Why is it?

I've been reading some posts on Facebook and see couples that have broken up and I see people who just yesterday were posting about how "in love" they were  with their boyfriend/girlfriend, and now today they are just trashing one another to anyone who will listen. I found myself thinking, "what's wrong with you kids?" I mean, how can you be in love one day and then 24 hours later out to destroy someone. But them as I was thinking, it dawned on me that this is not just the kids. I've seen people do the same thing with the church. Stand and testify how much they love the pastor, the church and how committed they were, and then just a few weeks later trashing the pastor and the church. Same thing... right? I think the problem is that people think commitment means until something better comes along.

Happy Birthday To Me

No, it is not my real birthday. Today is my spiritual birthday. 31 years ago today I gave my life to Jesus Christ, and I was born again. It's sometimes hard to believe it has been 31 years. Then again, it's sometimes hard to remember what it was like B.C..   I'm so grateful for the life I have found in Christ. It is a life I could never have dreamed of. In fact, just recently I was reading in my senior memories book from high school and I found a note that I had written saying that if I had not already died, I vowed to blow my brains out on my 35th birthday.  Life was just so empty and hallow back then that I thought life would be over by that time. Now, at 53 years old I look back and see that the happiest, most productive time in my life came after the age of 40. Satan wanted to take me out of the picture before I even got to that time in my life. I've learned that when troubles and problems are ramping up in my life, that is the time to buckle down and try a little harder, because there are blessings just ahead and the enemy of my soul is trying to discourage me from getting there. This is where I have found that I can in fact do all things through Christ, who is my strength. Sure, disappointments come, problems arise and people disappoint; but my life is in Christ, and I try to always keep in mind that this world is not my home... it is just a stopping off point in the journey. I am a citizen of Heaven and that is where my home, my hope and my heart is.

Someone asked me just a few weeks ago if I didn't ever miss being able to go out and get wasted to forget life's problems and trouble once in awhile. I told them that I missed it about as much as I miss that blockage that was in my heart a year ago. That stuff was bringing death and bondage to my life, and I would not want it back, not even for one night. When you have found freedom you never want to go back! That would be like asking me if I'd like to go back to Menard Penitentiary for awhile! Why in the world would anyone choose bondage over freedom?
I am free... and there is no turning back!
Thank you Jesus for the life you have given me!

The Dirty Truth About "Church Growth"

I've written and spoken about a trend that plagues the church world all the time, that of stealing sheep from other churches rather than going out and winning the lost to build a church. The truth is, the vast majority of our larger churches have won few, if any souls to Christ, but have instead stolen from smaller churches. My statement, which I have claimed for years is validated in a book that has come out which I will mention and post a review of later in this blog. I have to say, it sickens me, and I personally believe it sickens God himself when people expend their energies trying to woo people to leave smaller churches to get them to come to the newest dog and pony show in town. Sorry, but that's what most of them are. There is far more time, energy and money invested in entertaining folks than there is in winning the lost to Christ. This is why they go for the "ready made family" by stealing from other churches. I've coined that phrase "ready made family" because you can equate what these churches do to that of a man who wants a family, but he does not want to invest the time, effort and money into courting a woman, building a relationship and having children of their own; so he spies out a family he would like to have and steals that wife and kids from that man while he is out working. That is EXACTLY what these pastors are doing who target and steal sheep from smaller churches. And the people who attend those churches and then try to draw others from the church where they left from are nothing short of thieves. The Bible calls them wolves. Many times the pastor does not "directly" get involved, but he knows what his people are doing, yet does nothing to stop it. That would equate to a father knowing that his kids are shoplifting and bringing the goods home to the family, but him declaring he is innocent because he did nothing wrong himself. 
If someone has truly found a church that excites them and is ministering to their family, that is absolutely great. But if the church is so great, then go out and tell some of the lost around you and win them to Christ rather than trying to pull others from places where they worship! This is sheep stealing! There are thousands... tens of thousands of lost people all around you... but you have to target those in your old church? That shows a deep wickedness that is at the root of your heart. The intent is not for the well being of the family you are trying to woo away... it is to destroy the church you are trying to pull them from. And the same thing for these guys who decided to start a new church, so they begin inviting people who are in other churches to attend their Bible study, knowing full well that they will try to pull these people away to start their "new" church. That is sheep stealing... and if you plant a church by stealing from others... watch and see what harvest you grow. I've watched literally dozens of churches begun this way, they thrive, even explode with "growth" (it's not growth because souls have not been added to the Kingdom) only to die within a couple of years as the church implodes. It is pretty well guaranteed when you start one by becoming a thief! Do it right. Win the lost... and keep your eyes and hands off the other shepherds flock!

The following was written by Tim Challies as he reviewed a book written by William Chadwick entitled, "Stealing Sheep".  The bold letters are my own emphasis.

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Chadwick writes about the dark side of church growth. Having done extensive research and having examined the fruits of his own early ministry, the author came to the startling revelation that the church growth movement has succeeded far better in pulling believers from other, smaller churches than in reaching the lost. “Great effort is being expended, but few are actually turning to Christ for the first time. Instead, the faithful are mostly just changing churches” (from the back cover).

The statistics are startling. It has long since become common knowledge that while there are many more megachurches in the United States than in days past, there are no more Christians. Obviously the only way to account for this is to realize that people are moving from small churches into these megachurches. And why wouldn’t they? Megachurches offer excitement, quality of music and programming depth that small churches can only dream about. The large churches have a great advantage in our consumeristic culture where we demand that our needs be met. Just as WalMart has put far too many mom and pop shops out of business, so megachurches have closed the doors of many small, faithful churches. The author’s research found that over 90 percent of the members at some of the largest churches in America have arrived from other churches. When we consider that some of these churches have 8,000 members and that the average church in America has only 100, we can see how this transfer growth has decimated other bodies.

The real blame for allowing this quantity of transfer growth has to be assigned to the pastors who allow it to happen and who sometimes actively seek it. Chadwick shares some shocking stories about pastors who seem only too content to pad their own church’s membership with people drawn from other churches.

*******************

Case closed!

"Give Me My Free Stuff!!!"

I have never heard this said as simple or as well. This is class warfare defined. 

The folks who are getting the free stuff don't like the folks who are paying for the free stuff , because the folks who are paying for the free stuff can no longer afford to pay for both the free stuff and their own stuff.

And, the folks who are paying for the free stuff want the free stuff to stop.

And the folks who are getting the free stuff want even more free stuff on top of the free stuff they are already getting!

Now... the people who are forcing the people who pay for the free stuff have told the people who are RECEIVING the free stuff that the people who are PAYING for the free stuff are being mean, prejudiced, and racist and greedy.

So... the people who are GETTING the free stuff have been convinced they need to hate the people who are paying for the free stuff by the people who are forcing some people to pay for their free stuff and giving them the free stuff in the first place.

We have let the free stuff giving go on for so long that there are now more people getting free stuff than paying for the free stuff .

Now understand this. All great democracies have committed financial suicide somewhere between 200 and 250 years after being founded. The reason? 

The voters figured out they could vote themselves money from the treasury by electing people who promised to give them money from the treasury in exchange for electing them.

The United States officially became a Republic in 1776 , 236 years ago. The number of people now getting free stuff outnumbers the people paying for the free stuff . 

We have one chance to change that in 2012 . Failure to change that spells the end of the United States as we know it.

The Poopie List

OK... if you are easily offended or grossed out, stop reading now, and just forget you even saw this post. You've been warned!
I've carried this list in a file in my desk drawer for 24 years, and I finally decided to share it here.
Ladies and Gentlemen... the Poopie List.

GHOST POOPIE:
You feel it come out, but there's no poopie in the toilet!

CLEAN POOPIE:
The poopie comes out and you see it in the toilet, but there is nothing on the toilet paper! (Also see UPPER-CLASS POOPIE.)

WET POOPIE:
Even after wiping your butt 50 times, it still feels unwiped. You end up putting some toilet paper between your butt and your underwear, so you don't get a nasty poopie stain.

SECOND WAVE POOPIE:
Happens when you stand up after poopie-ing and start to pull your pants up. You suddenly realize that you have to poopie some more.

"POP A VEIN IN YOUR FOREHEAD" POOPIE:
A poopie that causes you to strain so much, you practically have a stroke.

LINCOLN LOG POOPIE:
The poopie is so big, you're afraid to flush without first breaking it up into little pieces with the toilet brush.

GASSY POOPIE:
So noisy, everyone within earshot starts giggling.

DRINKER POOPIE:
Occurs after a long night of drinking. Most noticeable trait is the skidmarks in the toilet bowl.

CORN POOPIE:
Self explanatory.

NUT POOPIE:
Self explanatory.

"GEE, I WISH I COULD POOPIE" POOPIE:
You'd really like to poopie, but all you do is siton the toilet and fart a few times.

SPINAL TAP POOPIE:
A poopie that hurts so much on the way out, you'd swear it was leaving you sideways!

THE POWER DUMP POOPIE:
A poopie that comes out so fast, your butt cheeks get splashed with toilet water.

LIQUID POOPIE:
You sit down to poopie and liquid shoots out of your butt so bad that you think you are peeing from your butt.

UPPER-CLASS POOPIE:
Leaves no odor and may also have the characteristics of a CLEAN POOPIE.

SURPRISE POOPIE:
You're not near the toilet and think you are just going to fart ... but oops! ... it's a poopie!!

THE DANGLING POOPIE:
A tough poopie that refuses to drop into the toilet, even thoughyou are done poopie-ing it. You just hope that a shake or two will cut it loose. Also referred to as a Klingon.

MONTEZUMA'S REVENGE POOPIE:
This poopie occurs after eating at the Mexican restaurant and is characterized by an explosion that shoots brown liquid all over the toilet bowl, the seat and your butt cheeks and usually burns worse coming out than it did going in.

Walking In Integrity

This weekend I have had several people talk to me or to me and my wife and things were revealed how some individuals were spreading lies and accusations about me and about my church. I'll be honest, in myself, I want to come out with guns blazing and fight til the last drop of blood, but 1) I know that God receives no glory in that scenario and 2) you will never silence the mouth of a liar. They will always be back with a different version or slant. So, I choose to take the high road and do what I know to do, and allow God to do what he does, for his word tells us that he will vindicate his own.
Ironically, I just preached yesterday morning on walking in the favor of God, and how that to do so, there is a price that must be paid. When people are attacking me and my church and trying to pull others out of my church to join them in the latest, greatest show on earth, I recognize that this is part of that price. Over the years I've learned that it is far better to walk in the favor of God than in the favor of men. Those same people trying to woo you today will turn on you tomorrow when you no longer serve a purpose for them and their agenda. Truth always comes out. It may take time, but it always does. I'll wait. I don't have to fight this battle. Sadly, there will be those wounded in the meantime. That's Satan's agenda, and those spreading lies and trying to bring destruction cannot understand that they are being used as unwitting pawns by the father of all lies.

We Need Revival

I received a message from someone telling me, "Pastor, we really need a revival at church. I said back to them how that it was funny that we had one just a month ago and they did not come out to a single service.
Silence. Been 2 days and still no response. Guess that struck a nerve.
But it is the truth. There is so much I could say here, but let me just get to the point. I was thinking about this exchange later that day and I was reminded of something I wrote in this blog back in 2005. The following is from that post.

I was teaching last night at church on hinrances to revival. I asked a question, "What is Revival?" Usually when we think of revival, we think of bringing in an evangelist, having special services, everyone getting excited and on fire, and hope and pray people get saved. Usually when we have this, after a few weeks, things return to "normal." 
Is this revival? 
Then it hit me. To "revive" something implies something that once was alive or active is now either dead or worn out and to revive it means to restore it back to it's normal state. Therefore, to have revival implies that God is bringing us back to the place where we ought to be. Hmmm... now that got me to thinking.
"Restoring us to the place where we ought to be..."
That means when someone says to me, "Pastor, we need revival" what they are really saying is, "I am not where I should be with the Lord." I got to thinking, what would happen in the church if we would just stay where we should be with the Lord all of the time? What if we stayed prayed up, read up and allowed God to have his way in our lives? Now that might sound harsh and critical, but let's be honest... is this not what we are really saying? We have times where we are on fire for God; times where we really are in the right place... but how often we are candidates for revival ourselves, so in reality, instead of having a "revival" where we see souls saved, most often when the church has revival today, it is more to get the church back on track than it is to reach the lost.
Remember that Barna statistic that said, 87% of those who attended church in America believed that the church existed to meet the needs of themselves and their own family? 
Isn't this the same thing? Revive me Lord... instead of revive thy works... instead of save souls... instead of heal the sick... revive me again. 


I am convinced that if the church is truly going to have "revival" where souls are saved and lives are changed, the church must prepare beforehand and get back in the place with the Lord where they ought to be. 
I believe it is time for some fasting and rededication on the part of the church body if we really want to see a move of God that shakes our community.

The Local "News"-paper

Recently someone commented to me how the local newspaper was not worth subscribing to anymore. I told them that I dropped my subscription several years ago because the paper had so little information in it that I could not justify the cost. Yesterday, I was sitting in the home of one of my members and she picked up the newspaper and said I want you to look at this, and she began to point out all the ridiculous things that were in it, and then she said, "where's the news?"  She said, "on the TV news they are talking about the economy across the nation, but there is not one word of it in here." Then she went on listing things like the states fight this past week in Springfield over pensions and bullying laws which were never mentioned. She spoke of the "zombie" attack and several others in the nation where people were eating other people. She spoke of the recall election in Wisconsin, which was headlining the news across the nation, yet it was not even mentioned in our paper. She said, but I can tell you how many divorces there were, who's having an art show and that Miley Cyrus got engaged and that a man's sunscreen caught on fire in Massachusetts . She commented about all the silly blogs that were included as "news.  She's right. This paper is a joke. That's why I don't subscribe any longer, and countless others are also dropping their subscriptions. It is a needful thing to have the local interest stories, but come on people, unless you want to be a tabloid, shouldn't you include some of the actual news that is going on in the world? 

So, Maybe I Was Right After All?

Just a few months ago I was attacked viciously by people in my community because I posted a couple of pictures of people who had gone way overboard with tattoos and I commented about their not being able to get jobs. I was told I was judgmental, intolerant, even a bigot. I had people attacking my walk with the Lord because "a man of God would not judge someone like this."  I said then that this was not being judgmental, it was pointing out an obvious fact that the decisions these people were making were making themselves unemployable. Take that fellow pictured here. Who is going to hire him with the racist stuff tattooed across his face? If that is being judgmental, then call me judgmental. But guess what? It seems like most others think the way I do. Read the following article and then tell me if I'm being judgmental or trying to get people to face reality. You cannot do this kind  of stuff to yourself and function well in society. If people feel that they cannot attend the church where I pastor because I point out the truth... well, then it is just best that they move on. A person who cares and loves speaks the truth, even when it is not popular.

Tattoo Removal Booms in Slow Job Market: By Lawrence Dechant With the job market recovering but still shaky, people with tattoos find it even harder to get hired, prompting them to reconsider their body art. According to The Patient’s Guide, a website comprised of 25 niche publications dedicated to skin care, laser...