Skip to content ↓

Sunday Ramblings

I attend a church where the majority of the members are new believers. Many of them have never attended another evangelical church. This introduces some good elements and some bad to the church. On the good side, few of them have any real expectations or baggage that they bring from other churches. Every church has two or three people who are always saying, “Well that’s not how we did it at [insert previous church here]” and they are generally tough people to deal with. We don’t have a whole lot of those. On the other hand, these new believers don’t know or understand some basic church etiquette. For example, everybody knows that leaving a Bible on a seat (or pew) is the universal sign for “taken.” In most churches it is as effective as building a barbed wire fence around a seat. But when I leave a Bible on a seat in my church, it’s likely that when I return, some helpful person will have moved the Bible and sat in my seat. It is a horrifying breach of etiquette, is it not? And who will teach these people what is and is not acceptable?

I just rummaged through my closet to find some funeral-appropriate attire. Mike’s funeral is this afternoon and I’m guessing I shouldn’t wear the “I think therefore I blog” t-shirt I’ve got on at the moment. The problem is that I wear dressy clothes so seldom. And as we all know, the longer clothes hang in a closet, the smaller they get. I’m not exactly sure how this phenomenon occurs, yet it seems to be remarkably consistent. I eventually found a pants, shirt and tie combination that shouldn’t suffocate me over the course of the afternoon. Now I get to iron them all. Whee!

Anyways, I have got a lot to do before 4 PM when the funeral begins (or more correctly, before 3:30 PM when my ride gets here) so I am going to get busy. I’ll be back tomorrow with a new feature for the site and probably some reflections on what is bound to be an emotional funeral. God bless you as you enjoy the rest of your Lord’s day.


  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (May 20)

    A La Carte: The foibles and fallibility of Christian leaders / Mental illness / Why didn’t Christ come sooner? / When it’s okay to die / Spiritual formation / and more.

  • Unlock Your Ministry Potential with Microcredentials

    Are you looking for accessible faith-based resources that can help you serve your church community with confidence? Check out Redeemer University’s online church leadership microcredentials—available anytime, anywhere. #Sponsored

  • Discernment

    What Does a Discerning Person Do?

    Some Christians seem to be specially gifted when it comes to spiritual discernment. Others take a special interest in discernment and expend the hard effort of growing in the discipline of it. But they may sometimes wonder: What should I do with this discernment?

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (May 19)

    A La Carte: Dangers of theological controversy / No confidence? No problem! / The goodness of gardening friends / Jeff the low stakes prophet / Hurting people / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Prayer

    The Reward They Longed for They Received

    Jesus, who knew what was in the heart of men, warned of the hypocrisy of those whose prayer life is only ever public. “When you pray,” he said, “you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (May 17)

    A La Carte: Generalizations are not stereotypes / Hospitality and reaching the dechurched / Essential lessons for pastors / The rise of Islam and the resilience of the church / Gossip and godly church / Fear takes you where grace has not yet gone / and more.