Archive | April, 2025

It’s a People Issue

29 Apr

This past week I had the opportunity to attend the D6 Southeast Conference in Florida. D6 is an organization dedicated to a return to biblical discipleship within the church… But hold on sec: That might not mean what you think it means. In fact, you’ll need to listen to my next few sermons to get the gist of THAT part.

One of the speakers shared a statistic that is haunting the American church right now. And, if it doesn’t haunt you, you need to check your heart. While I do not have his source, our speaker shared that 67% of American parents identify as “Christian.” But only 2% hold what is known as a Biblical worldview. In simpler terms, AI says this: “A Biblical worldview is a way of interpreting and responding to life based on the teachings of the Bible. It’s a comprehensive framework for understanding God, creation, humanity, morality, and purpose, all derived from God’s revealed truth.”

So, this is saying that only 2% of parents in America believe in living by the Book. Why would this be??

It is CLEARLY a PEOPLE ISSUE. Let.s explore that more…

In recent communiques as a pastor, I was reading about how pastors struggle now with the fact that the general public has a mistrust of pastors. Certainly Jim Bakker and televangelists of years gone by have contributed to this. Countless news articles about pastors who’ve stolen money from churches, pastors caught in abusive situations, pastors who have been caught in affairs, and every other mistake that is deemed newsworthy, all of these have made local pastors harder and harder to trust in the eyes of the general public. Then you can add in disgruntled church members who take great pleasure and find fertile soil on which to trash a pastor for a mistake or a mis-queue, and tongues that wag to hear and share the latest gossip. When you mix all of this up with the post-Covid angry world that we live in, the general public that does not know a pastor will have a very hard time trusting that pastor.

Then, you have churches. Churches are not buildings or addresses. Churches are made up of people. Some of those people live the Bible and try their best, and even they make mistakes. Then others will attend the church, serve on the committees, serve as a usher or in a public view, and then live lives that are absolutely contrary to God’s Word. And they are out every day working with, talking with, playing with, and among people who do not know Christ. When THOSE people see us (the church) talking like Heaven and living like Hell, they naturally WON’T believe God’s Word because they don’t even think that WE, the CHURCH, believe it.

So, as you can tell, what we have here is a failure to communicate …….. We have a PEOPLE PROBLEM. WE, the CHURCH, have a problem. And the problem is US!!

We can remedy this problem by starting small and LIVING God’s Word. Believing God’s Word. Start this small:

LOVE GOD WITH ALL OF YOUR HEART

LOVE OTHERS

Read the Bible and allow it to make a difference in our lives

I dare you to do that and see what happens!!!!!

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It all starts here…

24 Apr

Eons ago when I was in seminary, one of the foundational beliefs we were taught was the idea that, when it comes to children in the church, our words will reinforce what they are being taught at home. NOT trying to pass the buck to parents, mind you.

But a deep truth is this: your child is being discipled. Period. By the church (hopefully). By social media. By their peers. By their school. By the world. And there is probably no stronger discipling going on than by their families and ESPECIALLY by their parents.

Who will win? The strongest teacher will. Parents, grandparents, families, you MUST step up and do your part.

Churches, you MUST step up and help families fill in gaps. If we as churches don’t do this, we really are useless.

What is the Sabbath … REALLY??

23 Apr

Hello friends! It’s been a while. This week I’ve been able to attend the D6 Conference in FLA. Had a chance to catch my breath. To be challenged. To think about things and consider the future.

A few weeks ago a friend asked me to do a podcast on the Sabbath. What does it mean? And, seriously, what does it mean to YOU?

In Exodus 20 we find these words: 8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. (NASB)

A basic analysis of the Ten Commandments shows us that the first four commandments deal with humanity’s relationship with God, and the last six deal with humanity’s relationship with each other. But if you REALLY look at this thoroughly, you would probably come to the conclusion that the first three pertain to humanity’s relationship with God, and that numbers 5 – 10 (the last six) could be considered a REFLECTION of God in how we deal with each other. And then there is number FOUR.

REMEMBER THE SABBATH AND KEEP IT HOLY. YES, the Sabbath is a day of worship and reflection. A day on which we should honor God, worship God, and put Him first. But we should be doing that EVERY DAY. What we who follow Christ consider as our holy day is for God and for us. It IS a day to focus on God but also a day to heal from the past week and prepare for the next week. When God elaborated on the Sabbath to Moses, He did not prescribe offerings, prayers, and ceremonial worship. He laid it out as a day of rest. Of recovery. And if our relationship with HIM is hitting in the right spots, we WILL FIND THESE THINGS IN WORSHIP. If our relationship is NOT finding those spots, the true question for each of us is WHY NOT? And what can I do about that?

Another element of our recovery is our gathering with the local church. With our people. With people who DO believe as we believe and impact our lives. They make a difference. If we need to be bandaged from the wounds of the world, they are prepping the bandages and the first aid cream. When we find the right bunch, they will do this because they, too, love us. And they know that we would do the same thing for them. IF we haven’t found the right bunch, again, WHY NOT? Is it because we are in the wrong place at the wrong time? Are we not allowing people to get close due to lack of trust? Again, that is on us.

Finally, the Sabbath is clearly about REST. Our bodies need rest. Physical rest. Mental and emotional rest. Spiritual rest. If you are burning both ends of the candle, you eventually discover that you cannot do that forever. You will end up in the hospital or (heaven forbid) in the grave. You are not invincible. Take time to rest and regroup. God rested after six days of creation, but His rest was not a rest of exhaustion. It was a rest of completion. We need rest for exhaustion. When our lives become so busy that we meet ourselves coming down the street, we are barreling toward a bad place.

REST. Please!!!

The There is so much more theologically that could be discussed here. But, let’s get this one on the right track. Then maybe we can move on to something deeper.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!