ARIETTA, Ga. (AP) – The preacher stood in the doorway of the picturesque church and looked out at the parking lot as his congregation gathered for the early morning service.

A congregation of cars face pastor Norman Markle standing in the doorway of New Hope Methodist Church as he delivers a sermon broadcast on FM airwaves during a new drive in service at the 152 year old church, Sunday morning June 15, 2008, in Marietta, Ga.
(Photo: AP Images / John Amis)
A congregation of cars face pastor Norman Markle standing in the doorway of New Hope Methodist Church as he delivers a sermon broadcast on FM airwaves during a new drive in service at the 152 year old church, Sunday morning June 15, 2008, in Marietta, Ga.

By the time the Rev. Norman Markle started his sermon, everyone was still in their vehicles — just as planned. The 150-year-old New Hope United Methodist Church is offering a drive-in service, hoping to attract new visitors with an unusual worship experience.

“Maybe they don’t have a church or don’t care to get dressed up to go to church; let’s find a way to eliminate all that,” Markle said. “People go where they’re comfortable.”

The service has all the markings of traditional worship — hymns, a Scripture reading and a sermon — but everything is broadcast over an AM radio station. Attendees can stay in their cars, spread a blanket on the ground or go inside the tiny chapel, depending on where they are most at ease.

Markle is hoping to draw attention to his 88-member church, which is off the beaten path in a suburban Atlanta area now crowded with automotive repair shops, car dealerships and fast food restaurants. He plans to run the services through the fall, or until the weather gets too cold to sit outdoors.

The church hopes to add a monthly communion to the drive-in service, where attendees would be served the bread and grape juice in their cars. Some Sundays, coffee and doughnuts will be offered after worship.

A recent Sunday drew about 20 worshippers in 10 or so vehicles. Most of the group sat in their cars and trucks, enjoying the unseasonably cool morning. The crowd included three dogs and several people munching on breakfast as they sang along to “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.”

One family piled on a blanket in the back of their pickup truck with their rat terrier, Kapone, and listened to the sermon.

“I think it’s incredible,” said Kapone’s owner, Renee Ford-Murphy, who’s been a member at New Hope for three years. “I’ve never had an opportunity to worship in the open air like this.”

It’s not a new concept. America has long accommodated its love of car culture with drive-in movies and drive-thru windows, to name just two examples. Since the 1950s, dozens of churches have tried drive-in worship.

The Crystal Cathedral, a 10,000-member megachurch in California, started at an Orange County drive-in movie theater in 1955. In Daytona Beach, Fla., the Drive In Christian Church has been offering car-based worship since 1953, marketing itself to tourists and physically disabled visitors.

Markle said there are 11 churches across the country that have drive-in services today, including Armbrust Wesleyan Church in Armbrust, Pa., where the Marietta pastor got the idea.

The Pennsylvania congregation started its drive-in service in the 1970s in addition to its regular service, and gets about 70 attendees each Sunday, said the Rev. Tim Stradling. Since the church is surrounded by homes, worshippers are encouraged to quietly respond to the sermon, he said.

“If you’re saying ‘amen’ by beeping horns, you might be waking up a neighbor,” Stradling said. “If I say something and I’m looking for response, they flash their lights or stick their arms out of the windows.”

The Georgia church is still working out the kinks after just a few weeks of drive-in services. One recent Sunday, a sports radio show bled through on the church’s AM channel, punctuating hymns and prayers with scores and stats.

The church has advertised the service in the newspaper and with signs along the winding roads that lead to the tiny, white chapel. “Come worship in your car, just as you are,” the signs say.

Rebecca Ash-Allen and her husband, Chuck Allen, decided to try out the service after they saw the signs, which are close to the Chrysler dealership where Allen works. The couple likes to listen to the service with the top down on their green convertible.

“It allows me to have an enjoyable setting while praying,” Ash-Allen said. “He and I both feel more comfortable in this setting.”
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

We as christians or the world in general

seems to have a hard time with this one

word!  A lot of  times we rather hold on to

what a person has done to us rather than 

let it go and forgive them!  I know we will

never forget what someone has done to us

but with Gods help we can forgive them! 

Remember if we can’t forgive our brothers

and sisters, how do we expect our Heavenly

Father to forgive us for all our wrongs!  I am

glad that my God is a God of A Second Chance!

He forgives time after time after time!  Thank

You Father!!!!!  It’s not good to hold

unforgiveness in our hearts because it will

began to eat at us like cancer, causing more

damage than one would think!  So let it go

and let God be God in our lives!!!  Be Blessed!

Have you ever needed the Lord to work on you?

Can you consider yourself saved and yet still living

 in Sin? The reason I ask this question is because I have a 

friend that thinks that they can remain in sin and

still be saved!  So we have to question ourselves

are we living the way God wants us to live or the

way the Devil wants us to!

by Rich Deem
Introduction

The sixth commandment is “Thou shall not kill.”1 Atheists claim that God violated His own commandment in ordering the destruction of entire cities, just to allow the Jews to have a homeland in the Middle East. The Bible confirms that God ordered the killing of thousands of people. Isn’t this an open and shut case for the hypocrisy of the God of the Bible?
Is all killing the same? (more…)

Often we feel as if our “storms” never end. It seems as if we leave one storm only to enter another. What do you feel about storms that come in your life. Are they necessary for spiritual growth, or are they just Gods way of tormenting people?

I told The Storm

You may have heard this common statement in regard to missions: “Some are called to go, but others are called to pray or to give.” I believe this is true — and that all of us as Christians are equally called to do our unique part in helping to fulfill the Great Commission.

As we train our children, we need to emphasize that God has blessed each of us for a bigger purpose than merely to satisfy our own wants and desires. Like Abraham, God has blessed us to establish His covenant on the earth. If your part (or your child’s part) in helping to fulfill His Great Commission is to support world missions financially, then you need to trust God to meet your needs, and you need to begin to expand your desire to help others.

If you or your child is called to be a “giver,” then begin to think (and dream) about what your money and future financial resources could do for God. Instead of browsing through department stores, catalogs, and eBay, be on the lookout for projects and people that God may want you to support. Of course, we must provide for our personal needs and prepare for our future, but as stewards of God’s Great Commission we must be willing to abandon our dreams for God’s dream!

One Child and a Few Coins Make a Big Difference

One young boy named Ethan heard of a mission project to sponsor a little Ugandan orphan boy at our ministry’s new orphanage. Although he was only eight years old, Ethan wanted to sponsor this child personally; and with his mother’s permission, he made the commitment. Right away, Ethan began collecting coins from all around his house. He started asking friends at church if they could donate spare change to help an orphan. And he set up a simple lemonade and cookie stand in a parking lot near his house. With homemade signs covered with marking-pen exclamation points and a photo of his new African friend, this young boy soon raised over six months of full orphan support — all on his own initiative. And even after three years, Ethan is faithfully remembering his African friend; all throughout this time, Ethan has kept up his lemonade stand . . . and his sponsorship commitment.

Whether we are called to go or to pray or to give, the level of commitment to God’s purposes should be the same for all of us; and this is a vital principle to instill in the next generation.

This article is excerpted from from Ann’s book, The Mission-Minded Child – Raising a New Generation to Fulfill God’s Purpose (Authentic, 2007).
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With a passion for the Lord and the lost, Ann is an international minister alongside her husband, a homeschooling mother of seven, and the author of several books including The Mission-Minded Family

I came across this quote today and wanted to share it with you. You may find that it relates to your marital situation.

“The difficultly with marriage is that we fall in love with a personality, but we must live with a character.” – Peter Devries

We can only appreciate the profundity of this statement if we understand what is meant by CHARACTER.

“Personality” is easy to understand. Your “personality” is how people experience you. It’s your public persona.

But what is “character?” And why is “character” so crucial in your marriage? (more…)

Britney Spears, who the secular media can’t seem to get enough of, is continuing to draw criticism over her music, her questionable parenting, and more recently over photos showing the pop star coyly sitting on a priest’s lap in a confessional booth.

The black-and-white photo – part of the album artwork featured in Spear’s fourth album, released on Oct. 30 – have not sparked the level of outrage from Catholics as Madonna’s past provocations, but has caught the attention of Catholic League president Bill Donohue, who called the pictures a “bottom of the barrel” stunt.

“This is all the puzzle pieces coming together. This girl is crashing,” said Donohue in a New York Daily News report. “She’s not even allowed to bring up her own kids because she’s not responsible enough. Now we see she can’t even entertain.”

Kiera McCaffrey, director of communications of Catholic League, called the photographs a “cheap publicity stunt.”

The images were a ploy to get the media talking about her album instead of her music, she told MTV.

“All we see is how troubled this girl is now, especially with her family, losing her kids, with her career on a downward slide,” McCaffrey added. “She should be focusing on singing and dancing and trying to be an entertainer without mocking a Catholic sacrament.”

While Spears has many critics, a megachurch in Kentucky has decided to show the star support, love and compassion. Members at the Southland Christian Church in Lexington have gathered letters bearing messages such as “Britney, Jesus loves you,” (more…)

t’s a story many Christians can probably relate to or at least empathize with – a Christian couple serving in ministry together is suddenly thrown into a loop when the husband’s secret addiction to pornography is discovered.
For the past two years, Jeff and Marsha Fisher have been recovering and reconciling their marriage since the dreaded discovery was made by their denominational leaders. (more…)