Doing God's work, one step at a time

I saw a post earlier today that talked about a conference at an unnamed church that was geared towards smaller churches (under 500 in attendance) and how they could "get healthy". Now I really do understand this conference would be a great thing and that smaller churches carry a connotation that they are unhealthy. However, that isn't always the case. Believe me when I say that I have seen my share of unhealthy small congregations. However, I have also seen my fair share of healthy ones too. I have seen my share of unhealthy large congregations and my share of good, vibrant healthy large churches. However, it is time that we stop associating healthiness to size. Is there a correlation? Depends. Actually, it depends on a lot of factors. Demographics play a role for sure, but so does financial issues, history, etc. There are some churches in demographical areas that would do well to get to 150, let alone 500-1000. However, if we are basing success on numbers, we might not...

As I sit and contemplate things for the sermon this week, which is out of the Old Testament, I am reminded again and again of the situation we face in our country today. Christians everywhere in the USA are feeling the fall away from the things of the Lord in our culture to the godlessness of self. We watch as our fellow countrymen stomp on everything our brethren who came before us fought, bled, and gave their lives to build and protect. We continue to hand over our freedoms to corrupt politicians, all while saying it's in the name of progress. The Old Testament Hebrew nation continually waxed and waned when it came to following the Lord. Whoever the leader of the nation followed as god, the people did too. Unfortunately, there were more bad than good. Up to this point in the history of the U.S., we've been lucky to have more good than bad. But as God worked to bring His people, Israel, back to Himself, Israel failed to see God working. God brought His people back to Himself...