Trouble For The church
Letters in the mail
Yesterday I received a letter from a local church here in Meridian, ID. Naomi and I had visited them once a few months ago in their new building. The place was nice, comfortable, the people were friendly enough. But it wasn't the right fit for us as far as what we look for in a local church.
This church is currently experiencing a budget shortfall. The letter talked about how much money they needed to keep operating the way they have been.
The trouble I see is not their budget shortfall. The trouble is that if I received this letter, then surely they sent it out to all of the other visitors that have been there lately. If I can think of the fastest way to shoo away newcomers and potential members, it would be to openly ask for money specifically from them. Many churches have this same issue with money and have done the same thing or similar.
The real deficit in America's churches
When was the last time your church sent you a letter telling you of a deficit of incomparable magnitude? And when was the last time they told you the deficit was that of souls not just being lost, but specifically not being won by that local church?
The fact is, most local churches in America are more concerned with meeting their own needs than they are the needs of others. Focus is placed on infrastructure and building A church and not THE Church. They take their money and build a fancy place to please themselves and make their tithe payers comfortable.
If we were wise, we would find ways to do with less comfort and more to help the poor and broken-hearted. We would find ways to creatively tell the story and live the message we believe in. We would take a grassroots approach to reaching the lost.
That's my experience. What's yours?
Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject.
Please Note: for all intents and purposes "church" with a lowercase "c" represents unique, local gatherings of Christians that typically make up what most American's consider to be "church". i.e. the local Christian, Presbyterian, Baptist church.
A Murderer for a President
If a Congressman murdered one of his constituents in plain sight among witnesses, what would you do? I would think he should immediately be arrested, thrown in jail awaiting a trial. Once convicted what would your punishment be? Life in prison? The death penalty? Set free to later become President?
So, you think I'm being silly, political or just plain stupid? You say that man could never become President? You say that man should be put to death for his crimes?
If you said "the death penalty", you just killed Moses.
Did you forget that Moses was the adopted son of the Pharaoh? Did you forget that he killed an Egyptian out of rage when he could have easily had him arrested? Did you forget that he fled and came back later to lead the nation of Israel out of captivity?
How quick and swift we are to judge a man by our standards and condemn a man to death. How quickly do we judge and execute harsh judgment of much lesser crimes? How quickly do we judge and execute harsh judgment against those who haven't committed any crime at all, but rather just annoy us?
We even go so far as to misjudge the poor, the handicapped and various racial communities. We think that nothing good could come out of (fill in the blank).
Now, take a breath and slow down. I'm not telling you to not judge. I'm not saying that President Obama is a murderer. I'm not saying police shouldn't round up the bad guys. I'm saying that God can take a man who has made devastating mistakes and use him to free a nation from slavery. I see it over and over again in the Bible. God takes a lowly man and exalts him so that God can be glorified in the end. God chooses to exalt the humble, turn weakness into strength and confound the wise with the simplest of things.
Health care, the struggle with death
Recently I found myself in one of those moments where I think someone misunderstood me and further assumed my position on a subject without asking. The hot button subject is health care. This is a hot button subject for America and the rest of the world. The President of the United States, Barack Obama, has made this a major issue lately. Now regardless of where you stand, on the right or the left, this subject seems to be crucial. I'm not here to debate the current legislation or even take a stand on it on my blog, so don't ask me to.
The real issue with health care is death.
Genesis 3:19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
Man struggles with death, the consequence of sin. We want better, more health care or less expensive health care because we want to live longer, happier lives. We innately want to keep the final form of punishment as far from us as possible. We would rather not know if we were wrong about our belief in God, or our belief that there is no God. We struggle because this haunts our lives in the darkness, causes us to do insane things, commit atrocities and occasionally love our neighbor or do a good deed to make up for something we've done.
The truth is we all fear because we are all guilty. We are all sinners. We have all royally messed this place up. We have all done wrong against ourselves, our neighbors, our family and our Maker.
Romans 3:23 ...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...
My point: Health Care debate points to our need of eternal salvation and our struggle with death. We are all passing through this world.
Christian Minimalist Living
In my daily thoughts today, pondering more of the book “True Discipleship” by William MacDonald, I began to think.
I began thinking about my self centered life and all of the material things I own. I know one day I will stand before God to give an account for my life. Although my sins are washed away, I can't help but imagine. I wonder if I will look down at the things I own and wish I could trade them for just one soul to escape the agony of hell. I wonder if I could trade one of my many "toys" for the expense of supporting a native missionary. I wonder if I could trade my my monthly cell phone plan for a monthly missionary plan instead.
We are notorious in God's eyes for what we think is our American Right to a better life. There is nothing wrong with things that serve a purpose, or even more. It is the Christian who must answer for why resources were used for personal gain and stockpiling of unnecessary things. We opt for the supersized everything and when it comes time for giving to expand The Kingdom, we most certainly downsize.
I'm not saying you need to sell everything and follow Jesus. Just take what you need to do the job God called you to do. Don't take what you want because what you want will slow you down and slow the movement of God in your life.
So what is this saying about me? I am determining what needs to go away and what must stay. Among the things I am leaving... a monthly cell phone plan.
The influence of a single person.
The other day I thought about the influence someone had on my life. This person, through little effort helped shape part of my life. No, I'm not getting all spiritual here, I'm talking about real people.
So it got me to thinking about how one person, no matter how insignificant can change someone's world view, thought process, actions and path. Take one person you know from your past who you went to school with, or worked with that maybe got you interested in a particular field of work or special interest. Then take them out of the equation. What would have happened to you? Would you be someone different? Would you be working in a different field, attending a different church, married to someone else, better or worse off?
These thoughts point back at me and what I'm doing now. All of us are influencing others one way or another. I have to ask myself questions. Am I encouraging other people? Am I actively interacting with others and being an influence? Do I think I am insignificant? Do I fail to consciously influence people for better and not worse?
I can't imagine my life without my wife, kids and family. But there are also freinds from years gone by that influenced me heavily. Some that I don't even realize what influence they had over me.
Today I must remember that I am influencing others, and that one person makes a big difference in a life.