Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

Big church small church...they can all reach levels that say we will probably always stay this size or maybe get a few here and there. Be honest...are you at a place where you are satisfied? Or is there this overwhelming hunger that screams out THIS ISNT GOOD ENOUGH! What are you hopes, dreams, visions and burdens for harvest? How good do you imagine it CAN get? How has God been speaking to you about being used where you are at? Job, school, city? Share your ideas, share your burdens and desire for revival.

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

It is the model that plays out.

Except for that rare exception most churches reach a place where they top out on growth.

If a church has 50, 500 or 5000 some things remain constant.

Your average member will have a core group of friends not generally exceeding 20-25 people.

The apostles turned their world upside down. They saw great revival. And they did it from house to house and probably with small groups not so dissimilar to the core group of 20-25 people that continues to manifest itself no matter how big the "church" gets.

What could be a growth stifling element of today's church is that we don't embrace the natural element of that small group and we attempt to force the many small groups that are already intact into one larger group.

Like a hurricane... there comes a time when the mass itself begins to work against itself.

I think that revivals best chance will come when we let go of our dreams of a big "church" and embrace the concept of a big move of God and finally live what we chant all the time anyway... revival comes when we move beyond these four walls.

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

Because of my job I have a VERY unique opportunity to meet hundreds of people I would NEVER otherwise meet...Because of what I do it took me awhile to see it in that light.I work for a furniture rental company and I have seen and heard alot of wacked out stuff. Everything from delivering and picking up to and from crack houses, having guns pulled on me, getting cussed out, having 3 BIG guys drive up and try to yank me out of my truck to beat me up and thats just what I go through outside the office....

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

I like the campaign my church is in. It's called Generations. The motto is "Whoever Wants the Next Generation the Most Will Get Them!" Nothing is good enough imo. We should constantly strike to reach others.

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

LOL! Maybe you should find another line of work.

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

For a while I questioned was I in the right job,the right town,did I mess up by moving us here,so many questions,but to make a very long story short we stayed and God has blessed.Not only have I stayed with a VERY difficult and stressfull job but God has helped me be in the right place and the right time to minister and reach out to them.I see people whose spouses leave them, whose husbands beat them with VERY visible results,and children who are beaten,abused and neglected.this is my missions field.

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

I'd also add that during the Apostles time, everyone was a soul winner. Not the Apostles only... a big difference between then and today.

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

In Acts we find Peter and John heading to the temple for the hour of prayer they encounter the lame man at the gate...keep in mind that Pentecost had happened a short time earlier and the first day an estimated 3,120 souls were added to the church. Peter and John were NOT the only Holy Ghost filled Jews who passed by the lame man at the gate but they were the only ones who decided that he had been lame long enough. If you will meet their needs out THERE they WILL follow you in here!

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

The Church has been called a hospital for the wounded and the hurting...and also a maternity ward for new babies. But sometimes the wound cannot wait until they get to the hospital for treatment...the same with babies being born. Sometimes death is averted in the ambulance...sometimes the baby will not wait for a convienient time or place. We need to become spiritual paramedics ready to meet the needs of those we encounter whenever and wherever. the time for waiting for a good church service is over.

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

They had great grace upon them and God working with them.

Acts 4:33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

Has anything changed since that time? We are the same church/the same body. We have the Spirit in us just like they did. We believe in Christ just like they did. Jesus Christ hasn't changed. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. So why don't we have the power and anointing of God to turn the world upside down like the early church had?

BTW Jedi, inspiring post!

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

:hanky

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

Some of us just show up for church just to get our ''fix'' and as long as we have got ''ours'' we feel like everything is lovely...we have called to work in the harvest but the only time we show up is on the lunch break! So what if you show up for church everytime the door is open! Im not being ugly here i mean no dis- respect but im tired of peoples spirituality being judged by whether or not they are a member of the ''spiritual clean plate club!''You think God is impressed because we can show up to lunch?

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

When we stand before Him will we be able to say yes, I worked for You? Or just well God I got the HG and was baptised in Your Name'Basicly you are telling Him that He hired you' If you are hired and do no work can you realisticly expect payment? these are questions i have been asking myself...im not pointing fingers here...just have a feeling that im not the only one with this going through my spirit.

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

He was touched with the feelings of our infirmities...He STILL is touched by the feelings of our infirmity. If you have the Spirit of God inside of you dont you think that He reaches out to the hurting we come into contact with? If we will let ourselves give voice to the love of God and become conduits of His power and annointing we will never lack for those things in our own lives.

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

So I ask again..what has God placed on YOUR heart..church programs are great..but churches are made up of individuals and I want to know how you feel you can be used as a INDIVIDUAL..not just as a group..sorry for being wordy but I havent seen what I really want to as far as revivals go..ive waited for it just to happen but its not going to happen that way.just tired of having the 'katie bar the door' mindset when it comes to church.We have too many people cursing the darkness and not enough being the light

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

Cursing the darkness never made the darkness less dark.we can preach and talk about how dark this world is until we are blue in the face and it wont make a difference. If I was in a cave and all I did was stand in the dark and say...sure is dark in here...cant see a thing...all this darkness and thats all I did#1 whoever was in the dark with you would start to get tired of hearing it ESPECIALLY if the one doing the complaining was holding an unused flashligt..people we hold the proverbial flashlight.use it.

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

Well Jedi...

You certainly have quite a few inspirational statements to share.

Could you share some rubber meets the road examples of practical applications and possibly even successes you have experienced from these thoughts and ideas?

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

Give him some time! He's posting them as they come to him, and he's only been posting them for the last few hours! :D

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

Will do bro. :)

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

Sure...first off these are things that God is dealing with me about...recently i had went out to a house to pick up a tv...the lady comes to the door and she has this huge bruise and cut over her eye im really in a hurry cause im wayyy out in the sticks and im kinda behind on time and she starts telling me how her husband beat her the night before...it would have been really easy for me to start giving her the usual i feel your pain speech but the more this older lady poured out her heart the less i..

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

the less i was worried about the time...she told me about losing a child right after it was born and it getting close to mothers day how it was hard on her i was sitting there and God started getting my attention i started not by saying ok i'll keep u in prayer gotta run now! or come to church and God will touch you! she needed something then! i told her about how He delivered me from depression when i was at the point of suicide i told her how when everyone walks out thats when He is still there...

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

i spent an hour with this lady telling her how God wanted to take the pain and anguish that she had carried for so many years. make a long story short we prayed and i had to go.. now God is dealing with the husband in a really strong way. she came by the office saying that she neede prayer but her husband is talking about needing to go to church.

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Guys...im not trying to come across as some one who has done everything right or who has all the answers...but i DO know that it takes having a love for people. how about the grandmother on my route whose husband is in jail and also her son for drugs.Shes also raising 3 grandkids by herself. she was addicted to pills and also on anti depressants that were not working.i delivered a dryer and started talking to her just trying to be an encouragment. every sat. i would go by and pick up a payment...she knew

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

very little about the Bible so you couldnt just throw scripture at her.i would pray with her before i left for other houses and we made contact with her family in jail through the ACTS program which is a substance abuse program sponsered by the church. around christmas the grandchildren had a great christmas they otherwise wouldnt have had...when i say these people were poor...it doesnt even begin to describe it. one day i told her that the stresses of the job was building up and i was thinking about...

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

finding something else...she told me that i had better not that since i had been witnessing to her she had stopped drinking and she was off the pills and when i had first showed up that she had been considering suicide.that got me thinking...its not about me or my disconfort...its about Him putting me in the right place and the right time to show love to the hurting. guys im not automaticly seen as the good guy here..when i show up at someones house its to either drop something off or repo something.

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

when you are a repo man and they are asking you for prayer you KNOW its gotta be a God thing!

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

Are you trying to build your post count up or something? You took three posts to say what you could say in one. LOL

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

actually im joining the olympic thumb wrestling division so all my posts are typed on my cell phone to help with strength training.:-D actually my internet on my phone only allows me space for 519 characters per post so i have to write in spurts.sorry.i know its long winded but when u work over 50 hrs a week and most of the time is spent on the truck alone when you do vent its a little much.

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

Aha! You are posting from your cellphone. That 'splains it! How do you drive and post at the same time?

Re: Is this as good as its gonna get?...or...
 

actually until like 3 i didnt leave the store...finishing paper work and stuff. but i have gotten so used to this phone i can pretty much text without looking at the keys.ok ok im a text addict.lol