by Holly Smith

ANAHEIM - Comebacks, communication and comedy all were part of the 2008 On Target Evangelism Conference, held at the Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort Feb. 18-19.

For the first time, this year's On Target featured pre-conference sessions, one led by Aubrey Malphurs of The Malphurs Group in Dallas on "envisioning" and another led by Bob Stromberg, a comedian and communicator from St. Paul, MN who discussed "dynamic communication".

During the main On Target conference Nelson Searcy, lead/teaching pastor of The Journey Church in New York City which he started soon after the 9/11 attacks, said there are two important elements to church growth: "God wants my church to grow" and "I want my church to grow."

Noting several common numerical growth barriers - 65, 125, 250, 500, 1,000, 2,400 and 5,000-plus - Searcy said the wrong question to ask is, "How do I get my church to grow?" The correct question is, "What's keeping my church from growing?"

"A barrier is anything that is keeping my church from reaching its full redemptive potential," Searcy asserted. "Focus on this: what does the full redemptive potential of your church look like? Just visualize that for a moment. Capture that dream."

Pastors and church leaders can block the blessing of God from a human standpoint, Searcy said, noting "growing churches are led by growing leaders."

"I had to start growing and start changing and start becoming more," he explained about The Journey's attendance increase of 55 to 1,100 since its inception. "When the pastor isn't growing, the church stops growing.

"When you start growing, when you start changing, everything changes around you."

Searcy encouraged pastors to be intentional about their church's growth: "Decide to break the next growth barrier in six months. Decide to make progress every week."

Part of growing and taking on "The Comeback Challenge" - theme for the On Target conference - requires reconciliation, according to Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research in Nashville.

"Reconciliation is a mission and ministry that Jesus has given to His church, to us," Stetzer said. "Jesus sent us (through the Great Commission) on a mission of reconciliation - tell them about God and what Jesus did on the cross; we join Him on His mission to serve the hurting.

"Friends, if we're going to accept The Comeback Challenge we have to start seeing people differently because of what Christ has done in our lives," Stetzer declared.

"Part of the reason we're not reaching the world for Jesus Christ ... is that we don't see people the way Jesus sees people. And we sometimes don't act the way Jesus would act if He were relating to those people.

"Ultimately we will not reach North America and be part of God's mission if we do not recognize that my church and your church have to be transformed by the gospel," Stezter asserted.

Echoing Searcy's words about personal growth to help a church grow, Stetzer added, "Take The Comeback Challenge but first come back to Jesus, to a full understanding of the cross - then we'll get that new perspective on people, representing Jesus in His Kingdom because of His work on the cross."

Addressing the mission of the church, Voddie Baucham told the audience sometimes in the name of evangelism and church growth, pastors and leaders have moved away from biblical truth.

"I'm afraid we're falling into a trap that bigger is better and biggest is best," Baucham declared, noting some churches are growing but compromising the gospel.

"If we believe in the authority of Christ, we build our evangelism strategies from scripture," said Baucham, pastor of preaching at Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, TX. "Do we believe that the mission of the church comes to us from an authoritative Christ? Or do we assume that His words are based on 2,000 years ago?

"What's the structure of our services? And based on what biblical texts?" Baucham asked. "What's your approach to evangelism like? And based on what biblical texts?"

Referring to baptism Baucham said churches are "dunking so many people who are falling away, sealing them in our unbelief, because we're moving from evangelism to salesmanship," doing whatever it takes to record a profession of faith or baptism and stopping there.

"Being thoroughly evangelistic means more than just giving people a few propositions and dunking them," Baucham declared. He reminded the audience evangelism is not just about conversion but that scripture says, "Go and make disciples."

Continuing the theme of Christ's mandates, Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, noted Jesus said, "I will build My church," which takes the pressure off pastors. "Focus on building people and God will build the church," Warren asserted.

"There is no such thing as an insignificant church," he encouraged. "Your church matters to God. (It) may not be prominent, but it is significant."

Noting he has been pastor of Saddleback - one of the largest churches in America - for 28 years, Warren said of churches that grow from "200 to 10,000 in two years" that it's "not growth. It's swelling. You cannot grow a church that fast."

"I can tell you how to grow a church but I cannot teach you how to do it quickly," he continued, noting the difference between the growth of a mushroom and an oak tree. A mushroom grows rapidly, yet an oak tree can take 60 years to mature.

"Do you want your church to be a mushroom or an oak tree?" Warren asked.

"Stop trying to grow your church. Start trying to grow your people," he declared.

Tim Timmons and his band from Mariners Church in Irvine led worship throughout the conference sessions.

To conclude On Target, several pastors and leaders participated in a question-and-answer session. Fielding questions were Stetzer, Warren, Dennis Choy of North Coast Church in Vista, Eric Bryant of Mosaic in Los Angeles, and Tom Lance of The Grove in Riverside.

For more information about the On Target conference visit www.ontargetevangelism.com or call the California Southern Baptist Convention healthy church group, which sponsors the annual gathering, at 559-229-9533, ext. 250.