Seven Reasons Why Most Church Outreach Programs Fail

One of my passions in life is to help churches move from becoming inwardly focused to outwardly focused. When I wrote I Am a Church Member, my key motivation was to demonstrate that biblical church members are always looking outwardly. When I wrote Autopsy of a Deceased Church, my desire was to demonstrate the terrible consequences and deaths of local congregations when the members are inwardly focused.

The Readers Speak

I was overwhelmingly grateful when nearly 1,000 of the readers of this blog responded to my reader survey. I am still reading and re-reading that invaluable information.

One issue I heard clearly was your desire for me to share the specifics of what effective outwardly-focused churches are doing. I heard you. My work on that request is almost complete, and I will be sharing it in video format this fall. The necessary brevity of a blog post precludes the type of discussion I want you to hear.   Continue at Thom Rainer

Seven Ways Pastoring Has Changed in Thirty Years

We are out of clichés about change or the pace of change. Sometimes we forget how much particular vocations have changed in a short time. In fact, in thirty years pastoring has changed in ways we likely would have never predicted or imagined.

In early 1984, I began serving as a pastor for the first time. I would ultimately serve four churches as a pastor and nine churches as an interim pastor. In 1984 I was a young 28-year-old pastor without a clue. Today I am 58-years-old, and I’m still not sure I have a clue. So much has changed. So much has changed in pastoring in just thirty years. Let’s look at major ways the pastorate has changed in that time.

1. Thirty years ago, most people in the community held the pastor in high esteem. Today most people don’t know who the pastor is, nor does the pastor hold any position of prominence in most communities.
2. Thirty years ago, most people in the congregation held the pastor in high esteem. Though I cannot offer precise numbers, there is little doubt that church members as a rule don’t view pastors with the same esteem as they did thirty years ago. That is one major reason serving as a pastor is becoming increasingly difficult.
3. Leadership skills are required more today than thirty years ago. Thirty years ago, I could preach sermons well and care for the congregation, and I would be deemed at least an adequate pastor. The demands and the expectations of the pastor are much higher today. Many of those demands can only be met with at least decent leadership skills.   Continue at Thom Rainer

The One Another’s of New Testament Christianity

To be a Christian is to be part of God’s family. It involves having a relationship with God and with His people. In fact, the New Testament does not know of a Christian who is not part of a local assembly of believers, in other words, a local Church. When the Holy Spirit inspired letters for God’s people, they were addressed not to individual members in their homes but to local Churches. It was simply assumed that when the letter was read to the gathered Church, the people of God would be there to hear it. Christianity is not just all about you; nor is it just about you and Jesus; its about you, Jesus and all of God’s people

To be an obedient Christian, one needs to foster relationships with God’s people. None of us can DO Christianity by ourselves. We need one another. Here are 40 New Testament verses which cannot be obeyed in isolation from the Body of Christ:

Stimulate one another to love and good deeds (Heb 10:24)
Confess your sins to one another (James 5:16)
Build up one another (1 Thess 5:11)
Be of the same mind as one another (Romans 12:13, 15:5)
Comfort one another in the face of death (1 Thess 4:18)
Employ your spiritual gifts in serving one another (1 Peter 4:10)

Continue at John Samson

Why Should You Go to A Prayer Meeting?

Chances are someone has invited you to a prayer meeting. Your immediate response is probably predictable. “What time is it? And where do you meet?” Your next response is also highly predictable, “Why should I go to a prayer meeting?” My goal in this post is to provide help with the latter question.

Here is my short-list of 6 reasons why you should go to a prayer meeting.

1. Privilege- Sometimes we forget that prayer is a privilege. And it is not a cheap privilege. When we pray we are communing with the God of the universe, the originator and sustainer of all life. Further, we are talking to our Father. He is more than a cosmic superintendent he is our caring Savior. This family relationship, this access was purchased with the highest price, the royal currency of Christ’s blood. Don’t allow yourself to crowd out privilege with inconvenience.

2. Community- In the NT we know that personal prayer is to be prioritized and protected (Matt. 6.6). But we also see community prayer modeled and prescribed (Acts 1.14; 2 Tim. 2.1-8). There is great refreshment in the gathering of believers, in-dwelt and led by the Holy Spirit, calling upon Trinitarian Community while in the church community.

3. Edification- Every time I pray with other believers I find myself edified. People often have different devotional soups on the front burner. God is preparing, teaching, and showing them different things than he is me. As these other believers pray they speak of what they are learning and how God is leading them to be sympathetic and burdened for others. This is surprisingly impactful and is a useful tool for my edification. Continue at  Erik Raymond

If Facebook Tempts You

With the news from Wall Street that Facebook is going public, we can be confident the social media giant aims to stay around for a while. And why shouldn't it? With more than 845,000,000 monthly users, the company has become deeply ingrained the public's psyche. Whether your preference is Facebook or Twitter or one of the hundreds of other services, social networking is firmly rooted as the new way to "do community." The ability to connect or reconnect with these networks offers innumerable benefits and privileges we simply did not have before. We are, however, becoming increasingly aware of the limitations of virtual community and the problems associated with our being so connected.

The Drain

Talk with enough folks who regularly use Facebook or Twitter and you'll soon recognize a pattern. Mental drain accompanies comparing your life with all of your friends and acquaintances. Recently, Christian hip-hop artist Shai Linne tweeted he had quit following another Christian hip-hop artist on Twitter. The reason was not a doctrinal disagreement or failed friendship. Linne quit following this other artist---whom he greatly respects and admires---because he had noticed a sense of envy creep up after reading the tweets confirming the other's success. Linne later explained in a video where the issue was discussed in detail, that he took this practical step to guard his heart.

An "out of sight, out of mind" approach worked for Linne. Could that work for you? Are we as quick to act, surgically removing sin or the temptation of sin associated with our use of social media? Furthermore, if we as adults are struggling with the sin of jealousy, envy, or covetousness, what is the use of social media doing to our kids?  Continue at Jason Allen

Who Are the 144,000 in Revelation?

And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. (Rev. 7:4)

Many sincere Bible-believing Christians would understand the 144,000 like this: The church is raptured prior to the great tribulation. During the time when the church is gone, a remnant of 144,000 ethnic Jews is converted (12,000 from each tribe). These Jewish converts, in turn, evangelize the Gentiles who make up the great multitude in white robes in v. 9. That’s one understanding of Revelation 7.  A lot of godly people hold that understanding. Let me explain why I understand the 144,000 differently.

The 144,000 are not an ethnic Jewish remnant, and certainly not an Anointed Class of saints who became Jehovah’s Witnesses before 1935. The 144,000 represent the entire community of the redeemed. Let me give you several reasons for making this claim.

First, in chapter 13 we read that Satan seals all of his followers, so it makes sense that God would seal all of his people, not just the Jewish ones.

Second, the image of sealing comes from Ezekiel 9 where the seal on the forehead marks out two groups of people: idolaters and non-idolaters. It would seem that the sealing of the 144,000 makes a similar distinction based on who worships God not who among the Jewish remnant worships God.  Continue at Kevin DeYoung

How to Stone People Without the Inconvenience of Picking Up Rocks

Shepherding those who struggle with life dominating sin is not unlike swimming out to a drowning victim. There’s always the potential of having your nose broken by the very one you are trying to save. It’s an exhausting sort of love, but sincere. Churches that truly love their members swim out to each other’s lives in light of the risks.

It’s unloving to let a brother drown. Accountability, or church discipline -as we call it – is part of what makes for a loving community. It’s necessary if we are to be biblical churches. Churches that don’t practice accountability as mandated by the Lord aren’t really churches. Confrontation is a part of true love. If I love you I will not let you leave your wife and children without a fight. Right? Some of my biggest fans as a pastor are people who once hated me for interfering in their lives. Some of my dearest friends are those who have stepped in and confronted mine when I most needed it.

But, having noted the importance of church discipline, I do think we most often get it wrong. Mainly at the level of motivation – not to mention the misapplication of method. We can seem more committed to practicing church discipline for the sake of practicing church discipline than loving people. Yet, the aim is love. Based on Jesus’ description it might just as well be called church loving as much as church discipline. Keep Reading >>>

Flattery Can Kill

She was a well-dressed middle-aged woman. She arrived early at one of my first services as senior pastor of Gages Lake Bible Church. Immediately my "new person" radar went up. All pastors have this sixth sense, but for young, first-time, small church pastors it is always at the highest levels of alert.

I walked up to her and briefly chatted before the service began. I learned that she had driven a great distance and had listened to a few of my sermons online before deciding to check us out.

After the service I purposely singled out the new lady (we'll call her Rose). Rose was overflowing with compliments. "Wow! I haven't heard preaching like that in a long time. You're a breath of fresh air in this community." I offered some preacher speak like, "No, it's all God."

But inside my heart was dancing the two-step. Rose's flattery seemed a balm to my restless soul. Pastoring was new to me, and I was pretty insecure about my preaching. I had yet to find my voice. Here was a seasoned believer whose opinion mattered to me. She'd probably been attending church longer than I'd been alive.

The flattery continued. "You're the only church in this area that preaches the true gospel message." I was pretty sure this wasn't at all true, but I let that go. Why spoil a good thing? Maybe every other evangelical pastor in town embraced a full-throated heterodoxy. I had yet to develop relationships with any other local pastors, so her assessment seemed as good as any.  Keep Reading >>>

Church-Planting and Pulpit-Priority

If you have tuned in to church-planting chatter lately, you may have heard something along these lines: “We’re more about community, you’re about a Sunday event.” “We’re more about being missional, you’re more about a pulpit.” It’s an emphasis on community and/or mission, over preaching.

Similarly, I recently heard this advice: “If you are on your way to the Sunday gathering and see your neighbor painting his fence, forget the gathering, turn around, go home and get your paintbrush.”

Now, serving our neighbors for the gospel is faithful, no doubt. Painting your neighbors fence could be in-roads to sharing the only message that saves. 

Genuine biblical community is a non-negotiable for the local church.

Dangerous Dichotomies

Even so, among church-planting discussion, there seems to be a false distinction between “community” and “missional,” and the ministry of the pulpit. There is a temptation to consider the pulpit a less fashionable, or even an optional, accoutrement to real, church-planting ministry.    Keep Reading>>>

My Halloween Theory

It has been fascinating to witness the rise of Halloween in recent years. What was at one time a day for kids to spend a couple of hours going door-to-door to collect candy and coins has morphed into a true holiday where kids and adults alike celebrate. Recent trips to costume stores show that the shelf space given to adult costumes now outweighs the space given to children’s costumes. I actually wonder if the trajectory of the holiday is such that the children will soon be forgotten altogether.

It’s fascinating to me—and more than a little repulsive—that on Halloween you can walk into a legitimate, professional workplace—a bank or real estate office where millions of dollars change hands every day—and find women dressed in ill-fitting, sexy costumes. You can find men dressed like skeletons or superheroes. Just for one day we can all act in ways that any other days would get us fired (or institutionalized). 

I’ve often wondered why it is that Halloween has transformed from what it was to what it is today. Along the way I’ve developed a theory. It may seem a little far-fetched, but hear me out and let me know what you think. First I’ll give two background factors or forces, and then get to the heart of my theory.   Keep Reading>>>

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The TV Church

What is the 'electronic church'? If you turn on your TV, you will find a variety of religious broadcasting, from Roman Catholic masses to traditional Presbyterian services to charismatic talk shows. Some of these programmes are rather amateurish local broadcasts of local worship services. Others are sophisticated and expensive programmes syndicated all over the world. Some of these programmes are produced by honest, earnest people trying to be helpful to others. Others seem to have questionable messages and methods. In one sense, all these programmes are part of the electronic church.

Usually, though, 'electronic church' is used to refer to those programmes distributed beyond a single local area and supported by the contributions of viewers. For the purposes of this article, the 'electronic church' will refer to any TV broadcast that becomes a central part of the religious experience and practice of its viewers.

My concern here is to argue that the electronic church at its best can only be a religious supplement in the life of the Christian. There are indeed many useful supplements for Christians today, including Christian bookstores, radio stations, and a host of local, national and international organizations for various educational, evangelistic and welfare goals. But the purpose of this article is to maintain that all those supplements must remain subordinate to and supportive of the Christian's commitment to the local church. Keep Reading...

Your Grandma was Right: All Things in Moderation

The holiday season is here!  This is the time of year when we overeat and strap on a few extra pounds. But it doesn't have to be. Especially if you allow God to convict you about what eating is really all about.

The good

He made you dependent on food and water, so it is good to hunger, thirst, and then be satisfied. Being hungry even draws us to the Lord (Deut. 3).  
He made the plants and vegetables we eat and the animals that provide meat and dairy (Gen. 1:11-13, 20-25). Continue Reading>>>

Should Churches Trade in Services for Serving?

It’s become popular in recent years for churches to skip the worship service periodically (once a year? a quarter? once a month?) in order to serve their communities. “No church this morning, we’re picking up trash in the park.” Is this thoughtful cultural engagement or another example of good intentions gone astray?
Well, you can probably guess I’m more apt to say the latter, but let’s not assume the worst about these churches. Let’s assume the people love Christ and love to worship him. Let’s assume they value preaching and believe the chief end of man is to glorify God. Let’s assume the sole motivation behind churchless Sundays is outreach. No one is trying to be trendy. No one is hating on the church. They simply want to help their communities, show they care, and maybe even have an opportunity to talk about Jesus. Assuming these are gospel-believing Christians trying to do gospel work, what’s the big deal about taking four (or two or twelve or whatever) Sundays out of the year to hit the streets and do something for others?
Of course, there’s nothing wrong (and plenty right) about wanting to serve others and take our faith to the streets. But before you cancel your worship services consider the following: Continue Reading>>>

Mark Dever: The Pastor and the Community