Month: March 2015

Why Church Can Be Boring or Hurtful: Reuniting Spiritual Theology with Doctrinal Theology – Part 1

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The theme of this post is that spiritual theology became separate from doctrinal theology in the Middle Ages and Reformation and that this has seriously damaged the transforming power of Christianity. The purpose of this blog is to inspire Christian leaders and theologians to reunite spiritual theology with doctrinal theology, and to encourage believers to read spiritual theology. The ultimate purpose is to free believers from the burden, boredom and pain of bad spiritual theology, and edify and equip believers to live effective Christlike lives in the Spirit. This blog is based on the chapter in the book Flourish titled: “Reuniting Spiritual Theology with Doctrinal Theology, or Why Church Can Be Boring or Hurtful”. “Spiritual theology” can be defined as the study of how Christians grow spiritually including patterns and stages of growth in their relationships. It also includes the biblical and doctrinal structures behind spiritual growth. It is what the Continue Reading →

Think Like A Missionary – Appeal to Their Desires

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If your culture seems resistant to Jesus remember to think about what they desire that Jesus fulfills. This is what some missionaries do. So you can ask people: “What if there was a religion that:” 1. Didn’t require any particular organization 2. The writings were in everyday language the average person can understand 3. Isn’t based on people trying to figure out the truth, but on God’s revelation in historical events 4. Is centered on fairness and love 5. Is centered on healthy relationships 6. You don’t have to earn salvation with great works 7. Teaches us to treat all people with respect and courtesy 8. Is not elitist and doesn’t require leaving society to be spiritually advanced. The last shall be first and the first shall be last. 9. God will restore loving community one day and keep out destructive people. By asking these questions you let people decide Continue Reading →

“Spiritual” Ways we Avoid Biblical Fellowship

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We naturally fear revealing ourselves to others and showing weakness, but scripture makes fellowship a top priority. And biblical fellowship means revealing our burdens so others can help carry them, and revealing where we are discouraged so others can encourage us. Leaders are not exempt. Yet it is very easy to let other spiritual activities drown out our efforts at biblical fellowship and relationship. We may be sincerely looking for fellowship with God and transformation but we find it very slow going on our own. Some of the ways we avoid biblical relationship are: worship, prayer, bible study groups, talking about spiritual things, more talking, busyness, ministering to others, and meetings. If we commit ourselves to finding true “friendship fellowship” we will find what we are looking for much faster. See John 13, Rom 12, Ephesians 4, Col. 3, I Cor 12-14, and more. Blessed Are Those Who Are Persecuted Continue Reading →

5 Stages of Salvation – for Salvation Presentations that Transform and Avoid “Easy Believism”

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5 STAGES OF SALVATION (SCRuBS) – SHORT VERSION The Essentials for Any Salvation Presentation This is Discipleship Evangelism The 5 Stages of Salvation will help you avoid weak salvation presentations because it includes individual prayers for each stage, including conviction, repentance, and surrender. Discipleship evangelism includes an emphasis on the response elements of the gospel. The goal is to strengthen salvation invitations so listeners are truly saved and become disciples of Jesus. This salvation presentation “template” can be used and edited in many ways. It can be used to prepare an evangelistic talk, spoken word for word as an invitation to respond, as training for leaders and volunteers (and any believer), in social media, for printing handouts or booklets, in websites, etc.. The author is okay with deleting his name and anything else that is nonessential if that helps. There are no copyright restrictions. Don’t forget to apply the basic Continue Reading →

Churches as Compassionate Relationship Centers

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In many circles today Buddhism has a reputation for being a compassionate religion. Christianity is not viewed that way. This is ironic since the chief goal of Buddhism on earth is to eliminate desire and avoid suffering which includes intimate relationships that could cause suffering. Jesus embraced suffering , especially sacrificial suffering for others. Buddha believed in compassion but did not value sacrificial love and suffering nearly as much as Jesus . There is no God in Buddhism – it is agnostic. In Christianity we discover a loving personal God. So why does Buddhism have a better reputation for compassion for many people? Is it possible that too many Christians present themselves as adversarial inside and outside the church, that many are focused on defending Christian doctrine and morality with people who aren’t even Christian? Is this okay? Should anyone who has experienced both religions have any doubt which is Continue Reading →