Bigger Is Easier, But Is It Better?

 I have been wondering about something. When did our bigger churches plant the most workers? When they were bigger and had nice convention center buildings, or when they were smaller and more agile in how they operated? What I am wondering about is how many of our bigger churches, for whom the flow of pioneer church plants has fallen off, have spent a lot of money on  bigger buildings?

Bigger churches with big buildings are good for hosting conferences. But they used to host conferences before they got bogged down with convention center buildings. They made it work. It was exciting. A big building takes away the excitement of seeing a service or a conference packed to the rafters with people. SRO is more exciting than empty seats.

Another thing that I noticed is how some pastors, who seem to miss the exciting days of living on the edge, seem to work hard to try to make it happen again in the new, large building. They talk about the early days a lot. They seem to struggle with how to deal with church life as it is. They travel a lot.

The size of a church is directly linked to the ability of the pastor to minister to the church that the Lord has given him. No matter if that church is 50 people or 500 people or 5000 people, the truth is that the Lord will not waste converts on a man who cannot care for them adequately. 

"A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men." Prov.18:16

I once asked pastor Mitchell why our Fellowship had so many small churches. He told me it was because we had so many small men. It is an unfailing rule of God that a church will never rise beyond the ability and the ministry of the men who shepherd God's flock.

Dance With The One Who Brung Ya.

Here is a thought that I had today. Is it possible that the people who threw out hymnals and who gave us modern translations of the Bible are attempting to destroy the faith once delivered to the saints? They have no respect for ancient songs, maybe they have no respect for ancient words or ancient books either.

I am tired of modern emotion based self focused worship songs that tell more about how I feel about Jesus than about who Jesus is and what He did. I am tired of modern versions of the Bible that try to make the word of God hipper sounding. 

The old wine may not be better. But the old songs and the old words got us to where we are today.

Dance with the one who brung ya is all I am saying. 

Search The Scriptures

 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." 2 Tim. 3:16

Pastor talked about reconstruction Sunday. He talked about how young people are reconstructing their core beliefs and the result being that they reject the faith of their fathers. He said that this is a bad thing.

I see another problem that has to do with putting the Bible under the microscope of study and the result being that we think that the Bible is an ancient book written by mere men. We think that Genesis was written by Moses and that it was Paul who wrote most of the New Testament. And by doing this we dismiss the wonder of how God brought the Bible into being.

The Bible is not a book of men's ideas on God. It is God's self revelation of Himself to show us who He is and how we should live. The Bible is older than we think and is contains words that are spirit and life.

"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak unto you are spirit, and they are life." Jn.6:63

First and foremost the Bible is a book about Christ. It is God's plan of redemption written down in book form for us to read and study and obey.

"And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself." Lk.24:27

We ought to reverence the Bible and do our best to obey all the things that are written there for our edification, exhortation, and comfort. Pastors need to study it and find the truth contained in it.

"You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me." Jn.5:39

Finally, you need to know Jesus Christ, not just to know about Him. You must be born again. You need to repent.

A Sobering Example

 Acts chapter 5 tells the unfortunate story of Ananias and Sapphira, the couple who lied to the Holy Spirit and paid with their lives. It made me wonder, how do you or I lie to the Holy Spirit? Here is my idea of what could have happened.

Ananias and his wife wanted to give an offering like other people were doing. They had a piece of property and so they made a vow to sell the land and give the money to God. So far, so good. I think that they had an idea of what the land was worth and so their pledge was based on what they expected to get by selling that land. But, they found a buyer who was willing to give them more than the going price for real estate. This is where the trouble started.

I figure that God told them to give it all even though it was more than they planned to give. They figured hey, we will give the original amount and praise the Lord for the blessing of this unexpected windfall. But God said give it all, and they were unwilling to obey the Holy Spirit. So this couple went to church and when the offering plates were passed, they put in their large offering and to them they expected God to honor their gift.

They problem with not obeying the voice of the Holy Spirit is that sometimes, Satan is behind our disobedience.

"Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price  of the land for yourself?" v.3

Ananias thought that partial obedience was good enough. Ananias followed his heart even though he knew what the Lord wanted him to do. Ananias gambled with God and lost. Not only was he not blessed for giving, he ended up dead. And his wife also.

"Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice..."!Sam. 15:22

Rebellion against God is the same as witchcraft. 1Sam.15:23 tells us this.

At a critical time in the life of the first century church God made a point by judging Ananias and Sapphira for their rebellion. This event was never duplicated by anyone else.

From time to time God may speak a figure to you or I to give. It is our duty to obey and give that exact amount. It's not the amount that matters as much as it is keeping our hearts right with God.

"There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty." Prov.11:24

America's Greatest sin

Years ago pastor Mitchell preached on America's greatest sin. It was not murder or homosexuality. It was covetousness. Greed for you who think that bigger is better. I wonder what America's greatest sin is today? I think it hasn't changed. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The billionaires pant over the dust on poor people's heads.  

God help us.

The Pattern

 In our church here we do not have outreach every Saturday morning. Instead we have an organized prayer meeting. One of our pastors will say a few words, then we pray, then we end with singing and corporate prayer. That's all, but that's enough. We have outreach later in the day if we have a concert that night. Or if we have a big event to promote.

My experience in serving the Lord for so long is that we all hold certain truths to be unchanging and unshakable. But every church seems to take on the spirit of it's pastor. And since we are not clones, every man's personality is different. And every church will in time find what works for them.

Find out what God is doing where you live, and do what God is doing locally.

I Am Blessed

 "I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread." Psalm 37:25

I live pretty well for someone on a fixed income. I have a budget that I stick to. I pay my bills on time. I buy groceries every week without struggle. I am blessed.

God is always faithful and He is always on time. All of His promises are yes and amen to the glory of His name. Amen.