Transformers

While I was a big fan of Transformers the cartoon, the toys and aspects of the recent movies, this post is not about alien mechanical creatures that can change from one thing to another. Instead the transforming that I want to talk about is the one found in Romans 12:2 which says; "Do not be conformed any longer to the the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will."

At times there can be a fine line between conforming to the world and being relevant in an unbelieving world. I think the hard part is that fine line doesn't stay put, it can move around depending on the circumstance. Far too often, Christians tend to error on one side or the other. If you go too far to the side of the world, you risk compromising your faith and looking just like the world. If you go too far the other way, you risk not being able to reach the lost.

Unfortunately, I don't think there is any magic formula or answer for how you stay at just the right spot. What I encourage you to ask yourself though is, "am I conforming to the world around me, or am I helping to transform the world around me?" Let's remember the two greatest commandments, to love God with everything and to love our neighbor as ourself. If we do that, we should have no problem staying on that fine line.

Helpful Tool vs. Produced Show

There is a tough balance between trying to help a congregation enter into worship and get the most out of a sermon and a production that potentially helps feed the idea of consumerism and entertainment. I think this is a struggle for many churches with some erring on one side and some on the other. We at Crosswater are currently trying to figure out what we should do. Do we keep the current PowerPoint system which has several inherent issues, or do we upgrade to something else.

We are currently evaluating some different options and I was recently made aware of one called Proclaim that we will hopefully be able to evaluate soon.

Please let me know what you think. Do things like motion backgrounds, seamlessly integrated videos and just a nicer overall look and feel help you enter in to worship and get more out of the sermon or are all of those things unnecessary?