Kingdom Seeker

Press

Press down, so tough. Press hard, more stuff. Press into Him, rest in His love!

"The"

There are artists in the world because God is the Artist.

There are musicians in the world because God is the Musician.

There are poets in the world because God is the Poet.

There are storytellers in the world because God is the Storyteller.

There are thinkers in the world because God is the Thinker.

There are laborers in the world because God is the Laborer.

There are lovers in the world because God is the Lover.

There are theologians in the world because God is the Theologian.

There are scientists in the world because God is the Scientist,

There are geologists in the world because God is the Geologist.

There are astronomers in the world because God is the Astronomer.

There are anthropologists in the world because God is the Anthropologist.

There are biologists in the world because God is the Biologist.

There are physicists in the world because God is the Physicist.

There are kings in the world because God is the King.

There are linguists in the world because God is the Linguist.

There are marine biologists in the world because God is the Marine Biologist.

There are intellectuals in the world because God is the Intellectual.

There are teachers in the world because God is the Teacher.

There are priests in the world because God is the Priest.

There are servants in the world because God is the Servant.

There are designers in the world because God is the Designer.

There are preachers in the world because God is the Preacher.

There are physicians in the world because God is the Physician.

There are dreamers in the world because God is the Dreamer.

There are planners in the world because God is the Planner.

There are architects in the world because God is the Architect.

There are saviors in the world because God is the Savior.

There are martyrs in the world because God is the Martyr.

There are missionaries in the world because God is the Missionary.

There are evangelists in the world because God is the Evangelist.

There are prophets in the world because God is the Prophet.

There are givers in the world because God is the Giver.

There are humanitarians in the world because God is the Humanitarian.

(I could go, but I want to give you a chance to add to this post.  Leave a comment with the following:  There are _____________ in the world because God is the ________________.

I'm dead

When I was little kid and we would play games like cops and robbers, we would shoot our pretend guns at each other.  Whenever I was shot, I would fall to the ground and as my friend approached me to finish me off, I would say in a low voice, "I'm dead".   Oh, the silliness of a dead man informing others of his demise with a confirming voice.  It's silly because dead men don't whisper "I'm dead", they just are.  They don't whisper anything!
In the New Testament a guy named Lazarus was dead.  He didn't whisper "I'm dead" to his friends and family.  No, he was unable to do so. The bible makes it obvious when it reports that Lazarus was in a tomb for a few days and as the KJV eloquently puts it.  "He stinketh".   When Jesus arrived, as the rest of the story goes, Lazarus was resurrected from his tomb completely wrapped in his burial garment still emanating the stench of death.  How did he rise from the dead?  Simply by the word of God, namely the phrase "Lazaurus, come forth". 
You see, if Lazarus couldn't tell people he was dead, then he sure couldn't ask Jesus to bring him to life. It just wasn't in him. He was dead.  It's the same with spiritual birth. Dead in our sins, we carry its stench  upon us until one day uninvited grace comes upon us and our hearts are regenerated and our faith is awakened.  This is the greatest miracle God performs!  I don't understand it fully, I just believe it!

¹ And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ²in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following  the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature  children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ⁴But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵even  when we were dead in our trespasses,  made us alive together with Christ—  by grace you have been saved— ⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable  riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace you have been saved  through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast.   - Ephesians 2:1-9

Even our faith is a gift from God!  If you are struggling with doubt, don't look back on some decision you made, whether you made it or not, if you followed some formula, or whether it was authentic.  Look to the mercy of God!  A.W. Tozer reminded us in "The Attributes of God", that God doesn't just have mercy, HE IS mercy!  That means His mercy is infinite! We need to stop listening to the accuser who wants us to look to ourselves, and listen to God's Word which states emphatically that salvation is from Him.  Not only do unbelievers need to hear that salvation is from God (the gospel), but believers likewise need to hear that their salvation was from God,(the gospel) not their own well meaning intentions!

Thank God He chose us before the foundation of the world! Thank God He still raises the dead!

Our last Sunday at Harmony

What I don't know CAN hurt me!

Cancer is frightening!   It's often been said that the mere mention of the word in the context of a doctor's visit will sap the strength of the patient in knee-buckling fashion.  Why does the word have such a fearful effect?  The answer is simple if not obvious. It's because of knowledge.  It's because of the knowledge that informs us that this deadly disease has taken the lives of friends and family, and because we know about the destructive nature of cancer cells on the body.  A diagnosis of cancer strikes fear in us because our mortality is presented to us in an untimely and inhospitable manner, and because we know it breeds fear in the minds of our worried families.  The diagnosis of cancer is a knowledge I pray never to possess, yet it is one I need to possess if ever I am stricken by the disease.

The Remedy

Cancer is one of the many difficulties of our physical world!  But it also provides a striking parallel to the great difficulty of the spiritual world, namely the disease of sin.

The fundamental difference between cancer and sin is simple.  Not everyone will be diagnosed with cancer, but every living human has been already been diagnosed with the spiritual disease of sin.  (Romans 5:12 Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto all men, for that all sinned; Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God")

The similarities, however, are astounding.  Both destroy life, usually in incremental stages, and can exist undetected for long periods of time.  They also have remedies with one major difference.  The treatments for cancer don't always work, but the remedy for sin is guaranteed and unfailing!  Cancer treatment usually consists of strong doses of chemicals or radiation, whereas the treatment for sin is an application of the Gospel!   Interestingly, knowledge is the common denominator in this parallel.  You have no chance to defeat cancer without applying the methods of treatment.  Moreover, you will not accept the treatment without some basis of knowledge to its effectiveness.  For example, if someone told you the way to get rid of your cancer was by sticking your finger in a light socket, you certainly wouldn't follow their advice.  Why?  Because there is no basis of knowledge to support such a crazy theory!  If there were, Oncologists everywhere would be writing prescriptions for electrocution to their patients.  Instead, thousands of people each year are submitting to chemotherapy and radiation as proven methods of fighting cancer. Why?  Because there is a basis of knowledge to support their limited but proven effectiveness. 

The same is true of the Gospel!  The Gospel is knowledge, more specifically, "good news".  It is truly a miraculous reality that this knowledge is God's prescribed means to cure sin and all its hopelessness!  Let me be careful to note that is not just "any" knowledge! It is Gospel Knowledge!  

Where's the Knowledge?

In the past 200 years, the Bible has been relegated by the western world as "lacking knowledge" while science and mathematics are viewed as reliable sources of knowledge.  In our postmodern world, Christianity is considered one of many options in determining  how to live your life, but not as the basis of knowledge for how everyone should live their lives!

What if the medical community adopted this stance of knowledge? What if published medical journals heralded the freedoms of choosing any method of treatment you prefer to fight cancer, even if it did involve light sockets!  As thousands died because the treatment they preferred didn't work, there would be an uprising in this country to revolutionize the practice of medicine with a demand for a real basis of knowledge in the treatment of diseases!   Why? Because knowledge is essential to everything whether it be physical or spiritual.

Reclaiming Knowledge

As the church, we have retreated from our right standing as truth bearers when we separate faith from knowledge as if they were opposites. Actually, there is no such thing as faith apart from knowledge.  Although the Bible tells us that faith "is in that which is unseen", it never extracts knowledge from the equation.  While it is true that we have to exercise faith without knowing all the specifics involved, it is still based on a knowledge that God is who He has revealed Himself to be, and that we are not who we would like to be.   When the scriptures tell us that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God", it is proclaiming the necessity of knowledge.  In other words, you can not have faith, much less a faith to overcome sin, unless you receive knowledge, namely, the Gospel! While the medical community would never sit put while thousands of people tried to cure their own cancer with their own preferred treatments, the church should not remain silent about what the gospel is and its necessity for the healing of the soul!   The lost are telling us that their lives would be better if we would just help them with their immediate felt needs, and we are obliging them by giving them what they prefer, not what they need.  We think we are loving them, but in fact we are not.  Perhaps driven by our need to eradicate legalistic approaches to evangelism, we have thrown the baby out with the bath water.  Like the western world, with our actions and even our words, we have proclaimed that truth is relative and we can not be depended upon as a reliable source of knowledge!  Does knowledge puff up? Yes!  So let's get rid of the pride, not the knowledge!

Deep beneath the surface, the world has rejected the gospel not because its failure as a reliable source of knowledge.  It is because a gospel accepted as knowledge, is one that must be submitted to!  (We see this evidenced in Islamic nations which recognize the Koran as the basis of knowledge and they respond accordingly.  Their whole way of life, though misguided, is a result in their perception of their religion as a reliable basis of knowledge.) 

The best way to evade submission to truth, as the world has demonstrated, is to discredit the source of truth.  This is certainly seen in the way of politics with the use of mud-slinging and thorough investigations of the private affairs of politicians.  In the political arena, if a man or woman can be made to look incompetent or immoral, then great damage is done to any truth they represent.  Likewise Christianity has been demoted from its once  authoritative perch of knowledge to a lower realm of entertainment, hobbies, and philosophies which are by nature subjective. 

In response to this demotion, has the church to some degree ceased to be truth-bearers (light and salt)?  In our zeal to attract unbelievers, have we have hidden the knowledge (Gospel) from those who need it? Have we have actually hidden the knowledge of the gospel in our attempts to soften it which ends up being a powerless gospel or no gospel at all? 

The Treatment Hurts then Heals

When it comes to cancer,  it's often been said that the treatment is worse than the disease, but the implication is that one feels sicker from the effects of the treatment than from the actual invasion or metastasizing.  In reality, if the treatments were worse than the disease, then no one would seek treatment.  We have seen cases where people refuse treatment because of its nauseating effects and tragically underestimate the seriousness of the disease.  Essentially, they have refused to act accordingly to the proven knowledge that various treatments can often eradicate cancer or send it into remission.

The intended natural effects of the knowledge of the Gospel will make us feel worse than the actual sickness of sin which is itself pleasurable for a season.  When we receive this dose of knowledge, we are sapped of our strength as our hearts buckle beneath the weighty revelation of our fatal condition, but then a remedy is offered in another dose of knowledge!  This gospel remedies our condition with the revelation that God has accepted us on the basis of Christ's righteousness!  Our malignancy turns benign in relation to the wrath of God and although we need lifelong gospel treatments of tumor shrinking, we rest in the knowledge that God has redeemed us and restored us to eternal wholeness!

"Wash Me" by Rob Wren

Mystery Church Tour p.5

(This blog series is not intended to be a critique of the churches we visit, but rather an expression of our observances and how they relate to our quest.  We recognize the fact that each and every church we visit belong to Christ and His glory is on display to some measure in each one.  We also realize there are no perfect churches and we all rely on Jesus to clothe us with His righteousness.)

The 5th stop of the tour was a bit of a contrast to the week before in several ways.  Besides the obvious size difference (this church was much smaller and operated out of a little shopping center), the service had a very intimate feel to it.  We went to an earlier service where there were very few people and the room itself was small.  The band was pretty good and the music really pumped due to the low ceiling.  After a couple of opening songs, we had a greeting time.  It is funny how so many churches despite denominational differences include a time to get around and greet each other.  The only think I didn't like about it was that it was 10 minutes long.  No exaggeration there.  10 minutes with no background music at all. Very awkward, especially since there were only about 30 people there.  Everything the worship leader accomplished in helping us to focus on Christ was lost with the greeting time interruption.  As a result, the 2nd set of music was lacking a little.  As a worship leader myself, I know how difficult it is to reign everyone in.  I have a close pastor friend who teaches his church that the foyer or front lobby of their building is "horizontal", but once you come in to the main sanctuary it is "vertical".  That is great advice for any church.
So after the music, one of the associates preached that morning.  Again, we caught a Sunday where the main pastor wasn't preaching.   That's not such a bad thing though because you can get a better feel of the church as a whole and you can evaluate it without being influenced by the pastor's oratorical skills.  The sermon delivered was from the text which is good, however it wouldn't make for a good defense of expository preaching.  Whereas the sermon the week before was more topical, this sermon was technically expository, but it was an example as to why so many churches have replaced biblical preaching with "relevant topical preaching".  It was just plain boring.   In other words, there is such a thing as bad expository preaching.  Read a verse, make a comment, read another verse, make a comment and so on is not expository preaching in its fullness.  The best sermons are not only straight from the text, but also straight from the heart of the preacher.  You can tell when the sermon that the preacher has prepared has affected his own soul during its preparation.  When it has, there is a passion that gushes out of him.  A good preacher is one where the Word has gotten into him before it comes out of him.   If you want some examples, I highly recommend you listen to John Piper or Matt Chandler.  Listen and tell me your heart is not moved away from yourself and toward God.  That's my challenge to you.  Okay, enough with the commercials for Reformed preaching.  : )

The pastor did come up at the end of the service and he seemed like a very authentic guy and so I would have liked to hear him speak.  He comes from a bible church background so my assumption is that he is a bible preacher.  Overall, this service was a mixed bag of intimate worship, dead time, and boring preaching.  It is so hard as I write this blog to take off my minister's hat as I see so many things I would like to do to make the service more Christ-centered.   The challenge to just get "lost in worship" is great for me because I keep thinking about ways to improve it.  So far, The Village has been the only place where this has happened, but I'm not giving up hope yet.  The mystery church tour has been so helpful in reminding us that the church isn't perfect, yet we know she is the bride that is being prepared for our great groom, Jesus Christ!  I just wish that more churches operated like this was true. 

Mystery Church Tour p.4

(This blog series is not intended to be a critique of the churches we visit, but rather an expression of our observances and how they relate to our quest.  We recognize the fact that each and every church we visit belong to Christ and His glory is on display to some measure in each one.  We also realize there are no perfect churches and we all rely on Jesus to clothe us with His righteousness.)

Our fourth stop on the tour was a large church that we had heard about for years from friends who attend there.  This church has grown by leaps and bounds and has a reputation for connecting with the community.  The pastor has a reputation for being bible-driven and bold in his presentation.  So even though we did not plan to attend this church originally, we changed our minds and decided to give it a try.
The facility is rather impressive cosmetically and as soon as we walked into the foyer, we were welcomed by their greeting team, and I mean team!  They have a very organized plan for welcoming new guests. Since the church is so large, no one assumes that you a regular attender so they come right up to you and ask if you are visiting the first time.  (I'm sure the looks on our faces are an indication as well).  Then they lead you to a table where you fill out their visitor card on a clipboard and offer you a cup of coffee and a gift bag.  Tina remarked that it reminded her of the survey people in the mall.  This approach is definitely effective in building your database of guests, but I'm not big on being solicited.  Having said this, I'm sure a great deal of people love the personal attention. 

After being welcomed, we walked into a large sanctuary and grabbed a seat in the back which might not have been a great idea.   There was an upbeat jazzy song being played by their band which consisted of drums, guitars, piano, bass set combined with a brass section.  I love jazz bands so I had high hopes for their music on this occasion.  After the opening number which was your typical "get-them-in" song, we stood for a more participatory song "How great is our God".  I'm not sure if was due to the rather cavernous atmosphere of the room or the fact we sat in the back, but I felt really disconnected during the worship music time.  Even though we were singing, we couldn't shake the whole performance feel of the service.  I am not against musical performances in a worship service, but I believe participation is much more vital.  The first song was really slow and I guess I'm just accustomed to beginning a service with much more energy.  The jazz band at the beginning was only a tease as they left the stage after the first song.   After the song we took communion.  Then after communion, there was another performance song which was a "Casting Crowns" cover aimed to be an obvious lead in to the sermon the preacher would deliver shortly thereafter.  So, there was basically ONE song of participation.  That's it!  Now, I know I'm a worship leader by trade and therefore a little biased, but one song?? Really?

Then after the last performance song, the Pastor delivered his message.  It was on marriage and although I'm not against marriage and parenting sermons because obviously the Bible is not silent on these issues, I'm not a fan of topical messages that use the Bible for mere proof-texting.  It is dangerous ground when we use the Bible to support our preconceived ideas no matter how practical and sound they are.  I feel the sermon should not be just bible-based, but bible-saturated.  This particular message amounted to nothing more than marital advice as the 6 or 7 points he delivered were similar to what Dr. Phil could have given me.  By contrast, when John Piper preached on marriage it was focused more on the display of Christ and His glory and how marriage between a man and woman is a temporal image of a greater marriage, namely Christ and His church.  I feel so strongly that in order to have a God honoring marriage, we need to have the glory of Christ preached to us so that we will understand the true context of earthly marriage.  How do we know this? Because the scriptures tell us this much.  Why would we want tor trade the thoughts of God for the thoughts of Dr. Phil, Oprah, James Dobson, or any other?  The Bible isn't a handbook for right living, it is a revelation of Christ.  This is what gospel-driven, Christ-centered preaching is about.  If this particular church were to offer marital classes at other times, I would find no problem with it.  But when you replace the most central means of worship in a gathering, namely the proclamation of the Word, then you really don't have a worship service.  Add in the fact that another key aspect of the worship service was limited to one song, then you walk out feeling empty.  I realize that a healthy church consists of more than a Sunday worship service and that it is a living organism that thrives throughout the week, but it has no chance to be any more than a social activity if the gospel isn't proclaimed.  I could be just fine with a church that does very little music if they are committed to preaching the Word, in fact, after the one song, I just assumed that this church was all about the sermon.  But alas, I was wrong. 
Now to be fair, this church has been instrumental to many changed lives, and no doubt many have been led to Christ through their various ministries.  I only attended one service, so it would be unfair to characterize this church in generalities.  Again, this is our Mystery Church tour and it is based on our observances of one service.  Maybe the other 51 Sundays weren't like this, so I want to give this church a little grace. 

Flip a coin

As a fan of the Batman movie franchise, I'm reminded of one of my favorite villains, Two-Face.  Originally a moral hero and combatant of crime, Harvey Dent suffered a horrible fate when half of his face was burned off.  As a result, he was not only left with a badly scarred face, but a loss of sanity as his mental instability caused him to waver between good and evil. In an effort to settle his indecision, he carried a coin in his pocket that was scratched on one side, and pristine on the other from which all of his decisions, good and bad, derived.  Whenever a situation presented itself, he would flip the coin.  If it landed on the marred side, he would commit the crime, and if it landed on the shiny side, he would refrain from the offense.   Interestingly, the fate of the coin flip did not have any affect on the very character of Two-face.  No matter which side came up, he was still a demented threat to society because it takes only one crime to make a man a criminal regardless of all the right decisions he makes along the way.

The natural man faces a similar dilemma in the pursuit of goodness. Likewise, he carries a coin defined by the two sides of legalism and moralism.  The legalistic side is scarred perhaps because his soul has been crushed not only by its excess of human requirement, but also an accompanying attitude that enjoys it!  Although he is already naturally blinded to the glory of Christ, he is tragically driven deeper into darkness by the venomous spirit of legalism.  Superstition seems to be his disposition as the "things he wears" and the "places he goes" equate to the broken mirrors and black cats of divine acceptance.

By grace alone, he will wake up and escape from this satanic philosophy, but in an unwitting attempt to run and never look back, the moralistic side of the coin inevitably appears which is usually preceded by a season of liberation.  Indeed, in his desire to be freed from legalism, he goes to great lengths to decontaminate himself as he engages in the activities once considered iillegal.  One thing is for sure, he has no intention of going back to the dark side of the coin again!  Eventually at the end of short-lived freedom he will be entranced by the allure of the shiny side of the coin.  It's moralistic identity assures a kinder and gentler human striving. It doesn't focus as much on impermissible action but rather on pragmatic action.  It preaches the need to reach his human potential as opposed to a lingering of human failures.  This philosophy often proceeds (behind the guise of Christianity) with a technique for goodness, but ultimately it is proved to be mere human endeavor and the result is not unlike that of legalism! Why?  Because moralism and legalism are just different sides of the same coin!  Legalism promises acceptance through rule-keeping while moralism promises self-improvement through pragmatism.  Both in stark contrast to biblical Christianity, legalism views the Bible as a rule book while moralism uses the Bible as a handbook. However, the damning effect is not attributed to either side of the coin, but to the coin itself! For no matter where the coin lands after it is cast, the exertion is innately human, and until then it remains deep-seated in the pocket of human raiment. 

Conversely, the Gospel is a completely different coin where divine revelation is rendered from both sides.  First there is the revelation of our spiritual non-existence that is the sheer human inability to achieve divine goodness. By it, we are informed of our corrupted nature with which we have no chance apart from grace to cause our own existence.   Just as an infant cannot bring about the cause of his own conception, we are not the cause of our own spiritual birth!   The other side of the coin affords us a glimpse of the Glory of Christ displayed predominately on the Cross.  Together, the two sides illumined by the Holy Spirit give us true spiritual sight!  When you begin to really "see" the glory of Christ against the backdrop of the ruined human soul the Gospel increases in focus, igniting faith, and leads to genuine goodness! 

Mystery Church Tour p.3

(This blog series is not intended to be a critique of the churches we visit, but rather an expression of our observances and how they relate to our quest.  We recognize the fact that each and every church we visit belong to Christ and His glory is on display to some measure in each one.  We also realize there are no perfect churches and we all rely on Jesus to clothe us with His righteousness.)

Yesterday was week three of the tour.  Diversity has been the theme in summarizing these past few weeks.  Week one was a medium size church, week 2 was a very large church, and this week we visited a small church in a country town.  When we walked in to the foyer, we were greeted by a couple of people, but not immediately.  I guess some would find that a negative, but for me personally, I would rather not be "targeted" as greeting ministries often do.  I was, however, appreciative that the two people were sensitive to the fact that we were visiting and took the time to inquire.  Let me add that they were not official greeters, just a couple of alert members. At 10:20 we decided to find our seats in the auditorium as we waited for the 10:30 start time.  The pastor greeted us as he walked in and talked to us for a few minutes.  He explained that the service would be a little different because the town was celebrating "Founders Day" with a festival and many of the church members were working there or had been all weekend to raise funds for the summer mission trip.  
As it turned out, there were about 96 in attendance which was about 60-70 short of a normal Sunday I'm told.  You wouldn't have thought so during the music as the band played.  It seemed like there was near 100% participation in the worship time because so many were singing around us as we sang some familiar tunes like Blessed be the Name, Awesome is the Lord, and Your Grace is Enough. The worship leader and the band did an awesome job in leading us and you I didn't sense anything but a humble spirit from them!  Tina really enjoyed it because she always felt like she stuck out when she sang at our old church.  Yesterday, she could belt out the songs and blend in with everyone.  One thing I appreciate about the churches yesterday and last week was the volume of the music.  They really pumped it up and in doing so allowed everyone to really sing without self-consciousness.  I wonder if the reason people don't participate in some of our modern churches is because the volume of the band is too low?  Hmm.  Maybe.
The pastor gave a short message that I think was intended to be shorter, but I got the feeling he had more to say than intended and went longer than planned.  He spoke from Matthew 5 about Jesus calling us to be salt and light and applied the message in a practical sense by the opportunity to be salt and light in the small community that gathered for the festival  only a couple of blocks outside their door that day.  In fact, the church was in charge of trash duty at the festival which the Pastor pointed out was compatible with taking on the lowest form of servanthood.  I was especially moved when he reminded us that Jesus would be at the festival probably picking up people's trash as well.  It challenged me to find ways to serve others while I'm in this downtime between jobs. 
We really felt we met with God yesterday which is the most important thing, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention a couple things that I would have liked to see improved.  First, the service didn't start on time.  The start time was supposed to be 10:30 but it was somewhere between 10:35 and 10:40 before it started.  In defense of the church, they are in a laid back country town and the church reflects that which is often a refreshing attribute.  My personal preference is if you have a start time then you should stick to it.  Now as far as a stop time?  No guarantees there!  : ) 
Next, there was a little inconsistency with the media as there were different fonts from one slide to another and often we were on the wrong slide.  Not a huge deal, but distracting none the less.  By the way, it has nothing to do with being a small church because there were similar issues with the media at the large church last week too.  In fact, I went to a Worship Leader's Conference a couple of summers ago and THEY were having issues with it!   Sometimes, the leader improvises (I was rightly accused of that so many times ), but most of the time a little preparation will go a long way. 
Again, these distractions were minor but might have been major to someone who is new and isn't familiar with the songs being played. 
On a positive note, communion was offered after the message while the band played one more song and I happen to know this church takes it every week.  I really wish Communion was taken more in our evangelical churches. While I don't think it has to be every week, I know the reason why churches don't do it more is because they've made it so formal that it's quite a chore to do it that often.  Also, the reason given for not doing it more is because they want the few times they take it to be "special".  Personally, I think taking the blood and body of Christ is always special (yes I know the bread and juice is symbolic, I don't hold to transubstantiation).  It's this very Christ ordained rite that is special.  It's impact on our lives is not dependent on our formalities or productions.  Taking communion is powerful because Christ ordained it as a means of grace, not merely for remembrance.   If we get to the point that Communion "doesn't work so let's take it less", then when will we apply the same theory to preaching, singing, praying?  Oops. That has been done. :(   Pragmatism should never be a church's driving force.  I'm glad this church doesn't forsake God ordained activities for clever marketing driven ones!   (ok, time to get off of my theo-soapbox)  I
There was much to like about this church despite the minor blips.  This particular church is obviously one that loves Christ by evidence of their overwhelming spirit of worship and service!