OUR DRAWING CARD

Most every place of business has some gimmick to draw customers into their doors. Some offer a chance to win a prize. Others offer to give a special gift to each customer. Still others will offer one popular product at an enormously discounted price. If the business man can get some popular athlete or celebrity to come to his store for a day, he will gladly spend his money to do so, because he knows such an attraction will draw in a large crowd of customers. Such gimmicks are legitimate "tricks of the trade".

Today, it has become common for churches to do the same thing. Most churches have a special gimmick at least once a month, and some once a week, to trick people into coming to their services. You know the gimmicks: "Pack the Pew Sunday", "Family Day", "Youth Sunday", "Deacon Sunday", "Old Fashion Day", "Break the Record Sunday", etc. I have even known churches to hide money under bus seats, give away ponies, and have the pastor to eat gold fish, just to get a crowd. All of this is done in the name of Christ, in the name of evangelism, and everyone has a big time poking fun at God. ALL SUCH DEVICES OF SATAN ARE A BLASPHEMOUS MOCKERY OF THE GOSPEL! Such actions by churches and preachers loudly proclaim that the gospel they preach is weak, inadequate, and insufficient, and that the god they serve is incapable of getting men to worship him without tricking them.

I would rather see this house of worship burn to the ground than see it become such a religious den of ill repute, where God is blasphemed and the gospel is prostituted. OUR LORD HAS GIVEN HIS CHURCH BUT ONE DRAWING CARD TO ATTRACT SINNERS TO HIMSELF, AND THAT ATTRACTION IS THE SIMPLE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL. In this place, we will continue to lift high the crucified Christ in the fulness of his saving glory, and leave it to him to draw sinners to himself.