Tried to play with Blogger tonight to insert a picture, way to complicated with this format. They claim that I can edit in HTML but won't recognize the tags. Bummer. So, for those of you who are watching the political race for President, check out this link.
Got the hiccups bad today, and now. Can't sleep, couldn't sit still through awesome sermon, it si really frustrating. My whole body convulses.
My wife pointed out a couple of myths that we saw at church today that were blown away, and highlight why we are glad that we are were we are. First, if you have followed anything with church growth statistics you know that a church cannot grow past 80% of its seating capacity. People just won't be crowded. WRONG! If the preaching is strong, and the Spirit is in the church then seating capacity doesn't mean a thing. CHBC is packed with people sitting packed in and they run over twice the capacity of our former church with far less seating.
Location. The old adage is true for churches as it is with anything in real estate. If you want to grow then you need a good location. Hogwash! We gladly drive deep into the country to attend were we are now, and we have found that most of the folks that attend with us don't live anywhere near the building. The church is not the building. It is the body of Christ, alive and vibrant with its members.
Members just don't want to get involved. Let me tell you from nearly 15 years of ministry, it is like pulling teeth at times to get members to get together outside of the traditional Sunday morning gathering. They might start getting together a little more as a new preacher comes to town (and they often celebrate when he leaves), but soon they get into their rut and would rather be with their friends from work or highschool than with the bride of Christ. I once had a member flat out lie to my face about another responsiblity that they had instead of making an agreed outting only to find them at the same restaurant that we decided to go to in another town. Not upset that they lied to me, that is between them and God. It just goes to show the nature of some people.
Well, CHBC had 30 to go to Promise Keepers this summer, my former church couldn't get 4 so no one went. We had a couple of marriage conferences (preachers wouldn't come to either) and had 10 couples for the first and 5 for the second. CHBC is having one next month and they are turning couples away after the first 24 couples were counted. Not bad for a little ol' country church!
Got to have a good place for the members to park, they won't be inconvenienced by walking more than 50 feet. Laugh, but there wasn't a deacon's meeting in my last year at Glenview when that wasn't the main topic of conversation. We would park in the farthest reaches so that the members could have the easier places to park. They even reserved 4 spaces for first time visitors (or those who are arriving really late). Sad. We have parked in the mud and dirt every single sunday along with hundreds of other people. Why? We are going to hear the Word preached - fresh and vibrant.
We have been criticized by some for our decision to go to a denominational church, even a family member. Well folks, if the difference is going to a church to listen to the latest download from SermonCentral.com which has no life in it, or hearing the Word from people who preach it and live it, then I think that I have made the right choice. Sure do miss Monty and Brent.
Got the hiccups bad today, and now. Can't sleep, couldn't sit still through awesome sermon, it si really frustrating. My whole body convulses.
My wife pointed out a couple of myths that we saw at church today that were blown away, and highlight why we are glad that we are were we are. First, if you have followed anything with church growth statistics you know that a church cannot grow past 80% of its seating capacity. People just won't be crowded. WRONG! If the preaching is strong, and the Spirit is in the church then seating capacity doesn't mean a thing. CHBC is packed with people sitting packed in and they run over twice the capacity of our former church with far less seating.
Location. The old adage is true for churches as it is with anything in real estate. If you want to grow then you need a good location. Hogwash! We gladly drive deep into the country to attend were we are now, and we have found that most of the folks that attend with us don't live anywhere near the building. The church is not the building. It is the body of Christ, alive and vibrant with its members.
Members just don't want to get involved. Let me tell you from nearly 15 years of ministry, it is like pulling teeth at times to get members to get together outside of the traditional Sunday morning gathering. They might start getting together a little more as a new preacher comes to town (and they often celebrate when he leaves), but soon they get into their rut and would rather be with their friends from work or highschool than with the bride of Christ. I once had a member flat out lie to my face about another responsiblity that they had instead of making an agreed outting only to find them at the same restaurant that we decided to go to in another town. Not upset that they lied to me, that is between them and God. It just goes to show the nature of some people.
Well, CHBC had 30 to go to Promise Keepers this summer, my former church couldn't get 4 so no one went. We had a couple of marriage conferences (preachers wouldn't come to either) and had 10 couples for the first and 5 for the second. CHBC is having one next month and they are turning couples away after the first 24 couples were counted. Not bad for a little ol' country church!
Got to have a good place for the members to park, they won't be inconvenienced by walking more than 50 feet. Laugh, but there wasn't a deacon's meeting in my last year at Glenview when that wasn't the main topic of conversation. We would park in the farthest reaches so that the members could have the easier places to park. They even reserved 4 spaces for first time visitors (or those who are arriving really late). Sad. We have parked in the mud and dirt every single sunday along with hundreds of other people. Why? We are going to hear the Word preached - fresh and vibrant.
We have been criticized by some for our decision to go to a denominational church, even a family member. Well folks, if the difference is going to a church to listen to the latest download from SermonCentral.com which has no life in it, or hearing the Word from people who preach it and live it, then I think that I have made the right choice. Sure do miss Monty and Brent.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home