22 Souls Saved since April

We rejoice in how God has given us 22 souls since April. God has shown us where to work. It's like finding your favorite fishing hole. Once you know where to find the fish, you keep going back! God has blessed again and again.

Our greatest concern is discipling these new believers. Many of them have never held a bible in their hands or been to church. Isn't that amazing? We live in the bible belt and yet these folks might as well have been living in a foreign country where the gospel is hard to find. I believe it is because very few Christians are sharing their faith with others.

David

Christmas is a Time for Sharing Christ

There are probably no better times than Easter and Christmas to share our faith with others.

Christmas is one of those holidays that you can talk about from Thanksgiving all the way to New Year's. People are busy but they are aware of the fact that Christmas is about Christ. They may not admit it, but they know!

This is our time to share our faith with boldness and clarity. But boldness without gentle love and compassion won't go far, so be gentle, but be bold. The boldness is for you and the gentleness is for them.

Share your faith and watch how many people will actually listen. It's not about preaching, it's about sharing. Just do it! Watch God work!

David

Starting New Works is the Best Test

The researching of new works in our fellowship is a very difficult task. I'm sure that most of you all realize that there are probably more works being started than we are able to report. But we cannot know for sure. So far this year 5 new works in the USA have been reported. I have very little information from the international scene. We pray for more churches to be started everywhere.

All of our salaried and designated fund missionaries, national and foreign are asked to fill out a 'missionary statistical report form' where basic information is reported from their fields of labor. This is where the number of souls saved on their field is reported. From this the secretary treasurer of missions compiles the total number of souls saved every year which he reports to us at the national meeting. I praise God for the thousands of souls reported saved every year! This statistical report form would be an excellent tool to gather much needed information regarding the starting of new missions and churches in our associated work. Presently there is no place for this information to be reported.

The best test of missionary work has always been the planting of a self-sustaining, self-supporting, self-governing, scriptural church in the region(s) where the missionary is working. This usually begins with a mission which eventually constitutes (organizes) into a New Testament church at some future date. Sometimes with the best of efforts and intentions it doesn't happen. Sometimes a mission fails to organize, sometimes an organized church ceases to exist. This is all part of doing mission work and church planting. But it is still the best test of successful missionary work whether they are planted or whether they die.

I am always delighted to see the number of souls that are reported having professed Christ. But it is a proven fact that the true test of successful missionary work is whether or not reproducing churches have been planted. I believe that an additional two lines on the statistical report form requesting "the number of new churches started" and "the number of new missions started" would enable us to do our research more effectively. We should probably include the number of new works that have closed their doors or disbanded as well but some think that it is 'negative' information. This is research work. True research is honest about the good information as well as the 'negative' information. Most state minute books report church statistics that include, among other things, the number of members dismissed or removed from the church roll. That's negative but it still gets reported.

If these two simple lines requesting information concerning the number of new missions and churches being started is added to the report form we will then begin to understand how to better assist our missionaries and churches to better accomplish the Great Commission. Starting new works is still the best test for successful missionary work.

20 souls saved in 10 months

Praise God for His amazing blessings!

As of last weekend we now have 20 that have made decisions to repent of their sins and trust Christ as their Savior. But the work is only just beginning. Although we have not seen all of these new believers come to church yet several have been several times. It is a brand new experience for these folks. Most of these new believers have never held a bible in their hand, sung a Christian song, or attended any kind of a church ever! Wrap your brain around that thought for a while and contemplate the challenges that it brings.

The number one challenge is to move them from the community into the church meeting place. We are learning that we may have to bring the church to them through Bible study or small groups for a while until they can understand what church is about. So pray for us.

God has used our people doing the simplest thing there is to reach people in our city: opinion polls. It doesn't work for everyone but it sure works for us. My challenge to you is, find what works and work it till it doesn't work anymore.

David

Would Your Church Be Missed?

If your church closed its doors today, would anyone but its own members notice? Would it be missed? Would the city or community be saddened because such a great community transformation partner was gone? Or would it even miss a beat?

These are questions that, if genuinely considered, will take a great commission church to a whole new level of discussion. It would probably be more a question of deeds than of words.

I'm not sure but that many churches would not be missed too much except by the members of these churches.

What is a community transformation partner? It is a church that not only knows what is going on in the community but is part of the transformation of that community.

Think about it. Would your church be missed?

David P Smith

Isn't There Another Way?

The workshop that was conducted by Tommy Estes, Bill Kuykendal and Robert Wallace was excellent. I'm not sure if this was the first ever workshop at an MBA meeting. To my knowledge it was the only one. Maybe someone will straighten me out on this.

The Eastern Baptist Association in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, etc., have been conducting workshops for their pastors and messengers for years. They have streamlined their meetings and made sure that the people go home with something they can use.

The Texas meeting could be much more enjoyable by having several workshops on several subjects every year which would help equip and inform the pastors and messengers of how to do more effective ministry. There would be less boredom and fewer sleepy messengers.

It was really hilarious that someone on the platform humorously noted that there were several sleeping (me too) during the afternoon session (that's when all of the reports are given). Personally, I believe it was a shame that we should be subjected to the reading of reports for an hour and a half when the same reports could have been printed and made available for our personal reading for a later time. With the reports in hand we could take them and read them to our churches. We wouldn't be sleeping during a workshop and we would have something of value to take home with us.

Traditionally we have always read these reports at our meetings, but do we have to keep on doing this? Isn't there another way?

Door-to-Door Outreach

Recently the North American Mission Board released some interesting statistics. It indicated that people that 40% of the most unchurched are favorable to someone knocking on their door and inviting them to church.

"--many people are open to an invitation to your church and some are open to hearing about heaven. Even 40 percent of the most unchurched are open to an invitation to your church, which is something that the whole church can do-- something that's much less scary for the typical believer and takes less training. It is helpful to know that many people are open to a church event invitation where, perhaps, they can hear the gospel in an understandable way. Imagine how many more houses your church group could visit if every person could be convinced to make one visit and one simple invitation." Ed Stetzer blog.

Going door-to-door is a very effective outreach. It still works in most places. We have used it for six months here at Greater Heights and we have seen 17 souls saved and increased church attendance. Some are awaiting baptism right now.

I pray constantly that our ABA churches would awaken to this marvelous opportunity to reach their neighborhoods for Christ.

David

Healthy Balanced Churches

A healthy church is a balanced church.

For a church to be healthy it needs more than doctrinal purity. It needs a balance of evangelism, worship, discipleship, fellowship and ministry.

Is your church a healthy balanced church?

If your church is focused mainly on teaching you are probably unbalanced. No matter how good your teaching ministry is you will end up with empty pews because there will be no reproduction without evangelism.

If your church is focused on evangelism alone you will have a revolving door to your church that will be next to impossible to close.

If your church is focused on ministry alone you will have people serving and meeting the needs of one another and the community and be in danger of having a social gospel that wins no one, and disciples no one.

If your church is focused on worship alone you will have a church that feels good but has little foundation.

If your church is focused on fellowship alone you will have a church that has cliques and more cliques, which will in turn become exclusive instead of inclusive.

To be a healthy balanced church follow the example of the Jerusalem church in Acts 2:41-47, purposefully.
David

Does God Bless Unscriptural Churches?

Wow, what a question! I believe that He does bless unscriptural churches (that preach the gospel of salvation). You know why? Because God blesses obedience to His Word no matter who it is.

Some of us have denigrated churches that do not believe doctrinally what we believe. Sometimes it is not even about doctrine but about practice. We tend to put all groups, churches, and individuals in the same category of being 'unscriptural' simply because we don't agree with them. And that may or may not be the right thing to do.

But one thing comes out loud and clear: There are some churches that, although they are not 'scriptural' to our way of thinking, that are seeing many people having genuine experiences of salvation. Why is that? Because they are obedient in outreach evangelsim. They may not be 'scriptural' but they are 'obedient' to tell the gospel story to whomever they can.

Go figure! We have dropped the ball and it is time to pick it up and run like our lives depend upon it. We too can see God's great blessings upon us if we will be obedient to be witnesses for Him and go evangelize.

David

Churches Too Slow To Change

The number of unchurched has risen dramatically.

"Unchurched" defined: 'those who are not members of a church or have not attended services in the previous six months other than for special religious holidays, weddings, funerals or the like.' (Aubrey Malphurs).

George Barna indicates that the number of unchurched Americans has increased 92% in the last thirteen years.

Probably the most startling information that I have recently discovered is that 'there is a much larger segment of Americans who are currently leaving churches precisely because they want more of God in their life but cannot get what they need from a local church.' (George Barna).

What does this all mean? It means that change is needed and needed soon. We have been too slow to change. Some of my well intentioned pastor friends have told me "David, change comes slow. Give us more time." "Our churches are slow to change and we don't want to upset the apple cart". I understand more about change today than I did 20 years ago, because changing is uncomfortable for me too, the older I get. But we need to change now! I contribute this attitude regarding change to one statement which I was taught in Bible School:

"Deal with things the way they are and not the way they ought to be."

I have altered that statment to read:

"Deal with things the way they are until you can change them to become what they ought to be."

My friends are telling me to slow down and be patient. This is what I tell them: "I have been waiting 40 years to see our churches and Bible Institutes change". Very few have even made the attempt. Thank God there are a few that are trying. My good friend Ray McAlister at Emmaus Baptist College is making some serious inroads to long needed change in our schools specifically in the area of accreditation.

I have been waiting 40 years to see if a new vision of outreach evangelism and missionary activity would begin. We have seen some pleasant changes in the increase of foreign missionaries doing indigenous church planting. But we have not seen an appreciable increase in soulwinning and outreach evangelism take place among our churches. If this trend continues for the next 20 years the number of churches in our fellowship of the ABA will drop significantly. The number of new works is abysmal. So far this year since the ABA national meeting we know of only 3 new works nationally.

It is time for our churches to change their attitude toward evangelism and repent of this gross negligence. God is removing his hand of blessing from our churches because we have been negligent. We need to change now. If we don't have a radical revival of outreach evangelism now there will be a significant drop in the number of our churches over the next 20 years which will shake us to our knees. And then...it will be too late!

David

Church Planting akin to Universal Church?

Well, here we go again. Can't believe some people struggle so much with simple terminology.

A well respected older preacher recently stated in a sermon which he delivered at a local association that the term 'church planting' was unscriptural. His reasoning was that it is not found in the Bible and that the usage of this term will draw us into the 'Universal Church' heresy. I was really surprised and dismayed by what I heard because this brother is much more intelligent and wiser than the average preacher.

To associate the term 'church planting' with 'universal church' is like saying that oranges come from apple trees. A little research on this subject would have been advised before arriving at such a conclusion. If he is right about this then we would have to assume that the term 'mission', since it is not in the Bible, is also unscriptural because Roman Catholics initiated the practice of starting 'missions' first. Therefore, if he is right, every new 'mission' that gets started is in danger of becoming a Roman Catholic church. It makes about as much sense.

I don't know of anyone that does "church planting" who also believes in the 'universal church' teaching within our fellowship. Neither do I know of any 'mission' in our fellowship that believes it will become a Catholic Church.

Just my simple observations.

David

The Sin of Silence

Why are we so silent about our faith in Jesus Christ? Why is it that vast numbers of believers have never shared their faith in Christ with anyone?

Silence can be golden, but not when it comes to sharing our faith in Christ with a lost and dying world. In fact, silence in this matter of evangelism is downright sin. If Jesus has commanded us to be a witness (Acts 1:8) and we don't obey, it is sin. "For he that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin." Isn't it a good thing to share our faith in Jesus with others? Isn't it a good thing to show someone how they can have their sins forgiven by the blood of Jesus? Well, if we don't do it, then it is a sin unto us! The sin of silence!

Be silent no more!
David

Winning the Lost at any Cost

This slogan really doesn't mean much to us anymore. How sad.

For those who have terminological trauma, I understand we can't win anybody to Christ; we just share our faith in Jesus Christ and show them how to get saved, right! I'm with you. Now that we are past the terminology: what is the cost you are willing to pay in order to win the lost?

Have you honestly considered the cost? Many churches have never budgeted evangelism as part of their church ministry. There is a price to pay. But it is more than money. It is about breaking with old ideas. Now, that is a price few are willing to pay. O those old ideas of "if we build it they will come", "They know where we are", "We've never done it that way before". When will we ever wake up?

In a day when many churches are declining it only seems biblically right that we would run to evangelize the lost. Anybody running? Anybody paying the price? Jesus is watching us.

Win the lost at any cost.
David

Start a New Members/Believers Class

I have found over the years that whenever a new members/believers class is announced that there is usually a response. People often come for this class when they wouldn't walk down the aisle or "come forward" as we traditionally practice.

It took me a while in past years to figure out that it is ok if they don't come forward in a church service before new believers or members can join the church. I wasn't sure if you could do it without voting "to receive them as candidates for baptism and upon their baptism into full fellowship of the church". This formality is unnecessary. However, taking new believers/members through spiritual preparation before they join the church is far more effective in producing long term spiritual results.

Announcing a new believers/members class will enable newcomers/guests/new believers to assimilate much more readily into the church and receive the spiritual direction and counselling that they need.

Start a New Members/Believers Class even if you don't need one!
David

What is New is Old, and What is Old is New

The things that I am trying in evangelism and missions is not new. It's been around for a long, long time. I am always amused at those who think that some of these methods of ministry that are being introduced are new. They are not.

Opinion Polls for instance:
In the 40's and 50's many evangelistic churches were taking religious surveys in their communities. It was a very successful way to find out who was in their neighborhoods that needed a church home or needed to be saved.

Having 'invitations' at the altar:
Prior to the turn of the last century most churches would never have had an altar call much less an invitation. Spurgeon had the 'inquiry room' where serious inquirers (seekers?) were asked to meet him for further information regarding how they might be saved. But he strongly resisted the altar call.

Having an invitation is a traditional element that is quite new when you consider it only began in the last 100 years. (I have no problem with invitations).

"What is often shocking to many who use the modern invitation system is that the altar call is just that modern. The practice, although widespread, is a very new phenomenon in the Christian church. For nearly nineteen centuries no one had ever heard of the practice. Such well known evangelists as George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, and even John Wesley had never even heard of such a custom. And Charles Spurgeon, that passionate winner of souls par excellence, although well acquainted with the practice, firmly refused to adopt it and even criticized it severely.
Ironically, "the old fashioned altar call" was unheard of until the nineteenth century. It first came into being by the influence of Charles Finney, the pioneer of modern evangelistic methods. In Finney's crusades (c. 1830) seats at the front were reserved for those who, after the sermon, would respond to the challenge to come to the Lord's side. Those who were thus "anxious" for their souls were invited to walk forward to the "anxious seat" where counsel and prayer would be given them.
The following quote from Finney's Lectures on Revival explains his view well.
"Preach to him, and at the moment he thinks he is willing to do anything . . . bring him to the test; call on him to do one thing, to make one step that shall identify him with the people of God. . . . If you say to him, "there is the anxious seat, come out and avow your determination to be on the Lord's side," and if he is not willing to do a small thing as that, then he is not willing to do anything for Christ."
The practice was designed to force decisions, to get results. So it did, and with slight variations the new method spread with increasing popularity through Finney and, later, Dwight L. Moody, and finally into virtually all of nineteenth and twentieth century evangelicalism. Peter Cartwright, Sam Jones, R. A. Torrey, Billy Sunday, Bob Jones, Gipsy Smith, Mordacai Ham, John R. Rice, Billy Graham all employed the method with impressive success. The invitation system had come to stay."(by Fred G. Zaspel)

The old is the new and the new is the old.

David

Total of 14 saved to date!

God just keeps on blessing! I am amazed at what God is doing. Every week we are seeing folks get saved in their homes or at their doors. Some of these folks have begun to come to our services.

Two weeks ago I left my car for repairs at the Auto-Center and was driven to the office by their shuttle service. I had met the driver before and had learned his name. This time I witnessed to him and he was very ready to receive Christ right there in the car outside of my office. Praise God. He now has a bible (his first) and good discipleship material. Last Saturday night his wife got saved!

People have told me for years. Going to door-to-door just doesn't work anymore. These folks have been misinformed. We are going door to door in a small town where there are churches everywhere. We are confirming the statistics that over 80% of Americans are unchurched. Among these unchurched a staggering number have never been in church or ever held a Bible in their hands. I've given over a dozen bibles away to people just like that.

There's something different about going to a door doing a religious opinion poll. It's not at all like going 'cold turkey'. Using an opinion poll breaks down a lot of barriers that might otherwise be present.

Of course, opinion polls are not the only way to reach out to the Lost. But it is one very effective way that is working for us right now.
David

No Invitation and 4 Come for Baptism

For nearly 40 years I have had the "invitation" after the end of the sermon nearly every time. Some exceptions may have occurred at different times for various reasons. However, last Sunday I felt lead not to have an "invitation". What followed was most refreshing.

When I had finished my sermon I told the folks that there would be no invitation so that no one needed to feel that they would be ambarrassed or too intimidated to walk 'forward'. I explained that the believers present could come to the altar and pray for those that were seeking for answers in their lives. Then I explained how one receives Christ. Then I explained that if someone was saved that they needed to be baptized. But I asked everyone that desired to either be saved or baptized to speak with me after the service. After our dismissal four people (two adults & two children) asked for baptism! These same people had been in church several times in the past several months and heard invitation after invitation. It was interesting to me that they chose this way to make their desire for baptism known.

I am all for invitations and will not cease having them, but I found that this approach opened a door wide open for those who might not have made the decision so easily. I will do it again in the future.

Momentum

Momentum is what a train has once it leaves the station. It builds speed and then maintains the optimum speed. If it loses that momentum it will take a great deal of acceleration to regain it.

Once a church loses its momentum in ministry it takes a lot longer to regain it. Discouragement can be one of the results of losing momentum, because it takes so much more work to regain it.

The key to maintaining momentum is keeping focused on the task at hand. Sharing Jesus as often as possible to as many as possible with a view for serious and consistent follow-up in discipleship.

Hurrican Ike put the brakes on a lot of ministry here at Greater Heights. But we must continue with a view to regaining all momentum and more.

Easy to say, hard to do.
But it works.
David

Hurricane Ike

Well, it looks like Hurricane Ike has created a forced evacuation for us. I will miss going out this week in our outreach efforts.

Pray for our church. Most of the folks have gone to places of refuge and safety.

We'll be posting more soulwinning and church planting articles in the near future.
David

The Challenge of Follow-Up

Winning people to Christ can actually be easier than the making of a disciple.

But until a new believer is discipled to reproduce himself the work of a discipler is not finished. Winning that person to Christ is only the first step of bringing someone to a meaningful relationship with Christ. That relationship will necessitate producing fruit: another believer.

Once a person is saved the challenge of getting them into the Word and in fellowship with other believers will require many touches (cards, letters, phone calls, personal visits, care, compassion). It will be a great challenge to get them connected. But the must get connected either in church or in a small group. There the new believer should meet acceptance and embracing from everyone in his/her new family; just like a new baby born into the family.

Churches that do evangelism will need to spend quality time in developing discipling teams who will make sure that new believers do not fall through the cracks.

Each believer that wins a person to Christ ought to be made responsible to follow-up and bond with that person they lead to Christ. They are the best ones to start the follow-up.

But it is a challenge that must be met.
David

Church Members Can Win People to Christ

Last week was the first week that we saw two saved as a result of our opinion poll outreach. We now have had 13 saved in the last several months. Church members are winning people to Christ!

More of our members are becoming involved in the opinion poll outreach because they have seen their friends and fellow believers rejoicing over souls they were privileged to lead to Christ. It takes a little while but it catches on. They've never seen it this way before and they want some of that joy. The joy of the Lord.

For years the average church has expected their pastors to win people to Christ. But the pastors weren't doing much of that and so seeing people come to Christ has become an unusual experience for everyone except during VBS or Youth Camp. And even then most of those that were saved were children of church members. We call that biological growth.

Pastors, help your people to win people to Christ and see them rejoicing as they bring in the sheaves!
David

Fruit Producers

John 15:16 "...I appointed you that you should go out and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain,..." (HCSB)

The fruit of a disciple is another disciple. You can't get around it. Those are Jesus' own words. Then Jesus said, "My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My disciples". John 15:8. (HSCB) Producing fruit glorifies the Father and proves that we are disciples of the Lord Jesus.

In the past I have heard the teaching on the "Fruit of the Spirit" emphasized over the fruit of a disciple. This kind of emphasis has overshadowed the very thing that glorifies the Father. I believe that each believer ought to exhibit the fruit of the spirit but not at the expense of producing fruit as a disciple. One fruit is of the disciple, the other fruit is of the Spirit. Which one specifically glorifies the Father?

Let's be fruit producers. Disciples reproducing disciples.

David

12 Saved

We now rejoice in 12 saved over the last several months. Last night our follow-up team lead a 16 year old African American girl to the Lord. She had already been contacted in our first outreach through the Opinion Poll. Last night she was ready to be saved. After she prayed to ask for God's forgiveness and receive Christ she asked, "Can I bring my sister to church too?" Praise God for His goodness.

I want you to know we are not bragging but rejoicing! We are not trying to make anyone feel badly by these reports of souls being saved. We are simply rejoicing and want to share it with others.

It is our prayer that many others be encouraged and stirred up to reach out for lost souls around them. They are everywhere. And many are ready to receive Christ.
David

Starting New Works Needed

So far this year only 2 new churches/missions have been started in the USA. I am now aware of 5 new works globally. Praise God!

However, on the basis of last years church/mission planting we are not moving very well at all. It might pick up towards the Fall and Spring.

Starting new churches/missions is still the best form of evangelism that there is. It gets a lot of fresh activity going for the kingdom of God. Many souls are saved and discipled when new works get started.

We need to get a momentum going for new works! There is an urgency at hand and I'm not sure that this urgency is felt by the mainstream of our work. I pray that starting new works will be high on the agenda of our churches and our associated work for this next year.
David

Opinion Poll Survey

50 years ago religious surveys were being used by evangelistic churches. They were successful then and now. The survey has changed in its format but the idea is the same; to make contact with total strangers for the purpose of gathering information that will lead to new prospects for both Sunday School and church.

The "Two Minute Religious Opinion Poll" has been used most successfully by a number of churches and outreach groups over the last several years. We have consistently seen souls saved as a result of this kind of method. It has also produced many good prospects for follow-up.

Our church has been using it for the last several months with great success. We have seen 11 saved and dozens of good prospects as a result of mobilizing our church members to help take the survey.

The benefits of this go far beyond expectations. Church members are encouraged to get involved in the taking of the survey. They learn how to lead people to Christ and discover the joy of seeing souls saved. Then they become involved with the discipleship process. It is a very fruitful outreach ministry.

If you would like to know more please contact us.
David

What's in your DNA?

The DNA of a church is often established at its conception just like a human being. A human's physical, emotional and mental traits are in place upon conception and then birth and later through the modeling of the parents. A church is very similar to this in that it gets its DNA from the one who starts it (missionary/church planter) and indoctrinates it. Of course, Christ is the head of the church and his DNA will also be present by the Holy Spirit.

What if a church does not have evangelism in its DNA? What will happen to it? It will not be evangelistic. Churches must be started with evangelism as their key component. Evangelism must be the number one core value of a church or it will be like pulling teeth to ever get it to evangelize. This is one reason why so many churches are declining and dying at this very moment.

It is very important to start new churches. New churches that have evangelism and discipleship as their core values (DNA) will see remarkable results. Those that do not will see little or no fruit.

What's in your DNA?
David

Quit Wasting Time

There are some who would die for an argument or a debate. Quite frankly, I don't believe much is accomplished through some of that.

Debating an issue or discussing something to endless detail can waste a lot of good quality time that could be spent doing outreach and soulwinning. I have seen some of my brothers get eaten up with this to the point that they will debate the scripturality of a matter to the point of 'ad naseum'. They will endlessly debate and quarrel over biblical methods of evangelism without ever evangelizing!

Argue with the Lord about some of these things and see who wins the argument:
1. "Go ye into all the world and make disciples..."
2. "Preach the gospel to every creature..."
3. "Even as my Father hath sent me so send I you..."
4. "I came to seek and to save that which was lost."
5. "Ye shall be witnesses unto me..."
6. "Compel them to come in ..."

I say it's time to quit wasting time in useless debate and start doing something that will count for eternity.

Another One Rescued from Hell

We are really praising God because one of our members lead another person to Christ last night. This is getting exciting!

The majority of our folks have seldom if ever lead anyone to Christ before that we started doing outreach with the Two Minute Religious Opinion Poll (a simple variation of the one Charlie Ellison designed).

Our greatest desire now is to disciple these new believers. We are following-up on them regularly. It is most rewarding to see some of these already growing.

My quesiton is "Why aren't more of you guys out there trying this on a weekly basis?" It works!
It works everywhere, even in your small country community.

Let me hear from those of you who want to know more. I will be glad to help you out.
David

Is Your Church Dead? checklist

Frank Fears gives a checklist of things for you to measure life in your church:

1. Ask for a show of hands of those members who did not attend church before the age of 21. In the typical church, less than 3% will respond as being "harvested" Christians. That is, they were saved as adults, rather than being raised in church. (The vast majority of church members were taken or sent to church as children, and are thus "homegrown". )

2. Ask for a show of hands of those who have never been membeers of another church. The great majority, who are unable to raise a hand, are those who came to your church from another church, and probably several others before that.

3. Ask for testimonies from those who can relate having shared God's plan of salvation from the bible, with a lost person sometime within the last year. Have them share who, whre, when, and go over the passages used.

If less than a 10% response is obtained in any of the survey, your church is not just ailing. It is most definitely dead. If the response is only slightly more, the end is in sight. The exceedingly rare, live church will have at least a 25% response in all three surveys.

Is your church dead or alive?
David

Open Your Eyes and See the Harvest!

I have had numerous pastors tell me in the past: Bro David, everyone here has heard the gospel before! They say this after they have been challenged to reach out and evangelize.

In the average town and city of the Bible belt, less than 20% of the population can actually be found in church on Sunday morning. It is probably closer to 10%, depending on where you live.

For how long has this been going on? For over 30 years this has been happening and we are now at an all time low. Wake up my brothers! Lift up your eyes for the harvest is ripe, now!

In the last several weeks we have lead several individuals to Christ from the age of 20 something to 40 something and the majority of these have never been in church (not once), never owned a Bible, and never read a Bible. It was just like as if I were in some foreign country like Mongolia! Do you know where I was? In the Bible belt! In a small town of 20 thousand or less. There are dozens of churches within an easy drive all around me. All of them preach salvation, more or less. But very few of them do evangelism.

For over 30 years the only ones that went out evangelizing were the JW's. Because of the JW's many of us quit going door-to-door. We left the harvest to the enemy. So we built our beautiful church buildings and said, "they will come if we build it!" Few came.

Now is the day of salvation! Now is the time to go out and evanglize. Don't miss it! Open your eyes and see the harvest. It's everywhere!
David

The Sin of Silence

"The Sin of Silence" by Bill Fay is another excellent book that will stir your heart for evangelism.

Bill says, "Ask ten people in your church this Sunday if the've shared the gospel with just one person in the past week, and I can almost guarantee you that all ten will tell you no.

Ask them again at Christmastime if they've shared the gospel with even one person in the past year, and the chances are still almost 100 percent they'll tell you no again.

But here's the ultimate: if you were to ask these same people on their deathbeds if they had shared the gospel with one person in their entire lives, then perhaps__perhaps__one of them would be able to honestly say yes."

Wow! Unfortunately, this is very true.

David

Resurrecting the Dead Church

"Resurrecting The Dead Church" by Frank Fears is a fascinating and revealing study of churches in America. (deadchurch.com).

"In countries where it is illegal to become a Christian, where to do so means to be ostracized by your neighbors, even shunned by your own family__ people are being saved. Where salvation equates to sacrifice and harsh persecution__ people are being saved. where the penalty of sharing the gospel is imprisonment, or even death, people are telling others about Jesus. And hundreds, and thousands, are responding passionately. People are being saved. Believers are paying whatever the price exacted, to follow the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spiritis showering the power of God down upon those at the fronts, where the kingdom is suring and where spiritual warfare rages."

The quote above is a fact. I have seen it for myself over the last 20 years. I have been part of gathering in that great harvest. But this is not happening in our "Jerusalem". We have squandered our Christian heritage that was passed on to us. Now, over 80% of America is unchurched. Will we regain our lost ground?

We have ignored the Great Commission far too long and now we are reaping the results of non-evangelism. Many churches are dying a long and miserable death.

How do you resurrect a dead church? You start with new life. New life comes when lost people start getting saved. Not when fish from one aquarium are moved to another. Not through transfer growth, but through real growth; lost people getting saved. This will be the first sign of new life in a dead church.

Resurrecting the dead church, however, will take more than this. But it is a good beginning.
David

Total of Ten Saved so far!

We now have seen 10 that have received Christ as a result of our members reaching out friends, and family and thursday night outreach! We praise God for His blessings.

The challenge before us now is doing effective follow-up and discipleship. We are working hard to bring these folks into a discipleship situation. Pray for us.

David

Another One Saved!

Praise God for another soul saved last night in our thursday night opinion poll surveys. This time another one of our men lead a soul to Christ. He was on a spiritual high!

Our church has been praying that every member have the opportunity to lead at least one soul to Christ this year. It is beginning to happen. The momentum has begun.

Praise God for His Blessings.
David

Is Your Church Dead?

I have had numerous Pentecostals tell me over the years that Baptists are fine people but that their churches are dead. I used to take issue with them when they said that to me by defending the truth for which we so tenaciously stand. I now believe that there may be some truth in what they are saying. I know that they are referring to a host of unscriptural practices (tongue speaking, Holy Ghost Baptism, slaying in the spirit, etc.) when they say we are dead. But, I believe that it goes further than that.

When the average church has a prayer and announcements, three songs, an offering, a 20 minute sermon and everyone rushes out the door to get to the restaurant before the Methodists, Presbyterians, and everyone else; and few show up on Sunday evening and prayer meeting and the worship time is 30 minutes of humdrum music and non participation by most of the congregation and the preaching does not stir the soul, you may be in a dead church.

If your church is alive and moving forward for Christ people can't wait to get there because they are wondering who will be saved next, or who will be getting right with God, or who will be bringing who to church for the first time. You will notice that people will come early and leave later because they love to fellowship and want to meet new folks.

David

Sharing Jesus Without Fear

William Fay is the author is this great book that every believer ought to read. The book clearly gives simple steps to overcome fear in personal witnessing. It also gives several good approaches that can be successfully used in sharing your faith. It is a book that I have put in the hands of several of our church members.

I spoke to Bro Fay yesterday and he is certainly sold on sharing our faith with others. One thing he said that really caught my attention. He said that one remarkable thing that has come from his book is that church members are getting saved like never before. He said, we need to begin the "inreach" effort along with the "outreach" effort. Apparently they are discovering that over 30% of church members in the average church are unsaved! That's scary!

It therefore becomes apparent that one of the reasons we have so little spirituality in some of our churches is that 30% of the membership maybe lost! This may explain a lot about the downward spiral of our churches.

David

Untold Millions Still Untold

Several times in the last month and a half I have encountered people who have never been in church, and never owned a Bible. Can you believe it? This is small town America, and in the bible belt! And there are plenty more where these came from.

This is a great time to do ministry in America and to win souls to Christ. Over 80% of America is unchurched and in another generation it will be even more. That means there are thousands of people who are potentially open to the gospel message.

People have told me in the past, Bro David, you are out of touch. Most people around here have heard the gospel and most of them are saved. Those who believe this are sadly misinformed and have not been out where the lost people are. They have stayed around the church too long without going into the highways and hedges. Remember, any given Sunday morning less than 15% of your community population is inside of a church house!! Where are the other 85%?

The challenge is now as it is ever been, the fields are white unto harvest, who will go and tell the millions that are still untold at home and abroad.
David

Soulwinning

It is understood that I nor anyone else can save a soul from Hell. Although Paul said,
1Co 9:22 "To the weak I became weak, in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I may by all means save some." We know that Paul didn't mean that he saved anyone, but that others would be saved as a result of his witness.

It's the same thing with soulwinning. We don't really win anyone to Christ, we simply lead them to Christ. However, soulwinning is a good term (terminology?). It suggests that we are working to win people over to a saving knowledge of our Lord. Soulwinning also suggests a necessary action that is required in order for folks to come to Christ. James clearly advised us that "He that winneth souls is wise." So there you have it, soulwinning is scriptural, and therefore we ought to be doing it!

This morning I had to take my car in to the auto center for repair. My shuttle driver and I got into conversation. I asked him was he going to church regularly? He said, no, I have never gone anywhere. I said, if you died right now do you know where you would spend eternity? He said, no, I don't know. I said, have you ever asked Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins and come into your life? No, he said, never! I asked him, would you like to do that right now? He said, yes, I would like to try. I said, no need to try; just have faith and ask God to forgive you. Would you sincerely ask him from your heart right now? Yes, he said, I would! We prayed and with a tear in his eye, he said, I really feel much better!

Before I left him I promised I would get him a Bible (He has never owned one). I gave him some literature and told him I wanted to get back together with him. He said, that would be good. Praise God for a soul saved this morning!

Jerusalem Priority

I am excited about Jerusalem Priority. This is the new outreach program offered to us by Bogard Press in Texarkana.

Anytime there is a positive effort to help our churches get on board with outreach and church growth we ought to be excited. This is a first in our fellowship. I hope there will be more to come.

If you have every done FRANTASTIC Days, or Friend Day. This will be similar yet different.
I hope many will want to try it. Now is the time to start planning.

David

Reproducing Churches

The term reproducing is still somewhat new to our list of terminologies. However, once we understand the term in relationship to doing mission work we see that it is as scriptural as it gets.

First of all, believers are to be reproducing themselves in others. We are to "make disciples" in Matt 28:19-20 and (2Ti 2:2) "And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." This biblical kind of discipleship ought to cause believers to "reproduce" themselves over and over again.

Secondly, since only churches can start churches (and the Great Commission was explicit about going into all the world to preach the gospel, and baptizing new believers) it is then necessary to start new churches as often as possible. Churches then would be "reproducing" themselves as often as possible teaching by example and mandating that each new church reproduce itself as soon as it is possible. Studies today reveal that if a church hasn't started another church within three years of it's own establishment that it may never start another church. Therefore, the idea is to reproduce new churches as often as possible and as soon as possible.

The challenge is to reproduce ourselves in Christ and start healthy reproducing churches everywhere we go.

David

Terminal Terminology

Terminal: the end of the line or an important junction point for transportation lines.
Terminology: the terms or system of terms used in a specific science, art, etc; nomenclature;

Webster always gives us insight on the words we use. So here are my thoughts regarding the new terminologies of doing mission work or church planting as many now call it.

I believe we are at the junction point for what we call 'mission work' in our ABA fellowship. This junction is now fully in view. Many are stalled at this junction point because of terminology, ie; the usage of terms that are being used to describe mission work as they have been used in our fellowship for the last 50 years.

Starting new churches/missions is a specific science (the Biblical knowledge of starting new works after the example of the great church planters of the Bible). Scientific terms are always changing to adapt to new factual and actual findings through experiment and study. We ought to be able to do the same thing when it comes to starting new works.

For instance: (this is just one example of the need for new terminology in gospel work)
For the last 50 years we have been starting 'missions'. It was a term adopted from the SBC and prior to that it was used by Protestants and the Roman Catholic church. But it was never found in the Bible. Even the concept of a 'mission' is not found in the Bible. But we adopted a term (terminology) called 'mission' and justified it for many reasons which I don't have time to elaborate on.

Therefore, the challenge of terminology has brought us to a junction point. Are we going to continue to call these new works that get started 'missions' or are we going to call them 'churches'? Because we have ingratiated ourselves to the usage of 'mission' we have built a whole system of how we do mission work. This system is now working against us because of its unbiblical foundation, as well-intentioned as it was. However, this is not the problem. The problem is that some are trying to use the biblical standard of starting or planting churches and it is being suggested that they are heretical. This is somewhat confusing isn't it? It is confusing because of how strongly we stand on the Word of God as our guide for doctrine and practice.

Some are even suggesting that the terminology of "planting churches" is universal church thinking and ought to be avoided for that reason alone. This is very strange thinking considering the intelligence and knowledge of those who say this. Paul said, 1Co 3:6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. Planting is a good biblical word and refers to starting churches.

My point about this whole matter is not so much about the terminology of mission vs church planting as it is that the scripturality of such terms ought to be first considered above everything else. Let's make the switch at this terminal and begin to think on a different track. Then the rest of the needed changes will come as we compare them to the scriptures and validate them through experiment and study.

David

Is My Way the Only Way?

No, my way is not the only way to do church planting, do witnessing, do mininstry, or do anything for that matter. But I've found some good ways that are working very effectively and not just for me but many others as well.

My way is nothing more than a compilation of many ways that I have seen ministry done over the last 40 years. Some has been good, some has not been good. I have always tried to throw out the bad and keep the good. We were taught that in Bible school as I recall.

Sometimes I threw out the good, because I believed it was bad. Sometimes I kept the bad because I believed it was good! Ultimately, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit have brought me back to seek a balance in all of it for which I am thankful to God.

It is my prayer that some will see things a little differently than they did before they read these blogs. If "my way" of dong ministry has stirred some controversy then so be it. My intention is nothing more than to stir God's people to get up and out of their comfort zones and do some serious ministry before Jesus comes back.

"My way" is working for now, is yours? If your way is working, tell us about it, we need to know about it so that we can work together to advance the kingdom of God, reproduce churches, evangelize the lost and reach the unreached, and make more disciples who will disciple others.

David

Religious Opinion Polls Work

In my travels over the years among our churches and associations there has often been negative comments made about "door knocking" (cold turkey evangelism). I understand that some are not experiencing much success from this kind of outreach and have abandoned it altogether. Others have never tried it simply because of the "negative press" that door knocking has gotten for so long. Some of us took the word of experienced brothers who said they knew what they were talking about and so we quit "door knocking" on the basis of their "knowledgeable experience".

I've done door knocking all over the world. It has worked everywhere that I have gone, from Toronto to Tokyo, from London to Athens, from San Francisco to Dallas, from Dayton to Tampa, from "Podunk Hollow" to East Texas. And it will work where you are to, if you will give it an honest chance. Now don't turn me off just yet.

The rules for door knocking have changed a lot. Instead of just meeting someone at the door and trying to introduce your church and the gospel, why not take a religious survey of the person at the door? We have found tremendous success using the Religious Opinion Poll (inititiated by Charlie Ellison) wherever we have gone. City Reach has successfully used it, XSTREAM has used it, church planters have used it, and laypeople in the average church have used it. We have also used it successfully at our national ABA evangelistic outreach meetings for several years. An Opinion Poll allows the person at the door to interact and express his feelings and opinions to the guided questions that are offered to him. Ultimately, he is casually asked "Has anyone ever shared with you how you can have a personal relationship with God?" And then the gospel presentation begins. Most people are willing to listen and will respond one way or another to you.

Religious Opinion Polls are not new. They are not an invention of anyone in particular. The idea has been used many times and many ways for nearly 100 years by churches and cults.

We have been privileged to win several people to Christ through the Opinion Poll already in the last couple of months. One of our church men lead a soul to Christ last night during our Opinion Poll outreach. He was rejoicing all the way home! We have had so many prospects to follow-up on as a result of this outreach that we are getting other members involved in helping us.

David

Fishing in a Dry Hole?

I know a lot of fishermen. Not one of them is lacking when it comes to real "fishing sense". They catch fish and they know where to go and what to look for. When the fishing is no good anymore, they move on to another hole.

But not one of them would go fishing in a dry hole!

But that's exactly what a lot of pastors and churches are doing when they keep on doing things the way they always did them before, knowing full well that it is not working and hasn't worked for a long, long time. Gradually they see the water disappear from their favorite hole and out of blind hope throw their line in time and again. Doesn't make sense to me.

How blind can we be? Paul admonishes us to be awakened, and open our eyes, and come out of deep sleep and arise. Rom 13:11.

Let's go fishing for souls while we still can, while it is still day and a harvest that won't quit. By the way, some of the best fishing can be at night! Just use the light! The light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.

David

Sunday Night Ministry

Sunday night is still a good time to do ministry. Some churches are doing small groups on Sunday evenings and others have simply moved the evening worship up to an after lunch service (with lunch at church). Others have just simply cancelled out sunday evening services and maybe missing golden opportunities for ministry.

We understand that church families are really busy these days and more and more families stressed out from all the work, kids, and making ends meet. However, ministry needs to continue.

One of the biggest complaints about sunday night services is that very few are attending. Perhaps the approach needs to be changed. Lately (during the summer slump) our Sunday nights have nearly doubled in attendance. I don't know how long it will last but what we are doing is working for now. We're getting in guest speakers, missionaries, and young people with talent that need opportunity to minister. Then we publicize it through our people. We had Merle Haggard lately and we had an excellent turnout. But it was all about outreach and getting follow-up information on our guests. We now have over 50 contacts that have come as a result of this kind of outreach.

It has been my opinion (got lots of them) that we need to utilize every opportunity that we have while we have them to reach people for Christ. What might work for us might not work for you. But we need to know that we have genuinely worked every possible opportunity before we try something else or just plain give-up.

Because so many churches are shutting down their Sunday night services we have found that there are many believers who are looking to fill their Sunday nights with church somewhere. Our doors are open and they are coming.

Try something different to involve and motivate your church to look forward to coming on Sunday night and see what happens.

The old cliche is "when life hands you a lemon, make lemonade out of it."

David

Planting Churches Best Form of Evangelism

Planting new churches is still the best form of evangelism there is. The reasons are many:
1. Every effort is being made to reach lost and unchurched people for Christ.
2. The Church Planter is thinking, praying, and working for souls to come to Christ.
3. The Sending Church is praying, giving, and working for souls to come to Christ.
4. Partnering (supporting) churches are doing the same.
5. New people that come to the new church being taught about soulwinning. (DNA being established firmly in soulwinning and witnessing).
6. The new church is giving out tracts, bibles, and sharing their faith energetically.

The above are just a few reasons why Planting Churches is the best form of Evangelism. Isn't it amazing that this was God's plan from the beginning of the Gospel? God sent His Son to seek and to save the lost. He made disciples (the Jerusalem Church) and they made disciples (more churches) and went throughout the world (starting more churches).

Reproducing is what the above describes. Therefore Churches starting churches (reproducing) increases the momentum for evangelism. Let's start more churches and quit worrying about land and buildings. Jesus nor the disciples (early churches) ever bought land or built buildings and the kingdom of God grew and multiplied. Maybe that's our problem? Too much effort on land and buildings and not enough effort in starting churches?

Let's plant more churches and evangelize more effectively.
David

Some Reasons for Starting A Church Planting Fellowship

Here is a brief list of reasons why a church planting fellowship needs to exist:
1. To promote church planting and the reproduction of churches, since this seldom occurs in our associated work. (Our associated work is primarily about raising funds to support missionaries and not about facilitating the actual work of starting new works.)
2. To bring together pastors and churches who are wanting to be a part of a progressive and visionary movement to establish more works nationally and eventually globally using every viable and godly method to achieve church planting. (This is not to form a new association, or to foster schisms, or to take away from any existing associational activity which is involved in church planting and starting missions.)
3. To establish a simple plan that empowers churches to focus on one thing only; the planting of new churches. (Nothing like this exists within our associated work at this time, to my knowledge.)
4. To establish a simple structure whereby all churches willing to "fellowship" could expect that church planters being sent out by the local churches of this "fellowship" would be adequately trained through internships, mentoring relationships and actual on the job training before they are ever released to go start a church. They would be evaluated and assessed as to their compatability with certain fields and as to their ability to be the point man in a church planting team effort. (We would call upon the resources of established ministries that would assist in accomplishing these goals as necessary.)
5. To provide an avenue for all potential church planters to exercise their spiritual gifts without the restraints of perceived common practices or terminologies for those practices. (Preferences for style of worship, evangelistic methods of outreach, type of clothing worn in the pulpit, kind of music or musical instruments, will not be issues worthy of debate; it will be understood that we are to become all things to all men that we might by all means win some.)
6. To provide a positive atmosphere where the common goal of church planting is clearly understood and that every effort is made to achieve it.
7. To provide guidance and direction to the churches wishing to utilize this "fellowship" for the purpose of recruiting and training church planters and planting churches. (each local church decides as to whether or not they will participate. They will then enter into the "fellowship" realizing that the main goal is to assess and prepare the church planter in order to start a new church as effectively as possible. (Whether or not the local church decides to follow that guidance is up to them). More about guidelines for the "fellowship" in a later blog.
8. To provide resources as they are made available to the "fellowship" in assisting the church planter and his sending church to achieve their goals in church planting.

New Church Planting Goal for 08/09.

Since the ABA in Spokane we have seen two new works started. There maybe more but it is becoming increasingly more difficult to get information due to the ABA News going to a message board system. We will be utilizing that nonethless in the near future.

Because 100 new works is definitely not within the range of our associated churches at this time, we have simply doubled the number of works done last year as a possible goal for this year, 26!

Is 26 new works an achievable goal for over 1200 ABA churches?

I fully realize that this goal is set by me! I am nobody. But no one is challenging us to do anything in the way of church planting and that is unacceptable to me. We need goals to strive for and pray for. I'd love for someone in our ABA leadership to challenge us with goals like this rather than me. It would be far more effective coming from them. I would gladly step aside from making any presumptuous attempts in this area of setting goals if someone would just do it and not be concerned about what others might say or think.

Our churches need a vision of how they can achieve these goals. There is no vision and the churches are perishing. How can we achieve greater church planting?

There is a way, in my humble opinion which will be talked about more in future blogs.
David

For the Reord

For the Record, it is important to remind those who are reading these blogs and making their comments regarding my doctrinal soundness, that for the past 40 years we have ascribed to the doctrinal statement of the ABA. My church, Greater Heights Baptist Fellowship, and XSTREAM Global Missions ascribes to the same doctrinal statement.

Therefore, the problem that some have with these blogs is one of 'practice' and not 'doctrine'. The vast majority of us believe strongly and agree wholly with our doctrinal statement but have issues with the way in which some 'practice'.

Therefore, any further unnecessary comments about this blogger being unscriptural or that he ought to leave the ABA will not be posted simply because they are false and presumptive statements that are willfully designed to malign another person's character and not done in the spirit of Christian love.

David

Ukraine team returns with great reports

Our Ukraine team returned from nearly two weeks of ministry behind them. They report 17 souls saved and lives changed forever.
The team gave their report (two Georgia team members not present) and it was an hour and a half service! Everyone received a blessing of how God worked on their hearts and the lives of the Ukrainian children to whom they ministered.
Danny Mendoza was their team leader and did an awesome job leading the team.
We're looking for more teams for next year. Ukraine, and wherever else God may lead.
David

Post 101

I am delighted to report that we saw 3 souls saved last night during visitation. We have been sowing a lot of seed here in Angleton for the last 5 months (that how old our work is) and are now beginning to see the beginning of the harvest. Alice and I were praising God all the way home last night. Alice led an Hispanic man to Christ, I led a young lady, and we found out about one that was saved as a result of an earlier visit we made. Praise God!

We are getting ready for a Marty Haggard concert on August 3rd. It's an outreach event, not just entertainment. Also we are getting ready for Labor Day outreach picnic (not just fellowship, but outreach). We are planning to do Jerusalem Priority in November (the only time we can do it) and we are excited about reaching many more new contacts.

We started our first New Members class two weeks ago. Two families showed up I wasn't expecting and the couple I was expecting never showed up! That's the way it is sometimes.

Our Ukraine team is coming home next Wednesday. We have already heard reports of souls saved, Amen!

This is what it is all about my friends. Let go to tell the Good News to everyone everywhere.

David

My 100th Post!

Wow! I never thought that this blogging thing would continue to the point it has. I am so appreciative of all my blogging friends, and even some who may not be my friends. That's ok too!

Over the past year it has become quite evident that there is a desire for change in our Associated work. What kind of change is still the issue at hand. I don't believe in change for the sake of change, but for the sake of Christ's work. And believe me, there needs to be some changes. I will leave that for another blog.

It has also become apparent that we are not doing as well as we thought we were. 13 new works is wonderful, but it falls far short of what could be done. Although there are those out there who want quality over quantity; and others who don't want us to count the new works; and still others who think I am going SBC; I will not give up in my quest for positive, productive change that brings about an increase of church planting and global missions.

Yes, I will continue to count the new works. No one else is. If you all would help me, I would appreciate it very much. I don't want to miss anyone in the count. I believe that counting the new works and the ones that have closed their doors will reveal the true extent of our real work. It will reveal whether or not we are moving forwards or backwards. Presently, it appears to be more to the rear than to the front. There are many issues that have created this, and it is complex, but not beyond fixing.

My most recent challenge of starting a "church planting fellowship" has stirred up some folks in the negative track rather than the purpose for which it was written. I was looking for some positive feedback as to how we could see more new churches started and some of the response from the bloggers was negative. I really don't understand that kind of thinking. Maybe some wise one will help me out.

I have believed and still do that positive change can be implemented if enough of us will rise up and speak out about it and then do something about it. Wise action must follow all of this "outloud" thinking that I do. I am not afraid to act on my thinking. Just making sure I'm thinking in the right direction before I jump.

OK, so this is my 100th post. Sounds a lot like the first. But let's keep on working for positive changes among some of the greatest churches in the world.
David

Church Planting Fellowship?

What is a church planting fellowship? Simply, a number of churches willing to fellowship together for the specific purpose of church planting. This is not an attempt to start another association of churches or create any kind of a schism.

This "fellowship" (for the lack of a better word) would be like the IMD (Interstate Mission Development, or any other ministry) where churches would choose to work together to achieve a specific purpose in finding resources for church planting and developing new workable strategies. Church Planters would be recruited, assessed, trained, mentored and coached in order to successfully establish reproducing churches. This "fellowship" would incorporate other ministries that have a similar interest which could facilitate success in church planting. This ministry would go beyond the "training" of church planters to the actual establishing of new churches: locating strategic areas, recruiting church planters, mobilizing teams to help the new work off the ground, etc.

Presently our association does not have the structure to accommodate deliberate and strategic church planting. As a result, our church planting efforts are very limited and our vision lacking.

There would be a need for a "sponsoring church" that would be responsible for the clear direction of this plan working with other churches that would agree to the standards and the challenge set before them.

If you are interested in learning more about a possible "church planting fellowship" or would like to become a part of an effort like this please contact me and let me know.

David

13 new works in 07/08

Last year proved to be a real disappointment in the number of actual new works being started. However, we praise God for 13 works total that we were able to count. There may have been some we didn't know about.

At the missionary share time we challenged everyone to rise up to double the amount of new works started nationally, that would be 26! It would be wonderful if we could do this. It will take a lot more than a simple challenge to do this though.

There needs to be a number of things put into place that would enable any increase in church planting to occur:

1. Everyone would need to understand the new terminologies associated with current church planting methods.
2. There would need to be new ministries formed with an eye for church planting and development (our association is incapable of this process in its present structure).
3. There is a need for a "church planting fellowship" of churches to be formed within our association for the sole purpose of planting new churches in the USA and Canada.

We can make the changes necessary for success in church planting. However, the desire for change is not well enough established in order for us to see those changes occur in the future.

David

Ukrainian Team leaves July 10

Our Ukrainian team of 10 with leader Danny Mendoza will be leaving July 10th. They are getting excited. They will be working with Dr. Bill Pennell in Zhitomyr, Ukraine. The team will be involved with the annual youth camp and working with the Ukrainian staff teachers and workers. Every year souls are saved. Many new friends are made and the work of God is spread further.

We will be posting more info about the team when they return.

David

Greater Outreach

Our Greater Heights group went out last Thursday and did the opinion poll survey. Everyone enjoyed it and we're looking forward to going out again in the next week or so. A number of contacts were made and we are looking forward to follow-up.

This Friday, July 4th, we will be doing an Outreach Picnic. We have a tent set up on Manna Fields Farms and we are anticipating a good number to come out with their friends. We will be doing games, and hotdogs, and hamburgers, etc. Later on we will have a chalk talk artist draw for us and after dark the fireworks begin. Pray for wet ground!

We are really praying for souls to be saved and unchurched people to be reached. The doors are open we just need to walk through them. I am excited about the growing outreach vision that our people are beginning to show.

David

Spokane ABA Outreach Evangelism

Praise God for one soul saved in Spokane!
We had 27 participants (hoped for 50) but am thankful.
There were 294 doors knocked and 24 follow-ups for Bro Bryan Sellers, pastor of Valley Landmark MBC in Spokane.

We had a great time sharing Jesus with a lot of people. The church (Valley LMBC) seemed to be very excited about the effort. There were many good testimonies after our outreach. Much of the testimony centered around how wonderful things worked out once they got out there and began to do the survey. They were an excited bunch of folks.

It is always exciting to see God work!

David

Outreach Evangelism

Bro Charlie Ellison has done a marvelous job in the past years establishing our ABA Outreach Evangelism. It's so sad that due to an accident Charlie won't be with us this year leading out in the outreach. He is passionate about souls and a dynamic leader for outreach.

Bro Charlie has asked me to lead out in the Outreach and I am honored to do this for Jesus.

Let's really show our support for an awesome ABA Outreach this year in Spokane. We could use 50 or more who would go out and help take the Opinion Polls. They are so simple that anyone can do it. They are also very effective. let's pray for many souls to be saved.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could see one of the exisiting churches in Spokane grow from this? Or even start a new church/mission? Wow. It could happen. Help us out in Spokane!

David

12 new works since July 07

To date there are 12 new works in the ABA since June of 07. That averages out to one new work (mission/church) every month. That also computes to less than one percent of all of our churches since at least 3 churches closed their doors this last associational year. (I believe there were several more but haven't been able to get very good information.)

Considering this woeful status of our work should cause us great consternation. Yet, I hear very little said about the few works started. I hear more about churches without pastors than the need for more churches. Maybe that's the connection; not enough pastors to go around, therefore no new churches/missions.

I just find it very hard to believe that there is not more vision for church planting than what is apparent. Surely this can be dealt with in some manner. Is anyone praying for more churches to be planted?!

David

ABA Name Change and Church Planting?

Over the past year I have made a lot comments concerning a name change for our national association. My objective has been to help create a movement toward a more global vision for our association. By calling ourselves ABA International or some other term would identify our world vision. As it stands right now it would appear to onlookers that our fellowship is limited to the USA and has no vision.

Unless someone introduces the idea as a resolution or motion this year it probably won't take place (hope I'm wrong). However, in another year I will probably ask my church to consider this resolution and bring it to the Messenger Body because there is no need to wait any longer than that.

I have also been promoting the idea of a church planting committee. Interestingly, many are still not aware the tremendous need for church planting. Hopefully these blogs will stir many hearts towards this great and pressing need in our fellowship.

Anyways, if I don't get up and make a motion this year about these two issues, don't be surprised. But next year, I will come with motions and resolutions, if nothing is done this year. Another year of no perceptible change?

David

Anymore new churches/missions?

To date we have recorded 11 new churches/missions and 1 Bible group having been started since June of 2007. If there are more out there we would love to hear about them.

We have also heard of three works that have closed their doors this last year. But all of that information is not in yet since we only started that research a couple of months ago.

If 11 new works is all that we can determine for 2007/08 then that's all there is! Out of over 1200 churches this is less than a one per-cent increase in the last year. Then subtract the three that closed their doors and you see where we are.

The obvious conclusion will be that we are not starting new churches nor starting new missions to an acceptable level. Where is all the mission money going to in the USA through our ABA work? If we have received over two million dollars for missions surely we would be seeing more new works started than what we have seen.

From my understanding (someone straighten me out if I am wrong) we added new interstate missionaries but not one went out to start a new work but instead took over existing works. How long can we do this and expect an increase in new churches being started?

Please understand, my desire is to see our fellowship start more churches/missions. What are we going to do about this matter? We would love to hear what your solution would be to this really big problem.

David

Faith Promise Conference at Greater Heights

Greater Heights is having their first annual faith promise missions conference beginning last night May 23 and going through Sunday May 25th.

Bro Harold Williams is our keynote speaker from Macedonian Missionary Service in Florida. He did a great job getting us started by teaching the basics of faith promise giving. We have 7 missionaries and ministries represented from around the USA and the world.

We are praying that God increase our faith and help our unbelief in the matter of what God desires to give through us for global missions.

David

Moving into our new offices

It's been a few weeks since my last blog. Busyness has kept me going in a dozen different directions.

We have just recently leased a church office in Angleton. This will help me to get down to business with a number of church relted duties and give our people a place to come for fellowship and counselling, or whatever. We have located a 900 sqft office on the main hiway 288B. We are moving in this week and hopefully operational by next week.

In the meantime Servant Evangelism, new ministries, and small groups are our focus. We are slowly developing each of these areas as God opens doors.

Ed Stetzer and CNN report "Christians Under Attack"

Recently a CNN interview took place with Ed Stetzer of Lifeway. It was a very revealing interview regarding the attitude of the unchurched towards Christians.

It is quite interesting that unchurched people don't have a problem with Jesus, but with Christians. What is going on out there among the unchurched? Do we know? Do our churches know? Have we figured out yet that we are not relevant? Do we realize that we are not connecting?

The unchurched have a keener sense of what Christians and church ought to be like than we do!
I never thought I would see that day. But it is upon us. What are we going to do about it? Will we sit back and criticize the unchurched or actively begin changing their minds about who we really are by the way we show Jesus to others.

The churches are dying a slow death out there. I wonder why?

David

Church Planting Research and Information Service

Would it help to change the name "Church Planting Committee" to "Church Planting Research and Information Service"?

If changing the name of this committee to a service will facilitate the creation of this kind of service for promoting church planting, then I would be for changing the name to a 'service'. Who will give me their input?

Talk to us if you are interested in seeing this kind of service being done in the ABA. Send us your thoughts either to dsmith5165@afo.net or here on this blog.

David

What Would a Church Planting Committee Look Like?

I would like to have your input on this forum. In the past I have listed a number of things this committee might consider doing for the purpose of promoting church planting. I would like to hear from those of you who might be reading this blog.

What would a Church Planting Committee do?
1. They would gather information of how many missions were started and churches organized over the past 10 years.
2. Then they would study the results of why so many churches have closed their doors, and what we need to do to start more healthy churches for the future.
3. They would evaluate past church planting methods.
4. They would make us aware of the condition of things as they are with recommendations for future church planting.
5. The committee would find ways to challenge us to start more churches through all available means and especially promote this at association meetings, etc.
6. They would launch prayer movements to reverse the present trend. They would advertise, promote, encourage, challenge, church planting.
7. Obviously they would not start churches, but facilitate the beginning of new works.
8. The committee could be made up of about 7 persons and given the freedom and the means to do their research and promotional work.

Add to my list or tell me what won't fly.

David

Servant Evangelism

Servant Evangelism is a relatively new concept for me. I've not really had servanthood modeled for me. It's something that I kind of looked at with doubt. Not sure if I wanted to get that low and humbled.

But Jesus did it.

Am I not to be like Him?

I am going to learn about 'servant evangelism' and practice it for myself. It might be the most effective way to reach the lost that we have ever considered.

My son, Jonathon, used this approach in City Reach efforts and it has been very successful in connecting with the lost.

You can visit www.servantevangelism.com to learn a little more or get Steve Sjogren's book "Conspiracy of Kindness".

David

Conspiracy of Kindness/Sharing Jesus Without Fear

A must read for anyone serious about evangelism: Conspiracy of Kindness and Sharing Jesus Without Fear.

Conspiracy of Kindness by Steve Sjogren addresses the need for servant evangelism. I believe in evangelism at every possible level. But servant evangelism has challenged me in a way I have never seriously considered. Doing random acts of kindness as a means to show the love of God and develop genuine relationships with people is something that I always categorized as being part of a "social gospel" mentality. I have changed my mind. I believe this is what could possibly change a lot of people's minds about Christianity.

Sharing Jesus Without Fear by William Fay really challenged me to revisit my approaches to personal evangelism and help others to overcome their fear in witnessing.

These are awesome books that will challenge your personal and daily walk with Christ.
David

Christianity Under Attack

If you listen to Fox News Channel you will know that even the media recognizes that Christianity is under attack. Even the more liberal stations are beginning to report it.

CNN has done an interesting interview with Ed Stetzer (writer with Lifeway) that is worthy of watching. Just click on the following url and you will be able to hear it for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wAIpT-5-Jw.

Chrstians are being perceived differently than what they think they are. Could it be that we are hypcocrites in the eyes of the non-Christian? Could it be that we are not representing Christ in a fashion that is connecting with people. Why are so many people more prone to believe in God than go to church? Something is not right somewhere.

Give me your thoughts about this. let's talk about it.

David

Relay for Life Outreach

Our church did a real community outreach this last weekend.

Relay for Life is a cancer fund raising event that took place at the Brazoria County Fairgrounds (Where we hold services).

One of our ladies caught the vision for representing our church at this event. Others quickly got on board. There were about 20 of our people participating in taking opinion polls and handing out free water (hundreds of bottles). We were the only church represented. I had the privilege of doing the invocational prayer to help kick things off, all in gusty wind and intermittent rain.

God opened up many doors for our group to meet people and let them know we were in the community to serve and reach them for Christ. It was great!

A False Sense of Wellbeing

Could it be that many of us have a false sense of wellbeing among the churches?

It is remarkable to me that some think that 9, now 10 new churches/missions being started in the last year is something to get excited over. Frankly, it is very depressing when you realize that there are over 1200 churches in our association. These new works represent less than one percent of the whole association! It is not something to be bragging about, in my opinion. In fact, we ought to be praying and fasting a lot and asking God to create a burden in our hearts to change this bemoaning state of church planting and new missions.

In addition to this overwhelming need for new works to be started, there is a desperate need for our churches to "comeback" to being vital, Great Commission churches. I invite every pastor to read "Comeback Churches" by Ed Stetzer.

It must be that some are very satisfied with their performance in carrying out the Great Commission. I am not satisfied. I will not be deceived by this false sense of wellbeing that some have.

David

A Church Planting Committee Revisited

Can we as an association establish a church planting committee? We have the BSSC, Missionary Committee, and so on, but none of our committees are designed to promote, develop, research, or plan on how to enhance church planting/mission starting in our fellowship. It's 30 years past due and frankly, if we don't do it soon it probably won't ever be done. So now is the time to stir this pot as well.

A Church Planting Committee would not start churches or missions. They would not call pastors or missionaries. They would simply recommend strategies for the churches, missionaries, and church planters on how to plant churches/missions more effectively, taking into consideration the demographical and strategical elements needed in achieving more successful church/mission reproduction. They would help promote a church planting/mission starting vision for the fellowship by challenging our churches with goal setting and vision development.

I have no desire to start this committee, or even to sit on it. Someone would think I have an agenda. But, surely there is someone out there who would take the initiative to start this or at least introduce this much needed committee.

I wonder how long it will take to get this simple process into place and show that our churches are serious about church planting and are willing to at least appoint a committee to study it. With only 9 new churches/missions having been started since last year, I'd say we are in desperate need of something that works.

David

Time to Stir the Pot

Well, I gues it is time to stir things up again. Some may not like me bringing this up again, but here it comes...

The ABA national meeting is nearing and it is time to start thinking about a name change for our association. If we are going to be seen as a serious global player in the world of missions our name needs to reflect it. Our churches and missions around the world don't understand the narrow thinking of our brethren at home. They see our associational work as international/global and wonder why we don't get the bigger picture here at home. A name change would send a positive message to everyone and establish a global vision for the ABA. A name change can be a good thing.

All it will take for us to make the change is to tack on to the end of our present name the word "International". Now, how hard is that? Who could possibly be offended by that? What devious false heresy could we interject into our fellowship by adding "international"?

Let's get a 'grassfire' going with this idea of a name change. Maybe this year it will happen.
David

Great Easter/Friend Day

For those of you following up on our Easter/Friend Day, we had an ecstatic day!
(There were over 220 present) mostly unchurched, some lost. There were two saved! Wow, our church was so encouraged and excited about all of our blessings from God. One brother came to me Sunday night and said, "Pastor we need to do this again in a couple of months!"

It's probably not a good idea to do Friend Day but once a year. I've conducted "Friend Days" for over 25 years in three different foreign countries: Canada, USA, and Mongolia. They are always successful. We always get more prospects than we can follow-up on. We always get some to come back.

The purpose of Friend Day is to create an outreach to all of our friends, inviting them for one special day. I invited the Mayor of our city, and he came! It added a lot to our overall service. Everyone participated the best they could. Some folks invited their friends and they didn't come. But that's the way it is sometimes.

This was a real jumpstart for our new church. It really motivated everyone in a positive way.

If you have never tried a Friend Day outreach. What in the world have you been waiting for? It is awesome.
David

EASTER is a Great Opportunity for Outreach

It's been a whole month since I blogged! I can't believe it.
So much has happened in the last four weeks: we moved from Arlington to West Columbia, just outside of Angleton. We are fairly settled in at this time. I have hit the road running with planning, working, and outreaching!

We are having a "Friend Day" during our Easter Sunday service. We are expecting God to do great things! Looking for over 200 God willing. Our people are fasting and praying for God to save souls and change lives.

I have pasted a quote from Jonathan Falwell that I thought was interesting, please read it:

"Many of those who will gather in these churches will do so out of obligation because it is Easter Sunday -- not because of their profound belief or appreciation for what Christ did on that wonderful day thousands of years ago. In some people’s opinions, this fact is discouraging. Many Christians are saddened that there are those who will show up in our houses of worship on Easter, but will not do so for many months afterwards. They feel as if these occasional attendees should be condemned for their lackadaisical approach to worship of the risen Savior.

As a pastor, I am actually encouraged by the burgeoning attendance in churches on this special day. In my opinion, this is a clear sign that there are still many people in our culture who realize their basic need for a Savior. While they may not give in to that need but a few times a year, they are still recognizing the reality of that need."

It's all about attitude. If we have a negative outlook then we can actually work against what God is trying to do. Praise God for every Easter guest and pray that God will touch them and change their lives, so they will come back. So be ready with a positive message about the most positive thing that has ever happened in the world: Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead!
David

"Material Evidence" found for the Ark

This last Tuesday, genuine "material evidence" was found for the ark. You need to check this out. It's for real. Go to:
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=local_news&month=january2008&file=local_news2008011955044.xml
Just copy this and paste it in your web browser.
It was very interesting to see this come out of the Qatar Peninsular paper.
David

Ministry News Alert for David P Smith/XSTREAM GM

Landmark Missionary Baptist Church
391 Arthur Rd. Martinez, CA. 94553-1401
Phone (925) 228-2580 Fax (925) 335-9453
Web Site http://www.lmbcmartinez.org
Federal Tax ID 68-0432672



February 12, 2008

Dearest Brethren,

It is with a mixture of joy and sadness that I write this letter informing you that Bro David Smith is no longer our church planter. Joy, because I just returned from Angleton, Texas where we planted a new church with 108 people going into the organization, and sadness because Bro.Smith will no longer be our missionary as Greater Heights Baptist Fellowship in Angleton has called him as their pastor.

Bro and Sis Smith have served the Lord as missionary church planters through our church for the last 8 years and we have developed a great, loving relationship with them. I cannot speak highly enough of Bro. David and Sis. Alice. They are truly friends.

Bro Smith will continue to go where the Lord opens doors through XSTREAM Global Missions, opening new fields and taking teaching teams with him while pastoring the new church. I will continue to serve on the Board of Directors for XSTREAM and do all I can to help. I would also like to ask that the churches that have been so faithfully supporting Bro and Sis Smith to redirect their salary support to the XSTREAM Global Missions ministry for the travel fund. By doing this you will greatly aid in helping Bro. David to plant new churches world-wide. XSTREAM Global Missions will continue as a viable ministry with Bro David leading it under Greater Heights Baptist Fellowship.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at (925) 228-2580. I am convinced that God has some great things in store for the Smiths and Greater Heights Baptist Fellowship. They are a great, loving and supportive church and I look forward to a long, active relationship with them.

Please begin sending your offerings for the Smiths and XSTREAM to Greater Heights Baptist Fellowship, PO Box 1356, Angleton, TX 77516-1356. Thank you very much.

Yours for the Cause of Christ,


Pastor Bill Gurnett
Sponsors of:
Rod Shaull, Missionary to Clyde, Ohio
Dennis & Charlotte Carrell, Missionaries to Mongolia
Gary & Charlene Max, Missionaries to New Zealand

ABA Disaster Relief Doing A Great Work

May I just take a few lines to say that Marvin Jackson and the ABA Disaster Relief group has done an amazing work. Marvin doesn't miss a beat. He and his team are right on with where the need is. They have organized well and implement their resources to the limit. We need to really get behind this ministry and support it. It will be an excellent means by which to show hurting people that we love them and care for them. Let it be a means to win the lost and show them Jesus really cares.
May God multiply your ministry Bro Marvin.

More Souls Saved Should Mean More Churches

It was recently reported that over 13,000 souls have been saved in the collective work of our missionaries. This is worth shouting about!

However, without dampening the spirit of this wonderful report, we must ask the question, "why have there only been 14 new works started in six months on the foreign field and only 6 new works on the home front so far?" There is something very ominous about this. Now, I do understand that you can't get everybody baptized that gets saved, and everybody that gets baptized doesn't necessarily end up in church or part of a new church. But if only half of these people ended up in church or a new church there would have been significant church increase and new works being started and it would have been widely reported. But there hasn't been that I can tell. What's going on? Can someone answer my question? Maybe I'm missing something.

With 13,000 plus having been saved we should have heard of dozens if not hundreds of new churches being started. Someone enlighten me?

Ministry Networking

Networking defined: a group, system, etc. of interconnected or cooperating individuals. (Websters dict.)

Ministry Networking defined would be: multiple ministries having the same belief system with the Great Commission as their vision, working together in ministry in order to promote the same cause (Great Commission) without compromising their particular and individual core values and at the same time maintaining their distinctivenes in ministry.

Ministry Networking defined in the ABA: Multiple ministries having the same belief systems with the Great Commission as their vision, working independently of each other.

Perhaps it is time to "consider the locust". They have no king, Jesus said, and yet they move together in one body to achieve their one aim: devour everything in sight! What a concept!

I believe that if all of the different ministries within the ABA could network together with each other that there could be significantly more spiritual results. Let me explain: Let's say that ABA leadership wanted to see more churches/missions started next year and so they called upon our church planting ministries and said will you help us train our missionaries, both interstate and foreign? Then suppose all of those ministries networked together and put a training program together for all of the missionaries. Then let's suppose there were some serious weather tragedies in certain areas of the country (like lately) and the ABA disaster relief ministry invited other ministries to come in and on purpose be part of starting new churches in those areas. Then consider mobilizing MBSF groups to come together and do major cleanup in those devastated areas. The possibilities are limitless if we could catch the vision for ministry networking. There may already be some networking but it needs to expand into an organized effort.

Ministry networking; it works! Why not try it?

Readiness, Recruitment, Mentoring, Multiplication

Readiness implies that we are ready for the task ahead. The task? Church planting. Are we ready to start new churches? What does it take to get ready? It takes a desire first and foremost. Without desire there is no effort. Do we have the desire? After desire sets in there will be an effort to get ready. That's a worthy work all by itself.

Recruitment implies that while we are getting ready we need to be recruiting laborers. That means actively seeking, and engaging those who will labor in church planting. Praying above everything else that the Lord of the harvest will send those laborers out to start churches.

Mentoring implies that those who are ready and recruited are in need of equipping, encouragement, and one on one lifting up in the work of church planting.

Multiplication implies that those recruited were ready and with great encouragmenet multiplied themselves in making new disciples and planting new churches.