The Rev's Rave..."You have reached the answering service of the "Most Reverend" David A. Johnson. Thank you for contacting "His Holiness". Please leave your message after the angels sing and he will get back to you ASAP......"(Hahaha!!!)
This is a place where the Rev. (a.k.a.) Pastor Dave, will share thoughts on topics of all kinds, and how they relate to our Christian Faith. (or should I say) "How our Christian Faith speaks to all kinds of topics?"
The Rev. also welcomes your questions and comments. We learn and grow from one another.
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(2/18/2010) Is there a "sin" a you or I can commit that we can not be forgiven for? It's a pretty good question for Lent. So, what do you think?
(2/1/2010) Ok.Yesterday in worship during one of the "Commercial" announcements, a mega-church sent a letter out to it's members politely telling those who were not giving, were not volunteering, but attending worship, using day care, the Church facility, and free services, to please find another church. The letter asked them to “participate in the life of the church” or worship elsewhere.
“No more Mr. Nice Church,” says the executive pastor. “Bigger is not always better. Providing free services indefinitely to complacent Christians is not our mission.”
"Freeloading Christians were straining the church’s nursery and facility resources and harming the church’s ability to reach the lost", says the pastor. “When your bottom line is saving souls, you get impatient with people who interfere with that goal.”
“Before now, we made people feel comfortable and welcome, and tried to coax them to give a little something in return,” says a staff member. “That’s changed. We’re done being the community nanny.”
"Surprisingly, the move to dis-invite people has drawn a positive response from men in the community who like the idea of an in-your-face church. “I thought, a church that doesn’t allow wussies—that rocks,” says Bob Clark, who admires the church more since they told him to get lost."
***There were a lot of mixed (and some very unhappy) expressions on the faces of those in the Congregation as I read this. Why do you think that was? Was it because some felt it was unjustly applied to them? Was it because some people are opposed to the "tough love" this church decided to offer? Was this church wrong? Partly wrong? If it was right and wrong, tell me why and what.
There are a few things very right about the message contained in this action. There are a few things I see as very flawed about it too. But I am not going to ruin the flow of this discussion by pointing those out up front. I want to know what YOU think. You didn't have to be in church Sunday to jump in. It's right up there. Go ahead. The angel choir is singing, please leave your message! (haha)..... "The Rev." Peace....
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@Here is a "Rev's Rave" about that letter sent to everyone at the church listed above. This is my major problem with it.The statement “When your bottom line is saving souls, you get impatient
with people who interfere with that goal.”
Hello! Who do they think they have sitting in the pews? People, including Christian, mature at different speeds. Just like kids. Everyone doesn't "get it" at the same time.
If Jesus had trouble with people wanting a "free lunch" and hanging around for the miracles and the benefits, should we be surprised that some people who are in the church miss the point? Nope!
Another MAJOR problem I have with this is that the Church is JUST as responsible for caring for, nurturing, and "discipling" it's members as it is "saving souls". The Scriptures, Sacraments and Holy Spirit are for the Church, not those who have yet to believe. What happened to that idea? Our people, God's people, don't matter? That is just not Biblical!
Sorry Pastor Dude from "No More Mister Nice Church." You bet we need to inspire and sometime challenge the heck out of the fellowship to grow and be faithful and live to their potential as the Living Body Of Christ in the world! But the church is NOT "merely" a business, and even though out of frustration we may be tempted at times, we don't "Pink Slip" members of the Christ's Body!
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SHELLEY ARDUINI
I thought it was a great service. Churches everywhere are going through the same thing we are. People need to step up to the plate, and just not the same people that have been doing it right along. And I also think that we have to stop focusing on the past and everything that we have been doing wrong and start focusing on everything we can do as a community to have a church for the people who want to worship. 2/1/2010
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