How long should a church service be?

This question has been floating around in my head for a few months, and I'm looking for feedback:

Should a church service be strictly regimented, timed out to the second, and certain to only last an hour/1.5 hours and no more...or should we be more relaxed in our approach, and 'let the spirit lead' - even if the service lasts several hours?

I've been at both - church services that are extremely planned out, and those that have lasted 3 hours because they 'go where God leads'.  I'll admit that by the end of the three hours, I was antsy and a bit frustrated because it was late, I had a bunch of things to do that day, and I was hungry.  But I wonder, was I wrong to be upset?

Look at prayer gatherings and church services in other parts of the world, especially where Christians are being persecuted strongly.  Those Christians are singing, praying, and on their knees crying out to God for 4, 5, 6 hours at a time.  So are we too regimented in North American churches, and not letting the spirit lead?

Can we blame it on our fast-paced society (if that's even a legitimate excuse)?  "We're extremely busy and we've all got things to do!" is our favourite excuse.  I wonder if we need to relax a little bit in our time standards for church.

A caller reminded me about the crowds that followed Jesus and listened to his teachings for hours and even days at a time.  They didn't leave because they were too hungry - in fact, Jesus had to feed 5,000 men and their families because they wouldn't leave!  But us?  We're in church at 12:30pm thinking about Swiss Chalet and wondering when things are going to wrap up...

What does your church do?  What do you personally think about this?  Are we too regimented?

What does it for you?

This week I asked the question on air, what does it for you?  What anchors you in your Christian faith?

It's something I'm glad I have an answer to.  For me, it's nature.  I can't look around me, look at the intricacies of my body, look at how absolutely massive the universe is, and think that it's an accident.  And that thought keeps me rooted in my faith.

I'm sure there will be some who read this who think, "That's crazy!  It should be your faith, or that Christ died on the cross, or your personal experiences with God that root you in your faith!"  I wish it was that simple for me.  I'm that guy who questions everything - which is both a blessing and a curse.  It's hard for me to use any of those as my anchoring point.  For me it starts with nature, knowing that there had to be divine inspiration behind everything we see and don't see around us...that keeps me rooted and allows me to grow my relationship with Christ.

For those of you who are nature geeks like me, or want an example of what I'm talking about, my small group is working through a series on creation by Louie Gigglio, and it is fantastic.  One thing he talked about is the size of the Milky Way Galaxy.  If it were the size of North America, then our solar system would be the size of a quarter in comparison.  Think about that!  Craziness!  And then to think that ours is just one of literally countless of other galaxies out there (thousands, millions, BILLIONS)?  And each galaxy has billions of stars!! And each galaxy is thousands/billions of light years away!!!  Okay, I see I'm losing you.  Think about it this way - light travels around earth 7.5 times in one second, and 5.88 trillion miles a year.  If another galaxy is 16 million light years away for ours...well you do the math on how huge the universe is...  And then finally, to think that God holds the universe in his hand (Isaiah 40:12)....  Yep, my mind is blown again.

So back to my question - what does it for you?

3D or not 3D, that is the question

My wife and I tried to go out to a movie last night.  We were excited because it was a night out, and because we had our sights set on a couple of great movies that we're both dying to see - The Hobbit and Life of Pi.

We arrived at the movie theatre only to find out that The Hobbit was only being shown in 3D.  We're not big fans of 3D (which I'll explain below), so we went to dinner then came back for the late showing of Life of Pi...only to discover that that too was only being shown in 3D!  So it was no movie for us, unfortunately.

Here's our beef with 3D.  For one thing, it's a lot more expensive than a regular movie.  But in addition, we both find that we walk out of the theatre with headaches at the end of the movie.  In fact, during the movie I sometimes have to take off my 3D glasses for a bit of a break - but then I miss part of the movie, and that's frustrating.

I am so confused on why they don't offer movies in both regular format, AND in 3D.  That way you get the choice.  The two movies we really wanted to watch on the big screen, and we couldn't watch either one!  Please tell me, is this only me?  Are my wife and I the minority here?  Are we just too old to appreciate 3D? Or is it that we don't go to the movies often enough, so when we do we're not used to it?

I figure the theatres do it for two reasons - because 3D is the 'latest and greatest' and people want it, but also because it's a money grab.  Thoughts?  It's it just us?

Helping out...phew!!

Has this ever happened to you?  Or have you helped anyone out like this?

Last weekend I needed to take a last second trip up to Sault St. Marie.  Friday night I got home from work and scrambled to book a flight for early the next morning, get packed, get a dog-sitter, grab some dinner, and get a ride to the bus station to catch the last bus of the day down to Toronto.  The bus was leaving at 8:55pm, and I got there at 8:56...but it hadn't left yet!  I ran to the terminal to buy a ticket, but they told me it was too late and I'd have to buy one on the bus.  So I sprinted to the bus and jumped on seconds before he pulled out...only to be told they take cash, which I didn't have!  I asked the driver if I could check if my ride had some money.  She did, and with the bus driver honking at me to hurry up, I jumped back on the bus.

Phew, all was well!...or was it?  I gave my $11 to the bus driver to which he replied, "You're 85 cents short."  I couldn't believe my ears...  I could read the bus driver's face, it was, The bus is late and you're 85 cents short.  Either magically come up with 85 cents or get off the bus - now.

And that's when she came to my rescue.  A lady on the bus who saw me scrambling, out of breath, and hopelessly stuck, piped up, "How much are you short?"

"85 cents," I replied.

"I got it, don't worry," she said, as she reached into her wallet.

That was the biggest 85 cents of the past decade for me.  Such a small gesture, but so huge for me in a desperate situation.  I never even got her name, but I was so thankful!

To the unknown lady who helped me out, thank you.  And may this encourage you to pass it on and help someone out who is need - I know it encouraged me!

How Satan Deceives

AJ the Wonderdog has inspired me.  I heard him talking about this a few days ago and I've decided to take on the challenge - read the bible in one year, chronologically.  I started today, a few days late, but I'm excited about it.  And I've already been hit with something new.

Today I read Genesis 1-3.  It was when Satan tempted Eve (chapter 3, verses 4 and 5) that hit me:  “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Satan did not lie when he told Eve she would know the difference between good and evil - in fact, that's exactly what happened - verse 22: And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil."

In every temptation, there is a shred of truth. That's how Satan can trick us so easily. And that's why temptation is so hard to resist.

When I'm angry at someone, Satan brings to mind all the things that annoy me about that person. When he tempts me to indulge in lust, drinking, gambling, smoking, etc., he tells me that it will feel so good (and that's especially powerful when I'm in a down spot). When he tells me to not give money to someone who needs it, he tells me that I don't have a lot of money to begin with and I can't really spare it.

None of those are lies. And yet falling for these half-truths just makes things so much worse - I become more angry; I feel worse after a 5 minute high of indulging; I feel greedy and guilty for not helping out someone in need.

Lesson for today - watch out for 'truths' from Satan.