In the meantime

Click on image for link W hat is a Healthy Church Member  by Thabiti Anyabwile is the second book about church membership that I've read recently. The first book is  I am a Church Member  by Thom Rainer, and I wrote about it here .   Similar to  I am a Church Member , Anyabwile also outlines some specific attitudes and habits a healthy church member should strive to cultivate. Several of these attitudes overlap with and expand on the ones mentioned in I am a Church Member .   This entire book is solidly Biblical in how it argues from Scripture why church membership is important. After I finished reading it, I couldn't help but feel like I had just had a spiritual battery recharge concerning my understanding of my role within the local church and why I should want to serve and be involved with the other believers who attend the same local church. Combine this book with  I am a Church Member  and you have two outstanding books...

I recently read two fantastic books on church membership: I am a Church Membership  by Thom Rainer   and What is a Healthy Church Member  by Tabiti Anyabwile. Until I read these books, I really hadn't thought too deeply about the implications of church membership except that I knew it is was important and that "it is imperative that I be involved and serve where I am able to." However, after reading these books, I am more convinced than ever of a few things:  Church is a big deal.  Going to church is a big deal.  Being a church member is a big deal.  And if these things aren't a big deal to you, if you're a believer, they should be. With a whopping 79 pages,  I am a Church Member  by Thom Rainer is hardly more than a beefed-up pamphlet. However, it makes up for its size by providing a concise and practical discussion of what it means to be "a member of the Body of Christ", and more specifically, "a member of the local church...

 The need for a pianist at our church was immediate. It was also potentially for an indefinite period of time. I felt so incapable and inadequate for the job and I struggled to find a genuine desire to do it. However, because I had already been doing it on a rotating schedule, it was only natural that I should pick up more of the responsibility in helping fill the need.  And so, because there was a need and God had given me the ability to help fill the need, I accepted the task. That week, as I practiced, it was done primarily out of duty and service instead of joy and delight in the privilege to be serving God's people that coming Sunday morning. However, that Sunday morning, something happened: God did the unexpected. What exactly He did, I'm not sure, except that at some point during the time of singing, God did some major surgery on my heart's attitude. Despite my heart serving out of a sense of obligation to the Body of Christ gathered in this local body, God...

The announcement that they were expecting was adorable. The added twist in the announcement saying that they were expecting twins made it even more delightful, for it is not every day that the Facebook algorithm brings up a "we're expecting twins" announcement! I'm truly happy for the couple who is now awaiting the arrival of not one, but two precious little ones!  But along with the joy in my heart came a twinge of sadness: my heart couldn't help but think back to the time, four years ago now in March, when we were also expecting twins. The thrill of finding out we were expecting was only heightened by the discovery that there were two! For somewhere between 5 1/2 and 12 weeks, I carried our two little treasures, created in God's image and precious in His sight.  But then there was no more growth. There was no more life. The twins were no longer with us. God had taken them from us.  In these bittersweet moments of joy tarnished by sadness, Scrip...

Check out this helpful list of  18 Things to Pray for Your Church .   I don't know about you, but I sure am thankful for the Body of Christ!  I appreciate the reminder to be specifically praying for the local body of believers that we gather with each week.

  Out of the Ordinary  blog is doing a series on The Church during the month of April.  I appreciate what has been posted so far.  Hope they are a blessing to you as well!