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Ten Ways To Grow a Church Without God
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Re: Ten Ways To Grow a Church Without God
Posted On: 07/05/07 08:32:10 AM Age 45, CA
Dear Mr. Bauman; You have just outlined the Rick Warren plan! Purpose driven churches are big and active and....unsaved. We did a study on his philosophy and books, and he put salvation low on the priorities.
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Re: Ten Ways To Grow a Church Without God
Posted On: 07/04/07 11:46:57 AM Age 44, PA
The number one way to grow a church without Christ is to replace Him with a man as the head of the Church. The more handsome, intelligent and charismatic the man the bigger the institution will be. As far as I'm concerned all modern institutions do it, that's why it's in the shape it's in. Instead of growing a group we should be looking on making them smaller, more intimate where "ALL" may use their God given gifts, not those of the flesh! It should be uncofortable for the unbeliever to realize they have no spiritual gifts.
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Re: Ten Ways To Grow a Church Without God
Posted On: 07/04/07 11:15:03 AM Age 47, IN
The ten steps alone would fall short when it comes to church growth. True growth can only be measured by sustained growth bases upon born again experiences. we must bear fruit that remains. I am reminded of fishing. You must attract the fish with bait. because of their internal drive they will bite even if they are not motivated by hunger. Jesus said that we must be fishers of men. Man has a spiritual hunger that only God can fill. Our goal is to catch is not to release but keep. Let God do the cleaning. We live in a society that has many tools available to use for fishing for men. I had a wise and passionate mentor in the Lord that would say often, "The method is not sacred, only the message is." Do what ever you can to get an audience to preach the Gospel to. Never compromise the gospel. Be creative, God is!
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Re: Ten Ways To Grow a Church Without God
Posted On: 07/04/07 09:53:03 AM Age 43, SC
Bravo. His peace is what we should all be seeking. That peace is often found in quiet settings with small numbers of people. Hey, nothing wrong with having a plasma screen, $100,000 sound system, and lot's of people. But first, and always, what we really need is His peace. So why have so many fallen in the fleshly trap of measuring by income and numbers of people?? Ah, we've mis-interpreted "He added to the church daily" by our egos, and flesh. But how can we 'measure' 'His peace?' If someone can answer that, and your church has lot's of it, I'd like to visit THERE!
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Re: Ten Ways To Grow a Church Without God
Posted On: 07/04/07 03:50:51 AM Age 50, TN
Pretty sad to think of churches doing this checklist to grow a church. Our pastor constantly reminds us Jesus said HE would build His church. We are to reach people with the gospel. Funny thing is that we do a lot of the things listed, but with the mindset of being hospitable and open. We want to put information in the hands of visitors. We have outreach programs aimed at the community and yes, we will get their name and address. Then they will receive a visit and the gospel will be shared one on one. Our church is in a period of growth by which I mean people are being saved. We do not measure growth by how many people swapped another church for ours.
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Re: Ten Ways To Grow a Church Without God
Posted On: 07/03/07 09:48:57 PM Age 63, TX
11. Make the “worship service” entertaining. old glen
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Re: Ten Ways To Grow a Church Without God
Posted On: 07/03/07 09:08:50 PM Age 58, MS
You may have mentioned the number one way to grow a church God's way is for the members to start praying for the church, its pastor, the leaders, the teachers, the families attending, the outreach, the music ministry and every aspect of the church. An excellent resource on how to have an effective prayer ministry is Cheryl Sacks' book entitled The Prayer Saturated Church, published by NavPress.
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Query about #7
Posted On: 07/03/07 05:52:36 PM Age 20, NC
Can you explain what is supposedly wrong with giving visitors information about your church, showing them around, etc.?
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  1. Re: Query about #7
    Posted On: 07/06/07 11:12:23 PMAge 53, IA
    It appeals to the flesh rather than the spirit.
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  2. Re: Query about #7
    Posted On: 07/05/07 02:29:00 PMAge 27, IL
    Just a note to the one who ask what is supposedly wrong with giving someone information and showing them around...there is nothing wrong with giving someone information about your church and showing them around. The author never said there was. Here is a quote from his article..."Not everything on the list is bad, but it is the order that I had them in and what was missing." He openly admitted that not everything was bad. Just wanted to point you back to the article...God bless.
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  3. Re: Query about #7
    Posted On: 07/05/07 08:42:16 AMAge 45, CA
    Salvation has to be FIRST! That relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important priority that needs to be dealt with. Do you know there are people sleeping in the pews (figuratively)that are unsaved? That are bound for Hell? If they haven't understood their need for that Saviour they aren't going to heaven. If they go to church for the social interaction, that's the wrong reason. The church according to the Bible is the Body of Christ, that means they were saved and THEN joined the church. Every instance of salvation in the Bible includes this order. The church is really not for unsaved, its for the teaching and discipling of the saved. Door to door and face to face interaction is where we are commanded to go and win souls. There's nothing "wrong" with giving info to visitors about your church, but the priority in Mr. Bauman's notes was left out, Jesus Christ and salvation of souls. Nothing else matters.
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  4. Re: Query about #7
    Posted On: 07/05/07 07:37:23 AMAge 63, OH
    You ask what is wrong with showing people around the church. You missed the point, nothing is wrong with many of these points except that they have the wrong focus. Paul says "I want to preach nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified". #7 is not preaching Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What is wrong with #7 is to have it on your list when the same list is devoid of Jesus Christ. Lou
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Re: Ten Ways To Grow a Church Without God
Posted On: 07/03/07 05:40:10 PM Age 45, TX
Ray, thank you. Very good article brother. Blessings. more on this topic concerning 2 leading deceivers in the mega church movement Rick Warren http://www.safeguardyoursoul.com/html/rick_warren__purpose_driven_de.html and Joel Osteen http://www.safeguardyoursoul.com/html/joel_osteen_exposed.html
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Re: Ten Ways To Grow a Church Without God
Posted On: 07/03/07 02:13:14 PM Age 53, CO
Well stated. We have turned Christ's church into a consumer-driven activity. We may do lots of religious activity in His name given the remote chance that God decides to "show up" some day and "join us". Our meetings of the church would be amazingly re-vitalized if we whould seek His presence continually as we gathered and we really allowed Christ to be Head of His church.
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