This Week's WOW 9/1

Tips for Inviting Someone to Church

            According to Barna Research Group, one out of four unchurched people would attend church if a friend invited them.  So what stops us from extending an invitation?  Perhaps we feel awkward at times.  Here are five helpful tips from Dianne E. Butts of Pueblo, Colorado for inviting people to church.

1.      Earn the right to invite. Sometimes spur-of-the-moment invitations work, but other times blurting out, “Wanna go to church?” when you first meet someone gives the impression you only care about attendance goals. Taking the time to build a friendship communicates you want to share an important part of your life.

2.      Instead of asking, “Do you want to go?”,  invite her to come with you. If she feels you are only going to church to take her, she will likely say no. Saying, “Want to come with me?” communicates you are going whether she comes or not.

3.      Give guests an idea of what to expect. Will the service be formal or informal? Loud or low-key?

4.      Give your guests an idea of what to wear. It is embarrassing to stand out in a crowd, so tell him what you will wear and how most other people at your church dress.

5.      Arrange to find each other. Offer to pick up your friend at home, meet for coffee or breakfast before the service, or plan to meet in the parking lot so you can enter the church together.

Remember, inviting others to church is important because it is one step toward inviting them to meet Jesus or redevelop a relationship with Him.

This Week's WOW 8/25

The Great Illusion

By Pastor Donnie

    I really like illusionists (magicians).  I think their sleight of hand and attention to detail is fascinating.  No matter how focused I am when watching the illusion, I am always surprised at how they pulled it off.  It might be that I’m gullible or that I don’t have a trained eye, but no matter what it is – I always end up amazed.  Illusions seem so simple and yet the magician has spent countless hours perfecting the illusion so that it is easy to believe.  I came across a quote this week that made me think of some other illusions that we easily believe:

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place."
-- George Bernard Shaw

It’s easy to think that we communicated our desires to our spouse, children, or co-worker but very often we are merely believing in an illusion.  Unfortunately, some of us are Master Illusionists in the sense that we don’t give a second thought to what we just said and believe that we communicated clearly.  We wonder why the results we get are often so far from what we wanted.  This week, try to stop buying into the illusion that correct communication has taken place in your conversations – it takes a little more work than you think.

This Week's WOW 7/28

Parental Blind Spots

Every parent has blind spots. Here are a few blind spots I have seen in myself or in other parents.

1. We want to be liked more than we want to parent: This does not mean being a jerk. It means we parent and make decisions led by the Holy Spirit even when they are not popular with our children. It means our children may not understand or like every decision that we need to make, but we are still willing to do what is best for them and for the family in spite of not being popular.

2. We do not see potential problems quickly: Many of us end up in a jam and solving a problem that could have been avoided.  Molehills can turn into mountains if left unchecked. Often times we think the problems will just disappear on their own, so we choose to ignore the problems and the potential confrontation with our children.  If you want to waste a lot of time, constantly let potential problems turn into big problems by doing nothing.

3. We do not parent strong on the front end: If as a parent I am weak in my parenting on the front end (especially when my children are young), there is always a mess to clean up on the back end.  I have learned that I would rather start a little more firm and loosen up later on rather than starting loose and then have to get tough later on.  With most children, if you give them an inch, they will take mile, and then we have a dilemma on our hands.

This article was adapted from an article “Leadership Blind Spots” by Herbert Cooper lead pastor of People’s Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

This Week's WOW 7/15

 Stop Praying
by Pastor Donnie

 

I recently finished a book entitled "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan.  Here is an excerpt:

"What if I said, "Stop Praying"? What if I told you to stop talking at God for a while, but instead take a long hard look at Him before you speak another word. Solomon warned us not to rush into God's presence with words.." 

What caught me was the phrase "talking at God."   So often when we pray we merely talk at God which means that we could hold the same dialogue with a brick wall and walk away feeling just as good.  We need to be in communication with God.  We need to stand in awe of who He really is in our lives and realize that when He speaks into our lives we need to be listening because His words are power!

This Week's WOW 7/7

“God’s power flows primarily to people who pray.”

            The scriptures are riddled with passages teaching that our almighty, omnipotent God is ready, willing and able to answer the prayers of his followers. . . . God’s power can change circumstances and relationships. It can help us face life’s daily struggles. It can heal psychological and physical problems, remove marriage obstructions, meet financial needs—in fact, it can handle any kind of difficulty, dilemma or discouragement.

            Someone has said that when we work, we work; but when we pray, God works. His supernatural strength is available to praying people who are convinced to the core of their being that he can make a difference. Skeptics may argue that answered prayers are only coincidences, but as an English archbishop once observed, “It’s amazing how many coincidences occur when one begins to pray.”

From “Too Busy Not to Pray” by Bill Hybels pg 10-11

This Week's WOW 6/16

 

 

The Perfect Game (almost)

            I read this story a couple of weeks ago and thought you might enjoy it too.

            On June 2, 2010, Detroit Tiger Armando Galarraga had pitched a perfect game – for eight and two-thirds innings.  Twenty-six batters up, 26 batters out.  His own catcher did not even realize what was happening until the seventh inning, but the head umpire, Jim Joyce, had been aware of the historical implications since inning five.  With two outs in the ninth, and a 3—1 count, the fans held their collective breath as the 27^th batter was thrown out at first. Then the unthinkable happened. Head umpire, Joyce, called him safe, and perfection vanished.

            The outrage reached epic proportions, earning public proclamations from state lawmakers and even a joking reference in the White House Press Room. But in baseball, there is no “undo” button. Joyce, watching the replay after the game, admitted his error. It tore him up.  Angry fans, and even some of Galarraga’s teammates, called for action.  Everyone seemed to have a vested interest in the situation, everyone except for Galarraga.

            The next day he was sitting in front of his locker, completely calm. One of his teammates said, “I don’t think he really understands what a perfect game is.” But Galarraga understood. He had been playing professionally for a decade. He had bounced between teams and from minor to major leagues, and 28 years old or not, immigrant or not, he understood his own sport.

            His response? “Nobody is perfect,” Galarraga said. “Inside of my heart, I don’t have a problem.”

            What a perfect way to describe the condition God desires for all of us.  What if we could all respond that way when people make mistakes that negatively impact us?  That’s one of the benefits of living in forgiveness.  Inside of our own hearts we have calm and peace and release.  Even when something has been lost because of someone else’s mistake or oversight, inside of our hearts we don’t have a problem.

This Week's WOW 6/2

Here’s a story for you.

 A turkey was chatting with a bull. “I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree,” sighed the turkey, “but I haven’t got the energy.”

“Well,” replied the bull, “why don’t you nibble on some of my droppings? They’re packed with nutrients.”

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.  The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second     branch. Finally after a fourth night, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree. But he was promptly spotted by a hunter, who shot him down out of the tree.

The moral of the story: BS might get you to the top, but it won’t keep you there.

This story may not be very inspirational, but it’s funny and all too often true.  Have a great week.

Pastor Rick