Save the date! April 12th 7:00pm

From: Muriel Luedeman
mur620@gmail.com


Save the date! April 12th 7:00pm

Dear Restoration, and Independence Is Alive and Well Initiative Friends,

On Friday, April 12th, at 7:00pm There will be shown the spiritual transformation film produced by The Sentinel Group called, “It’s Only Cookie Dough” at:
Living Hope Restoration Church
2425 S Crysler Avenue
Independence MO

George Otis, Jr. and The Sentinel Group have been making documentaries since the mid-1990s of cities around the world that have experienced amazing revival and spiritual transformation of God. I encourage you to check out this anointed body of believers and their work on their website. It will strengthen your faith, put a desire for the same experience to occur in our own community, and a belief that it WILL happen here in Independence. Transformation comes by many ways and means. Some ways, and I would say, most are very small, and at the same time, there are big changes that come from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that can only be put in the category of the miraculous. All of the Sentinel Group films cover the spectrum of transformation. It all starts with the prayers of one person, or a small contingent of prayer warriors who didn’t stop until God answered, and one believer stepped across the street and searched for other believers to join in actions for reclamation and restoration.

We are seeing the quiet, small miracles of transformation in a newly formed alliance of churches from across our city. Independence Is Alive and Well Initiative follows two commandments: To love the Lord with all of our heart might, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Our goal is to see measurable changes in three areas of our society: Restoration of the homeless, Neighborhood transformation, and Care for Widows, widowers and singles. Initiative members will take few minutes before the film starts to share what has and is happening to date for the betterment of our hometown. We know, however, that we will not see in our town what we really need and want without coming to our knees in prayer before God and crying out to him for deliverance from all of the works of the enemy.

The question God places before us is this: “Do you want a Heavenly Society in your city?” If you do, then come and be blessed with the information and tools you need to make it happen.

Living Hope doors open at 6:30pm. The presentation and movie will start at 7:00pm.

An offering will be taken to support the ongoing work of The Sentinel Group. An email they sent me is below. Take time to read it. Also, you can find trailers for the following films on their website and on YouTube. “Transformations”, “Transformations II- Inuit”, “Appalachian Dawn”, “Let the Sea Resound”. FYI - The Sentinel Group is having a conference Hope at the Crossroads, April 25-27, hosted at IHOP in Grandview, MO.

Looking forward to seeing you April 12th.

Muriel Luedeman

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100 Churches Close This Week

In the January 28 issue of Charisma Magazine, Michael Snyder posted these startling statistics:

"Today, less than 20 percent of all Americans attend church on a regular basis. As a result, churches are dying in very large numbers, and this is a trend that appears to be accelerating . . . Between 6,000 and 10,000 churches in the U.S. are dying each year. That means around 100-200 churches will close this week. The pace will accelerate unless our congregations make some dramatic changes."

In that last phrase is the lifeline he throws out - unless our congregations make some dramatic changes. But what kind of changes? Should we once again make more contemporary our already contemporary music? Maybe we are lacking the laser lights to enhance our worship experience? Should we reduce the 22-minute message to 20 minutes? What if we had Starbucks coffee in a holder by each seat? Wait, he said dramatic changes. Hmmm . . . How about if we do a high tech phone poll at the beginning of each service to determine what the sermon topic should be that day? Then, we could have an open mic for anyone to share what they think on the subject. The younger generation does want more participation. Wait, they might take more than 20 minutes!

I apologize if this comes across as sarcastic or cynical. I grew up a preacher’s kid and served local churches as a pastor for over 30 years. I am weary of every new remedy and fad aimed to grow the Church. So, I have an even more radical idea. How about if we call on the Head of the Church to see if He might have an opinion?

In my research on the history of revivals here in America, I stumbled upon a simple observation that caused me to reconsider much of what we in the Church leadership have proposed over the last 50 years.

When churches declined and morality in the nation ebbed in the early 1700s and again in the 1790s, they had no consultants to call, no seminars to attend, no church growth books to read. All they had was prayer. And pray they did. They cried out to God, fasted, and preached sermons that called the people to repentance.

Guess what? God responded and did what only He can do. He revived the Church and awakened communities all across the colonies and the infant nation.

I will put forth another observation that is purely anecdotal: Does it not appear that the emergence of the church growth movement (circa 1970 - 2000) paralleled the decline of the corporate prayer meeting? This observation comes from one who was all in on the movement and once aspired to become a “church growth consultant.”

I fear the Church in America has become a man-centric institution fueled by bright, well-meaning, creative leaders (please note that this is a generalization with notable exceptions).

What we have developed is impressive, but we are losing the war.

Maybe it is time to learn from our ancestors, and throw ourselves on the mercy of the Lord, repent, and cry out to Him until He responds with the transforming revival we desperately need.

I am praying for the day when courageous pastors step into the pulpit, confess to the people that we cannot keep going on like this, and call the people to pray.

If I understand Revelation 3:20, our problem is not that people have left the Church, it is that Jesus is outside wanting to get in.

Come to Hope at the Crossroads, and let God fuel your heart with passion for the kind of move of God that transforms cities, regions, and even nations

www.SentinelGroup.org

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