April 2010
From the Pastor’s Desk
Change; change; more change. As much as we humans fight change, it is a constant part of our lives. With the single exception of the Word of God alone, everything must and does change. The next big change for MACOB will begin the first of April 2010. By action of the Church Council, we have approved the sharing of our Worship facility with another congregation – The House of Restoration Ministries.
From the Pastor’s Desk
Probably one of the best known verses in the Old Testament is the one found in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and heal their land.” This promise was given to Solomon, and the people of Israel, at the time of the dedication of the temple. But I don’t think it would be a misuse of Scripture to claim it as a promise that God would make to all of his people at all times. It seems especially applicable to our situation in the US today. Every year in the US …..
Have we forgotten God’s call upon us and His promises for us when we obey His Voice?
From the Pastor’s Desk
I’m convinced that many of us in small churches today wear ourselves out trying to do too much that really cannot be considered as ministry. While it is an absolute necessity that we maintain our buildings and care for our facilities, equipment and the like, in my opinion, we expend huge amounts of energy treading water. Too many people, taking their faith very seriously, are wearing themselves out trying to do too much while a number of folks who are less committed seem not to care about matters of faith. The end result is that the faithful are burning themselves out by simply doing too much and ignoring the counsel of Psalm 46 – that is to “be still and know” God and find our energy and purpose in God.
From the Pastor’s Desk
Dr. John DeBrine hosts a daily radio show on WDAC (Lancaster) known as Songtime USA. In a recent broadcast, he made the following statement: “I was reading that in Africa, particularly in Nigeria, it takes two people an average of one month to lead someone to Christ. In America it takes about 95 people a whole year to lead someone to Christ and the thing that worries me is we are beginning to enter into an age in the life of the church here in America where the majority of people in the congregation have never led anyone to Christ.â€
That’s a bit of a startling statement for us to ponder. For Brethren, who supposedly take the Great Commission seriously, it causes us to see declining membership in a different light.
