One Pastor's Perspective

Why did Jesus come?? HOPE from Ebenezer BC on Vimeo.

How does one grow a church??

There are many methods and theories.  And, believe it or not, my Master of Divinity minor was church growth…  So, all that means is I’ve read a TON of theories and studies.  And I see a lot of those theories and studies happening in Florence.

One theory (and not one that I believe pleases God) is “Tell the people what they want to hear.”  You might call it prosperity gospel or a gospel of justification.  If I took the pulpit every Sunday and told you not to worry about the ungodly things you do in your life, or asked you to just give me $19.95 and in return you would receive ten times that in your checkbook by the end of the year … Those would be central ideas in those churches.  And, people FLOCK to those messages.  Because we all like to hear that it will be okay and we all would like to think that the sins we hold onto are alright in the eyes of God.   And there are churches in Florence, SC, that do this.

Another theory (a little more Biblically centered, but still has many  flaws) is to go after people who can help financially.  Make a concerted effort to treat them well and encourage them to give to the ministry, and then in turn really try to do ministry.  And, yes, there are churches that do this and grow big numbers with fantastic facilities.  And people flock to it. And there are churches in Florence, SC, that do this.

ANOTHER theory is to be primarily evangelistic.  The mission of the church is to tell others about Christ.  I love it, but the entire mission of the church is NOT only found in evangelism.  Don’t get me wrong:  The majority of our county is headed for Hell unless someone tells them.  That leads into ANOTHER theory, and one of which I am quite fond.

DEPTH.  Discipleship.  Learning what it means to be a disciple, and that resulting in telling others about Christ.  When we understand our purpose and what God is doing all around us, it becomes CLEAR when and where we share His good news.  It is the dual-pronged approach … GROWTH, not first by numbers but by maturity.  Spiritual growth that results in numerical growth.

Which do you see in your church??  Which do you think is best?

The Continuing Debt of Love from Ebenezer BC on Vimeo.

Ebenezerites:

Hope this blog entry finds you doing well.  And PRAYING.  Many folks are getting antsy and asking questions about our search for a Youth Pastor.  I wanted to give you a brief update and encourage you to continue to pray!!

Personnel Team, the ministry team responsible for seeking our next Youth Pastor, has been hard at work on this project.  We are receiving resumes, reviewing them, and we’ve even had some initial discussion with a few candidates.  And, quite frankly, we are in serious prayer that God will lead us to the right person.  And He hasn’t done this yet!!

I know there are some that believe the best thing we could do is find a qualified candidate and get them in here PRONTO.  But, timing is a key in all of this.  God’s timing is THE key.  We would make a tremendous mistake if we just filled the position.  It is time to wait on the Lord … we might not even have the resume of the right person yet!!

So, pray for us!!  Encourage your youth and pray for them!!  There have been a couple of bumps in the road.  Do your part to help hold it all together!!

When we pause to think from Ebenezer BC on Vimeo.

What ever happened to working issues out peacefully within the Body of Christ? Paul wrote VOLUMES about this. Jesus taught that the measure of forgiveness we use on others will be the measure used on us. If we cannot forgive… If we cannot have mercy… Then I wonder how much mercy we will receive?

Just like the Children of Israel, we at times can be as peaceful and loving as anyone and then something happens. It could be anything really…. A fuse trips and its on!! Sometimes it is truly warranted. Sometimes it is not.

Conflict is never easy. But as long as people are different, it is inevitable. And I’ve watched this time and time again: When you approach conflict as the New Testament teaches, it will always pay off for you. When you try your best to remain in God’s will, even in conflict, He will reward you.

Test and see that God is true to those who live for Him!!

Getting the Job DONE from Ebenezer BC on Vimeo.

Fixing the Broken from Ebenezer BC on Vimeo.

I probably won’t do the “30 Days of Thanks” thing that everyone is doing on Facebook.  But there are very specific people and things for which I am thankful.  After a week like this, I’ve seen it in many of those around me.  For this blog entry, I will focus on one group that works hard, and their hard work makes my life much easier.

The ministers at Ebenezer are in constant motion, working hard to make all of the things that happen at EBC go as smoothly as possible.  It really is funny to me that people think our church staff does very little or nothing … first of all, they’ve never really looked at our calendar that is booked with events almost every day!!  (And getting busier as Thanksgiving and Christmas approach)

I am thankful for Ed.  He works so hard to serve, not only in worship ministry and with our music ministry, but in so many other areas.  Areas that are intangible because you have no idea he is doing them.  He doesn’t boast or brag about it … In fact, NONE of these folks do.  Ed brings a spiritual maturity and wisdom to his leadership AND he brings great value to our staff with his mechanical and audio/visual abilities (for which we would pay THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS for if we hired contractors to do those parts of what he does).

I am thankful for Pam.  She really is the glue that holds many things together.  Again, behind the scenes and not seeking the spotlight at all … In fact, she will RUN from the spotlight if she sees it coming.  And if you removed her from most of what EBC does as a church, you would lose the BACKBONE of that event.  She enables volunteers and protects the integrity of the big picture of EBC as she understands it. And every few people even realize this …

I am thankful for Andi.  She is creative, highly motivated, and dedicated to not only children’s ministry at EBC but to the big picture as well.  She loves kids, loves parents and families, and is a perfectionist.  She loves her computer, but does threaten to put a brick through it from time to time … (Dean and I have contemplated removing it and giving her an abacus and a chalkboard instead).  She loves EBC, she sees what God is doing, and she gets it.

I am thankful that God already knows who will join us soon to continue our Student Ministry.  We all pray that this person will jump in, mesh well, and work hard with us to fulfill God’s vision for EBC.  And I am thankful that this person will jump into a line of great student ministers who have gone before and paved the way up to today.  I am still thankful for the ministries of Justin and Wes and all they did to move our student ministry to the place it is in today.

I will write another entry about staff members as time allows.  Because in those times when God calls me to storm into a burning building, these folks are the ones that are RIGHT BESIDE ME charging as hard as they can go!!  And I am most thankful for them!!

So What if I don’t go? from Ebenezer BC on Vimeo.