The Most Popular Religion in America | John Ortberg

This blogpost by John Ortberg is fascinating and helps us understand the challenge of presenting Christ and the call to follow Him with abandon these days....
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peace,
Jeff 
Lead Follower
Phos Church 

Thoughts on Formation

The Most Popular Religion in America

41 Comments 28 April 2010

What do you think is the number one most popular religion in America?
I’ll give you a hint: its not Christianity.
Its also not Islam, Judiasm, Buddhism, Taoism, or the Home Shopping Network.
According to Christian Smith, a sociologist at Notre Dame, the primary expression of faith in our day–at least for young adults–is what he calls “Moral Therapeutic Deism.”
This religion is characterized by five beliefs:
–There is a God who created earth and watches over it
–God wants people to be nice, fair and good (as it taught in the Bible and most other religions)
–The central goal of life is to be happy and feel good about yourself
–God doesn’t need to be involved in your life except when there’s a problem that needs Celestial Performance Enhancement
–Good people go to heaven when they die.

This is a religion that is far more about comfort, individualism and conformity that it is about meaning, calling, and sacrifice. What makes it particularly challenging is that it is not offered through a new MTD movement or denomination. It is actually catching on and being practiced in churches where we leaders think of ourselves as historically Christian.
It cannot sustain a life.
It cannot build a community.
It cannot call people to take up a cross.
We want something more.

One other piece of bad news has to do with where young adults learn MTD.
I’ll give you a hint. Its mostly from older adults. These are themes that have captured our culture in such deep ways that we’re hardly aware of them.

The good news is that God is much bigger than Moral Therapeutic Deism. He has a way of showing us what we idolize.

–when someone goes through a crisis or pain;
–when someone is inspired to devote their life to a cause greater than themselves;
–when someone is called to sacrifice their own comfort or success for a hurting world;
–when someone engages in the intense study of the God revealed by the writers of the Scriptures;
–when someone grows bored with a faith that is nice and comfortable and distant–

then God is once more breaking through.
MTD is just one more on a long list of idols.
But, somewhere deep down, the human heart keeps hungering for the real deal.

Your Comments

41 Comments so far

  1. I came across this idea several years ago when Smith’s book was first published (I think that was 2005), and it has revolutionized the way I preach and write.

    You say young adults learn this mostly from older adults. I fear they actually learn it from preachers and Sunday School teachers!

    Like Dallas Willard says, “Your system is perfectly designed to produce the results you are getting.”

    Present company excluded…of course.

  2. George Hofstetter says:

    I cannot say what causes me more concern, the moral relativist “feel good theism” you describe in your excellent post or the continued anti-Christian sentiment that exists not only in so many countries around the globe, but that continues to flourish right here at home.

    Looking forward to your next post…

  3. Barney Huang says:

    I’ve never heard it called MTD, However, it does seem to permeate throughout our society. As a renewed Christian of 4 years & through God’s grace, I’ve been able to re-build my relationship with God. Unfortunately, I brought up my family without God and I deal with those consequences as my wife & kids in there late 20’s think I’ve found a crutch for life, when it’s really an incredible relationship.. However, of the five MTD belief that are mention, only one prevails in my families thoughts, and that’s –The central goal of life is to be happy and feel good about yourself.

    The belief is, if you can do this, you will be good and return incarnated as “something” as God only exist in the mind.

    Only the Lord can change us and I pray for my family (and let them know it)that they fine him sooner than latter.

  4. CMiddleton says:

    Moral Therapeutic Deism sounds like a description of the “lukewarm” Christian described in chapter 3 of Revelations.

  5. saltfire says:

    This really shouldn’t surprise anyone.

    The politics of religion has pushed every one who claims to be even slightly rational or marginally involved in science and technology completely out of most churches.

    Many of those remaining left due to boredom and the absolute evaporation of purpose after the purpose driven life of the health and wealth gospel completely evaporated.

    This was followed by the collapse of the right wing political gospel leaving a lot of ministers and church leaders feeling cantankerous and acting ugly.

    After the price of gas got too high for anyone to afford to go to church anyway, the attraction of the mega church vanished.

    Then someone realized they could watch the service on their own broadband easier than driving forty miles to sit for an hour watching a service on a low quality screen in a breakout room, mostly by themselves.

    In the past couple of years someone started a lets change meeting times shell game which has progressed to the point that no one knows or cares when services are anymore.

    So we have progressed from several collections of people grossly over magnifying our differences to a loose collection of people united by a few common strands of the faith they have left.
    So now we are all on a journey to a place where the legitimate differences are minimized out of existence.

    And who is the most surprised, most confused, and most responsible for this fine mess? As a church leader primping in front of the fogged up mirror, you get three guesses. The first two don’t count.

  6. Dollie Combs says:

    If only more than 10 people would read about this..

  7. Steve says:

    I came across this idea several years ago when Smith’s book was first published (I think that was 2005), and it has revolutionized the way I preach and write.

    You say young adults learn this mostly from older adults. I fear they actually learn it from preachers and Sunday School teachers!

    Like Dallas Willard says, “Your system is perfectly designed to produce the results you are getting.”

    Present company excluded…of course.

  8. Alfred House says:

    Really interesting writing. Honest..

  9. Very awesome article. Truely.

  10. Haley Harper says:

    johnortberg.com’s done it once more. Superb post!

  11. Amy says:

    Really interesting writing. Honest..

  12. Allison Kohn says:

    Very good post!

  13. Shork says:

    true.

  14. Matthew Wright says:

    Many churches gave up preaching sin, repentance and the living presence of God through the lordship of Christ over a 100 years ago here in the UK. The most popular religion over here now appears to do with getting drunk at the weekend.
    How did we get to that? We switched to morality, respectibilty and being nice to the neighbours, which meant people liked us more and stopped believing. My Grandfather’s generation would have believed something like the MTD, and my Father’s generation rejected it as powerless. Just avoid the preaching of the Apostles in favour of ‘popular’ or ‘respectable’ topics and you’ll the same result we have over here, an anemic church unable to reproduce their faith because we have no intimacy with God. Thank God, there are exceptions, but it would be a gross exaggeration to say that the majority even hold to MTD over here any more, more a materialistic hedenism combined with a bemused hope that there might just be something more, or someone more, out there…

  15. Aeiluindae says:

    The truth is never palatable, in my experience. People will thus tend to reject the truth in favour of a more pleasant alternative. Christianity has all the nice compassion and love and morality, but the place where you really see that sort of thing is in the ugliest of circumstances. And Christianity doesn’t really give an easy explanation for those ugly circumstances, so it gets rejected in favour of MTD, as you call it. In Canada, we just call it joining the United Church.

  16. Jordan Hardy says:

    I read the article in question on MTD, and while I agree that it is happening, I cannot for the life of me understand why it is considered so bad. I think that MTD is a positive phenomenon, and a very healthy belief system for a person to have in the modern world.

  17. Weez says:

    Wouldn’t it also be fair to say that “It doesn’t cause endless slaughter for the sake of itself”?

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Christian and proudly declare and stand up for my faith. I will not, like so many other belief systems, demand that you see things my way “or else”. I don’t see why people can’t just live and let live. So many “Christians” are self righteous; “You have to be Christian, or you’ll go to hell”. I don’t believe that it is my position to condemn others, I’m pretty sure that’s God’s job.

    If you want to believe you’re a Christian, then stop telling other people what they need to believe.

  18. Alexander says:

    I find that your theory is rather interesting and indeed does have some merit, the current view of God and religion as it relates to Him is that we don’t need religion in a formal sense. I disagree, however, with your claim that the views of those who reject the religion in favor of Faith in God don’t have as close a relationship with Him as those who do go to a building they call church. A single building being called church is good for some, but being that God is infinite and absolute it seems foolish and prideful to put limits and restrictions on how one worships Him. I worship with every breath I take because I live out my worship, I am not the only person who is tired of the large oppressive church organization and who wishes to seek out the path to God best suited for me, I don’t claim to know the right way for you, I don’t even claim to know the right way for me, but I’m willing to let others decide for themselves. Have a nice day and may you find peace, love, and epic stories on your journey through life.

  19. kyle says:

    I find this to be generally true. Most Christians I know fall into this group- and still think of themselves as Christians.

    However, I would like to add that I don’t find this to be a bad thing. Indeed, what I would change- rather than have these people become ‘real’ Christians- would be their affiliation. Let them believe as they do, and stop calling it Christianity. Because the truth of the matter is that Christianity is irrevocably flawed, it would be terrible for the world if it were true, and so it is a great relief to me that it isn’t.

    this Moral Relative Deism, by contrast, is merely wishful thinking- which is not nearly so harmful as legitimate Christianity. Let these masses of wishful thinkers cut ties with your stone age garbled nonsense and we’ll all be better off.

  20. David says:

    I must say that I too have fallen “victim” to this idealistic way of thinking, but I called it “Convenient Christianity”. The act of summarizing all religions and extracting what I found necessary to be “a good person”. I believe Jesus was everything he said he was so I must be a Christian. “Do I really need to be the hands and feet? Will God really notice if don’t follow the directions he has laid out? I mean there are close to 7 billion people on the planet, he has to be overwhelmed with that kind of workload, right?”.
    I have watched my daughter lie in a hospital bed for the last 33 days, her inability to comprehend “Why” (my daughter is 10, cognitively she falls between 6 and 9 months). Being her father and advocate I ask for her. “Why my child? Why her, she is perfectly sinless?”. Then the realization of how I have been living hit me, it is not enough just to be a good person and be happy and feel good about yourself. There is more. There is sacrifice. There is reality.
    Jesus said “Follow Me” not “be a good guy and make friends along the way”. He was specific. “Follow Me”. I feel the path Jesus traveled is a little grown over, the path least taken by his “followers”. Just imagine if we all asked the question so often seen on those trendy little rubber band bracelets “What Would Jesus Do?”. Then imagine if we lived that question. “Follow Me!”

  21. Michael says:

    It is of my simple opinion that the MTD flies in the opposite direction of such truth found in much of Bible, loss and sacrifice is inevitable and it hurts.
    MTD seems to be based on the fear of teaching what life is. We grow and become older, a simple statement full of meaning, relationships, and seasons of change.

    Could it be said that much of MTD is based on a lack of education? Would a person who was exposed to more loss have an understanding that therapy is not about being “nice” at all nor is it about a God being “nice”?

    Might it be that MTD is based much on a consumeristic way of living? With so many resources readily available, humanity (or maybe those with the means) believe that God is to be nice and provide all they need, when it is appropriate.

    Much of the world is suffering. Really. Everything from war to economics. No person is untouchable. That’s really hard to except, especially when Democracy has done so much to promise us we would be untouchable, or at least wealth has tried to.

    The hope found in Hebrews: we have the promise of the High Priest who welcomes us into His rest, in all things and all seasons of life.

    Thanks for letting me rant.

  22. Jim says:

    Wow! The some of the comments here are just as revealing as the subject piece itself.

  23. Jim says:

    Ooops! Please edit my last comment : )

  24. nh says:

    Interesting phenomenon. I see this to be the future of religious thought in the western world, and in my opinion that’s a good thing. People who feel the need to believe in a god can believe in this mostly harmless one instead of the one who advocates genocide and intolerance.

  25. Esther Na says:

    Oh I read about that in a book somewhere…Moral Therapeutic Deism…or was it at Renovare? Can’t remember…but I totally agree. I think I even have to constantly evaluate my faith for tendencies of MTD in my own life that I don’t always see. Thanks for the reminder… :)

  26. Chris Woodcock says:

    This article sums up exactly why Christianity is seen with the stigma of close-minded moronic sheep. MTD is a step in the right direction for most people, because they are acknowledging a deity. How can you knock that? Just because it may or may not be God as we as Christians know Him. I’m consistently amazed by the old guard mind-set of Christianity that, if you’re not miserable, you’re not doing it right. I know who my Lord and Savior is, and He died to set me free, not to enslave me to a life of ritual and repentance. I am washed clean by His blood and that is the end. To sin is human, and as long as you are willing to look your savior in the face and admit to those sins, then nothing else matters. Pious Christians are destroying the faith they claim to have. We all say, I would have loved to have been able to hang out with the savior, but the question we should be asking ourselves is would Jesus want to hang out with us. He never judged people who didn’t believe in Him, he didn’t claim to be superior to ANYONE. So I think it’s time Christians took an honest look at themselves and pondered the very simple question. “Would Christ have wanted to know me as the person I am?”…or more exactly, “What would Christ say about this article?”. My Christ would ask you, “Why do you hate those that have not come to know me yet?”

  27. tov says:

    Could I see a source for the Christian Smith study please?

  28. Ron Parrs says:

    I thank John for this post. This is a “better” description of the emergent church and any other “sloppy” Christian movement out there.

    The person who helped lead me to faith in Christ, also disliked going to church because he wanted to “feel good.” It’s not that feeling good is a bad thing, it’s more a question of what are we doing with our relationship with God?

    Are we engaging the culture around us in a way that fully communicates God’s Truth and forces them to examine the Bible for themselves? God Himself must contend with the individual. We only serve to point others to Him.

    After all, it’s not about us, it IS all about GOD.

  29. Tony says:

    You know what annoys me? I sent this post to 5 people, all Christians, and every single one of them thought that John was endorsing and condoning MTD. And told me I was wrong when I pointed out that he wasn’t.

  30. sam says:

    yeah, Christianity has not laid out the details of living life being a follower of Jesus(outside of a church). It seems like as Christians we are constantly caught up in the endless cycle of Sinning, acceptance of Sin and repentance. Actually Christianity promises salvation, meaning all our sins are forgiven once when Jesus laid down his life on the cross. But what it fails to address is how do we then live life, knowing this, since we still deal with sin everyday at some level and we have to repent for it.
    The MTD or whatever it is termed, seems to me like a natural reaction by lot of Christians to get out of that mental struggle you have to deal, within in the cycle of Sin and Repentance.

  31. We completely agree that many people in society today live their lives that only honors God with a lukewarm heart and lifestyle. Their faith is only limited to the things that are comfortable and easy. Even many Christian church goers have adopted this non-committed attitude towards their own faith. We believe that all followers of God should live a passionate lifestyle that craves for the voice of God in our lives. If we continue to follow God’s command passionately, we can change the current statistic by challenging and inspiring people to live a dedicated life to God.

  32. Toni says:

    Excellent! We’ve done biblical counseling for 20 years. I’m always astonished to see the newest “spin” that people bring into the office. Because of the beliefs held in your post, we have too many Christians that are essentially dating God… they want all of the benefits of being married without the commitment… mostly because they don’t understand the truth of the scriptures… and that comes down from the top… not God, from the Pastors. The good news is that we have had an increasing number of pastors asking us to train them and their staff. Great post!

  33. asno says:

    Some people would like to fit in their lives in their relationship with God and not God into their lives…

    the Bible is the literal Truth and it should be the “compass” on how to live our lives

  34. Mo says:

    As a Muslim, I beleive that you nailed this one perfectly on the head. Contrary to what what we hear in th Mosques, is that ” Islam is the fastest growing Religion” we all use God or Allah, when it suits our needs the best. When things are going well, we often forget God. But when times are tough, we turn to him.

    I beleive that only now, collective conscience has surfaced on a mass scale, in forms of social media, metworking on Facebook, etc… the barriers that we have created by labelling one another are desigened to keep us apart, which is not in our human nature.

    Perhaps the Religion of the future will be Moral Therapeutic Deism, saq we realize that mankind is far more similar, than different.

  35. Rick C says:

    The diversity of replies here says more than the article itself, and not surprising to me.
    First, understand that My God/Your God made us each as different as snowflakes, and rejoices in our praise as individuals-in our uniqueness, as any parent would in all of their children’s different gifts or forms of good recognition. I am a Christian, not a follower of religion, many of which do tend to be legalistic. and in defense of the Bible, from one poster’s comment actually does through-out tell one how to conduct their daily lives, and in joy. But I, being a Christian(follower of Christ), focus on the life and example of Him, and in gaining anything worthwhile, there is always some sacrifice and unpleasantness involved, which always causes growth, if done right. Unfortunately, especially with some declining attendance, some churches and movements are pandering to the masses, to suite their own needs and purposes, making it more comfortable for members to belong. It IS time to stop judging others, and praise your God, first using the heart that he gave you, accepting others and politely sharing you beliefs and testimonies, and become an oasis in a tide of inhumanity. In doing this, you will attract the life-changing energy and others to you, and capture the attention and blessings God wants to shower on you. Knowing in your heart what is right to do isn’t hard, but sometimes doing it is, if we are to live a selfless and meaningful life, and God, having given us a free-will(the biggest part of His image) made that completely up to us as individuals. It is time to stop worrying about the splinter in our brother’s eye, and remove that plank from ours, so we can see others better, and help them more effectively. I think as proven by these responses, the road to God IS varied, not wrong because it is not YOUR way, and may account for these two sayings…We must each (pick-up our own cross,) and (Follow our own path.) May all of us, as we come upon our brothers and sisters, and God’s sons and daughters along our path, learn to lead by examples of God’s Love, instead of our own judgements. That is something any God can work with.
    Sincerely,
    Rick


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Pray for my buddy Shawn Scruggs ...

Hey Ya'll,
Just got a text from one of my good friends, Shawn Scruggs and he's requested that we pray for him as he has a lot going on.

peace,
Jeff
Posted by Jeff Fuson
 

Think Hebrew!

To really understand all that's going on in the Easter story it helps to 'think Hebrew' and to understand what was happening in real time in a real place among real people over 2,000 years ago in and around Jerusalem.  That's tough for us to do, but there's help out there.  One of my favorite online sites to learn how to 'think Hebrew' is FollowTheRabbi.com and it's loaded with excellent research and materials to help you dig in.  If you've been looking for a way to take your Bible Study to a higher level then this is probably a great site for you.  Let me know what you're learning when you go there.
Posted by Jeff Fuson
 

The Women of that First Easter

I'm preparing for the Easter Sermon and I just completed a little informal study of the women of that first Easter.  I can't wait to share what I'm learning with you tomorrow in full.  But, for those of you who like to dig in and study ahead of time to prepare for worship here you go ....

The Women mentioned by the Gospel writers at that first Easter:


What / Who?    Matthew    Mark Luke John


witnessed his death up close       15:40 23:49  19:25


Standing by the cross they witnessed his death   19:25


many women who had ministered to Him 27:55       15:41 23:49


Mary Magdalene 27:56         15:40   19:25


Mary, mother of James & Joseph 27:56         15:40


Mother of sons of Zebedee 27:56


Mary Mag and ‘the other Mary’ see where the tomb is   15:47 23:55


Mary Magdalene sitting opposite tomb 27:61


‘the other Mary’ sitting oposite the tomb 27:61


prepared spices for the burial 23:56


Mary Magdalene went to the tomb 28:1 16:1-8   24:1   20:1


‘the other Mary’ went to the tomb 28:1 16:1


saw the angel who told them the news 28:5 16:5   24:4 20:12


heard the angels news 28:6 16:6     24:5-6 20:12


go tell 28:7 16:7 20:17


ran to tell 28:8 16:8 20:18

Jesus meets them 28:9 16:9 20:15


fell at his feet and worshiped 28:9 20:17


Jesus tells them to have no fear and go 28:10


Salome     15:40


Mary, mother of Joses sees where the tomb is       15:47


Mary Mag and Salome brought spices to annoint J.     16:1


When the sun had just risen they went       16:2


Who will roll the stone away?       16:3


Disciples just ‘couldn’t believe it’       16:11 24:11


Joanna 24:10


Jesus mother at the cross 19:25


Jesus’ mother’s sister at the cross 19:25


Mary, the wife of Clopas 19:25


Jesus provides for his mother from the cross     19:26-27

Posted by Jeff Fuson
 

Teen Egg Stuffing Party

Hi there, teens!

Tomorrow (Saturday), come to my house (10102 Headley Hill Road, 40223) from 4 - 7 PM to stuff eggs for the Easter egg hunt the next day and stuff yourself with pizza! Bring a few dollars to cover the pizza and pop and come ready to stuff... we have 1000 eggs to stuff!

If you have a parent that wants to come and help or that wants to help by picking up the pizza/pop, have them email me! I would really appreciate the help!

See you tomorrow!
Laura

Phos Church
502-408-4731
laura@phoschurch.com
www.phoschurch.com

Posted
 

Pre-Easter Activity for Kids and Their Families

Hi there, kids!

Just wanted to wish you a Happy Easter and send you this recipe that you can make with your family tomorrow. Make it tomorrow and read through the Easter story in your Bible and you will have a sweet surprise on Easter Sunday morning :).

See you Sunday!
Laura Cochran

Phos Church
502-408-4731
laura@phoschurch.com
www.phoschurch.com

Click here to download:
Easter Tomb Cookies.pdf (42 KB)
(download)

Posted
 

Serve Aptil 30th at the Mini Marathon

Hope you are having a great week and are excited about what God is doing at Phos.  There is a lot of exciting stuff happening and I hope that you all will be joining us this Sunday for our Easter Celebration, Baptisms, and Easter Egg Hunt. 

I wanted to let you know of a service opportunity coming up next Saturday, April 30th for all those interested.  

We will be serving at a water station at the finish line at the Louisville Mini-Marathon.  Though there are earlier times the bulk of folks needs to arrive at 9:00 and hang out till about 2:00 or so.  

Should be a great time.  Let me know if you are interested and I will get you more details.  

Glad to serve alongside of you.  Many blessings....

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GROW a Little Bigger Garden and Make a BIGGER Impact on those who need it ...

Now, here is a way to combine your passion for growing vegetables with making a difference in the lives of others.  Nate Owsley has come up with a great way to do both.  So, read on and if wanna get on board just contact Nate and let's see if we can bless others the way he imagines here.

Nate Owsley's Garden Ministry Idea:

Being in Oldham county, many church members probably have their own
gardens. We can use the abundance of our gardens as a blessing to each other as
well as a blessing to others in the community. The idea is to bring in the extra
from your gardens once or twice a month to trade amongst each other, taking only
what you will use or can bless a neighbor with and then the remaining items will
be donated to a local food bank/shelter/mission, etc. We could also start a blog
about growing things to share tips with each other. As gas and food prices rise
we have a real opportunity to bless others in this community with little to no
cost, just time.

My email is mnateowsley@yahoo.com and my phone number is 502-741-6660. Thanks!

Nate

Jeff Fuson

PhosChurch.com

The Church for People who Don't Go to Church

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Phos Church is Getting a NEW Venue to Work From .... Join us this Easter at 10 AM at OCHS to learn more ....

Wednesday Morning, April 20, 2011


Dear Friends,


When God chooses to move in a big way there’s just no stopping Him and that’s where Phos finds herself these days -- smack-dab in the middle of a move of God. 


When we launched Phos back in early 2008, we truly believed that we could/would be a mobile congregation always.  But, 38 months of trailers and generators, snow and blazing heat, and set up and tear down week after week causes us to think that there may be a better way forward after all!  Most of all, our incredibly dedicated team has realized that we could make better use of all that energy used in set up and tear down  to ‘Grow Big People’ more effectively.  


As you might recall, we met for a little over a year at Tinseltown Movie Theaters and now have been pretty consistently at Oldham County High School for about two years coming up in June.  Of course, you’ll remember some cool venues like Waterfront Park, a fire station and a Planetarium.  Over the past 18 months, we have diligently scoured our community from Westport Road to LaGrange to Goshen to Brownsboro to Crestwood looking for where we might go next.  However, after looking at well over 30 possible solutions we were still at a dead end for a viable next step venue.  We’ve been pushing on the rock but it just wasn’t moving.  


Back on March 22, we got word from OCHS that they do not want to renew our contract beyond the end of June 2011.  The rock was wedged squarely in the path of our future and we just couldn’t move it.


On the morning of March 23, the pastor of a local church [E320 Church which was formerly Centerfield Church] -- about 2 miles from our present venue -- called and asked if we were still looking for a new venue.  The rock was starting to move...


Our leadership team has prayed about the possibility and we’ve agreed to energetically pursue this ‘ready to move in’ property as the next venue for Phos Church.  So, on Sunday, April 17, we finalized an offer to purchase 10 acres with a ‘ready-to-move-in’ 10,800 square feet building.  It is truly a rock that only God could move and we are excited to watch Him work among us.


We’d like to invite you to worship with us on Easter Sunday at OCHS at 10 AM.  To conclude our experience, we’ll have a baptism at the new property and, weather permitting, we’ll have our ‘1,000 Easter Egg Hunt’ on the 10 acres at the new place.  


Most of all, in Easter worship with Phos, you’ll hear the story of the God who moves the rocks that hold us back.  He raises the dead and rolls the stone away.  He’s the God of all time and most of all, He’s the God of that first Easter who sent His angel to roll the stone away and who sent Jesus to be our Lord -- an overcoming Saviour who overcame the ultimate obstacles of sin & death for all who take Him as Lord and Saviour.


So, come and experience the power of God on the move in your life and come see the possibilities that the new property opens up for Phos Church in the years ahead. 


If you’ve ever wanted to be in on what God is up to, then now is your time to get on-board and hold on tight!


Peace,


Jeff Fuson

Lead Follower

Phos Church


p.s.  Remember we’ll gather at OCHS at 10 AM for worship and then move over to the new property for a Baptism and Easter Egg Hunt [weather permitting].


p.p.s.  The new property is just one minute south of Exit 18 off of I-71 at 4200 Centerfield Drive.


p.p.p.s.  Prayerfully consider how God wants you to get in on what He’s up to as He moves the rock that’s been in our path.

Posted by Jeff Fuson
 

The New PHOS Church Building Pictures from Mike Swan ... God on the Move ....

Yesterday's 'after worship' announcement about the offer we've made on a new church home and the walk-through of the new space were pretty doggone special.  You'll hear more in the weeks ahead about how you can participate in making this possibility a reality.  

God told Abraham to take a walk to a place He would show him...
God told Noah to build an ark when it had never rained...
He told Moses to challenge the all-powerful Pharaoh...
He told Nehemiah to rebuild the walls...
He told Solomon to build a temple and David to kill a giant...
Jesus invited the disciples to leave everything and follow him...
I'm wondering how He's inviting you to participate in His mission at Phos in the days ahead? 

In 

Peace,
Jeff

p.s.  Thanks Mike Swan for these cool pictures ...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michael Todd Swan <briquester@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, Apr 17, 2011 at 6:57 PM
Subject: The New PHOS Church

Jeff,

  I just thought you might like to see these.
 
Mike Swan

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This online album has 10 photos and will be available on SkyDrive until 07/16/2011.

Posted by Jeff Fuson