This blog is Pastor Jay's weekly musings about God's Word, God's world, and God's call to our culture. We hope they encourage, challenge, and inform you. Sign up to recieve them in your email.
I have been reading a helpful book called Gospel-Driven Church by Jared Wilson that addresses one of the prevailing movements concerning how to pursue growth in the church. That movement encourages churches to be an attractional church. Being an attractional church refers to "a way of doing church ministry whose primary purpose is to make church appealing." Therefore, "t...
Keep ReadingIsn't it amazing how quickly crisis's seem to descend upon our nation now. We haven't even gotten through our stockpile of toilet paper and now there is a new issue of protests and riots concerning racial issues. And, by the way, whatever happened to the Murder Hornets? Though the scale of this new issue is hard to measure, it certainly is in the national spotlight. And...
Keep ReadingThe riots are again breaking out across the country. Protesters, angry about racial disparities, are making their voices heard. While many are peacefully gathering, others are not. What is to be done? I heard it again yesterday: Love is the answer. Is it though? Let's try that type of answer to other problems. I have transportation problems. Wheels are the answer. I h...
Keep ReadingLast Sunday we gave some focus to the matter of waiting upon the Lord. The matter of waiting does not seem to be a complicated one. We have waiting rooms in which all we do is sit. Isn't waiting the most brainless, effortless activity of them all? That is not the kind of waiting we are talking about. Life is not like a waiting room; a response like that would be closer a...
Keep ReadingA state-mandated stay-at-home order has afforded us an opportunity we never would have had otherwise. What is that? It is the opportunity to feel what our longing for heaven should be more like. Emotions are tricky things, but they are real and important. You are an emotional being, and emotions reveal the true you. You might be able to hide emotions, but you can't not e...
Keep ReadingThere is only one way that you are going to worship God with real, fervent, soul-pulsing worship. And that is if you see something in God that is so beautiful it takes your breath away. That is what worship is. So how do you see this? Let me tell you the two routes misguided people often take. The first route is the manufactured route. It even comes with a formula: only ...
Keep ReadingWhat do we do about communion while in quarantine? Our church takes communion once a month, on the first Sunday of the month, and it is now upon us. Eventually every church is going to come to this moment. So what are the options before us? I can see at least three different options. As we look at each one, we will think about what the Bible says about communion and how ...
Keep ReadingA global pandemic is a good time for a refresher on fear. During the Great Depression, the newly elected Franklin D. Roosevelt said that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." That makes for good speech writing, but not good biblical thinking. As a Christian, your impulse might be to blurt out God's command to not fear. Yes, God commands this, but that is not a...
Keep ReadingMy last post stated that you cannot livestream the church, which may have raised some questions about what churches are doing during our pandemic situation. Is it wrong to livestream a service and have people watch it? Let's step back a few paces and work up to that question. Let's start with the bigger concept of technology. Is it wrong to use technology? That is actua...
Keep ReadingDuring these days of pandemic and our attempts at social distancing, many of the larger churches have resorted to live-streaming a service. Dressed in your Sunday-best p.j.s, you can sing along to songs and hear a sermon right from your couch. This is not a surprising move. Many churches are already catering to the online experience. You can pay your tithe online, submit...
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