The Road Not Taken by Those Who Do Not Listen to the Word of God

 

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Exodus 20: Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

Mark 13:12 12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.

The Most Powerful Force of All - Far Beyond Our Understanding

The vast majority of people think in terms of success, happiness, contentment, and pride. They are not powerful forces, but weak. I can see it in the clergy in their efforts to make great impressions. My favorites include the fancy coffee baristas to make people want to come to that church. One of the assistant pastors had a tag on him - Barista! When I printed that on Ichabod, he changed his title. Nevertheless, he went on to greater WELS Church Growth successes. 

A little more obvious is the car maintenance offered by one LCMS congregation in Midland, Michigan. I thought quiet time on Sunday was for prayer, singing, and listening to the Gospel. Motor oil and solvents do not enhance the effort to draw in more people.

I left the Disciples of Christ for that very reason. The highly-tanned look was enhanced by acting the clown as much as possible, even riding the firetruck to church and wearing a white Chaplain helmet.

The Bible says nothing about this, except in revealing what is to come.

The most powerful force is faith in Jesus Christ and asking for His help, in all kinds of trouble, pain, and fears. This should reach to neighbors, even to clergy friends.

The Real Issues Are Buried in Management by Objective (MBO)

 

As they said on the bus going to the LCA-ALC-AELCA meeting, just as ELCA was being formed, "I know, but it's the process!"

The leaders du jour had to bop the subordinate heads together so they could unify their new corporation. Three Lutheran groups would become one, but more like a paper bag leaking out all the overly ripe vegetable products...onto the floor.

The beloved process found that MBO would squash themselves (there he goes again) into a unity without substance.

The entire Christian Church is based on the Efficacy of the Word through the Means of Grace. When that is ignored and shunned, nothing is left but some kind of business matter.