04 Mar When Relationships Trump Spiritual Health

Two days ago, I mentioned some things Bishop Ron Ramsey and I have learned during the past four years. Here is one more: People value historic relationships over spiritual health.

In a number of churches, one or two individuals or families use gossip, slander, or position to either attack the leadership or cause division in the church. Rather than stand up and address the sinful actions of these folks, the people tolerate the sin and watch to see how long the pastor can survive it.

My question is, “Why do you tolerate this?”

The church is unhealthy because cancer is ignored or tolerated. The Body, not just the pastor, must be willing to stand up.

Jesus’ desires for his Church should take precedence over how long someone has been in a church or what your personal relationship has been with them if they are acting ungodly. Scripture says to warn a divisive person once, warn them a second time, and then have nothing to do with them (Titus 3:10). Where people have stopped tolerating such actions, freedom and blessing have come.

02 Mar I’ve Learned a Lot

It is hard to believe that almost four years have passed since the Bishop Ron Ramsey and I began this journey together. In our travels and interactions, we have learned (or been reinforced in) many truths about churches. Here are a few.

God can and will bring transformation to the willing.

It has been thrilling to see the power of the Lord released into the lives of people who humbly sought his desires over their own comfort and previous traditions.

Discipleship produces evangelism.

Many churches are trying to do evangelism but are not equipped to walk with people through what it means to be a disciple. But where churches are creating environments where people are truly growing in “grace and knowledge of the truth,” evangelism is the natural outcome. That brings long-term, sustained growth.

People can’t do what they have never seen or experienced.

We can’t assume people know what to do just because they have been told. If they have never seen it, experienced it, or done it, how are they supposed to do it? That is why mentoring and exposing them to other patterns is vital. People do more what they see than what they are told.

There is no power without personal and corporate prayer.

We have found where the pastor and leaders are busy doing rather than being, there is no power. When there is no corporate emphasis on prayer and personal study of the Scriptures, there is no power. Methodologies may change, but the basics never do. Craig Groschel’s book “IT” captures this truth.

People confuse forms and functions.

Some have asked us when God ordered the church to change. As far as functions, he hasn’t. Worship, prayer, study of Scripture, using our gifts in ministry, preaching, evangelism, and giving as stewards are all functions that will never change.But God has called us in Psalm 78 and other places to effectively communicate the great truths about the Lord to the next generation. And to do that, our forms and methodologies must change. We must not confuse the non-changing functions with the need to change forms.

What truths do you see?

28 Feb Two Books for Marriage Counseling

Let me recommend two excellent resources for your premarital and marriage counseling.

• Sacred Marriage, by Gary Thomas (Zondervan).
• Sacred Sex, by Tim Alan Gardner (Water Brook Press).

In my humble opinion, these are without a doubt the best books I have read on these subjects.They are very biblical in their approach. I used them as reference material whenever I preached a marriage series, but I also used them with the couples that came to me for their pre-marital counseling.

If you’ve been looking for good resources on these topics, you might want to take a look at these two books.

26 Feb Two Books on the Bishop’s Desk

I am asked quite frequently about the books I am reading. There are two, one of which I read some time ago. These books have gripped my heart.

• The American Church In Crisis, by David T. Olson and Forward by Craig Groeschel.
• The Multiplying Church, by Bob Roberts Jr. The forward is by Alan Hirsch and Ed Stezer.

Have any of you read either one of these? If so what did you think?

18 Feb 10:00 Saturday Night

I’ve been slow to post about the book “Prayer Coach” that we began a month or so ago.  Well, I have been wondering if any of you have used the prayer patterns, i.e. praying through the armor, or the fruit of the Spirit, or even you body. It certainly provides a new, fresh approach to prayer.

I like that it’s so teachable. You could teach a new believer to pray like that. And after all, that is one of purpose of the book–that we leaders begin coaching prayer. Anyone have any neat stories about trying it?

In reading the book, God has given me many flashbacks to events in my life that center on prayer. I think he just wants me to remember the power of prayer.

As I was reading recently, I remembered a time when I called for a special period of prayer at 10 PM on Saturday night to begin the first of September. The purpose: to pray for revival in our church. As you can well imagine, not many showed up. Actually, most of the time just one man showed up to join me in praying.

Harold I would would gather at the altar. Sometimes we would go through the sanctuary, stopping at each pew praying for those who would be sitting there the next morning. Sometimes we went to every classroom and prayed for the teachers and students who would be in those rooms the next day.

EJ and I lived about 3-4 miles from the church, and some Saturday nights I groaned when it was time to leave. But I went because I knew Harold would be there.

Harold lived just about half a block from the church. The man could pray. We prayed together at the altar until summer.  When Harold passed away some time later, I began to reflect on his life, his friendship, and his love for the Lord. Looking back over church stats, I realized that the church had one of its greatest growth spurts during the time we were praying at the altar at 10 PM on Saturday night.

Well, don’t know why I told all that, but I do believe that God is interested in his children coming to him with their needs, burdens, and praises.

13 Feb Book: Epicenter

Joel C. Rosenberg wrote a series of five books of fiction dealing with his theory of how the world will end. He also wrote a nonfiction book detailing the facts and interpretation of Scripture that planted the idea for his fiction books.

The non-fiction book is called Epicenter and is published by Tyndale House. I personally believe it is worth the read, even if you don’t read the fiction series. You might vigorously disagree with his views, but they are challenging and will make you think

09 Feb Shepherds Lead, Not the Sheep

Ron Ramsey, Bishop

John Edmund Kaiser in his book, Winning on Purpose, proposes that a new organizational structure is needed to assist and support church growth. The structure is called “governance” which is described this way:

There needs to be an end of democracy and consensus. Apostolic-led churches are structured around the Spirit-led leadership of a man or woman who listens to God rather than following a board. The more democratic the church is, the less likely it is to grow, much less become reproductive. Reproductive churches have small boards and very few committees if any. If you dig under the covers of the large megachurches and the churches that are planting churches, you won’t find much structure; and the sheep aren’t leading the shepherd. (Emphasis added)

05 Feb Several Health Concerns

Harold Wust
Harold Wust has been diagnosed with leukemia. Harold and his wife, Dee, served as missionaries in Honduras, and Harold later served many years as Associate Director of Missions. They live in Huntington, Ind., and attend Good Shepherd UB church.

The report this week is that his liver and kidneys are doing well. The chemotherapy is over. Now, they must wait to see if it worked. If it did not, they will not do another dose of chemo. He would not survive it. We have to pray that the chemo worked and for daily continued strength.

Harold could use cards of encouragement and very brief visits. And your prayers. You can contact Harold in these ways:

Email: [email protected]
Mail: Harold Wust
5320N – 200W
Huntington, IN 46750

Wilmer Houck
Wilmer (Bill) Houck, pastor of Coleta UB church (Coleta, Ill.), is in Texas for 5-9 weeks of “stem cell” treatment. He drove to San Antonio on Monday, and his treatments started Tuesday.
He can be contacted here:

Wilmer Houck
3809 Pine Hill Road
Sterling, IL 61081
Email: [email protected]

Barb Osgood
Barb Osgood, former missionary to Sierra Leone, will undergo exploratory surgery on February 11 to determine the cause of a large amount of fluid accumulating in her abdomen. The fear is cancer, but we won’t know till after the operation.

03 Feb PeaJay’s Place: Sunday Rewind 2.2.09

Jim Bolich, pastor of Prince Street Church (Shippensburg, Pa.), is preaching through Philemon. Paul wrote to Philemon, a wealthy man, about Onesiumus, a slave who stole something and then fled…and then became a Christian. Jim, on his blog, mentioned two principles. Here is the first one:

Principle 1: Don’t deny your problems; face them.

A lot of people go through life denying that their problems exist. It’s like holding a lit firecracker and telling yourself it isn’t going to blow up. But it will. And when it does, severe pain and destruction will happen.

So…what’s your problem? What’s the lit firecracker in your life? Onesimus took a handwritten letter back to the guy who had the authority to kill him, trusting God with the results. God intervened, and He can for us, too.

What’s your problem…the thing that threatens to overwhelm you? Whatever it is, give it a name. Quit denying the problem. Allow God to change your life. Face it, despite the potential consequences. And trust God with the outcome.

27 Jan People Need to be Taught to Pray

I remember a young man who had come to faith in one of the churches I pastored. His wife was already a believer. They just had their first child. Anyway, in a sermon I talked about how the man of the house is responsible for seeing that prayer takes place in the family.

Well this young man came to me and told me he didn’t know how to pray–not even to give thanks before a meal.

“What time do you eat your evening meal?” I asked him.

“About 5:30,” he said.

I told him, “I’ll be there tomorrow night and teach you how to return thanks for the meal.”

I did that several times before he told me he could do it. Then I asked him whether he prayed with his new baby when they put him down for the night. He said he didn’t know how. “When do you put your baby to bed?” I asked him. And for a couple nights, I showed up at their house, showing him how to pray over his new child until he told me he thought he could do it.

The point is–don’t assume that people know how to pray.