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God desires. It has been a little
over eight years, and God has
blessed us with more people,
but the greatest blessing has
been the knitting of my heart
and the heart of my family
with this community that God
has us serving—a bond that
cannot be established without
faithfulness. Teachable — Give instruction to a
wise man, and he will be yet wiser:
teach a just man, and he will increase
in learning (Proverbs 9:9). There is
an aspect of learning that is needed.

Pastors often necessarily expect their
church to be teachable. A church must
be ready to trust the man they call to
lead them. If a church expects to call
a man to lead them but is unwilling to
let him lead because of wanting things
to be the same or the “we have always
done it this way” mentality, they might
as well close the doors. In a church,
people must be willing to heed their
new pastor’s counsel, so there must
be diligent prayer when considering
whom God would have come and lead.

But a pastor must also be prepared to
learn. He must learn the hearts of the
people he is leading, the worries and
fears that motivated things to be done
a certain way, and the way to lead
them with a heart that reflects Christ’s
leadership, a heart of compassion.

Children’s choir
pastoring this church. We have seen God
do great things, but there have also been
times of doubt. Applying the truths of being
faithful and ever learning has allowed my
heart to rest in God for the fruit. In a restart,
you can only remain faithful to God’s Word
and obey His command to lead as the under-
shepherd and love as a servant of servants.

Note from Bob Larson, BIMI USA Director:
This is an article from Pastor Nathan Browning
who pastors Calvary Baptist Church in
Hiawasee, Georgia. This church was on track
to close its doors about eight years ago when
they contacted us at BIMI Reseeding America to
help them find a pastor. We learned of Nathan
Browning and his desire to pastor a church. We
had the church in Hiawasee contact Nathan
and they called him as their pastor. When
Brother Browning arrived, Reseeding America
organized a John and Romans distribution and
direct mail campaign to promote the ministry
of the church and announce the arrival of
the new pastor. It has been a blessing to visit
and preach at this church during Brother
Browning’s ministry. God has blessed in a great
While these two truths are certainly not
way! I asked Brother Browning to write this
exhaustive, they have been the foundation
article to encourage other churches that are in
upon which I have built my mindset while
decline and without a
Christmas parade
pastor. I also wanted
the article to possibly
motivate men about
restarting churches
today in America. W
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