I met someone at church who told me she hadn't been in a while, told me she grew up in churches but got disconnected along the way, told me she didn't know where else to go. Someone she loves has died. There's an empty space in her heart, and all she could say is, "I knew I needed something."

You don't start a new church because you're tired of another one, or because you think yours will be the coolest one on the block. You start a church because there are people out there who know that they need something. There are people who will come looking. What we who follow Jesus would love to see is a church on every corner. Big ones, small ones, creative ones, traditional ones; as long as Jesus and love are at the heart of every one.

At Real Life, I watch the demographics of our newcomers. Each week, the people I meet who are visiting for the first time are not coming from another church and just shopping around. They are coming without a church background; they've either wandered away or never been before. And they're prodded by a Spirit-shaped goad that keeps reminding them they need something.

Thank God for the spread of new churches.

jim