27 August 2007
First let me start by saying that I love reading other pastor’s blogs and celebrating what the Lord is doing not just here at Southbrook Church, but also at countless other churches around the country who are breaking out of the mold, taking risks, and boldly proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ.
One of the most awesome trends of late is really a movement of obedience back to what we all, as shepherds of God’s people, should always do. I’m talking about the men of God who are calling people out to make commitments to Christ and then challenging them immediately after this decision to proclaim Him the way He (Jesus) asked us too—through baptism.
So, how in the world is it that hundreds and hundreds of churches (just in this area of North Carolina alone) have drifted from that most important of missions?!
Was it fear?
Lack of knowledge of God’s Word?
A coldness of heart that simply didn’t believe it was important anymore?
A horribly out of balance focus on Calvinism that simply figured, “If they’re meant to be saved, they’ll figure it out!?”
Who knows? It could be any number of reasons, but whatever the reasons the end result is disobedience.
I’m so ticked off at this reckless, dangerous and lazy attitude from individuals charged with the greatest mission on earth! How will they answer for shirking their responsibility when they stand before God?
This is no small thing.
Here’s what stirred all this in me…this time?
We (at Southbrook) are celebrating one of the most amazing weeks ever as God has brought over 200 people into His family through faith in Jesus Christ! As I got ready to turn in, I read through a couple of pastor’s blogs I frequent. And one new one I hadn’t seen before.
It was a blog from a local pastor who only recently threw his hat in the blogging ring (after revealing that he’d previously sworn up and down NEVER to blog) and prefaced it by ripping on any pastor and every pastor that actually celebrates transformed lives publicly through their blog posts.
Huh?
Come again?
Yep, you read that right. He carefully outlined what type of blog his would be (the one he swore never to write). Mine will never talk about how many people have been saved , individuals baptized, or how many unchurched are being drawn to Jesus through a relevant approach to ‘church.’
Oh, he said it a bit different than that…much worse actually. For example, salvations were called stats, baptisms were reduced to a dunking competition between churches, and transformed lives were placed in a category of secrecy not to be discussed. He even insinuated that churches with all these things going on were simply making up the numbers to one up each other like the whole thing were merely a competition of sorts.
I could not believe what I was reading. I had to read his first post several times to be sure he was really saying what I thought he was. Yep, and my heart sank as I read the half page of disclaimers he listed before going on to validate the only kind of blog that was worth reading…(yep, you guessed it), his, (almost sounds like a competition…sorry, couldn’t resist)!
Incidentally, as I searched back through a dozen or so of his posts, it became evident that blog readers far and wide had not yet picked up on the potential New York Times best seller promise of his blog.
No comments.
Not a single one.
No one reading (or at least very few).
Why?
I can only speculate, but I think the reason is pretty obvious.
Because people can spot the big green monster pretty easily.
Because…well…he’s big.
And the bigger he is, the easier he is to spot.
I was sickened.
Truly nauseated.
I mean, I absolutely love hearing about what’s happening at Newspring through the ministry of Perry Noble, or right here in town at Elevation through the bold leadership of my good friend, Steven Furtick, or at Willowcreek, or Fellowship Church, or Rick Warren and Saddleback, or Newhope, Northpoint, and hundreds of other places boldly bragging on what God can and will do through faithful people willing to charge Hell with a water pistol if He asks them to.
Come on, pastors. If you haven’t caught on yet to the fact that Jesus was into numbers (because every single person matters to God) then you must be reading a different Bible than me.
Or, perhaps God was bragging when he mentioned in Acts chapter 2 that 3,000 were added to the church on the very first day of its existence! Or when He said this, and this, and this, and this.
Take your pick, I got more!
Man, I sure am glad Paul didn’t write this stuff as a blog post, we’d have to burn Him at the stake for bragging on God too much!
Truth is, when I pontificate my own pearls of wisdom, there isn’t that great an interest, but when I share what God is doing or what He laid upon my heart, the hits go through the roof!
People want to see changed lives.
Need to see changed lives.
Are desperate for changed lives.
And, if your church, or you as a pastor are celebrating much else?
Try selling cars or something for a living instead.
The Lord needs bold men and women leading in His church today more than ever before.
As for pastors like this guy, please hear me…green is not a good color for you.
If churches are proclaiming Christ and lives are being changed, celebrate with them! The devil’s little fiefdom just got smaller and the Lord’s kingdom just got bigger!
Just some thoughts.
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I can’t believe what I just wrote…To think that there is a pastor out there that doesn’t want to read about the number of souls that are being saved from hell! And on top of that accusing likeminded churches of having a competition to see who can save the most and baptize the most!! I say let you yea, be yea and your nea be nea…We are having a competition to see how many people we can save from hell and we are counting all of the hands that go up and the number of people that are signing up to be baptized. That’s what we are here for.
I know that there is all of this election and /or predestination stuff out there that is being talked about. The way I look at is God spends a lot more time talking about free-will then he does talking about election/predestination in the Bible. He spends what a couple of chapters in Romans on election and what…. a couple of thousand examples of ‘free will’?!? At one point or another we all have to choose God or reject him, the fact that he knows already who those people are going to be doesn’t matter. He’s omniscient remember? The point is we don’t know who they are and we need to love all of them the same and ‘tear the roof off’ to get them into heaven!!!!!
C’mon people…let’s not argue about what type of blog makes a ‘good’ blog and let’s not condemn the content of other blogs. This blog has been filled with challenge, truth and yes…numbers. We celebrate that God’s kingdom has grown and that people are following that decision by being baptized. You should too.
God forgives our sins when we confess and ask for forgiveness. Then he remembers them no more (as far as the east is from the west) that’s what grace is. But when we stand before him he is going to ask…what did you do with the gift of salvation that I gave you? Did you tell others? Did you hide it under a bush? What will your answer be?