1. Bribe them with her world famous homemade fried chicken dinner after church

2.  Remind them that the preacher has a 25-minute sermon guarantee or it’s free (I have heard from a good source this is not entirely true).

3.  Offer to pay for travel expenses even from Australia (They’ll need to get busy. To almost quote Anthony Campolo: “It’s Thursday, but Sunday’s a comin’”).

4.  Tell them if they DON’T come to church with you, then you WILL go with them to their work family picnic telling stories from their childhood (see below).

5.  Promise that you will no longer remind him/her of the infamous alleged booger eating incident during the kindergarten Christmas program of 1989.

6.  No Churchy. No trust fundy.

7.  (If child is single) Assure her/him that you will not introduce your son/daughter to that nice young lady/fella with the wonderful personality but who also has some halitosis issues.

8.  Guarantee no twisty pinches if they misbehave like the old days in church.

9.  Three Words: PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEEEEEEEASE!!!

but the best way to get your adult kids to come to church with you on Mother’s Day is to simply…

10. Invite them*

*Most surveys indicate that people (even family) come to church if invited.

 

We are in the middle of the ever-exciting (cough cough) Nazarene District Assembly season in USA/Canada.  With the hand picking (as opposed to truly electing) of District Superintendents that has become more and more in vogue (I’m not expressing an opinion of this practice, simply recognizing its occurrence), even DS election years have lost their luster.  I have been to 30 consecutive District Assemblies and the closest that any of them have ever come to anything that could be described as “exciting” was when a church split boiled over onto the District Assembly floor.  Excuse me, holiness folks don’t have church splits (cough cough). That year, there was some fascinating discussion when a “church plant” had a disagreement over the property and money given or not given by the “mother church.”  With that lone exception, it’s been tough to keep the mostly whited headed delegates awake, much less engaged in anything remotely considered missional.

There have been plenty of honest attempts to juice up our yearly gatherings: special speakers, workshops, and mission projects.  For the most part, it hasn’t worked. So here’s my suggestion (Truth Alert: it’s not a new idea and it’s not even my idea. In fact, it’s ancient).  How about if we followed the Acts 2:42 model for our District Assemblies?  Luke wrote that the early church gathered and:

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 

Could we do that in our District Assemblies?

We already have good apostolic teaching (usually).  I generally like the General Superintendent’s sermons and the DS’s report (when they stick to vision, mission and Jesus and not making excuses for the district’s and/or denomination’s decline). I love the ordination service.  But what if like in Acts 2:42 we fellowshipped more?  What if instead of scattering to the closest Golden Corral for lunch we all ate our meals together and we talked about the good things that were happening in our churches. No negativity and gossip allowed (if that is possible).  What if we celebrated the Lord’s Supper together (do you ever remember celebrating the Lord’s Supper at a District Assembly?  Me neither). What if (now I’m just getting crazy) we made baptisms a part of District Assembly? Baptisms at District Assembly? Why not?  And what if we concluded with a great and boisterous prayer meeting where we confessed our faults and failures, thanked the Lord for his provisions and cried out to God for a Pentecost like renewal in all of our churches.

Could such a District Assembly change our churches, pastors and laypeople?  If the manual changed and allowed me to make a wager, I’d bet such a District Assembly would do more good than the snoozefests that too often our District Assemblies have become.

 

Did I miss a heavenly memo that stated all Bible verses concerning gossiping, grumbling, and spreading rumors are null and void? Was there a new proclamation from on high giving the green light to murmuring and slanderous talk? Isn’t such blabbering still considered unChrist-like?  From my casual perusal of social media, to a few conversations and even some flat out lies spoken by followers of Jesus (or maybe better stated, people who claimed to be following Jesus), the growing frequency of “sins of the tongue” (or “sins of the keyboard”) seem to indicate that such behaviors are no longer all that sinful.  (Sarcasm alert:) Who knew?

For example, when news of a renowned pastor’s allegations of misconduct hit the news, it seemed that Christians could not stop reading and regurgitating the reports and blogs of those for and against. It was the talk of the town. Christianity Today’s Twitter feed seemed to tweet about the scandal every other day. This month it’s a renowned pastor’s reputation to devour. Next month it will be someone else. In the old days, under the guise of spirituality we couched our gossip as sharing a “prayer request,” now our gossip is posted on social media with no phony “prayer request” agenda given. It’s simply juicy morsels of murmurs to be shared, as if the biblical warnings about unwholesome talk and slander no longer apply.

Should we rightly condemn bad behavior. Yes. Should we be careful about jumping onto the latest pile of rumors and innuendoes? Double yes. Should we decide to take the plank out of our eye instead of worrying about the speck of sawdust in the someone else’s eye? I’m pretty sure Jesus would say, “Triple yes.” Maybe if we were to receive a memo from on high, it would require us to memorize Ephesians 4:29:  Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.If Paul were writing today, he might have penned, “Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths or posted on your Facebook or Twitter feed.” If that is too difficult, how about if all who claim to be followers of Jesus humbly relearn the truth in the pre-school Sunday school song:

O be careful little tongue what you say,

O be careful little tongue what you say,

For the Father up above is looking down below,

So be careful little tongue what you say

It’s no secret that attendance in the Church of the Nazarene in the USA is in decline.  There is also no shortage of explanations of why this might be the case: It’s tougher these days; people aren’t interested; culture has changed; every denomination is losing members, blah, blah, blah.

I understand the challenges of leading a church are far different today than when I started pastoring 30 years ago.   Having written that, I hope that my solution is not simply a reminiscing of the “good old days.” I don’t want to be the old guy saying, “Hey you kids, get off my lawn! I remember when…” Still with that disclaimer, here it goes:

We need make evangelism a priority again.  Not church growth (although as evangelism happens churches grow). Not planting churches (although evangelism happens when churches are planted).  My observation has been that most church growth and church planting growth comes from disgruntled church attenders finding the hip new church to attend. It’s mostly fat and sassy sheep changing pastures, not lost and hungry sheep being found.

What we need is pure and basic evangelism.

On a personal level, it’s always remembering that we believe that this world determines one’s eternal accommodations and acting accordingly.  We have friends and loved ones that are on their way to hell if something doesn’t change. Let’s quit saying society has changed and admit that we have changed.  We aren’t as bold as past generations.  We aren’t as committed.  We don’t sacrifice like our grandparents did. We have other interests (distractions) and other priorities.  We need to confess that we have failed at living into the Great Commission and determine to become friends with sinners (it seemed that Jesus was accused of keeping such company) so that we might have the opportunity to share the love of Christ.

Local churches can never be satisfied with the status quo or decline, but having a healthy dose of shame when conversions and baptisms are in decline. Local churches need to be training people (and pastors?) in personal evangelism. We need to count what counts: contacts, conversions and baptisms. We need less emphasis on cool and more emphasis on warm. Less café’s and less wood pallet backdrops and more biblical preaching. Less politics and more holiness.  Less excuses and more Jesus.

On a denominational level, it’s returning the “M” events back into evangelism workshops and evangelism strategizing. Let’s create an Evangelism Department again (I think that office morphed into the USA/Canada office years ago). Let’s produce curriculum in the colleges and seminary that create a fire within the bones of our young people to do the work of an evangelist.  It’s becoming downright Bresee-like in going to those whom society has rejected.  Joining with the poor, the burdened, the disenfranchised and saying. “You are welcome here!” It’s confessing that our last 20 years have been mostly a disaster when it comes to evangelism and the way we have done it (or haven’t done it) has been wrong. Let’s get creative again!

While we are going back to the good ol days of evangelism emphasis, remember keep off my grass you young whippersnappers!

1).  No Problem finding your car in the parking lot (It’s the lonely Chevy surrounded by empty spaces).

2). If you are allergic to Easter lilies, sneeze no more.  They were out of the sanctuary quicker than Michigan State was out in this year’s NCAA basketball tourney (Too soon, Sparty? Sorry!)

3). No pressure to wear the most fashionable Easter Bonnet. (The last Easter Bonnet was worn by Mrs. Bertha Davis at the First Baptist Church of Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 1998.)

4). Two Bulletins for the price of one. (Our worship folders are always free).

5). Plenty of seats in the front (and in the back and on the side and in the balcony and in the… well… you get the idea)

6).  If you have agoraphobia (fear of crowds), you have no worries. Of course, if you have monophobia(fear of being alone) you might want to consider bringing a friend.

7).  No Tithe Sunday! (That’s a lie).

8).You feel bad that no one will be there to laugh at the preacher’s corny jokes (Who’s kidding who? Even in a packed sanctuary no one laughs at the preacher’s jokes… not this preacher’s jokes anyway. Notice your lack of chuckles, giggles and merriment to #7 as proof).

9). The Choir will take requests from the “crowd.”(Umm… no they won’t).

And the VERY best reason to come back to church on the Sunday AFTER Easter…

10). You love Jesus and you want to praise Him on Easter and every other day too! Let’s not wait until heaven to join in the chorus singing, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” (Revelation 4:11)

 

If your stomach is empty, you’ll be hungry.

If your bank account is empty, you’re broke.

If your coffee cup is empty, that’s a bummer.

If the cookie jar is empty, that’s sad.

If the candy dish is empty, that’s worse.

If your gas tank is empty, I hope you are wearing good walking shoes.

If your trophy case is empty, you must be a Detroit Lions’ fan (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

If someone’s words are empty, they are meaningless.

If my church is empty on a Sunday morning, the church board will start shopping for a new pastor soon.

Empty is usually a bad thing. But not always.

On that first Easter morning, the ladies who were expecting to do the grim job of applying spices to the cold dead body of Jesus instead discovered that the tomb was empty.

Occasionally, empty is the best news of all!  The angel told them: “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” (Matthew 28:7-8).  If Jerusalem had a tabloid newspaper, then the headline would have been a one word, large print, eye-catching caption above a picture of a giant rock on the side of an open tomb: EMPTY!

We are celebrating Easter on Sunday.

The tomb was empty. Death has been defeated. Jesus is alive.

Here’s more good news:

If you are feeling empty;

If your heart is empty;

If your life is empty;

The Resurrected Jesus will come and fill you with His love and presence. Jesus words on the Sermon on the Mount are still true: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6)

The tomb is empty, but you don’t have to be!

 

Palm Sunday is this week.  We remember the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem and the crowds waved their palm branches and shouted, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”  Usually, on this beginning day of Holy Week, our kids with great excitement march through the sanctuary swinging their palm branches and we joyfully sing “Hosanna, Hosanna!!” Well, not everybody.

One year a young unnamed pastor’s kid was not thrilled to participate in the parade of palm branches.  He reluctantly dragged his palm branch behind him through the crowd. He didn’t quite exude the excitement of the original day.  There was a look of bewilderment on his face as he followed the lineup of kids with a “why-are-the adults-making-me-carry-this-dopey-palm-branch-throughout-the-sanctuary” look on his face while his palm branch followed in tow. Maybe it was too early in the morning to march through anything (I’ve been there).  Maybe he didn’t want to be a follower but wanted to lead the parade (I’ve felt that way).  Maybe it was just one of those days (we’ve all had them).  To all the parents who noticed him shuffling by dragging his branch, it was considered kind of cute as we could all relate to our kids and a time when they had a less-than-thrilled attitude about some activity.

Why remind you of that boy’s Palm Sunday Blues (by the way, the next year he was much more content to wave his palm branch and march through the sanctuary)?

I think a lot of us are kind of like that kid.  We shuffle through life with a bewildered stare. We don’t feel like singing or waving our branches.  We’d rather be left in a corner somewhere with a “Don’t Bother Me” sign around our neck.  Maybe we do what we are required to do but we have little joy and even less enthusiasm for the things of life.

Jesus has more for us than that. In fact, on the night that we call Maundy Thursday, Jesus told his followers gathered in the upper room: Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. (John 16:24 underlining mine).  Jesus is the Ultimate Restorer of joy. He calls for us to ask for it and He freely gives it.

If the stuff of life has been robbing you of joy lately, ask in Jesus’ name for his glory to return! In other words, in faith, remind yourself of the Good News that Jesus has come and he will come again! These tough days won’t last forever. So don’t drag your palm branches through life, but lift them high and expectantly and faithfully let your soul rejoice: “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

College Basketball’s March Madness begins today.  It seems that everyone in the country fills out a bracket and picks a team they believe will be the eventual winner.  Well, not everyone.  I was at a funeral this week for the parent of a parishioner and the pastor mentioned something about March Madness and filling out a bracket and the octogenarian lady in the pew in front of me, in a not-quite-a-whisper voice asked her husband, “What’s a bracket?”  I saw a non-sports loving person post the following on Facebook: “I don’t know anything about football, but I filled out my bracket.”

I saw that the odds of someone actually filling out a perfect bracket (picking every winner in all 63 basketball games during the three-week tournament) is 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to one.  To quote Lloyd Christmas (played by Jim Carey) in Dumb and Dumber, “So your telling me there’s a chance. Yeah!”

I filled out a bracket, but I have no hopes of winning.  One year, when Ben was about 4 years old, I had him pick the winners and losers in the tournament.  He picked teams based on bodily functions or body part sounding names.  His final four were:  Duke, Butler, Austin Peay and IUPUI (pronounce Ewey-Pooey). He did better than me.  Jimmy the Greek, I am not.  I have heard of people choosing teams based on the color of the uniforms (i.e. “I like blue better than green”) or team mascots (i.e. “Wolverines are cuter than Spartans, I’ll take them.”)  Generally, such methods are just as accurate as the picks from the so-called experts (underdogs frequently upset a higher seeded team, hence the reason for calling the tournament “March Madness.”). Picking winners is hard.

40 years of filling out a bracket has taught me this important lesson (not about basketball, I stink at that skill, but) about God: God does not pick us based on our ability to shoot a basketball, our name, background, clothing color or any other silly criteria. In fact, the Bible indicates that God has picked all of us to be winners.  Isaiah 43 has God’s words to Israel which we can claim as our own saying: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1).  Paul tells a group of Christians, “In him we were also chosen” (Ephesians 1:11) and Peter reminds us: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9).

God has chosen you and me not because we can shoot a basketball straight or not but simply because we are His children and he wants us to win in life (which is a tad more important than a basketball tournament). Peter put it this way:  God “is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9).

No matter who you pick to win the basketball games (I chose Michigan to win it all, shocking I know), make sure you choose God. He’s on your side and has already picked you as a winner—that’s not madness it’s called Amazing Grace!

When inviting a friend to church on Easter Sunday DO NOT say any of the following:

1) “Easter is on April Fool’s Day this year.  That’s kind of your daily double, isn’t it?”

2) “Your big ears look like the Easter Bunny’s ears, you’re as fruity as a jelly bean and your cologne smells like deviled eggs– you were made for Easter Sunday.”

3) “Don’t make me say: “Christ is Risen, but my friend is still in bed.”

4) “Easter Sunday is also known as “bring-a-peep-to-church-Sunday.”

5) “Easter just happens to fall is on a Sunday this year, could you join me?”

6) “On Easter, we are having a Barabbas look-alike contest, I think you will have an excellent chance of winning! The winner gets released from the service early.”

7) “Instead of an Easter Egg Hunt, this year our fourth graders are Hunting-for-Heretics, so unless you want 14 snotty nosed Sunday School kids showing up at your place at 9AM, you might want to join me at church.”

8) “At our church, visitors get an Easter Basket filled with year old Sunday school papers, last week’s church bulletins and Good Friday Potluck leftovers.”

9) “Before entering the ministry, our preacher was a pyrotechnics director in Hollywood. He promises that his Easter sermon will have REAL Fire and Brimstone.”

10) “Everyone goes to church on Easter except goobers.  Don’t be a goober.”

Please DO NOT use any of the above invitations to Easter Services, but DO INVITE someone to church on Easter!  Start praying about who could join you on Easter Sunday!

 

Do you like puzzles?  Here’s a riddle:  I have a cousin who isn’t having a birthday this year. She didn’t have one last year and she won’t have one next year either. She will have one in two years although. Here’s a hint: while she is nearly eligible for social security, she can truthfully make the claim to still being a teenager since she has had only 15 birthdays.

Answer:  She was born on February 29 so her actual birth day only rolls around every four years. I’m not sure if she celebrates her big day today or if she blew out her candles yesterday.

While, I don’t have my cousin’s excuse, there may be days when I act like a teenager (so says Karla) but there are probably more days when I feel like I’m ready for the rocking chair. In either case, the truth remains I am closer to the grave than ever before.

Moses, who knew a thing or two about birthdays (on his last birthday he blew out 120 candles), wisely instructs us in Psalm 91: “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 91:12). Moses understood whether born in a leap year or not, we are not guaranteed any birthdays. Our days are numbered and we aren’t the one who numbers them.

None of us are promised another year on planet earth.  As many of you know, our family has recently experienced grief (Karla’s dad passed away less than two months ago). Likewise, many in our church have freshly faced death’s menacing reality. Just this week, a classmate of some of our children passed away.  Our kids had prayed for this precious little girl last Sunday in Children’s Church and now that little one is in heaven; yesterday a pastor officiated the funeral of a 25 year old man; tomorrow our funeral committee (they are awesome servants by the way) is preparing a post-funeral meal for the family of a church member; and then on Saturday I will attend the funeral of mom and step dad of a lady from Central both of whom passed away within two weeks of one another and the family is having one funeral for both parents.  Death is a constant reminder that our lives on this old world are numbered, and we aren’t the ones who number them.

Added to these tragedies is the national grief we are experiencing in the wake of the latest school shooting.  Politicians will debate the best strategy moving forward, but all of us can agree that school shootings are a national disgrace. Our kids need to be safe and should be worrying about who to ask to prom not if there’s an active shooter is in their building.  By heart breaks for the students and grieving families in Parkland.

My intention isn’t to be Pastor Grim Reaper today, but simply to remind us that each of our numbered days is precious. Every day is a gift.  Hug your kids a little tighter and let go of grudges a little quicker.  Don’t take your days or your relationships for granted.  Use your days for God’s glory whether you are 14 or 84.

The next two Wednesdays I will be teaching a church membership class. We will talk about what our church believes and how we operate. I won’t teach the secret handshake (we don’t have one) or give out decoder rings to the Central Church pyramid scheme (umm… we don’t have those either).  Generally, at the start of the class I say something like, “I’m the least membership oriented pastor you will ever have.”  The reason for that admission is that one’s “Nazareneness” or lack thereof will not be a part of the entrance exam into heaven (there’s an entrance exam?).  St Peter (or whoever is the gatekeeper, actually I don’t think there is a gatekeeper) will not ask to see your Central Membership Card prior to entry (we don’t give out membership cards. We are a church not Costco).  You also won’t have to give your favorite Nazarene Potluck casserole recipe, name any of the general superintendents or tell how many Sunday afternoon Nazarene Naps you have taken.

Having written all of that, I still believe church membership matters.  Here’s why:

1)  Church Membership doesn’t say, “Yippee! I have finally found the perfect church.”  Central isn’t perfect. We have humans (including me) making decisions and we aren’t perfect (especially me).

2)  Church Membership doesn’t say, “We have everything figured out.”  We clearly don’t have everything figured out.  Every four years the Church of the Nazarene has a gathering where the elected delegates (I was one last summer in Indy) change our by-laws and re-work them.  Some stuff gets taken out and other stuff is added.  The Manual of the Church of the Nazarene is a working, changing document.  All this to say, we don’t think we have a corner on the truth.

3)  Church membership says, “These are my people.”  We can’t pick our biological family, you are stuck with them (even the crazy ones).  But a church family– you get to choose.  You say, in effect, these people are my people, even the crazy ones.  They are not perfect. Some of them didn’t vote the way I voted.  Some of them don’t like my kind of music and are very bad at social media interaction.  They are not always refined, but I will stick by their side, in good times and bad.  I will support and love them and receive support and love from them. They are mine and I am theirs. I belong here.”

Here’s the bottom line on church membership.  I think there is something refreshing in an era when commitment to anything seems to be at all-time low and when more and more people are identifying as a “none” when it comes to church affiliation, for people to stand in front of a church and say: “These people can count on me to love, serve and join with them to see God’s Kingdom built in Flint (in our case) as it is in Heaven.”  I love when people band together and say, “We are better together and God is up to something good in this place because of it.”

Tomorrow is GROUND HOG Day.  You know how it works. If the fraidy cat rodent, Punxsutawney Phil, sees his shadow, we get six more weeks of disgusting winter.  It’s kind of a dumb tradition if you ask me. I won’t take a Pennsylvania ground hog’s advice on just about anything, let alone the winter weather patterns over the next several weeks.  Still my calendar (with little regard for fact checking of the meteorological marmot) calls tomorrow: Ground Hog Day.

All of this got me thinking: “Why should ground hogs be the only animal to have a special day?” There are plenty of other creatures in the animal kingdom who are just as deserving to have a day designated in their honor (maybe more deserving than an overly nervous Pennsylvania woodchuck). So to that end, I offer the following:

Lion Day. Second Sunday in September. If a Detroit Lion sees the shadow of a goal post, it hides and Lion fans get six more months of bad football.  Like other holidays that have special greetings (i.e. “Merry Christmas” or “He is Risen” on Easter), people in Detroit on Lion Day tell each other “Wait ‘til next year.”

Giraffe Day. If a Giraffe feels rain on the top of his head, then rain will certainly hit other creatures very, very soon and that day will also be known as a “rainy day.”

Deer Day.  December 1.  If a deer sees his shadow, he does a little dance because he or she has avoided a hunter’s bullet throughout the Michigan Deer Hunting Season.

Turkey Day.  I know what you’re thinking: “We already have ‘Turkey Day,’ it’s slang for Thanksgiving when we eat turkey and watch the Lions lose.”  Not so fast, pilgrim. Thanksgiving is a day to be grateful for your blessings. Period. The REAL Turkey Day is more of an anti-Thanksgiving holiday when we recognize the real turkeys are not in the oven but those that refuse to appreciate and count their blessings.

I don’t have much hope that Congress will recognize any of these special days, but there is one day that I know will happen.  It’s called LAMB Day and get ready for this: Every day in heaven will be LAMB Day.  This is how Revelation 5:11-13 describes it:

 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. ¹² In a loud voice they were saying:

 “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”

¹³ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”

We can do without all of these other animal holidays (and a few others made by Hallmark holidays), but let’s determine to not miss LAMB Day.  In the meantime, have a great day honoring the Lamb with your lives and actions.  And let’s hope that the silly ground hog doesn’t see his shadow tomorrow.

A new Starbucks opened on Hill Road.  This may prove to be a problem because it is in my direct path of coming to church on most days.  I’m not a coffee snob as some people are (READ: my son Ben, who thinks purchasing Starbucks coffee is being a sell-out to corporate America and is NOT “real“ coffee).   I usually enjoy a dollar coffee that I’ve picked up at the McDonald’s drive-thru (which coincidentally is across the street from the new Starbucks).  I’m not sure I can write Ben’s opinion of McDonald’s coffee.

Generally, I have found that Starbucks establishments have better lighting, better music (for when I decide to start my day writing a sermon in a public place rather than my church office) and of course better coffee than McDonalds.  The problem is all of this ambiance carries a price tag. McDonald’s coffee is a dollar.  Starbucks might want to change their name to “Five-Bucks.”  Still there will be times in the future (shhh… don’t tell frugal Karla) that I will stop into the new Starbucks and pay a little more for all of the above reasons.

What I’m trying to say is that for the real thing, in the right environment and at the right time, I am willing to pay a little more.  I hope that the church notices these same characteristics. The church is a volunteer organization.  No one is forced to come (my boys might have argued that point about ten years ago).  There are a lot of options for people.  That’s why it is important that all of us strive for excellence in all areas.  Everything must be done well from the preaching, to the singing, welcoming, cleanliness of the building, the nursery staff, children’s and youth workers and everyone else.  If people walk into a church and feel it is unfriendly or untidy or underwhelming in its care for their children, you can have Billy Graham behind the pulpit and these folks will never come back.

We used to sing a hymn back in the day with the title, “Give your best to the Master.”  It still applies. Whatever your task in God’s Kingdom give the Master your best. I think that was Paul’s point too when he told the church folks in Colossae:  Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters (Colossians 3:23). 

We have a world to reach for Jesus and all of us play a role in this global evangelism effort.  Let’s make sure all of our efforts (both inside and outside the church walls) are pleasing to the Master.  What you do and how you do it matters!

I’m sitting beside my father-in-law’s, Arling’s, bed as I write this post.  Arling is in the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease.  He hasn’t known me for months.  The hospice nurses don’t believe he has many more days on this old earth.  Soon his faith will be sight and Alzheimer’s will be a distant memory (pun intended).

For my Flint Central Nazarene friends most of you have only known Arling with Alzheimer’s.  You didn’t get a chance to know the man who is as unique as his name. (Have you ever run across another “Arling”? I bet not).

There is a beer commercial that touts some guy as “the most interesting man in the world.”  The fictional character selling beer can do all sorts of remarkable feats (usually with a beautiful woman by his side). Arling truly was an interesting man (usually with Mary his wife of 56 years by his side). He was a tool and die maker for most of his life and I’m told a very precise one.  But Arling was much more than his employment.

I played golf with him a few times.  Once we were on a par three hole that had a pond between the tee box and the green.  He proceeded to sink a half dozen balls into the water before finally getting a ball onto the green.  “I knew I could do it,” he proudly proclaimed.  He was a bad golfer (consider me as the pot calling the kettle black) but he was determined.

He wasn’t a great businessman either.  At least not when it came to his Christmas tree farm.   I think he gave away more trees than he sold.  “No one should be without a Christmas tree,” he told me.

He was snowmobiling into his 70’s, cut ice with the Amish, served in the army reserves and was an inventor.  (He came up with a better umbrella for his Amish friend’s horse and buggies).  One skill I wish he would have taught me is backing up a car with a trailer attached. He could back up a trailer straight as an arrow for two hundred yards without batting an eye. I have trouble backing up my car with its rear-view screen and no trailer at all.

I took Arling on a mission trip to Dominica about 25 years ago.  Arling was usually the last one on the van. His tardiness annoyed some of the team members (truth be told, sometimes it annoyed me too).  But Arling wasn’t delayed by extra-long grooming times or slowly eating his dinner. Usually he had found a child and had devised a game to play or noticed an older person with whom he could have a conversation. Some things were more important than being on time.

Arling was a faithful servant of the Lord.  A lifelong member of the Reading Church of the Nazarene, he taught Sunday School and was the head trustee for years and years.  Teaching the Word and serving Jesus were Arling’s loves.  When he finally passes, his obituary won’t make the headlines of the New York Times, but this world will have lost a most interesting man and heaven will have gained the man I’ve been honored to have been his son-in-law for almost 30 years.  Arling doesn’t remember my name, but I assure you the Lord has written his unique name in the Lamb’s Book of Life.