What word is OUR word?

When folks think of our church, what is the word that pops into their minds? I mean, something must come to mind, what is it? I'd love to hear the one word that pops into the minds of those reading this blog when they think of Desperation Church.

I've heard churches described in several different ways. Whenever their name comes up in a conversation, there is usually some specific quality that is quickly attributed to them. Here are some suggestions:

WORSHIP
Some churches are known as worship churches. More than anything, they want to connect people to the heart of God through passionate corporate singing and other creative ministries. Often these churches devote a significant amount of time to this and don't really feel compelled to share a message if it might get in the way of what they sense is going down during their worship time.

EVANGELISTIC
Some churches are known for being super evangelistic. Due to their preaching ministries and programming, they're known for challenging people to make an immediate decision for Christ. Many times the weekend sermons feature an altar call and midweek visitor follow-ups. They're known for their evangelistic fervor.

DOCTRINAL
Some churches are identified as doctrinal churches. They're serious about regularly and systematically equipping their attendees in the foundational elements of faith and usually their particular denomination's distinctives. Doctrinal understanding and conformity is pretty important to these folks, and as a result, this is often how they're perceived in the community.

SERVICE
Some churches are known for how they serve. They feel it's their responsibility to BE 'salt and light" by meeting the material needs of those around them. These churches are known especially for their work among the poor and the disconnected of society.

RECOVERY
Some churches are known as a place that helps people recover from life's disappointments, challenges, and sorrows. They spend an enormous amount of energy and time dedicated to this end. From their weekly sermons to their recovery/small groups, they focus their efforts on healing people's emotional and spiritual wounds. People that have been wounded and are in pain usually find a helpful home in this type church.

Now, a church may be known by one of these descriptions, or none of these descriptions, or even ALL of these descriptions. But what exactly is it BEST known for in their communities?

What is Desperation Church best known for? What is our word?

Letters To The Pastor

Just received the following email and am left wondering. Perhaps those who read this blog can let me know your thoughts on sermon length? It would be much appreciated. Thanks.



Dear Pastor Michael,

My husband and I are a young couple in our 20's seeking a church to join, get involved in, grow in, and bring others to-a hip seeker-focused church. When we saw your website, we were excited about coming to your church. During the worship singing, I REALLY felt God's presence and even teared up a little-it was so good to feel His presence again and reconnect with Him. When you got up to talk, told a joke, and were very engaging in your preaching style, I was enthused that maybe we had found a church home. After the first 20 min of your preaching, I was trying to retain what you said, and felt the message really spoke to me. After the 2nd 20 min, I was trying to pay attention but couldn't-I felt everything was repetitive and was easily distracted-definitely not feeling God's presence at the church anymore. After the 3rd 20 min, I started getting upset, wanting to leave and feeling trapped and held prisoner by your message. I want to be a part of a seeker-friendly church--I have a lot of unsaved friends and want to bring them to church--how can I bring them to church if I can't even stand to sit through the sermon? Why do preachers feel that the longer they talk the more they are getting through to people? The average human attention span is about 20 min. If you're trying to reach the unsaved, why do you think you can reach them by making them feel imprisoned in church--forced to sit there for an hour and listen to some guy go on and on and on, all the while, the longer the sermon is, the more time they have to daydream and think of excuses as to why they can't come back.
Also, when people come to your church for the first time, ESPECIALLY seekers, do you think they want to be yelled and made to feel guilty about not "serving" or "ministering to others" or "tithing"? Because you went on forever, I left church feeling guilty and upset and remembering hurt other churches have caused me and my husband instead of feeling God's presence and excited about being with people who really want to serve Him.

I'm sorry to have to write this email and sent you a semi-nastygram, I just prayed about it and feel you really needed to know. It seems like your church really wants to follow Christ and bring others to him, and I'm excited to find that in a church and want to be a part of it. Because you do seem to really be a church that seeks after God, I feel it's important to let you know of a trend I've seen in other churches. It seems that whenever sermon time has increased from 30min-40min-50+min, over that time, as the sermons get longer, people in the church get more pious and preachy and focused on "thinking" they're serving and seeking God and seeking to bring others to Him, when in reality, they're seeking and serving something other than God and the church moves toward piousness and away from Godliness. All I'm asking is that you pray about this, the length of your sermons, and take a 2nd look at making sure your church and you are still a church and a man after God's own heart. And, if God still does want you to be a seeker church, then let the sermons be closer to 20-30 min, so I can bring my nonchristian friends and hopefully they'll want to come back.

You are a great, engaging preacher. I could really tell you were enthused about what you were saying and seemed to feel energetic and passionate. The people in our rows who belong to your church were very friendly. Most of all--it's been forever since I actually felt God's presence in a church--how amazing is it that His presence is so strong at this church!

Thank you for hearing me out. My husband and I look forward to continuing to come to this church for a few more Sundays and seeing if it's what God wants for us. We will be keeping you and this church in our prayers.

Sincerely,
XXXX

My response:

Dear XXXX,

Thank you for your email. I would recommend Shoal Creek Community Church to you or the new Restore Church that meets at the Community Center at 10am on Sunday mornings. They advertise themselves as being "Seeker Sensitive". We do not. I'm not sure where you got the idea that we were 'seeker sensitive'.

Desperation Church desires to be a place where intimate worship happens, but also in-depth study of God's Word. I'm sorry that you felt it was repetitive, or boring. This is probably just a good sign that it's not for you. The messages are ALWAYS going to be around 40-55 minutes long. That's the way it's been for fifteen years and multitudes of folks, new believers and old, love this aspect of our particular Church. It may not be the 'popular' thing to do, but again... we seek to be who God has called 'us' to be. We do not have Sunday School, a Sunday evening teaching service, as many churches do, or even a mid-week teaching service. The main service on the weekend is all that there is. We've never felt that 40-55 minutes was too much to devote to teaching and learning from God's Word. It has not failed us so far, and we are happy to recommend other awesome churches that would better be a fit for those who are looking for the 'seeker-sensitive' model, as you apparently are.

The above churches I've mentioned are great and will get you and your friends in and out in an hour. God bless.

Michael Craft
lead pastor of Desperation Church

Jesus is Alive... apparently in Houston!

It’s EASTER! It’s time to celebrate that Jesus is alive! However, after ABC Primetime aired an extremely interesting and revealing story, I realized that Jesus is apparently living in Houston, Texas. One of their reporters, Jim Avila, sums up what the program was all about:

A few weeks ago, in a tattoo parlor in the hip art deco district of Miami Beach, people were lining up to get "666" tattooed on their bodies, and then smiling through their pain. But these are not devil worshipers. They see themselves as devout followers of Jesus Christ. But the major difference that separates them from other Christians around the world is that the Jesus Christ they worship is alive and well -- and living in the suburbs of Houston.

These people belong to a new movement devoted to a man who calls himself the Second Coming of Jesus, and also claims the title of Antichrist, which to him is the next incarnation of Jesus on earth, not an evil being. To show their devotion, some followers ink themselves with "666." One follower said, "I just want to make sure it's visible, that everyone knows my life belongs to the man." Another said, "I want everyone to know I'm one of the antichrists."

They and others like them are fervently devoted, some say fanatically, to a 60-year-old Puerto Rican whose legal name, to his pleasure, is Jose de Jesus, or "Jose of Jesus." He counts followers in more than 30 countries; some say they total more than a million. But where does this man, who claims to be God, live? Not where you might expect: He resides with his wife in a suburban community just outside Houston.

When asked to explain who he is, de Jesus responds: "Jesus Christ, man, the second manifestation, the Second Coming of Christ." He acknowledges that "it bothers a lot of people" that he calls himself Jesus.

De Jesus' beginning was anything but grand. Born in Puerto Rico, de Jesus grew up poor, living in government housing. He stole for a living to pay for his teenage heroin addiction and admits to eight felony charges that put him behind bars for nine months.

Like many, de Jesus says he was born again in prison. From there he moved to the United States, where he became involved in church youth groups, and eventually a minister in Boston. But it was a vision, de Jesus says, that turned him from man of God to being God.
"The same spirit that was in Jesus of Nazareth, and the same spirit is in me. He came to me. He [integrated] with my person in 1973." de Jesus says this happened when two angels came to him in a vision, and while he admits there's no real way for him to prove that he's Christ, he says his followers aren't asking for proof.

"So you tell the millions of followers I have that … this guy is a liar. You know what are they going to say? Is that I prefer his lies than what religion gave me. I prefer, see because when they believe in what I teach, they activate angels in their life."

De Jesus has come a long way from Puerto Rico, and those rough times. Today his believers give money freely. And where does all the money go? Joane de Jesus, the daughter of the man called Jesus, is the official accountant for the ministry. She says, "What you see as luxuries are gifts that members have given him. They're just very grateful, and they want to give him gifts."

There are no rules in de Jesus' church. Anything goes when you follow "Jesus of Suburbia." But he is serious about being the Second Coming of Christ. And along with his followers, he also has many detractors. Some who think he's the devil incarnate and others who think he's just a charlatan and a con man. One of the things that makes him so hated, so controversial, is that he preaches the Catholic Church is evil, and his followers burn pictures of the pope and hold protests outside churches.

And what about the children who grow up in his movement believing that Jesus is alive and well? He calls them the "super raza" or the super race, because they are being brought up pure and with no stain of false religion on them.

The de Jesus ministry is growing, with big followings in Venezuela, Columbia, even Cuba, and the man who believes he is the Second Coming of Christ is now turning his attention to America. "Miami is the bridge for all nations," he said. "That's where Hispanics are, and then eventually I'm going to find a lot of beautiful English-speaking people who will want to believe in me and I'm going to have millions of them.”

Did you catch that? ‘Millions’. He wants more, but apparently he already has upwards of a million followers! That’s even more than we’ll see this Easter weekend at Desperation Church! Actually, that’s more than we’ll see attend all the churches north of the river in the Kansas City metro area!

Did you also catch this quote, “So you tell the millions of followers I have that … this guy is a liar. You know what are they going to say? Is that I prefer his lies than what religion gave me”?

Wow. Am I the only one that is blown away by this? I can’t be. Apparently people are so eager to fill a void in their lives that they’ll fill it with just about anything… or anyone. I can’t help but grieve over the loss of all these precious people to the family of God.

And who’s to blame in all this?

It kinda seems like those involved in religion.

Ouch.