A Christ Follower: The Journey

"Where there is no vision the people perish" Proverbs 29:18 When I see this passage, I sadly, and with grief, see churches all around that have no target, no plan, no vision, and while they may perform their weekly rituals, they accomplish little. Few, if any, find salvation through faith in Jesus.  Baptisms are virtually non-existence, except when a baby is occasionally baptized, and the church has very little impact on their community and the world at large. This is especially true when it comes to making disciples of Jesus or ensuring the salvation of lost souls. They do have a whole lot of business going on inside the "four walls."  And while the folks inside are having a great time, few really know what's happening in their elect or select community. A whole lot of what goes on inside is for the members at large. What happens in the Church stays in the Church.  The ancient wisdom written above literally can be translated, "When there is no vision...

He (Jesus Himself) called some to be Apostles, some to be Prophets, some to Evangelist, some to be Pastors and some to be teachers.  And He did so to equip the saints, or people of God, to do the work of the ministry. He did this to edify, or build up the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-12 God almighty is all about giving power to the Pastor to fulfill the Pastor's calling. This fulfillment of this sacred calling, in turn,  will empower God's people in each and everyone's ministry to which God is calling them; yet, somewhere along the line, something happened.  Pastors, for some reason, have become " The  Minister" in each congregation, and absolutely nothing could be further from the truth. As a matter of fact, Jesus actually hated this form of ministry style, which will disempower God's people, make a church's community impact highly ineffective, and the average Christ Follower's spiritual journey  will resultantly become anemic. MORE BANG FOR T...