Christian Faith Bulletin Board
CLICK HERE TO JOIN IN
NEW CONTENT IS HERE
Dr. Richard Foster, founder of "Renovare", an international,
spiritual, renewal movement and author of Celebration of Discipline, says
the twenty-first century will witness one of the greatest harvests of Christian
missions ever.
Foster outlines seven steps towards renewal:
1. Let's become intentionally
Godward in our orientation. Not self-oriented, not success-oriented, not church-oriented,
not seeker-oriented, but God-oriented.
2. Let's stop
using a marketing approach to church life. The church is not a vendor of religious
goods and services but the Community of Faith, living in faith and through faith
and by faith alone. We do not need to mimic the entertainment industry of our
culture. We win people to Christ not by entertainment but by the power of the
Holy Spirit.
3. We should
become intentional about learning the "habits of the heart" for Biblical
holiness. We need daily spiritual disciplines rather than sporadic bursts of
inspiration or enthusiasm.
4. Let's quit
using the strutting peacock CEO of contemporary culture as a model for Christian
leadership.
5. Let' s make
certain that our Godward orientation is always for the sake of the world. The
Church exists for the sake of the world, which at the very minimum means less
stress on preserving our institutions and more stress on serving the poor.
6. Let's get
rid of our "edifice complex." Buildings are not bad, but neither are
they the sum total of everything important either. Let's use buildings to help
and serve people and not as monuments to our own egos.
7. Let's engage
in vigorous, culture-sensitive evangelism. All peoples need to hear the good
news of Jesus and His love.
and
http//www. charismanews.com
Reproduced by permission from Dr. Yonggi Cho's "Church Growth" magazine.
Copyright: Copyright (c) 1996-2005 Michael Fackerell · · Generator: TopicTree 0.8 · Generated: 28 Aug 2008, 06:23 pm AEST · Last modified: 2005-05-22 08:08:02 · 79 ms · Speaking softly, running deep
Subscribe to Christian-faith list for updates and info