Within The Context Of American Society, We Have Strayed

No doubt, you are aware the Church is in decline—both in membership and in its influence in the world, for the past several decades. Several key elements are missing in the lives of most Christians, which are rarely addressed in our church pulpits or in the books we read. How We Christians Miss The Boat unabashedly addresses these issues, with dead-on solutions, which will change and revolutionize the lives’ of all its readers.

Comprised of fourteen chapters, the authors are explicit in readers comprehending this as a guide rather than a fix-all in turning around their churches. One chapter or section will not facilitate a change, rather a sequence of habits and efforts. Comprised of a large volume of statistical data, the facts remain constant; declining or plateaued churches can rebound. However, it will require change, change from the pulpit to the pews. Beginning with “0” or foundation, there are six criteria that should exist in all biblical churches, and are prominently and frequently mentioned in Scripture [2]: (1) Scriptural authority; (2) Biblical leadership; (3) Preaching and teaching; (4) Ordinances; (5) Covenant community; and (6) Mission. Additionally, the foundation emphasizes the need of becoming a

According to the authors, Rainer and Geiger, “simple churches” or dynamic churches, experience a steady increase in the number of members that join their church each year. Churches that experience this annual growth in membership are more likely to have established programs and events that effectively share the gospel with the unsaved and aid in the progression of the church’s congregants’ spiritual development. Paradoxically, churches who do not experience this growth are likely to be “complex churches,” which have ineffective ministries that fail to evangelize and aid in the progressive of congregants’ spiritual development. Rainer and Geiger offer the church leader a

“On this rock I will build My Church.” This is the timeless promise Jesus gave as he spoke to Peter in Matthew 16:18. Over the ages this bell of truth has rung resoundingly throughout church history, as the church has experienced periods of growth and decline. It provides assurance for churches as a whole. The Church must remember that Christ is it’s head and that only by his power will a congregation experience revival and revitalization.

In recent years, journalists who write about Christianity invariably analyze the slow death of the local Church as if only depopulation has occurred since the 1950s. Pundits blame demographic shifts, popular culture, entertainment and sport, unfaithful parents, and disinterested children. Graying and dwindling congregations typically respond with moderate and insincere programs of Church growth. Analysts rarely focus on liturgical or ministerial reform. Paralleling the returning Babylonian exiles of over 2500 years ago, Christians busy themselves with their “own house” while parishes lay in ruin. Can Christians carry the expectations of the 1950s into the 21st Century without

Over the last 100 years, the white, evangelical church in America has experienced unprecedented ease. At no point in history has a particular body of Christians believers been blessed with such influence, prosperity, and general well-being. With exceptions, life has been easy. We have lived in blessing, but we have also grown numb. I 'm afraid that in our comfort, the Church in America has unintentionally become concerned with building OUR kingdom rather than God 's Kingdom.

Starting with the teachings of Jesus Christ in the first century, thousands of jews and non jews alike gathered together and set aside their differences in order to worship their god and live peacefully as a body in Christ but still carried with them who they are, where they came from, and an eagerness to learn and evolve. These are qualities that the American Church struggles with as nationalism and hateful ideologies have infiltrated the American understandings of Christianity, God, faith, and human sexuality; being afraid of things that they do not understand and demanding that it be removed from their presence. Essentially the american church has entered their own wasteland and has become confused and lost as it attempts to keep a strong

Members of traditional churches think missional communities sound a lot like a church: Christians gather on a weekly basis to study the Bible and share a meal and pray. Members of missional communities feel like their gatherings bear little or no resemblance to churches. The missional community has no nonprofit status, no elected officers, no Voters’

Despite the shortcomings of this book, it remains a useful source for understanding the polity of church such as congregationalism, the ordinances, church membership and discipline, elders and deacons, and church and churches. It provides many documents of church polity that cannot be found anywhere else. The book can help to me to be a great intellectual with corrective does of polity thinking.

Struggles are subject to happen in any given church if not conducted in a way pleasing to God and in view of his word being preach and teach to his congregation of people. In a research of churches struggling, the Catholic churches are prominent ones of reference. Everywhere from Boston to Minneapolis, Catholic churches have closed or been into regional cluster. The chief reason is declining Mass attendance. In New York, Mass attendance has fallen to European levels, around 15 percent on an average Sunday, according to The New York Times. In Boston, it is even lower, around 12 Nationwide, only twenty-four of Catholics go to Mass average Sunday, down from 55 percent in 1965. Several Catholics churches throughout the United States have begun to struggle in attendance of their morning Mass, mainly in the area of youth, treatment of lesbian and gays, the respected of women’s participation in the church, and the use of birth control. Sadly, these issues many churches will face in the future generation of churches attendance. Churches cannot dismiss these everyday life situations. A collection of these issues is what makes up today’s family. If only certain part of a family is welcome in the church, then the church loses the whole family. Churches are known to have a diverse in

As people continue to evolve, the world strives to accommodate to their ever-changing interest. The businesses and establishments that do adapt continue to be every day components of human lives. However, well known establishments such as the church have struggled to evolve with modern times, resulting in a decline in members. Controversies such as the church’s stance on homosexuality, abortion, and the role of women have plagued the church for centuries, and continue to today. These reasons among several others are the distinguishing factor in lack of millennial interest in the church.

The church consists of all those who trust Jesus as Savior and follow Him as Lord. We become part of God's family, loving the Lord Jesus and learning to love and care for one another. We are a covenant community vowing before God and fellow members to live a holy life, to remain loyal to the church, and to foster oneness within the body of Christ. Our understanding of this covenant is expressed in a commitment to the local congregation, where the integrity of our discipleship is lived; to the denomination, where relationships with a wider fellowship of God's people are realized; and to the body of Christ

Moyer’s book stresses emphatically that repentance in salvation is only a changing of the mind and not a change of the will or actions. “When used in a soteriological context, “repentance” means to change your mind about whatever is keeping you from trusting Christ and trust Him alone to save you.”[2] Moyer also feels that repentance is not necessary for the sharing of the Gospel to an unbeliever—“A comfort we derive from studying repentance is recognizing that we need not apologize for not using the word repentance in evangelistic presentations.”[3]

I was raised in a Christian household and, as such, grew up with a set of Christian morals and values bestowed unto me by the social institution of religion. The function of religion in society is to satisfy our human need for the knowledge, meaning, and purpose of our existence. Religion also provides members with a sense of community and belonging; Christianity is no different. Weekly church service, Sunday school, church choir, and various other activities make members feel interconnected, as though they belong to an exclusive club. Nevertheless, it is an institution with an extensive set of rules. These rules are broad, ranging from the more obvious ten commandments and seven deadly sins, to the subtler expected Sunday offerings and dress-code. Males filling the position of pastor was uncontested in my childhood church, and I have personally witnessed a blind-eye turned to a victim of abuse in the church because her husband was a prominent member; members who did not hold a prominent position and bent the rules were often ostracized. Although they were not officially banished from the church, they were socially excommunicated and, therefore, lost the sense of belonging that the church once provided for them. These rules in the bible and church serve to govern peoples thoughts and actions, influencing them to behave in a way in which society perceives as acceptable.

True repentance comes only from the grace of God that moves us toward repentance and faith and it is not something that happens just once, but have repeatedly throughout our lives as we recognize our and turn once again to God for forgiveness.