Sometimes I have been surprised at how carelessly decisions were made in certain business meetings of churches where I have labored. I have seen important decisions determined by a very slight suggestion from some individual member of the group and passed immediately, without any time being taken to carefully study the issues involved. I believe that what a church business meeting will do is about the most unpredictable thing in the world. Some of their decisions are made with such little study and with such little thought that it’s almost impossible to know what may happen when such a meeting is called. Now I believe that God expects us to use wisdom in this field where He has left us to our own judgment. There are Scriptures which authorize this statement. Some of them were used this morning. For instance, “Be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matt. 10:16). Or again, “Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Cor. 14:40). 4. _Importance of careful planning._ Every outstanding business organization in this country has its post-war plans already worked out. It has its blueprints drawn, and those plans have not been made hastily. They have been worked out after a great deal of research, investigation and study. The directors of those businesses have come together and have consulted with each other. They have exchanged ideas. They have weighed details. And after all of that study and work, they have mapped out their plans for the years ahead. Many of these business men are members of the church, and I maintain that, if men who are able to succeed in the commercial and professional world will apply the same diligent study and careful planning to the work of the church, then it will succeed far more than it has in the past. There is no other organization in all this world which would have survived as much mismanagement or neglect as the church of Jesus Christ has survived. Someone has said that the church is certainly a divine institution or it would have perished from the earth long ago through neglect or bad management. I have confidence in the leaders of the churches. I have confidence in their ability. I believe that they are interested. If they will give to the work of the church the same careful study which they devote to the plans for their business enterprises, I believe we will be able to make greater progress. Just to give you an illustration close at hand, everyone will agree that the effectiveness of our Thursday evening services has been very greatly increased by a group of men coming together and carefully planning the programs. If the attendance is to be taken as indication of what you think about them, then they have been improved at least one hundred per cent. The attendance is now twice as much as it was before. I am of the firm conviction that what has been done for the Thursday evening meeting can be done for every other phase of the work of the church if it is properly studied and planned.