Should I Do It?
May 6th, 2008 by tempe
Ah, more Christian junk mail. I’ve actually been holding on to this one a while, waiting for the right time to post it. Since summer’s almost here, I figure no better time like the present.
Check out those guarantees! 20 % Church Growth! If you watch one of the promotion videos, you’ll see even more (e.g., “Millions of Souls Saved”).
I’m a little wary, though, about the part that says, “20% Altar Response. Half over 18 Years Old.” Does that mean they are sacrificing mostly adults? Maybe they break an altar with their bare hands to show that Christ has fulfilled the ceremonial law, but somehow I doubt it.
Here are few random excerpts from the Power Team website:
Whether or not [sic] if you’re Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Assemblies of God, non-denominational, or from any Protestant belief & background, The Power Team Crusade is perfect for your church.
The Power Team communicates Biblical truths & scripture utilizing explosive and stunning feats of strength like: breaking baseball bats like twigs, bending horseshoes & steel bars, crushing concrete walls, rip phone books like pieces of paper and many other incredible power demonstrations.
Churches typically average 15 to 25% growth within two weeks following a Power Team crusade and continue to see accelerated growth for up to 18 months with the help of our unique follow-up programs. Every Year, several churches double in attendance within 30 days of hosting an Power Teamcrusade. Imagine, your church could actually double from having The Power Team crusade! In general, all churches have experienced some growth, and on average, increased their church income over 20% after hosting an [sic] crusade.
Fifty-seven pro-baseball players from the DETROIT TIGERS and the CINCINNATI REDS accepted Christ in a crusade in Florida. Several of the DALLAS COWBOYS walked forward, making a stand for Christ, in a crusade in Dallas. Several times this year we have seen entire football teams accept Christ. CHUCK NORRIS and his entire family now follow Christ after seeing a Power Team crusade.
For every $10 a church spends in a Power Team crusade, we see someone accept Christ.
God has anointed The Power Team to be used as a tool to help every member of your church reach their unsaved friends, loved ones, neighbors, and work associates who normally would not come to any church event.
Actually, if you look at their statement of faith, they actually sound very orthodox, so maybe I’m being too hard on them.So, would anyone like to recommend that we do this this summer at Midlane Park?
As my wife would say the only way the Reds are going to win this year is with a little divine intervention.
Tim, You might be a little hard on them. We went to see the Power Team here in Cumming a few years ago. They seemed to be ‘the real deal.’ People certainly answered the invitation to know Christ. They gave God the glory for every feat of strength and the show was AMAZING!
Thanks for the input, Holly. I was actually hoping that someone who had seen them might give their opinion, so thanks for that.
I have no doubt that the performance is quite entertaining. As I stated in the post, their statement of faith seems to be very orthodox (so, yes, they are almost certainly the “real deal”, and I won’t dispute that). There are two things that bother me: 1) it seems a bit gimmicky (the apostles did not use entertainment to evangelize; in fact, Jesus chastises the crowds for looking for miracles instead of looking to Him in passages like John 6); 2) there seems to be a “guarantee” of sorts of growth if the team is booked (the back of the card I scanned virtually promises “20% church growth in just 5 days!”).
As far as people answering the invitation to know Christ, I certainly hope that is the case. But thousands seemingly did so during the days of Charles Finney, and were nowhere near churches 5 or 10 years later. My fear is that this has the potential to harden folks to the right preaching of the word so that they may be harder to reach than an unbeliever who has never set foot in a church. But, on the other hand, I will give the PT credit where it is due, as they are far more biblical that Charles Finney!!!
Tim, I agree that they are certainly gimmicky (though the feats of strength are by no means miraculous and are not claimed to be, from my recollection of the program we saw). I also agree that the momentary conversion at that kind of an event without further discipleship can be problematic (to say the least). I further agree that the “’guarantee’ of sorts” (pardon the quoting errors, I’m not ALWAYS smarter than a 5th grader, even though I’m just now finishing 6th grade…) is Marketing hype to ’sell’ their ministry and the event itself “has the potential to harden folks to the right preaching of the word so that they may be harder to reach than an unbeliever who has never set foot in a church.”
However, I, myself, answered an ‘alter call’ one Sunday morning when visiting my future brother-in-law’s church in 1984. I count that day as my spiritual re-birth. However, I can’t say that I truly began to have a personal relationship with Christ until at least 1994. I’d love to discuss this with you more in a different setting. We sure do miss those sushi lunches. Maybe we’ll have to make a road trip or at a minimum a phone call!
Oh, I have no doubt that these men would not call their feats “miraculous”, and did not mean to suggest as much; I was trying to make an analogy and was perhaps not very clear. In John 6, the crowds that witnessed Jesus’ feeding with fish and loaves were eager to follow Him the next day, but not because their minds were on spiritual things, but b/c they wanted to see another miracle. And when Jesus told them otherwise, most left b/c that’s not what they wanted to hear. They wanted entertainment, bread and circuses if you will.
But we seem to agree more than disagree. The card I received was only marketing/booking two weekends (I’m going to assume that this was all that was available). As far as the altar call (we owe that one to Mr. Finney as well, I’m afraid) goes, I answered one myself when I was about 10 years old, and was even immersed afterward — but I did not have the slightest knowledge of what Christ had done and was still as lost as lost could be (I know that I did so for all the wrong reasons, but I do not intend to impugn such a wrong motive to you or anyone else). My spiritual regeneration did not happen for another 11 years. And, during the interim, I was VERY cold to the things of God (I was the wiseguy who always made fun of the Christians, btw). Thanks be to God that His grace is more powerful than cold dead hearts!
I too miss those sushi lunches. Did you know that I haven’t been able to get Anna to eat sushi once since we moved here?!? Clearly it is the influence of you and Matt that she needs!
Google “power team jefferson” to learn more about the Power Team and why they try to come into schools, or follow my link.