So it would seem that God put on my heart a vision to plant churches in Yerevan Armenia, and in Ararat, Armenia. This strategic nation of 3 million is eager to express it's faith and be sent to the world with this powerful message of freedom in Christ.
The time to pray through the how's and why's is now.
Maybe also in Dominican Republic!
Psalm 2:8 Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession.
I am asking God for 3 nations; Armenia, DR, and the USA! Gotta admit, I feel a bit foolish asking for such big things. I am such a small thinker.
But He said ...!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
gutsy pastors
This morning I met with John Wega and a group of about 10 leaders. John and I pitched to them the idea about doing a large summer crusade to reach our friends with the gospel. John Wega will lead it, so that it not become a Freedom Valley show and is truly a blessing to all churches.
At this point, it is being planned for June 16-19 at the Wyndham hotel, perhaps the most prominent piece of ground in the county. We are planning to ask our friends to send teams to help us distribute literature and do outreaches all over the county, starting as early as Monday of that week- the 13'th. We plan to get literature to every house in the county, as well as using every other kind of communication tool we can think of.
Right now, the group of Pastors is praying about the name for it. The name everyone likes best is Tougher Than Hell festival/rally, a name we would borrow from Guts Church in Tulsa if they allow us to. We also considered Signs and Wonders festival, a line from the book of Acts.
About 13 churches have expressed strong interest in it already. I am asking God for 35 or more. I am also asking God for 1000 salvations over that week!
This week, Sue Knefley from Harvest Chapel, and Charity Landis will meet to start talking about logistic issues and will present to us a planning model next Thursday at 10 am when we will meet at The Wyndham again to continue discussing and planning. Hopefully more logistic minds from other churches will join them too.
Please pray for effectiveness and clarity in all of our work! Eternal souls in Heaven must be the result!
At this point, it is being planned for June 16-19 at the Wyndham hotel, perhaps the most prominent piece of ground in the county. We are planning to ask our friends to send teams to help us distribute literature and do outreaches all over the county, starting as early as Monday of that week- the 13'th. We plan to get literature to every house in the county, as well as using every other kind of communication tool we can think of.
Right now, the group of Pastors is praying about the name for it. The name everyone likes best is Tougher Than Hell festival/rally, a name we would borrow from Guts Church in Tulsa if they allow us to. We also considered Signs and Wonders festival, a line from the book of Acts.
About 13 churches have expressed strong interest in it already. I am asking God for 35 or more. I am also asking God for 1000 salvations over that week!
This week, Sue Knefley from Harvest Chapel, and Charity Landis will meet to start talking about logistic issues and will present to us a planning model next Thursday at 10 am when we will meet at The Wyndham again to continue discussing and planning. Hopefully more logistic minds from other churches will join them too.
Please pray for effectiveness and clarity in all of our work! Eternal souls in Heaven must be the result!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Local pastor stirs up controversy again—this time with new book
Pastor Gerry Stoltzfoos of Gettysburg releases new book 83 Lost Sheep, a autobiographical book claiming that opening new churches across the country is the answer to America’s problems.
Gettysburg, PA (Jan. 5, 2011)— In the past decade, Pastor Gerry Stoltzfoos has managed to stir up controversy in Adams County and beyond.
In 2007, he was the focus of ABC’s Nightline study of “speaking in tongues,” a Pentecostal method of prayer. Two years later, he was asked to open a Pennsylvania House session in prayer, only to be rejected by lawmaking officials for wanting to use the name of Jesus—a decision that sent local Christians into a frenzy.
Addressing yet another issue, Stoltzfoos is releasing his new book 83 Lost Sheep, in which he discusses America’s sharp decline in church attendance. “I feel like we lost,” he writes in his newly released book 83 Lost Sheep. “My fellow pastors and I should be weeping in shame.”
His 160-page book goes on to outline his desire to open 1,000 churches in his lifetime, by training and mentoring teams of people who would set out to start new churches from scratch, much like he and his wife started Freedom Valley Worship Center in Gettysburg 18 years ago.
“Church is important because it connects entire communities to Jesus, who is the healer of families and heartaches and addictions,” Stoltzfoos said. “And continually opening new churches invites more people to get involved, and more communities to get connected to the heart of Jesus.”
But not everyone agrees that “church planting,” as he calls it, is the way to healthy communities. In his book, Stoltzfoos recounts his experiences with aggressive opponents of his theory—many of them pastors and church attenders.
“If we got serious about reaching our world, it would require as many as half of all churches to get involved in planting churches. If we did this, within the next 100 years, we could seriously change the momentum and begin to reach American culture,” Stoltzfoos explains. “It’s been done before. It can be done again.”
The title 83 Lost Sheep is a reference to the 83% of Americans who do not attend church, and to the Biblical teaching in Luke 10, in which Jesus sends out his disciples to gather the “lost sheep.”
“Somehow we have all been fooled into believing that it’s time to maintain, not time to grow,” Stoltzfoos writes. “Instead of planting new churches, we should just mow our grass and clean the windows and take out the trash. This could not be further from the truth. If we are going to prevail, we must plant churches.”
Pastor Gerry Stoltzfoos of Gettysburg releases new book 83 Lost Sheep, a autobiographical book claiming that opening new churches across the country is the answer to America’s problems.
Gettysburg, PA (Jan. 5, 2011)— In the past decade, Pastor Gerry Stoltzfoos has managed to stir up controversy in Adams County and beyond.
In 2007, he was the focus of ABC’s Nightline study of “speaking in tongues,” a Pentecostal method of prayer. Two years later, he was asked to open a Pennsylvania House session in prayer, only to be rejected by lawmaking officials for wanting to use the name of Jesus—a decision that sent local Christians into a frenzy.
Addressing yet another issue, Stoltzfoos is releasing his new book 83 Lost Sheep, in which he discusses America’s sharp decline in church attendance. “I feel like we lost,” he writes in his newly released book 83 Lost Sheep. “My fellow pastors and I should be weeping in shame.”
His 160-page book goes on to outline his desire to open 1,000 churches in his lifetime, by training and mentoring teams of people who would set out to start new churches from scratch, much like he and his wife started Freedom Valley Worship Center in Gettysburg 18 years ago.
“Church is important because it connects entire communities to Jesus, who is the healer of families and heartaches and addictions,” Stoltzfoos said. “And continually opening new churches invites more people to get involved, and more communities to get connected to the heart of Jesus.”
But not everyone agrees that “church planting,” as he calls it, is the way to healthy communities. In his book, Stoltzfoos recounts his experiences with aggressive opponents of his theory—many of them pastors and church attenders.
“If we got serious about reaching our world, it would require as many as half of all churches to get involved in planting churches. If we did this, within the next 100 years, we could seriously change the momentum and begin to reach American culture,” Stoltzfoos explains. “It’s been done before. It can be done again.”
The title 83 Lost Sheep is a reference to the 83% of Americans who do not attend church, and to the Biblical teaching in Luke 10, in which Jesus sends out his disciples to gather the “lost sheep.”
“Somehow we have all been fooled into believing that it’s time to maintain, not time to grow,” Stoltzfoos writes. “Instead of planting new churches, we should just mow our grass and clean the windows and take out the trash. This could not be further from the truth. If we are going to prevail, we must plant churches.”
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