Members and Attendance

 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 2 Timothy 4:2 KJV

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8 NIV

There is a serious malaise in the church today. Attendance. But the question hanging on the lips and hearts of many church leaders is this, “how do we get people back into the seats where they once happily sat individually, or in family units?” The church is not a business, but there is nothing wrong with learning their useful lessons which have stood the test of time, and with positive results. Here are some successes taken from the business world.

Advertising your best characteristics unashamedly, and in the most public ways. Newspapers, magazines, radio and even local TV. The local church is a good way to bring people together while preaching the gospel in a gentle way. It can help heal fractured communities and society by uniting separated neighbours.

Talk openly and freely in general conversations about the church you attend. Don’t be afraid or ashamed or reticent in ‘talking up’ the best parts of your church. Your neighbours can easily see the genuine article, and will equally see right through the apologetic person. Done properly, talking about your fellowship does so much good, but the opposite is also true if you are shallow, if you speak about your pastor or leaders in a negative way.

When the verse says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good”, it suggests that the person you are talking to must give it a try. There is no benefit in talking about church, but keeping your friends at a healthy distance in case they get offended, affected, ‘contaminated’ or convicted by the Holy Spirit of their wrong, sinful, lifestyle.

There is one sure way to get the Word of God across to the general non church goer, and that is to get them under the sound of the gospel, so I make no apology in using the verse in 2 Tim 4:2 where it says, “preach the Word”, even if you don’t feel like listening, but something has happened to society during the past few years. We all have the need for a ‘fast fix’ on just about anything from hamburgers to church attendance. I can get a burger quickly, almost without effort and the experience is over in an instant. Why can’t we have that with church? Trouble is, our eternal future takes more careful thought than some shallow consideration. 

It is important that we find our full and complete salvation. Oh, there’s one of those words we have trouble with, ‘salvation’, but why? I can hear some of you say, ‘and who says you have the right way?’ That’s very presumptuous. Surely there are many good ways to salvation and heaven? It’s a very common argument, and one I have heard often, even from good, well founded Christians who are sure of their salvation. You see, it is counter intuitive that if there is a God, and He is good, He would make it easy to gain true salvation. Therefore, since the Bible really IS the Word of God, we have to consider these important following verses:

“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)  

However, Jesus has the final say and His words still cause a problem today. He is either the Son of God, or a charlatan. The choice is yours. Your free will is also given, courtesy of this same person. Worth remembering!

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

The answer to the biggest questions in life, who am I, where did I come from, and where am I going, is Jesus Christ! We seem to have come full circle on the question of how to get more people into church, and catch their interest. Do you think the question has been answered, even in part? If you think you have an answer to this serious question, please feel free to add your comments.

Friendship

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24 ESV

There is a distinct difference between a companion and a friend. Who would you trust with your life? What about your family? Would you trust the welfare of your children with a companion or a true friend?

We tend to pick up many friendships along life’s way, but not many true friends. I reckon you could count on one hand the number of trusted friends you have. Don’t get me wrong, it is good to have friendships as they make life go smoother, but much better to enjoy the company of those few real, true, trusted friends who make life glide more smoothly!

If you have such friends, hold them close to your heart. You will always have that person’s best interests, and they, yours. When our verse suggests that your friend sticks closer than a brother, you have the closest of bonds, and that bond will not, and cannot be broken. Take note of the first part of our verse where it says you can have many different companions, but they are not trustworthy, and will bring you to ruin because they will work against each other, supposedly on your behalf and allegedly in your interest. Nothing is closer to the truth. 

Think about those ‘distant friends’ you have and the number of times their good intentions have landed you in trouble. You know the old saying that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”, and never let yourself be deceived by that friend, like Judas who kisses your cheek while selling you, body and soul, down the river! Learn the lesson before you get badly hurt.

Life teaches us many lessons, but this is one of the toughest to learn, and is usually painful, so take care as you recognise and choose your friends.

Your God?

“You shall have no other God(s) before Me”. Exodus 20:3 

I would suggest that since the first commandment gives us the foundation for the other 9 commandments, and much of the Bible, it must be important. We should therefore treat it with respect and reverence. But do we do that, even and especially as so called ‘committed Christians?’

What or who is your God? Please don’t patronise me by suggesting that you have no God other than the God of Exodus 20:3. I can think of a few, and they include, but are not limited to: my house, my car, my spouse, my child, my parents, my bank account, and the list goes on. Question: Would any of these ‘gods’ keep us from going to church? I would suggest not, unless they were used in an extreme case by an extreme person. 

So, what kind of ‘gods’ might keep us away from the place of worship? What would you rather do, or where would you rather be, instead of church? It is possible that some in the previous list might keep us from church, but there is another which certainly would keep us from our place of worship. I have seen it show up at all ages, from primary school age, right through into mature adulthood. The reason is simple. This one can involve the whole family, especially when encouraged in the young, by their parents and once started, it is almost impossible to stop.

Sport! Any kind of sport, whether actively involved, or as an armchair participant. You will inevitably hear the words, “but this is the final. Or Semi final. Or an important draw etc etc…” I know of no greater potential drain on church attendance, or even membership than sport.

Beginnings

“In the beginning, God”. Genesis 1:1

The Bible starts with a double whammy. Two words which are either loved (by the believer), or loathed (by the unbeliever). The words in this short entry to the Word of God cause heart problems, for good or ill, but cannot be ignored so let’s face them head on.

Firstly, we have the word “beginning”. When exactly was the beginning then? Do you know? Was it thousands, or perhaps billions of years ago? This has been the major topic of conversation at times, both in the pub and the church, and each is divided perhaps 50/50. Bible purists (is there any other kind?) say around 6,000 to 8,000 years, and those led and guided by science and a measure of common sense say millions, or even billions of years. God has given us all freedom of choice and a common sense of the obvious. Based on this alone, is it unreasonable to eliminate the ‘thousands of years’ argument? Oh, I can hear these Bible purists shout, “so you don’t accept the Bible as the inerrant and infallible Word of God then? 

Secondly, we have the word, “God”. Who says there is a God anyway? Which God? After all there are lots of religions and they all have their own God. Since we are talking about God in this context, we mean the Christian God. Yes, the triune God of the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost. That may be hard to get our minds round, but it is the sure ground where we take our stand. Those of us who profess to having a clear relationship with this Triune God, have no question over the validity of this choice. Once again, there are as many others, outside the believing church, who will question their God, as those who are within the camp of believers.

It’s when Scripture (yes we have to consider this as ‘Scripture’) puts these two words into the same phrase, that we have trouble. It’s bad enough that we disagree over the age of the earth, but that is only compounded by the choice of the word ‘God’. If we accept and believe that God was right there in the beginning, we have a sure foundation for our Christian faith, but we also have a certain root for an argument with those who disbelieve. It would be nice if we really could enter into a discussion, but invariably this always starts and ends as an argument, in much the same way as the topic of creation v evolution. But maybe that’s for another day. We have enough to chew on for this day.

Anxiety and our Minds

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV: Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Sometimes we need the reminder that there is nothing worth being anxious about. Even those Christians who have been on the road for a long time would do well to remind themselves of these verses. There is no situation that would not benefit from God’s intervention brought about by our thankful prayers and requests. All change starts by a heartfelt prayer from a full hearted believer.

Can you or I understand the power of prayer? Of course not. Absolutely not! Bear in mind that we must use our hearts and minds, but that God will guard our hearts and minds, IN CHRIST JESUS. Our prayers are shallow unless we invoke Jesus Christ in our words.

Verse 8 finishes this way: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Do we conveniently forget verse 8? The thoughts in our minds are invisible to others, and we can even think rubbish while telling others that we are turning over good things in our heads. Are you guilty of this hypocrisy? It’s personal, so the question becomes, “Am I guilty of looking good while thinking evil?” Paul makes his conclusion clear. Our thinking must be true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. We started out trying not to be anxious, but it is only by filling our minds with these good thoughts that it becomes possible.

As a final thought: I was part of a discussion when these verses were quoted, and we all agreed that this is also a prayer which should trip off our tongues easily, and every day.