Two Kinds of Quiet

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone — for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness (1 Timothy 2:1 – 2).

The second word Paul uses to describe what we should pray for is “quiet.” We need “peaceful and quiet lives.” Alas, this word has been sorely abused by English translations. For example, just a few verses later many translations announce women “must be silent,” but this is the very same word translated “quiet” in verses 2 and 11!

No, Paul isn’t commanding the women to “shut up” (see Mark 1:25 for that word), but he is agreeing with Peter who teaches that true beauty is a “gentle and quiet spirit” (1 Peter 3:4) – something God highly values in all of us.

You can’t make yourself be quiet any more than a gardener can make a plant grow or a sailor can call the wind. Quiet is something you cultivate or capture. For most people, it is a blessing that is just out of reach, so it will do us good to cultivate that special virtue today.

Exercise

Like many spiritual things, we see this virtue best by looking in our “rearview mirror.” Spend the first minute this morning thinking about the past. Have you been surprised by God? Think of something you were anxious about, but it turned out to be needless worry. Now spend your second minute counting God’s blessings – you might even sing “Count Your Many Blessings!” Finally, for your third minute, spend the time in prayer thanking God for the blessings to come. Our God is a gracious God!

Blessings

Sleeping in the Back of the Boat

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own  (Mt 6:25–34).

Jesus was exhausted. It was the end of a very long day of teaching and preaching and he just needed to get away from it all. At evening, he got in a boat and told his disciples, “Let’s go across to the other side of the lake.” Then he fell asleep so soundly that even a hurricane[1] couldn’t wake him. Have you ever wondered how that was possible? (Mark 4:30-34)

Take a minute this morning to make a list of all the things that keep you up at night or the things that wake you up in the wee hours of the morning and prevent you from falling back to sleep. Now spend your second minute giving each of those worries to God. As you pray, draw a line through each worry knowing God will take care of it. Finally, spend your third minute thanking God for carrying those burdens for you and asking for His help to let go.

Blessings,

All Pervasive NOISE

“Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10

“The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”
— Habakkuk 2:20A

We might chuckle at the phrase “noise pollution,” but it is all around us. Who hasn’t been woken in the middle of the night by somebody on a motorcycle? Stop for just a moment and listen. We are surrounded by noise, but it is nothing compared to the noise that goes on inside of our heads!

How can we find that elusive peace? One way is by focusing on God and the Psalms are a wonderful aid in that quest. Try reading from the Psalms for just a minute, then meditating on God’s Word to you today for another minute, and then finish with a sixty-second conversation with the Lord.

Blessings, 

Discernment

Paul’s Prayer for his Friends, Philippians 1:9-11

We are forced to make decisions every day. Have you tried to choose a bag of potato chips lately? There is a whole isle at the grocery store devoted to snack chips. Do I want pita chips, tortilla chips, potato chips, corn chips, rice cakes? Do I was dipping size, ruffles, kettle fried, baked or something else? Do I want salt, sea salt, kosher salt, salt substitute or no salt? Sometimes there are just too many choices!

Most of our decisions aren’t life shattering. The world won’t end if I bring home the wrong can of soda pop but there are choices that carry dire consequences. The most important choices seem to revolve around relationships. Should I trust him? Will you be my friend? I love you.

So how do we make decisions? We need the gift of “discernment.” That’s an essential spiritual quality. In the days of the New Testament, there was even a miraculous gift of discernment. The Holy Spirit gave people insight (1 Corinthians 12:10) and the Apostle Paul prays for his friends in Philippi, “that you may be able to discern what is best,” (Philippians 1:10) and tells their neighbors, the Thessalonians, to “Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil,” (1 Thessalonians 5:21, 22).

One way to describe the goal of the Christian life is “Learning to Love.” Some people say “Love is blind” but Christian love is very wise. Do you remember the story of the Philippian Church? They were Paul’s very dear friends and we can learn about love by carefully examining Paul’s prayer for his friends, Philippians 1:9-11.

Philippians 1:9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Your Love

When we think about “love,” we are probably thinking about romantic love. It’s the kind of love that fills your stomach with butterflies when the object of your affections walks into the room. That kind of love is starry-eyed, floats on clouds and is very apt to be blind.

But here, Paul is talking about agape love – love with both eyes wide open. This kind of love, Paul explains to his friends in Philippi requires a special kind of knowledge and a depth of insight that will allow it to make decisions. I like Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of this passage, “Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush.”

Have you known wonderful loving people who make one relationship mistake after another? They keep falling in love with jerks and losers. They haven’t learned to be discerning.

Discernment

And so the Apostle Paul continues and explains the purpose of this educated love is discernment. The Christian Life is an examined life. It is important to go through life with both eyes open because sometimes it can be hard to judge whether something is good or evil. For example, is money good or evil? (The discerning answer is “yes.”)

Likewise we need discernment to make judgments about the different situations we find ourselves in and the people we meet. Nehemiah was a great leader and involved in a very important project. The Israelites had returned to their homeland after the Babylonian Captivity. The city of Jerusalem had no wall and was completely at the mercy of her enemies. Nehemiah was changing that. He inspired the people to rebuild the wall. Not everyone was happy. The enemies of Nehemiah and the Israelites tried to distract Nehemiah from his work by inviting him to a meeting. (That sounds very modern doesn’t it?) But Nehemiah saw through their ruse. He was discerning (see Nehemiah 6:12, 13) and didn’t allow himself to become distracted by their trickery.

King Solomon asked God for wisdom and used his powers of discernment to decide a case of mistaken mothership. Two women both claimed a certain baby was their child. Both women were mothers but one had accidently smothered her baby in the night. Shattered, she swapped her dead child with the other mother’s baby. Now both women stood before Solomon demanding the king decide who child this baby truly was. How could Solomon discover the truth in the days before DNA testing? The answer was by being discerning. “Divide the baby in half and give it to both women,” was his callous answer. It was a clever ruse. In horror, the truth mother cried out, “Let her keep the baby! Just don’t hurt it!” The true mother was willing to forfeit her motherhood rather than see her child die. Solomon smiled and gave the baby back to its mother. (See 1 Kings 3:24-28.) Discernment is a wonderful gift.

Time and space don’t permit us to look at the stories of how Peter used discernment when Ananias and Sapphira tried to deceive the Church (Acts 5:3) Later Peter was able to see into Simon the Sorcerer’s heart (Acts 8:23) and Paul discerned the true source of a girl’s fortune-telling ability (Acts 16:18).

Why aren’t we more discerning?

Doesn’t it seem like our world has shifted from black and white, right and wrong, into a world that’s been painted in shades of gray? Tolerance is stressed everywhere and that’s a good thing but it leads to something called “Moral Relativism.” No one wants to make a judgment. We all just have preferences. Nothing is absolute.

Closely related to relativism is the desire to be popular. This is even true in the church. We don’t talk about doctrine and it seems like we believe that if people like us they will like Jesus.

Third, there is a prevalent spiritual immaturity. The Hebrew writer warned, “11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil,” (Hebrews 5:11-14).

How can I be spiritually discerning?

First, we’ve got to want it. To book of Proverbs (which was written to impart wisdom) begins by saying, “Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; for if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the Lord, and discover the knowledge of God,” (Proverbs 2:2-5).

Second, pray for discernment. Do you remember the story of King Solomon? He had an amazing offer. When he began his reign, God was willing to grant a wish. What would you ask for? Solomon asked for wisdom, (1 Kings 3:9-12).

Third, learn from others. Find a mentor who models discernment and spend time with them.

Four, learn to listen to the Spirit. Get in touch with your feelings. Have you noticed there are two spirits surrounding your soul? What some Christians have called the “spirit of desolation” that leaves us feeling depressed, restless, uneasy; and a “spirit of consolation” where we feel comfortable, at peace, content. Now which one is from God and which one is from the enemy? The answer depends on our actions.

If we are living an immoral life apart from God, Satan’s voice will be the spirit of consolation and the Spirit of God will cause us to be uneasy. On the other hand, if we are walking with God, God’s Spirit gives us peace while Satan will be taunting us.

So learning the virtue of discernment begins with us judging our own life.

 

Bible Questions: Jude and the Apocrypha

Dear John,

My friends and I are studying the book of Jude and we just read verse 9 where Michael and the devil are fighting over the body of Moses. My buddy said that story comes from a book that’s not in the Bible. Does that mean we’re missing a book or does it mean Jude shouldn’t be in the Bible?

Thanks!

The youngest brother of Jesus, Jude, wrote one of the least studied books of the New Testament and that’s a shame. Like the book from his older brother, James, Jude is as intense as it is practical. Whereas the letters of Paul are full of theology and he often condemns false teachers, Jude is concerned with orthopraxy – “right living.”

That Jude quotes from at least two pseudepigraphal books (The Book of Enoch and The Assumption of Moses) has traditionally made many people view the whole book with a certain reservation. “Doesn’t he know these books aren’t inspired? Perhaps Jude’s letter isn’t inspired either?” This may be part of the reason Jude’s little letter was so long in becoming part of the Syrian Bible.

Of course, for years preachers and teachers have done the very same thing Jude does. A good communicator will often quote from popular literature to illustrate a point. The fact that the Apostle Paul quotes from two pagan poets (Epimenides of Crete and Aratus in Acts 17:28) doesn’t mean Paul believed those Greeks were inspired!

Let’s look at one of the stories Jude uses to illustrate his letter. It comes from a book called The Assumption of Moses. Jude says:

But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you,” (v. 9).

Unfortunately, only fragments exist of The Assumption of Moses and they do not contain the reference Jude cites.

Although the Assumption is fragmentary, we can piece together the story. The angel Michael is commissioned to bury Moses, but Satan opposes him on two grounds. First, Satan claims to be the Lord of Matter and so the body belongs to him. Second, Moses is a murderer. (He killed an Egyptian defending an Israelite slave, Exodus 1:12.) To these charges Michael rejoins, “The Lord rebuke you, for it was God’s Spirit that created the world and all mankind.” (Thus God, not Satan, is the Lord of matter.) The answer to Satan’s second charge is lost. Then Michael charges Satan with inspiring the serpent to tempt Adam and Eve. Finally, the Assumption occurs. The spirit of Moses is carried up into heaven and his body is buried in the mountains.[1]

The Assumption was edited together with The Testament of Moses at an early date. According to Charles, they were written by “a Pharisaic Quietist, and forms a noble but ineffectual protest against the growing Zelotic spirit of the part. Its author was a learned Jews, well versed in the Scriptures, and intimately aquainted with the history of his nation subsequent to the close of the canon. He was full of patriotism; thus he looks for the return of the ten tribes, the establishment of the theocratic kingdom, the triumph of Israel over its foes, and its final exaltation to heaven, which it should see its enemies weltering in the fires of gehenna. But though a patriot, he is not a Zealot; the duty of the faithful is not to resort to arms, but simply to keep the law and prepare, through repentance, for the personal intervention of God in their behalf.[2]

Jude can quote from this story to illustrate his point “Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones,” (v. 8) because his readers were already familiar with the story and sympathetic to the author’s point of view.

Thus, instead of focusing on whether the Assumption is a “lost book of the Bible,” or whether Jude’s quotations from the Assumption should disqualify Jude from a place in the canon, this illustration helps us understand who Jude was originally writing to.

Thanks for sending in such a great question!

[1] R.H. Charles, The Assumption of Moses: translated from the Latin sixth century Ms., the unemended text of which is published herewith, together with the text in its restored and critically emended form. London: Adam and Charles Black, 1897 (downloaded from books.logos.com June 14, 2017).

[2] Charles, p. xiv.

The Holiday that Almost Wasn’t

John on VacationLeigh Eric Schmidt writes in her fascinating little book, Consumer Rites: The Buying and Selling of American Holidays, “The success of Mother’s Day was an inspiration.” (Mother’s Day was first celebrated as a recognized American holiday in 1908 after Anna Jarvis led a national campaign. Later Jarvis campaigned against the holiday claiming it had become too commercial!) In 1910 Sonora Dodd promoted the idea of Father’s Day among churches in Spokane, Washington. It only seemed fitting to honor Dads as well as Moms. Father’s Day was celebrated first at the local YMCA, but people were opposed to Father’s Day on two counts. First, it was too feminine. For Mother’s Day people were encouraged to wear carnations. For Father’s Day they were told to wear red roses.

It took some strong sermons to make Father’s Day masculine. One of the first was by a Presbyterian, Conrad Bluhm who titled his sermon, “The Knight That Never Retreats.” Fathers were “rugged, husky, [and] stalwart.” He went on, “It was Father’s Day when Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees. It was Father’s Day when Noah built the ark. It was Father’s Day when Christ chose the Twelve… The Bible is a man’s book and its lessons are his life-task.” Bluhm continued, “The word Father is found in the Bible 1650 times; mother but 311 times. It is a Father’s book!”

Father’s Day may have become more manly, but people were also tired of commercialism and it seemed like Father’s Day was just another ploy by retailers to sell pipes, socks and neckties so by the 1920s the fire of Father’s Day had nearly gone out – even in Spokane. Schmidt observes, “Father’s Day exchanges appeared as a kind of practical joke; Dad was bewildered by the attention or even somehow duped by these tokens of affection (some of which were clearly purchased more with the giver than the receiver in mind). Also, and this was a source of popular satire, Dad was seen as the one who, in the end, would have to pay for all these gadgets and trinkets. The bills for Father’s Day gifts were viewed as circling back to him, so that he was made to pay, quite literally, for his own undoing ….”

No wonder then it took so long for Father’s Day to be recognized as a national holiday. The first bill was introduced in congress in 1913. Woodrow Wilson went to Spokane to speak for Father’s Day in Spokane in 1916. Calvin Coolidge recommended it in 1924. The bill was defeated three times in congress. (The last one was rejected in 1957.) In 1966 Lyndon Johnson proclaimed the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day, but it wasn’t until Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972 that Father’s Day became a national holiday.

Of course God was way ahead of congress and told us to “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12) As Paul observed, this is the first commandment with a promise. Happy Father’s Day Dad!

 

The Elephant and Blind Men

The blind men and the elephant (wall relief in Northeast Thailand).

Once a king invited six blind men to examine an elephant. The first felt his trunk and said, “An elephant is like a tree branch.” The second felt his leg and concluded, “An elephant is like a palm tree,” while the third felt the elephant’s belly and said, “Elephants must be like walls.” The fourth felt its tail and said, “You’re all wrong. Elephants are like ropes,” while the fifth concluded elephants were like pipes because he had felt its tusk. The last blind man, feeling only the elephant’s ear said they were all wrong. “Elephants are like giant fans!” The king was greatly amused by it all.

Many people use this story to describe religion and spirituality. God is like the elephant and all religions, like the blind men, have some truth, so it really doesn’t matter what you believe. Everyone is correct.

Do all paths lead to God? Most people have smoke detectors in their homes and believe they will wake us up in case of a fire, but when was the last time the batteries were tested? That’s a dangerous assumption.

There are at least two major problems with the assumption, all paths lead to God. First, the person making that assumption takes the place of the king. “I’m not blind. I can see the whole elephant!” Worse, he won’t be able to test his assumption until it’s too late.

I loved my grand, old sailboat and when I set sail on a long-distance voyage, I choose a compass course and blindly believe I will arrive at a distant port if I stay on that heading. However, I won’t really know if my choice is correct until I arrive. The port will be there or it won’t. That can make for some sleepless nights! I would feel much better if there was a way of testing my assumption along the way. I could rest easy if I passed an island or met a ship coming back from the port I was aiming for. Is there anything in the world of religion like that?

Unfortunately, religious teachers are like blind men describing an elephant. They share their conclusions and we are expected to blindly believe them.

Christianity is completely different. The other teachers taught and died. Jesus died and taught and therein lies the difference. Jesus is the king who saw the whole elephant.

Closing a Chapter

Santa Teresa under sail
Santa Teresa under sail

They say the two happiest days in the life of a sailor are the day he buys a boat and the day he sells it. That might be true for some boats, but not for Santa Teresa our old, wooden sailboat. As Jack Aubrey says in Master and Commander, “There’s enough of my blood in the wood to make her a near relative!”

Jan and I have moved to Groton, Connecticut (think “Mystic Seaport” as in Mystic Pizza) to serve a delightful, little congregation with big plans, but it’s too far to bring Santa Teresa with us. It would take nearly six months to sail her through the Panama Canal and up the east coast, or it would cost over $14,000 to truck her there. Neither one is a good option, so after all these years, we had to sell her last weekend to two wonderful new caretakers. (You don’t sell wooden boats. You find someone who will love her and adopt her as we did.)

Today, I am sailing her for my last voyage across San Diego Bay from the Public Docks on Shelter Island back to her mooring ball by the Coronado Bridge. It is bittersweet. People have asked me if we plan on buying another boat. After all, we sold our first boat, a 22 foot O’day named Wanda Sue to buy Santa Teresa, but, if we do, it will take a while. The little church in Groton is going to take all our attention for now. If you’ve ever lost a treasured pet, you understand how we feel. Do you immediately replace her or do you need to grieve a bit first.

As I sit in the cockpit waiting for the last part to arrive to finish the repairs, I am looking her over and reliving some of our adventures from the last twelve years. I think about the first voyage through the Channel Islands and down to San Diego. What vivid memories! Or I treasure all the memories of people we have introduced to sailing. Some of my best memories were just tied up to the mooring ball in the bay listening to music by the light of the oil lamps and dancing with my sweet wife on our tiny ballroom floor in the galley. Yes, there were storms and ghastly mistakes, but those disappear with time and leave us wiser. I think about diving off the cabin top into icy water; climbing back up the ladder and doing it again.

I think about all the lessons God taught us on that boat: faith is leaving the sight of land and following the compass until the island appears on the horizon just as promised. Unity: each of the strands of a rope are terribly weak by themselves, but bound and intertwined, they cannot be broken. Annoying drips need to be attended to immediately before something worse happens. Trust: Be sure of your anchor! Above all there was a feeling of the presence of God as we sailed through the night, our way lit by stars as we were carried along by wind and wave.

Fair winds and following seas Santa Teresa! We will treasure you in our hearts.

View from Santa Teresa

Bathing Lucky after she fell off Santa Teresa into the bay.

Davey, Tom, Brett & Rob

Anchored just south of the Mexican Navy station

john_with_halyard

Putting Out the Welcome Mat

Groton Church of Christ Building
GCC – Groton Church of Christ

Everyone likes to think, “Ours’s is a friendly church,” but is that the reception visitors receive? As members, when we pull into the parking lot, we see the cars of our friends and we can anticipate the warm welcome from people who love us. It keeps us coming back for more! But is that how others see us? Let’s walk in to our church with “new eyes” and look around.

Listening to the Building & Grounds

Grandma was right: “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.” Like it or not, the first thing people see is our parking lot and, if it is littered, pockmarked with potholes, and lacks any place for them to park, that all-important first impression isn’t going to be a good one. On the other hand, if there is a spot reserved near the door marked, “For Our Guests,” it shows somebody cares. If the lot is clean, well-lit, and bordered by flowers, I’m ready to learn more about these people.

At Grandma’s house, only salesmen and strangers come to the front door. Friends and family always came through the kitchen. Likewise, sometimes there is a difference between the front door of the church and the door the family uses. If that’s the case, we need to make sure someone is at the front door to welcome guests, or there should at least be a sign pointing to the “Friends and Family” entrance.

The Entrance Exam

Almost before he asked me for my name, he began a theological inquisition. Was I a member of the “Lord’s Church”? What did I believe about the Holy Spirit and Pre-millennialism? He was a “gatekeeper.” A sweet-faced, white-haired lady met me with a smile, but then began gathering grist for the gossip mill. She was a “busybody.” Unfortunately, sometimes visitors are subjected to an entrance exam.

A smiling face and a warm greeting the moment I walk through the door says, “We’re happy you’re here!” The second step is just as important. Do we introduce ourselves and ask anything at all about our new friends? About their family, work, where they live – the questions we would ask a new friend?

And don’t forget to introduce your new friend to another member. Don’t just shake their hand and leave them standing to navigate their way alone. Show them to class or invite them to sit with you during worship.

“You’re sitting in my spot”

Ouch! Sister Smith had been sitting in the same spot on the same pew forever. Brother Jones had staked out the seat next to the isle from the day the building was erected. Before I could warn our guest of the sin they were about to commit by sitting in the sacred space, Brother Jones or Sister Smith rudely booted them out – and they will never come back. If you are going to become permanently attached to a sacred space, at least have a plaque made to warn people.

“Where is everybody?”

Once, Jan and I went to visit a congregation. We checked their website first and they advertised a coffee hour thirty minutes before Bible Class. That sounded so friendly, but when we arrived, we walked into the foyer and no one was there. We walked into the auditorium and no one was there. We scratched our heads and then heard voices down a flight of stairs, so we followed the sound and found the Fellowship Hall. When we walked in, everyone stopped talking and just stared at us. There was a coffee pot and the remains of a tray of donuts off to one side. No one said a word. No one got up to greet us or invite us to sit with them. I’m not shy so I walked over to a table full of men and introduced myself. They shared their names, but nothing else. It was like I had walked into a conversation I wasn’t supposed to hear. Jan looked around wondering where the children were. It took us visiting for three weeks before we discovered what a warm and friendly congregation they really were, but I wonder if anyone else would give them a second chance.

How hard would it have been to at least put a sign in the foyer or on the doors directing us to the coffee hour? If this was a friendly church, why didn’t someone get up and prove it?

Don’t Forget the Kids

My children are precious and so are yours! If Bible School is important, then the classrooms should be clean and well lit. As a parent, I want to know my children will be safe. Who is the teacher and how will my children be protected?

We were so impressed by one congregation. Not only were the classrooms inviting, but there were pictures of the teacher and her aide posted on the door. When parents dropped their infants off at the nursery, they were given a pager in case there was a problem. The new parents could worship with peace of mind knowing that if there was an issue, they would be contacted.

I love “Family Friendly” worship where the children are considered a part of the congregation too. The worship leader always has at least one song for them and the preacher begins his sermon with a story and a lesson for the children. One congregation Jan and I visited began the worship by inviting the children to bring their contribution to the front, file past a giant water bottle and drop their coins in. As the kids rushed to the front, they were often given extra coins to contribute. Everyone loved it! By the way, the children decided how their collection would be used. It might go for a school lunch program to help feed hungry kids. It could be used to drill a well in a poor country so those children would have safe water to drink. It had even been used to build the playground at church. The important thing was the children were included.

Put Out the Welcome Mat!

Over and over I’ve heard churches complaining they aren’t growing and I wonder sometimes if we aren’t our own worst enemy. Here are some more suggestions and questions:

  • Do we send our visitors a personalized follow-up letter and call telling them how happy we were to meet them?
  • Is there any information available in the foyer about our congregation, our history, and the services we provide?
  • Are parents told about Bible School, Children’s Worship, or the Nursery facilities?
  • Are guests invited to join in with activities, service projects, or even just asked to sit with them during services?
  • Does anyone ever invite the guests to lunch after services or to coffee later during the week?

Perhaps the solution is as simple as the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”