by Aaron Summers | Oct 9, 2013
Here’s the church and here’s the steeple.
Open the doors and see all the people.
Do you remember that little rhyme? Do you remember the hand motions?
It seems we have lost a few fingers these days! All across America there is a decline in church attendance. Conferences, seminars, podcasts, books, and more have been developed to help us overcome this problem. We offer various styles and times. We offer suits or sandals. We offer serenity and sanctity. However, the decline is still occurring. Sure there are pockets of places where a church is growing wildly, but a closer look would likely reveal that the local churches around are wildly declining too. In total, there is still decline.
Jesus told the following story.
“A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’” — Luke 14:16-24
When you take a look at the reasons for people not coming to event, they are oddly familiar.
1. Each had good intentions but did not go. The invitation went out in plenty of time. Each of these mentioned stated they would be there since the Master assumed their attendance. These responders accepted the invitation and had every intention of going, but they did not. Good intentions do not produce good results without better involvement. Do you realize that you have a standing invitation to church every week? Do you realize that by your faith in Christ you have already accepted the invitation to be a part of His church that gathers in a local building to praise and glorify God? Do you get to Friday and Saturday with every good intention of getting to church but….just….don’t?
2. Each had, seemingly, legitimate reasons. When the servant arrived to tell them it is time each person had a reason for not going. One had business/work that had to be done. How often do we let work get in the way of gathering with God’s people where he planted you? One had personal issues to deal with. We often acquire possessions that wind up possessing us. That boat, toy, or other item seems to scream for attention. There will be other times. The church will always be there. Let’s go! One had family reasons. It amazes me how much a toddler can disrupt two grown, intelligent human beings! When family comes to town, the time rolls around, and we turn down the invitation. The extended family didn’t want to go…. Do you think they will rob you blind if you’re gone? Leave them in bed and get to church.
3. None seemed to understand the lasting effects. When children grow up and flake out of church and Christianity, parents by the dozen don’t understand. I often hear, “I raised them in church.” Did you? Getting around to church once a month or so does not constitute raising them in church. Dropping them off while you go shopping, napping, or doing who knows what, does not count as raising them in church. One chose what was more pressing. One chose what was more convenient. One chose what was more interesting. Church attendance is not sacramental, but it is certainly developmental. The discipline of attendance is part of the cost of discipleship. In addition, serving in the local church develops your spiritual life. Each of these had something else to do and chose to do that other thing. What other thing is Satan tempting you to do instead?
The best things in life are never free. Studying the Bible with other believers is not always convenient or comfortable, but it is necessary. Worship with other believers is not always easy or your style , but it is necessary. Jesus is building His church. He’s been wondering where you have been.
by Aaron Summers | Sep 16, 2013
I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this statement, “I don’t have to go to church. I can worship God anywhere.”
They are right. You can bask in the glory of God wherever you stand. You can praise God wherever you go. You can read your Bible anywhere.
I have friends who seem to find themselves in the Church of the Great Outdoors during hunting and fishing season. When the air temperature is just right and the deer, duck, pheasant, or fish are ripe for the taking. Usually, I hear people say they worship God in the blind, stand or boat.
Other people suggest that church is completely unnecessary, while others say it is irrelevant. Sadly, those accusations are sometimes true. However, we do not usually take advantage of those moments. People are focused on the hunt, not bowing to worship God. People get too busy throwing back a cold one that they forget to throw back their lives to The One in submission and worship.
But church is different. It is to be a place of refuge and focus. We don’t call it a sanctuary without reason. The place where we gather is just a big room, but the reason we gather is bigger than the universe. A large gathering of people for one purpose meets. Our focus is on the One True God. Our hearts come into alignment. Our minds clear of all other thoughts except for God.
At least that is what we are supposed to do. Meeting God in this way is important. We find an early example in Leviticus:
“If any native Israelite sacrifices a bull or a lamb or a goat anywhere inside or outside the camp instead of bringing it to the entrance of the Tabernacle to present it as an offering to the Lord, that person will be as guilty as a murderer. Such a person has shed blood and will be cut off from the community. The purpose of this rule is to stop the Israelites from sacrificing animals in the open fields. It will ensure that they bring their sacrifices to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle, so he can present them to the Lord as peace offerings. Then the priest will be able to splatter the blood against the Lord’s altar at the entrance of the Tabernacle, and he will burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. The people must no longer be unfaithful to the Lord by offering sacrifices to the goat idols. This is a permanent law for them, to be observed from generation to generation” (Lev.17:3-7).
God instructs the people that it is unlawful to try to shortcut worship. In God’s eyes, it is not enough to just have some service at the rodeo, home show, golf course, or duck blind. It is not enough to rationalize that we are too busy to leave what we are doing in order to go to church. It is not enough to say that the family altar will do.
God is serious about church ,and so should we. Going to church reveals honor and obedience to God. Going to church reveals a submission to God more than self.
Do as God prescribed for the priests. Be cleansed. Be prepared. Be in attendance. Be blessed.
by Aaron Summers | Aug 27, 2013
I like the routine of the school year. Being a parent to two elementary kids, I enjoy the Summer fun but prefer the routine of the school year. However, by Friday I do enjoy going out to dinner or a football game or something else. Being on Facebook and Twitter, I am aware of so many who also enjoy getting out on the weekends. The possibilities are endless and sometimes life-altering. Before you stop reading, please be aware that adults as well as youth deal with many of these issues.
- The party that was stopped by police.
- The drink that put you over the edge and you wrecked your car.
- That Xanax to help you feel better only caused you more pain.
- The condom that broke and now your pregnant.
- The abortion you thought would fix everything still haunts you today.
- The fight with your parents that you regret.
- The cutting scars you still see.
- The throat problems because of throwing up dinner for a certain weight/skinny jean size.
- The mouth cancer you will get from dipping.
All of these things are possible outcomes to desiring a “get-a-way” on the weekends or even everyday habits because of the desire to be noticed or fit-in. Here are a few thoughts to help you make it the best weekend ever!
Check your feelings with God. James writes, “14But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” If we do not stop and think before acting we are going to end up in a place we don’t want and feel we cannot escape. Stop and think before acting. Check in with God.
Stay out of vulnerable situations. I worked the drive-thru window and as I handed out the food, I was invited to a certain party. The thought went through my mind that I could go but would not drink. I could act as the designated driver. I said, “Not this time.” Why? Because I knew it would be better to stay away than put myself in a vulnerable situation. I knew this one girl’s reputation and I was feeling it. I thought about all the fun we could have if we went out. I went to youth group instead not because it was so much fun, but because I needed to stay out of vulnerable situation. If you can’t afford the food or shoes do not go in. If you can’t just look then don’t look at all. If you can’t afford the payment don’t go on the car lot. It is better to stay above reproach and out of vulnerable situations.
There are no quick fixes. Bad habits do not go down easily. It will take time, effort, and hard work. Choosing to go against what your mind and body have grown accustomed to is not easy. Calling it a bad habit is just the nice way of saying you have an addiction. You have to want to quit. No matter the pleasure you have in the habit, if it causes you pain it must stop. The pain may not be as bad as the pleasure is good, so you will need to make hard choices. It will take a series of short goals to get to a permanent one.
Keep a long view approach. This is so important to remember. Do you have a life goal? As kids we talked about what we wanted to be when we grew up. Often we forget about those long-term goals because of short-term desires. Countless people have sacrificed their long-term goal on the altar of passion and desire. They got pregnant, incarcerated, or wrecked because of losing sight of the long-term goals. Consider today what you want people to say about you at your funeral. Start working now toward being that person. Every decision counts.
Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Psalm 37:3
by Aaron Summers | Aug 12, 2013
“Stop stealing my dream!” an older man said one day. He had become so frustrated that he let go of his restraints and said this to a crowd of younger workers. He had noticed an unhealthy decline in the work ethic of each successive generation. He had also noted that as the desire to work hard decreased the idea of entitlement increased. At the time of this final straw moment the man was looking out at those who would be the age of his grandchildren.
George had come to this country with nothing in his pocket but a handful of pluck and the promise of the American dream. Ted Ownby in his 1999 work American Dreams in Mississippi: Consumers, Poverty, and Culture 1830-1998 (University of North Carolina Press, 1999), wrote of four dreams George and countless others would have had when arriving on the eastern shores of America.
The first was the “Dream of Abundance” offering a cornucopia of material goods to all Americans, making them proud to be the richest society on earth. The second was the “Dream of a Democracy of Goods” whereby everyone had access to the same products regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or class, thereby challenging the aristocratic norms of the rest of the world whereby only the rich or well-connected are granted access to luxury. The “Dream of Freedom of Choice” with its ever expanding variety of good allowed people to fashion their own particular lifestyle. Finally, the “Dream of Novelty”, in which ever-changing fashions, new models, and unexpected new products broadened the consumer experience in terms of purchasing skills and awareness of the market, and challenged the conservatism of traditional society and culture, and even politics.
George had worked hard and long hours to establish his business, build his home, and secure a future for his family. Now he looked around and saw that it was being taken for granted. The new generation of laborers simply wanted a paycheck without the associated work. They immediately wanted the homes it took their parents years to acquire, and the luxuries it took a lifetime to attain. George notes the following:
1. No one appears to have a career any longer. He had started in a business and stayed until the day he retired in the same job. It seems today that people have a job but are not committed to seeing it through. They will chase the fantasy of money and luxury through the promise of new jobs and opportunities.
2. There is a reduction in work effort and quality. George understood he was cut from a different cloth, so to speak. However, workers today complain on Mondays about coming to work and day-dream on Fridays as they watch the clock for quitting time. The work week has gone from 5 days to 3 days.
3. Misappropriation of time. So many workers today spend much time trying to do one of two things. The first deals with the attempt to find new and different ways to accomplish the task at hand instead of doing the task at hand. George thought, “If the same effort was spent just doing the work as is spent trying to get out of the work we could take over the industry.” Secondly, so much of the day was wasted as he watched the cell phones and computers being used for personal communication taking away from the work being done. People have a difficult time focusing and concentrating as the ring tones and buzzers keep stealing their attention.
At the next company meeting, George read two verses of scripture and began to gently address the issues at hand. He spoke on conviction and commitment, effort and ethic, and focus and attention. He wasn’t sure who listened, but he would reward those who, through their behavior, revealed they did.
The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks sense.
Proverbs 12:11
The slacker craves, yet has nothing, but the diligent is fully satisfied.
Proverbs 13:4
by Aaron Summers | Jul 11, 2013
We recently celebrated Independence Day. Typically, this is a day of family, friends, and the celebration of freedom. Communities will gather around parades and have firework shows in the evening. Families will spend the day together as many have the day off. On this day we celebrate our freedom. We harken back to that auspicious day when the colonists declared their independence from the tyranny of the British. I did a little research and discovered a few things.
1. The struggle for freedom started long before the declaration occurred. The “shot heard around the world” happened 15 months earlier on April 19, 1775 in Lexington. I often see that people who make a declaration about Christ have struggled with the concept for a while. Normally it does not just happen. Most of us go back and pinpoint a specific place or time where the decision was made much like our declaration as a country. However, if we were honest, God’s Spirit had already been at work in our lives. We had a feeling of frustration, guilt, shame, or just tired of having a loser life on the inside. The battle began long before the actual declaration.
2. The day of declaration was just the beginning. On July 4, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was ratified by Congress. As far as we were concerned it was a done deal. We drafted it. We adjusted it. We declared it. However, the current controller was not happy with this decision. The day of declaration was not the end but the beginning. Followers of Christ look back at a place or time when they turned their lives over to God’s control. Church people will call this “getting saved” or “born again”. These statements are true but are misunderstand at times. The moment I made a declaration of faith in Christ was the day I was free on a spiritual and eternal level. However, the physical results would take a while to become real. Habits, addictions, and lifestyle patterns that had years of sediment in my life would not go away easily. As long as I breathe there will be a struggle to maintain the freedom I declared 30 years ago!
3. The Revolutionary War lasted for 5-7 years after the moment of declaration. Although Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown in the Fall of 1781 marked the end of the Revolutionary War, minor battles between the British and the colonists continued for another two years. Finally, in February of 1783 George III issued his Proclamation of Cessation of Hostilities, culminating in the Peace Treaty of 1783. Signed in Paris on September 3, 1783, the agreement — also known as the Paris Peace Treaty — formally ended the United States War for Independence. The colonists had to fight for their freedom. Many people died in the battles. Some battles were won gloriously and some battles were lost horribly. I find in our lives that the same is true. You will win some battles in your Christian walk. At times you will lose some battles. We must keep our eye on the final peace treaty to come at the Judgment Seat of God. According to one site there were 22 major battles (If I counted right!). We did not win every one of those, but we did win the war.
4. Paris Peace Treaty of 1783. This marked the official end to the war. The colonists would be officially free to live under new law after this moment. The British would relinquish all holds and control from this point forward. So often, we want our declaration day to be the day of the peace treaty. While it is true we have gained peace with God on that day of faith, we have also awakened a sleeping giant in Satan who will wage war until the end. You will fight battles until that day. Satan will find your weak points and attempt to divide and conquer you. While our eternal security is in place, we cannot just wimp out on the battles. Freedom today is available but must be fought for by the power and presence of Jesus Christ. The current struggles of alcohol, marijuana, sex, pornography, illicit drugs or battles we must fight. In addition, there will be battles for time, family, interests, and commitment. These may be lesser known battles but are just as dangerous.
Freedom is a reality but is one that is acquired not automatically given. We struggle to become free. We finally declare our freedom and ally with the right partner. This is not where freedom is won. Freedom is won through a series of battles until the Peace Treaty is signed. Our lives as followers of Christ will be a series of battles until Jesus returns. Focus on the big picture but fight in the present battle. You may lose a battle here and there. In these moments we cannot simply lay down our arms and give up. We must stand and fight in the power and strength of the Spirit and Scripture. Fight on. Fight long. The war belongs to the Lord!
21 So I discover this principle: When I want to do what is good, evil is with me.
22 For in my inner self I joyfully agree with God’s law.
23 But I see a different law in the parts of my body,
waging war against the law of my mind
and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body.
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body?
25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 7:21-25 (HCSB)