When I saw your comment, I honeslty didn’t know what to think; therefore, I chose not to pursue your comments any further. It is hard to discern what is intended to be tongue-in-cheek, satirical, or sincere. And I am really bad at that (worse than most people!). You should ask the people who talk to me on a regular basis (ahem, my wife especially); they will reassure you of my conversational handicap.

I do hope you choose to comment again, and that the Lord could use me to be an encouragement to you in the future.

My compliments are always sincere. It’s only when I deliver verbal beatings like how I feel about church that one should take with a grain of salt. Again, sorry my entries seemed “disingenuous.” If you think I meant that you were doing a BAD job, don’t worry. I’ll let someone else break that news to you (another joke).

Thank you for covering the conference. I do think highly of your contribution in this area.

*Letitia*

I noticed that your comment was an exact copy-and-paste job from TeamPyro’s blog, except for the name swap from TeamPyro to Timmy Brister. Recognizing it as that, it seems to me to be somewhat disingenuous.

I like the part where members are encouraged to go home and reform their own churches. As skeptical and cynical as I am, with God, surely anything is possible.

So here’s my vent: the mall mentality is nurtured and defended in most SB churches. People are doing this (firstly) not because they don’t want Jesus as He really is; it is because they think this IS who Jesus really is–the Divine supplier of psychological therapy and the Church is the vendor of His religious goods and services (terms I’ve borrowed from my pastor), making the churchgoer a consumer of religious goods and services. My angst is this: THIS is the worldliness that churches are mired in which has personally driven me away from Southern Baptist churches. Forget about smoking, dancing, rated R movies, and alcohol. That Christians have been, at best, blind to this shade of ungodly, at worst, defending it, is precisely why the church has lost its effectiveness nowadays. Now, churches based on religious consumerism are unable to comprehend the postmodern culture and complain how FAR GONE things have gotten? A little like the pot calling the kettle black, don’t you think?

I could bag on the state of churches all day long, but thankfully I won’t. Is there anyone who sees real danger or is it only me? I’m thankful for the NFC, but where is the passion and motivation? Does anyone feel a fire lit under them? Anyone willing to state what he/she will do personally?

*Letitia*
(member of the infamous The Journey church in St. Louis, just for those of you who don’t think I’ve stirred up enough for one day)

You’re welcome. Thanks for the encouragement. Hopefully we can meet up sometime at a future conference.

SDG

Excellent stuff here… As good as Challies is at live-blogging, you are amazing in detail and still preserving the integrity of the message.

I wish I could have been there this year, but family duties prevail. Thank you for blessing me with these great posts.

Grace and peace to you,
Steve
2 Cor. 4:5-7