Wrestling With Wednesday Nights???

I read this morning on Mike Cope's blog a discussion on Wednesday night church service and its need or lack of need for us today. I thought I might do the same. BTW: You can checkout his blog from the link on this blogpage.
Let me first give you my experience on Wednesday nights. I grew up going to church three times-a-week plus gospel meetings. My mother was a church member but my father was not. The neat thing was he always took us (mom and kids) to church each service before my mom got her drivers license. After that she took us and he stayed at home. When I was in elementary school I played baseball in the summer and if a game was scheduled on a Wednesday night I was allowed to play until we needed to leave for church. The coach knew this was important and did not put any pressure on me to stay (I don't think it had anything about my ability to play ball!). I hated to leave the game because I really did enjoy playing but it was kinda cool to go in church with my ball uniform on too so I did not put up any fuss about leaving.
When my boys started playing sports the times they had ball games, soccer or wrestling on Wednesday nights they were allowed to stay and did not have to leave to go to church. But when there was no conflict (the vast majority of the time) they were always at the building.
I still like meeting on Wednesday nights but think that just having a devo and bible class really minimizes our purpose as a church family. Has our culture changed and the need to attend no longer seen as important? Are our kids bedtime really all that important compared to what it was a generation ago?
I liked what the people from Mike Cope's blog said about how they do Wednesday nights and so my question to you is...what should we do? Keep it the same as it has always been or rethink it in some way?
Give me your thoughts and ideas!

See you tonight :)

Roger, over and out!

Are you a carrot or a kiwi Christian?

While this seems like a silly question to ask there is a point to be made. When I asked this question to some teens recently they told me that God wants us to be like a carrot because a carrot is the same on the inside as it is on the outside while a kiwi is different. It is brown and hairy and dry on the outside but green and seedy and slimy on the inside. Pretty insightful, huh!

God has called us to lead a consistent life. One that can be counted on when the going gets tough, one that is full of integrity, one that is consumed with loving God and others. But for us to live this kind of consistent life we must first be inconsistent with the way we were before Jesus.

In 1 John 2:6 (NIV) it says "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." To do this we need to know the ways of Jesus. God gave us his inspired word so that we might know him and chose to follow his teaching. There are many people who know the bible and can quote large blocks of passages, but there is a difference between knowing God's word and doing God's word. James describes this difference in his book. He writes in James 1:22-25 (NIV) Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.

The more we allow ourselves to change and become more like Jesus the more consistent our life will become with his. We will not only do godly things in godly ways that others will notice but we will have a heart that is in tune with a desire to please God and serve others more than anything else and that is what Jesus did.

So let's all be kind to carrots!

Roger, over and out!

Crikey

Who, reading this has not seen at least one episode of "The Crocodile Hunter" or at least heard a child or even an adult say (CRIKEY!!!)? This was his one word expression of surprise when he witnessed something he did not expect. Steve Irwin, known to millions as "The Crocodile Hunter" passed away this past week. He was filming a series on dangerous sea creatures when a barb from a stingray’s tail pierced his heart.

While he was a popular TV celebrity what really impressed me is that he was a dedicated husband to Terri his wife whom he married in 1992 and the father of two children. Terri co-stared with Steve on the show and their daughter and son both could be frequently seen with them. Steve's dad considered him his "best mate" and they made a great father and son team in capturing rogue crocodiles when he was younger. It is becoming harder and harder to find good family role models in entertainment but Steve certainly seemed to fill that role. I know some will say want to remind me that he put his youngest one in harms way at times just for effect but we all do things as parents that in retrospect we probably would not do if given a second chance. Steve loved his family!

The church is in need of good family role models too. God has called the church to care for one another. He has called us to honor our vows of marriage, to love our children and honor our parents. He has called us to love as he first loved us. By living as responsible Christian role models in our communities, the good news of Jesus will spread because the world is watching.

John 13:34-35 (NIV) "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."


Roger, over and out!