What is Church Growth?

Excitement, expansion, eloquent sermons, conversions of multitudes, miraculous workings – all these thoughts express the thrust of the book of Acts. It is the narration of how the disciples of Christ followed His command to “be witnesses . . . both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). It is the narration of how a fledgling movement turned into a widespread and organized network of believers and assemblies of believers. It is the narration of how the church at large grew and also how individual congregations grew.

Church growth is at the most basic level the conversion of unbelievers to Christianity and the incorporating of those believers into a local assembly of believers. Church growth includes not just the simple addition of individuals to Christianity at large and to a local church, but it also includes the instruction and discipleship of those individuals.
While church growth can be said to happen in multitudes (Acts 2:41), it is ultimately something that happens on an individual basis, one person at a time (Acts 16:14-15). While numbers in themselves are not the key focus in church growth, they are, however, a part of church growth. In other words, church growth is partially measured numerically.

Church growth, of course, not only includes numerical growth, but it also includes the personal, spiritual growth of each believer. Samuel Rutherford points out the necessity of such growth, “Growth in grace should be cared for above all things; and falling from our first love mourned for.”(*) This spiritual growth of individuals must be one of the key foci of the church.


* Rutherford, Samuel. 1996. Letters of Samuel Rutherford. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth.
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30-Day Giving Challenge 2013 - Week 3

Here's a recap of my third week in the 30-Day Giving Challenge.

Sunday - helped with my church's music ministry
Monday - made a donation to Voice of the Martyrs
Tuesday - sent Christmas cards to our troops through Holiday Mail for Heroes
Wednesday - made a donation to Operation Shower
Thursday - made a donation to Room to Read
Friday - volunteered at a local library
Saturday - helped with my church's English classes for immigrants in our community

What opportunities have you had to give? If you need some ideas, check out this Pinterest board or follow #30DayGive on Twitter.

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Missionary in Focus: J. O. Fraser

“Spent the night on the top of a range ten thousand feet high, after two days with no human habitation. Darkness came on and snow began to fall. Our Lisu made a sort of booth for us. Morning, snow thick on the ground, obscuring the track. The Lisu, wet through, shivering with cold. Had to find our way over the pass…. No food till late in the afternoon when (below the snow-line) we could make a fire.
Saw armed robbers, but they did not attack us. Scenery magnificent. I enjoyed it after a fashion” (*).

One man who saw more than mountains. One man dedicated to His God. One man expending His life to bring the gospel to the lost. One man who knew how to pray. J. O. Fraser spent the majority of his life trekking up and down steep mountain passes working among a people often ignored by the outside world. The Lisu people. Their villages dotted the sides of the mountain ranges located in the southwestern corner of China. They themselves were bound by the dark cords of their heathen beliefs and their desperate worship of the demons that wreaked such fear and havoc in their lives. Such a people so steeped in Satan's darkness.

Would the light of Christ ever break forth among them? These people fit Paul's description in II Corinthians 4:4, “... the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." Who would be the torchbearer? J. O. Fraser was God’s chosen man. He had experienced what Paul describes in II Corinthians 4:6, “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Fully believing that it was his job “to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, J. O. Fraser left behind his home in England and traveled to China to work among the Lisu people.

One of his trademarks was the letters that he wrote back to those who were supporting him in prayer. While ministering among the Lisu people, he was made aware of the fact that the only weapon he had to break through their profound darkness was prayer. Knowing this, he asked a core group of believers back in England to pray for his work, even as he was praying for it as he worked in China. His letters were full of detailed descriptions of the people he was working with, so that those “holding the ropes” in England were able to pray intelligently concerning his work. And God answered their prayers. Many, many of the Lisu were victoriously saved and went on to tell their own people of Christ’s atoning blood. Up and down the mountainsides that Fraser himself had climbed many a time, the Lisu people turned to Christ, even whole villages at a time.

The key to Fraser’s successful work was his dependence upon prayer. Only by God’s power will God’s kingdom be furthered, and this power is accessed through prayer. Therefore, may we commit to upholding God’s work in our prayers to Him.


* Taylor, Mrs. Howard. Behind the Ranges. pg. 86 quotation from one of Fraser’s letters.
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30-Day Giving Challenge 2013 - Week 2

Here's a recap of my second week in the 30-Day Giving Challenge.

Sunday - my piano studio held its fall recital at an assisted living home
Monday - bought something off of someone's Amazon wishlist (just for fun)
Tuesday - made a donation to Red Cross
Wednesday - helped with my church’s children’s ministry
Thursday - made a donation to Project Night Night
Friday - volunteered at a local library
Saturday - helped with my church's English classes for immigrants in our community

What opportunities have you had to give? If you need some ideas, check out this Pinterest board or follow #30DayGive on Twitter.

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Growing to be More Like Christ

As believers, God wants us to grow to become more like Him. As such we need to be adding to our lives the characteristics Peter mentions in 2 Peter 1:5-7. The question now arises as to how we are to do this.

First of all, as verse 5 mentions (“add to your faith”), we must make sure we really are believers. Then, we can go about adding these characteristics to our lives.
We need to recognize that this will take effort. New habits are not formed over night. A very straight-forward way to go about this is to sit down and prayerfully write out practical ideas for carrying out these various characteristics.

What are some things you struggle with? Is it keeping a certain time each day for personal devotions? Is it saying “no” to a stubborn, ungodly habit? Is it being kind to unkind people? What ever it is, write down specific steps and actions that you can take to start to bring about the needed change in your life. Then, prayerfully commit yourself to work at these things.

The change will not happen instantaneously. It will take work. It will take prayer. And it might even take being accountable to someone. Whatever it takes, take the necessary steps and you will grow in Christlikeness.

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30-Day Giving Challenge 2013 - Week 1

On Friday, November 1, the 30-Day Giving Challenge began.

Here's my summary so far:
Friday - volunteered at a local library
Saturday - helped with my church's English classes for immigrants in our community
Sunday - helped with my church’s music ministry
Monday - donated to a local food shelf
Tuesday - paid for coffee for the person behind me in the drive-thru
Wednesday - helped with my church’s children’s ministry
Thursday - gave a micro loan through Kiva
Friday - volunteered at a local library
Saturday - helped with my church's English classes for immigrants in our community

What opportunities have you had to give? If you need some ideas, check out this Pinterest board or follow #30DayGive on Twitter.

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Growing in Christ

As believers, both our salvation and our sanctification take place in Christ. We are saved through His righteousness, and we are progressively sanctified through an increasing knowledge of Him. As saved individuals, it is imperative for our existence as Christians to continue to grow in the knowledge of Christ. This knowledge is not just “a ‘warm and fuzzy’ feeling toward God” but it is also a knowledge of who God is and what He wants from His creation.

The only way that we can grow is to know Him more and more. This in turn is only done as we spend time studying God’s word. This is not a flighty scanning of the Scriptures, but a digging deeper into the storehouse of knowledge about God that is contained therein. Just as it takes work to prepare meals for us to eat each day, so we must realize that it will take work for us to prepare “spiritual meals,” as it were, for ourselves each day.

And those of us who are responsible to feed others spiritually must realize that it will take an extra amount of effort on our part so that we will have something to share with these who rely upon us. The virtuous lady in Proverbs 31 illustrates even this point, for verse 15 states, “She rises also while it is yet night, and gives meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.” While this verse is talking primarily about physical food, it also has a spiritual application. Spiritual food must be given to those for whom we are responsible and it will take effort expended on our part.

The only way that we can fulfill our responsibilities is by growing in grace and peace by means of the knowledge of Christ.

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