Is It Well With You? Is There A Word From God? Keep Fresh! Pastor Should Be Something Pastor, Do Something Pastor’s God-Called Pastor & Church Leadership Pastor’s Role Pastor, Stay Healthy! Pastors as Leaders Preacher and the Skunk Pastor Search Committee
Preaching:
21 Skills of Great Preachers Feedin Sheep or Amusing Sheep Preaching, A Divine Activity Preaching Without Results Preach With Authority Preach With Love And Power Ready To Preach
Leadership:
Creative Spiritual Leadership Effective Christian Leadership Dealing With Criticism Hostile Aggressive Person Coping With Bullies Impossible People Resolving Conflicts Leadership Qualities
The Church
NEW: How to Organize a Church Officers of the Church
How To Help Your Church Increase Your Attendance Doomed Churches Responsibility To Increase Attendance Jesus Is Building His Church Christian Maturity Teachers, Be Bridge Builders Reaching Secular People Life Cycle of A Church Christian, You Are Gifted Deacons -- Body or Board Deacon Ministry of One Church Biblical Church Growth Distribution of Spiritual Gifts Installation Service For Teachers
Other Beliefs:
Beliefs of Islam Islam, Part Two Islam, Part Two Islam & Christianity Scientology Jehovah Witness Beliefs of Mormons Book of Mormons New Age Movement New Age & The Bible 1 New Age & The Bible 2 Reincarnation
Evangelism:
What Is Evangelism? Observation of an Evangelist Life-saving Station New
More to come!
Witnessing:
Advice On Witnessing Methods of Appeal How To Become A Christian Excuses God’s Answers To Satan’s Lies
How To Do
Marriage Ceremonies Wedding Suggestions
Conducting A Funeral Suggestions for Funeral sermons More to be added on funerals
The church is the body of people who have believed on Jesus Christ for their salvation, and have been baptized into the fellowship of His death and resurrection and have been organized on the plan and for the purposes of a Christian church as outlined by Jesus Christ and His apostles in the New Testament.
When it seems necessary to organize a church in any locality care should be exercised by those interested to establish whether or not there is a real need for such a church and a hopeful future of enlarging usefulness before it. To this end those interested should meet together several times and discussed the matter fully, making it an object of serious and earnest prayer. Also they should seek the advice of leading pastors and brethren of other neighboring churches.
When it has been decided to organize church, the organization may be effected in any one of three ways.
First: Those interested may meet together, choose a temporary moderator and clerk from their own number, formulate a resolution like the one that can be seen on these pages later. They adopt the same by a standing vote and by signatures on the document, and proceed to the election of officers and the discharge of such other business and functions that are proper to a church.
Second: Those interested may invite one or more pastors or ordain ministers to be present at a meeting as suggested above for the purpose of giving counsel. When the meeting has come to order a temporary moderator and clerk may be chosen. If the visiting ministers approve the action, those interested may proceed to organization as outlined above.
Third: The best and most approved procedure is that those who are interested in the organization of a church hold a meeting, at which time they adopt a resolution, inviting three or more neighboring churches to send representatives for the purpose of forming a council, under whose direction the church will be organized. When the people in the council come together, the council should organize by choosing a moderator and clerk.
After a devotional the council is then ready to hear reasons given by those interested in organizing a church in that particular location. After the matter is: discussed, if the council is then of the opinion that such a church the organized, they will proceed in the following order: a resolution, wording something like the following, should be prepared in advance and ready to submit for approval:
"Whereas, it appears to us that there is a real need for a church in this locality ...MUCH MORE
1. The chief officer of the church is the pastor. He is a man called of God to preach the gospel, who has first been licensed by his church to preach, who, after he has proved his gifts as a preacher, has been ordained by his church to the ministry and who, according to custom, has been called by the church to become its pastor.
2. As it has been said, the preacher ought to be called of God, or else he cannot hope to do the Lord's work very well. When a brother announces to his church that he feels the call to the ministry, his church may license him so that he may be free to exercise his gifts as a minister in order that he may prove his fitness to do so. A simple motion properly made and seconded by the church conference to license a brother to preach and duly adopted by the church in conference is all that is essential to licensing a brother to preach. The clerk of the church may furnish the brother with a copy of the minutes as his credentials as a licensed preacher.
3. It is not customary, nor is it good practice to ordain a brother to the ministry, unless he has been called by some church to be their pastor and that church has formally asked for his ordination. ... MUCH MORE
How To Help Your Church It has been said that 90% of these kinds of problems are generated among the same 10% of the people. Spiritually mature persons who wish to help their church don't become a part of such problems -- instead, they contribute to solutions. They avoid divisive people (Rom.16:17) and don't get caught up in the mischief or grievances of others (1 Tim. 5:13). If they are aware of spreading problems in the fellowship, they will try to bring a resolution, or else they bring matters to the attention of spiritual leadership so that they can bring an end to it (Matt. 18:15-17). People who wish to be an asset to their church don't participate with or spread problems -- they help spiritual leadership resolve them. ...More
Increase Your Attendance -- Set Goals There are those who believe that goals must be unattainable and unrealistic. This can discourage those who believe that the goal is unreachable. As you set your goal for your class, group and church, consider the following. Assume that the average class has about ten people in attendance each Sunday. Commit yourselves to add one person per quarter. That is an attainable goal. Add one person per quarter to every class would result in phenomenal growth. We would be fulfilling the Great Commission. This would please God ...More
Responsibility To Increase Attendance God will hold each of us responsible for getting done what He has given us to do. Let us never be confused as to where the responsibility lies. God has given you responsibility for your class. You must feed it. You must nurture it. You must be an example in reaching out to the unsaved and unchurched. You and your class members are ultimately responsible for the health and growth of the group. As a teacher or group leader, it is your responsibility to see that the group understands their responsibility. Pastors have a responsibility to equip you through their ministry, but you are responsible to do what God wants you to do, and to go where God leads you. Pastors must allow teachers and group leaders to be responsible for their groups. Teachers and leaders must be allowed to lead. ...More
Jesus Is Building His Church "I will build my church... and the gates of hell will not overcome it!" (Matthew 16: 18) That statement is too plain to misunderstand it. Jesus is building His church. One version says, "All the powers of hell shall not prevail against it." Nothing is more certain than that! So – why all the anxiety? Why all the frustration? Could it be that we equate our ecclesiastical organization with what Christ is building? Could it be that we equate our way of doing things with His? It may be that much of what we innovate and plan and build in our churches must be destroyed in order that Christ may build His church! ...More
Doomed Churches In the present the character of the church is being challenged. Will the church reach out to surrounding communities? Will the church adjust its ministries to meet present needs -- and those of newcomers? Will the church make room in its leadership for new leaders? ...More
Life Cycle of a Church Churches are not doomed to die if they seek, find, and do what God requires of them. God's will for congregations is health, not disease. Healthy congregations plan to achieve their dream. They live on the ascendancy. Deteriorating congregations are problem-solvers, and find themselves living up and down on the decline side of the cycle. Ascendancy: dream, beliefs, goals, structure. Pinnacle: ministry Decline: nostalgia, questioning, polarization, dropout ...More
Teachers, Be Bridge Builders Look at so many young people with such great potential take their first look down at this broad way of deception. They do not see the pitfalls. They do not see the snares that await them. They do not see the chasms that they cannot cross.
We must build the bridge for these young people so that they may cross safely. If they go on down that broad way without Jesus, and come to the end of their lives, we will hear their awful cries, "Lost! Lost! Lost!"
Now, look down the other road. It is narrow, and yet hundreds and thousands joyfully travel this road. Day by day we witness self-sacrifice and observe many wonderful acts done for the Master's glory. There is joy and peace and happiness in the lives of those who travel this way.
There is a great need for spiritual bridge building today. This the as true today as it was over two thousand years ago when our Lord Jesus stood on the mountain in Galilee and said, "Go, teach." ...More
Reaching Secular People Secular people do not know what Christians are talking about. They do not have a Christian background or a Christian vocabulary. Most terms are precious to us, who are Christians, but they have no meaning to the secular person.
About two-thirds of America's 120 million secular people are not church-going people. When they do come to church, they do not know what to do. Their occasional visits to church are clumsy.
Most secular people have had some superficial exposure to church. Too often, it is a negative exposure that they remember. They might have thought that church was boring and irrelevant. They might have thought that the preacher shouted, and it wasn't their kind of music.
In spite of what many may think, America is not an over-churched nation. The fact is we are more under-churched than we have ever been in ratio to the population. ...More
Strive for Christian Maturity The most pressing need of our day is maturity. Very immature people are attempting to handle very mature problems. The gap between the maturity of our problems and of our powers and the immaturity of too many people is the most serious gap in human existence today. Unless that gap can be filled, we will suffer from frustrations which may prove fatal. For we have the frightening power to ruin ourselves. How can I be a mature person in my situations, my problems, and deal with my possibilities in a mature way? ...More
Christian, You Are Gifted It is important to understand the nature and character of spiritual gifts. Paul's description of spiritual gifts is found in 1 Corinthians 12. In verse 1 the word, gifts, is italicized in the New King James Version. That means it is not in the original language. The word there, pneumatikon, literally means "the spirituals." The translators inserted the word because they were trying to explain what they thought Paul meant. The term simply means the "spirituals," that is, things pertaining to the Holy Spirit. These gifts are from the Holy Spirit. They are not material gifts. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are not money, cars, clothes, houses,etc. Those are blessings from God, but they are not gifts of the Spirit. Spiritual gifts are treasures and tools to use in His service. But they are spiritual gifts. ...More
Deacons -- Body or Board? Howard Foshee listed three evidences that deacons are operating under the concept of a board: “When all major recommendations from church operations and church committees are screened by the deacons as to whether they should go to the congregation. When the pastor and staff members are directly responsible to the deacons rather than to the church. When the use or expenditure of major church resources, such as facilities and finances, must first be approved by the deacons. “ (The Ministry of the Deacon, Howard B. Foshee, Convention Press, 1968, page 33)
The Biblical Concept of Deaconship In 1955 Robert E. Naylor, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, warned that: "There are churches where deacons have appropriated to themselves authority which is contrary to New Testament teaching. That may have gone so far that bossism has developed. ...More
Deacon Ministry of One Church Here is how one church elects deacons: The church will nominate men to serve as deacons. The deacon nominating committee contacts the nominees and provides them with the qualifications of deacons. The nominees are informed as to their possible responsibilities. They pray together to discern God's will. Then the nominees are given a reasonable period of time to pray about this important decision. The deacon nominating committee presents the nominees to the church for approval. ....More
Biblical Church Growth Dr. Luke's account of the church in Antioch (Acts 11:19-30) yields three principles for Biblical church growth. The believers in Antioch shared the good news of Christ with their neighbors, "and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord" (11:21). Reports of church growth reached the believers in Jerusalem. ...More
Distribution of Spiritual Gifts Spiritual gifts are not given out arbitrarily. The are given solely by the Holy Spirit. Verse 11 states that God distributes His gifts to "each one individually." Every Christian has received at least one spiritual gift. No one Christian has every gift, but every Christian has at least one spiritual gift. ...More
Installation Service for Teachers and Leaders The light from Calvary is unfailing, and it is sufficient for all who will look and live. But many are groping in the darkness of sin who will not see the greater light, and they will never know the meaning of its message unless they catch the signal from the lights that shine through the lives of God's Minute Men -- His loyal soldiers of the cross. ...More
