Letting The Building Fall Apart In Jesus's Name

Why Don't You Repair The Building? It looks terrible.

There is a Biblical principle that I discovered many Christians either do not know, or just ignore. It simply states:

And whatever you do, whether by speech or action, do everything in the name
of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17

Let's say there are some maintenance issues with the building. Normally, you would REPAIR the building. Most Christians would want to do the right thing. After all, whatever you do OR DON'T DO is supposed to be in the name of Jesus.

If you want to convince the congregation that the the building is falling apart, you just IGNORE issues until they become impossible to repair. After, the ends justifies the means...right?

TWENTY YEARS AGO...a solution was given to the church. At least two members, including a professional builder, told you to put a slant on the roof and that would take care of the leaks!

It is SO SIMPLE TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT in the name of Jesus!

Instead, you just let the roof leak, refuse to correct it with a slanted roof as church members said would work twenty years ago, allow the leaky roof to discolor the walls in the auditorium so you can then look at the congregation and say, "See, the building is falling apart like I told you."

Yes, the ends justifies the means. It is Baptist tradition. I was at the Southern Baptist Convention when some of that rationalization was happening over 20 years ago in order to elect the right people. I sat at restaurant table over 26 years ago when the architects of the SBC "take over" were plotting their moves. Although they used highly unethical tactics to begin electing conservative presidents, to them, the ends justified the means.

And that lack of integrity has seeped down to the local level, where church leaders simply LIE to the congregation to get a building program going. And worse, they say "GOD TOLD ME THIS IS OUR VISION" or some other trite falsehood.

So it is with First Baptist allowing the building to rot in the name of Jesus when there is such a simple solution, a solution they have ignored for twenty years.

Why don't you repair the building in the name of Jesus?

Because if you FIX THE BUILDING, then you can't justify buying that land on the Bells highway.

Lying in the name of Jesus. Allowing the building to fall apart in the name of Jesus. Deceiving the congregation in the name of Jesus. Is there any wonder that people stay away on Sunday morning? Is there any wonder that membership has stagnated for the most part?

What is it about lying to the congregation in the name of Jesus that attracts one to First Baptist Church? What is it about allowing the building to fall apart in the name of Jesus that gives your message integrity?

REPAIR THE ROOF! It looks terrible. Is THAT what you want?

Did Ya Hear About The New Preacher?

Did ya hear about the new preacher?

A new preacher came to town. The first Sunday, he preached a wonderful sermon. It was exciting, it was Biblical, it was emotional, it was with conviction. The congregation loved it.

The second Sunday, the preacher preached the same sermon. It was still exciting and motivating and preached with as much conviction as the first Sunday. The folks just kind of overlooked it as a repeat, since the preacher was new at this church. Perhaps he forgot.

The third Sunday was met with more anticipation. However, the new preacher preached EXACTLY the SAME sermon as the first Sunday. Members of the congregation were beginning to get worried. Three Sundays in a row with the same sermon.

The fourth Sunday, the new preacher preached the SAME sermon AGAIN, the same as the first Sunday. So the deacons decided to meet with the preacher to see if there was a miscommunication or problem. Why was the preacher continuing to preach ONE and only ONE sermon Sunday after Sunday?

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You will notice I have not posted much in the past couple of months. That's because, the message here has been "preached" so to speak, from the beginning. When you (or someone) actually DOES the Great Commission, then we can move on. When people begin to GO and begin to MAKE DISCIPLES, then we can move on.

I can talk about the pastor, I can talk about the staff members, we can even talk about the 15,000 people who live in Crockett County and what they are NOT doing for the Lord. But the message has been laid out for you. If YOU do not DO the message, then everything else is irrelevant!

Ya see, when the deacons confronted the new pastor about preaching the same sermon four weeks in a row, the young preacher looked at them and said, "When you begin winning people to the Lord as was preached in that sermon, then we can worry about new sermons. When you begin DOING about which that sermon speaks, then we can move on ahead...together.

Currently, there is virtually no evangelism at FBCA. There is lots of activity, lots of busywork, lots of religious-sounding noise being made, but virtually NO EVANGELISM at all, even on Sunday morning. Currently, church members are being systematically ignored from the "in crowd" and excluded from the loop. Currently, nobody is confronting the issue of long-term debt or why a building is necessary. When you do those things spoken of in the past few months in these posts, then we can worry about new issues.

Too Critical or Expecting Accountability?

Some folks have accused me of being too critical. I apologize for giving that appearance. So let me ask you a question. If someone asks you to be accountable, to be honest, to do the job right the first time, why is that being critical?

Our intentions are not to be critical, but to expect Christian Morality and Integrity when dealing with thousands of dollars given by the congregation.

I quote the church web page which says:

"It is the responsibility of each believer to endeavor to live in fellowship with
each member of the congregation."

If only that were true. If only that were true for the staff as well as each believer. When the staff purposely ignores church members, that is not a good sign. And it is happening.

Again, I quote from the church web page:

"It is further the responsibility of each member to bring all gossiping and
backbiting to an end."

Gossiping and backbiting? Yes, that should not be happening in a congregation. Healthy discourse and challenging of hidden agendas by church leadership? Sir, that is not gossip. That is not backbiting. That is exposure. And some things should be exposed to the congregation. When facts and other things are hidden from church members who seek information, that is not gossip, nor is it backbiting. It is shining a light.

I know basically our church leaders are probably good folks, overall. But honesty has taken a back-seat to personal agendas over the past six years or so. Long-time church members have been insulted pushed aside while others attempt to "have their day" and override common sense. Things have grown to a slow crawl.

It is amazing how, at this point, it seems "God" must have changed his mind, or at least postponed his plans. It is amazing how we as Christians can spin a financial crunch into spiritual words by putting a "God Overlay" on top of common financial (or otherwise) setbacks and making it look like we know what God is allegedly doing with the situation we screwed up. So we spin it a few times, then talk the deacons into buying our spiel, then we present it and try to sell it to the congregation.

Me, too critical? Is it too critical to expect honesty? Is it too critical to expect serious accountability and integrity? Is it being too critical to expect Christians to actually be like Jesus instead of just talking about him?
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Centrally Located For Residents of Alamo! Why Not?

If you are a member of First Baptist Alamo, why aren't you reaching lost people now?

Several years ago the Southern Baptist Convention got this idea for Baptist churches to become "regional churches" serving a region, as opposed to local or neighborhood churches. Pastors who wanted to move up the corporate ladder and pastors who envisioned evangelical starhood hooked on to that little publicity stunt as a way to reach their carnal dreams.

Some pastors move up the ladder with graduate degrees and books. Some do it with building programs.

One of the members of First Baptist Alamo accurately pegged the idea of a regional church as what it really is...a "Walmart church" for the way they evangelize. A Walmart Church simply steals members from other churches and rarely does any actual evangelism.

Several studies in church growth have already demonstrated this error in the church growth movement by discovering that church growth was more church member movement than evangelism. The vast majority of those flooding the mega-churches or regional churches were NOT new converts, but had actually just moved from the church down the road. First Baptist Alamo recently held a cattle-car evangelixtic rally and followed it up with a cattle-car baptism Sunday, just sign-up and be baptized or re-baptized as is popular with some folks feeling guilty about not living right or something. The web site even promoted people leaving their home church to come join this regional church. That is Walmart Evangelism.

The whole "building program" is driven by this "regional church" idea and nothing more. The web site proclaimed it as a way "to reach lost people" yet nobody realized at the time that nobody was reaching lost people where they were sitting now. So that error was removed from the web site.

So WHAT does the web site say to give away the REAL MOTIVE for moving the church, the "regional church" motive for moving? That is easy to spot. On the "location" page:

"We are centrally located for residents of Crockett, Gibson, Haywood and Madison Counties. "

1) Why would anyone who lives in Humboldt want to drive to church at Alamo?
2) Why would anyone in Brownsville want to drive to Alamo to go to church?
3) Why doesn't the pastor and staff of FBCA reach lost people IN ALAMO first?
4) Why doesn't the web page say something like "We are centrally located for residents of Alamo and Crockett County" and promote the church that way?

Why? Because the pastor is not interested in reaching the people of Alamo. He hasn't done it so far. Because the pastor wants to build a regional church at a more "regional" location.

Why? Because the staff and members of FBCAlamo are not interested in actually reaching lost people in Alamo. Alamo...where the church is located.

Why? Because even with pastors and church staff and, unfortunately with church members, bragging rights come with big Sunday Morning Numbers. Bragging rights come with offers from other churches offering more money to "come to our church and do what you did there." So, when you don't live the "great commission" lifestyle, when you don't reach lost people (for whatever reason,) then you must justify your salary by "APPEARING" to do spiritual things. Thus, the idea to build a new church "to reach lost people."

If you are a member of First Baptist Alamo, why aren't you reaching lost people now? If you are a member of First Baptist Alamo, why are you trying to justify a move to the country under a false motive of "reaching lost people" when you are not doing that already?

Inquiring minds want to know why you are not reaching lost people now?!?

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Sweet People Who Believe Their Own Publicity

First Baptist Church of Alamo has some really sweet church members. FBCA has some folks who really do want to do the right thing. I have known many of those sweet people for several decades and through the ministries of several pastors and several church building programs.
I read recently about a singer who was very popular in the 1970s. He was featured on some website. At the end of his interview, he gave a quote that I thought was something we should all remember:

"Don't Believe Your Own Publicity"

Another quote by Demosthenes from an earlier post on this blog was similar:

"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true."

Every time someone talks about the new building, I expect to hear their concern about and desires of "reaching lost people" since that's how the church website promoted the new church building. I was surprised and disappointed when, instead of talking about evangelism, I hear church members say things like like:

"...this building is 80 years old"
"...this building is falling apart"
"...we need more room"
"...we need more parking"

To this day, I have NEVER heard even ONE person tell me:

"We need the new building to reach lost people."

Never! Not even one time! Not from the pastor. Not from any person on the church staff. Not from even a single church member. Not one time.

Several years ago, someone (and I know who) began a publicity campaign (their own publicity) claiming the building is old, claiming the building is falling apart, claiming we need more parking and claiming the ONLY solution is to move away and build a new building. The publicity campaign seems to have convinced many non-critical thinking members, who believed the stories and half truths instead of looking more objective as to the motive behind the campaign.

Thomas Paine once said:

"It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry."

So why have so many sweet church members stopped investigating other solutions? Why have so many sweet church members decided to believe that publicity campaign instead of the truth? Why have so many sweet church members decided to go along with the "herd mentality" instead of walking the streets, knocking on doors and actually reaching lost people?

I agree 100% with Susan B. Anthony who said:

"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires."

Unfortunately, the person with the strongest desires is often the one who can convince the most people to follow his ideas. It is often the person with the most passion who can convince the most people that HIS DESIRES are actually "GOD'S WILL" apart from truth that proves otherwise. That person convinces the people to follow his ideas not based upon the truth of the situation, not based upon facts, but based upon their own passion on an issue.

Facts be ignored and truth be tossed away or split in half.

You can can see how it works in a presidential race. You can see how it works in a church building program. Passion wins over truth almost every time. That's why there is MORE PROMOTION of the building fund than of reaching lost people. That's why there is more talk from the pulpit about raising money for the building than talk from the pulpit about personally reaching lost people for Christ.

The banners in front of the church tell how much money we have raised, don't they. The banners in front of the church DO NOT TELL HOW MANY LOST PEOPLE HAVE BEEN REACHED, do they? Do you believe the publicity? Do you believe two to four million dollars are needed "to reach lost people?"

Do you believe it will take two million dollars "to reach lost people?" Can you say FBCA will NOT "reach lost people" without spending $2,000,000 to $4,000,000?? Do you believe that? Do you REALLY believe that?

First Baptist Alamo Club - Simplistic Dreams and Non-Believers

Several things are clear:

1. It would be nice to have a new church building in the country.
2. We don't really believe in Hell.
3. We don't really believe anyone is going to Hell.

Let's take the first one, "It would be nice to have a new church." Yes, younger folk tend to think history only began on their date of birth. Anything before the day they were born is not history, it is ANCIENT HISTORY. That's why the allow the "old" building to fall apart, then say "See, the building is falling apart." The BIBLE makes it clear that everything we do should be done in the name of Jesus who loved us and gave himself for us. So why don't you fix the church building and stop using it as an excuse to justify your own personal motive for LUSTING after a new building?

FIX THE CHURCH BUILDING! FIX GOD'S BUILDING AND STOP LYING TO THE CONGREGATION!

Let's take point two and point three, since point two justifies the third.

THE PEOPLE AT FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH DON'T REALLY BELIEVE IN HELL. Because they don't believe in Hell, they don't really believe anyone is going to Hell.

THE PASTOR AND THE CHURCH STAFF EVIDENTLY DO NOT BELIEVE IN HELL.

How do I know that? Tell me, how many people have the church staff members personally won to the Lord in the past month? How many people has any single church staff member won to the Lord in the past six months?

It is an "IF/THEN" statement or conclusion. "If" one thing, "Then" another. If you are standing in the rain, then you will get wet. If you put you hand in the fire, then you will get burned.

If/Then. It is really very simple.

IF the pastor and staff of FBCAlamo believed people were going to Hell, THEN they would be knocking on doors, trying to stop people from going to Hell.

IF the pastor and staff of FBCAlamo believed people were going to Hell, THEN they would be reaching people and they would be repairing the building for the people and would have no time or need to try and justify a new building.

IF FBCAlamo were a church where love indeed did shine, THEN the pastor would not alienate church members as he has. IF FBCAlamo were a church where love did indeed shine as proclaimed on the web page, THEN the church staff would not feel so threatened when they read this blog.

Based upon the NON-ACTIONS of the pastor and staff to reach lost people directly, based upon the substituting of cattle-car pseudo-evangelism and cattle-car baptism-days, I think it is safe to say that the pastor and staff of FBCAlamo do not really believe in Hell and do not really believe that people are going to Hell. As a result of their lack of passion about the dangers of Hell, the people at FBCAlamo do not believe in Hell or that people are going to hell.

The result of years of this kind of charade is a "club" (church) of people who have simplistic dreams of a new club-house out on the highway. That beautiful new club-house will be filled with a group of club-members who don't believe all those people left behind are headed for Hell.

If you disagree, please say so. If you disagree, then go out and win someone to the Lord. Anyone can honk.

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Sixty-Four Residences Within Walking Distance

Let's take a count !

Several people have told me there were not that many people who live within walking distance of the church. So I asked them "How many people are necessary before you try to reach them one-on-one?"

They had no answer. They got mad at me for asking. Now I am the enemy. I could not force them to "reach lost people" like the web site said they would do. But they weren't doing it now. And it looks to me like they weren't going to do it.

So where do you stand on this? Are you reaching lost people now? Or are you just TALKING ABOUT reaching lost people? Here's an excercise for you:

1. Go stand in front of the church facing north.
2. Look to the west down Church Street
3. Walk to the west and count the houses on the right side of the street and the front doors on the left side of the street where the apartments are.
4. Contunue walking west to North Branch Street
5. Turn South (left) on Branch Street.
6. Continue counting the front doors on both sides of the street
7. Turn East (left) on Main Street and continue counting.
8. Include all the "front doors" of all the apartments.
9. Turn North (left) on Locust Street and continue to the church.

Now answer these questions:

1. How many residences (front doors) did you count?
2. How many of those front doors have you ever personally visited?
3. Who do you know who lives behind even one of those front doors?
4. Do you CARE who lives behind those front door?
5. Do those people know the Lord?
6. Why do those people not walk to FBCAlamo every Sunday morning?

MY CHALLENGE TO YOU IS:

Are you just gonna bitch and moan or are you gonna take action?
Are you going to let those people go to Hell or are you going to take action?
Are you going to wait for a non-motivated church staff or are you going to take action?

Since it is clear the church staff doesn't care, what are you going to do about it? Jesus said "Go and make disciples." How long are you going to wait?

Are you going to do it or are you going to complain?

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