Being who God called you to be
We went to Northpointe Church in Adairsville this past Sunday morning. Two things stood out to me. First was that the pastor said to me, “You’ve been here before haven’t you?” I said, “Yes,” without elaborating. It’s been over two years since I was there. Then he said, “you came with a guy that worked for Georgia Power.” This was a statement, not a question. I was impressed with this guy’s memory and I told him so.
Second, was the fact that this church has its own distinctive personality. There were lots of trucks and several really nice Harleys in the parking lot, the music had a country-western flavor to it, but it was solid – the main worship leader had a powerful voice and the band was really good. The pastor is a kind, salt of the earth, love on ya – but tell it like it is, sort of guy. He gave a strong message on something or other. Just kidding; he spoke on forgiveness. There was no rush to the service and people seemed to be enjoying themselves. There were a lot of people there too – close to 300 I’d guess, in the second service.
They are definitely impacting a segment of Bartow County that needs to be reached and they seem to be doing a really good job at connecting people with God and each other.
I think it is unfortunate when a church body thinks it has to be just like another church in another place. I think it is impossible for this to be a real success because no two towns are exactly the same and certainly no two pastors are exactly the same. Even churches in the same town should not try to be exactly like one another. God has a distinct purpose for each church and each pastor has a distinctive style.
Churches need to strive to be who God has called them to be, but this only comes by spending time seeking God’s will for that local church and then following His lead.
So I give kudos to Pastor Jim for leading his church to be who God has called them to be. May God continue to bless their efforts!
