DESPERATION Acrostic - Bullseye or not?

The other night I did something I've never done. I played darts... competitively. A friend had a birthday and invited Kelli and I out... and we played darts. It was way funner (is that a word?) than I thought it would be, and I actually hit the bullseye three separate times! Hitting the bullseye can be a pretty tough thing to do, in any circumstance.

An earlier blog of mine asked the question, "What one word describes our church?" I got some great responses that included, "bold, Jesus, real, weird, humble, different, Biblical, organic, freaky, and even futuristic. Reading these responses, I was reminded of an acrostic we had come up with a couple years ago that we hoped would help us define who we wanted to be as a church. I was surprised how those words are encompassed within this acrostic. I'll share it here if you've not seen it before. Is there any part of this that stands out to you? Is there any part that is or is not being 'hit'? I'd love to hear your opinions.

Different way of doing Church
We're in the radical pursuit of bringing glory to God. He has always been creative and original in His approach to loving and reaching man, why shouldn't we be?

Eyes wide open
Knowing that there is a worldwide need to know God and what He has done, we long to open our eyes and our hearts to practically love those that live all over the planet, not just within the walls of our church.

Stewardship of Resources
The church should be an example in areas of finances and conservation. Our budget, including a listing of all salary amounts, is public information. However, all giving to the church is considered a private matter between that person and God. Only our accounting department (no pastors are part of this department) has knowledge of an individual's contributions. We work hard to use the resources we've been blessed with as wisely and efficiently as possible.

Passionate Worship & Prayer
Prayer, praise and worship should be an intimate time of direct connection with God, preparing a place for Him to dwell with us. Worship and prayer are a big part of what we do each time we meet together. "Passionate", "Intimate", "Intense", and "Loud" are all words used in describing the worship at D.C. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Every Member Ministry
We believe that everyone in our community has unique gifts and abilities that God has given them in order to love and serve Him and others. We encourage everyone to get involved in serving God directly, rather than sitting on the sidelines. We do our best to equip people for their particular ministry.

Restoration
We understand that many today have experienced tremendous heartache in the areas of abuse, neglect and past relationships. Shockingly, we've found that many of these hurts were caused by 'the Church'. We want to be a safe place for people to heal and be revived and renewed in their relationships with God.

Accord with One Another
Desperation Church recognizes diversity among followers of God in nonessential areas. We do not press for uniformity in these areas, but rather encourage people to search the Scriptures, seeking balance, mutual understanding, humility and love. Additionally, we seek to respect one another's differences without a quarrelsome, arrogant or divisive spirit, and to return continually to the great commandment, to love God and one another.

Teaching directly from the Bible
God speaks to us in the Bible. It is our privilege to hear God's message as we seek to understand and apply it responsibly to our lives. The entire Bible is completely true and accurate and it is our standard in all we say and do. God's unchangeable Biblical message ought to be presented in relevant and contemporary ways, free of religious jargon and understandable to the people of our community.

Intimacy in our Relationships
It's our desire to be a community of people who love God and others authentically. Part of the process involves just being 'real' in close personal relationships. Small groups, Focus groups that share common interests, and various Accountability groups all help cultivate this kind of environment.

Outrageous Fun
We approach every ministry, every meeting, every relationship, everything creatively. We believe that if you're not having fun loving, obeying and serving God… then there's a problem!

Needs based Ministry
Our heart is to make a loud noise for the cause of Jesus in our community. We strive to do this by identifying and meeting the needs in our neighborhoods. Recovery groups for addictive behaviors, Outreach Teams and monthly service projects (DC-W.O.W) are just a few of the ways we do this.