Choosing A New Church - Five Things To Remember

By Jeff McRitchie

You have probably heard it before, but just in case, I will tell you again. There is no such thing as the perfect church. In fact, if you ever think that you have found the perfect church just remind yourself and it won't be perfect anymore after you join. I know this sounds harsh but the truth is, we are all sinners in need of grace. No person apart from Jesus Christ is perfect, and this means that every church is filled with imperfect people. However, this doesn't mean that we shouldn't look for a quality community of believers to worship with each week. If you are looking for a new church, here are five things to remember...

1. Find a place that teaches God's word. Many churches today will provide great sermons that are nice to listen to and even a little bit uplifting. However, if you want to grow in your faith, find a church that opens up the bible and actually digs in. Look for a body that consistently teaches from God's word and challenges you to take the principles from the bible and put them in action.

2. Find a place where you feel comfortable and welcome. There are some churches where you can walk through the door and you are greeted by a dozen different people who are eager to get to know you. In other places you wonder if you have the plague and everyone is afraid to get too close. You are going to want to find a body where you feel welcome and where you can develop relationships with other believers. This will help you grow roots so that worship doesn't just happen on Sunday's.

3. Find a body that knows where it is going and how it is going to get there. If you find a church that has a clear mission and vision you will know it right away. Everything that they do has a purpose and you will feel that you are part of something bigger than yourself. Churches that have clear purpose are unified, active and have an energy that makes them appealing to almost anyone including non believers.

4. Look for a place where you can serve and be involved. Whether you love to teach bible studies, mow the lawn or cook meals, it is important that you find a place where you can use your gifts. Look for a place where there is stuff going on that you can get involved in. If you are gifted in a certain area then find out what type of opportunities that are offered for service. Find a place to plug in and make the body your home.

5. Find a church that makes evangelism and community service a priority. Too many churches are constantly caught looking inward while completely ignoring their communities and the lost people all around them. Ask how many people have come to know Christ in the past year. You might be surprised how little this number is in most churches. Also ask what the body is doing or planning on doing to reach out to their community. Churches with a passion for evangelism and outreach are easy to spot when you ask the right questions.

Armed with these five criteria, you should be able to find a body of believers where you fit and where you can grow. Just remember, there is no such thing as the perfect church. There will always be something that you don't like or someone that rubs you the wrong way. Still, there is nothing better than being involved in a good church.

Jeff McRitchie is the director of marketing for http://www.mybinding.com/. Before joining the staff at MyBinding he worked for three years as an associate pastor in the Hillsboro area. He writes extensively on topics related to Binding Machines, Binding Supplies,Report Covers,Binders, Index Tabs, Laminators,Laminating Supplies,and more.

Source:http://www.isnare.com/

If you live in Richmond, Virginia,we invite you to visit New Jerusalem International Christian Ministries at 10:30 a.m. every Sunday! Click here for directions and more information!

How To Quickly and Easily Go From Good To Great

By Keith Matthew

This article revolves around a single yet very powerful question I have to ask you: Do you want your life to be ‘good'…or do you want it to be ‘great'? Simple enough question. And yet, how you answer will dictate the kind of experiences you have in the very near future. Let me explain. For the past week, I've been listening to Jim Collins' book, "Good To Great" on 6 CDs. I've already listened to the first half of the book twice and I'll probably play it another 4 times before I'm done with it (when you want to learn something new, use the power of repetition to saturate your consciousness with that new information). There's too much ‘good' and not enough ‘great' in our lives today. But that's ok, because I'm about to reveal to you one of the main reasons why many of our lives tend to play out as mediocre and what you can do to change this fairly quickly. Now, ‘Good To Great' focuses on identifying the differences between good companies and great ones. The question Jim Collins continuously asked himself was, "How do you take a ‘good' company and make it ‘Great'?" With all the time you've put into reading personal development books and listening to CDs, I'm sure you know by now that success principles recognized in one area of our life (ie, business development) can be easily applied to another. I want you to ask yourself right now: How do I take the ‘good' or ‘ok' parts of my life and make them ‘Great'? How can I make my relationships with my wife, husband, children, family, friends and coworkers stronger….make them ‘Great'? How can I turn my ‘good' salary and financial situation into something ‘Great'? Asking these questions can set the forces of life into motion and new circumstances, situations, opportunities will begin to almost miraculously appear for you. One of the secrets to turning your life from ‘ok or good' to ‘Great', is through recognizing and demonstrating (living) the following very important success principle: "If you see the separateness of life…then life will be separate. If you see the interconnectedness of life…then life will be connected."

How To Quickly and Easily Go From Good To Great.... We sometimes get these ‘aha!' moments where something clicks inside us and our understanding of life and of ourselves deepens. I remember one time this happened during a small debate I was having with several coworkers. I was in the marketing dept. of a company at the time and these guys were from the sales dept. The debate was over which was more important: marketing or sales? Now, ask someone from marketing and usually they'll say ‘marketing.' Ask someone from the sales dept.? Chances are they'll say 'sales.' What's more important? Marketing or Sales? How can you tell? What's the real answer? Marketing SUPPORTS sales! Just as a husband and wife SUPPORT each other. And a supervisor and employee SUPPORT each other. Until you understand this in both your heart and your mind, you'll continue dividing life into separate parts and that's just what you'll continue to experience in your life: separateness from your own greatness. That's all for now. Practice asking yourself, "how can I go from "good' to "Great' in ______________.

Remember: the key to rapid success is learning to embrace life. Practicing this can bring you richer, more powerful, and more fulfilling experiences in your relationships, in your career, and even in your health! Have a powerful day. I appreciate you! Keith Matthew

Keith Matthew has been teaching personal development and wealth building techniques for 17 years. Visit http://www.selfmasterysecrets.com/ns-freeworkshop.html to sign up for a Free 7-Day Success Workshop.

Source:http://www.isnare.com/