Church Planting Reflections

by Pastor-Missionary David Cox
Pastor of Fundamental Baptist Church
Mexico City, Mexico

Section: Main Issues. Sections: Main Issues, Goals, Problems, Hot Issues, Pastor.

This section is about the principle issues in planting a local New Testament church. These are the issues that make or break a church. Every church no matter under whatever situation it finds itself MUST contend with these issues or find itself finding serious problems that will never be resolved with returning to these fundamental dynamics of a church.

Main Issues

1. Getting People Really Saved. (05/20/2005)
2. Getting People to Faithfully Come, Integrate, and Participate. (08/30/2006)
3. Getting People to Sacrifice. (under construction)
4. Getting People to Understand the Bible and Study the Bible (08/30/2006)
5. Getting People to Love one another. (08/02/2007)
6. Getting People to Think and Be Evangelistic. (under construction)
7. Getting People to Develop a World Missions View. (under construction)
8. Getting a Church to Grow
9. The most important priorities and emphases (under construction) <- working on this now
10. Churches looking for a new pastor

Section: Goals. Sections: Main Issues, Goals, Problems, Hot Issues, Pastor.

This section is about the goals of churches, and specifically church plants. There is no difference between a church and a church plant in my mind. What starts a church is the same issues, forces, and factors that keep a good church working right. Every church no matter under whatever situation it finds itself MUST contend with these goals also. Some churches have erred from the faith on some of these goals, and they have distinct problems because of this.

Goals

1. What is the Work of God? (07/11/05)
2. Bodies, Buildings, and Bucks, or Focusing on Faithfulness and Service. (under construction)
3. Size Matters, but not in the way you think. (under construction)
4. Methods Matter, Doing God’s work in God’s way. (under construction)
Problems-11 Consolidation versus independence (07/04/05)
Problems-12 Why we refuse to charge for salvation and Christian ministry (07/04/05)
Issues-11 Where should our mission dollars go to? (07/04/05)
5. Indigenous Character of the New Testament Church. (under construction)
6. Making of a man of God. (under construction)
7. Discerning between a good (biblical) and bad church
What are the Marks of a Biblical Church? (under construction)
What are the Marks of an Unbiblical Church?
Getting out of a Bad Church
Before Joining a Church
8. What is the ministry of oversight? (under construction)
9. Church Growth and Attrition (05/09/08) NEW
10. Developing Spiritually Mature Christians (Christian Perfection) (09/03/07)

Section: Secrets of Real Salvation.

It seems that most Christians and pastors understand the basics of salvation, or they would not be even saved. But as I study the Scriptures, I find that there are disturbing passages that make me really think about whether I personally have fully grasp the “bare essentially” to really be saved. This section goes through these issues which have verses linking them as essential to salvation. While we cannot “add to salvation” to make some work or show a requirement for salvation, apparently God sees true salvation as encompassing a whole lot of things. This section tries to make sense of these things, helping us as pastors understand why some really good “Christians” turn from God and follow the devil. The reason being something we left off in the essential teaching and concepts of salvation. Once a pastor understands how these issues are at the heart of the plan of salvation, it will help him deal with them in his people through teaching, counseling, and sermons.

1. Salvation by Grace through Faith, and not of Works. PLEASE READ THIS ONE FIRST!!!!
2. Repentance: Our Disposition towards Sin.
3. Identification with Christ: No Shame towards our Savior.
4. Suffering as a Necessary Part of Salvation.
5. Incorporation into the Body of Christ: Participating in the Community of Faith.
6. Love, Lived as Received.
7. The Importance of Forgiveness in the Christian’s Make-up
8. Love the Truth: Our Disposition towards Truth and against Error.
9. Renouncing Possessions and Riches as the Idol and Goal of our Lives.
10. Spiritual Fruit as a Necessity for Salvation.
11. Holiness as the Evidence of Salvation.

Section: Problems. Sections: Main Issues, Goals, Problems, Hot Issues, Pastor.

Here we deal with specific problems that seem to plague churches. These are not universal issues like the above two sections. Rather these are things that one church may have problems with at one time in their history, and later have no problem with them, or they may seem to never have problems with these things. In any situation, the smart pastor will address these problems anyway so as to keep his church “healthy”, and keep these “diseases” out of his people’s lives, and out of his church.

Problems

1. Dealing with Conflict: Within the Individual Families. (under construction)
2. Dealing with Conflict: Within the Membership. (under construction)
3. Dealing with Conflict: Between the Membership and the Leadership. (under construction)
4. Sin and Church Discipline. (under construction)
5. Identifying and Rejecting Cultic Activity within the Local Church. (under construction)
6. Identifying and Removing the False Prophet. (under construction)
7. Identifying and Correcting the False Doctrine. (under construction)
8. Laying the Ground Rules: Sound Principles of Hermeneutics and Interpretation. (under construction)
9. Homiletics: Dealing with Preachers who cannot Preach. (under construction)
10. For those who reject the Local Church (05/31/2005)
11. Consolidation versus Independence (07/04/05)
12. Why we refuse to charge for salvation and Christian ministry (07/04/05)
13. What is NOT a Church? (under construction) <- working on this now
14. Universal Church Versus Local Church (07/11/05)
15. My Views towards Specific Christian Ministries (07/11/05)
16. Questions for Fund Raisers when they come knocking (under construction) <- partial working on this now
17. Dealing with Excuses People Give for not Coming to Church (under construction) <- partial working on this now
18. Dealing with Conflict: Helper Experts that Come to Correct (09/03/07) NEW
19. Christian Cannibalism: Tendency to auto-destruction

Section: Hot Issues. Sections: Main Issues, Goals, Problems, Hot Issues, Pastor.

In this section I expand upon the problems above. Some problems come, we deal with them, and go on with life (whether we treated the problem correctly or not). But these are some land mines that when they go off, the magnitude of the problem is more than normal. Life will never be the same after these problems if they are not answered biblically. The entire subsequent life and history of the church will be ill affected if these issues are not answered, dealt with, and a biblical position found and imposed on the church. These are cross roads that a wrong choice leads us to destruction, a dead end street, or serious problems that destroy our standing before God.

Hot Issues

1. Refusing to recognize the Authority of Scripture. (under construction)
2. Confusion and Problems with Bible Versions. (under construction)
3. Rejection of Principles of Holiness and Separation. (under construction)
4. Refusal of Accepting God’s Pattern of the Local Church as the Method of God. (under construction)
5. Dealing with Number Counters and Spiritual Pride. (under construction)
6. Dealing with Empire Builders, Influence Peddlers, and Spiritual Pride. (under construction)
7. Calvinism and death of missionary zeal. (under construction)
8. Women Preachers and Leaders. (under construction)
9. Tongues Speaking. (09/05/07) NEW
10. Baptism of the Holy Spirit (under construction)
11. Prosperity Gospel (Health and Wealth Gospel). (under construction)
12. Where should Mission Dollars go to? (07/04/05)
13. Recognizing the Mixed (Wheat-Tare) Nature of the Church and Dealing with it (07/12/05)
14. Is Church Membership Necessary? (under construction)
15. Home Bible Studies (partially complete) NEW
16. Modern Youth Ministries (under construction)
17. Pastoral Counseling – How to Do it Right (under construction)
18. Ministerial Stress and Burnout (dealing with stress and burnout)

Additional Studies and Help Pages

DCox – Timeline of Tongues (under construction)
DCox – Kundalini & Tongues (09/05/07) NEW

The above are links to studies on each topic. Below is a general introduction.

What are we doing?

First our priority is to do the work of God. When we begin to realize all the garbage and junk that people are doing today in the name of “ministry” or “God’s work”, it should disgust the true believer. There is something wrong out there, and many times this same thing is wrong in our churches. Without a recognition of something being wrong and out of place, we will never fix it.

How do we fix it?

Everybody has a new idea, a new method, a new program. We need no more of these. These things are mostly what is wrong with Christianity today, not what is right with it. Very simply, the only way to fix what is wrong is to return to God. We must understand clearly what God has said (and has not said) and we must focus on obeying explicitly what God has commanded us, and doing it exactly how God has commanded us to do it.

There are two key points here that we must posit and always uphold. (1) The only way to change anything is through spiritual battle with God’s word. (2) The pastor is responsible to fix whatever is wrong in his church (Hebrews 13:17).

Pastor to pastors (from a pastor’s heart to those in the ministry)

Section: Churches looking for a new pastor

1. Preliminaries: Why there is no pastor? Why no blessing? Problems?
2. What type of church government is biblical? Where does the pastor “fit in”?
3. What is the church’s principal goal, priority, and objective?
4. What is the pastor’s job?
5. What are the requirements for pastor?
6. Forming a Pulpit Committee. Guidelines and Helps.
7. Candidate questionnaires, interviews, presentations, and hospitality.
8. Remuneration of the pastor.
9. Limits, freedoms, obligations, and pastor-church relationships.
10. Destitution of Pastors.
11. An Alternative Biblical Plan.

Additional Studies on Pastor-Churches

DCox – Biblical Proof for the Office and Ministry of Pastor (Oct 17, 2007)