Attend Church - Check!

Why Attend Church?

Today, my devotional reading is from 2 Kings 4. In the story, a Shunammite woman was barren and the prophet Elisha interceded with God for her. A year later, she bore a son but while still a young child, he died.

One very interesting phrase from the story stuck in my mind. The woman spoke to her husband about going to visit Elisha, the man of God. Since the husband was not aware that their son had died, he asked his wife, “Why go to him today? It’s not the New Moon or the Sabbath.” To which his wife replied, “It’s all right.” (See 2 Kings 4:22,23.)

The husband’s comments sound amazingly similar to contemporary questions of WHY anyone would attend church if it was not for some special circumstance?

It occurred to me that there are some general reasons why people attend church:

1. Special Holidays & Events. That was evidently the husband’s reasoning (“It’s not the New Moon.”) Today, we often see dramatic increases in attendance at church on both Easter & Christmas. Some people only attend on those days – and for weddings and funerals.
2. Weekly Scheduled Services. The husband also referred to the “Sabbath” as a logical reason for visiting the man of God. Until around the 1950′s, church attendance was recognized in the USA (and many other countries) as a normal responsibility. But in modern times, there does not seem to be such a requirement. Even those who DO attend the weekly services still may not be there for true worship.
3. Times of Great Need. The mother in our story needed the man of God – not for a funeral – but for new life! She reported (both ti her husband and Elisha’s servant), “It is all right.” But Elisha recognized that she was in “bitter distress.” When Elisha went to the child and prayed, the Lord brought new life to the child (see v.35). It is not uncommon that those who are in great need will call upon God. In any given congregation, a large portion are likely experiencing something that they consider “bitter distress.”
4. Time of Celebration. The final reason for church attendance seems to be the best. When we compare the picture of the mother holding Elisha’s feet in distress (verse 27) to her celebration at his feet (verse 37), we can better understand that true worship is the celebration of the great and wonderful works of God.

So, will you be attending church today (or soon)? WHY?

Churches MUST have a sign to help visitors find them.

Today, that sign is on the Internet. Every church should have a website.

In the past, some church leaders either did not see the need for learning what the Internet is all about or they felt that it was too technically involved for them to learn. Fortunately, many of those folks now use email and browse the websites that they feel are both safe and valuable. But some still do not have a website for their church.

It is a fact that the church cannot retain a 20th century mindset and expect to be effective in the 21st century. People of this generation are more familiar (and comfortable) with Facebook than with a hymn book. It is not enough for a church to just “be there” — in brick and mortar – and expect new people to come and fill it up. Old school outreach techniques like bus ministry and tent meetings have lost favor with the current generation. For most younger people today, if it doesn’t work on their iPhone or Blackberry, then it probably isn’t relevant.

Even though they might desire to reach the younger generation, they may feel unable to do so. Added to the lack of technical ability, some smaller churches feel that the financial cost of maintaining a web presence is too much for their already strained budgets.

It is my desire to help ALL Christian churches to overcome some of these obstacles. I have two projects that are designed to do just that:

• The FREE Online Christian Community, “Beyond The Limits Of  Church” is open for business at http://btloc.com. This community is very similar to Facebook and offers most of the same capabilities. One difference is that rather than seeing unending notices of someone’s Farmville “accomplishments” (or other game reports), the BTLOC will have true notes between Christian friends. Another difference is that most users will qualify for a FREE website hosted on the system.
• The second project is the Church Locator at http://churchloc.com. This site is a place where anyone in the world can search for a church or Christian business. Christians are welcome to submit their website for inclusion (free). Having a site included on the Church Locator will not only increase the number of visitors but also help develop a better ranking on the various search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.).

Give these two projects a look. I trust that they will help you overcome some of the roadblocks to 21st century ministry!

I just posted an IMPORTANT article about this on my Bishop of Technology website. Check it out here: http://raywaldo.com/2010/01/wireless-mics/

The issue is NOT for every wireless microphone in existence. However, many of the mics operating in the UHF band are included. Check the above article for more complete info.

We all know the Great Commission,

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Jesus said this to his disciples just before he left as he was preparing them to become the future leaders of the Church. This is still the basic instruction for the Church today. There seems to be a pretty easy distinction between churches that are doing it and churches that aren’t. From a distance, we can look and identify churches that are fulfilling the instruction that God has given us, but it’s probably not some of the barometers that we normally use. Read the rest of this entry »

Terms like “change” are full of personal and emotional connotations.  For example, change can be a positive word as it is expressed in terms of improving a mindset or organizational concept.  On the other hand, change can be difficult when it means leaving good friends and colleagues.

Kathy and I are going to reposition in Akron, Ohio as state overseers of the Church of God (our denomination) after 6 very productive and energizing years in Louisiana. This is a very bittersweet moment in our lives. Transition is not easy whether it is across the street or 17 hours away from comfortable environments.  Yet, life requires adjustment, repositioning, advancement and change.

Two years ago, I challenged our Louisiana family with this question “what now?” and sought to shape our view of the future after Katrina as one determined by a God who sees the end from the beginning.  We cannot..we only see this present moment, remember those before and anticipate the next one.  I like the word “anticipate” because it captures the excitement of change…of what will be or could be.

So, in a week, we will “change” locations with an eager anticipation of what will be in Ohio but we will never forget the incredible people, experiences or days we spent in this wonderful place, serving God and each other.

Link to Forward Leadership Blog

Recently, Bill Isaacs posted an article titled,”How much right do I have in wanting change in the COG?” In that article, he described some of the attitudes that people express about “their” church. Some of the more poignant remarks were, “This is our church and the pastor has no right to change it!”;  ”We were here before he came, so he should respect what we want”; “This is not the kind of church we want.”

In response to those comments, Bill offers three suggestions:

• This is not my church, but we are privileged to be part, to belong to the community.
• What I want/think must always be subservient to what He is calling us to do (in other words, I may have to put up with something I’m not comfortable with so that the larger good of the group can be achieved)
• The future belongs to those who are centered in what God is blessing, not what we are doing.

I particularily like the 3rd point. Too often, we want God to bless what we are doing but we may be doing the wrong stuff. God help us to hear from our Father, do what He says and then His blessings will be assured! What do you want?