Hello All:

In my readings these past few weeks the same thought keeps popping into my head, and every time I go to a different website, it is reinforced.

Not only is there a movement sweeping through the church for change, but there is a growing business behind it as well. Some people are making money off of the liberalizing of our churches.

It has been said often that our universities are to blame for what is occurring in the church. I think this is only partly true. Its not necessarily the institutions themselves that are corrupting our churches and our youth, it is “the scholars” that are doing so.

The ’scholars’ who write books about “The Purpose Driven Church.”

The ’scholars’ who publish magazines on “church growth.”

The ’scholars’ who give lectures on “post-modern approaches to evangelism.”

The ’scholars’ who create “church planting” businesses.

and…’the scholars’ who teach our youth about “our faith-tradition.”

The ’scholars’ who receive big money to teach our churches and members how to “attract people in the culture of today.”

Congregations are feeding the monster of change with their own funds. They are paying hundreds, maybe thousands, to learn the “secrets” of bringing people in the door from our ’scholars’.

I was at my church a few weeks ago and saw a newsletter in the foyer about “church growth.” I started wondering how one becomes an expert in church growth. What studies one does to determine what makes a church grow and what doesn’t. And then - it hit me.

We don’t need to read a newsletter or a magazine or a book being hawked by one of our ’scholars’ to learn how to grow the church.

We need to read the book that God gave us. The gospel tells us what we need to know about the people of today. The gospel tells us what we need to do to bring people to Christ. Christ provides us with the information that we need to do his work.

We don’t need a ’scholar’ to tell us that.

-Clarke