WARNING: Beware of Rob Bell's Book: "Love Wins" !!

As an Evangelist, converted to Christ out of false teaching, I want to send my fellow Evangelists a very strong warning to compare Rob Bell's book "Love Wins"  to Scripture! Rob Bell is innovating and recycling false teachings about God, Christ, Salvation, Heaven, Hell, etc...  These are all doctrines that are essential to orthodox evangelism.  Beware, Beloved! 

It is very alarming to me (mind boggling) how so many good people are seduced into following false teaching when the book is creative and well written (e.g. "The Shack" on the Trinity).

Beloved, check out this link:

http://www.albertmohler.com/2011/03/23/panel-discussion-rob-bell-and-love-wins/

"Form Up!" by Pastor Rick Oglesby

The elevator hissed open. I strode in, turned around and leaned against the back wall looking forward. The car filled, all of us standing in a tight circle, unusually facing in. The door sucked closed and locked in that thick fog of uneasy quietness. Everyone steadily looked at no one. Someone cleared their throat as the car jerked upward.

I’ve always had a bold streak.  I’ve always disliked quiet, compartmentalized elevator rides. So I went proactive and fulfilled a long restrained desire. “Thank you for coming today ladies and gentlemen. You’re probably wondering why I called this meeting…” Laughter shattered the heavy eighth floor silence as the place rocked like a U2 concert!

Igniting a conversation can launch a relationship – perhaps one that will lead the way to salvation. But you don’t have to take an elevator – here are some simple questions that you can use to kick-start a conversation. They’re called the FORM. Nearly everyone likes to talk about themselves, so ask them open ended questions about their…

·         Family:   Tell me about your kids. Where do you guys live? How is it?

·         Occupation:   What business are you in? What challenges do you face?

·         Recreation:   What do you do to relax? How’d you get into that?

·         Money:   How’s real estate in your area? What’s your local economy doing?

As my kids grew up, we trained them to FORM others to help them get on in the world and to lay a cornerstone for redemptive relationships.  They would select a person in the room, go stick out their little hand,  shake and jump in.  When they returned, we’d review their experience.  Today they can meet and greet anyone.

Practice “FORM” when you’re in line at McDonald’s.  Try it at the Target check out. Why not introduce FORM to your small group or class?  Model it, have someone else do it, then explain it.  Train your group to FORM, then evaluate,  celebrate and improve.

Imagine your congregation trained to FORM.  What incredible opportunities for witness would occur. How much more welcome visitors would feel.  Self-confidence about connecting with others would rise.

Family, Occupation, Recreation and Money – the threads with which we weave life can tie great knots of connection with people who need Christ.  FORM UP!

by Pastor Rick Oglesby

Pastor in Wellington, Alabama

"Prayer as a Mighty Weapon of Spiritual Warfare" by Rev. Lee Whitworth

In II Corinthians 4, we are told that there is a spiritual element to the lost man remaining lost, even when presented with the Gospel message. The god of this world blinds his mind, so that the light won't get into his heart.

The good news is, in the next few verses, God does sovereignly shine the light of  truth into the hearts of individuals, and they are marvelously converted.

That whole "light shining into the heart thing" comes from the mouth of the preacher (Rom. 10). So, obviously, the people of God bear responsibility to share the good news with the lost man.

There is an essential step that precedes that telling:  PRAYER!

So, I suggest we carpet bomb our culture with prayer. Here's a tactic we're using in our church.

We are in a Mormon community. In our town and surrounding communities, there are 83 Mormon congregations called Wards. We have put the locations of these congregations on cards and distributed them to our church people, with the instruction to pray regularly and tenaciously for these wards. Our people are going to these wards, walking around, even kneeling, praying that the bishops and their people would 'accidentally' open their Bibles and be grabbed by a verse that won't let them escape.

What if every Bible-teaching church in every city would spend time praying for the lost church congregations in their community? Mormons, church of Rome, Jehovah's Witness, Hari Krishna's, liberal churches. God, who is able to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think, hears these prayers, and I believe could rock our world if we cry out for his help.

Rev. Lee Whitworth

BMW Utah Pastor 

The Lost Poem...Found!

My wife's grandfather, Floyd Mefferd, died in 1993.  We was a godly man and a humble servant of Christ.  His heart had known great joys and great tragedy during his long pilgrimage here of earth.   Through it all, He kept his focus on Jesus Christ, His Savior and His Master.  The good works of godly men will forever follow them as a testament to the glory of Jesus Christ who alone is good.

Last week, Floyd's son, Rev. Lynn E. Mefferd, was sorting through some of the belongings that Floyd left behind, and he came across this precious poem handwritten by Floyd.  Floyd died over 17 years ago, yet his evangelist heart still speaks to us today through this lost poem.  Dear Fellow Evangelist, may your life and works one day leave a similar legacy...a legacy of a heart that beats for the salvation of lost souls:

What Will I Do?

By Floyd Mefferd

What will I do with Jesus?

This is the Question that came to me.

What will I do with Jesus?

He who died to set men free.

He brought the way of salvation,

To us who were born in sin.

To all comes the sweet invitation,

“Come unto Me and I’ll make you clean.”

I said to myself, “I’ll wait awhile,

I’m sure there’s plenty of time.

How can I bother with self denial,

While my life is still in its prime?

Christ answered in words Oh so tender,

“Dear one, you don’t understand;

Greater life to you I will render,

If you’ll let Me take hold of your hand.”

Then I bowed myself before Him,

Acknowledging my sin and shame.

Now former things grew strangely dim,

As into my heart He came.

How wonderful now to share God’s love,

With others along life’s way,

Bringing showers of blessings from heaven above,

If they too only trust and obey.

How about you dear friend of mine,

Have you found this wonderful peace?

Jesus invites you to come and find,

Real life, that will ever increase.

Surrender your will to His will today,

For His way is by far the best;

Just trust in the Christ of Calvary,

Who will give you sweet peace and rest.

"KNOWING WHEN IT’S TIME TO GO" by Rev. Ron Thompson

                In 1962 Bo Belinsky was a rookie pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels, and made history by pitching a no hitter… the first in history by a rookie in the west.  He was the toast of the town… for a year…   Within a couple of years however he was again in the newspaper, and I still remember the wording of the terse yet clever headline announcing his probable trade from the Angels for his woeful underperformance… it read “BO TO GO YES NO YES NO!”  It underscored the uncertainty of the moment.

                Fast forward to 1982.  I was a 31 year old church planter that was living out my dream (and God’s call) in launching and Pastoring a thriving ministry in northern Utah.  In the midst of God’s blessing, I was struggling with the same uncertainty that marked the end of Bo Belinsky’s career in Los Angeles… only the name was different.  “Ron to go yes no yes no?”  The question weighed heavily on my heart and mind, though after careful soul searching, I was aware of no known sin in my life… on the contrary, there was much spiritual fruit being harvested for God’s glory. 

                What was wrong?  I slipped away for a day of prayer and fasting, and at the end of my time I had the answer, and the answer was… nothing was wrong.  It was time to go.

                It was my first experience with leaving.  Until that point in my life, I had always been focused on going… to Bible School… to summer ministries… to the mission field.  Now it was time to leave, and leaving was very hard!

                Looking back at that important juncture in my ministry and marriage (it was very difficult for my wife Wanda, as well), I observed two important things that helped me in future ‘leaving moments’ as well as advising fellow servants facing similar questions:

                First, God does not always call us to finish what we start.  He calls us to be faithful… faithful to His calling, and faithful to His leading.  I had assumed that God would allow me to take the church to a certain point (a point imagined in MY mind) before He would lead me elsewhere.  I was wrong.  I fought the timing of my departure for several frustrating months before surrendering.  MEMO TO ME:  Do not allow my expectations or presuppositions to skew my sense of God’s timing or God’s will.  I am very, very dispensable.   I am very, very replaceable. 

                The second, and perhaps the most important issue, centered on something that I had not noticed had gone missing in my life:  My joy in ministry went AWOL!   I explained it away by reasoning that I had been very busy, or I was tired.  The joy spoken of in Psalm 16:11 simply was not there.  Though I loved my congregation, the joy was not there.  Though I loved the ministry, the joy was not there.  Though I loved God, the joy was not there.

                I came to realize there is a great joy visited on our hearts when we surrender unconditionally to the leading of God… AWAY from that which we loved and sacrificed for. 

                We left the people we loved in the fall of 1982.  We followed God’s leading to plant another church in a community in southern Utah where there was no Bible believing church.  We left a church that was thriving for a community that had nothing… and the joy returned!  We found people we loved in our new community.  God quickly  provided a wonderful, godly, Bible teaching pastor to replace me at my previous ministry.  He is a close friend to this day.

                Be careful to investigate the difference between your expectations and God’s leading.  Pay attention to your joy (or the absence of it).  This is where I found the answer to the question… should I go, yes no yes no?

 by Rev. Ron Thompson, Executive Director, Tentmaker Bible Mission

"Change is Good!" by Paul Seger

Change is NOT a four letter word!

A motto for the city of Luxembourg is MIR WOLLE BLEIVE WAS MIR SIN. This is etched in stone on a building.  It means “We wish to remain as we are.” At least they admit it.  Many of us do all we can to resist change.  Change is viewed as a bad thing.

That is a strange position for a Christian to take in view of our theology.   Repentance is a 180 degree change of direction. Regeneration and sanctification are all about change.  The main goal of discipleship and counseling is to bring about change in the life of a believer.  2 Corinthians 5:17 says that the believer is a “new creation.”  We have an unchanging God who brings about change all the time.

Intrinsic to the definition of leadership is the idea of change.  Leading is about going somewhere.  If you look out the window of your car and the scenery is not changing, you are standing still.  The very activity of leading others demands change.  It is the leader’s responsibility to be looking over the horizon to see what is coming and to determine the direction for the future.  To get to that horizon will mean change.



But change makes people nervous. One way to minimize anxiety is to assure people there are some anchor points.  Some constants for your church are truth, mission, and values.  Doctrine is not up for grabs.  The purpose statement of an organization is a north star that provides long-term continuity.

And values articulate the things that are important.  Values provide banks for the organizational river of the church or ministry. Any change initiative should be preceded by a clear statement of the things that will NOT change.  But after that, go for it.

The problem is not change.  The problem is what is being changed.  I don’t know who to credit for the following statement, but it is profound:  ”Some churches die because they change what they should never change.  Some churches die because they refuse to change what they are free to change.”  The programs and strategies of an organization are merely vehicles to accomplish the mission and vision.  The important issue is not the strategy; it is the end goal.

Instead of resisting change, embrace it.  Love it.  Do it.  It isn’t a dirty word.  It is another word for progress.

WHEN TO CHANGE:

The big question is:  How do you know when to bring about change?  May I suggest that there five instances.

1.  When your environment changes: The horse and buggy don’t do well on a 12-lane interstate highway. A changing environment brings about new opportunities.  In my world of missions it looks like this:  Because of the upsurge of social networking, there is tremendous potential for leveraging that medium for recruiting missionaries.  Because of the expansion of distance learning, there are many more Bible students and thus many more potential missionaries. We can either ignore these realities or change our approaches to recruiting.  We are changing.

2.  When people change:  There have always been complaints about a “generation gap.”  At one level it does exist.  Each year the Benoit College describes the incoming freshmen.  This is their observation about the graduating class of 2014:

• Does not know how to write cursive
• Never uses snail mail
• Finds email too slow
• Thinks Al Gore has always been animated
• Thinks “Caramel macchiato” and “venti half-caf vanilla latte” have always been street corner lingo.
• Thinks computers have always had a CD-ROM disk drive.
• Thinks Russians and Americans have always been living together in space.

It seems obvious that this incoming group of college freshmen have a different view on the world.

3. When the vision changes:  The job of a leader is to “articulate and activate the vision.”  It is his job to point to the next spot on the horizon and help others get there. That assumes there will be change.  If you are in a car looking out the window and the scenery is not changing, then you are not going anywhere.  Heading forward demands change.

4.  When there is success: An organization is never as vulnerable to failure as when it has just succeeded.  Or to put it another way, success is dangerous.  Once we are at the top of a mountain we tend to relax.  But it is at that moment that we are susceptible to sliding off the other side.  There is something intrinsically good about the struggle to get to the top.  That is why there must always be a new pinnacle in mind before we reach our present goal.  It is counter-intuitive to be changing things when things are going well. But it is dangerous to ever get to the top.

5.  For change sake:   There is value in changing just to be changing.  The reason we feel stiff after driving 10 hours is because we have not been moving around.  The same thing happens in an organization.  Sometimes there is value in changing things just to stay flexible.  The church that has never changed a thing for ten years will struggle with even the slightest change.  I have a friend who moves the furniture around when his family is out of the house.  He just wants to remind them that things will not stay the same.  So, yes, there is value in change for change sake.

By Paul Seger

General Director

Biblical Ministries Worldwide

"WE DELIVER" by Paul Seger

WE DELIVER

Years ago, Pizza Hut had a business model that required sitting down in their restaurant if you wanted your pepperoni fix.  Then Dominos Pizza came along as competition with a different model:  they deliver.  Just let them know where you are and they will bring it to you.  I was downtown Atlanta watching fireworks once when a Dominos delivery guy walked by with a stack of pizzas.  What tremendous  entrepenueral spirit, to deliver pizzas in a crowd of ten thousand people. 

That is a picture of the church in evangelism.  There are some churches that hold to the "Pizza Hut" model.  If you want to know about God, show up in their restaurant on Sunday morning from 11:00 to 12:00.  That is the only way you are going to get the gospel.  But other churches have followed the "Dominos" approach:  they deliver.  They realize that not many people are interested in coming to church.  Therefore, they take the gospel to where people are.  The Great Commission uses the word "GO."  God must want more of the Dominos strategy for evangelism. 

by Paul Seger

General Director

Biblical Ministries Worldwide