Mental Musings

John woke one Sunday morning and sat in his favorite chair. He flipped on the television and started watching some rerun that he had watched at least twice before. His wife, Mary, called from the other room, “Honey, we’re going to be late. You better start getting ready.” He replied, “I’m not going to church today.” Mary came into the room and said, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear what you said.” So John repeated himself, “I’m not going to church today.” Mary walked over and placed her hand on his forehead as she asked, “Are you feeling sick?” John responded, “No, I just don’t feel like going to church today.” Mary stood up and looked straight into her husband’s face as she said, “John, listen to me. You are going to church today and I can give you three reasons why. First, I’m going to church and I want you to be there with me. Second, your children are going and they deserve to have their dad with them at church. And third, you’re the pastor and the people are going to expect...

"None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us." Romans 8:34-25 (The Message) This past week has been a roller coaster ride. Last Sunday we had everything in place and went through a preview service with no problems or glitches. We felt good about the upcoming launch service. Monday we got a call from the city telling us we would not be allowed to meet in the place we had rented due to zoning issues. Tuesday the Mayor of Annapolis contacts zoning and we get a call telling us that zoning has nothing to do with us renting a space for Sundays. Wednesday the weather reports start calling for 2-4 inches of snow on Saturday evening. Friday they change things to an inch or less. Saturday they change it to rain with rain and snow p...

My dad has always liked little yappy dogs. They bounce around barking at everything. They seem to have no fear whatsoever. As soon as you move they start yapping at you. Occasionally you will find a yappie dog that actually is more than it seems, but usually they are all bark and no bite. In fact, if you move too quickly around them they will probably bounce backward yapping more out of fear than bravery. There are people just like these yappy dogs. They like to bark at and about everything. The more they yap, the more they get noticed. They learn from this that yapping gets them their way. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. As long as dogs or people are just yapping, they are generally thought to be of no harm. But just because you don't bite does not mean that you do no harm. Perhaps a yapping dog doesn't hurt you in any noticeable way, but people have a way of inflicting severe pain just through their words. “An offended brother is harder to reac...

I absolutely despise going to meetings. Especially in the mornings. Especially if all I will do is sit there and listen to someone talk. Especially if nothing of value has been said or decided. There are things I would rather do with my time: sleep in, enjoy a good country-style breakfast, or go get my usual cup of white chocolate coffee at Ahh Coffee. So I understand the importance of answering your unasked question of why you should come to church. Why should you get up early? Why should you have to rush to get the kids ready and eat breakfast on a day you would normally lounge around relaxing? That is what we will be discussing today. First let me share what church is not. Church is NOT a country club. Country clubs typically cater to the specific desires of their members. There are usually areas to relax, exercise, eat, and play. Members pay monthly fees and get to use all of the facilities and equipment. Members get to make decisions on the future of the country c...

Updated: February 2, 2016. Social Media is often just a tool to connect with friends and family, but every once in awhile you post something that goes viral. The tools used to determine if a post is viral are all relative to the expected reach of a user. A user with a million followers would need many millions of views for the post to be viral. Basically if your Facebook post has a Reach that is 5 times the number of those that follow your Page then the post has gone viral. There is no method to determine what people will find interesting enough to share or retweet or copy. Sometimes it is a video of a British child saying, "Charlie bit my finger." Sometimes it is a meme of what old people say. Sometimes it is uplifting and sometimes it is degrading. Sometimes comical and sometimes sentimental. I want to share with you how one of the posts from our church Facebook Page went viral. It started as just one of the many hundreds of daily posts that we put up. We have found t...

Researchers continue to seek the reason for the New Exodus among churches. Each year about 4000 churches close their doors forever. Each year thousands of young adults quit attending church. Only a handful of evangelical denominations continue to see growth, but even those have noticed the downward trend in church attendance. Based on the most recent research, hundreds of Christian writers will begin to suggest what these results indicate for the church. The fact that these so-called experts do not agree with each other is indicative of just how serious of a problem the Church has in reaching the younger generations. I believe that the reason that we cannot see the whole picture is because most Christians have chosen to take their eyes off of God and instead turned them to their own selfish desires. There is nothing the enemy loves more than to see us fighting against each other. Every time a prominent Christian leader is attacked by other prominent Christian leaders w...

  Would Jesus be welcomed at your church? I would hope that most churches would, at the very least, think that He would be welcomed into their church. Perhaps a better question would be: would a smelly, dirty, homeless person wearing torn-up rags of clothes be welcomed at your church? That is not really an easy question with a simple answer. Many families with small children would stop coming if their church had a large group of sex offenders attending. Most people would avoid sitting near someone who smells bad. A Muslim woman wearing a hijab would probably not feel very welcomed at most churches. Neither would a prostitute wearing revealing clothing. I guess to really answer these questions, your church would need to decide why your local church exists. Are you there as a meeting place for believers only? If so, then you would not have to figure out how to handle a Muslim attending your church because they would not be welcomed until they converted to Christianity. Does yo...