Jason Sneed Simple Thoughts

Weekly Points to Ponder – May 9, 2014

8 Reasons It’s Easier Not to Attend Church Today – Thom Rainer

I’m not certain it’s all bad news. Sure, the majority of congregations are experiencing declines in attendance. And many more churches are growing at a pace that is slower than the growth of the community in which they are located.

To be clear, I am not suggesting that attendance declines are good. Such trends mean fewer people are engaging with believers, and fewer people are being exposed to the gospel.

Is Motherhood the End of Beauty? – Girl Talk

For a bunch of college girls, it was a shocking sight. Our friend, and the mother of twins, showed us her stretch marks and we, rather impolitely, stared back in dismay. Did pregnancy really carve such strange designs into a woman’s body?

“You will all look like this some day,” she warned, laughing at our expressions. “Of course, mine are worse, because I had twins, but if you get pregnant, you will get stretch marks.”

COURT: AMERICAN FLAG IS A RACIST SYMBOL – Politicalears.com

Rows and rows of our war dead are rolling over in their graves at the official proclamation that the flag they died for is a symbol of racism and oppression.

Morgan Hill, California: Members of a local TEA Party gathered to wave American flags in front of Live Oak High School which has become the epicenter in a new American battle; the battle over the American flag.

Federal Gov’t Issues Warning to State That Wants to Opt Out of Common Core – TheBlaze.com

The U. S. Department of Education said in a letter to Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz that the state must prove its own standards are just as challenging, or else risk of losing its waiver from the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law and have its federal funding in jeopardy.

“Because the [Indiana Department of Education] will no longer implement those standards, IDOE must amend its [Elementary and Secondary Education Act] flexibility request and provide evidence that its new standards are certified by a state network of [Institutions of Higher Education] that students who meet the standards will not need remedial coursework at the postsecondary level,” the letter says.

Top 10 things Not to say to Church Newcomers – What You Shouldn’t Say to Your New Church Guests – Sharefaith.com

With the record number of visitors for Easter Sunday, no doubt you are experiencing a big increase of returning guests. In the days ahead, hospitality is key and an overt presentation of the tenets of your church is vitally important. Visitors need to be able to make an educated decision on whether your church is right for them. Messages that focus on key doctrines, intentional announcements on various ministries and upcoming events, and handing out a more specialized bulletin with accommodating information, will all be helpful to that end. But for this segment let’s focus on the unfortunate things that are sometimes communicated, both verbally and nonverbally, that can hurt any effort to welcome returning guests.

Jason Sneed Just For Fun, Music

INDIVISIBLE: One Nation Under God

Indivisible_Book_CoverBack in January of this year, a good friend of mine approached me about the possibility of our choirs combining and performing a Fourth of July program called “INDIVISIBLE: One Nation Under God”.

I want to thank Tim Williams for asking me to be a part of this great program. On June 30th, 2013, INDIVISIBLE was performed at Mile Straight Baptist Church.

The following words were written by Randy Vader, the author and writer of INDIVISIBLE.

Indivisible – united in such a way that those individual parts create one entity, individual effort contributing to the whole. Our nation has experienced the blessings of this more per- fect union. We have endured wars, economic depression, famine and natural disasters. Our Union has survived a great Civil War and played a major role in defending freedom around the world.

Indivisible – a United States preserved and protected by the hand of God. No other nation in history has been so blessed. Why America? America stands alone as the only government ever built on a creed. This creed is anchored in the belief that all of us are created equal and endowed by our Creator God with certain rights that cannot be taken away, rights that tran- scend governmental intervention; life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The greatest example of INDIVISIBLE is taught to us in the Holy Bible. Paul in his letter to the Romans teaches us that God’s love toward us is indeed, by the Lord’s promise, indivisible.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

We remain a nation united by bonds of the Divine. We are a people who have learned that shoulder to shoulder we are united; hand in hand we are one. Let us live out the greatness of our beloved country, celebrate a union of many cultures sharing the unique heritage that is The United States of America, and let us boldly proclaim – “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

After several weeks of editing, I am proud to present to you “INDIVISIBLE: One Nation Under God“. I hope you enjoy!