A yoke is a fitting for a so-called beast of burden that would be placed around the neck of one or more animals like an ox for example. This fitting was placed around the neck and allowed the animal or animals to pull various loads. it was a curved piece of wood with leather straps as a binding which would allow them to draw a plough or a cart or any other type of weight. During our bible study this past Tuesday a certain verse from Acts 14 caught my attention. They strengthened the disciples and urged them to remain firm in the faith. They told them, Acts 14: 22 “If we are to enter God’s kingdom, we must pass through many troubles.”

We also know that our Lord said this in Matthew 11:28  “Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest.” Many of us today are carrying heavy loads, in the workplace, family, debt and the emotional problems that they bring with them. The next two verses are ones of encouragement. In Acts 29 and 30 we find these words “29  Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I’m gentle and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves. 30  My yoke is easy to bear, and my burden is light.”

It is a hard truth and one we as Christians sometimes overlook or just ignore. As the church we must learn to accept our hardships, just as we should as individuals. Paul went back to encourage these people and the churches that were being established that this should not be a time to of wasted energy fighting them or wondering “why us or why me”. We need to spend our time getting to know God and his plan for our lives the more time we spend doing that, the stronger we will grow in the faith.

Paul also wrote about a yoke in 2nd Corinthians 6: 14-18 :
14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”17 Therefore,“Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”18 And,“I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

Maybe I am taking to many liberties and searching for a connection that at best is a stretch. I believe that part of what Paul is saying here is that our journey will be much easier if we seek the fellowship and strength that is offered through the Christian community.  Do not mistake my writing to infer that we withdraw within our walls, that is not what we are called to do. Our burdens are many and at times too heavy but with Jesus’ “The yoke is easy to bear, and the burden is light.”I believe that many of our churches are torn apart by conflict and issues that distract from the real mission Christ calls us out to do. Let us be yoked together as one in serving Christ Jesus.

There is always room in the pew……jk

Been a rough week here in the pew. Usually by Thursday of the week I have the blog written and I began to delete or add where needed. This time however I have only a blank page. I started the blog in 2013 and at the start of 2016 I devoted full time to it, trying to publish once a week and there are 75 posts to date. I have no formal training or education in the writing arts and it is a lot of work to put something on a page every week. Thanks to the digital age, Bill Gates and the wonderful world of knowledge that can be acquired on the internet, I have managed to sneak by. I was told, write about things you know about. Well the truth is I don’t know about a lot of things, which isn’t such a bad thing, it narrows the field a bit but produces a result I wasn’t counting on. Things I know about aren’t all that interesting. There was one thing I wanted to know more about, I wanted to know more about God and Jesus.

Now I have always thought of myself as a Christian, I believe there is a God and I know about Jesus. For a long time that was my standard answer to the question “are you a Christian?” When I look back at the years gone by a more appropriate picture of my faith would be as follows. I was like a person on a golf course, standing under a large tree during a violent thunder storm. “You believe in God?” “You bet I do”  I uttered quickly before the next lighting strike. When the sun came out I went back to the game. I have come to realize that being a Christian isn’t a game. There are no time-outs and no such thing as halftime, there is no quarter given. (weak play on words) It has been a difficult week and in retrospect a disappointing few weeks. There is so much chaos in the world.   The partisan divide in our nation which is driven by such hate and lack of civility has placed us at the mercy of those who use violence and destruction of things and people they disagree with as an acceptable form of expression of opposition to current elections and others policies. Silence comes in many forms. I will share one example with you. After 9/11 all air traffic was grounded for a few days. Ever look up and see the contrails (Contrails or vapor trails are line-shaped clouds sometimes produced by aircraft engine exhaust.) crisscrossing in the sky and wondering who was up there and where were they going? There was for those few days an empty sky, there was a visual silence. Well that is where I’m at today. To one who writes or tries to, a blank page is the ultimate definition of silence.  I have given thought lately to lay the blog aside. It is a case of time spent and results. Don’t misinterpret what I have written here. A lot of time is spent in preparation and after all these years the blog has never caught on. There is also the consideration that maybe I don’t write so well. I have been wondering if my energies would be better spent creating  bible studies, which keeps me in the word and requires research and study. This is not a question of ego, it is about how I can best serve and reach people with the good news. Well I have managed to fill the page with a rambling dissertation of my personal frustrations. You know God never leaves a blank page……and if you listen and seek you will see and hear.

Romans 8:25-27Common English Bible (CEB)

25 But if we hope for what we don’t see, we wait for it with patience.

26 In the same way, the Spirit comes to help our weakness. We don’t know what we should pray, but the Spirit himself pleads our case with unexpressed groans. 27 The one who searches hearts knows how the Spirit thinks, because he pleads for the saints, consistent with God’s will.

I do not know how this ties in, as I was writing, the above verses came to mind. William Barclay writes in his series Daily Bible Study:

THE first two verses form one of the most important passages on prayer in the whole New Testament. Paul is saying that, because of our weakness, we do not know what to pray for, but the prayers we ought to offer are offered for us by the Holy Spirit. The New Testament scholar C. H. Dodd defines prayer in this way: ‘Prayer is the divine in us appealing to the Divine above us.’

I know that I need to pray and seek his will but I have no words. H. Dodd gives this advice. We cannot know our own real need; we cannot with our finite minds grasp God’s plan; in the last analysis, all that we can bring to God is an inarticulate sigh which the Spirit will translate to God for us.

I think that applies to many of us. We need to leave the chaos and uncertainty of this world behind and just pray. His will be done…..jk

How do we build bridges and at the same time defend the faith? I address this to the church in general. No denomination can claim that it has not relaxed or even in some cases changed the way the traditional scriptural beliefs apply to their church doctrine or tenets. You may refer to it however you wish, for me it became a buzz word……inclusiveness. We have been told we must be tolerant of others and sometimes it is difficult but I believe it to be a necessity of christian character. Notice this definition of tolerance: noun – the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.(New Oxford American Dictionary) As an example the New Oxford American Dictionary lists “the tolerance of corruption” and “religious tolerance.” Interesting to note that along with so many other things religion has now become just another something to tolerate. As I look back, I remember asking the older folks “how you feeling today”? Many times I got the simple answer “tolerable”.

We know that bridges make it easier for us to go to different places and in real time make it easier for people to come to us. Building bridges between church and communities is integral to church growth. I’d like to expand that a bit. Building bridges is important and necessary in order to fulfill our Christian calling.

The Great Commission (Matthew 28New International Version (NIV))
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

A very simple straight forward charge that leaves no doubt as to our focus and task. The problem comes as we decide how best to do this and to what length do we go to get it done. We usually become entangled with various programs and many of you will disagree, the cosmetics of it all, being more concerned with the appearance than the substance. I have read many articles and I settled on sharing with you these six from “Evangelicals for Social Action.” Here are six* suggestions for cultivating an outreach-minded congregation.

BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN CHURCH AND COMMUNITY

1. Welcome whoever walks through your door.

A good place to start in cultivating the congregation’s commitment to reach out to
the community is by loving the people in the community who come to you.

2. Network in the community.
Networking is the exchange of information, ideas and resources. The goal of
networking is to build relationships as you gather information, scout out potential allies, and let others know about your church.

3. Cultivate a sense of belonging to the community.
“Your people shall be my people,” said Ruth to Naomi (Ruth 1:16). In the same way, help the congregation to think about residents of the community as “our people.” Find ways of identifying with the struggles of those
in the community. (Heb. 13:3)

4. Incorporate a commitment to outreach mission into church life.
How much does a concern for community outreach enter into the life of your church? Consider ways to enfold a loving awareness of the community of ministry into “ordinary” aspects of church life. The church should be a refuge for members from the bruising realities of the world, but not a fortress where people go to shut out the world.
5. Interweave the interests of church and community.
Help to develop the habit of talking about inward ministries and outreach ministries in the same breath as all part of the church’s mission.

6. Take the church out into the community.
A congregation cannot hope to build loving relationships with the community,
particularly those who are most needy and vulnerable, by “sitting in the four walls of the church.” Develop the attitude that everywhere we go we are the church.

The more your congregation enters into the life of your community, the more the life-giving Spirit can flow through you to your neighbors.

(* I list only six here.)

Here I believe lies the real mystery. If you took the time to check the boxes on the above most all of you would say your church does all those things; I would have to agree with most of you. So what is the problem? Maybe we need to do a better job of telling the story and not being weighed down by the cosmetics. More on this in a future post.

Building bridges between the community and the church will take us to two different worlds. Those who know and follow Jesus and those who do not know Him, each have different needs and require different approaches, or do they? We read this in 1st Thessalonians 1:3

3 This is because we remember your work that comes from faith,[ your effort that comes from love, and your perseverance that comes from hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father.

Faith, love, perseverance and hope and the presence of Jesus Christ and
God the father. Perhaps we should be praying more and seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit. These early Christians in Thessalonica had been building bridges within their idol-worshiping culture and Paul praised them for that, but more for the way they were doing it. We read this in 1st Thessalonians 1:6-10

6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

It is worth noting how they built this bridge.The bridge they were building had two components: the “word of the Lord” and the example of their faith. It was clear to everyone that they had “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (v.9). They preached the truth that was Gospel driven, Giving Hope through a Christ Centered, Jesus Loving, Holy Spirit Led ministry of boldness, zeal and love. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says that the greatest things are faith, hope, and love (v.13).and he commends the people of the church in Thessalonica for exhibiting these very traits. They work in faith and labor in love while hoping in Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 1:3). (Our Daily Bread)

To wrap this up we must acknowledge the need to defend the faith. Christianity is under attack world wide. To put this in perspective, it is really no different than it has always been and to go even further Jesus himself said we would suffer for the gospel. The advent of of the digital age has given the enemies of the faith a powerful tool to distract us from our task, dismiss and demean the message we seek to share and drive us back behind those four walls we tend to hide behind. We are placed in a sometimes unattainable position because while confrontation is sometimes necessary, it should not be a part of our Christian mission. What do we do?

I believe we must get back to telling the story and seeking the Holy Spirit through scripture study.

Acts 17:2-4 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.

2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Philippians 1:7 So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. You share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News.

2. 1 Peter 3:15 but honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

I quote from a Daily Bread article.
“As God declares Himself to those around us by His Word and through our lives, we can become a bridge to those who do not yet know the love of Christ.” If we live the gospel others will listen. After so many words what is being said? The best defense of the Gospel is to tell the story any time and any way we can. We have been called for a purpose and with God’s grace and guidance we will endure.

From The Pew,
God Bless…..jk

I once wrote that the church had become a service industry and as prepared today’s blog that statement came to my mind. If you have ever been a part of a committee or group that is charged with examining the state of church membership or how to bring more people into the church, add to your church roll, then you are part of a very normal percentage of folks who engage in the fill the pew programs that are so much a part of our church culture today, along with the yearly or semi-annual revival. I want to be sure and state that negativism doesn’t help either. So up front, this blog is not about doing away with but adding to the things we can do to add souls to the community of faith. This is not a church bashing blog. This blog is not about numbers or denominations, it is about his people, his creation and maybe if we quit looking at numbers and religion so to speak our task will be plainer. I believe that saved or not saved we are, each of us a child of God, his creation, each just as precious to him as the other. Here is an excerpt from a blog of mine two years ago.

“To grow a church has to have a lot of different programs other than worship itself. It’s all about how you present yourself; make people want to come, offer a range of services that meets every need. Family things, what do you have for the kids, is there a Youth Director, what type of Music Program do you have? Is there a Family Life Center and what does it include? What about the young adults and seniors, do you have programs for them? Now I could go on and on but the point is this. Church today is about the services it can offer to its members. Most of the things I have listed are the ones people ask about. I have never really heard anyone ask, do you preach the gospel of the Living Christ and is the pastor anointed by God preaching the word and led by the Holy Spirit? When I shared this with some friends they had a question for me. What does it matter how large or small a church is, or what services it offers its members, as long as people are saved and their lives are better? Well I can’t argue with that but I do still wonder why the success of a church is determined by its size. Religion is a weird science for lack of a better term. I think I will stick with John 14:6 Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Back to last weeks post, a re-thought if I may. Growing a church is not easy with all the distractions and other choices that are competing with the church these days. The “nones” we wrote about last week offer a real challenge because they comprise such a large and diverse group. If I were to pick a reoccurring theme here it is that the complexity of this group and the above mentioned reasons dictates that the problem cannot be approached with anything we are now doing. The stats say what we are doing is not working. As if all of these stated challenges are not enough the survey also stated that a significant number of these folks say they are too busy for religion, which reminds me of a sign I saw when traveling the back roads. Small country church, the sign read “ARE YOU TIRED OF RELIGION……TRY JESUS”….

Simple statement or slogan if you wish but I believe within it there is some good advice. We continue to look to numbers, buildings, music, tradition, programs and acceptance of the new norms in society. Struggling to be a part of it while maintaining the values and tenets of our faith. This is in reality is a nice way of saying “looking for loop holes” to justify certain behaviors. Here is an excerpt from a letter I used in a post several months ago. How do you think we as christians are viewed today as opposed to the early church and Roman society?

The Letter to Diognetus, the work of an unknown author, written in about 130, describes Christians to the Romans as follows:
“They dwell in their own countries simply as sojourners…. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven.  They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time, they surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men but are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned. They are put to death, but [will be] restored to life. They are poor, yet they make many rich. They possess few things; yet, they abound in all. They are dishonored, but in their very dishonor are glorified…. And those who hate them are unable to give any reason for their hatred.”

Look closely at the letter above. Early christians did not have the facilities we have now, no need to make a list, simply put…..they didn’t have the stuff to work with that we do. We need to keep building, to add facilities and services and programs to stay in the game so to speak. However, I believe in our zeal to compete we have lost the simplicity of “Jesus” , the power of the message. We must live our lives so as to avoid the temptations of the flesh, we must live in a way that allows us to be “citizens of heaven” here and now. We must obey the laws but our very behavior should exceed that which is expected. Even though we will know rejection and at times persecution we must love all men. We may lose our life but to die for Christ is to live. We may be poor but what we have must be used to enrich the lives of others. We may not have a lot but through Jesus Christ we have all we will need. We may be dishonored here on this earth but we will be honored in heaven among the saints. We may never understand why we are so hated but know well the love of Christ which exceeds all understanding.

We have a story to tell and I believe we have become too busy acquiring “stuff” to point to, when all we really have to do is tell the story…..

I love to tell the story
of unseen things above,
of Jesus and his glory,
of Jesus and his love.
I love to tell the story,
because I know ’tis true;

it satisfies my longings
as nothing else could do.

Go tell the story…the stuff will come latter. Hope you return to the pew next week.  jk

Continuing on from last week’s thought that maybe we were looking in all the wrong places when examining the loss of people attending church, got me to wondering about where we need to look. I think most of us can agree that whatever we have been doing, while certainty not a complete failure, still we are not retaining or gaining those souls needed to do the Lords work. From previous discussions in morning bible study, which by the way started this line of thought, three groups come to mind. There are those that have been hurt by the church in some way or another. I am not going to mire this down listing reasons that people are hurt or get mad and leave; fact is they do and you may know someone like this or might even be that someone. There are of course those that don’t believe period. This we will come back to at another time. Then there are the “Nones.” This is an interesting group because they include those that have left, believers and non-believers and those that are not or have never been affiliated with any organized religion. “Nones” is a term sometimes used to refer to those who are unaffiliated with any organized religion. This use derives from surveys of religious affiliation, in which “None” (or “None of the above”) is typically the last choice.

Let’s run the numbers on this. There are lots of different surveys and research articles About the “nones”. I tend to look at Pew Research center. Also part of the information I will share is from an article written by Michael Lipka from FacTank, News in Numbers. This article paired with Pew Research numbers provides an interesting look at this subject.

A growing trend in American religion in recent years has been the percentage of adults who do not identify with a religious group. In 2007 the number was 36.6%. The latest figure, 2014, has that number at 55.8%. I am going to try not to overwhelm you with numbers but they do tell a story. Responses to how they became “nones” is telling. Remember that this group includes religious people who indicate that a lack of belief led them away from religion, Mr. Lipka writes that number to be about 49%. There were other reasons listed such as many respondents said that science, common sense, logic or lack of evidence played a part in their being where they were today. Others interestingly enough simply said they do not believe in God. Quoting directly from the article, “One-in-five express an opposition to organized religion in general. This share includes some who do not like the hierarchical nature of religious groups, several people who think religion is too much like a business and others who mention clergy sexual abuse scandals as reasons for their stance.” One in ten who were raised in a religious affiliation are now inactive. They just went home and stayed there. Oddly enough they still hold certain religious beliefs but have withdrawn from any active practice. Interesting to note that within this group there are sub groups, confusing is it not? Are you beginning to see the point that the task the church is facing is not a simple one by any means. there is no “one program cure” for what ails us. There are the agnostic, don’t believe period, then a rather odd group who describe their religion as “nothing in particular”.

If I were to pick a reoccurring theme here it is that the complexity of this group cannot be approached with anything we are now doing. The stats say what we are doing is not working. I have saved the best to last. A significant number of these folks say they are to busy for religion, which reminds be of a sign I saw when traveling the back roads. Small country church, the sign read “ARE YOU TIRED OF RELIGION……TRY JESUS….

Next week we will continue to explore this issue of losing souls. That’s right, this whole thing is not about numbers or denominations. It is about his people, his creation and maybe if we quit looking at numbers and religion so to speak our task will be plainer. I believe that saved or not saved we are, each of us a child of God, his creation, each just as precious to him as the other.

I welcome your comments, hope to see you in the pew next week.

jk

Things aren’t the same now as they were when I was growing up in the church. The number of people who attend church these days is much less than in my day. Many denominations are losing people and many churches struggle to stay relevant in todays culture and demographics. Received an email from a good friend in reference to last weeks blog which questioned where the church was today and rate of growth or lack thereof. The email was refreshing because it said what many of us won’t. Here is a quote from that email. “I don’t have a clue and pastors really don’t either, how to get everyone on board with dynamic growth and spiritual outreach.” Numbers have become a big thing in judging success in almost all activities and now even church. So, let’s look at some numbers. Pew Research Center November 3, 2015.

“Is the American public becoming less religious? Yes, at least by some key measures of what it means to be a religious person. An extensive new survey of more than 35,000 U.S. adults finds that the percentages who say they believe in God, pray daily and regularly go to church or other religious services all have declined modestly in recent years.

But the Pew Research Center study also finds a great deal of stability in the U.S. religious landscape. The recent decrease in religious beliefs and behaviors is largely attributable to the “nones” – the growing minority of Americans, particularly in the Millennial generation, who say they do not
belong to any organized faith. (http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/)

Among the roughly three-quarters of U.S. adults who do claim a religion, there has been no discernible drop in most measures of religious commitment. Indeed, by some conventional measures, religiously affiliated Americans are, on average, even more devout than they were a few years ago.”

Not as bad as some say, but make no mistake, there is little comfort in the numbers to those who see their church or denomination losing people.

“The falloff in traditional religious beliefs and practices coincides with changes in the religious composition of the U.S. public. A growing share of Americans are religiously unaffiliated, including some who self-identify as atheists or agnostics as well as many who describe their religion as “nothing in particular.” Altogether, the religiously unaffiliated (also called the “nones”) now account for 23% of the adult population, up from 16% in 2007.”

So it only natural that such figures should raise enough concern that a host of solutions would come forth like the blooms on a large healthy honeysuckle vine. We find ourselves today being overwhelmed by well meaning criticisms and of course the next great “growth Program.” There are always a host of books, seminars, companies that specialize in church growth materials and any number of lay led committees that for as long as I can remember seek to stem the loss of people to the church and return the church to a position of influence in our communities and nation. What is the mission of the church?

The Great Commission

Matthew 28
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Is this it? Is this all there is to it? Perhaps we have missed or overlooked something. Did we miss these nine words….. “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Now that expands the playing field a bit. I will expand on this in the weeks to come. Right now I just want to think about where we are and possibly where we need to go. Leaving this thought and moving to a recent morning bible study, where our discussion took us to the state of the church today, one of the members present had a interesting line of thought as to church growth.

Maybe we are looking in all the wrong places, using the wrong tools and passing over a wealth of folks. Got me to thinking maybe it’s a chicken and egg thing. Transferring that thought to a “faith or church thing”, which comes first? After some thought I’m inclined to believe he might be on to something. Which does or should come first? Faith or Church? Well of course we can go to Acts and Pentecost which takes us to the infilling of the Holy Spirit and Peter’s impassioned message to the people gathered in the city at that time and brought these results.
Acts 2: 40-41
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

The church as we know it today did not exist. What did they have that allowed them to grow and prosper? They believed, they had hope and most of all they had faith. Nothing is hidden from God’s sight. Nothing is greater than God’s love. Nothing is stronger than God’s mercy and grace. Nothing is too hard for God’s power. Going back to last weeks post this is where I believe we are today in many churches and denominations.

“We have found it useful to build church buildings, and denominations, and clerical hierarchies, and liturgies, etc. Nobody should think, though, that these are one and the same as the true church; you don’t see any of these things in the vision given us in Rev. 7.” Stefan Stackhouse

No this is not a “get back to basics” thing. It is about recognizing what comes first. We have to recognize that the world has changed and the complexity of the culture and the demands of society must be understood and confronted to restore and preserve the faith. Simplicity is not the word we need here.

One last thought…..””Just about every denomination in the American church—including many evangelical denominations — is seeing a decline in numbers, so if it’s a competition, then we’re all losing, just at different rates.” -Rachel Held Evans

Next week…?, Faith, Church

Hope to see you here in the pew……jk

I started out this week to write about a subject inspired by an article written by John Pavlovitz,  “Hello From The Outside”.(http://johnpavlovitz.com/2016/01/12/hello-from-the-outside-how-the-church-fails-and-forgets-those-who-leave/)

Well one reference led to another and I was soon  overwhelmed with information. The article was straight forward and at times pretty blunt. Blunt meaning in this case likely to not be received well by some in the “church”. Here is an excerpt from that blog.

“Some advice to churches and pastors and church staff about their back door:

If your church is too big to minister to people individually, your church is too big.

If you have no scalable system of pastoral care other than telling people to get into a small group, you have a lousy pastoral care system.

If people can come and go for months in your building (and ultimately leave) without you or anyone knowing it, you’re failing those in your care.

Pastor, if all you want to do is preach from the stage or the pulpit, stop calling yourself a pastor and admit that you’re a preacher or a religious celebrity.

Churches, if all you’re interested in doing is putting on weekly one-hour crusades, stop calling yourself a church and just be religious event planners.”

 So just what exactly is the “true church”? You can google that and find any number of answers. Stefan Stackhouse had this little gem in his writings.

“We have found it useful to build church buildings, and denominations, and clerical hierarchies, and liturgies, etc. Nobody should think, though, that these are one and the same as the true church; you don’t see any of these things in the vision given us in Rev. 7.”

(https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-true-church-according-to-the-Bible)

Stefan also points out that the true church is as Jesus said in Matt 18:20: “Wherever two or three are gathered together in His name, there He is in the midst of them.” Ah, at last biblical references to which I immediately went to. There were many, and I decided to look closer at Acts 7: 11-12… And all the angels stood in a circle round the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell upon their faces before the throne, and worshipped God, saying: ‘So let it be. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and forever. Amen.’

The praise of the Angels where they ascribe blessing to God; and we his people must always offer blessing to him for creation and redemption and divinely ordained events and outcomes. He has made us and we are his and through his son Jesus Christ he has redeemed us

The Angels ascribe glory, wisdom, honor, power, and strength to God and we must always at all times in all things offer thanksgiving to God. We must never be guilty of the sin of ingratitude. What about that back door? People leave churches, denominations and in some cases the church altogether. The real danger is that they will never open or enter another front door again. We can do no better than to meditate on the praise of the angels and do everything in it. It has been said and written that the God we serve is Holy and so should we be. That back door will always be there and no “program of the week” will keep some from using it. Matt 18:20: “Wherever two or three are gathered together in His name, there He is in the midst of them.” It is really pretty plain. The presence of God is not dependent on numbers and the best advice for the church is to do as the angels do……praise at all times the glory, wisdom, honor, power and strength of God, seeking his presence among us, to be Holy just as our God is Holy.

Come in the front or back door, just come. See you in the pew next week.

jk

This is a repost from a few years ago…It has become a tradition to post it each year at at Christmas. May you and yours have a Merry Christmas…Praise God for his son Jesus Christ!

I am constantly searching the internet for little gems of knowledge and wisdom that will enrich and encourage us ordinary folks whose frantic pace in this life causes us to rush by without even taking the time to “smell the coffee” so to speak. Well over fifty years ago we were introduced to the world of Charlie Brown. Charles Schultz created a community of loveable misfits each with their own recognizable frailties’ of mind, body and spirit, in which many of us saw a part of ourselves in the characters and took this lovable bunch into our hearts. Unlike some of the modern animated cartoons of this day the brilliance of Charles Shultz shows us our faults in a gentle and endearing way. Charlie Brown also helps us see the real value of community, the need we have for others and the power of a simple love that transcends the norms of this day. Having said all this let me introduce you to a brilliant post of December 14, 2014, by Jason Soroski. I have edited his original post for space requirements and encourage you to go to the posted url to read it as posted. (jasonsoroski.wordpress.com)

Here are some excerpts from that post.

I was in the first grade back when they still performed Christmas pageants in schools (less than 50 years, but still a very long time ago), and our class performed a version of the Charlie Brown Christmas. Since I was kind of a bookworm and already had a blue blanket, I was chosen to play the part of Linus. As Linus, I memorized Luke 2:8-14, and that Scripture has been hidden in my heart ever since. But while working so diligently to learn those lines, there is one important thing I didn’t notice then, and didn’t notice until now. Right in the middle of speaking, Linus drops the blanket.

Throughout the story of Peanuts, Lucy, Snoopy, Sally and others all work to no avail to separate Linus from his blanket. And even though his security blanket remains a major source of ridicule for the otherwise mature and thoughtful Linus, he simply refuses to give it up. Until this moment. When he simply drops it. In that climactic scene when Linus shares “what Christmas is all about,” he drops his security blanket, and I am now convinced that this is intentional. Most telling is the specific moment he drops it: when he utters the words, “fear not”

 Looking at it now, it is pretty clear what Charles Schultz was saying, and it’s so simple it’s brilliant.

The birth of Jesus separates us from our fears.

The birth of Jesus frees us from the habits we are unable (or unwilling) to break ourselves.

The birth of Jesus allows us to simply drop the false security we have been grasping so tightly, and learn to trust and cling to Him instead.

I hope you have enjoyed this post and take Jason Soroski’s advice and “drop the blanket” in the coming new year. Again I encourage you to go to the url posted above and read some more of this gentlemen’s writings and activities.

Life is Good

jk

The gospels of Luke and Matthew both record Jesus as born in Bethlehem in Judea, to a virgin mother. In the Gospel of Luke account, Joseph and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census, and Jesus is born there and laid in a manger. A simple story that most of us have read or heard over the years. Bethlehem is about 5 miles south of Jerusalem, standing at an elevation of about 2,550 feet above the sea. By the time of Jesus’ birth, Bethlehem had declined in significance to a small village. Three gospel accounts (Matthew 2:1–12, Luke 2:4–20, and John 7:42) report that Jesus was born in the humble town of Bethlehem, estimates put the population at less than a thousand. Research and reading has helped me glean some interesting perspectives about this important event in the biblical writings about the birth of Christ.

The Journey

Mary and Joseph were compelled to take the longer way to Bethlehem after Joseph had considered that while there was a shorter route, he must consider Mary was in the late stages of her pregnancy, the hilly terrain in that area and the difficulty of finding lodgings, would pose to great a threat to their safety and Mary’s health. How many days it took Mary and Joseph to complete their epic journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem? My study offered many different opinions. General belief is about 4 to 7 days. They would have arrived exhausted and in need of immediate lodging. Did Mary arrive in Bethlehem the night she gave birth? We really don’t know, they could have been there for some time. Scripture simply says “while they were there in Bethlehem, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered” (Luke 2:6)

The Birth

There is a lot of information about the birth but one piece I found fit a lot of the information concerning Bethlehem, the customs of the time, the layout of the city and answered a question I have always had about this event. I understand the reason they had to take this journey but it always bothered me that Joseph was willing to risk getting lodging, as he knew the city would be overflowing with people at tax time and Marry was so close to her “time”. Here is W M Christie’s thoughts on that.

“Judging from the word used, and the conditions implied, we are led to believe that Joseph and Mary had at first expected reception in the upper room or manzil at the house of the sheikh of Bethlehem, probably a friend and member of the house of David; that in this they were disappointed, and had to content themselves with the next best, the elevated platform alongside the interior of the stable, and on which those having the care of the animals generally slept. It being now the season when they were in the fields (Luke 2:8), the stable would be empty and clean. There then the Lord Jesus was born and laid in the safest and most convenient place, the nearest empty manger alongside of this elevated platform. Humble though the circumstances were, the family were preserved from all the annoyance and evil associations of a public khan, and all the demands of delicacy and privacy were duly met.” M. Christie

The Shepherds

At that time, sheep farmers were generally seen as having low or little value by other people. Shepherds were usually single men who had no land or stock passed on to them and it is possible that these were Temple sheep as they were not far from Jerusalem. The type of sheep the shepherds would have been raising were ‘fat tailed’ (or broad tailed) sheep. They often had lambs in the autumn and winter, rather than in the spring with most sheep in western countries these days. The shepherds were quietly getting on with their own business when suddenly an angel appeared to them and they were afraid! This is only the second time in the whole Bible that a group of angels rather than one angel had appeared to people, so this proved that they had a very important message to give to them.

The Wise Men

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.’ The story of the three wise men is well known but beyond those familiar words we find some interesting thoughts. Scripture does not say three wise men, it just refers to the wise men coming and bringing gifts. We are told that there were three gifts and perhaps this is where we have arrived at three wise men. In W. M. Christie’s writings, we find that the birth took place in a cave like place that was used to keep the animals secure when they were not in the fields. We do not know how soon the wise men arrived, was it days after the birth or longer? We might also consider verse from Matthew 2:11.

11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

Reading this we might also consider that by the time the wise men arrived some of the guests may have left and Joseph and Mary and the baby Jesus had been moved into the house.

The Star

I have left the star to last, even though research has shown me that it by far attracts the largest amount of speculation as to its origin. I have chosen to not become entangled in the many thoughts on this matter. I do believe that whatever is said or written, the Star was placed there by God to announce the birth of his son.

Going beyond the words, what do I mean exactly? There are certain scripture verses and stories that we revisit on a regular basis. The words become so familiar that they just become second nature to us. What I am trying to say and not doing a very good job of it, is that we become desensitized to them, diminishing the glory of God within the words or story. The story of the birth of Jesus brought hope to a dark world and to this day it brings the reconciliation between God and his people through acceptance of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of our sins. Truth is the details are not that important but the gift given on that night is the way to our creator and eternal life.

Merry Christmas

And may God bless you in the coming year. No post next week….see you in 2017

jk

I always wanted to play football but time and circumstances kept me from it until the eighth grade. We moved around quite a bit and my dads last duty station took us to Texas. Texas, where a babies first crib toy is a football and his first pair of outdoor shoes are cleats. Now in Texas most boys my age had been playing football since Pee-Wee league and have a good knowledge of the of the game and its language. Truth is they speak it better than the Kings English. I wanted to be a part of the game so bad and any amount of humiliation and effort was worth it. So I gave it the best I had and made the team, even after the coach said my lack of skill would get me killed. Well that is a bit overstated but I did get on the team……at the end of the bench. Now in my golden years I sometimes re-visit those early days and that’s how this blog came about.I kind of believe that even in church some of us feel like we are at the end of the bench. We want to be a part of what’s going on and to actively become involved in some type of ministry within the church but if time has taught me anything, it is preparation and knowledge goes a long way.

 Psalm 25:5

Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day.

It occurred to me that maybe my football experience was due to my lack of knowledge as to what the game required and my lack of preparation. Admittedly, serving God is no game but it does require knowledge and preparation. I once wrote about getting out of the pew, go and serve. This is about getting off the bench, preparing yourself to serve and getting in the game.

2 Thessalonians 3:5

May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.

Here are some good points as to where you can start your preparation. These are from a sermon by Tom Shepard, Quite Life Ministries.

John 12²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

 Develop a servant mentality.

“Possessing A Servant’s Heart. God’s Word teaches that greatness in the Kingdom is defined by serving others in the body of Messiah. Having the heart of a servant is an important component in our spiritual walk with the Lord. God shaped each one of us for service.” (Tom Shepard, Quite Life Ministries.)

How do we define selflessly? Perhaps servanthood is a better word, or rather a clearer definition for us. Servanthood literally means serving others, putting them and their needs first. (“It means willingly giving of oneself to minister for and to others and to do whatever it takes to accomplish what is best for another.”)*Tom Shepard, Quite Life Ministries.

Gal 6:9-10 (Phi) Let us not grow tired of doing good, for, unless we throw in our hand, the ultimate harvest is assured. Let us then do good to all men as opportunity offers, especially to those who belong to the Christian household.

Have a determination to serve.

Determination also requires endurance.

 Psalms 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!

 1 Corinthians 9:24-27  Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.  But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

 Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

 Thessalonians 3:13 As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good

We Christians will have times of doubt and fear and even worry. Allowing fear, doubt and worry to rule our lives weakens our faith. The word of God gives us strength and determination in our daily walk with God. God’s word gives us hope. Consider the following verses…

 Psalms 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!

 Proverbs 20:13 Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread.

 Luke 9:62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Commit to following God.

“Each believer is responsible to respond to God’s call by committing their heart, mind, body, and life to serve Him, to share the Gospel, and to be His ambassadors in this world.” (https://bible.org

 Acts 20:32 “And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.

 Serve where you are.

Many times people believe that in order to serve or be a part of ministry, you have to go overseas or commit to a month long mission trip. While being involved in those type of things is commendable and even worthwhile, we need to understand that we can serve right where we are. There are so many opportunities that we miss out on by thinking mission work is done some place other than where we are. When we chose to not serve and be involved where we are I think many times it is because we have conditioned ourselves to think that mission work is done some place other than where we are. Look around there are many opportunities in our neighborhoods, schools and even our own church or home.

“God has called believers to “go and make disciples” in Matthew 28:19, but we must realize that we can fulfill this command in class, with the neighbors down the hall, and even at work. Wherever you are, just go! Go, and make disciples.” (Tom Shepard, Quite Life Ministries.)

Get off the bench, get in the game.

jk