Loren Mead has written extensively about research related to the experience of the Christian Church and about trends that point to future directions that the church seems to be taking. He is the author of a book called "The Once and Future Church," in which he describes three "ages" of the church and how faith and ministry and mission are different in each age.

He refers to the Apostolic Age, the Christendom Age and the current age, he calls the Age of the Emerging Church. I will share more of this with folks who gather on December 9 between services but for now, I would like you to do a little exercise and e-mail me with your self-rating.

First, Imagine a scale with ratings 1 through 10, where 1 = "The only way to know God is in a personal relationship with God" and 10 = "The only way to know God is in relationships with others." Place yourself on the scale between those two statements by giving yourself a nember between 1 and 10. This is not scientific and your number might be different tomorrow, but to the best of your ability choose a number that gives a snapshot of the present moment of where you are in answering, "How you understand knowing God."

Now imagine a second scale where A = "The purpose of a Christian life is to be joined with God in heaven" and J = "The purpose of Christian life is to seek justice in the world." Again, give yourself a letter between A and J that describes best at this moment your understanding of Christian living.

I would like you to email me at PastorGreg@poplutheranchurch.org with your two ratings. Are you 7-C?, 1-J?, 5-E? Send me your number letter rating. I will share the results but keep all anonymity. I would like to have as many ratings as possible so that my presentation on the 9th uses real life info about POP instead of just general info.

Now its up to you. Tell your friends about the blog, send be blog feedback and suggestions by commenting and e-mail me with your ratings on the two scales. Thanks. -Pastor Greg