Invitation and the dip
Seth Godin American Entrepreneur, Author and Social commentator in 2007 wrote a little book called The Dip.
The Book teaches you when to quit (and when to stick)
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/the_dip/
The dip is a temporary setback that can be overcome with persistence — and how to recognize if you are within one worth pushing through, or one worth quitting. Within this concept I find one of the major ways that God trys to teach His children. Some examples from the bible Moses 40 years in exile, Joseph in a prison, David faced by Nathan about adultery and murder, Jesus in the wilderness The Apostle Paul in prison, the disciples betrayal. I could go on…….. It is in the dip (if we choose to listen) that God disciples and matures us. Invitation creates eventually for most of us the dip, when we have to face the rejection of a friend and family member. Multiply this across a whole congregation and you can have a whole church going through the dip together.Some churches and people choose to take the easy way out by quitting and stopping invitation entirely. While others discover at our lowest ebb that God is there and wants to deepen His relationship with us