The Church Growth Movement, from Fuller Seminary, has many fascinating, failed theories. Peter Wagner admitted in print that none of their CG principles work. When a founder concedes that, and the evidence backs him up, those who continue in that ideology must be idiots.
One of those Church Growth principles is Soil Testing, which the WELS Shrinkers dearly love..
Let me illustrate. I have three locations for bushes, which will screen the view of our neighbors' back yards. The problem is, I need to place the new arrivals in November, when the ground might be semi-frozen and inhospitable to gardening.
The cause is clay soil without many organic elements. The gardening books say, "Test the soil." I have never done that, because Creation Gardening relies on action rather than analysis.
I cannot dig a hole in the dry soil. I could start a brick factory if I had a kiln and compliant low-paid workers. The soil turns white and rock-hard when it dries out. My neighbors have the same problem.
After digging a small divot in the places where the Bonnie Butterfly bushes will go, I filled the depression with water. After soaking the divot for a day, I dug a much larger hole. This technique worked well in Phoenix, where the sun provided the kiln for the clay soil.
Each of the three holes received a bag of mushroom compost, a thick layer of wet newspapers on top, and some soil to hold them in place. Some call this a method of composting, and they use post-hole diggers to set up these soil creature magnets. In Midland (Wormhaven.1) I dug a bottomless zinc garbage can into the soil and filled it with fresh compost material (with a lid on top). Eventually I pulled the can loose and beheld a new composted zone for planting.
Composting produces warmth, because the elements of decay all contribute their spark of energy. Billions of bacteria, springtails, protozoa, and nematodes are like a self-heating auditorium, where the equipment collects audience heat to keep the room warm.
The larger effect of burying a bag of mushroom compost is a zone where our favorite soil creatures meet, eat, live, love, and die. They invite themselves, like homeless people who spot a church picnic, politicians who investigate a taxing opportunity.
When the bushes arrive, the holes will be excavated, which will mix more clay with the compost, an ideal foundation for growth. The bushes will arrive dormant, but they will establish roots over the winter and spring, with mulch and Epsom Salt providing additional food and nutrition. Roots love Epsom Salt.
The elevated soaker hose will be extended to the back section of fence, and many butterfly, insect, and bird friendly plants will be added. The effect of more plants, mulch, and moisture in that zone will benefit the bushes by softening and feeding the soil.
What Should We Learn, But Seldom Apply to the Ministry?
The Parable of the Sower and the Seed (Matthew 13, Mark 4) teaches us to broadcast the Word (the seed) with abandon. The efficacious Word will take root, even though various forces war against the Gospel.
The parable is clearly the opposite of soil testing, because sowing relies on trust - that the living seed will combine with God's Creation to take root. Sowing is the opposite of soil-testing, just as the Means of Grace are the opposite of man's newly invented Church Growth principles.
Soil-testing means that materialistic ministers want to figure out where they can be successful in the eyes of the world rather than faithful to the Word of God.
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| Justus Liebig is justly called the Father of the Fertilizer Industry. |
Here is an ironic note. Liebig invented soil-testing and adding man-made chemicals to goose the growth of his garden. Soon he realized that his methods did not work in the long run, but the inorganic chemical industry took off anyway, killing the ocean of life in the soil. That made the desperate gardeners buy more chemicals to repair the damage they just caused with their use of NPK fertilizers.
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| Norma Boeckler's illustration omitted the soil testing kit, but she was following the original Parable of the Sower. |