Stacking the Deck: What Happens When We Believe God Wants It More Than We Do

Stacking the Deck: What Happens When We Believe God Wants It More Than We Do
ISBN-10
0578051141
ISBN-13
9780578051147
Series
Stacking the Deck
Category
Church development, New
Pages
149
Language
English
Published
2010-04-15
Publisher
Believers Pub
Author
Guy Pfanz

Description

Pastor Guy Pfanz, like so many others in the church, had learned "Christ is the head of the church" by rote. This foundational truth is often a filler in Christian jargon; a pat response repeated instead of a fact that orders steps because the expectation to build the church relentlessly plagues nearly every church in America. Whether the pressure stems from a church board, the congregation, or the pastor, the result is the same: pastors and congregations slip into Christ's rightful place as head of the church. If we return the headship of the church to Christ, God will bring us to the end of ourselves. As the story of Pastor Pfanz and Muncie Alliance Church (MAC) illustrates, the journey is painful, but God is faithful. In their moments of desperation, He spoke promises hinting at their future. In the place of the phrase stripped of its meaning: "Christ is the head of the body," He gave the body of Muncie Alliance new words: I m going to stack the deck.I'm going to bring in the right people at the right time to do the right things. I will build My church. And true to His word by His Holy Spirit He birthed something new and creative out of the ordinary. MAC began an internship program where students are taught theology and practice ministry and are eventually accredited with the Christian and Missionary Alliance to plant churches. The students graduate debt-free because they are able to offset their costs and receive a stipend through Alliance World Coffees, a coffee roasting business. He led MAC into a multi-site church where each site is pastored by someone raised up from within MAC. In one fall, MAC gave away 600 worshipers and three pastors. These are just a few examples of how God led ordinary people from within the church to walk into the extraordinary plans He had planned for them. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus calls out to the Laodiceans, "Behold! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Isn't it heartbreaking that Christ is on the outside of his church? The Laodiceans had boasted, "I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing," and yet their savior was no where to be found inside their church. God is able and desires to build His church. He wants it more than His people do. Yet oftentimes, Christ stands at the door of His church and knocks! If believers return the headship of the church back to Christ, we will witness God's boundless creativity and power as He builds His church by His Spirit.Readers will see how Christ desires to build His church through the real life narratives of Muncie Alliance Church and learn how this perspective affects believers' ideas about prayer, leadership, and failure. Each chapter concludes with questions for reflection.

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