Guns in Church

In Arkansas it is now legal to carry hand guns in church. Glad I don't preach in Arkansas. Too much pressure on me to perform. What if he doesn't like my jokes? What if he decides he just doesn't like me. Too much pressure for me. Next we will hear that my brothers in ministry in Arkansas will start packing just in case. It's all a little too much for me. 

Using the Internet Effectively in the Kingdom

I'm not talking about the future. I have found in my present ministry that the internet has been helpful in some areas and pretty useless in others. Here are my personal observations.

1. We get more visitors at church from our website than anything else. That probably has more to do with the fact that most people moving into our area are young adults looking to get into the movie and TV industry. They use the internet almost exclusively to find their way in the world. So, when they look for a church, they do a web search and our website comes up pretty close to the top of any list. We can manipulate that a bit with Google but not much. Google "Glendale Church" and see what comes up. The results from our website, at such a nominal cost, more than justify it as an effective tool.

2. Private email list of all members. I maintain an email list that people voluntarily get on to. No one else has this list. Not the elders or the office. I use it to communicate with the church at least twice a week. I get more positive feedback from this one ministry that all the sermons I preach. If anything of significance occurs within our church, most of our members know about it within a hour or so. We do have some in the church who do not have email and so we mail out a summary in the middle of the week for them. 

I have tried to use the internet for other things but have found it not very effective in these areas. 

1. Teaching. I post all our messages on our website but I know that they are rarely listened to. I'm not going to stop because only takes me 15 minutes to do this and I live in hope that maybe one day this archive may actually be helpful.

2. Persuading. You can argue on a blog or Facebook page until Jesus comes and you will always get the same result. Your point of view will not advance and in the end all you have done is given the crazies (and there are a lot) out there a platform to spew their tragic beliefs. 

3. Connecting with the lost who are not seeking. You have some chance with seekers but the ones that are not will not end up on your web page and if they do they bounce out of there as quick as they can. 

OK, I have raved on enough. Ranted, more like it. But it's my blog and I will cry if I want to.

Newsweek Christianity

I was reading the Feb 16 edition of Newsweek and couple of things made me think.

There was an article saying that more people were going into full time ministry with churches as a result of the economic downturn. Not sure what to do with that. But, here goes. Full time ministry is not a career choice. It is not a profession that you choose. It chooses you or rather God chooses. Face it. It has no appeal. Low income. Maximum responsibility. Little professional support. Often scapegoat for all the ills of the church. What is there about this job that a rational person would look at think that this is the way to succeed in life? Nothing. However, when God chooses you for it, there is nothing else you even want to do. And if there is, you better go do, because you can't do this job with anything less than a foundational belief that you are obeying your Father.

The other article was about the fact that blogs are losing their popularity. Didn't matter much to me because mine was never popular except to me. It is my therapy, and occasional at best. However it did reinforce my belief that the patterns of communication in the 21st century continue to change and if Christians are going to keep the message of Jesus in the communication channels of this present world we need to stay up to date. More on this in my next post.

SoCal Ministers

One thing I noticed when I got to Glendale, CA, was that the Los Angeles ministers of our churches (at least our white ones) didn't get together much. Others were started to feel the need for a group of like minded leaders to help encourage and support each other. We had a few meetings over the past 12 months and they have all been helpful and encouraging to me. 

Next one is Feb 17 and it is devoted to prayer and some lunch. Can't have a meeting without food, can we? Hollywood Church of Christ is hosting the event at 11:30. 

Devoted to prayer. Now there's a novel idea. We spend so much time telling God what we are doing or going to do and asking Him to bless it. Maybe we should be listening to God tell us what He is doing and will be doing and ask Him to get us working with him.

I'm Back

I must admit I have been neglecting my blog. Facebook has had me in its seductive tentacles for a while now. However there are some things that it can't do, and so I am returned the old reliable blog.

2009 has begun really well at the Glendale Church where I work. The upgrade on the auditorium has been finished. Next Sunday we have a big visitor's day to celebrate its completion and dedicate and ourselves once again to God's glory. I really am looking forward to it. 

I began teaching a class on Evangelism. After 30 years of study and practice in this area you would think I would have developed some confidence and expertise in this area. However, the one I have learned is that no one is an expert in evangelism. If they think they are, they are just salesman who have closed a lot of sales. God is good and patient.