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