Amazing Grace/Churches of Christ in Decline?: Transitional Issues, Part 2.5

Posted on May 13, 2008 by Jay F Guin

Steve Puckett forwarded this article from Christianity Today to me called “4 myths about reaching the unchurched—and 4 ways to draw them in.”

Pastors want to know what’s working in evangelism, not theories or ideas from out on the fringe, but news from the front lines. We need insights that are new but tried, and transferable.

So here’s a report from the front lines at Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Continue reading →

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Are the Churches of Christ Declining? More Good News and Bad News, Part 1

Posted on May 12, 2008 by Jay F Guin

Flavil Yeakley’s booklet giving the latest statistical data on the Churches of Christ has a great deal more in it than I’ve covered so far.

We are the 11th largest Christian denomination in the US (4-5). However, we are the fourth largest in terms of number of congregations (5-6). Plainly, our average congregation is much smaller than for most denominations. 87.9% of all our congregations have fewer than 200 members. 5.5% are between 200 and 300. 6.7% have more than 300 members (6). Continue reading →

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Thanks for Linking to Me (expanded but still no one has called me names)

Posted on May 11, 2008 by Jay F Guin

The magic of the Internet is the fact that websites can link to each other, allowing folks to surf the Internet, exploring as they go. Google takes advantage of this by ranking websites based on how often they are linked to. The more people who link to you, the higher you appear in a Google search.

Therefore, I’ve done a search to see who links to me, and I’m repaying the favor by linking back to each of them. This may not be complete, but it’s a start. If I’ve overlooked you, let me know and I’ll amend this post. (The picture is a graphical representation of the World Wide Web. Cool, huh?)

While I’m at it, if someone said something nice or hateful about my work, I’ll add that, so this will be more interesting than just a list. Continue reading →

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Amazing Grace/Churches of Christ in Decline?: Transitional Issues, Part 2

Posted on May 11, 2008 by Jay F Guin

grace2.jpg5. Generation gap.

I change my mind on this one about every half hour. There are basically two philosophies that make sense to me. And they contradict each other.

We presently have a “blended worship.” We sing traditional hymns blended with contemporary music. This is justified on the “love one another” principle. Those who love hymns sing contemporary songs out of love for those who love contemporary songs — and vice versa.

We’ve been doing this for over 10 years, and now many of our older members prefer the contemporary tunes, and many of our younger members find themselves falling in love with the old hymns. (NOT Stamps-Baxter, of course. That requires not only love but a miracle!) Continue reading →

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Buried Talents: 1 Corinthians 11, “The head of the woman is the man”

Posted on May 10, 2008 by Jay F Guin

The first part of 1 Corinthians 11, dealing with veils, hair length, and such, is a puzzlement. No, “puzzlement” is not strong enough. This chapter is a consternation. Commentator after commentator throws up his hands in frustration at trying to reach a clear sense of Paul’s meaning. Our respect for inspiration and the brilliant Paul is too great to even imagine that Paul was unclear to his readers in Corinth, but today the chapter is indeed very challenging-and it is challenging to those who take any position on the women’s issues. It is not made hard by my view of things. It is just hard.

(1 Cor. 11:2-16) I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings, just as I passed them on to you.

Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. Continue reading →

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Instrumental Music: The Temple Argument

Posted on May 10, 2008 by Jay F Guin

[This is a comment I made elsewhere that seemed too important not to post.]

Angel with harpWhen Paul returned to Jerusalem late in his career, he went to the temple intending to offer a sacrifice. However, he first had to go through the purification rite.

(Acts 21:26) The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.

He was arrested before he could actually make the sacrifice, but his intentions were clear — he went to worship at the temple. And the temple was filled with instrumental worship of God! Continue reading →

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Amazing Grace/Churches of Christ in Decline?: Transitional Issues, Part 1

Posted on May 9, 2008 by Jay F Guin

grace2.jpgLet’s do what Einstein called a “thought experiment.” Let’s just imagine that our home church decided to transition to a planted church model. Obviously enough, the elders can’t just pass a resolution and expect it to be true the next day. Somehow or other, the congregation has to change. How?

Let’s first work through the disadvantages an established church has and see if we can figure a way to work through them.

1. A real, Biblical need to serve their own members.

The established congregation can’t abandoned its present members. The members need counseling and equipping and encouraging. The sick and shut in need to be visited. The dead need to be buried. Abandoning these needs would be the height of irresponsibility. Continue reading →

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Buried Talents: 1 Corinthians 7 (Sex and the Married Christian)

Posted on May 8, 2008 by Jay F Guin

Many good Christians argue from 1 Timothy 2:12 that women can have no authority over a man and no wife may have authority over her husband. But Paul explains the relationship of a husband and wife very differently in 1 Corinthians 7:

(1 Cor. 7:1-7) Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry. But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.

The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.

Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command. I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

Notice first how carefully Paul treats husbands and wives exactly the same. Continue reading →

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Churches of Christ in Decline?: Prescription for the Baptists

Posted on May 7, 2008 by Jay F Guin

An excellent post by Ed Stetzer on the declining numbers within the Southern Baptist Churches. It’s amazing how similar our problems (and the solutions) are.

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Question for the Readers Re a Church Merger

Posted on May 7, 2008 by Jay F Guin

I received this email yesterday. I thought it would be helpful if the readers were to weigh in with ideas —

I came across your entry while doing a search for “church of Christ” merger.

I currently work with a small group of 50 here in [the Bible Belt].  Within 7 miles of us are 3 smaller congregations (15 to 30 members) and I want to explore the option of merging these congregations into one new work.  Of the 4 congregations none have elders or deacons, one doesn’t own a building, and there is little to no activity in the other three congregations.  As a full-time preacher my focus is not just on my local congregation but on what’s best for the kingdom and in this situation it would be best for the kingdom if we all join together.

Do you know of any other resources that will help guide me as I seek to bring these groups together?

Any advice to offer?

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