World Outreach Church, Murfreesboro

My wife and I were trying to find a church home in 2009 and tried WOC. It was very big and didn't feel very welcomed and we gave it several weekends prior to deciding it wasn't for us. We then decided, at the recommendation of some friends, to try New Vision Baptist and it was definitely more welcoming. I was saved there in November of 2009 and we joined in early Spring 2010. We continued in regular attendance until July of 2011 when we transferred our letter to Franklin Road Baptist Church and couldn't be happier with our pastor Dr. Mike Norris and our church family. God has blessed our family with great Independant Baptist biblical preaching. You will never walk into our church as a guest without being greeted with a warm smile and handshake and genuine interest in getting to know you.

Seen Pastor speak by MTSU before and years ago. The pastor is excellent. So no wonder the themepark of a church has got built over the years. Very impressionable. However, I walked in at end of one of the Christmas services and NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON MADE EYE CONTACT....like they are too good to even acknowledge another human being!!!. Being alone going somewhere for Christmas is difficult enough, so my heart dropped and I left. All the people in the parking lot in too big of a hurry to leave. Just like regular traffic "of the world". Sorry pastor, but hope this gets addressed, because it is un-christlike ! I am the unspoken humble ones who's voice barely heard. I love God, I love Jesus, and I don't forget the Holy Spirit either !!!

At first glance this Church may seemed large & overwhelming however when you enter there, the Love of the Spirit of God surrounds you. A place where you are not judged or criticized, but accepted just as you are, no matter who you are. Pastor Jackson preaches directly from the Holy Bible teaching word for word but also helps the worshipers how to follow & grow & live a Christ followers Life *Praise God* With such humility encourages us by faith and not because you have too but truly want to be more like Jesus. Walking in Faith not our way but in Jesus Christ to be more like Him. I have been a Born Again Christ for 40 years now and have been a member of several Churches throughout the USA and a visitor to many churches as well. I am Blessed to have learned & still learning more about the Holy Bible, fellowships and much more. World Outreach Church has truly given me more direction in my path to growth, fellowship, and love for everyone as I experience a closer & meaningful walk in Jesus Christ. It truly is a genuine Life Changing experience to know the value & meaning of being a Christ Follower. I have read some of the reviews here and for those to say that Pastor Jackson as well as the Leaders & Body of Believers have taught or practiced anything contrary to the Word of God, is so far from the Truth. The Holy Bible is Truth, every single word is indeed a living word of God from start to finish and nothing needs to be added or subtracted. We all as Born Again Christians have value, propose in our lives and to Love Everyone from all Countries & Beliefs as Christ Loves them all. WOC provides so many opportunities for Believers to join in the various groups, fervent prayers, groups, children ministries, music ministries, free community services to truly serve all people. It is the Body of Christ there that volunteers their time & talents freely and willingly without pressure to serve the Lord, community and church. Everyone is welcome at World Outreach Church so before you judge or criticize the Church perhaps you should see for yourselves and determine if what I am saying is the truth. We thank God for Pastor Jackson for truly leading the Church in the most Wonderful Loving, Giving, Growing, Humble, Serving all as God teaches us to do. In a practical, meaningful, everlasting way that inspires growth in most loving & humble way possible. Where the true meaning of Love is openly & freely given & received, 1Cor 13: 4-7. If you are seeking this then visit World Outreach Church where you can experience this yourself, the decision is yours. God Bless each of you!!

In response to the last review, if you had attended last weekend, you would have heard all the things you write are not taught at WOC,

Jesus taught to STRIVE to enter in through the strait gate and narrow way that leads to life and that FEW would FIND it (Lk13:24). Jesus taught that we must pick up our cross and FOLLOW Him (Mat10:38). Jesus taught that one must lose their life to find it(Mat10:39). Jesus warned about MANY false teachers who would come in His name and would deceive MANY (Mat24:11). Jesus said that MANY would stand before him utterly rejected who professed His name and did many wonderful works in His name(Mat7:22). Jesus said that one CANNOT serve two masters(Mat6:24). John taught to LOVE NOT the world and to love not the THINGS in the world(1Joh2:15) because if you do the love of the Father is not in you. Paul taught that the old man must be crucified with Christ and that we must mortify the deeds of the flesh and make no provision for them AT ALL(Gal2:20, Gal5:24). The old man is put to death with Christ and we are born again with Him and we are a new creation whereby ALL THINGS are made new(Rom6:3-7, 2Cor5:17). The Bible teaches that the forsaking of sin occurs in repentance and THEN God will forgive and grant salvation(Is55:7, Luk13-3-5). So if all this is taught in the Scripture, why is it not taught at World Outreach? Why do they teach a gospel whereby one comes to an assurance of salvation by confessing they are a sinner and trusting in the finished work of Christ on the cross? Why doesn't the Bible teach this? Is this itchy ear syndrome whereby people are trying to get into the Kingdom some other way? Where people come in their sins and are forgiven in their sins. Where people continue in their sins waiting for God to clean them up later? Where these converts can live double minded with one foot in the kingdom and the other in the world? Why doesn't World Outreach warn their congregation about these things? Why? Why? Why? Google standingthegap.org

Loving people,feel the presence of God and the Holy Spirit. Love to see how the church reaches out to the community with events especiallly for young. a nd they n eed to be reached, as well as the adults. Pastor Allen great teacher, I prefer not to use the word "preacher" he does not preach, he teaches, and the Bible says "feed my sheep" not skin my sheep. It is not trditional, but that keeps you from feeling you are under condemnation. I do not believe He wants us to stay away because we must dress in a fashionable way. When my children were growing up we went to a church where everone dressed whtever way was comfortable and affordale to them. If we had need to dress in suits and ties, and dressy clothes we would not have been able to go. Both of them received many blessings from that church. "He" said "If I be lifted up I will draw all men to me."So we need to lift him up and he can handle the rest. So that is all we need to care about. Just lift him up. Do not push him on oters you will run people away. They need to feel drawn to him to want to draw closer. At WOC he is lifted up, and we all have things to overcome . Pastor includes himself, as we are all a work in progress. Keep up the good work.The world needs to pray for our country, as our leaders want to keep God out of our lives,except on Sun.,we will never be "ok" until we put him back in schools and all events.He is the foundation..build on a rock, which will stand. He is Lord ,and King of all Kings. Aba Father.

Four venues and five meeting times equals twenty! This is twenty opportunities to here from twenty different preachers on a given weekend, but Allen is the only preacher they got after 30 years of discipleship??? Where are the other preachers in this church? Is the Holy Ghost not able to bring a true gospel message through anyone but Allen? Where are the teachers? This is the only church ive ever seen that does not provide gospel teachers in church on the weekend for the congregating masses??? Where are the Evangelist in this church? I went to this church from 1992-2006 and they never once allowed an evanglist to preach the message of 'the cross'. It is interesting to see how the Jacksons invite the general public to Easter service at MTSU Murphy center every year, but they never allow an evangelist to preach the message of the cross, which is the Easter message, for the efforts of evangelisim...If you compare world outreach church to the church in the bible you will find many contradictions in the most foundational basics of christianity. I know that nobody likes to say anything bad about the church, but Jesus teaches us to be ware of our enemy. We have an enemy who is lying to us and sometimes we need to stick our pride in our pocket and take a good hard look at the truth and what we are doing! Does anybody care about the truth, or am I alone in this? Visit 'The Bible Belt Prophet' on myspace.

I find some of these comments about this church amusing. They talk about Pastor Jackson preaching hatred? and all kinds of crazy things. They apparently have never been to this church and sat through a few sermons. The size of the church can be overwhelming.. but the love of God and the incredible ministry this church provides is 2nd to None! This church is extremely well run, Pastor Jackson speaks the truth and preaches the bible! If you have a problem with this church then you either haven't experienced this church or are not interested in what the bible teaches.

Deat Mr. Jackson, if you are a man of God, why are you trying to start a holy war or the rebirth of Nazism. To be a priest, you should be a follower of God, do you honestly believe your hatred and comments about Muslims is the work of GOD. I don't believe GOD preaches hate, so please stop. You can believe in hate but please don't lead the flock to your destruction. I want you to read the bible and pray for understanding, for your congregation and soul. May GOD bless you with wisdom.

I've been attending WOC for 5 years now and every year I'm there I feel like I'm growing closer with God and learning more and more about growing as a Christian. It is a very large Church so it can be a bit intimidating at first, but the people are like none I've ever encountered. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I've found it easy to get involved. I sing in the choir and I volunteer with children's ministry and I was involved with the college group and other small groups. I've never felt like I wasn't properly trained for what I was doing. For children's ministry we had multiple training sessions and we have a lesson plan to follow every week. (Which is not always the best for the age group I have but we are allowed to tailor it to our kids so it's not over their heads.) Also, I think the small group leader are well prepared. To be fair I've never led one so I don't know what exactly they do for preparation but all the groups I've been in the leaders have gone above and beyond I think. The people are very accepting and caring. I've been to many different churches in my life and the major thing I've noticed about WOC is that the people ACTUALLY care about you. They care what struggles you are going through and what triumphs you have, when they ask you how you're doing they actually want to know the answer. They care about you and are willing to help in any way they can. When I was struggling in a certain area and I really needed to know I had support, my small group found way to continuously let me know that I was in their prayers and they did anything they could for me. Also, when someone in our choir was having difficulties we all took turns bringing dinner and helping with household chores so they could focus on what was going on. Pastor Allen is an amazing speaker and is wonderfully inspiring. He knows how to take a difficult issue and portray it in a simple commonsense way. Also, I love the music. I may be slightly biased since I sing in the choir, but I enjoyed it before I joined the choir. It is almost all contemporary so if your not biggest fan of that you probably won't enjoy it. My favorite is when Todd sings. There are always downfalls to ever church and WOC is not an exception. Its run by humans which are imperfect by nature so you have to take the positive with the negative. The main thing I would say is that since the church is so large in some aspects it needs to be run on a strict schedule more similar to a business and can occasionally get a bit bureaucratic. In my opinion there's no way around that thought. It has to be highly organized and they tend to like things on their schedule and it's difficult for them to fit in things that aren't in their plan, which is why there are many other associate pastors that you can talk with. I haven't had many interactions with the eldest Jackson so I can't really say how he is, but I can say that I've worked with a lot of the youth pastors and enjoyed every minute of it. Jim is amazing, sweet, caring and understanding. He most likely won't remember your name, but since he works with so many people I expect that. He will remember your face though and that he should remember your name. I was brought to WOC. It has been a wonderful blessing in my life. I don't really see some of the points from the negative reviewers. I guess the bureaucracy can be an issue but I have seen that at every church I've ever attended and if that's the only reason for disliking it that much, its throwing the baby out with the bath water.