8 Recommendations for What Pastors and Church Leaders Can do to Regain Vitality in Their Congregations The very best research on congregational life reaches this simple conclusion: Highly effective congregations have leaders with the key attribute of an unrelenting, uncompromising focus and drive to help grow people into disciples of Christ. The strategies and programs …
The Spirit Calls, Gathers, Enlightens and Sanctifies God’s People Live The Joy of Participating in the Sacred Romance Sanctification is a journey each believer takes in his or her life with Christ. Each of our stories can be better appreciated against the background of the master story, the romance of being drawn closer to the …
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The Spirit Calls, Gathers, Enlightens and Sanctifies God’s People A Pietist’s Advocacy of Evangelical Ministry Sanctification is the journey of being drawn closer to God. It is not an accomplishment we achieve on our own. The Holy Spirit is the key actor. What is our part in the process of sanctification? Verbs become important. Some …
Inviting the Spirit to Let Christ Become More at Home in My Heart Read More »
The Spirit Calls, Gathers, Enlightens and Sanctifies God’s People “Now we are only halfway pure and holy,” says Martin Luther in his explanation of the Spirit’s work of sanctification. “Holiness has begun and is growing daily.” (Large Catechism, Third Article). So many of us in today’s world are trained to measure and assign numbers to what we are …
The Spirit Calls, Gathers, Enlightens and Sanctifies God’s People Charting Your Spiritual Journey of Growing Closer to God The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyon has been a great classic of spiritual literature for centuries. It tells the story of Mr. Pilgrim’s journey to the Celestial City. On the way, he encounters many detractors but also many encouragers. What …
The Spirit Calls, Gathers, Enlightens and Sanctifies God’s People Keep Trying Innovative Ministries The cues people respond to today are different from those of even thirty years ago. Think cell phones and social media. Churches have always been a source of cues for recognizing and reacting to God. What’s happening today is that the old …
The Spirit Calls, Gathers, Enlightens and Sanctifies God’s People Shifting the Starting Point for Thinking About Our Relationship With God In Luther’s words, “Through the church the Spirit gathers us, using it to teach and preach the Word. By it he creates and increases sanctification, causing it daily to grow and come strong in the …
How Much of God is With Us? At Christmas, we love to sing Oh, Come, Oh Come, Immanuel. We celebrate that God is with us. This Christmas, ponder how much of God is with us in the baby born in Bethlehem. For Christians in the earliest centuries, this was a serious theological issue. A man worked hard to …
A Christmas Reflection — How Much of God is With Us? Read More »
The Spirit Calls, Gathers, Enlightens and Sanctifies God’s People Lifelong Enlightenment by the Spirit All churches took a heavy hit to their church attendance during the pandemic. Typically, in-person attendance dropped by a third to a half. Video streaming enabled some to participate from home. That’s good, but is it as good as being together in one room, …
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The Spirit Calls, Gathers, Enlightens and Sanctifies God’s People The Case Study Method for Spiritual Enlightenment By far, the most popular degree in colleges and universities is business administration. It is very practical and seen as the gateway to a better job and pay. I did my M.B.A. right after graduating from seminary. The contrast was …
The Case Method Teaching Approach Offers Much for Spiritual Enlightenment Read More »
The Spirit Calls, Gathers, Enlightens and Sanctifies God’s People Finding More Switches for Enlightenment Spiritual Enlightenment happens when switches get turned on. Ministry is all about finding those Spiritual switches that work for people at various stages and situations in life. Our first-grade daughter came home from school one day and skipped around the house shouting …
The Spirit Calls, Gathers, Enlightens and Sanctifies God’s People Getting Switches Turned on for Enlightenment by the Spirit According to Martin Luther, the Spirit’s job is to call, gather, enlighten and sanctify God’s people. He explained that the Spirit enlightens with his gifts. Many church leaders fall into the trap of assuming this work is primarily their …
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The Spirit Calls, Gathers, Enlightens and Sanctifies God’s People Fine-Tuning Your Church’s Culture Do not quench the Spirit, Paul admonished the Thessalonians. The context makes clear he is talking about their behavior as a gathered fellowship. Respect those who work among you. Encourage the timid. Be joyful. Whatever you do, don’t put out the Spirit’s fire. …
The Spirit Calls, Gathers, Enlightens and Sanctifies God’s People The Limits of Rule-Making in a Grace-Focused Congregation Heinrich Schwan was a highly respected pastor of a large Lutheran congregation in Cleveland in the latter half of the 19th century. For fifty years he faced thousands of German immigrants who were attracted to the opportunity to carry …
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The Spirit Calls, Gathers, Enlightens and Sanctifies God’s People Reducing Barriers to the Spirit’s Work of Building Fellowship “If you want to build a ship, don’t summon people to buy wood, prepare tools, distribute jobs, and organize the work. Rather, teach people to yearn for the wide, boundless ocean.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery My book, Builder Ministry …
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The Spirit Calls, Gathers, Enlightens and Sanctifies God’s People Gathering in a Spirit-Shaped Congregation Eugene Peterson is well known as the translator of the Bible paraphrase, The Message. I had the privilege of joining him in a conference small group addressing the issue of the relationship between spirituality and church administration. His position was simple. There …
The Spirit Calls, Gathers, Enlightens and Sanctifies God’s People Organizing a Fellowship of Christ Martin Luther gave us a wonderful description of the four-fold functions of the Holy Spirit. This Third Person of the Trinity calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies God’s people. The previous five essays reflected on how the Spirit calls people into a relationship …
The Confusion Between Church as a Fellowship and Church as an Institution Read More »
The Spirit Calls, Gathers, Enlightens and Sanctifies God’s People Some Basics of Church Growth Ultimately it is the Holy Spirit who calls people to faith and gathers them together as a church. But he works through people and relationships. How do we do our part? Let’s get practical. Church Growth studies can provide a framework for such …
The Spirit Calls, Gathers, Enlightens and Sanctifies God’s People Fields Ripe for Harvest In Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World (2020), Tara Isabella Burton offers a dizzying description of movements that are changing the religious landscape. She posits a fundamental distinction between religion in general and institutional churches that come in many brands. While it is apparent a whole …
The Spirit Calls, Gathers, Enlightens and Sanctifies God’s People Head-First, Heart-First and the Bell-Shaped Curve Much of what has happened to Protestant churches in America can be illustrated by the well-known bell-shaped normal distribution curve. The top of the curve represents the mid-point in the distribution of certain characteristics over a large population. People who have …