"You can tell how popular a church is by who comes on Sunday morning.."
"You can tell how popular the pastor or evangelist is by who comes on Sunday night."
"But you can tell how popular Jesus is by who comes to the prayer meeting."
Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala
5 comments:
I read this book a looong time ago and came away completely inspired. The prayer statement is very true. Though many are not inspired to pray b/c many have this feeling of not knowing 'how' to pray and many are just plain fearful. It sounds funny but true.
It's also amazing to me how idolatry of man has superceded(sp?) the passion for Christ in our churches today. I've been conflicted on 'how' we do structured worship services for a long time.
And Jeff addressed a major form of idolatry on Sunday. Jeff's message was EXACTLY what our church needed to hear. Not everyone is money driven, of course, but there are many that do come for the social country club feel of it. It's in every church, not just ours.
I've dropped out of some things to gain a better perspective on surroundings in the church, be quiet and listen to God's direction. So try not to clump me in with the s.c.c. feel of things since I'm not participating :0). Here's a question:
Do we have a prayer group at Southwest? Hmmm?
(history: every time it's been 'tried', hardly anyone shows up) yea, I know that's not very good publicity
Women's ministry had a prayer group all year It was advertised in the bulletin at the info table and on handouts They did it in the morning and the evening They stopped doing it because noone was showing up
It's sad when no one can find time to pray - either individually or in a group.
What if the Holy Spirit left our church? Would anyone even notice?
In repsonse to your question Adam. I believe God has left us to work in our own power b/c we're not tapping into His power. So, Yes. And, yes, I personally have realized that lack of movement for a while now. I believe there are a remnant of people that still have that desire and passion but it's been reduced to a flicker b/c of 'control'. But in so doing this within the confines of the church walls, it has pushed those to look outside of the walls - which is actually where we are suppose to be. It's a good thing and I think God is trying to utilize those seek Him and who want to serve in other ways outside the church.
This is not meant to be negative just truthful.
tena, i don't think you are being negative. sometimes the truth hurts. we (as in American suburban Christianity) have become complacent and really don't do much with our time, money, or resources outside of the 1.5 hours on sunday mornings. We have to remember that the faith of Jesus and his followers was established in their Jewish tradition. And in that tradition, religion was not something you did, it was everything that you are. we need to figure out how to emphasize this mindset more, that would help move us in the right direction.
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