Surviving Ex Communication & Separation from the Potters House Network of Churches

 “Reflections on being Ex Communicated from The Potters House (Not TD Jakes) /The Door /CFM Churches”. 

IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW IS THINKING OF LEAVING THIS NETWORK, PLEASE HAVE THEM READ THIS BLOG FIRST!

Introduction:
I have been asked to share some of my reflections regarding our January 2015 Ex Communication from The Potters House /CFM /The Door fellowship of Churches. Though at first unsure, thinking of the amount of pastors (& congregants) that have already gone through & will go through their own ex communication from The Potters House /CFM /The Door, these reflections will be helpful for those processing this journey.

Due to the heavy controlling culture of The Potters House, ex communication from them is difficult, this post is to help people process that journey better.

For posterity, the following list of 67 (over 60%) pastors no longer in the Potters House UK &/or churches shut down is not exhaustive and (does not include the amount of congregants that leave nor the many dozens of redirected pastors) is from memory. However what it does show, is that statistically a significant number of current pastors will go through their own separation or ex communication from Potters House within the next few years. When this post was written, the UK number was 32 & has now grown to over 67. We have been out of PH for years so the true figure will be significantly higher.

Peter Bayerman – (Started Walthamstow - No Longer in PH);.
David Vicary (Bury St Edmunds: Walthamstow: UK leader - No Longer in PH);
John Galt (Bury St. Edmunds- No Longer in PH);
Dave Foster (Scotland churches shut down- No Longer in PH);
Neil Watts? (Started Cambridge - church shut down- No Longer in PH);
Trevor Bradshaw (Started Torquay - church shut down- No Longer in PH);
Jon Spurgeon (started Wembley, the church left PH - No Longer in PH);
Toks Odofin (Started Shepherds Bush, the church left the fellowship- No Longer in PH);
Clement Okusi (started Croydon - the church split, No Longer in PH);
Kevin Brown (Dundee church shut down- No Longer in PH);
George Tafla (started Kilburn church shut down- No Longer in PH);
John Onelum (started Ealing; Manor Park church shut down- No Longer in PH);
Tony Ogunike; (Shepherds Bush, Church shut down - No Longer in PH)
Kelvin Roy-Palmer (started Tottenham Church; Missionary to Ghana; Guyana; West Bromwich- No Longer in PH);

Julian Mabey; (Norwich; Bury St Edmunds; Missionary - No Longer in PH)

Kantz Mizra (Barry, Wales church shut down- No Longer in PH);
Craig Thomas (started Cardiff - No Longer in PH);
Everton Brown (started Watford - Church shut down, No Longer in PH);
Roy Hewitt (started Wandsworth - No Longer in PH);
Easton Wilson (started Bolton - No Longer in PH);
Jason Morris (started Wolverhampton - No Longer in PH);
Chris ? (started Woolwich- No Longer in PH);
Kodjo Abolou (Started Lyon church shut down- No Longer in PH);
Fola Oyediran (started Jos; Nigeria; Church shut down, & Dublin church - No Longer in PH);
Gary Taylor (Newcastle- No Longer in PH);
Michael Nicholau (Started Edmonton - church shut down- No Longer in PH);
Alex Amaku (Started Kilburn, church shut down- No Longer in PH);
Nigel Davies (started Norwich- No Longer in PH);
Michael Lopez (Nottingham- No Longer in PH);
Jim Calhoun (sic) (Edinburgh, church shut down- No Longer in PH);
Richard Tull (Started Merton & Clapham church - both shut down- No Longer in PH);
Topps Oluwatobi (Started Hackney - church shut down- No Longer in PH);
Andrew Martin (Brighton- No Longer in PH);
Clyde Planter (Bristol- No Longer in PH);
Emmanuel Okonkwo (Anthony Village Lagos; Nigeria- No Longer in PH),
Ashley Charles (Canterbury church - No Longer in PH),
Paul Pritchard (Started Stockport church shut down- No Longer in PH);
Kosi Amesu (Manchester  church - No Longer in PH);
Yomi Oluwatobi (Liverpool- church shut down- No Longer in PH);
Juvencio Da Silva (Started Streatham, Oldham, both churches shut down);
Ephraim Morgan (Started Openshaw Manchester, church shut down - No longer in PH);
Christian Chukuwelu (Brighton- No Longer in PH);
Ben Baiden (Started Deptford - Church shut down);
George Oduro Mensah (Started Spelthorne - Church shut down);
Jonathon Beckford (Started Oxford, Church shut down);
Luke Saunders (Started Crawley Church - Church shut down - No Longer in PH)
Linton Robinson (started Church in wales - Church shut down - No longer in PH)

Mark Claxton (Started Chelmsford – no Longer in PH)

John Amponsah (Coventry – Church shut down)

Allister Cameron (Glasgow – Church shut down – No Longer in PH)

Rexton Davidison (Stratford – Church shut down)

Nana Owusu (Colliers Wood – Church shut down)

Sean Woolmer (Newcastle – No longer in PH)
Tass Sawyer (started Church in Chatham? -  Church shut down - No longer in PH)
Nathan Plamer (Walthamstow Worship leader / Pastored in Southampton) - No Longer in PH
Dominic Dorrant (Streatham - Church shut down).
Daniel Leung (Started Preston - Left to go Hillsong Sydney) - No Longer in PH
Stanley Gadagah (Coventry) - No Longer in PH
Chandi (Birmingham - Church shut down) - No Longer in PH

Neil McCann (Glasgow - Church shut down) - No Longer in PH

Joe Stephens (South London Church) - No Longer in PH

Louis (Swindon Church) - No Longer in PH

Mo Timbo (Hull) - Sent to Prison 2023 - No Longer in PH

Kevin Lynch (Walthamstow) - left after 33yrs - No longer in PH

Andy Dale (Norwich) - Left after 30yrs - No longer in PH

Ashley Harris (Clapham) - Church Shut Down - No longer in PH

Ayo & Carolyn Akinyemi (Bromley / Trinidad) - Carolyn No Longer in PH

Freedom

When separating from a heavy handed controlling network, you can feel a tremendous sense of freedom and release from their legalism & control. My wife & I were able to attend more Saturday evening restaurants, shows & family gatherings together in the first nine months out of PH then we did in the five years prior. The danger however, is that is in this ‘new found freedom’ you drop your guard, cross boundaries & enter into devastating sin. This is often, used by the network as a controlling mechanism of ‘look what happens when you leave PH’ to the extent there is an expectation that those who leave PH will fail. PH has been known to speak negatively & curse those who have separated from them.

Most have heard the adage do not throw out the baby out with the bathwater, but the challenge is recognising what is the bath water to be thrown away & what is the baby to be kept? PH do not allow TV’s, Social Media, Cinemas, Pastors to have Beards, Alcohol, Brides to walk up the aisle on their wedding day, Holidays without permission, mixing with ex members, Bible college, mixing with non PH churches & you have to sign contracts. The baby to be kept in Christianity will always be Love, Prayer, Fasting, Bible reading, Worship & Evangelism.

Different people will take different amounts of time to process leaving a network like PH; some say it took them several years to readjust to a more balanced biblical lifestyle. For us the most challenging part was the first ninety days but gradually we began to heal & readjust to a new paradigm & recalibration of ministry.

What to do?
Maintain boundaries & resist temptation, but generally unless something obviously needs to be changed immediately, proceed slowly, give it at least six – twelve months before making major changes. For example we have not had a TV in our home for twenty years (PH ministry rule) & though we have been out of the network for a year now we still do not have one (yet).

This may seem strange to those outside of PH, but is an exemplar of the PH culture. One of the first questions ex members are often asked by those still in PH is "do you have a TV?". This is regarded by some within PH as "backsliding".


Faith
When you become a part of a church network, it invariably shapes your thinking & worldview, especially if you were ‘saved’ in it. You buy into their ethos, vision & culture. In fact these might have been the very qualities that attracted you to them in the first place.

However the danger with this is that your Christian worldview becomes limited & even distorted by your insular context. In other words you must believe that God is bigger, wider, deeper, higher & more accurate than you or your networks theological viewpoint. 

Ephesians 3:20 (TLB) says this: Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of-- infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes. 

If your faith is confined only to the perspective of your network, then should you be separated from that network, your faith may struggle to adapt, especially if some (erroneously) equate separation from a network as separation from Christ, the will of God or the Church universal (Matthew 16:18). PH often equate leaving their churches as the same as leaving Christ - BEWARE!

This means you must have a reservoir of scripture & theological understanding upon which you can draw upon to help you move towards your God ordained destiny & future. You must know that your destiny is never limited to a network or leader but like Joseph & David, is bound up in the bundle of the living with God himself (Genesis 37-50; 1st Samuel 25:29).

What to do?
You must cultivate a broader viewpoint of Christianity, which requires you connecting with perspectives & people beyond your insular network. This may involve reading other authors & perspectives than those espoused by your network. For others this may involve biblical courses & education (many can be done online). I obtained University degrees (BD Spurgeons & MA Regents) in theology whilst pastoring full time, which enabled me to get a broader perspective.

You do not need formal theological education to pastor successfully, but one of the things formal education teaches you is to ‘ask’ & ‘answer’ the "right" questions’ (1st Peter 3:15). Many controlling networks do not like people to ask certain questions or to think independently & this can lead to false accusations of rebellion and independence.

Finances
When you become part of a network invariably your finances become entwined in it, by virtue of your giving into the vision of the network via tithes, offerings, pledges, love offerings, world evangelism, mission, conferences, etc. For example, many sincere congregants & pastors have made huge financial sacrifices in supporting their network only to fall out with them later. One congregant gave a quarter of a million dollars to a church in support of his pastors vision, only for his pastor to be unfairly forced out a little while later. In a 20 year period we estimate we gave the network over £400,000.

Another way your finances are entwined in a network is if you are receiving your main income from that network by virtue of your role as a pastor, evangelist, or staff member. Pastors have families to feed & bills to pay like everyone else. Now being separated from the network becomes more than just a theological issue but one of economic survival, especially the older you get (Luke 16:3-9).

Ministers have been known to stay in a network they strongly disagreed with purely for financial reasons to the point of even compromising their conscience before God (Acts 23:1). 

PH will regularly challenge working pastors to give up their jobs/careers to go full time in the ministry. This challenge will be presented in noble biblical terms, but BEWARE it is a point in which PH will control you. One well known senior PH evangelist was cancelled by the founder because he simply encouraged Christian  music videos as a part of evangelism. He then had to get a job in his mid 60's to feed his family. Many older pastors in PH feel trapped because they are too old to build a career out of the network. PH leaders use this as leverage to control & coerce.

PH are very nervous about pastors who are financially independent from them. We gave one young pastor sound biblical financial advice about having multiple income streams to which the national leader replied "it was immoral for Pastor Clement to tell you that"! The hypocrisy is that this leader bought a house for £172,500 (mortgage paid for by the Walthamstow church) which is now valued in excess of £800,000 & has bank accounts in multiple countries.

What to do?
You must be a good steward and develop income streams outside of the influence of your network. 

In Genesis 2:10-14 God puts Adam in the Garden of Eden. His job was to maintain the garden, yet God provided four (income) streams (Pishon, Gihon, Hiddekel & Euphrates) to help him to do it. This meant that if one stream dried up, there were other streams that enabled God’s work to continue.

The hypocrisy, is that many (if not all) of the leaders within PH will have multiple investments (property, stocks, shares, companies, huge retirement funds etc), whilst putting financial pressure on others to sacrifice. Several leaders within PH are multi millionaires & have privately shown me their investments. (Proverbs 10:5).

Friends
This is a big issue - when you become a part of a network invariably over time your friendships become concentrated on those within the network. You become gradually disconnected from relationships outside of the network (especially those that are unsaved), because you become absorbed by the culture & work ethic of the network. Most people within PH have few if any real relationships outside (or inside) of PH.

Should you then become disconnected from the network, you will also find yourself disconnected from those very same friendships. In other words you need to be aware than many of your "current" & "closest" relationships in the network are conditional upon you remaining in the network. It is not uncommon for long term friends who were best men & bridesmaids at each other’s weddings to be shunned later because of being separated from the network.

It often surprises & shocks people to find that what they considered to be genuine lifelong friendships & alliances are lost when they are no longer part of the network. Often the refrain is ‘righteousness over relationships’ (thank God he does not think this way otherwise we would be righteously punished for our sins, John 3:16). This becomes even more difficult when the separated one is painted negatively by the network as a rebel etc.

Many years ago, I began to view the Church as being much broader than my insular sphere. This brought me into relationships with people that were outside of my network. This became critical when I was at my lowest ebb, because many of these friends (outside of the network) stood by me & my family, for which I am grateful for.

What to do?
You must build and cultivate relationships beyond the control and influence of your network. Proverbs 18:1 says A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against all wise judgment.

Family
One of the common things upon joining a network is that you want your family to also be a part of that network. There are many instances where whole families have joined a network through an initial family member joining. However when there is a separation one of the early causalities will be family relationships. Stories abound of marriages & families divided over network loyalty. Wayman Mitchell  refused to attend the funeral of his daughter Sharon Mastin who had left the network with her husband Mike Mastin some years prior, despite only being a 15 minute drive away at the time of the funeral. (Sharon Mastin's sons were so grieved by their grandparents absence from their mothers funeral that they drove the short distance to the Perth church & confronted Wayman & Nelda Mitchell in the Church car park. Things got heated & Wayman Mitchell stormed off, leaving Nelda alone with her grandsons). Wayman Mitchell's behaviour then becomes an example for others to not attend their family members funerals because they left PH.

It is also common for leaders to target the wife of a man who wants to leave to put pressure on them staying. Many times wives will have most of their friends & relationships in the network. This can be taken advantage of by the network. 

In 1 Timothy 3:1-5 the order is not ministry first, it is family first. It is family that qualifies you for ministry:
1 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.
2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach;
3 not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous;
4 one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence
5 (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?)

This is a fundamental posturing of your life in relation to family and family relationships are not to be trivialised.

What to do?
View your family as a divine priority, spend time with them & do not neglect them.

Forgiveness
Being separated from a network can be painful. For some it is one of the most devastating & traumatic experiences of life. As a result you can feel betrayed, bitter & violated. Therefore one has to intentionally work at guarding ones heart. Proverbs 4:23 says: Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. 

This is not an excuse to tell those who have been hurt or violated ‘get over it’….. I believe God hears & heeds the bitter cries of his people (Exodus 3:9). In 1 Samuel 1:10 it was Hannah’s bitterness of soul that led her to cry out to God. This led to her vow of faith in dedicating her not yet conceived son, Samuel to God.

Forgiving others does not mean you are letting people get away with it or ignoring the fact that you may have been treated unfairly. What is does mean is that you trust God who sees the bigger picture, whilst also knowing that our relationships are both vertical & horizontal. Jesus is clear that unforgiveness towards our fellow man hinders our relationship with Him (Matthew 6:15; Genesis 50:20).

What to do? 
Pray for & forgive those you feel have hurt you, whilst also seeking their forgiveness.

Facts
When separations occur there are often many sides & perspectives to the whys & hows of what happened. As people try to process whatever limited information they have, facts will be misunderstood, exaggerated & unfortunately deliberately twisted. PH are experts at shielding their members from the facts & creating a negative narrative that the person who leaves is at fault (rebel). Such is the information control, that it is not uncommon for some people to have left or died & fellow PH members had no idea!

As Christians we are people of truth, often for us (at least for me) truth is black & white. So when we hear things that are not true (especially negativity about us) we want to set the record straight. Proverbs 18:17 says: Any story sounds true until someone tells the other side & sets the record straight (TLB).

The problem is, you cannot respond to every inaccurate story or account. If you do, you are likely to end up frustrated emotionally & spiritually drained in the process. There is a place for recording your views & your side of the story for posterity, but once you have done that & made it available for those who need to hear it, then you must leave it, (this blog was written many years ago & still gets thousands of views in a day).

This has been a challenge for me, because as those who have debated me know, I like to get my point across. And it has been a great lesson in learning to shut up! In Matthew 27:12-14 (TLB) we read of how Jesus responded to the many accusations against him

12 But when the chief priests & other Jewish leaders made their many accusations against him, Jesus remained silent.
13 "Don't you hear what they are saying?" Pilate demanded.
14 But Jesus said nothing, much to the governor's surprise.

What to do?
Examine your own heart, motives & actions, where have you erred? With integrity state your side of the story as clearly as possible, to the relevant parties & leave it to God to vindicate you.

Psalms 26:1 (NKJ) Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the LORD; I shall not slip. 

Conclusion
Separating from a controlling church network can be painful and traumatic, but it is survivable & thrivable! You need to know that there is life, joy, purpose & destiny in Christ Jesus beyond any religous organisation.

My prayer is that those who find themselves going through a similar painful situation will come out of it with their relationship with Jesus Christ intact & their family stronger than ever, knowing their best years are ahead of them.

Rom 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (NIV)

Shalom.......

PS: If you need to contact me:

mobile is +44 7956 397 172 

email: info@eternitychurchcroydon.com

Culture: Judging right & Wrong.

Culture has changed how we view right & wrong.

"Increasingly, we don’t want to judge others for anything, even if what they’re doing is destructive. But is being non-judgmental the same as granting tacit approval, even support?"

Christian Entertainment

AW. Tozer - wrote these words in 1955: For centuries the church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was-a device for wasting time, a refuge from the disturbing voice of conscience, a scheme to divert attention from moral accountability. For this she got herself abused roundly by the sons of this world. But of late she has become tired of the abuse and has given over the struggle. She appears to have decided that if she cannot conquer the great god Entertainment she may as well join forces with him and make what use she can of his powers. So today we have the astonishing spectacle of millions of dollars being poured into the unholy job of providing earthly entertainment for the so-called sons of heaven.

Religious entertainment is in many places rapidly crowding out the serious things of God. Many churches these days have become little more than poor theatres where fifth-rate "producers" peddle their shoddy wares with the full approval of evangelical leaders who can even quote a holy text in defence of their delinquency. And hardly a man dares raise his voice against it.

Forgiveness is Tough!

Forgiveness is not an option on the buffet table of the Christian walk. Heaven is for those who receive forgiveness vertically from heaven and give it horizontally on earth.
Forgiveness requires sacrifice. To get to it from Heaven required the Lamb to lay down his life and for us to give it horizontally will require the sacrifice laying down of our hurt and desire for retribution

Genuine forgiveness requires this: devastating violating will always want injustice and hurt satisfied.

Forgiveness like this is not easy. It's not for sissy's or the faint hearted.

Like faith it needs to be constantly strengthened and build up, it like faith is tested and its then a focus of fight

Many times savage hurts and grievous wounds can creep back in unawares to seek a root of bitterness to grow troubling you and defiling many.

We must be on guard to let our faith not weaken to unbelief and our forgiveness to weaken to bitterness

Sometimes the initial decision to forgive can require many back up decisions to fortify it

Sometimes it will need the grace of God to undergird it as you will struggle in your own ability.

Many times it's simply unfair to forgive but because He has us and our sin and requires us to, we must.

Sadly many good and godly because of their unforgiveness to a violation have stopped growing, opened to door to darkness and potentially closed the door to heaven.

Yet the very people who violated them can go on and lead powerful live's because they got vertical and have given horizontal forgiveness

It's a dicy place to be in: calling someone unclean and worthy of judgement when God has declared them clean and pardoned because they have sought Him for it

To forgive doesn't mean you have to be someone's best friend or even like them it means you pardon them, let go of the violation. Sometime forgiveness will open a door for an even closer friendship than before. Sometime it won't and its impossible to even be on good terms because of the nature of the situation and the person. But it's important to pardon

Pardon doesn't always means there will not be consequences. You might pardon some one but have to go thru court or divorce etc

But the key thing is to move on obey and honour God and his precepts. I know people who hang on to stuff for years, I'm so sorry it happened to you but your lack of forgiveness is now the thing that is killing you,  others who seek out stuff to then use trip others. Stuff that God has pardoned and every one has moved on from

The Real Gospel (Way of the Master).

If you listen to most modern preachers, they will tell you how God can help you. He’s your friend and He’s there for your happiness. He has a wonderful plan for your life. However, with a spiraling world economy, the increase in global disasters, wars, unstoppable diseases, massive floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, tsunamis, and escalating violence, it’s not so easy to make the promise of a bliss-filled future for those who respond to the gospel.

Words mean different things to different people. While some preachers would say that a “wonderful” plan means that God will be with us in the lion’s den, they don’t mention the lions, and so they are disillusioned the first time a lion looks at them as lunch. God isn’t portrayed in Scripture as some sort of divine butler who comes at the beck and call of humanity. There’s no promise of perfect happiness in this life. The Christian life is rather portrayed as the opposite. The Bibles promises tribulation, temptation and persecution for those who live a godly life in this sinful world.

Consequently, skeptics are right when they say that the church is filled with hypocrites—those whose lives don’t reflect what we know they should. And our land is filled with those who think that they were once Christians who have fallen away from their faith. The following letter is typical of those in this category:

“Ray believes I was a ‘false convert’ and was never a ‘true Christian’ the entire time I believed I was a born-again evangelical Christian for many years. I spoke in tongues, had the many gifts of the Holy Spirit, laying-on-of-hands, the whole nine yards.”

He may have thought that he had the whole nine yards, but he was thrown a curveball. Sadly, this person (just one of very many) is almost certainly the product of the false gospel—the promise of an improved life. Notice the “evidence” he cites of his supposed conversion. It was that he possessed gifts, when the Bible says that it is by fruits (not gifts) that a Christian is known.

The Scriptures list the evidential fruits of conversion as the fruit of righteousness (always doing the right thing), the fruit of praise (giving God due praise for His kindness, etc.), the fruit of thanksgiving (having a thankful heart for the “unspeakable” gift of everlasting life, etc.), the fruit of repentance (living a life of holiness—no longer serving sin), and the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, faith, meekness and temperance).

Instead of possessing these fruits, the false convert deceives himself, and plays the hypocrite. He doesn’t come to “know the Lord” because his sin still separates him from God. He holds onto secret sins (lust, selfishness, a covetous heart, bitterness, etc.), and it’s only a matter of time (as with Judas) until he is exposed as a pretender. Many hypocrites stay within the Church, sitting among God’s people—as goats among the sheep--and will be sorted out on Judgment Day.

The reason the false convert had a false conversion is that he didn’t find a place of biblical repentance in the first place. He never saw sin in its true light. That’s why the Ten Commandments should be used in our witness, and not the unbiblical “God has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life” gospel.

Instead of trying to attract the sinners to the Savior, we should rather do what the Bible does. It drives them using the Ten Commandments. It is similar to the way the police may have an amnesty for illegal weapons. They would say, “You are violating the law by possessing illegal firearms. If you hand them in before the end of this month you will not be prosecuted.” And therein is the essence of the message of the gospel. We have sinned against God by violating His Law. In His sight we are criminals. There’s going to be a terrible Day of Judgment, when God reveals His anger against all evil, but He is rich in mercy and offers amnesty. If we lay down our weapons of hostility, He completely forgives us because of the cross.

When we leave off the fact that sinners have violated God’s Law and are under His just wrath, there’s no reason for them to lay down their weapons. Instead of fleeing to the cross to be saved from God’s wrath because they have sinned against Him, they instead experimentally come to the Savior to see if His wonderful plan is better than theirs. There’s no fear of God, there’s no knowledge of sin (which comes by the Law—see Romans 3:19, 20, 7:7, 7:13), and there is no conversion to Jesus Christ.

A woman named Kim once wrote to us and said that her husband had our video series, saying that she mocked Kirk Cameron and me, calling us “The Hokey Brothers,” and naming the video series “The Won't Work Series.” In other words, she didn’t believe in the use of God’s Law to bring the knowledge of sin, and be used as “a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ” (see Galatians 3:24), and said,

“Late one night the phone rang and it was a very nervous man who said that a woman at Union Station (that's in DC) gave him my business card… It turns out a friend had … double parked, ran to a security guard and handed him my card saying, ‘This is the woman who will answer your questions about God’. He stammered on the phone telling me the story and then said that he had kept the card for a year, thrown it away several times only to dig it out of the trash. Clifton then went on to ask me question after question about scripture. My husband found passages so that I could read directly as I spoke to Clifton over several hours. Well after midnight Clifton was still questioning why he needed God and I went ‘full Ray’. ‘Have you ever told a lie?’ I queried. My husband was pounding the pillow laughing as I was mouthing to him to shut up. Within minutes Clifton's heart changed. He was crying at his need for God and saying that he never knew why he needed Him. We prayed and I never heard from Clifton again. My husband, however, never misses an opportunity to laugh at my now former mocking at Ray.”

So if you are a Christian, make sure you do what Jesus did when you present the gospel to a lost and dying world. If they are humble and have a knowledge of sin, give them grace (John 3:1-5). If they are proud and self-righteous, give them the Law to humble them and bring the knowledge of sin (Mark 10:17-22). Do what Paul did in Romans chapter 2. He said to his hearers,

“You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?” (Romans 2:21-23).

Imitate Paul. Do what Jesus did. Open up the divine Law as He did in the Sermon on the Mount, and show sinners the seriousness of sin and its fearful consequences. To fail to do so is the ultimate betrayal, the terrible repercussions of which will only be seen in eternity.

Mothers Day - Splitting the baby!

In the Old Testament, there is a great account of Solomon's wisdom, which also showed his heart. 2 Woman come to him with 1 dead baby and 1 living baby. Both Mothers claim that the living baby is theirs and the dead baby belongs to the other. Solomon understanding the heart of a Mother calls for a sword and for the living baby to be cut /split in 2 with 1 piece being given to each mother. The real Mother refuses and agrees to the 'fake' mother having the baby. The 'fake' mother insists on the baby being split. Solomon recognises that the 1st woman is the true Mother and orders that the baby be given to her.

Churches are God's children, birthed through the labours of pioneering pastors and wives. Humanly speaking they pay an often hidden price to see the church (baby) come to life. However there are others who wish to claim for themselves what they have not birthed or paid a price for. They did not serve and undergo the labour that comes with birthing a church. These 'fake' mothers, in order to get what they want they are prepared to split the baby (church), because for them, half a baby (church) is more than what they had before.

Is Church Growth All About the Pastor?

Common story: First ________ Church gets a new minister—Pastor Joe.
He’s not a very good communicator. People start leaving.
Within two years, attendance has dropped by half. Giving is down by a third. First Church descends into a malaise.
Eventually, Pastor Joe is fired and the search for his replacement begins.
A year later, First Church hires a new minister—Pastor Daniel.
He’s a great communicator. The church immediately starts growing. Happy days are here again. People love Pastor Daniel.
Why did this happen to First Church? Nothing else changed.
The building remained the same. The worship times remained the same. The ministry programs remained the same. The key staff remained the same.
The only thing that changed was the pastor.
Yet, First Church’s attendance and giving rose and fell in direct response to the quality of the preacher.
Can I be brutally honest?
When it comes to church attendance, nothing matters as much as the ability of the pastor to deliver good sermons.
If a pastor is good at his job, the church grows.
If he’s bad at his job, the church shrinks.
Sounds unspiritual—but it’s true.
It shouldn’t be this way—but it is. Each week is a referendum on the pastor’s ability to deliver an inspiring sermon.
Admit it: You’ve gotten into the car with your spouse and begun critiquing the sermon before you’re out of the church parking lot. Or you’ve been asked, “How was church?”
What do you talk about?
The sermon.
Let’s be real: Protestants judge the quality of a worship service largely by the power of the sermon to move them.
Nothing else comes close.
This is why the right minister can cause a church to sink or soar.
I liken it to a football team: An NFL squad has 53 men, but the team’s fortunes rise and fall on the talents of one man—the quarterback. If he can deliver lots of touchdowns, the team wins. If he can’t, the team loses.
Granted, the signal-caller must have good players around him, but as the Denver Broncos are seeing this year, a great QB means everything.
The same is true with church attendance. When it comes to numbers, nothing matters as much as the ability of the pastor to deliver engaging sermons. Preaching is everything.
It pains me to write these words.
In an ideal world, what SHOULD matter is prayer, the presence of the Spirit, the love of the people for one another and the church’s ministry in the community.
In that ideal world, a church should be able to take out one preacher and install another without a hiccup.
And while we’re at it, why does the size of a church even matter? Jesus would choose a church of 12 sold-out disciples over a church of 12,000 passive pew-sitters any day.
We can argue these points until Christ returns, but this blog post is about attendance. Numbers. And when it comes to putting men in pews, nothing matters more than pastoral quality. Every other consideration pales in comparison.
This wasn’t always the case.
In medieval times, there was only one church in a given area, or parish. If your parish priest offered boring homilies, you were stuck.
After the Reformation, sermons became the centerpiece of Protestant worship, as they are today. Some preachers were interesting, and others were boring.
But until the 1950s, that didn’t matter much. Christians were mostly loyal to their denominations. If you were born a Methodist, you attended the Methodist church in your area. If pastor was a lousy preacher, you endured it. You never even thought of going to another church because you were Methodist and that was that.
Fast-forward to today.
Parishioners are no longer loyal to their denominations.
Here’s my story: I was born and baptized Lutheran. As a young man, I attended an Assemblies of God Sunday school. I came to know Christ in a Free Methodist Church. In college, I joined a Baptist church, where I was married. I moved to Alaska and became a Presbyterian, and 10 years ago, I joined a nondenominational megachurch, which I still attend today (although I returned to a small Lutheran church this summer and loved it).
This kind of religious switching would have been unusual a century ago, but today it’s common. People move to new cities. They have automobiles that will take them to a church (and a pastor) they connect with.
People are less loyal to institutions.
Because parishioners now have access to better preaching (live or through the media), they are less willing to put up with boring, rambling, irrelevant preaching.
This has led modern congregants to evaluate their churches based on the sermon. They stay or go based on whether they “are being fed.” If the messages consistently lag, they seek out another church that offers them more.
Many of you are seeing red by this point. “Today’s churchgoers are so shallow. They treat God’s holy church like a product to be consumed!” you may be thinking. And you’re right.
But this is the reality in today’s world. People come to church expecting to receive something from God. If they don’t, they move on.
Can we blame them? People came to Jesus—and they always received.
Although we may condemn them as consumers, today’s parishioners choose a church with great care. The decision to leave a church is often a difficult one, fraught with emotion, doubt and uncertainty.
I have a friend in Texas (let’s call him Roger) whose church planted a “daughter church” in a nearby town. Roger and his family agreed to move to the daughter church to help it get started.
This “church plant” started with much enthusiasm, but quickly began to sputter. Attendance dropped by 75 percent as the fledgling congregation struggled with its music and preaching.
Roger attended faithfully. He volunteered. He prayed.
But the poor sermons exacted a toll on his walk with God. “Honestly, I wanted to be a good soldier and stick it out, but I finally had to be honest with myself—I was dying spiritually,” Roger said. “The worship was lifeless. The sermons just weren’t reaching me. In nine months, I didn’t hear anything from the pulpit I hadn’t heard a thousand times.”
Roger eventually made the painful decision to abandon the church plant and return to the mother church.
“I felt like a traitor,” he said. “But I’m regularly hearing from God again back in my home church. I know I’m being selfish, but I go to church to meet with God. If that’s not happening, what’s the sense in going?”
Here are some questions for you to grapple with:
What do you think Roger should have done? Was his decision to abandon the church plant selfish, or is it more important to do the things that help us grow spiritually?
Why do we go to church? For our own benefit? For God’s benefit? For the benefit of others?
Should a believer persevere in a congregation that does not meet his needs “because it’s not about him”? If so, for how long? Weeks? Months? Years? Decades?
Should Christians be “self-feeders,” or should they expect to be fed Sunday morning?
Should churchgoers expect to hear something new at church, or should they be content to hear familiar truths they’ve long known?
Should believers “tough it out” in a church with lifeless preaching?
Churchgoers give up a lot of time to come to church. Should they expect a return-on-investment for their time?
Is it right for churchgoers to change congregations based on the quality of the preaching?
Should a church live or die on the preaching ability of its senior pastor?
If a Christian decides to leave a church, what’s the best way to go about it? Should he simply disappear? Or should he write a letter to the pastor explaining his reasons for resigning?
I welcome your comments. And please share this blog by clicking on the share icons below. 

Divorcing Fact from Fiction

The following is from Pastor John McArthur.

Question: Is it true that Christians and non-Christians have the same rate of divorce?
Answer:
Some reporter called me a few months ago and said,
Reporter:  There is a new study, a new survey that indicates that divorce among Christians is the same as divorce among non-Christians.  This survey has been done, this poll has been taken and it has been determined that Christians are divorced at the same rate that non-Christians are divorced in America.  What do you think of that?
John MacArthur:  I don't believe it--I do not believe that.
Reporter:  But this is what the survey says!
John MacArthur:  I don't care what the survey says--I don't believe that.
I don't believe it, and in fact, I believe that is to dishonor the Lord, to say that the power of Christ is zero in a marriage--the power of the Holy Spirit in a marriage.  I don't believe that.  I do not believe that true Christians get divorced at the same rate that non-Christians do.
Well, it showed up in a newspaper and the guy who took the poll wasn't happy, because he thought I was questioning his integrity, so he wrote me a very, very strong letter.  I have a large "strong letter" file--this is one, "How dare you question me!  How dare you question the integrity of this poll!"  Well, I said, "I'll question it on this basis: Who did you ask that question too?  If you just surveyed the people who 'claimed' to be Christians--that doesn't count, and I might suggest to you that you don't know who the true Christians are."
So I didn't buy it at all.  And what irritated me about it is that this is a dishonor to God!  Because it denigrates the power of God in the life of a believer, with regard to the marriage!  It wasn't a question whether you get your statistics right, it's a question of dishonoring God!  You can't say that the power of God has no effect on marriages!  I said, "You don't do that."  Well, now it has become an evangelical urban legend--every time I turn around--I heard a secular news reporter say on the television the other day, "Well, now it has been proven that divorce among evangelical Christians or among Christians is the same as non-Christians."  Now we are just another statistic.  This is to say that God has no power in a marriage?
When divorces occur in our church [approximately 10,000 members] and they occur occasionally here--very often it is because somebody in the marriage who professed Christ--didn't know Him.  If you go out and survey people in "churches" across the spectrum from Catholic to Protestant, and denominations, etc., etc., etc, who knows what you are going to get?
The same company that does the surveys is the company that surveyed the people who said, "We don't want Bible teaching anymore in the pulpit."  Now what does that tell you about that crowd--if they don't love the Word of God?
It might be true that the divorce rate among nominal, cultural, so-called "Christians" is the same as those who don't claim to be Christians. But to assert that the divorce rate among true believers is the same as unbelievers--well, that's just preposterous.

Five Reasons why the Bible is the most important Book on Earth

The Bible is the single most important book ever written. It is an eyewitness account of historical events of such magnitude that they have literally shaped the world in which we live. Without this book the Western world and a good deal of the Eastern world would be completely different today than if the events of this book had never occurred.
It is not too much to say that the events recorded in this book are claimed by a significant percentage of people who have ever lived on this earth to be the most important events ever recorded in the history of the world. This book is foundational to just about everything mankind will ever know or accomplish. It has directly led to massive undertakings of good will and charity. Because of this book, great projects have been undertaken, hospitals have been built, multitudes fed and clothed and orphanages founded.
Here are five primary reasons why you need to read the Bible. This article was written by Dan Buttafuoco, president of the Historical Bible Society.

Reason #1:
The Bible has transformed the world

It would be impossible to claim to be an educated person in today's world without having at least some familiarity with the events contained in this book. Actually, all of the events contained in this book should be known by everyone.

• A good number of people around the world read portions of this book every day. It is one of the most published and printed books in the history of the world. It has been printed in just about every known language (including braille) and each year, since it was first written, it has been the world's greatest bestseller year after year. As time marches on it is continually printed in yet more languages. Collectors of rare books treasure it in every form.
• The Bible was the first book ever put to the printing press. The man who first printed it, Johannes Gutenberg, was recently voted the most important man to have ever lived within the past 1000 years!
• A good number of museums exist today which are dedicated solely to this very book and the events contained therein.
• The Bible is available in every corner of the globe, even where it is illegal to own or read this book. It is available in electronic format and on CD as well. You can find it on the internet for free. Famous actors and personages regularly quote it. It was quoted by William Shakespeare many times in his writings.
• Worldwide organizations and associations have been formed because of this book and its message, many of them existing for centuries. Together they represent multiple hundreds of millions of members.

Reason #2:
People are willing to die for this book

People have died torturous deaths simply to gain access to this book. You may, even now, be in a country where this book is discouraged or even banned outright. In many countries it is a crime to distribute or even possess this book.

• This book has been praised, cursed, restricted, banned, desecrated, burned and fought over. People swear on it and at it.
• Some have tried to eliminate it. All who have tried have failed. People have suffered exquisite tortures and loss of freedom and even their lives for printing it. This has occurred recently and over many centuries past, as well. It is, in fact, a regular occurrence in this world.
• This book is simultaneously hated and loved. Once read it would be impossible to be indifferent to it; for its claims are monumental and beyond exaggerating. It provokes a strong response in either a positive or negative direction; you will either love it or hate it. It was meant to be so by design. It is so controversial that wars have been fought over its interpretation. Governments have toppled on account of it and kings have been deposed because of it. Most importantly, lives have been dramatically changed for good because of this book.

Reason #3:
It’s the most accurate book of antiquity

The Bible is the most copied book of antiquity. Written over a time period of some 1,500 years, it was completed approximately 2,000 years ago. Yet, in all the centuries that have passed, none of its contents have ever been found inaccurate.

• It has been translated into its present form directly from the original languages from a vast supply of ancient manuscripts sifted by the best minds and most competent scholars of our day and of many prior generations. It has been translated into every known existing language.
• It is surpassingly accurate to the smallest details. Its contents, as translated, are as close to the original words of the authors as humanly possible. Only a few words of the entire book (a tiny, insignificant percentage) are in any doubt as to the original words and none of the disputed text affects the message of the book. Additionally, new discoveries of previously unknown ancient manuscripts continue to provide ever greater accuracy to the contents of this book.
• It has been sifted, studied, commentated upon and dissected more than any book in history. Volumes of books have been written about it and if they were stacked on top of one another they would reach to the sky.
• Where this book can be verified by external events such as archeology, geography, custom, politics, culture, known world history and writings in other ancient texts it has been so verified as to be accurate in all respects. New discoveries always support it, never vice versa. It has never once been proven faulty on single detail or fact, although many have mightily tried and failed.

Reason #4:
It contains a life-changing message of freedom

The Bible has liberated many from oppression by its clear teachings. It raises the dignity and rights of every human being ever born. It is truly an amazing and remarkable piece of writing. It contains clear teaching on the value and worth of every individual. It will astonish and surprise you and likely move you to tears.

• It has freed minds and hearts throughout history. The events recorded in this book have generated more great works of art (and some not-so-great ones, as well) than any other subject matter in the history of the world. All the museums in the world, added together, could not possibly contain all of the artwork inspired by the events of this book.
• This book itself represents true freedom. It has never been in the custody and control of a single group of people, unlike other important books. It belongs to everyone and it has been possessed by everyone, every culture and every tribe and race of people. Reading it will strike you directly in your heart. It has the "ring of truth" to all who love the same.
• This book contains a message at its very core. It is a message to all people everywhere, in every time period, relevant to their everyday lives. It claims to be the very words of God... an audacious claim, for sure. It is for you to decide whether to believe the message of this book and apply it to your own life.
• If you now know nothing about God, you will know a great deal about God after reading this book. If you believe you know much about God, you will know even more about him after you read this book. You may even decide to re-evaluate your knowledge of God after reading it.

Reason #5:
It connects you to history’s most important figure

You may have heard of the "godman," Jesus of Nazareth, also called the "Christ" (i.e."Anointed One"). You may even think you know him. But if you have not read the account offered firsthand throughout this book, you will, in effect, know nothing definite about him. The entire Old Testament points to his coming, and the entire New Testament testifies to his teachings and actions.

• His name has been used to bless people and it has been used as a curse word by those who despise him. People have been healed and set free in his name. One thing is for sure: when you meet Jesus in the pages of this book and understand who he claims to be it is impossible for you to remain indifferent to him.
• This story is either the biggest fraud ever perpetrated on mankind or it describes Jesus as exactly who he claims to be: the Supreme Lord and Ruler over all of mankind and the very creator God of the Universe. Logically speaking, this is either a nice poetic story created from a fantasy with an intent to deceive you or a clear and accurate picture of God, who is our judge ( both mine and yours). You decide. If you think you know about God already, consider the source of that "knowledge" and examine if this book may, in fact, be a better source for true knowledge about the one true Creator God that made you and everything else, both known an unknown in this Universe.
• People are free to reject this book and what it says. God made us "free moral agents" to choose as we desire. Yet, people violate the teachings and wisdom of this book at their own peril.
• Because of the main person in this book, Jesus of Nazareth, time has been split into two main epochs (B.C. "before Christ" and A.D. "anno Domini" for "year of our Lord").
• Each year, over a billion people celebrate his birth, his death and his bodily resurrection from the dead.
• Jesus is the only religious leader ever to make the claim that he has risen from the dead. All others are dead and buried. Abraham is dead. Moses is dead. Mohammed has died and remains dead, Buddha is dead, Gandhi is dead. Only Jesus claims to be alive. Even Muslims revere Jesus as a holy man and a great prophet. All told, about half of the world today accepts that this Jesus was a great and remarkable personage.

Conclusion

Keep turning the pages of this remarkable book. Read it with an open mind and open heart. It contains pure truth about God, about life, the nature of mankind and our own hearts as human beings. The Gospel of John is a wonderful place to start, but read the whole thing — Old and New Testaments. You'll be amazed what you discover about God, and about yourself.
If this God is indeed your judge, before whom you will someday give an account of your life, it truly behooves you to be aware of who he is and the simple thing he asks of us before that solemn time comes. In essence, this book will help you to deal with that very event for which we are all destined. Be warned: you will not be the same after you read this book.

Maggie Thatcher “The Best Man Britain ever had” 1925 - 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22078436

Having been born in 1972 in London to immigrant parents, I am what some refer to as “a child of Thatcher”, coming to age during her premiership (1979 – 1990). So I have watched, read and listened to the media coverage of Baroness Thatcher’s recent death with keen interest.

As is customary when someone dies people reflect and eulogise. For some their memories of her are fond, for others who celebrated in Brixton, Liverpool and Glasgow they are bitter (though some celebrants seemed so young they were possibly not even born in 1990?).

A shop keeper’s daughter who rose to lead the male dominated Conservative party, winning three general elections, is itself worthy of historical significance. That she became known as the “Iron Lady” (two opposite terms conflated into one?) and has historical terms such as “Thatcherism”, “Thatcherite years” demonstrate the impact of her premiership.

To reflect on the ‘Thatcherism years’ is to reflect upon my own early life, because if leadership is anything, it is influence. Therefore by extension National leadership is also National influence (for good or for bad).

Several things her story has caused me to reflect on:

Leadership      - How true Leadership is divisive – We see people mourning her loss and others celebrating her loss.

Once you make a leadership decision you polarise people. Many will point to her leadership over the Miners strikes, the Falklands, the right to give council tenants’ rights to buy their own home as positives. Others will look to the devastation caused to Mining Communities, tough financial legislation, and stopping free milk for school children!

Maybe this is why many Leaders, political or otherwise shy away from decision making?

Longevity       - How long should a Leader stay in leadership? – Was Thatcher a victim of her own success?

Thatcher never actually lost a general election and her record of political demise has echoes of Tony
Blair being forced by his own cabinet to step down, who coincidently also won three elections.

Several dangers successful leaders face:

1).         They know better than anyone else – Thatcher appears to have ignored the advice of those closest
              to her and in so doing, isolated herself from the very people she needed the most.

2).         Treat people with indifference – Thatcher appears to have hurt and offended those most loyal to her and appears to have took their loyalty for granted (Geoffrey Howe, Nigel Lawson, et al).

3).         They believe their own press – Thatcher was highly thought of both home and abroad. Is it possible that she thought herself invincible politically? She actually seemed surprised and hurt that she was forced out.

Legacy            - How will history remember you? -  Leadership legacy is often defined around the memorable events of your tenure. Whether it’s George Bush at a kinder garden school first being told of the 9/11 attacks, John Prescott punching a guy for throwing an egg at him or Gordon Brown calling a woman a ‘bigot’ with his lapel mike still on, these are the ‘things’ history remembers.

Loyalty           - How leaders need to be able to be influenced by the right people – You cannot take the loyalty of those who serve you faithfully, for granted. People can get hurt and offended and as a consequence change their minds about you. It seemed those who were the most loyal to Thatcher inflicted the most damage.

Whether you liked her or not, I think it is fair to pause and reflect upon her leadership in a balanced (if possible) manner. My own view having watched a number of her parliamentary debates is that “they don’t make them like that anymore”.

My prayers go out to her loved ones who may be grieving during this time, may God be merciful to all.

Was Lance Armstrong’s confession on Oprah that he took performance-enhancing drugs, right or wrong?

Was Lance Armstrong’s confession on Oprah that he took performance-enhancing drugs, right or wrong?

The big media news story of the last few weeks has been about Lance Armstrong the seven times Tour de France winner confessing to Oprah Winfrey (the agony aunt of America) that for years he took performance enhancing drugs. Armstrong also admits that he could never have won his seven tour de France titles without the drugs, and that he had been lying to many people for the last ten plus years. He acknowledges that he has put his friends and loved ones through much pain and torture.

Armstrong says that at the time he did not feel like he was cheating and that it appeared to him to be a “level playing field” because everyone else was doing it. I find this argument weak at best and morally corrupt at worse. This argument is what I have (unfortunately) come to expect from a naive teenager who justify their sexual promiscuity with the statement “everyone’s doing it” and not from a 41 yr old world class, multi millionaire athlete, father and husband.

However what I find somewhat grating is the moral hypocrisy from those in the media towards Armstrong’s confession. Some put forth various views that cast suspicion upon the authenticity of his confession. Some say he wants to compete again in triathlons, maybe even cycling. Whilst others say his confession is only because he was caught and that his decision to confess on Oprah was because she would give him an easy ride (no pun intended). Firstly at the age of 41 and having been out of any real competitive sport for the last 5 years I don’t think it is possible for Lance Armstrong to compete at any real serious level (unless he uses performance enhancing drugs, sorry couldn’t resist that one). Secondly was he actually really caught? Armstrong went on record to say that he had been tested more than any other cyclist in history and never tested positive. The only evidence against him came from former team mates who themselves confessed to taking drugs (and therefore implicating Armstrong) in return for light (6 months) punishment. I always find these scenarios akin to liars accusing other people of lying (how do you believe them). Thirdly I don’t buy the idea that confessing on Oprah was an easy option, I mean wouldn’t you rather confess to a priest / pastor in a small booth / office than on one of the biggest talks shows in media? I mean can you confess to any bigger audience in the world than Oprah’s? I think I am right in saying more people watch Oprah than the Tour De France? Whilst I accept that Oprah may be a more genial person to confess to (though her first question went for the jugular), surely human nature would rather confess to a friendly rather than fierce person?

I actually want to commend Lance Armstrong for his confession, on such a very public platform, (maybe others will be inspired to do the same?). This could not have been an easy decision. Apart from the fact he must of known he was going to be castigated by many, he has also opened himself up to numerous litigation cases being filed against him (already to the tune of £10m and rising). Many in his position would of kept up the pretence of the past ten years and taken their lies with them to their grave, leaving many in the public sphere still unsure of his guilt or innocence. No I think his confession was a very difficult decision to come to and will haunt him emotionally and financially for the rest of his life.

Yes he could have and should have confessed a lot earlier, but are we now saying that there comes a time when it is too late to confess? Ask the loved ones of those who have been murdered who have begged the killer to confess the whereabouts of their victim’s body for years. (Ask the relatives of the victims of the Moors murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley). Many in history have chosen in their dying moments that their ‘last words’ be a confession of a previous wrong. At least Armstrong did not wait that long (though I accept there maybe more to confess). Above all else I believe Armstrong proves that adage to be true and that is “confession is good for the soul”.

One of Jesus disciples wrote in 1 John 1:8-10 (NLT) ⁸ If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. ⁹ But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

Armstrong still has a long way to go to repair the damage he has done and if truth be told, for some nothing he ever does will be acceptable penance for his crimes. But here a little perspective is called for; he cheated in a bike race and made lots of money from it. I can think of many in the public eye who have fallen from greater heights and managed to redeem themselves in the public eye. I think of Bill Clinton using his political leverage to help re elect President Obama. Many feel he has redeemed himself by his recent years of charitable work. Maybe Armstrong’s great work in fighting cancer will help him to redemption and ‘livestrong’ at least in the eyes of God.

Why You Should (Definitely) Want Your Church to Grow

by Bill LaMorey

11 Comments

The title of this post alone will be sufficient to send some into a fit.
Why don't I up the ante and say I want to see our church outgrow our current location again, launch new church plants, and start new campuses.
Uh-oh, I just sent somebody into overload.
“C’mon church growth isn’t important…you shouldn’t be all about the numbers!” Wrong.
Numbers represent people, and people are the reason God sent Jesus on His redemptive mission to our planet!

Why do I want to see our church grow?

Because it means that:
More people will turn their lives over to Jesus (as long as we’re not just stealing sheep from other churches, which I’m really not interested in). Depopulating Hell gets me excited! Not to mention giving people the hope, healing, meaning, and purpose found in Jesus!!
More people will grow in their faith (you cannot grow spiritually mature apart from a local body of believers).
More people will get on mission to make a dent in serving and reaching out to the people in our community with tangible expressions of the love of Christ.
More people means more opportunities for current church members to serve and step into expanded roles of leadership (thus continuing their discipleship).

You see, I just have these crazy beliefs…

I believe to my core that the entire world needs Jesus desperately.
I believe that our church is a good place for people to experience God because Jesus is magnified, the Bible is taught, and God is honored.
I believe that God has assembled an amazing group of people: our staff, our volunteers; everyone! So I know that a new Christian comes into a loving, supportive environment.
I believe that church growth honors God (the Bible teaches we are to be faithful AND fruitful).
Because of my beliefs, I let go of my career path over a decade ago and committed to serving God fulltime. Therefore, I pour my all into what I do every single week. So OF COURSE, I want to see that my family and my church family are all making a difference with what we’ve committed our lives to!

My Motives?

Some will question the motive of me or others who also want their churches to grow. “You just want bragging rights…”
God knows my heart, so I won’t bother defending that. But can’t we learn a lesson from Paul and rejoice wherever Christ is made known instead of being caught up in someone’s motive?

“It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. But what does it matter?…The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice.” (Philippians 1:15, 18 NIV)

Lest I be too misunderstood, church growth has never been the measure of our success.
We look to “changed lives” as the metric for whether or not we are succeeding at our mission. This places us in dependence upon God’s Spirit because we’re not capable of changing anyone’s life.
However, the greater the number of people in your church, the greater opportunity there is for changed lives. So while church growth isn’t the measure of our success, it is a goal and something we desire and plan for without apology.

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