Things are not completely looking down

Hey guys,

I don't know if you ever feel down about the state of The Church worldwide - I know I do.... We see so much media that the church is shrinking in so many places and it's hard to feel upbeat....

Then - I stumbled across this blog by Tim Keller. He doesn't post often - but his posts are typically very good.....

The gist is... Over the centuries - the Church based it's organization upon an "Inheritance" model... Your parents were Christian - so you were too... Your parents went to X church so you did too.... THIS is the group within the church that continues to shrink... This group took a big "Hit" when schools quit teaching bible and society became more mobile.... That's the bad news...

The good news is that they are being replaced. They are being replaced by people who didn't necessarily know anything about Christianity and are involved Only because they love Jesus. The churches they are coming into are ones that tend to be more "Active"....

Linky linky:
http://www.timothykeller.com/blog/2015/1/9/the-city-the-church-and-the-future
 
Agreed.

Too often, there are ulterior motives in faith, be they acceptance, pressure, or otherwise. There was no realization that, what they were about to commit themselves, was a cause for a lifetime and eternity. "Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me." -- Matthew 10:38, "Immediately they left their nets and followed Him." -- Matthew 4:20.

Then, "But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved." -- Matthew 24:13.

Thanks! :)
 
John, we can not have "unity" in the Church until we first have "division". Jesus did not come to bring peace, but a sword. He did not come to bring unity, but division.

Luke 12:51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:

Mat 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

The Church today is filled with sheep, and goats all sitting right next to each other. This can not be as a little leaven leavens the whole lump. The Word of God is the only way to separate the true Church from the false Church. This will never happen until those in leadership begin preaching and teaching the Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus taught in the power of the Holy Spirit, and many who truly believed in him stayed and the others left and never came back.
The world has infiltrated the Church, and has brought a bad name to Christianity. Division must happen first so we can have unity.
 
Hey guys,

I don't know if you ever feel down about the state of The Church worldwide - I know I do.... We see so much media that the church is shrinking in so many places and it's hard to feel upbeat....

Then - I stumbled across this blog by Tim Keller. He doesn't post often - but his posts are typically very good.....

The gist is... Over the centuries - the Church based it's organization upon an "Inheritance" model... Your parents were Christian - so you were too... Your parents went to X church so you did too.... THIS is the group within the church that continues to shrink... This group took a big "Hit" when schools quit teaching bible and society became more mobile.... That's the bad news...

The good news is that they are being replaced. They are being replaced by people who didn't necessarily know anything about Christianity and are involved Only because they love Jesus. The churches they are coming into are ones that tend to be more "Active"....

Linky linky:
http://www.timothykeller.com/blog/2015/1/9/the-city-the-church-and-the-future

I also believe in optimism regarding the body

Personally, I got from the article that "individual expression" is good. I would contend that if the individual is unable to express themselves, then they are subjugated by compulsion which abandons ethics from scripture, and causes many in anger to reject the church. I am not critical of the religious method as much as I am critical of compulsory methods that prevent individual liberty to explore the truth. Thus western societies in many ways are in a state of growth due to individual liberty in variance. Yet I also am not proclaiming that individual expression Per Se is necessarily in of itself always virtuous, only that its despotic to remove it, if it remains in the confines of non-aggression.
 
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