Toddlers Grow Up

Double Duty at the end of a week —- Toddler Tidbit and Fridays Friends …

One of the weirdest things I’ve noticed in the last few years is how many of the children of the people I grew up studying, listening to, attending conferences of … how many children of my generation of leaders are now leaders in there own right.

Authors of books I read now have their kids writing books. Preachers I listened to now have kids pastoring churches.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m part of a three generation of preachers. So I get the legacy impact, the influence of a dad (even when we don’t ask for it), and the familiarity of vocational calling. But when my youth pastor talks about “insert name” and when I have to ask to which generation does he refer, I feel my age.

But the great thing to know is …

1/ Toddlers grow up (though I think my name being ‘Todd’ means I always have a little toddler in me, aka ‘I am childish’)

2/ Parents can influence in such a positive way

So, this brings me to part two … Fridays Friend

Thom Rainer has been a pillar of the church growth, church health community. My very first ‘being published’ in a scholarly journal was a review of one of his books.

And today, Sam Rainer is the name most hear. And this week, he published a great article … The Real Reasons the Unchurched Do Not Attend (What Your Church Can Do About It) …

There were three great main points …

1/ The unchurched don’t attend mainly because of indifference and not because of busyness or antagonism.

2/ The catalyst for the unchurched to start attending church is both a spiritual and personal connection.

3/ Churched people tend to care more about worship style, programming, and denominational preferences than the unchurched, but the top reason churched people attend a particular church is because someone invited them.

Wow. This is powerfully challenging to me. And should be to you.

• Build relationships
• Keep eternity in mind in every relationship
• Stay positive and encouraging even when the ‘style’ and ‘preferences’ don’t align with what you would want

And let me close with the last line in Rainer’s article (that’s Sam R not Thom R) …

A personal invitation is the most impactful way to motivate someone to start attending church.