Ben Armacost's blog

It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of one of our faithful trainers, Carlos Cruz. Carlos passed away on Monday, January 23. 

Carlos gave his life to Christ in mid-August 2011 (on his birthday) through the witness of Frank Cole, pastor of Church With No Walls in Hobart, Tasmania. After his conversion, I asked pastor Frank if I could train him and his Josephine; Frank readily consented, and we began right away. 

Reading through the New Testament, we may be so enthralled with the wonder of Jesus and His miraculous ways that we miss the very practical nature of His work. If we look at Luke 8, 9, and 10, we see a very interesting sequence.

Was Hezekiah a great man of God? Indeed, he was one of the most godly of all of the kings of Judah. He sought the Lord and obeyed Him in many ways, and he cleansed the nation of the abominable idols of his forebears. He was such a man of God, in fact, that the Lord miraculously healed him of a terminal illness and extended his life by 15 years (2 Kings 20).

Every once in a while something comes along that changes your life completely. Ten years ago this week, that happened to me.

The word 'multiplication' is being used more and more by churches and organizations, but until these groups actually multiply, it's nothing more than a trendy word. Generational growth is without a doubt part of the Jesus' grand plan for reaching the world, so it's essential that we learn how to put multiplication into action.

How does generational growth begin? Let me share a story that may help.

“I shouldn’t be hearing that file!” The shout came across the room to me from our high school industrial arts teacher. Our class was working on a metal project, and my file was making the metal “sing.” My immediate reaction was to use the file more carefully, ensuring that it would not make so much noise. A few minutes later, I realized why my shop teacher was shouting about the noise. It wasn’t because I was using the file incorrectly. I wasn’t supposed to be using it at all—class was over and it was time to clean up!

Sometimes I get discouraged thinking about how little influence Christianity has today.  It seems that, not only have we lost a lot of ground in recent decades, but that the darkness has such an overwhelming majority among the peoples of the earth.  I remember driving in Australia a few years ago, going past hundreds of homes and seeing people walking along the streets, and becoming quite irate at the fact that the ruler of the darkness has such an overwhelming following! 

Dear friends and co-laborers, we are finally back in England after our 6-month stateside assignment in the US. The last five weeks were the most intense as we spoke in 9 churches, and we are pleased to have established a few new partnerships.

When I was a pastor, one of the most heart-wrenching statements I ever heard from people was the phrase, “I’m not being fed.” People would use the solid biblical argument from John 21 where Jesus tells Peter to feed His lambs and sheep, so I felt that the burden of responsibility rested squarely upon my shoulders. I believe that the complaint of “not being fed” is one of the primary reasons people leave churches today, and I have no doubt that such a statement repeatedly will chip away at the confidence of a pastor and leave him second-guessing his ability to lead--just as it did to me.

One of the big mistakes that I’ve made in witnessing is missing opportunities to take people further in conversations. Upon sharing the gospel, I would conclude that people are either 'for' or 'against' it--and sadly, I reckoned that the vast majority of people have no interest in God's message.