Man, Movement, or Monument?

Here's a terrific slice of an article from an online friend, Joe Terrell. In addition to being Pastor of Grace Community Church, Rock Valley, Iowa, Joe is a blessed hymn writer. Here's the article slice:

"Preaching Christ will deliver us from becoming a mere religious movement. Someone once said that all organizations go through three stages: "The Man (who founded it), the Movement (an organization that carries on under the momentum the man generated), and the Monument (a dead organization which may bear the name of the founder but has little or no connection to him or his vision.)

"The only thing that preserves the church from such a fate is that 'the Man,' (in this case, the Man, Christ Jesus) is continually revealing Himself from generation to generation. This revelation is accomplished through the preaching of Christ. When Christ is preached, the Spirit of God takes those things of Christ, shows them to His elect and a new generation is joined to Christ.

"When Christ is preached, we are never dependant on the momentum of one generation to carry the work of the gospel into the next generation. When Christ is preached, every generation is a brand new work, full of the vitality and energy of the Man who founds it, the Lord Jesus Christ." -- by Joe Terrell, www.rvgrace.com

Thought you'd enjoy that.

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