Cause, or Accommodation?

 Here is an interesting question. When pastor Mitchell built a building or enlarged a building was it to cause growth, or was it to accommodate growth? Do you know? I came into the Prescott church when the Ruth street build was fairly new. My wife went to church on Lincoln street. The Lincoln street building was bursting at the seams when pastor Mitchell and the council built the Ruth street building. The Ruth street building was expanded several times until it became obvious that we had outgrown it.  Not enough seats, not enough parking, for our regular church services. It never seemed to me that our pastor was building so that they would come. They were coming faster than he could build.

A bigger building does not cause growth if growth is not already happening. Buildings accommodate growth when it is already happening. If you build it, they will come, only works in movies.

One more thought. In Prescott they needed space for conference. There were no auditoriums in town that could hold the crowds of people we had coming. The tents proved to be Divine inspiration. For a fraction of the cost of a multi-million dollar building Prescott held conferences in those tents for years.

We want bigger and bigger buildings, and then we long for the simpler times when everything was new (and we had nothing). A new church and a downsized church are not the same thing.

Intergenerational Churches

 I have a simple question today. We know that every church that is successful and big enough to support itself had a beginning. A pastor and a handful of core saints who were the seed of something much greater. We see the end result of God's working in actual churches that are doing well.

My question is this: can the core that got it started take us to the next level? Can the pastor who, through trial and error got us here, expand into new territory that never crossed his mind before?

The New Testament does not give us much guidance here. Jesus ended his public ministry very early. Acts only covers a short time and the life of Paul and the original apostles. The epistles are about getting better and growing stronger. Revelation is far in the future.

Only modern church history gives us guidance on intergenerational churches. We may have to examine church history to find any examples of what we as a Fellowship are facing as we grow older.

"And He said, my presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. Then he said to him, if your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here." Exodus 33:14-15

Nothing Grows Forever

 I have written about this before. Nothing grows forever. At least, nothing in this life. People are born, they grow, they level off, and then they decline. Trees start out, they grow, and they maintain their size until they die. No matter how much we try, we cannot add one inch to our height or one inch to the height of a ponderosa pine tree.

It is hard to realize and to face the fact of our terminal size. No amount of fasting and prayer can change that.

Churches are similar. It seems that churches should continue to grow. We build bigger buildings so that they can grow. The key to church growth is not bigger buildings, but bigger men as pastors.

We waste a lot of time trying to recapture the exciting days of early church growth. Meanwhile, it seems that for every 10 people who come in through the front door, 2 people slip out the back door to never come back again. The past is in the record books. The future is still before us.

What is the future for us or our church? First, maintain what we have now. Second, minister to people where they are to help them grow in faith. We helped them grow up. Now, let's help them grow old.

A Challenge For Today

 When I was first saved everything was black or white, heaven or hell. People quit serving the Lord to go back to drugs and sex and booze. 

Our challenge today, as we grow up in the faith, is not to get drunk or get high. Our temptation is to partner with people outside our Fellowship or to, dare I even say it, bring in pastors from outside our Fellowship. We want political power to get things done. We become polished and professional and acceptable to the movers and shakers of society. Using Goliath's sword means, to us,  using borrowed money to advance the Gospel.

The indigenous church is self propagating, self supporting, and self governing. 

"I am doing a great work." Neh.6:3

The Third Generation Question

"When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel." Judges 2:10

This morning, in his sermon, pastor Rubi brought up the subject of the third generation and how it is the third generation that sells the farm. This is a deep subject and one which I will not attempt to tackle here. But it is a pertinent subject for our Fellowship as time marches on.

We all think that we will live forever just as we are and that things will remain the same forever. But deep in our hearts we know that this is not true. We see our parents and grandparents get old and die. We see fads change and societal norms change. We all reach a point in life where we yearn for the good old days. Days that are gone forever.

I was genuinely concerned when pastor Mitchell died. I wondered if our Fellowship would or could survive without him. So far it seems that my fears were unfounded. But I am wondering, as the clock continues to tick, if we will survive in a form we would recognize beyond the second generation of Fellowship leaders.

The founder is the one who paved the way and who payed the price and who through trial and error found out what works. The second generation, not wanting to lose what they have, work hard to maintain the gains and to perfect the gains of the founder. But the third generation wonders why we do what we do and what's the point of it all and they become skeptics and they fail to appreciate the gift they were given and so they squander it all away. America is full of old church buildings that used to be alive and vibrant and now are monuments to a forgotten time in their church's history.

Prescott is the only true first generation church in our Fellowship. But there are second generation churches that have first generation status. Tucson is a fist generation church. San Antonio is a first generation church. Prescott is a second generation church now, having shifted from it's founder to the next generation of pastoral leadership. First generation churches are ones who have growth and influence under their current headship. In our Fellowship many of our first generation churches are getting very old.

One final question. Is the third generation problem inevitable?

Good Thing Happening in Prescott

 I keep in touch with a few of my old Prescott friends. I quiz them on what is happening in Prescott. And, to put it simply, I am pleased with what I hear happening in the mother church.

I wondered if pastor Greg would be anything but pastor Mitchell's son. Would Greg just carry on doing what his father did? There is both yes and no answers to that question.

Yes, pastor Greg is staying faithful to the basic tenets of our Fellowship. Evangelism, discipleship, and church planting. The Prescott church continues to outreach in various ways in their area. They are still heavily involved in world evangelism. So, pastor Greg is a faithful man to our vision.

No, pastor Greg is not only doing what his father did, he is implementing things that are uniquely his. He is fine tuning some old ministries and positions. He has implemented some new ministry and some new positions. He is doing enough to give me confidence that pastor Greg is a real man of God in his own right.

God continue to bless the Prescott church in all that they do going forward.

"Then He said to them, therefore, every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a house-holder who brings out of his treasure things new and old." Mat.13:52

Time For God To Act In Marriage

"And the Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." Genesis 2:18

There is a lot to be said about the truth in this one verse. I want to focus on the central truth, that God says it is not good for a man to live alone. In our church we have many young men living a not good life alone. These young men have friends and they have family. They are well poised to be successful in life. But they are single and not close to being married. There are also men like me, men who were married but through death or divorce are currently single again. Whether never married or single again, God says this state is not good.

I think it is time for God to act in the area of marriage. I think it is time for these young men to find willing wives. They need to be married while they are young so that they can grow up and grow old as a couple. We need a marriage revival in our Fellowship!

It is not just a matter of seeing someone, talking to them at church, taking them out for dinner, and courting. God initiated marriage in the Garden and He needs to originate marriage again today.

Get married and fall in love. In that order. 

God picks the perfect mate for those who let Him choose.