HOW TO KILL A CHURCH; A MILE DEEP AND AN INCH WIDE

April 12, 2016 by Ken Blue

By Ken Blue

All of us have heard of the tragic results when doctors make a mistake and give the patient the wrong injection or pills. Many times the results are fatal. That is one reason others should be brought in to assist and assure that mistakes are not made.

I’m sure no pastor or church member would purposely inject a church with ministry concepts that would kill it. In most cases the intended goal is to make the church better. However, many of those decisions are based on preferences rather than on proven methods.

A few years ago, at a preacher’s conference, I heard a pastor criticize churches larger than his own by accusing them of being an “inch deep and a mile wide.” I discovered that his church was neither an inch deep nor an inch wide. I was more like ¼ inch in both directions.

One sure way to kill a church is to put more emphasis on maturity than reaching the lost. When a church becomes more concerned about teaching than reaching, it is only a matter of time till rigor mortis sets in. The leadership then continues to inject embalming fluid, in an attempt to make the corpse appear to be alive. The shift to teaching will kill church growth.

[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]One sure way to kill a church is to put more emphasis on teaching than reaching.[/pullquote]

Another sure way to kill a church is to have a dead, dull music service. Dr. Jack Hyles built one of the largest churches in America. I personally heard him say that the KEY to an exciting church is atmosphere. Music and decor set the atmosphere. So liven up and mix up your music. You cannot have an Episcopal song service, a Lutheran sermon, and a Pentecostal invitation.

Finally, you kill a church by making sure that your preaching’s only purpose is to fill up the 11:00 hour. The average pastor has no purpose or theme in his messages to reach the purpose statement of the church; if it has one. Can you connect your sermons, lessons, activities, and advertisement to your church purpose statement? If not, your statement means nothing, or your sermons serve no purpose.

If I had to choose, which I did not, between a church that was “an inch deep and a mile wide or a church that was a mile deep and an inch wide,” the choice would be easy. I would take the wider church every time. I have no interest in a handful of “deeper life Christians” that sit around and criticize those of us who have not reached their spiritual depth. Also, there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who gets saved than there is over your deeper life sermon. So, aim at reaching the lost and infuse new life in your church.

MINISTERIAL WARS

April 11, 2016 by Ken Blue

Advice on Ministerial Wars

Ministry wars are inevitable. Therefore, the pastor must know the difference between a breeze and a tornado. The pastor who is insecure and suspicious of everyone will constantly be plagued by fears and doubt.

If you believe a matter requires confrontation or a war, contact older pastors in whom you have confidence and seek their counsel and advice. If you have mature and trusted men in your church, it may be helpful to seek their guidance. Regardless of the decision, you must stand up to the challenge and accept the outcome.

Most problems are power struggle or frustrated ambition on the part of some member. Your problems will most likely come from someone who is close to you. That is, a staff member, a deacon, a treasure, a music director or their wives. These people usually get offended because of a policy decision you have made or over budget allocations.

In order to minimize ministerial wars, communicate clearly and lovingly with your congregation. Be transparent in money matters. Give people more information than they need. Remember, people in the dark tend to be more suspicious and will believe the gossip mongers. Silence them, if you can, with light.

You should show humility, but never show weakness. A church that will not change, will not grow. Be slow to make changes and expect to lose some people when you do. The pastor should not seek war or start them. But, he must be alert to the fact that the devil uses wicked men and women to hinder or destroy his ministry. Therefore, get all the advice and help available to you; spend much time in prayer and when the war is over, move forward in victory to build a greater ministry for Christ!

I recommend to every pastor and church worker a book by Marshall, Shelley titled, Well Intentioned Dragons. You can purchase it at Amazon.com

HOW TO HANDLE THE BIBLE DECEITFULLY #1

April 7, 2016 by Ken Blue

MAKING THE BIBLE TEACH WHAT YOU WANT

By Ken Blue

The purpose of this article is to show how the Bible is used deceitfully by many pastors and evangelist. In order to provide a simple foundation for this subject, I will use a three letter word to illustrate my point. That little word is the word “YOU.” I will give the text and then show how these false teachers want you to believe it refers to you, personally.

“…he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:” Matthew 3:11. Those addressed were Jews and there is no promise here to the Gentile church.
“And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Matthew 17:20. The Lord is speaking to His disciples.
“Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 18:18. This is another Kingdom promise to the Twelve. It is not spoken to you or the Catholic church.
“Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 18:19. This is not a prayer promise, as many teach.
“And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.” Matthew 19:9. This is not a command to the church or Gentiles. There is much more on this subject.
“And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Matthew 19:28. This promise is to the Twelve. There is no promise to the Christian in this text.
“Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” Matthew 21:43. Jesus is speaking to the wicked leaders of Israel. He is not taking the kingdom from them and giving it to the church. The church is not the nation.
“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.” Matthew 24:9. The text is about His disciples and is witnessed in the book of Acts.
“But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.” Matthew 25:9. This is a parable, warning the Jews to be ready for His Second Advent at the end of the Tribulation.
“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Mark 11:24. This promise was to the Twelve. Believers today do not receive everything they want simply because they desire and believe.

These ten should suffice. You can make the Bible say anything you want if you ignore who is speaking, to whom it is spoken, why it was spoken and the dispensation to which it belongs. The “you” in the above text is not about YOU!

MONKEYS WHO SAVED THEIR TAILS

March 28, 2016 by Ken Blue

Two monkeys sat in a coconut tree,
Looking on the mass of humanity.
“Some say man descended from you and me.
We consider and ask, how can this be?

Tails have dropped off, there’s no swinging around,
Speaking in words is such a strange sound,
Destined are they, to inhabit the ground.
While evolving upward, they descended down.

Losing their hair, and we don’t know why.
Discovering their nakedness, some were shy.
Covering their shame, something had to die.
And that became the fashion bye and bye.

No longer using clubs to fight in war,
Hand to hand combat seldom evens the score.
With the push of a button, they now kill more,
While sitting in a chair, as the drones soar.

Yes, it is clear, sitting up in this tree.
Evolution’s the end of humanity.
We are so thankful, though monkeys we be,
We’ve saved our tails, from inevitability.”

By Ken Blue

I AM A BAPTIST… BY DENOMINATION

March 12, 2016 by Ken Blue

I AM A BAPTIST… BY DENOMINATION

There are many reasons given by the brethren why they are Baptist. I am a Baptist by denomination, not by tradition. Many use an acrostic to explain their core beliefs. I will do the same.

B– Born again by regeneration. Every believer is a new person IN Christ.

A-Autonomy of the local church. No other church or denomination has any authority over any other church.

P-Preservation of the believer. The believer is preserved and eternally secure because he is IN Christ.

T-Two ordinances: baptism in water, and the Lord’s Supper. How often these are to be observed is at the discretion of the church.

I-Inspiration of the Scriptures (KJV). We believe the KJV is the preserved Word of God for the English speaking world.

S-Separation of church and state. The Christian is to render to Caesar and to God that which they require. When these are in conflict God is to be obeyed.

T-Two future comings of Christ: Pre-Tribulation rapture and the Second Advent, or the Revelation. We believe the rapture of all Christians takes place prior to the Great Tribulation. The revelation, or Second coming of Christ is seven years later. This is followed by the Judgment of the nations and the thousand year reign of Christ on earth from Jerusalem.

(Note:) We believe it is impossible to have correct doctrine, of the church or of practical Christianity when 2 Timothy 2:15 is ignored. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”