by Tim | Jul 16, 2010 | God, Our Culture, The Church World, The Gospel |
One thing I’ve heard quite a bit is that statistics show that 3 out of 4 new church start-ups in America fail. How can this be? Where did the power of God go? This statistic sounds totally pathetic to me. I’m sure there are several reasons for such a statistic. However, I fear many of those reasons boil down to simply a lack of faith in the power of God. Do we truly realize that we can trust in the same power that created the entire universe, supernaturally healed diseases, parted the Red Sea, and raised Christ from the dead? Did we not start up this church because He called us to do it? Are we not building a church in His name with His power for His glory? That is, if you really do believe God created the universe, supernaturally heals, parted the Red sea, and literally rose Christ from the dead. Do you believe it? Do you believe we have that same Spirit inside of us, and that this same Spirit is at work in the world? Then what can stop us? What is stopping 3 out of 4 churches from carrying out Christ’s mission? Wasn’t Paul convinced that neither height nor depth nor… and didn’t Jesus say that nothing could stop His church–not even the gates of hell? What has happened? Has God suddenly faced the reality that His power, though strong enough for back then, isn’t a match for our modern world? Here’s what I’m afraid that statistic really means: three out of four new church start-ups end up folding because they cannot financially sustain...
