Currently we are adding writers to The Holman Report and one of those writers will be Clay Kirchenbauer, former lead singer of the band “The Undeserving”, and a “Christian in the wilderness”.  But we wanted to share with you his story, because it is awesome and also in 14 parts!  So buckle up and enjoy his story!

I made a mistake recently.  I attended a church meeting at a dying church where a denominational “consultant” came in and gave a report to the 20 remaining church members about how to change their status.  Honestly the consultant who gave the report was so rude and intense, I thought she knew the group of people who she was addressing.  But alas, she spent a half hour with each church member (before this meeting) and as far as a few of the members knew, she had never attended a service.  She was a consultant for the UCC denomination, and if you know anything about that denomination, you probably already know that a church growth consultant for them is an oxymoron.

1050 men singing their hearts out “I belong to You!” It’s cool outside in the beautiful and plush Waterville Valley two hours north of Boston in the White Mountains, but hot and stuffy in the local Ice area. The men lift their hands to God, amidst the strobe lights, fog machines, and the driving band leading the way.

In many ways Leviathan is God’s church, too big for us to contain in any box. It is a rope woven with thousands of strands. Nothing can stand against it; nothing can break it. God’s church is a group of believers gathered in a hidden room, praising the Father and sharing his words, knowing they could die for such an act of communal love. God’s church is an elderly woman sitting in a pew singing the same hymns every week, celebrating her quiet faith with those around her. It is a group of young people wailing on guitars amid flashing lights and catchy videos; a couple traveling to an impoverished town to rebuild the lives of strangers for no other reason than they adore Jesus and want to add to his kingdom; a child drawing a sun and clouds and beneath it the words, “Jesus Loves Me” with the “S” backwards during Sunday school; women gathered around a sister suffering through illness; men patching the home of a neighbor in need; mothers reading Bible stories to their children and fathers showing how faith and strength are intertwined; people praying for their family and friends and government; a man on his deathbed staring at the ceiling and finally understanding he needs Jesus in that moment; people loving each other despite sometimes cosmic differences between them.

I’ve already mentioned on the Holman Report that I’ll be releasing my new and first novel on March 1, 2020!  But today I wanted to share the title and cover design with you!  The novel is called “Flat Earth” and I’m excited about finishing what has been a life goal of mine since my late 20’s.  Next month I’ll give you a short synopsis of the book, and many of you have offered to read early versions for me!  

The wind is blowing one way, and has been for several years now.  But Jesus’ church will continue on without end.  It will outlast even the best church organizations in America.  Ultimately I just want to be participating in His church and if that means I won’t get paid, then so be it.  I’ll make tents.  If it means I am a part of an organization for a while, that’s ok too.  I will do my part to ensure that that organization helps advance the church as a whole instead of its own priorities.

Not to be outdone, John, the disciple who Jesus loved, in his golden years vividly describes a vision he has of a world sized worship service focused on Jesus.

“And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang:

“Blessing and honor and glory and power
belong to the one sitting on the throne
and to the Lamb forever and ever.”

Every creature everywhere. That’s a lot of creatures, not to mention humans.

There are other scenes like these, especially in John’s Revelation, and I’ve heard these passages preached about eloquently and often in my life, but nowhere, and I mean nowhere, do these descriptions ever give the name of an individual church organization as a catalyst for launching this incredible worship scenario. Unless the twenty elders is a representation of Hillsong, then I will gladly admit I’m wrong.

So why is it so easy to feel like you’re a follower of Jesus in the wilderness if you don’t belong to a church organization?

Here’s how the church generally likes to take care of things.  Someone from the top makes a statement, then everyone acts on that statement and goes along with the truths of that statement.  In this case, it’s Bishop McManus saying, “Treat them with love, but remember, it’s heresy”. (My paraphrase) In Fundamentalism, it was simply, here’s what we believe, get on board and believe this way too.  In evangelicalism, there’s just a general feeling that we can be cool enough to get people to come to us and we’ll win them over as a result of our relationship with them.