E Pluribus Unum…

Recognize it? Ever seen it?

It’s on the Great Seal of the United States. It’s on US currency.

E Pluribus Unum…

It’s been a de facto motto of the United States since her founding.

It means “One from Many.”

When the founders of our country were working on the constitution and how they thought the country should be made up, their intent was to have 13 distinct states that make up one nation. “One from Many.”

They also recognized that they were a people from many different backgrounds: British, Scottish, Welsh, German, French, etc. Even though each came from different backgrounds, they would be united as one nation.

E Pluribus Unum…

But unity doesn’t just happen. In fact, unity is elusive. So how does many become one? What is the uniting factor?

For the founders of our country, it was a dream. A dream of a nation where people can freely live out their convictions without the threat of persecution. A dream of a nation where people of different backgrounds and nationalities would come together to form a greater nation that promised freedom and the pursuit of happiness for all people. And most importantly, a dream of a nation that would find herself living under God.

Living under God…

“In God We Trust” is the official motto of the United States. I don’t think that’s an accident. It’s only God who can unite us. It’s God from whom unity comes. Everything we do as a nation, everything we are as a country is based on this fundamental understanding – “In God We Trust”.

Without that, unity is merely a dream. Without binding ourselves under God, unity will never be reality.

You can not like this. But you cannot change our history.

E Pluribus Unum…One from Many…is only possible when it is “In God We Trust.”

One of my best friends worked for a company that made nothing, but earned millions in profits every year.

I know. That’s the kind of world we live in. But I am personally thankful for the work they and companies like them do because their work saved my life. I have had four bypasses, three stents, multiple angiograms to count, too many days in the hospital, etc.

Andy worked for a company who worked with hospitals to ensure their equipment were functioning within acceptable tolerance. The equipment and the machines our doctors use must operate within an extremely tight window of acceptable tolerance. The equipment is only useful if the readings are reading correctly. If the readings are off then the equipment is not only useless, it is dangerous.

Andy’s company made sure that the equipment used in hospitals and by doctors were operating within acceptable tolerance.

Isn’t it interesting that through regular use, and with time, equipment drifts. And very rarely does it drift toward perfection. It always drifts further from acceptable tolerance.

Equipment needs regular recalibrating. The same goes with us.

Our focus, perspective, hopes, goals, dreams tend to drift away from God’s best for us. In time, we forget God.

Regular worship is our weekly recalibration. We need it because we drift. We get further away from acceptable tolerance and worship brings us back.

So, when’s the last time you’ve been in God’s house to worship God? Isn’t it time for a recalibration?

Life happens.

Sometimes, it becomes necessary to find a new church home. For most, this is a painful and difficult process. Leaving a people and place you’ve called home is both painful and hard. Most only leave their church home because they feel they have no other choice.

Should you ever find yourself in such a situation, here are two things to avoid at all cost:

1. Avoid speaking badly of your former church
2. Avoid speaking badly of your former pastor.

As a pastor, when I meet people who are visiting the Little Church on the Prairie from other churches, and they begin telling me about their terrible experiences with their former pastor and congregation, I want to run for the hills. It literally makes my skin crawl.

Talking badly about your former congregation and your former pastor physically and emotionally hurts pastors.

You see, most pastors love the congregation they serve. They have a great concern and a great love for their people. And pastors serve congregations because they are called and they love their calling. So when you start bad-mouthing your former congregation, pastors who love their people, cannot help but take that personally.

And when you start bad-mouthing your former pastor, I can’t help but think – “That’s going to me. This is what they will be saying about me when they get upset with me.”

Both of these are cringeworthy.

I get it. Life happens and sometimes you have to find a new church home. And should that ever happen, do yourself and your new place a favor: please don’t bad mouth your former church or pastor.