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THE MIRACLE ON 45AVE.

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miracleBy Ken Blue

Unobserved, and of no interest to those who never knew, That eternal business was discussed on Forty-Fourth Avenue.

A little band that prayed for land, the year of seventy-two, Gave God a reason, it was the season to trust and to do.

The owners replied, and we complied, with witnesses: two. What began continues the plan, on Forty-Fourth Avenue.

 Sacrifice, a will to work, visions Satan could not subdue; The little band that stood on the land, into the hundreds grew.

 Every Sunday, from far and near, visitors come two by two. At invitation time, you will find sinners in line waiting to say, “I do”.

 Hundreds surrendered to serve at home, and some across the blue. The question is, would you respond, “Here I am”, if He called you?

Miracles persist at Open Door, as we stay faithful and true. Windows of heaven remain open, on Forty-Fourth Avenue.

 

NOT AN “-ITE”

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Influential men

influential menRecently, Pastor Hughes asked me who the most influential men were in my ministry.  I hesitate to give any name except “Jesus”, but that would not be true and it has a ring of self-righteousness to it; so here we go.

The first man on the list is Pastor Harvey Taylor. Pastor Taylor was pastor in Wenatchee, Washington where I was saved at age 17.  He passed on to be with the Lord years ago.

The second was Leroy and Florence Friend of Soap Lake, Washington.  This wonderful family mentored us for the Lord.  they gave me my first copy of C. Larkin’s Dispensational Truth.  I will forever be indebted for their influence and friendship of fifty years.  Their ministry was one of discipleship.

The third person to have a strong and lasting impact on me is Dr. Jack Hyles.  Brother Hyles taught me the value of Soul-winning and made me believe I could do great things for the Lord.  I thank God for Dr. Hyles.

The fourth was Dr. Ruckman, who taught me to rightly divide the Word of God.  He was the one who encouraged me to do some writing.  He has always been gracious to me and I thank him for that.

The fifth person in Dr. Tom Malone, he was pastor and president of Midwestern Baptist College.  Dr. Malone was one of the best preachers in America, he also was a master at teaching young men how to start and pastor the local church.

Brother Hughes stated that he thought Rick Warren would be on the list.  I assured him that he was not. Some of the brethren have spread gossip about me because I believe a pastor can learn some things about outreach and church structure from Warren’s book.  The idea that we can only learn from “our crowd” is foolish and Pharisaical.  However, I am not a Talor-ite, a Friend-ite, a Hyles-ite, a Ruckman-ite, a Malone-ite, or a Warren-ite.  I am a Bible believer; nothing more and nothing less.

(written in 2008)

MINISTRY AND BUSINESS

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YOUNG PASTORS DON’T UNDERSTAND THE MINISTRY

MINISTRYKen Blue

“Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.  But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.” Acts 6:3-4.

I went to Bible College to learn the Bible and be a preacher. One comment by our Homiletic’s professor stands out in my mind more clearly than any other. He said, “Preaching is about 1/10 of the ministry”. That comment offended me, and I didn’t believe it. I loved to preach, so he can’t be correct in that comment.

When Joyce and I started the Open Door Baptist Church in 1969 we had an empty building with about one hundred empty chairs. Back then everything was about soul winning and preaching however, before that year was over, we had over a hundred in the morning service and all in the same room.  We had a problem, and something had to change, and change quick!

We had to get the nursery age out of the preaching service so, I had to find a place and a worker for that problem. The girls’ bathroom became a place and my wife became the worker but that did not completely solve the problem. The six through eight year olds were bored, restless and distracting. There was an unfinished room in the back of the building.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Preaching is about 1/10 of the ministry”[/perfectpullquote]

This room would work, but we needed a teacher. We found a faithful lady, so that problem was readily solved. However, now it was time to move to a new location if we were to continue our growth.

We found a local school where we met for about a year but, we had to set up and take down all the chairs. So someone had to be appointed for this task. In addition, we now needed ushers, money counters, book keepers and expenses paid. I had no idea that we needed to be incorporated in Washington State. This was “business” that was required by law, and Bible College forgot to tell me about these things.

Moreover, for the first three years I was the song leader, so it was my task to select songs everybody knew. In time, God gave us someone to play a piano, but at that time, we did not have one, so that became another order of business. In addition, I also directed our small choir and taught the teachers next Sunday’s lesson…..Whew!

More and more I needed the help of others. In a few years there where hundreds of ministries that needed to be attended to, and someone had to attend them and I was learning that my professor was right.

There are many gifted preachers who can’t tie their own shoes, thus they can never build a growing church. Then, there are men gifted in management, who are not the best of preachers. Guess who builds a growing church? The one who learns how to manage the business side of the ministry!

My advice to the novice pastor is three things. Learn all you can about soul winning, (I mean getting them saved, baptized and in the church membership). Learn how to recruit, delegate and manage the total ministry and learn how to rightly divide the Bible and how to teach it. Bathe all this in prayer, depending on the Holy Spirit.

You must learn how to manage as well as preach, but if management is a weakness of yours, then find someone in the church you can trust, and let them help you in this area. “Preaching is about 1/10 of the ministry” but, “Pastoring” takes both preaching and management.

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

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Kill a church

 

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.

COULD IT BE YOUR PREACHING

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Change Your Preaching

child preachingA young pastor lamented to me that his church was not growing no matter what he did. I ask him, “What kind of sermons do you preach?” He said, “I rip their face off.” I said, “Can’t you just see this man at work on Monday, and someone asks, ‘what happened to your face?’” He said, “This is what I got at church Sunday, want to go with me next Sunday?”

Church members do not want to bring visitors to church where the pastor attacks the Bible they might have, attacks other religions they might belong to, or tells everyone they are out of the will of God if they don’t attend the midweek or Sunday evening service. Not only do member refuse to bring visitors, they too are reluctant to come back.

I told the young man that he needed to change his preaching. Make people feel welcome and that YOU care about them. Make the service time enjoyable and informative. You cannot reach people you turn off. The gospel is the good news. Preach it as the best news in the world. It is. God loves sinners, and sinners know if your church is a loving church. Dip the Sword in honey. It will still cut.

[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]People should leave the preaching service with a sense of God’s presence and love.[/pullquote]

Church is not a place where pulpits are coward’s castles. Everything should be exciting and alive fifteen minutes before you preach, and people must project the image of love and friendliness. Most people make up their mind in the first ten minutes if they are going to return. Everything about your church should be planned with the visitors in mind. That includes everything from the driveway to the bathrooms.

People should leave with a sense of God’s presence and the love of the people. If that happens, they are more likely to return. Ripping their face off will guarantee they never return.

So, my advice to young preachers is, evaluate the content of your message, and the spirit with which it is delivered. If people are not returning something is wrong. Find out what it is and fix it. Start with your preaching and the spirit in which you preach.