Why do you attend the church you do?

As a pastor I seek to grow and develop our church so that we might win some to Christ.

When I began thinking about why people attend a certain church it made me think about my why as well.

First my why changed from not being a Christian to becoming one. Therefore, from that point on the Lord lead me to a church.

Once inside the doors it was the people that keep me coming back. It was not the music, the buildings or the programs or activities, but the people. In particular at age 19 it was a young teenage that kept me coming back.

Now as I fast forward 20 something years ahead I see we live in such a different day. Attending a church as a Christian is a must from a biblical point of view, yet it has become somewhat optional from those who make a profession.

As I think about even the few times we visited strange new churches on vacations as a family it was always the people that we were attracted too. It was ALWAYS about connecting with someone or several. Since Christ is in our, who is the hope of glory it makes sense that we are the attraction or not

Some churches are truly very friendly and people hang around chatting after a service or function while many come and leave as quickly as possible it seems.

As I begin to think about reaching into peoples lives today with a message of the gospel I process several things. One, if they attend a church already or not. If so, I ask more questions to see how close we might be on the same page in Christ and enjoy that common bond as God allows.

Two, If they do not attend or belong to a church or fellowship or do not really have a clear profession of faith, then I look to find some common ground and begin try to begin a relationship without the constraints of Church having to be part of that connection or relationship, even though I will share and invite when the timing I feel is best.

Truly people want to be loved and cared for without expectations. After living in FL for 10 months now I have a number of new and growing contracts. Of those, 4 have attended some sort of church function and meet other people, yet most have not gone much beyond that yet. It takes time, prayer and common interest to win people to Christ. But it especially takes a friendly church environment to keep them as well.
The next time you attend church think about your availability to be connected with someone new. You may not invite someone new, but your friendliness or lack there of could determine if someone who came once will want to come back again.
When was the last time you invited someone new into your home, church, life events or out to grab a coffee or meal?

Let us win the lost and connect with people in truly caring ways.

8 years ago my daughter was on a T- ball team and we connected with one family out of dozens and today they are full members of our last church and serving the Lord with all their hearts.
Let us wins some by our love and friendships .

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

IS God a Vending Machine?

Click here for the Audio Intro

"Thank you for tuning into today's broadcast and we are here to bless you and help you with your breakthrough. Just send your gift of $100.00 or more to our ministry and plant your seed of faith with us today and prepare for your miracle". Change the amount and change the appeal or the product, but it all boils down too send your gift first into some ministry by faith and wait and watch for God to give you what you need. It is a vending machine concept of God and it has polluted the hearts and minds of untold millions.

Where is the faith action of the ministry? Why are they not sending out free CD's, books and Dvd's without strings attached as their seed of faith to hungry and hurting people? This past week 3 people in two days came to our church office for a handout, but they had nothing in hand. In nine months I have filled gas tanks, bought food and given some personal cash to folks. The best one was the guy driving the Jaguar who forgot his wallet on the way to Jacksonville from Lakeland and ran out of gas on his way to the hospital where his 12 year old grandson was dead with his daughter waiting on him tog et there to grieve and comfort one another. It was a great and compelling story and I felt compelled to just give him personal money. So between my associate and I we gave him 20.00 cash to help him. He asked for our address because he was just borrowing it and would send it back. Well. it's been over 40 days now and I have not heard a word.

So this past week two people came in while I was in a meeting and both within 1 hour of each other. Then the third person came the next day and asked for a refrigerator. Yep you got it! This man said he took the bus from 30 minutes away going to different ministries looking for a Frig. I told him I did not have a frig to give him. Then he asked me to ask my congregation for one ( as if they were inside worshiping as we spoke). After I refused his appeals with no, no, no, he asked me what does our church do for people? In essence, what do we give people to help them?

These were good questions, but his assumption was that churches were suppose to be equipped for helping people with whatever they needed to solve their problems. If I had followed his desires to the end exactly as he requested I would have needed several hours time, resources and a truck to fulfill his request of "The church". Well, I did not have a frig or a truck or time to go figure it out at the moment. So he left shaking his head is disbelief that I could even consider myself a pastor representing a church without dropping everything to solve his problem.

Where did he get that kind of understanding of God from? Where happened to personal responsibility? Has Television evangelism and broadcasting assisted a culture to perceive that God is a vending machine? The man wanting a refrigerator expected, yet he had nothing to give and never offered any type of faith action like all the TV preachers expect. He just asked and did not receive.

I’ve been a believer since 1981. As a young man I was discipled in the Lord in a local church. It was in the local church that I was sanctified and filled with the Holy Spirit. It was in and through the local church that I received my call to ministry and was baptized and preached my first sermon. In those early years of my life I never really paid much attention as to why people were preaching on TV or even what they had to say or what they wanted. Today the airwaves are full of preachers of which I believe are mostly charlatans doing more damage to the cause of Christ while propagating a vending machine theology of God.

Lets define what a charlatan is before we move ahead to much more: a charlatan is a person practicing quackery or some similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, fame or other advantages via some form of pretence or deception.

In 2009 there are more programs on TV, radio, cable and satellite then I could ever possibly watch or consume. This does not even include the countless programs that are now broadcasting on the internet and radio.

The other day I was surfing the web and ended up on a website about prayer. It was an independent ministry with theological beliefs that included prosperity doctrines. From there I ended up on a directory of hundreds of other ministries with daily or weekly broadcasts. The next thing I knew some preacher was on my laptop screen using scriptures to tell me "the viewer" why I needed to send them money. The scriptural story was true and the preacher seemed genuine, but there was something about the whole process that just rubbed me wrong. It was a vending machine theology message. It was give and then you shall receive.

It was then that I realized this was one of many charlatans on the air/internet using God and scripture over the last 40 years that has appealed to peoples’ emotional and personal problems to get funds for their means whatever they maybe.

We must remind ourselves that giving money to the work of God must fit into scriptural guidelines. In every biblical account whenever anyone was releasing or giving tithes or offerings it was to the local ministry and community. It was all personal and accountable locally. The motive to give to God was obedience and generosity for God's glory not for ones return.

Over the years I have seen very few ministries that I can honestly say would fit the biblical mandate for giving money too. Regardless if they are TV, Radio or internet based, very few truly share a good message of hope without the expectation or desire for anything in return. They almost always ask for support to stay on and keep the ministry going and how your donation is SO NEEDED to continue. One of few I can recall that is so careful to never even ask or suggest giving is the Michael Guido Ministries out of Meter, Ga. Michael just passed away this year at about age 92 and was known for his TV and radio broadcast called “Seed from the Sower”. I personal meet Michael and heard his heart and story in the summer of 2007 while on sabbatical. He never asked for money as it was associated with the gospel. He only asked for prayer requests and the opportunity to help people find Christ.

I eventually signed up on his mailing list and once a month I still get a letter and materials for my spiritual growth and encouragement along with an envelop for any contribution I may desire to give to support his ministry with. There is never even a hint for a suggest amount either.

Regardless of how great a preacher someone is and or even how doctrinally sound they are, I am more convinced then ever that if that local preacher/ ministry is asking you for your money they are a modern day charlatan. I don’t care how many people attend their church or how many books they have written and sold or how many TV programs they have spoken on. I know this may sound harsh, but I am persuaded we have a lot of misguided professing ministers more concerned about getting funds into their own ministry then they are in giving away the message of hope and salvation without price.

Imagine a preacher just saying please request your free CD or DVD. Why are they asking for even a suggested donation? Can they not trust God to supply their needs as they give away the gospel and pay the cost for materials and shipping and handling? Where is the faith of those who are broadcasting the message of hope?

I know Michael Guido operated that way. I recall a story he told about how someone walked into his office and asked if they could write him a check and what his needs were. Since the man asked Michael he shared the need of the ministry. He said a few months later the man walked in and wrote a substantial check and went beyond the original need. Wow imagine that! He never asked for a thing, but just gave and gave and trusted God to meet the needs of the ministry. I am inspired by the life of Michael Guido and I am sickened by the hundreds of charlatans who keep asking for money and becoming even so bold to tell people how much to send.

The saddest part of today's broadcasted ministries is that they are appealing to listeners and viewers according to the needs of the flesh and turning the Holy Gospel message into a means of ungodly gain for self propagation in a day of great self centeredness.

Viewers beware! Everyone watching and listening should go through a criteria process before giving to any ministry. Here are questions you should review the next time you feel compelled to give to a broadcasting ministry.

1. Would my pastor and local church approve of this ministry I am drawn to give too? Why or Why not?

2. I am currently giving locally in obedience to scriptures to my local church without anything in return?

3. What does the broadcasted ministry offer you that your local home church does not?

4. Are you considering giving for what you hope will happen to you later?

5. Does the ministry release its financial records for accountability if requested?

In these last days we are warned in scriptures that many false prophets and false gospels will arise to deceive many. That day is here and many are being led away by charlatan vending machine preachers. Be careful and consider these things before you swallow anything coming at you on those polluted transmission waves.

Are you a Sabbath breaker?

This fall I have been in a sermon series on the 10 commandments. It seems so basic to so many that I think as Christian's we just assume we obey these 10 without a hitch. I think we often jump to the bottom half and say, "well I don't steal, lie or cheat on my spouse and I go to church and believe in God". Well good for you! However, what about the sabbath? Do you truly rest one day a week? If you do rest, is that day of rest given to playing catch up or self indulgence activities? Did you realize that Sunday is now the biggest shopping day of the week. Our culture does not help encourage a sabbath break anymore with the blue laws officially off the books and with a culture that now stays open 24/7 what are Christina to do? Regardless of the culture position His Word and the Holy Scriptures stands firm that man is too take a full day once a week to rest and acknowledge Him in community worship. But do we really observe the Sabbath as God would have us anymore?

As I was reviewing this forth commandment in preparation to preaching on a few Sunday's ago it caused me to really look at what God expected out of us then and now in obedience to this commandment. As I compared it to our American culture today i sensed we really do not observe this command as originally intended for the rest of man. . Do you remember when they had the blue laws? Those laws have since fallen off the law books and the American landscape and it happened right before my own growing up years. However the blue law influence was still in place among Christians for many years after.

We know from the scriptures that the day of rest was made for man and not man made for the sabbath. One of the first violations of working on the sabbath in the Old Testament resulted in the stoning to death of a man who was out picking up sticking ( working ) on the sabbath. Based on that aspect of work we might find more than half our society stoned to death next week.

Truly God loves us and cares about us and has a plan and purpose for our lives and that includes still observing a sabbath rest. That plan involves spending time with Him in worship and rest. When we shut down one day a week to truly rest our bodies, renew our minds and worship God who do you think will benefit? Of course we will benefit when we rest. In a society that now runs 7 full days a week and Sunday being the biggest shopping day of the week it is harder for Christians to truly resist the temptation to stop.

Are you a sabbath observer who rests one day a week to withdraw from it all and worship Almighty God or do you just work,work, work? If or when you do stop is it all about your day off to do as you please or resting in spite of the to do list? Sure is something to think and pray about isn't it? To view the original sermon this article is based on visit www.Delandnaz.tv

Based on Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5

Are you Reaching your Culture for Christ?

Reaching your Culture

This morning I was out for my early prayer walk. Since I live in a very diversified neighborhood I take different path all the time. Within a 10 block radius there is white, black and Hispanic families living and mixed together rather randomly as well ( perhaps the way it should be) . I live in a parsonage and probably among the nicest homes in the neighborhood, but to look at it from the outside it still seems to blend in with the overall area. After living here nine months we have gotten a feel for the neighborhood in general. Before we moved here we spend the last 9 years with just a few neighbors and among them were farms with cows and roosters. Our yard had lots of room and very different from our present home and neighborhood. Within the first few months my teens girls with a few friends got jumped in what seems to have been at the time a random weird thing. They were ok, just rattled some at the time. We use to leave our home and cars unlocked for years including when we were gone for day as well. Never anything stolen in 9 years.
Just last week after leaving our bicycles outside since moving here we had two of them stolen and a third one that was left in our yard a few months ago by who knows who ? So technically 3 bikes stolen. At first I was mad and since then I have released it to the Lord and asked the Lord to provide back a 10 speed for me when He desires. I trust he will work it out. My son's old bike got fixed so he is good to go again and now the bikes stay in the garage.

Anyway, there is reason for the backdrop as it relates to the title. So this morning I'm walking the area going through a poorer area as well as passing a security locked neighborhood. Wow interesting feelings I got as I prayed about reaching people in our area. I got thinking about how to reach people that live around us. First I thought I could go door to door requesting prayer. Then I thought maybe I could just pray over each home as I walk by and then that day send out a postcard or card to the home owners telling them that they were prayed for today. Which led me to think about who does Jesus want us to reach. While I walk and pray I listen to music and the new testament intermingled on my mp3 player. I keep hearing from scripture today the word poor.

I thought yep we got poor folks around the church, but not everyone is poor. Also, I thought we got thieves around our neighborhood, but again not everyone is a thief. I am ok now that our bikes go stolen and I am ok that there are a lot of needy people in my area. After all this is what Jesus came for. He came to help the poor and sick and broken among society. And God has planted us right in the middle of it all. If there ended up being a drive by shootings every night I might feel different, but for now I feel honored to serve Him in my very diversified neighborhood where our church is a beacon of hope.

My biggest challenge is the language barrier as several of my neighbors only speak Spanish, so recently I enrolled in a free Spanish course at the local library hoping to learn to read, speak and understand Espanol some. I know after nine months I am just getting going to reach my local culture, but I am determined to touch lives one at a time as He leads and as I learn my culture. As scripture says, To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.1 Corinthians 9:22

Are you reaching your immediate culture? Do you know your neighbors?

Is the Emergent Church the new Worship War?

My first exposure to the emergent church or emerging church was through a seminary student who was our youth pastor a couple years ago. She went to Kansas City for a couple weeks twice a year. When she came back the second time she told us stories of strange churches of the Nazarene and how catholic like they were in some of there ritual practices. My reaction was to pass it off and I really did not give it much thought at the time.

At the time we were pastoring a church where we did things pretty simple and easy from week to week. Our church would sing unto the Lord, pray, take up an offering, have a special song sung, testimonies, announcements, sermon and altar call to pray. That is the way the church of the Nazarene has always been for me since I got saved in 1981. Sometimes the style of music or types of instruments change at times, but basically you could walk into almost any Nazarene church in North America and find a common style or format. I have found when worshipping with Nazarene’s from Russia to Africa and the Caribbean that there is so much the same with some slight cultural differences. I have always felt at home even on the mission trips I’ve taken.

Then along came the worship wars with the introduction of contemporary music. People have stood on different sides of the fence on what they wanted for music to worship God by. That war still rages in many churches and has split many asunder too. I really wish we could just worship God in spirit and truth and lay aside what we want and just worship. But of course it is just not that simple is it?

As a pastor for the past 20 years now I have come to the conclusion that church growth ultimately is not about the music either, but rather about the relationships and the discipleship. So really in the long run worship wars are another self centered plot of the enemy to divide and conquer.

Now we have this new emergent church movement with the inability to some degree to truly even define it. So in my review of this new challenge to the church let me propose several thoughts on what this movement is and how it is best defined. The best definition I have read among several is: The Emerging or Emergent Church Movement takes its name from the idea that the culture has changed, and a new church should emerge in response. According to gotquestions.org this is the answer to this question: "What is the emerging / emergent church movement?"

Answer: The emerging, or emergent, church movement takes its name from the idea that as culture changes, a new church should emerge in response. In this case, it is a response by various church leaders to the current era of post-modernism. Although post-modernism began in the 1950s, the church didn't really seek to conform to its tenets until the 1990s. Post-modernism can be thought of as dissolution of "cold, hard fact" in favor of "warm, fuzzy subjectivity." The emerging / emergent church movement can be thought of the same way.

So my question to the 1990 change in the church is: Why did we change in the 1990’s and not the 1950’s? My answer: Because we had gradually become less of praying and fasting church and were losing our growth momentum in America. Instead of getting back on our knees, we reverted to other secular means and therefore was birthed the Emergent movement to become more like our falling culture.

According to a paper printed and released within the Church of the Nazarene in May 2008 it defines emerging as: “Emerging catches into one term the global reshaping of how to ‘do church’ in postmodern culture. It has no central offices and it is as varied as evangelicalism itself.”

My response is that the church should always do Church according to the New Testament regardless of what the culture is or becomes. Church is the body of Christ and those who are born into it are to worship and experience the grace of God according to the scriptures. I do realize that culture shapes many aspects of how we live out the Word, yet there must be some common aspects across cultural and time lines that are biblical and spiritually based and consistent.

I believe there are indeed a lot of non biblical things being adopted into the church today through this movement that we do need to be aware of. We need to stick to the Word of God in these last days of great deception. Just as worship styles can digress away from solid biblical worship intentions so can many who emerge with a digressing culture if we are not careful.

I have heard Church bands who are actually playing secular rock songs as worship songs without any change of the lyrics in the attempt to attract non believing seekers and then give them a soft gospel message. For those “cutting edge churches” they are doing whatever to attract the lost and it has become in my opinion more entertainment than God ordained and prayer bathed biblical worship. Numbers of growth do not necessarily equate spiritual conversions and eternal fruit.

My concern for the emerging church is that we are allowing ourselves to become less than what we are called to be in Christ that we might become more in numbers than we currently are by way of the strategy of the flesh. We need to be a people who have a reliance on the power of God through the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

So Emergent’s beware of deception, digression and compromise is this fast falling culture in America. May the Church stand in Holiness regardless of the digressing emergent falling post modern culture of the Americas!

Move in day for my Oldest at MVNU in Ohio

Click this for picture show

From Yellow Pages to Web Pages

Do you have an email address? If you are reading this probably so. Ok, so having an email address is no bigger now, right? Since I started blogging three years ago I have started to receive unexpected and unusual E-mail requests. At first, I was flattered with requests to come preach in Africa, India and other exotic like locations. As I later found out, all these wonderful sincere e-mail requests were ministries asking me to come on my own dime and expense. You know the perception. If you are an American then you are rich. One such minister and I still write back and forth and he has even called me a few times. It’s a genuine friendship now, but I just have not made it to Kenya yet as other pressing expenses and priorities have taken place, plus I have not saved up that many dimes yet!

Well this past spring I received yet another email. This time it was from a land far far away, but it was from people that were only asking for a little local help. They just needed a place to sleep for a few nights when they made their way to Orlando for an International convention that was held this past June. The request seemed simple enough.

It seemed harmless and easy enough at first to reply, “Sure what can I do to help you 53 folks with? Give me a few more details and I will see what I can do.” Well as time progressed, I found myself caring, transporting and arranging more than I ever dreamed of by the end of a full 15 days of hosting people from Papua New Guinea. Of those 15 days 7 of them were days entirely spent in Deland with 29 of the 53 travelers on our grounds. I was spent as they say when it was all over. It was a good spent and I have no regrets, but it was some deal for sure.

Matter of fact since I’ve done it once, I feel I could do it again if needed, but I am certainly not searching the internet looking for people to host again by any means. I could never had done it without the gracious help of my staff, people and those precious ones in the community of Deland, and of course the wonderful grace of God. So many helped in big and small ways. After a couple of days my lovely wife said, “I think ill leave early on that trip to Ohio with the kids as planned, so you can open the house up to the others who are still sleeping on the floor.”. Within hours I had 10 people sleeping in my home. What a time we had! I truly lived life to the fullest with our congregation that week. Our local church will never forgot those people and those special days. Just check out one of those service here! We went to the coast, watched the Deland Suns play ball and so much more. I even took a group of 12 downtown for a cup of coffee on the BLVD one afternoon and of course wal-mart was the destination of preference many times over. Heaven came down when they sang at church and the power of God fell when they prayed.
Ten years ago I could never had imagined so much life and excitement could flow out of simply answering an email over the Internet. On the day they left to the airport I wept as I saw my new friends fly 24 plus hours back around the world to their homes in Papua New Guinea.
In the 47th year of our local churches history we went from yellow pages to web pages for the first time. We now have had visitors from a foreign county as well as from the local area because of web pages. We even have friends and relatives in our congregation who have viewed worship services live over the internet from Key West to Maine. Now that is something this local church probably could never had imagined just a few short months ago. Truly the addition from yellow pages to web pages has expanded our world influence.
Our ministry model of outreach and influence has changed over the last 47 years, but probably not as drastically as what the web pages has brought to this local Nazarene church in 2009. Even to this day there still remain approximately 45% of all churches in North America that do not have web page. Given the choice today I would choice a web page over a yellow page for sure.

We are seeing the results first hand. The emails come in, the phone rings and I get comments from time to time how they found our church online. Who would have ever imagined people from down the street to people around the world finding a local church in the new global phone book called the internet.
I sure am enjoying the transition of how God is using the new phone book to build His kingdom among us in Deland.