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Dear Father Paul

Dear Father Paul: Most of my friends refuse to come to church with me. They make every kind of excuse you can imagine. How can I get them to come? — Angel (age 13), Peachtree City.

Dear Angel: You are doing the right thing by inviting your friends to church. I guarantee that God is pleased with your efforts.

According to a recent Newsweek Poll, around 40 percent of Americans attend church at least once a month. That's a pretty high number considering that in England the number is 7 percent and in France it is 4 percent. Still, some 60 percent of Americans rarely go to church. Why? Well, another poll I saw said that the vast majority of people who do not go to church neither hate nor love church. Mostly, they just never really think about church (or God) all that much. When they do, they think that church is irrelevant and boring — irrelevant in that church doesn't deal with the daily life issues they face — and boring, as in dull!

Truth is, too many churches are irrelevant and boring, and that's really sad.

I don't know what your church is like, Angel, but church should be a happy, exciting place where people, young and old, laugh a lot and enjoy the presence of God in vibrant praise and worship and in sermons that touch them where their needs are, that help them deal with and overcome the cares and problems of life in 2005, and that help them grow into a close personal relationship with God.

Don't give up inviting your friends.Invite them especially when your church is having some kind of "special" event for people your age. Pray for them every day too.

Dear Father Paul: What does the passage in Jeremiah 1 mean where God says: "I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled?"
— Brandon, Fayetteville.

Dear Brandon: It simply means that the words of the Lord are absolutely true and trustworthy. His word never fails; he keeps his promises; and he is constantly standing watch over what he has promised to see that it happens — to make it happen.

Brandon, you can depend absolutely on God. Though others fail us, he never will. If he has spoken a thing, it will come to pass — in his timing, not always in ours! There are many hundreds of promises from God to mankind in his word, the Bible. Many dozens have already been fulfilled; others have yet to be fulfilled, but they will be.

Dear Father Paul: Our church got a new minister a few months ago. I'd like to invite he and his wife to our home for a meal, but my husband (who only rarely attends) keeps putting me off every time I bring it up. Should I just go ahead and extend the invitation or wait?
— Jane, Riverdale.

Dear Jane: Wait. Your husband will probably come around once he sees how important this is to you. Don't nag, just pleasantly bring it up every week or two. Of course you might starch his underwear if he continues to stall (just kidding). While you are waiting, bake the pastor and his family a cake or take his wife to lunch.

Special note: Church Of The Holy Cross will have a special prayer time this Sunday, Oct. 9, for persons with cancer. We will anoint with oil (a small drop of holy oil on the forehead) according to James 5:14-15 and believe God to heal. If you or a person you love has cancer it would be our honor to minister to you.

The sermon at Church Of The Holy Cross this Sunday is from Matthew 22: "So You're Inviting Me To A Party? What Should I Wear?"

Father Paul Massey will answer your question in the newspaper. Write him at P.O. Box 510, Fayetteville, GA 30269 or paulmassey@earthlink.net.