Most people go to Church expecting some kind of Bible lesson or from a spiritual principle. We attend knowing the preacher will open his Bible and talk about something from inside there. He will offer moral direction or spiritual comfort given from God’s word in the form of a sermon.

I also think that many people go to looking to make personal connections. They expect to meet individuals and couples from their community who are trying to live a moral life. There will be conversations that bring new relationships into our lives in a positive way.

The average person goes to Church to learn a little and build relationships.

Through the years I have received some additional unexpected lessons along the way.

1. The need to set aside time for God. Having a worship program every Sunday morning forces me to have a set time and place for God. Those times I haven’t attend a worship program it is easy to slip from day-to-day without giving God much thought. I have a spouse, children, job and a thousand other projects vying for my time. Church has taught me the power of a simple routine. Setting aside time for God on Sunday morning forces me to stop everything and put God on my agenda before I run to the next thing.

2. Praying when I do not feel like it. Somewhere around one to four times during a worship program we stop and pray. No one asks me if I feel like it. They just say, “Will you pray with me?” or “Will you bow your heads?” It reminds me that prayer is not about my feelings, prayer is about the power of God. My prayers are not more effective if they are close to my heart, prayer works because of the God we speak to in those moments. Sunday morning has taught me to focus on God and not my own feelings in relation to prayer.

3. Singing my praise to God – even when life hurts. Have you ever noticed the Church does not take a survey of people before singing each week? We just jump right into music and songs from the beginning. Honestly, there are moments I don’t want to sing praises to God. When I lost my dad, I wanted to cry and shout, and yet on Sunday morning, we started with a praise chorus. Worship is not about my feelings; it is about God. My time in worship is a reminder to elevate God above my problems.

4. The ministry of a community. The Church frequently forces me to focus on something bigger than my agenda. I believe God gives each one of us gifts and abilities to use for his kingdom. He might even give you a dream of a particular ministry to serve the people of God. And yet, I submit myself to the leadership of other believers. They point me toward other ministries that are equally important. The Church uses my gifts to support projects that could not be accomplished by an individual. Sometimes the Church says no to my agenda so that a bigger kingdom ministry can be achieved. God might use me through the Church in ways I never expected.

I still hope the people who attend a Church program learn a little Bible and spiritual principles. I still hope they build relationships. But I also hope that being a part of worship each week in a Church stretches and grows us in other ways. I pray that your life is molded in profound and meaningful ways simply by exposing yourself to worship every Sunday.

When I was in Bible college, I was introduced to a definition of integrity. One of my professors told us that “integrity is who you are when no one is looking.” The concept is that your true nature and character are revealed in those quiet moments alone.

The possibility exists that when you are in the presence of other people, you can pretend to be something you are not. We call someone with that type of behavior a hypocrite. The title is actually derived from the ancient theater. Someone who plays the role of another person on stage was called a hypocrite or an actor.

Jesus usually assigned this name to the Pharisees and religious leaders of his day. They cared more about how other people viewed them than about God. He saw this as the worst form of religious action.

The pressure to perform for the crowd has existed since Jesus day, but I believe the appeal is far greater today. Now everyone has a tiny video recorder and camera in their pocket. They can take a picture or video and put it on social media in an instant. Without much effort, my good works can be displayed before the world, and I can develop the reputation for my faith. We can easily slide from serving God into playing for the crowd and the applause of people.

My new definition of integrity is, “Who you are when no one is filming.” Godly character is best displayed without social media.

Let me give you three clarifying questions for you to consider:

1. Do you behave differently when there is a camera present?

2. Do you secretly hope someone films you serving so that others can see it?

3. Are you embarrassed or excited when you see yourself on social media?

Maybe this is not a concern for you at all, but it always good to have a quick heart check up.

I believe Jesus wants you to serve him with your whole life and in 2017 you may occasionally be caught on camera. It happens without your knowledge or approval all the time. But we must always guard against our lives from becoming an actor for the camera before we are servants of God.

What would happen if the next time you served God with a group of people, no one took a picture or filmed anything?

Your response to that question may reveal your integrity.

Everything you do communicates something about you and what you truly believe. Every action reveals a little piece of your soul. This happens at your job, your home and at Church. The things you do on Sunday morning tell everyone around you something about your views of Church.

1. Being at worship on Sunday morning shows people something about your faith.

2. The way you talk to the people at Church reveals something about how you view people.

3. What you do with your printed program says something about how you see the events of the Church.

4. Singing during the worship songs demonstrates something about your praise of God.

5. Going in and out of the auditorium and walking around the building during the program shows something about how you view worship.

6. What you do during prayer time reveals something about you.

7. Your service on Sunday morning communicates something about your values.

8. What you do during the sermons tells everyone something about your view of the sermon.

9. How you handle the offering tray shows something about your heart.

10. Your actions immediately after worship is over reveal something about what you just experienced.

Everything you do at Church communicates something. The message is usually heard the loudest and most clearly by people checking out the Church the first time or by new believers. It is possible that you are communicating a level of deep commitment to the Lord and his people. It is also possible that you are harming the body of Christ by your behaviors.

Each week you have the opportunity to say to the world something about faith. Are your words and actions helpful for building other people up?

Every Sunday is a busy experience with me running a thousand different directions. I wish I could be more relaxed and stroll through the crowd talking with each person. The reality is that I move quickly from person to person trying to accomplish a dozen things. Because of my distracted nature on Sunday morning, I often forget to say some stuff I wanted to tell you.

1. “I am glad you are a part of this Church.” I am so happy that you gave us here at the Church a little bit of your time. Out of all the things you could have been doing, you chose to be with us. Out of all the Churches in the area, you opted to be at ours. I am so glad you came here and spent your time with us.

2. “Thank you for your service.” I know that I never say, “thank you” enough. Thank you for greeting, leading worship, teaching children, working in the nursery, or doing one of dozens of jobs every Sunday morning. I know you are serving the Lord and not me, but I am thankful for your willingness to do every little task. Thanks for giving to the Lord, I am a life that was changed.

3. “I appreciate you.” You have a unique story, knowledge, and experience that you bring to our group of believers. You have your own viewpoint and opinion on topics that challenge and encourage me. I feel so grateful to know you.

4. “Thanks for caring about me as a person.” The majority of individuals see the pastor like another public servant. We are here to marry, bury and counsel when things get really bad. You treat me differently. You treat me like a real person with emotions. Asking about my wife and kids and listening to my answer is one of the nicest things anyone could do for me. Talking to me about things that are not Church related makes me feel joy in a different and meaningful way. Thanks for being more than a name and a face to me.

5. “I thank God for you.” I mean this with all honesty. You have been an enormous blessing to my life. You have made my walk with Jesus more fulfilling. You have helped, served, given and loved as only another believer can do. When I hit my knees in prayer, I always thank God for bringing you into my life.

I know there is so much more to say. I would like to tell you in person, but I will probably get busy and forget. So for now, I hope these words are a blessing to your life as much as you have been a blessing to me.

It sounds counter intuitive when you first hear it, but I promise it works.

Invite people to Church less often for greater impact.

Our natural thought is to invite people to Church every Sunday. If they are willing to come, I would be glad to have them anytime. While that is true in some ways, it also can be counterproductive. Sometimes my sermons are specifically for Church members and believers. There are sermons that I challenge people in the faith they already possess. Other times I plan to speak to individuals who are non-Christians.

Not only are there guest friendly sermon series to invite people to attend, most people like to come at the beginning of a series to hear all the content.

My encouragement is to invite people to Church when we have sermons that will make sense to people outside of faith and do it on the first Sunday of that new series. The goal is to invite people to Church at strategic times. This week is one of those Sundays.

This Sunday we are starting a new sermon series called “Insomnia: What keeps you up at night?”

September 10 “Regrets”
September 17 “Anger”
September 24 “Relationships”
October 1 “Worry” (Starting two worship programs)

Currently, our program starts at 9:30 and will remain that way until October when we will be moving to 9:00 and 10:30 am.

We would love to have you come and bring a friend.

I don’t have all the answers. I don’t know what the future holds. I have am not sure I am doing everything correctly. Actually, I am pretty sure I am making a mess of some things without even knowing it. If you really want the truth, I am just winging it.

I don’t mean I am completely clueless. I read my Bible. I study what it says and what it means. I pray. I seek the Lord’s guidance. I talk to wise Christian people for their counsel. I read. I gather all of the information possible.

Then I step out in faith.

Being a believer sometimes means three simple things.

1. Faith believes there is a God. While I cannot see him or touch him, I am convinced that something beyond itself created this world. I believe in an all-knowing and all-powerful being beyond our physical world.

2. Faith believes that God is in control. I trust that the God who created this world is still working with his creation. He did not create it and leave us to our own devices. He remains. He listens, he cares, and he controls everything outside of human free will.

3. Faith is trusting that God will work things out for my best. I believe that God will open doors and close doors. He will use people and situations to move me in the right direction. God will take my misguided attempts to follow him and make my paths straight. That does not mean that life will be easy. It means I will end up as a better person through all of my misadventures.

I don’t have all the answers, and I am okay with it. My actions are not as clearly defined as I would like them to be and I am not afraid. My path may not be entirely straight, but I am moving forward in faith.

I think we need to be continually reminded that we walk a dimly lit path. It is narrow and winds through a steep land. We may not be sure of our next steps, but we trust that the maker of the stars is guiding our way.

Everyone has an opinion. Nowadays it is easy to make that opinion public knowledge. Social media allows us to share our thoughts, ideas, and views on everything with the click of a mouse and possibly a few key strokes. Over the past month, my heart breaks as I read people posting their opinions on topics of which they know nothing.

Frequently we simply parrot what our favorite media site says is true. We share Facebook posts that sound accurate without having much information. Every day people are forming opinions about things of which they have little to no information.

Reading a few opinion posts this morning led me to change my writing plan to address this topic. Here are some things to think about before you share that next story.

1. NOT EVERYTHING YOU READ IS CORRECT. I know this should go without saying, but it bears repeating over and over. We live in a world where fake news exists. We read opinion pieces as if they were fact. Articles today come with heavy bias one way or the other. Please do not accept anything you read that was written today at face value.

2. Take time to investigate information. I read one article about the Churches in Houston. It made me mad and embarrassed by the actions that were reported. Then I went on to read about a dozen other articles which explained the situation in much more detail. The post was written based on one tiny piece of information and was not representative of the big picture. Also, I strongly encourage you to do a little research on snopes.com or a similar site to confirm the story (see #1).

3. Look in the mirror. The Bible is very clear that judgment only comes after I have looked in the mirror and removed the log from my own eye. I recently read a post that was very incriminating about a religious leader. He appeared to be trying to avoid taxes in a big way. My first thought was outrage; then I looked in the mirror. I hire a professional tax guy to help me write off every possible deduction. I use the same loopholes in my life, but they are not on such a grand scale. I am still not sure the leader did the right thing, but my judgment is of myself first.

4. Be careful criticizing the Church. I read vast amounts of material about the Church in several forms. It seems that there are people who love tearing down other Christians. They speak of the Christians they know as kind and loving, but the rest of the world is lost. Great people are living faithfully across the globe, and they deserve our grace, love, and support.

5. Consider whether you are helping the kingdom of God. Are you trying to push your own political agenda? Do you value your opinions over the opinions of others? Are you causing division? Do your words foster love or hate? Do not confuse your own personal thoughts and ambitions with those of the kingdom of God. You might find out one day that you were wrong. You might get numerous people to like your post while hurting the work of the Lord.

Please be thoughtful before you share that next post. Please pray before you write a harsh criticism of someone else. Please seek biblical wisdom and Godly counsel before you share your opinion. The kingdom of God is either growing or shrinking in the digital world. Ask yourself, “How am I helping the faith by my words both spoken and written?”

As a fellow believer, I am begging you to think beyond yourself.

These exact words were typed into my idea file for this blog. They came to me after a particularly difficult day of ministry. After hours of prayers, heartache, and tears I finally took a few minutes to look over the internet and some social media. Immediately, one phrase came to mind, “That’s not fair. Why does my life seem always to be a struggle while other people have it so easy?”

I suddenly remembered a line from the Bible in Hebrews 12:1. There it describes, “the sin that so easily entangles.” I heard a sermon on that line I over twenty years ago in which a preacher talked about the addictiveness of sin.

Evil seems to catch us unexpectedly. It comes along so naturally. I hear people say things like, “I never expected things to go this far.” They tell me, “I was just surfing the internet and the next thing I know …” Sometimes I hear them say, “It just started as a conversation and then …”

Sin easily entangles.

It grabs us unexpectedly and pulls us down. The dopamine in our brain is triggered, and we quickly lose control. There is this adrenaline rush, and we feel good at the moment. We disengage and feel a warm feeling of temporary pleasure.

Finally, we come back to reality, and the euphoria is gone. We destroyed a relationship, we hurt someone we love, we made a poor decision, and we feel a sense of emptiness. We hope that one more shot of whatever we felt will make everything better and the cycle gets repeated.

The flip side is quite the opposite. Living for God is hard work. It requires a plan and carefully thought out action. We must make time for God. Bible reading can be confusing. Prayer is not very natural. Worship songs are something we need to be led to sing. We need help to understand theology. Serving others must be instilled in us. Giving appears so against the American dream.

The things of God are not easy to do.

And yet, these are the most rewarding parts of life. Connecting with our maker gives us hope, love, security, and meaning. Serving gives us pleasure and purpose. Communion shows us peace with our past and freedom from guilt. Giving makes us feel the joy that nothing can take away. These things do not have the physical and emotional rush that evil brings, rather they touch something deep inside of us that is hard to explain.

This week there will be the temptation to take the easy way and go with the flow and choose the path of least resistance. There will also be the opportunity to do something far more challenging like choosing to live for God and go with the Bible and the Spirit’s leading.

One will leave you empty and wanting more. The other will bring joy and leave no regrets. Which one will you choose?

Here is a thought for your Sunday afternoon and Labor Day Monday. May God bless you all and I will see you on Tuesday.

I haven’t posted any great articles in the last few weeks. This is partly because I was busy and partly from my lack of reading any really great posts. Here a six good ones to get you through your holiday weekend. Enjoy.

6 reasons to sit in a different seat this weekend

Why is my husband so angry?

Open Letter to Francis Chan

Lies We’ve Believed About Gossip

Thanks Dad, for not (always) showing up

Faux intimacy