As I lifted my Bible this morning, I began reading in the middle of John 10. Funny, I didn’t see this yesterday when I read the same passage, but today it seems a deeper meaning is clear. Buckle up. Some may cry ‘heresy’ by the time I’m through.
Here, I’m highlighting John 10:33-38. Verses 22-32 have been included to help with context.
John 10:22-38
22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.
23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.
24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
Today, verse 34 particularly jumped out at me. “Written in your law,” “I said” and “Ye are gods”. My KJV tells me the Master is referencing Psalm 82, a psalm of Asaph. Here it is in its entirety, my emphasis on verses 5-7:
82 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.
2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.
The authors of this KLV study Bible (Reformation Heritage) note “’like men’, literally, ‘As Adam’ (Job 31:33, Hosea 6:7), perhaps an allusion to the fall of the first man, appointed to rule the earth (Genesis 1-3).”
I believe the word “perhaps” here is a gross understatement. I firmly believe Psalm 82:6 is a reference to our state prior to the Fall. This is not to say I think we are gods in the ancient pagan or Mormon sense of the word, but that we—crafted in His likeness and sanctified through faith—grow more God-like the closer our walk with the Father through the radiant indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Genesis 1:26 confirms our original divine nature when it says “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” The escape from the fiery furnace in Daniel 3 and the closing of the mouths of the lions in Daniel 6 backed by Psalm 91’s covenant of protection are only a few examples that further echo this elevated supernatural state awaiting the one who believes the Word of God over their perceived ‘reality’. Christ’s example to us was certainly one of dominion over all nature; even death. He is our example of what it looks like to “subdue the earth” (Genesis 1:28).
In Mark 9:23, Jesus was clear when He said, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” So what do the conservative “believers” do with this claim when it come crashing into their tradition and their powerless walk? “Oh, but that was Jesus,” they say. “He didn’t really mean ALL things are possible.”
No, I think this applies to us. I think Jesus meant what He said.
I think the “all” in “all things are possible” means “all.”
Fable of the Restless Water You are you, no matter when or who.
One day, a little water droplet awoke to find herself surrounded by the great blue Ocean, reaching out from her as far as her eyes could see. At first, she delighted in exploring all the sights, sounds and sensations the Ocean had to offer, but after a time she became restless.
The droplet went to the Sun and said, “Sun, I would like to become a Cloud. I wish to soar the sky and be adored by all the World.”
The Sun said, “Imagine soaring the sky and you will be.”
So the droplet climbed to the top of her Ocean, closed her eyes and thought soaring thoughts. When she looked again, she was flying high in the sky. She looked down at the great blue Ocean and asked, “Sun, what is the Ocean made of?”
“Water,” Sun replied.
The droplet seemed satisfied with this and enjoyed soaring the sky and being adored by all the World. After a time, however, she became restless.
She went to the North Wind and said, “North Wind, I would like to become Rain. I wish to fall to the Earth and bring life to all the World.”
North Wind said, “Imagine falling to the Earth and you will be.”
So the droplet climbed to the bottom of her Cloud, closed her eyes and thought falling thoughts. When she looked again, she was falling to the Earth. As she fell, the droplet looked up at her Cloud and asked, “North Wind, what are Clouds made of?”
“Water,” said North Wind.
“Oh,” said the droplet, a little confused now.
Once she landed upon the Earth, however, she busied herself with bringing life to all the World. She was quite happy for a time, but—after a while—the droplet became restless.
She went to the River and said, “River, I would like to know who I am. I have been the Ocean, and the Clouds, and the Rain and now I even bring life to all the World, but I still don’t know what I am supposed to be.”
River said “Follow me.”
The droplet joined River and soon found herself returned to the Ocean. The droplet was dismayed by this and cried, “River! I don’t understand! I have already been the Ocean!”
River said, “When you were Ocean, you wanted to be Cloud.
When you were Cloud, you wanted to be Rain.
When you were Rain, you brought life to all the World and yet,
you still became restless and wondered what you were to do.
Know you are Water and—in being Water—you are the Ocean, the Cloud, the River and the Rain.”
And, from that moment forward, the little droplet knew she was Water and felt peace, no matter what she decided to be.
Tonight, I heard a Jewish rabbi make the argument for a pro-choice stance in Reform Judaism. When I asked how they balance a pro-choice position against “Thou shalt not kill” she pointed to a semantic difference between murder and killing (according to the original Hebrew, she said.) She then alluded to a passage in the Torah regarding two men fighting and a pregnant bystander being hurt in the process. She said this story was proof that the unborn child was considered part of the mother—not an individual apart from the mother—because the value given in retribution was more akin to losing and arm or a leg; not capital punishment.
I looked this up when I returned home. Seems she was referring to Exodus 21:22-25 which pertains to Mosaic personal injury law. Here is the passage, from both the KJV and ESV and then finally from the Jewish Tanakh:
King James Version
“If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”
English Standard Version
“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”
As you can see, these two translations leave some question as to whether the child is included in the “life for life” retribution. The Jewish bible, however, seems to take things a bit further:
Jewish Tanakh (English)
“When men fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other damage ensues, the one responsible shall be fined according as the woman’s husband may exact from him, the payment to be based on reckoning. But if other damage ensues, the penalty shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”
So I can understand why someone reading this latter translation would think this was a clear statement from God that the life of the unborn child didn’t matter as much as the adult’s. The rabbi likened the unborn child to an appendage and even said the child wasn’t considered a person until it was at least half-born (e.g. the child’s head and shoulders had emerged from the vaginal canal.) This is absolutely stunning to me. I marvel at the disconnected thinking it takes to arrive at the conclusion that a few inches and being on the wrong side of the mother’s womb should mean it’s okay to destroy what God has created.
I asked how she rectifies science having proven life begins at conception and she defensively claimed, “Science doesn’t claim that; religion does.”
I’ll admit, this was the first time I had ever heard this rebuttal. I had to do a little research to determine if this was the case. Turns out I didn’t have to look far. Her comment is utterly false. The first thing I found upon doing a search for “life begins at conception” (without quotes) looked like this:
From here I found two pages dedicated to examples whereby secular university textbooks seem to clearly state genetic uniqueness and specifically, that the resulting cell from the egg and sperm marks the “beginning of a new human being.” (Moore, 2003.) I’ve reproduced the contents of those pages below.
I’ll leave you to come to your own conclusions on this material. Personally, I believe God values us so much He sent His only Son to die for us (which I can’t even begin to wrap my head around.) I believe every life is of massive value to our heavenly Father. We are His work, after all.
For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
Psalm 139:13-16 NKJV
Human Development
Assorted Quotes from Textbooks
The Developing Human Being
By Keith Moore, and T.V.N. Persaud
7th edition, 2003
From an introductory definition section:
“Human development is a continuous process that begins when an oocyte (ovum) from a female is fertilized by a sperm (spermatozoon) from a male. Cell division, cell migration, programmed cell death, differentiation, growth, and cell rearrangement transform the fertilized oocyte, a highly specialized, totipotent cell–a zygote–into a multicellular human being. Although most developmental changes occur during the embryonic and fetal periods, important changes occur during later periods of development: infancy, childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. Development does not stop at birth. Important changes, in addition to growth, occur after birth (e.g., development of teeth and female breasts). The brain triples in weight between birth and 16 years; most developmental changes are completed by the age of 25. Although it is customary to divide human development into prenatal (before birth) and postnatal (after birth) periods, birth is merely a dramatic event during development resulting in a change in environment.” (p. 2)
“Zygote. This cell results from the union of an oocyte and a sperm during fertilization. A zygote is the beginning of a new human being (i.e., an embryo).” (p. 2)
“Embryo. The developing human during its early stages of development. The embryonic period extends to the end of the eighth week (56 days), by which time the beginnings of all major structures are present.” (p. 3)
From chapter 2: “The Beginning of Human Development: First Week”
First sentence of the chapter: “Human development begins at fertilization when a male gamete or sperm (spermatozoon) unites with a female gamete or oocyte (ovum) to form a single cell–a zygote. This highly specialized, totipotent cell marked the beginning of each of us as a unique individual.” (p. 16)
“Studies on early stages of development indicate that human oocytes are usually fertilized with 12 hours after ovulation. In vitro observations have shown that the oocyte cannot be fertilized after 24 hours and this it degenerates shortly thereafter.” [This would buttress our argument that sperm and ovum by themselves are parts of the parents and not entire beings. That there is a substantial change between gametes and zygotes.] (p. 31)
“The zygote is genetically unique because half of its chromosomes come from the mother and half from the father. The zygote contains a new combination of chromosomes that is different from that in the cells of either of the parents.” (p. 33)
“Cleavage consists of repeated mitotic divisions of the zygote, resulting in a rapid increase in the number of cells. The embryonic cells–blastomeres–become smaller with each cleavage division. First the zygote divides into two blastomores, which then divide into four blastomores, either blastomeres, and so on.” (p. 36-37) [We can use the cleavage discussion to show that now the embryo is operating on its own and developing.]
Human Embryology
William J. Larsen
3rd edition, 2001
“In this text, we begin our description of the developing human with the formation and differentiation of the male and female sex cells or gametes, which will unite at fertilization to initiate the embryonic development of a new individual” (p. 1)
“After the oocyte finishes meiosis, the paternal and maternal chromosomes come together, resulting in the formation of a zygote containing a single diploid nucleus. Embryonic development is considered to begin at this point. The newly formed embryo undergoes a series of cells divisions called cleavage as it travels down the oviduct toward the uterus. The cleavage divisions subdivide the zygote first into two cells, then into four, then into eight, and so on.” (p. 1-3)
Life Begins at Fertilization
The following references illustrate the fact that a new human embryo, the starting point for a human life, comes into existence with the formation of the one-celled zygote:
“Development of the embryo begins at Stage 1 when a sperm fertilizes an oocyte and together they form a zygote.”
[England, Marjorie A. Life Before Birth. 2nd ed. England: Mosby-Wolfe, 1996, p.31]
“Human development begins after the union of male and female gametes or germ cells during a process known as fertilization (conception).
“Fertilization is a sequence of events that begins with the contact of a sperm (spermatozoon) with a secondary oocyte (ovum) and ends with the fusion of their pronuclei (the haploid nuclei of the sperm and ovum) and the mingling of their chromosomes to form a new cell. This fertilized ovum, known as a zygote, is a large diploid cell that is the beginning, or primordium, of a human being.”
[Moore, Keith L. Essentials of Human Embryology. Toronto: B.C. Decker Inc, 1988, p.2]
“Embryo: the developing organism from the time of fertilization until significant differentiation has occurred, when the organism becomes known as a fetus.”
[Cloning Human Beings. Report and Recommendations of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission. Rockville, MD: GPO, 1997, Appendix-2.]
“Embryo: An organism in the earliest stage of development; in a man, from the time of conception to the end of the second month in the uterus.”
[Dox, Ida G. et al. The Harper Collins Illustrated Medical Dictionary. New York: Harper Perennial, 1993, p. 146]
“Embryo: The early developing fertilized egg that is growing into another individual of the species. In man the term ’embryo’ is usually restricted to the period of development from fertilization until the end of the eighth week of pregnancy.”
[Walters, William and Singer, Peter (eds.). Test-Tube Babies. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1982, p. 160]
“Embryo: The developing individual between the union of the germ cells and the completion of the organs which characterize its body when it becomes a separate organism…. At the moment the sperm cell of the human male meets the ovum of the female and the union results in a fertilized ovum (zygote), a new life has begun…. The term embryo covers the several stages of early development from conception to the ninth or tenth week of life.”
[Considine, Douglas (ed.). Van Nostrand’s Scientific Encyclopedia. 5th edition. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1976, p. 943]
“I would say that among most scientists, the word ’embryo’ includes the time from after fertilization…”
[Dr. John Eppig, Senior Staff Scientist, Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, Maine) and Member of the NIH Human Embryo Research Panel — Panel Transcript, February 2, 1994, p. 31]
“The development of a human being begins with fertilization, a process by which two highly specialized cells, the spermatozoon from the male and the oocyte from the female, unite to give rise to a new organism, the zygote.”
[Langman, Jan. Medical Embryology. 3rd edition. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, 1975, p. 3]
“The development of a human begins with fertilization, a process by which the spermatozoon from the male and the oocyte from the female unite to give rise to a new organism, the zygote.”
[Sadler, T.W. Langman’s Medical Embryology. 7th edition. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins 1995, p. 3]
“Development begins with fertilization, the process by which the male gamete, the sperm, and the female gamete, the oocyte, unite to give rise to a zygote.”
[Sadler, T.W. Langman’s Medical Embryology. 9th edition. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins 2004, p. 3]
“The results of fertilization are (a) restoration of the diploid number of chromosomes, (b) determination of chromosomal sex, and (c) initiation of cleavage.”
[Sadler, T.W. Langman’s Medical Embryology. 9th edition. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins 2004, p. 48]
“The question came up of what is an embryo, when does an embryo exist, when does it occur. I think, as you know, that in development, life is a continuum…. But I think one of the useful definitions that has come out, especially from Germany, has been the stage at which these two nuclei [from sperm and egg] come together and the membranes between the two break down.”
[Jonathan Van Blerkom of University of Colorado, expert witness on human embryology before the NIH Human Embryo Research Panel — Panel Transcript, February 2, 1994, p. 63]
“Zygote. This cell, formed by the union of an ovum and a sperm (Gr. zyg tos, yoked together), represents the beginning of a human being. The common expression ‘fertilized ovum’ refers to the zygote.”
[Moore, Keith L. and Persaud, T.V.N. Before We Are Born: Essentials of Embryology and Birth Defects. 4th edition. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company, 1993, p. 1]
“The chromosomes of the oocyte and sperm are…respectively enclosed within female and male pronuclei. These pronuclei fuse with each other to produce the single, diploid, 2N nucleus of the fertilized zygote. This moment of zygote formation may be taken as the beginning or zero time point of embryonic development.”
[Larsen, William J. Human Embryology. 2nd edition. New York: Churchill Livingstone, 1997, p. 17]
“Although life is a continuous process, fertilization is a critical landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new, genetically distinct human organism is thereby formed…. The combination of 23 chromosomes present in each pronucleus results in 46 chromosomes in the zygote. Thus the diploid number is restored and the embryonic genome is formed. The embryo now exists as a genetic unity.”
[O’Rahilly, Ronan and Müller, Fabiola. Human Embryology & Teratology. 2nd edition. New York: Wiley-Liss, 1996, pp. 8, 29. This textbook lists “pre-embryo” among “discarded and replaced terms” in modern embryology, describing it as “ill-defined and inaccurate” (p. 12}]
“Almost all higher animals start their lives from a single cell, the fertilized ovum (zygote)… The time of fertilization represents the starting point in the life history, or ontogeny, of the individual.”
[Carlson, Bruce M. Patten’s Foundations of Embryology. 6th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996, p. 3]
“[A]nimal biologists use the term embryo to describe the single cell stage, the two-cell stage, and all subsequent stages up until a time when recognizable humanlike limbs and facial features begin to appear between six to eight weeks after fertilization….
“[A] number of specialists working in the field of human reproduction have suggested that we stop using the word embryo to describe the developing entity that exists for the first two weeks after fertilization. In its place, they proposed the term pre-embryo….
“I’ll let you in on a secret. The term pre-embryo has been embraced wholeheartedly by IVF practitioners for reasons that are political, not scientific. The new term is used to provide the illusion that there is something profoundly different between what we nonmedical biologists still call a six-day-old embryo and what we and everyone else call a sixteen-day-old embryo.
“The term pre-embryo is useful in the political arena–where decisions are made about whether to allow early embryo (now called pre-embryo) experimentation–as well as in the confines of a doctor’s office, where it can be used to allay moral concerns that might be expressed by IVF patients. ‘Don’t worry,’ a doctor might say, ‘it’s only pre-embryos that we’re manipulating or freezing. They won’t turn into real human embryos until after we’ve put them back into your body.'”
[Silver, Lee M. Remaking Eden: Cloning and Beyond in a Brave New World. New York: Avon Books, 1997, p. 39]
Mobile technology has become a major part of running a church or nonprofit. In fact, two-thirds of organization operators now use a smartphone or tablet or use mobile-oriented technology, according to a Constant Contact survey. Survey respondents reported using mobile technology for everything from social media and email marketing to running mobile point-of-sale transactions and managing operations such as accounting. You can actually run your entire operation from the cloud using your smartphone, whether you’re a for-profit company or a church or other nonprofit. Here are some steps to get your business set up and running on the cloud from your mobile device.
Setting up your business
Before you set up your website, there are a few basic steps you should take. One is obtaining a mailbox you can use for your business address when filling out forms. You will also need to register your business with your state and get your federal employer identification number (EIN), which you can do by going to your state department of revenue’s website and to the IRS website. If you’re a church, be sure to select your type of entity as “church or church-controlled organization” or “other nonprofit entity” on your form SS-4 when applying for your EIN, the IRS advises. One other basic set-up step is getting a business bank account, which you can apply for online from financial providers.
Getting a domain
After getting your business set up, the next step is getting a domain. Choosing a good domain name can improve your marketing and SEO performance. You should select a domain name that is easy to type, short and uses keywords relevant to your target audience.
Getting your website online
To get your domain online, you will need to get a hosting service provider. For a nonprofit website, look for a hosting option suitable for your purposes, such as a package with a virtual private network or regular backups.
Getting a business email address
Most hosting packages provide some space you can use to set up email accounts, which you can use to create a business email address using your site’s domain. Another option is to set up a business email with a service provider such as Zoho and customize your email address to use your domain. Using your own domain looks more professional than using a domain that displays a generic email service such as Gmail.
Designing your website
With your hosting service in place, you can start building the design of your site. One way to do this is by using a website builder that lets you build your own site without much technical knowledge, such as Wix and Weebly. Another option is to hire a designer to build a customized site for you. Levaire positions its Carpenter’s Path sites to be more robust than the Wix and Weebly’s of the world and considerably less costly (we call it the “mission rate”) than hiring a custom designer.
Protect yourself
Security is an essential part of running a website. One of the most important steps for securing your site is to regularly create backup copies of your site that can be used to recover your files if you lose access to it due to a technical problem, natural disaster or cyber attack. An enterprise quality cloud-based backup service can let you schedule secure online backups so that you will always be able to recover your site in the event of emergency.
Promoting your website online
With your website online and secure, you’re ready to start promoting your site. One of the most efficient ways to promote your site from your smartphone is using social media to share content that engages your audience. Pro Church Tools recommends that you prioritize Facebook, Instagram and Twitter when starting your social media outreach. Share stories and comment on newsworthy events to generate audience interest, and follow up by responding to comments in order to engage your audience.
Your church website is often the first thing people see and is often an introduction to your church’s mission. As such, you want to be sure that its website design is an accurate reflection of your congregation’s mission and beliefs. By knowing and incorporating some common design elements of great church websites, you can ensure your church is better able to connect with current members and feel welcoming and inviting to potential visitors.
Consider the content
The first step is to consider your website’s content. Think of your church website’s front page as a digital extension of the physical building. Everything you want people to feel and think when they walk into your church should be reflected on the website’s front page. Consider the audience that will walk through that virtual door.
The front page should be easy to navigate, and the content should be relevant and up to date. Here’s a list of information visitors should be able to easily locate from your home page:
Directions. In addition to including your church’s physical address (as well as the address for the rectory or office if it’s in a different location), think about embedding a Google map to make it easier for visitors to see or visualize your location.
Service times. Aside from your church’s physical address, potential visitors most often visit your website to learn service times. Make sure this information is prominently featured and accurate. Be sure to update service time information around the holidays and at times when your church may offer additional or altered service times.
Beliefs. Every church has different core values and beliefs, so make sure visitors can easily find out if your church’s beliefs align with their own. A link stating, “What We Believe” or a prominent statement of belief at the top of the page lets visitors get a glimpse into your church and congregation.
Leadership and staff. The pastor’s name and contact information should be easy to locate from the front page. Consider including associate pastors and other key ministry leaders and staff members, such as the children’s worship director or youth minister. Further personalize your website’s visitor experience by including a photo and a brief biography for each minister and staff member.
Past sermons. You can also provide video links to past services, if available. This information can provide visitors with a good idea of what to expect when they attend services. Consider posting information on future sermon series or topics to give potential visitors and current members an idea of what to expect.
Make visitors feel welcome
In addition to providing potential visitors with the basic information they need regarding your church location, staff, and service times, make sure your website welcomes them to your church. The feeling visitors get when they visit your website should encourage them to take the next step and actually visit your church or attend a worship service. Here’s some information to include that lets visitors know they’re welcome:
Statement of welcome. Have your hospitality or worship committee draft a welcoming statement and post it prominently on the front page of your website. This message should assure visitors that they are welcome and invited to attended services.
Dress code. It may seem strange, but some people still have a bit of anxiety about what to wear to church, especially one they visit for the first time. If your regular attendees dress casually, let visitors know this with a statement as simple as, “Come as you are!”
Childcare and children’s ministries. Families with little ones may want to know about Sunday school times or if childcare is offered during services. Make sure this information is easy to find at a glance at your church website.
Learn from others
After you fully consider what content to include and what information to feature prominently, start giving thought to the actual look and feel of your website. Your church web design should convey an overall feeling that’s representative of your church. If you’re stuck for ideas, check out some great examples from other churches. You can find some excellent ones here and here.
Be practical
As you plan the design and layout of your church website, remember these practical tips to keep it functional and easy to use:
Keep it simple. People don’t come to your website to read a book! Keep all content short and sweet, so visitors can find what they’re looking for quickly and easily.
Stay up to date. Nothing’s a bigger turn-off to a potential visitor than opening a church’s website in June and finding information posted about last December’s Christmas services. Make sure someone updates information on the site regularly to avoid confusion–or worse, a negative first impression.
Cross-link pages. Related content can be cross-linked within your website to make it easier for visitors to find. For example, you can add a link to sermons on the page with the pastor’s bio, or a link back to service times on the Sunday school page.
Consider getting help
Don’t feel overwhelmed by the idea of revamping your website. Many tools and services are available that can make improving your church’s web design easy and affordable. Carpenter’s Path from Levaire is a great solution that can address all your design needs, giving you a page that is both beautiful and functional. Check out a demo here and start your journey to an inviting and inspiring church website.
For too long you have wandered the desert looking for Me. Good that you reflect upon My Word, but ill that you do not believe. You reduce My Word to simple platitudes; slogans for billboards and Internet memes. You prop yourselves up by them in your times of distress instead of remaining in grace through faith.
The world slaps at you and instead of loving all the more and turning the other cheek, you retreat and pray your circumstances and oppressors will change. Your words burn My ears. Do you not see My artistry all around you? So busy are you, so caught in the flesh, you don’t dare look up for fear of losing your weak grasp on your paper lives. Your bodies are not meant to continue forever, yet you insist on consuming as if they will.
Love.
“Love,” was what He said. Love is not idolatry. Loving Me is you returning to your Source. I call you. All of you. Regardless of your world views and your sins, I am calling you. Yet you play judge and jury amongst yourselves, passing judgment upon one another from within your own flesh. So few of you even try to see as I see you. You all bear Our image. Yet you insist on drawing lines upon the maps in your minds. This one is blinded by color. That one is blinded by sex. This one is blinded by prejudice. That one is blinded by fear.
And so you fail the second Commandment to love your neighbor because you fail to see them as I see them. You fail to see them as I see them because you fail to see yourselves as I see you. My Blood has paid a high price for you. Your value to Me is endless. My love for you is endless. This alone is enough if you understand, yet you cling to one another, blindly grasping for comfort at things made of dust. If you would pray ceaselessly, My Presence would fill you more than any pastor’s sermon, child’s love or personal mission. Your business is My enemy if it’s taking your eyes off Me.
I denounce My church. I have never told you to build large buildings. My grandeur cannot be captured in rock and metal and wood so why is your focus there? I have never told you to stay in one place. He said, “Go.” Your buildings are anchors around your necks. You worry about keeping the lights on. You worry about the lawns and parking lots. You worry about paint and carpet. I have said, “Be still and know that I am.” You worry about audio and video. You model the concerns of the flesh and yet preach a story of spirit.
You believe the lies and then you spread them. You meet the world on the world’s terms. I have not changed. I have shown you the path; the narrow gate. I have preserved My Word in you, yet you choose to look away and follow the Aggressor’s lead. His songs tickle your ears as they did in the Garden. I call you back from the pit. Here is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Your world is paper. Do not be deceived by it. You are all My children. See yourselves for you who are and return to Me.
Awaken, church. You are redeemed in blood and Spirit. Recognize yourselves and each other as one people of the One True and Living God. You must be transformed in faith, from image to image, sanctified daily in My Spirit. Seek Me and you shall find Me. That joy in your heart is My gift. Now go and share it with others. Do this and discover what it means to be My church.
A Note from the Author
When Lauren of ChurchTechToday asked me to consider writing another guest post, she mentioned I might write an introduction for a short paper I produced years ago called The Top 10 Reasons Why Your Church is Shrinking. I liked the idea and agreed, but as I went back to review that work, I realized I may have missed the mark.
When I produced the piece, I was very much operating from the corporate mindset that churches should be in the business of growing. The underlying thought there is plain to see: To be growing in numbers and popularity as a church is to be advancing God’s Kingdom on Earth.
What should hopefully be equally obvious is the blatant fallacy that growth in headcount means spiritual victory. It means nothing of the sort.
It was painfully clear to me I had written the Why Your Church is Shrinking paper from a flesh-driven point of view.
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:5-8 KJV)
When we as a church begin to ask the question, “How do we grow?” we begin to take our eyes off the Spirit and place them squarely upon worldly metrics for what we perceive to be success. This is nonsense. When we plant a seed, the most we can do is to nurture and protect it. There is nothing we can do to force it to grow. Ever notice forests don’t seem to need humans to plant them. God does just fine with that all on His own.
Want to grow your church? Jesus gave us that example. Prayerfully receive those the Lord presents, regardless of what you see with your eyes. Disciple them in the ways of the Spirit, nurturing them from faith to faith. (This step assumes you’re walking in Spirit enough to lead others, of course.) Then send them into the world to multiply. Rinse. Repeat.
That’s it. Simple, right?
The whole process seems to take about three years if you’re already walking on water and raising the dead. If you’re not there yet, allow for extra time (just to be sure.)
Kidding aside, when I dove in and began researching for this article, I found plenty of examples on why it might be okay for church to be shrinking and even more examples trying to explain why a church might be shrinking. I didn’t find too many articles that suggested maybe institutionalizing God’s Word might be off in the bushes.
So, I prayed on it. I prayed to be emptied of me and that the words would be those of the Holy Spirit. I believed they would be and then I listened. When I received the “My church” opening, I felt my stomach drop a little. I wrote what came up anyways. Sometimes the words flowed easily. Sometimes I had to stop, close my eyes and be still for a while before more words came. It’s a lot harsher than what I would produce on my own. I don’t think it’s meant to enflame, but it sure feels to me it’s meant to purify by flame. I never felt any anger, righteousness or anything rough. I felt peace, fatherly correction and—from my side—occasionally guilt or sadness and a small dash of, “Yikes.”
If your church is shrinking, your mission is to grow in the Spirit; not to grow in the numbers. Our mission is to share the Gospel in faith; it is the Holy Spirit who converts hearts. In Luke 14, we see Jesus give a tough message that surely frustrated many who heard it:
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:25-27 KJV)
Does this sound like the soft gospel of tolerance being preached by many churches today? Jesus’ focus was in Spirit; not on flesh and blood. This is where our focus should be as well.
