SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

I have truly felt deeply for pastors through the COVID experience of the last fourteen months.  I recently read an article titled, "25 Church Statistics You Need to Know for 2021" [https://reachrightstudios.com/25-church-statistics-for-2021/].  It observed,

"Non-practicing Christians have grown from 35% to 43% from 2000 to 2020. During the same time, practicing Christians declined from 45% to 25%."

This news does not bode well for church finances;  it means there are considerably fewer people to pay the bills!  Other sources indicate that 20% of all churches have closed since the beginning of the pandemic!  

Think about it.  All pastors had to find a way a year ago to get some kind of service online.  My Facebook page is crowded every Sunday morning with 'Watch' parties centered around worship services.  Those who were broadcasting before COVID had a clear advantage.  The quality of many of these services is still quite low, yet give them credit for navigating these waters.  

Many of us have become acquainted - possibly even comfortable - with sitting in front of a computer screen for Sunday worship.  For the first time, we can go to church in our pajamas!  We can have coffee and a sweet roll while the service is in process!  How cool is that?

Since these services are still being broadcast as COVID concerns diminish, we can assume that some people are still staying home to worship.  When will churches determine that live-streaming is no longer necessary?  I'm acquainted with several churches that were livestreaming before COVID.  The fact is that some churches have prospered and grown through livestreaming.  

I was reading my college alma mater's magazine yesterday.  In an article by Romy Hosford (Associate Professor of Art) titled, "Media Is More Than The Technology That Creates It", her closing comment caught my attention:

"There is something about how our human souls inspire one another when we are in physical communion with one another that does not come through over screens."

Thoughts flooded my mind after reading that statement.  I quickly deduced that she was right.  

I can walk away from the computer screen taught, inspired and feeling that I've met a spiritual obligation;  however,  have I been affirmed, greeted, encouraged, cared for and touched?  You can answer for yourself.

For instance, I am a Facebooker.  According to my home page I have 851 'Friends'.  But in reality, I have very few friends in the traditional sense of the term.  These 'friends' laugh at my jokes, comment on my posts, and affirm my worth as a writer, but do they really care for me?  Do they leap to my aid in times of stress or trouble?  No.  Because I don't air my times of stress and trouble on Facebook.  

In real life, I have an ever-shrinking group of friends.  Debbie has always been my best friend.  My son, Troy, enters my life meaningfully at least once a week.  Then there's our dog, Gabe - man's best friend!  We have great neighbors who are friendly, but I don't really do things with them.  Truth be told, I'm a pretty lonely guy.  

I have come to know a few people where we attend church;  but I wouldn't call any of them friends.  

We have extended family nearby and even in our church, but I really don't share my burdens with any of them.  

I visited a large, growing church recently.  Theater seating and excellence from beginning to end.  When the worship ended I watched as the crowd departed the auditorium.    They walked straight out the back door having little or no contact with one another.  They got in their cars and drove away.  It struck me!  The churches I led had people lingering for over an hour after worship ended (I used to tell them to lock the door when they left 😁).  

I'm not against livestreaming.  It's been a blessing to me and many especially during the COVID crisis.  But I think Professor Hosford is right.  "There is something about how our human souls inspire one another when we are in physical communion with one another that does not come through over screens."  

I've been told by people I've counseled that they attend church because its the only place where they receive physical touch from others (hugs, handshakes, shoulder pats, etc.).  Wow!  Wow!  

For the record:  I'm finishing up this article and heading for church!  It's been my lifetime habit.  I love to worship God.  I enjoy being with people who share my love for God!  I'll linger a bit.  Maybe I can encourage someone.  Maybe I'll even be encouraged...

 

THIRD CHURCH VISIT

I arrived ten minutes early in a downpour.  This church had about six guys with large umbrellas running to walk us to the entrance.  The guy that escorted me was very friendly.  Pretty cool idea!  

They are a church that was planted in 2011.  They meet in the fellowship hall of an established church.  The common area was well populated with people visiting and hanging out.

I entered the hall which was set up with about 200 steel chairs.  No bulletin.  ;-)  A countdown indicated that the service would begin in about five minutes.  Several people took up the microphone to make announcements in that interim, but the background music was loud enough that I couldn't hear what they were saying.  

[Remember that I'm hearing impaired.  Much of the morning I struggled to hear.  I've been told that when mikes are set for singing, they're NOT set for speaking.  Also, I suspect that this hall had poor acoustics.  I didn't ask if they had devices for the hearing impaired;  if I go back, I'll ask.]

To their credit, they did begin on time.  I estimate that there were about 120 in the hall at that time.  Within a half-hour, another sixty arrived.  I attribute this to the fact that the congregation was largely young adult.

The worship team included a young man who led with his guitar, a keyboard player who seemed quite skilled and sensitive, and a young lady who sang lead.  .  I wish I could have heard his comments between songs.  They did three or four songs;  I did not know any of them.  From observing others, not many did.  And yet, the congregation seemed eager to worship!  Uplifted hands and moving to the music was obvious across the hall.  

PERSONAL EXCURSION:  I don't understand (probably because I'm an old guy) why so many churches insist on a constant barrage of new worship music?  It deprives the people of the joy of singing in worship.  For many of us, this is an anticipated act of participation.  Think about it:  where else do we sing - the seventh inning stretch?  There are SO MANY great worship songs out there.  Please sing something I know!

There were no masks and there was no attempt to social distance.  We were encouraged at one point to greet our neighbors;  everyone around me shook hands with me.  It was liberating!  The congregation was largely made up of young adults and young couples;  however, other age groups were also represented.  Quite a few staff members participated in the service.

Their web page indicates that their pastor came to Geneva College from Louisiana, married and planted the church.  Although I'm not certain, I think he played a major role in leading the service.  He and his wife sat in the front row and he was quite a cheerleader for all that was happening and obviously enjoys being before his people!  

No offering was received, but before the service ended we were instructed to find receptacles for our offerings as we left.  

Mother's Day was prominently celebrated!  A number of videos were used and the PowerPoint was well run!  [That gets a BRAVO from me because it's so poorly run in most churches!]  

The message was delivered by four young women who sat on stools before us.  Two of them might have been the pastor's daughters.  They each spoke for about ten minutes presenting one point and supporting it with one verse of scripture.

• Be Intentional
• Serve Others
• Be Available
• Love Others

The young women were engaging and passionate in presenting their message.  The pastor followed their message with a prayer including his own message.  During a closing song the congregation was given opportunity to come forward and receive Communion;   a small percentage took advantage of this invitation.  

A young man and young woman came forward and made announcements for several minutes.  I was impressed that one of the announcements had to do with a 'Servolution' in which they were rallying the people to serve the community!  [Servolution is a book written in 2009 by Pastor Dino Rizzo from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  It documents a radical plan to serve others in the name of Christ.]

Much was done right and well here!  It is clearly a dynamic and growing body of believers.  I understand that they are purchasing a former Catholic church on Route 51 and will eventually begin ministering from their own site.  I would expect to see explosive things happen at that point!  

BLINDED PEOPLE

 II Corinthians 4:4

The god of this age [Satan] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Does it surprise you to hear an intelligent person referring to the reality of a being named Satan?  Have we really come so far that we now depersonalize the reality of this cosmic enemy of God?  

I believe in his reality for two reasons primarily:

1. The Bible clearly teaches his reality and even his authority in this world.
2. I see evidence of his influence in my life daily!

This very important verse reveals his tactics.  He blinds the minds of unbelievers!  In doing so, he prevents them from seeing the truth of the gospel - and therefore the glory of Christ who is the image of God.  

And the church keeps meeting and having committees and building bigger and nicer buildings.

Through some vital connections, I have been closely watching the developments in the country of  Myanmar.  Debbie and I spent a couple of weeks in Yangon some years ago.  We met the beautiful people there and saw their orphanages and schools.  They make much happen from very meager resources.  One church there served us 'foreigners' by washing all of our clothes for us and also by serving us a delicious meal.  I distinctly remember the line of teenage girls squatting at basins and washing our dishes as we finished our meal!  They understand servanthood!  

The military intervention that took place there a couple of months ago has cast the country into chaos and confusion.  This has happened repeatedly throughout their history.  The people are disappointed and angry.  Protests in the streets have cost lives.  None of this is secret;  with a simple search you can turn up reports and even videos.

And guess what?

The church is growing in converts as a result!  In desperate times, people turn to God!  

Now, many would say that we've been facing desperate times here in America over the past year.  Yet where is our harvest?  

I think there are two main explanations for this lack of spiritual renewal.

FIRST

The church is still focused on a 'come and see' approach.  We build beautiful facilities and try to get the crowd to come.  Churches use night-club contrivances, the latest video techniques, a constant barrage of new music and sermons bought from the most successful preachers in the country.  But what if lost people - for whatever reasons - just don't want to come to our churches?

SECOND

Christians are indistinguishable from spiritually lost people!  We look alike, dress alike, drink alike, talk the same, watch the same movies and TV shows, and our divorce rate is even higher than theirs!  BUT, we do go to church most Sundays!  That's our understanding of letting our light shine...

Yet, I'm trying to recall when Jesus spoke of gathering crowds to do evangelism.  What I do remember is Him telling His followers to GO INTO ALL THE WORLD AND MAKE DISCIPLES.  There's a creative thought!  Go to the lost!  Make friends with them.  Help them.  Serve them.  Influence them.  Go to where they are sick and dying (like Jesus did).  Feed the ones who are hungry (like Jesus did).  Attend their feasts (like Jesus did).  Develop a reputation of being a friend of sinners (like Jesus did).  

In doing these things, we rip Satan's hands from their minds and eyes!  We disarm Satan!  We show the love of Christ!  We reveal a Savior who can calm their fears, forgive their sins, and give them eternal hope!  

During our three years in China, the churches we were connected to would get extremely excited when Americans would come to teach them how to do church.  I had an ongoing discussion over this with a dear Chinese friend who shared this exuberance.  

The facts are that the Church grew phenomenally in China from the 1950's through the end of the century during severe times of persecution.  For four decades there was no outside presence in China!  The seed of faith planted by missionaries prospered and grew through the direct intervention of the Holy Spirit.  

I contended to my friend that the Chinese Church doesn't need to be taught by Americans.  The American Church is anemic and has failed in its mission.  It DESPERATELY needs an intervention from outside its borders!  

My prayer was and is:  God, protect China, Myanmar and other countries where You are at work from interventions by a church that has lost the fire and is nearly fruitless.  

Almighty God,

Thank You for the work You're doing in China, Myanmar, India, Cambodia and in many other places and countries! 

Renew Your work in the hearts and lives of American Christians!

Refresh Your Call on our lives.

Forgive our sins and lack of concern.

Open our eyes to Your mission - which is great in our land!

Make us a spiritual force in this world as we once were!

Help us to rebuild a platform that will give us the right to teach others and do it effectively and fruitfully.

For the Kingdom's sake.  Amen.

DO DOGS GO TO HEAVEN?

Consider the following evidence and make up your mind.  [Much of what follows is taken from Randy Alcorn's book, HEAVEN]] 

When God made the animals, He made “The wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds.  And God saw that it was good”   (Genesis 1:25).

Isaiah 65 and 66 specifically speak about the New Earth (Heaven).  Here we read, “‘The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox…They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,’ says the Lord”  (65:25). 

When God saved Noah, He also included the animals.  God commanded Noah, “You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.  Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive”  (Genesis 6:19-20).

After the Flood, God made a covenant with Noah, and in that new covenant God included animals: 

“I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth.  (Genesis 9:9-10)

Are animals important to God?

• God ordered ravens to feed Elijah  -  I Kings 17:4,6
• God “…provided a great fish to swallow Jonah…”  -  Jonah 1:17
• God sent a fish with a coin in its mouth to teach Jesus’ disciples a lesson  -  Matthew 17:27
• In Numbers 22, God enabled Balaam’s donkey to speak to him and save his life!
• When God sent Jonah to rescue Ninevah, God expressed His concern not only for the people in Ninevah but for its “…many cattle as well.  Should I not be concerned about that great city?”  -  Jonah 4:11
• God’s care for animals even appears in the Ten Commandments:  “Six days a week are set apart for your daily duties and regular work, but the seventh is a day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God.  On that day no one in your household may do any kind of work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you”  -  Exodus 20:9-10
• Even the sacrificial system elevates animals.  God repeatedly revealed His messianic Redeemer as a lamb.  It was because of their value that their sacrifice revealed sin’s horror and the exorbitant cost of redemption.  Millions of lambs were slaughtered in Israel’s history, each pointing to Christ’s redemptive work.

Psalm 148 commands all of creation to praise the Lord, including the animals:  “Wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children.  Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted;  his splendor is above the earth and heavens”  (vv. 10-13).  Psalm 150:6, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”

Revelation 5:13, Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:   “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”

We’re told that in Eden the serpent was “more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made”  (Genesis 3:1).  More crafty suggests that some of the other animals were also crafty.  Animals were smart, probably smarter than we imagine;  the most intelligent animals we see around us are but fallen remnants of what once was.  The serpent’s intelligence was demonstrated in reasoning and persuasive speech.  People typically imagine that Satan possessed a dumb animal, the snake, but the text doesn’t say that.  The fact that he spoke through an animal in Eden suggests the animal had the capacity to speak.  There’s no suggestion Eve was surprised to hear an animal speak, indicating other animals also may have spoken.

In Revelation 5:13, “every creature” in the universe is said to sing and give praise to the Lamb.  The word for creature in that verse is ktsima, which clearly means “animals” in its only other appearance in Revelation 8:9.  

When God created Adam, He surrounded him with animals!

When God saved Noah and his family, He surrounded them with animals!

When Jesus was born, He was surrounded with animals!

Joni Earickson Tada writes:  If God brings our pets back to life, it wouldn’t surprise me.  It would be just like Him.  It would be totally in keeping with His generous character…Exorbitant.  Excessive.  Extravagant in grace after grace.  Of all the dazzling discoveries and ecstatic pleasures heaven will hold for us, the potential of seeing Scrappy would be pure whimsy – utterly, joyfully, surprisingly superfluous…Heaven is going to be a place that will refract and reflect in as many ways as possible the goodness and joy of our great God, who delights in lavishing love on His children.” 

John Wesley argued that animals originally had greater understanding, wills, passions, liberty, and choice.  He said, “How beautiful many of them were, we may conjecture from that which still remains…It is probable they sustained much loss…their vigor, strength, and swiftness.  But undoubtedly they suffered far more in their understanding…” 

C. S. Lewis’ fantasy writings regularly include animals that can talk.  We know that Lewis had a creative and imaginative view of a renewed Earth (Heaven)! 

Humorist Will Rogers said:  “If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.”  

KOTA

I've written quite a few tributes over the years, but this is my first for a dog.

Kota came to live with the Kerstetter family about twelve years ago as a pup.  She is a yellow lab and served as a hunting dog for Jon when she was younger.  

She truly impressed me on our first visit to the Kerstetter home after she joined the family.  Rylie was a toddler and Coltin was a baby.  They crawled all over poor Kota and hugged her.  I remember watching as Rylie pulled on her eyelids.  Never did Kota snip at either of the kids.  An earlier dog had snipped at Coltin;  that dog quickly came to live with us for a while.  

But Kota earned her place as the beloved family dog and guardian of the children!  She was an excellent watch-dog and was not happy when anyone drove up their 'Dead-End' street.  Her hearing was excellent and she was their early-warning alert system!  Earlier in their marriage, when Jon was going on rather long deployments, Kota was a great source of comfort and security for Tracie!  

When Debbie and I visit several times a year, Kota always greets us warmly with lots of licking and rubbing up against us.  She has a sweet disposition and makes friends quickly and easily.  

It may sound funny, but I've thanked the Lord for Kota many times in my prayers!  I've viewed her as God's helper in protecting my grandkids!  She did a GOOD job of that and earned their love - and the family does, indeed love her!  

For those of us who love our dogs, we know how they endear themselves to us.  They truly become part of the family!  They bond with us and their faithfulness amazes us.  Did God have this in mind when He made them?  I wonder...

Kota has been experiencing difficulty getting up and moving around during the last year.  I've watched Jon tenderly help her stand up so she can eat.  She's been spending a bit more time on her bed lately.

There's so much happening in the Kerstetter home right now with a major move anticipated soon from Connecticut to Florida.  Preparing the house for sale, sorting through all their belongings, reducing the clutter, painting, cleaning - STRESS!!!!

When we were up for Coltin's birthday in March, Tracie wondered if Kota was going to be able to make the move.  Apparently, yesterday they decided she wouldn't.  

After training her replacement for the last year or so, Kota has now moved on.  There's tremendous sadness in the house today;  it will not go away quickly.  Many of you know this sadness and have experienced it.  Now Gunner will get all the love and attention.  Will Gunner live up to the expectations of his teacher?  I'm quite sure he'll get the same love and attention.  

Thanks, again, Kota!  You did a good job and you'll be missed!  

[Watch for my next blog article:  "Do Dogs Go To Heaven?"]