"And he said to him, I also am a prophet as you are, and AN ANGEL SPOKE TO ME by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water. BUT HE LIED TO HIM."  
1 Kings 13:18

People will lie to your face and tell you they heard from God. People who claim to follow God. People who claim to be your friends. People who claim to have your church's best interests in mind. If you listen to what they say and follow them instead of God, you alone are responsible for your actions. The man of God in 1 Kings listened to this false prophet and was called on the carpet for disobeying God – he was killed by a lion as he left. If you've heard from God, let nothing move you from what he has told you. The stakes are too high; not only for you, but for your ministry.

Be sure of your calling, be sure of what God has told you, and do not deviate from it.

I’m in the middle of reading Mark Discoll’s Doctrine, and I wanted to share an excerpt that really stuck out to me.

“Unless Jesus is the central message of the Scriptures, many errors abound. The most common is moralizing. Moralizing is reading the Bible not to learn about Jesus but only to learn principles for how to live life as a good person by following the good examples of some people and avoiding the bad examples of others. That kind of approach to the Scriptures is not Christian, because it treats the Bible like any other book with moral lessons that are utterly disconnected from faith in and salvation from Jesus.”

Do we get good lessons from the Bible? Of course! But don’t forget the author and perfector of our faith, Jesus. Without Jesus, everything else is meaningless. Talk about, share, preach, and live out Jesus in everything you do.

I recently finished Shannon O'Dell's new book Transforming Church in Rural America, and I have to say I was blown away by the honesty and self-reflection present in the book. There is something for every pastor here, whether you're attempting to revitalize a struggling rural ministry, if you're well established in a thriving metropolis or if you're just starting out as a new church planter.

As an up-and-coming church planter myself I am hungry for any advice I can get on church growth, so I dove into Transforming Church with high expectations. If I take nothing else away from this book, it is the idea that a pastor cannot focus on growing a church, he must focus on growing the people within a church. When the people grow, the church will grow. As Shannon puts it, you have to focus on growing congregants, not a congregation.

Far from attempting to be a step-by-step, by the numbers book, Transforming Church offers real, practical advice along with been-there, done-that stories to illustrate truths about the modern American church; Truths that every pastor can put into practice. Shannon has a passion for the church that is too often missing in the pulpit, and I pray that those who read this book will have a fraction of his passion rub off on them.

In reading Transforming Church I felt Shannon's pain when he spoke of the dissent within his church, and I rejoiced along with him at the life change that resulted from his "whatever it takes" attitude and faith. The job we have as pastors and other ministry leaders is daunting to say the least. The risks are huge, but the payoff is worth it. Read Transforming Church and you will leave not only with a better understanding of the challenges facing the church today, but with the encouragement to step out in faith and break all the rules.

I feel like I should say up front that I am extremely pro church-planting. I believe fully in doing whatever it takes to spread the gospel to all ends of the earth, both local and abroad. To date I have been involved with two new church plants, and depending on how God chooses to use me, I will most likely end up planting a church myself in the not-too-distant future. With that said…
 

My dad made a comment the other day that it seems like a new church opens down the road every other week. At the same time there are hundreds of small churches in those same towns and cities that are struggling just to keep the doors open. When a new church starts, there's generally a big push for fundraising and volunteers – friends, families, other churches, and occasionally local businesses will give time, money and resources to help the new guy get off the ground. Yet if you fast-forward 3-5 years that same guy and his fledgling church are struggling to pay the light bill, much less afford a full-time staff. Why such a disparity? Obviously there are hundreds of factors at play here, but I'm sure it has a lot to do with the entrepreneurial spirit of Americans. We readily rally behind a new idea, and we love to give money to a worthy cause, yet we are constantly drawn to the "next big thing". The best example I can think of is disaster relief. Millions of dollars have been given to places like Haiti, Indonesia and New Orleans, but only a handful of people continue to support and give to the rebuilding of those places today. We don't like to stick around. We'll give our piece and move on.

Pastors (and soon-to-be pastors); if you are considering planting a new church I suggest that you at least consider the following questions:

- Has God really called you to start a new church? Assuming your call to be a pastor is clear, are you certain that starting a church from scratch is your call or does it just seem like the thing to do?

- Is there a way to pool resources in your area? If there is a struggling ministry down to road that has the same goal and vision, can you help each other out? The idea of churches joining forces is taboo in many circles, but it can be incredibly valuable. Two churches of 60 people suddenly become a church of 120 with the cash flow to pay the bills, more volunteers and a diversity of skill and talents. To pull it off takes a lot of prayer, hard work and sacrifice, not to mention faith, but so does starting from scratch.

- Is there a way to use your own talents and calling at a church that is already established? Never, ever ignore a call from God to step out in faith. But if your call is simply to pastor, why not pastor at the church who already needs you? If your call is to serve, evangelize, worship, etc, is there a way to fulfill that call by grounding yourself in a place that has a need? Don't allow the allure of something new keep you from planting roots and growing in a ministry right where you are.

To the churches: Is there a church in your area that is struggling to get by? How could you use your resources to help them out? Could you buy them the sound board they need? Could you send some of your people over on a Saturday evening to help them set up? Could you offer your preaching skills or worship talents to them so their people can get a break? What about stepping out in faith and giving a percentage of your operating budget to help pay their bills? Can't afford it? Last time I checked, God isn't limited by what we can afford… He's only limited by our willingness to trust him to take care of our needs.

And finally… God's call trumps all of these questions. If He calls you to step out and plant a church, DO IT!