CONVENIENT CHURCH

Thirty minutes or less... Have it your way...  Next day service guaranteed....  These are just a few of the modern conveniences that we hear come across our TVs.  But have you ever heard of "convenient church?"  In our churches today we are hearing more and more of this.  But what is "convenient church?"  This is when we "don't have time" for worship services on Sunday or Wednesday so we sing a couple of memorized songs, read a quickly picked out verse in the Bible and finally say a little prayer then go on to our "whatever" activity.  This is being practiced more and more by those claiming to be Christians.  But what is this type of attitude saying to God?  It says that we have more time for us then we do for Him.  I know the argument, "but I am doing my part and worshipping God."  Are you really? 

Worship to God is being presented like it is an option in our lives, rather than a necessity.  What happened to the Israelites in the Old Testament when they gave the left overs to God.  Was He happy?  No He was not!  Look at the following from Malachi 1:6-8; "“A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father, Where is My honor? And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence? Says the Lord of hosts To you priests who despise My name.  Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’ “You offer defiled food on My altar, But say, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’  By saying, ‘The table of the Lord is contemptible.’  And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil?  And when you offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?” Says the Lord of hosts.  When we participate in "Convenient Church" we offer to God our blind as a sacrifice.  We have defiled and despised the name of God.  

So, God is not happy today when we give Him our left over time on Sunday because it would be too inconvenient to go to worship Him.  "You know, we have basketball games, fishing tournaments, golf outings, family visiting,"  and on and on and on the argument goes.  I am very disappointed in our Christian family today.  They don't care about God anymore.  Oh, they will say they are dedicated to God.  But this is only lip-service.  

What if your spouse treated you like you do God?  What if you treated your jobs the same way you treat God?  What if one day you look for your children in worship and they are gone?  You ask them where were they and they say, "oh dad, Johnny had a basketball tournament on Sunday so we said a few get-by prayers."  Ken Hamm wrote a book entitled, "Already Gone."  In it he details the modern teenager in the pew.  He proves that many teens in the pews today are "already gone" from God.  Why?  One reason is that their parents have handed them the example that God, church, worship and everything else that is spiritual, is only an option and not necessary.  

Parents, brethren, WAKE UP!!!  You are going down a dark path that does not have a happy ending.  This is satan's pathway.  Jesus said that there are two roads in this life, one that leads to everlasting life and the other that leads to everlasting destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).  Worship is not an option for the Christian.  And until we see it that way, we will continue down the path of destruction.  So what if Johnny does not play basketball at Kentucky.  So what if you are not able to win that prize at the weekend fishing tournament.  And so what if you can't go golfing with your "buddies."  If you are the right example then Johnny might just go to heaven and so will you.

Minister your message...

SETTING UP A BOOTH AT THE COUNTY FAIR # 2

I want to continue my thoughts about setting up a successful county fair booth.  Far too often these booths go unnoticed or passed on by.  So with the experience of others you can make your booth spiritually successful.

3) Get people to sign-up for Bible Correspondence Courses.  We live in a time where people do not want to be bothered with the word of God.  They believe that they are ok in their walk with God and don't want you and me interfering.  But we have to find a way to break through and reach their hearts.  I have tried different methods over the years and have found a few that worked and some that did not.  One way was in having a give away.  Those that would pass by would be drawn by the sign that said, "Free Bible Give-away."  All they had to do was sign a card with their name, address and a phone number.  This was not a raffle.  No one gave us any money for the "chance" at a new Bible.  But on the card we also placed an area for them to sign up for a in home Bible study, Bible Correspondence Course, and/or looking for a new church.  They might not have thought about wanting to participate in a study before, but given the opportunity they sign up anyway.  Sharing with people that come up to your booth that you offer such things as this is also very helpful.  We do not want to run people off with a high pressure type of attitude, but we are in this to win the lost to Christ.

4)  Information to give away.  Never miss the opportunity to give people reading material on salvation. But there are some important things to always remember;  first, get up-to-date looking tracts.  The worst thing that a church can do is give out tracts with pictures of people from the 50's on the front.  These are not very attractive and can draw people away from.  The best set of tracts that I have found come from House-to-House Heart-to-Heart.  You can view a list of these as well as order them from housetohouse.com.  Another great give-away is from the World Video Bible School (WVBS).  They have outstanding DVDs on salvation, evil/pain/suffering, along with a host of other material to draw people in.  Many people today will watch a DVD rather than read a tract, so have this option as well.  If you buy these DVDs in a somewhat larger quantity the price is drastically lower.  Many work out to only $1-$2 per DVD.  There website is wvbs.org.  Finally, make sure that people know where your building is located.  Have a map showing its location or a tract about the congregation with a map placed on it.  Do also have times of services and the church phone number.  It is not beneficial to have the minister's home number.  I have found this to be problematic.  My number is already in the public phone book.  If you have a favorable contact then give them your card.

5) Volunteers at the booth.   Having members for the congregation is an essential part of your booth.  Never underestimate the talent that you have at your disposal.  The members know the people that are walking by and can sometimes relate better than the minister can.  But there are some things that the local church must set up in the way of rules for your volunteers.  First, never argue with those that come to your booth.  Far too often people just want to see if they can get you angry.  If questions arise at the booth then have the following exchange with them, "That is a great question.  If you would like we can set up a Bible study either in your home or at the church building."  This disarms the person that just wants to fight and if the person does want to study they have the opportunity to sit down one-on-one.

Second, tell your volunteers to be very positive.  This is not the place for gossiping, trash talking the other denominations and especially not the place to say anything negative about the church.  If someone hears these things you possibly could lose the chance to teach them the Gospel.

Finally, make sure that those who work the booth are dressed modestly.  This is the worst first impression from those of the church.  I prefer no shorts but due to the temperatures sometimes this is not possible.  If you must include (or allow) shorts, then set the rule for knee length.  But if at all possible suggest that no one wear shorts for the booth.  Look around, the other booths of businesses have volunteers without shorts (for the most part).  Again, our best foot forward.

There are many other things that could be said about setting up a booth at the county fair, but this will get you started and help make for a successful experience.  Don't forget to pray about this effort before you begin.

With a booth at the county fair we can Minister our Message....

SETTING UP A BOOTH AT THE COUNTY FAIR # 1

Tis the season for county fairs all over the country.  Some county fairs are going on with one major presence missing, the church.  The church must be very active in the community.  One outstanding and easy way to accomplish that goal is to set up a booth at your local county fair.  I want to give you some ideas that have helped me over the past 20 years.

1) Plan, plan, plan and plan some more.  You will fail in attracting people to your booth if you have no idea what you want to do.  The main focus for a booth is to reach people with the gospel of Christ.  And let me be the first to tell you that there is so much that can be done in that arena.  Your planning must have the focus on the goal of reaching lost souls.  It is essential to have your times of services but you must try to reach out to their hearts.  It is great for the community to meet your preacher but the main goal is for the community to meet up with Christ.

One of the first steps in planning is to find out what sizes are available at you county fair.  It is a waste of money if you have too much space and no plans to fill it.  It is also difficult to get your word out if your space is too cluttered.  Many booth sizes are six to eight feet standard.  Let's say yours is six feet.  Somewhere back at the building, set up a six foot table with all the information that you want to give out.  Get others in the congregation to give input as to the look of the table.  Ask them, "if you were passing by a booth like this would it attract you or repulse you."  Have them write out suggestions and place them in a box.  Then look through all the suggestions and (with an open mind) make the table better.  Go to the fairgrounds early and locate where you booth will be set up.  Make sure that if you need something plugged in that you have a power source nearby.  Take measurements of the space to make sure you have the right size that you paid for.

2) Pick a theme for your table.  You might be asking, "I thought that the gospel is the theme?"  The gospel is what you are trying to spread.  But if you have a theme then you will draw people to your table quicker.  Each year we have an overall theme to our booth.  Two years ago this theme came from our VBS, which was from Apologetics Press about the days of creation.  So we painted large boards as a back drop that had the days of creation on them.  We also were able to get some dinosaur eggs from Oriental Trading which the kids went crazy over.  This year our theme is "Walking with Jesus."  We are planning on giving out necklaces with "I love Jesus" on them.  Also, we have bags with "Walking with Jesus" printed on them.  I mentioned that we ordered stuff from Oriental Trading.  This is a great place to buy in bulk.  But as with anything, watch the prices.  Discount stores such as Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Ollies and the like might have similar items cheaper.  But no matter what having a give-a-way is a great way for people to remember you and the booth.  If possible place a sticker on the back of everything that you give out.  On this sticker have the name of the congregation, the address of the church building, a contact number and the times of services.

In the next article, I will discuss how to get people to sign up for Bible Correspondence Courses.  


To be continued... minister your message daily...