I have a life-long love of the Christian church, its heritage, its weaknesses and how to make it more effective. I grew up in a vibrant English-speaking German Lutheran community in Cleveland that died out. What happened? I had a Fulbright scholarship to study philosophy at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, where I loved …
11. What expertise do you bring to your insights? Read More »
No, few churches that continue their old traditions will probably be around thirty years from now. They typically have a long, lingering illness, and death comes when their buildings need major repair. Yes, they have a future if they maintain high visibility in their community, offer a variety of spiritual experiences with engaging worship and …
10. Do old traditional Protestant congregations have a future? Read More »
The old long-established Protestant churches depended on younger generations replacing their elders. This isn’t happening much anymore. The absence of the 20- and 30- somethings explains the withering of those congregations. The young who retained their faith are attracted to congregations with a culture that emphasizes experiencing God in everyday life through informal worship, contemporary …
All Protestants affirm the Trinity of Three Persons in One God, a concept very hard to understand. Calvinist focus on the First-Person God the Father. Lutherans emphasize the Second-Person God the Son. God the Spirit has been much neglected mostly because his role as Lord and Giver of church life was not needed when lively church …
8. How do you understand the relationship between Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit Read More »
Discipleship to become more like Christ is favorite topic among Protestants. But it does not motivate much new behaviors in the churches I know. Becoming more like Christ is not something we do on our own, as usually taught. It happens to us as the Spirit reshapes our innermost being and we grow in love, …
7. Why do you highlight “Discipled by the Spirit”? Read More »
The understanding of motivations is a key concept in in the study of Organizational Behavior, as this specialty developed in psychology in the latter half of the 20thcentury. Relevant Scriptural terms are “heart” and “soul.” I like best Paul’s phrase of “innermost being.” That the Spirit “influences” and changes our motivations explains most clearly the missing …
6. Why do you emphasize the motivation for church life? Read More »
No and Yes. The insights I offer on the Spirit are based completely on Scriptures, especially what Jesus taught in John 3 and 14-16 and on Paul’s understandings in his 143 references to the Spirit. My understanding developed through studying Gordon F. Fee’s large book on God’s Empowering Presence, the Holy Spirit in the Letters …
5. Are you offering any fresh insights into the work of the Spirt? Read More »
The Spirit wants to influence the hearts of believers by producing in them more love, joy, peace, patience and the like. Traditionally seen as virtues to pursue, these qualities are really motivations and emotions that are transformed by the Spirit. Historically traditional churches have emphasized salvation in the next life. Yet Jesus says he came that …
4. Why do you emphasize the spiritual gifts like those Paul described in Galatians 5:22? Read More »
The fundamental problem of traditional Christian churches is that we are running out of spiritual energy. I take spiritual energy as the sum of the time and dollars church members give to their congregation out of their Christian commitment. Many congregations have drifted into the mindset of the many social organizations in our society. Those, …
Yes, to the charismatic, as all Christians are who accept the Apostle Paul’s description of the many different gifts of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12. My strongest spiritual gift is administration. No, to the Pentecostal. I have never spoken in tongues. Pentecostal churches are those which expect participants to bypass …
Christian church life in America is encountering unprecedented change. The older traditional mainline churches are in steep decline. World-wide, Christianity is growing at the fastest rate ever, and most of that is in Pentecostal expressions. Why aren’t traditional churches growing? What can these older churches do in response? These are fundamental questions I am trying …