Critical Issues

Getting the right Church Focus

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Getting the right Church Focus. In overview of what a local church does or getting the right church focus

Getting the right Church Focus. In overview of what a local church does or getting the right church focus, because at times we need to “take a step back,” and look at the bigger picture and keep a focus on that.

Our Problems versus our Purpose

I think that every church and every pastor has a lot of problems. I cannot conceive of a church or a pastor that does not deal with problems, and many times serious problems. For example, almost everybody has some kind of budget and finance problems. There is never enough money coming in, and even if that was to happen temporarily, where to spend it would be a problem and accompanying problem.

The point is not that we have problems, but that we have a purpose, and that purpose must be fulfilled. Getting the right church focus is what is important here. The purpose of a local church is to do the work of God, and to do it effectively. This work of God has to be defined NOT as the continued existence of that particular local church, but that of God bringing sinners to salvation, and disciplining them into mature, fruitful Christians who are not entangled in sin, but live in holiness.

So the problem comes in most forcefully when a particular problem becomes “so large” to the pastor or the congregation, that they miss the greater picture (doing God’s work) and micro focus on their particular problem (which has to be done, but not out of context). Here I think that the point of getting the right church focus is that we forget what our particular needs and wants are (as servants should do), and we focus on correctly and efficiently doing God’s work even though we suffer in the process of fulfilling our purpose. For example, the pastor has an illicit affair. Many times the church loves the pastor, and they ask him to stay on (forgiving him). While that is warm and cuddly, it is not doing God’s work. A tainted man of God will not do the work of God correctly. The testimony outwardly and inwardly cannot be maintained if you ignore what he did. We need to forget about the microscopic part of this, a single person and his problem(s), and look at God’s work, and what is best for accomplishing God’s work. Let him go and find another. What will be the impact on the work of God that is done through that particular church? What is right church focus and how are we accomplishing that purpose and focus.

See my tract, CH42 Destitution of a Pastor

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Why we refuse to charge for Ministry

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Why we refuse to charge for Ministry

Part of our clear understanding of Scriptures regarding the local church is that the financial income of the local church is to be solely based in the tithes and offerings of its people. The local church is not to “sell” anything, not even cakes or cookies. They are not to have bingo nights, or charge for their services. In some churches understanding (and I am in total agreement here), not even the visitors are asked to participate in their offerings. They clearly release the visitors from any idea of obligation on their part before every offering is taken. This is visitors that are unsaved and even visitors that are visiting from other good churches.

The thinking here is that if tithes and offerings are spiritual sacrifices by which God does His work, why would God even want the unsaved or the unspiritual to partake in the work of God? By their participation they contaminate the work of God rather than help it. If the visitors are members of good other local churches, then they should be tithing and giving there and not here.




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Consolidation versus Independence

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Typical Argument – We can do more, and do it better if we consolidate our forces.

This is the typical siren of neo-evangelicalism, let’s consolidate our forces. But here we want to look at this from a different perspective. God did not set up Christianity under the structure and form that, for example, the Roman Catholic church uses, one big over arching government and administration to “really do things well”. God set up a multiplicity of small local churches. Why? Where is the advantage in that?

Contaminate the only Source, and you contaminate all



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What is Ministerial Success?

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Ministerial Success is an article about our goals as preachers and ministers of God. What should a man of God consider as success? What, then, is success in the ministry? Do we need to tell them constantly how much better we are than the rest? Ministerial Success is something that defines your philosophy of the ministry. What really is ministerial success?

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