Sunday.....Christianity.....Weekday Mornings

This blog is a little bit of practical advice for a certain type of person in a particular place, Pittsburgh. It was formed from thirty years of experience and a passion not always, probably not even most of the time, of the best wisdom. It comes from trial and error and unfortunately it comes from experiences in a weak Christian church age today in America. I'm writing to anyone there who God's Spirit is currently giving a glimpse of the Glories and Majesty of Jesus Christ, but who has not found a church and no clue as to where to go. Maybe anger and confusion is building in you right now? You have tried different churches but something essential is missing. After all you want to be a part of the Christian church, show me where to sign, but you want to see a little of the merchandise first. Maybe you blame the church, or blame yourselves or are worried that you will ultimately blame God and that this will have been just a bubble, a dream you had been in that will burst. Here is my opinion, for what it is worth. Many churches are failing in preaching Christ from the pulpit every Lord's Day. Many are failing to feed and nourish. Maybe they lost patience as the congregations did not grow as they wanted so they looked around to find answers to church growth from the pens of experts? Maybe they never had a clue? Many churches do grow but the people in these churches might not require the same thing that you are agonizing over. It is Christ that you want. He is at the center of these eruptions in your heart and mind There are churches out there that can feed you but its like looking for the one aisle in a Kmart for the canned food. You have to navigate many aisles to find it. So you will need nourishment as you search for this church. There are books but that is a long endeavor, for unless you are a speed reader, you can spend weeks on one book and one topic. Sometimes you need to hear another human voice. The television is not going to provide what you need for the very strength of it is in images and you need words. That leaves radio. Now I'm going to very subjective here. In your situation, you need a radio ministry that will suffice until you find that church. You need someone who not only has what you need but who also can convey what they know. There are only three such radio ministries on this level that I know of on WORD 101.5 FM in Pittsburgh. One, The White Horse Inn, is only on for 30 minutes a week and that on Sundays at 8:30 in the evening. In your condition, you need more. R. C. Sproul's Renewing Your Mind is another. It has served this purpose for multitudes over the past few decades but in Pittsburgh, you would have to get up at 2:30 in the morning to hear it every day on FM. That leaves John MacArthur's Grace To You. You will get the nourishment that you need every day if you can be near a radio every weekday morning at 7 O'clock (if you can receive the 73 AM signal, Renewing Your Mind is on at 7:30 in the morning!) If you start this daily regimen faithfully you will, I believe, be able to live and grow as you search for a church. You will be able to understand why it is that every church is not able to provide their congregations with what they need. The nourishment that you will be getting will enable you to have patience to find a church that preaches Christ and His gospel. You may find one of the better churches, and you may not. Let me ask you this? As you enter this journey in the Christian faith, are you now going to be angry because the beginnings of it are not easy? Pilgrim's Progress addresses this issue very well. If it were easy, and you were not disappointed it would be because you would not have the discernment even to know what is missing. Be thankful for even the confusion at this point for it will be evident shortly that you are indeed on the right path and the purpose of the difficulty of the path will become evident. I would imagine that the advice and comments I make here would not be warmly reviewed in the vast majority of churches. I am willing to accept that rebuke. In John MacArthur, I'm not pointing you to my denomination. We do not align up on some issues and he would probably rebuke many of my thoughts. It is you that I am concerned with for I was once where you are and there are many people out there just like you. God is moving mightily upon their hearts, through various means, by giving glimpses of the Glory and Majesty of Christ. My advice to churches seeking to grow is, find them! Find you! Proclaim this Glory and Majesty from the pulpits and even from the newspapers, the radio, bulletin boards and any means they can find. The invitation should not be we are a loving congregation and you are welcome, rather you are invited to come and worship the Christ, the Son of the Living God with us. Try this radio ministry...please, and be patient. The church that you wind up in will come with many challenges to you for they are pilgrims on this journey also. We are all struggling to live the Christian life in America 2010 but the church is a protection that God has provided, even commanded, for you, for me, for all of us.