Praise the Lord everybody, let everything that has breath praise His holy name. I just finished reading the chapter entitled “The Task of Church Planting” from the book, “Global Church Planting Biblical Principles and Best Practices for Multiplication.” A book I wouldn't normally choose for myself but a friend recommended it to me. I found “The Task of Church Planting” to be great as a history of 20th-century church planting.
As a historical article, I found it very well written, loaded with facts and information on what it takes to plant a Church, not only how to plant a church but how to keep it alive and growing. Even more importantly it was filled with Scriptural references to back up its most important points, like for instance scripture on what is a church (Acts 2:46-47) (Acts 5:42) (21:20,26 basically the whole book of acts). It talks about the importance of putting together a proper team to carry out the task. It covers “the purpose of the Church” and even tries to answer the question, what exactly is “Church planting”?
This is a very ambitious project that supplies its readers with a comprehensive Guide to establish a God-pleasing Church.
Unfortunately, it all comes a little too late. Especially for the Body of Christ in America, and other modern countries across the globe. The whole dynamic of Church planting has changed in America where there is no shortage of churches. Some neighborhoods have as many as four. Except for some small isolated areas of the world the body of Christ is not in need of more Church planting teams, instead, it needs Church unification teams.
If all the different denominations of the Church would come together and be one as God intended, the Church would easily spread the Gospel of Christ to every corner of the world. The Gospel of Luke does end with Jesus giving us the “great commission” and the Church has been trying to carry it out ever since, sometimes effectively and sometimes not so effectively.
Again, this article is full of great examples and ideas on Church planting, including, of course, Paul’s apostolic outline in 1st Corinthians chapter 3 where he states, What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So, neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it.
This scripture brings out an important point when Paul says, “I laid the foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it.” The time has come for the body of Christ to start building on, or perhaps rebuilding on what it has become. This is a well-written article that is rich in history and wisdom, but that is all that it is a history lesson.
God bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off the Wall
