As the minister of a small church, I usually leave them feeling discouraged rather than encouraged. I know it is not the intent but it is what happens to me. The message I get is this. You aren’t a good enough leader. You aren’t a good enough preacher. You aren’t a good enough inovator. You aren’t culturally relevant enough. If you were you would be like these guys we are bragging about and your church would be growing.

I know a few megachurch ministers. They are good guys and actually pretty humble and down to earth. However, when you go to conferences the people putting them are the ones that make me feel inadequate because I am not like these guys they have brought in.

I know, I know, if I had my act together I wouldn’t be feeling that way. Thanks for pointing out once again how inadequate I am.

This doesn’t seem to be your problem with the NACC but it might explain part of the decline in attendance and the decline that I hear other conferences are having. Who wants to pay several hundred dollars to be discouraged?

This might encourage you – I did a workshop at a retreat for church planting executives. Anyone who leads an RM church planting association was there – Orchard Group and Stadia included. Among other things I challenged the guys to think about what it is we are actually perpetuating in our church-planting efforts. I asked the following Ten Questions:

1. Can’t we embrace the “unity thing” without dismantling our distinctives and former “settled doctrines”?

2. How do we function as independents without encouraging free agency.

3. How does our current “historical amnesia” affect the vitality of RM institutions? Should we care?

4. We were once a “people of the book”. Have we become a people of methodology? (Is this what Jesus told us to do: Advertise; Let people know about product benfits; Be nice to new people)

5. Why am I hearing this so often: “What are you doing that’s new?” Does coolness matter to God?

6. Are we becoming a mile-wide and an inch deep?

7. Are we ashamed of our heritage? Doctrine? Denunciation of sin?

8. If mega-churches and new churches are the future of the RM, are we making ourselves vulnerable as a movement?

9. Is it all about the numbers?

10. Should we teach “the movement”? How?

Skip, this talk was very well-received. I wasn’t sure it would be. But even among the guys who would consider themselves progressives, there was considerable concern about these issues. It gave me hope.

Hunter
PS: I think you know who I am. Some day you’re going to have to let me know who you are – I think we could do some effective work together in raising the profile of these concerns.

I recently was asking the senior minister at my church exactly who are the unsaved? Are Catholics saved? Are people from denominations saved if they believe in Jesus? Well, the answer i got from him was that if they had been immersed they were saved, pretty much, for whatever reason. Before studying in my Bible, I pray for finding the truth whatever it is and I kept going back to Matthew 7:21-23 where it tells of some very sincere religious people who were not going to heaven. Jesus said he never knew them. I mean it’s politically correct to assume all “Christians” are saved, but who are true Christians? In the same scripture it says in vs. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

Thank you for commenting. I there are some good things in the “How to Share the Gospel Diagram” but there are some weaknesses as well. I might post a fuller critique but let me comment on “What Your Prayer Should Include” since that is what you asked about.

I think it is fine to have someone pray when they commit their life to Christ.

The problem I have with the “What Your Prayer Should Include” is that it too much like the Sinners Prayer. What is wrong with that? Plenty. It makes something that the Bible makes scant mention of, praying a prayer with specific elements, the focus of coming to Christ. What the Bible focuses on is what we should focus on in leading someone to Christ.

Furthermore, the prayer is problematic in what one is encouraged to say after the prayer. “Ask God to lead and bless them as they begin their new life in Christ.” This could be taken to mean that they have begun their new life after praying the pray. However, if someone prayed something like this it might be acceptable. “Thank God for the steps that have been taken and ask God to guide them to complete their obedience in baptism so that they can begin a new life.” The new life doesn’t begin with the prayer but baptism.

That is why I am troubled by the Scriptures that are shared after the prayer. These should be shared after baptism and not the prayer. Sharing them after the prayer implies that the prayer made them a new creation and because of the prayer they have eternal life. The Bible does not teach that.

Sometimes I have people that I am leading to Christ pray but I do it differently. I don’t pray a prayer for them to repeat but tell them that I am going pause and give them a moment to talk to God about their decision. I do think it is good for people to talk to Him about what they are doing. However, I do not make the prayer the big thing and do not give assurance of salvation because of the prayer or after the prayer. Assurance comes when the plan has been completed.

In actually practice, someone might be able to avoid the problems with the “What Your Prayer Should Include . . .” but as presented it is very close to being, if not actually being, unbiblical. There are some good things about the “How to Share the Gospel Diagram” but I have some other problems with it that I might post about later.

Thank for sharing your comment. Feel free to respond to what I have written.

I have had other things to do so I have been away but I am back now. Thank you for posting. I appreciate your post and will check out Crossroads. I think I will also start posting about churches that are making an effort to remain true to the Bible even as they try to state Bible truths in new ways. Of course, we realize that some churches might say it right but practice it wrong and few might say it wrong on their website but practice it right.