Big Crowds or Big Hearts?

 A lot of what the Prescott church did they did with about 300 members. It was not the biggest church in the world. It was a church in a small town. Our pastor was not a high flyer in the religious world. We had a modest building and enough parking. We had a church choir with that small attendance.

We think that we must have big crowds to do anything for God. That we need the size and the income that a bigger church provides to plant churches and to make disciples. And I wonder if we are wrong in that assumption.

We did not have to have a convention center building back then. And we held conferences in our smallish building until the city threatened to shut us down. Then we started using the circus tents for conference.

I cannot tell you what pastor Mitchell was thinking back then. I saw him in action preaching and praying and overseeing everything by himself. Back before pastor Mitchell became famous.

Every genuine revival begins with a bang and a rush of excitement. Every true revival begins to taper off in time. But that doesn't erase the memories of what it was like in those heady early days. Back when everyone was called to preach. Back when we gazed at the map wondering where we would plant a church next. Back when we got married young and stayed married until death did us part.

This church has a history too. It's not my history but it is legitimate history here.

Street Preaching Style

 Back in the early days we didn't do much street preaching. We witnessed, we passed out tracks, we handed out flyers, but we didn't street preach. One time during conference some out of town guy went downtown and preached. Pastor Mitchell asked them not to do that.

My point in bringing this up is not to criticize street preaching, but to ask a question. How can a guy be zealous in street preaching, and be not very good preaching in a pulpit? I know that these are two different things. But pastor Rubi is the only street preacher who turned into a fine real preacher.

I wonder if the style of spur of the moment inspiration in street preaching makes guys think that impromptu inspiration is how you preach.

Street preaching is Holy Ghost power. Church preaching is three points with a plan.

Discipleship involving witnessing turned out leaders. Street preachers turn out seat of the pants preachers. Just saying.

Our Missing Pastor

 I heard from an old friend that my pastor is preaching in Prescott tonight. A men's discipleship class. I would watch, but why when he was not at his own church all day yesterday. If I am going to listen to what my pastor has to say I want to hear him say it in his own pulpit, not someone elses.

I wonder if those who have popular pastors in our Fellowship feel the same way as I do? I get no benefit from having a popular pastor. It's not like we get pastor Greg or pastor Warner or pastor Campbell or someone else to fill in.

I have no doubt that our pastor will do a good job tonight. He just won't have any impact on me at all.

Preaching For Dummies Volume 1

 We have wrung out all that we can get out of our conference. We had our last missionary pastor preach for us last night. Listening to him it made me wonder how we could better train our pioneer pastors to be better preachers. There are basics to preaching. It's not all about being excited and enthused. It means being focused and aimed towards something.

Some guys preach like they are swatting mosquitoes. They are all over the place and never hit anything. They do not follow an outline and they seem to have no notes to preach off of. They say whatever crosses their minds at the spur of a moment. They preach like the people in the audience are illiterate.

I cannot tell you how to make a bad sermon better. But I can tell the difference between and good sermon and a mediocre one. One common issue is they talk too long on point one and when they say my second point it sounds like it will be an hour long message. Point three of a three point sermon ought to be the high point or the climax to your message. Save the best until last. Point one sets the table. It is not the main course.

Preaching is public speaking. You can learn and get better if you try. If you aim at nothing it is sure that is what you will hit. Nothing. You have to talk in a way that people want to hear what you have to say.

"Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God." Acts 10:33

We are all ready to hear. Do you have anything worthwhile to say?

Built On A Solid Rock

 There will never be another Baby Boom generation. The factors that had to be in place for that to happen may never happen again. Society has moved on from those old ideas and old practices. Just like the post-war economy, the baby boom is relegated to history.

Speaking of the economy, the economic boom that produced the middle class is over and has been over for a long time. There is still an economy. There still is big business. They still build subdivisions. But the time when a single earner could support a wife and three children is s relic of the past. The time when a factory worker could send his kids to college is over.

Since kids today are not getting married or even having sex, is it safe to say that family structure has changed dramatically. Women have become corporate nuns, devoted to the corporation. Men have become stoics, with their emotions under control. This is a world wide phenomenon. We run the risk of running out of babies, and therefore the next generation of people to carry on the dream.

The only thing that hasn't changed is the church. Not progressive churches. But our churches. We still preach the Gospel. We still hold to the Bible as God's word. We still shine as a light in the world. We still hold to the faith once delivered to the saints of old.

So if your world has changed or if your world is falling apart, try our world. Our world is built on the solid rock of Jesus Christ. Before you throw your life away, give it to Jesus. He is the answer.

A Crazy Idea

 Charlie Kirk is reported to have said this. "If Christians don't get involved in politics, politics will erase their right to be Christians."

This sounds more like a scare tactic than a call to arms or a challenge to get involved. But, can I tell you a secret? Faith does not depend on the political climate of a nation. If tomorrow I woke up and following Jesus Christ was illegal, would I backslide and deny the faith? Would I denounce Christ to save my life? Would you?

Charlie Kirk got this all wrong. There are still more with us than there are with them. We are more than conquerors through Christ.

The only thing that pastor Mitchell used to say is do your civic duty and vote. I agree and I do.

Our Mega Church Problem

 Remember when we used to criticize mega church pastors? How you would never be able to talk to them in person. How they were not available for counseling. How they were too big and too busy to just be a local church pastor. They were celebrities and in demand to a wider audience. Yes, we used to criticize mega church pastors. And rightly so.

I used to wonder about celebrity pastors who were on the radio way back when. They had churches and they had supporters. But they were authors and they made films and their interests were far beyond their local churches.

In our Fellowship we have our own issues with big church pastors. They are in demand around the world. They spend a lot of time traveling. They are not on TV or even the radio and seem to have no interest in mass media exposure. But they are hard to get ahold of and they are too busy to take an interest in what goes on at home. Sometimes they become a bottleneck when every decision has to go through them and they aren't here.

We are at a place in our history where we need to find the balance between the needs of the Fellowship and the needs of the local church. We leave the work of discipleship up to the assistant pastors. Counseling is done by the associate pastors. We never know if you will even be preaching on Sunday morning.

I hope that our Fellowship can survive the needs of the big church pastors who sometimes need to be in two places at once. Without them we would not be here. Can we thrive without them going forward?