"Distractions in church services are common and can stem from several sources, ranging from modern technology like cell phones and digital glowing screens to situational factors such as latecomers, wandering children, excessive noise, or even erratic crowd movements." ~ copied

I get it. Yesterday's twenty Bible verses made it longer than most days, HOWEVER, those verses give hope and they give life, therefore, those twenty verses are worth all the time necessary to read them, take them into our hearts, and to then meditate on them as we go about our living the life God has given to us. That's why I will not make any apologies or excuses whenever I include God's breathed out truths. Are we clear on it now? Just messing with you, even though it's the truth, on this Tuesday, June 16, 2026. I am aware how we have mutilated our attention spans in these media saturated days. We have. Me too! The man of God climbs into the pulpit and announces how he feels led to read a long passage. The response might include a few 'amens' but underneath there is a shifting of individual tectonic plates as the groans can be heard far and wide. I know. People don't have tectonic plates. It's an illustration. Okay? Why do we knee jerk respond like that to the presentation and reading of God's Word? First of all, even as believers our old man nature, (Ephesians 4:22), is still there to wreck anything spiritual. Secondly, the deceiver of this world, he doesn't want us to grow in the grace and knowledge or our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, (2nd Peter 3:18). Lastly, we have our minds on other things. If we are dealing with anything on the electronic screen, our average attention span drops to an average of 40 seconds or less. Me too! A few years ago a wonderful church-lady spoke to me about our services and she said this: "I don't like it when the worship pastor reads from the Bible. We hired him to do the music and reading the Bible is the senior pastor's job." I rest my case, your case, all our cases, and, I recommend we seek God's help today. Now would be a good time. It would. It really would. 

 

Yes. I am aware there are those who are not very good at reading period, much less, God's Holy Word. I recall something I read about the respected man of God, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, (1834-1892). He had a seminary for would be preachers in the Church he pastored. He had a strong viewpoint about his students learning to read well from The Scriptures. He believed God's Word was what people needed to hear from the pulpit, therefore, for those who were poor readers, they were to receive special attention in order for them to clearly present the truths from The Bible. That's not so much of a problem in today's world. While we may want to find excuses for not paying attention to the hearing of God's Word, the problem is mostly much closer than we would like to admit. Yes. I know. I use it perhaps way too much but as our pastor likes to say, "If the shoe fits buy a pair in every color." The saying I'm talking about is this one from the song that was first published in 1925 in the Book of American Negro Spirituals: "Not my brother, Not my sister, but, it's me oh Lord standing in the need of prayer." I can tell you this, by experience, my friend: With God's help that's one excuse we can do something about: me, myself, and I. Amen.