14

Jump Start # 1786

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1786

Psalms 116:1 “I love the Lord, because He hears my voice and my supplications.”

Some nights when I go to bed I have a hard time turning off my mind. The thoughts are running fast, even though my body is tired. When that happens, I lay in bed and just listen. Once in a while, not very often, I will hear the faint “hoot, hoot” of an owl. I like hearing that at night. Something very odd happened the other night. I was in bed, my mind was re-preaching my sermon and I listened for the owl. Nothing. In fact, it was the first time I think that I heard total silence. In the night, the furnace runs. If there is a breeze, I can hear the wind chimes. I can hear our cat up and down, eating food or purring. If the wind is blowing from the right direction, on some nights, you can hear in coming airplanes. And if the wind is right, you can sometimes faintly hear traffic from the highway. On this night, nothing. No wind chimes. The furnace was not kicking on and off. No planes. No cars. Not even the cat was making noise. I listened for a long time. Silence. Nothing. It is so rare in our times to hear “nothing.” There’s always a clock ticking, the noise of your cell phone receiving a text, traffic, even the wind. Some go to sleep with the sound of a fan on. Some fall asleep with the TV on. But silence? No sound. Absolute stillness. Completely quiet. That was amazing. It’s rare. It made me think of God and prayer.

 

Our verse today reminds us of one of many reasons why we love God. His goodness, generosity, love, forgiving nature and desire for us to be with Him top the list. The Psalmist reminds us that God hears our voice. He wants to hear us. I love the Lord because He hears my voice.

 

What a blessing it is to be able to not just talk to God, but to pour our hearts out to one who understands and can do something about things. You can tell a friend about your troubles, but they may have so many of their own troubles that they won’t listen or even if they do listen, they may not be able to do anything about it. God can.

 

Not only is it a blessing to talk to God, you can do that anywhere. One doesn’t have to run to the Temple, the church building or find another person to do this. The tearing of the Temple’s curtain when Jesus died, symbolized that there was no longer a separation between man and God. It meant that anyone, not just the priest, could have access to God. It meant that one could approach God, not just on specific holy days, but every day. The high priest was only allowed to go beyond the temple curtain on specific days. He couldn’t just go when he felt like it. Now, anyone, anytime could approach God. What a blessing that is. That means, when I am driving down the road, I can pray. I recommend you keep your eyes open when you do that. When you are awaiting surgery, you can pray. When you are sitting in a funeral home, you can pray. When you are alone, you can pray. There is no place that prayer is inappropriate.

 

Praying to God reminds us that we are not in control of things and that we are dependent upon Him. We need God. We need God’s help. We can’t do it alone. Praying helps us to see that.

 

Prayer has a way of getting our vision and perspective adjusted. We tend to see things too much through our experiences and our feelings. We can sometimes get a bit too much of us in us. Copernicus proved that we are not the center of the universe nor does the world revolve around us. You’d never know that the way some talk. It’s all about them. It’s all about how they feel. Me. Me. Me. Praying fixes that. It lets us see how big the world is and that indeed this is my Father’s world. It’s not my world, but His world. It is His plans, not my plans. It is His will, not my will. Prayer is not getting God to do things for me, but getting me to do His will. His will in my life is what this is about.

 

I love God because He hears my prayer. Now, back to silence. Total silence. I wonder if that’s what God hears too often. We are down here, rushing through our lives, too busy to be thankful, too worried to reach out to Him, and too consumed with self, to see that we need Him. He’s right there. But all He hears is silence. Total silence. Why aren’t they praying to Me? Why are they reaching up to Me?

 

It makes a person wonder, doesn’t it. It makes us wonder if God says, “Roger, why are you not talking to me today?” Or, “Why didn’t you seek My help on this, rather than get all upset about it?” Or, “Why didn’t you stop and thank Me for this? I did this just for you?” But instead, silence. Total silence.

 

Silence. I wonder if there is too much silence between us and God. The other night, when I heard nothing, I started thinking about that. That led to a prayer. It reminded me that He doesn’t want me to be silent with Him.

 

Prayer, it’s amazing, if you will but pray. Break the silence and fill the Heavens with your voice of prayer and thanksgiving.

 

Roger

 

13

Jump Start # 1785

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1785

Acts 8:28 “and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah.”

 

Our verse today comes from that powerful conversion account of the Ethiopian. He had been to Jerusalem to worship. On his trip back home he was reading Isaiah. God sent Philip the preacher to him. A conversation began with a simple question, “Do you understand what you are reading?” From that question, a discussion about Jesus, the Messiah took place. All of that resulted in the eunuch obeying Christ and being baptized. It was a glorious moment and it remains a trustworthy standard in our Bibles to look at.

 

A thought that is so easy to miss here, is the seeing the Ethiopian reading Isaiah in his chariot. The book of Isaiah is large and is thought to have taken three scrolls in length. For someone to have their own private copy was very special and unique. It is not out of hand to believe that on this trip to Jerusalem, the Ethiopian purchased his copy of Isaiah. This would have been the place to buy them. Ethiopia wouldn’t sell them in the market place. Most unlikely. To own your own copy would have cost a lot of money. I expect that Philip didn’t have his own copy.

 

All of this leads us to a thought about our own Bibles. Most of us have a few copies here and there in our homes. But there is probably one Bible that you carry with you on Sundays. Most preachers have what we call our “preaching Bibles.” They are suitable for use in teaching and preaching. I have a study Bible that I use in my office. I can’t preach out of it any longer because pages fall out and it’s a mess.

 

On any given Sunday we see all kinds of Bibles. More and more are carrying electronic Bibles, via their phones and tablets. I guess I’m old school, because I still like the book form of the Bible. I like the feel of the Bible and I like look of my Bible.

 

Our Bibles are more than God’s word. They are a tool for us to know God’s will and to understand the life that God wants us to live. That being the case, a person needs to make their Bible “user friendly” just for their own taste. Here are a few suggestions that can help you:

 

  1. Underline phrases and circle words, especially repeated words in a text. It helps these words to jump out and you can see themes and what is important. For example, in that section of Hebrews 10 that leads up to “not forsaking our own assembling…”, three times the preceding verses all begin with the expression, “let us.” Let us begins verse 22, 23, and 24. Circled in your Bible, you see a minor theme there.

 

– when writing in your Bible, make sure you find a pen or a highlighter that doesn’t soak through to the other side. That will make reading the other page difficult if you are not careful.

 

  1. At the back of your Bible are several “White pages.” Use those pages to write notes, lists of things that you want to remember, or even to tape some printed things that will help you. This is a great place to put a list of Biblical dates and events that you want to remember. I have a short highlight of a sermon that Harry Pickup, Jr preached about Philemon years ago. I typed up lesson and taped it in the back of my Bible. There was an occasion when I needed to deliver a quick invitation and I opened to that page and that was helpful.

 

  1. Take care of your Bible. Books, Bibles included, will last a long time if you are careful with them. I have several books that are over 100 years old in my library. I have a few that are edging close to being 200 years old. A Bible can last many, many years if you are careful with it.

– don’t toss it or leave it in your trunk

– don’t use it for a coaster

– don’t leave it on the dashboard where the hot sun can cook it

– don’t jam so many papers in it that it breaks the binding

– before it falls apart completely, take care of it

 

The breaking of the binding is usually the greatest danger to your Bible. As the binding starts to separate, use some super glue and put it up and down the binding and then use rubber bands to hold your Bible tight. Don’t touch it for a few days. That ought to put a few more years into your Bible.

 

  1. Replacing a favorite Bible is painful and hard. Sometimes you cannot find the exact Bible that you had. Then, even if you can, there is the transferring of all those notations, underlines, circled words and things you have written in the white pages. It can be done, but it’s a long process.

 

Most of us who have used the same Bible for several years, have a feel for where things are. You know a certain passage is on this side of the page. You can open to certain books of the Bible without having to look. Your Bible has become very familiar to your hands and eyes. That’s a wonderful feeling. That’s a good sign that you have spent a long time with that Bible.

 

  1. Purchase a few less expensive Bibles in other versions. This is a great way to study a text. Get two or three Bibles opened, most Bible programs on-line allow you to do this very easily, and read from them. Good reliable translations will help you to see what a text is pointing to. It will help you.

 

  1. Teach your children to take care of their Bibles. Starting early, and developing a deep respect for God’s word and learning to take care of your Bible is something that can stay with them for the rest of their lives. Having a Bible for little ones helps them. There are many, many children’s Bibles on the market. Get one that they will like. As they grow, so will the need for a Bible that fits their age. Bibles make great gifts for graduations, weddings and Christmas.

 

I have an old New Testament that belonged to a preacher long ago. He has since died. This little New Testament is clean. There are no words underlined and nothing is written on the “white pages.” I wish he had done that. I wish I knew all the places that he took this little Bible and where all he preached with it. I wonder what good came from this little Bible.

 

Give me the Bible…

 

Roger

 

10

Jump Start # 1784

Posted on February 10, 2017 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1784

1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

I have been doing some research about money for an upcoming sermon. “Average” in America isn’t looking too good. The amount that “average” saves and the amount of “average” debt is shocking. There are so many verses that address the subject of money, riches and our attitudes about those things. So many of Jesus’ parables were presented in the settings of money. The prodigal wasted his inheritance. The rich farmer who was going to tear down his barns. The slave who owed his master 10,000 talents. The story of the talents. The rich man and Lazarus. Then there are encounters with the rich. Zacchaeus. The rich young ruler. The encounter about paying taxes. The incidents of turning over the tables of the money changers in the Temple. The brother who wanted Jesus to settled the family inheritance. Then there were the explicit principles: life does not consist of possessions; what does it profit if you gain the whole world and lose your soul. Over and over and over Jesus talked about money.

 

What is interesting is that we don’t. We don’t preach much about money. We shy away from having Bible classes about money. All we see is Dave Ramsey, budgets and money management. Jesus sees greater issues such as greed, materialism, coveting and the love of stuff. Money issues clogs our thinking. We worry. We get stressed. We sit in church buildings but our minds wander to the subject of bills, payments, savings and getting more. The issues with money can be the very thing that is keeping some of us from excelling with the Lord. We can’t seem to move past all the thinking we do about money.

 

Our verse today is more than just a warning, it is the sad report and proclamation that some have failed because of money. We focus often on the front end of this passage, which is establishing a principle. It’s the backend of this passage that shows the tragic outcome that the lack of this principle has had on some.

 

Paul, at the end of this verse is talking about Christians. Some stopped their journey with Christ. They were losing their souls. It was not moral issues. It wasn’t false teaching that tripped them. It was money. He points out the three steps into the mine field that caused them to lose their spiritual lives.

 

First, they longed for money. They did the very thing that they shouldn’t have. The verse begins by warning against the love of money. It’s not money, but the love of it that set them on the wrong course. The verse before states, “those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.” It’s not the money itself, it’s the wanting of it. It’s the attitude about it. It’s the longing for it. It’s the “I’ll do anything to get it.” It’s the selling of the soul in order to have. It’s the pursuit of it. Money won’t save your soul, but it can certainly take your soul!

 

Now, why do people “long” for money? That’s not hard to understand. Nice things costs money. Big things costs money. With money comes doors that can be opened that were closed before. It’s the thinking that if I had money, then I’d be happy. I’d be happy because I’d drive a nicer car, live in a bigger house, wear better clothes, shop at exclusive stores. With more money, my TV screen would be larger, the square footage of my house would increase and like Luke’s rich farmer, I could sit back and take my ease. I wouldn’t have to work so hard. I could take longer and better vacations. I could eat at nicer restaurants. I could golf at nicer golf courses. This begins to sound really nice. But our ears are beginning more and more deaf to the sound of selfishness and our hearts are becoming more and more convinced that happiness can be bought. That’s the problem. It can’t. If a person can’t be happy in a small house, they will never be happy in a large house.

 

Something my wife and I have seen all through the years. There are young couples, just starting out, who don’t have much, who live in a small house. Some will have people over. Often, you have to bring your own folding chairs because they don’t have enough. Then there are those who say, “our place is too small. When we get a larger place we will have folks over.” It never happens. Those that have people over in a small home will continue all of their lives to have people over. As they prosper and have larger homes, they continue to have people over. Those who won’t, never do. It’s not the size of the place, it’s the size of the heart.

 

Longing for money—that’s where these problems begin. It’s thinking that money will fix my woes. If I could only go to Disney for a month, then all will be fine. No, it won’t. You can’t live at Disney, they won’t allow that. Money won’t fix your heart. Money won’t buy happiness. Money won’t build character. Money won’t impress God.

 

We need money. The kingdom of God needs money. Things costs. However, does the money and the things define us and control us or are we in control of them? That’s the problem. Have we made it an choice between money or God, instead of money and God. Or, better, money with God.

 

Second, because some Christians longed for money, they wandered from the faith. It wasn’t a direct walking out, like the prodigal. It was not paying attention. It was more like the one sheep who wandered away from the 99, in Luke 15. Their took their eyes off of Jesus. They lifted their foot off the spiritual accelerator. They started looking more and paying attention more to money matters. They stopped feeding their souls. Remember Peter telling us to be sober, be on the alert, Satan is prowling about like a lion? The faith wanderers don’t do that. They are busy sacrificing to make more money. Working on weekends, when they really don’t have to. Spending less time on their knees in prayer and less time with their nose in God’s book and more time at the mall shopping. Wandering from the faith begins with our spiritual life shrinking. It’s very subtle at first. Skip some services. No longer praying much. Thinking about vacations, buying, getting more. We step too close to the edge on things. A little social drinking here and there. That’s what rich people do, so we believe. Buying clothes that are a bit immodest. Taking trips without ever thinking about worshipping while away. Less and less interest in what is happening down at the church building. Less and less contact with the people of God. They have been replaced with friends who are interested in money, buying and going places. Christians now seem boring. Church services seem boring. Guilt keeps you going some, but it’s not the love of the Lord that drives you. You are still convinced that you are a good Christian, but your actions, attitude and passions certainly do not reflect that. You have wandered from the faith and you do not even realize it. The things of God rarely move your needle anymore.

 

Finally, comes the piercing themselves with many griefs. With God no longer a part of your life, your choices, your behavior and your attitude reflect that. Without a compass guiding you, without an anchor to hold you, you drift and you crash. Your work-aholic husband is no longer making enough money, nor is he fun anymore. Divorce dances through your mind. You would have never thought that years ago. But now, why not? God is no longer a part of your life. Your kids have grown up to be more selfish, more spoiled and more worthless than you are. Alcohol and recreational drugs have become a new god in your life. You can’t live without them. Hob knobbing with fellow stuck up people and trying to impress people has made you forget where you started and has made you forget that you were once a sinner who was redeemed by the blood of Christ. Those “church years” are long gone. They are an unpleasant memory to you. You have nothing but wicked things to say about the Lord’s church and His people. You hide behind your wealth to cover an empty and miserable life that you deny exists. Then one day, comes the greatest piercing possible. Your coming to the end of your journey here. You get cancer. No money can change that. You hide behind one last final whirlwind exotic trip but you fear what happens next. Is this it? Will the selfish kids fight and destroy themselves over what remains of your wealth? What about God? What about Heaven? You have danced and danced with Satan for a long time now. You have laughed and had a grand time. It’s been great, you say. But now, at the end of the journey, there is just you. You walked away from Jesus. You have no faith. You are not even sure what you believe in. And now, this is where your choices have taken you. What awaits is an eternity away from God.

 

I can write these things because I can put names to these stories. I have seen it. I have been the one who was called to preach the funeral of these faithless people who once believed. It’s a sad, sad story. This is not how the Lord intended for your life to be.

 

It all started so simply, “and some by longing for it…”

 

Is it time to take a real look at where you are with the Lord? Have you taken your eyes off of Jesus?

 

Roger

 

09

Jump Start # 1783

Posted on February 9, 2017 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1783

Revelation 3:1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this, ‘I know your deeds that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.’”

 

Of the seven churches listed in Revelation two and three, Sardis and Laodicea probably get the most attention and are most surprised to hear what the Lord says about them. Sardis had a name that they were alive. Laodicea claimed that they needed nothing. Both were terribly wrong. They were just the opposite of what they thought. How could a congregation be so wrong? How could a congregation miss it by that much? They weren’t close. They were nothing like the Lord said that they were. That amazes me. That concerns me.

 

Is it possible for you and I to be way off in how we see ourselves? Is it possible that our assessment of our congregation or worse, even our own spiritual walk is completely wrong? Sardis and Laodicea were not bowing down to idols. Nothing is stated about false teaching. The doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which was hated in Ephesus but taught in Pergamum is not mentioned at either Sardis or Laodicea.

 

Simply put, “How are we doing?” We have nice, safe answers to that question. We often say, “Pretty good.” “I’m not where I could be, but all in all, I’m doing fine.” Alive. Need of nothing. We don’t hear folks say, “My prayer life stinks,” or, “I don’t read the Bible like I ought to.” That’s bold, open and honest.

 

First, we understand that there is a huge slice of the religious community that believes that they are saved. They have missed a few doctrinal points to be accurate Biblically, but in their hearts they are saved. What is written in Revelation, is not addressing this type of thinking. A doctor can say you are well, when you are not. It’s easy to believe him. He’s the doc. Tests will show otherwise. How you feel says otherwise. Spiritually, the tests are the word of God. Spiritually, how you feel, is your behavior. Salvation is not a feeling but a relationship with the Lord. There are steps to get into that relationship. There are steps to maintain that relationship. It is based upon faith that is built upon the word of God and a walk that follows what is laid out in the Bible. Saying I’m saved, doesn’t make it so. Many who say that, certainly don’t act that way. Read what they post or like on Facebook. Shocking. Follow them through a week. They’ll head to church on Sunday, but are partying hard on Friday night. Nope. Just saying you’re saved, doesn’t mean you are.

 

Second, for Sardis and Laodicea, they were those who understood the word of God and had obeyed Christ. Paul’s letter to the Colossians was to be shared and read in Laodicea. He was aware of the great struggle that was going on in Laodicea (Col 2:1) and shared a great concern over them (Col 4:13). So, with Sardis and Laodicea, we are not talking about some that are confused religiously, or have been the drinking poisonous water of error. What happened is that these were Christians who took their eyes off of Jesus. They lost their focus. They were unwilling to admit the truth about themselves and denied that things were as the Lord saw them.

 

Denial is a wonderful place that many like to go to. A couple denies that they are having marriage troubles. They keep pretending things are fine when they are not. A person denies that he has a serious health issue. He refuses to go to the doctor, claiming that it’s just sore muscles. A person denies that he has a drinking problem. He knows that he shouldn’t drink and proudly confesses that he could quit anytime, but he won’t. Parents deny that their child is on drugs. They don’t want to admit it.

 

There is a common thread that runs through all of those above situations. A person refuses to look at the facts. They refuse to see things as they are. They see things as they once were. They see things as they ought to be, but to see things as they are, is to admit there is a problem. We don’t want to do that. So we deny. “Sure things could be better and sure there are things we could work on, but it’s not that bad.” That’s the theme song for deniers. For Sardis, “we’re not dead. Look what people are saying about us.” For Laodicea, “we don’t need a thing.” Denial. Wrong.

 

The problem of denial is that help is held at bay. There are no alarms going off. 9-1-1 hasn’t been called. The deniers are convinced that they can change things and fix things if it ever gets to that point, but they are convinced things are not that bad at the moment. Denial. So, Sardis died and Laodicea grew lukewarm. Instead of turning things around, the denying led to their death. And so it happens with the above situations. The denying of marriage troubles will lead to a divorce. The denial of health problems will lead to a heart attack. The denial of a drinking problem will destroy him. The denial of a drug problem will lead to the child become addicted, arrested or dead.

 

What pulls the plug on denial? Honesty. Being honest with yourself. Don’t compare self with others. Look to the word of God and look at those lives of those first Christians. Is that you? Is that your faith? Is that how you feel? Do you go very long without thinking about Christ? Do you get through an entire day and never once think about your spiritual journey? If that happens, then the choices you made, were not shaped spiritually. Your words, your attitudes, your behavior may have all missed what Christ wanted you to be.

 

Honest. Do you enjoy worship? Do you love to read God’s word? Do you long to pray to God? Do you want to be in the presence of other Christians? Honest. Pull the covers back. No hiding. No excuses. No denial.

 

Sardis and Laodicea, two congregations that within a generation or two lost their focus and their purpose. There is but one solution, keep your eyes upon the Lord. Do what is right, not what is easy. Do what God wants, not what others want.

 

How are you doing? Great question to ask yourself this morning.

 

 

Roger

 

08

Jump Start # 1782

Posted on February 8, 2017 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1782

1 Samuel 8:5 “and they said to him, ‘behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.”

 

Our passage today is the desire of Israel to have a physical king to lead them. God was their king, but He was in Heaven. Other nations had a palace where the king sat on a throne. When they went to war, their king led the troops. These other nations had a visible leader and Israel wanted that. Samuel, the priest was old. His time was about up. His sons were dishonest and not serious about their responsibilities. The nation did not want Samuel’s sons to continue in his role. It was time for a change and it was a good time, they thought to introduce a king. This plea upset Samuel. It upset God. God saw it for what it was. He declared that they have rejected me from being their king.

 

Biblical history shows us that Israel got what they wanted, a king like all the nations. A few stood out as being loyal to God, but most were concerned about their position and power. The kings were corrupt, idolatrous, and self serving. Israel wasn’t the better because of her kings. Their kings led them away from God.

 

That expression, “like all the nations,” has been a warning sign for those who want to change and be like others. Parents have taught their kids not to do what everyone else was doing. When it comes to God’s church, we don’t follow the shakers and movers in the religious world. Our eyes are set upon the Lord. That has kept God’s people true to the book and faithful to our purpose.

 

However, even among us, things can become trendy and we can follow the latest fads within our fellowship. This is not always bad. A good idea ought to be shared and if it works and is true to the book, others ought to take a look at it. But sometimes, we do things because it’s the latest and we copycat each other without a good reason. This is nothing new. For generations this has been going on. For instance, look across the nation and notice that just about every congregation for years has met twice on Sunday, a mid-week on Wednesday and had a spring and fall Gospel meeting. That’s how it’s been for most of us for as long as we can remember. Just about every one did the same thing. Once in a while, you’d find a congregation that had mid-week on Thursday, and people would note how odd that seemed.

 

Powerpoint became the latest technological revolution and everyone had to get that. Great. I love powerpoint. Use it all the time. But some small rural congregations were getting this that didn’t have the people who could understand it, operate it, nor was it used very much. Why then did they get it? Were they convinced by someone that they had to have it? Was this a move to raise the bar in the teaching or was it simply keeping up with everyone else? And in many places, the protector hangs from the ceiling collecting dust and is never used.

 

Improving and changing how we do things is not wrong. The alternative is to stay with things long after they are no longer useful nor helpful. I knew a congregation that had a Sunday night singing on the first Sunday that followed a first Monday of the month. It was very confusing. It wasn’t the first Sunday of the month. It was the first Sunday AFTER the first Monday of the month. I never could get it straight. The reason was a long time ago, the first Monday of the month is when they had an evening to do evangelism in the neighborhood. They decided to have a singing on the following Sunday. This sounds good, but they dropped the Monday evangelism long ago but kept the singing. Instead of having the singing on the first Sunday of the month, it was the first Sunday after a first Monday. I told people it had to do something with the full moon.

 

Many congregations now have two preachers. Gospel meetings have been shortened. Many are meeting just once on Sunday. For some, it’s a longer service than what they used to have. Some incorporate two sermons in that one service. All of these things are helpful and good if there is a reason behind it. Some will change things just because others have changed things. There are congregations that have two preachers and you wonder why? It’s not the size of the congregation, the work load, or they are doing more. It seems that having two preachers is the latest fad and they want that. A church with two preachers ought to be doing more than what they could do with one preacher. If the drive behind getting a second preacher is so the other preacher only has to preach once on Sunday, that seems to be a waste of money and talent. With one preacher in the pulpit, the other preacher ought to go help a small congregation that doesn’t have a preacher. Instead of doing less, they ought to do more.

 

Every congregation is presented with unique opportunities and challenges. What works for one place may not work for another. Thought needs to be put into what and why we are doing things. Is it wrong to copy what another place is doing? No, not if there is a reason where you are at. Just to copy something because someone else is doing it, or because it’s different, may not make sense nor be necessary where you are at.

 

The needs of one congregation may not be the same needs as another place. Careful thought must be put into what our people need and what will help them the best. Just wanting to be like another congregation isn’t a good reason to change things. People, relationships, and attitudes are some things that cannot be copied from place to place. What works in one place may never work in another place.

 

Behind all of this was a discussion I had recently with someone who wanted to know how a two-preacher church works. He was interested. I was shocked. Where he preached could barely afford him. It was a small place. Why, then do you need another preacher, I asked. His response was classic. “Isn’t that the way most churches are going today?” It allowed me to share with him some thoughts about why we do what we do. I think he got it. He changed his tune about needing a second preacher. He also learned, “the way most churches are going today,” isn’t what he ought to be interested in. We then talked about the needs of the congregation where he preached. The community. The demographics of the group. Ideas started flowing. He was now looking within rather than looking at what others were doing. There seemed to be a fire that was lit within his heart. He had ideas and plans and goals and was so excited. He dropped the talk about a second preacher. That was no longer necessary.

 

Green pastures…quiet waters…a table before our enemies—the shepherd knew. We must know our people and must know what works for them in teaching the Gospel and strengthening souls.

Roger