A pastor with a successful, fast-growing church was telling my college how he got his first church.
The church had a policy of interviewing several candidates and then choosing one. The fellow preached at the church, and as soon as he got done, the head deacon asked him to wait outside. Ten minutes later, they called the fellow back in and told him that the church had voted unanimously to call him as their pastor.
The new pastor thought that they must have rally been impressed by his sermon, but he found out the truth. The deacon had told the congregation that this selection process was taking to long, they needed a piano player, this guy's wife could play the piano, and so they should hire him. And they did.
Which just goes to show...
Friday, December 2, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Why Missionaries Fail Part 11
Folks, the next several blogs are going to be so bizarre, so contrary to what most Christians believe, that I need to explain it first.
Why do most missionaries fail? Because they're doing the wrong thing (trying to start churches).
Why do most missionaries continue to do the wrong thing, when they see that it doesn't work? Because they have a strongly-held belief that is incorrect.
Why do most missionaries hold to a strong belief, that gets them to do the wrong thing, so that they fail? Because when someone tells them the truth, it is so contrary to what they believe that they reject it.
Now Folks, I want you to be patient with me over the next few posts, because I am going to teach something that is very contrary to what most Christians believe.
Why do most missionaries fail? Because they're doing the wrong thing (trying to start churches).
Why do most missionaries continue to do the wrong thing, when they see that it doesn't work? Because they have a strongly-held belief that is incorrect.
Why do most missionaries hold to a strong belief, that gets them to do the wrong thing, so that they fail? Because when someone tells them the truth, it is so contrary to what they believe that they reject it.
Now Folks, I want you to be patient with me over the next few posts, because I am going to teach something that is very contrary to what most Christians believe.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Why Missionaries Fail Part 10
In dealing with legal problems of sending American money outside the country, many missionaries need their supporting churches to send money to the mission board, and then the board transfers the money to the missionary. BIMI is a mission board for independent Baptists, and problems developed when some independent Baptist churches joined the Southern Baptist Convention while they still had missionaries on the field.
For years, there was no problem, and then somebody in the Convention said something that BIMI didn't like, and BIMI demanded that their missionaries repudiate the statement or BIMI would cut them off. If anyone in the world ought to believe that a mission board has no authority to rule over missionaries, it ought to be independent Baptists.
But when someone has power, and that someone controls the money, that isn't how it works out.
For years, there was no problem, and then somebody in the Convention said something that BIMI didn't like, and BIMI demanded that their missionaries repudiate the statement or BIMI would cut them off. If anyone in the world ought to believe that a mission board has no authority to rule over missionaries, it ought to be independent Baptists.
But when someone has power, and that someone controls the money, that isn't how it works out.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Why Missionaries Fail Part 9
Who do missionaries actually answer to?
By definition, most missionaries start small. They have to speak in a variety of churches, and they usually get a small amount (often $50/month) from those churches that support them. Many of these churches will have a Women's Missinary Society that reads the missionaries' letters, prays for them, and even gives them extra money. And some churches have a Missions Director.
Sometimes given the job to placate him after the congregation had rejected him as a leader, the MD oversees the missionaries who are getting $50/month. He has almost absolute power to have the church drop a missionary. And so missionaries have to send this man monthly reports, answer his questions, and not do anything that he objects to. In other words, they have to obey him. Since most missionaries have to answer to several MDs, problems easily develop.
By definition, most missionaries start small. They have to speak in a variety of churches, and they usually get a small amount (often $50/month) from those churches that support them. Many of these churches will have a Women's Missinary Society that reads the missionaries' letters, prays for them, and even gives them extra money. And some churches have a Missions Director.
Sometimes given the job to placate him after the congregation had rejected him as a leader, the MD oversees the missionaries who are getting $50/month. He has almost absolute power to have the church drop a missionary. And so missionaries have to send this man monthly reports, answer his questions, and not do anything that he objects to. In other words, they have to obey him. Since most missionaries have to answer to several MDs, problems easily develop.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Why Missinaries Fail Part 8
Who did the Apostles Peter and Paul have to give account to? They both had to explain themselves to the church at Jerusalem and Paul also had to explain himself to the church at Antioch. Why? These two churches appear to have been the largest churches in the Book of Acts. The Jerusalem church was dominated by Jewish converts, while the Antioch church was dominated by Gentile converts.
They were both large, successful churches led by soul-winners, and they made the right decision about Peter and Paul.
But that isn't who modern missionaries give account to. They often have to give account to a mission board that has no Scriptural authority to exist. And there's someone else that's even worse.
They were both large, successful churches led by soul-winners, and they made the right decision about Peter and Paul.
But that isn't who modern missionaries give account to. They often have to give account to a mission board that has no Scriptural authority to exist. And there's someone else that's even worse.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Why Missionaries Fail Part 7
The Apostles Peter and Paul had a similar problem. They would win Gentiles to Christ, and then someone back home would say that they were doing the wrong thing. Eventually, the Christians had to hold a council at Jerusalem to decide the issue. But what gave the critics the authority to evaluate two men who were getting large numbers of people saved?
A major problem with missionaries today is that they have to answer to a board that has no Scriptural authority to evaluate them. Missionaries are forbidden to participate in evangelistic outreach with other groups on the field. They are also forbidden to do anything that might offend the organizations and churches that provide financial support for the board.
I'll be talking about this one for a while.
A major problem with missionaries today is that they have to answer to a board that has no Scriptural authority to evaluate them. Missionaries are forbidden to participate in evangelistic outreach with other groups on the field. They are also forbidden to do anything that might offend the organizations and churches that provide financial support for the board.
I'll be talking about this one for a while.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Why Missionaries Fail Part 6
James 4:13-14 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow.
About three years ago, our church decided to open a children's outreach, for local kids only, to be held on Saturday, and I felt led to help. The plan was a success, even though it didn't work. Last Sunday we brought 32 Mexican children to church in the church's 18-passenger van. And our pastor, who took the church from 12 to over 100 in five years, came to Mexico as an evangelist, not a pastor.
In the book of Acts we read that various missionaries, including the Apostle Paul, didn't go where they planned to, but they were still successful. Careful, long-term planning sounds good, and it is often necessary in order for a missinary to raise support. But it isn't always the way God works.
About three years ago, our church decided to open a children's outreach, for local kids only, to be held on Saturday, and I felt led to help. The plan was a success, even though it didn't work. Last Sunday we brought 32 Mexican children to church in the church's 18-passenger van. And our pastor, who took the church from 12 to over 100 in five years, came to Mexico as an evangelist, not a pastor.
In the book of Acts we read that various missionaries, including the Apostle Paul, didn't go where they planned to, but they were still successful. Careful, long-term planning sounds good, and it is often necessary in order for a missinary to raise support. But it isn't always the way God works.
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