Gregg potts

We live in a different culture. I get a regular reminder of this from listening to my daughter.

One way the culture is changing is that there is more diversity. As a result of that, our children learn Spanish in school. Sarah is going to be bi-lingual and English was a challenge for me!

Because Sarah is learning Spanish, when I ask her a question in which the answer to the question is “yes”, she responds with “Si.”

The first couple of times she did that I had to ask her what she wanted me to “see.” Then, she explained that she wasn’t saying I needed to “see” anything but that was the Spanish word for “yes.”

Also, I’m not “daddy” but instead, I’m “padre.” Holli is “Madre.” And, again, you probably know this but in case not that’s Spanish for “father” and “mother”, respectively.

But the diversity in our culture isn’t the only way things are changing.

Text messaging is the rage for young people. Text message means taking a cell phone and using the same keypad that you would dial a phone number but instead send a text message to someone. Sarah and I can be riding down the road and there is a steady sound of “tick, tick, tick.” No, it’s not a bomb… it’s her text messaging her friends.

And, text messaging has its own language. There are abbreviations used for words. For instance, “I don’t know” is shortened to “idk.”

My “bff” is shortened for “best friend forever.”

These two examples remind us that our culture is changing and, at times, when things changes, we have a tendency to fight it. But, that would be a mistake. A perfect example of this is something I heard last Monday.

I attended a conference where Dr. John Bisagno was speaking. Dr. Bisagno was, at one time, pastor of FBC Houston, Texas, which was one of the largest churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. He was about to lead his church to make a change in their worship style. Some of his singles came to him and offered some “suggestions” for changes he could make that, they thought, would help communicate better to a young crowd.

Dr. Bisagno could have brushed the singles off and refused to change. But he didn’t. He listened and he learned and made some changes and in a few months his worship attendance had increased.

He realized the culture was changing and he needed to change with it.

The church finds itself in the midst of this changing culture. And, at times, we are not quite sure how to respond. It can be frustrating even discouraging.

But, it doesn’t have to be.

I Chronicles 12:32 refers to the sons of Issachar as men “…who understood the times and knew what Israel should do….”

The message of the church is needed more today than ever. But the culture has changed. So, we must discern the times and find out what is the most effective way to get the message of Jesus to this culture.

Let’s ask the Lord to help us be discerning of the times we are in and determine new and creative ways to get the message of Jesus to a changing and hurting world.

I write a weekly column for our local paper each week. I've posted it my blog today.

"Ethel Waters was a regular at Billy Graham crusades. Many people remember her moving renditions of “His Eye Is On The Sparrow.” She had a beautiful voice.

But perhaps some who heard her sing were not aware of Ethel’s background. Ethel grew up in Harlem and she grew up hard. The opening line to her autobiography reads, “I never was a child. I never was coddled, or liked, or understood by my family. I never felt I belonged. I was always an outsider. I was born out of wedlock… Nobody brought me up.”

As I said, Ethel grew up hard.

Growing up in that manner could have limited what Ethel accomplished but she didn’t allow it too. Ethel sang the blues. And the blues she sang moved people. She said, “I sang them out of the depths of the private fire in which I was brought up… Only those who are being burned know what fire is like.”

Maybe you have been burned in life. The question is; “How will you react?”

Just because we’ve been burned doesn’t mean we have to allow it keep us down. Use the experience you are going through to make you stronger.

James said, “…the trying of your faith worketh patience” (1:5).

When you are in the midst of a trial, ask the Lord what you can learn from the experience. "