While in seminary I pastored a church in the small Texas town of Italy.  They were a wonderful people, and largely a church-going people.  I’ll never forget a man I led to Christ and baptized who later told me that he was invited to our church shortly after he moved to town.  The invitation went something like this: “You’re starting a business in town and it will help your business if you join our church.”  The man was not yet a Christian, but he knew that you don’t join a church to help your business!

That said, the truth was, it would have helped his business to have joined our church.  One way I describe the difference between church-life in the Bible-belt versus the Northwest is that no one joins a church in the Northwest to help their business.  And politicians don’t frequent churches in the Northwest during election season…