Skip to main content

Church Planting: Why I Started a Church


Some time ago, I received this question: “Why did you start your own church when you moved to Moscow? I am working in ministry in my church, but I am considering being a pastor. How do I know if I should leave this church to start my own or stay and keep trying to minister to the people here?”

We came out to Idaho from Michigan to spy out the land in February 1971.

In October ’72, fifteen months after we arrived, I was asked to substitute at the Grange church, which my family had been attending. In the meantime, we had been holding an afternoon house church in our home. In 1976, we shut down the afternoon house church because we did not want to compete with Community Evangelical Fellowship, the Moscow church that we started from the Grange in September 1975 because the congregation there was growing. The Grange grew and divided/planted again in 1976. I pastored both churches in Pullman for one year until another pastor was able to join us. The other church I pastored until I retired from preaching in 2018.

When we left Ann Arbor, I told Bessie that if the best evangelical church in the U.S. were in Moscow, we would not join it—because if the church sees that you have anything on the ball, they put you to work in the things that do not save, edify, or glorify. Since we were in the business of saving, edifying, and glorifying, we would not become members. We would fellowship (attend church every Sunday) but not join.

We are not opposed to starting churches. I do not think that they should start with musical chairs but with new converts. Talk to those who are interested in starting a new church with you. Could they pray some people into the kingdom?

Concerning whatever church you are in now, I will guarantee that there is at least one hurting Christian there who wants to be back in the joy of God’s salvation. There is also someone in the church or in town who wants to be saved so badly he is ready to fall off the vine. This sinner is so ready he does not need an evangelist to reach him. Pray for contact with these two people.

Remember Jesus’ teaching. You are called to be misunderstood.

“All this I have told you so that you will not fall away” (John 16:1).

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt. 5:10-12).

 

“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (1 Pet. 2:21).

 

The fruit is there. Quit fighting; eat it with joy. If you leave your church, you will only change the size of your frying pan. Leave when they are boiling the tar and plucking the goose. By that time, you will leave living, thriving fruit behind.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ripe for Harvest: Prepared to Give an Answer

As you read through the book of Acts, look at every conversion, and see what happened right before it: what was said, who said it. The situations are the same today.     A long time ago, my duty in the Officer’s Christian Fellowship was the east coast of the United States. I went to an officer’s office at Fort Lee, VA, and stayed overnight, then I went on to Norfolk and Fort Bragg.    Forty years later, I was no longer on the staff of OCF, but I had to go to Denver. While I was in Denver, I checked in at the OCF offices. There was the same Air Force officer I had met in Fort Lee, retired now, a colonel. I had stayed in his house when he was a first lieutenant. He asked me, “Do you know what happened when you stayed overnight?” I said, “No, I just remember staying in your home.” He said, “You led the next-door neighbor to Christ.” I had no memory of it.    Ten years after that, I was speaking at a banquet at the Hotel Salisbury, and who was th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why Is Obedience So Hard?

There are several reasons why obedience seems hard. I will comment on some of them and then speak positively on how obedience is easy. We think: 1) Obedience is an infringement on freedom. Since we are free in Christ, and obedience is somehow contrary to that freedom, we conclude that obedience is not good. Yet we know it is good. Thus, we become confused about obedience and are not single-minded. 2) Obedience is works. We who have been justified by grace through faith are opposed to works; therefore, we are opposed to obedience. 3) We have tried to obey and have failed—frequently. Therefore, the only solution is to disobey and later confess to receive forgiveness. It is easier to be forgiven by grace than to obey by effort. 4) We confuse obedience to men with obedience to God. Although these are sometimes one and the same (see Romans 13, 1 Peter 2-3, Ephesians 5-6, Colossians 3, and Titus 2), sometimes they are not the same (see Colossians 2:20-23, Mark 7, 1 Timothy 4:1-5, a...
7 comments
Read more

Biblical Love (Part 1)

God tells husbands to love their wives. How are we to do that, and what does that love look like? Love Her as Your Neighbor “Jesus replied: ‘“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself”’” (Matt. 22:37-39). “Yourself” is someone you already greatly love, and therefore is a good standard for how to love someone else. For a start, calculate how much time you spend thinking about yourself on an average day. Second, list all the things you do for yourself, including bathing, eating, sleeping, and studying. Third, admit that these things are expressions of love for yourself. Fourth, admit that you do not love your neighbor (even your best friend) this much. Fifth, admit that that is a violation of God’s command and needs His forgiveness. Turn to Him for forgiveness. This will not make you loving, but it will make you clean . From that posi...
Post a Comment
Read more