Several days ago I received an email from a person who was looking for a new church and considering visiting New Hope. Her primary concern was how we dressed at New Hope. I assured her we dress casual but have a few who still dress semi-formal on Sundays. I thought it might be appropriate if I spelled out some things she should look for when checking out churches (more important than the dress code). Here is the checklist I gave her. How would you evaluate New Hope based on these:

• Does the worship draw you into a closer walk with God?
• Does the church membership have a broad mix of demographics (age, race, socio-economics, etc)?
• Does the message challenge you to go beyond your present limits in faith?
• Does the church use relevant methods to communicate?
• Do you feel “life” in the church or has it felt like a funeral home visit?
• Is there a focus on children’s ministries (an essential for reaching young adults)?
• Does the church talk about Jesus as our only hope?
• Does the church emphasize the Bible as the Word of God?

These are things that should be evident to anyone visiting for the first time. We may not be the best at these things, but they should be a measuring gauge for us in being the church Jesus called us to be.

Tags: church, dress code, priorities

What’s your definition of conservative and liberal? Another word for liberal might be generous or abundant. Would you describe yourself, then, as a liberal? Another term for conservative might be hanging onto the past. Obviously, these terms can be deceptive.

Jesus was obviously a liberal when it comes to helping others. Suppose Jesus attended our church and was in charge of a row of seats. What kinds of people would He bring into our church and how would they be received? Next to the aisle would be a peaceful man with a reputation just a few months ago of running naked among the stones at the Waterloo Cemetery, cutting himself with rocks and screaming at passersby. We don’t want a guy like that in our church.

Sitting next to him would be a man named Bartimaeus. He’s a nice enough guy, but every time we would sing about grace, especially the line that says, “I once was blind, but now I see…”, he would get really emotional and embarass everyone around him. We don’t want a guy coming to our church who can’t behave himself.

Next to Bartimaeus would sit a woman who dresses too gaudy. She also has a reputation that she was caught in bed last week with another man. She could use a few lessons in good taste. Really, she should know better than to show up here.

I’m not so sure Jesus would do the best job at recruiting new people into New Hope. What do you think?

Tags: church, preferences, sin

Adam Diehl and Don France are attending a conference in Sheffield, England this week and last. They are attending there with Dr. Kent Hunter, the Church Doctor, to explore a church movement in that country that the Church Doctor recommends. They are returning this weekend.

This movement sets aside the traditional idea that church is where we go on the weekends to watch the pastor and key leaders do ministry. The new model is that weekend services are to inspire and motivate individual church members to “be” the church in reaching out to friends and neighbors. Its about building non-threatening relationships with pre-believers outside of the formal church structure.

I am currently rereading the Book of Acts to rediscover how the Early Church did things. In Acts, it wasn’t just the twelve apostles who did ministry, but it was everyone’s involvement. Paul said that the role of the five-fold ministry was to “equip the saints to do the work of ministry”. That’s a whole new concept in some churches.

What do you think about that?

Tags: church, ministry

We have an elderly widow in a nursing home that has expressed a desire to become an official member of New Hope. We have membership guidelines that includes completing the New Members Class, active attendance, and submitting a photo. This shut-in lady can do none of that. So, officially, she is ineligible.

However, we are cutting her some slack due to her circumstances. She did attend here periodically in the past, has been baptized, accepted the Lord as her Savior, and now desires to become a member. Why should we deprive her of her desire in her last days?

So, we are bending our rules for her. This weekend our elders will consider her application, and, I expect, approve her as a member. Do you agree or disagree that we should bend our rules for this lady? Why or why not?

Tags: church, grace, standard, widow

Yesterday I had lunch with some other DeKalb County pastors. One of them shared an experience he had over the Thanksgiving holiday. He has an adult child who lives in Louisville, Kentucky. They went with them to a huge church in southern Louisville. Signage was wonderful in the parking lot and in the hallways. There were friendly shuttle bus drivers who picked them up, smiling greeters both inside and outside the building, and ushers who were busy smiling and greeting people. This was one of the friendliest churches he has ever visited.

But, he said, that’s where the friendliness ended. Once in his seat no one made any attempt to have any connection with them. As a matter of fact, one of the friendly greeters in the hallway came and sat beside them and never spoke to them again.

I said, “Do you think this was a case of people who knew their ‘job classification’ did a good job, but if people didn’t have a ‘job classification’ they didn’t see any responsibility in the church?” He replied that he thought that was a good summary.

Please help me make newcomers feel like we want them here. They no doubt feel a little intimidated when visiting our church, but we all have a responsibility to build the family of God. So, go introduce yourself to somebody. They’re more scared of you than you are of them.

Tags: church, evangelism, greeter

A guy named Bob received a free ticket to the Superbowl from his company. About halfway through the first quarter, Bob noticed a better seat 10 rows off the field right on the 50 yard line. He decided to take a chance and made his way through the stadium and around the security guards to the empty seat.

As he sat down, he asked the gentleman sitting next to him, “Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?” The man replied, “No.”

Now, very excited to be in such a great seat for the game, Bob again inquired of the man next to him, “This is incredible! Who in their right mind would have a seat like this at the Superbowl and not use it?” The man replied, “Well, actually, the seat belongs to me. I was supposed to come with my wife, but she passed away. This is the first Superbowl we haven’t been to together since we got married in 1967.”

“Well, that’s really sad,” said Bob, “but still, couldn’t you find someone to take the seat? A relative or a close friend?”

“No,” the man replied, “they’re all at the funeral.”

I talked with a young man this week who told me the reason he didn’t go to church was because someone sent him an unsigned note from his old church saying that he should better control his children. So he quit going, blaming the church for being judgmental. I asked him how he was going to help change that situation from outside. We sometimes get our priorities backwards.

Tags: church, judgmental, priorities, sports, Superbowl