Consistency = Influence (bad or good)

I have friends who pastor large churches, small churches, no churches, and others who lead out in parachurch organizations. Many of them disagree with each other while some simply want to see results from the other. In observing and being in conversations with these select individuals I have learned one thing for sure. Whatever your philosophy or ministry mentality is make sure you keep JESUS and the SCRIPTURES at the core, and winning the lost as your goal. Also, philosophy and mentality have less to do with the results-CONSISTENCY is the key. I think the “Top 50 Most Influential Church List” clarifies the point of consistency. There are many different backgrounds on that list, but where there is consistency there seems to be influence. Check out the list at thechurchreport.com or click the link below.

http://www.thechurchreport.com/mag_article.php?mid=1095&mname=July

Jonah

We finished Jonah on Tuesday night. Jonah chapter four tells us why Jonah was so passionate and willing to preach to the people of Nineveh. He had convinced himself that God was going to destroy Nineveh even though he knew deep down God was loving and patient. The book ends with God having the last word. God made clear to Jonah that He is sovereignly in control and that no one deserves his mercy and grace, not even the religious, Jonah.

My Space

Today I found 750 people that live in a 10 mile radius of our church. In the last 2 hours I have sent out 120 messages on My Space and already have unchurched people writing back interested. Wow!

The following in one of many messages I have received.

"sir, i thank you for the adress to your church. i work at the hopital in searcy and i am usally to tired to go. byt i promise i will try to come. if you would pastor could you pray for me to have the lord help my ex wife regain her love for me, so i can get my family back. she just recently divorced me, and it is tearing me apart. i love her with all of me. thank you. Brian"

This was my third message from Brian. Please pray for him and his family.

Evangelism-Church Growth

The following post is made up of thoughts from a recent email I sent out about evangelism.

Relationship Building
Relationships produce the most results. Statistics are clear that friends reaching friends is the most effective way to reach people. We are about to start a 7 week campaign using Elmer Towns Friend Day Program. I have used it twice and more than doubled our attendance both times. This campaign provides many new prospects to follow-up on. Awana is another great evangelism ministry that helps in building relationships. We really work on visiting our Awana kid’s families-this is one of the best methods I have been involved in. Special events like Harvest Fest, Christmas banquets, Day Camps, and Bible Schools all prove to work in the relationship building arena. The follow-up obviously being the key! Most of the individuals that have been saved and baptized in the last few months at Temple started attending our church because a friend invited them.

Other Tools & Methods
We are about to have another tool-Jerry Smith will be with us August 12th to make a DVD about our church which will also include me sharing the gospel. This is a great tool that anyone in the church can pass out.
I have recently started walking people through the first few pages in the gospel of John (http://www.pocketpower.org/).

Programs
Any program is an elementary training process for people that have never shared their faith. Programs get churches started in evangelism. The ultimate goal should be that evangelism becomes a lifestyle, and not a program. My personal opinion is that if the majority of the church members are living the lifestyle of evangelism the program is needed especially to follow-up on ALL the prospects. Frequent preaching on evangelism, Heaven, and Hell seem to keep people motivated in the area of evangelism.

Door Knocking Still Works
The door to door method does not produce as many results as other methods, but seeds are planted and occasionally people are saved. The Jehovah’s Witness and Mormons seem to like this method! They have more results because they do more of it-like every day. I have recently visited one man (5) times. The first time he closed the door in 2 seconds. The second time-1 minute, third time-5 minutes, fourth time-10 minutes, 5th time-30 minutes and I shared the gospel with him. He was a hair away from trusting Christ, but I didn’t push him. I am praying for him and believe he will be one of the next soul winners in our church. There is another aspect of this method that I have experienced, but don’t understand. I guess it goes back to the GROW principles. Immediately when we began our evangelism ministry floods of visitors started attending our church. To God be the Glory!

Prayer
This past Sunday evening after I preached our church was in the altar praying for specific names of people who are lost. Multiple individuals prayed at different times, then I closed our prayer time. I believe we all left more excited about sharing our faith. I felt like I was in a “book of Acts” church service!

Follow-Up
Having good tools for follow-up is important. We printed a special invitation that includes a simple Salvation presentation, a What’s Next? section that talks about the new life as a believer and next steps, and a schedule of our services. Scheduling a Bible study at the moment someone trusts Christ is the soul winner’s responsibility. Project One Generation is a great tool for discipleship (Faith Bible Institute offers this material at no cost if I’m not mistaking).

My greatest desire is to become a more concerned soul winner.

Please Pray!

When you read this post please stop and say a prayer for Johnny, Christie, Melony, Darrel, Ned, and Mandy. I am praying they will trust Christ SOON!

Billy The Barber!

Since I bought Margarita the bed ($$$) for her birthday, I had to start cutting my own kid's hair to save money. I've got to save every way I can! Just for laughs-I realized after I started that I was using a set of dog clippers. Ha!

Margarita's Birthday!

Margarita’s birthday is tomorrow, July 20th. She’s been wanting a new bed for a long time. I decided her birthday is once a year and I might as well spend a years worth of $$$! Now I’m broke, but she will be happy for a while. Go do something crazy for your wife!
Her dad is coming in from Mexico tomorrow and we are planning on going to Branson for a couple of days. Hopefully he will foot the bill for that! :)

In our Tuesday night bible study we finished up Jonah chapter three. Jonah has been a great book with lessons about God’s will, God’s Grace, God’s Miracles, multiple chances, evangelism, ministry results, and more! The following is a thought from last night’s discussion.
Jonah’s preaching extravaganza was a 3 day walk through Nineveh. How many of us would walk for three days preaching the gospel without receiving anything in return. There was absolutely no self-gain for Jonah. These people were not even going to become a part of his church back home. As Jonah preached with passion the results were incredible. God is calling us to do ministry even if there is no personal gain. How many preachers view their calling as a job and not a joy? We have been called to preach not profit!
Other thoughts from Jonah:
Jonah ran.
Jonah tried to hide.
Jonah tried to sleep it away.
Jonah paid.
Everyone was effected by Jonah’s sin.
Jonah wanted to die rather than obey God.
Jonah was a preacher and no one on the ship knew it. They had to ask his occupation. How many preachers are undercover?
God was in control the entire time.
God sent a storm that frightened even professional sailors.
Jonah was thrown over board. Jonah was entangled in sea weed. God prepared a big fish to save Jonah’s life.
When Jonah repented, he was spit out on solid ground.
God re-commissioned Jonah. God is a God of another chance. Usually not the second chance since we have already used that up.
God blessed the message.
The people of Nineveh repented.
How many people are ready to repent if we would just listen to the voice of God and do our part?

Washington DC

It was great to return to Washington and see all the monuments from American History. We also went to the Holocaust Museum. I recommend it! All the museums in DC are free by the way. The greatest part was getting to pass out hundreds of gospels of John to people from many different countries right in the capital city of the United States of America.

People in DC are very skeptical about receiving anything you give them (especially gospels of John). Also, we found out that it is against the law to hand out material around the monuments. We found the best way to give them away was to first ask directions from the person. We would then give them directions to heaven! The neatest thing was when we saw people on the subway and the train back to Fredericksburg reading gospels of John. For those of you that don't know about the pocket power gospels of John, in the front they explain how to have a personal relationship with Jesus. Go to http://www.pocketpower.org/ to order your free 30 per month. Donations are accepted.

Mission Trip Summary

-We drove over 2300 miles!

-We ministered in 3 specific cities; Fredericksburg, Va, Washington, DC, and Beckett, New Jersey!

-We door knocked and canvazed over 600 houses!

-We personally handed out over 300 hundred gospels of John!

-We saw 4 people trust Christ as Savior!

-Benchmark Baptist was very encouraged and ready to win their city!

-New Jersey is in desperate need of churches!

-Several teenagers and adults who have never shared their faith before are now excited about evangelism!

-We made it home all in one piece, no one got hurt, and we are all still friends!

Mission Trip Update

Stop #1

God has been blessing in Fredericksburg, VA. Saturday we passed out 500 Bible School invitations for Benchmark Baptist Fellowship. Nora (from El Salvador) accepted Christ on Saturday. Lauren, a teenager from the neighborhood we canvassed, came to church on Sunday. I shared the gospel with four skaters we met on the street. We had several visitors Sunday morning. Cody, a visitor, came back fired-up Sunday night! The church was encouraged and ready to "GO MAKE DISCIPLES"!

Keep praying! Two more stops coming up!

7 Things I Need To Work On

1. Being a better husband and father.

2. Spending more time in prayer.

3. Becoming a better listener.

4. Not being misunderstood.

5. Adding some steak to my messages.

6. Recognizing the good (positive) things in people.

7. Spending more time meeting new people.