Believe it or not, I've been asked this question more than anything else over the last several months and before giving my personal beliefs on it, I ask this question; "Do you really want to hear my answer?" This way, I get their verbal agreement before I answer with something they didn't want to hear or expect. So, here's my answer...

The Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 10:23 says, "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive." and this means that we have the 'freedom' to choose whatever we want (inside the providence of God - more on that later in a sermon series) but what we choose may not be for our best. We are always one choice away from making one of the worst mistakes of our lives and the path of choices that we've been walking and living on will be a good test of how we will continue making future choices. So, when I'm asked why is it so difficult to get to church every week and I ask my question from that question, I then say, 'What are your main priorities in your life and your family? At the end of the day, we all have time for what we want to have time for and wherever God fits into your equation, more importantly - your life, will be very easy for you to see.

You might say to me, "Well, Dav - you're on staff at church - so, it's not really an issue for you, or your family." Well, you're kind of on to something but I didn't just one day choose to be a pastor or just start working at a church. For pretty much all of the 1990's, I was hit & miss for church attendance, willfully choosing things that naturally brought me farther and farther away from church and the friends I had made there, willfully choosing to make a wider gap between me and those friends because I knew I was choosing to do things in my life that I knew were not drawing me closer to Jesus and in the end, convicting me because I knew I was living a life that was just making my life worse and worse. By the way, my friends were not fooled - they knew I was making crappy choices, building & growing inappropriate relationships and continually making things & people more important than God and sure enough - when the hard times came as a result of what I was doing, I cried out to God for help. When He didn't answer fast enough or in the way I wanted, I got ticked off at Him and that just fueled my 'case' for not going to church even more.

You see, it was all me...all the selfishness, the pride, the arrogance, willfull - deliberate defiance to what I knew was right and blowing off God again and again. I hit bottom in 1997 and was mentored by a close family friend, who was and is still a pastor in the Chicago area and through his counsel, and God-given patience, he helped lead me back to the place where I could finally see outside of myself and what I was doing to me, my family, my friends and most importantly - to Jesus. It has been a long, hard road but with the help, mercy and grace of God, I'm in a much better place - only because I've come to realize more and more each day, who I was without Jesus and who I am with Jesus and a daily relationship with Him.

So, again - at the end of the day, it comes down to you. Are you going to choose Jesus? Or are you going to continue to choose people/things/groups/events/etc. in place of Him? Ever wonder why you continually feel empty, unsatisfied, no contentment or peace? If you walk daily with Jesus, you WILL HAVE THAT PEACE...that's a promise!!! The definition of insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, expecting different results. But know this - if you make Jesus THE priority of your life, it will not be easy - you'll be faced IMMEDIATELY with choices to make. "Instead of church, I can do this thing, with this person and I'll make time for Jesus next week..." - if you're thinking it, chances are you will not make the choice for Jesus the next time. Again, it will not be easy, but if you're serious of making the change in your life and your family, we are here to help. We have small groups for you to jump right into and start building community in your life that will encourage, challenge and help you grow in a relationship with Jesus...but the choice is yours.

Just one last thing...if you do not have a regular church that you attend, we want to extend a warm welcome to you to come and check us out on any Saturday night at 6pm at Westosha Baptist Church. We strongly believe in community because as the Bible teaches - you cannot overcome sin without the help of a small group or accountability group. It's that simple - and the same goes for me - absolutely. Also let me say that we do not believe that Taproot is the only or best church out there - not at all. If you don't feel a fit at Taproot, we will do everything possible to help you find a godly, Bible-believing church that you can trust and build community with.

Feel free to give feedback, share your questions or comments on these blogs - we would love to hear from you. May God bless you and we hope and pray that these blogs are an encouragement to you as you seek to follow, live and share the love of Jesus and His saving work on the cross to those you come in contact with.

In His service,

Dav