Back to the Door

About 8:00 this morning I was standing by the slider looking out on the back "yard" and saw what Pam and I agree is probably the biggest coyote we've seen here walking by not 10' away from me. But what was really cool was to see him trotting slowly with a very large rabbit in his mouth. He went along the side of our house, so we hurried to the front window to watch him cross the street and head into the their lot. I think he was looking for a place to settle down for an undisturbed breakfast. Very cool!

I play Free Cell a lot and run the stats to 100 games, trying to beat my record of 94%. I did it today when I hit 100 games at 95%. But what really bugs me is that I got the first 50 games in without a single loss. Pride goeth before the fall.

More govt. docs were unsealed yesterday - in this case some of the records on Marion Jones' use of performance enhancing drugs. That lady was a walking chemistry set! I'm not going to be surprised to hear she fathered two children while training for the Olympics.

As I type this I'm watching Brigham Young play UCLA in the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl. They guy just said that when the Mormons go to Vegas they pack the 10 Commandments and $10, and don't break either one.

We're very close to the January 1 effective date of AZ's employer sanctions law. Maybe you saw the stories on both the CNN site and USAToday.com about the exodus of illegal immigrants from the state in anticipation of their inability to get work here. Some are going back home and some are coming to your state. It will be interesting to see what their absence does to the local economy - both the supply and demand side. Not only will their jobs open up (and there's an up- and downside to that) but the jobs their presence created will disappear. Net gain or loss? We'll see.

OK, before you read ANY further you are REQUIRED to go back and read the post from last Wednesday, titled "Welcome to the Door." If you already read it fine; you can continue. But if you haven't, the blog police will come to your door if you don't go do that now.

What is (are) the purpose(s) of the local church? That is, what task(s) has God assigned to the local church? The answer to that question depends in large part on your answer to this question: What is the target group for the ministries of the local church?
For a very long time it was assumed that the church was intended by God to minister to Christians, who were then responsible for doing evangelism through their existing life connections. Accordingly, the ministries of the church were designed for people already in a relationship with God - worship, learning, fellowship and service.
It's a relatively recent development to view the church as a place where evangelism is a key focus of the Sunday morning service. The archetype of this approach is Willow Creek and its "seeker service" where, for example, congregational singing is rare because non-churched people don't know the tunes and therefore are made to feel uncomfortable. Because Willow Creek (and churches sharing this perspective) views it's Sunday services as targeted to the unbeliever, both the content and form of the services are planned accordingly.
Oh sure, the Southern Baptists have been throwing in an incongruent invitation at the end of every service for over 100 years, but that's just because they really love to sing "Just As I Am" and need a good reason to sing it again this week. The rest of the time is geared to believers.
It is most certainly true that unbelievers attend church, some regularly. I made it my habit to enter the pulpit assuming that at least one unsaved person was in the room. As a result I would explain the gospel when the biblical text addressed related issues.
But some key aspects of a worship service change if the hour is viewed as focused to a significant extent (or primarily) on the unbeliever. Let's face it, some of the things that make sense to a Christian don't fit the unchurched and visa versa.
So, which is right, a worship service geared to believers or one geared to unbelievers? Or are they both valid, and it's just a matter of a particular church's focus?
I guess the answer to that one depends on how you answer this one:
Is the NT's depiction of and instructions regarding the local church intended to be instructive of its form and function until Christ returns? Or does the NT describe the form and function of the local church only for that century and its cultural context?
'cause I don't think there's a lot of question about how the NT portrays the target audience of the local church.

If you didn't go read "Welcome to the Door" you'd better go answer yours now, because the blog police are on your front porch and they are NOT in a good mood!