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THE IMPLODING CHURCH

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  imploding church

By Ken Blue

How do you keep from having an imploding church? Let’s assume you are going to start a church from nothing. The one thing you must consider is, where are we going to meet? Will we meet in a home, a barn, or some other facility?

Next, on your priority list will be soul winning. You can’t have church without people, and you can’t have people without some form of contact. Therefore, every thought, and effort will be on how to reach others, and get them into the new church. This will be the driving force at the time, and rightfully so.

As new families come into the church, you have the challenge of how to teach the different age groups, and provide child care for the infants. These are just a few of the growing pains, but you learn how to solve them.

New growth brings new needs. People need real discipleship. They need ministries to serve in. At this point, you may have to consider a new meeting place to care for the growth. So, property is located, buildings are built, and finances are needed. More and more the church adds new demands. The church is humming with excitement.

That is why success may be your downfall. Little by little, the vision shifts. Everyone now has someone to fellowship with. They are becoming one happy family. Everybody knows each other, and pays extra attention to each other.  The growth has brought new demands. Thus, most of the money, time and service is bestowed on the existing congregation. Everyone is busy, but something subtle has happened.

Planning meetings are no longer about soul winning, and growth. All the plans now are about how to feed the monster. The outreach has shifted to programs, and activities.  A new missionary may be added once each year for conscience sake.

The church has now reached its stagnation point. Everything is about the “church family.” The very thing that gave life and growth, is now forgotten and left behind. Most of the members have grey hair. They are comfortable and don’t want to be disturbed.

The death of the church is inevitable. The only way to keep a church alive is to have new, young blood added every week.  Where are all the great soul winning churches of fifty years ago? They are either dead and gone, or dead and being embalmed each year. Your church, too, will die unless you keep outreach hot, and on the front burner. A church must be a maternity ward, or it becomes a museum.  If you neglect these, stand back and watch the implosion.

PLANNING YOUR MINISTRY

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PLANNING YOUR MINISTRY # 1

planning

It is a fact that most pastors and churches never create plans extending beyond next Sunday’s sermon. They have no written annual plans for outreach, maturity, worship, buildings or missions. One reason is the pastor may not understand its value. Another might be fear or laziness. You may wonder why one would be fearful to establish a plan. The answer is simple; if you plan, you might fail. Thus, the safest course of action is not to act or plan.

October is a good time to hold the planning session for your church. The date, time, place and who will attend should be put on your calendar months prior to the scheduled date. The pastor must spend some time alone looking at his purpose statement and asking himself some questions about it. Each question must be prefaced with “What do we need to do to…” The answers should be written down for his personal guidance at the planning meeting. This is pre-planning.

Prior to the meeting, an agenda should be created and distributed to all who attend. The time to be granted on each item must be listed. The moderator should ensure that the meeting stays on course and adheres to the allotted time. 

Write the question on the board, and then the moderator should ask, “What do we need to do to…” Answers should be written on the whiteboard under the question. The only response allowed to each idea is, “good, write that down. Now, what else do we need to do…?”  Do not allow any discussion or comments on the ideas until the team has run out of suggestions, if you do, you will squelch the meeting and people will stop giving ideas. Follow this procedure with all major ministry questions. This is the brainstorming of the session.

[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]A clear plan not only gives direction, it liberates and gives purpose.[/pullquote]

Once all the ideas are in on each ministry, decide which ideas the church should turn into ministry goals. Once this has been done on the major ministries, set dates on when each idea will be implemented and completed. Also, determine who will be responsible for that goal and what the expense will be. This gives ownership and responsibility for each goal. Review points should be set to determine progress.

A clear plan of how you are to achieve each goal, not only gives direction, it liberates and gives purpose. I want to challenge each pastor to schedule a planning session for his ministry. It will be one of the most helpful things you can do. So, start planning to plan.

HOW TO STAY FOCUSED IN THE MINISTRY

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THE USE OF THE PURPOSE STATEMENT

purpose statementBy Ken Blue
The most difficult task in the ministry is keeping the church on target and focused on its stated purpose. Like a ship or a plane without a rudder, a church will begin to drift if navigational controls are not built in and monitored.

Once you are clear on your purpose, and are able to state it in a simple sentence, it becomes your Northern Star to guide, and keep you on course. Let me give you a few purposes statements. See if you can determine what each organization is about. 1. Focus On The Family. 2. Child Evangelism. 3. Bringing Families From Spiritual Infancy To Spiritual Maturity. 4. The Church With A Heart. 5. Youth For Christ. 6. Campus Crusade.

Once you have figure out what your church is going to do, state in no uncertain terms what you believe God wants you to do. The purpose statement should be on your letterhead and your church bulletin, and it must not be vague. Everyone in your church should be keep informed about what you are aiming at. The purpose statement should be the bull’s-eye on the target. Sad to say, the reason many pastors have no purpose statement or they make it vague, is so they cannot fail or be accountable.

[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The reason many pastors have no purpose statement is so they cannot fail or be accountable.[/pullquote]

Next, you need to determine what objectives you must establish to move toward your Northern Star. Your objectives must be consistent with your purpose statement; otherwise your statement means nothing. You will notice the lines coming back from the shaft of the arrow. Your objectives should be written on each line. It is best not to have more than seven objectives.

Keep in mind that an objective and a goal are not the same. Objectives are the ministries you must implement to carry the church toward its purpose. For example, if you choose number 3 as a purpose for your church, one of your objectives would be to win families to Christ and the church. Objectives are ongoing and will continue till Jesus comes. Whereas, goal are the measurable activities you will use to work at your objectives. Each one of the lines on the shaft of the arrow tells you what you ought to be about to accomplish your purpose for existence.

Once you have done the above, you will have a clear picture of who you are, what you must do and how to go about it. The most difficult part of planning is not how to do what you want; the most difficult is to determine what your church will do. Once the what is established, the how, comes relatively easy. To stay focused, put your planning arrow in a place where you can see it. When you seem to be in a fog or get off course, get the arrow out and view it like you would a roadmap to get back on track. Let it be your guide and you will stay focused.

(Pastor Blue has a complete seminar on the planning process. For a PAL ministry in your church, contact him.)

ARE YOU RIDING THE LAODICEAN SCAPEGOAT?

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rich

 

By Ken Blue

” Leviticus 16:21-22 “ And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:  And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.”

Two goats were chosen. One was sacrificed, the other was led into the wilderness and released. Both were a type of Christ. One died for sins, the other carried them away. We use the term, scapegoat, today when the blame is placed on another person, or for some excuse.

One of the reasons churches are not winning souls today is found in the “Laodicean” scapegoat. That is, we are supposed to believe we are now living in a period, supposedly prophesied in the seventh church of Revelation 3.

Some are so sure these veiled prophecies exist that they have assigned dates to each one. I will not waste our time listing them. Our concern is with the last one, the so called “Laodicean period.”

I am very familiar with the teaching and the logic behind these. I have done some research on the subject. E.W. Bullinger sees these as periods in Old Testament history.

Since there is not one verse of Scripture that teaches these are seven epics of church history, there must be another reason some see these as hidden prophecy.

The major error lies at the first verse of Revelation. That is, the assumption that chapter one through three are in this church dispensation. The reason for that conclusion is the use of the word “church” and “churches.” Next, John is seen as a “type” of the church being raptured in chapter four. One other argument is that the word “church” doesn’t appear again until the end of the book. Each argument is erroneous, and impossible to prove. However, our purpose is to show that, in most cases, the church ages are a fabrication, and that pastors use this as an excuse for the lack of soul winning.

One writer says, “The Laodicean Age began around the turn of the Twentieth Century, perhaps 1906. How long will it last? As a servant of God who has had multitudes of visions, of which NONE has ever failed, let me predict (I did not say prophesy, but predict) that this age will end around 1977.” The Laodicean Church Age – 1 – Bible Believers  www.biblebelievers.org.au/7ch045.htm.

Another writer, Don Koenig, says, “The age of Laodicea has arrived next comes the rapture and the tribulation.  Most Bible prophecy teachers would say the Laodicean church age started around AD 1900. This is correct but when Laodicea appeared among Thyatira (Catholics), Sardis (the near dead denominational churches) and Philadelphia (the Church of true believers), she was not the predominant church of that era. That is no longer true. By what we see taking place in Christianity today there should be no question that Laodicea is now the predominant church type of our age (for those of us who believe that there are seven church ages).

Laodicea is the final church age before Jesus comes for His Church. When Christ comes for His spiritual body He vomits this Laodicean church out of His body into the tribulation. I am not saying that Laodicea was ever part of His body to start with but only that this church type was identified with His body. After Jesus stomachs the lukewarm condition of this church, He spews them out implying that those identified with Laodicea have no place in His spiritual Body unless they repent and see.”

[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Revelation is a book of prophecy to Israel. It was not written to or about the body of Christ.[/pullquote]

There are so many problems with the above, one hardly knows where to start. Assuming that these ages have existed, there were “Laodicean Churches” in every one of them. A study of church history confirms that. In fact, they existed in Paul’s day. The next error is the interpretation of church history in a particular geographic location. If you lived in Muslim countries, you would conclude that you were in the” Smyrna period.” If you were in some Asian countries, you would believe you were in the “Philadelphia period.”

It ought to be evident that no one could understand these as epochs of church history until the Laodicean epoch arrives. Also, we need to ask, if the first three chapters are written to and about the church/churches of this dispensation, to whom is the rest of the book written? Where is the salutation to the recipients of the rest of the book

Revelation is a book of prophecy to Israel. It was not written to or about the body of Christ. Individual churches possessing some of these characteristics have existed since the birth of the body of Christ, the church. All of these will exist in the churches in the Tribulation. It is to these, the book is written. One hint, and there are many, these churches must “overcome” something or someone. Could it be the Antichrist and the mark of the Beast?

Very few pastors today would admit that they are the pastor of a “Laodicean” church. To them, the rebuke applies only to the spirit of religion in general, or to another pastor and another church.

If you are riding the “Laodicean Scapegoats,” get off, and start winning souls. People can be saved, even today!

 

 

 

 

CULTURE COUNTS

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culture Here I Am Lord

By Ken Blue

“For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.” 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.

North America consists of many diverse cultures and ethnic groups. Churches that ignore this truth do so to their own peril. This fact is made more evident by Chinatown, Little Italy and other community groups within most large cities.

Churches that attempt to force a culture into their church, foreign to the surrounding community, will find it like trying to drive a square peg into a round hole. It is practically impossible. Paul never attempted to bring Jewish culture or customs into Gentile churches. The gospel and the Pauline epistles easily fit any culture.

[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]A pastor should make every effort to see that his church is not foreign to the area where he serves.[/pullquote]

I see some pastors attempting to force southern culture into their churches in the northern states. There is a world of difference, not only within large cities, but within the various states. Of course the gospel is the same, but the cultures may not be the same. That is why a pastor should make every effort to see that his church is not foreign to the area where he serves. Paul was able and willing to adapt, but Some pastors are not. It is easier to let people go to hell, than it is to adjust.

We must ask ourselves; are we trying to get men and women transformed into the image of Christ, or are we trying to force a culture that is foreign to them? Every foreign missionary knows what I am talking about. Do you?