How May I Become A Christian?                               
                                      &
                      Views/Teaching

                                 How May I Become A Christian?

Receiving Christ Jesus as your personal Savior is the most important act you or anyone else ever do. Through Jesus Christ, you will find the peace you have searched for, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life!

WHAT MUST I DO? (It’s as simple as A-B-C)

A. Admit: I am a sinner & need a savior “All have sinned & come short of the glory of God.” Romans 6:23

B. Believe: I must believe that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again to save all sinners whowould believe and accept. “If thou shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Jesus from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness.”Romans 10:9b,10a.

C. Confess: I must confess my sins and call on the name of The Lord for salvation. “That if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus; for with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:9a, 10b.”Whosoever (this includes YOU) shall call on the name of theLord shall be saved. Romans 10:13

This is a personal decision between you and God, but we would like the joy of praying with you and assisting you in this important matter. If you make this decision, or desire to know more about it, please call HOEM office (817/929 7704) We will help you find a good bible believing church in your area. We would count it a privilege to help you.

                                 Views/Teaching                 

What is G-12 A must read…..

“Leadership and Church Growth”. This teaching should be in every church today. Pastor has asked me, “How can we get member involved”? “How can we close the back door to the church”? What should we do about most faithful members who are burning out? A large percentage of the church members are consumers, not producers. Consumer Christians represent 80 percent of the church members who are supported and ministered to by the other 20 percent who produce.

When returning back from Ukraine on that long plane ride God began to talk to me about the Church in Ukraine and the Church in American. He takes me to Acts 2:42-47 “The Church was steadfast in the Apostle’s Doctrine and Fellowship, and in Breaking of Bread, and in Prayers. They continue daily with one accord in the Temple and House-to-House. The Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Acts 5:42 ” And daily in the Temple and in every House, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”

By 312 A.D., the church had changed from regular home meeting and large group meeting to almost exclusively conducing meeting in special building. Consequently, the church be came an audience! Since that time many things have differed from church to church, theological interpretation, type of worship and even clothes clergy wear. But the one-winged, cathedral structure has remained constant over the past seventeen centuries of church history.

While Constantine gave the ultimate stamp of approval to this one-winged approach, it was not completely his fault. Several trends developed during the first 300 years of church history, making the fourth century ripe for Satan’s attack and Constantine’s mistake. God’s people were gradually being trapping in an institutional rather than an incarnation wineskin because of the following factors:

· Christianity was more and more aligned with political systems.
· Professional leaders were developing church structure.
· Spiritual power had given way to human ability and effort.
· Servant leadership was gradually replaced with authoritarianism.
· Church structure was being patterned after the world.
· The church was on the defensive rather than the offensive.
· The small group context of the church was suspect in the eyes of government.

By building cathedrals and placing rituals and leadership with those building, Constantine changed the very nature and life of the church as originally designed by Christ. The changes grew out of new ways of thinking about God’s Church as an organization rather than as an organism.

I know for a fact there is a reshaping the Church for the 21st Century. Cell Churches are working in Ukraine, Mexico and it will work in American. The Hood’s in Pueble, Mexico has triple their church in one year and planted two more churches in their regions. Dema in Ukraine has 52 churches that were started from cell group in the last five-year.
Keys characteristics of Cell Church:

· The cell church Jesus designed operates as the church not only on Sunday, but on the other sixdays of the week as well.
· The cell church may have a building, but the building is functional and not sacred.
· The growth of the church doesn’t depend on how much square footage can be financed and
provided. The building formula of the cell church is: grow and then build.
· Members are accountable to each other.
· The lost are reached through cell friendship evangelism
· More money is available for ministry and missions as each member matures in their understanding of stewardship as a lifestyle.
· Leader and pastors provide oversight, vision, and accountability for leader of the cell groups.
· The community of cells is a place of healing for the individual and the family.

There is so much God is showing me on leadership and church growth. If I can be a blessing to you or you church just give me a call at 817/447-6708. I pray that you may become a partner with me in this ministry with your prayer and financial support. My mailing address is HEAVEN ON EARTH MINISTRIES 1000 N Belt Line Rd. Irving, TX 75061
In His Love and Work: Apostle George W. Jobe

What Drives Your Church?               

1. Tradition, finances, programs, personalities, events, It is not church growth if a church is a purposes-driven it will be a ” Health and it will growth naturally. If you will concentrate on building people, GOD WILL BUILD THE CHURCH.
· WARMER through Fellowship
· Deeper through Discipleship
· Stronger through Worship
· Broader through Ministry
· And Larger through Evangelism & Missions

2. Surfing – choose right equipment-use it properly- how to recognize a “surf able wave”-how to catch a wave and ride it as long as possible- most important how to get off a wave without a wiping out. “How to Build a Wave. God Builds a Wave,”
Church growth fall into the How to Build a Wave category-They try to gimmicks, programs, marketing techniques to create growth-GROWTH CANNOT BE PRODUCED BY MAN-God only breathe new life into a valley of dry bones- create waves, waves of revival, waves of growth. I Cor. 3:6 ” Paul planted the seed and Apollo’s waters it – but God made it grow.” THE MORE SKILLED WE BECOME IN RIDING WAVES OF GROWTH, THE MORE GOD SENDS.

3. Stop praying, “Lord bless what I’m doing and start praying, “Lord help me to do what you are blessing.

4. What will make our church grow? (Wrong question) “What is keeping our church from growing? All thing grow- you don’t have to make them grow. You don’t have to command your children to grow. (Church is a body not a business-it is an organism, not a an organization. If a church is not growing, it is dying. When a human body is out of balance we call that disease. Task of church leadership is to discover and remove growth-restricting diseases and barriers so that natural, normal growth can occur. Col.2:19 ” It is from Him that all the parts of the body are cared for and held together. So it grows in the way God wants it to grow” The N.T. is the greatest church-growth book ever written.

5. I love Pastor-one the highest calling in the world-They face the moral-behavioral and spiritual -it not a government cures…. Key is to never stop learning We can be wise to learn from experience but it is wise yet to learn from the experience of others-less painful too- Life is too short to lean every thing by personal experience.Key #2 Persistent-their may be a Wipeout, miss a few waves -the ocean hasn’t dried God is creating His best waves to come- take tips from me paddles back out into ocean wait for next big wave God sends in…

6. Ministry is a marathon. Heb.12: 1,2 & Phil. 3:13,14. It’s not how you start that matters but how you end. “LOVE NEVER” I Cor.13:8 If you minister out of love you can never be considered a failure. Isaiah 1-6 It was out of his head. Isaiah 6:1 and on he preach out of his heart (Isaiah’ had transforming vision-1-8 New commission ver. 6:9) also Eph. 4:11-16

7. List eight questions you need to find the answers.
· How much of what churches do is really biblical? Heb.12: 25-29
· How much of what we do is just cultural?
· Why do some churches grow and others die on the vine
· What causes a growing church to stop growing, plateau, and then decline?
· Are there common factors in every growing church?
· Are there principles that will work in every culture?
· What are the barriers to growth?
· What are the conventional myths about growing churches that aren’t true anymore (or never were)?

8. Most healthy, large churches are led by a pastor who has been there a long time>
(Can you imagine what the kids would be like in a family where they got a new daddy every two or three year?) emotional problem, -decline in denomination, stay in one place as member and pastor.

9. A church’s health is measured by its SENDING capacity not its SEATING capacity. (Turning members into ministers and missionaries). Proverbs 13:16 “Every prudent man (management of affairs/marked by wisdom) acts out of knowledge.” Find out all you can about the area before committing rest of life there. (MAPS & BROCHURES, REALTORS, BANKER, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, RESIDENTS, CITY OFFICIALS-OTHER PASTORS
Churches fail because they start with uneducated enthusiasm – Its takes WISDOM.
Proverbs 20:18 “Get good advice and you will succeed”. Where God guides, he provides.

10. Have a Dream or Vision “HEAVEN ON EARTH INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES”
· Sharing the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ with hundreds of thousands churches in the U.S.A, Ukraine, Mexico, Africa and other parts of the world.
· Equipped native pastors & church members to fulfill the Great Commission by helping them discover the gifts and talents God gave them.
· Developed people to spiritual maturity through Bibles Studies, small groups, seminars, retreats, and a Bible School in every church.
· Help send out hundreds of career missionaries and church worker all around the world. Send thousands on short-term mission projects to every continent. Start at least one new church every year.
· International office in Texas, UK, Europe, and Africa-with beautiful, yet simple, facilities including a worship center seating thousands, a counseling and prayer center for hurting, the depressed, frustrated and confused. A place that they can find love, acceptance, help, hope, forgiveness, guidance and encouragement. Classrooms for Bible studies and training lay ministers and a recreation area. All of this will be designed to ministers to the total person- spiritually, emotionally, physically, and socially- and set in a peaceful inspiring garden landscape…

I stand before you today and state in confident assurance that these dreams will become reality. Why? Because they are inspired by God.

11. Myths About Growing Churches:

Myth #1. The only things that a larger churches care about is attendance.
A. A church must offer people something they cannot get anywhere.
B. Church growth is natural result of church health.
C. Church health can only occur when our message is biblical and our mission is balanced. Act. 2:42-47 described in the 1st church in Jerusalem.

Myth #2. All large churches grow at the expense of small churches
A. Transferring Christians from one church to another is not what Jesus had in mind when He gave the Great Commission.
B. God call us fishers of men, not swap fish between aquariums.

Myth #3. You must choose between Quality and Quantity in your churches.
A. Quality-refers to the kind of disciples a church is producing (transform into the likeness of Christ) Maturing-sharing their faith regularly with other, (using their talents in service and ministry).
B. Quantity refers to the number of disciple a church is producing. How many people are being brought to Christ. Luke 14: 16-24 / Matt.22: 1-14 “compel’ mean “to drive”, “urge forcefully,” “to cause to do” or “occur by overwhelming pressure.”
C. When you go fishing you to catch the biggest fish and a many as you can.
Quality will produces quantity. Healthy is a Quality. When you doing quality job of winning soul, nurturing, equipping and sending out believers, God will send Growth (new raw material). People are attracted to churches with quality worship, preaching, ministry and fellowship.

Myth #4. You must compromise the Message and Mission of the church in order to grow.
A. No “watered-down message” John 12:32 “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself”.
B. Asking for commitment doesn’t turn people off; it is the way many churches ask for it. We have to explain the purpose, value and benefits of commitment.
C. Jesus never lowered his standards, but He always started where people were.

Myth #5. If you are dedicated enough your church will grow.
A. More than dedication to lead a church to grow it takes “SKILL” Ecclesiastes 10:10 ” If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed but skill will bring success. WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER.
B. Learn the skills need in ministry-sharpen your ministry ax by reading books, attending conferences, listening to tapes
C. Profession pilots are retrained /sharpening their skills. “People live depend on how skilled they are.
D. Farming and Ministry -skilled with right equipment (harvest tomatoes with cotton picker)
E. Churches grow by the power of God through the skilled effort of people. “Where is the Holy Spirit in all of this? Ps 127:1 “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” Matt16: 18 “I will build my church.
F. While we wait for God to work for us, God is waiting to work through us! Read I Cor. 3:5-17 building God’s Building Matthew 9:37-38 harvesting God’s fields Rome 12:4-8;Eph.4: 16 growing Christ body

Myth # 6. There is ONE secret key to church growth.
A. There is more than one way to grow a church.
B. It takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people.
C. Never confuse methods with the message. The message must never change, but the methods must change with each new generation.

Myth #7 All God expects of us is Faithfulness.
A. Only ½ true-God expects Faithfulness & Fruitfulness
B. We are call by Christ to bear fruit: John 15:16
C. Being fruitful is the way we glorify God: John 15:8 (fruit, more fruit & much fruit)
D. Being fruitful pleases God: Col: 1:10
E. Jesus reserved his severest judgment for the unfruitful: Matt.21: 19 (Jesus talk to a tree, it had leaves but no fruit.)
F. The nation of Israel (or a church) lost its privilege because of unfruitfulness. Matt. 21:43
G. Fruitfulness or fruit is “variation of it” variety of results” 55 times in N.T. What does God call fruit Repentance Matt. 3:8 Luke 13:5-7 Practicing the truth Matt. 7:16-21; Col. 1:10 Answered prayer John 15:7-8 An Offering of Money given by believers Rom. 1:13
H. It takes Fruitfulness and Faithfulness (the opposite of faithfulness Failure. God wont you to be successful—Successful is fulfilling the Great Commission. Matt. 25:14-30 Faithfulness is a willingness to a take risks with faith in order to be fruitful-To accomplish as much as possible with the resources and talents God has given us.
I. Are we being faithful to God Word if you insist on communicating it in an outdated style? Doing Ministry in a way that is comfortable for you?

Myth #8 You can’t learn from large church!
A. God has not called us to be original at everything. He has called us to be effective.
B. You can learn from other churches without becoming a clone
C. We can learn principle: “Methods are many, principle are few; methods change often PRINCIPLES NEVER DO>”
D. You can learn a process: not programs-offers a system for developing the people in your church-Balancing the purposes
E. James 4:6 ‘God opposes the proud but give grace to the humble” WHY-full of pride are unteachable
F. Finally, you can learn some methods: No method is meant to last forever or work everywhere…but that doesn’t make it worthless. God give new method to reach each new generation. God has bless all kind of methods, Luke 5:37-39
G. The primary issues for church health and growth is * Who is our Master * What is our Message? *What is our motive * Who is our market? * What are our models * What are our Methods?

12. “WHAT DRIVES YOUR CHURCH”?
A. Tradition-“We’ve always done it this way or We’ve never done it that way before.
B. Personality- “What does the leader want”?
C. Finances- How much will it cost? Or how much did we save .It said, ” Who was save”?
D. Programs-All the energy is focused on maintaining and sustaining the programs (filling position’s or nomination committee)
E. Buildings Paying for and maintaining the building becomes biggest budget item.
F. Events-Something is going on every night of the weeks. “What is the purpose behind each of our activities”?

13. “The Foundation for a healthy Church”
A. Your church foundation will determine both its size and strength. You can never build larger than your foundation can handle
B. Be of one mind, united in thought and purpose (I Cor.1: 10)
C. A clear purpose not only defines what we do, it defines what we don’t do.
D. A purpose statement reduces frustration-(everybody will get their on agenda for church) a clear Purpose attracts cooperation. If your goals are good, you will be respected. Being efficient -Efficiency is “doing things right”.
E. Evaluate your church by asking, “What is our business?” and then how is business?”
Define your Purpose-Communicate your Purpose-Organize your church around your Purpose-Apply your purpose to every part of the church.

                          FOUNDATION WORKERS: “APOSTLES & PROPHETS”

A unique characteristic of the prophetic and apostolic anointing is that they work on the basic structure of the Church. Ephesians 2:20 tell us about the Body of Christ, which is “built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone.”

Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers, and all other Christians build upon the foundation already laid (see also I Cor. 3:10-13). Only Apostles and Prophets have the empowering of God to lay or change the foundation itself. In November newsletter we look at the role of an Apostles. Let look at the gift of a Prophet. The word prophet means “one who speaks forth.” A prophet is a Christian who God calls to speak out for Him, not in the usual way that a preacher expounds or teaches from the Bible, but in a much more direct and powerful way.

Behind a prophet’s words are great spiritual forces, able to break spiritual bondages off individuals or groups of people. The purpose of the prophet’s words is not simply to provide knowledge or understanding, but to change the structure or nature of that which is being spoken to. A preacher’s words may be evaluated, but a prophet’s words must be accepted or rejected, submitted to or resisted. This does not mean that the ongoing conversation of a prophet is God-ordained, and hence power-packed, but the messages that the prophet receives from God’s for a particular situation or person do have God’s spiritual forces behind them. The prophet is God’s direct mouthpiece, through whom God speaks powerfully into the church and into the world.

We must distinguish between the Christian who prophesies and the ministry gift of a prophet. Confusing these two is wrong as equating a Christian who does evangelistic works with the Christian who has the gift of evangelist. The Christian who prophesies speaks God’s words, but there is not as much spiritual power behind those words, and they are spoken only for edification, consolation, and exhortation (I Cor. 14:3).

The prophet may speak with these three purposes, but also may speak God’s direction, revelation, rebuke, correction, or knowledge of the future. The prophets in Acts 13:1-2 hear God’s direction to send out Paul and Barnabas for ministry. In Acts 21:10-11 the prophet Agabus speaks with revelation and knowledge of the future when he announces that Paul will be imprisoned. The prophets in the Old Testament give strong rebukes to the Jewish people on many occasions, as does Paul in his letters to the churches. The ministry of a prophet is more diversified and powerful than that of a Christian who simply prophesies.

When a prophet visits a church or a city, the power of the prophet’s words produces lasting results. Charles Finney (who is wrongly called an evangelist by many) was a prophet who brought revival to numerous cities in America about one hundred year ago. Studies show that over eighty percent of those to whom he ministered remained in churches for the rest of their lives. The prophet Jonah brought an entire city to repentance without any advertising, follow-up, or administration.

Such results are understandable in the prophet’s ministry but uncommon in the ministry of the evangelist. A gifted prophet not only changes the course of a church for year to come, but individuals who receive the prophet’s ministry are given direction that influences the rest of their lives. The prophet deals with foundations. A prophet’s words endure time, persecution and affliction. The words of teachers, pastors and evangelists do not carry such authority.

Often God calls upon the prophet for a specific task. John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for the Lord. Nehemiah led the Jews to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. When we read the books of the prophets in the Bible, we see that “the word of the Lord” or a vision came to each of them and them they were required to proclaim that one message. Moses, who was also a prophet, let the Hebrew people out of captivity.

Today, God sends some prophets to a specific church or denomination to correct it or to help get it on track. Other prophets may have a primary message that they express in many different ways and carry to many churches. Because of this, they may appear unbalanced and limited. People may judge them for talking about the same topics over and over, not realizing that they are supposed to be “Unbalanced,” at least through our natural eyes.

Many times God will keep the prophet speaking on the same subject or on related topics until the message has been received or openly rejected. After that the prophet may be given a new vision, or word, or burden from God. It is because the prophet’s mission can be intense and powerful that the prophet is sometimes limited to one task or message at a time.

We must not form a distorted image of the prophet’s ministry. Not all prophets have a single mission or purpose. Most of them should be able to give consistent, balanced direction and revelation within the Body. In describing their role, I do not want to restrict them or your view of what they should do. I am just briefly mentioning here a few common characteristics.

Prophets are also used by God to transmit, confirm, or recognize anointing on other people. In the Old Testament, we see that the prophet’s poured oil on the heads of the kings before the kings took their positions. Paul encourages Timothy to continue in the spiritual gifting he received through the laying on of hands with prophetic utterance (I Tim. 1:18 and 4:14) It was several prophets and teachers that set Paul and Barnabas aside for ministry (Acts 13:1-3). Prophets are able to speak forth God’s anointing as God directs.

The hearts of prophets are directed, intense, burdened, tender and sometimes frustrated. Their hearts are focused on the specific task God has given them. Their emotions are linked to the results they perceive in relationship to their calling. They are often in tears when they see no change, joyful when correction is received. They have tender hearts that are easily broken at the sight of sin. Yet, it is common for prophets to be frustrated when they see that what is written in the bible is not real in the Church.

Prophets are more sensitive to spiritual forces and impending troubles than the average Christian. In the Old Testament, prophets are often called seers, referring to their ability to see into the spiritual world (for example, I Samuel 9:9). They sense God’s solutions or answers to problems in the Church, in the world, and in the lives of individuals. Their eyes are open to see visions and anointing from God.

Because prophets often encounter tremendous resistance, many of them are very determined, assertive people, frequently considered hardheaded and stubborn. They are not influence much by persecution or men’s opinions. They are often dramatic; acting in ways that emphasize the messages God has placed on their hearts.

Prophets are sometimes radical individuals, alone more than the average Christian, and so intense that they challenge those around them. I do not want to stereotype, but this is how God very often seems to design the character and personality of a prophets. It comes with the gift. Eph. 4:11-12 “And Jesus gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.”

 

Apostle George W. Jobe
Founder/President
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 309
Bedford, TX 76095
Office Address:
1000 N. Belt Rd. Suite #100
Irving, TX 75061-4000
Office/ Mobile: 817/929-7704
Fax: (214) 492-0066
Email: george@georgewjobe.com
www.GeorgeWJobe.com
Skype #: George.W.Jobe1 

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