Post up at Wineskins

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Jay F Guin

church_of_christ (1)Matt Dabbs recently posted on 10 Predictions about the Future of Churches of Christ.

In response, I’ve posted Reflecting on “10 Predictions about the Future of Churches of Christ.”

In particular, I address the relationship of parachurch organizations to the local church and intergenerational ministry at the local church.

This discussion ties in well to the series on Scot McKnight’s latest book Kingdom Conspiracy: Returning to the Radical Mission of the Local Church.

About Jay F Guin

My name is Jay Guin, and I’m a retired elder. I wrote The Holy Spirit and Revolutionary Grace about 18 years ago. I’ve spoken at the Pepperdine, Lipscomb, ACU, Harding, and Tulsa lectureships and at ElderLink. My wife’s name is Denise, and I have four sons, Chris, Jonathan, Tyler, and Philip. I have two grandchildren. And I practice law.
This entry was posted in Kingdom Conspiracy by Scot McKnight, Youth Ministry. Bookmark the permalink.

3 Responses to Post up at Wineskins

  1. Ray Downen says:
    November 3, 2014 at 6:06 pm

    I wanted to comment at Wineskins about a comment which suggests that the “Church of Christ” is about to divide into two separated fellowships. My comment is that the “Church of Christ” separated into more than two dozen separated fellowships several years ago. The change that some congregations now face is whether to remain just as their parents did or change somewhat. And I think Rick Atchley’s work in Texas points the way to healthy change, seeking to please both parents and their adult children and always to please Jesus.

  2. Dwight says:
    November 4, 2014 at 12:40 pm

    If the church is the people of God, then the church has never really separated as Jesus is the one who accepts and logs the members who are in His body. We cannot divide His body as we do not have the authority to do so. We can only separate outselves as individuals from His body in separating ourselves from Jesus Himself.

    We as people though have split and divided our fellowships time and time again based on many things, some scriptural and some not. If an assembly divides, it is possible that both parties are still part of the Lord’s congregation depending upon the reasons. Many assemblies will not change because how can you change something that is correct and to do so would make it incorrect. We have pride and hubris issues and forget that we are all under the same grace. We all must change and be subject to change in order to grow and that is what most groups have stopped doing, growing and are rather in the business of maintaining the status quo.

  3. Bob Brandon says:
    November 6, 2014 at 8:39 am

    Here is Wayne Flynt’s take of the future of southern evangelicalism (realizing that churches of Christ are not evangelical or even neo-evangelical – which is what today’s “evangelicalism” is in the United States, but there are now significant connections playing out); it’s rather grim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EudAlNDIgxE

    If the Southern Baptists are losing 80%-90% of their eighteen-year-olds in a denomination of 14 million, in 40 years, they still at 2-3 million members. Churches of Christ beginning at something over 1 million are looking at more akin to oblivion. The Church Universal, Holy, and Catholic, to borrow some terms, will do just fine. Our little outpost of Christendom? Maybe, even probably, not.

Comments are closed.