Summertime can be one of the most rewarding times of the year for a congregation. It can also be one of the most frustrating. As many school calendars stretch further into the summer, our calendars at church often get bunched up, and when it is all over, we are left wondering if we accomplished anything lasting. Of course, anything done to God’s glory is a good thing, but are there ways we can make the summer have a great impact? I want to share 7 for you to consider, even for this upcoming summer. 1. Think outward service first. A lot of times, we tend to fill out the church…

“Well, it’s not a salvation issue.” I have heard this statement many times over the course of my life and honestly I am hearing it now more than ever. The point – there is a difference between matters of faith and matters of opinion. On some level, this notion is well taken. There are certain God-given traditions that are binding (2 Thessalonians 2:15), and then there are human traditions that many people may tie to their faith which in reality are nothing more than an expediency or an accepted norm (Matthew 15:3). But we need to be very careful with how far we are willing to go with Christian liberty. This past…

  The title of this article may seem strange until you read it closely. You may have thought it meant that a good church fuss is needed to keep a congregation unified. Certainly, the title could come across that way. The title, instead, comes from a different point of view. There are too many congregations of the Lord’s people who are not fighting Satan and sin together in big enough ways. They don’t have huge goals for which they are striving in the Lord. They are just able to sit back and wallow in the status quo. And when that is the way things are, they will start to bicker with…

It may look like I just put my fingers on the wrong “home keys” and accidentally typed the letters above. While my typing skills leave a lot to be desired, I actually intended to type those letters. Due to a little research I was doing the other day, there was a time when those letters had real meaning to some people. You can find information about those letters in many different places.  The following is from the website everything2.com.   NFFNSNC is a Latin abbreviation, frequently found inscribed on Roman grave markers, which stands for non fui, fui, non sum, non curo (“I was not, I was, I am not, I don’t care.”). The phrase is…

How many different ways is the word “seasonal” used? I’m not sure I will exhaust the ways, but here are a few: The various seasons of the year Various holiday seasons Certain times of the year are known for certain sports: baseball season; football season; basketball season; etc. Hunting seasons Periods of our lives Seasons when various types of clothing are fashionable Again, I’m sure that the list could go on and on, but there is one thing that is not–or at least it should not be–seasonal. Our relationship with Christ and our commitment to Him is to be both constant and growing. The Lord never intended for us to be committed…