Church Life
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Two “Uh-Oh” Statements that Hinder Congregational Growth
Today’s post is not original with me. I got the idea from a brief comment made at a lesson at Polishing the Pulpit last year by Brandon Rader. While it was not the main point of the lesson, it has stuck with me since I heard it on a recording of the lesson recently. Congregations want to grow (I hope). However, there are certain phrases that, if they become the default, can hinder growth. One of those you have heard talked about many times before, while the other you may not have. Statement #1: “We’ve never done it that way before.” I think it is worth saying that this is…
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My Way (Really?)
I would like for you to try to create a mental image as you begin reading this post. This might be more easily done by “those of a certain age” who are reading this post, but maybe even those who are younger can identify somewhat with what I am proposing. I would like for you to try to imagine yourself sitting in a large concert hall or some other type of musical venue. As the lights dim a single spotlight illuminates one small portion of the stage. As a familiar musical arrangement begins, you begin to hear a familiar voice. You also see a very familiar face singing one of…
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Is It a Story or Reality? Is It a Character or a Person?
It’s that time of year again. Time for Bible Camps, Summer Youth Series, and Vacation Bible Schools. We look forward to this time when we can have extra events for our young people – from little ones all the way up to teens. It’s that time when we try really hard to peak the interest of all of those young people who attend various programs we have for them at our various congregations. It seems like it grows and grows every year to be bigger and better than the year before. I love seeing the enthusiasm while these events are going on – especially VBS. I certainly am not trying…
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The Children’s Song I Don’t Sing
Today’s post may sound like I’m splitting hairs, but I hope it causes all of us to think. For one thing, we always need to be mindful of the words we sing. While we need to allow for poetic license and we also need to realize that some lyrics might mean something slightly different to one person than another, the words still mean something, so we need to be very careful about what we sing. For a long time now, there has been a children’s song–often sung at VBS or other gatherings with little children–that I simply do not sing. And I am not saying that it should just go…
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A Word on Awareness
I tell the following story not to toot my own horn but to demonstrate the power of the Gospel as it is working. Any minister worth their salt will tell you that the messenger doesn’t matter nearly as much as the message, and this story is no exception. Recently, I presented a lesson at West Side on the concept of awareness. The lesson came from 1 Samuel 3, the account of Samuel hearing the Lord calling to him in the night for the first time. There are several levels of awareness at play in that story – Samuel’s awareness of the voice and of whose voice it is, Eli’s awareness…
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Finally
If you are a regular reader of the thoughts I post on A Legacy of Faith, you may remember a recent post about a series of things I have experienced with my family for the last time. Due to the fact that our two youngest grandchildren have just completed their high school education, we went through what seemed to be a flurry of “last events” in a relatively short time. I am typing these words as another one of those types of events is winding down. At the time that I’m beginning this post, I am the only one up. Our two female Cousins’ Camp “counselors” (our daughter and daughter-in-law) are…
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Faces in the Crowd
The focus was on her. At least, our focus was on her. All the pictures, videos, and cheers were for her. At least, ours were for her. As I was looking back through the photos we took at Lyssa’s graduation, I couldn’t help but notice something. In the background of my glowing graduate’s pictures were the faces … of people not paying attention … at all. They weren’t even looking! You see, she wasn’t their graduate so they didn’t care. If I weren’t just as guilty during roughly 499 other names, as her mother, I might be offended. That is my child and she is important! What she is doing…
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Here We Go Again
Well, we made it. At long last, the reality that every youth minister simultaneously longs for and secretly dreads has manifested again. It’s summertime. If this is anything like the summers I have spent in youth ministry before, it’s going to be a long two and a half months. There will be a lot of early mornings and late nights. There will be a lot of hard conversations, some because they are very deep and challenging and some because they are about subjects that are difficult to discuss. There will be a lot of hard work that is both physically and mentally strenuous, on top of the hard work that…
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The Battle You’ll Never Win as a Faithful Church
I sometimes hear people talk about how to draw people. In fact, since Central has become laser focused on evangelism over the last couple of years, I am fairly tuned into hearing about that. Spoiler alert: what truly draws people is the Gospel. That said, I hear people regularly talk about how people need to come to worship where they are because the worship is exciting. “You’ll leave feeling great.” “Our singing is outstanding.” “The sound is fantastic.” There is nothing wrong with wanting our worship to be the best it can be. But the reason for that is vital. We should want worship to be the best we can…
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Salvation: Paul’s Lock and Key
Having grown up in the church, I’ve heard many, many scriptural arguments for the New Testament’s pattern of salvation over the years. Given that our main goal as a church is to reach the world with the Gospel of Christ (Matthew 28:18-20), it’s certainly a good sign that we have become familiar with many of the key passages in the New Testament that delineate God’s path of salvation. At the same time, I have also repeatedly heard the accusation lobbied against members of the church that our understanding of salvation according to the New Testament pattern is based on our holding to a few scattered “proof texts” that have been…
