Revitalize Your Church

“One of the great things about being a pastor is that you have these people stagger in, not every day but on some days, and they have just been plodding along in life, minding their own business, keeping their head down, plowing the same furrow, not expecting, not even wanting conversion, and somehow, God reaches in, grabs them by the neck, shakes them up and down, and they, despite themselves, are different.” (Will Willimon, Wild Journeying, “Suddenly a Light from Heaven”, in A Peculiar Prophet, p. 97).

29 years ago today, God did a beautiful work in my heart that changed my life.  I call this turning point my "Sanctuary Experience".  Allow me to share a chapter from my book, Purple Fish, which tells the story: Something was missing. I was a professional Christian, raised in a parsonage, went to church three times a week, spent summers at camp, attended a Christian college, married a Christian girl, graduated from seminary, and landed a youth pastor job; but my spiritual life fell woefully short. There’s a big difference between serving God and loving him. I was dry and lukewarm with exterior religion: self-serving at the core with an outer glaze of holiness. Though attempting to cover my soul anemia through busy church activity, Isaiah’s lament echoed in my honest moments. “My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me!” (Isa. 24:16 kjv). I was one of those rule-bound Christians who had just enough religion to make myself respectable and miserable. I actually got away with h...

J. D. Greear shared a great article recently: How I Dumped the Megachurch Model and Found Something Bigger     Excellent food for thought.  Multiplication is higher math.

The following observation of the Wesleyan Church by historians, McLeister and Nicholson, is fascinating:  "It is significant that our greatest losses occurred in those periods when our church was debating questions of reform; and our greatest gains occurred in those periods when our church was most zealous in promoting holiness evangelism."   Perhaps we should learn something from our history. (Ira F. McLeister & Roy S. Nicholson, Conscience and Commitment: History of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of America,  1976, p. 643.)

A beautiful thought expressed by 18th Century Methodist leader, John Fletcher, in a letter to his dear friend, Charles Wesley: "I have the impression that we can never have too much compassion for sinners, nor overemphasize for them the love of Jesus, when he himself became incarnate and declared redemption and salvation to tax gatherers and evildoers.  I have also the impression that faith shows itself gradually in many hearts, and that it is our task to nourish the weakest spark, the faintest signs."    ( Reluctant Saint , Patrick Streiff, p. 82)

"Congregations have two types of customers.   Primary customers are the ones who are not yet part of the congregation because they do not have a personal relationship with Jesus.  Secondary customers are the disciples who are alrady involved in the congregation.  These secondary customers are developed to reproduce more primary customers.  When that order is reversed, of if a congregation loses sight of its primary customers, a leader will passionately do everything possible to right that situation -- even it if costs friends and relationships.  A leader is passionate about what to do, with whom to work and how to expend limited resources."   -- Paul D. Bordon in Direct Hit: Aiming Real Leaders at the Mission Field

"The question I want you to consider is simply this: Which is more important, the birth or the training? I suggested what training can do and what it cannot do. And so the matter comes down to this: the nature we have is the one we were born with. Training can go so far, but birth, especially the new birth, establishes the true nature. And this is the difference between what I will call “denominational churchianity” and true Christianity. We are training people every week to be good church people. But when left to themselves, they will revert to their real nature and act like themselves. They have been trained to act like a good Christian on Sunday, but it is only an act. The rest of the week they act like themselves, naturally." -- A. W. Tozer, "Experiencing the Presence of God"

To those who want to be Christ’s ambassadors in this needy world (and that should be all of us who claim to be followers of Jesus): make way for Mark Wilson and his purple fish lessons.  You’ll learn how natural it can be to talk about God and build relationships with those who believe differently through embracing our common humanity, encouragement and love.  And that is always good news!  - Mary Schaller, President of Q Place Purchase Purple Fish today!

"I'm fishing for men with a certain kind of bait, and the bait I am offering is not candy; it's a very specific thing that I'm offering, which is a deep gospel and a deep conversion." --  Larry Norman Purple Fish:  A Heart for Sharing Jesus

"Mark Wilson takes you on a memorable fishing trip and treasure hunt that will motivate you to reengage in God's mission with a new sense of vigor.  This book is witty, engaging, down to earth and transformative!" --  J R Woodward, Natual Director, The V3 Church Planting Movement, author of Creating a Missional Culture. Purple Fish Releases July 1 Amazon Link

A beautiful thought expressed by 18th Century Methodist leader, John Fletcher, in a letter to his dear friend, Charles Wesley: I have the impression that we can never have too much compassion for sinners, nor overemphasize for them the love of Jesus, when he himself became incarnate and declared redemption and salvation to tax gatherers and evildoers.  I have also the impression that faith shows itself gradually in many hearts, and that it is our task to nourish the weakest spark, the faintest signs.  What is your opinion?   (Reluctant Saint, Patrick Streiff, p. 82)

“Don’t just preach to your congregation for spiritual growth, assuming that everyone in attendance is a Christian; and don’t just preach the gospel evangelistically, thinking that Christians cannot grow from it. Evangelize as you edify, and edify as you evangelize.” -- Tim Keller I found this astute Keller quote in a great blog post, How Andy Stanley and Tim Keller Preach With Non-Believers in Mind, by Trevin Wax.

"Some Christians are close to God, but remote from people;  some are close to people, but remote from God; some are close to neither, and some are close to both.  Those who are near to God and to their fellow are the real fishers of men." --  Samuel Shoemaker

"The thirsty sinner comes, and on bended knee says, 'God, I'm thirsty.'  And sometimes -- let's be honest -- we give them a drink from a firehose." -- Carl Medearis.    This quote, regarding how we overwhelm new believers, is from Carl's new book, Speaking of Jesus .  It's a great read, reminding us that there's a significant difference between "offering Jesus" and "defending Christianity."

How NOT to do Evangelism: Excuse me, mister.  I'd like to share the Gospel with you. You are full of the DEVIL!  Drop the D, it spells EVIL and that's what you are! Drop the E and that spells VIL (pronounced "Vile").  You are a vile and filthy sinner! Drop the V and it spells IL (pronounced "Ill").  It makes me ill just to look at you! Drop the I and all you have left is L.  That's where you're headed.  Straight to L!

Most people come to church by means the church does not allow, else there would be no need their getting to her at all. . . the operation of the church is entirely set up for the sinner, which creates much misunderstanding among the smug. -- Flannery O'Conner

The other day, while casting a line, I began to think about how fishing and discovering opportunities are alike. If you want to "land" a few golden opportunities -- you have to go fishing! Whether at home, work, church, or civic organization -- you can catch a few golden opportunities, if you apply certain laws of fishing. 1. Go where they are. Nobody has ever caught a fish in the bathtub or the backyard wading pool -- and you won't catch opportunities by waiting around for them to come to you. The chances of catching a fish increase greatly when you go fishing. How much energy and time are you investing in future possibilities? How often do you look for the opportunities around you? Where do you want to go in life? Does the path you are currently following lead to that destination? 2. Keep your eyes open. Good fishermen are always watching for signs of a hungry fish. Often, a causual observer will not even notice -- but an angler will see the slightest indication. When...

Thirteen Baptists from Milwaukee were arrested last week here in the Hayward area, with 2,238 fish, mostly crappies, well beyond the bag limit of 15 each. The Department of Natural Resources will now sponsor fish fries for various community organizations. Some locals, close to the situation, have wondered, "What's up with these guys? Shouldn't a church group know better? How on earth could they disregard the laws so flagrantly?" I wonder if maybe they were just trying to follow in the footsteps of St. Peter. He said, "I go a fishing" and the rest of the gang said, "we'll go a fishing too!" 1) Maybe they fished all night and then cast their nets on the other side of the boat. 2) Maybe they were trying to feed five thousand. 3) Maybe they were looking for the elusive fish with a golden coin in its belly. One thing is clear. They're certainly going to "render unto Caesar, that which is Caesars." I hope our Milwaukee Baptist b...