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Plant Now! A 21st Century Challenge |
by Dr. Dave Barba – Press On! Ministries
WHY RE-SEED?
When I was a kid, I liked missionaries and their slide shows. A
missionary was a mud-hut guy who carried water from the river, ate bugs
with a smile, and preached in the jungle. He displayed snakeskins and
shrunken heads. He was a real missionary, and he deserved our church’s
help. But raising my interest, and our support, for home missions in
the comfortable USA, was tougher.
It still is. But the USA, more than ever, needs real missionaries. For
decades, fundamentalists have been zealous to support foreign missions
but have largely neglected church planting. We are our own country’s
salt and light. Our 21st century challenge is to start new churches in
the USA. We need to re-seed America with Bible-preaching churches
because of:
• the population explosion,
• the loss of sound churches
• the need to maintain our missionary support base.
• The USA Population is Exploding
From 1990–2000, our population increased 13.2% (that’s 32.7 million
people). This was the greatest increase in our history, even including
the “baby boom” years. Every state grew during that decade.1
The Northeast grew by 5.5%. Once the seat of revival, it is now
spiritually as cold as its winters. Many new churches are needed to
complement those recently planted. Even the Midwest, with its strong
fundamentalist history, needs scores of new churches in its cities,
which grew at a rate of 7.9%.
Go west, young man—and you will find countless towns with no
fundamental church. This part of the country grew 19.7% in ten years..
Many think of the West as being full of movie stars and left-wingers.
But it is also home to multitudes of middle-class, conservative
citizens who need the Lord. Cities in the South are also growing too
fast for existing churches to reach the people. At a growth rate of
17.3%, towns that were once too small for a church, now need several.
As an example of the need, look at California—with its population of 34
million. One of every eight Americans is a Californian. In Los Angeles,
there is one fundamental church for every 1.2 million people. Most of
our large metropolitan areas have a few fundamental churches, but not
nearly enough to meet the need. A recent survey by Bob Jones University
revealed about 1200 cities in the USA with a population of 5000 or more
and no fundamental church within 30 miles.2
• We Are Losing Sound Churches
We are losing them to unscriptural methods of growth and worship
styles. Former separatists are chasing after the methods of those whose
philosophy is to “be like the world to win the world.”
The sensual sound of contemporary Christian music is drawing crowds but
is not turning sinful hearts to a holy God. A man-centered,
entertainment-driven, low-commitment approach is producing a generation
who do not know the God of the Bible. Though every believer needs to
discover his purpose in life, it is impossible to drive oneself to
holiness in 40 days. To replace the churches we have lost, new ones
must be planted by men who preach the whole counsel of God and pursue
His approval, rather than the praise of men.
• We Must Maintain Our Missionary Support Base
America has historically been the financial and personnel base for
sending fundamental missionaries abroad. As the number of our churches
shrinks, however, this base is drying up. If we fail to re-seed our
land with new churches, it will eventually disappear.
Dr. David Cummins of Baptist World Missions, said, “We have exhausted
our local church support base for missionaries. We need to plant more
churches if we are to continue to send missionaries around the world.
Starting churches in the USA is a foreign missions project.”
If we fail to reach our Jerusalem, we will not reach Judea, Samaria, or
the uttermost parts of the earth. Plant a church. It will support
missionaries, send young people to the field, and plant more churches.
Those churches will support more missionaries, plant more churches,
etc.
In 1974, my wife and I planted Falls Baptist Church in Menomonee Falls,
WI, with a few families and no missionaries. Falls Baptist now supports
over 80 missionaries. In 1995, we planted Trinity Baptist Church in
Franklin, TN, with one family and no missionaries. Trinity now supports
nine missionaries.
We must keep Jerusalem strong to reach Judea and send the gospel around the world!
HOW DO WE RE-SEED?
• Churches Start Churches
A church is a body, a living organism (I Corinthians 12:12). A living
organism normally reproduces others. Dr. Grant Rice, church-planting
consultant, says, “A sign of good health for a husband and wife is
reproduction. It is the same with the church. Healthy churches should
be reproducing other churches.” Church planting is every church’s
responsibility.
We have helped plant churches when the “mother church” was within a few
miles (like the church at Antioch with pastor Barnabas (Acts 11:22).
Others have started thousands of miles away from the sending church.
Churches can start other churches with heavy local involvement or with
financial and prayer support across the miles.
At Falls Baptist, our mentor was the church planting department of Bob
Jones University, which depends on the financial and prayer support of
many churches. We had the help, prayers, and input of many churches. At
Trinity Baptist, we were supported by over 30 churches. Our home church
was Marquette Manor Baptist in Downers Grove, IL, to whom we were
accountable until we chartered as an autonomous body.
Planting new churches isn’t only a responsibility. It’s also the most
efficient strategy for reaching people—much more effective than
building one large church in one location.
Think about it. What strategy does business use? Does Amway have just
one giant store? Is there one Godzilla-sized McDonald’s? Was Starbucks’
marketing plan to build one mammoth store in Seattle? Common sense says
we will reach more people through many churches scattered across a
city, than through a mega-church in one corner.
• Men Start Churches
What kind of man does God use to start a church? In my experience,
these traits are common to a man who effectively plants: Commitment to
the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). He believes that souls can be
saved anywhere. He has the Ephesians 4:11 gift of evangelism.
Vision (Proverbs 29:18)—He envisions a church building on desert land,
where others see only sagebrush. He asks God to reveal His will; he
communicates his vision clearly to his people.
Love for the adventure of faith (Hebrews 11:3—He knows that living by
faith is possible only during his short stay on earth. Admiring the
Hebrews 11 heroes of faith, he is excited about trusting God alone.
Optimism (I Thessalonians 5:18)—A church planter is a Biblical
optimist. He is not a “walking minus sign.” He always sees his glass of
chocolate milk half full. A church starter is not discouraged by the
negatives of the first years. He trusts God to turn them into positives.
Self-starting organizer—A church planter, though an evangelist,
pretends that he has administrative gifts. He plans and organizes. He
gets up, gets out, and put those plans to work.
• You Can Start a Church
Fundamental Baptist churches are currently being planted—successfully.
You can do it! In 2001, my wife and I began Press On! Ministries. We
live in an RV, so we are free to move to assist church planters. We
help in every aspect of starting the church and then stay for several
months after its opening to support and encourage. We have had the
privilege of helping these, among others:
Folsom, CA—More than a Prison When we arrived in August 2002, Derek and
Robin Harm were already planting Faith Baptist Church. 30 people were
meeting in a public school. We helped them run a prospect-finding
program called “The Phone’s for You.”3 We made 22,000 calls.1100 people
gave us permission to send mail about the new church. Over four weeks,
we sent them information and invitations, then called many of them the
week before the first service as a reminder. Over 140 folks came.
Faith Baptist is now about three years old, searching for property, and
averaging about 100. They still meet in the public school—but give over
$12,000 a year to missions.
It Happened in Raleigh
Matt and Becky Walker invited us to join them in Cary, NC, early in
2003 to assist in starting College Park Baptist Church. A large group
came from Fairfax (VA) Baptist Temple to hang 20,000 information
packets on doors. Following that effort, we geared up to run the phones
program.
Dr. Mike Yarborough of Bethany Hills Baptist in Raleigh graciously let
us park our fifth wheel at his church and train his members to use the
phones. (It’s interesting that while Pastor Yarborough helped us start
a new church, his own church grew!).
After 33,000 calls and mail to 1200 prospects, we held the first
service. The attendance was not as large as we had hoped, due to our
mistake in planning the first service on the Easter holiday. But some
did come, and we immediately started visiting our prospects. God
blessed. The church grew steadily.
After a few months, College Park leased the lovely meeting place and
purchased the equipment of a church that had closed. This is now a
healthy, vibrant church, averaging 70-80, looking for a larger
building, supporting missionaries, starting a school—and planning to
plant more churches.
Happy Trails in Apple Valley
In January 2005, we moved to Apple Valley, CA—known as the home of Roy
Rogers—to help Bryan and Rebecca Brock plant Life Point Baptist Church.
With the help of teams in three eastern states, we made about 25,000
calls. 1700 folks asked for mail about the new church. On April 10, 135
came to the first service. Attendance is currently averaging 80-90. The
Great Commission is being fulfilled as we lead folks to Christ and
disciple them. A fundamental, separated Baptist church has been planted
in the high desert of southern California!
God can do it. He is doing it. As fundamentalists see the need and our
responsibility, He will use us to re-seed our country with sound
churches. Healthy organisms reproduce. May our fundamental Baptist
churches always be healthy.
1 www.census.gov—click on American Fact Finder.
2 www.bju.edu/resources/cplanting/metro.html.
3 For detailed information about “The Phone’s for You,” visit our website (www.ipresson.com).
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