Whitney and I just returned from a nice vacation.  The whole experience was relaxing.  I genuinely love spending time with Whitney.  Hours in the car are simply fun as we talk about life.  There were a lot of important questions asked, as well as a lot of laughter.  I hope to share more pictures of our time in Savannah, GA and Orlando, FL over the next couple of days.

Either way, it is good to be home.  I am particularly excited about worship with our church family here in VA.  As is our habit, while out of town we visited another church unannounced.  We just dropped in to study the Bible and meet some new brothers and sisters.  Our time of worship was a little disheartening.

We walked into a gorgeous building in the heart of downtown last Sunday, a beautiful fall day.  A nice gentleman greeted us at the door.  When we stepped inside the foyer the building was eerily quiet.  As we walked into the “sanctuary” I noticed an ornate, traditional room with finely crafted columns and embellished windows.  I imagine it could hold 1,000 or so people.  Sadly, as I looked at the room in front of me, most of the pews were roped off and I saw maybe 50 people spread out around the massive chamber.  I know numbers are of little significance but in the middle of a bustling southern city, the one place I expected to find life, was filled with a listless and deteriorating faith community.

The service was standard fare: a few songs, a mediocre performance sermon and we left.  There was no community.  There was no life.

There are lessons to be learned about stewardship, resources, buildings, property, and institutions.  I think the central thing I was challenged by was the need for a church to be a center for missionary activity.  The church must go into the community.  In the case of this church, they had built impressive resources and a massive institution but the community which they were called to impact with the gospel was left unaffected.