MLJ on the Puritans

You have to love this:

The puritans put their emphasis upon a life of spiritual, personal religion, an intense realisation of the presence of God, and a devotion of the entire being to Him.

p460 vol 2 of bio

Rainer on Healthy Churches

Five Warning Signs

What were some of the warning signs my team saw? Though the list is not exhaustive, these five issues were common. Some of the churches had one or two on the list; some had all five.

1. The church has few outwardly focused ministries. Most of the budget dollars in the church are spent on the desires and comforts of church members. The ministry staff spends most of its time taking care of members, with little time to reach out and minister to the community the church is supposed to serve.

2. The dropout rate is increasing. Members are leaving for other churches in the community, or they are leaving the local church completely. A common exit interview theme we heard was a lack of deep biblical teaching and preaching in the church.

3. The church is experiencing conflict over issues of budgets and building. When the focus of church members becomes how the facilities and money can meet their preferences, church health is clearly on the wane.

4. Corporate prayer is minimized. If the church makes prayer a low priority, it makes God a low priority.

5. The pastor has become a chaplain. The church members view the pastor as their personal chaplain, expecting him to be on call for their needs and preferences. When he doesn’t make a visit at the expected time, or when he doesn’t show up for the Bible class fellowship, he receives criticism. In not a few cases, the pastor has lost his job at that church because he was not omnipresent for the church members.

Where Do We Go from Here?

The bad news is that few churches recover if the patterns above become normative. The church is a church in name only. It is self-gratifying rather than missional. It is more concerned about great comfort than the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.

The good news is that a few churches have moved from sickness to health. The path was not easy. It first required that the congregants be brutally honest with themselves and God. It does no good to speak glowingly of a church that is unhealthy and getting worse.

Many of the turnaround churches we consulted then moved to a time of corporate confession and repentance. They confessed to God their lack of obedience and their selfish desire for their own comfort.

And still other churches made an intentional effort to shift the ministries and the money of the church to a greater outward focus. This step can be particularly painful since a number of church members often protest with vigor that their needs are no longer being met.

Coombs on Leadership

A good father is not utilitarian. He doesn't use people, he invests in them! It is tragic to meet so many people in the church who feel they are being used. Deep down many people feel that they are appreciated and included by leadership only because of their gifting; that their acceptance is based on what they can do and not who they are. And when their usefulness is gone, then so is the relationship.

Horton on the Gospel

Reflecting on McKnight's 'The King Jesus Gospel', Horton says:

When the Bible talks about “getting saved” (which it never does in precisely those terms), the focus is on the Triune God saving sinners through the twists and turns of redemptive history, from one end of the book to the other. Typically, where the Bible sweeps me into its grand story of redemption in Christ, many evangelistic presentations reduce that grand story to “me and my personal relationship with Jesus.” We talk about the gospel as an announcement—a promise—that is revealed as a grand drama that unfolds from Genesis 3:15 to the close of Revelation. The gospel isn’t an offer to appropriate, decide, or contract for with Jesus. It’s an announcement—a declaration—of God’s saving accomplishment in Jesus Christ. Promised in the Old Testament, the gospel is fulfilled in the New. The call to repent and believe is not the gospel, but the proper response to the gospel.

Joe Thorn on the Gospel

There is more in God’s word than the gospel. God has given us his law to show us the way, uncover our corruption and condemnation, and point us to our need of redemption. There are commands to be obeyed, there is wisdom to learn and practice, and affections to feel and be moved by. But, the law itself is unable to create within us new hearts, or empower us to obey its demands. So let me say it this way: The gospel is the main thing, it is not the only thing. However, it is the only thing that brings life, power, and transformation. The gospel isn’t everything, but it does connect to everything, and preachers and teachers in the church must be able to show that connection lest we allow the church to drift (or even be lead) into various kinds of hopeless, powerless legalism.

Tozer on the Cross

People want the benefits of the cross, but yet they do not want to bow to the control of the cross. They want to take all the cross can offer but they don't want to be under the lordship of Jesus.

Honeysett on Spiritual Leadership

If a church (or even a significant minority within it) insist that the role of the leader is to fulfil all their wishes for caring internally for their needs, you can't properly exercise a gift of spiritual leadership there (ie they have an institutional or "christendom" model of being a disciple - gathering to receive from the professional, rather than being equipped to be disciples). Similarly, if a church doesn't think that leadership is a spiritual gift, you can't easily do it there either. (ie people will think it is about activity running and maintaining the organisation they like, rather than leading a missional community into the plans and purposes of God for them. Casting vision, bringing discernment, laying sound doctrinal foundations, teaching the Bible, shepherding and leading the flock.)