed me how.  What a great example of reading Scripture not literally and not symbolically but literarily . . . according to the kind of literature it is.

Does progressive theology at the denominational level result in diverse ethnicities at the congregational level?

Or: if we would just be more progressive in our theology -- Jesus as one of many rather than the One and Only; heaven and hell as creations of pre-Enlightenment minds & not worthy of modern consideration, and it's high time to re-write centuries of understanding regarding God's boundaries for human sexuality -- would that help ensure local congregations have a wide mix of races, languages, and people groups?

(By the way, my cyber-friend John Meunier has an excellent post on progressive theology that you can read here.)

It's interesting to me how often our Methodist movement assumes that logic to be the case.  That if we would just move to the left theologically and if we have Annual and General Conference delegates who are racially diverse, then our local churches will ultimately become red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in his sight.

Experience shows that the reverse is true.

Old line denominations, such as the Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and Episcopalians, continue to have local churches that are for the most part either all white or all black.  This in spite of the fact that each group has national level offices or initiatives to address issues around race!  The United Methodist version is called The General Commission on Religion and Race.

In contrast, what congregations tend to have a full color array of God's children?  The Pentecostals -- a group never known for its progressive theology.  Our charismatic and Pentecostal brothers and sisters have been building multi-race churches for years now, all without the benefit or assistance of national programs showing them how to do so.  They simply lift up the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit and voila! . . . people of all kinds come.

Close to home, Steele Creek Church of Charlotte -- a large, independent, and sort-of-Pentecostal church about five miles from our campus -- is the most diverse church in the city.  And in terms of theology (not politics, theology), they are among the most conservative . . . probably a couple of steps to the right of Good Shepherd.  Many of the steps we've taken towards becoming a full color congregation have come as a result of what we've learned from them.

I come down on the side that ethnically diverse congregations thrive best in the midst of theological unity and doctrinal orthodoxy.

It’s John 12:32 in real time: But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.

Diversity, then, becomes a result and not a cause. 
 
It comes as the result of lifting up Jesus and the decisiveness of his message.  When that happens, He unleashes his unique power to draw all kinds of people to himself.
 
That's something I want to be in the middle of.