“Sometimes I wonder, amid our crowds, if we are really preaching the gospel.”
Should we try to make the gospel a popular message? When did the gospel even become popular? I've been dwelling on this idea of dangerous Christianity as of lately. What is dangerous is rarely ever popular. But somehow over the last 2000 years, the Christian faith has become less dangerous and more passive. It has become less about giving of ourselves and more focused on what we can receive. I think if Jesus was here today and heard the health and wealth gospel we would have another one of those temple experiences where Jesus just starts overturning tables in the church saying, "You have corrupted the message of my Father. You have become self-centered and have lost sight of my people." I really like Clairborne's idea that if we preached the authentic gospel of Christ that the numbers in church would probably diminish. This means a lot to me as I approach the pulpit.

“The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community [even if their intentions are ever so earnest], but the person who loves those around them will create community.”
This was by far the hardest statement for me to cope with through out the book. I want so badly for community to exist at my school, but sometimes I think I spend too much time trying to create what's not there that I forget to see what is there. It's a fine line between seeing beauty and affirming what is present and pressing for change.

“There is something precious about corporate worship, but corporate is whenever two or three of us gather with God…Perhaps we are just as likely to encounter God over the dinner table or in the slums or in the streets as in a giant auditorium.”
This is another thought that I've been having lately. Where have I seen God this past year? When are the moments over the course of my life that I was undeniable in the presence of God. Mostly they were during acts of corporate worship, but only if you extend the definition of worship to how we live our lives on a daily basis. Times like sitting with Cate at Creation as three shooting stars grace the night sky. Or watching the sunrise from my living room window. Holding and praying for a newborn infant at CHP. Watching Shane play with a student in Russia. Crying out to God in the Garden in Israel. Dipping my feet into the Jordan River. Sitting with Ash on the Skislope. Walking in the rain. Arguing theology with Shane last semester in the chapel. They may not have been moments inside the walls of the Church, but God WAS present. I have no doubt.

“As we build our buildings, human temples are being destroyed by hunger and homelessness.”
I recently was enlightened by a pastor on the ABCs of the Church. Attendance, building, and cash. How sad, but true. One of the reasons I admire the open door so much is because they focus more on the people in the building then the thought of owning a building. How in good conscious could a church choose to shell out thousands of dollars each week just to maintain a building while the people around us are dying? Does God weep at our mixed up priorities?