For most of the history of the institutional Christian church, women were not eligible for leadership, especially for ordination. There are many sociological reasons. But be aware that, properly understood, Paul’s prohibitions at his time are not a reason for excluding women from church leadership today. A grace-focused ministry should have a lot to do …
Much of what happened to Christian churches in America can be illustrated by the well-known bell-shaped curve. It provides part of the explanation to what is happening to mainline churches. The top of the curve represents the mid-point in the distribution of any characteristic over a large population. People who have more of that characteristic …
Head-First, Heart-First and the Bell-Shaped Curve Read More »
Don Engebretson has 24 years of experience as a pastor and preacher. He also has an uncanny ability to sense what his listeners are experiencing as they sit through a sermon. In the July issue of Forum Letter by the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, he wrote this article, “Pastor, Can We Talk About Your Sermon?” …
Keep Your Sermon Simple and To-the-Point; Don’t Forget the Gospel! Read More »
What would an ideal fellowship of the Spirit look like? Start with informal fellowships. It might be three couples dining out and sharing what God is doing in their lives. It might be four friends at a coffee shop talking about a new faith insight one of them had. It might be a Christian caregiver …
Classical theology has much to say about the means by which the Gospel is conveyed to those who need to hear it. Martin Luther listed these five means of grace: the Word, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, Confession of Sins, and Mutual Encouragement of the Brethren. Consider those to be input through which the Holy Spirit …
Can You Tell How Well the Spirit Is Working in Your Congregation? Read More »
A keen insight recently from psychology is that people have differing personal spiritual temperaments. Recognizing these differences opens up more valuable ministry opportunities. A spiritual temperament is the way each of us personally relates to God best and most naturally. Spiritual temperaments influence where and how we most often sense God speaking to us, refreshing …
When I was teaching Organizational Behavior, I used a scheme that focused on how a worker learns expectations for his or her role contributes to the work of that organization. A role is the set of expectations for what the worker will say and do while on the job, like what an actor says and …
The three biblical symbols for the Spirit at work are the dove that sat on Jesus’ shoulder at his baptism, and the tongues of fire and rushing wind at Pentecost. Jesus described the wind as unpredictable. Consider the following interpretation of what those symbols represented. The tongues of fire suggest energy, the kind associated with …
Zion was the first Lutheran church in Cleveland, founded in 1848 to serve the German immigrants in industrial Cleveland. It turned into the Lutheran megachurch of its time, with a sanctuary that seats 1,200. That building remains in use on East 30th, although attendance now averages about twenty. I drive by it frequently. Endowments have …
The two words in Greek are proskuneō, which is used fifty-five times, and sebō, which is used fourteen times. We have a clue to which one should be used by Christians today in recognizing which biblical writer used each. Almost all of the thirteen uses of sebō are in Luke’s Gospel and Acts. Almost all …
Of Two Biblical Words for Worship, Christians Used Only One Read More »
Luke uses a unique phrase in his Gospel and Book of Acts. Eleven different times he describes a follower of God as “full of the Holy Spirit” combined with something else, best understood as an emotion. One of the ways to recognize the Holy Spirit at work today is in a follower of Christ who …
They Were “Full of the Holy Spirit” and An Emotion Read More »
On the evening we call Maundy Thursday, as told by John, Jesus gathered his eleven disciples around a table, perhaps like your dining room table with all the extensions inserted. Judas had left. With those who remained Jesus had a long, meandering discussion about what was going to soon happen. Our church has celebrated the …
The job of church leaders, according to the Apostle Peter, is to faithfully administer the various forms of God’s gifts to serve others (1 Peter 4:10). The practicalities of administering such gifts are very challenging. The hardest part is finding enough jobs for everybody in their shared congregational life. Ironically, traditional church leaders complain they …
See Your Congregation as the Top Soil for the Spirit’s Work Read More »
Mainline church denominations are shrinking away. Understanding why is important. But the bigger issue is what to do about turning around that trend. Part of the solution is to recognize how and why church networks are replacing church denominations. Networks are loose affiliations of churches with shared interests and common church cultures. Denominations are churches …
Church Networks are Replacing Church Denominations Read More »
Paul relayed to the Corinthians his encouragement that “Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way” (1 Corinthians 14: 40). He said this after describing the truly chaotic worship going on in one of the house churches. Participants got up and talked whenever they wanted and many of them expressed themselves in strange …
How Well Does Your Church Culture Allow The Spirit to Work? Read More »
Several dozen women from our congregation participate in the Women’s Bible Study Fellowship meeting weekly at a nearby larger community church. I have heard some striking stories of lives changed through involvement in these small groups. Some congregations might resist such involvement beyond our congregation. I applaud it. Consider such Bible-focused groups to be primary …
Primary Fellowships and Secondary Church Organizations Read More »
A member of our congregation, Jeff, began his fight with cancer almost four years ago. He started to write a diary of his reactions at various stages, posting them on a website. He writes: “I am not sure that I am in the eye of the storm now and will see the storm winds of …
The practice of infant baptism shapes much of the church fellowship experienced in traditional mainline churches. We are not taught how to look for and recognize the work of the Holy Spirit within us. We have had the experience but missed its meaning, to quote the poet T. S. Eliot. Most American Evangelical churches stress …
Somewhere there may be someone who read the Bible one day and came to saving faith all by themselves. But that is not the way it works for most of us. We read and hear God’s Word through filters set by relationships with others around us. It’s from other believers that we learn what the …