Psalm 127, Remember, Repent, Repeat (1)

 We are beginning a series of posts related to the upcoming 75^th anniversary of Central Bible Church in Kalispell, MT.  The post begins today, on 9/11/23, the 22^nd anniversary of the terrible attacks on the Twin Towers in NYC and the Pentagon in Washington DC as well as the heroic event on Flight 93 that crashed near Shanksville, PA.  We will post one of the iconic photos from that day.  If you are looking for a related post, our recent postings entitled “Meeting the Present Crisis” (Aug. 28-Sep. 5) is the place to go. It is a call to prayer.  I believe that our posts beginning today have some important things to say to Christians in the USA as we see that the events of 9/11/2001 do not seem to have had a lasting effect for good on the nation.

For the next few posts we want to share things we considered at the time of the 50^th Anniversary of CBC, an event in which we participated.

"In the formation of every organization are the seeds of its disintegration."

I’m not sure who I am quoting because this is a statement I have heard often.  I think about it a lot in terms of our nation as well as the Body of Christ.  It represents the wisdom of the world but might have some truth for Christians.  The question is, with respect to a local church, is the organization build on “men” or is it the work of Christ.  Here is another bit of “wisdom” on that subject. 

Five "M's" of Church History

1.  Man: God chooses a man who is obedient in building Scriptural disciplines into his life.  God demonstrates the fruit of these disciplines in a successful ministry which affects the lives of others.

2.  Men: As the ministry expands, more men are needed.  All too often the men do not pay the same price in personal discipline which the man paid.

3.  Methods: The men soon need better methods in order to achieve the same results which the man achieved with personal sacrifice and discipline.

4.  Machinery: More organization is required to keep the men and methods operating efficiently.

5.  Memorial: The resulting organization becomes a monument to the man.

Now the question we might ponder is, after years of ministry, what are the signs that a pastor or the head of a Christian organization might be building an organization rather than building up the people God has called them to serve?  That’s where we will begin in the next post.

For now, let us note the principle from Psalm 127:1: “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”