Madison Church

What does it mean to be faithful when your plans fall apart? Eleven years ago, Madison Church launched with meticulously researched strategies, countless prayers, and 200 empty chairs. Only 20 people showed up that first Sunday—half of them family members visiting from out of town. The humiliation was crushing, but looking back now reveals how God was writing a better story than anyone could have imagined.This anniversary reflection draws powerful parallels to Paul's experience in Athens, where he confronted a city so filled with idols that historians noted it was "easier to find a god than a person." While we don't have marble statues to Zeus or Athena in Madison, our modern idols are perhaps more dangerous because they're less visible. We worship comfort through convenience, achievement through success, busyness through hustle culture, and find our identity in politics and consumerism.The most concerning pattern emerges when we don't reject God for these idols but recruit God t