Seeking a Church

As a librarian, I conduct research everyday. It was natural for me to use the internet to find a church. I discovered that In2 Church was very close, so I decided to attend the Crosswalk ministry's service last month.

I had already been indecisive about committing to a church for some time. There was always a reason for my hesitation such as the location or service time. Essentially, I enjoyed the first service and the members became friendlier. It was evident that I could feel God’s presence through the Crosswalk ministry. I have continued to attend In2 Church ever since.

In2 Church is unique. I feel like I am beginning to know a distinctive family of God. I prefer attending a church where the praise is enjoyable, the sermons are influential and the members are earnestly seeking the Lord. I prefer feeling like part of a “body of Christ” versus an attendee within a huge congregation.

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
(1 Corinthians 12:27)


I truly believe that my discovery of the church was not random – it was an intervention of the Lord. He has a specific plan for me at this church, and I will welcome it with an open mind and heart. He already made an amazing impact through last week’s revival service “Encounter”.
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:11-13

The verses above are important, because He has already shown His plan for me about my career and my move to New York from California. However, that can probably be explained another time. May the Lord bless all the members of Crosswalk!

Julie Row, Crosswalk Member

BLOCKED: Religion, Religious Opinions

I stopped by the local Honda Dealers today for a scheduled oil change on my Accord (hey, no comments on getting dealer car service prices with other available options, etc. because, well, it's my prerogative, okay). I had a retreat to speak at in less than 5 hours so I scanned over my sermons at the "Internet Quiet Room" while I waited for my car to be done.

One of my points needed further Scriptural support from John 4, so I did the obvious. I connected to the Internet. I typed in "biblegateway.com". And I got an error message. It read, "BLOCKED". I thought nothing of it. Maybe it was a mistake. So I googled, "Bible Online". I took the search link "bible.com" and clicked. Again, "BLOCKED". This time I looked carefully and it gave a reason: BLOCKED website. This site falls under the following categories: Religion, Religious Opinion.

I felt strange. Christian sites contain explicit material? Biblegateway.com sank down to the level of taboo like visiting a porn site. I didn't know whether to feel embarrassed or enraged. I believed in a faith that is considered on virtually the same level as sin. Or do I take another extreme and scoff at American values nowadays - how does a country that prides in freedom of speech create a double standard for Christians?

So I set out to sea to find other online lands that host based on controversial stigmas. Abortionfacts.com is a site devoted to literature about safe sex, pro-choice vs. pro-life, etc. Gay.com, a website that headlines "All men are not created equal" in big letters is an internet rendezvous point for online dating. Okay, I compared Christian versus non-Christian sites. Pastor John Piper's page desiringgod.com: BLOCKED. Howard Stern's homepage: available showcasing a large-sized image of a beautiful bikini-babe. Christian Music Artist, Christ Tomlin's homepage: BLOCKED. Britney Spears' homepage: available with the latest update on her two boys. Even poor Buddha at aboutbuddha.org: BLOCKED.

I am sad above all to see our limitless freedom of speech has "moralized" Christianity along with other faiths. Religion is generally a powerful moralizing agent, setting standards of what is right and wrong, condemning evil, etc. Yet Christianity, itself, appears to be deemed as immoral in the eyes of the "religion" of free speech. This "religion" has created it's own set of moral standards. And of note: it is wrong to have a Christian "opinion". I see a dangerous irony here.

Church Competitors

The buzz around town is that several new church plants will be launching in NYC within the next few months. Some are extensions of existing churches in the Metro area and others are independent start-ups hoping to succeed in a densely populated demographic. So my broad guesstimation is that some will do well, some more than others and some will eventually fold.

Now as a pastor, the news of a church plant close to home signals certain alarms otherwise unnoticed by most laypersons. Some are unaffected, but almost all pastors have had these thoughts at one time or another:

1. This creates competition which means a drop in attendance which hurts our Sunday offerings which lowers our yearly budget, and so on.
2. Ha! That church will not succeed in NYC. They don’t even have the slightest idea about what it takes to tackle the unique challenges that the city will throw at them.
3. Uh oh. What can I do to improve my service, fellowship and activities? What are the latest church fads? I need to draw people to my church and make them stick here. I need a better slogan. I need to be cutting-edge. Come up with novel programs.
4. I can still boast in my church. They don't have their own building. Their audio-visual equipment isn't as fancy or advanced as ours. Their worship is outdated and banal.
5. While their church may be greater in number, ours is spiritually ahead. And since that's ultimately God's desire for any church, I'll be okay.

I worry about how my church will survive these tough spiritual times. And the onset of another church makes it that much more difficult. But these thoughts should sound a bigger alarm to all of us about the church today. We are in the midst of a dog-eat-dog Christian culture. We compete like businesses. Our congregation is the client/consumer. And so our questions arise from that angle.

Which church location appeals mores? Which speaker inspires more? What band is more exciting? Are the small groups dynamic? It is a product. It is marketing.

While it is difficult to ignore, it leads me to a greater concern, the one that is often overlooked. We cater "our" gospel to this culture. The gospel is more palatable. It is comfortable. It's definitely way more portable. The gospel is watered down.

My prayer is that CROSSWALK looks to advance the gospel instead of chopping it up, diluting it, mixing it up, embellishing it, etc. The gospel is not a product. It is not an instrument in a marketing ploy. Instead, it is "the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes".

Pastor Dave