Church of God

by Don C. Warrington

“Our church doesn’t have altar calls any more…”

How many times have you heard people say that?  Or, “we don’t do altar work anymore.”   Since the days of Charles Finney the altar has been a centerpiece of Evangelical and later Pentecostal churches, but many churches don’t even have altar calls in their service, let along altar workers.

Why is this?  One reason is that, too many times, altar calls are pointless.   People come down with needs that never really get prayed for.  They may get saved, but who will know?  No one asks! They come, they have some kind of experience, and they leave, with no follow up.

Ministering at the Altar was written to address this crying need in our churches.   It is written to train your altar workers in the basics of proper procedure at the altar, how to interact Biblically with those who come, and to gather the information necessary to follow-up on those who come.  It even helps you to qualify those who are gifted in altar work.  It also can be read individually to inform and inspire those who prepare to do the crucial work of meeting people at the point of their greatest need.

We speak of filling up our altars.  Ministering at the Altar will help you not only to fill up your altars, but fill up your church.  God is not only calling people to the altars, he is calling them to pray with those who come.  This little book will help the laity in your church make that a reality.

By Jason D. Althoff

When our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ met with the disciples just prior to his ascension to his current position at the right hand of the Father, these were his parting words:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  Matthew 28:19-20

This, our Great Commission, provides us with the ultimate measuring stick as to the effectiveness of our ministry efforts, and for the sake of our focus, men’s ministry efforts.

So, how are we doing?

According to Patrick Morley and Man in the Mirror Ministries, only 1 out of 12 men in America are actually “discipled”.  When I saw this statistic, I realized the flipside to this coin was blatantly obvious:  an alarming 11 out of 12 men are “not discipled”.  It seems as though even in our own nation, something is missing from the philosophy of ministry in the vast majority of our churches.

In October 2008, as the newly installed director of LifeBuilders Men’s Ministry at the Terre Haute Church of God, I began to investigate how to run an effective men’s ministry.  In this time, I was devoted to getting as much knowledge and reviewing as many statistics as possible. Alongside this I continued praying that the Lord would give me vision for the men.  It was during a Sunday celebration service in worship that the Lord spoke one word to me: “EQUIPMENT”.  At first, I did not fully grasp what the Lord was trying to say, and as I asked him to show me, it was as if the word broke up into parts in my vision.  I began to see “EQUIP-MEN-T”, and then I realized the “T” meant ”…†”.  Upon saying it out loud to myself for my hearing, I realized what the Lord was telling me: “Equip Men With The Cross”.

It became immediately apparent to me that if the Lord’s direction was to equip men with the cross, then it is obvious that he feels that men are not currently equipped with the cross, or are not adequately “discipled”.  What then, does it mean exactly to be adequately discipled?  Well, thankfully, the Lord Jesus Christ gave us some words to consider, a few of those words are presented here:

• “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31-32)
• “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:27)
• “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” (John 15:8)
• “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)
• “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.” (Luke 6:40)

In meditating on these verses and in the context of the chapters they reside in, one will find a common theme that cannot be missed.  The subject of all these verses is YOU.  Jesus continually repeats this so that he is not misunderstood.  Jesus’ words are speaking to us right now concerning our statistical analysis of the men of our churches.

The reality looks like this (for 11 out of 12 men):

1. Men are not reading the Word of God
2. Men are not carrying their own crosses
3. Men are not loving one another
4. Men are not bearing much fruit
5. Men are trying to be above their masters

The result of all this is exactly what we have, a shortage of discipled men.  The men must not only be taught the basics of the Christian faith and subsequently walk through a basic discipleship course, but they must be equipped with the cross in such a way that will bring them into the knowledge that they are responsible for their own personal discipleship on a daily basis.

When we see the numbers and realize there must be lack of commitment to discipleship as a priority of church ministry, we also realize that a very important facet of the purpose of the church is being missed – evangelism.  Now this does not mean that churches do not have outreach programs or do not go on mission trips, etc.  Certainly, many great things get accomplished through these ventures.  Former Church of God General Overseer Dr. Paul Walker said, “Evangelism should be the central thrust of the local church.”  Further, he stated that a church has to make a choice whether they are going to be “satisfied” or “sending.”  The satisfied church maintains the status quo.  They have a maintenance mentality and are program-prioritized, working very hard to keep all the programs going and operating just like they should.  In contrast, the sending church has a transformation thrust.  They are centered on Christ and are characterized by discipleship in outreach.  Disciples make disciples–they reproduce.  Therefore, you have a body of believers that are “independently equipped” to impact the community instead of a body of believers that are mostly dependent on a few folks who set up programs that get them involved in the community once or twice a year.

To the question of why I disciple men, I respond out of sincere and humble experience – I used to be that guy.  You know the one.  The guy sitting in your church, who isn’t reading his Word, letting others carry his cross, loving some and hating others, bearing out more flesh than fruit and the one feeling that he has all the answers, and for that matter, has more revelation than your pastor does, or you do – I was the guy who wasn’t discipled.  I was truly and blindly “satisfied” in my approach to church as usual.  This continued until the Lord broke me and I got a revelation that the burden of my personal growth lies in my own hands.  And once I began to get real with myself, to go deeper in the Lord and to engage in personal discipleship, I began to see the Lord move in my life.  I had a hunger and desire to serve with passion because of the discipline that was taking place in my personal walk with the Lord.  It was only after this transformation that fruit began to manifest in my life and the Lord began to bring other spiritual responsibilities my way.  I believe the Lord took me down this path because he wanted to give me something experientially, to produce within me a passion for men in the church today.  He has equipped me to be an agent of spiritual change and I am responding to the call.  How about you?  Have you taken a personal inventory to consider whether you are, in fact, currently equipped and adequately discipled according to the words of Jesus?  Or is the Lord calling you to get passionate about the state of the men in our churches today?  If he is, how do we react to all the statistics and work to get men from the pews to the altars to the streets…?

We equip them with the cross – “Go therefore and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19)

Leonard C. Albert

Recently, I heard the story of Larry Walters, a 33-year-old man who decided he wanted to see his neighborhood from a new perspective. He went down to the local army surplus store one morning and bought 45 used weather balloons. That afternoon, he strapped himself into a lawn chair, to which several of his friends tied the now helium-filled balloons. He took along a six-pack of beer, a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, and a BB gun, figuring he could shoot the balloons one at a time when he was ready to land.

Walters, who assumed the balloons would lift him about 100 feet in the air, was caught off guard when the chair soared more than 11,000 feet into the sky—smack into the middle of the air traffic pattern at Los Angeles International Airport. Too frightened to shoot any of the balloons, he stayed airborne for more than two hours, forcing the airport to shut down its runways for much of the afternoon, causing long delays in flights from across the country.

Soon after he was safely grounded and cited by the police, reporters asked him three questions:

“Were you scared?” “Yes.” “Would you do it again?” “No.” “Why did you do it?” “Because,” he said, “you can’t just sit there.”

Eyes For the Harvest

His answer caught my interest. I have pondered his reply and its implications for some time…”You can’t just sit there!” One prevailing thought emerges in my mind: when it comes to God’s intervention in our lives, we can’t just sit there—we must act! His Word calls for a response—or a reaction—from us especially in the area of evangelism.

Evangelism will become a priority in our lives when we have God’s perspective. All of us see people, but few of us see them with spiritual eyes. Early in Christ’s ministry, He challenged His disciples to see people as God sees them. Christ’s followers were devoted to Him, but they were blind to the task to which their Master had been called. They did not have His compassion for people who were alienated from God. The Lord used several encounters with needy people to help them open their spiritual eyes.

Do you have eyes for the harvest that is all around you, or are you still only seeing people from an earthly perspective?

You Can Win People to Christ

The most fertile ground for evangelism today is through personal relationships. One writer calls it “F R A N gelism,” that is, witness to your Friends, Relatives, Associates, and Neighbors. This is more likely to happen if we see that friendship evangelism is a process, not a project. It begins with cultivation, an approach to the heart; then seed planting, an appeal to the mind; and finally, harvesting, an appeal to the will. There it is, the head, heart and feet! This is the approach. We tell the facts (head knowledge), the Holy Spirit takes it to the heart (sorrow for sin, an 18-inch conversion!), and then there is true repentance with the feet (a turning from sin).

Here is How to Do It

Know Someone. It takes a personal relationship with Christ. We cannot do a spiritual work for Christ unless we have had a spiritual encounter with Him. We must have a life-changing and genuine experience.

Be Someone. Our lives have to back up what we say. People may doubt what you say, but they will always believe what you do! What you do will always speak louder than what you say. Jesus said, “Ye shall be witnesses unto me.” Have you ever heard anyone say, “Humph, well! If that’s what a Christian is like I don’t want any part of it.”

• I’d rather see a sermon lived than hear one preached.
• I’d rather see a conviction demonstrated than hear it defended.
• You’ve got to be like Christ in order to tell of Christ.
• You’ve got to let Jesus be Lord in you before you can say, Jesus is my Lord” to someone else.

Tell Something. Christ must be proclaimed, not defended. You cannot be a secret disciple. It must be a verbal communication. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). One cannot catch a good case of salvation any easier than he can catch a good case of algebra. There are facts that must be explained. God has commanded all of His children to go to those who have not heard and proclaim these facts.

To know Him, be like Him, and tell about Him—that is the secret! When we see people like Jesus saw them and feel for them like He did, we can win them to Christ.

If we have a better understanding of the world, we will know that the unbeliever is not our enemy, but is a victim of the enemy. According to an old legend, a man became lost in his travels and wandered into a bed of quicksand. Confucius saw the man’s predicament and said, “It is evident that men should stay out of places such as this.” Next, Buddha observed the situation and said, “Let that man’s plight be a lesson to the rest of the world.” Then Mohammed came by and said to the sinking man, “Allah has willed it.” Finally Jesus appeared. “Take my hand, brother,” He said, “and I will save you!”

What is ministry?

First we must realize that ministry is simply “service.” It literally means “to dispense the gospel.” Ephesians 4: 12 says, “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Matthew Henry’s Commentary says, “The gifts of Christ were intended for the good of his church, and in order to advance his kingdom and interest among men.” All are for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, or for the work of dispensation; that is, that they might dispense the doctrines of the gospel.

Who is to do the work of the ministry?

From Paul’s passage in Ephesians we realize that the task of ministry is to be fulfilled by the people of God (the laity). The laity consists of all of God’s people. Look at the words of Christ in Matthew 28:19,20. We are to go, make disciples and teach. God’s pattern to do this is to use the laity. God’s method is working through people by the power of the Holy Spirit. We must remember that it is His power and His anointing which works through us. The ministries of a local church are usually divided into several different categories such as outreach, children, youth, men, etc. Laypersons are involved in all of these ministries. Elton Trueblood said, “The laity are not passengers on a ship, but members of the crew.”

Where does ministry begin?

Indeed, if the task of “doing the work of ministry” rests on the shoulders of the laity of the local church then how is it to be organized and promoted on the local level? The answer is through the ministry of the Local Church Lay Coordinator. The Lay Coordinator is the central person in the local church to bring together the lay ministers and to help guide all those involved in laboring together in harmony, effectiveness, fellowship and enrichment. The Lay Coordinator is a minister, a person who understands that, “If it is to be, it’s up to me and I must respond to God’s call to be a minister and do the work of the ministry.” Will you accept the challenge to become the lay minister that God called you to be?

By Don C. Warrington

About 40 years ago our family business opened a machine shop in South Florida. Across the street from our plant was a company called “U and Me Transfer and Storage.”

We hired them to move equipment into our plant. Our plant manager was explaining to an out-of-town supervisor, being sent down from another facility, that “U and Me would bring this,” and “U and Me will set up that,” and so forth. The out of town supervisor, seeing his workload piling up fast, stopped the plant manager and blurted out, “When’s you and me gonna have time to do all this?” (Click here for another take on this story.)

I suspect a lot of lay coordinators are asking this same question, and in many cases there’s no “U,” just a “Me!” Nothing is more frustrating than to struggle in ministry without receiving help from others. Yet the key task for the lay coordinator is to mobilize, organize and train people for God’s work. How can we do it?

The Pastor’s Partner

The first thing that the lay coordinator needs to understand is he or she is the pastor’s partner. The first people who meet together should be you, your pastor and the Lord. You may discover that your pastor is as overwhelmed as you are. Many of the laity have been conditioned to think, “We’re paying the pastor, so he should do all the work.” Because of this many pastors find themselves burned out and some leave the ministry. This is an opportunity for you. But where do you start? Here are two programs that can result in immediate benefits for you and your pastor:

1. Pastor Appreciation Day. More that just an offering, this is an opportunity for the laity to show the pastor and his or her family how much they mean to them. It’s also an opportunity to involve people in lay ministry, which is your central task as lay coordinator. We recommend celebrating this in the spring, but it’s not too early to begin getting organized.
2. Pastor’s Prayer Partners. This is a ministry of your LifeBuilders^® men’s chapter. This is an excellent way to bring revival to your church and also to bond the pastor and the laity together. Anytime is a good time to start this ministry.

More Than Just the Two of You

Now that you and pastor have become the “U and me” of your church, it’s time to spread the net and involve more people. There are several things you need to keep in mind when recruiting people to the work of God.

1. Find out God’s purpose for your church. With over 6,000 Churches of God in North America today it should be self-evident that all of these were not started with the exact same mission. We know that all churches were set forth to carry out the Great Commission, but the way in which they do that is as varied as the number of churches. Please note the article on Writing a Lay Ministry Purpose Statement .
2. Match the ministry to the endowments of the people. It’s tempting for Christian leaders to give responsibility for ministry to people who are not equipped, either naturally or supernaturally, in order to fill a position. Such a course is a recipe for disaster; it will result in demoralized people and ruined ministry. Although we need to find people’s hidden talents, we should avoid giving responsibility to people for which they are not gifted. We have resources such as the Spiritual Gifts courses to help people discover what ministry gifts God has given them.
3. Lead from ahead, not behind. Too many people think they have to push others to get them to do ministry. My grandfather was a railroad maintenance supervisor for many years. His advice to me when I first started in the family business was, “Either you get them to work easy, or they won’t work at all.” He understood that more was accomplished by people who were first motivated from within (or ultimately from above) than those who were constantly pushed from behind.

If we recruit wisely, train, and organize well, we as lay coordinators can be successful in mobilizing the laity for purposeful service. When that happens “U and me” will become “us,” advancing the God’s kingdom together.