We love the idea God has given “Our Church” the Spirit of Ownership. Just like we feel like we own our jobs, our homes, our cars, our relationships, we should be happy and proud to own our church! Take care of her, look after her! Here’s to Serving the Best Church in the City! Be Blessed ALC!

I really like this and it’s so true.

I think it’s because we have become such a “fast” and “right now” generation. I think taking ownership also means taking care of it…good or bad…nurturing it and that takes time. We don’t do that anymore. We want it, want it now, and want it ready for us to use rather than we doing what it takes to make it useful. I’m glad that we are learning right in our church how to build it and ourselves rather than wanting it done and getting upset if its not.

I agree with Dr. Montgomery that we NEED to take ownership! We can stand firmly when it comes to worldly things and won’t give up even when its plain to see. But won’t stand on the Word of God when it comes to our spiritual lives! We have become so sensitive, he/she said or did this and I’m leaving! What happened to trusting God to handle things and forgiving your brother/sister?

I thought this was,a very interesting statement.

I think everyone is tired. Historically, the black women who didn’t work took care of the church. My great aunt who lived to be 99 never worked, but she was over missions, made sure everything at her church was run smoothly. She was the mother of the church. Her husband provided for her, so she could do more community things. Women are just tired! Overall Black men are not in situations to take care of women anymore compared to the industrial age. So hey, everything will suffer, because after two people get off of work, and take care of the families…they are all tired! Besides, jobs now are not FRIENDLY anymore…so most people don’t want to be bothered in their private times… Oh well…change in culture!

I thought about this blog and whether it would be appropriate to comment or not, and decided…time to speak. The church is in need of healing and restoration…both black and white. We are still segregated as if it is still 1950. Our lives are still segregated in society although we want to believe that it is not. So the family is in need of healing as well. It would be difficult to “fix something” that isn’t really broken….or is it? If we were as a body, broken before the Lord Jesus, he could fix it right? Thus, our prayers should be in this time and age we live in, Lord fix me.
Help me not to “feel” offended and leave when you call me to a place to serve…if that is what your will is in my life. If I am at the wrong place at the wrong time, then guide me to where it is you want me to grow and flourish, both inside and outside the church in Jesus name…and the chuch said…amen.

I believe that we (the church) take in a lot of flesh minded individuals, complaining about spiritual matters that they can’t cure. So now they blame the church and want to leave the church because they don’t put a demand on the anoiting for a solution to the problem. The church isn’t the problem! It’s the people with problems, that causes problems, and then find problems with the church that’s trying to solve the problems that they caused. People take ownership it’s not the church.

….I was just speaking with my son about this today as we were riding home from school. I posed the question, son how many of your crew at school live in a household where both parents are there? He paused for a second and began calling off a list of names, and out of 10 names only 2 lived in households with both mother and father. Then I shared with him the list of names from my crew during my highschool years (32yrs. ago). And of the at least 10 names I named all were raised up in 2 parent households and most whom are still living are still together. Society has shifted, if I have problems with my wife, get another one, if I have problems with my husband get another one, if I have problems in my church get another one. Values have changed in society that has caused us to be stagnate in our faith….to put it plain…my used car broke down and immediately I became distressed and depressed…I wanted to get rid of it that very day….I started searching the newspaper and rechecking my credit so I could be prepared to buy a new one…… instead of me calming down and getting it diagnosed I just wanted to get out of it all together…..and guess what?….all it need was a starter….been driving ever since!

Good point Dr.Montgomery. We as people will hold on to the unhealthiest of relationships, hold on to raggedy cars, stay at dead-end jobs, but when it comes to what matters most, spiritual matters, we are quick to leave without giving it our all. I commit to being a part of the solution and sticking things out, even when things aren’t good! Thank you for such wonderful leadership.

Lady C, I agree with you in regards to us praying and seeking God for His direction. I also think that if we do spend more time “taking ownership”, as Dr. Montgomery has been ministering, and less time being worried about how we feel, then we won’t even have time to get stuck on whatever feelings may pop up here and there. We’re human and sometimes we DO feel a certain way about something, justified or not. But if at the end of the day, our focus is on GOD and taking ownership of what He’s given us, then we can move past those feelings. Blessings to my fellow bloggers!

I want to say that I do agree and at times I disagree with taking ownership. Sometimes its hard to feel like you have a say in helping to changes things or that what you have to say is important. I see some people do not welcome change and want to continue to do things as we’ve always done even if its not working. I think thats why sometimes people get discouraged and just want to give up. But the devil is a liar and you gotta pray and trust God to fix the situation. Dr. Ed does an wonderful job of keeping us encouraged!

I have visited your church and I live in Fl. My church underwent a split 2yrs ago and people had the thought process of well I don”t know about this new pastor so I am out. No asking the Lord should I stay or go just left. My husband and I listened to the Lord and he told us that ourfamily were to stay. We have and I am so glad we have. Our new pastor is a wonderful man of God. I have ran into past church members who”ve left and they are still wondering around trying to figure out where to worship. I agree with you Dr.Montgomery, we need to stick it out and try to be part of the solution instead of tucking tale and leaving. But what we are missing in the body is maturing! A number of the body of Christ aren’t mature they are carnal. The society we live in encourages it. So to all of you who have stayed at your local church and helped it bless you.

Taking ownership is a very tall order,and this is why. We live in a world that does not practice ownership or “responsibility” of oneself, ones decisions, nor ones actions. Our leaders, idols, and role models have demonstrated to us that its okay to act any way you want with no consequence or recourse [until its too late] People really need to grasp the fact that ownership starts within.

I agree that the point of staying to help improve our churches is understandable. But how the congregation seal with a intimidating controling dominating pastor who reports to no one? He has no supervisor because od the “independent” structure of the church. To me there is little option but to leave. We have to leave issues like this to God. Thus sometimes it’s best to leave instead of thinking that we can change a church.

Samuel do you think God is pleased with your tone. If you have an issue or if there is a concern, you should take this up with God. Ask God for understanding and be careful in your judgement. We are blessed to have a very loving and kind pastor. From reading your conversation, I know that you are a member or at least considered being one. Don’t let your personal feeling or your emotions get in the way. Don’t throw in the tile before your harvest. Many time we come to hear a word because we need a word, and we miss the word because of our speculation. Seek God for all answers. Know that you are loved. May the peace of God rule and reign in your thoughts.

I believe lots of people have been offended by ministries and allow the spirit of offence to keep them from trusting again and taking ownership of their church so they feel it is so easy to leave. But what I have learned is that we are not going to always agree or even always get along with one another. If we feel that something is wrong within the church we should pray and believe that what we ask in prayer is going to be answered by God. God will either change the situation or show us where we need to change. Never forget…..Always walk in love and you’ll never go wrong. GOD IS LOVE. GOD BLESS!

I believe if God place you some place to serve, you should not get into church politics, and allow others to run you off. You are serving God the father not man. You should know within yourself that you were called there for a purpose.

Truly this is a correct analysis of the people that we have become. Yet God in his magnificent, undying, untouchable, breathtaking, LOVE affords us another chance! Truly I can attest that my last church I was fed up with the going around in cirlces and tried to pray, fix, suggest that things could be changed by the word of God which states that we are healed. Sometimes the Lord wants to move you out of the way of his works, so that he can manifest a work in a church, and guess what “You Gotta Move”. It is hard and it is frustrating looking for another church, place of worship, church family, Breaking Word down for you place to put your feet up and learn more about You in the Word of God. Well I love what ALC does for the kids, the family and the Love that is exhibited there, I may move to join real soon. Thank You for all you Do Dr. Ed and Sista Saundra Montgomery.

It is time to take ownership. The thing that I love about God is that He’s already given us everything that pertains to life and godliness. We are sitting on our do nothings waiting for God to open up heaven and drop down that new car, that house, that million. You know how we are, we have to see it to believe it. It’s funny how we believe the doctors when they say Cancer but we can’t believe the word of God when it speaks healing. We want it all in a microwave second but we don’t want to do our part. Well, when we learn to have faith in our faith, then and only then will we please God and then we can take ownership.
Be Blessed.

What we see is the harvest of what has been planted through the sowers of information into our minds.

We the Church the Body of Christ need to til the ground and start planting seeds of Love starting from the pulpit.

Just becuase Adam ate from the tree, does that mean we should too ?

Self gratification is not a new trick of the enemy but he has added a new spin to his means of deceit…marketing immediate gratification. This has become our primary pursuit at the expense of all else. Relationships become expendable at a moments notice. When we break from the church, we are breaking covenant relationship the result being a broken Church.
God wants us gratified and provided us means. The Church is the vehicle through which God pleases us individually. However we miss it because we don’t understand/believe or are not taught that we prosper individually as the Church prospers corporately. Knowing that your prosperity is directly relative to your Church’s prosperity gives you that incentive to hang in there and fight to make it right. Ultimately, we know that when you are about God’s business he can please you far better than you can please yourself.
….nobody can do me like Jesus!

Genesis, God gave man dominion in the earth. I believe some have lost sight of this dominionship. Everything that is going on with the church goes back to dominionship, ownership, and authority. Begining first with self, because we must learn first ourselves how to operate in our dominionship, ownership and authority. If we cannont take ownership of self, just imagine trying to teach someone else. Jesus told Peter when you are converted then you can teach others. We have to ask God to restore our sight of the dominionship, ownership and authority that was given to us, walk in it and I believe we will see change.

It is so true..The thing We must first do is get more men involved in our Church. They attend Sunday after Sunday with no sincere feeling of being wanted or needed.I was that such person. I now sit and enjoy the word of God…because there are some people that you have put in place that are still playing Church instead of being the Church. I love ALC and I thank you for teaching me what God says I can be and have in this life.

Dear Peacemaker. Some clarification. I am not a member of ALC nor do I live in Texas. I am trying to apply what Dr. Ed says to my circumstances. God’s Word to me after praying about this is I must do His will by standing up for truth and leave the consequences to him. But it is very difficult. The question remains – how do you take ownership for contributing to the maintenance of bibical principles in church in a spiritually abusive situation?

Brother Samuel, may I comment? In a situation where there truly is spiritual abuse, this is a very serious situation. Realize that whatever you decide will have consequences and fall-out because the choice that is made will affect other people. It just does, whether we mean it to or not. As long as you have covered the situation in prayer and fasting, really sat with and sought the LORD until you hear Him clearly (a challenge in emotional times, I know), then if He directs you to move out of that situation, do so with grace and leave them with a blessing. Continue to pray for them. And speak words of life into the lives of the spiritual authority of that house. We don’t need to touch GOD’s anointed, that is His responsibility alone. He only asks us to love…and that you can do. If you have been hurt, He will heal that. Walking in forgiveness, you set yourself free, you set the others free, and you allow a clear path for Holy Spirit to work in all lives. It’s a lovely thing to see people restored, rather than torn apart. Blessings, peace and grace to you, my brother as you move through this.

I agree with Bro. Samuel. dont waste your time if God has already spoken to you. God had delivered me and my family from a church and I was still there praying for things to change. People made me feel guilty when i told them that I was planning to leave. Sometimes we can be setting ourselves back when God has clearly spoken to us. We do it every day.. we stay in relationships that are toxic, abusive, we stay on jobs that are stressful and are killing us, we God has clearly given us a way out. Its just hard sometimes to do what we know God has instructed us to do. Yes we do need to seek God first in all things so that we will be clear when he gives us instructions and not just act on feelings which is easy to do. God bless all of you.

I am in total agreement with Sharoni. I could not have put it better myself.

HI,PASTOR THANKS FOR THE MEAT.

DR. MONTGOMERY.

I believe in what you are teaching us at the church, I knoiw that the word of God Is the truth and you speak the truth. Ownership is what God spoke into me. You sid what needed to be said on this topic. THE WORD!
GOD BELSS YOU AND YOUR CHURCH FAMILY….

DR. MONTGOMERY.

I believe in what you are teaching us at the church, I knoiw that the word of God Is the truth and you speak the truth. Ownership is what God spoke into me. You sid what needed to be said on this topic. THE WORD!
GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR CHURCH FAMILY….

Thanks Pastor for everything you have been sharing with us at church regarding ownership. Again it is right on with what the Lord has been speaking me about. I do have just one question for you. In John chapter 17 Jesus is praying to the Father and he asks the Father to fill us with the same kind of love that Jesus and the Father have for each other. My question is how do we convey God’s love to other people? How do we explain to them how much God loves us and how His love can heal them?

Thanks Dr. Ed, I agree, we must live in faith and take our God given responsibility for everything in the Earth….He has given us dominion and expects us to handle it properly….With wisdom and understanding we can posess all that is rightfully ours…God Bless You

Dr. Montgomery, I agree with much that has been said; but to be brief. Our lives are purposed driven. God has a devine purpose for each of us and within that purpose it’s not really about “US,” but about others. So within the church if we focus on our purpose within the church body God has placed us in instead of getting caught up in personal agendas, other peoples actions or attitudes and seek God through the rough times, God will give you what you need to with stand and bless your ministry within the body. But we should stop running from what God has called us to do. He said we’re like sheep amongst wolves. That doesn’t exclude the church.

Pastor I TOTALLY agree with you. We should take ownership in every aspect; supporting the vision monetarily and with your time, picking up papaer you may see on the floor, greet your brothers, sisters and visitors with a warm, sincere greeting, etc. It’s all a part of it. It also includes saying the difficult things. I LOVE our church family and the Word that comes from your platform. Our Pastors are the BEST!!!! I am, however a little concerned about the state of Life Church. It’s advertised as “The Pastor’s Bible Study” and lately you all haven’t been there. I am totally in agreement that you all need time off to rejuvenate (and I will have words with anyone who says differently). However, I think there is a gap in that the elders kind of miss the mark a bit and theres a lack of substance. I see people get up and walk out during the lesson. that’s not good. A good percentage of the people attending Life Church are visitors from other churches and unchurched people who are searching. We miss a tremendous opportunity there. The last 3 weeks the elders teaching really seemed unprepared, as if they got a last minute call or something. I’m not against them teaching, but maybe you or Sis. Saundra should spend some time with them and lay out the guide line/lesson plan for the month. Give them the benefit or prep time (ex. we are going to teach __________ this month in life church; wk 1 will be ____, and so on). That way everyone has a clear understanding of the objective for the month and they can spend time studying what you are studying. So if you have to call on them, they are not coming off the cuff. Personally, I don’t want to come and listen to an elder vent about his wife and hear him say “he wants to drop her off in the Gulf”. How is that going to save someone who is hurting and just happened to be driving down the street and noticed cars in our parking lot.

It is important to remember the story of the man that drown, waiting for God to save him. He was sent two boats and helicopter, to save him.

I have been at ALC for 23+ years and have listened to messages from Pastor, Lady Minister, Elders, and Deacons and can safely say, they were the right message for me at that time. This happened when I listened for the message.

Over these years I have learned to have Faith in God, that the right message will be provided as needed.

Hi Pastor, I would have to totally agree with Change Agent. Over majority of the time, when you or Sis. Saundra aren’t present it’s very difficult to follow. I was happy when I heard of “The Pastors Bible Study” but I had noticed that you guys weren’t there for the past couple of weeks, and I figured they’re probably taking a well deserved rest. However I’m very concerned about the messages that are taught. It starts off okay and then it takes a big drastic change going some where totally different. I come to listen to the Word, not to see one of the teachers stand on the Word of God with his dirty shoes and tell people in the audience to get up and stand on chairs and yell at things that aren’t there and telling the imaginary thing/ person to get out. Don’t get me wrong I’m all for casting out spirits and praying through out the church but on that particular wednesday I couldn’t tell nor could he probably tell you what he was doing. Maybe its okay for others who have been members for a while and who know these teachers. But for others who aren’t members and who have only heard by word of mouth, flyer, email, tv, or from a live experience on Sunday its a huge difference/ gap.

@ San4ds…I agree, with you from the aspect that God knows what we need when we need it; and that works for those of us who know the voice of our shepard. However, for those who may be unchurched, who don’t know His voice and are not up on the “church lingo”, they need the word given to them plainly, like our pastors can do. They can break it down so that it can be understood by anyone. I’m not saying we shouldn’t use our elders, I’m saying set them up for success by preparing them. Our pulpit is not a platform to be used to air your dirty laundry or to vent about your spouse, unless you are going to use that situation to make a point…BTW no point was made. It’s obvious that they got a call that day informing them that they were teaching that night…That makes 3 weeks in a row. That’s not fair to them nor is it fair to the hungry souls in attendance. Arm them with a lesson plan that they can study from the beginning of the month or quarterly; whatever works for our Pastors. That way, whether there is a need for them to teach or not that month, they are ready. This will also give them some talking points to speak to if someone stops them and has questions. It’s all pros and no cons to making sure they are prepared.

Hello pastor Ed. I have a couple of things to say. My first is that I am wondering about YD21. I see a lot of Teen agers and “young adults” that should be in YD21 and they are in the main sanctuary during the times of service. My concern is what is going on in the YD21 service that makes them leave and come over to the sanctuary and not pay attention to you while you speak. Is the message so bad that whoever is over that service not reaching our youth and Young Adults? I remember as a teen, which isn’t that long ago, I enjoyed church. I looked forward to how God would move and create and recreate in the lives of my peers. I am afraid that I don’t see that in our youth from that service. After talking to a lot of teens I have learned that the “youth Pastor” isn’t teaching to them, he “talks to them like children”. Some teens are looking for the social hour yes…but there are others that are seeking God and they are wanting that moment of breakthrough that time with Christ that will help them. I would really love a ministry for these young people that will reach them and minister to them. This is our future church. My second is, I see a lot of Elders and I know we have a lot of Prayer intercessors and things around ALC. After reading the comments from Change Agent I feel better about this statement, but I would love to see a Board of Ministers or “Pastors” in Training board. I know these men and women could learn so much from working closer with you and Dr. Saundra. It would eliminate the problem occurring on Wednesday when you are not present. These ministers could all be licensed and able to step in whenever you needed them to, or even be appointed to a cell group or ministry within ALC at the discretion of the Leader. I just wanted to share these ideas with you Pastor and Church Family. I love ALC and word we get from here. This is my church and I want to see her grow and be the best she can be.

Thank you for contributing to this subject. I agree with many of you. I believe the church does have a long way to go. Then again, that’s the way it should be. I also believe the present church is doing a great work. Let’s keep the dialogue and our minds open.

Thank you.

Peace,

Dr. Ed