A Surprise Celebration on Sunday Evening, June 30, 2013, for Pastor Randy Thornton and His Wife, Sarah, Who Celebrated 25 Years of Ministry at Grace Churchin Southern Pines, North Carolina:

The Thornton's three daughters guide their blindfolded parents toward the front door of Grace Church's worship center in Southern Pines, N.C. (See more photos at the end of this article.)

The staff and many attendees of Grace Church of Southern Pines, N.C., surprised the church’s Senior Pastor Randy Thornton and his wife, Sarah, on Sunday evening, June 30, 2013, with a celebration honoring the couple’s 25 years of ministry at Grace Church.   

The Thorntons, sponsored by Manna Church in Fayetteville, N.C., moved to Moore County in 1988 to “plant” Grace Church.

The Thornton’s three adult daughters asked their parents to put on blindfolds on June 30 before they chauffeured them to a surprise destination. 

“Rebekah, Alison, and Ashley brought us to the party,” says Sarah Thornton.

Jonathan Thornton, the Thornton’s only son, was working in Tennessee as a Mission Communication Specialist for World Changers and could not attend the celebration.   

Rebekah and her husband, Ryan Peterson (spiritual development pastor at Grace Church), invited the Thorntons and Rebekah’s sisters to their home for Sunday evening (June 30) dinner.

“The card said ‘Family Date Night,’” Sarah says. “After Ashley arrived at our home from Raleigh, she said I needed to change my outfit because she thought Rebekah and Ryan were going to have someone take a family photo. This was not a pleasant thought, as I had been running errands in the rain all afternoon, ha.”

Sarah thought the dinner was going to be Rebekah and Ryan’s venue to tell her and Randy that Rebekah was expecting a second child.  

“I had Randy take me to Fresh Market to purchase a dozen pink roses,” Sarah says. “I hid them in the back of the car. They wouldn't catch me off-guard, I thought!”

Alison Thornton told her parents that instead of driving to Rebekah’s house, they were all going to dinner at a nice restaurant – but it had to be a surprise, thus the need for blindfolds.

“Riding in heavy rain while blindfolded isn't my cup of tea, but visions of Ironwood Café or perhaps 195 [195 American Fusion Cusine] were dancing in my head,” Sarah says. “All was well, until the ‘speed bump.' [Grace Church’s parking lot has some pretty tall speed bumps.] I just said, ‘Oh, no. Grace Church.’”

Ryan Peterson, who emceed the celebration, and a large crowd waited silently in the lobby of the worship center as the blindfolded Thorntons, guided by their daughters, made their way to the building’s front doors.   

“There are no words to describe the surprise we felt as the blindfolds were removed,” Sarah says. “There was a sea of people we loved, all wearing mustaches in order to look like Randy. We were surrounded with love and words of encouragement from many throughout the evening.”

Pastor Michael Fletcher of Manna Church and Pastor David Schmaltz of Valley Community Church in Weldon, N.C., sent congratulations via satellite.

Fletcher reminisced about the Thorntons planting Grace Church “in a former pet store in a shopping center” in Aberdeen, N.C.

Schmaltz, a friend of the Thornton’s for 30-plus years, called Randy a “pastor of pastors” and said, “You’ve impressed me on every level.”

“Words via satellite from pastor friends Michael Fletcher and David Schmaltz were an added surprise,” Sarah says.

Former Grace Church Youth Pastor, Heath Caddell, a Moore County, N.C., native and pastor of Reach Community Church in Leland, N.C. (a church-plant sponsored by Grace Church), offered words of encouragement. He shared his and his wife’s experience of finding Grace Church “in the phone book,” meeting in the Thornton’s home for a weekly twenty-thirty (age group) Bible study, and his going on to become a youth pastor at Grace Church.

“We wouldn’t be where we are today without Randy and Sarah,” Caddell said. “They believed in us.”

Pastor Jerry Daley attended the celebration. Daley founded the Manna Church in Fayetteville in 1974 and organized “mPact Churches” (formerly known as Grace Churches International). Daley and his wife, Nan, live in Columbia, South Carolina, and in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Daley, alluded to as “Randy’s pastor,” told the audience that he was present at Manna Church when the Thorntons were “prayed over” and sent to Southern Pines to plant Grace Church.

Four Grace Church elders – Tim Brock, Jimmy Coxe, Mark Hurley, and Pastor David Pratt – offered prayers for the Thorntons.

 

Jimmy Coxe, who leads services at the Grace Church Seven Lakes (N.C.) Campus, said about Pastor Thornton, “He never takes his pastor hat off. He’s been a real friend.”

Coxe said three things qualify a person as a church planter: the man, the message, and the mission.

The Thornton’s daughters praised their parents as they stood before the audience during the celebration.   

“We’ve seen so many miracles of ‘God providing,’” Rebekah said.

Alison Thornton told her parents, “You poured into the church and people’s lives and our lives.”

Ashley Thornton said about her parents, “It takes faithfulness in hard times . . . They’re all about God. They want to do godly things. It’s not about the ‘Randy Show,’ preaching; it’s all about God.” Addressing her parents, she said, “Thank your for the example you’ve set for us.”

Many former Grace Church staff members attended the celebration.

The church staff showed a video featuring photos gathered from 25 years at Grace Church, and Peterson announced that the church plans to send the Thorntons on a cruise.     

After the program held in the worship center sanctuary ended, attendees enjoyed appetizers arrayed on tables in the spacious church lobby. The Thorntons sat a table in the church café area of the lobby and received congratulations from individuals.    

Sarah says, “We are thankful for those who worked so hard to make the celebration absolutely perfect. We loved the words of encouragement, the video of years past at Grace Church, the amazing food, and especially the reunion with many friends, old and new. We enjoyed seeing people whose lives have been changed by Christ and who are in ministry. That was a highlight of the evening. However, the most rewarding part was hearing our daughters speak about their faith in God and their experiences of growing up as pastor's children. It was very touching to hear them share how they never felt as if the church was more important than our nurturing of our children.”

She says that she and Randy felt “so blessed” by the church staff who worked to prepare the celebration.

“And we are so proud of and thankful for an amazing son-in-law who is following God's call on his life,” Sarah says. “Ryan did an excellent job of emceeing the event.”    ###

 

Pastor Randy and Sarah Thornton

 Ryan Peterson

Rebekah, Alison, and Ashley

Pastor Randy and Sarah Thornton

 

Pastor Stoney Locklear of Turning Point Worship Center in Aberdeen, N.C. 

 

Single-click on this photo to see it larger.

Where Are You? Our Need for Biblical Community

Pastor Randy Thornton (pictured above) 

The Rev. Randy Thornton, senior pastor of Grace Church in Southern Pines, N.C., preached to his congregation on Sunday, June 23, 2013, a message called “Where Are You? Our Need for Biblical Community.”

Pastor Thornton read John 16:12-14 (NIV): “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.”

“God brings cleansing to the church to bring cleansing to the nation,” Thornton said.

Calling his summary “Randy’s Rule of Revival,” he offered a list of results he theorizes take place during a “revival”: 70 percent is “of God”; 20 percent is emotion (flesh); “and 10 percent is the devil.”

“When lives are getting changed, there is always a counterfeit, too,” he said.

The gentiles who made up the majority of the Church of Galatia during the Apostle Paul’s day were waning in their passion for Christ, Thornton said. 

Paul wrote:

Galatians 3:1 (NIV): “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.”

Galatians 1:6: "I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel . . . "

Galatians 3:3: "Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?"

“Gnosticism was coming into the church,” Thornton said, adding that Gnosticism involves “trying to obtain more and more knowledge” and emphasizing “outward performance.”

The word “Gnosticism” comes from the Greek word “gnosis,” which means “knowledge.” Gnosticism generally purposes that salvation is achieved through special knowledge.

Thornton said he recently read “Reveal” (2009, by Greg L. Hawkins and Cally Parkinson), a book analyzing “the effectiveness of churches” and describing four categories of believers.

The book centers on survey information gathered from 11,000 forms distributed among Willow Creek Church attendees.

(Find a “Summary of the Willow Creek REVEAL Study” by Russ Rainey, Ph.D., at http://www.christiancoachingcenter.org/index.php/russ-rainey/coachingchurch2/.)

Dr. Rainey writes in his “REVEAL Study” summary, “Before the research, Willow Creek had been assuming that ‘the more a person far from God participates in church activities, the more likely it is those activities will produce a person who loves God and loves others.’ However, this assumption was found to be invalid by the research. To quote the study: ‘Does increased attendance in ministry programs automatically equate to spiritual growth? To be brutally honest: it does not.’”

Rainey says the Willow Creek study divided church attendees into groups according to their levels of spiritual formation: 1) those who are ‘exploring Christianity,’ 2) those who are ‘growing in Christ,’ 3) those who are ‘close to Christ,’ and 4) those who are ‘Christ-centered.’

The study found that those who were in the first two categories (exploring and growing – the least mature attendees) actually did benefit more from the church’s programs and ministries.

But Rainey notes that those who were more mature (the close to Christ and Christ-centered members) were often “stalled” in their spiritual growth or “dissatisfied” with what the church was doing to help them grow. 

“When the stalled and dissatisfied groups were combined, they totaled over 25 percent of the total membership of the church,” Rainey says. “Those who admitted to being stalled seemed to come mainly from the ‘close to Christ’ category and they appeared to be ‘holding back or . . . somehow blocked from spiritual growth and progress.’ This group represents 16 percent of all those surveyed. Even though they see Jesus as the only way to salvation, only seven percent reported regular Bible reading and 25 percent of this group were considering leaving the church.”

Rainey reports that those who admitted to being dissatisfied seemed to come from the most “Christ-focused” segment of the church. 

“They are active evangelists, volunteers and donors to the church,” he says. “They are also the ones most likely to report that they are considering leaving the church.” 

The surveys concluded that the higher the level of engagement, the more likely it is that satisfaction with the church will be lukewarm.  The highly engaged group makes up about 10 percent of the total church. 

According to Rainey, researchers made two important observations: 1) this mature group of believers were dissatisfied that their church did not “keep them on track” as they tried to lead a Christian life and 2) they were disappointed that the church had not “helped them find a spiritual mentor.”

Rainey’s Conclusion:

The Church and its ministries seemed to have the most influence at the beginning of a person’s spiritual growth process. 

“The more mature believers do not seem to benefit so much from programmatic hand-holding – ‘the institution of the church becomes less central to their faith development,’” he says.  

Rainey adds, “The study concludes that, ‘Our analysis paints the picture of the church being too preoccupied with the early growing years, leaving the spiritual adolescents to find their own way – without preparing them for the journey.’”

The data from this study “suggests that the church provides minimal support for those who are most devoted to Christ.

“Since these people are the best equipped and most motivated advocates for Christ, providing them with increased coaching (emphasis mine) and encouragement could reap great gains for the kingdom.” Rainey says. “The new goal of Willow Creek is to “transition the role of the church from spiritual parent to spiritual coach (emphasis mine).”

Rainey offers a final positive note: “Those who are most advanced on the spiritual growth continuum state that they have an increasing need for ‘someone to hold me accountable” and “speak the truth to me.’ The study concludes that, ‘ . . . they also seem to want a personal growth coach (emphasis mine) or spiritual mentor. That may be what would truly ‘keep them on track’ and from walking out the back door.’”

“Twenty-five percent of people [in the Willow Creek survey] were at two levels of dissatisfaction,” Pastor Thornton said, continuing his sermon. “They were thinking of leaving the church or had stopped growing.”

He observed that a lot of people in the first two categories (those who were “exploring Christianity” and those who were “growing in Christ”) had some problems such as: addictions, inappropriate relationships, emotional issues, lust, etc. They had not prioritized their spiritual lives and were not experiencing God because they were not seeking God.

“But, also, some of the more mature Christians were thinking of leaving the church,” Thornton said.

He added that those Christians were “disengaging” from the church by not serving in ministry, not being active in small groups, and indulging in “church is here for me” thinking.

“When you do not give, you become dissatisfied,” Thornton said. “By giving your life away, you receive life.”

There is a time when mature believers realize the church cannot meet all their needs, he said.

“You have to become a ‘self feeder,’” Thornton said. “There is a time when you need to be a meat-eater.”

Over time, believers have embraced the lie that the church is responsible for their spiritual welfare, he said.

“The lie of Satan is that you need to be constantly fed,” he said. “As you give, you are ministered to.”

He read Jeremiah 2:13 (NIV): “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”  

“A lot of us have bitten into the lie that the church is our problem,” Thornton said.

He read Revelation 2:1-7 (NIV):

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: . . . I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.

“You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”

“As a mature believer, you need to come in here already filled with God,” Thornton said. “An immature believer says, ‘Grind up my food; turn the blender on. Some of us are stalled. If you’re a mature believer and you’re not telling others about Jesus – repent!”  

He asked, “If revival truly hit our community, what would happen? [Would you be] ‘Waa, waa, waa, feed me, feed me, or [would you be] mature believers?”

Thornton said that a “leaker” is one who has Jesus leaking out of him and is not having to be fed by others.  

He said that a “leecher” claims he’s “not being fed” and is a milk-feeder. (The “Urban Dictionary” defines a “leecher” as “someone who takes a lot and doesn't give much.”)

“Rather than feeding others, others have to feed you; you’re leeching – you’re a leecher, not a leaker,” Thornton said.

He noted that telling people about Jesus is part of the “overflow.”

“Is your cup full enough that there’s an overflow?” Thornton asked. “We need Jesus-leaking people.  When Jesus is leaking out of your life, you change the spiritual climate. We want to be so close to Jesus that we become the church that leaks.”

A 'Celebration of Unity' Service

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(Many photos included are by Frank Martin of Grace Church)  

A Moore County crowd of 475 attended a March 3, 2013, “Celebration of Unity” service, which was endorsed by 16 “participating churches” and held at Grace Church in Southern Pines.  

The event, organized by David Pratt, life-development pastor at Grace Church, and Pastor Ken Owen of John 8:31 Ministries, featured preaching, prayer and praise-music.

Pastor David Pratt

Kicking off the service, Randy Thornton, senior pastor at Grace Church, said, “Those churches that have been praying together have grown exponentially.”

Pastor Randy Thornton

  
Thornton and pastors from many of the 16 churches have met together on Tuesdays to pray during the last 15 years, he said.  

“There are 87,000 people in Moore County,” Thornton noted. “If you put everyone in a church, the churches couldn’t handle it. Fifteen to 20 percent [of Moore County residents], max, attend church on Sunday morning.”

He urged pastors who agree on “essential major doctrines” to “put down differences” and pray together.

Some Pleasant Hill Baptist Church and Aberdeen First Baptist choir members

Some choir members from Pleasant Hill Baptist and Aberdeen First Baptist took the stage and sang “Victory in Jesus,” a song containing these words: “O victory in Jesus / My Savior forever / He sought me and he bought me / With his redeeming blood / He loved me ere I knew him / And all my love is due him / He plunged me to victory / Beneath the cleansing flood.”

That gospel seemed to touch hearts as the choir laced into its lyrics.

Pastor Mike Branscome 

     

Pastor Mike Branscome of Aberdeen First Baptist said, “Eight or nine years ago, I found the prayer group [of pastors], and it helped me grow in my Christian life.” Turning and looking toward some pastors representing the 16 participating churches, he said, “I love you guys.”  

Branscome asked audience members to pray for their churches, their pastors and their church staffs. He paused for attendees to offer silent prayers and then asked for each person to pray for “another church in this community” and its pastor and staff. He also solicited prayers for “people lost and un-churched in this county.”

Sal DiBianca

Sal DiBianca, director of Sandhills Teen Challenge (STC), a men’s drug and alcohol rehabilitation center located in Carthage, led his 26-member choir, made up of men in the STC program, in singing “I’m Alive.” Sal’s wife, Debby, sang with the group.

Melanson holds certificate (center) as ministers gather to pray.

DiBianca introduced William “Billy” Melanson, “a former cocaine addict” who completed the Teen Challenge program and has been “credentialed with the Assemblies of God and called to missions.”

“I should be dead,” Billy said. “That’s four years ago.”

Billy, now a “minister,” said he wants to become a nurse go to Africa to “reach Muslims.”

He stepped back into his place in the choir, which then sang “Mighty to Save.”

Pastor Lee McKinney (center) raises his hand in worship.

 

Pastor Lee McKinney of New Covenant Fellowship read from Nehemiah, chapter 12, including verse 43 (KJV): “Also that day [a day celebrating the dedication of the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem] they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.”

 “Their joy was heard from afar,” McKinney said. “That’s what they need to hear in this county ... Take up the banner of Jesus Christ.”

Youth Pastor B.J. McCloud

Youth Pastor B.J. McCloud of Aberdeen First Baptist took the stage and said, “I am a blessed man.”

He read James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

“I speak Robbin-eese because I’m from Robbins,” he quipped. “It’s a language in itself.”

Audience laughter.

“There are people among us … single-parent homes,” McCloud said. There are a bunch of people around us who are hurting … You’re an orphan if you don’t know who your father is. A pure religion takes care of widows and orphans.”

He said he’d been a youth pastor since 2001 and prior to 2010 thought “there had to be more” to his job.

He said Coach Chris Metzger prayed for a chaplain for his Pinecrest High School football team. Metzger told McCloud that McCloud kept coming to his mind.

McCloud said he thought, “God, who am I that you would use me?”

He said he liked basketball but didn’t know a thing about football. He accepted the assignment as chaplain for Metzgar’s football team of about 60 players.

“God said he wanted me to learn about orphans and families without Jesus,” said McCloud, who later took on and additional role of serving as chaplain for a girls’ basketball team.

McCloud said that one of the biggest divisions among churches is “youth groups – competing youth groups.”

“How can you steal ‘church’ from ‘church’?” he asked. “The job is too big for one group, but the job is not too big for Christ. It’s time for us to stand together. United, we stand; divided, we fail. God has called us to stand together. God has called us to take care of the orphans and widows.”

McCloud asked people to respond to his challenge by standing. He said, “I do not want you to stand, unless you accept the challenge to go out and minister to the orphans and the widows.”

Most folk in the congregation stood to their feet for prayer.

A Turning Point Praise Team 

A praise-team from Turning Point Worship Center of Aberdeen filed onto the Grace Church stage and sang “I Will Bless the Lord, Oh My Soul.” One song the team intoned contained these words: “Take me to that secret place, Lord / To that secret place / Where I can be with you / You can make me like you.”

Pastor Stoney Locklear

Stoney Locklear, senior pastor of Turning Point, addressed the audience.

He read Psalm 133:1-3 (KJV):

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 

^“It is like the precious ointment [oil] upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;

^“As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.”

“Good and pleasant,” Locklear said. “How many of us want good things in our lives? In the times we live in, a lot of people could use some goodness.”

He said he had a sister who “could fight” him, but when someone outside their family picked on a family member, the family stuck together.

“Because we were family, we had to set our differences aside and work with each other,” Locklear said. “We [in the Church] don’t know how to work together with family …  But God says  we are of one family in God.”

He noted that the word “unity” appears only three times in the Bible [in the King James version]: two times in Psalms and once in Ephesians.

“We describe ‘unity’ as ‘conformity’ – and we call that ‘unity,’” he said, questioning that concept. He suggested that “unity” is better pictured as a box of crayons. “All together, we can paint a masterpiece! We’re all together, packaged in this same box, and that package is the Kingdom of God!”

Locklear said that believers in the Early Church were of one heart and mind.

“So, why do we have such a hard time getting together?” he asked. “We don’t really understand God’s concept of ‘unity.’ The Early Church showed us the paradigm of living supernaturally.”

Locklear said that Jesus is “perfect theology,” indicating that we should observe how Jesus believed and acted in his earthly ministry.

“Women’s ministry? How did Jesus handle it?” he asked. “Children’s ministry? ‘Suffer the little children to come unto me.’”

No one can stop you, but you can stop yourself by not knowing who you are in Christ, Locklear said.

He noted that “oil” [anointing oil] was used to bring “it” [whatever or whoever was being dedicated] to a “holy place.”

“What does the oil do?” he asked. “It blends things … affects everything it touches … affects every area of your life … it’s a representation of the Spirit of God.”

When you meet God, he’ll never leave you the way he found you, Locklear said.

“The Holy Spirit wants to work, but he has to have an object or a person to put his anointing on to bring forth his glory,” he said. “You have been called to be kings and priests unto God.”

Locklear said that if churches are to become unified, the movement toward unity must begin among pastors.

“You say you [pastors] don’t want anyone to steal your sheep?” he asked. “You ain’t got no sheep! There’re God’s sheep!”’

Mature believers have a mindset of restoration, he said.

“The Spirit of the Lord is the only one who causes us to walk in unity,” he said. We cannot do it by programs … We can change our world by the Spirit of God who lives in our lives.”

He said conditions had to be perfect on Mount Hermon in order for dew to appear.

“When a church walks in tranquility and peace, you won’t be able to contain it in four walls,” he said. “You can’t have resistance and have dew … . When we can say I need fresh oil poured over my life … [Say] ‘Holy Spirit, let it flow all over my life.’”

We cannot have programs that will cause unity to come, he noted.

“It [unity] comes through the Holy Spirit,” Locklear said. “God says to us here, tonight, if we want to change the world, we must unite in the Holy Spirit … I’m a spirit, and the Holy Spirit lives in me. If there is unforgiveness in your life, you can reconcile, put it under the blood … This altar is open here, tonight!” 

Locklear ended his sermon, and Ken Owen, pastor of “John 8:31 Ministries” walked to the pulpit.

Pastor Ken Owen (with microphone) leads in prayer as ministers gather at the end of the service.

“God commands his blessing on our unity,” Owen said. “Every time God blessed something, it grew. God did not create churches – he created ‘The Church.’ He created one Church, and we’re here to celebrate that church, tonight!”

Owen prayed, saying, “Father, we come, against that spirit of disunity … Father, bring your church together, as only you can.”

Pastor David Pratt closed the meeting with a final prayer.

Churches listed as “participating churches” for the “Celebration of Unity” included the following: Aberdeen First Baptist (Aberdeen); Christ Community Church (Pinehurst); Emmanuel Baptist (Carthage); First Baptist (Pinehurst); First Missionary Baptist (Southern Pines); Grace Church (Southern Pines); John 8:31 Ministries (Pinehurst); New Covenant Fellowship (Carthage); Pleasant Hill Baptist (Southern Pines); Sandhills Alliance (Pinehurst); Sandhills Assembly (Southern Pines); Sandhills Teen Challenge (Carthage); Seven Lakes Baptist (Seven Lakes); Turning Point Worship Center (Aberdeen); The Village Chapel (Pinehurst); and Young Life (Moore County). 

More photographs: