Ok, Here is a test for everyone who is truly seeking after the Truth to be brought back to God's church. I will let you write in and tell me what is wrong with this concept of the new ACTION CHURCH. Rev. Charles J. Paul
By MELISSA NANN BURKEYork Daily Record
YORK, Pa. -- No pews. No organ. No problem.
For an hour on a recent Sunday morning, Fat Daddy's Night Club became Actionchurch, billed as "church for people who don't like church."
In its second week, Actionchurch drew about 50 people for loud Christian rock, a biblical message, free doughnuts and coffee at 11 a.m.
Dressed in jeans and sweats, they sat in front of the band or on stools at the bar (which was closed).
They listened to the Lancaster band Unsettled play under purple and red stage lights, and, to muffle the bass, some visitors stuffed their ears with the foam plugs provided at the door.
In the upstairs bar, the go-go platforms were covered up for Sunday school. The 15 children heard a lesson titled, "God is Love."
After the band's set, Don Record, pastor, preached using the structure of VH1's popular "Behind the Music" series (flashback, rehab and comeback) to explain the ups and downs of the early Christian church.
While doing so, Record, 39, explained the mission of Actionchurch: "To put the teachings of Jesus into action."
Indeed, people's perception of Jesus depends on what they see his followers do, Record said.
That's why Actionchurch meets in a bar.
Record wants to connect with people who don't normally go to church and to do so, you go where churches usually don't.
Jesus would do it were he here, Record said.
He sees Actionchurch within the spirit of a large and diverse movement called the "emerging church," whose followers share a desire to make Christianity relevant -- especially for people who've been turned off by conventional congregations or frustrated with traditional church structures.
Many emerging churches put strong emphasis in community outreach and eschew denominational squabbling and divisive church politics.
To draw in youth and stay interesting, they embrace pop culture.
Record introduced his sermon with a clip from "American Idol" and mentioned Nascar, Aerosmith, the Acts of the Apostles, Elvis, diarrhea, Forrest Gump and John the Baptist in his message.
"Just because we're doing things kind of different here, that doesn't mean that everyone else is somehow doing it wrong," he explained.
"God didn't make a church. He made all different types of churches."
For five years, Record served on staff at York Christian Church, where he was ordained. He was fired last year in part because of leadership differences, said Record and boss Dennis Ray, senior pastor.
In the meantime, Record, his wife and 4-year-old daughter attended Lancaster County Bible Church, a megachurch in Manheim.
Record, a painting contractor by day, promoted Actionchurch at Susquehanna Speedway, where a car races painted with the Actionchurch logo. He handed out free coffee at the York Fair and has plans to hang out at the next Bike Week.
He planned the Actionchurch kickoff for the Sunday between the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500 because he wanted to make it easy for both men and women to come, he said.
After the service, 31-year-old mom Meryn Branch of Spring Garden Township said she doesn't feel judged by the Actionchurch crowd -- unlike experiences she's had in other congregations.
"I was tired of the stuffiness," she said.
Actionchurch is "180-degrees different" than churches Lori Yost has known. She came back after her first visit because of the down-to-earth feel and Record's urging to practice random acts of kindness.
She said, "This was an incredibly freeing experience -- to go into an unconventional setting and touch the hearts of people."
YORK, Pa. -- No pews. No organ. No problem.
For an hour on a recent Sunday morning, Fat Daddy's Night Club became Actionchurch, billed as "church for people who don't like church."
In its second week, Actionchurch drew about 50 people for loud Christian rock, a biblical message, free doughnuts and coffee at 11 a.m.
Dressed in jeans and sweats, they sat in front of the band or on stools at the bar (which was closed).
They listened to the Lancaster band Unsettled play under purple and red stage lights, and, to muffle the bass, some visitors stuffed their ears with the foam plugs provided at the door.
In the upstairs bar, the go-go platforms were covered up for Sunday school. The 15 children heard a lesson titled, "God is Love."
After the band's set, Don Record, pastor, preached using the structure of VH1's popular "Behind the Music" series (flashback, rehab and comeback) to explain the ups and downs of the early Christian church.
While doing so, Record, 39, explained the mission of Actionchurch: "To put the teachings of Jesus into action."
Indeed, people's perception of Jesus depends on what they see his followers do, Record said.
That's why Actionchurch meets in a bar.
Record wants to connect with people who don't normally go to church and to do so, you go where churches usually don't.
Jesus would do it were he here, Record said.
He sees Actionchurch within the spirit of a large and diverse movement called the "emerging church," whose followers share a desire to make Christianity relevant -- especially for people who've been turned off by conventional congregations or frustrated with traditional church structures.
Many emerging churches put strong emphasis in community outreach and eschew denominational squabbling and divisive church politics.
To draw in youth and stay interesting, they embrace pop culture.
Record introduced his sermon with a clip from "American Idol" and mentioned Nascar, Aerosmith, the Acts of the Apostles, Elvis, diarrhea, Forrest Gump and John the Baptist in his message.
"Just because we're doing things kind of different here, that doesn't mean that everyone else is somehow doing it wrong," he explained.
"God didn't make a church. He made all different types of churches."
For five years, Record served on staff at York Christian Church, where he was ordained. He was fired last year in part because of leadership differences, said Record and boss Dennis Ray, senior pastor.
In the meantime, Record, his wife and 4-year-old daughter attended Lancaster County Bible Church, a megachurch in Manheim.
Record, a painting contractor by day, promoted Actionchurch at Susquehanna Speedway, where a car races painted with the Actionchurch logo. He handed out free coffee at the York Fair and has plans to hang out at the next Bike Week.
He planned the Actionchurch kickoff for the Sunday between the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500 because he wanted to make it easy for both men and women to come, he said.
After the service, 31-year-old mom Meryn Branch of Spring Garden Township said she doesn't feel judged by the Actionchurch crowd -- unlike experiences she's had in other congregations.
"I was tired of the stuffiness," she said.
Actionchurch is "180-degrees different" than churches Lori Yost has known. She came back after her first visit because of the down-to-earth feel and Record's urging to practice random acts of kindness.
She said, "This was an incredibly freeing experience -- to go into an unconventional setting and touch the hearts of people."
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Below is what the Bible says is wrong with the action church........................
The Church Versus the World By John MacArthur
Why do evangelicals try so desperately to court the world's favor? Churches plan their worship services to cater to the "unchurched." Christian performers ape every worldly fad in music and entertainment. Preachers are terrified that the offense of the gospel might turn someone against them, so they deliberately omit the parts of the message the world might not approve of.
Evangelicalism seems to have been hijacked by legions of carnal spin-doctors, who are trying their best to convince the world that the church can be just as inclusive, pluralistic, and broad-minded as the most politically-correct worldling.
The quest for the world's approval is nothing less than spiritual harlotry. In fact, that is precisely the imagery the apostle James used to describe it. He wrote: "Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God" (James 4:4).
There is and always has been a fundamental, irreconcilable incompatibility between the church and the world. Christian thought is out of harmony with all the world's philosophies. Genuine faith in Christ entails a denial of every worldly value. Biblical truth contradicts all the world's religions. Christianity itself is therefore antithetical to virtually everything this world admires.
Jesus told His disciples, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you" (John 15:18-19).
Notice that our Lord considered it a given that the world would despise the church. Far from teaching His disciples to try to win the world's favor by reinventing the gospel to suit worldly preferences, Jesus expressly warned that the quest for worldly accolades is a characteristic of false prophets: "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets" (Luke 6:26).
He further explained: "The world . . . hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil" (John 7:7). In other words, the world's contempt for Christianity stems from moral, not intellectual, motives: "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed" (John 3:19-20). That is why no matter how dramatically worldly opinion might vary, Christian truth will never be popular with the world.
Yet in virtually every era of church history there have been people in the church who are convinced that the best way to win the world is by catering to worldly tastes. Such an approach has always been to the detriment of the gospel message. The only times the church has made any significant impact on the world are when the people of God have stood firm, refused to compromise, and boldly proclaimed the truth despite the world's hostility. When Christians have shrunk away from the task of confronting popular worldly delusions with unpopular biblical truths, the church has invariably lost influence and impotently blended into the world. Both Scripture and history attest to that fact.
And the Christian message simply cannot be twisted to conform to the vicissitudes of worldly opinion. Biblical truth is fixed and constant, not subject to change or adaptation. Worldly opinion, on the other hand, is in constant flux. The various fads and philosophies that dominate the world change radically and regularly from generation to generation. The only thing that remains constant is the world's hatred of Christ and His gospel.
In all likelihood, the world will not long embrace whatever ideology is in vogue this year. If the pattern of history is any indicator, by the time our great grandchildren become adults, worldly opinion will be dominated by a completely new system of belief and a whole different set of values. Tomorrow's generation will renounce all of today's fads and philosophies. But one thing will remain unchanged: until the Lord Himself returns and establishes His kingdom on earth, whatever ideology gains popularity in the world will be as hostile to biblical truth as all its predecessors have been.
Evangelicalism seems to have been hijacked by legions of carnal spin-doctors, who are trying their best to convince the world that the church can be just as inclusive, pluralistic, and broad-minded as the most politically-correct worldling.
The quest for the world's approval is nothing less than spiritual harlotry. In fact, that is precisely the imagery the apostle James used to describe it. He wrote: "Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God" (James 4:4).
There is and always has been a fundamental, irreconcilable incompatibility between the church and the world. Christian thought is out of harmony with all the world's philosophies. Genuine faith in Christ entails a denial of every worldly value. Biblical truth contradicts all the world's religions. Christianity itself is therefore antithetical to virtually everything this world admires.
Jesus told His disciples, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you" (John 15:18-19).
Notice that our Lord considered it a given that the world would despise the church. Far from teaching His disciples to try to win the world's favor by reinventing the gospel to suit worldly preferences, Jesus expressly warned that the quest for worldly accolades is a characteristic of false prophets: "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets" (Luke 6:26).
He further explained: "The world . . . hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil" (John 7:7). In other words, the world's contempt for Christianity stems from moral, not intellectual, motives: "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed" (John 3:19-20). That is why no matter how dramatically worldly opinion might vary, Christian truth will never be popular with the world.
Yet in virtually every era of church history there have been people in the church who are convinced that the best way to win the world is by catering to worldly tastes. Such an approach has always been to the detriment of the gospel message. The only times the church has made any significant impact on the world are when the people of God have stood firm, refused to compromise, and boldly proclaimed the truth despite the world's hostility. When Christians have shrunk away from the task of confronting popular worldly delusions with unpopular biblical truths, the church has invariably lost influence and impotently blended into the world. Both Scripture and history attest to that fact.
And the Christian message simply cannot be twisted to conform to the vicissitudes of worldly opinion. Biblical truth is fixed and constant, not subject to change or adaptation. Worldly opinion, on the other hand, is in constant flux. The various fads and philosophies that dominate the world change radically and regularly from generation to generation. The only thing that remains constant is the world's hatred of Christ and His gospel.
In all likelihood, the world will not long embrace whatever ideology is in vogue this year. If the pattern of history is any indicator, by the time our great grandchildren become adults, worldly opinion will be dominated by a completely new system of belief and a whole different set of values. Tomorrow's generation will renounce all of today's fads and philosophies. But one thing will remain unchanged: until the Lord Himself returns and establishes His kingdom on earth, whatever ideology gains popularity in the world will be as hostile to biblical truth as all its predecessors have been.
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