Revitalize Your Church

During the influenza pandemic of 1918 when public gatherings were prohibited, Rev. Homer Cox penned and distributed the sermon: Contrary Winds , based on Matthew 14:22-24 (KJV):  And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. Cox said: The hungering multitudes have been bountifully fed and sent to their homes in the surrounding villages the disciples have embarked for their voyage across the sea; and, as was His custom after a trying day of toil, or before a day of great responsibility, the Saviour has composed His soul in the solitudes of the mountain alone in prayer. Rapt in holy converse with His heavenly Father, the first three watches of the night h...

God is love—love lived out through the power of the Holy Spirit in a community of gifted individuals playing one musical piece in different parts, a holy symphony.   Holiness is life lived by people in the fullness of the Holy Spirit who are empowered to offer a drastic alternative to the world around them. Love is the melody running through the community, underneath the community, and all around the community.   The Christian community is not a place of jarring instruments singing different songs, or a place of gossip, conflict, rejection, pain, strife, and hatred. It is a place where the Spirit’s fruit is present in abundance, so much so that the world around the Christian community can’t help but join the melody. It is a community that is so unified, so melodious, so beautiful that it stops others in their tracks. Those on the outside can’t help but peer in, and watch with awe and wonder, and notice the unity of the symphony.   Instead of...

  God is love—love lived out through the power of the Holy Spirit in a community of gifted individuals playing one musical piece in different parts, a holy symphony.   Holiness is life lived by people in the fullness of the Holy Spirit who are empowered to offer a drastic alternative to the world around them. Love is the melody running through the community, underneath the community, and all around the community.   The Christian community is not a place of jarring instruments singing different songs, or a place of gossip, conflict, rejection, pain, strife, and hatred. It is a place where the Spirit’s fruit is present in abundance, so much so that the world around the Christian community can’t help but join the melody. It is a community that is so unified, so melodious, so beautiful that it stops others in their tracks. Those on the outside can’t help but peer in, and watch with awe and wonder, and notice the unity of the symphony.   Instea...

"Whenever the church becomes self-conscious and self-centered, she fails to accomplish her real divine calling.  Her highest glory is to be seen only in the revealing of her Lord."  -- A. B. Simpson

"Leadership is resisting the urge to settle." says Shannon O'Dell . Otherwise, we will spend our days (weeks, months, years) in the land where the bland leads the bland. We all have the natural inclination to settle into a routine -- also known as a rut.  My daddy used to say, "a rut is a grave with both ends knocked out." As an old church leadership goes:  "Be we high, or be we low, t he Status is the same . . . Quo."

We'll probably never be a megachurch.  Our small northwoods village doesn't lend itself to a congregation like that.  However it's a perfect place for community impact -- a great place to build a "mega-watt" church.

Five Major Tends for Churches in America

"The church is redemptive, and when it ceases to be redemptive, it ceases to be the church." -- J. R. Mitchell

A family was on vacation in a Minnesota northwoods small town. As they drove down Main Street, Mother pointed and said, "Look Johnny! There's First Lutheran Church!" To this, Johnny replied, "Those guys must be a franchise. We have one of those in our town too!"

as the grains of wheat once scattered on the hill were gathered into one to become one bread so may all your people from all the ends of the earth be gathered into one in you -- Marty Haugen

If this is not a place where tears are understood, Then where shall I go to cry? And if this is not a place where my spirit can take wings, Then where shall I go to fly? I don't need another place for trying to impress you With just how good and virtuous I am. I don't need another place for always being on top of things; Everybody knows that it's a sham. I don't need another place for always wearing smiles, Even when it's not the way I feel. I don't need another place to mouth the same old platitudes; Everybody knows that it's not real. So if this is not a place where my questions can be asked, Then where shall I go to seek? And if this is not a place where my heart cry can be heard, Where, tell me where, shall I go to speak? So if this is not a place where tears are understood, Where shall I go, where shall I go to fly? -- Ken Medema

An article in the Christian Post reports on churches defaulting on mortgages. I'm truly glad our church is debt free right now. We are going to be doing some construction this year sometime (education, office and storage space)-- but it will be with money we've already raised.

The Christian Science Monitor published a thought provoking article by Michael Spencer (aka Internet Monk ) entitled: The Coming Evangelical Collapse. We are on the verge – within 10 years – of a major collapse of evangelical Christianity. This breakdown will follow the deterioration of the mainline Protestant world and it will fundamentally alter the religious and cultural environment in the West. Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants. (Between 25 and 35 percent of Americans today are Evangelicals.) In the "Protestant" 20th century, Evangelicals flourished. But they will soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century. This collapse will herald the arrival of an anti-Christian chapter of the post-Christian West. Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes, and public policy will become hostile toward evangelical Christianity, seeing it as the...

So, you think you're church stinks? It's nothin' compared to these guys.

Keith Drury on What's Wrong With the Church

Our church board met last night at the Larson Lodge. We invited a group of young adults to the meeting, provided pizza, and listened. The focus of our conversation was “How can we help young adults to feel more included in the life, ministry and mission of Hayward Wesleyan Church?” Key points drawn from the meeting are: Young adults desire and need mentoring relationships with older believers. Young adults want to be challenged rather than accommodated. Young believers want to go deeper in the Scripture, and the spiritual walk. Young adults are looking for “genuine” Christians, who walk the walk. A major component of this is relational. Young adults want to see healthy family relationships modeled. Many young adults will not go to church first. They need another connecting point where they can develop friendships in a non-threatening environment. It’s more important to do ministry WITH young adults than to create a ministry FOR them. Our discussion was positive, powerful and enlighte...

Scott McKnight is posting a beautiful Advent series at Belief Net From December 15: Three acts of advent: adoration , activism, and community-building . I'm struck in the advent stories of how focused they are on the people of God ... and today's text makes that abundantly clear. It comes from Matthew 1:20-21. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." What do we see here: Joseph is to marry Mary, in spite of what appearances are, because God's Spirit is at work in the conception of the child. The birth of that baby leads to the naming of that child: his name is to be Yeshua (Joshua, Jesus).Why? Because he will be a Savior of "his people." That people i...

The Republican party must stop "shouting at the world" . . . if it is to win elections in the 21st century, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday. The same applies to churches who desire to impact their communities.

Come to Church!

An insightful article at CNN: Why Many Americans Prefer Their Sundays Segregated.