Linda and I were grocery shopping. There were three different moms with their children that we heard all throughout the store. There was a lot of yelling, swearing, and threats. Now I know, grocery shopping with small children can be a challenge. But it was breaking my heart to hear these kids spoken to in the way that they were. I thought, “No child should be talked to this way.”

The silly things church “experts” argue about!

If you’ve been in Christian circles for a time, you have probably heard the criticism of attractional churches. Usually, those comments compare what is called “missional” churches with “attractional” churches.

In Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens tells the story of a physician who was imprisoned in a French penitentiary for twenty years. Unable to practice medicine, he took up shoe cobbling while incarcerated, making and fixing shoes for his fellow inmates. For twenty years, he could be heard working in his cell late at night, tapping away, repairing the shoes of prisoners.

There are days, and sometimes weeks, when disappointing circumstances can seem overwhelming. You feel like you're barely keeping your emotional head above the water, and then you see a giant wave approaching.

“I wish the preaching in our church was deeper.” Yes, I’ve heard that. Maybe you’ve said it. By “deep preaching,” we typically mean…scholarly teaching, in-depth word studies, and theological paradigms.

The trouble is…that’s not how Jesus taught.

Passing our faith on to the next generation is a big deal to us at The Bridge. We never say, “Kids are the future church.” Kids ARE the church, every bit as much as you and me!

So why do we encourage parents to put their kids in Bridge Kids and not bring them into the service?