A WHACK-A-MOLE ARTICLE (subjects that just pop up in my head – this one took several pops!)
Recently, Thomas McDaniels, pastor of LifeBridge Christian Center in Longview, Texas, wrote an article he called “Churches should learn from Blockbuster – change with the times, or die.” He described some of the cultural shifts that have occurred and how they have impacted churches in America. If you are interested, you can read the entire piece here.
Pastor McDaniels stated, “The tension for the American church is no different from other organizations that have seen cultural shifts in how people relate to their entity.”
He goes on: “Many churches in America have failed to learn the lessons from marketplace companies such as Kodak and Blockbuster – change with the times or die. There are countless other names of many of the world’s (previously) top companies that have floundered, shrunk, or grown totally obsolete. As one church (on average) closes its doors in America every day right now we are seeing this to be true of the American church as well. It is an increasingly embarrassing truth.”
He drives home his point with these closing paragraphs: “Christian churches must preserve what is necessary and set aside what is obsolete. We must seek new biblical methods without losing the genuine relevance of the message and the power it has to impact people and people groups. To impact our culture once again, we must discover practical tools and take new risks in worshipping God in authentic ways.
“We must make necessary changes that allow us to continue to spread the life-changing truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ or the church will become just another cultural norm.”
But
I don’t
like
change.
I don’t…like…change!
It never comes easy
I don’t…like…change!
It makes me feel queasy
I don’t…like…change!
It puts me in a tizzy
I don’t…like…change!
It makes me feel dizzy
I don’t…like…change!
It pulls me from my zone
I don’t…like…change!
Leave everything alone
I don’t…like…change!
Keep it to yourself
I don’t…like…change!
I’m happy on the shelf
I don’t…like…change!
Leave it where it’s at
I don’t…like…change!
I never will adapt
I don’t…like…change!
Keep it all the same
I don’t…like…change!
Changers are to blame
I don’t…like…change!
It makes me have to think
I don’t…like…change!
I’d rather make a stink
I don’t…like…change!
Requires concentration
I don’t…like…change!
Won’t do alteration
I don’t…like…change!
Stagnant is the best
I don’t…like…change!
Don’t care about the rest
I don’t…like…change!
Can’t handle new
I don’t…like…change!
Growth makes me blue
I don’t…like…change!
Learning’s in the past
I don’t…like…change!
Inert should always last
I don’t…like…change!
I’ll only get madder
I don’t…like…change!
Others don’t matter
I don’t…like…change!
It takes too much labor
I don’t…like…change!
Love comfort, not my neighbor
I don’t…like…change!
Different ways are bad
I don’t…like…change!
New method’s just a fad
I don’t…like…change!
Always been this way
I don’t…like…change!
Too dangerous to pray
I don’t…like…change! Do you?
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