Introductory Video

Here is a video I did for deputation in 2004. The original version was 14 min. long. I have edited it (poorly) to 10 min. so I could post it on YouTube.

Sistrunk on Bible School and Home Misisons

Here are a couple of casual interviews I did with Bro. Waldren in regards to Bible School and Home Missions.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0UElvcAh0us

http://youtube.com/watch?v=TA52Qsie8fg

LANGSTON RULES!

LANGSTON ROBINSON. Remember the name! Langston is a developing musician making amazing progress. He has only been taking lessons for a short time but it almost ready to assume the primary music position in the church. He is a great guy. He is very modest and will be embarrassed by this feature.....NOT! (sorry for the picture quality...I dropped my camera and it is broken.)

Church Growth Gurus?

I have had a keen interest in church growth since 1993 when I was church growth director for a church of 225, in addition, over the last 11 years I have started 3 churches from zero and took over two small groups of people and formed them into self-supporting autonomous churches (not yet completed the 5th). I began this journey with a well-funded quest to attend every church growth seminar "out there." Here were my conclusions...

-Church Growth gurus are in a different business than I am in. They taught me nothing about making a convert and changing someones life.

- Their "principles of Church Growth" was simply church marketing...which I gleaned some good ideas from.

Successful growing Apostolic churches are very similar in the principles that they employ.

- Understanding of 5 fold ministry

- Strong focus on visitors,

- One service per week dedicated to evangelistic preaching. - A strong, systematic teaching method (mid-week Bible study, or New Convert class, or strong Home Bible Study ministry)

- A purposeful leadership development program that moves people along in the process so that there isn't stagnation and thus all movement upward stops. More plainly, an unqualified relative, or powerful family is not allowed to clog up the process.

- A principled leader

- Anointed Worship

- Operation of the gifts of the spirit

- Generally speaking, they are relevant to their communities... in other words if they are in the country, they are country, if east coast...they are east coast etc.

I do not read the Church Growth Gurus anymore I consider them a little more than a waste of my time. The only benefit I see is perhaps this... if a person is not taking their church seriously and working hard then these guys will open their minds. I take it seriously already.

The Lord directed me to read the thoughts of business leaders. I actually started receiving a magazine called "Fast Company" without ever subscribing to it. The Lord impressed me with this thought. "Why aren't you as dedicated to seeing My Kingdom grow as these guys are to seeing their businesses grow?" "Look at the risks they take for money, look at the failure they stare in the face everyday, are you willing to do this for Me?" God told Abraham after he intervened to stop him from killing Isaac..."now I know.." God is jealous. He will not allow his Church to be less devoted to Him than the heathen are devoted to their gods.

Consequently, I read Covey, Blanchard, Waitley, Maxwell and I read biographies of great men. When I look at what some men have done for politics and business... my little sacrifice seems small.

New Project for the Sistrunks

March 13, 2007 began a new project for us that we are very excited about. Turn Point Church in Dearborn, MI was started as a Section One daughter work in 2002. The founding pastor felt it was time to move on and asked if I would take the church. Bro. Coon and Bro. Carpenter agreed that this would be the right thing to do and so, we agreed. Our aim is to build this church up to be a strong witness in Dearborn, MI, home to 30,000 people of Middle Eastern descent. The largest concentration of Arabic peoples in America outside of New York City.

First Metro Church of this Term Transitioned to New Pastor

First Metro Church of this Term Transitioned to New Pastor.

Pastor and Sis. Glenn assumed the Senior Pastor role at Lighthouse Temple of the Apostolic Faith, May 30, 2007. Nineteen months after we began together the first Home Missions church in the city limits of Detroit in over 40 years, the transition is complete. The Glenns have a congregation of about 35 wonderful people. My wife and I will continue to help them in the coming months as they see fit.

Marriage Seminar and Sunday Service

Is There Room in The UPCI for Me?

Is there a place for me in United Pentecostal Church?

I am a church planter. I am called to evangelize North America. I have no choice really; it is my calling. If I was a church planter in Africa, I would be called a missionary. I am having difficulty communicating my calling to my ministerial brethren. You see, I really feel called to be a missionary to North America. Of course, most of my friends know what a foreign missionary is. Of 31,966 licensed ministers (worldwide) only 652 are missionaries.1 Yes, I know, home missionary is a term often used to describe a person who plants a new church in North America. In that sense, the home missionary refers to a minister (usually a novice) who plants a new church in a city in North America and remains there long term, or moves on to other ministerial opportunities eventually, and the home missions ‘phase’ of their ministry becomes part of their history. Even a “Metro Missionary” who is supported by partners much like foreign missionaries has only been supported for 4 years and has been responsible for planting a single church. No, that is not me. I am a home missionary permanently; a career church planter.

Is there room for me in North America?

It is hard to explain, but I can hear a city’s cry. I don’t know exactly when I started being so in tune with cities. I do remember the first time I heard a city cry out to me. I was a youth pastor and I was on a golf outing with friends. I never expected what hit me as I prayed before going to bed. It seemed to me as if I felt the anguish of every lost soul in that city all at once. I doubled over in pain and began to weep. I was embarrassed and didn’t want my roommate to think I was trying to be “super spiritual.” I buried my face in a pillow and lay between the wall and the bed and prayed until the burden lifted. Shortly thereafter, I began to feel a heavy burden for a city that I eventually started a church in. I was so consumed with the need of this city that the Lord rebuked me for neglecting my current duties and told me to spend more time praying for the young people I was responsible for and the time would come for me to give myself to prayer for that city. I can’t go through a town or village without wondering, “Do they have a church?” Many times the tears come so suddenly and unexpectedly that I am embarrassed. I know more than I should about the number of churches in every district and every metro area. I can’t help but gather information on North American cities. My friends look at me weirdly when I start spouting off population numbers and churches per capita of each metropolitan city. I can’t help it; I am driven by a vision and a burden. You see, I know very well that this kind of passion is not understood in our North American ministerial culture.

What do I do with this passion?

This passion feels like destiny. It is unstoppable, irresistible, strong, deep, powerful, controlling, and exhausting. I am not called to pastor long term. My passion burns relentlessly and it is white hot continually. It is a powerful thing when used in the context of founding a work in a city full of strongholds and no church. My calling makes me almost impervious to discouragement. I never lack motivation. I thrive on adversity and challenge. Once a church is firmly established, self-supporting, stable and growing I can feel the restlessness coming on. It is time to go to a new place. Saints cannot live in this heat long. They need someone who is not always looking for the next place. They need someone who burns with a passion for them… not others. They need a pastor long term, I am a missionary. I envy foreign missionaries who only pastor short term if at all and it is what is expected of them. They are expected to be too busy training leaders, gathering resources, opening new areas and building coalitions and networks of preachers to pastor one church. I feel the pressure of the North American culture to pastor long term. But it is not my calling. I long for a structure in North America similar to what exist for overseas missionaries that I can submit to in order to fulfill my calling. I hope there is room for this kind of ministry in North America. It is what God has called me to do. What else can I do?

Is there room in the United Pentecostal Church for me?

I want to live and minister like a foreign missionary, but in the United States. I want to have a set, known, controlled standard of living. I want be accountable to many. I know this is the price of my calling. I know that God has not called me to enjoy the fruits of long term labor in a particular vineyard. This reward is reserved for and earned by pastors. I am a missionary. My reward comes from knowing there is now a church where there was none before. It is the only reward I seek.

Does the United Pentecostal Church know that it needs me?

Why has our growth been so explosive in foreign countries? Missionaries. Why do we struggle to plant churches in North America? A lack of missionaries. We have asked those without the calling, anointing or grace to plant churches. They have answered the call because of the need. But they have struggled terribly. We have asked those who burn with a missionary’s passion to pastor and teach in one location for life. They have struggled terribly.

We, in North America, have left the work of missionaries to pastors and teachers and evangelists. I ask you; doesn’t New York deserve a Bruce Howell? Doesn’t Los Angeles deserve an E. L. Freeman? I ask the United Pentecostal Church to make room in North America for the passion and ministry of a missionary.



1. Information from the “About us” page on WWW.upci.org 2/24/06. I added the reported licensed ministers from North America and overseas to get the total ministers and I used their published number of Missionaries, although I believe this number includes wives.

Happy New Year

May God bless you all in 2007. 

An Outreach Method That Works

A couple of weeks ago I asked Bro. Frank Bounds, Metro Missionary to Salt Lake City, Utah to describe for me his outreach method. Bro. and Sis. Bounds are having great revival in the midst of “Mormon Country.” Some said it couldn’t be done but they are doing it anyway. After being there only 2 years they are averaging over 100 every Sunday and have had as many as 158 in service. Here is his response, in his own words.

Watch this video presentation of the Pentecostals of Salt Lake City.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpRfzHLQ3lA

We have a good outreach team. From the first few converts there has been a lot of enthusiasm. The momentum has stayed in the church. I have been consistent about preaching about evangelism. My wife and I have a passion for the lost and we try to instill that in all of our converts. I do not stay in the office during out reach but my wife and I are a part of it.

Our outreach:

1. We have our outreach divided into three teams.


2. Each team door knocks a different week and then on the fourth Saturday we come together for a big push.


3. When we can get someone to the door we invite them to church.


4. We do not talk doctrine or do anything controversial.


5. If they show any interest we visit them again.


6. Our teams are always happy and friendly


7. We tell how good the church is. Singing, music, preaching, etc.


8. We offer them a ride to church.

In two months we had 142 first time visitors. That is about average. Already this month we have had a lot of visitors. Our repeat visitor amount is about one half.

We try to make sure the service is what we tell them they are. Our music is together. I only use my best singers on Sunday.

Let me know if I can be of service. Revival can happen anywhere if it can happen in Mormon country. It takes a lot of work and the help of the Lord.

God Bless.
Metro Missionary
Frank Bounds


.If you need to increase traffic flow in your church I encourage you to contact Bro. Bounds at UPCIREV@aol.com.

Ministerial Statistics for UPCI

These numbers were given to the General Board in Columbus, OH.

Of 9086 ministers in North America

Teens 1 ---0.01%
20’s 604 --- 6.6%
30’s 1725 ---19%
40’s 2331 ---25.7%
50’s 2105 ---23.2%
60’s 1179 ---13%
70’s 763 ---8.4%
80’s 321 ---3.5%
90’s 54 ---0.6%
100’s 3 ---0.03%

The current average age is 48.
It is interesting to note:
The single largest group are 40-year-olds.
The second largest are the 50-year-olds.
The third largest are the 30-year-olds.

We have more in their 30’s than in their 60’s (1725 to 1179).
We have more in their 40’s than in their 50’s (2331 to 2105).
Almost as many in their 20’s as in their 70’s (604 to 763).

An interesting observation..

Percent 39 or below: 25.6%
Percent 60 or above: 25.5%

UPCI Growth Chart

20 Year Growth in Number of Churches UPCI N. America 1985-2005.

Top 10 Growing Districts in the UPCI 1985-2005 (all Districts)
District 1985 2005 Net Gain % of Growth

1. Hawaii 3 15 12 400%


2. Central Canadian 4 15 11 275%


3. NJ/Metro/Delaware 18 42 24 133.3%


4. North Carolina 46 89 43 93.5%


5. Virginia 30 58 28 93.3%


6. Massachusetts-RI 17 32 15 88.2%


7. Georgia 66 110 44 66.7%


8. Florida 83 136 53 63.9%


9. British Columbia 18 29 11 61.1%


10. Quebec 5 8 3 60%

UPCI 3447 4233 786 22.8%

Least Growing Districts in the UPCI 1985-2005 (all Districts)
District 1985 2005 Net Gain % of Growth
1. Kansas 35 23 -12 -34.3% (see comments below)
2. New Hampshire/VT 15 11 -4 -26.7%
3. Idaho 19 15 -4 -21.1%
4. South Dakota 9 8 -1 -11.1%
5. Texico 94 89 -5 -5.3%
6. Ohio 128 124 -4 -3.1%
7. Atlantic 68 68 0 0%
8. West Virginia 67 69 2 3%
9. Louisiana 279 291 12 4.3%
10. Arizona 41 44 3 7.3%

Top 10 Growing Districts in the UPCI 1985-2005 (50 or more churches)
District 1985 2005 Net Gain % of Growth

1. North Carolina 46 89 43 93.5%


2. Virginia 30 58 28 93.3%


3. Georgia 66 110 44 66.7%


4. Florida 83 136 53 63.9%


5. Pennsylvania 35 55 20 57.1%


6. New York/Metro 34 53 19 55.9%
7. Ontario 37 54 17 45.9%


8. Alabama 73 106 33 45.2%


9. Tennessee 115 154 39 33.9%


10. Michigan 82 109 27 33%

Top 10 Growing Districts in the UPCI 1985-2005 (100 or more churches)
District 1985 2005 Net Gain % of Growth

1. Georgia 66 110 44 66.7%


2. Florida 83 136 53 63.9%


3. Alabama 73 106 33 45.2%


4. Tennessee 115 154 39 33.9%


5. Michigan 82 109 27 33%


6. Mississippi 144 186 42 29.2%


7. Texas 434 516 82 18.9%


8. Western 214 254 40 18.7%


9. Indiana 140 164 24 17.1%


10. Illinois 176 201 25 14.2%

5 Year Growth in Number of Churches UPCI N. America 2000-2005

Top 10 Growing Districts in the UPCI 2000-2005 (all Districts)
District 2000 2005 % of Growth

1. Central Canadian 9 15 66.7%


2. Minnesota 24 39 62.5%


3. NJ/Metro/Delaware 29 42 44.8%


4. Canadian Plains 12 17 41.7%


5. Michigan 78 109 39.7%


6. North Carolina 64 89 39.1%


7. South Carolina 31 43 38.8%


8. Texas 407 516 26.8%


9. Alabama 87 106 21.8%


10. New York Metro 23 28 21.7%

UPCI 3898 4233 8.6%


Top 10 Growing Districts in the UPCI 2000-2005 (50 or more churches)
District 2000 2005 % of Growth

1. Michigan 78 109 39.7%


2. North Carolina 64 89 39.1%


3. Texas 407 516 26.8%


4. Alabama 87 106 21.8%


5. Kentucky 78 92 17.9%


6. Illinois 175 201 14.9%


7. Florida 119 136 14.3%


8. Georgia 98 110 12.2%


9. Tennessee 142 154 8.5%


10. Missouri 156 169 8.3%

Top 10 Growing Districts in the UPCI 2000-2005 (100 or more churches)
District 2000 2005 % of Growth

1. Michigan 78 109 39.7%


2. Texas 407 516 26.8%


3. Alabama 87 106 21.8%


4. Illinois 175 201 14.9%


5. Florida 119 136 14.3%


6. Georgia 98 110 12.2%


7. Tennessee 142 154 8.5%


8. Missouri 156 169 8.3%


9. Mississippi 178 186 4.5%


10. Indiana 157 164 4.5%

3 Year Growth in Number of Churches UPCI N. America 2003-2006


Top 10 Growing Districts in the UPCI 2003-2006 (all Districts)

District 2003 2006 % of Growth

1. Quebec 5 9 80%


2. Massachusetts/RI 25 38 52%


3. Western 242 351 45%


4. Alaska/Yukon 21 28 33.3%


5. South Texas 160 210 31.3%


6. Hawaii 13 17 30.8%
7. New Jersey/Delaware 21 25 19.05%


8. Idaho 13 15 15.4%


9. New York Metro 27 31 14.8%


10. Central Canadian 14 16 14.3%

UPCI 4105 4380 6.7%

Top 10 Growing Districts in the UPCI 2003-2006 (50 or more churches)
District 2003 2006 % of Growth

1. Western 242 351 45%


2. South Texas 160 210 31.3%


3. Ontario 49 55 12.2%


4. Florida 126 139 10.3%


5. Atlantic 65 71 9.2%


6. Texico 89 97 9%


7. W. Virginia 66 71 7.6%


8. Michigan 97 104 7.2%


9. North Carolina 85 91 7.1%


10. Ohio 119 127 6.7%

Top 10 Growing Districts in the UPCI 2003-2006 (100 or more churches)
District 2003 2006 % of Growth

1. Western 242 351 45%


2. South Texas 160 210 31.3%


3. Florida 126 139 10.3%


4. Michigan 97 104 7.2%


5. Ohio 119 127 6.7%


6. Illinois 192 204 6.3%


7. Alabama 103 107 3.9%


8. Mississippi 181 186 2.8%


9. Tennessee 150 154 2.7%


10. Indiana 167 170 1.8%

Authors note: These numbers are only as good as the reporting. Districts vary widely in how they define churches and daughter works and how and when they count them. In the UPCI at this time, the only reliable number to measure growth is the number of churches and daughter works. The 1985 and 2005 numbers come from a print out presented to the General Board by the Home Missions Division. I made an adjustment for Texas as I believe they counted West Texas in a combined Texas number and as part of the Texico District. The 2000 and 2003 numbers come from a manual count by me of the UPCI directory for those years. The 2006 numbers are from a print out from church division dated 8/07/2006 so they may not match up with the 2006 directory as the Church Division data base is updated regularly. I have checked these as carefully as I can but do not rule out mistakes, and I apologize for them in advance. If you discover any please let me know. The purpose of this research is to spark discussion of our progress. It is not unusual for there to be a small disparity between what Districts are reporting internally and what HQ has on its data base at a given moment and what is published in the official directory. I am quite confident this will not affect the rankings published here.

My Daughter and her Friend

My daughter, Raquel (left) has received the award for the highest grade average in her class since she was in the second grade. This year with Chemistry and Geometry included she had an overall average of 99.2%

My Children

 

My Son Graduates Co-Valedictorian!

You better believe I'm proud! He also received the Christian Character award for the High School.

My Core Ideas

I have some ideas that I am pushing with no apologies and they are as follows:

1. American Metro Cities are largely unevangelized by the UPCI and they are our responsibility. (see supporting statistical research below)

2. The conventional models that we have used to plant churches (i.e. the "Lone Church Planter") will seldom work in Metro Areas.

3. We must move to a cooperative model much like what we implemented overseas. ( we need to improve the FMD model but we need to at least implement the elements that have produced some great successes)

4. The current ministers in every metro area need to develop a unique approach to their metro area and implement it.

Bro. Coon’s comment on this statement….”This becomes the golden scepter of possibility and potential. It also is the tension that restrains us from accomplishment. Too often the "kingdom" is whatever our address happens to be. Getting this changed will take a revival of humility, submission, forgiveness, and grace.”

5. I believe these things can be accomplished with "off the shelf" technologies. I am suggesting two very effective models. North Carolina, 20 year growth rate of 94% (we used this model in MI to grow 33% in 5 years, breaking a 15 year period of 0 growth) and the El Salvador Model, which grew from 66 churches to 807 in 25 years. These models, with modifications for local situations, can and should be implemented in each metro area.

6. Although we are not ready in every metro area, I believe that there is a place in our metro areas for Missionaries in the fullest sense of the term in and we must allow for them in our structure.

North America is a Mission Field (remarks I made at the WNOP)

I am sure it is no surprise to you that North America is a mission field; it may surprise you to know to what degree this is true.

There are 10 foreign countries that have more UPCI churches/preaching points per capita than Louisiana, the most evangelized district in North America. There are 27 foreign countries with more churches/preaching points than Houston, TX, our most evangelized Metropolitan City. The Philippine Islands have more churches than all of North America combined, but only 1/3 of the population. The UPCI has churches/preaching points in 169 countries, 75 of these countries have more churches/preaching points per capita than New York City. I am sad to say that this includes such Muslim strongholds as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

85% of Americans live in a metropolitan area. Only 15% of UPCI churches in North America are in these metro areas. Bro. Haney has said that the challenge of our generation is the evangelization of these cities.

The Bible is city centric. Abraham looked for a city, God placed His Name in a city, made a covenant with a city, sent prophets to cities, raised up cities, spared cities, judged cities, He is building a city and Jesus wept over a city.

Sis. Nona Freeman tells of the many prayer trips Bro. E.L. Freeman made to countries that had no witness but he sowed in tears a revival in Africa. I wept as Sis. Wilma Nix told me how as a young girl God gave her a vision of the name of a city she had never heard of before. She saw the name, Bulawayo, a city in what was then Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) written in the sky above Houston, TX. She wept over that city and gave 20 years of her life to its evangelization.

I am standing before a group of people who know how to intercede. You have spent money and time to come to this conference to focus on effective prayer. The Home Missions Division of the UPCI is asking you, the World network of Prayer, to weep over North America. If you do not, who will? We can, with God’s help, reach our North American cities with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Consider with me these numbers as we pray right now.

Louisiana, 1 church per 15, 735 people
New York City, 1 church per 389,000 people
Los Angeles, 1 church per 272,000 people
Philadelphia, 1 church per 255,000 people
Boston, 1 church per 241,000 people
Washington DC, 1 church per 233,000 people
Chicago, 1 church per 173,000 people
Detroit, 1 church per 171,000 people
San Francisco, 1 church per 109,000 people

The case for North American Missionaries(Career Church Planters)

Take a snapshot of United Pentecostal Church pastors’ perceptions of successful church planting and you are likely to get an unrecognizable, blurry result.  While proponents point to genuine successes; skeptics highlight authentic failures. The current flurry of activity in the area of church planting is frenetic. As with most frenzied endeavors, the activity can be more impressive than the result.  I, along with others, am crying out for someone to bring all these ideas and activity into enabling focus.  I hope these thoughts of mine can help adjust the lens.

I know of no experts or serious students of world evangelization that do not agree that church planting is the most effective way to reach the world.  I have bought into this statement made by Elmer Towns, “All forms of evangelism have their place, but the most effective method is to plant a New Testament church in every section of every city of the United States.” If the answer is so clear, then why is the implementation so complicated?  With every Apostolic mandate their must be an Apostolic method.  

Could it be that the apostolic method we lack is one we are very familiar with, but have not implemented here in North America?  I am talking about Career Church Planters.  We certainly have an ample supply of Career Church Planters; I believe the term we commonly use is Missionary.  They have proven to be extremely effective in evangelizing large populations in specific geographic regions overseas. I am not talking about the wonderful heroes we refer to as ‘home missionaries.’  The large majority of these men and women usually plant a single congregation in their lifetime and they do it with little or no support and even less supervision and accountability.  This is the method we have commonly used in North America to plant churches. I believe there is a place for those with a lifetime calling to facilitate church planting in North America.  If missionaries (Career Church Planters) are apostolic for Africa, then, I believe they are apostolic for North America as well.

I believe we all have a desire to be more effective in our efforts to plant churches in the United States.  A simple counting of the number of churches in the UPCI directory reveals a net gain of 847 churches in North America from 1985 to 2005 this would represent an average growth rate in number of churches of a little over 1% per year for 20 years.1 While many denominations have actually gone backwards over this time, I am still not satisfied with even this rate of growth. No one can infect me with their cynicism of preachers.  I refuse to believe that even those ministers who seem to be the least “progressive” or the most “entrenched” are trying to hinder the furtherance of the gospel message.  I honestly believe that 100% of pastors desire to see, “… the increase of His government and peace…”  We may vigorously disagree over the specific method, time, place or person, but if we can persevere through the disagreement we will eventually drill down to the common ground of the Great Commission.

Entertain this thought for a moment; why do we operate so differently overseas than we do in the United States?  Could the difference in methods account for the disparity in results?  Is it possible that we are more Apostolic in our endeavors overseas than we are here in America?  Let me be clear.  There is no debate among foreign missionaries regarding church planting.  The only accepted legitimate way to reach a country is to plant a local church in every city.  To this end Bible Schools are established, schools are built, medical clinics established, crusades are held, and funds are raised all adding to the bottom line of more churches.  We measure these results and hold our missionaries (Career Church Planters) accountable with an annual report.

Bro. Bruce Howell and Bro. Andy Carpenter taught my 10 year old Sunday school class in Jackson, MS.  I remember when Bro. Craft announced that the Howells were going to St. Louis to meet the Foreign Missions Board.  We rejoiced with them as they were appointed to be missionaries to El Salvador.  Bro. Howell arrived in that country in 1980 and there were 66 churches in a country of 4.5 million people, less than half of the population of Los Angeles Metro.  Today there are more than 807 churches and preaching points in this country of 6.5 million people for a per capita ratio of 1 church per 8055 people.2  Not one state in the United States can boast of a ratio that high,  much less any metro city.  A search on the UPCI website of a 40 mile radius around downtown Houston, TX, (our most evangelized metro city) reveals 101 UPCI churches for a per capita ratio of 1 church per 42,895 people.

What if Bro. Howell had been called to LA or New York City?  Could he have employed the same methods?  Would he have had the same freedom? Why not?  El Salvador in 1980 had more churches per capita (1:69,184) than any of our US Metro cities currently besides Houston, TX.  Yet, we rightly saw the need, spent the money, sent and enabled the missionary.

Could the answer for North America be as simple as sending missionaries (Career Church Planters)?  Our Pentecostal heritage is full of men who planted multiple churches in North America.  G.T. Haywood, Bro. Reynolds, Bro. C.P. Kilgore, Bro. S. R. Hanby, Bro. W.E. Gamblin and many others were all responsible for starting multiple churches.  I have often wondered what some of these men could have done had we supported them as we do foreign missionaries and allowed them to keep planting churches without having to settle into one location in order to make a living. We have asked those without the calling, anointing or grace to plant churches.  They have answered the call because of the need.  But they have struggled terribly.  We have asked those who burn with a missionary’s passion to pastor and teach in one location for life. They have struggled terribly.

Why has our growth been so explosive in foreign countries?  The answer is a one word answer, Missionaries.  Why do we struggle to plant churches in North America?  Could it be a three word answer... lack of missionaries?  I fear we, in North America, have left the work of missionaries to pastors and teachers and evangelists.  I ask you; doesn’t New York deserve a Bruce Howell?  Doesn’t Los Angeles deserve an E. L. Freeman? I ask the United Pentecostal Church to make room in North America for the passion and ministry of Missionaries.

UPCI Stats on Top 10 Metro Areas

I apologize for the formatting of this information, but if you have ever tried to publish anything here you know how frustrating it can be. This is the best I could do.

It is interesting to note for comparison purposes that the Assembly of God's goal is to have a 1:10,000 ratio of churches to people and the Southern Baptist's goal is 1:2,500.

City: New York City

Population
In a 40 mile
Radius of
City Center 16,726,570

Zip Code used
To Calculate 40
Mile Radius 10017 (Grand Central Station)

Number of
UPCI Churches 43
Number of Assembly of God Churches(AG)438
Number of UMC Churches(UMC)416
Churches per Capita
(Rank in terms of
Greatest need) 1 per 388,990(1)
Number of churches needed to reach 1 church per 25,000 669


City Los Angeles

Population
In a 40 mile
Radius of
City Center 12,505,940

Zip Code used
To Calculate 40
Mile Radius 90017 (Downtown Sheraton Hotel)

Number of
UPCI Churches 46
AG 345
UMC 219
Churches per Capita
(Rank in terms of
Greatest need) 1 per 271,868(2)
number of churches needed to reach 1 per 25,000 500


City Chicago

Population
In a 40 mile
Radius of
City Center 8,295,466

Zip Code used
To Calculate 40
Mile Radius 60611 (Navy Pier)

Number of
UPCI Churches 48
AG120
UMC 221
Churches per Capita
(Rank in terms of
Greatest need) 1 per 172,822(6)
needed for 1:25,00 332


City Philadelphia

Population
In a 40 mile
Radius of
City Center 6,116,123

Zip Code used
To Calculate 40
Mile Radius 19106 (Penn's Landing)

Number of
UPCI Churches 24
AG 159
UMC393

Churches per Capita
(Rank in terms of
Greatest need) 1 per 254,838(3)
needed for 1:25,000,245

City Washington DC

Population
In a 40 mile
Radius of
City Center 6,059,233

Zip Code used
To Calculate 40
Mile Radius 20500 (The Whitehouse )

Number of
UPCI Churches 26
AG 101
UMC 451
Churches per Capita
(Rank in terms of
Greatest need) 1 per 233,047(5)
needed for 1:25,000, 242


City Boston

Population
In a 40 mile
Radius of
City Center 5,300,188

Zip Code used
To Calculate 40
Mile Radius 02116 (Boston Commons)

Number of
UPCI Churches 22
AG101
UMC 136
Churches per Capita
(Rank in terms of
Greatest need) 1 per 240,918(4)
needed for 1:25,000, 212


City San Francisco

Population
In a 40 mile
Radius of
City Center 5,109,965

Zip Code used
To Calculate 40
Mile Radius 94133 (Fisherman's Wharf)

Number of
UPCI Churches 47
AG 147
UMC 106
Churches per Capita
(Rank in terms of
Greatest need) 1 per 108,722(8)
needed for 1:25,000, 204

City Dallas

Population
In a 40 mile
Radius of
City Center 4,830,177

Zip Code used
To Calculate 40
Mile Radius 75207 (Downtown, Reunion Tower)

Number of
UPCI Churches 59
AG 227
UMC 247
Churches per Capita
(Rank in terms of
Greatest need) 1 per 81,867(9)
needed for 1:25,000, 193

City Detroit

Population
In a 40 mile
Radius of
City Center 4,438,923

Zip Code used
To Calculate 40
Mile Radius 48243 (Renaissance Center)

Number of
UPCI Churches 26
AG 85
UMC 137
Churches per Capita
(Rank in terms of
Greatest need) 1 per 170,728(7)
needed for 1:25,000, 178




City Houston

Population
In a 40 mile
Radius of
City Center 4,332,441

Zip Code used
To Calculate 40
Mile Radius 77010 (Downtown District, Fannin St)

Number of
UPCI Churches 101
AG 149
UMC 174

Churches per Capita
(Rank in terms of
Greatest need) 1 per 42,895(10)
needed for 1:25,000, 173

Two Interviews with Carlton Coon and Scott Sistrunk Regarding Church Planting

Here are two 30 minute interviews I did with Carlton Coon, Director of Home Missions for the United Pentecostal Church International. We recorded these on a program called HMD Live and they are available on the website WWW.UPCI.ORG.

Interview Part one
mms://st11g1.services.att-idns.net/v1/874/2562/HMDLIVE/HMDLIVE_020.wmv

Interview Part two
mms://st11g1.services.att-idns.net/v1/874/2562/HMDLIVE/HMDLIVE_021.wmv

Sistrunk Family

We need you as a monthly partner.

We cannot do this work without our partners. Thanks to all of you who are supporting this effort. We are appointed United Pentecostal Church missionaries and all funds are directed through our national Home Missions office. If you would like to support us please email me at emsistrunk@aol.com with your name address and amount you would be able to send per month. Or, you may contact the Home Missions Division directly at 314-837-7300.

Some numbers to think about...

CHURCHES PER CAPITA USA

United Pentecostal Church
1 church per 67989 people

Assembly Of God
1 church per 25542 people

United Methodist Church
1 church per 8349 people


The United Pentecostal Church had 3867 churches in North America listed in the directory in 2000. In 2005 HQ numbers are 4263 for a net increase of 396 churches over 5 years for a 5 year growth rate, in terms of net gain of churches, of 10.2%. If growth occurred uniformly, then we grew 2% per year over the last 5 years in North America.

If you would like the stats on your District, email me at emsistrunk@aol.com

The Team Method of Church Planting...In Action.

Here is a brief history of the first officially recognized UPCI Home Missions Church in the city limits of Detroit in 45 years. In October of 2004, Bro. Bruce Leaman felt to start a church in the city of Detroit. He and about 14 members of his church in Warren, MI felt to start a daughter work in Detroit. The name of the church is Apostolic Metro Ministries of Detroit. The team was and is totally committed to the concept of planting churches in Detroit. Over a period of one year they had several visitors, and made numerous contacts in the community. Especially among the other churches meeting in the same facility. Some of those pastors actually attended the church with members of their congregations.

In the meantime, God was dealing with me about where to start the first church as a Career Church Planter. I felt the Lord warned me that I could not leave the inner city work of the Detroit Metro area to others...Especially given the dismal church planting results of the last 40 years. At the same time, Bro. Leaman was feeling there was a missing piece of the puzzle in what he was doing in Detroit. As God so often does, He begin to bring us together as a team. I had the church planting and leadership development skills need to plant a church and Bro. Leaman had a committed core of people to work with and some men and women willing to be leaders.

In October of 2005, I became the Pastor of Apostolic Metro Ministries of Detroit. We immediately applied to the District board for home missions status and we became an autonomous church. The group of people from Bro. Leaman's church still attend both churches, Bro. And Sis. Leaman and their family attend every Sunday. It is truly a cooperative effort and there is no doubt that we have saved years of work by joining forces. This will not be the last time we cooperate on a church plant for this is the Apostolic method.

Update on Detroit

Christmas Party at our home.
Church Service
Music team.
Pastor Marshall Glenn. Born and raised in Detroit. I am privileged to have he and his wife working with us. Their knowledge of the city and connections are invaluable. Truly a man of God.

A Time For War

Sunday was one of those days in church planting that sneaks up on you. At first you think things are just going wrong, or you just got a bad break. Then, all of a sudden, you realize that it is not the janitorial staff, or traffic, or a miscommunication, or malfunctioning sound equipment... It is a spiritual attack. Sunday when we arrived, the center we rent from had moved us out of our room because the Mayor was supposed to be having a meeting in our room. Of course it was just a miscommunication he didn't really show. We wound up having our service in the back of a large ballroom, literally in the walk way in the back. You know, sometimes the devil overplays his hand. A cold determination came over us as we realized that this was war. We decided that we would do something about this attack. We got started about 20 min. late but we had church. We worshipped and prayed, God healed a lady and we wound up thinking we might like to have church in the walkway every week. I forgot how fun this is. I'm really glad to be back in the trenches.

Matt 16:18 ...I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

First Person Receives the Holy Ghost Today

We had a wonderful service today. Attendance was down, we had 16 in service. However, we had a lady receive the Holy Ghost. My wife had just sung a special, "God will make a Way," and after the song was over I began relating some miracles that God had performed in our life. One had to with God providing the balance of our rent at one point in our ministry and the amount was $40.00. Well, Phyllis interrupts me and proceeds to tell me that God had spoken to her to give $40.00 in the offering that morning and she had only given $20.00 because all she had was 2 20s. She desperately wanted to obey God and so she brought the other $20 up to the pulpit. Something in that act of faith and obedience was so powerful for her that she began to praise God with all her might and we began to praise God with her. I went over and laid hands on her and God filled her with the Holy Ghost! It was marvelous.

First Bible Study Group

We had 24 fist time visitors in our Endtime Bible Study Tuesday night. We had a total of 38 in attendance. It was great... if you want to know how we are doing the Bible Study here is a link for you http://dghargrove.com/handbook.htm. We are doing it exactly like this.

First Service

We had an awesome time today. Six first time visitors from Endtime. My wife and arrived a little late because we had to come from Ann Arbor service but our team was awesome and had everything ready and had started church when we got there. Tomorrow night we have our first Endtime Bible Study. We are expecting al least 15 first time visitors. Stay tuned.

Kick Off!!

We had our Endtime rally last night and got 54 Bible Study commitments 29 of those are from the Detroit City proper. We will be doing a couple of home groups in areas we do not currently have churches. It was a unique situation in that my Father in Law, Bro. Baxter announced all week on his radio broadcast that we were going to be kicking off a church from our meeting. We had a solid 300 people there with about 80 being Apostolics. As I announced that we would be kicking off a Bible College level training school in January I was actually interrupted with applause.

I will just tell you that Endtime drew the crowd (220 visitors) solicited the Bible Studies, paid for the expenses of the meeting (750.00) and paid for their own transportation and lodging and took no honorarium. They sold $3000 worth of product, took an offering of $1300 got $500 per month in monthly support and left us with name, address, phone number and email addresses of 54 people asking for Bible Studies... I know Bro. Baxter is my Father in Law and I have been skeptical of Endtime myself (and you do get some Endtime junkies). But, I believe in spite of my family connection, I can say that at this point we have no more effective tool at our disposal to produce these kinds of results. It is perfect for Metro Areas. Ask Tom Foster or Bro. C. M. Becton, who has attended almost every Dallas meeting, about the 3000 people at the Endtime rally there. We are having our "Grand Opening" service tomorrow, I will keep you informed.

Scott Sistrunk

Overcoming Our Culture- Pastors Only

This is the first of a seriesin which I will be commenting on aspects of our (primarily UPCI) culture that I feel is a hindrance to building an improved model of evangelism for North America.

We tend to only honor Pastors in this movement. As recently as last week, a resolution came up at the MI District Conference in which resolutions were to be mailed in advance to "the pastors," as if no other ministers were worthy of being informed prior to voting although they were given a vote by the manual.(Thankfully this was amended to include all ministers) The not so subtle message is "only Pastors matter." Consequently, we have young men, who may not be ready or may not even be called to pastor, striving for the position so they can get the recognition.

We must become more apostolic in this matter give equal respect, pay and recognition to the other 4 branches of the 5 fold ministry.

Young men must be treated much as medical interns. They are respected for their intellect, potential, dedication and responsibility for shaping the future and their inexperience is recognized not as a flaw but as a natural condition of being young. The older Doctors recognize they may be training their future superior.

An idea whose time has come for North America ( has been happening overseas for years)

Preserving Apostolic Ministry Training Center

After two years of working with Apostolic Ministers from the greater Detroit area, and having over fifty pastors and ministers attend Preserving Apostolic Ministries Conferences, We believe that the Lord is leading us to go to the next level of reaching out to these men. It is apparent to us that there are good men out there who want desperately to hold on to truth, but are in need of direction and support.

We believe that the Lord is opening doors for us to be Ambassadors not only for the Kingdom of God, but also for the United Pentecostal Church in the urban areas of Metro Detroit. In an effort to help stabilize and train these good ministers we have determined that the following action should be our next step.

We will continue with what we have been doing by having P.A.M. conferences on a regular basis. We will also open a training center in the City of Detroit one night a week at the Northwest Activity Center where we can rent classroom space very economically. We will be teaching classes dealing with doctrinal issues and leadership training for pastors and lay ministers. There may be times that we will do a special two or three day class with guest instructors.

Classes will be available to anyone with a desire to attend, at a nominal fee. While it does not exclude people of the U.P.C.I., it will not focus on them. Licensed ministers of the United Pentecostal Church will teach the classes.

The men that have worked with me on P.A.M. up to now have been Mike Cadle, Marshall Glenn, Art Wilson, Brandon Hartzell, Sherman William, Lance Pittman, John McKinney and Bro. Carpenter. Bro Scott Sistrunk has expressed a great interest in being a part of this work, and will be one of the primary instructors partnering with us as our Career Metro Missionary.

The plans for this Training Center are still in the preliminary stages. We felt that we should inform the District Board of our intentions and ask for their blessing upon our efforts. We appreciate the support that the Michigan District has given to all our Home Missions endeavors. We realize that this is a different direction than we have ever gone, but we feel that we must help men become “absolutely Apostolic”. Whether or not they ever become part of the United Pentecostal Church is immaterial. Helping them to hold to the true plan of salvation within their congregations is our primary goal.

We cannot reach our urban areas alone. There is an untapped army of men that we must equip with the whole Armour of God.
Thank you for sharing our vision for souls.

Bruce Leaman
The Preserving Apostolic Ministries Committee

Some revolutionary thinking by the Michigan District board

Please bear with this long post. If you will take the time to read it you will be amazed at its progrssiveness. The author of this is Bruce Leaman, Home Missions Director of MI. I have edited it some to fit into this post. This concept was endorse by the District Board of MI.



Associates in Ministry
Whereas the United Pentecostal Church is a Ministerial fellowship, endeavoring to evangelize our world, while maintaining consistent guidelines in regard to its ministers.


Whereas we have a strong call from the leadership of the United Pentecostal Church, to reach out to ministers around us, and are seeing a large number of men from other oneness organizations and independents looking our direction, we are faced with the question of how to best integrate them into our fellowship.

How do we maintain consistency within our fellowship and yet reach out to those who desire to come from where they are, to walk in unity with the U.P.C.I.? We must never forget the importance of unity as we come into this time of great harvest.

The question is not so much with those pastors who have an understanding of who and what we the U.P.C. are and represent, but more so to those to whom we are unknown or somewhat unknown.
We will spend many hours; even weeks or months with a new convert within our churches, but what about that pastor who has an understanding of this apostolic message,
but may I say is not, an Absolute Apostolic. (He has never been taught the importance of holiness and Godly living). We will bring that new convert into our churches and over time help them to become, or make them a part of the church, but how do we do this with a pastor who is seeking more understanding for himself and his congregation. Thus

Associates in Ministry


Associates in Ministry or something of this concept is vital to the revival that I believe God wants to bring to the State of Michigan. This is not something that will happen overnight, or in great numbers at one time. But I believe we must do something that will allow a pastor to be exposed to who we are, and what and why we believe as we the U.P.C.I. do.

There are those who desire more truth and understanding but at this time would not in any way qualify to be licensed as a minister in the U.P.C.I., but with some Fellowship, Friendship, Leadership, Discipleship, and most of all Exampleship. (I know its not a word, but let me use it this one time)

Could it be that they and their congregation may come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

Brethren I know that what I am proposing can be and even may be way out of the box to the way of thinking that for so long has been the norm. But I believe it is time for us to step from our comfort zone and allow good men to look into this wonderful fellowship we are a part of. There are those who perceive us as a white, small town yet uptown fellowship, but last I checked, our mandate was still “The whole gospel to the whole world”. You see I believe there are good men; I would even say Godly men, who have not rejected this Absolute Apostolic message, but have not been taught it, or it’s importance, and most of all have no examples in their lives. There are also those who have left other organizations that went away from holiness, because they themselves still believe in holy living.


Some thoughts on how it might work.

A man who has had some sort of exposure to the U.P.C. would have the opportunity to become an Associate in Ministry with our district not the U.P.C.I. (very important distinction) by,

1) Meeting with sectional presbyter and contact person for introduction.
2) Very basic questionnaire filled out at that time as to understanding of doctrine. (Not a formal application)
3) Meeting set with district board for purpose of introduction, and basic questions, both give and take. Also a thorough explanation of how this works, and it’s limitations. Note below. *
4) If approved for Associate in Ministry status, pastor would be added to district mailing list for all district and sectional functions, his people would be allowed to participate in district functions with an understanding of what would be required in the way of conduct and dress.
5) District board would recommend mentors to work with Associate in ministry beginning immediately and over the course of association.
6) Presbyter will report on progress at each district board meeting over time of association.

Note *

1) Associate in Ministry status will last for a period of two years only, and may be withdrawn at any time by agreement of District Superintendent and Sectional Presbyter.
2) The goal of the Associates in Ministry program is to bring the associate in harmony with U.P.C.I. over the period of two years in hopes that he will become a licensed member of the U.P.C.I.

Some ideas on the way forward for Metro Missions

The way forward on Metro as I see it.

I think that the concept of having a guy apply to go to a Metro region that he has no familiarity with and minimal connections to and no church planting experience should be retired. I view it as a desperate measure that has run its course and we should move on to more effective models. Here are the elements of a new model as I see it.

1. We must assess what we have in each Metro area. Who is the defacto leader in that area and who is the presbyter or the official leadership and how strong are the relationships or how damaged are they.

2. Home Missions should approach each Metro area with the posture "how can we help you all reach this area?" Every area has different needs and possesses different assets. Here are some possible scenarios
a. Some may need a Missionary (this would be the case if there was a proven
Church planter who was willing to go fulltime and had the trust and backing of the brethren). Home Missions could then perhaps continue the same pattern that worked with Bro. Bounds. Raise their money at Conference and in the District they are going to. I think this is possible if we focus and concentrate our efforts on Metro areas that have a “gathering storm” of cooperation and momentum.

b. Some areas need HM to provide funds for joint outreach events. The cooperation and will exists to work together but the funds are not available.

c. Some may need and be ready for Youth on Mission teams to be funded

d. Some may need the HMD to be a mediator and a catalyst for cooperation.

e. HM may need to be proactive in taking some of these guys who apply for Metro Missions who are young and capable and work with the section or district in getting them to these areas in a less expensive manner (e.g. Brandon Hartzel)

3. Above all HM needs to show this movement that it can impact Metro Areas quickly and effectively. I am convinced that money will flow into these areas if we can show we know what to do and we can avoid conspicuous failures. In other words only invest in sure things right now (put wood here the fire is).

4. I think there may be a place for a new publication from HM that focuses on Metro Evangelism. There should be praise and activity reports but beyond that there should be cold hard statistics in every issue that undeniably shows the need and necessity for an all out effort.

5. HM then, moves to a facilitator mode as opposed to initiator. Districts don’t do too well with HQ developing a plan and then pressuring them to swallow it. It must come from the bottom up when at all possible.

6. HM must take on the roll of educating this organization about Metro, take it from a deputizing missionary, this organization has very little understanding of the Metro problem and almost no understanding of the Metro program.

USA Today article on Exurbs

Americans' quest for more space at a price they can afford is fueling a population boom in counties on the farthest edges of metropolitan areas, according to Census estimates released Thursday.
Several of the counties that grew the fastest from 2000 to 2004 are distant suburbs of major cities, from No. 1 Loudoun County in Virginia, 35 miles west of Washington, to No. 6 Henry County, Ga., about 30 miles south of Atlanta.
"This is the decade of the exurbs," says William Frey, demographer at the Brookings Institution. "You see the importance of way-out counties in places like Atlanta, Dallas and Denver and even in Minnesota."
This spreading out is happening after a decade when the USA grew faster than at any time since the 1960s, spurring demand for millions of new housing units. Despite efforts to contain suburban sprawl and encourage denser development, many Americans are willing to endure longer commutes to achieve their dream of owning a single- family home with a big yard.
The movement farther out is playing out not only in the booming Sun Belt but also in the Snow Belt. Half of the 12 fastest-growing counties this decade experience harsh winters, including Kendall County, southwest of Chicago; Scott County, south of Minneapolis; and Ohio's Delaware County, north of Columbus.
"It doesn't matter how cold it is," says Robert Lang, director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech. "If you're on the edge of a big booming region, you're going to grow. That wasn't always the case."
Not when middle-class workers could afford homes near the core of the metropolitan areas where they worked. But that's impossible now for many Americans because of steep increases in housing prices in the past two years. The median sales price of existing single- family homes in the Los Angeles metro area, for example, rose from $290,000 in 2002 to $446,400 in 2004, according to the National Association of Realtors.
"Part of (the outward migration) is housing costs, and part of it is that they want more space," Frey says.
Even within the Sun Belt, where growth has been relentless for decades, there is substantial movement away from more congested metropolitan areas.
"L.A. is out, but Riverside is in," Lang says. "South Florida is out, and central Florida is in."
Far more people are leaving California coastal counties than are moving in from elsewhere in the country. The drain is happening from San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles counties in the south to San Francisco and Marin in the north. Births and foreign immigration, however, keep populations in most such counties growing.

Thoughts on the Exurbs

We (the UPCI) seem to be consistently behind the demographic curve. We missed the big urban wave of evangelism in the 70's (David Wilkerson etc.) and now it seems that God is moving on some of these Metro guys to start churches in exurbia but there is tremendous organizational pressure to go urban. I am not denying the need for urban evangelism, I intend to do it myself, however, if we bow to this non-sensical idea that "he is not really metro" because he is not in the city limits, then we are going to be looking at these large exurban areas and saying "I wish we would have bought property here 10 years ago."

I say let them go to exurbia. For the following reasons: 1. Evangelism is always easiest in growing areas where patterns of behavior are not entrenched. 2. Most of our men are better equipped for these areas. 3. If we can get established in these areas and buy property now (by liquidating all District campgrounds and investing the money in property and buildings in exurbia or other high growth areas :) relax... it is wishful thinking I know)then we can leverage those assets to go Urban as we develop the leadership necessary to reach into these areas.

God is never behind the demographic curve and when he is moving on men to go to these areas then let's not get in the way. I urge you to remember that this organization is rural and they don't know how to reach Metro areas or they would have. Please don't let this pressure to be in the city limits hinder our mission.

Some "out of the box" thinking

Here is some correspondence I had with Bro. Bruce Howell , the Foreign Missions Director of the United Pentecostal Church:

Here is a portion of my Email to Him:

Maybe you could share some insight with me about the following concept that really has been working on me for 15 years...

I really believe that to be effective in North America, Home Missionary must cease to mean some poor chap struggling to plant one church. Home Missionary must become indistinguishable from Foreign Missionary in function, vision, and organizational expectation. I believe we must have a Home Missions Board that functions at the same high level and is staffed with the same quality of men and women as the Foreign Missions Board and be entrusted with the same sweeping mandate. I am certainly not saying the FMB is a flawless model; however, it does represent our best effort so far at reaching the world. Just as we have world wide coordination on a foreign missions level, we should have that same sort of coordination on a national level. On the foreign level we have full time, seasoned, experienced, trained and proven men and women (not novices) giving full time attention to planting the maximum number of churches possible in a given, assigned geographic location. Why not in North America? What is this idea of sending a guy into a city who has no experience, little or no support and maybe even opposition from neighboring pastors and expect him to be successful. He has no Missionary Supervisor, no RFD, and would never feel comfortable calling directly on the HMD for help, guidance, or assistance. We have a better system, not a perfect one, but better. Why don't we implement it? I do not mean centralizing revival at HQ. I simply mean that there should be a more effective and more powerful harnessesing of the resources of the UPCI to reach North America. Why can't the term, Home Missionary, invoke images of men like Bro. Freeman, Bro. Richardson, Bro. DeMerchant, Bro. Ikerd, etc. I ask you this... If Bruce Howell 30 yrs. ago had a burden to reach into a Metro City such as LA could you, under our structure, have fulfilled that desire in the same way you were able to in El Salvador. Could you have done the same things, such as ministerial training, traveling all over the area, holding conferences, opening up training centers? I just think we should make it possible for those things to happen here. Personally, I believe these missionaries act as apostles to these countries, and I say we need apostles in North America.

If you are reading this, please post your comments.

What a revelation

Church planting is a very complicated exercise. In theory you are being remote controlled by God, because you are being used by Him to do His work. He is the Church builder, we are only laborers. Except the Lord build the house.... That being the case, it is tempting to adopt and attitude Aesop described in this famous quote ..."The fly sat upon the axle of the chariot wheel and said, "oh what a dust I do raise."" This morning in prayer I was shocked by the revelation God gave me about myself. As many church planters do, I was praying for more resources (money). I often pray along the lines of "God, if you would just give me a million dollars"... actually I pray for a billion..."then I would do thus and such." These shocking words came to me today, and I quote, "you want to be like the Most High." What a shock. God began to reveal to me that the desire and request for plenteous resources that I so nobly had been asking for, was really couched in an impure motive.

Inherent in trusting God, is a deep helplessness that the flesh hates. And to avoid understatement I should say hates, hates, hates, hates!!!!! We all, and I think, especially the Church Planter, crave a situation where that helplessness is eliminated. We even have very altruistic feelings toward others in same helpless condition. A natural desire is to rush in and rescue if we can. Wouldn't it be nice to have millions available, (we can even point to situations where this is the case) to further the kingdom of God. No more worrying about a rented facility. No more worry about how to repair the transmission. No more worry about mortgage payments. In short, wouldn't it feel better if I were the provider instead of God. Wouldn't it be grand to feel the warmth of love and appreciation and recognition that would come from being the millionaire provider for God's kingdom.

The big problem is this, God will not give His glory to another. We cannot covet the things that belong to the Most High. Glory, credit, honor, and praise belongs to Him. My reward will come from Him in His time, not from human beings here and now.

I am humbled today. I do not want to be like the Most High. I will cease to crave recognition for Scott Sistrunk. I will do what is necessary to mortify those desires of my flesh. By God's help I will understand and comprehend what He is saying to me.

A special and Historic night

We had a very powerful experience last night at Pineview Church in Ypsilanti, MI. This church really has over the last 25 years or so facilitated church planting in the Detroit Metro area. They held their annual Christmas Vision service last night.There were Pastors from all over the area who have benefited from this offering over the years. The reports of Harvest were very encouraging. I think even more encouraging were the young people who are catching the vision of Harvest. We will need young people to work in these new churches. I don't know what the offering will be this year from the Harvest Group and I really don't care because that is the least of our problems. A brother from the Ypsi Church came up to us last night and shared with us something the Lord had shown him in the spirit. He said that we had power over the princes of S.E. MI but they had called in reenforcements from the Great Lakes Region and would manifest themselves as a spirit of strife between area Pastors. I happen to know that this spirit has already attacked our churches in Chicag. So, we are ready. I have been feeling for weeks that this spirit has been looking for an opportunity. Thank God that as soon as the enemies plans are revealed he becomes powerless.

Hello world

This is my first attempt at blogging but I plan to be here for a very long time. You are going to experience with me the ups and downs of attempting to plant a church with the help of other pastors I will not be positing very much for a while because I am in the planning phase right now but I will keep you updated.