Month: August 2021

I’ve recently read two significant articles about the challenges facing the church today. One was published in a quarterly, and the other online. The first is entitled America Follows Israel’s Departure from God, and the second, America’s New Religion: Fake Christianity.

I referred to the online article in a sermon a couple of weeks ago when I pointed out how many Christians have embraced the belief that the purpose of life is to be happy, and we have no right to pass judgement on anyone if they’re just trying to be happy. The article gave a name to this fake Christianity, calling it Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.

The moralistic perspective is that we’re here to be good people and do good. The therapeutic aspect is everything is supposed to be geared to making me feel good about myself. And deism is the idea that God created the world but has no direct involvement in it. The bottom line is that God just wants everyone to be nice, and the purpose of life is to be happy.

The article in Does God Exist? suggests that the problems we face today are the result of doing five things Jeremiah said God’s people were doing in his day. I’m simply going to note them. You can get the details by reading Jeremiah 6:10-19.

—They refuse to listen to the word of God.

—They are obsessed with material things.

—They delude themselves with falsehoods.

—They were not ashamed and could not blush.

—They rejected the only possible solution.

The author concludes: “The politicians and philosophers will not fix what is wrong with our world. The only possible solution is the teaching and example of Jesus Christ taught in our homes and congregations and lived out in the lives of his disciples.” I’m sure we all agree.

God Bless, Rick

I trust you are really excited about the announcement on the front of the church paper! WE ARE HAVING A CHURCH WORK DAY ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 14TH! The long anticipated opportunity to work around the church will begin at 8:00, so there will be no need to sleep in on the 14th! Just come with gloves, shovels, rakes, wheelbarrows, or paint brushes.

What is the prime project for the day? We’re going to begin the job of redoing the playground off the nursery!

First order of business will be removing all the gravel—and re-purposing it in the big playground—so it can be replaced with Blue Sky Outdoor Interlocking Tiles. Before the tiles can be installed—on another day—a layer of white rock and lime will have to be hauled in, leveled and compacted. Assisted by Paul Hunley and John Deere of course.

If we find we have too many resting on their shovels while Paul does his thing, we’ll bring out the stain for touching up cedar trim around the church. And we’ll look for anything else that needs to be touched-up or spruced-up. I’m confident we’ll find plenty for everyone to do.

Now, back to the Blue Sky Outdoor Interlocking Tiles. Yes, they are very expensive, and my fiscally conservative nature cringes at the cost. They will, however, not only provide a clean safe surface for our little ones to play on, but will also make it obvious to visitors that we put a high priority on children.

Oh, and one other thing. While I was reviewing our financial picture before the elders’ meeting—which due to your faithful stewardship is very good—I found an unexpected check in the mail. It was from the estate of Joe Carter. He had written us into his will, and the amount of his gift will nearly cover half of the cost of the playground redo.

His son was pleased to hear how we were planning to use the gift from Joe.

God Bless, Rick