Author: Bill Hall

We always feel like we have something new and fresh ready for us when we wake up on 1-1 of each year. It is like a big reset and we are ready to go. The year is young and it makes us feel young again, at lest for a little while.

But, the fact is that every day can feel this way. God means for every day to feel new and fresh to us. He has built hope into every 24 hour cycle. Let me explain…

The Jewish day begins at 6 pm in the evening and ends the next day at the same time. This means that during that cycle of time it is light, gets dark, and then gets light again. And, if you live in Jerusalem right now, it is already dark when the day begins. In Genesis reference is made to the ‘evening and the morning’ for each day of creation.

The point is that each day God is sending us a message. The evening darkens. It gets colder. Hope seems to lessen. But, then comes the morning! A new day, and new hope, is born. And thus each and every day is a reminder of the victory that we can have in Christ. He has defeated the darkness.

If your family is anything like mine, you really like Christmas lights. Now, don’t get me wrong, we are not the house on the corner with fifty-million lights on it. In fact, this is the first year we have really had anything like a fancy light display in front of our house.

No, what I mean is we just really like seeing Christmas lights. At Christmastime we will go on a car ride just to look at lights. We love to see the glow in the cold darkness. And, we tend to be pretty picky. Oh, the big blowup displays are neat. And the flashing, whirring, moving, crazy ones are fun to see. But we really love the well-balanced sensible displays that include a beautiful nativity and lights that just make you think about the message of Christmas.

Christmas lights are a good illustration of Christians, or at least what we should be like. These lights reach out and grab your attention in the shadows of the night. Their glow brings warmth and joy. They inspire and encourage in their own special way. We could have Christmas without Christmas lights, but they add something that anyone can appreciate if they will try.

Jesus says we are meant to shine as lights in this world. We are not supposed to draw attention to ourselves for ourselves. However, we are supposed to draw attention for Jesus. Our works are meant to reach out and grab the attention of a lost and dying world. Our activities should bring warmth and joy to people’s lives. Inspiring and encouraging others should come natural to us.

The fact is that many of us will spend more time and money on Christmas lights than we will on the light of our hearts shinning for Christ in this present darkness. We can be picky about our Christmas lights, but complacent about our testimony. This year, as we seek to shine for Jesus, let’s be the spiritual light display that even the most picky of Christmas light connoisseurs will appreciate.

I remember when I was growing up, and also as a young man, an experience that I miss. Though to many it may seem confusing or strange, it was often a blessing. What I refer to is the old fashioned prayer room.

The prayer room was a place where the men of the church would meet together just before the service and pray over the service. And, quite often, everyone would pray simultaneously and out loud.

Many would likely find this to be too confusing, or it would seem like a battle to be the loudest. And, to be sure, I have heard and seen it done in the worng way and with the wrong spirit.

But, for me it was always a blessing to hear a large group of men crying out to God to bless the service. And, when you think about it, though for some having everyone pray might seem strange, having one person speak while everyone else listens during a prayer is pretty awkward sometimes too. Though we are all supposed to be praying silently, we often don’t.

So, though I realize this method may not work for everyone, it might be worth giving it a try. It could be something to do for special services, or for the largest service for the week.

The church grows, and shrinks, in a couple different ways. Most of us only think of one of the ways, but we must consider the other.

First, the church grows by multiplication. Multiplication occurs when Christians do things that bring multiple people to Christ in a relatively short amount of time. This is usually the way we all expect the church to grow.

But, there is another way. The church can grow by addition. This means Christians bringing a smaller number of people to Christ over a longer period of time. An example of growth by addition is strong Christian families that bear children. Or, Christians who influence close friends and family, or serve on a very difficult mission field.

Of course, the reason the first method is generally preferred is due to the fact that multiplication leads to larger numbers faster. However, this difference is not as clear as it seems. The fact is that we must do both.

There will be times and circumstances in which growth by multiplication is happening very regularly. But, there are times, places, and situations in which growth by addition is all that will occur.

The old enemy also tries to shrink the church by the same two methods. Sometimes he succeeds in performing negative multiplication. When this occurs, multiple people become disillusioned and leave the church in a relatively short period of time. More often, the adversary succeeds in performing subtraction. This occurs when a smaller number of people fall away over a longer period of time.

As we consider how to grow the church, we need to do two things. First, it is always good to look for opportunities for multiplication. We must never stop doing that. But, second, we need to understand that growth by addition is absolutely vital. Churches that seek to grow only by multiplication often shrivel up and die.

Why? Simple. The question must not be ‘how much is the church growing’, or ‘how quickly is the church growing’ – No! The question is, ‘Is the church growing?’ If the answer is yes, then the answer is yes.

This is vitally important. We want so much to grow by multiplication. But the devil is more than content to let us shrink by subtraction. Beloved, never give up on multiplication, but I suggest if you don’t know how to add, you will fail in trying to multiply.

If the church today will learn again how to add, then we will once again see great multiplication.

Do not be discouraged! Keep working towards addition no matter how slow it seems. Those in difficult ministries, you are on the front line, hold it steady! Those who have witnessed to the same folks for year and years, keep it up! And those with families, don’t lose your children!

Multiplication does happen. But to see thousands of true lifelong converts, we must see hundreds. And to see hundreds we must see tens. And to see tens, we must see ones. There are places and situations right now in which multiplication is occuring. Praise the Lord! But, for the majority of the church, the absolute must is addition. A whole lot real fast is great. But a few over a long period of time beats zero any day.

The Lord does so much, and He is praised so little. Stop somewhere in your busy schedule today and offer Him a prayer of praise. We don’t have to wait for something good to happen to praise Him. He is doing things in our lives all the time.

I believe that many Christian people have, somewhere in our subconscious, the idea that Christians are among the best of people. And we think that is why we have accepted Christ. We need to fight this type of thinking. It is just as likely to be the case that we are the worst of people. Chances are there is an even mix.

Often, due to this impression that it was our fitness as human beings that brought us to the light, we become weak, and poor, and blind, and wretched. A daily dip in the fountain of God’s truth will keep us from finding out just how bad we could have been without salvation in Jesus Christ. Thus, we have a moral obligation to have a close, personal, vital relationship with the Lord.

It is my belief that we lose more opportunities to lead others to Christ due to this issue than any other. As a believer in the need for revival, I think it is a strong and healthy body of Christ that brings people to the Lord. When we are weak Christians simply using ‘evangelism programs’ to try to attract and keep people, we are failing the lost world. Ensuring the church is filled with strong, mature, loving Christians is still the best means to reach the world for Christ.

Many would say, ‘But we have lots of strong Christians just sitting around at home, not reaching out to the lost.’ Do we? Remember, most people who are called to the mission field, or to the ministry, answer that call at a young age. Young people will answer these calls when they are surrounded by strong, mature, loving Christians. Instead, we see young people leaving the church in droves.

We have to take a lesson from real life. When living things are not properly nourished, growth doesn’t work right. When living things are put in a healthy environment, they grow exponentially.

I’m the kind of person that enjoys a good read. And, there are several books that have made it to the top of my favorites list over the years. Most of my favorites are written by great Christians of the past.

But, I have a favorite in my top five that is not a Christian book. The book is ‘Hatchet’ by Gary Paulsen. Based on a true story, the book is generally thought of as children’s literature. However, after reading it as a young man, I have read it again several times as an adult.

What is it about this story that I find so helpful? Survival. Pure and simple. The need to work to survive is one of God’s most wonderful gifts to sinful mankind. If we did not have to work hard to survive, the evil that we would get ourselves into would be unimaginable.

Some people are born with privilege and don’t necessarily have to work hard. But, even among these, the smart ones do indeed work hard. And those who don’t, do not have a good impact.

This need to work to survive teaches us value, truth, responsibility, and compassion. Though we might think it would be so much better to live a life of leisure, the best lessons are learned through work.

Today I had two experiences that I never would have put together. But, they do indeed fit.

First, I had a conversation with someone about forgiveness. Specifically, we were discussion the fact that they had forgiven a Christian friend. This Christian friend has on a few occasions said some things in the wrong way, with the wrong spirit. However, the friend is a mature, faithful Christian.

Second, I was working on a piece of yard equipment, a push mower with a Briggs and Stratton motor on it. This mower has served me for 15 years with very little trouble. I’ve done some maintenance here and there, but in that time it has never had any major issues.

It struck me that these two are comparable. If you have a Christian friend that has proven themselves to be mature, faithful, and genuine, don’t let a little maintenance now and then bother you. We all have issues from time to time. Forgive them. Like my dependable mower motor, a good Christian friend will be someone you can count on consistently.