"Down Sizing"-daily inspiration

Scripture: Scripture: Mark 14:37 He came back and found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, "Simon, you went to sleep on me? Can't you stick it out with me a single hour? NLT One favorite saying in business is "Down Size." Do more with less! But have you noticed everything thing else around you is shrinking. Cereal boxes are smaller, post-it notes are smaller, computers are smaller - even Coca-Cola is coming in half cans. It seems we are bent on making everything in miniature. I remember my first transistor radio and first portable TV. Big and bulky! But now look at the latest Ipod products, hardly big enough to make a bulge in my pants pocket. I guess I shouldn't complain that things are migrating to smaller sizes --- that gives me more room so I can buy more things! Do you think someone had that planned out all the time? How about church? I noticed the business card from a church the other day. It proudly stated, "Service completed in 55 minutes". I've heard others say that a church service can be completed in 45 minutes. That's less time than it takes to prepare a barbeque lunch. "Down Sizing" is everywhere. More in less. Boil it down. More power in less area. It appears to impact every level of society. The Atlantic Ocean by nature of the Boeing 747 has been reduced to a "pond". How about 24 hours in a day. More work in less time. It seems some of this was going on a very long time ago. Jesus asked His disciples for one hour of prayer. 2000 years later 2 minutes of "Quiet Time" is over powering. It appears the "Down Sizing" epidemic has truly encompassed every area of life.

I love your discussion of the length of church services. I'm the chair of our Worship Committee, and I swear we have folks who sit in church with a stopwatch! We have a new pastor who loves to teach and sometimes his sermons get a bit long, and wow, do we hear about it afterwards if the service lasts longer than an hour! Sue O.

Elle, I like your thoughts. Sue, things in NH are not so different than things in WI, I guess. Gotta make that service fit into an hour or else... Elle, when folks complain I always think of that piece of Gospel. Can you not wait one hour? I'll almost guarantee people can space out in front of their TVs or on line for an hour and not even think twice. But in His name??? Too long??? Thanks for the thought for the day. Judi

Not yesterday, but a week ago our church service was about 1-1/2 long and the pastor never did preach!!! He had laryngitis and the normal "routine" of the service got disrupted when he felt lead to have an altar call that lasted over 1/2 hour!! Basically, we had church and God showed up!!! The pastor thought he'd have to "cowboy up" and persevere through his laryngitis, but I guess God thought He would handle the service Himself!!! Normally our services last nearly 2 hours and we all seem to be fine with that!!! LOVE our church (and the Lord)! Thanks for the inspiration!! Jan

I wouldn't know what to do with a 55 minute church service. Worship alone can last 30+ minutes! Your church sounds alot like mine... You wouldn't happen to be Assembly of God would you? Our pastor is a gifted, powerful speaker and the time flies. People wanting a shorter service tend to attend early service (9:00 am) because it HAS to end at a specific time so that the next service can begin. (You don't want to know how many times it runs over...but that's OKAY!) My son married a Methodist girl and they've settled in at the Nazarene church...wonderful pastor, wonderful people, but it's a little quiet for me and they promise to be out by Noon. Wonder what happens if God has other plans? It is disheartening to hear people urge shortening services to make them "seeker friendly." I understand what their goal, but I think they're missing the point. When God's power is present, time becomes unimportant. Love to you all, Julie

Julie, I attend a Southern Baptist church, but our pastor is always telling us that we're not "normal"! He says the way to "grow" a church is to just let God be God and he prays all the time for him to have the wisdom to be able to step out of God's way! If we quench the Holy Spirit, He will leave, and then what's the point of having church? You're right!! When God's power is present, time becomes unimportant. Well said! Jan

god "shows up and shows off" a lot in my church also. Your sister church COG

Oh my, you all have blessed me tremendously with this thread. Thank you! Your words truly hit home. Hubby is a new pastor at a small country church quite rooted in tradition. Hubby is led by the Spirit and finds it hard to be led by the clock. However, we take a lot of abuse for not getting em in and out in less than an hour. Keep in mind that after all the announcements, music, specials, prayer requests, etc etc ... this leaves my husband less than 10 minutes to preach the gospel. This church only meets once a week, Sunday mornings. And 10 minutes is going to make even a small dent in their week? My heart aches terribly for these wonderful people. I pray daily that they would desire a greater relationship with their creator. That spending time with Him, in His Word, hearing from His servant would be things that they would desire rather than detest. Please stand up for your pastors when others start gossiping. Please don't allow them to downgrade a man/woman of God, especially for something like trying to give these people the message God wants to give them. Truly it is for their benefit that they hush this kind of speaking and hopefully hush this kind of thinking. I have seen so many simply fall away when God comes in through a carrier of His Word, unashamed, and unfailing in his/her teaching/ preaching. My husband stands firm on what God leads him to do, but that doesn't take away the sting that he sometimes has to endure when some of the congregration whips out the tongue sword and slices him with it. Please keep your pastor and those in positions of authority in your church as well as those that need a closer walk with their creator in continual prayer.

I can't say I agree that "down sizing" is an epidemic (implying it is a bad thing). In fact, aren't most of us trying to downsize our bodies? Waste is a bad thing, reducing waste, especially wasted time and effort, is certainly desirable. As for church, I'm not allowed to discuss that. Tek

Thank you all for your sweet emails and positive posts regarding my daily inspirations. OH has asked me not to post them to this board any longer. I'm sorry to say, I have to follow their rules if I want to be a member of this community. My love and prayers will be with you all. Keep on praying and loving, for the Lord is good all the time. God bless you and keep you, Elle Felts