I saw on FB that The Bridge CoG (Patrick Ballington) in N. Ga. is now a Strategic Partner of North Point Community Church and the North Point Network of Churches.My question is, is The Bridge still CoG.Patrick said they are considering having additional services during the week with Andy Stanley preaching________________Recorded Sermons @ www.pastorwiley.com
I sent Patrick a pm on FB and asked if they were still CoG and he replied, yes very much CoG________________Recorded Sermons @ http://www.pastorwiley.com
Thanks, Larry, for coming straight to me with you question. It means a lot that you would do so.The Bridge remains and will remain a COG church. North Point is supportive of that and it would have been a ‘deal breaker’ if they weren’t. We agreed to.partner with them because of a similar mission and model of ministry that makes reaching unchurched with the message of Christ the highest priority and creating environments and gatherings that unsaved and unchurched people want to attend. We also share a common value to honor our church history and spiritual hertiage but looking for new ways to do and be the church to a generation and culture that has little or no previois church experience or understanding.
I truly like this. We are the Body of Christ, right? ________________Some facts but mostly just my [email protected]/
What about the Baptism of The Holy Spirit and Andy’s beliefs? I was thinking I read where he does not believe in the second filling of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues________________
4golf I understand and appreciate what you are saying. However one can be saved without speaking in tongues, but one cannot be saved without Christ. I challenge the readers here to focus on helping people to know Christ. Then we can teach them about the HS________________Recorded Sermons @ http://www.pastorwiley.com
I think it’s obvious that North Point accepted this group of believers to follow their model regardless of any theological differences for the cause of Christ.
the problem is, people always say this that once the people are saved, then we will teach them about the Holy Spirit but they NEVER DO!What we always wind up with and I’ve been fighting this mindset for 35 years, is a bunch of people who have a salvation mindset and not much more. Will it get them to heaven? Yes. And for that I am truly grateful and not critical but who are we then? Does our Pentecostal distinctive mean anything? Why are we Pentecostal or maybe a better question is should we remain Pentecostal? When the supernatural is pushed out of our churches we lose faith in the God of creation. If God is not supernatural, or He just used to be once upon a time, is He still God? The Book of Acts details how the supernatural became a preaching point or confirmed what had been preached. When that no longer is a part of the Gospel then we risk becoming no different than any other spiritual mindset. How can you preach that Jesus rose from the dead if you don’t also preach God is still manifesting the supernatural in the lives of believers?I just returned from 2weeks of ministry in England. One of the churches I worked with is an AG church but they are so pc that I was encouraged to not preach a message that used the Syro-Phonecian/samaritan woman’s request to Jesus to heal her daughter who was possessed by a demon. Why? Because the pastor didn’t want to offend sophisticated church members with the idea that we believe in something as superstitious as demons. And yet, I disobeyed him and the people were thrilled and hungry for more of the message (not about demons but about the power of God). ANd so it goes.
John 17:21
Hey Eddie
Unity in the Body of Christ does not mean we agree on Pentecostal distinctives or not. I didn’t say Andy Stanley wasn’t of God. What I DID say was that IF we are Pentecostal should we compromise what we stand for and what we believe in order to be associated with other groups? Can we learn from North Pointe, sure we can. Could they learn from us, yes but they won’t. It always is a one way street. We sacrifice the Holy Spirit on the altar of church growth every single time. We pay lip service to teaching these new believers about the Holy Spirit later but it NEVER happens.
I’ll just let Patrick tell his experience. I am sure that NP is not telling him that he can’t be Pentecostal. How silly.
Larry/Brother James
Larry I have no idea why Salvation got brought up. I didn’t say that you couldn’t be saved with speaking in tongues! I find it hard to believe that a Pentecostal Church could aline with some one who des not believe that Pentecost is still alive today. Church of God still believe that The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is evidence by speaking in Tongues. Brother James great point!________________
I am assuming that the idea is fellowship and winning souls to Christ. I am always amazed when this is dismissed. I wondered this from a child. I remember hearing ‘ignorant’ statements like, Of course Methodist and Baptist will go to heaven, but they are not as close to God as we are. because we have the Holy Ghost!________________Some facts but mostly just my [email protected]/
….and North Point knew it before they approached us. They received our doctrinal statements and complete a thorough vetting of churches, pastors, and key staff members before extending the invitation to join their network. During the vetting process, they encouraged us to remain true to our Pentecostalism and have had absolutely NO issue with it. I have also come to realize that there are several Pentecostals on staff and in key leadership positions in the NP organizations.The Bridge is Pentecostal, but would likely still be a disappointment to some of our COG brothers and sister who equate Pentecostalism as loud, hyper emotional, and distinctive only in certain manifestations. I will not get into a theological conversation or respond to requests to unpack that statement. There are numerous other threads that have tackled that issue. Let me simply summarize what I mean by that to say we believe doing things in ‘decency and order’ provides the Scriptural guardrails for what is acceptable Pentecostal expression. The leaders at North Point do believe in the operation of the Holy Spirit and the supernatural. But quite frankly, my staff and I are more aligned with North Point’s approach to ministry and fulfilling the Great Commission than we are with are with many of our Church of God churches. Our hope is to help our Church of God brothers and sisters that we care deeply for lower their defenses and reduce the perceived threat that keeps far too many of our COG pastor and people from being as effective as they can be in fulfilling the Great Commission.I have grown weary trying to defend IF we are Pentecostal or not and will resist from being drug into new conversations that now question if we are
Brotherjames, your words seem so empty because you couldn’t refrain from misrepresenting your fellow believers. What authority do your words have when you have accused people who are not cessationists of being that?How can you convince people how crucial the Holy Spirit is when you are not yielded enough to refrain from misrepresenting your fellow posters.www.actscelerate.com/viewtopic.php?t=86142
Thank you for being willing to get out of the box. Even at the expense of criticism from your fellow CoG ministers.Win the lost. Introduce your community to Christ.Let the critics rave________________Recorded Sermons @ http://www.pastorwiley.com