Treating the symptoms...

I have been involved with The Salvation Army since the day I was born (my parents are officers). I have gone to 10 different corps (8 of which I actually remember) and experienced many different types of congregations in those corps. One thing has been the same, though. In each of those corps, kids come to church without their parents. I think this happens in other churches as well, but it seems to me to be extremely common in our church. Why is that? And why do we as a church accept it?

I have heard countless officers say things like "We need to reach the children...they are the future" or "If we can only keep the kids coming, they will grow up to serve Christ." But will they? Those kids may spend 2 hours on a Wednesday night at the corps, maybe another 2 on Thursday or Friday, perhaps some time on Saturday at a Divisonal event and 2 hours on Sunday. That may be a total of 14 or so hours with Christians per week. But they will spend probably 30-45 hours with their families, who may or may not know Christ.

Why don't we try to reach the parents? I know that I'm making some generalizations here, but I have seen so many kids at so many different corps who seem to spend a lot of time at church, yet they don't grow up to serve Christ. Why not? Because they are bombarded by satan as soon as they leave. Scripture talks about the husband being the head of the household, and the spiritual leader of the family. Why don't we do more to reach fathers? Mothers set the tone of the family, usually being the one to provide proper nutrition and values...why don't we try to reach mothers? Wouldn't our church be more effective if we were to reach out to families, rather than just the kids?

I think we often make the same mistake in our divisional programming. We have wonderful youth retreats in which we encourage the kids to stand strong for Christ, but what do we do to train leaders, or to reach out to the parents so that the kids are getting the same message at home as they are at church? It seems to me that we treat the symptom, not the disease. We try to reach the kids, but forget about the family, which is where the kids are being influenced each and every day. I can compare it to treating a chronic cold, and taking medicine to make the sniffles go away, without looking at the cause of the colds in the first place. It could be that poor nutrition has resulted in a weakened immune system, which results in frequent colds. It would make more sense to look at the root of the problem.

We tend to become impatient with our church kids, who have come to the corps for years and have heard over and over again the message about Christ, and we wonder why their actions don't reflect Him. Wouldn't it make more sense to reach out to the parents, to preach Christ to them? Are we afraid that they won't respond? That they are a lost cause? If so, then our faith must be pretty weak. Those parents have souls that need Christ, and God wants us to worship Him together in family units. I think we need to take a long hard look at our primary target for our ministry, and rather than back down on that, expand our ministry to include parents. That will be the most effective way to start a revolution in the church, and make great strides in building the Kingdom.

I love The Salvation Army and all we do and represent. But I am frustrated in feeling that we "start over" every ten years or so, when the kids grow up and stop coming to church. (Ok, a lot of them go on to Training...) But many stop coming, or stop coming for ten or fifteen years before they return. And I also feel guilty about the parents who are sitting at home on Sunday mornings, whose souls are being lost forever. By reaching the parents, we can reach whole communities, and lead more people to Christ...which is our ultimate goal.

God's Creation

I have been in awe of Creation for the past few months. The beauty of the earth and everything in it seems to point straight back to the Creator of all things. I'm amazed that there are people who don't believe in the existence of God - how can they not when His Creation is so...amazing?

God truly speaks through nature. My daughter was playing with a bug today. It looked like a beetle, but it curled up into a little ball when she got too close...anyone know what that bug is called? When I saw the bug's reaction to Rachel's touch, I thought about how I used to react like that. When people got too close, I would curl up into a ball and not let anyone in. Yet over the past year God has placed people in my life who I can trust and confide in, and He's taught me to open myself up. My relationship with God has deepened as my relationships with other people have grown stronger. Thank You God, for the friends and for the ability to trust!

A few weeks ago I was sitting on my back porch during a rainstorm. The porch is screened in, so I didn't get wet, but I was able to feel the wind and experience the charge that is in the air during a storm. As I was looking out into the side yard, I saw some bushes that had tiny leaves on them. As the raindrops hit them, they would bounce down and then back up again. It seemed as if they were dancing! It was so beautiful - both the sight of the leaves and the knowledge that with God in our lives we can dance, even in the rain!

God has given us such an organized, well-ordered, beautiful world to live in. Let's try to see the beauty all around us, and listen for His voice in everything we see.

"Shout with joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of His name; make His praise glorious! Say to God, 'How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies cringe before You. All the earth bows down to You; they sing praise to You, they sing praise to Your name.'"
Psalm 66:1-4

Sacrifice and Awe

I have been struck by two thoughts lately concerning worship. First let me share some scripture from Isaiah 1:10-13.

" 'Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah! The multitude of your sacrifice - what are they to me?' says the Lord. 'I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings!' "

I wonder how many of our offerings to the Lord are meaningless to Him. I suspect that He really doesn't care about the order of events in our meetings, whether or not the kids and babies are fussing during the service and what type of music we use. In fact, I think that the "presentation" we try to give on a Sunday morning actually goes completely against what God wants. We try to provide a service that includes music, scripture, a sermon...and for what? Are we doing it for God, or for ourselves? We try to make sure the kids are quiet, that everything looks good and goes smoothly, and that we finish by 12:00 or 12:30. An hour and half seems to be all that people are willing to give to corporate worship. I find it sad and a little disheartening that we try so hard to put together a great service on Sundays, when God just wants us to love Him and worship Him in spirit and in truth. He is not impressed with what we offer Him. He enjoys it, I'm sure, when it's done with a true attitude of worship. I'm not saying that we should abandon our corporate style of service. I just think we need to be mindful of what we are doing, and stop bringing Him meaningless offerings.

I said I had two thoughts concerning worship. The second is that throughout the scriptures, when people worshipped God, they would fall prostrate on the ground in reverence for Him. They were truly in awe of Him. Even those who worshipped idols did this to their statues. Today, you could walk into most churches and find people who are standing up and raising their hands to God. I think that this shows that our relationship with God has become more familiar...we consider Him our friend, our brother, our comforter. These things are good, but I wonder how we have lost that sense of awe and reverence.

This season of Spring is a wonderful time to renew our awe of the Creator. I can't help but worship Him and stand in awe of Him when I see the beauty all around me. He took the time to create a million types of flowers, trees and grasses for us to enjoy. He took the time to create a worls in which insects and animals all play a part in the order of the world. He took the time to create us, with bodies that are able to heal and minds that can reason. We should revere Him and give Him the adoration He deserves.

Worshiping Ourselves?

I am doing a Bible Study on worship. Well, I guess I should say that I WILL be doing a Bible Study on worship. I have been studying about the different types of worship and the true meaning of the Church. It has made me realize that much of the corporate worship we do in church in self-centered. People want to worship in the way that is the most comfortable for them - their music, their Bible translation, their style of dress. Not that these things are bad...but it seems like worship services are no longer about God. They are about the emotional high that is experienced when people enjoy the music, or the fellowship or the musical/artistic offerings during the service.

It seems to me that worship has become dependent on that emotional high. I have often heard people say "I didn't get much out of church today." I have said that myself on occasion. I have even noticed that sermons are more about people than they are about God. Many sermons are preached about topics that are relevant to the congregation in that week or that month. Again, there is nothing really wrong with that. But to me, that type of sermon is reactive...it is preached in reaction to something that has happened recently. A fix-it-when-its-broke approach. Again, it is centered on the people, not on God.

I will end this post with a Psalm that expresses the way I want to worship:

"Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song.
For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.
In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him.
The sea is His, for He made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care."

Psalm 95:1-7

The Word

Psalm 119:9-12, 32 " How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, O Lord; teach me your decrees...I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free." I walked into a Bible book store last week and found myself being irritated by all of the "self-help" books I saw there. There were books on everything from marriage to choosing the right school for your children. They were written by Christian authors, and probably have decent advice in them, but at what point did Christianity become something you can find all of the answers to in a book? Or, I should say, in a book other than The Book? I have come to realize over the past few days, weeks, months (perhaps even years) that the answers to any questions I may have about my life can be found in God's Word. If I am worried about my job, God tells me to trust Him. If I am worried about where to send my daughter for pre-school, God tells me to not worry about tomorrow. If I question the truth of the gospel, He tells me to hold fast to the teachings of my parents. Why is it that Bible Study groups will study books by Christian authors, use study guides that help them navigate through a book of the Bible, or study a topic such as grace or faithfulness yet don't seem to be able to simply study the Word of God? It seems as if we depend so much on the opinions and thoughts of a Christian author that we forget that God has given us everything we need to know in one Book, and He has given us the Holy Spirit to help us understand. I think that satan uses doubt to make us question our ability to grasp God's truths. In a society in which instant gratification is the norm, we seek to find answers quickly. And let's face it, it's much easier to read what someone else says about the Christian life instead of delving into the Word and finding out exactly what God says. I am making a committment in my life today to turn to God's Word before I turn to any other source. I am sure that He has provided answers for me. Psalm 119:105 says "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." I have read that verse at least two hundred times, but I don't think I ever really grasped it's meaning until today. The "lamp to my feet" allows me to see where I'm going right now, at this moment. The "light for my path" allows me to see where I'm heading. If I really believe that, then God's Word is really all I need.

I used to want to be a writer. I ended up teaching instead, but have never lost the passion for putting my thoughts down on paper (or on a screen). Over the past few days I have read blogs by some of my friends and realized what a wonderful opportunity this can be to share thoughts and ideas. I have been hesitant to start my own blog, though, because it can be very impersonal at times. I find people logging on to their computers to find out what their friends have been up to (myself included) rather that taking the time to pick up the phone and actually talk to them. Or better yet, have lunch or dinner and spend time together face to face. Yet here I am. I think that technology can be a blessing and a detriment if we are not careful. Hopefully my blog will be a blessing to someone.