One, that numerical church growth is only biblical when its sister condition is met, Christians must be growing. Note the teaching of Scripture on the matter:
Some time ago you heard about this hope through the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and spreading all over the world, so it has been doing among you from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth. You learned about this gospel from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of the Messiah on your behalf. He has told us about your love in the Spirit. For this reason, since the day we heard about this, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of God's will with respect to all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might live in a manner worthy of the Lord and be fully pleasing to him as you bear fruit while doing all kinds of good things and growing in the full knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:5a-10)Secondly, it reminds me that the message of Jesus Christ, and him crucified must be the same message that is preached in our churches as well as practiced. Jim says that "the secret to real Kingdom Growth is death to self." He is absolutely correct, just as the cross of Jesus Christ is God's guarantee of our forgiveness, so also taking up our own cross is the only way to live as citizens of heaven now.
In the Spirit of what Dr. West is getting at, if you want to go to heaven, go now by taking up your cross and following the crucified Lord, his kingdom is here. If you want your church to grow, believe the gospel and start dying to evil desires yourself. And if you want the church growth to translate to people actually going to heaven, tell them, "go now, Jesus brought the kingdom to earth, follow him today."
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