Are we willing?......

2011 not only represents a new year but also a new decade. Wow! I know right? I've been in church all my life (doesn't make me any better of a Christian) and I have seen a lot. From being in the youth choir (my mysterious voice wouldn't say....lol) to now being lead musician/minister of music, I've seen a lot. Our churches are known for singing, dancing, great preaching, ministries, etc., but are we also willing to be known for going against the program sometimes?

I truly believe that the church of the 21st century and this decade needs to focus on making this statement "you won't leave like you came in Jesus name" come true. I mean this in at least 2 ways. The first way is spiritual. I won't focus a lot on this for this blog. The second (my main focus) is holistic or in the personal needs of individuals.

I've said many times that our churches need to focus more on deliverance and being willing to throw the program aside at times to really minister to the people. Honestly, I believe there are too many people who come to our churches and leave the same way. Not just spiritually, but in the issues of life. Many come to our churches hurt and heartbroken because of something going on outside of church, yet after doing the same ritual/routine from 11:00am to 1:00pm they are still heartbroken and hurt and don't have joy in the midst of things.

We have people who come in our churches with years of frustration and discouragement and leave out the same. We have hurt people hurting people because they have not been healed. I'm not saying that 10 years of hurt can be done in one day but why should people come to church Sunday after Sunday and leave the same? Why can we not, every now and then, spend our worship services praying and ministering individually with people who are going through? Not only minister and pray for them BUT commit to keep contact with them to keep them encouraged, motivated and inspired to go on no matter what.

Even though the Word is the most important element of service, why can't the preacher, at times, say "I'm not going to preach today I just want to pray individually for people?" What's wrong with taking a Sunday and just letting God lead? Yes we need order but a lot of people are not being ministered to like they should. Why? Because some of our churches are too much about "routine" and not about ministering to the total person.

I pray that our churches in this decade and century will be more willing to throw away the program at times to minister to people. I went to Gospel Choir concert a few weeks ago and at the end they had people standing up front to pray and minister to those who needed salvation or just needed prayer for whatever issues they were going through. Why can't we have those Sundays when the total focus is deliverance?

Are we willing? Think about it.