Deck the halls and cue the pageant! Advent has arrived in American churches, which means the lapsed and the curious who seldom darken the door just might drop by for a taste of the season’s spirit.

But if visitors briskly come and go without considering a commitment to join or get involved, then churches will have missed a golden opportunity with huge implications for the future.

Part of what’s at stake, researchers say, is the survival of congregations. Unless they start engaging the types of people who visit only at the holidays, aging mainline churches will have virtually no one in them in 30 years, according to Scott Thumma, a sociologist of religion at Hartford Seminary.

Evangelical congregations, too, are in many cases poised to face a similar fate.

“If you just have the Advent season without also calling people to a more significant, disciplined sense of what the Christian life is, then you run the risk of letting people come in once a year and feel that they’ve done their Christian duty,” said Thumma, author of “The Other 80 Percent: Turning Your Church’s Spectators into Active Participants.”

The Christmas season is when Americans are most open to considering matters of faith, according to data from LifeWay Research, a Southern Baptist research firm. In a 2008 survey, 47 percent said they’ve been more open during the holidays. That’s more than after a national crisis such as 9/11 (38 percent), after a natural disaster (34 percent) or the birth of a child (28 percent).

Attendance tends to increase at worship services for the four weeks of Advent, according to Thumma. But new attendees often don’t see or feel what makes others stay involved year-round.

“When we get caught up in all the celebration and don’t take time to think about communication, we miss a big point of the Christmas season,” said LifeWay Research President Ed Stetzer. “I would grade churches a C or a D on this. A lot of churches just go through the motions and assume people will come.”

This year, new initiatives are courting those who’ve wandered from the flock. Some call them the “Chreasters” — people who rarely show up beyond Christmas and Easter.

The Catholics Come Home project is for the first time running a $3.5 million TV campaign nationwide. CCH is also launching new local campaigns in St. Louis, Tampa and Fort Wayne, Ind. The Episcopal Church is running an online Advent greeting in which a young adult woman waxes nostalgic about holidays spent in church and invites everyone to services.

The challenge for congregations, however, involves breaking old habits and learning new ones during what is already a busy, demanding time of year.

“Special efforts (to engage inactive members and seekers) are not likely to occur during the Christmas season,” said Alan Newton, executive minister for the American Baptist Churches in and around Rochester, N.Y. “It is a busy season with lots of charitable work, extra visiting of shut-ins and the like, (plus) extra services. A lot of the regulars travel on holidays, making extra efforts challenging.”

Despite the difficulties, churches are finding ways to turn holiday activities into forums where people with tenuous or nominal ties to a faith community can explore deeper ones. Approaches vary widely, but all tend to give visitors a taste (or a reminder) of what’s meaningful about church commitments.

Sometimes the focus is on a few individuals. At Our Saviour’s Atonement Lutheran Church in New York, ministry associate Jacob Simpson said he struggles to get consistent participation from the six teenagers in his confirmation group.

But at Advent, he could ask a new question: how would you like to help your neediest neighbors? Their answer: with a winter clothing drive and volunteering at a soup kitchen. Based on their excitement for projects of their own design, he expects close to full participation.

“Kids don’t understand why they should be coming to church, and churches often don’t give kids enough to do,” Simpson said. “We can be honest with them that this world is not perfect, and we’re called to do something about it.”

At worship services and special events, churchgoers need to remember the welcoming and non-judgmental father from the parable of the prodigal son, Thumma said. His tip: remind greeters to avoid comments like, “Where have you been? We haven’t seen you in ages!” Stick instead with, “It’s great to see you! How are things going? Come see what’s happening here … “

Another tip: create environments where newcomers and inactive members can see and hear what makes church life meaningful. This might be a rolling video or a brief presentation during a reception. It could be a hallway lined with photos from mission trips, boys and men shoveling out elders after snowstorms, and other highlights of the year.

“It seems like a perfect occasion for the pastor or some religious leader to say, ‘It wasn’t just the shepherds or the wise men back then’” who were giving, Thumma said. “’We have people who’re giving all year round in this community.’”

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They stormed this town in Yobe state, northern Nigeria like a swarm of bees, and at the end of their four-hour rampage, some 150 people had been killed – at least 130 of them Christians, according to church sources.

Hundreds of people are still missing, and the destruction included the bombing of at least 10 church buildings.

More than 200 members of the Islamic extremist Boko Haram sect stormed the Yobe state capital, Damaturu, at 5 p.m. on Nov. 4, and soon the terrorists had blocked all four major highways leading into town. Some of them charged the police headquarters, commando style, killing all officers on duty, while the rest broke into two banks – First Bank Nigeria PLC and United Bank for Africa, stealing millions of naira. Boko Haram also bombed police stations and an army base in and around Damaturu.

Having successfully dislodged security agencies after a series of gun battles and the detonation of explosives, the terrorists then led other area Muslims to the only Christian ward in town, New Jerusalem in Damaturu, home to more than 15,000 Christians, church leaders said.

The Christian leaders in Damaturu told Compass that out of the 150 casualties reported in the Yobe attacks, more than 130 were Christians. When the Muslim extremists went to New Jerusalem, they said, any Christian they met who could not recite the Islamic creed was instantly shot and killed or slaughtered like a lamb.

The Rev. Idris Garba, the 41-year-old chairman of the Yobe state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), told Compass the attack “is a Jihad against the church.”

“When Boko Haram members and other Muslims here attacked us on that 4^th of November, it was like the end had come for Christians in this settlement,” Garba said. “Bullets were fired indiscriminately into our houses. I and my family locked ourselves in my house. Bullets were dropping on rooftops like ice blocks from a rainstorm. The trauma my 10-year-old son had as a result of sounds from guns and explosions has not left him, as he has refused to eat ever since the attack.”

Garba, who also pastors the ECWA Good News Church in the New Jerusalem area of Damaturu, said his 500-member church has dwindled.

“We could not have had more than 100 worshipers on the Sunday after the attack,” he said. “Most Christians are either missing or have left the town.”

Garba, who has been in pastoral ministry since 1993 and has served as a pastor of the New Jerusalem fellowship church for two years, said two Christians were slaughtered in front of his church building the day before it was bombed.

“You can see the blood is still at the spot where these two Christians were killed,” Garba said.

Another Christian, he said, was slaughtered in front of the worship auditorium of the African Mission Centre.

Garba said the casualty figure in this attack could be more than 200, as many Christians are still unaccounted for.

“The fact that hundreds of Christians have left town, and some are still leaving even as I am talking to you now, has made it difficult for us to account for the actual figure of our members that have been killed,” he told Compass. “The proof that many more than the figure being peddled by the government must have been killed is that we were at the morgue and we found that corpses filled up every available space, so much so that we could not count the corpses. In fact, corpses had to be left outside the morgue for lack of space inside.”

Boko Haram bombed and destroyed 10 church buildings: those of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Church of the Brethren, Cherubim and Seraphim Church, All Saints Cathedral (Anglican Communion), and Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), African Mission Centre, Assemblies of God Church, ECWA Good News Church, Living Faith Church, and Charismatic Renewal Ministries.

They burned 11 cars and stole two others after killing the Christian owners. In addition, seven motorcycles and one bicycle were destroyed.

Bomb blasts the previous day (Nov. 3) in Maiduguri, Borno state about 80 miles (130 kilometers) east killed four people, with one of the explosions coming from a triple suicide bombing of a military base.

Asked about Muslims who were killed, Garba said they died in gunfire exchange between Boko Haram militants and security agencies.

“These Muslims were visitors who were passing through Damaturu at the time of the attack and were caught in the crossfire,” he said.

Pastor Emmanuel Ekigho, resident pastor of the Living Faith Church also in the New Jerusalem area, told Compass that the Boko Haram bombing left his worship auditorium completely charred.

“We lost our church auditorium and assets in the church worth over 70 million naira [US$43,742],” Ekigho said.

The Sunday after the attack, only 214 of the 700 members showed up for worship, he said.

“As I talk to you now, many more out of the 200 members have left the town,” Ekigho said. “This may be bringing our ministry here to an end.”

Since the Damarutu attack, no state or federal government official has visited the area to see the level of destruction done to Christians and their churches, church leaders said. Their attempts to enter into dialogue with the emir of Damaturu, Alhaji Shehu Ibn El-kanemi Hashimi II, proved abortive as he refused to meet with them, they said.

“We sought audience with him on Nov. 7 in order to present our plight to him and seek support and protection from him, but he declined to see us,” Garba said. “So, we left his palace without meeting him.”

An al Qaeda affiliate that seeks to impose a stricter form of sharia (Islamic law) on northern Nigeria, where sharia is already in force, as well as on the predominantly Christian south, Boko Haram has threatened to launch more attacks.

“We will continue attacking federal government formations until security forces stop their excesses on our members and vulnerable civilians,” a Boko Haram spokesman said.

In August, Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing at the United Nations headquarters in Nigeria’s capital, which killed 24 people and left another 116 wounded.

Nigeria’s population of more than 158.2 million is divided between Christians, who make up 51.3 percent of the population and live mainly in the south, and Muslims, who account for 45 percent of the population and live mainly in the north. The percentages may be less, however, as those practicing indigenous religions may be as high as 10 percent of the total population, according to Operation World.

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Now, we come to that other vital aspect which lies right at the very heart of our Christian Faith – the Resurrection of Jesus Christ – that amazing event for which words are inadequate – we can but Worship and give thanks.

No other faith in the whole world has a Leader Who is Alive. Are the others not simply philosophies where one tries one best but that can never be good enough?

In Luke Chapter 24 we read of some women making their way through the streets of Jerusalem. It is around half-past five in the morning. It must have been a long wait, since the body of Jesus Christ was taken off the Cross, dead, and laid in that tomb.

Jesus has been absent from them for three days and three nights. Two Sabbaths have passed. Jesus was not crucified on a Friday. Work it all out in accordance with what the Scripture says and teaches.

They go prepared to anoint the dead remains of the Jesus they had loved. The voice of God had been silent over these long days. It was the custom to anoint the remains, and they were dutifully going to minister to the dead Body of Jesus Christ.

Those who had wanted Jesus Christ out of the way, and silenced once and for all, would be thinking they had succeeded. They must have thought they had won.

“It involved a bit of wheeling and dealing, but we did it. We have got rid of that troublemaker and disturber of our ways at last. Dead men don’t rise.” Not so!

These religious leaders had little knowledge of the power of God. They were unaware of what the Holy Spirit could do, and most of those who plotted and planned to have Jesus crucified knew very little about the ministry of angels. And they had not a clue as to the will of the Father!

When the women arrived at the tomb, they found two things they were not prepared for – the stone rolled away – and no dead Jesus inside! How would you have reacted?

God is full of surprises. We never know what He is going to do next. We never know what he is going to say next. Sometimes He really surprises us.

Their plans are shaken. They are perplexed and puzzled. They don’t know what to make of it all. They are not sure if they can handle what confronts them. Angels appear and they bow in fear.

The angels ask – ‘Why are you looking for the living among the dead?’ ‘This is the cemetery. This is the graveyard. He is not here. HE IS RISEN. Do you not remember that He told you all this when he was with you?’

Problems and fears arise when we forget the Word of the Lord. They were hearing what common sense was saying, and they had forgotten what Jesus had said.

There are many, even within the visible physical church, who have a real problem believing that Jesus Christ is risen and alive. When you have met the risen living Jesus Christ and when you are born again that ought never again to be a problem. There will be other problems that one should certainly not bother you.

Never forget what Jesus Christ has said and taught. If we do, fear and doubt and confusion and worse can wriggle their way in.

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After a most exhausting and draining thirty hours or so, Jesus Christ is led away to be crucified. We are in Luke Chapter 23 and at verse 26. The authorities force a dark skinned man from Tripoli to carry this heavy wooden beam. No Roman would carry the cross, and the Romans would not ask a Jew, not in this situation, in the middle of a Religious Festival. It was the Passover.

Simon of Cyrene carries the cross of Jesus, and this man received a mighty reward. It appears from Mark 15 and verse 21 that he and his wife and two sons became disciples of Jesus.

No man carries the cross of Jesus faithfully without receiving a work of God in his own life, and on occasions, through his life into the lives of his family.

Remember what your Cross is. You can lift it up or put it down. It is not sickness or anything of that nature.

Luke 23:27. The news had travelled fast of what was happening in Jerusalem and a sympathetic crowd had gathered, and they are not afraid to express their emotions.

They are not afraid to allow their deep feelings for Jesus to flow out towards Jesus. And yet, Jesus says, Do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves and for your children.

Jesus knew what was going to happen to him, but they did not know what was going to happen to them, just as many today have no idea what Jesus is doing, and what is about to happen to those who live as if there were no God.

Jesus, as he climbs Calvary, begins to refer to the coming day of judgement, because as the Judgement of God is revealed, unconverted unrepentant sinners will cry out to the mountains and rocks to fall upon them.

These, understandably, are serious and solemn words. There are not many new songs and choruses based on these words from Jesus Christ! I wonder why?

It has been found that people believe what they sing and find it easier to believe what is sung rather than what is preached and taught.

We have to be very careful as to what words we give people to sing when they come together for praise and worship. Some of the songs today are no more than vain repetition. And, there is a difference between singing and praise and worship and we need to inform and teach our people that too. This is an area out with these current studies but it is a crucial matter which demands our serious consideration.

When I hear people say, “O, the worship was wonderful today”, I usually make the comment, “I wonder what God thought about it”. That is what counts. Not the feelings in the hearts of men, important though these are, but was the singing and praise pleasing to God the Father?

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The Michael Jackson life-after-death machine has officially kicked off.

Like Elvis, Tupac and other icons who died before their time, people have started saying that Jackson faked his death.

Though Michael Jackson died on June 25, and his death has since been ruled a homicide, videos like this one proving that MJ’s death was a hoax have been popping up all over the Internet:

These videos claim that Jackson, faced with billion-dollar debts, decided to just drop out of sight for a while, leaving his family, friends and fans behind.

Conspiracy theories aside, people around the globe, from Spain to Dubai, have also reported seeing Michael Jackson.

Most recently, a video posted on LiveLeak.com  purportedly shows the King of Pop  jumping out of the same van in which his dead body was hauled away.

Though some people will immediately scoff at the “silliness” of these conspiracy theories and sightings, as a Christian, I understand why people would come up with such things: People need something in which to believe.

However, as G.K. Chesterton said, “When people stop believing in God, the problem is not that they will then believe in nothing, it’s that they’ll believe anything.”

For a segment of the world’s population, Michael Jackson is that “anything” of which Chesterton spoke.

I’m sure there are benefits for those who worship MJ–His music and legacy makes them feel alive; he represents the last vestige of goodness in an increasingly cruel world.

Since MJ was world-renowned, those devoted to him also have an opportunity to make fast-friends who share their devotion and love of the icon… sort of like being a member of a church.

Though faith in Michael Jackson sounds promising, the only problem with it is that it probably isn’t what Michael would’ve wanted.

Michael Jackson knew that he was just a man. As such, I don’t think he’d want his fans deifying him in death, as I also believe MJ knew that every talented celebrity owes his ability to God.

Michael’s friend Rabbi Shmuley Boteach reportedly said, “Our favorite stars might light up the crowd, but their glow is a mere reflection of a more infinite radiance.”

If Michael’s most devoted fans would put their energy into seeking after the source behind Michael’s talent, instead of trying to lay the foundations of the Church of Michael Jackson, they’ll have a greater treasure–God.

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