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Analyzing the NAR Leadership Church Trend Worries for 2020

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The pastor is trying to be relevant and funny, but, um, well".

Your church is trying to offer great programs, but you're really stretching yourself thin--too thin.

As a result, you end up in the middle. And the middle is disappearing. That can be a really frustrating place to be when you realize you are hundreds/thousands of people and thousands/millions of dollars from doing what you want to be able to do. So what do you do? First, rethink imitation. As I've shared before, imitation kills innovation. Leaders who imitate rarely innovate, and while you can learn from others, trying to be someone else can end up stifling your voice and squelching your gift. Maybe you don't really have the talent to put together a quality full band. But you have an amazing keyboard player or guitarist. So go with them for a season, and hope and pray for the day when you can add highly gifted musicians back into the mix." -- Carey Nieuwhof

The middle is trying to reach everybody? Isn't that where we should aspire to be? Carey seems to be mixing some generally good ideas with bad. I agree with him that imitation is not a good idea for churches. I agree that not having comparable resources can lead your smaller church to not sound anything like what you are trying to copy. The larger point however is again about content. The issue is not how competently your band performs heretical music such as Bethel, Hillsong or Elevation but rather teaching why you will never allow such music in your church to begin with. Get back to the basics. Make sure your worship music is biblical. Make sure your preaching is biblical. Let God deal with the rest. Sure maybe some folks do not come back because they are looking to be entertained and not convicted. Still you stayed true to the vision of the Gospel and planted the seeds. Let God be God and give the increase as He sees fit.

"6. YOUR POLITICS WILL ALIENATE THE VERY PEOPLE YOU'RE TRYING TO REACH. I saved the most controversial till last. Maybe you won't read it. But I hope you do. This one's been really tugging on my heart and I've hesitated to say much because things are so divisive and explosive right now. I've been through numerous drafts trying to say it well. So with some fear and trepidation, here are my thoughts. 2020 is an election year. And that means and more and more church leaders will be tempted to take to social media, platforms and pulpits to preach partisan politics. Don't. Just don't. Aligning yourself specifically with a position or party overshadows your connection to Jesus. People no longer see Jesus, they see a Republican or Democrat or whatever position they imagine you to be. When you become partisan or political in your preaching or platform, by definition, in this culture, you alienate about half the people you're supposed to be reaching. And you alienate them over issues that have nothing to do with Jesus. If your theology is all about God, guns, the Supreme Court, and why the left is so bad; or Climate change, sexual identity, taxing the rich and why the right is horrible"you have to ask yourself whether that's really your faith speaking or your partisanship speaking. The church doesn't exist to elect or defeat politicians. It exists to glorify Christ and grow his Kingdom (which is an alt Kingdom) in the world. And (gut check) if God has all the same opinions your political party does, you're probably not worshipping God." -- Carey Nieuwhof

I have to say amen to this one. His points here are spot on even if his motivation for these opinions are not. You see, to Carey, everyone is a potential customer for the church he is selling. It is not a wise business model to start out by eliminating half of your potential customers. You can tell that by his horrible attempt to split the bill. This issue only exists in one direction. The NAR dominionists all sell the Republican Party as the savior for this country and the church is too quick to agree. Nieuwhof, while NAR, is so only from a business perspective. He is not an ideologue by any means. He believes what he believes because it is how he makes money. His six disruptive church trends for 2020 was a revealing look into the NAR purpose driven mind. How it takes utterly carnal leadership themes and tries to apply it to a church he is recreating in man's own image. It is a hip church where the older folks are thanked and led out back to be put down. It is a relevant church where we want some existential experience of God instead of all that doctrinal doo-doo. At the end of the day however it remains the apostate church leading people down the path to entertainment, relevance, and hell.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- January 7, 2019

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Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to (more...)
 
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