One thing was clear to Scott Wilson, senior pastor of The Oaks in Dallas, Texas, at the beginning of 2009 – times were tough in his community, in the culture, and in the nation. People everywhere were struggling. That’s when God reminded Scott about an important biblical principal: times of promotion are often preceded by times of testing.
“If you want God to take you to the next level in your marriage, your business, or anything, you’re asking for a test,” Scott said.
Tests aren’t prisons to hold us back; they’re classrooms to teach people how to get to the next level in their life, Scott added. Realizing that was a message that could transform his community, Scott wrote a 31-day devotional book, called The Next Level, which takes people through biblical examples of this truth.
The book focuses on a wide variety of painful tests people in the Bible have faced, including: Noah test of tenacity, David’s test of waiting, Solomon’s test of contentment, Naaman’s test of humility, Mary’s test of saying “yes”, the disciples’ test of courage, and Jesus’ test in the wilderness.
Scott then challenged his church to get the book to the community. First, he asked each person in the church to get five books – keeping one and giving four to people who were hurting. Scott also encouraged people to get the devotional into the hands of hospital patients, police officers, teachers, and others in the community. Then, last November, Scott’s congregation went through the book together.
The results – 200 baptisms, 350 to 400 additional people in regular attendance, and 30,000 books distributed throughout the community. In addition, church members gave nearly $50,000 to people in the community who were hurting in some way.
This is an idea that can be duplicated in almost any church in any community, but if you aren’t ready to write your own devotional book, then Scott will allow other pastor’s to add their own material, such as a foreword, dedication page, or their own devotional thoughts, to The Next Level.
“I think it’s very powerful, if a church is going to do this, for the pastor’s heart to be revealed through the book,” Wilson said. “That’s what my desire on this is. This is about us, as pastors, equipping the people of our church to be ambassadors of hope in our communities.”
For more information, visit ScottWilsonLeadership.com.
Posted
Wed, Feb 3 2010 5:53 PM
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MTBEditor