Getting The Church On Target

Getting the Church On Target

Tools and advice for assessing your church “These are dangerous days for the organized church…. It is time to be alert to what is taking place and make some changes.” So writes Lloyd Perry in his introduction to Getting the Church on Target. Dr. Perry then goes on to outline ways the local church can be revitalized. His concerns are reflected in chapter titles such as: Having God’s Man in God’s Place for Ministry Clarifying Purposes, Goals, and Objectives Systematizing Church Management Training for Leadership Mobilizing the Laity Managing Conflict Creatively Establishing Small Groups for Ministry Expanding the Outreach of the Church Updating Our Worship The final chapter includes five sample self-evaluation surveys to help a church assess its problems and progress.

Why on Earth Are There Churches?

After years of observation, I have concluded that so many local churches function without regard to their God-given, biblical mission and objectives because of their unclear mission, their unbiblical targets, or their unbalanced objectives. The Lord God has already given His church a clearly defined mission for the present age. Yet so many local churches seem to function without understanding their biblical missiontheir God-directed reason for existencewhile other local churches and their leaders have revised or even compromised their God-given mission, thinking that they know better than God. Some churches disband Sunday school, dismantle the choir, and disassemble pews only to replace them with other programs and ideas that will become traditional soon enough. Traditions, customs, and worship styles vary from culture to culture and from generation to generation. Ive been in the gospel ministry long enough to have seen the pendulum swing back and forth a time or two. So many ministries, programs, concepts, and styles are not new, but just repackaged. Todays new, fresh, blended methods will become traditional to the next generation after a short period of time. Too often we are more involved in following the latest fad than we are in striving to do all to the glory of God. What really matters is whether you have presented a true and accurate opinion and view of the nature and character of God so that others will praise and exalt Him to His worthy place of honor, esteem, and excellence.

On Target