When I worked at the funeral home, I was usually the one who went out on late night calls when someone, under Hospice care, had died at home. (If they weren't under Hospice care and they died at home, the coroner was called as it was immediately assumed to be a homicide until proven otherwise.) I occasionally helped retrieve the deceased, but usually I was there in my role of staff clergy to calm the families down and tell them what was to happen next. I always asked if I could pray with the family, and I NEVER was refused in nine years. Even if there had never been a prayer uttered in that house, they always said 'yes' to prayer.

    In nine years there was only one time that I responded and found a pastor there already. Granted, the calls came in at one or two or three o'clock in the morning, but a good and loving pastor should get out of bed and go to see to his people if he is at all physically able. Pastor Darin Avery is such a pastor.

    I had been in Indiana just a very short time when one of our people was transferred from the hospital in Ft. Wayne to the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland. Fearing that this gentleman might pass before I could get there, I called Pastor Avery and asked him if he could possibly go to the Clinic and pastor that family. He was fifty miles distant, but that was a lot closer than my three hundred plus. He never hesitated. 'Not a problem, Brother. Don't you hurry. I'll go.'

    In the few months before we moved to Indiana, Marsha and I attended Pastor Avery's church. It was a new start church and was growing at a nice, steady pace. They met in the same school building I had gone to high school in and that afforded them some interesting opportunities. They met in the cafeteria and every week someone would bring pastries and make coffee. Everyone sat at the round tables scattered around the room. Having coffee and pastry during church made Marsha and me uncomfortable, but it didn't stop us from having coffee and pastry. It was a comfortable setting. Their music was all praise music, which didn't really sit well with either of us, but the preaching was good and the coffee was hot and they were growing in grace and in numbers.

    After we had moved, Pastor Avery got involved in a much bigger ministry, shepherding almost one hundred churches in the greater Cleveland area. He became a pastor to the pastors, something he is extremely good at. This ministry cannot afford a full timer, so Pastor Avery continues to pastor his church and also do all he can for those churches and their pastors. Obviously, he is a busy, busy man.

    Sunday, October 29, I finally made it out there to visit the church. I went early so I could visit with some of the folks I knew before church. I walked in and the pastry table was full. The coffee was hot. But just two men stood there. Usually, a half hour before church, the place was full. 'Well, you see, Pastor is awfully busy and it has kind of fallen off.' Because this was not my church and never had been, except for those few months, I didn't say anything. But my mind kicked into gear. So, the pastor has been busy??!!!?! So what??? What about the people of the church??!? I took a breath and sat down. It is okay. Probably a hundred and fifty or so. A little down, but OK. 

    Pastor came in and headed straight for me. We talked until time to start. I hadn't noticed the crowd until then. Thirty people. That is a big 3-0. Still the same snack bar, still the same praise music. And all of thirty people.

    I left after church and went to Lake Erie to process this information. Knowing Pastor, I figured the energy he had poured into the church in the beginning he was now pouring into this other ministry. From the worn look on his face, I figured it wasn't going to be long until he isn't pouring energy into anything. A person can take only so much. But in the early days of the church, he had become used to doing everything that needed done to stimulate growth. Without his realizing it, the people were coasting. The folks were not inviting people to church, much less to Jesus. Oh, someone took care of getting people to make the pastries. There were four or five in the praise band. A couple ran the sound and the video. But once church was over, that was it until next week. The real WORK of the church was neglected.

    So here is the point. Praise music does not cause a church to grow. Sharing the Gospel, in word or deed, is the starting point. Then, it could be completely traditional or contemporary music and there would be growth. Controlling your temper and your language would be the next step. Being humble, accepting responsibility and looking for opportunities is the next step. Don't let your service in church be your only service to the Lord.

    The county I now live in is the smallest county, by land area, in Ohio. The population is 234,000 people. The county I just moved from in Indiana is Wabash County. Population 31,000. My current county is about seven and a half times larger in population while being much smaller in land area. My county has about half the churches of Wabash, so every one of them should be full to over flowing. But most run about sixty people on Sunday morning and most have praise music and other amenities to make them more attractive. It doesn't work.

    We are told in the Word to go out and share the Gospel. Tell others about Jesus. How much time is spent in the New Testament telling us how run our Sunday mornings and how much time is spent telling us how we should live and what we should do?

    The Bible tells us that the fields are white and ready to harvest. You don't have to be much of a farmer to know that the fields are outside of the barn.

    Blessings.