Jan 5
2026
The Attraction of ‘Big-box Churches’
Why call them ‘Big-box Churches?’ For years, we have watched large chain stores like Lowe's, Home Depot, and Walmart arrive in cities, towns, and villages, offering ‘more for less.’ It doesn’t take the average consumer long to realize that the motto is true; more can be purchased for less. And thus the switch is quickly made from hometown hardware store to the global purchasing power of the chain. Clothing shops, hardware stores, variety and specialty venues start closing because they cannot compete with the streamlined, cut-down, mass appeal of the chain store and its slick advertising. Over the years, these large-scale operations managed from HQ, with their cheap, imported goods, have been nicknamed ‘Big-box Stores’ because that is how they receive their large quantities of imported goods. I have observed parallels between this phenomenon and that found in some in the mega-church movement — orders from HQ, instant funding, slick marketing, aggressive competition, and imported preaching and/or doctrine.
Great pressure is now being applied to the Evangelical and Reformed world to socialize the gospel. Groups, writers, seminaries, mission organizations, denominations, churches, and pastors are being marshaled to correct the injustices and ills of Western societies. This is all being done in the name of “applying the gospel.”
We’ve all heard the saying, “Most people who quit and walked away from a goal would be shocked if they knew how close they were to success.” Ecclesiastes, no doubt, instructs that ‘there is a time to persevere and a time to cease laboring at a thing.’
Starting well has its challenges but continuing takes perseverance. Pastor John MacArthur, a former college track runner, illustrates this truth well. 
The Patriarch Jacob was like many who grew up in the church. He knew about God. He'd watched his parents worship and build their lives around the biblical faith. He wasn't opposed to it. He kind of believed it too. But in reality, Jacob had not really come to God himself. If the truth were told, he was simply coasting off his father's faith.
They did not die in vain. Let’s not live in vain. The sincerest thank you that a citizen can offer those who died for their liberty, is to live out said liberty before God and man. They prayed to God and gave everything so that we can do the same. Americans, shake free from the prevailing lies about what it means to be free. Many enjoy this Constitutional liberty but do not value it; talk about it but do not understand it; want it but do nothing to preserve it. This Memorial Day give some time to reflect on the price that has been paid. As you meditate, do not passively mourn; they didn’t. Renew your vigor and valor for the cause of God and the Constitution which preserves our freedom to serve Him and one another in this fair land we call home. 
Please read Genesis chapters 1 through 3 slowly. Picture in your mind what is happening. The account of the fall of Adam and Eve is doubtless familiar to most people who’ve grown up in the West. After recording for us the mighty acts of God in creation, Moses goes on to tell of how mankind fell from innocence and fellowship with God to a state of sinfulness and separation from God. The story opens with chapter 3. Adam and Eve are, most likely, just getting acquainted with their new world.
What is Easter to you -- just another religious holiday? A time when your wife, mother, or family member pressures you to attend church with them? Perhaps for you it is a bit more meaningful, -- it is a time for tradition. At Easter the family attends church, has a festive meal, or reunion. For some, it is about the children. At Easter the children get their special spring outfits, have egg hunts, and receive their annual basket of goodies! Perhaps a review of the first Easter morning will shed light on how this historic day should be viewed by us. In your heart and mind, return with me to that bright morning. Let’s walk through it and meet the people that were there, that witnessed it for themselves, and for us.