Total Church the conclusion

I long for a church where the primary motivation of the people is passion for the glory of God. Wouldn't it be awesome if the first thought that came to mind on any endeavor would be "What will God get out of this?" rather than "What will I get out of this?" I do appreciate the authors reminding us that while community sounds wonderful, the reality is that it is hard work and lots of mercy is needed. I also liked the play on I Corinthians 13 concerning even if we are culturally relevant and have not love it's useless and meaningless. In all of our getting, as Solomon said, get understanding (Proverbs 4:7). Too often we look for formulas of success or at the very least principles that bring success. It's so important that the motivation of true ministry be directed toward the glory of God and the fame of Jesus. I have enjoyed this book and the heart it is presented in and I have been encouraged by the wisdom and affirmation of the authors. be blessed

Total Church chapter 13

Success is too often driven by and influenced by our society instead of established in the satisfaction of God's purpose. I am more and more convinced that the only way to establish healthy congregations, that is, congregations of healthy people is to stay small. Our philosophy is to do all that we can to insure that relationship is the priority. Individuals who have a strong, thriving relationship with Jesus and with each other. We have a strong emphasis on small group ministry but also we want the congregation to remain small enough that at the very least the acquaintances are strong enough that if any individual or couple or family stops attending it is noticed by all. We also strongly believe that the best way to penetrate our city is by establishing small pockets of witness in every little township we can. Closer is always better!
Concerning our model of leadership we see Ephesians 4:11-13 as the standard of ministry vision. We have set as our vision the intention of Jesus in giving ministry to the church. It was not to go into a city with a vision focused on taking that city for Jesus, but rather the focus of ministry is to be more microscopic in that we are called to help each other find our individual vision and help train and encourage one another to be faithful to that calling. If the people of our congregation are not active in works of service for the kingdom then we as God given Word ministry are failing in our mission. If people's lives are not being changed more and more into faithful witnesses of the gospel and it's power then we as Word ministers are failing. Character is the fruit that measures our success. I would also add that if character is the fruit of the Spirit then when Jesus points out the issue of false ministry in Matthew 7 he is telling us that we cannot follow someone whose life we do not know well. The fruit is not that people are healed, delivered etc. or that large numbers are attracted, many of those are strangers to Jesus, but the fruit must speak of their character which cannot be known from a distance.
I would also add that the diversity of Ephesians 4 speaks to me of Jesus intention of bringing health to the congregation through diverse perspectives of His Word. People need to hear any particular portion of scripture taught in the diverse perspective that only comes from teachers who see it from the view of a pastor, teacher, evangelist, prophetic and apostolic and proclaim it from their passion. I also believe this emphasizes the need to have a pulpit that is diverse. One man always doing all the proclaiming is never healthy for a congregation and simply occasionally bringing in an outside speaker cannot give the diverse diet of the Word that Jesus intended. Their should be a plural presentation of the Word and also a plural leadership providing direction for a congregation to experience a healthy diversity of Christ who cannot be truly presented through any one vessel in the Body of Christ.

Total Church chapter 12

This chapter fascinates me because of the reality in the statistics. I am often skeptical of statistics because of the probable methods of obtaining them, but I am certain that the surveys are right for both England and the U.S. concerning the exodus of youth from the modern church. I also agree that there seems to be a lethargy about the situation and a surrender to the perceived inevitable. I agree with the authors that much of our issue involves the churches approach of youth ministry as a separate ministry from the rest of the church body and almost an isolation from church community. The establishment of separation almost sends a message that the church recognizes that it is out of touch with the main stream and so chooses to approach ministry to youth differently. Fun has been the focus when what our youth really need is serious discipleship. Youth need purpose and are motivated by challenge and the opportunity for world change. In the surrender to cultural relevance we have so watered down the gospel and the idea of kingdom commitment that the foundation needed to anchor youth in the transition from immaturity to responsibility has never been laid. Our youth don't know or don't understand the Word of God. They have not been taught its importance, its relevance, nor have they been taught its ability to address the true root issues of life. Youth don't know how to handle the Word in a way that they can apply to their life situations.
I also agree that just as important to youth as peer relationship is the relationship with mature Christians. Mentoring is vital to the establishment of youth anchoring. Youth want to look at Christian examples of consistent unwavering adults. Not adults without flaws and failings, but unwavering in their passion to repent and return and remain consistent in their pursuit of God. On page 186 it states the value of youth blending into the integrated community. Young people love being included and valued in community. It anchors them to the larger church. I also appreciate the encouragement to teach the Word with a diversity that speaks to all life experiences and all ages. Being mindful of these diversities forces the teacher to prepare with more thought and intentionality which actually helps the teaching to have more clarity.
On the subject of children I placed a couple of notes at the bottom of the page. The first is concerning Nehemiah 8:2, 3 when Nehemiah was reading the scriptures from dawn to midday, it says that all the men and women gathered to listen. The age factor it says was determined by "all who could hear with understanding". The other note is concerning Jesus times of teaching where it appears that the children were not only present, but had access to Jesus himself. My thinking in this is that there should be intentional teaching of the Word for all ages of comprehension realizing that infants cannot understand on any level but toddlers and preschool and even grade school level children have a level of understanding that requires teaching them in their own setting. The emphasis is that it is vital that they be fed some level of God's word so that they might grow from it. I also believe that it is important on a regular basis to so order the adult service that children can be included and would benefit, not just from a program, but intentional teaching of the Word of God. The best example might be a Seder service or Easter or Christmas Eve time where the Word is read and acted out so that even the little children receive.

Total Church chapter 11 Apologetics

I confess that apologetics is not a very strong point of mine. I am always fascinated with the ideas but often lost in the process. I find that people who are argumentative have one of two issues, either they hope to put God off so they can continue living like they do, in which case I miss seeing the work of the Holy Spirit bringing conviction in their souls and find it meaningless to argue, or they have been deeply disappointed with God in some crisis that they have faced and they are angry. Those who are angry at God fall into one of two camps, they are either being dealt with by God in which case they are crying out for help or they have not reached the point of truly wanting an answer to the "why" of disappointment and no amount of reasoning will prevail to bring them to Christ. That does not mean that I don't give any of these individuals time if they open a dialogue, since I certainly cannot know which ones the Holy Spirit is drawing and which ones He is not, but it does help me in the process to determine where they fall as I dialogue with them.
I thought the most interesting parts of this chapter were found on pages 166 and 167. 167 in particular list the most relevant scriptures relating to the heart motive of atheism. Certainly the wager on page 168 makes sense. Eternal destiny is a lot to bet against a momentary liberty to sin. I think the most profound statement is on page 169, "Corresponding to human blindness is God's hiddenness. God hides himself from those who would know him without loving him." Wow, that is so true!!! The author then goes on to state that only the one who is given the gift of faith is capable of discovering the truth about God. Also, "The cross is the revelation of God to those disposed to love God, but it hides God from those disposed to reject his reign." The author later quotes Matthew 11:25, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children."
The arguments concerning truth and power that are put forth in the section titled "The Message of the Cross and the Limits of Postmodernism" are very good. The final paragraph on page 173 sum up the problem of Postmodernism very well. Truth is power but balanced, but power without truth is unstoppable and leaves hopelessness. The truth we proclaim is not a truth to dominate for our own advantage, but a truth that has been proven through the sacrifice of the truth giver. Love causes God's truth to be trustworthy.
At the top of page 176 the author again rightly brings community into the work of apologetic. Quoting from Randy Frazee in "The Connecting Church" it states, "Our relationship with each other is the criterion the world uses to judge whether our message is truthful. Christian community is the ultimate apologetic." For sure, John 13:35, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." The authors closing statements on page 178 really speak to this point the best, first they define the word apologetic then they quote I Peter 3:15 where the Greek word for apologetic comes. The context is clear that the answer we are to be able to give to others who inquire is based on the question arising from observing our own lives and our confidence and hope. Oh that all of us lived life in such a way that we were bombarded with questions from unbelievers about our hope.

Total Church chapter 10

This chapter on Theology might, at first glance, seem to be uninteresting, but it really is the foundation for the ideology of this book. I like how the authors have approached the subject from the position that the only reason we know anything at all about God is because He has initiated our understanding of Himself. The chosen source of His revelation is His Word and therefore the Bible is the ultimate resource of understanding God. The section on "Mission-Centered Theology" emphasizes the responsibility of all Christians to be theologians in the sense of pursuing the knowledge of God through His Word and also of sharing that knowledge with others. All Christians should also allow the Word of God to transform them through a work of the Holy Spirit who makes the Word come to life in power.
The authors state that all theology should be shaped by a missionary hermeneutic. By this, they mean that the Word or knowledge of the Word must become alive in and through us. They state that unbelievers are not satisfied with pat answers, but rather need living proof through changed lives. I especially like the quote they use from Rene' Padilla that every culture makes it possible to show a new and unique aspect of the gospel and its ability to fit each culture. They say that these cultural mission opportunities allow us to discover what part of our belief system actually belongs to the gospel and which part is simply a product of our own cultural application to the gospel. Mission then helps us to filter our belief system and is vital to discovering truth. For example many Christians sit in auditoriums with belief about miracles and until miracles happen in their theater of safety, they have no intention of going into the world, but the reality is that going into the world defines our true understanding or belief about miracles because they follow the message of faith rather than proceeding.
Community-centered theology is also a powerful concept because it again forces us to live what we believe and brings our knowledge of God to the table of trial. In our daily interaction with each other we put our belief system to the test and discover what we really believe versus what we think we believe. I appreciate the authors emphasis that true theology "is not just about me and my Bible", page 158. Their argument for a more Anabaptist approach is compelling. I definitely like the idea of those who feel a drawing toward teaching and dissecting the Word gathering together to dig in together.
Lastly, their statements concerning the academic approach or scholarship of theology is interesting. I think there is a way to blend the two ideas of academic and local church, but it is certainly difficult if the student is not aware of how influential the professors can be and also how biased they are when they teach.

Lantern Road book review chapter 9

Spirituality, one of my favorite topics. Spirituality outside of community is one of the most dangerous exercises a human being can attempt. Deception is almost inevitable. Without the counsel and accountability of community we all drift toward self indulgence and that includes the arena of spirituality. Jesus greatest expression of spirituality is found in the statement concerning him in the Psalms and Hebrews, "In the volume of the book it is written of me, I come to do your will O God." The proof is in the doing, the going, not the being. Being spiritual is one thing, but living spiritual is another ball game.
Page 142 is excellent on the topic of spirituality and the Word of God. I love the statement that "God reveals himself by his Spirit through his word." Far too often our concepts of spiritual encounter are not rightly compared to the Word of God and are tainted. I liked the balance concerning the leading of the Spirit that begins at the bottom of page 142. In many circles, there is such a craving for prophetic words to direct lives that it has become like a Christian fortune telling center in some churches. I do not discount the prophetic, but I do believe we are becoming addicted and remaining infantile in our spiritual growth due to our reliance on prophetic input. I do disagree with the argument on page 143 that all we need is Jesus. For certain any instruction, whether by teaching or prophetic etc. must conform to the words of Jesus himself or as given through the writings of the New Testament, but Jesus did give the ministry gifts and the gifts of the Holy Spirit to help instruct us and to train us into His will.
The thoughts on "Spirituality and the Gospel Mission" are helpful. Gnosticism is addressed and certainly that is a major issue in the church today. The points about John 15 on page 146 are definitely part of the discussion. I also liked the section on passionate prayer. I think that the theology of corporate prayer is a much needed topic today. Much of the Old Testament pictures national petition and gathering to seek God and it almost seems assumed by Paul in the New Testament that there are times of petition prayer happening in the churches. The statements on page 150 about concentration in prayer being helped by corporate praying are definitely true. I will say that the statements on page 148 that seem to discourage praise and thanksgiving as a needed component for prayer are wrong. It is true that petitioning God is a form of humility and need for God, but it also is first centered in myself and not God. And, there is definitely a clear teaching in scripture concerning petitioning according to the will of God which is likely best found in first focusing upon Him.
Lastly, for me the final section is the key principle of the chapter. Any time we begin our approach to God as if it is only about God and me I think we abuse the Lord's intention to redeem a people. It automatically isolates me when I think in terms of my need for God without regard to the people He has joined my life to. The emphasis on page 150 about not separating ourselves and the reference to the scriptures that point to sins that separate us from God are very insightful. Also, the concept that the scriptures urge us to live in relationship where we are encouraging and exhorting one another imply clearly that part of our spiritual growth is dependent upon relationship. Exhortation is so lacking in most of the churches relationship instruction. We are not often taught how to "speak the truth in love", in fact we are seldom encouraged to do so but rather most of the time we are actually encouraged not to do so for the sake of unity. How twisted we are to think that there could possibly be God glorifying unity where there is no confrontation happening in the spirit of love and meekness. As simple as it sounds, the sentence on page 151 that sums it all up for me is, "We need to be sharing our lives." Sharing is a concept our parents taught us from the start, how did we find ourselves so wounded and hardened by sin that somewhere along the way we forgot that it is wrong to keep things to ourselves and it is always right to have a heart to share. Paul said it this way in I Corinthians 6:19-20, we are not our own but rather we were bought by a price. Paul also encourages us in Romans 12 to present our bodies as living sacrifices. We belong to Jesus and he is an unselfish and generous giver. Our lives are to be shared with others.

Total Church review chapter 8

There is little doubt that pastoral care has more and more moved into the arena of the professional counselor. There is a great deal of intimidation and even projected condemnation when pastors attempt to do counsel or worse yet encourage small group leaders to wade into the lives of their members. A certain aura of self proclaimed success is projected by the professional field that is just not reality. Most people are not helped aside from healthy strong relationships outside of the counseling sessions. At the end of the day the people who are helped often are set free more because of the relationships which grow strong walking together through crisis, than they are from the counseling. I agree with the comments at the bottom of page 128 that as "people are encouraged to define themselves as victims" and "are encouraged to seek out professional counseling", they "become disinclined to depend on each other in the normal routine of relationships". I also love the bold statement on page 129 "It is our conviction that the gospel word and gospel community do not fail us when it comes to pastoral care." We are often paralyzed by our speculation of the worse case scenarios of failure if we attempt to deal with people's problems. Our concern is misplaced. Professional counseling fails just as frequently as other methods of help and with just as horrible consequences. Recent reports by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, which performs the government studies for suicide, state that suicide among Hispanics is half as much as the general public and the study indicates that the reasons are, religious teaching that suicide is a sin and the closeness of their family units.

Another point that I see being made on page 129 under the chapter heading "The Sufficient Gospel Word", is concerning the supposed dichotomy between teaching the Bible and counseling. To think that a sermon is a generic safe means of addressing people's need through scripture but that personal counseling using the scripture is crossing a line of safety, is to say that the Bible is not sufficient. If we truly believe that Jesus is the answer to social as well as personal issues, then He is sufficient for the needs of crisis. In every personal crisis transformation is the solution and transformation always occurs through application of the scripture through interpersonal relationships. II Peter 1:3-4 is true and has been made available to all who are in Christ. Two books I would highly recommend on this concept are "How People Change" by Timothy Lane and Paul Tripp and also "The Peace Making Pastor" by Alfred Poirier. Both books should be required reading for all pastors. They also deal with the God ordained ability or pastoral gifting promised as an unction from the Holy Spirit to all those who are called Christians.

On page 133 is a powerful statement of truth that when I turn in on myself, I am turning away from God!!! From the first full paragraph on page 133 through the end of the chapter I highlighted pretty much all of it and covered the pages with asterisks. It is vital that we deeply imprint into our hearts and minds the principles of relationship before we enter crisis or we will through our fallen nature drift into a place of dark loneliness purposely isolating ourselves from the only true help we have which is community. Because of our fallen nature we fall towards self pity and only want sympathy when in crisis. We absolutely do not want the confrontation of truth even though that may be our best help. Other than physical need, when people came to Jesus with crisis, most often, he addressed the issues with challenges concerning heart. The 4 keys for life changing truth about God on page 138 are tremendous applications for addressing issues in each others lives and really are true points of consideration when dealing with each others issues.