Lessons My Dad Taught Me- The Importance of Soul Winning

Another recent article on soul winning was written by my good friend, Kreig Durham. Read it here at Cutting the Great Commission Short.

I would like to share what may possibly thing the biggest thing that my father taught me that has shaped who I am today. If my father had never taught me this, I do not believe that I would be in the ministry today. That is the area of soul winning. Can you look back on your life and identify one particular moment that shaped the rest of your life? I sure can. I forget what grade I was in, I believe it was around the third grade, but I can take you to the exact spot where this happened and all the events surrounding it. This moment was the time that my dad showed me how to be a soul winner. You might think that a third grader is too young to be a soul winner, but I cannot disagree with you more. I remember exactly how it happened. My dad and me were sitting in the front pew of the church we were at. It was not a Sunday or Wednesday night, I think it was after school one day. My dad gave me a brown Gideon Bible and took me through the Romans Road, underlining verses and then writing notes to show me which verse to go to next. That moment motivated me to be a soul winner. I asked my junior church teacher if I could go through the salvation plan with any kid that needed to get saved, I witnessed to my classmates, in fact, I got to win one girl to the Lord, I would stand outside the auditorium when church was over, asking people if they were saved. I was excited about sharing the Gospel because my dad showed me how much of a priority it was by showing me how to do it. It was around the 5th grade when my dad asked me if I wanted to go soul winning with the teens on Wednesday night. I agreed to do so, and every Wednesday night after that I would go out soul winning with a group of teen guys. Typically 5th graders are not invited to go out soul winning with teens, but my dad was trying to show me that soul winning is important.

I am still pretty young, in life and in the ministry, but I have had the opportunity to see many churches and their operations. I do not think I am overstepping my bounds when I say that I can see the spiritual climate of fundamental Baptists. I have noticed that there are two areas that are vastly being ignored among many of our Christians, they are the areas of personal Bible study and personal soul winning. Many Christians do not know how to be an effective soul winner, but that isn’t the main problem; the main problem is that many Christians don’t feel like they need to know how to be an effective soul winner. I think what fuels this problem is the fact that being a soul winner requires you to not just play the part of being a Christian on Sunday morning during church, but it requires you to be a Christian ALL THE TIME. That is a commitment that some are just not willing to make. Why aren’t they? Because they do not see the importance in soul winning.

Jesus saw the importance of soul winning. What does he say to his disciples in Matthew 9:37, “the harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.” Jesus is telling his disciples that they need to get out into the harvest field. There are souls that need to be saved, and we are the ones that can go out there and make a difference for the Lord.

We, as Christians, rally behind great causes. I ate at Chick-fil-a on Chick-fil-a Day, I shop at Hobby Lobby, I vote for what I believe in, my wife walked for Breast Cancer Awareness, I am for political activism or drawing attention to an illness or a charity that helps some particular cause, but we cannot forget that our number one focus, the most important cause that we are to stand for is the salvation of lost souls.

I do not know what the future holds for Calvary Baptist Church. Someday we may have ministries that help with people in every stage of life. I would love to see people in our building every single day having Bible studies, growing and edifying one another; I would love to see activity and excitement in our members. But the one thing that should never change is the understanding that soul winning takes the front seat in the operations of our church. As I have heard many wise men say in the past, “We need to keep the main thing the main thing, and the main thing is soul winning.”

I am so thankful for a dad who isn’t just a soul winner. He is much more than that. At a very young age, he taught me how important soul winning is. I sincerely believe that every soul that is saved through my ministry will be credited to my dad and mom in eternity, because without their influence and training I would not be a soul winner today. How about you? How important is soul winning to you? Think of what God could do through us if we all determined to place soul winning on our priority list where God wants it to be! Let’s all determine to be more passionate in our soul winning efforts.

Did you miss part one of this series? If so, here is a link to No Complaining About Nothin’! Check it out.

Also, for more information on my dad’s ministry, check out the website of Emmanuel Baptist Temple.

Lastly, if you live in Northeast Georgia, or are travelling through, check out the website of Calvary Baptist Church in Hartwell, GA. We would love to have you as a guest to our church!

Lessons That My Dad Taught Me- No Complaining About Nothin'

When I was thirteen years old, I had the opportunity to go on a missions trip to Nassau, Bahamas. My dad was the youth pastor of a large youth group and several of us went to hold a Bible school for the children who lived in Nassau. It was an incredible time! God worked in a great way, and I was able to see what it was like to live in poverty. This is off topic, but I believe that every teen needs to see what it is like to live in a third world country. It is easy to get spoiled living in the USA, but to be able to see the living conditions of those less fortunate and see that, despite what little they have, they are so much happier than we tend to be, is very convicting and is a great reality check. My dad was in charge of our group of teens and he put us through several meetings of training before we got there. In the first meeting that we all had, my dad went over a list of the rules for the missions trip. Rules like, no dating while on the missions trip, no color tv (we were allowed to talk about black and white shows, like the Andy Griffith show, I Love Lucy, and Three Stooges), dress code rules, things to not bring with us, and more. There was one rule in particular that has always stuck out to me. It was a rule that I learned did not just apply to the missions trip but to life in general. That rule was, as my dad humorously put it, “no complaining about nothin’!” (Note: For any Grammar Nazi’s reading this, the double negative was said on purpose in order to be funny. Please do not flood my comment section with grammar corrections.)

Why was this such an important rule for a missions trip? Since we were going down to the Bahamas to do a Bible school for the church, we were to serve them for the week. It would be selfish of us to go down there and then complain about how hot the weather was, how we didn’t like the food that was given to us, or the cleanliness of our sleeping arrangement. We were there to be a blessing and to serve, complaining was not compatible with the purpose for being down there.

As Christians, we are called to serve the Lord and to be a blessing wherever we go. Remember, we are ambassadors for Christ. Complaining is not compatible with our calling as Christians. Complaining is a very carnal thing to do, because the root of complaining is being unthankful. The Lord has done so much for us, why do we feel like we have the right to be unthankful? 

Sometimes when I am tempted to complain, I think about the people in the Bahamas. Many of them live in small cinder block houses that are no bigger than my living room. No air conditioning, many had no running water. Who am I to complain? 

Paul said it this way in 1st Timothy 6:8, “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.” God has provided for our needs, there is no reason to complain.

When we went down to the Bahamas, we got to see many children accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour. God blessed our time there, and part of it was because we had a good spirit. That good spirit was present within our group because we came to do God’s work and to not complain while doing it. When we focus on serving the Lord, and having an excellent spirit while doing so, God will bless in a great way. That is why we need to have the rule, “No complaining about nothin’!”

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out Calvary Baptist Church's website at www.calvarybaptisthartwell.com.

Also, check out my dad's ministry at www.ebthagerstown.com.

Cutting The Great Commission Short- Guest Post by Kreig Durham

A note from Curtis: My first week in college I was scared and lonely. I didn't know anyone on campus and my family was all the way on the other end of the country. On the bus ride to a Dodgers game, I sat with my roommate and we got into a fun conversation. A guy in the row in front of us turned around and started talking with us. He was funny and friendly. We ended up spending the entire time at the game together, and long story short, he became my best friend. His name is Kreig Durham. In the future, I plan on having more guest writers on my blog, but I decided that the first person to have should be my best friend. Kreig is very intelligent, and in his writing he gives insight that others normally do not see. I believe this post will be a blessing to you. If you enjoy his writing, stop by his blog at assortedbagofcandy.wordpress.com. Happy reading!

Matthew 28:18-20, "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." 

Jesus gave the church marching orders. He gave us a mission. He gave us a Great Commission. We've all heard many excellent messages about how we must go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). Many people have been burdened to share the message of the Gospel by sermons from the passages containing the Great Commission. It's an excellent truth that we all need to follow better!

But are we doing all of it?

That is to say, are we fully obeying the Great Commission, or are we just focusing on part of it? I would go so far as to say that many churches are focusing on the "preach the gospel" part, to the neglect of the much larger plan laid out by Jesus.

The Great Commission doesn't end after someone receives Jesus.

In Matthew 28, we find Jesus giving a detailed plan for the church. It was the plan which they were to be consumed in doing. In fact, it is the entire mission of the church. And it includes so much more than just seeing people believe on Jesus Christ. Don't misunderstand, we should strive to introduce as many people as possible to the Savior!

But it doesn't end there. When Jesus told us in Matthew 28 to "teach all nations," the words we've translated into English mean not just to teach, but to make disciples. Then we are to baptize those we are making into disciples, which means they've come to the place where they want to publicly identify with Jesus and the church. Then we are to continue to teach those disciples everything God has commanded us.

The Great Commission is a lifestyle, not a program.

So what does "making disciples" mean, really? When you read the Gospel accounts, you find different groups of people following Jesus around for different reason. The Pharisees, scribes, and Saducees followed Him around to defame Him. The multitudes follow Jesus to experience His miracles and hear His revolutionary teaching. But the disciples followed Him to become more like Him. They wanted to learn from Him. They wanted to be in on everything Jesus had for them. They weren't perfect, and they certainly weren't always faithful. The disciples were, however, close to Jesus. And because of this closeness, this committedness to Jesus, they were changed.

Disciples aren't just passive consumers, nor are they skeptics always trying to find fault. Disciples don't just want to be near Jesus. They want to be with Jesus. To be a disciples, you must forsake your way, your will, and follow Jesus, wherever He goes. For the church to fulfill the Great Commission, it has to make disciples. Making disciples means bringing those who have accepted Christ from being newborns in Christ to being maturing, committed followers of Christ. And the only way to do this is by making it our lifestyle. A passing interest will not bring people along the path of discipleship— it has to be a fully integrated lifestyle of teaching new Christians to become mature believers.

When we cut the Great Commission short, we endanger baby believers.

Ephesians 4:14 explains, "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;" Baby Christians, those who are new in the faith or just very immature in their faith, are more easily deceive by false teachers who seem to have the truth. Without the strong support of a church that is constantly making disciples (not just converts), they will be eaten alive spiritually!

Imagine a newborn baby, so small, so defenseless, so needy. He's so young and small that he needs every single one of his needs met by someone else. He is totally incapable of taking care of himself, and will be for quite a while. He needs to be cared for, watched over, protected, taught, and led by people who will not deceive him or hurt him. Someday he will be old enough and mature enough to care for himself. But right now he's totally and completely dependent on others.

Now imagine that this baby's mother abandons him mere days after he is born into this world. What do you think his chances of survival are? Now imagine we aren't talking about a literal baby, but a new believer. Imagine his church is very good at preaching the Gospel, but have no plan for people after they meet the Savior. What do you think will happen to these new Christians?

The Great Commission is everyone's job.

In order for this all to come together, for the whole mission of the church to be fulfilled, we have to remember that the pastor isn't the only one responsible to obey it. The church is a body. The church is people. Everyone, no matter their place in the church, must choose to obey the marching orders given by Jesus.

Otherwise we'll just continue to cut the Great Commission short.

Additional note from Curtis: Stay tuned for a new series coming soon. It's called Lessons I Learned from My Dad. There are a lot of interesting things that I really would like to talk about.

Three Spirits That Will Destroy A Church- Part 3

A Spirit of Apathy Rev. 3:14-16

The church of Laodicea had an apathy problem. They were lukewarm. The problem with the church of Laodicea was that, in our eyes, they were not bad people. They were just a regular church, filled with normal people. If the church in Laodicea existed today, they would be singing the same hymns as us, they would have the Lord’s Supper, they would meet every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. They probably enjoyed each other’s company and they probably sang out during the song service, and they probably even listened when the preacher was preaching God’s Word. I also believe that if you would have walked up to most of the members of that church and asked them, “Do you believe that it is the church’s job to bring souls to Jesus?” They would have said, “Of course, obviously, that’s the Great Commission!” What was the problem with Laodicea? I believe it was the same problem that a lot of churches have today. Across America today, there are Christians who are lukewarm. Why is that? Because they have a Christianity that affects them on Sunday but not for the rest of the week. It isn’t that they are against people coming into the church and getting saved. In fact, when people start getting saved and baptized and when visitors come who do not look like “good Christians” they rejoice over the goodness of God. The problem is not that they feel entitled like the point before. The problem is that they are apathetic. They simply did not care. Once again, let me point out, if you were to ask them if they cared about lost souls, or having a fervent, passionate walk with God, they would give you a very confused look and say that they obviously did. What was the problem? Their words said one thing while their actions said another.

We have churches that are dwindling and dying all across this country and it is largely because of apathy in the pew. There are some Christians who feel entitled, there are some who doubt, but the overwhelming majority of Christians are simply apathetic. They do not care about living a genuine Christian life. They are content with their “Sunday only” Christianity. It has worked for them for years, why should they change it. They sit in the pew and hear sermons on reading the Bible, or on prayer, or on soul-winning and they nod and agree with what the pastor says, but then they wake up on Monday and don’t read the Bible, they don’t pray, and they don’t plan on being a witness for the Lord. Almost as if they are the exception to the rule. Maybe they make excuses for why they don’t go soul winning. Maybe they say ridiculous things like, “Well, soul winning is the pastor’s job” or, “I don’t want anyone to think bad of me if I witness”. And the church dies more and more with every passing year, because it has people willing to sit in a pew, but it doesn’t have people willing to crack open a Bible, or get on their knees, or walk a street with a handful of tracts.

My mom used to have a shirt that said, “Your talk talks and your walk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks.” (Try to say that 5 times fast!) What a very true statement! We have a lot of Christians who play a part on Sunday but are someone totally different the rest of the week, their walk is talking louder than their Sunday talk talks. It’s no wonder that unsaved people refuse to get saved because of how hypocritical Christians can be. BECAUSE SO MANY CHRISTIANS ARE TOTALLY HYPOCRITES! But when you boil it down, it isn’t because those Christians are malevolent, it isn’t because they are mustache-twirling villains who want to see the world burn, it all simply comes down to the point that they do not care. They are apathetic.

I am amazed by the need for the Gospel that Hartwell, Georgia has. It seems like every time I go out soul winning their are people who have never heard the Gospel. I ask them, “Are you 100% sure that you are on your way to Heaven?” And most of the time people will shake their heads and say, “I know that I’m not going to Heaven. Before I came to Georgia, I lived in Maryland, and I honestly believed that it was going to be difficult winning souls to the Lord in Georgia, because it seems like in the South everyone thinks that they are already saved. But not Hartwell. In Hartwell, there are many, many lost people and they KNOW that they are lost. That burdens me. Not as a pastor, but as a Christian, it is my obligation to give them the Gospel. An apathetic person will hear that and say, “Well, that’s nice pastor, keep up the good work,” and never lift a finger to see souls saved, but a person who is passionate about their Saviour will say, “Sign me up for soul winning, pastor. There is a need and I want to help fill that need!”

Whatever happened to passionate Christians? Whatever happened to Christians who cared more about their growth in the Lord and the salvation of the lost than they cared about how much money they were making or the entertainment, or their quality of life? There used to be Christians who lived under the motto, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” But those Christians today are few and far between. Churches are dying. Yes, some are dying because of doubt, some are dying because of wicked Christians who feel entitled, but most are dying simply because an apathetic disinterest in serving the Lord. Don’t sit, soak, and sour. SERVE. God has called you to be more than a Sunday service Christian, he has called you to be an every day Christian.

A young lady named Rosina was enjoying a day on the town. She went to the city with a group of friends, they enjoyed a sightseeing and shopping. They went to a coffee shop and sat and drank some speciality lattes. It had been a great day, but the sun was going down and it was getting time for them to go home. As they walked to their car they walked past a dark alley where one single light showed Rosina and her group of friends that there was a man being beaten up by another man. Rosina and her friends were not sure what to do, so they simply kept walking to their car, acting as if they had never seen it and that nothing ever happened. The next day, as Rosina saw the newspaper, she was shocked to find that the man who had been beaten up in the alley ended up dying. She could’t help but feel responsible for the death of this man. If only she had called for help, if only she had dialed 911 and got the police or someone to come. She could have done something, but she didn’t, simply because she didn’t care to and a man died because of it.

We have a lost and dying world that we live in. It is on its way to Hell. Do you care? Do you care enough to do something about it, or will you just walk by and doom people to a Christless eternity. Apathy will not just affect you, but it will affect the unsaved that you come in contact with as well. The church can no longer afford apathetic Christians; now is the time for every single one of us to serve the Lord with a fervor and a passion for Him.

Conclusion: So, the question that you may be asking tonight is, “Pastor, is my church dying?” My honest answer is that I do not know. I cannot tell what is in your heart, neither can you tell me what is in mine. The question then should be this, “Am I killing my church or am I building it?” The spirits of doubt, entitlement, and apathy will kill this church, but a spirit of faith, selflessness, and passion will build it. Are you being a builder or a destroyer?

Read part one here and part two here.

Keep tuned in for a guest post by Kreig Durham coming soon, and a new series called, "Lessons from My Dad"!

Check out Calvary Baptist Church of Hartwell, GA here

Three Spirits That Will Destroy a Church- Part 2

A Spirit of Entitlement- 3rd John 9

3rd John 9, “I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.”

The Apostle John wrote the 3rd book of John as a letter to a friend and fellow-laborer named Gaius. Apparently he had tried to write a letter to the church that Gaius was a member of, but a man named Diotrephes took the letter and did not read it to the church. Now, we do not know who Diotrephes was. He may have been the pastor, he may have been a deacon, he may have just been a layman who checked the mail, regardless of who he was, John tells us why Diotrephes hid the letter from the church and that was because Diotrephes loved to have the preeminence among them. What does that mean? preeminent means to be superior, or to be important. Diotrephes was large and in charge. The church was all about him, and he liked it that way.

There is a spirit in a lot of churches that rings of the spirit that Diotrephes had. It is the spirit of preeminence or entitlement. Allow me to explain, people who feel like they are entitled are very selfish people. Everything revolves around them. They believe they deserve whatever it is they want, they get upset when they do not get their own way, and ultimately they act like the world must cater to them and their wants and needs.

Allow me to challenge your thinking today. I heard a preacher ask the question the other day, “Is the church for the saved or the unsaved?” To me, as I read my Bible, the answer is very simple. The church is for BOTH the saved and the unsaved. Unfortunately, a lot of people do not see it that way. You see, a lot of those churches that started off with a mission to see the people in their communities get saved began to slip in the years. They started taking their focus off of outside the walls of the church and became more self-focused. Many churches today only serve the purpose of care taking for its members. They don’t want to hear Gospel messages because they are already saved, they want to hear deep theological messages that will make them grow in their Christian life, they don’t like to spend any money on outreach, and the tracts the church gets had better be those ones that you can get for free or for very cheap, because we don’t want to waste our money on those fancy looking tracts. So churches have adopted the mentality of, “What do I want,” and “What do I need,” but have lost what the entire true purpose of the church is: Others. 

The pastor is not the head of the church. The church is not supposed to follow an personal agenda that the pastor has. The deacons are not the head of the church. If the deacons have their own personal agenda they should not be followed. The members are not the head of the church. And very many times there are church members who have their own personal agendas and they should not be followed. Who is the head of the church? Jesus Christ! And Jesus does have a personal agenda for the church. He didn’t say, “Go ye into all the world and put money into your church savings accounts,” he didn’t say, “ Go ye into all the world and make sure all programs are catered to your own personal whims and desires.” No! Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world and PREACH THE GOSPEL!” Jesus’ personal agenda for the church is that the church preach the Gospel to every creature. The church was not built for your comfort, it was built to be a lighthouse.

A church stops becoming a church when it stops caring about the souls of the lost. A church stops becoming a church when it isolates and alienates unsaved people when they come through the church doors. Many times an unsaved person has walked into a church because they felt a spiritual need but found that the “holy” people of the church treated them terribly. Maybe it was the way they were dressed, maybe they had the smell of alcohol on their breath, maybe they had piercings and tattoos; whatever it was, it was enough for the Christians in the church to turn their nose up at that unsaved person. You could hear church members saying things like, “We don’t want that kind of person at our church,” or, “Who does she think she is, wearing that here,” or, “if more people like that start coming here, we are going to have ourselves a problem.” And here is what happens, we give these people the cold shoulder and then they never darken the doors of the church ever again, and this person, who Jesus loves and who Jesus died for, slips off into a Christless eternity in Hell. All because of a few people, in a church, who decided that the church wasn’t about reaching unsaved people, but about themselves.

There was once a coastal town that had a problem with ship-wrecks. Apparently, the water became very shallow in some areas and there would be sharp rocks that would tear ships apart. A small band of people wanted to do something about this problem so they created a life-saving station. They built up a little wooden hut on the beach, so that they could keep their eyes on the coast and whenever a ship would wreck they would go out and rescue those that were about to drown. After saving several lives, the town started to take notice of the work that they were doing, and being kind-hearted, many citizens of the town started pitching in with finances and supplies for this life-saving station. The station started to accumulate boats and equipment which made it a lot easier to save lives. At one point the station had enough money that they decided to built a fancy headquarters, complete with bedrooms for ship-wreck survivors to stay in, a beautiful mosaic floor at the entrance, expensive pieces of art on the wall, a restaurant to eat in, a indoor pool, and many other luxuries. Over a stretch of time though, there were no shipwrecks, meaning that there was no one that needed to be rescued. So the members of the life-saving station grew complacent. They started using the HQ for their own benefit, enjoying what they had built. Until one day a large ship sank right off the coast. The life-saving station was able to rescue every person and so they brought them to the fancy, expensive headquarters. This caused a problem with several of the members. Some of the members did not like that wet and dirty people were walking through their immaculate buildings. Some of the members did not appreciate the new-comers interrupting their programs and activity. The members of the life-saving station called a board meeting. In the board meeting there was a rift between the members, some no longer were interested in saving lives because they were just interested in having an expensive club, while others believed that it was their purpose to save lives. In the end, those that wanted to save lives left to start a new life-saving station, while those who just wanted a exclusive club stayed in their fancy club-house. This sad story gets even more sad, because this second life-saving station became successful, and with success came money, and several years later they too lost their focus and became a club instead of a life-saving station. Today, in that town, you will find yacht clubs everywhere, but there is not a single life-saving station.

When did our churches lose their purpose? There came a point when many churches decided that they didn’t care about lost souls anymore, they only cared about themselves. I cannot think of anything more selfish than that. How dare we use our churches as a social club, when we have the greatest news that must be spread! “Pastor King, you don’t understand, if unsaved people start coming here it will mess up the spirit of this church!” If the spirit of your church is so exclusive that the unsaved are not invited than the spirit of your church needs to be changed. “But Pastor King, if unsaved people come they might sit in my seat!” Yes, they might, and when they do it is your opportunity to reach out to them and love them. “But Pastor King, if unsaved people come I won't feel comfortable!” No, you won’t; and that is fine. Jesus didn’t create the church so that you could feel comfortable, he created it so that the lost could get saved.

Ask yourself this today: What is church about? Be honest with yourself. The obvious first answer is to glorify God. But how do we do that? By winning souls.

A church that is no winning souls is not a church at all, it is a club. How many places out there call themselves churches when they are not acting in accordance with what Christ commanded them to do? Far too many! My prayer is that Calvary Baptist Church in Hartwell, GA, will be in obedience to God and follow his Great Commission. We cannot afford to be self-centered, we must be Christ-centered and in being Christ-centered we will be lost-centered.

The spirit of entitlement will quickly destroy a church.

Click here for Part one of this series.

Also, in a few short weeks, I will be having a dear friend of mine write a guest post on this blog. He is my best friend Kreig Durham. To get acquainted to his writing click here

Three Spirits That Will Destroy A Church- Part 1

A statistic came out several years ago that said that 80% of churches in the United States have either grown stagnant, are declining, or are sharply declining in their attendance. Many have speculated that we are living in a “post-Christian” era in this country. I can also attest to this statistic. I have had the privilege of growing up in churches that were actively reaching their communities for the cause of Christ and seeing people getting saved and added to the church, but for every church that I have seen that was like that, there would be ten others who were the opposite. Churches that hadn’t seen anyone saved in many years, churches that used their baptistries as a storage area, churches that were focused on the wrong things, churches that got into more arguments about where the money was going than they would pray with each other for the lost souls of their communities. Died and dying churches. And for every dying church, there would be excuses for why they were dying, such as, “We are in a hard area,” or, “Nobody wants to hear the Bible anymore,” or, “Everybody in our town is already saved.” In my short time in ministry, I have learned that excuses are just what they sound like, Excuses. The problem very rarely lies in the unsaved in town, or in the town that the church is in. Most often the reason why a church is declining is in the spirit of the church. I believe that any Christian I'd talk to would tell me that they want to see their church grow and that they want to see people get saved, that’s normal, there are not many people in any churches that would say differently than that. Unfortunately there is a spirit that takes over a church and when that spirit take over, a church is as good as destroyed unless there is a miraculous intervention. I would like to talk to you about three spirits that will destroy any church if we allow them to.

1. A spirit of doubt- Matthew 14:28-31

Matthew 14:28-31, “And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. ²⁹ And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. ³¹ And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”

We know from the context of this passage that the disciples were on the Sea of Galilee when a storm came. Jesus was not with them at the time, and so they feared. They were doing everything they could do just to stay alive, when out in the distance they see a man walking on the water. Of course, they began to be even more afraid because they thought they were seeing a ghost. But then the person walking on the water says, “Be of good cheer, it is I; be not afraid.” The disciples recognized that it was Jesus who was talking to them. Peter, who was the vocal one in the group then speaks, “If it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” What was Peter saying? Basically, “If it’s really you, Lord, let me walk on the water too!” What a bold thing to request! We make fun of Peter often for his brashness and his wide-open mouth, but this is one of those instances where Peter was practicing an extreme faith in Jesus that we all should have. Jesus bids him to come, so Peter steps out onto the water, and sure enough, he is walking. Peter was walking on the water! Wow! So Peter starts walking toward Jesus but as he is walking, he looks around himself. He sees the waves, and the storm. He feels the wind as it blows onto him. Peter finally realizes what he is doing and becomes afraid, and as he did, he began to sink. Of course, Jesus saves Peter from drowning and asks chides him for his lack of faith.

As we read that passage in the Bible, many of us would ask ourselves, “How could Peter start off so strong but then finish so weak. After all, it took a great amount of faith to step out onto the waters in the first place, but it took a lack of faith, or doubt, to start sinking. As Peter stood on the water, in the middle of a miracle, he looked around at the circumstances and began to doubt the strength of God, and that is when he sank.

We have a lot of churches today that are sinking because of a lack of faith in God. They want to see God bless, and they want to see people get saved and baptized and added to the church, but they don’t believe that God can do that anymore. I have talked to many preachers and laymen alike and I have heard depressing expressions of doubt. If I had a penny for every time I heard someone say, “Times have changed and no one wants to hear the Gospel anymore,” I’d be a rich man! Unfortunately, we have bought into a mindset that since we live in the last days, no one is going to respond to what we have to say. People use 2nd Timothy 4:3 as an excuse as to why people are not getting saved, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.” And do not get me wrong, I understand that we live in a time where people are particularly closed to the message of the Gospel, but I also believe that I serve a God who is able to overcome those obstacles as long as I simply believe that he can. Peter’s walking on the water was directly linked to his faith in Jesus, when Peter started to doubt, he began to sink.

Do you want to see miracles happen in your church? Have faith! If you do not believe that people can get saved or that lives can be changed than the chances are that no one will. You and your church will sink just like Peter did.

I can’t help but think about the days in the past when great men of God stepped out in faith to start a church. They claimed a town for Jesus Christ and built a church, fully believing that God was going to do great things. I particularly think of Dr. Roland Garlick, who was the founding pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Hartwell, GA, the church I pastor. Dr. Garlick was a man who saw the need for an independent Baptist church in Hartwell, GA, so he took a group of 20 people and started Calvary Baptist Church. With the help of some church members, he built the building that we still worship in today, and he brought the attendance of the church from 20 up to 150. How was he able to do that? Because he believed in a God who could do that. Yes, times have changed; but I still serve a powerful God who can break the heart of stone and can perform miracles. Stop focusing on the wind and waves, stop concerning yourself with the obstacles and trust in God!

You may be reading this and thinking, “But Pastor King, it’s too late now. After years of doubt, I don’t think our church can turn around. We are as good as dead.” I want you to notice something. Peter was drowning, but Jesus came and rescued him. Peter would have died had it not been for the rescuing hand of Jesus Christ. I see many churches that are taking their final breathes, and I honestly believe that even in those final moments Jesus can still come and rescue the church that has a restored faith in Him. For instance, many of us know of Lancaster Baptist Church. I went to college there and learned a lot about the ministry from there. When Pastor Chappell became pastor there over 25 years ago, there were about 20 people, they were in a great amount of debt, they were renting their building out to another church, while they met in the upper room of the church. Things were looking bleak and from the outside looking in, any of us would have said that there is no hope for that church to survive. But what happened? A young man came into that church, believing that he served a God that could do great things. And guess what! God DID do great things. And Pastor Chappell would be the first to tell you that it didn’t happen because of anything he did, the church grew and people got saved because he serves a God who is powerful to save.

Before I move on, you may be sitting here and you may think that you have faith that God can bless your church. Let me ask you something: What are you doing to show that faith? Faith requires action. Abraham believed God, and because he believed God he left the city of Ur to the place where God promised. Abraham could have sat around in Ur and said, “Oh, yes, I believe God!” but if he didn’t get up and go, he wouldn't have seen the great miracles that he did. Do you believe that God can bless your church? Then you need to pray for your church. You need to go out soul winning. You need to invite your unsaved friends, family, and co-workers to church. You need to be faithful. Actions speak louder than words. Let’s be sure that our actions match up to the faith we claim we have. God can do great things, we need to believe that he can do them.

This is part one of my three part series on the Three Spirits That Will Destroy A Church. In the upcoming weeks, stay tuned for the next part of this series!

How To Be Welcoming to A Visitor At Church

There are many churches in our nation that brag about how friendly they are. Unfortunately, what many of these churches actually mean is that they are friendly to the people that they are friends with. Unfortunately, this is often a trend in small churches. We pray for growth, we ask the Lord to bless, we even work by passing out tracts to people, but as soon as someone comes into the church that we do not recognize, we seem to not know what to do. My church, Calvary Baptist Church in Hartwell, GA, is having a Friend Day on May 18^th. I am very excited about this day, and I believe we are going to see many people that have never been to our church before. That being said, we need to be welcoming to the visitors that come. Ultimately, the goal is not just to get these visitors to come for Friend Day, but for them to get saved and then for them to start coming every Sunday. Now, in order for that goal to be accomplished it is going to take more than a good song line-up, or powerful preaching, or a delicious lunch, it is going to take the friendliness of our church members. In this post, I would like to point out a few ways in which we can be welcoming to the people that come to our churches for the first time.

1.      Do not be angry with them

You may think that this is a strange thing to say. Especially for the first point. Allow me to explain myself. When a visitor walks into your church (hopefully after being greeted by your assigned greeters. More about that some other time.) The visitor needs to figure out where to sit. Sometimes this can be a tricky thing to do. Do they want to sit near where all the other people are sitting or do they want to sit farther away. Should they sit close to the front or further to the back. Suppose they ultimately decide to sit near the back. But there is a problem, that seat the visitor sat in is the pew that you sit in every week. That is your pew. AND NO ONE IS GOING TO TAKE MY PEW AWAY FROM ME!!! You may be laughing right now and telling yourself that this doesn’t happen. You might think that everyone in church is happy to have visitors and it doesn’t matter where they sit as long as they hear about Jesus… I wish you were right, but you are not. It is unfortunate that there are a lot of people that get very angry when their seat is taken in church, they literally lose their minds (Don’t you hate hyperbole? It’s literally the worst thing in the entire world!). We have to decide that if we see someone sitting in our pew at church, we deal with that person in a gracious way. Jesus wouldn’t be angry that someone was sitting in his pew, he would be thrilled beyond belief and he would pray that visitor would be blessed during the service. Key thought: Be gracious.

2.      Approach them

Very often, the visitor comes in, sits down, attends the service, and then leaves. The entire time no one has said a word to them except for at the door. I think one of two things happen to us when we see a visitor. Either one, we expect the visitor to approach us and talk to us (After all, it’s our church. Why do you expect me to go talk to visitor vermin!) or we are too nervous to talk to them because we don’t know them. Many visitors can attest that the “Friendliest Church in Town” is actually not very friendly at all. What brings people back to church? Relationships. How are relationships built? Communication. Here is the scenario: You walk into church and you see that there is a visitor sitting in your pew. Here is what you are supposed to do: You need to walk up to the visitor, have a smile on your face and say, “Hi! Welcome to Calvary Baptist Church! My name is John Doe (if your name is not John Doe, you have my permission to use your own name). What’s your name?” You see, in doing that you have greeted a visitor, you have helped soften the blow of being new to a place where they do not know anyone, and you have started a relationship that just might get the person to come back. This is probably the hardest step to follow but it is the most necessary step to follow.

3.      Ask if you can sit with them

If there is room next to the visitor ask if you can sit with them. This helps the visitor not to feel alone during the service. Oftentimes, a visitor does not have a Bible, share yours with him. Generally be friendly to the visitor. Engage in conversation. What do they do for a living? How did they hear about the church? Do they have families? Things like that. You may have to miss some fellowship with your church friends this week, but this is much more important. Sit with the visitor, engage in conversation, and even introduce them to your friends. Which brings me to the next point.

4.      Do not introduce them to the pastor…yet.

Something that completely blows my mind is how intimidated people get by pastors. I am not an intimidating person. I am not that athletic, I am not strong, I am a little chubby, and I have a baby face that my wife says is adorable (but she is biased). There is nothing in this world that is intimidating about me, but as soon as I say that I am a pastor some people literally go crazy (There’s that hyperbole again!). As the pastor, I avoid contact with visitors before the church service, a visitor is already intimidated by being in a new place, I do not want to add to that intimidation. Sometimes I make an exception to this, but not often, because the job of greeting and building relationships with visitors before the service lies squarely on the shoulders of our church members. Do not say, “Hi, my name is John Doe. Let me introduce you to the pastor!” That is awkward. Now, I’ve said all of this. But let me add to it. Not only should you not introduce the visitor to the pastor before the service, it is also an absolute must TO introduce the pastor to the visitor after the service. Throughout the service, the visitor has had a chance to warm up to the pastor, he has heard the sermon, he heard the announcements. Hopefully the visitor was able to gather from what he saw that the pastor really is an approachable person. Now is the time to meet the pastor. By the way, the pastor desperately wants to meet the visitor. There is no such thing as a pastor that does not want to meet visitors, or at least I think. So here is what you do: After the service is over, look at the visitor and say, “Would you like to meet the pastor?” If they say yes, Take them to where the pastor is standing and say to the pastor, “Pastor, this is John Smith, he is visiting with us today.” It’s that simple. This gives the visitor a bridge between himself and the pastor, that bridge being you.

5.      Next week, continue to be friendly

I believe that if a visitor returns for a second visit, it says a lot about their interest. I also believe that a visitors second visit can make or break whether or not they end up becoming faithful members. If the visitor comes back for the second week, do not ignore them. Do not think to yourself, “They were a visitor last week, they aren’t my responsibility anymore.” No! Greet them, tell them that it is good to see them again, offer to sit with them, and ask them how their week was. You may even want to introduce them to some of your church friends. At this point, you have done something that benefits both you and the visitor, you have both found a friend in each other. If you can create a genuine friendship with a visitor then that visitor will soon become an active member in your church. All it really takes is for you to step out of your comfort zone just a little bit and be friendly.

A few more small pointers:

·         Don’t be a Negative Nancy- be upbeat and cheerful. If you want to say something negative about the music, the preaching, the flower arrangement, anything- DON’T! Negativity is contagious and will make a visitor not want to come back.

·         Don’t criticize them if they show up a month, or more, later- if the visitor doesn’t come back until a month or two later, don’t say something to them like, “Well, looks like you finally got your heart right with God.” Don’t even say stuff like, “Where’ve you been the past few weeks?” These things are discouraging to a visitor. Instead, continue to be friendly, ask them how they’ve been, but do not, in any way, refer to their absence.

·         Engage with them outside of church- invite them over for a meal, go fishing with them. Continue to build that relationship even outside of the church walls.

·         Be attentive in church- if you are going to sit next to the visitor, do not play on your cell-phone during the sermon and, by all means, do not fall asleep. Listen attentively to the message, take sermon notes. The visitor needs to see that you take church seriously.

·         Lastly, pray for them. You’ve met them, you’ve been friendly, you’ve introduced them to the pastor, but the most important work is yet to be done. Add them to your prayer list. Pray for them in a specific way. If they are unsaved, pray that they will get saved. If they need to make some decisions in their life then pray for that. If they told you about some trouble or trial in their life than pray for that. Become their prayer warrior. If you get to a place where you are comfortable with each other, pray with him. If we really believed in the power of prayer, we would pray for our visitors.

I hope those pointers were a blessing. Let’s be diligent in how we deal with those who are visiting our churches!