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NEEDS AND TRENDS IN THE CHURCH TODAY

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THE CHURCH TODAY SHOULD BE AWARE OF EVIL TRENDS
The church today

By Ken Blue

Although needs and trends are not synonymous; needs may change as trends change. Trends can be good or evil. Certainly, no church should follow evil trends. The spiritual needs of believers never change. However, how the church addresses and meets those needs must change with time.

What the average church members need is relevant Bible teaching and preaching. That means, the preacher must be aware of the real world and the real people who live in it; then he must be able to build a practical sermon or lesson that clearly helps others with their problems. I know the Bible is relevant, but many pastors don’t know how to preach it so people can understand or apply it.

Some preachers think if they cram the sermon with bible verses, it has more authority and value. Nothing could be further from the truth. Neither Jesus or Paul were concerned about the number of verses in their messages. Look at them; they told simple stories about life and used biblical and natural examples to communicate one truth at a time. This is the need in the pulpit today. The primary purpose of the Bible is not to inform, but to transform. Do you really have an end goal for your sermon, or is the only end, just to preach another sermon. You should write at the top of your sermon notes what your objective is.

Some pastors think if they can get their members to conform to four or five standards, they have met the needs of the believer. The category is: A haircuts, dresses on women, tithing, Bible reading, and soul winning. These may have an outward show, but they do not meet the needs of church members. Usually, these are promoted by the pastor so the members will build his church membership. So, make the sermon relevant to the time and place.

Church members need a sense of belonging and ownership. New members must feel they fit and are accepted. This means the church must create a strategy to assimilate them into the fellowship with other believers. Remember, the glue that holds the ministries together, is the cement that keeps others out. Do everything you can to create a spirit of belonging and ownership within your members. The saying is true, “Use me or lose me.”

Members must be able to develop close friendship ties. Experience shows that if a person does not have a family member or a close friend in church, they will not stay. The pastor should know this and do everything within his power to create ministries where these relationships can develop. Private small groups are one of the best ways for this to happen. Everyone wants to be an important part of an important ministry. The church should have in place and a strategy for recruiting and placing members in ministries best suited for them. Friendships are developed in these ministries. This takes planning and work, but the payoff is great!

Worship is expressing love and praise to the Lord. Although it can be spontaneous, it should also be planned as part of the church service. There are various way to do this and the pastor should vary from time to time. One could use music, testimonies, giving and sermons as worship. The one thing the congregation can do collectively is worship and praise God. This too, should be well planned.

Perhaps the most important part of a church is its atmosphere. Dr. Jack Hyles said that the difference between an exciting church and a dead church is the atmosphere. The preacher must be positive in his messages and announcements. The pulpit is not the place for scorn, griping, complaining, or excuses. A pastor told me that he could not get his members to bring visitors to church. He had pastored for 15 years in a large city and maintained about fifty members. I later found out that practically every sermon was against the Roman Catholic Church Whore, fags, other translations of the Bible and the present government. Are you surprised that his members would not invite others? I’m not.

[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]…show people what great things God is doing in the lives of church members…[/pullquote]

Preach down the blessings of God! Exalt the goodness and love of the Lord. Talk about and show people what great things God is doing in the lives of church members and in your church. Stop trying to kill the frogs, make the pond bigger. This will keep the Devil off balance.

Church members want a quality ministry and buildings. Many church members are actually ashamed to bring family and friends to their church because the buildings are dirty and unkempt. Many churches are also shoddy in their ministries. The music is not well planed or practiced. The bulletins are pointless and so is the sermon. Cut the grass! Paint the buildings! Clean the carpets! Improve the nurseries and bathrooms! I preached in a church that had only one bathroom. To make things worse, they had only one towel. It was the kind you have in your home, and everyone used it. Visitors will not return to any church run like that. Do the best you can with what you have to make everything first class. Start the services on time and stop them on time.

Vision for world missions is a must for the church. People must see the needs around the world and then be led to get involved in meeting those needs. This involves more than giving and praying for missions or reading a mission letter. Allow people to visit a mission field. Get them personally involved in world mission projects.

People need purpose for everything that the church does and for what you want them to do. Pastors must get off their backsides; discover what the real needs of their members are, and then research ways to address these needs with the Book. Have a purpose statement and teach it to your people until everyone knows what their church is about. Stop trying to make your church like someone else’s. Find out how to best meet the needs of your members and then implement what is needed to accomplish it.

CLEAN AND EMPTY

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CLEAN AND EMPTY

By Ken Blue

“Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.” Proverbs 14:4

No doubt, one’s vision and philosophy is reflected in how sanitary the barn is. The attitude of some is, “My barn may be empty, but it is clean.” That is not something to be proud of. Animals always track in dirt. The more animals you have, the more dirt you can expect. However, those who track in the dirt are the same ones who do the work. They feed the cows, slop the hogs, pay the bills and provide your bread and butter.

[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The animals must be fed, comforted, loved and cleaned up after.[/pullquote]

If you want the farm to increase, you must stop attacking the animals. Instead, they must be fed, comforted, loved and cleaned up after. If you don’t want people of other races, other political persuasions, children and teachers of public schools, or anyone else who may defecate in your barn, just attack them when they arrive. They won’t be back, but you will have clean stalls.

Some pastors and evangelist seem dedicated to keeping the barns clean and empty. It’s your call. You can have the increase from the animals or you can be clean and empty, but you can’t have it both ways.

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.

“WHAT IS A BAPTIST?”

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“WHAT IS A BAPTIST?”

By Ken Blue

trail of bloodSome time ago, a Pastor ask me “What is a Baptist?” He and I were on Facebook as friends, but after a heated debate over perpetuity, he blocked our friendship. So, my question is, what is a Baptist?

Lutherans follow the teaching of Martin Luther. Methodist follow the teaching of John Wesley. Presbyterians follow the teaching of John Calvin. The Hussites followed John Huss. The Waldensian followed Peter Waldo. And, so it goes.

Now, what are Baptist? Did they become one by following John the Baptist? Some say yes. However, the truth of history and of Scripture will prove that is not the case. From the time of the Apostle Paul, there have always been Gentile believers. Just as there were schisms in his day, so it has been down through history. However, following Paul’s example, those who adhered to his teachings rejected infant baptism, sprinkling, and baptism as any part of the gospel.  Thus, they were at odds with the Roman Catholic Church.

These believers were later call Anabaptist by their enemies. This is not a name they adopted for themselves. (16th century.)  “The name Anabaptist is derived from the Greek term anabaptista, or “one who baptizes over again.” This name was given them by their enemies in reference to the practice of “re-baptizing” converts who “already had been baptized” as infants.[6] They required that baptismal candidates be able to make their own confessions of faith and so rejected baptism of infants.” (Wikipedia Encyclopedia.)  Since it was sprinkling, it was not baptism at all.

Later, the “Ana” was dropped, and they became known as baptizers, and Baptist. According to the above encyclopedia, “John Smyth (c. 1570 – c. 28 August 1612) was an early Baptist minister of England and a defender of the principle of religious liberty… Smyth was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1594 in England. He preached in the city of Lincoln in 1600 to 1602. Soon after his ordination, he broke with the Church of England and left for Holland where he and his small congregation began to study the Bible ardently. He briefly returned to England.” Thus, prior to these events, no one ever claimed to be Baptist, nor took the name.

There are some Baptist who preach succession back to John the Baptist. This runs parallel with the Catholics Apostolic succession, although most Baptist deny this. If one follows the trail of blood, he would go back to Cain and Abel. A history of believers who have been martyred in no way leads one back to John. Why not to Paul? He was martyred also. Neither Paul, James, or Stephen shed their blood over baptism.

[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Baptist Churches have nothing to do with John the Baptist.[/pullquote]

Therefore, Baptist Churches have nothing to do with John the Baptist, or baptizer. John did not come to Israel to start a church. His only ministry was to get Israel to repent, and be baptized as a picture of their repentance and cleansing of their sins, and to make Christ known to Israel. Baptism was part of John’s salvation message for Israel. John did not preach the same gospel that the church preaches today. He did not know Jesus, Israel’s Messiah, had to die on the cross and be raised on the third day. Neither did anyone else. “Then he (Jesus) took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:  And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.  And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.” Luke 18:31-34. “For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.” John 20:9. No one follows John, nor can they.

So, the question should not be, what is a Baptist. The fact that there are hundreds of Baptist Churches who do not agree on many issues, the question should be about salvation, and does my Baptist Church believe the Bible, and rightly divide it? That is the most important issue.

PASTORS WHO ARE PUPPETS

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ARE YOU A PUPPET PASTOR OF A CHURCH

puppetBy Ken Blue

When I was a child, I always enjoyed the time of the Apple Blossom Festival. Not only did it bring several hundred people from other states, a carnival also came to town. There was everything you can imagine for the children, and the adults.

In addition to the hundreds of rides, games, concession stands, and clowns, there were always several puppet shows going on at the same time. As kids, we were mesmerized by the music, the characters, and the life-like stories. In fact, we would get so caught up in the story, and the action that we failed to notice that there were adults behind the curtains pulling, and manipulating the strings to create the action. The puppets had no life of their own, they were unknowingly controlled by the pull of others.

I must admit, there was a time in my early ministry when, I too, was a puppet on an invisible string.  I could not see it, but those with discernment could. The sad part was, I wasn’t sure of my own identity, or who was pulling the strings. I wasn’t sure, but I believed if I did not move according their influence, the strings would be cut.

Pastors, including myself, fall into a “herd mentality.” Little by little, we believe if we should offend or break from the herd, the wolves will devour us. The only safety, is loyalty to, and cooperation with the brethren. If you doubt this, just invite a guest speaker, or attend a conference not on their approval list. Oh, how the gossip will fly. “Blue is no longer a Bible believer. He now has PowerPoint, and I hear they serve coffee. What a shame. His church has become a theater.” Those are the more generous criticism.

I have discovered, and painfully so, that many I counted as true friends forsook me “faster than a speeding bullet” when I determined to pastor counter to their brain washed MIND SET. There are many pastors who would like to rearrange their ministries, but they fear, and they know the second they did they would indeed become “independent Baptist.” Pastors need to understand that “the brethren” do not build their church. Are you a puppet, pastor?