August 18, 2022 - Good Morning! It’s Thursday, August 18.
On this day in 1872, Aaron Montgomery Ward sent out the first mail-order catalog. It was a single sheet of paper. Ten years later, his “Wish Book” had grown to 250 pages with 10,000 items that Americans could conveniently order from their homes. At the turn of the century, millions of catalogs were going out. A century later Montgomery Ward declared bankruptcy and closed its last store. But it still exists online. So, you can still order Ward’s merchandise . . . from the convenience of your home.
Americans love convenience. We love choices. We love being able to easily compare styles and quality and prices. Loyalty to a particular brand has become less important than getting the best deal. And, more and more, we see this “shop around” culture being applied to the process of choosing a church.
There was a time when folks weren’t so quick to “break up” with their church over issues of personal preference and petty differences. There was a sense of church loyalty that seems to be missing from many Christians today. There is a heightened level of importance given to what my church can do for me, rather than what I can do for my church. No church is perfect and neither is any church member. But God calls us to love our church, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
