“RESTORATION
MOVEMENT
AND NEW CHURCHES”
By Dr. Hoyt W. Allen, Jr.
In the early days of
the 20th century it
was said of that,
“New churches were
springing up like
dandelions in a lawn
in the spring.”
Without the new
churches, the
Restoration Movement
would have failed.
Today in the years
of the 21st century,
what part do new
churches play in the
Restoration
Movement? We are
still concerned
about restoring the
Church of Jesus
Christ to its
original New
Testament position.
In Acts 13, we see
how planning and
planting new
churches was the
prevailing Kingdom
work. The need has
not lessened. In
fact, the need is
greater today than
any other time in
history.
This is a day and
age that is very
important. It may
very well determine
what Christianity
will do to impact
future generations.
Christianity is
being attacked from
without and within.
Satan is alive and
well!
Listed below are
some stats that need
considered:
1. The estimated
American unchurched
population is 195
million people.
2. During the last
ten years, the
combined communicant
membership of all
protestant
denominations has
declined by 9.5%
(4,498,242), while
the national
population has
increased by 11.4%
(24,153,000).
3. Evangelistically
churches have failed
to gain an
additional two
percent of the
American population
in the past fifty
years. We are not
even reaching our
own children!
4. In the past 15
years, the church in
America has spent
500 billion dollars
on domestic ministry
and so far it has
shown no substantial
growth.
5. No county in
America has a
greater percentage
of churched persons
today than a decade
ago.
6. Half of all
churches last year
did not add one new
member through
conversion growth.
7. North America is
the only continent
where Christianity
is not growing.
8. Between 3,500 and
4,000 churches close
their doors each
year, while
1,100 to 1,500 new
churches are started
each year.
9. We lose 10.27
churches per day and
start 3.42 per day.
10. The USA is the
third largest
unchurched nation in
the world..
11. The USA is one
of the greatest
mission fields in
the world.
(Continued)
(Continued)
There are more facts
which could
demonstrate that our
present methods are
not working. We are
not fulfilling the
Great Commission,
(Matthew 28:18-20),
as Christ has
requested that we
do. If we are really
interested in the
Restoration of the
New Testament
church, then we must
change our goals. We
must restore the New
Testament example of
planning and
planting new
churches in the USA.
The future of our
children and
grandchildren
desperately depend
upon it.
Now, to really get
down to business,
what are we doing
individually and as
organized groups to
change this scene?
We have attempted to
build nice
facilities (handi-capped
accessible, padded
pews,
air-conditioning,
blacktopped parking
lots, buses/vans,
power point, praise
bands/choruses,
etc.), yet still
most congregations
are not growing.
Even with many
church buildings
costing millions of
dollars the job of
saving souls is not
getting done, is it?
If we take the time
to look closely into
the Bible (that is
God’s book of
instructions) we
will discover that
God never instructed
His followers to
build a house of
worship in which to
be comfortable while
we worship. But we
will discover that
He instructed His
followers to
purposely go to the
sinner and as we are
going along our way
to teach the sinner
of his endless path.
This is called
evangelism.
In other words, the
church (Called out
people of God) was
never meant to be a
social club.
However, I for one
am not opposing a
nice comfortable
house of worship,
nor fellowship meals
among the brethren.
But, when God’s
money is used to
make the Christians
comfortable (most
churches spend more
on their church
building utilities
than on evangelism
and missions) and
lost souls are being
neglected, this I
and all evangelistic
minded Christians
oppose. May we each
be examining our
priorities. Jesus
died for lost
sinners. We
Christians would
still be lost if
someone had not
shared the gospel
with us, can we do
less for others?
Plainly, don’t get
short changed. Let’s
be ready to meet our
Maker. The Bible
teaches that to
avoid hell and gain
heaven - we must:
1) Believe In Jesus
As Savior (Acts
16:31) 2) Repent Of
Sins (Acts 17:30) 3)
Confess Christ
Audibly (Acts 8:37)
4) Be Baptized In
Water (Acts 2:38)
5) Live A Christian
Life (Acts 14:22) 6)
Be Active In The
Church
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