Tag Archives: going to church

March 17, 2021 · 5:57 AM

Breaking The Routine

I like routines. I’ve found that when life gets stressful, I revert back to simple routines to help me cope. I’ve also found that routines, like going to church, can simply become a habit more than anything else. You get up on Sunday, say hello to a few people, smile, sing a few songs, listen to the sermon, rate it in comparison to all the sermons I’ve heard, stand to pray, shake hands and walk out. Check off the christian box of weekly duty. Go back to life on Monday. Repeat next Sunday. When going to church becomes routine, our faith becomes powerless. There’s a difference between going to church and being the Church. God didn’t call us to routines, but He routinely calls us to live godly lives in the world, to love others and to show His kindness so that others may know Him.

I think that’s why Jesus consistently got upset with the Pharisees. Their salvation found in the routines of God rather than in the demonstration of His love. They cared more about doing the sacrifices just right than the hurting people all around the Temple. When Jesus flipped the script and made it about the people, they lost their mind. Their routines gave them power and authority over people creating pride. They felt better than everyone else because they were following the letter of the Law rather than the actual Law. God cares more about the hurting and the lost than He does for our church routines. Church is important, but Jesus didn’t die so we could go to church. He died to save the lost and gave us the commission of spreading that Good News to create more disciples.

Proverbs 21:3 says, “It pleases God more when we demonstrate godliness and justice than when we merely offer him a sacrifice” (TPT). God cares more about how we live and represent Him Monday through Saturday than our routine on Sunday. Going to church doesn’t demonstrate godliness necessarily. Living for Him and showing His love throughout our daily lives does. We shouldn’t forsake the assembling of the brethren (Hebrews 10:25), but we also shouldn’t neglect those who need justice and a reminder of God’s love. I believe it’s time we woke up from our routines, started living godly lives and demonstrating godliness every day. It’s tough to do, but we’ve been given His strength, His grace and His Spirit to help us. If being a Christian has become routine, pray to ask God help you to break that cycle and to lead you into the life He wants you to live.

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

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December 22, 2020 · 5:58 AM

A Place Of Encouragement

2020 was a crazy year. Pretty much everyone’s plan for the year was shot deadline by Covid-19. Everyone was affected by it in some manner. Some experienced loss of income, some loss of home, some loss of family members and some loss of relationships. In times when we’ve needed to be around others for their support and encouragement, we’ve had to face the hardships alone. Churches, businesses, restaurants and places where we gather with others we’re all shut down. Gallup did a poll in November, like they do every year, on mental health. Almost every demographic showed people’s mental health ratings go down and the total population reached a new low. However, people who attended church regularly, were an outlier. They did not show decline in mental health.

Churches had to get creative in providing ways for us to gather this year because of all the requirements and guidelines. On one of the first few weeks of the shut down, almost every church used Facebook Live to air their services. I remember it overwhelmed their system and they couldn’t handle the amount of videos. Small groups began to use Zoom in order to meet. For Easter, families were encouraged to dress up and join live streaming services in their homes with families. Just like the Early Church, people began to gather in homes instead of buildings. The Church in essence went back to its roots this year and provided connection for people when everything else in their lives was disconnected. Pastors understood the importance of finding ways for people to meet safely, whether virtually or in person, because we were created for connection and relationship.

I heard Hebrews 10:25 quoted several times this year. It says, “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near” (NLT). Whether you assemble virtually or in person, you need to be getting together with other people and encouraging each other. Clearly this has been a mentally tough year on people. God’s design for you to be connected to a body of believers was built to withstand Covid-19. He provided a vehicle in the Church for believers to meet and stay connected throughout the centuries. It has survived persecution, pandemics and people who have tried to stop it. If you are one of the ones who feel like your mental health has declined this year, let me encourage you to get connected to a church and attend regularly. You will find hope and people who will love you and encourage you.

Photo by hoch3media on Unsplash

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July 5, 2016 · 5:44 AM

Quit Checking Boxes


Have you ever thought you knew what someone else wanted, but it turned out you didn’t? Maybe they complimented something once, so we assume they always want that one thing. Or it could be that they told us they liked it, but we never checked back to see if their taste changed. Whatever the case, even though assumptions usually get us in trouble, we still operate on them more often than we should.

Not only do we assume what people want, we also assume what God wants. We often forget that God looks at our heart more than our actions. We treat Christianity as if there are boxes we have to check off to make God happy so He will bless us and hopefully let us go to Heaven. Go to church often: check. Give some money in the offering plate when it passes: check. Do something good for someone else every now and then: check. What if I told you that’s not what God wants?

In Hosea 6, the people assumed they knew what God wanted. They had sinned and thought, “Hey, all God wants are some sacrifices and He’ll come rescue us.” While that was God’s promise to them, they had forgotten what moves God isn’t our outward act, but our inward posture. God’s response to them in verse 6 was, “I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings” (NLT). They had assumed what God wanted and were wrong.

I think what God said to them is what God wants to say to us today. He would rather we love Him than to check a bunch of religious boxes. He would rather we get to know Him on an intimate level than to do things in His name for our own glory. When you love someone, you put their needs above your own. That’s what God is looking for from you and me today. He’s looking for a selfless love from us that gets to know Him so we don’t have to assume what He wants. It starts with us putting away our religious list and spending time in His presence.

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January 14, 2014 · 7:53 AM

Oops! Try again.

My son, who is almost three, is as clumsy as they come. He trips over his own feet, walks into stuff without looking and knows how to make a mess. Whenever he trips and falls, he says, “Oops! Try again.” Whenever he gets outside of the lines tracing letters on his Leap Pad and it makes him start over, he says, “Oops! Try again.” It makes me laugh every time. The other day I dropped something and it made a loud crash. He came running in there, looked at the mess, looked at me, smiled and said, “Oops! Try again.”

We could learn a lot from him. When he messes up, he doesn’t give up. He doesn’t let the mistake hold him back. He simply reminds himself to try again. Jesus spent a lot of his earthly ministry doing the same. When they brought Him the woman who had been caught in adultery, He said, “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” One by one they left. When it was just her standing there, Jesus looked up and said, “Go and sin no more.” In essence He told her, “Oops! Try again.” She messed up badly, but He offered her the chance to try again.

I’m sure Peter went through some sleepless night after he denied knowing Jesus. He knew he was going to deny Him because Jesus told him it was going to happen. Not only did he deny knowing Jesus once, but he did it three times. After Jesus rose from the dead, He met Peter on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He looked at Peter and asked, “Do you love me?” Peter responded, “You know I love you.” Jesus then said, “Then take care of my sheep.” In a way that only Jesus could do, He simply told Peter, “Oops! Try again.”

There is nothing you have done in this life that is so bad that Jesus won’t look at you and say, “Oops! Try again.” He understands that we will fail Him. He knows that we’re going to sin. He doesn’t sit there and hold it over our heads. Instead, He wants us to get back up, dust ourselves off, ask for forgiveness and then try again. The whole life of a Christian isn’t about being perfect. It’s about getting up and trying again after we fail. It’s about knowing the One who forgives and encourages us to try again.

Proverbs 24:16 says, “For the righteous falls seven times and rises again.” Being righteous doesn’t mean you won’t fall. It means you get back up and try again. If you’ve fallen and have thought that God wouldn’t take you back, let me encourage you to get back up and try again. If you haven’t been to church in forever, get back up and try again. If you think that the walls of the church would fall in if you walked in, get up and try. You couldn’t have done anything worse than to deny Jesus to His face after spending years with Him. If Jesus offered Peter the opportunity to try again, He’ll offer it to you.

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September 20, 2013 · 8:35 AM

Your Faith Is Your Responsibility

Right now my phone is blowing up with pictures from all over of the lines people are standing in for the iPhone. With every launch, there seems to be this anticipation that people get so that they can have or see the newest device. Apple has been masterful at marketing and creating demand for their products. They have learned how to create demand like no other company. It’s always intriguing to me to see this.

It would be awesome to see people lined up outside of churches each Sunday in anticipation of this week’s message. It would be incredible if there was a huge demand for people to spend time with God. How would church be different if there was that kind of anticipation? What if we ourselves had that kind of anticipation to hear what God had to say to us? How would it change our lives? I don’t mean this piece to be a Jesus Juke. I’m asking myself these questions too.

I’m not suggesting we adopt a marketing strategy like Apple to get people in the door. I’m suggesting each of us who are believers get excited about God. If it’s a struggle for us week in and week out to go to church, how can we expect others to want to go? If the Bible seems boring to us, how can we expect others to be excited about it? If the thought of spending an hour in prayer (spending time with God) a day seems like a chore, why would we think anyone else would want to do it?

We keep looking at a pastor or priest to motivate us to be who God called us to be. That’s not their job. They are to reinforce what you get from God on a daily basis. What would your life look like if you only ate one meal a week? How hard would it be to survive and to do your job? Why do we think our spirit can survive on one meal a week given by someone else at a place we struggle to go to? Excitement about our faith starts with each one of us. Spiritual growth is our responsibility.

We keep looking for the church to grow and win the lost, but forget that we individually are the church. It’s our responsibility to grow the church, share our faith and win the lost. We expect the pastor to motivate us from God’s Word and never crack open the scriptures during the week. Our faith has to become exciting to us first before it can be exciting to others. We have to daily remind ourselves where we were heading, how we were feeling and what we were saved from if we want others to find what we’ve found. We can’t sit idly by knowing we’re saved without being concerned about others who aren’t.

How would your spiritual life be different if you anticipated going to church each Sunday instead of anticipating when the service will be over? How many of your friends and co-workers can see your excitement about what you believe? If they can’t, what needs to happen to reignite that flame? What do you need to do to make your faith grow and to come alive? It’s not someone else’s responsibility to get you excited about God and to motivate you to serve Him. It’s yours. It’s a daily task and I think that’s part of what Jesus meant when He told us to take up our cross daily, not just on Sunday.

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