Wow! I awoke this morning to find that Fall is gone and Winter has come to Kansas City! The thermometer on my porch reads 20 degrees!
So, I turned to Action 41 Weather to learn what was going on. With charts and graphics, Meteorologist Kalee Dionne explained it had something to do with a cold Arctic air mass dipping down into the United States. Well, I believe it! And Kalee didn’t make me feel better my reporting it was actually 18 in Lee’s Summit with a wind chill of 7 degrees! Brrrr!
Kalee said that it is 36 degrees colder than it was at the same time yesterday morning! And the high today is only going to be 36! What a drastic change! It reminds me of Missourian Mark Twain’s famous quip, “Everybody talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it.”
When we first moved to the area, Don Nolte said, “If you don’t like the weather here, just wait a little while and it will change.” Actually, I’ve been told that everywhere I’ve ever lived! Weather patterns change. Fronts are stalled. Temperatures rise and fall. And there is not much I can do about the changes!
But there is one change I can affect. It is changing myself. However, that is the very change we all resist! Leo Tolsoy, the Russian novelist, put it this way, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
Yet change is inevitable. Life is full of changes. Circumstances change. Culture changes. Styles change. Laws change. And the weather changes! Some changes are good. Others are bad. But we must accept change. Live with it. Deal with it. Adapt to it.
Ironically, the very people who should embrace change often resist it. And that’s Christians! Maybe it’s because we confuse Truth with tradition. Christ with custom. Human methods with the Divine Message. Obviously God’s Word doesn’t change. And we should remain true to unchanging principles of righteousness and godliness.
But consider this. Christian growth requires change. We are commanded to “Grow in grace and in knowledge” (2 Pet. 3:18). When we became Christians there was a change in relationship–from serving Satan to serving the Lord (Rom 6:17-18). Our thinking should be changed to emulate the attitude of Jesus (Phil. 2:5). God expects a change in our lifestyle (Eph. 4:22-24).
Author and lecturer Gail Sheehy once said, “If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow we are not really living.” Jesus came that we might enjoy an abundant life. A full life. A complete life. In Him. Failure to grow and change will result in a life that is stagnant. Static. And unfulfilling.
No Christian can grow and stay the same. Neither can a church. People that grow make changes. Modify methods. Alter approaches. A business that never changes will eventually go out of business. A sports team that doesn’t change, will find themselves at the bottom of the league standings. A church that won’t change will be staring at a lot of empty pews.
Do you want to grow? To be a stronger Christian? A more devoted wife? A more loving husband? A healthier church? The answer is found in one word. Change. Maybe you even need a drastic change!
You can’t change the weather. And you may not change other people. But you can change you!
–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman
ThePreachersWord 
Ken, you’re so right. If we don’t change we can’t grow, and if we don’t grow, we can’t be more and more conformed to the image of Christ and become the people that GOD created us to be for HIS honor and glory. I’d love to hear your thoughts on HOW TO CHANGE, especially in our “golden years”. Overcoming inertia, selfish pride/egotism, etc. etc. Thanks for your daily blogs!!
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Thanks Ron! You’ve provided a good challenge. Let me think it about.
Ken Weliever 400 NW Highcliffe Dr Lee’s Summit, MO 64081 Home Phone: 816-600-5001 Cell Phone: 813-507-1726 Church Office: 816-761-2659 preacherman@weliever.net web site: http://www.weliever.net/ blog: http://www.thepreachersword.com/ Church web site: http://hickmanchurch.com/
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“They” say that the only sure things in life are death and taxes, but a few years ago, I was forced to add the word “change.” It’s the only way Home.
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Hmm, Aleta, I may have a thought for another blog post! Thanks!
Ken Weliever 400 NW Highcliffe Dr Lee’s Summit, MO 64081 Home Phone: 816-600-5001 Cell Phone: 813-507-1726 Church Office: 816-761-2659 preacherman@weliever.net web site: http://www.weliever.net/ blog: http://www.thepreachersword.com/ Church web site: http://hickmanchurch.com/
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Ken, would you please elaborate on your comment, “a church that won’t change will be staring at a lot of empty pews.”? I am personally interested in the ways we, as a church, can change that would be beneficial, yet scriptural. Of course, I realize that the church is made up of individuals, and appreciated your comments and reminder concerning my individual responsibilities.
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Thanks for reading Janet and for your question. It may be fodder for a future post. But for now, let me just say that it is difficult to generalize on a specific situation. Every church is different. Has different needs. Personalities. Resources. Demographics. etc. You know that. However, I would say that each church ought to be aware of the need to grow and change within the bounds of scripture to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Probably a good overall beginning is to see if we are focused on the purpose for which God has called us. Are we driven by God’s purpose for His people? Are we seeking to apply the principles of the Jerusalem church to our time? I would look at five areas: Worship. Discipleship. Fellowship. Ministry. Outreach. On a scale of 1-10, how are we doing? What is working? Not working? What can we do to help people better worship in spirit and truth? How can we grow to be more like Jesus? What opportunities are we providing for Christian association? Are we seeking to serve others? And what are doing to share the good news? If we look at these honestly, we can probably see areas for improvement. Then each individual church and member can figure out what means and methods can be used to achieve the goal. Hope that helps a little bit.
Ken Weliever 400 NW Highcliffe Dr Lee’s Summit, MO 64081 Home Phone: 816-600-5001 Cell Phone: 813-507-1726 Church Office: 816-761-2659 preacherman@weliever.net web site: http://www.weliever.net/ blog: http://www.thepreachersword.com/ Church web site: http://hickmanchurch.com/
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Brrrrrrrrrrrr! Cold here, too.
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Excellent Ken!
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