One Reason I Dislike Church Growth Programs

Posted by on Apr 8, 2008 in Uncategorized | 2 comments

It has been said “if you want to stop any good work, create a committee.” In the midst of a religious world trying to accomplish everything through a variety of programs, ministry groups, small groups and events, we are lacking the aspect of the first century church. While I am far from being a Biblical scholar, I can still read the words of the Bible and discover the world and times of the first century church and the ways they grew.

As you read through Luke’s second account to Theophilus (Acts 1.1) you discover the first century believers went from adding to their number to multiplying their numbers. The reason…everyone had a part using their abilities for the church. Take Paul’s words in Ephesians 4,

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
(Ephesians 4:11-16; ESV, emphasis Mine – CMG)

Did you notice the words of Paul? It is the church which is held together by every joint and when each part is working properly, the body will grow! The core of church growth is not a program, ministry group or a small group, but every member working together with each other causing our congregations to grow! While programs, ministry groups and small groups will result out of work, they are not the answer. The answer is every member becoming involved and using their abilities for the kingdom.

Take another example from Acts 6,

“Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.”
(Acts 6:1-7; ESV, emphasis mine – CMG)

Notice the actions of the apostles:

  1. They recognized the problem (verse 1)
  2. They did not do it themselves (verse 2-3) – The apostles knew their God-given ability was preaching the word of God and their were others who could fill the role needed to solve the problem. Notice in verse 4, the apostles kept devoting themselves to the most important task based on their abilities.
  3. They let the group chose men (verses 5-6) – The apostles gave the group the right to chose the men to fulfill the duty in solving the problem.

The result of the apostles focusing on their abilities and others doing the same:

  1. The word of God continued to increase!
  2. The number of disciples multiplied greatly!
  3. And a great many priests become obedient!

What better results can come from a group of people finding their ability and focusing their abilities on them?

Just a thought for today I shall have more on Thursday!

A Lesson in Skipping the Assembly

Posted by on Apr 1, 2008 in Uncategorized | 2 comments

In a world struggling with self-identity through physical and spiritual means, actions take the forefront of determining the heart and soul of an individual. People listen to our words, figure out what we believe, yet our actions take the place of every word we have spoken throughout time. It reminds me of the father who encouraged his son to attend services every Sunday and stressed the importance of Bible class but the father never attended. After many Sundays, the little boy came home walked in the living room and said, “Want to hear what I learned at Sunday school this morning, you hypocrite!”

James discussed this principle of life in chapter two verses fourteen through 26 of his letter. Some have called the letter of James the letter of Monday through Saturday Christianity because of the practicality of the principles of daily living found within. James wrote,

 

“So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘ You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your work, and I will show you my faith by my works.” (James 2.17-18; ESV)

 

 

I guess James knew that actions speak louder than words before that phrase hit the grapevine years ago.

Last weekend I learned a valuable lesson regarding James 2.17-18. Here is the lesson, your religion is seen and noted! The situation went like this…

A staff member in the children’s department who my family knows did not attend services of the megachurch where he works. In fact, he and his family never attended anywhere. When asked why they never “went to church” this weekend, the response was overwhelming. The response caused my heart to pause for a moment and my head to turn sideways and my brain to cringe. My wife laughed because the words were too unbelievable to believe. The response you ask…

 

“I have off this week so we are staying home.”

 

Imagine a preacher not showing up for the assembly because he has off. The church supporting him, writing his check every month, would not see him that Sunday because he had off. I do not know about you, but seeing that commitment would never cause me to be a member of that church, because the commitment my family saw was not the commitment to a higher power, but the commitment to a paycheck each week.

My friends, where is your commitment?

Just a thought…

I am alive, and will be back

Posted by on Mar 20, 2008 in Blog | 1 comment

I meant to write on Monday, then possibly on Tuesday and certainly yesterday, but today is here and my brain hurts from being me!

I will try to be back later and put something down on here. At some point I need to find a “normal” routine.

Thanks for reading this post about nothing.

I Pulled Some Hair Out!

Posted by on Mar 13, 2008 in Blog | 1 comment

The future of our children does not reside in the ideas and concepts of man, but in the mind of a gracious God. The founding fathers of this country knew his and included God into everything about this country only to have a few ungrateful people squash the purpose driven principles of the Bible in government. These few ungrateful souls wish to torment the rest of us through their hate filled speech assaulting Christians and any movement wishing to promote God in public, but they speak their agenda in courtrooms across our country never allowing to a difference of opinion and belief.

Well my friends, it is now hitting closer to home than it has before! I received an email a few moments ago regarding a National Homosexual Day of Silence. Yeppers, you read it correctly. (Click here to read the email I received)

While I am shocked and appalled by the disappointment I see various school systems participating in this function. To be in fair and honest law, it is necessary for each school to participate in a Day of Silence for Christ.

My friends, your children’s school may be listed, so look closely.

The participating schools are listed here: http://www.missionamerica.com/homosexual.php?articlenum=70

Pardon me while I go pray, then pull some more hair from my head.

Just some frustrating thoughts!

My Stress Relief

Posted by on Mar 13, 2008 in Uncategorized | 2 comments

A couple weeks ago, Bobby Valentine posted his Stress Relief. I am stealing his idea and posting mine.

Yesterday, the kids got out of school early so we took a little trip after dropping Carrie off at a friend’s house to get ready for our Bible study that evening. The kids and I ran some church related errands in Mount Pleasant then took a trip to the “stress relief zone.”