Count Me In, Won…
Good morning dear brothers, sisters, and friends... may your Thursday be one that is productive and blessed! Just want to say that I'm so looking forward to our Men's Meet-Up on Friday night.
As of 30 seconds ago, we have 8 men signed up. This past Sunday our EM attendance was 115 which is wonderful! Let's keep striving for more!!
Hold up Won...are you one of those pastors that's all about attendance #s and baptism #s so that you can boast to your pastor buddies about how your church is growing and thriving? Do you struggle with finding your identity in the growth and size of your church? Don’t you know that the Kingdom of God is vast and that when other churches thrive in growth, you should not be competing but rejoicing?!?
Yes…honestly, sometimes I do struggle in such ways...a whole lot less than some years ago, but it's still a sin I need to "put to death."
But let's be biblical about this because the Word gives us many lists or counts of people. Here are some examples: Israel took census counts, military counts, the early church took conversion and disciple counts (120, 3000, 5000 in Acts alone), they created lists of widows, counts of disciples, etc etc. Counting is entirely biblical; the motivations for counting may be unbiblical.
So where am I going with this? Well, if we had 115 in attendance this past Sunday, and if we split that count in half by sex, that's 58 women & 57 men, but in actuality, the ratio according to studies show women outpace men in church commitment and attendance. But let's just say it's 57 men...8 of 57 is an abysmal 14% (sorry..not trying to be a Debbie downer..that was the first word that came to mind!).
Brothers / Men, please let me count the reasons why it might be good for you to make it out to our meeting:
1. The Lord doesn't need you there, but He wants you there.
2. You need to be sharpened in character and you need to sharpen others in their character (as iron sharpens iron).
3. If married, your wives need you to be there...if you have kids, your kids will benefit as well.
4. I need you to be there for my spiritual vitality and health.
5. We're gonna have fun chowing down on some yummy Brasilian food.
6. Brother Tyler Kim will be sharing an epic testimony.
7. Both the NY Giants and Jets need our collective support and prayers (btw, Ridgewood's own Younghoe Koo picked up by NY Giants).
To wrap this up, if you have something going on Friday night, I totally get it and I'm not about guilting anyone into anything, really. But if you haven't given it much thought, and your Friday night is still free, why not make it out? RSVP here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1B5123YiaS60FGEbhIXoAp6nJKQzxPplvQhHvh4WxCe4/edit?usp=sharing
