"Seven whole days, not one in seven, I will praise thee" -- George Herbert (1633)
Can you imagine what our congregations would be like if we kept God’s words in our hearts? If we taught our children about God’s great love for us as revealed in the scriptures? If we publicly proclaimed the scriptures?
If you want your church to really get to know the Bible, it doesn’t need to be financially costly. It just takes a willingness to devote the time and the focus to place the Bible front and center. You’ll see transformation, guaranteed.
To get a congregation reading the scriptures will surely lead to transformation of individual lives and of the church itself. To learn the language of scripture is to find new ways to praise and to thank God, and that helps us live out our purpose, to glorify God.
It’s worth inviting people into this mystical journey of triumph, friendship, tenderness, betrayal, desolation, pain, death, grief, astonishment, and victory. It’s worth it because God is glorified, our faith is enriched, and people are drawn into a deeper relationship with our Lord.
I firmly believe that getting our social media presence right means using our voice online, even on controversial topics. The Christian voice is important, and silence does no one any good.
As disciples, we’re followers, and followers are always on the move. So a pretty good way to think of preaching is as a way to keep the followers moving, for Christ our leader is always challenging us to grow into the full stature of his likeness.
If we are going to share the gifts we have been given, we need to find effective ways to do this online. St. Paul wrote about being all things to all people, and that means meeting people online.
All it takes to have a great website for your church is the will to do it. If you have that, you can find a way. It might involve a little money, or a few contacts with experts…
I want us to put our best face forward, literally for the sake of the Gospel. My hope is to kindle a conversation and spur action that might help even a few congregations have better websites.
The truth is, scriptures like these were not written for comfortable people. They were not written by comfortable people. These scriptures have nothing whatsoever to do with comfort. This week, we can’t look away. And we shouldn’t look away from the message of grace and mercy that the Gospel has for us.
I was delighted when Cambridge University Press asked me if they could send along a review copy of George Herbert: 100 Poems. While an ebook is available, this is one to own in paper. Keep it at your bedside for morning or bedtime reading, or perhaps leave it at work for mental excursions into rural England during your breaks.
Sometime tomorrow we will all see the slate of nominees for Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. I’ve been thinking about the challenges our next Presiding Bishop will face, and I wanted to get some thoughts jotted down now, before we know who the nominees are. I don’t want to be seen as campaigning for a particular person.
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