Are you ever overwhelmed by the man-centeredness of so many actions of the church in our times?

CCF (the campus ministry that I love) hosted a gospel choir from Seattle tonight and instead of our regular meeting, we had a concert of sorts. The music was great. I enjoyed a lot of what went on and it was fun. We clapped our hands and sang along and laughed and danced.

But it made me appreciate the depth of the churches that I have always been involved in. There were times tonight where I thought "... if they listened to what they're really singing... where the focus of their message lies, would they see that it's all about what God can do for man?" I don't mean in the terms of spiritual salvation; they spoke a lot about how many of them had been physically healed of cancer and other ailments. There was a focus on regaining sanity... God being our best friend... how we are able to conquer over Satan...

These things are all very very good. But not once did I hear mention of the fact that without God we are sinful and wicked. Not once did I hear any thread that would even resemble the fact that we need the Lord on a level much much deeper than as a comfort in times of trial. We need Him as an intimate Savior from our very selves.

I praise Him for His glorious promise to always be near- but am left asking: HOW is it possible that He remains near to those who love Him? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

They spent about 15 minutes - 15 minutes!! - singing these words repeatedly: "You're a winner/You were created to win. You're a winner, you're a winner... you're a winner."

Back it on up. GOD is the victorious One, and we get pulled along through that. The song never placed the emphasis where the Bible places the emphasis.

There was an altar call through which I cringed all the way from start to finish. It's not that I think altar calls are inherently evil (I know there's controversy about this), but they have to be examined in order to see Biblical accuracy. And tonight's was lacking anything other than an emotion-charger. Straight down to the repeated prayer that, when I glanced up, I saw people I KNOW to be solid Christians muttering the lines "Jesus, I invite you in to my heart tonight for the first time." Is there any thought behind what is going on at these sort of functions?

I wasn't shocked... but somewhat frustrated. It was all about man. "You ain't seen nothin' yet"- they're right, but they're thinking about it all wrong. The things that I am dying to see aren't ones that come in this lifetime. Though I know God's plans for my life are great and amazing and astounding... they're nothing compared to the glory of seeing Him face to face - not so that He can make me whole and well (that goes with it though!) but so that I can see the face of God and revel in His presence.

In that sense, the words are absolutely right. We ain't seen nothin' yet.