Leap of Faith

23 September, 2015

Carl Lentz is the man. He is the pastor of Hillsong New York City, a church with no pews and no steeple. There's no candles to light or stations of the cross. Instead, they meet in a club. Yep, a New York City nightclub.

The lines to get into services go around the block, and often they get so full people have to stand in the lobby and listen via speakers. Why does he get so much attention? What's so intriguing about Carl?

Besides having slicked hair, a dark leather jacket, and Justin Beiber on speed dial, he is so widely praised because of his anti-religiousness.

What do I mean by that? He is less focused on pretending to be church-y and more focused on a real, rock-solid relationship with Jesus. He doesn't care about boring, repetitive acts of proving his faith, he cares instead about living a radical, all-out life for God.

His church is not boring. No one is forced to be there. In fact, it's much more of a rock-concert than a typical church service.

And what's wrong with that? So often people think of church as a snore-fest. Carl sees the truth: worshipping God shouldn't be lame, it should be the most exciting choice of one's life.

When asked how he started Hillsong New York, Carl said he walked by faith. He saw New York as a deprived place, started the church on a whim with no idea if anyone would come, and it immediately became a smashing hit. People are drawn to his real-ness. They want what he has. And what he has is none other than a real relationship with the living Jesus Christ.

Are you willing to take a leap of faith? You never know what it could lead to. It just might become the next Hillsong New York.