Winning Again
Hope for the Church in Little America
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When I say that I am an expert on "little" I am not kidding. Outside of four years of my life I have been immersed in "little" America. In all these years I learned a lot about the ins and outs and pluses and minuses of being a part of "little: America. So maybe, just maybe, I can share some wisdom about the role that churches in little towns can have on the kingdom of God. My story is one of inconsistencies among the consistent. My story is not necessarily one of success but of survival. My story is not about a lot of great things that have happened but simply about a lot of things. Still, with all my experience in little places, this book is not so much about what has been but about what can be.
The writing of this book was precipitated by a change that took place in my life in the past year. In the past year I realized that I have devoted too much time to doing pastoral things that haven't had a great impact on the Kingdom of God and too little time doing the "Christian" thing that will have an impact for eternity. You are meeting me as I am making the transition from being a generic pastor to being a disciple-making pastor. I write this book not from a mindset of telling you everything I know but from a mindset of wishing I had been going in this direction a long time ago. As you read this book we will be making footprints together as opposed to me asking you to step in the footprints I have already made. I trust that the little time you spend reading this book will have a big effect on your life and the Kingdom of God. There is a path blazed by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that, if followed, will lead to the church in little America winning in the 21st century.
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About the Book
The church in little America is on a losing streak—and it has been for the past thirty years.
But it can be stopped and the church can start winning again even in rural areas, according to Kevin Ver Hoeven, who has spent almost four decades pastoring churches in small places.
In this book, he outlines the sins that are most prevalent in small-town America and what churches and worshipers of Christ can do to get better. Find out how to:
• focus on thriving on a spiritual level;
• abandon the demons of unbelief;
• spread the Word of God to others.
The author also recalls the moments when he has had to say goodbye to young families leaving little America for bigger America. He has not only said goodbye to friends, but he has said goodbye to brothers and sisters in Christ who would have been pillars in the church and community if they had stayed.
God is just as committed to building his kingdom in little America as he is in big America—and you must never get lured into believing that just because you live in a little place that you have a little God.
About the Author
Kevin Ver Hoeven has pastored the Bethel Christian Reformed Church in Fulton Church for the past seven years. This is just his latest stop in a thirty-five-year career of pastoring in small places in America. He is married with three adult children and the most precious grandson in the world.