"Until and unless God raises up more Bible-preaching, biblically faithful churches, home churching will continue to pick up steam."
Re the comment:
What part of the U.S. is devoid of a gospel-preaching / Bible teaching church?
I called one of the pastors of one of the jumbo churches in Greenville one day. I asked him why it was that churches could manage to send missionaries to Paupau, New Guinea, but they couldn’t manage to start a church up in the Milwaukee area.My take is that Milwaukee is hardly a “barren wasteland when it comes to churches”.
What part of the U.S. is devoid of a gospel-preaching / Bible teaching church?
I am not sure if the point of the article relates to being “picky.”
Being careful not to speak of names or specific locations, I would say that there are vast areas of the upper midwest where the pickings of churches are mightly slim.
One may be within driving distance of one or more “fundamental churches” — but may sooner or later find out that they have un- or under-educated pastors, hidden agendas or horrendous baggage from past dealings in their communities. Many of these churches are very small — and sometimes they are small for good reason.
Then, many of the more “mid-size” churches (100-plus), which should theoretically be healthier, are going the way of Warren, Piper, etc. and modern methods of “doing ministry.” Many are trying to copy their contemporary bigger-church brethren and end up putting on a cheesy, one-string-banjo version of a seeker service.
My advice is very simple: Do not move somewhere before picking out your church first, and do not take the health of a potential church for granted, even if you are moving to be near a Christian institution. Make sure to do lots of checking “before you buy.”
If you are in a good, healthy church-home situation right now, thank God and be sure to enjoy it and say thanks to someone close to you today. There are many people out there who would practically die to trade places with you.
Being careful not to speak of names or specific locations, I would say that there are vast areas of the upper midwest where the pickings of churches are mightly slim.
One may be within driving distance of one or more “fundamental churches” — but may sooner or later find out that they have un- or under-educated pastors, hidden agendas or horrendous baggage from past dealings in their communities. Many of these churches are very small — and sometimes they are small for good reason.
Then, many of the more “mid-size” churches (100-plus), which should theoretically be healthier, are going the way of Warren, Piper, etc. and modern methods of “doing ministry.” Many are trying to copy their contemporary bigger-church brethren and end up putting on a cheesy, one-string-banjo version of a seeker service.
My advice is very simple: Do not move somewhere before picking out your church first, and do not take the health of a potential church for granted, even if you are moving to be near a Christian institution. Make sure to do lots of checking “before you buy.”
If you are in a good, healthy church-home situation right now, thank God and be sure to enjoy it and say thanks to someone close to you today. There are many people out there who would practically die to trade places with you.
Church Ministries Representative, serving in the Midwest, for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry
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