It' time for the church to WAKE UP!!!

[D.Brandon Campbell]

It's time out for just going to church every sunday worshipping behind your four walls! We in the church arguing about what colors we gon' wear for the choir anniversary! We in the church arguing about the credit you didn't get for this program and such. We're arguing in the church, and there are lost souls out there to be won!

When will the church wake up? It doesn't matter how many members you have if your church is not making more of an impact than on the "Church Channel!" The only people you're reaching on there is other church folks! When we gon get out into the streets? When are we gon stop just coming to church out of habit?

When are we gonna feed more than just the soul of a man? When are we going to have a better answer for someone hurting other than "I'll Pray for you?" When are we going to stop worrying about if our hats match our outfit, and worry about getting more souls won for the kingdom?

We gotta wake up church!

This is my official wake up call to the church! Will you respond to it?

Min. BCam

[John]

AMEN Brother Campbell! It's truly not about who has the most members or who gives the best performance. If you aren't gathering fruit then you are a dry branch. This is what it truly is about. John 15: 1 - 9 isn't talking about apple and orange trees! I see Christians going to church dressing like you won't believe and then looking down on some that come in jeans and what have you. I don't think the Lord cares what you look like only that you come and when you come you are getting fed by His Word and not man's word.

Though I disagree with most of the Jehovah's Witnesses doctrines they do go out to the public as do the Mormons. I'm not saying all Baptists and other denominations don't either but there are a lot that don't go out to gather fruit. Sometimes as you say churches are like a fashion show.

[Napoleon J. Harris V]

Wow, man, you're treading on some heavy ground here! "when we gonna feed more than just the soul of a man?" or "have a better answer for someone hurting other than I'll pray 4U" those are some heavy issues. What do you propose we do, and how do you propse we do it. For instance is merely cooking and distributing food to hungry people enough? Or is the provision of on site counseling from the local pastor enough to consoul a hurting person? What about the thousands of hurting youth in our society who cry out their anger and unrest through crime?
I just wanna hear your thoughts

[D.Brandon Campbell]

You know man of God, you took my thunder! LOL What you were asking was to be part 2! (Smiles) But I guess we can open it up here. Geez! Preachas! (shakes head)

Before I start, let me comment that I read many of your respones Min Harris, and admire how you tend to turn around the post into something more in depth ( like here! LOL) Oh and I love the pics, you look like a minister in my fellowship. Anywho..........

I understand that churches have limits as to what they can do, so a church merely cooing a meal for the holiday may be all that they can do. And thank God for churches like that (I have had to eat in those kitchens in my homeless days, {see my testimony, coming soon}) but the great question posed by Min Harris is a question that plagues many ministries, how can we do more? What do we do to make more of an impact? Because that is really what this post is about, making more of an impact than just mere worship on Sunday and food basket on the holiday.

Now don't get me wrong! I like some good ol' church now! Don't make me preach about it! LOL but here's what I propose, here's my ideas.

1. POOL TOGETHER- I don't know where you live, but here in Chicago there are 97 churches on each block, it's like a city mandate or something. But on a serious note, if churches pooled together (i.e. the 96 other churches on your block) instead of competed with each other, we could get more done! Amen? Amen!

2. REALIZE WE ARE ALL WORKING FOR THE SAME KINGDOM!- Lest I remind you of the story of "The body", where the hand not working with the other hand, and the feet not walking together causes the body to not function! See, the problem with "The Body" is everyone wants to be the head and no one wants to be the feet! In other words, folks wanna be seen but don't want to be the feet of that head working to take the head where it needs to go.

Alot of the competition spirit (yes it's a spirit! LOL) is present in the Body, and we need to stop the competing and start together completing.

3. FAITH WITHOUT WORK IS DEAD!!!- I'mso tired of, "We'll pray for you." THAT AIN'T ENOUGH!!!!! Don't get me wrong, THERE IS POWER IN PRAYER, but there's also power in YOU! Utilize what God has given you in prayer (power) to change the physical lives of men. I believe the reason we still hae so many lost souls, and worse, souls that we're "won" to the kingdom and they have backslidden because the streets are more appealing than your ol' "Go tell it on the mountain choir!"
We're too busy having church, rather than living it. It's not about shouting, it's not about the choir, it's not even just about the preaching, it's about the living.

It's amazing, we have mountain moving faith but can't move the drug dealers off the corner WHERE OUR CHURCHES ARE LOCATED!!!

We have the power to tread on serpants but not the power to tread them streets and win these souls.

We can "dance, dance, dance all night" but can't witness!

We can talk in our four walls all we want to about the power we poses, but our faith means nothing, or as my grandma says, "means nothing more than a hill of beans" if we don't put some work into it!

I'll have more to say, but I think we can chew on this for a minute.

; )

Be blessed beyond your wildest dreams!
BCam

[John]

We in the church (and especially this last church age of lukewarm) just want knowledge and do nothing with it. We put on the helmet but not the full armor and don't share because we feel we are too busy to go around and spread the word. I too am guilty of this and only wait until someone brings God up in a conversation. It is more than just showing up on Sundays so everyone can see you're a Christian because you attend church. It is more than just listening to the preacher and the choir and jumping and shouting as you say. But we are a lukewarm generation as Revelations says.

The streets my good Brother is the world and from my past the world is very tempting because the tempter can make things appealing to one's secret desires or likes. He knows what to tempt us with and knows we are weak. We need strong ministers that put on not only the helmet of salvation but God's full armor and develop those warriors that will go fight that battle where it's needed and not just inside of the walls of church. What profits us if we only teach and preach to believers and not non believers? Not much.

[Napoleon J. Harris V]

Man I'm soooo excited to read this!
I absolutely agree with your'e POV (poin of View). I just wanna re-iterate and share my solidarity with you.
I fail from Cleveland AKA "church city" where there are at least 98 churches per block. Man we'll make anything into a church, funeral homes, stores, post office, movie theaters, auto repair garage, crack house, NETHING! So I feel you on that! We have become so selfish (worldly) in our thinking that we are only competing rather athan complimenting each others strongpoints and "completing" the work of the church.

In addtion we've substituted church work for the work of the church. Church work is busy work. We have it all wrong service don't happen on Sun. it happens Mon.-Sat. on Sun. we worship! Back to the busy work, ushering and singin in the choir, and the other church tasks don't amount to as you said rightly a "hill of beans" if they don't resonate throughoutght the larger community. That goes for our preaching too!
If it ain't reachin it ain't preachin. That's my motto! We have become so engulfed in church work that we are pointless and powerless to do anything else. Oh how tragic that our Oh what a fellowship has become a forsaking of the community and the world. Satan got us busy majoring and meandoring in minors and missing out on the majors. We gotta get back to the taking care of the widows and doing that good old Mt. 25 ministry!

And you're right praying is onething, but shux man we gottaq put arms and legs on them prayers too! "Lawd when u get through here, stop by and visit the sick and infirmed in the hospitals, and then Lawd go over to the projects, and then Lawd go and pull up them young boys pants, and pull down them young girls skirts, and Lawd remember them over in the White House."
Yeah, that's admirable, but if you got energy, and education enough to write and speak you can do all of those things yourself. We can be in the hood, we can visit the sick, and we can send letters of protest!

You're right organization is powerful, there is power in numbers. If we can organize we can make some things happen. God has given us all we need, language, a lifestyle, and leverage nit to mention a leirsurely reward.

[praiZe]

I've tried to read most of the replies and from the ones I've read their points are valid.

I'm originally from Detroit, and Chicago & Cleveland DO NOT have anything on the Church Capital of the Nation! There are 110 churches on every block in Detroit. We've even got churches that were formerly gas stations! and some meet under viaducts .... (ok, I'm kidding about the last one)

But, Min. BCam, I applaud your zeal!

Unfortunately, I believe the church will continue to SnoooooZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzze & Drool.

Your 3 point Outline:

1) POOL TOGETHER
2) REALIZE WE'RE ALL WORKING FOR THE SAME KINGDOM
3) FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD

is all well & fine, but my question to you would be Why are there 110 churches on each block?

The answer pretty much eliminates #'s 1&2 because that would mean..... Oh my goodness should I dare say it???

U N I T Y

With God all things are possible. It's man that's continually in the way! Might I remind you of the Tower of Babel, it was a great idea but their motives were incorrect and God shut 'em down.

he plan won't work because of posts like Too many Denominations & Marriage & Remarriage. We're so busy trying to prove that we're right in our doctrinal beliefs that a WHOLE WORLD IS DYING, while we're arguing over who can preach, who can't, woman or man, water no water, tongues, no tongues, saturday, sunday, pants no pants, music no music!

And the devil ain't got nothing to do with it! he's sitting back laughing and making sure his work is done elsewhere, cause the church is pretty much going to keep on doing the same thing. so he has no fear, no concern, no worry.

Seriously, go back and with fresh eyes re-read some of the comments and replies in some of these topics! Frankly I was shocked, but then again not really.

I've not had the educational background in theology as most of you, in fact, I've never been to college, but this I KNOW!

There is One Father, One Son & One Holy Spirit and THEY ARE ONE!

We're the ones that have diced and sliced and tried to make HIM our God for a Denomination created by MAN!

There is but ONE GOSPEL! There's a lot of counterfeit, wanna be close, kina like, almost the Gospel, but STILL only ONE GOSPEL

Even if your plan was enacted, we'd start out REAL GOOD! show up, pat ourselves on the back for participating, and lull back into the same complacency. Because sooner, rather than later SOMEBODY'S gonna feel their not getting the recognition, or their idea was looked over, or their church wasn't mentioned in the press release, or their name was spelled wrong..... I dunno, anything petty!!!!...........and there you go!

I believe until the day man can put aside egotistical differences, and really understand that #1 & #2 ARE THE foundational beginnings to awakening a sleeping church in REALLY making an IMPACT on our communities, causing a ripple effect, we'll keep on status quo (same mess)


It would make my heart glad if this wasn't the truth! It's still all about JESUS and Him Crucified!

Just My 2

praiZe

[Rev. Charles Moore]

Wow!!!! You have caught my attention:
Can I add to your suggestions:
1) If the people won't come to church, then let's go to where they are? if it means the street corner, or outside the Club, The Liqour Store, The Casino, the Pool hall.....it should not matter.
2) I recently attended a National Convention of a denomination and I was shocked....Not one event where we ministered to the people outside of the convention hall. Not one event to reach the youth. Not one event to reach single mothers. We need to stop meeting just to be meeting and put the Mission of God back into the Church and remember what Jesus instructed us to do...Matt 28:19
3) Stop the competition to have the most memebers. Don't count the numbers but make the numbers count.
4) Stop preaching messages to make people feel good......The word cuts like a two-edged sword. The word may not make you feel right but it's design to make you get right.

It's time to get ready for the battle is at hand.

Amen Strong Brother Amen

[John]

Brother Charles you speak the truth! Stop preaching ot make everyone feel good. AMEN!

[Adrian Lamar West Sr.]

My Brothers,
Honestly and in my Heart I do not feel that the Church is asleep, one must keep in mind that all who say "lawd,lawd"
are apart of this outfit. If one wants too minister and serve the widows, orphans, youth, incarcerated etc... Then go and do it. I sit in service from Sunday to Sunday and do hear and see the same things in which you all speak of. Then again this is the day which has been put aside for worshipping. No matter who onstituted it, it is what it is. Now if some members of the Church feel as though something more needs too be done, let them go and do it (SERVE THEIR FELLOW MAN) Too many times are we putting down what is going on inside that we miss our chances too be significant.

Personnally I am drawn too go and do, many times I am downtown talking, feeding the needy, my Church has a feeding ministry, But inside as a man of GOD I know that there is more that needs too be going on, and done. So instead of worrying about what the others do not do, I can go and work in the vineyard. If you happen too cross paths with someone who takes inventory of what they are wearing etc... most likely they are not for real.

When it come to speaking about apathy in the Churh you must also note that many are just taking up space. And for us too be looking in on those things is futile, a great lesson in infamy. The true Church is not asleep nor shall it ever be. Too be so brazen as too say the Church needs too wake-up, shows that we are not doing the job God has called us too do. I do believe that without a shadow of a doubt, that the true Church is AWAKE,
I ask you this if the Church is asleep , how come we have missionaries on every continent, a church on every corner, folks being healed and delivered, feet being placed on a solid foundation?
My brethren we need to at all costs keep our minds focused on our purpose individually first in order to become a collective group. Hey if you want too stand in the streets and yell many words in the name of prayer, you are not thinking Biblicaly either.
Remember every branch that does not bear fruit, pruned and thrown away.
For one too say the CHURCH is asleep, the same is saying that CHRIST is asleep. Not true.

[John]

Brother West you must admit that Jesus is outside knocking and we ain't letting Him in during this church age we are in (Laodicean) because of the churches lukewarm attitude and not an open door policy as in the Philadelphia church age. Do I think all churches are Laodicean, probably not but as a whole we are lukewarm. As you say if you have it in you to go do things you feel should be done by all means do them. I agree we should have that day where we as believers meet and learn and study His Word if that is truly what the church is doing and edify one another in fellowship but let's face it, that's not happening in a lot of churches either. We don't feel we have a need for nothing. We want to get that knowledge and do nothing with it. My Brother the church may not be sleep but I hear some snoring going on and no Christ is not asleep for sure, this I totally agree.

[Rev. Charles Moore]

OK........The church is not sleep, but the call of the cry of Brother Campbell is to stir up the kindles in each person so the fire increases and never dies. We are fighting a old enemy with new tricks. Unless we become more prudent in our approach and more willing to outside of the church walls, we are not fulfilling Mt. 28:19.

I'm sorry I reference my concern about what is happening inside the church, but when Satan is using Hollywood, the Gov., and the internet to attack the Kingdom of God we got to be prepared to fight on unfamiliar battlegrounds.

[John]

Brother Moore, satan is in the churches also. He has to be and he knows God's Word better than any of us, I don't care how greatly versed in God's Word we think we are.