Everyone wants success -- even Christians. Regardless of whether you view success in terms of money, the number of children you have, the number of people you lead to Christ, the number of people in your church, or anything else, Christians want to succeed. Even people who reject riches, such as Mother Teresa, want success. She wanted success in helping people. She forsook riches, but she still wanted success. Unfortunately, too many Christians have a skewed view of success. It's almost like we're afraid of it. That's because we typically think of success in terms of finances. And we know that the "love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." Fearing that evil, we'd rather run away from success than embrace it. Last week, we discussed the real standard for success -- righteousness. You can fail in everything you do in this life and still be a success in God's eyes. The best part about this standard for success is that there's nothing to fear (except God). You can embrace it wholeheartedly, without reservation. You can pursue it without hesitation. The problem is we like to measure success by earthly measurements. That's why numbers are so important for churches. If we get enough people to pray a prayer, join the church, get baptized, or go on the mission field, we think we've succeeded. However, when we try to measure our righteousness this way, we set our sights on the wrong goal. And that sets us up for failure ... in God's eyes. You see, we can have very noble goals in life, even reach them, and still fail. When we have any standard for success other than righteousness, we set ourselves up for compromise. And we're all susceptible, even pastors. I know the pastor of a very large church who knows he's compromised his teaching. But he won't admit it publicly because he has a huge debt to pay off on his church building. On the outside, he looks like an enormous success. But he's failing by the "righteousness standard." So how can you know if you're successful in God's eyes? Just answer two questions: "Am I willing to sin in order to get what I want?" "Do I respond sinfully when I don't get what I want?" Those two questions cover the two areas where we always fail. We either fail by sinning to reach our goals. Or we fail when we respond in the flesh. If you really want to succeed for the long term (eternity), embrace righteousness. Answer these question honestly for every goal you establish and every decision you make to reach those goals. Source: WisdomsEdge.com Everyone wants success -- even Christians. Regardless of whether you view success in terms of money, the number of children you have, the number of people you lead to Christ, the number of people in your church, or anything else, Christians want to succeed. Even people who reject riches, such as ...

As churches, both large and small, continue to map out their local mission in order to reach those who are unchurched in their respective communities, the Ellison Research group has recently completed a study that provides a more clearer picture for churches as to who the unchurched really are. “There’s a whole industry seeking to help clergy reach the unchurched, with seminars, books, videos, training centers, and consultants,” says Ron Sellers, president of the Ellison Research group. “However, many people don’t really have a basic notion even of just what it means to be ‘unchurched.’ There’s often an assumption that people either do attend worship services, or they don’t." According to the findings of the Phoenix-based research firm, people who attend worship service at least once a month or on a regular basis have been considered as "churched," while those who don't attend frequently enough have often been labeled "unchurched." "But what we find in this study," says Sellers, "that up to one out of every five Americans is attending worship services at least occasionally during the year, even though they are not regularly involved. That has huge implications for local congregations who are trying to attract new people." The newly performed study by the Ellison Research Group, which was released on Monday, helps divide the American population into a more accurate picture of church attendance. Their study concludes that those Americans many have labeled as "unchurched" do in fact visit attend church or worship services occasionally, just not regularly. Only 60 percent of those labeled as "unchurched" do not attend worship services at all, according to the Ellison study. Overall, 29 percent of Americans do not attend a church or worship service at all. The study linked worship attendance to a number of factors, such as family history of attendance and parental religious involvement. Also, for those parents who have committed to attend worship services occasionally, there is a 62 percent chance that their children are now regularly attending services as an adult. The odds for children to regularly attend worship services dramatically decrease to 21 percent if they never attended prior to turning 18. With these new survey results, Sellers wonders if churches are really paying attention to newcomers. "We estimate that up to 43 million adults who do not regularly attend worship services will visit a church or place of worship at some point during the year, to say nothing of children and teens who visit with their family or on their own," Sellers said. "Are those congregations and clergy members ready for them?” Source: Streaming faith 

 

 

As churches, both large and small, continue to map out their local mission in order to reach those who are unchurched in their respective communities, the Ellison Research group has recently completed a study that provides a more clearer picture for churches as to who the unchurched really are. “There’s a ...