Rocco Maiolo's Ramblings and Musings

Richard Rohr's devotional, Love is One Body, is quite likely the most beautiful defence of church -- the expression of faith in Christ in a community of albeit flawed believers --  I've ever read.

I’ve just finished reading The Church of Irresistible Influence . Several things in this book resonated with what’s been going on in my world. First of all, let me clarify something: Little Rock, the church that Robert Lewis the author pastors, is a mega-church. I attend what some would consider a “mega-church” and I love it. We run a 24-7 homeless shelter out of one site; we partner with a children’s organization out of another site in a desire to minister to the “orphans and widows”, biblically, not literally, speaking; and out of our third site, our anchor cause is caring for the elderly – the site is in the vicinity of several senior homes. Our staff is wonderful. They're both incredibly gifted and humble. They model a life of Christ-centredness and they challenge us to do likewise. Having said all of that, I will neither defend nor criticize the concept of the mega-church. In fact, that’s my first point. Church – wake up! Let’s stop criticizing each other. Actually, it’s not...

When I took the leap in 1977 and "asked Jesus into my heart" strange things happened. Some of them good and right, some of them weird and ugly. I remember that day, the day after and the two ensuing years vividly. That day was euphoric. Not everyone feels something when they make a commitment to change their lives. I did. It felt good -- like gears that I didn't know were there had clicked into place and my soul was in motion. The day after is when my faith journey started. On that day, I walked home from school with Dale. After, fifteen minutes, I was frustrated that I couldn't get him to see the light, so I told him that he was going to hell if he didn't accept the truth. He was not impressed. The following two years were filled with beauty and doubt; maturity and immaturity; and falling and growing. I met people who later fell hard from the faith and others who went on to be pastors and missionaries. I went to Catholic church, Lutheran church, house church and...