I’m a Spiritual Mutt.

I was born a Nazarene, attended an Assembly of God Church when we lived in a small town with limited church choices; I’ve been an Independent Baptist, am now a Southern Baptist, and I work for a Presbyterian Church.

Each church has played a role in helping shape who I am. Even the Presbyterian church that I work for has helped shape and grow me in various ways. One does not have to attend a service to be impacted by the ministry of a church.

Several months ago I attended a 4 day “Basic Training” for church planters. At the training, Steve, and I outlined the vision, the mission, Core values, and the target of New Passion Church. We came up with a fancy statement for both the vision and the mission. It’s really cool. We used some really creative words and tried to stay away from words that would make people remember the 1970′s, even though I wasn’t born until the glorious 80′s. (This is a random paragraph, but will make sense soon)

Here’s the bottom line. What makes New Passion Unique to Other Churches?

Simply…We are a different piece of the puzzle.

The truth is…our mission statement most likely says the same thing that 98% of mission statements from other churches in the U.S. say. Our Vision is probably identical to 98% of all other churches in the U.S. Different churches may use different styles or words, but the substance is identical. The driving force behind all Bible believing churches & Christians should be the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. This is not a debate of whether those churches are fulfilling it, but they most likely have a statement from some time in their history that points them towards fulfilling it as their goal. It would be presumptuous of me to say what other churches are doing when I do not sit in on their leadership meetings or know the heartbeat of their pastors. I can form a personal opinion based on their activities in the community and/or around the world, but that is missing the point.

Ephesians 4:4&5 says that we have ONE Lord, ONE faith and are ONE body. 1 Peter 3:8 we are told to be of ONE mind. 1 Corinthians 12 says that we are ONE body with many parts. I believe Christ holds the big picture in his hand. We are his church and I believe we all play specific and certain roles. Can churches go off and do their own thing and become ineffective and dead? Definitely! Thousands of churches have fallen into that trap. But the bottom line is this, we are not in competition with each other, we are all commanded to have the same goal in mind. Perry Noble said it best at the Unleash Conference, “Churches need to move beyond seeing each other as competition and start recognizing that we complete each other” (My paraphrase). Christ has our piece of the puzzle laid out for us. He’s given us clear instructions on how we are to lay that piece of the puzzle in place (Great Commission & Commandment), what he does with our piece of the puzzle is totally up to him.

I can hope all day long to have a mega-church or a medium sized church or a church like most people envision that looks like we’re reaching the Cleavers from Leave it to Beaver. In the end, New Passion Church is going to obey Christ and what he does with us, is totally up to him. However, we will NEVER allow death to be an excuse to not reach people. I’ve personally seen churches that were ineffective make the claim that “Maybe Jesus wants us to be a small church.” Jesus may want a church to be small, but that is not reflective of life change. A church can be small and still have a mega reach around the world. When a church stops seeing people saved and stops seeing disciples made, it has begun to be disobedient.

I don’t care what you are…Presbyterian, Independent Baptist, Southern Baptist, or any of the other 100+ Baptists, Nazarene, Wesleyan, or you name it. I don’t care if you are traditional, contemporary, if you sing hymns or if you have a band. I don’t care if you use chairs or pews, if you have a big building or you meet outside…we are all a piece of the puzzle. As soon as we start believing that we have our own puzzle to put together is when we quit being at our maximum potential as the body of Christ to reach a lost world who needs Jesus. Has that happened? Yes…everyday! However, New Passion Church will not function in that manner. We are all about the Kingdom, not about our church.

P.S. YES! I have heard that Stevens Creek Church is starting a Columbia County campus in Grovetown. NO! That does not change God’s calling for New Passion Church. I am excited that Stevens Creek is coming to Grovetown. God is using them greatly in Augusta and I hope we can be effective together in Grovetown. We are on two opposite sides of town, but I would LOVE it if we can serve this community together in any capacity! Our goal is to bring Christ glory and to share the Gospel with the world.

Read New Passion Church: Foundations Part 1

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