Gate Crashers: The Offensive Church
For Christians Who Want to Know What’s Wrong with the American Church Model But Can’t Quite Put Their Finger on it!
My name is Joe Kohler and I’m one of the co-founders of TheExaltedChrist.com.
I currently serve as the pastor of Howell Bible Church, which we helped plant in 2014. I have served in full-time Christian leadership in both the local church and non-profit parachurch ministry contexts since 2010.
After becoming a Christian at the age of 21, I began seriously studying the Scriptures for the first time.
I had been raised with a superficial knowledge of Christianity but when I was born-again I knew I was ignorant of what the Bible taught about, well, pretty much everything.
After reading the Bible through a few times on my own, I enrolled in seminary to take my learning to a deeper level. I graduated from Moody Theological Seminary—MI in 2010 where I received the Faculty Award in Systematic Theology.
The Lord opened a door for me to get my first full-time position in church leadership (I had served in part-time and lay leadership roles while working on my degree) as a Senior Pastor about a month before I graduated.
As a first time pastor, we saw our share of ups and downs. The Lord was (and is!) incredibly gracious and we saw growth in every measurable category.
Attendance went up. Giving went up. Baptisms went up.
Participation in all of our programs increased. We went 14 straight quarters adding new members at every membership class we offered.
But I had a nagging feeling that something was off. I just couldn’t really articulate what I was feeling. (I am a man after all — we’re not really known as being experts at expressing our feelings!)
When I would attempt to discuss this with fellow Christians — both within our local church ministry and to other Christians and leaders who fellowshipped elsewhere — they would often point to our growing numbers and casually dismiss my vague feelings telling me that I should be encouraged by what was happening in our ministry.
I was encouraged by some of it. Yet, if you read about the church in the Scriptures, you will immediately see something different when you lift your eyes from the page and look around on every corner. This isn’t right. Fortunately, by the grace of God we can reform our ways and be conformed to God’s design.
I knew I needed to get better at articulating the problem that I was seeing and experiencing. I began to feel strongly that the Lord was leading me to write a book about the church, which ultimately ended up being the book offered on this page: Gate Crashers: The Offensive Church.
I had already been teaching about the Bible for a few years, but I knew that writing a book was a serious task.
I’m a nobody. Who cares about my opinions about the church?
The fact is, no one should care about my opinions on the church! Instead of writing a book about my opinions, I knew I was tasked with attempting to articulate what the Bible actually says, since modern experience emphasizes so much that the Bible never does.
So, in preparation I committed myself to study the Scriptures like never before. I wanted to make sure that what I wrote would be faithful to God’s Word. I read my Bible straight through from Genesis to Revelation once a month, for ten straight months.
Forty chapters a day.
Every day.
No days off.
After reading the Bible through ten times in ten months, I was ready to write about God’s glorious church. That book was Gate Crashers: The Offensive Church. What I learned, and what I want to share with you, is that God’s church is so much more glorious than most people realize.
We have all inherited a corrupted church system. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that we can diagnose the problem and get pointed back in the right direction. That’s what Gate Crashers is all about.
If you’re reading this page, it is likely that you’ve experienced this nagging feeling, too. You want to serve the Lord. You are seeing fruit in your ministry. At the same time, you know that something is off.
Perhaps you’ve seen others throw the baby out with the bath water. Those who abandon the local church altogether.
Perhaps you’ve seen those who trash the church and bad mouth everything about the modern church.
None of these solutions are adequate to me. That’s not what Gate Crashers is about. God’s solution isn’t about division and strife. It’s about unity and love. Not the world’s definition of these things, but the biblical definitions.
I love the church. I love my brothers and sisters in Christ. I want all of us to walk in the freedom and power that God designed. In order to do that, we often need to reform our practices and cast off the shackles of our man-made traditions.
If this is your desire, I want you to know that I wrote Gate Crashers for people like you. The solution to these problems requires looking beyond our own experience and local context. We need a big picture view to understand where we’ve gone astray on a foundational level. That way, we can begin to move forward with a rejuvenated understanding of what God is doing in the world and in His church.
God desires to work through the church of Jesus Christ to do abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us (Ephesians 3:20). Not because we deserve it. God desires to do this for the praise, honor, and glory of His own name.
Modern experience for many in the professing church may cast doubt on this fact. God’s word has not failed. So, what has happened? The sad truth is that we have drifted from His amazing plan and model for His church.
While it is true that our present systems have drifted away from God’s perfect design, there is good news! We can get back on track. We can once again submit ourselves to walking in His perfect will and design.
Are you ready to stop playing defense and to get onboard the Offensive Church? Are you ready to be a gate crasher?
If so, get your copy of Gate Crashers: The Offensive Church by clicking the link below. It will take you over to Amazon where you can complete your order.
What Do You Get in Gate Crashers: The Offensive Church?
Inside you will learn:
Defensive Vs. Offensive Church.
What is the difference?
Why does it matter?
How changing our strategies can achieve the same goals more effectively!
God’s Mission Vs. Our Mission.
The Offensive Nature of the Gospel.
Why the Gospel is more than a religious claim and why it should matter to everyone.
The primary ministry of EVERY Christian is not what most people think!
Preaching & Teaching.
What is the difference?
Why does it matter?
Why we need to do BOTH.
A Biblical Understanding of “Success” in Ministry.
Freedom in Christ.
What it really is.
More Importantly — What it is NOT.
The TRUTH about Spiritual Gifts & The Body of Christ.
SPECIAL BONUS: A Case-Study and theological case for the importance of taking the gospel beyond the walls of our church buildings!
Take Action Today
This isn’t the kind of offer that expires tomorrow. I won’t try to pressure you into making an impulse purchase “while supplies last.” The truth is, you can continue doing church “the American way” until the end, if you want.
However, the statistics are grim. I saw a headline recently that discussed the decline of the church in America. The statistics don’t lie. Church attendance is down. The number of people who profess to be Christians are down. The trends are all pointing in the wrong direction.
It doesn’t have to be this way. We will continue to reap what we sow.
Every day that we continue to invest in a broken system is a day of diminished returns. God is capable of using our broken systems to accomplish His purposes. Yet, this does not negate the fact that God is pleased to bless His people EVEN MORE when we walk in His ways and designs rather than in our own.
If not today, when?
Get your copy of Gate Crashers: The Offensive Church and see why we need a complete shift in our thinking about God’s church. Click the link below to get it from Amazon.
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