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THANK YOU LORD

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By Ken Blue

Thank You for this land where freedom is the prize.
Thank You for those securing it, laying down their lives.
Thank You for liberty where dreams are realized.
For these, we thank You Lord!

Thank You for my family; children and wife.
Thank You for the joy and purpose they give to my life.
Thank You for helping us through all our daily strife.
For these, we thank you Lord!

Thank You for the water, the food, and the air.
Thank You for giving shelter and the clothing we wear.
Thank You for a pillow; I lay my head down there.
For these, we thank You Lord!

Thank You for using me in your ministry.
Thank You for making us more than we could ever be.
Thank You for the countless believers now serving Thee.
For these, we thank You Lord!

Thank You for the comforts, of another day.
Thank You for Your presence upon life’s pilgrim highway.
Thank You for Calvary’s love; what more can we say?
For these, we thank you Lord!

Thank You for Your Word, creating faith within.
Thank You for a sure hope that will never, never end.
Thank You for Your great love that paid for all our sin.
For these, we thank You Lord.

THE COMEDY WITHIN FUNDAMENTALISM

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Ken Blue

“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” 2 Corinthians 10:12

One of the ways a church gauges its conservative posture is by holding to traditions of the past and ensuring that fellow pastors are not upset with them. Some are confused about traditions and allude to them as the “ancient landmarks” established by the Lord. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Jesus accused the religious leaders in His day of, “Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.” Mark 7:13. Their second problem was their desire for praise and approval. Therefore, they must conform to those with the perceived power and authority.

For those of you who fear the brethren and think you have not “moved the ancient landmarks” we submit the following. The men listed below would have nothing to do with the fundamentalism of today.

Spurgeon said, “… What a degradation to supplant the intelligent … by the theatrical prettiness of a quartet, bellows, and pipes. We might as well pray by machinery as praise by …strings and pipes… We do not need them. That would hinder rather than help our praise…” (Charles Spurgeon, Commentary on Psalm 42.)

Wesley said, “I have no objection to instruments of music in our worship, provided they are neither seen nor heard.” (Adam Clarke’s Commentary, Vol. 4, p. 685)

Luther said, “The organ in the worship is the insignia of Baal… The Roman Catholics borrowed it from the Jews.” (Martin Luther, Mcclintock & Strong’s Encyclopedia Volume VI, page 762)

Adam Clarke said, “… Music as a science I esteem and admire, but instrumental music in the house of God I abominate and abhor.”

I am not opposed to new music or musical instruments in church. What I am opposed to is that group who think they hold no traditions; that they live by the “ancient landmarks,” and that they and their little crowd are the only spiritual bastion remaining.

THE FINAL CHAPTER

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(Brother Cheston Davis Jr., Sisters Millie and Peggy Sue)

By Ken Blue

“And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine… but thou hast kept the good wine until now.” John 2:10

Each life has its final chapter; written or unwritten. How long that chapter will be is anyone’s guess. I am confident a new and final chapter has begun for me. I am looking forward to its conclusion. I am not sure how many articles or sermons it will contain, but I hope to glorify God and edify His children with it.

It is fitting that this final chapter be called “the good wine.” I spent the first thirteen years of my life believing my biological father was dead. The subject was never discussed and that was that. However, my mother became concerned and decided to tell me as much of the story as she could.

In 1937 she met a man in the cotton fields of Missouri and nine months later I was born. She knew very little about him. She told me his name was Cheston Davis, and that he had lived in Stone County, Arkansas. Over the years I made a couple of attempts to find information about him or his family, but was unable to do so. I figured it was an impossible task and made no further effort.
A few months ago while in a conversation with my cousin, who knew the whole truth, she said she believed her daughter could give me some help. Her daughter is a detective with the Wenatchee police department, and within a week I had enough information to begin my own research.

A phone call led me to a young man in Missouri by the name of Cheston Grady Davis Jr. He and his family lived in the same area where my mother had met my father. He also has the same name as my father. After several phone calls, emails and an exchanging of family pictures, we came to the conclusion that we were indeed siblings of the same father. I received a wonderful reception by the family.

On March 6, 2010, I met Cheston, his wife and two of my sisters in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas at Captain Catfish for lunch. What a wonderful time that was! Each one had a story to tell, a hundred questions to ask and dozens of pictures to share. But, there’s more to the story.

All my life I lived under the cloud of being spoiled and an only child. Reluctantly, I admit to being spoiled by my mother, but I don’t want to hear any more that I am an only child. In fact, there were 16 children in all, and I was the second born. My father never knew of my birth.

Another wonderful ending to the story is that each one professed to have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. Isn’t it great that God opened the “good wine” in this final chapter of my life?

TRANSFERRED OR TRANSFORMED

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By Ken Blue

Churches should be adding new families on a regular base. I am aware that location has some bearing on ones effectiveness. However, the truth is that the only additions to some churches are transfer members. If this is the case, we are failing in our outreach to the lost. We should welcome transfer member, but they should not be the only additions we have. Do not become content to have only transfer members; this is like taking a dollar bill from one pocket and placing it in the other.

A church should keep records of who joins by transfer and who becomes a member by conversion and baptism. This information will reveal much about the evangelistic efforts and effectiveness of the church. It will signal where you need to make changes and focus your resources.

You will get what you go after. If you are content to have transfer members only, that’s what you will have. But, if you will concentrate on seeing the lost transformed and added to your church, you will see it happen. Evaluate your membership, is it built on the transferred or the transformed?

DOES YOUR CHURCH HAVE REVOLVING DOORS?

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By Ken Blue

Some churches have little trouble gaining members. They are diligently spreading the gospel, and people are obedient to the Lord. However, most churches have trouble keeping members. They lose them about as fast as they get them.

It is a fact that many churches cannot break the “75 barrier” or the “200 barrier”. Both barriers are related to “group dynamics” (principles that affect people’s ability to relate to one another in a particular group). The problem basically boils down to this: growth does not continue, because people are not being assimilated into the “family life” of the congregation. Some pastors do not really care about church growth, being happy to maintain the “status quo”. The solution to the “revolving door syndrome” actually has several different elements. The key is the involvement of every member.

We cannot over emphasize the importance of every member getting involved in some ministry of the church. If you want the church to become more important to the member, he or she must become involved. This means the church must have an unlimited list of ministries where members can serve. If you can maintain a high level of involvement, the dropout rate will be lower.

A church must increase its ministries in order to grow. I observed one church that had a ministry list of four, one was the missions program, and the other was their Christian day school. This shows a lack of understanding or a lack of vision.

Every church should make a list of ministries where members can participate, and that list must be adequately communicated to the congregation. The church should then double or triple the list. In addition, there must be a strategy and plan as to how each person will be recruited and installed in a ministry.

Remember, everyone wants to be an important part of an important organization. Also, the old saying, “use me or loose me” is not that old. If you want to shut down the revolving door, you must provide important places for important people to serve. Those places must be important to them.