Over the last eight days three couples needing Christ came to my church. Two were in crises.  One desperate wife “happened” to walk into the office after hours and I had popped in for just a minute to drop something off. The stranger said she needed to speak to a pastor. After 45 minutes, a plan was mapped out. The plan was based on Mark 4:25, “For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him." The context of the chapter is the Parable of the Sower. I see this passage as saying when you provide fertile soil for lost people to find Christ and for new believers to grow, you will be entrusted with more. And when you don’t provide fertile soil, those new believers that come your way will be lost. Typically, the pastor is called upon to provide crises care. But we see from Acts 6:4 that the pastor should give himself primarily to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And we see from 2 Corinthians 1:3,4 and I Peter 2:5,9, that believers are considered a “royal priesthood.” And we see from Ephesians 4:11-12 that the pastor can pray and study the Word if he equips ordinary church members to do the work of the ministry. That is, God wants ordinary church members to be trained to minister to all sorts of needs. And beautifully these parishioners are available!

What does fertile soil look like? It looks like a team of ordinary parishioners trained and prepared to minister to individuals who come in with critical issues. This statement is one of the most exciting that could be made in carrying out the Lord’s work. Much help can be given to folks like these through the New Heart Bible study our follow up team uses. With the folks who show up at the church, whether it be Sundays or after hours, a trained church member can provide excellent care. It was a joy for me to schedule these folks to meet with team members one-on-one.

Naturally, the fertile soil for growth includes inspired sermons, good worship, friendliness and ministries for kids and youth. However, one area that seems to get the most neglect is new believer care. We find that folks in crises that are not believers will very quickly become believers, and then vital convert care is given for the next two months. This kind of care is one-on-one.

I am amazed at the number of pastors and churches that either do not provide effective new believer care, or rely on the pastor to provide the care. This is not the Biblical model.

Last Wednesday night, I walked the hallways of our offices and classrooms and it was such a delight to see l5 people receiving one-on-one care from trained teachers who were just ordinary parishioners. It took me just a 4-hour workshop to train them. And not only was inspired care occurring, a great deal of excitement was generated in the lives of these teachers.

I continue to sound the alarm. We must provide fertile soil for the lost who come into our churches, and nurture them as they come to Christ. This is doable! Find a ministry that can provide one-on-one care by training ordinary church members. Or try the concepts of New Believer Concepts. But literally, for Christ’s sake, DO SOMETHING!!!