The most common myths about Purpose Driven

“It's just for churches following the latest style."
Purpose Driven does not mean chasing after quickly fading fads. PD is about being biblical and eternal. The five purposes, rooted in the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, will never go out of style. The five PD purposes are based on the commands Jesus said were essential to the church.

"PD is limited to boomer seekers.”
Purpose Driven is not about a particular style; rather it’s about balancing the purposes and establishing a target group to evangelize. There are literally thousands of varieties of PD churches: post-modern, ethnic, language group, cowboy, singles-focused, artists, surfers – and even traditional. There are PD churches targeted for the Builder generation, Boomers, Gen-Xers, and Millennial Gens -- and these congregations are located all around the world.

“It's a ‘seeker-sensitive’ approach.”
Purpose Driven is not a seeker-sensitive approach. It does use a seeker-targeted strategy for evangelism (one of the five New Testament purposes), but PD does not require any specific method for evangelism or even a seeker-oriented worship service. There are thousands of PD churches that DO NOT have seeker-oriented services. It is a very flexible church health model that allows congregations to employ a variety of formats for evangelism.

"It's not my worship style."
Purpose Driven is not about a particular worship style. Your church can be liturgical, traditional, contemporary, country, charismatic, multi-sensory, or casual. The Purpose Driven model supports you as your church matches the worship style of those you are targeted to reach in the community. In other words, if your congregation is targeted for senior adults, then you might offer a very traditional worship service or a Big Band-styled ensemble to lead worship.

"It's only for bigger churches."
Purpose Driven is one of the most effective church planting strategies being used today. And that means that many, many PD congregations are very small in the beginning. But our research shows that successful PD churches come in all shapes and sizes. The Purpose Driven strategy focuses on balance, health, and strength, not size. There is no correlation between the size and strength of a church. PD is a church-health emphasis, not a mega-church program.

"It only works in a locale that. …"
Purpose Driven churches are located in all sorts of settings: rural, small town, suburban, urban, inner city, jungle, war zone. It is not limited to a Southern California setting, either.

"It needs to be denominationally approved."
Purpose Driven’s strategy dovetails easily into the polity of many denominations. We often describe it as a computer chip that can be used in any form of computer. Purpose Driven churches exist in more than 100 different denominations and associations.

Purpose Driven congregations have 12 essential characteristics

We’ve seen church after church dynamically transformed by simply adapting Purpose Driven methods into their overall strategy. Since every congregation is unique, there are always a variety of factors that contribute toward the health and growth of any given church. However, we’ve found that there are always 12 essential characteristics present in successful, balanced Purpose Driven congregations:

1. PD congregations create a purpose statement describing (in their own words) their commitment to building the church around the five New Testament purposes: worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and missions.
2. PD congregations are intentionally purpose driven in their strategies to fulfill their purpose statement. Although different terms can be used, a Purpose Driven strategy is designed to introduce non-believers to Christ, encourage them to join his family, guide them toward maturity, equip them for ministry in the church, and then send them out on a life mission in order to bring glory to God. The PD strategy is based on two assumptions: people grow best when you allow them to make gradual commitments, and you must ask for those commitments in specific ways.
3. PD congregations organize around a Purpose Driven structure -- keeping a balance and equal emphasis between all five New Testament purposes. PD churches are team-based rather than hierarchical in structure. They organize around purpose-based teams, (at least five -- one for each purpose) composed of lay leaders and staff, with each team responsible for a specific purpose and target group (such as the community, the crowd, the congregation, the committed, and the core).
4. PD congregations develop ministry strategies by purpose. They have at least one game plan for fulfilling each of the five purposes: they evangelize the community, gather the crowd for worship, fellowship in the congregation, disciple the committed, and equip the core for ministry and mission.
5. PD congregations staff by purpose. Every purpose has its own champion. PD churches begin by finding volunteers to lead and serve on each purpose-based team, and then they develop full-time, paid positions as needed.
6. PD congregations are led by pastors who preach by purpose. Sermons, including series, are planned so that the congregation receives a balanced emphasis on each of the purposes.
7. PD congregations form small groups on purpose. The Purpose Driven DNA is implanted in every cell of the Body of Christ. Each small group helps members live out the five purposes, so that every member is encouraged to live a purpose driven life.
8. PD congregations calendar by purpose. The purposes are the determining factor in deciding what events are scheduled. Every event must fulfill at least one of the five purposes or it isn’t approved.
9. PD congregations budget by purpose. Expenditures are categorized by the purpose to which they relate.
10. PD congregations build by purpose. Church buildings are seen as ministry tools not monuments. They must serve the purposes and never become more important than the purposes or the people a congregation is trying to reach through the purposes.
11. PD congregations evaluate by purpose. They regularly ask: “Are we balancing all five purposes? Is there a better way to fulfill each purpose?”
12. PD congregations are best built from the outside-in, rather than from the inside-out. It’s far easier to turn a crowd into a core than it is to turn a core group into a crowd. You build a healthy, multi-dimensional ministry by focusing on one level of commitment at a time.

PDC - A Balanced Process

Purpose Driven brings balance to your congregation

We believe a congregation must have an intentional process for bringing the lost into relationship with Christ and to encourage its members to purposefully move deeper into their relationship with God. The Purpose Driven process establishes a clear and deliberate structure that makes it easy for every visitor to see how to take further steps toward God and helps every member to consistently measure personal progress in his or her own spiritual growth. Our research reveals that to create a healthy, balanced, growing congregation, it takes more than explaining the purposes and more than writing a new mission statement; you must have a deliberate plan to help your members incorporate the five purposes (worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, missions) into their lives and to keep those purposes balanced. Healthy, balanced members are foundational to a healthy, balanced church. We use the "concentric circle" model to explain the core Purpose Driven process for bringing people in your community into your congregation and then developing them into core members involved in ministry and missions. In addition, we use a U.S.-styled baseball “diamond" to show the steps, or bases, toward spiritual maturity for each individual and the congregation as a whole. Purpose Driven draws attenders into membership The concentric circle model helps you identify the different levels of commitment within your congregation. It also helps your leadership team quickly see how people's needs differ at each level and what level members should next move toward.

In a sense, you have five different people groups related to your church:

• Community: Those living around your church who never, or occasionally, attend.
• Crowd: Those who attend your church regularly but are not members.
• Congregation: Those who are committed to both Christ and membership in your church family.
• Committed: Those members who are serious about growing to spiritual maturity.
• Core: Those members who actively serve in ministry and mission in your church.

Each group has unique needs, motives, challenges, and POTENTIAL! Our goal is to support you as you turn an audience into a work force for God.

---

Purpose Driven offers an intentional discipleship model

The Purpose Driven process moves people -- from being unchurched and uncommitted -- to a deep level of spiritual maturity and commitment, where they are involved in ministry and living out their God-shaped mission in the world. We use a U.S.-styled baseball “diamond" to show these steps, or bases, toward spiritual maturity. It is a strong visual reference any church can use, regardless of size or denomination.

Purpose Driven helps your members move deeper in their walk with Christ through:

• Fellowship: Your members will learn to love each other and to love the lost.
• Discipleship: Your members will have a consistent focus on growing deeper in their faith.
• Ministry: Your members will understand their God-given SHAPE and be motivated to serve within your congregation.
• Evangelism: Your members will begin fulfilling Christ’s command to go into all the world, telling and teaching about Jesus.

Biblical Foundations of PDC

Purpose Driven is a biblically-based church health model

The foundation for the Purpose Driven model is the Bible -- with an intentional emphasis on the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).
Jesus gave the Great Commandment when he was asked to identify the most important of God’s commands. To paraphrase his response, he said, “Here is the entire Old Testament in a nutshell. I'm going to give you a simple summary of God's commands: ‘All the Law and all the Prophets can be condensed into two tasks: Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Later, as Jesus said goodbye to his disciples, he gave them a Great Commission that included three more tasks: go make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to obey everything Jesus taught.

These two passages, the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, combine to create the essential elements of a healthy, growing, biblically-based church: worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and missions.

How balanced is your church related to these purposes? Purpose Driven provides a simple, effective strategy and the necessary tools to bring these biblical purposes into balance.

(copied from www.purposedrivenchurch.com)

Purpose Driven Church

Well, here we are. After a long journey and running from God - I ran right into God and HE has placed me at Grace Church in Allen Park as the Senior Pastor. We are truly thankful and excited to see what is going to happen over the course of time. In one sense, it is an end of a journey and a beginning of a new one. I was installed as the Pastor on May 3, 2009. So for the next couple of posts, I want to share the principles of the Purpose Driven Church - a philosophy that both Grace Church and I are committed to.

What is The Purpose Driven Church?
Purpose Driven is a church health model that provides your pastoral team with a unique, biblically-based approach to establishing, transforming, and maintaining a balanced, growing congregation that seeks to fulfill the God-given purposes of worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and missions.

The simple approach of Purpose Driven helps your pastoral team lead the members of your congregation toward a common focus that includes a foundational understanding of the Bible and a clear method for measuring their own spiritual growth and the church's overall growth.

The Purpose Driven model is used by congregations around the world, including those large and small, denominational and non-denominational, charismatic and non-charismatic, new plant and well-established, urban and rural. More than 400,000 church leaders in 22 languages have been directly trained, and there are now Purpose Driven congregations in every country of the world.
Purpose Driven helps church leaders:

* Establish or re-establish the core purposes of their church
* Design an intentional discipleship process
* Build an "outward-in" perspective to growth and evangelism

(taken from www.purposedrivenchurch.com)

Link??

Scientist claim that they have found the missing link. The above was found in Germany last week. The "experts" say that this is the missing link, that proves evolution, and they have been searching for over 200 years. OK - I have a couple of questions:

1. If this is true - where are the offspring? Why was only one found? They say that this is a female - where is the male?
2. The reason why that this is the missing link is the hand - why is the thumb protruding 90% from the other fingers? I though that the missing link was suppose to have hands and feet that "in between" a monkeys hand and a human hand?
3. If monkeys are a part of the evolution of man and that there are monkey's existing today, why isn't this animal in existence today?
4. Lastly, what in the world is coming out of the back end? Is that a tail? I do not think monkey's and humans have tails. I do not even have the evidence of a tail. Well, I guess we can - it will become the latest fashion statement.

This is really reaching. I personally believe that scientist and "experts" reach and try to discover and prove something that is basically a figment of human imagination so that they will not face a loving, merciful, gracious God here in this life. The ironic thing is that they will face HIM eventually - at that time HE will not be merciful, gracious, and loving - HE will be just, though. So, place your trust in Christ and not modern science, we will better off if we do...

God of the City

This version of this song is amazing! As I watched this video over and over - only one thought occurred to me: God is the God of Allen Park and Taylor and Dearborn and Lincoln Park and Southgate and Wyndotte and all of Downriver Detroit. There is no one like our God and there are greater things to be done and yet to come in these cities! I just have the privilege of being a Pastor of Grace Church in Allen Park (www.graceallenpark.com), and HE is not done with us or these cities> The Lord of creation WILL use us to reach these cities and greater things are yet to come.

With that said, I believe that this song can and should be our rally song and HE give us HIS vision! Amen.