Synopsis
What would your church look like, if Jesus was invited to be the pastor of it? How would church growth be affected if every member whole heartedly invited Jesus to be the Lord of their lives? How would discipleship training and evangelism in your church be transformed if every member invited the Holy Spirit to be their full time personal trainer? Is this not what we are called to? Why have we drifted so far from the simple mission of following Jesus? This book is about a return to simplicity: a simple and yet highly effective church where everyone is involved as followers of Jesus and doing what He is calling them to do: a missional church. The church is us, but it is not just for us. As the lead pastor of a church for sixteen years, John Overholt discovered that more spiritual activity and programs do not necessarily lead to more church growth. He worked hard to keep up with the newest trends in Christianity. He found himself paddling his church down one trending stream after another: Dr. Del Tackett (The Truth Project), John & Paula Sandford (Elijah House training), C. Peter Wagner (New Apostolic Reformation). He set up a local church Bible Institute (Lifeline) and provided training in Hermeneutics, Apologetics, Christian counselling, New and Old Testament survey etc. The church members had to complete assignments, write exams and were handed diplomas for passing the courses. Along with this they had times of focusing on Spiritual Warfare, teaching on the Gifts of the Spirit and then the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. They had seminars on discovering your ministry gifts, finances, and healing. He promoted retreats and seminars for couples, men, women, and youth. They received training in every evangelistic method that he could find: Evangelism Explosion, the Alpha Course, being a Contagious Christian, teachings on the Four Spiritual Laws, Romans Road, Salvation bracelets and distributing the Jesus video to every home in the city. These programs and methods are valid and helpful, but; something was missing. He saw himself as a busy farmer cultivating the same field over and over again. John remembers his feelings of discontentment and frustration after taking his church through a Cleansing Stream program for the third time thinking after it was finished, “Now what do we do?” He had run out of programs. The programs that we had gone through, in themselves, were good and he was sure helped many members of his congregation, but again he thought to himself, “How much cleansing stream does one person need? It was then that he received a very clear and penetrating question from the Lord. “John, if I was the pastor of your church what would I teach your congregation and what would I have you doing?” He thought to himself, “Well… if Jesus came to pastor this church…He would probably teach the same things He taught the early church and call them to do the same things He had called His early disciples to do…How simple is that?” As he started to ponder the ramifications of this, he could sense a lightness come into his spirit. It was like a veil was lifted from his eyes and he could see the simplicity and yet the great significance of inviting Jesus to come and shepherd the Campbell River Foursquare church. As you read his story he continues to describe how an encounter with God took him from being a Magician and owner of a Trick and Joke shop into the mission field, first with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) and then with the Foursquare Church of Canada. This book has great insights and inspiration for anyone considering the call to world missions: the simple mission of following Jesus. “Come Follow Go” has taken many years to write. We can teach a lot of things but we can only impart what we have lived. This book has been lived and has much to impart.
About the Author
After immigrating from Norway, I started grade one with a very limited grasp of the English language, but with the help of a wonderful and caring teacher, I learned quickly. During this first year of school, I developed a stuttering problem that I still live with today. I dreaded any kind of class reading situation. I was frustrated many times during my school days when the teacher asked a question in class. I was a good student but never dared to raise my hand. Even worse were times when I was singled out and would play dumb, even though I knew the answer. I got to a place where I resigned myself to a life of silence rather than continually face the embarrassment of stumbling over the words I spoke. I will never forget the day when my grade eleven teacher announced his next English assignment. Everyone in the class was required to do an oral report. As my stomach knotted up over the news, my inside displeasure, I am sure, became evident by the absolute look of dread on my face. The teacher was not even aware of my speech impediment, until I started into one of the most agonizing few minutes of my life. I had a three-minute talk that took me ten minutes and felt like an hour. I felt humiliated and dumb. I find it fascinating that I now stand before a class (a church congregation) every Sunday morning to give a speech. Even more incredible is the fact that I am writing a book. Stunted in my communication skills, I disliked English and was not into writing at all in school. I remember laboring, for what seemed like hours, to compose a simple one-paragraph school assignment. The Lord truly likes to show Himself strong in our weaknesses.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
