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In my middle school Bible class today the topic was “How involved are you in the work in your congregation?” One of the students on a scale from 1-10 gave herself an 8 the others were at 6. A scenario was painted in the lesson book about a Christian who was depressed because he couldn’t lead songs, preach, or teach classes.
In my opinion, as important as those things are, they just represent the tip of the iceberg (so to speak). You can excel in those areas and yet be a failure as a congregation.
Here are a few things that I have observed our members being active in that might inspire you.
- Sending cards. It’s nice to get a random unexpected card in the mail. Julie used to send a card out for everyone’s birthday in the congregation (now she does other things). We had an older member who is in a racial minority who hadn’t attended in a while. We sent a card that everyone in the congregation signed. He came back and told me… I didn’t know that many people cared about me. A terminally ill neighbor asked me to do her funeral (which I had never done before). In the audience was some bigwig from the newspaper. He sent me a card (which I still have) that was very complimentary.
- Visiting members. Several of our women go visit on a regular basis. Just today John and Nelda went to visit sister Carrizalez. Marc drops in one people on a regular basis.
- Being friendly. Especially to visitors. I have had several visitors tell me that parkway is the friendliest congregation they have ever visited. Gospel Meeting Preachers tell me that they are encouraged by Parkway’s friendliness. They say that it is discouraging when five minutes after the closing prayer everyone has left and they are locking up the building.
- Prayers. Praying is incredibly important especially when praying for others.
- Encouragement. Always find some way to encourage others… don’t withhold encouragement. Many, many, years ago I gave a talk on a Wednesday night and sister Edna Osborne came up to me and said… you’re going to make a wonderful Elder one day. I’ve never forgotten that.
- Attendance can be encouraging. I’ve had many times when I didn’t feel like going to services but did anyway thinking… I’m feeling bad but I can feel bad at services as easily as I can at home.
- Being prepared for Bible class and participating in the discussion.
- Communion prep. I told the kids they can tell their parents… I want to be more involved and signed us up for communion preparation.
- Building Maintenance. Several of the older men meet at the building and work.
- You can give money or gifts. Sometimes it’s nice to receive a gift (unexpectedly). You might do that for a Bible class teacher, the preacher or just anyone. Larry White is stationed in Washington DC for 120 days and Josh and Tiffaney contacted a few people about financing air plane tickets so he could visit his family more. Boom! Widows need a little help from time to time but will not ask for it. Do something.
- Holiday Baskets. Amy and others every year prepare Holiday baskets for our shut ins and others. Members contribute and some like Jeanne Conway and Marie Edmonds knit and sew.
- Marc mentioned in his lesson this morning that one of the members makes quilts for the shut ins and made one for him too. I have no idea who that is.
- We have these social groups that have been working very well. Dru had the idea, got the OK and followed through with it.
- I never had heard of “meal trains” but it’s some kind on internet things where you can sign up to provide meals for our families in need. Jessica excels in this.
- Members donate services and other things. Doc (our retired Chiropractor) adjusts people for free at the building. Glenn shares the fish he catches with members, the Cargile’s slaughtered some steers recently and brought meat to the building. Others bring citrus, books, clothing, etc.
- Sharing information. This is like the nervous system of the church body. We have a private Facebook members page where all sorts of info. and needs are shared.
- Arlie Cooksey and the Turners arrange spring and fall picnics at the “Arlie park”.
- The Cargiles have their annual Hayride/cookout/activity every year.
- Antia (on her own) started working with the young men on presenting “talks” on our Wednesday special service once a month.
- I send out email once a week and have three email lists: members, former members and others.
- Several years ago I started a blog and started writing articles. That blog has had over 60,000 views from all over the world. I have people who email me that I don’t even know who tell me how much they appreciate it. If you visit in Russia and say… you don’t happen to know Rob Perkins do you? You might be surprised. Lol! I never expected that when I started the thing.
Thes are just the things I know of. Cast your bread on the waters. Give a little effort and you might be surprised how the Lord transforms you and transforms the congregation.
Most of those familiar with the cotton industry are also familiar with the Boll Weevil. The Boll Weevil is an insect that feeds on cotton bolls and can devastate a cotton crop. The Weevil entered the US from Mexico about 1892 and by the year 1920 had devastated cotton crops all over the USA.
In fact the Boll Weevils decimation of crops in the south was the primary reason for poor farmers leaving their lands and moving to northern cities.
Today Boll Weevils have been eradicated in nearly all of the USA and it happened in large part because of understanding the life cycle of the Boll Weevil.
There are three main elements in the eradication of the Boll Weevil…
- Plowing of the fields after harvest to reduce habitat for the weevil.
- Selective and planned herbicide use
- Reduction of Weevil populations by Pheromone baited traps.
The Boll Weevil kind of reminds me of sin in God’s cotton field. Sin, uncontrolled and rampant, can ruin God’s harvest of souls.
What to do… oh what to do?
- First of all God gave us Jesus Christ to save us from our own sins. His all-powerful blood is like the strongest of insecticides to totally eliminate the impact of sin in our lives.
- Then God identified the life cycle of sin. So we could see clearly how it occurs. James 1:14,
“But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death”
- And then God gave us the courage to conquer and eradicate sin. 1 Cor. 10:13,
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it”
I hope when God sends his harvesters and they come to our Parkway congregation that they step back and say…
“whew… would you look at all that cotton. This congregation understood the seriousness of sin and the great price that was paid for it. They understood the pathogenesis of sin and had faith in God’s promise that they didn’t have to sin and the results speak for themselves… boys let’s start picking... the master is going to be happy today”
Luke 7:36-50 tells the story of a Pharisee (Simon) who invited Jesus into his home for a meal. Pharisees of course were a class of Jews who were super righteous. They interpreted the Law of Moses in a very strict way and were spiritually arrogant in their faith.
Simon didn’t just invite anyone in to his home. He certainly wouldn’t invite someone who might bring dishonor into his home like a Gentile or a Jew (who might be a hated Tax Collector working for the Romans) or an unclean leper or perhaps even worse… a prostitute.
Also Simon probably expected something in return… a favor by Jesus, maybe some miracle or anything like that which would bring honor to his house.
When Simon invited Jesus into his home he neglected something. He didn’t give Jesus water to wash his feet, he didn’t greet him with affection and he didn’t anoint Jesus’ head with any aromatic oils. These things may not be our custom today but they were back then and Jesus noticed the lack of hospitality and said nothing.
Simon is delighted to host Jesus and then a woman who was a known sinner walked into his house. Keep in mind that the city of Nain was a small town and in small towns everyone knows everyone else. This woman was probably guilty of some sexual sin, perhaps a prostitute and as such would not even be allowed in the Synagogue which was the social/religious center of every town. Her name is not given, but let’s call her Rachel… Rachel the prostitute.
Rachel knew who she was and that she would not be welcomed in Simon’s home. Rachel, probably with great temerity, entered Simon’s home. She didn’t intend to eat but just wanted to honor Jesus with an aromatic ointment.
And as she entered she started crying. When she was a little girl she never dreamed of being a prostitute. Perhaps circumstance had forced her into that occupation but she hated it and she hated herself every time a Jew made a wide berth around her on the sidewalk or when the whole village (except her and others like her) were gathered together in the synagogue... and she cried. She noticed Jesus’ feet were dirty so she washed Jesus’ feet with the only thing she had… her tears and dried his feet with the only thing she had… her hair. She kissed his feet and anointed them with the aromatic oil.
Simon sees in this scene the attention he deserved being directed on Rachel and as a true product of his religious upbringing mentally condemned Jesus for allowing Rachel the prostitute to even touch him.
Jesus of course could read minds but you didn’t really need that unique gift to figure out what was going on in Simon’s head and then Jesus identified for Simon and Rachel that there were two sinners in the room… Simon who was inhospitable and of course Rachel.
Sometimes we get so busy looking at others and the sin that rules their lives that we fail to look inwardly and see the sin that we own which is by comparisons sake small but which Jesus still holds us accountable for.
Sometimes because all we can see is the sin of others, we think we are better than them and treat them accordingly and compound our sin.
Jesus said that Rachel’s “faith” had save her because she “loved much” in understanding who she was and in honoring the one who could lift her out of the mess she had made of her life.
Rachel risked the wrath of Simon the Pharisee to reach out to the only hope that she had to reverse the course of her life. Simon was so blinded by Rachel’s great sin that he couldn’t see that he too was a sinner. Let’s open our eyes and see who we are and reach out to Jesus Christ.
The letter to Philemon is about a runaway slave named Onesimus who was owned by Philemon and somehow made it to Rome where the Apostle Paul was imprisoned by the Roman government awaiting trial.
Somewhere along the way Onesimus hears about Jesus Christ and becomes a Christian and a friend and helper of Paul.
This makes me wonder a few things… Paul could have asked/demanded that Philemon free the slave Onesimus or he could have offered to purchase Onesminus or he could have asked Philemon to loan Onesimus to him. Instead he sends Onesimus back to Philemon.
My guess is that if he had done any of these things (besides sending Onesimus back)that Philemon could have felt that he was being taken advantage of. After all Philemon could have had a significant investment in Onesimus especially if Onesimus had a particularly valuable skill set. It might have been, as Paul alluded to, that the slave Onesimus might have stolen from Philemon. All these things have to be considered as possibilities.
So Paul was very careful about how he handled this situation… after all it could have turned out to have a negative impact on the Kingdom. Paul’s handling of this situation demonstrated skill and concern about all parties involved. By sending Onesimus back, Paul demonstrated both Philemon’s legal right to Onesimus and Onesimus’ legal obligation to Philemon. So Paul was acting in a way that dealt honorably with the Law.
It was almost a certainty that Philemon would act honorably towards Onesimus and perhaps even free him. Paul in his writing to Philemon in an understated way reminded Philemon of his obligations to Paul. Presumably Paul converted Philemon to Jesus Christ and perhaps as an Apostle laid hands upon him and imparted some spiritual gift. Philemon was under a tremendous spiritual debt to Paul.
The bottom line is that Paul demonstrated great skill and consideration so that the Kingdom could be elevated and not diminished. What a great lesson… can we do any less?
“Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem.” Romans 15:25
This passage references a special collection taken from Greek Churches to render aid to the church in Jerusalem whose members were suffering from a lack of basic necessities.
This passage is also used as authority to limit the collection taken every Sunday to the needs of Christians only.
I’ve been thinking about this for a while and it has caused me to ponder certain things about the use of these funds… perhaps because I am in a position of leadership and I see a few administrative problems.
- What if A Christian woman is in need of food but her husband and family are not Christians. Maybe the husband is a real scoundrel. Do you release funds to the woman and forbid her to share with her husband?
- What if a Christian family has some starving Muslim neighbors including the cutest little kids you have ever seen and you find out the Christian family has been sharing with those neighbors. Do you admonish them and tell them... that money is Holy money dedicated to God and not to be used to feed the dogs?
- Do the funds released to the Christian family cease to become church funds and now become funds belonging to an individual? If so what happens if you find out they have been using those funds to replace the carpet in their house?
- Why didn’t the Apostles exercise their power of miracles and turn rocks into loaves of bread so we wouldn’t have to deal with these kinds of problems?
- What if the real reason they restricted these funds to Christians was there was not enough to feed the Christians and the non-Christians?
- What if the church had a surplus of funds and all the Christians had been taken care of and there was plenty of money left over…then could we help the starving non-Christians?
I do believe that every interpretation we give a passage has to agree with the theme of the New Testament that Christians both individually and collectively should love God with all their hearts, soul and mind and love their neighbors as themselves. Thanks for thinking with me.
I’ve really been enjoying teaching the middle school class. I guess because for the last I don’t know how many years I’ve been teaching only adults.
I had it in my mind along with the class material to teach them other things… like how to greet people and how to be sociable.
In our day and time kids are intimidated by adults and don’t interact very well. A big reason for that is parents don’t encourage that concept or even discourage it by letting their kids CARRY CELL PHONES AND OTHER HANDHELD ELECTRONIC DEVICES that discourage interaction.
How fortunate then that we had a visitor in class this morning. I took the time to shake hands, introduce myself ask a few engaging questions, etc. Then I asked my students if they noticed what I had just done. Then we went on to reading a scripture and I commented to my students that they had been rude to our guest because no one had offered him a Bible. Then we read out of the lesson book and I commented… failed again! No one had offered him a lesson book or to share a lesson book. We proceeded on and Weston (on his own) passed the visitor a pencil. Boom!!!
I also told them that frequently I see them pass by me at church and not even look at me or say a word. I told them that makes me feel like I don’t even exist that I am invisible and am meaningless in their sight. One of them said they don’t like being the first one to say hello. Jeremy (my assistant teacher) said… someone has to be first!
When I took over the class no one was bringing their Bibles so I made a rule that everyone had to bring their own Bible. Last week I told them that even though they were not adults yet they were going to start acting like adults in my class and bring their Bibles and have their lessons done.
Today I mentioned that in the scriptures Christians are compared to Roman soldiers and I asked them what the sword represented. They didn’t know but I told them the sword is the Word of God (the Bible) and it was an offensive and defensive weapon. We made the point that our sword was our best friend and we keep our best friend with us all the time… we don’t leave it laying around or losing it. We don’t come to Bible class expecting to use some of the swords that are left scattered lying around the room and we don’t borrow a sword. We have our own swords and we cherish them and become intimately familiar with them. Everyone had their sword today.
Today I gave them four points about rules for interpreting the Bible and told them I was going to test them on it. Then I wrote it on the board to not only exercise their ears but also their eyes. Then I pointed out that even though I said I was going to test them on it… no one had written it down. They wasted no time scribbling them down.
Part of my class is to also to challenge their parents. I asked them what they did on the way home from church. Several said they listened to music. So now they have questions to ask their parents on the way home (no more music) like what does hypocrite mean and what is the Latin derivation of the word and can they (their parents) think of any other words that start with “hypo-“
They are also supposed to quiz their parents about rules for interpreting the Bible.
I also used the young visitor as a foil. I told them he could have asked his parents… Where are we going to church tomorrow? His Dad would respond… Parkway. The student could say… I wonder what they are going to be studying in class because I want to be prepared… Dad can you call and find out?
Any way you can see I like to challenge (mess with) them and get the parents more involved. Thanks for entrusting their care with me. I wish you good luck.
The peak period for cattle drives from South Texas to the rail heads in Kansas was in the 1870s. The Vaquero/Cowboys of South Texas would chase down and rope wild cattle in the brush to build a herd. Usually they had to tie off those wild cattle to Mesquite trees and then let them choke down a little until they could be managed.
One of their tools was to take domesticated oxen… steers that had been trained to pull wagons, etc. frequently weighing 2500 pounds or so. The vaqueros would hobble their oxen to those wild steers and turn them loose. Eventually the ox would pull the steer home because they were used to being fed grain corn twice a day… and really liked it
That concept reminds me of this verse…
“In the same way you wives must submit yourselves to your husbands, so that if any of them do not believe God's word, your conduct will win them over to believe. It will not be necessary for you to say a word” (1 Peter 3:1).
Now I’m not saying that a wife is an Ox or that a husband is a wild Steer but what I am saying is that sometimes husbands have certain notions that they need to be trained out of and it doesn’t do any good at all for a wife to continually harp on those notions. The text says that a godly woman can change her husband not by words but by behavior.
By definition that means it’s going to be a time consuming process that requires “patience in well doing”.
You can imagine that 2500 pound Ox hobbled to a 1000 pound steer slowly pulling that beast back to the ranch house where the steer finds out that a diet of corn is actually tastier than just eating grass and mesquite beans.
All I’ve got to say to you wives is keep pulling… you have the advantage because God is on your side and that wild untamed husband of yours will thank you one day (unless you ship him to the railheads in Kansas to be slaughtered… lol).
