Author Archives: jimperdue

Waiting on God

Posted on by

We are a people that hate to wait and we are a nation that hates to wait. We love our fast food, fast cars, microwaves and interstates. But we must learn to wait patiently on the Lord. God is not obligated to operate according to our timetable. Waiting on the Lord is active, not passive. Someone once said, “Patience is not passive: on the contrary it is active; it is concentrated strength.”

We can wait eagerly on God’s promise because we know that it will come to pass. Part of worship is waiting on God’s promise and receiving God’s promise in His proper time. The prophet writes in Isaiah 40:31, “They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

G. Campbell Morgan said, “Waiting for God is not laziness. Waiting for God is not going to sleep. Waiting for God is not the abandonment of effort. Waiting for God means, first, activity under command; second, readiness for any new command that may come; third, the ability to do nothing until the command is given.” Psalms 37:7 says, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.”

What is the Goal of the Church?

Posted on by

Now this is a question that every pastor, and every Christian for that matter, must wrestle with at some time or another; “What is the goal of the church?” Of course, we know that Jesus makes the answer to this question very clear in Matthew 28:19-20. The goal of the church is to accomplish the Great Commission; to make disciples of all nations for the glory of God.

Most do not argue about the goal of the church, instead they argue about how to accomplish that goal. For what it’s worth, here’s what I’ve learned in my brief tenure as a pastor.

1. Big events and great entertainment draw a crowd, but they do not build a church.
2. Big events and great entertainment do not make disciples, they make a very dangerous class of “Christian” consumers.
3. Big events and great entertainment set you up for failure in the future. If you’re built on the next big thing, the next thing has to be bigger than the last thing.
4. Big events and great entertainment will wear out your pastors and leaders and leave your people frustrated and disillusioned.
5. Big events and great entertainment leave your people looking for the next big thing. When in fact, the next big thing should be next Sunday.

To my pastor friends, I want to encourage you to resist steadfastly the temptation to entertain the masses. As you look at the ministry of Christ, you’ll notice that He never sought a crowd just for the sake of boasting about His numbers. In fact, you read often of Him retreating from the crowd and other times of the crowd retreating from Him at His harsh words.

The bottom line is this: what you win them with is what you’ll keep them with. Don’t get caught in the trap of entertaining Christians or scheduling events to get the huge crowd to show up. In the end, the church is tasked with the responsibility of making disciples of all nations. Instead of creating “Christian” consumers, we should be making disciples that are disciple-makers.

Helping Children to Understand the Gospel

Posted on by


I just finished an incredibly helpful book entitled, Helping Children to Understand the Gospel (published by Children Desiring God). Because children are so impressionable and will easily “repeat a prayer” or “raise their hand,” it is important that we clearly communicate the truth of the gospel in a way that is both simple and accurate.

This book offers ten devotionals that you can go through as a family, with a group of children, or even with parents of small children. Here are the ten topics that accompany the devotions.

1. Truth One: God is the sovereign Creator of all things.
2. Truth Two: God created people for His glory.
3. Truth Three: God is holy and righteous.
4. Truth Four: Man is sinful.
5. Truth Five: God is just and is right to punish sin.
6. Truth Six: God is merciful. He is kind to undeserving sinners.
7. Truth Seven: Jesus is God’s holy and righteous Son.
8. Truth Eight: God put the punishment of sinners on Jesus.
9. Truth Nine: God offers the free gift of salvation to those who repent and believe in Jesus.
10. Truth Ten: Those who trust in Jesus will live to please Him and will receive the promise of eternal life – enjoying God forever in heaven.

As a father of three (soon to be four), I am earnestly praying and passionately seeking the Lord for the salvation of my kids. This devotional tool will help me communicate clearly the truth of the gospel in a real, practical and powerful way. I will soon be teaching these truths during family worship!

Connect: 40 Days of Passionate Worship

Posted on by

This summer at Crosspointe, we have been walking through what it means to worship God faithfully and consistently. Here are a few thoughts we’ve covered.

1. Worship is a lifestyle, not an event. Worship on Sunday is an overflow of what God has been doing in your life throughout the week! Worship is a life you live, not a service you attend.
2. Worship is about God’s glory, not my preferences. If I’m concerned more about my preferences than God’s glory then I’m actually not worshipping God, I’m worshipping myself.
3. Worship is a spiritual experience, not an outward show. Who is your audience when you worship? Are you more concerned about what those around you think, or about what God thinks?
4. Worship is about what I put into it, not what I get out of it. It’s not what I get when I come to worship, it’s what I give!

Someone once offered this definition of worship: “Worship is our response to what we value most.” And if worship is our response to what we value most, our faithfulness and participation in corporate worship will reveal the value we place on our personal relationship with Christ.

Let me say it as simply as I can, with grace and love; It is impossible to be a good Christian while voluntarily, consistently and purposefully missing corporate worship. People have a thousand reasons to stay away from church. This is not a new problem. The early Jewish church had a fall-off in attendance due to persecution, ostracism, false-teaching and arrogance. Today, people stay out of church for different reasons. Today, there are all sorts of reasons but every single one of them comes back to a simple philosophy; my wants and desires are more important than God’s directives and commands.

Kent Hughes said, “It is true that a person doesn’t have to “go to church” to be a Christian. Just like you don’t have to go home to be married either. But in both cases, if you don’t, you will have a very poor relationship.” Simply put, it’s possible to be committed to church without being committed to Christ, but it’s impossible to be committed to Christ without being committed to His church!

Back from the Beach

Posted on by

Stephanie and I just got back from a week at Panama City Beach with the students of Crosspointe. Man, what an incredible week! God did some amazing things in the lives of our students and our adults as well. Oh yeah…and in my life too!

I know that I have a tendency to be a bit nostalgic at times, but it’s impossible not to think about the times I was in Middle School and in High School at this same camp. The way God moved in my life at those times still impact me to this day. I’m praying that the decisions made this week will impact our students for the rest of their lives…and for all of eternity.

You can view daily updates and pictures here.