Keep It In The Family

“All death can do to the believer is deliver him to Jesus.” -Charlie Kirk Words are to the Christian like tools are to the construction worker. It is not our fists or our muscles that give us strength in the spiritual battlefield, it is the power of our words and the Spirit of God that uses them. If there was one person that had a master’s degree with his words, it was Charlie Kirk. He was a devoted husband and father, and a young man passionate for his nation from an early age. Charlie reached the spotlight at a young age, most significantly with his organization, Turning Point USA. However, I’m sure that if he were still here, he’d tell you that his greatest joy came from serving his family and the Lord Jesus Christ. “When we stop talking to each other and arguing our differences, that’s when people turn to violence, and I’m trying to prevent that.” -Charlie Kirk Martyrdom almost feels like a foreign or historical term as an American. It’s something we read in our history books or read about in the news, but it has not been a reality for America for much of its history as it has for so many other nations. Yet, on September 10, 2025 (on the eve of 9/11), Charlie Kirk was gunned down in broad daylight on the campus of Utah Valley University doing what he does best, being a warrior with his words. Charlie reached millions, if not billions, with his videos – just having conversations with others, mainly young adults about age old questions that pertain to the truth. For that – our 1 st Amendment rights, for his words, which he was most known for sharing gracefully – he was killed. Charlie Kirk was murdered for having beliefs and speaking about them. That statement alone feels foreign to write as an American. ( When asked how Charlie would want to be remembered if he died) “I want to be remembered for courage for my faith. That would be the most important thing. The most important thing is my faith.” -Charlie Kirk Charlie caught my attention several years ago, and I’ve been a fan from afar. The mystery of our generation is how we can feel so connected to someone that we did not know personally, yet we can feel like they were a close friend. Charlie wasn’t some actor playing pretend on the big screen. He used cameras, social media, and his show to capture conversations and allowed millions to join in to the conversation. Charlie was gifted in debate, and in many areas, I would agree with his beliefs about the gospel, conservative, moral, and biblical values. No two Christians are alike, but Charlie was a breath of fresh area in an area where many have viewed politicians to be a lost cause, even those who claim to have some kind of “faith”. It comes to no surprise that many have admitted that they would have voted for Charlie for president had he had the chance to run. I would have been one of those people. “Stop being a boy and become a man. If you want to know what that means, come to church.” -Charlie Kirk The assassination, the murder, the heinous and evil act that took place on September 10 made Charlie Kirk a modern martyr for the Christian faith. This act has cemented what we had thought was a foreign concept to many and that is this – persecution is here for Christians in America. The scale is uncertain. The end is unclear. But our mission is as clear as ever. We must continue to speak the truth – most importantly, the truth of the gospel and the truths given by the Word of God. Charlie was a warrior of words, and he used them to his advantage. However, it wasn’t a skill of manipulation or deception. The words that he spoke were largely backed by the truth of the Bible, not just the ideas of man. Charlie’s life can be picked apart like any other human being, but I choose to recognize what he knew his greatest mission was, and that was spreading the truth of the gospel. “Jesus defeated death so you can live.” -Charlie Kirk “Jesus is enough, you are not enough.” -Charlie Kirk While in college, I remember a pastor saying to a group of young men – “I do not measure a man by his ministry, I measure him by his marriage.” For the reasons that I do not respect many conservatives, Trump included, those are the same reasons I respect someone like Charlie Kirk. He was a family man that is mourned by a wife and two beautiful children because of the devoted father that he was. A video has circulated of his daughter running shyly in his direction, and when she gets close enough, she picks up speed and runs boldly into her daddy’s arms. As a father of three girls, that video has struck my heart the most. To take that away from two children is an act done only by one with a black heart. Erika and their two children will need an extra measure of grace to fill Charlie’s role in their home, because God designed little girls to need their daddy’s. And they need them desperately. Charlie was a strong promoter of the family, and aside from the gospel, and especially next to politically conservative views, that is the most important to a strong nation. The attack and collapse on the family in America is what will lead her to her demise. That is what Charlie was fighting to stop. This was also emphasized in his wife’s first public speech since her husband’s death. “More people should get married young and have more kids than they can afford.” “The happiest women in America are married with children.” “Having children is way more important than having a good career.” -Charlie Kirk When the years pass and cultures and empires continue to shift, our legacy will be cemented. If there’s one thing that moments like this should bring to our attention it is the same question that was asked to Charlie Kirk – “how will you want to be remembered?” - Be remembered for speaking much of the gospel to anyone that will listen and compelling them to hear the truth. - Be remembered for your love and integrity towards your family. - Be remembered as a faithful member of the body of Christ, no matter where your work takes you. - Be remembered for doing all that you can to fight evil and to be bold and courageous for Jesus as He was bold for you. - Be remembered for giving your life for others. “Good men must die, but death can’t kill their names.” -Charlie Kirk

Every generation has its marks that people remember them by. Proverbs 30 describes four types of generations. Verse 13 describes one generation this way – “There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.” If there was a simple, yet accurate description of the generation of young people and young adults today, we could call them the selfie generation . Solomon may have said it this way – “There is a generation, O how many selfies fill up their cloud data. Their filters wash their imperfections and appease their insecurities with every like and comment.” Selfies are not just a type of photography; they are the way of a generation. A study ten years ago showed that women ages 16 to 25 spent about 5 hours per week taking and editing selfies. Many will obsess over the angle, the lighting, the position of their hair, the background, etc., etc., etc. This screams insecurity! More accurately put, this can be called “selfie dysmorphia”. This is the obsession with perfecting the imperfections with a filter, an editing program, or lighting manipulation. A generation of girls (and boys) have grown up looking into a lens that isn’t concentrated on God’s landscape, others, family, and helpful information, but a lens looking right back at themselves. This is a recipe for disaster for many, but especially for young people! The greatest error that one can make with social media (in my humble opinion) is the promotion of self . I personally get bothered with even the title of influencer. Because 99.9% of these wannabe celebrities find their fulfillment in the adoration of a following that can hardly be characterized as real relationships and a life that is strictly digital. This is not to say that posting anything online of us is wrong, but it’s quite easy to find accounts that are filled with self-portraits, varying from borderline nudity to a cringey “look at me” posterboard. Before you get defensive and accuse me of ranting about a pet peeve, I’d encourage you to study what Proverbs and the rest of the Bible says about the elevating of one’s self. Proverbs 27:2 says, “Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.” And no, that doesn’t mean posting a selfie and waiting for all of the comments to flood in about how stunning you look. Selfies scream for an invitation for praise, and that’s why people share them most of the time. My heart aches for the young girls in our generation that think that they need to become a social media phenomenon and will sacrifice the purity of their bodies for the praise of strangers online. Too many girls are marketing their bodies for free for perverts and reprobates. Each generation can do better, and parents can do better to monitor this. Parents, don’t let your children take a lot of selfies, whether they post them or not. This should be a huge red flag to the internal thoughts and battles that your kids may be facing. Nothing good will come of it. Parents, don’t let your children post a lot of selfies. I’m not accusing a selfie of being sinful, but excess in this shows signs of depression and severe insecurity issues, not to mention safety concerns. Women, I beg you to have discretion with your social media. Get a man’s opinion (a godly man) on your account. If he’s willing to tell the truth, he’ll tell you what can appear to give the wrong message. You do not need a thousand digital followers to make you feel beautiful and special. If you have a man at home who made sacred vows together with you, then there is only one person that you should need to fill that void in your soul. Men are normally the smallest group in this area, but this is a concern for all ages and genders. Men shouldn’t need praise from the world, nor should they feel the need to display their masculinity for others to praise. This is not a call for a ban of any picture/selfie of yourself that you may have on your accounts. I would be hypocritical if that were the case. This is, however, a call for visiting an area of concern with how we view ourselves, where we find the solution to fix the insecurities that many will face, and showing wisdom with how we portray ourselves for free for the public to see. The studies in this area are not Christian and they are not very complex to understand. Social media should not be used for self-promotion, or you will pay the consequences for it in your heart and with your relationships. I guarantee it.

READY FOR A RIDE? Imagine you are getting on a roller coaster and at the entrance there was a sign that said “Side effects likely include obesity, mental health issues, sleep deprivation, social incompetence, attention problems, anxiety, depression, addictions, delayed speech and reading, motor deficits, eye damage, and musculoskeletal disorders.” Would you get on the ride? The roller coaster that I’d like to present to you is the social network and the social experiment we are all a part of. Think about these next couple statements. Iowa State University psychology professor, Douglas Gentile, said, “It’s been getting harder for parents to really monitor a lot of what their kids are seeing and doing. At the same time, they’re relying on the seeming benefit of being able to quiet the kids at a restaurant with a device…We may be building a bit of Frankenstein’s monster, because we’re using that power for our benefit, not for the child’s benefit.” Google design ethicist, Tristan Harris, said, “There are a thousand people on the other side of the screen whose job it is to break down the self-regulation you have.” REALITY CHECK Between 2012 and 2025, teens owning a mobile device went from 41% to 95%. Teens using social media several times a day went from 34% to 70% and teens having some kind of social media is at 93%. More than half of these adolescents visit TikTok daily and about 73% use YouTube daily. We are living in a social experiment. Only time will tell the effects that the social network will have on our youth that are being raised to aspire to want to be influencers more than they want to be doctors, preachers, and enter the real work force. I won’t be the voice to cry “the sky is falling” every time there is a new trend or social media app, but we also can’t ignore the dangers that we are facing with more access and connection than ever before. Ease of access is the reason that children are being exposed to pornography earlier than ever before. The internet has skyrocketed the child trafficking industry. More and more girls are tempted to create their own fan page online and sell their body to strangers as they claim their “independence”. These realities should shake us to our core. THERE IS HOPE Here’s some good news. Whether it’s a famine, market collapse, or a technology that changes the way the world lives, God’s Word has the answers. For the next several weeks, I’d like to offer some wisdom from God’s Word on the subject. May I also point out that this wisdom is not just for teens. You’ve seen the dating or even marriage couple on a date at the restaurant on their phones instead of focusing on one another. Sixty-six percent of adults in married or committed relationships report that smartphones and social media sites like Facebook play an integral role in their lives. 40% of spouses say that they are bothered by how much their spouse is on their device. The effects of users that use social media without wisdom and understanding can lead to a number of problems such as obesity, anxiety, depression, sleep deprivation, cyberbullying, and much more. However, there is hope. When God wrote the Bible He knew that we would live in this era and face the problems that we call modern and new. The wisdom from His Word is as relevant to the wannabe TikTok influence as it was to the blacksmith and farmer of years past.

Worldwide missions is the conclusion to the ministry and work of Jesus Christ that can be found in the closing of each gospel and at His ascension in Acts 1. While I am a patriot, I am a Christian first. Nations and powers will change and fade, but the need for eternity remains the same. Recently, I led a group from our church to the Navajo Reservation, the largest Indian reservation in the U.S., in Arizona for a summer missions trip for our teens. I didn’t take my first missions trip until 2022, and it made a profound impact on me. Some wrongfully view missions trips as glorified vacations or somehow as a way to appease our American sympathy towards the less unfortunate. This blog is for those who have taken a missions trip, those who are considering taking a missions trip, and for anyone that shares the heart of our Saviour towards the souls of the world. Not everyone will have these opportunities, but I would challenge you to consider joining your church or even taking a personal missions trip for the following reasons: 1. It will change your worldview. “USA all the way!” – We cheer it, and I love it. But in Heaven, Olympic medals and national anthems won’t be played. I don’t believe it’s wrong to be patriotic, but that spirit of competition and comparison can be cancerous to the heart of missions if we don’t put it in its proper place. The goal of missions isn’t to Americanize the world; it is to evangelize the world. 2. It will stir compassion in your soul. Jesus was moved with compassion because He looked with His eyes upon the people. Walking through the Amazon jungle, exploring the streets and alley ways in San Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, travelling through Mexico, and exploring the Navajo Indian reservation, my heart has done somersaults as I’ve seen the surface of the great need in these areas. It’s also reminded me how we can become so desensitized to our own areas because it’s the “norm” to us. Instead of seeing streets, houses, roads, and sites, we must learn to see souls that are slipping into one of two sides of eternity. If you have any heart for God, I promise this will have a powerful impact. 3. It will open your eyes to the darkness. I have a soft spot for two kinds of missionaries: those that are involved with translating the Bible into languages that have no written copy of God’s Word and those that are going to a field that has little to no gospel witness. These pioneers remind me of the missionaries that we read about in books of yesteryear. Recently, we visited an area that had no established gospel preaching church until just a few short years ago. Now, there have been several churches that have been started. In a land where we pass a dozen churches on the way to the church of our choosing, it can be eye opening to see how big of a need there is around the globe. While we face church hoppers that move across town when they get upset, some are living in darkness with zero options other than a false religion. 4. It will connect you with other believers. Isolation can be a real feeling in Christianity. If we’re not careful, we look at our cities and think, “Is anyone else trying to do what we’re doing?” I’ve enjoyed spending time with missionaries in each field I’ve visited. Some have been missionaries that our church supports, and some I’ve met for the first time. Those conversations have encouraged me and I’ve been blessed to connect with each of those believers. Truth be told, a lot of those conversations were with the people or natives in those lands, not just the missionaries that were called there. I’ll treasure those moments for a lifetime. 5. It will make you more soul conscious. I am a big believer in that missions trips should not be glorified vacations. The purpose of the trips I’ve taken is for ministry. Along the way, I’ve seen some amazing sites, but the sites are not the purpose. The purpose is the people in those places, and the purpose isn’t to bring them food, water, or houses. Those may be methods to open their hearts and to draw them out. The purpose is to preach the gospel. Each trip I’ve taken, we’ve seen many souls saved and that is always the highlight of the trip. 6. It will produce gratitude and contentment. Nearly every culture and race around the globe has greater difficulties than us Americans. America has its faults and failures, but the standard of living in American is so much higher than much of the world. This has been one of the greatest realizations in each trip that I’ve taken. I believe this is one of the great reasons that kids and teens should go to needy areas. Their Xbox and favorite snacks seem less like necessities when they see cultures struggle to have access to clean water or regular food. 7. It will challenge you to do more in your field. A stirring of the heart will translate to action. People don’t do what they are not inspired in their heart to do. Missions is not merely emotionally driven, but there is no doubt that the stirring that takes place on a different mission field will have great potential to cause you to return home with the thought, “I must do more!” This should make giving to missions much more personal. This should make you a better soul winner back home. And this should increase your prayer life towards missions. These are a few of the many reasons that I have made missions trips a purposeful priority for myself and our church in recent days. We can’t be in two places at once, but we do live in a day where travel is easier than ever. With the right mindset and purpose, missions trips can be a tremendous blessing.

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The story of Achan in Joshua 7 is undoubtedly the greatest reminder of this principle. Joshua and the nation of Israel were gaining momentum as they crossed the Jordan River and were ready to claim the territory God promised them. However, as they went up against Ai, thirty-six soldiers lost their lives in a battle that seemed like a walk in the park. The reason? God wasn’t going to bless the nation because there was a weak link in the chain and his name was Achan. Achans are likely in every church in the world. Achan is a teenager that is forced to attend but has a dark heart. Achan is a spouse that comes to appease his/her family but is counting down the minutes until he/she can leave church. Achan is a leader that is going through the motions but relies on talent and familiarity over God’s help. Achan is a pastor that can preach a sermon but is distant in his personal walk with God. Achan is anyone that appears to be solid and sold out on the outside but is empty and barren on the inside. The severity of the Achan syndrome cannot be overstated. It can cripple a good and thriving ministry when one bad egg is in the midst of the bunch. Your job is not to become the bounty hunter of your church to track down Achan. Your job is to be on guard that you never become an Achan and hinder what God can and desires to do in the assembly of your church. What are some signs of the spirit of Achan entering your life? 1. Hidden sin. Harboring unconfessed sin in your heart is one of the surest ways to hinder God’s blessing and to bring God’s judgment. When you enter the presence of God, that is time for confession. Don’t allow your sins to be kept from the Lord. 2. A bitter spirit. Bitterness is a cancer. The truth is that Satan will use any person, any conservation, and any experience he can to get you bitter at God. People blame the church and the people for all the hardships, scars, and burdens of their lives. It is true that people hurt people, even in church. However, the sad result is that instead of dealing with that person, that person will use that experience as an excuse to get bitter and God and His church. 3. A contentious spirit. Church is a place to build one another, not for tearing down. It is a place to be a help, not a hurt. It is a place to see that you don’t have to be a victim, but you can live victorious with God. It amazes me how many come to church with a contentious spirit. I realize, as the pastor, I may get the brunt of this, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around someone getting ready to come to church with the same attitude that Muhammed Ali had when he was getting his hands wrapped up before a fight. 4. A disconnected heart The heart shows up during the song service. It’s hard to fake joy, especially when you’re singing about the salvation, glory, or love of Jesus. Staring at the song leader with your arms crossed is a good way to kill the spirit in a service. We’ve had people come that I honestly never saw move their lips in the song service. Maybe some are fearful of their lack of talent, or maybe it is because their heart has no desire to sing at all of the glory of God. It may be that victory is around the corner, but defeat comes because Achan is hindering the hand of God. Are you an Achan?

THE GREATEST WORDS EVER SPOKEN IN A CAFETERIA Life has a way of flipping upside down when you become an adult. When you were a child, you gave a fuss to your parents because you didn’t want to take a nap. Now, you give a fuss to your children because you want to take a nap. When you were a child, you threw a fit because you didn’t want to eat all of your food. As an adult, you’re hoping that there are seconds so that you can eat even more, even if you shouldn’t. “SECONDS!” That one word brought a feeling of delight to myself as a college student in the dining hall in Bible college. On a tight budget and with a youthful body, a pb&j just didn’t cut it for dinner on the job site. I lived by the see-food diet – if I saw there was food, then I ate the food. Many of us (mostly guys…but not all), would rush up to the counter in the college cafeteria like hungry puppies begging for another bite. GOD’S CALLING FOR A SPIRITUAL APPETITE When you come to church, I want you to think of just obliterating your favorite homecooked meal and the joy that you feel when your mother asks, “Do you want seconds? There is plenty.” The Word of God and truth is described in several places in the Bible as bread, milk, water, and physical nourishment. We even see God tell certain men to eat His Words. If you don’t believe me, look up Jeremiah 15:16, Ezekiel 3:1-3, and Revelation 10:9-11 . Of course, this is figurative language, but God uses this terminology for a reason. In Hebrews 5:12-14 , we see the people being rebuked for not growing in their appetite towards the Word of God. They were still on a baby, milk-based diet when they should have developed their spiritual molars to chew on a juicy ribeye. Instead, they were stuck to their formula bottles that reeked of their anorexic disorder. A BIG APPETITE We find an example of a people in Acts that had a big appetite for the Bible. They were not satisfied with taste-testing the Bible. They were like a new convert at a Baptist potluck in the south balancing multiple plates while going through the line. They wanted to consume it. Acts 17:10-11 tells us, “These {the Bereans} were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Note – the quotation is mine. What was so great about these Bereans? When they went to church and heard the preacher get up and boldly preach from the Book, they went home and they continued on in that study. They wanted seconds after they were fed the main course in the house of God. It wasn’t enough just to hear it from a man, they wanted to enjoy it all over again in their homes. THE BEREAN EFFECT Let me suggest some great reasons to follow this practice: 1- You will learn more – Research shows that your understanding of a subject increases through repetition, but also through different means of learning. Listening, reading, and writing are different ways to learn something. If you practice all three – listen to the preacher, read it for yourself, and take notes – then you will learn more than those sitting on padded pews with nothing in their lap except for their phone in their hand. Think of what will happen if you repeat this at home while you get your seconds! 2- You won’t be deceived – The latter part of those verses said that the reason these Bereans did this was so that they could see “whether those things were so”. They didn’t want to just take the preacher at his word, they wanted to see it for themselves. We would have a lot less of the false teachers in our day if we had more Bereans in our churches. 3- You will develop a personal walk – Instead of sitting in awe of what your preacher learned from the Bible, you must learn to exercise your own spiritual muscles at some point if you want to be strong spiritually. Think of a workout routine. The first week is rough. You are very sore and a little discouraged. Then, you get into a groove. You can’t expect to be Mr. Olympia the first time you open the Book. You must stick with it day after day. Go feast on those seconds. You’ll never consume too many calories with God. In fact, the more you consume of God’s nutrition, the better off you’ll be. Be like the Bereans!

In my last post ( link here ), we looked at Jesus’ first miracle and how the servants in the miracle saw something that the others at the wedding in John 2 didn’t see. Right away, God shows us that joy of serving Him. 1. Service is provided through a local, N.T. church. 2. Service enables every Christian to be involved in the ministry. You are not “in the ministry” because you get your paycheck from the church. You are in the ministry if you are serving at the capacity that you are able to. Within every individual is a calling to find purpose in life. I’m telling you that God put that desire and hunger in your heart, and the way that you feed that hunger is by serving in the church. This is how you can make a difference every week! 3. Service connects you with others. Peter & John, Paul & Silas, Aquila & Priscilla, Paul & Timothy, Jesus and the disciples – when you think of servants in the church, you see people that are linked to other servants. I have found that some of the most productive times that I’ve had bonding with someone is by serving together on a work day, going soul winning together, or helping with a church event. You don’t just have to connect over coffee staring at each other over a table. Serve together! 4. Service lets you see the miraculous. Only the servants saw behind the curtain in Cana. Even though the others received the blessing of tasting Jesus’ personal, organic, NON-ALCOHOLIC grape juice, only the servants knew how they got that juice in the first place. I can see them looking at each other, grinning from ear to ear as they watched the host of guests sipping on the delicious beverage Jesus provided. When the night ended, everyone probably forgot about the juice, but the servants never forgot this day because they were there to see it happen. I can tell you stories upon stories of what God has done behind the scenes during big days, with the church finances, and on many occasions serving the Lord with good people. When you come to church and get to enjoy the day, sure you may be well rested, but you’re not going to have the joy at the end of the day that the servants will have. Before you wait until it fits your schedule to finally get involved in the church, consider John 2 . Let me also tell you that you don’t need a title to serve. Somebody needs to clean the church. Are you really going to make your church hire a janitorial team or burn out a staff member when you can sweep, mow, prune, or clean a window? I believe the greatest area of service could be soul winning . No church has enough soul winners, and there is no cap on how many can be in this ministry. There can only be so many teachers, ushers, helpers, bus drivers, but you can find an area of service to join in on. Take the plunge and join the team!

Have the workings of Jesus ever perplexed you? I know…the epi demy of a rhetorical question. In our family’s Bible time, we have been going through the miracles of Jesus. I want my children to know that Jesus is God and there’s nothing He can’t do! The beginning of this study, however, is less groundbreaking than you’d expect if you wrote the script yourself. Of all places for Jesus to do His first miracle, He chose a wedding. Not the slums, not the drug house, not the leper colony, but a wedding. And the miracle that He performed was turning a plain liquid into a tastier liquid. By no means am I trying to minimize the miracle at the event in John 2 , or question the doings of Jesus, but this does cause me to wonder why He chose this event and this miracle. My favorite part of the miracle, though, is not what Jesus did, but who He used to do it with Him. As this miracle is unraveling, Jesus’ ministry is welcome with not-so-open arms. In fact, nothing even tells us that many knew that this was a miracle that took place. The governor is noted to complain that they waited to bring out the good stuff at the end instead of the beginning – “…thou hast kept the good wine until now.” (John 2:10) This became standard for Jesus’ ministry moving forward. Some were helped. Some were bystanders. Some praised Him. Some complained, mocked, criticized, or attacked. In the middle of this miracle, I wish to draw your attention to a parenthetical phrase that the God of Heaven gives to us as He unveils this truth. John 2:9 tells us that most of the guests at that wedding were completely oblivious to the miracle that happened that day, but some were fortunate to be the first account witnesses of this supernatural event. John 2:9 tells us “(but the servants which drew the water knew;)” . God wanted you to know that there are some things only servants know . Church is a lot like a sporting event. A few are happy to play and make an impact on the outcome and the masses are happy to watch them do it. Let me challenge you to not miss one of the reasons of the church and the joys of being involved in a church, and that is SERVICE. 1. Service is provided through a local, N.T. church. Ephesians 4:11-16 lays out the purpose of the gifts that God has designed you with. It is for the ministry. Your gifts may help you to land a job or launch your career. You may think that your career isn’t aligned with your gifts and that you’ve missed your opportunity. Friend, the reason for your gifts is not only to provide for your needs, but to make a difference in your church. Mechanically minded people make great servants on the media team. Encouragers make great greeters and ushers. Servants make great custodial workers. You may wonder if you’ll ever use your gifts, and I’m here to tell you that you can, but you may have been looking in the wrong place. The church is a place for you to use the gifts that God has given you to serve Him!

Sports is a way of American life. There is no doubt that sports has become a god to many in our land, but we know that there are certain traits learned in sports that can be good for life like submission to authority, teamwork, working towards a future goal, physical discipline, and more. I fondly remember attending many sports games growing up. My brothers played for the local high school team, so Friday nights were under the stadium lights in the fall months. Sports games can be electrifying! Fans paint their faces, make their own signage, wear the team colors, and hoot and holler until they’re blue in the face. How is it that church is the event that it seems that people are the least excited to attend? Can you imagine if we brought just half of the heart and excitement to church as we do to a ball game that has no bearing on our lives. Someone said, “The next time pastor asks you to get as excited at church as you do at a sports game, don’t be surprised when Joe shows up shirtless with his chest and face painted.” I’ll admit that they are not the same thing, but let’s agree on this – we can do better with our spirit at church. Sports is all about atmosphere. The moment that you pull into the parking lot, you see the jerseys, the flags on the trucks, the burgers grilling at the tailgate parties. When you walk into the stadium, the workers are there to greet you, direct you, and sell you with their paraphernalia. The music is playing, the intro is planned, the smoke cannons are stocked, and they are ready to make you feel out of place if you are anything but jumping out of your chair with excitement. How can we bring this kind of atmosphere into the church? I’m not promoting fireworks, smoke machines, and foam fingers to raise when the pastor says something that you like. But the church shouldn’t feel like a funeral. It should feel like heaven on earth! 1. Walk in with a smile. Don’t make it somebody’s mission to get you out of the dumps. Put a smile on your face and realize the joy and privilege of being a part of the body of Christ. 2. Greet as many people as you can. I can’t spend all of my time with just one person on Sunday. There are too many that I want to greet. It may be one minute, or it may be five minutes, but I want to spend time with as many people as I can. 3. Find the newbies. Newcomers feel out of place. Make it your mission that they don’t feel this way. Bring the spirit to them that this place is “the place to be”. If you see someone sitting alone staring at the wall, there is your opportunity. 4. Sing out. What I dislike about modern worship songs is that they are hard to follow. I have many more issues with modern Christian music, but the beauty of the hymns is that they are easy to sing along with for the most part (insert – Wonderful Grace of Jesus). Be the one to set the tone that at this church, we sing out! 5. Give cheerfully. This is a Bible command. Offerings shouldn’t be awkward or disingenuous. This should be a time of worship as we give God things that are close to our hearts. 6. Preach the preacher. Laugh at the corny jokes. Nod in agreement. Say “amen” if you like it, or maybe if you’re just trying to keep your neighbor awake that’s nodding off. Don’t be a statue in your seat. People can’t see your heart. Wear your heart on your sleeve in the service. 7. Use the altar. If you’re never using the altar, then I guess you’ve made all the decisions you need to in church. I’m not offended at those who don’t use the altar, but can you imagine the impact that it would make in the service if 75% of the people genuinely went forward every service? What an impact that would make! 8. Stay and fellowship. One of the earmarks of a healthy church is what they do after church is dismissed. There are many, many times that I’m not the last one at church. Our church family stays late and spends time together longer than I’d expect most churches to. But I love it! You don’t have to be a night owl, but don’t be racing for the door so you can be the “rush” out of the parking lot. Stand around, talk to a handful of people, find someone that you’ll make it a point to engage with. Let’s make church a place that people feel the excitement as soon as they pull into the parking lot!