Church on Fire

Last Sunday night I got a call telling me there was smoke pouring out of our church Base Camp area. I raced to the scene meeting the fire department dragging in hoses and equipment. The fire was more smoke at that point, but much of the Base Camp area was already damaged by thick gray sticky smoke.



Many from our youth had alreay arrived for evening activities, so word spread throughout the congregation in a matter of minutes thanks to cell phone technology. We waited patiently for the fire department to do their work, and for the fire investigator to complete his task. The room that suffered the most damage was the larger of the Base Camp rooms opposite the restrooms. That is where the fire started. The ventilation system pulled the smoke to the larger worship area. The source of the fire is under investigation at this time.



Several of us stayed until the fire department went home. We boarded up 3 smashed windows and cabled off the whole Base Camp area. By Monday morning, the insurance adjuster, a restoration company and a construction company was already on the scene.


What we do know is that the new LIVE VENUE service will go on this week. Everything has been washed and ventilated. The other Base Camp rooms will take about 2-3 weeks to complete. The room at the source of the fire is being gutted down to the studs.



Almost immediately a new Facebook group to join called "Church on Fire" came into existence from some of our people near the scene. It's not a bad title is it? (Figuratively speaking of course.) The fire is a setback for ministry in these next few weeks. There will likely be other longer term implications as well.



But just as the church caught on fire literally, God is able to "light a fire" under Cornerstone in these troubled times. Our lives have become filled with uncertainty every morning as we turn on the news to see what has happened overnight. The economic volitility is something most of us have not lived through before. It seems to me that we have a choice to make. We can pull back, withdraw, hold on, hunker down, and tighten up, or, we can see this as a moment of incredible opportunity!



A friend of mine in Iowa was saying to me last week that the current economic crisis is very similar to what some of the midwest experienced back in the 1980's that got labeled, "The Farm Crisis," on the national news. The economic storm was similar to many who lost small family farms and got consolidated into large business agriculture. His observation was that many people returned to church in large numbers during and after that crisis. Iowa experienced a church building boom in the late 80's like they had not seen before.



His observation further, though, was that this time, people will still seek spiritual help, but it might not be from the churches. We live in a different world now! People are still desperately searching for spiritual meaning, but the church has often failed to provide the answers they are looking for. So people have turned to alternative spiritualities instead. Will this be a time when people will turn toward the God of the Bible or away to some other god? It may depend on how God is presented!



We may be on the verge of a great spiritual movement! Let's be prepared! Let's be "prayed up." Let's be sensitive to the needs all around us. We have never had a moment in time to be the body of Christ more than right now! So I hope you don't decide to hunker down and ride it out. Look beyond your own needs and be the body of Jesus in your world. Don't forget to invite people to come with you to church. Our current series is connecting with people's real needs for "margin" in many areas of their lives. See you soon....



Brad