GOD'S BEST FOR YOU IN THE NEW YEAR!

This has been a troublesome year.

The economy is struggling.

My health has been challenged.

There have been many other adversities, as well.

Yet God is on His throne.

Jesus still saves.

Life is sweeter every day, with Him.

And so I wish for you the very best of all God has to offer in this coming New Year.

CHRISTMAS

For the Christian, this is a very special time.

For the non-Christian, it may be a time for gift getting, gift giving, partying, having time off from school or work, getting caught up in the hustle and bustle of the "season," or just a bunch of hub-bub about nothing.

For the Christian (not the nominal Christian, but the genuine person of faith), Christmas is special on many fronts.

The word, "Christmas," has two roots: 1) Christ - The Greek translation of the Old Testament Hebrew word, "Messiah;" and 2) Mass - the Latin word for birth.

In other words, the word "Christmas" means: Christ's Birth.

The birth of Messiah was predicted in the Old Testament.

There are more than 300 references to the coming of, the life of, the death of, the resurrection of and the return of the one whose title is Emmanuel, and whose name is Jesus.

These predictions were made by different people at different times, many of whom had had no contact with the others, yet their predictions meld together into one continuum that was lived out in a little town called Bethlehem, the city of Nazareth and the Holy City of Jerusalem.

Jesus is God, incarnate.

That means that God came down to us to reveal Himself, to show us His plan of salvation and to make it possible for us to enter into a personal relationship with Him.

In Christ, God has made possible for anyone who wants it to have a gift that exceeds any gift you could find in a JC Penney catalog, at Walmart, or at Macy's: the gift of eternity in Heaven with Him.Like any gift, you do not have to pay for it.

When I give gifts to my children, I do not ask them to pay me back for them.By definition, a gift requires no payment by the recipient.But a gift costs someone something.

A gift may be bought at a store. It might be hand-made. A gift might be something you already own and wish to give to someone else.

The gift God offers costs you nothing, but it is not free.

God, Himself, offered Himself, in the person of Jesus, to pay a debt we owe. It is referred to as a "sin debt," the debt we owe as a result of our having not lived up to the perfect standard required by the High Moral Law of God.

"Joe, why are you trying to cram your belief down my throat?" you may ask.

I'm not.You don't have to believe any of it if you don't want to. That's your choice.

But I can tell you this, based on my own experience and on the Word God has given us, if you choose to believe in faith (not blind faith, but intelligent, Bible-guided faith), trusting in the work of salvation Jesus completed at the cross of Calvary, your life will take on an unimaginably new meaning.

There are those who will scoff (predicted in the bible, by the way), ridicule (predicted in the bible, by the way), and reject this idea (predicted in the bible, by the way).That is their choice (and yours, if that's what you want).

But for those who choose to discover God's character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption (as found in the Bible), Christmas is the most special time of this or any other year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!

ON THE ATTACK!!

I will no doubt be out of the picture for a few more days.

Sunday morning my heart launched an attack against me...one that threatened to be successful.

I was taken to our local horsepistal, where, recognizing that they knew more about horses than about humans, they med-flighted me to a hospital that knows how to treat living people.

Indeed, the best thing to come out of all of this, other than that I survived, was that I got to fly in a helicopter, something I've never done before.

They put two stents in my arteries, warned me not to get an MRI (stents are metal and MRIs operate with very powerful magnets...not compatible), kept me until today and told me not to behave strenuously until I have seen the follow-up doctor(s).

So, I'll be back soon...probably next week.

Don't spend too much time missing me, but pray for me.

A PROGRAM OF VISITATION

Almost as feared as the word, "organization," is the word, "program."

But a program is nothing more than an organized way of organizing to accomplish a ministry.

Nowadays, people tend to substitute the word, "ministry" for "program," thus imparting to it some level of "spirituality."

We love to appear spiritual.

Arthur Flake recognized the importance of a good visitation program (read: ministry).

However, I know of no church that has ever been successful at involving half or more of their congregation in a visitation program.

The usual routine is to hold "Tuesday night visitation," at which the pastor, staff and one or two deacons and/or members-at-large show up and go visiting."

Every third month, someone gets up before the Sunday night congregation or the Wednesday night prayer meeting and tells about how their visitation team got to talk to the Wedongo family about going to church.

Once every year or two, they might report on someone getting saved in their home...but we never see them show up, and they are soon forgotten.

What Arthur Flake realized was that the church-at-large is not properly organized for visitation. But the Sunday School is.

The small groups that are the Sunday School are the most likely ones to know about the needs of their groups, as well as the network of friends the members of the group have who need some one-on-one encouragement to come to Christ.

One ministry program, called, "F.A.I.T.H.," attempted to vector visitation through the Sunday School with a modecum of success.

But the real problem with any visitation program is training and follow-up.

Sunday School members need to be trained to properly respond as people express their interest in and issues with coming to Christ.

Those who accept Christ need to be discipled to follow Him.

So, whether you use "ACTION," "EVANGELISM EXPLOSION," "THE FOUR SPIRITUAL LAWS," "F.A.I.T.H.," or some other method of visitation, the important thing is to get organized, trained and to work, doing the ministry of visitation.

ENLARGE THE ORGANIZATION

I'm not sure why so many Christians are so afraid of organization.

Many of them have reacted with vitriol and anger when I have suggested that we organize for growth.

Yet, as noted in previous posts, the Bible clearly supports good organization.

Arthur Flake's fourth rule of Sunday School growth is: Enlarge the organization.

Let me say a word or two (probably at least two) about church growth.

Many churches grow with an emphasis on the worship.

Worship is good...no, GREAT!

It is very important...indeed, one of the very reasons we meet together as a fellowship of believers.

The problem arises when the church is built on the WORSHIP SERVICE.

That becomes an issue because it depends upon the strength of the leadership.

I know some very large churches that would collapse if their current leader left for another church field, became too ill to lead, too old to lead or died.

That's a shame, because the church should not be built on the strength of the leader, but on the person of Christ.

I believe that the most effective and secure way to build a church is through its Bible Study ministry, in many churches called the Sunday School or Small Group Bible Study.

Because I am of the "old school," (oh, shucks...I'm just old...let's face it) I will use the term "Sunday School," but you're smart enough to understand that I use the term generically and that it may go by any of several other names.

The Sunday School, in most churches, is "grouped and graded" to one extent or another.

Usually, pre-schoolers, children, teens (in this post called "Youth") and adults meet in groups that are age specific, in order that they might be taught on a level with which they can identify.

Therefore, the Sunday School is already organized for growth.

Additionally, since the Sunday School generally uses lay persons as leaders, and since when a pastor leaves the church field, they usually remain in their positions of leadership, a well built Sunday School enables the work of the church to continue during the transition to another pastor.

Furthermore, as a church grows, it becomes more and more difficult for a pastor to meet all of the needs of his flock.

The Sunday School is one logical ministry to help him, since each leader is geared toward ministering to a particular age group, already regularly seeks to discover the needs of the small group that is the class, and can know the class members better than the pastor ever could.

Sunday School is also the source of discovering much of the talent needed to lead worship, perform tasks of hospitality, lead fellowships, etc.

So, if a church wishes to built a vibrant worship ministry, it needs to build a vibrant Sunday School

Likewise, music ministries, children's ministries, youth ministries, outreach ministries, deacon ministries, missions ministries and all of the other ministries in which a church might involve itself will be stronger and more easily built if the church develops a strong Sunday School.

That is where Arthur Flake placed his emphasis, and that's where I believe it belongs.

If a church waits until growth takes place to enlarge the organization, it will run into the issue of an earlier post: being too full for comfort and thus having members drop out.

Enlarging the organization means expanding the "outline" of the small groups, or Sunday School.

Thus a children's department might need to be turned into two children's departments in order to handle the potential growth.

There are many way to accomplish this organization. No doubt your denomination has literature, and/or conferences that can help.

But if solid, Christ centered, people loving growth is to take place, enlarging the organization is a must.