Dogs are great. I loved my dog. He came to us as a little puppy when my youngest was just 3 years old. There was much excitement in our house the day Frisky came home. She became a great part of our family. Most of our kids lives have been lived sharing the living room with our dog. We had her for almost 15 years. She was a great dog.

On the news recently I heard no less than three different reports about animals; a dog, some ducks, and a koala bear. The one closest to home was Trevor the dog. Trevor had a rough background, was given a new home, but things didn’t work out and was taken back to the shelter and slated to be euthanized.

The “news” part of the story was the fact that people were upset that this dog was going to be put down and that efforts were under way to save the dog. It seems the city was taken to court and the dog has been given a reprieve until an expert can come up and assess whether the dog is really dangerous or not. Then the dogs fate will be determined.

Then there was the story about the fellows shooting ducks (not in the Yukon). Someone posted a YouTube video showing these poor ducks being shot while the shooter celebrates. The “news” didn’t appear to be the illegal hunting; the news was that the otherwise happy ducks were being killed. How can people kill ducks? It was inhuman.

Finally, there was the story about the koala bears. I can’t remember what happened with these bears but apparently we needed to be informed about their plight.

Now, let me be clear, I love dogs, I enjoy seeing ducks (and I don’t mean on my dinner plate), and while I’ve never been up close to a koala bear, I have nothing against them either. They are all part of God’s creation. But it seemed strange to me that so much “news” was centered around these helpless little creatures when so many more helpless little children are not even given a chance to live.

I don’t have all the answers to what to do with so many unwanted pregnancies. I can not imagine the challenges of a single mother raising one preschooler, never mind two or three. But I do know that the answer is not to simply do away with them as if they were no more than an overgrown wart. It seems to me that dogs are given much more protection than unborn children. Something isn’t right.

Children are being aborted by the hundreds every day, approximately 100,000 annually in Canada alone. But the headlines don’t speak about it. Instead the headlines speak about dogs, ducks, and bears (and yesterdays news that a mouse was found chewing $20 bills inside an ATM machine in Oregon).

This is what our society has turned into; a society that is fragmented (little or no family support) and highly self-centered (I do what feels good for me). In that setting, it’s no wonder we see the lives of unborn children taken. What can we do? We can “do” three things.

First, we can pray. Pray for the generation that feels they can do whatever they want without worrying about consequences (including premarital sex). Pray for the moms and moms-to-be that are considering abortion. Pray for the fathers to take responsibility.

Second, we can support pregnant women. Help them so they don’t feel they need to go through this alone, or point them to agencies/people that are eager to adopt a child.

Third, we can educate. Many people don’t realize just how well formed an unborn child is extremely early in the pregnancy. The pregnancy is not just a “blob” of tissue. There are tiny feet and tiny hands that will one day clasp a finger.

Go ahead and love your dog. But let’s not forget the most vulnerable and pinnacle of God’s creation - the children of God.

Pastor Norman

“Why should I join the church?” That’s the question that many people have when the topic of church membership comes up. Many people are reluctant to formally join the church. After all, we don’t see membership ceremonies in the early church. We can participate in worship, we can get involved in various ministries, and we can certainly feel a part of the family of God, all without official membership in a local church. So what’s the big deal?

I’d like to offer several reasons to join the church.

1. Biblical Precedent. While we don’t see membership ceremonies in the New Testament, the New Testament does speak of those “inside the church” and those “outside the church” (1 Corinthians 5). The context is not about physical location but about formal association. Likewise in Acts 5, when the judgement of God fell upon those who had lied to God, the result was that “no one else dared join them” (5:13). The word “join” indicates a formal commitment, a bonding. Clearly there were those who had formally bonded with a particular body of believers and were then “inside” the church.

2. Identity. By formally joining a church you are identifying yourself with a local body of Christ. You are saying that you stand by and support the work of a particular church. This does not mean this church is perfect and other churches are not good, it simply means you are prepared to identify yourself with the work of the Lord where you worship. This is not only significant for yourself, but significant for others who have also identified with the church body.

3. Accountability. No Christian should live his or her life in solitary confinement. One of the benefits of being part of the church is accountability. It means I can’t go off and do whatever I want, however I want and whenever I want. It means I have to think about others and even answer to others. Many people shy away from accountability, but without accountability we run a very high risk of wandering around spiritually or creating our own spirituality. We may have good intentions, but good intentions aren’t always enough to keep us on the straight and narrow.

4. Responsibility. The whole reason why the Lord talked about the church as the Body of Christ was to indicate that we all have various areas of responsibility and service. Certainly there are responsibilities that can be taken without formal membership, but when we become members we are taking on greater responsibility for the life, health and direction of the church. As members, we are responsible for electing our leaders in the church and making important directional decisions.

5. Commitment. When someone joins the church, it indicates a formal commitment. It means I’m going to stick with it even when the going gets rough. It doesn’t mean that a person can never change their commitment but it means that a person isn’t so loosely associated with a group that the first time something strange happens they are quick to leave the church. They are there for the long haul to see that the church does indeed function as it should.

A word of warning: Joining the church does not make you a Christian. A right relationship with God comes only through repentance and faith in Christ as your Saviour, not by church membership. You can have your name on the church membership roll but it is only when your name is written in the Book of Life that you can be assured of eternal life.

If you have made a commitment to Christ and if you are enjoying the fellowship and life and ministry of this local church, I encourage you to give church membership serious consideration. We would be glad to welcome you.

Pastor Norman

John Wesley had a simple formula for handling money: Make all you can, Save all you can, Give all you can.

Most of us have mastered the first of these steps or at least we’re attempting to master it. We want to earn as much as we can. I know when I was earning $4.00/hour, if I could find a job that would pay me $4.50 I would have jumped at it. Rightly or wrongly, I wanted to make all I can.

Many more of us have tried to get to step two, but we seem to have failed. A CBC news story this week spoke about the increasing debt that Canadians are incurring. According to the story more than half a million Canadians are more than 3 months behind on their credit payments. All together, Canadians have a combined national household debt of 1.3 trillion dollars. It doesn’t seem like we’re succeeding in the “save all you can” department.

With so much debt, it is no wonder that we are having an even harder time with the third step; “giving all we can”. We have bought ourselves into debt and can no longer afford to give. There is nothing to give.

How did we get here and perhaps more importantly, how can we get out?

Getting into debt is very easy. There are many opportunities to borrow money. There are increasing advertisements suggesting you should have whatever you want, whenever you want, and you don’t worry about it until 2012. We see others with something nice and we figure we should have it too. Furthermore, we figure, that as long as we’re doing our part in the offering, we can do whatever we want with the balance of our money. After all, it’s “ours”. We earned it.

The reality is we need a totally different understanding of money. We may have earned it, but it’s not “ours”. Yes, the pay check we get has our name on it. And the bank figures it belongs to us. But the Biblical perspective is quite different; it comes from God and belongs to God. We are the stewards of it. In other words, even though we give 10% to the church, the balance isn’t ours to do whatever we please. The balance also belongs to the Lord and we need to consult Him in it’s use.
Biblically God blesses people so that they can be a blessing to others. Yet, most of the time, when we get blessed (financially) we use it for ourselves. On the contrary, as John Wesley taught (and practiced) we earn and save all we can, not so we can “have it all” but so we can have more to give.

According to our church Manual, “The Church of the Nazarene believes that Jesus commanded His disciples to have a special relationship to the poor of the world; that Christ’s Church ought, first, to keep itself simple and free from an emphasis on wealth and extravagance and, second, to give itself to the care, feeding, clothing, and shelter of the poor. Throughout the Bible and in the life and example of Jesus, God identifies with and assists the poor, the oppressed, and those in society who cannot speak for themselves. In the same way, we, too, are called to identify with and to enter into solidarity with the poor and not simply to offer charity from positions of comfort” [Church of the Nazarene Manual, 903.4].

These are our roots; and good roots they are! They are taught in the Scriptures. As we prosper we must guard ourselves from drawing away from these roots.

The next time you get a bonus or some extra funds, instead of automatically thinking about how you can use that for yourself, take a moment and ask yourself is there is someone who you can bless with at least a portion of your blessing.

A Yukon News article printed on May 22nd reported the decline in the number of children who attend the local elementary school in Porter Creek. From a peak of 510 children, in the past decade the school has seen its enrollment cut nearly in half. I’m sure there are a number of factors responsible for this decline, including the fact that the community itself is slowly aging, but one of the factors must also be the changing attitudes society has towards children. When I was young, I used to hear a phrase often: “Children are a blessing from God”. I don’t hear that often any more. Today, many people think of children as a burden rather than a blessing.

It is a fact. Children can get in the way of careers. They can get in the way of financial aspirations. They can get in the way of freedom to do what people want to do. And now, on top of all the other pressures against having children, we keep hearing about the environmental impact children have upon our world. I can’t remember what magazine I’d seen it in, but I remember seeing one ad that displayed exactly what kind of environmental impact each child would have in his or her lifetime. The message was clear: having children was bad for the environment. And the message is getting through. If you have more than 1 or 2 children, there are members of society who will frown upon you.

Of course, this goes contrary to God’s plan. In Genesis 1:28 God said, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth…” This command was repeated to both Noah (Genesis 9:1) and to Jacob (Genesis 35:11). Psalms 127 speaks of the man who has many children as the man who is blessed. And indeed, God does view children as a blessing. Often times when God blessed people, He almost always included in that blessing the promise of many children. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and many more were promised the blessing of many children!

Heather and I have been enjoying the blessing of four children. As with many other parents, we could not imagine our home with any one of them not here. Some of you have heard me say before that if I knew how much blessing our four children would be I would have wanted another four. They have filled (and continue to fill) our lives with love and excitement. Sure there are challenges, and there are sacrifices to be made, but right from the start our attitude needs to be that these little bundles wrapped up in tiny blankets are a blessing, and we need to believe and expect that they will continue to be a blessing even as they grow up. They are a gift from God that we need to treasure every day because [WARNING: cliché coming up]… “they grow up so fast”.

Today, as we celebrate Children’s Day, we hold a Children’s Service planned entirely with children in mind. We want to not only show the children that they are a blessing by having a church service focused on their needs, but we also want to remind every parent, every adult, every person who will one day be a parent, that children are a gift from God.

Proverbs 17:6 says “Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.” Psalm 127:3,5 says, “Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him… Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.”

Instead of being a burden, children are in fact a blessing. Certainly we need to take care of them, we feed them, we look after them, we make sacrifices for them, we teach them the ways of God, but ultimately, like everything else that is in our care, they come from God and they belong to God. They are not ours. They belong to Him. And somehow, in God’s wisdom, He entrusts us with the littlest members of His family and calls them a blessing.

What God considers a blessing, may we never turn into a burden.

Pastor Norman

Robert Service’s poem, The Spell of the Yukon, describes the lure of gold that drew many people to the Yukon seeking to find their fortune. In their futile search for gold, and after “hurling their youth in a grave”, Robert Service describes the real treasure that was found; the beauty of the Yukon wilderness; a beauty that created a longing to come back.

Many of us have experienced spell of the Yukon. We’ve come, many have stayed, some have left only to return again. There is something about this land of rugged mountains, cool refreshing streams, and abundant wildlife that draws us back. If there is anywhere we could go to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation, it is here in the wilderness of the Yukon.

This is especially true this year as we are actually experiencing “summer”. The bright sunshine encourages us to take advantage of the great outdoors as often as we can. I know I look forward to any and all wilderness experiences. There is something special about the wilderness and the beauty of God’s creation that draws us to Himself. One of the songs we sing says, “Up to the mountain we love to go to find the presence of the Lord”. When Heather and I enjoy a few days on a remote river we certainly do sense the awe and presence of God. Perhaps that is why our Lord would go up on the mountain side to pray.

While it is true that the Lord withdrew himself to quiet places to pray, He was equally careful to connect with the people He came to seek, serve and save. He had quiet times in order that he would be strengthened and focused when he returned to the crowds.

We all need personal quiet time with the Lord. That needs to be a priority. We all need to “get away” and find strength and focus in the presence of the Lord. This is a good thing. But we need to be careful that we don’t live our Christian lives in isolation, that our outdoor adventures don’t keep us from coming together as the Body of Christ.

When someone is away on a weekend as part of their personal or family holiday, that is a good thing. However if we tend to be absent on frequent weekends because we want to experience the wilderness, I’m not sure that’s a healthy choice - even if we can worship God in the beauty of His creation.

As God’s people, we are the body of Christ. We are the Church. The word for “church” in the Greek means the people of God, the collective body of believers, the congregation or assembly. The Church isn’t a building or an organization, it is the coming together of God’s people. It is a living group of people who are collectively focused on the Lord. In other words, we don’t go to church, we are the Church. That’s why the writer to the Hebrews says (Hebrews 10;25), “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

The Church, the Body of Christ, can not be complete unless we come together. In the early days of the Church, Acts 2 tells us that the followers of Christ met together daily. David wrote in Psalm 122, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord.” Why? Because there is something unique, something special, and something very necessary when we come together in worship. Proverbs 27:17 states, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Hebrews 3:13 also states, “Encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘today,’ so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Clearly, we need each other to keep us going.

Coming to church will not save you; only a personal relationship with Jesus can do that. However, as God’s people, as a vital part of the Body of Christ, missing an opportunity to come together, to worship together, to learn together and to encourage one another, will be the last thing we’ll want to do.

Unlike the original Fords, which you could purchase in any colour you wanted as long as it was black, today we have an onslaught of choices to make. We choose our flavour of ice cream. We choose what we want on our hamburgers. We choose the colour of our vehicles. We choose from among dozens of breakfast cereals. We choose the career we want to pursue and the university we want to attend. Salespersons may even tell you that you can choose your low monthly payments.

Some choices are trivial and some have life-long and even eternal consequences.

Having choices is one of the gifts and responsibilities that God has given us. We seen it when God created Adam and gave him the responsibility to name all the animals. We seen it in the invitations of Jesus, to follow Him. We seen it in Joshua’s challenge to his hearers to “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15).

Having choices is a good thing. But with choices come responsibility. While all of us have the freedom of choice, the challenge (or the lie) that we face today is the mistaken belief that all choices are equally good; that it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe sincerely. We’ve taken the slogan meant for hamburgers, “have it your way”, and applied it to matters of faith. We live in a culture which likes to pick and choose what we are going to believe, even if if means making a selection from a variety of faiths and putting them all together into our own personal self-satisfying combination.

In 1 Kings 18 Elijah, the prophet of God, was having a bit of disagreement with Ahab, the king of Israel. They decided to hold a contest between their gods to see whose god was real. Each person/team would build an altar and make a sacrifice. Whoever’s god responded to the sacrifice with fire would be known as the true god. The 450 prophets of Baal offered their sacrifice, but nothing happened. They shouted, they danced, they even slashed themselves with swords and spears in order to get their god’s attention. “Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention” (1 Kings 18:29). On the other hand, when Elijah prayed to the Lord, God responded in a very dramatic way (see 1 Kings 18). Not only did God respond, but there were severe consequences toward the prophets of Baal. Who they chose to follow made all the difference in the world.

In an age when we think so much is relative, in an age when we think we can make up our own reality, do as we please, believe what we want as though we were making spiritual selections from a buffet, this lesson from Biblical history shows us that who you believe God is and what you believe about him makes a world of difference.

Each individual has the choice of whom they will serve, as they should, but we must never believe the lie that every choice is equally good. If the Lord God, the God of Israel, was fact the same god that the prophets of Baal worshiped – just with a different name, then there wouldn’t have been a problem on Mount Carmel. But the difference between Yahweh (the name of the God Elijah worshiped) and Baal is not just a difference in name, terminology or semantics. The two are worlds apart. Today, we need to be careful we don’t try to blend them, as so many are trying to do.

It might be a nice thought that all religions lead to the same God, that the only thing that matters is that you are sincere, but it simply isn’t true. Joshua said it best, “as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord”.

Recently I had the privilege of attending a band concert at the Yukon Arts Centre. What may have been assumed as “common knowledge” at one time is apparently not so common today and as such, the concert organizers felt it necessary to include a page in the program called “Concert Etiquette.” If a concert requires a certain etiquette (as it should), how much more should we be striving for excellence in our worship services. To that end, I’ve taken a page from their book and offer for your consideration, “worship service etiquette”.

Concert Etiquette
As the audience, you are an important part of tonight’s concert. The audience’s responsibility at formal concerts is to honour the efforts of the performers by providing a listening atmosphere in which the performance can be appreciated by everyone. To that end, we ask your cooperation with these few requests:
While the performance is in progress, remain seated and quiet. (If it becomes necessary to leave the auditorium, please do so between musical selections).
Please stay for the whole show (less than 90 minutes in total). All performers deserve a full audience for their performances. Listening to other / better players is a big part of each student’s Music Education.
Remove your hat, so that the people behind you can see easily. If you have outside clothes with you, remove them prior to the start of the show to restrict noise, movement and distractions.
If young children become restless and disrupt others’ ability to listen, please take them from the auditorium until they are quiet.
Trips to the bathroom, to get a drink, etc. should be made prior to the start of the show or at an intermission.
If you enjoy what you see and hear, please clap enthusiastically; at no time is yelling nor whistling acceptable at a formal concert.
Please turn pagers, cell phones and watch alarms off.
Thank you for making this evening enjoyable for the performers and for the audience.

Worship Service Etiquette
As the congregation, you are an important part of today’s service. The congregation’s responsibility at a worship service is to honour the One whom we worship by worshipping and providing an atmosphere where others may also worship. To that end, we ask your cooperation with these few requests:
While the service is in progress, remain seated and quiet. (If it becomes necessary to leave the sanctuary, please do so during transitions in the service).
Please stay for the whole service (less than 90 minutes in total). Our Lord deserves our full participation for the entire service. Also, our participation in worship encourages others who are just learning to worship.
Remove your hat, so that the people behind you can see easily. If you have outside clothes with you, remove them prior to the start of the service to restrict noise, movement and distractions.
All persons; children, youth, adults, should be careful not to hinder or disrupt other peoples ability to worship.
Trips to the bathroom, to get a drink, etc. should be made prior to the start of the service or after the service.
If you are blessed by what you see and hear, praise the Lord enthusiastically. Saying an “Amen!” or “Praise the Lord!” is welcome.
Please turn pagers, cell phones and watch alarms off.
Thank you for making this service enjoyable for everyone in the congregation.

Three weeks ago Heather and I had the pleasure of driving down to Calgary for our oldest daughter’s graduation. It occurred to us that this was the first time we were driving on a long trip without our kids, so we decided to take a few extra days and take our time heading south. We were excited about travelling 5000 kilometres, round trip. We didn’t even make it out of town. The van just didn’t feel right and no sooner did I decide to stop the van and turn around that the van broke down.

Those of you who have been with us for a while know that we had all sorts of frustrating, time consuming, and costly vehicle problems on our Christmas trip to California. Upon return to Whitehorse we had further trouble with our Caravan. And just when we were heading out on our trip to Calgary, the transmission broke again. We had the van towed to Whitehorse and took the Toyota on the trip. As if that wasn’t annoying enough, the very next night we found out that the transmission on the Suburban had also failed (turned out to be a crack in the housing).

Usually I could be fairly calm about most things, but I can’t say I was overjoyed about having two vehicles dead in Whitehorse. What was supposed to be a relaxing trip started off with a good measure of stress.

While I was “relaxing” in our motel room (grumbling to my wife and talking to God about our situation) it occurred to me that vehicular breakdowns are not the end of the world. Yes, they can be very costly, inconvenient, and very frustrating, but in the end, a car breaking down is more of a nuisance than it is a tragedy.

I’ve come to conclude that we are masters at getting frustrated. We get frustrated over broken vehicles, airport delays, vegetable gardens damaged by frost, a bad haircut, missing the bus, losing a wallet, a crack on the windshield, web pages that take too long to load, missing a hunting trip, and my favorite (which I completely made up, so please don’t think I’m pointing fingers) - there’s only room for one car in my garage. Such tragedies!

We elevate each of these situations to a major crisis, we lose sleep, we complain to our neighbours, we worry and get upset, we get all worked up, when in reality, most of these situations are nothing more than an inconvenience, even if they are costly ones.

The truth of the matter is that broken vehicles are much easier to deal with than broken lives. The parent who has the police show up at their door late at night with news that their intoxicated child had injured a pedestrian, or the woman who finds out they or their loved one has a terminal illness and has only weeks to live, or the parent who sees their child being addicted to drugs, or the man or woman who is going through divorce proceedings, or the child who is used and abused by a relative. Any one of these people would gladly exchange the cost of a vehicle repair to repair a broken or damaged life, but they can’t. They would look at our inconveniences and wonder why we are so worked up about something so temporary, so insignificant.

I know it’s never good to trivialize someone else’s frustration but it seems that we get overly anxious about things that are really nothing more than nuisances (at least, I certainly can). I wonder why that is. Can it be because we are spoiled adults? Can it be because we have so much and it is never enough? We are so used to having things our way, we have the mind set that we have the right to do anything and have anything when we want and the way we want; so much so that when something doesn’t go the way we like, when something does go wrong, we consider it such a major crisis.

Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

By now many have heard about Susan Boyle and the surprising talent she shown at a recent talent show held in Britain (April 11). Her talent was extraordinary. Even though this was her very first public performance, she sang like a professional. People in the audience were clearly moved and responded with a standing ovation.

But what makes her story unique isn’t her voice (as good as it was), and it isn’t even the fact that she comes from a collection of small villages probably from some remote area. What makes her story unique is that the extraordinary talent is coming from someone like “her”.

From all accounts, the hosts of the show, as well as the audience had clearly written her off even before she began. They considered her a joke. Why? Because she didn’t measure up to the popular image of what a someone with a great voice should look like. She didn’t have dazzling clothes, a professional hairstyle, or a makeup team. She was plain looking, well into her 40’s, and didn’t look like a model with an eating disorder. Because of this, the expectations of the audience were at an all time low. They laughed when she came on the stage and were expecting to laugh her off the stage. But their expectations were wrong.

I’m happy for Susan Boyle. I’m glad that after years of encouragement she had the nerve to get on the show. I’m glad that she sang her heart out and mesmerized the audience. I’m glad that she sang as well as she did and received the applause that she deserved. I’m glad that she is now receiving recognition after years of singing privately. It’s great to see a human being achieve a dream, and so she should, and we are all happy with her.

But there is a disturbing part of this story as well, and that’s the reality that we are quick to judge people by their appearance. Too short, too tall, too slim, too heavy, too plain, too many crooked teeth, no designer clothes, no fancy hairdo, no expensive car, and the list goes on. We might not verbalize these judgments, but they are often there. Why? Because our culture is obsessed with “beauty”. What if Susan Boyle’s talent was just “average”? Would that make her less of a person? Would that make her less valuable as a human being? Clearly the hosts of the show as well as the audience would think so. We should not make the same mistake. Whether she could sing or not, she is still a human being made in the image of God. That alone should give us reason to stand and applaud.

Pastor Norman

YouTube Video of Susan Boyle Singing

The Story of Susan Boyle

“God Sees Me” by Barbara Moulton

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

It’s been asked that if a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, does it make a sound?  It might be appropriate for us to ask, if the church meets weekly and nobody pays attention, is it still relevant?

There are many things that draw people’s attention.  Work, education, family, recreation, television, internet, cell phones, shopping, Blackberries, vacations, renovations, litigations, mortgages, repairs, maintenance, upkeep, planting, weeding, and for the last six months, snow shoveling!  In the midst of all this “noise” do people even hear the church?  Is anyone listening?  Does anyone even care?

I believe that many people do in fact care.  In the midst of all the “noise” they are desperately looking for something to fill the void in their lives.  Pastor Jud Wilhite (Central Christian Church, Las Vegas) wrote, “I believe with all my heart that the church is the world’s hope. Government can’t change the heart. Education, as important as it is, can’t change the heart. Healthcare and Social Security reform won’t change the heart. Only God can do that. And He uses people–the church–to reach out and impact others.”

If what this pastor said is true, and I believe it is, the answer to man’s needs will only come through the presence of God in their lives, and often that presence is realized through the work and ministry of believers; people who are being “salt” and “light” (Matthew 5:13).

But how have we been doing?  Is it possible that in our good-intentioned efforts to maintain the “sanctity” of the Church we have become so closed-in that we are unheard and irrelevant in the 21st century? Certainly our doors are still open.  We put out the “Welcome” sign, but how welcome will some people feel?  Does the stranger, the one who looks different, acts different, or has a whole set of “problems” really fit in? How about the person who is obviously struggling with an addiction?  How about the person recently released from prison?  Are they made to truly feel welcome?  Would you have them sit beside you?

It seems to me that there are at least three essentials before a person can truly make a church their home.

1. People need a sense of belonging.  This is more than a handshake or a greeting.  It’s the sense that they are a part of the fellowship; that their presence matters, that their voice is heard, that they have something valuable to offer.  It’s a sense that there are people there that care about them; that if they didn’t show up, someone would notice.

2. People need to feel that they won’t be judged.  This goes hand in hand with the first item, because if they feel like they’ve been judged, they certainly won’t feel they belong. This is a tough one because we need to be very careful not to accommodate sin, but at the same time we can certainly understand the struggles people have and empathize with them, unless of course, we’ve never sinned.

3. People need to be challenged with the truth. It might feel good to hear what you want to hear, but people look to the church to guide them in truths of God’s Word. At no point should the church try to be “relevant” by watering down the gospel.

Those are my thoughts.  What are your thoughts?  How are we doing?  How can we do better?  Are we truly an approachable people?  Are we prepared to go out of our comfort zones and meet people who are different than ourselves?

I love our church.  We do many things well.  But we’re not perfect either.  I pray that as we ponder these questions, we will become more sensitive to the needs of the community around us and thereby become the Salt & Light Jesus calls us to become.