Resources for in-pew missionaries because this is rough work. Ever since He called me and I met the Lord in 1974, my heart has been hurting for the members in the pews of traditional churches.

As the traditional church trudges on toward the coming of Jesus, it and the post-modern church in general, have largely left the faith. The Great Falling Away is certainly in process. We are seeing the birth of the delusion talked about in Thessalonians.

“The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness” [II Thessalonians 2:9-12 NIV]

What has resulted is a huge new mission field that is almost completely untouched. What are we to do when the pastor admits he or she is not a believer? How do you react when blatant heresy is preached from the pulpit or taught in Sunday School? These are serious issues and need to be addressed.

Go to another church?

This is not really an option for many of us. How many of you would have to drive an hour or so to reach a vital, powerful Christian fellowship? Let us know in the comments, please. I know that for us the closest church that might met our spiritual needs and be willing to use our gifts and experience is somewhere up in the Twin Cities (nearly 90 miles north). That is not a viable option. There is no way to truly minister to our brothers and sisters at that distance. So what do we do?

Minister where we are

For me, I want to offer my services to anyone in the Rochester, NY area (or across the USA and the world, for that matter) who needs resources to bring in the harvest from the pews of the apostate church. In-pew missionaries are not advocating a new church. That has been done over and over without ever touching the people in the pews who [increasingly] have never heard the Gospel and do not know what is required of them to enter the Kingdom of God. In fact, most of them think they are part of the Kingdom even though it is obvious to any true believer that they are not.

Inoculated Christians

This is the term we use to describe the church members in the pew who have received just enough Christianity to become immune. Like a vaccine, a dead version of the truth has entered their life and caused their flesh and mind to develop antibodies to belief and trust. They truly believe they have become a Christian even though there is no evidence of that. There is a complete lack of fruit in their life and there has never been a radical change—the one that takes place when your life is transformed by the renewing of your mind talked about in Romans 12: 1 & 2

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. [NIV]

Friendship evangelism

People under this bondage can only be converted by a radical touch from God. To open them up to the possibility takes a true believer who loves them, cares for them, and who is deeply involved in their life. You need to love them to the Lord. Pray the Holy Spirit will anoint you for this task.

Resources for in-pew missionaries because this is rough work

Because you are also in this dead environment, how do you grow and thrive? For forty years, I have focused on providing you with tools and resources to build you up as you minister—to provide you with resources to share with your friends. To that end we offer:

• How to Study Scripture: When you first meet the Lord, Studying what He wrote for us in the Scriptures is very important.
• How to teach the Bible: This has been my best-selling spiritual book.
• Comparing American lifestyle with the Ten Commandments: This process should horrify you or make you weep.
• Verse by verse Bible studies: These are not guides but verse by verse commentary which you can use for Bible studies with your friends. They include the actual verses to read as you discuss the scriptures, plus questions and answers about the meaning what is being read. We are currently offering:
  A study of Galatians called Learning to Walk in Freedom
  A study of Philippians called Finding the power to believe
  A study of the Timothys called Godly Leadership & Power
• Advanced discipleship training: These discuss topics that you need to know to effectively present the Gospel to your friends. They also make wonderful training guides for your more mature friends in the Lord or for a small intercessory group for those of you ministering as in-pew missionaries within your church. We are currently offering many books which I have written since this post was originally put up in 2011.
• Book reviews & suggested reading: I’ve been doing this since 2011. There is a lot of it on Reality Calling.
• Online mentoring: write me at: david@radiqx.com
• Publishing assistance: This was my major skill when I was working for others.

Please let us know if you have any need we can help you with. We have worked within the Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Assembly of God, Foursquare, and charismatic non-denominational churches. We know the doctrine and have suggested plans for most of the rest. We’ll do anything we can to help and we will certainly add you to our prayer list.