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I quote to you... Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said.., “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel.” (Luke 2:25-26) Looking for Christian expression in our community, therefore, while I know that the Spirit is present… I feel like Simeon and sit in waiting for the gospel voice to be plainly heard in the public square. Take note! If our congregations do not do evangelism, the church will rightly fail. Sociologically speaking then, I see that many Christian denominations and traditional church structures are slowly failing across the nation. In recent decades many faith expressions have suffered crushing statistics. Worship becomes sparsely attended, and the decline is felt even more so as faithful elder members die. This also is especially accelerated for any church or denomination which suffers turmoil while standing firmly against harmful social trends and ungodly, modern doctrines. Some churches which condemn alternate marital lifestyles and readily available abortions seem hardest hit. I have noted locally that many of these churches have begun to turn to “entertainment worship” to draw members. Down-home talent often tries to maintain and grow the congregation’s existence and outreach. But in my view, when this occurs care must be taken. A demonic trade-off can be present. Surely said, some of these congregations may do wonderful outreach in this way, but then they only mention salvation through Christ as an afterthought. They excuse this by saying the aim is to envelop the newbie attendee with uplifting human relationships, and eventually promote a lasting “relationship with Christ”. I offer that while this bait and switch may gather some persons to a gospel message to some degree, the entertainment shell game does not fit my own pastoral skill set. For me, I see that this entertainment trend can be a hindrance, especially if the music, etc… |
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Black Robe Regiment-Allegany-September 2025 |
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And he ( Jesus ) told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not. . , cut it down.’ ” ( Luke 13:6-9 ) |
