As Church Doors Across the World Close, Could Yours be Next?

by Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

This past week my sister and I had quite an intriguing conversation. Each of us likes Dr. David Jeremiah and we try to watch him every chance we get. My area gets his shows on a delayed basis, so she saw this one before I did. He talked about having visited a church in Vienna that has stood for over five-hundred years. At one time, it was the place where townspeople gathered to worship. He said this particular church is now only a tourist destination. How very sad. He continued by saying that in the next seven years, over fifty-five-thousand churches in the United States will close their doors.

What? I had to find some statistics somewhere to tell me about this. So off I went to good old Google.

WWJD: The Story of In His Steps

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

My sister recently gifted me with a bunch of old books. I brought the box of books home where I put it aside until a couple of weeks ago. When I finally got around to going through them I found an old, yellowed copy of In His Steps by Charles M. Sheldon. The introduction in my copy dates it as 1956. I remember hearing about this book in the past, but I wasn’t as familiar with it as I would be if I had read it. I finally got it out and began reading. One of the things that stood out to me as I read the preface was that this is the source of the phrase, what would Jesus do?

I don’t know about you, but I thought this was a twentieth-century-coined phrase. Late twentieth century. I had not heard it until my children were in youth group at our church and they all began wearing the rubber bands with the anacronym printed upon it—WWJD. I called my sister and talked to her about this book. She reminded me that Mama had a copy of it when we were girls. That’s why the title seemed familiar to me. Still, it wasn’t a book that I had read. By now, I was intrigued. I had to learn more.