The Marvelous Message

It most certainly seemed surreal to Saul, when he was anointed to be king of Israel. He was just a young, common man who only stuck out because of his height. Yet, one day he's sent to look for his father's stubborn donkeys and the next he's commissioned to become Israel's first king. Just a month after he was crowned, he found himself leading an army against the Ammonites to rescue a nearly defenseless city called Jabesh-Gilead. Hardly anyone expected Saul to come to their aid, but that is just what he did. In heroic boldness, he stood up for the little guys and made their bullies flee in terror (1 Samuel 11)! After the victory, Saul humbly declared,  “...today the LORD has worked salvation in Israel!”  (Vs. 13) He knew that their triumph truly came from the mighty hand of God. Before this battle, there were many who were reluctant to claim Saul as their king, but afterwards, they proudly and publicly acknowledged him as the ruler of Israel. In time, ...

     In my last two articles, I explained two imperative steps that are needed for a diminishing church to thrive once more. First, genuine confession as revealed in James 5:16. Second , renewed dedication as revealed in Romans 12:1-2. As I stated before, I am in no way claiming to be some grand expert in the field of church growth. I am simply magnifying what has already been established in the scriptures. Also, I would encourage you to read the book Autopsy of a Deceased Church by Thom Rainer. It is an easy read, but very informative to what a dying church really looks like and what can be done about it.      You must understand that all of us has to be careful when it comes to relying on steps, formulas, and principles. Because, Christians tend to employ more devotion and care in following a “do good” checklist rather than in simply walking with God. Throughout my life, I have heard preachers say, “If you love God, then you’ll do more for Him!” Ins...

      My last article partially summarized the book by Thom Rainer called Autopsy of a Deceased Church. It gives interesting insights as to whether a church is healthy, sick, or near death. In 2014, over 3500 churches closed their doors. There are stats that show this to be the yearly average, while others record twice this amount! Of course, some are willing to point out the claim that yearly there are slightly more new church plants in America than there are church closings. However, the questions still remain as to why so many churches close and how a congregation can remedy this.      Sadly, some church members write off their declining attendance by affirming that people are more wicked and the younger generation just wants to be entertained. Though on the surface it may appear this way to an average church goer, this kind of cynical attitude is just a cop-out. People say this when they don’t want to take responsibility for their...

       Recently, I was given a copy of Thom Rainer’s book  Autopsy of a Deceased Church.  It is a very short read, but something that I believe is needed for most churches in America, especially those in the Bible belt. The book is filled with real life illustrations and scenarios of churches that, through bitter disunity or lackadaisical Christian living, ended up dying. What I found interesting was the meter Rainer used for checking the condition of a church. It ranged from healthy, symptoms of sickness, very sick, to dying. For example, a  very sick  church would be one that had continual numerical decline, stints of apathy, little impact in the community, lack of new members, short tenure of pastors, and an attitude of only reflecting on the past  glory days  of the church.        It is a sobering read, but oh how needful it is for those of us who are Christians to examine ourselves and our churches with...

Dear Marah, You have proved to be quite the clever temptress. Naturally, this is because you have followed through with all that I have told you to do. I heard how tensions rise during their meetings and that the grungy who prided himself in being vital to the health of the ecclessia is now planning to present himself as the bishop. It is to be expected that there will be some resistance, but this is good. Conflict always yields the most rottenness of fruit. As I mentioned before in the previous letter, this useful tool must be toyed with the idea that everything he is doing is for the ecclessia. Have him feel a slight pride in the way he abases himself. If you need an example, just look to that enemy's own scripture! Did not Simon the Magician feel like it was his moral obligation and humble duty to pursue a higher power? Who do you think planted that notion in him? I have been dancing in the world's ballad for a long time. I know what I am talking about. Fo...

It has been months since my last article. I will not digress into all the factors as to why this is the case, only to mention that I am now ministering at Corinth Free Will Baptist Church in Alma, GA and my wife and I now have a beautiful 4 month old daughter added to our already rambunctious, and blessed family. Excusing Church In some form or another, I have heard the same statement for almost fifteen years - “I don’t have to go to church!” It may not be directly stated by certain people, but they will definitely get their point across that they do not “need” church. Now, understand that I am not referring to those who hold onto an atheistic or agnostic belief. I am writing about people I have met, through the years, who have claimed to believe in God and even in, for the most part, the preservation of His Word. I found that many of them were at one time faithful members of a church, yet stopped going to services either due to a church conflict, or just sheer busyness on t...

(Please know that I will continue my posts on prayer later on. I still have about 2 more studies to publish on this blog.) It takes hardly any mental effort to realize that we live in a country filled with conveniences. We have microwaves, dishwashers, credit cards, keyless entry, power windows, bluetooth, facebook, and the list goes on. I have often heard seniors say, “I don't see how we made it without all these things!” Modern advancements can be a great help to society, but when it comes to the inner being of an individual, no technological achievement or material convenience will ever suffice to restore or strengthen the soul. The great gap of the soul can only be filled up with the one who “ filleth all in all”, Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:23b). Yet, t he road of true Christian living is not some large, smoothly paved interstate lined up with fun filled attractions. No. It is a narrow dirt path lined with high mountains and deep rivers. By no means do I use this imagery t...