Is your church struggling, shrinking, or diminishing in size? Do you show up every week, wondering which family has finally tossed in the towel and switched to another church?

Maybe your church is holding steady, as far as the numbers go, but you feel like nothing is happening in the way of evangelism, missions, and outreach. You want to do something, but you’re not sure what?

I would love to talk. Send me an email: jmyers AT tillhecomes DOT org

What will we talk about? As you may or may not know, I am writing a book called Close Your Church for Good. You can read some of the excerpts by clicking the tab above. The book is focused on helping churches move out of their building and into the community.

Most of the suggestions are fairly extreme and require a willingness to take risks. Of course, few of them cost any money, so we’re not talking that kind of risk. Several of the suggestions in the book are ones I have already done in various ways at various times. But several of the ideas are only that: ideas. Though I’ve heard of other churches that are doing similar things, I have never done them personally.

It has been making me feel guilty that some of the things I am writing about I have never actually done. So my wife, genius that she is, suggested last night that I post on my blog if there are any churches out there that might want to discuss trying some of these things happening in their own church.

The ideas are free. I’m free. And you could set your church free.

One of the blogs I read is written by one of my favorite New Testament scholars, Ben Witherington III. He recently wrote a post over at his blog, Bible and Culture, called Rabbits Foot Religion. Here is an excerpt:

The practitioner of rabbit’s foot religion is impatient. He wants an answer, indeed he wants an outcome right now! God however is not our cosmic bellhop and he does not exist to fulfill all the wishes of our materialistic little hearts.  The health and wealth Gospel is a travesty of the real Gospel, precisely because it not only denies the value of suffering and the call of Christ to take up one’s cross and follow him, it also tries to manipulate God to give us ‘the desires of our hearts’, whether they are good for us or not. To these sorts of requests, God has an answer—-NO! A loving God,  like a loving parent will not give us things that will spoil and destroy our Christian character.  And by the way— NO is definitely an answer to prayer. The wrong sort of prayer.

I like it! Have you seen Rabbit’s Foot Religion in your own life or in somebody at your church?

Below is another song I heard on the radio yesterday which reminded me of the desperate call from the world. It is “Save Me” by Shinedown.

People all around us are crying out “Save me!” in their own unique ways. And I’ll tell you right now, for the vast majority, the solution is NOT “come to church and hear a sermon.” Listen as he sings about how he couldn’t handle forgiveness, and how he doesn’t know how he got where he is now. Near the end, he says the hardest question is “Why?” I agree. That is the hardest question, and pat answers don’t cut it.

In his last line, he says, “please don’t erase me.” What do you think he means by that?

And here are the lyrics:

I’ve got a candle,
And I’ve got a spoon
I live in a hallway
With no doors and no rooms

Under the window sill
They all were found
A touch of concrete within a doorway
Without a sound

Chorus:
Someone save me if you will
And take away all these pills
And please just save me, if you can
From the blasphemy in my wasteland

How did I get here
And what went wrong
Couldn’t handle forgiveness
Now I’m far beyond gone

And I can hardly remember
The look of my own eyes
How could I love this
A life so dishonest
It made me compromise

Chorus

Jump in the water
Jump in with me
Jump on the altar
Lay down with me

My hardest question
To answer is
WHY!!!

Chorus

Some one save me (x3)
Somebody save me
Somebody save me
Please don’t erase me

Jeff Gilbertson over at “Until All Have Heard” wrote an insightful post today about the use and abuse of Hebrews 10:25. He states, and for the most part I agree, that:

Assembling together is more than sitting in a pew for 2 hours a week and singing hymns or listening to the preacher.

Assembling together means just what it says: we “assemble”, each one using his or her own unique spiritual gift and discernment, so that “together” we can bring about the results and change God is intending for that gathering.

Long ago I read about this “assembling together” where the author said it is like “putting together a puzzle”. Each person has one piece of the puzzle. You don’t know what the picture will be until you assemble all the pieces, one at a time.

Assembling together is more than meeting once a week. Period.

The biggest case against Christ that the unsaved people of this world have, I believe, is that His disciples can justify a Christianity that says: “See you next week” Sunday after Sunday, year after year.

What? Is there not more to being a follower of the King of Kings than “see you next week”? Even the pagans are committed to their “gods” as little as that! The Free Masons in my town pack out their building once or twice a month with extreme regularity and great attendance. So do Weight Watchers and the Lion’s Club. You know what I mean. Add up your own list – 4 H, Boys and Girls Club, Fitness Club, Scouts, Fishing Club, Book Club…

What do you think? What is the “assembling together of the church”? How does it look? How often should it happen? What takes place? Who should/can be there?