Experence says

As 2018 draws to a close we will welcome in a new year and, hopefully a new erea in church history.

Allow me to hopefully explain 

In order to do so let me first take you back to the year 1988, and I will not bore you with to many details. Around July 1988 the very person who lead me to the Lord said, "I want you to meet someone who believes just as you do."  With the meeting arranged I was hopeful to say the least. Otherwise, that small voice I heard back in January would have been about as phony as can be. 

It was on August 22 1988 that I met my mentor Pastor RIchard "Dick" Blue, a very active and huskly man of the cloth if you will. 

Fast forward to Easter 2016 holiday weekend. Pastor Blue goes on to be with the Lord leaving yours truly sad, lonely and lost to say the least. "What do I do now Lord?" I asked prayerfully as I sat at during his memorials. "DO what youve been taught and be yourself. Dont be like Blue be yourself in Me" I heard the Lord say. So I continued my presence on the World Wide Web with Thunderdome Ministries and writting  blogs. Then, it occured to me, that there was something truely missing in the church today. Something I thought I seen some 25 years ago and tried to get Pastor Blue to incorperate in our works.

You see, what is missing in the church is what the church had way back in the 60's and 70's but gave up on for some weired reason or another. Maybe people in the church gave up on it becasue it was far from the limelight or it had its pitfalls of one sort or another. What this work takes is, willingness to be a number two person. You see not everyone is called into the spotlight. That's why Jesus sent the disciples out by twos; one to lead and the other to prayerfully follow.

What Pastors in thousands of churches today need is not number one people but people to be number two. In otherwords Pastors need those willing to follow. Those willing to get their share of paper cuts and or blisters. 

Do you know what is missing in the church today? 

 Those willing to sit in an office making phone call after phone call asking the following:

1.  the church missed seeing you on Sunday are you  and your family okay? 
2.  I hear you are sick is ther anything we can do to help you
3.  I heard you were on vaction, did you have a good time? We will see you Sunday correct?

This is known as "follow up" or in the scriptures its called "the ministry of helps." And if a perosn does not hear from the church s/he thinks that the church don't care.  And very often they will go in search of another church and or they will simply stay at home allowing their ministry to go stagnet. And in time the church may be forced to shutter its doors.

There is another reason people leave the church and the late Reverand David Wilkerson said it best;  The sin message is the hardest messages to preach and will drive people away in a heart beat. He went on to tell about a church of thousands whose Pastor had a great wakaening, if you will. He went on and preached against sin and hell and in weeks his church went from thousand sto a mere few hundred.

Gods Word calls it a case of itching ears. Listen to what Gods own Word says in 2nd TImothey chapter four;

" Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
2Ti 4:3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
2Ti 4:4  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 

 So after all these years of insight of being, if you will, playing sencond fiddle, here is what Gods House needs to  get on track again.

• "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." 2Ti 4:2   Often the Truth hurts. It stabs you in places you do not want touched. One thing any perosn does not like is having their bottons pushed or their comfort zone interfered with. But if  Gods people want to truly want to show unity then they must put aside their differences and move onward. 

•  Playing second fiddle is rough. But someone has to do the work regardless of the lack of prizes. But if someone does not do the work then the church will fail and fall and more church doors will shutter.

• Pastors must be willing to preach the truth regardless the size of the offereing plate. What does Gods own word say?  "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." 2Ti 4:2  Indeed you can catch more bees with honey as I once heard it said. But Hell itself is filled with those whoe died without hearing the truth that "the wages of sin is death."  The death he speaks of here is not the physical death but spirtual death.

So, allow me to ask you church and you Pastors how will we go into 2019? 

• Will the truth be preached?
• Will your church reinstate followup ministry  
• Will your church grow so you can reinstate Sunday night services? 

To every member of the household of faith:

Do not think you can get away with doing nothing, God forbid!  Infact in 2nd Corthinans chapter five  says that God Himself gave you a ministry. And He gave it to you the moment you accepted Him into your heart and life, That being the "ministry of reconcillation."  In otherwords your responsabilty is to evangelise the world. Thats your task, as the Pastor leads the church God assigned him.

There is plenty of work to do in Gods House so go out and do it.

Even if it means getting a few paper cuts or blisters

Yours in Jesus, who is the Christ

Rev David Liebler

Thunderdome Ministries Network Inc.

3513 Clairmont Street

Flint Mi USA 48503-6602

Love offerings can be sent to...Thunderdome Ministries Network Inc.