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Some years ago I was associated with a seminary that refused to seek accreditation. The deeply held conviction of the leader was that only the Church can accredit the work of a seminary; secular outsiders should have no say because they are not the beneficiaries of the work of the seminary. Not entirely a bad argument! Users are the best evaluators.

With this current effort of elevating our accreditation, and now that I am also serving as a pastor, I have been wondering what it would be like if each local church had to endure a formal evaluation every decade. By outsiders! What if a group of experts came to evaluate the ministry, finances, curriculum, personnel, facilities and results of the work of your church and mine? Of course, these categories would be the easy ones. They are “Normal Stuff .” We would show them our up-to-date mission statement, our adequate personnel and resources, and convince them that our church is doing what it says it is doing. But we could still be falling short. The work of the Church is not Normal Stuff.

What are the marks by which a church should be evaluated? Shouldn’t they include some “Super Stuff “? If we were to assess a local church for heavenly accreditation, here are questions I think the Lord would want us to explore:
• Who is the real CEO? Is it Jesus, or is there another head of the church?
• Is there evidence of actions and attitudes which only God can bring about? Is there a touch of His presence? Of His power?
• Do we His people come to church ready for God to speak to us and act through us? Are there any God-carriers in our congregation?
• Will visitors and especially unbelievers be confused by anything they don’t understand and can’t explain, is everything “normal”?
• Can group dynamics, psychological conditioning, or other social factors adequately explain our meeting? Does money float the program?
• Do the worshippers seem to be isolated and individual, or are they aware of the rest of the Church militant and triumphant? Are the departed saints and angels singing with us?
• Are congregants having life-changing experiences with God in our midst?

This kind of thinking can be a bit threatening, especially if you are a church leader. If none of the Super Stuff is there, what can we do about it? We can only invite God and create a welcoming ambiance; if He chooses not to show up, maybe something’s wrong, because God delights to be with His people. In my opinion, the issue starts with expectation. We must expect that God wants to be present and experienced. If we expect nothing, that is what we will get.

If we do expect to meet with God, that will change our entire outlook on how we prepare. We will cleanse our inner sanctuaries. We will put no rules or limitations upon Him. We will not insist on a worship style that suits my fancies. We will make sure He has plenty of time to talk, not just listen. And we will make sure He has plenty of time to act, not just talk. Often we don’t know whether God showed up because we don’t give Him a chance to do or say anything. We jam our programs with so much horizontal stuff that the vertical can’t get through.

Well, these are just some of my musings about assessing the local church. Of the seven potential outcomes by an accrediting visit, we surely would not want the last two: Show Cause (why you should stay in business) or Close up.

The Cost of Christmas

Pastor David Schroeder

Christmas caught the shepherds and everyone else by surprise. Herod surely wasn’t ready for it, nor was the innkeeper in Bethlehem. But you can be sure that no politicians or business owners will be caught by surprise this year! No Siree – all eyes are on the commercial / consumer potential to help pull America out of its economic deep freeze. Isn’t that what Christmas is for, after all? ‘Tis the season to spend freely, fa-la-la-la-la, la, la, la, la.

So, how much will Christmas cost you this year? Are Christians ready to be good Americans and splurge for the good of the economy? Christmas is always expensive. But no matter how much we spend, it won’t cost more than the first Christmas.

They walked in tandem, each of the ninety-two students filing into the already crowded auditorium.  With their rich maroon gowns flowing…and the traditional caps, they looked almost…as grown up as they felt.

Dads swallowed hard behind broad smiles, and Moms freely brushed away tears.

This class would NOT pray during the commencements—not by choice, but because of a recent court ruling prohibiting it.

The principal and several students were careful to stay within guidelines allowed by the ruling.  They gave inspirational and challenging speeches, but no one mentioned divine guidance and no one asked for blessings on the graduates or their families.

The speeches were nice, but they were routine…..until the final speech received a standing ovation.

A solitary student walked proudly to the microphone.  He stood still and silent for just a moment, and the, it happened.

All 92 students, every single one of them, suddenly SNEEZED!!!!

The student on stage…simply looked at the audience and said, “GOD BLESS YOU, each and every one of you.” and walked off stage…

The audience exploded into applause.  This graduating class had found a unique way to invoke God’s blessing on their future with or without the court’s approval.

This is a true story; it happened at the University of Maryland.

The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness.  The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him sincerely.  He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them.       Psalm 145:17-19 NLT Read more »

Oswald Chambers writes, “We count as service what we do in the way of Christian work; Jesus Christ calls service what we are to Him, not what we do for Him.  Discipleship is based on devotion to Jesus Christ, not on adherence to a belief or a creed…Today we have substituted creedal belief for personal belief, and that is why so many are devoted to causes and so few devoted to Jesus Christ.”My question is: Do you agree?  

Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat on her face, walked into a grocery store. She approached the owner of the store in a most humble manner and asked if he would let her charge a few groceries. She softly explained that her husband was very ill and unable to work, they had seven children and they needed food. John Longhouse, the grocer, scoffed at her and requested that she leave his store at once. Visualizing the family needs, she said: ‘Please, sir! I will bring you the money just as soon as I can.’  John told her he could not give her credit, since she did not have a charge account at his store.

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There is something that you should consider doing with your teenager this weekend…Ben Stein is in a new movie coming to the big screen April 18 titled Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. To find out more about this upcoming film please continue reading. Read more »

We are thankful for how God in His mighty power continues to work in Meredith Taylor’s life.  Her story is nothing short of a miracle.  Just a little over two weeks ago Meredith was fighting for her life after a near fatal skiing accident.  Today she is recuperating at home and we marvel over the progress she is making.  Our God is an awesome God!  Let’s continue to remember Meredith, Zack, Kim, Steven and the rest of the family as Meredith makes her way through this time of healing.   Pastor Ed

God in His Mighty Power Continues to Work

Since this past Thursday we have seen our Mighty God work His mighty power in Meredith Taylor’s life. Thursday night no one could predict if Meredith would live following surgery on her brain. Now just four days later she is out of the ICU, she is sitting, walking, using the facilities, eating and drinking. She still has a way to go; pain continues to be an issue that must be managed, she is still processing the events of the past four days, and she has those facial fractures that her doctors must make some decisions on. But we can give praise to our God that He has worked and we can continue to pray for His working in Meredith’s life.

This space is called I Spy – as in I have seen. We want to use this space on our web page to share how we have seen God at work in our circumstances. In doing so our purpose is to bring glory to our great God and His working in our lives.

An I Spy can be anything that brings God glory. It can be an answer to prayer, something that God has revealed to you in His Word, or a way in which another person has blessed or encouraged your life.

The focus is always on God’s working amongst us and not on us. As we share His working and give Him glory, those who read will be greatly blessed.

Thanks for sharing God’s work in your life.