Now Reading

He'll forgive me anyway
'the devastating life of marshmallow grace
by
Steve HalliDay

This past week

This past week I read two things a book and article that I thought were very encouraging , the first was a book titled: Experiencing Prayer with Jesus by
henry & Norman Blackaby.
this was a quick read book, and very insightful on prayer, especially as I am getting to Chapter of 6 of Matthew in my ongoing sermon serious from the sermon on the mount.
The second thing I read this week that gave me hope as a rural pastor was an article I herd mentioned on the way of the master radio station- from USA Today

Dissatisfaction, yearning make churchgoers switch

By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY

The faithful are restless, a new study of Protestant churchgoers suggests.

They're
switching from church to church, powered by a mix of dissatisfaction
and yearning, according to the study by LifeWay Research. The
organization is part of the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist
Convention, the nation's largest Protestant denomination.

Most
of the switchers who changed their house of worship without making a
residential move (58%) say their old church failed to engage their
faith, or put their talents to work, or it seemed hypocritical or
judgmental.

But 42% of the people say they
switched because another church offered more appealing doctrines and
preaching or the preacher and church members' faith seemed more
"authentic."

"We
may believe in the same doctrine, the same God and study the same
Bible, but we are also imperfect human beings who mess up, who are not
always living out those beliefs," says Scott McConnell, associate
director of LifeWay Research. He adds in the rise of "consumerism and
narcissism" — when people expect to customize every experience to
personal taste.

More than half (54%) of
switchers changed denominations as well. Fewer than half (44%) said
denomination was an important factor in choosing a new church.

The
study, conducted in December, surveyed 632 Protestant adults who said
they switched churches. For findings on the 415 people who had not made
a residential move, the margin of error is plus or minus 3.9 percentage
points.

The study follows LifeWay's 2006 research on 469 "formerly churched" Protestants who quit church altogether.

Of the switchers, 76% call themselves "devout Christians." Only 19% of the quitters said the same.

The nation's largest denomination, the Roman Catholic Church, sees similar trends.

"The
boundaries that once kept people in one faith, one church, have become
more permeable," says Mary Gautier of the Center for Applied Research
in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.

The
number of new converts to Catholicism leveled off at about 150,000 a
year for the past decade, while immigration from Catholic countries in
Latin America, Asia and Africa has pushed the tally of U.S. Roman
Catholics to 64 million. But the church has no mechanism for tracking
who washes out of the pews unless they've died, been excommunicated or
publicly renounced their faith.

"Catholics are very sticky. They may not go to church but they still stick to that identification," Gautier says.

Although
the LifeWay research finds most switchers move to larger churches,
don't blame megachurches for poaching the sheep, says Scott Thumma of
Hartford Theological Seminary, author of an upcoming book, Beyond Megachurch Myths, based on several studies of churches.

"The
1,200 or so megachurches (defined as churches where 2,000 or more
people attend weekend worship) are only one-half of 1% of all U.S.
churches and account for only 5% of all weekend worship attenders,"
Thumma says.

"And my sense, after years of
examining megachurches, is that 80% of the people who join, including
those who go through new member classes, are gone within the first two
years."

Says Brad Waggoner, LifeWay's vice
president of research and ministry development: "There's no simple
answer why people are so restless."

Decades
ago, American culture supported church loyalty out of respect for the
church, obligation to family, or social expectations. Now, he says,
that culture has shifted.

Waggoner also sees
other factors at work, such as increased skepticism or cynicism in the
wake of clergy sexual abuse or financial scandals. And some are turned
off by divisiveness in denominations over doctrine and practice, he
says.

The Southern Baptist Convention, he
says, still feels the effect of a revolution in leadership in the 1980s
that restored theological conservatives to power. The Episcopal Church
is struggling now with dissention over views of the Bible and the role
of gay clergy.

Though individual churches and
pastors can't erase those overarching concerns, the survey suggests
there is a great deal they can change or do to stem the restless tide
of switchers and dropouts, Waggoner says.

"We have a biblical responsibility to care for every person in our flock."

Another Pastor and discussed this article with great hope in that - perhaps if USA Today is right then our better days are around the corner !

********
Not only Have I read this week, but it started off to a great week on the past Sunday night when with two other church's we shared a combined service , where us Three pastors spoke for 10 min. on the Trinity, being Trinity sunday
Bill who retires in less than a month Spoke on the Father, I had the Son and Reg took the Holy Spirit.
It was a great time that was served up by really good food!
But what amazed me was the Aged saint who said she never herd of the Trinity preached on Before. Assumed but never Preached on, how can we leave out such important Doctrinal Truths especially as it makes number one as what we believe in the discipline.
What have we preached - if not doctrines such as the Trinity?
I have a sneaky idea that over time we have only concentrated on specific Wesleyan doctrines to sadly leave our people mel-nourished as to the Whole Counsel of God. Yes ! and even in my church, if I mention one specific word - there are alarming sounds of Amen, but to every thing else ( as we preach through the sermon on the mount covering so many issues of godly living) there is silence.
What's wrong with this ?

Later

Now Reading

the Holiness of God
by RC Sproul

Now Reading

Church on the Rise why I am not a "purpose-driven" Pastor by Larry DeBruyn

My New Favorite Food !!!

This is what we call in Yarmouth a Lobster Poutine. And it's My new favorite !

NOW READING....

I have two books on the go, these days.

The first is by Jerry Bridges " The practice of Godliness"

The second one I know will take longer to read is the
Institutes of the Christian Religion volume 1 by Calvin.

A few thoughts ..

I have been reading through the bible faithfully every day and today I started 2 Kings, the plan I have is book by book, which I enjoy and using a prayer book from the Anglican church given to me by a friend i have been using its morning and evening readings in the Psalms which again I enjoy!
But as I Ipod daily a preacher who is working through the book of Ephesians, I have felt hungry for Paul's words , so this week I Have started just reading through Ephesians , in its entirety, and as I am reading through My ESV Bible I have noticed over the years that I have repeatedly KEPT the same habit, of underlining all the sin passages and the what not to due passages.
And as I think about this Now I have missed for too long , what God has provided and what He wants me to do . In other words I am finding grace.

Later

Saw this Today....

The Christian who is not committed to a group of other believers for praying, sharing, and serving, so that he is known, as he knows others, is not an obedient Christian. He is not in the will of God. However vocal he may be in his theology, he is not obeying the Lord. ~ Ray Ortland

Now Reading..

Putting a Face on Grace



by: Richard Blackaby

My Neighbor

My Neighbor is burning grass as I blog. It amazes me that while we have no snow there are others who have Mountains of snow. I guess its perspective on how you see it all. But on this side I think I like it this way a lot better.

Today I tried to chase down a lady at the hospital for a pastoral call, but here name wasn't on the clergy list, the information ladies list nor on the admitting person's list.
So I called a friend and found out it was on the undertakers list. I have never meet the lady but she has been regularly requested for prayer. And here lies one off the (for Me) downers of ministry being too late. But probably to late eternally which was more important and heart breaking.

I was able to once again this year take our mid week group deeper into the profound debts of this week . We studied Palm Sunday , and again I am amazed at how little we all really know about the important facts of our spiritual life. We are so superficial just knowing enough to sound religious but not enough to defend our faith.

Now The reason the word superficial is on my mind , is that in our monthly ministers meeting( zone)
we were asked if the church has become to superficial in our world. (Good question) Well I am not sure what some were thinking in their answers , but they kinda of proved the point. They could only make presumptions and a lot of 'you knows' and 'they's' I think had the apostles preached a 'you know' and a 'they' along with a host of other hunch statements who would of listened ?
So I am reminded that I myself need to make sure I am not a superficial husband,dad,pastor, son,brother, and friend.

later


I am now reading ...

Basic Christianity by John r.w. Stott
I know its not new, and while I hadn't read it, there are two reasons for reading it.
The price was right a quarter, and its a apologetic book.

Now raeding

I try to keep two books on the go... one fiction and one nonfiction.

The fiction book I just picked up Monday at used book store and started today is....

The Scorpion's Gate by Richard A. Clarke.

Later

Farewell to Mr. Rockwood

Perry F. Rockwood, radio pastor and founder of Peoples Gospel Hour, dead at 90
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Published Monday March 10th, 2008

HALIFAX - Perry F. Rockwood, a pastor whose weekly radio sermon, the Peoples Gospel Hour, has been heard around the world has died in Halifax at the age of 90.

Rockwood, who was born in New Glasgow, N.S., died Friday in hospital after a brief illness, about two weeks shy of his 91st birthday.

Ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1943, Rockwood suffered a bitter break from the church a few years later after charging the faith's leaders with apostasy during a four-sermon series.

The split made front-page news across Canada.

The fundamentalist preacher soon founded a radio program called the Peoples Gospel Hour, which first aired Sept. 5, 1947, on CKCL Radio based in Truro, N.S.

Aside from that program, which airs Sundays, Rockwood's project has grown to include Monday through Friday radio broadcasts and the publication of religious booklets.

His radio programs have been heard on stations in Canada, the United States and throughout the world, including Africa, Asia and Europe.

Rockwood also founded and served as the pastor of the Missionary Bible Church in Halifax.

During the Pope's visit to the region in 1984, Rockwood joined some 50 other people in a small parking lot behind the church to speak out against the Pope, the Roman Catholic Church and the sacraments.

Rockwood was to be buried Tuesday in Halifax following a funeral service.

Now reading

I am now reading a book titled:
The Cross he Bore by Frederick S Leahy.

I picked up this jem from a baptist church in the area that has a book store in it. Not much but the books they carry are treasures most are reform in their theology. and it was here I picked up this book, so as I started reading it last night I googled the authors name and found he passed away January 4 , 2006. His Obituary is amazing he was born in 1922.
He pastored only three congregations till he retired in 1988. He was noted as an avid reader and an author himself.

To me it's godly men like this, that inspire me. Not the Televangelist who occupy TV with their foolishness and softened gospel, but Men who preached the word in season and out of season .
Men with depth to their message for they knew whom they spoke off.
Men who could write more in a three page chapter, than those who write a 300 page book and say nothing.

Later

Reading this week

A price for a people:

The meaning of Christ's Death

By Tom Wells

I dream

The words I dream was the beginning statement for a bunch of poems I read today at a local elementary school while waiting for my daughter.
Whatever grade these poems/stories came from were interesting while I can't remember them all I do remember a few.
* I dream off a world with no beer, so people won't drive drunk.
* I dream off a world with no animal cruelty (this was repeated a lot in the posters)
* I dream off ....

I am glad to see the kids have dreams, I think I'll give this as home work for my mid week group.
to see how they fare as mostly seniors.

Well Sunday is past and i am glad for I have been preaching through the sermon on the mount and this week we came to Divorce, so as I am working through this passage in small bits the idea came to me, I'll give some George Barna quotes and show how sadly the church has become victims of this sin, then to keep things moving i read the Wesleyan church position on it from our articles of religion then moved on to the section on oaths.
Where I wanted the people to see the value of their words and that we are constantly under the listening ear of God, hopefully we are working on it.

And Yesterday (Monday) I got my mid week lesson prepared, and decided for March to switch from the sermon on the mount and prepare for another mount - Calvary.
So using a book(used) I picked up a month ago LENTEN-EASTER SOURCE -BOOK from their list of 100 topics and text for lent choose mine for the week, " If Jesus had not come" John 15:22
the challenge comes now to take this title and give it a body. Which I enjoy.

Later

Farewell for now to a Great Christian Rocker

Larry Norman

4/8/47 - 2/24/08

Hockey People

This weekend will end our complimentary tickets for the Maritime Mariners in the MJAHL hockey league, its been great to have the tickets, till the previous owner (who gave us the tickets) was forced to sell the team and give up his team that he planned to develop, so goes business some win and some get burned.
Well for the season we have sat by the same people every game.
Which is cool! Seeing how people react week after week. [ kinda like church lol ]
The man on my left never talks the whole game you would never know he was there. ( the kind of guy I like sitting by) then there is the two older ladies to my right who have the two isle seats, which once they park , they don't like to move - even stand so you can get by.
And when they do stand up to let us pass by, they always make their thoughts known as we go by getting to our seats, but it's worse when our kids go back and forth they are nasty in their comments.
When you take the end seat be prepared to move.
It's funny though that between the second and third period my wife and I move quickly because that's when they leave their seats so really for the season we have been held hostage.
Then there's the family that sits in front of us -parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts nice people, sons and daughter in laws. They are polite and make conversation , and even take pic's and put them on face book for us to see.
Then the people behind us who are involved with the team as investors, event coordinators, billets for the team players and great hockey fans.
And there's the seat spotters , who move closer and closer to the game by sitting in un occupied seats, And man can that guy yell, I'm sure he is heard in New Found land at every game, he's loud, rude and knows it all about hockey, when the music plays he sings with it . I know he is enjoying the game in his own unique way, but man it hurts the old ears ( a sign of my turning old:( )
Then there was the guy who I say was a senior that was at the Second hockey game of his life , and in good fun he cheered for the opposing team when they scored. To this he was booed by " loyal fans of Yarmouth"
I liked that Guy he had a great spirit.

So now that our tickets have run out , our family will have to find a new way filling up the weekends , so we can have fun.

But while my season tickets are gone I still have my son's team to watch and cheer for , and just yesterday i learned my daughter is on the school basketball team so it will be off to watch her play.

The joys of kids these days,

Later

Todays sunrise

Ps. 55:17 Evening, and morning, and at noon,

will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.

Today's quote

Preaching
is effective as long as the preacher expects something to happen—not
because of the sermon, not even because of the preacher, but because of
God.

— John E. Hines

Tuesday

Here it is just about mid Feb.and the winter is going and fishing season is coming up quick, so to help me pass the time I am reading this week ...
Pursuit of the Holy by Corey Russel
and The Last days by Joel C. Rosenberg.

While trying to blog more I am looking for events interesting enough to write about, I am keeping my eyes open to life.

so here is an interesting thing that happened two Sundays ago a 'goth' gentleman game into church , i'm 6'oneish and I had to look up to him to talk. He had the black look right down to his fingernails. I have seen him around town for he stands out and asked my son of grade 8 if he knew him, to which he thought his nick name was Jesus. So he sat in the Back pew - while the pew was waiting for its regular occupants who sat in the choir to come down and take their usual place except for mid Nov. till Jan. because of Christmas objections.
So he sat and at times looked as board as my son. I was glad to see people talk to him, and made a effort to befriend him. Later i learned he had been invited to church that Sunday but invited to go to the baptist Church, not ours. He didn't come back this week. But unfortunately we are more inviting to the 50 and older crowd who like hymns.
I wish we could attract more , But I must work with what we have.
And I do appreciate our church and our worship.
We don't have a worship team ( which I don't like anyways, ) and were open to more musicians but we do our best!

Later