Be our guest! But wait…

Are we, as the Church, guilty of doing the same thing with our “guests”? We polish the church facilities, groom the grounds, make all the grand preparations, and hang out the banner, “Guests Welcomed Here”! But as soon as the guests show up and the unchurched crowd behaves “inappropriately”, we are quick to start in with the complaints.

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Musings of a Secret Church Shopper

Are we looking to make great church attenders? Are we genuinely after the bragging rights for most experiences per weekend with record-breaking giveaways? Or are we after eternal results?…what will it take to keep them in a frenzied culture wrought with anxiety, stress, scheduled events and obligations from here ’til kingdom come…and no sense of obligation to fit church attendance in to the mania?

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WE win!

As the swimmers get set for each heat of competition, our 11-and 6-year-old daughters are on the edge of their seats, making sure they’ve been able to spot all of the American flags digitally floating in their perspective lanes. The beeper that signals for the race to begin sends a wave of energy throughout the pool, the Olympian arena stands,…and our living room. “Go! Go! Go!” “We’re ahead!” “WE are winning!” And then finally, “WE won!”

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A Foundation of Faith: Moonshine & Ministry

Why is it important for us to speak about our heritage? And why is important for us to maintain a sense of our past within our present and project it in to our future? Why do we sing old songs from dusty songbooks? And why do we still preach from the ancient writings of apostles and prophets from centuries ago?

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Overgrown

Have you outgrown receiving with meekness the implanted Word? Are you still requiring yourself to be a doer of the Word, not a hearer only? All too often it’s the saints who have become accustomed to the life-giving Gospel of Jesus Christ that give themselves permission to skip out when the message is coming to a close.

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Profession & Possession

Jesus was teaching His disciples, both then and now, that this tree was making a profession of bearing figs, but had no possession of figs. If it had leaves, it was supposed to have fruit.

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