Blog Archives

Charisma Doesn't Matter if It's Not Based on Truth

7/27/2008

Charisma isn’t all it is cracked up to be. The word means a quality or power attributed to those who secure devotion and large numbers of followers. Sounds pretty good, but there was a great man in the Bible who didn’t have charisma. Noah built the Ark and preached to the people of his day, and the only lives saved were the eight souls of his own family (1 Peter 3:20). So charismatic, Noah was not, but he still found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:8, 7:1).

In the New Testament, we read of Theudas and Judas, proclaiming themselves special leaders and attracting many followers. But they were killed and their disciples dispersed; so charisma did them no good. Now think about these things the next time you hear of a preacher attracting great masses with rock star appeal. You just might be observing the blind leading the blind, right into the ditch (Matthew 15:13).

Hope to hear from you or see you at the services.

Things Could Be Worse

7/20/2008

Complaining appears to be something that many do very well. I mean they complain about the weather, their neighbors, their family, their pay checks, the price of gasoline, food, and their sports teams, etc. I’m not saying that these things might not need attention, but there are things that are worse. People forget that we have men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with missing limbs, blinded, and suffering from post war-mental stress, which will be with them for the rest of their lives. Aren’t these things much worse than a co-worker who won’t pull his fair share of the work at the office?

Doesn’t that make our complaining somewhat insufficient with that being the case? There is an old saying, which goes like this, “I cried because I had no shoes, but I stopped crying when I saw the man who had no feet.” Please take the time to read what the Bible teaches about complaining (1 Corinthians 10:10; Philippians 2:14; 1 Peter 4:9; Jude 16; 2 Kings 5:10-13 Numbers 11:1-6; 2 Cor. 9:7).

Hope to hear from you or see you at the services.

Visitors Always Welcome

7/13/2008

When visitors come to a church, the members should make them feel welcome. There are people who would visit the church, but they might not know anything about church doctrine, or the people, so they feel apprehensive. But the members of the church must realize that it is their duty to walk over and introduce themselves and make the visitor feel relaxed because no visitor should ever have to introduce himself. The church members shouldn’t smother the visitor with too many questions, nor should church members pressure visitors for phone numbers or addresses.

The church may mention that visitors cards are available, but a visitor cannot be pressured nor made to feel obligated to fill out one. If a visitor wishes to become a member of the church, he should continue to visit in order to get to know the church members and find out what is taught. So yes, there is no need to be afraid to visit, just come on in, and you will find potentialfriends (Micah 4:1-2; Psalm 122:1; 1 Corinthians 14:23-25; Genesis 28:16-17).

Hope to hear from you or see you at the services.