The Human Heart

Artwork by Bethany Peek

I have seen the human heart with my own eyes. I have touched the human heart with my hands. I have monitored the hearts electrical system. I have visualized the heart’s pumping chambers and measured their function. I have visualized the hearts own vascular system called the coronary arteries which feed oxygenated blood to the heart muscle. I have taken part in procedures to replace heart valves, implant defibrillators, implant pacemakers, open blocked coronary arteries or bypass them.

I have a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and have been employed as a Registered Nurse for 21 years. I have spent all of that time in areas of nursing that specialize in caring for people with heart disease. I have received advance nursing certifications from The American Association of Critical Care Nurses as a Critical Care Registered Nurse and in Cardiovascular Surgery. I am certified by The American Heart Association in both Basic Life Support and Advance Cardiac Life Support. I say these things that you may understand how intimately I know the human heart. It is obvious to me that the human heart is fearfully and wonderfully made, and my soul knows it very well. (Ps 119:14)

Darwin said, “If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.”1 The human heart is an irreducible complex system that I believe could not have been formed by numerous, successive slight modifications. “Michael Behe defines an irreducible complex system as a single system of several well-matched , interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, wherein the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning.”2

The hearts electrical system tells the myocardium when to contract and in what sequence. The hearts valves open and close at specified times to force direction of flow. The four chambers are made by a septum. The myocardium is the motor of the heart and the coronary arteries are the gas line that fuel the motor. If any one of these things are removed the entire system stops functioning.  It would be impossible for the heart to have developed overtime because if one system where missing then it could not function and would never have come to be.

Thomas Aquinas wrote: By his natural reason man is able to arrive at some knowledge of God. For seeing that natural things run their course according to a fixed order, and since there cannot be order without a cause of order, men, for the most part, perceive that there is one who orders the things that we see. But who or of what kind this cause of order may be, or whether there be but one, cannot be gathered from this general consideration.2

The apostle Paul wrote that God is evident to man, but it is our sin that separates us from knowing God. (cf. Rom 1:18-32) Therefore, We can know that there is a God by looking at natural things, but we cannot know God except by special revelation. The Scriptures are God’s special revelation of himself and His Divine plan to man. If you do anything this week, take up the Scriptures and read that you may know Him.


In Christ alone,
Mike Peek


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1 Francis J. Beckwith, “Darwin, Design and the Public Schools” in To Everyone An Answer: A Case for the Christian Worldview, ed. Francis J. Beckwith, William Lane Craig and J. P. Moreland (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2004), 276.
2 Ibid.
3 William A. Dembski, “An InformationTheoretic Design Argument” in To Everyone An Answer: A Case for the Christian Worldview, ed. Francis J. Beckwith, William Lane Craig and J. P. Moreland (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2004), 79.

Methods for Sharing the Gospel on College Campuses

Introduction

I watched a lecture by William Lane Craig of Reasonable Faith on methods for sharing the gospel on college campuses. On April 8th, 2016, Dr. William Lane Craig was invited to speak at the Meyer Lectures at St. Mary’s on the Lake Catholic seminary in Mundelein, north of Chicago. The tile of the video is “Methods for Sharing the Gospel on College Campuses: 2016 Meyer Lecture Series.”

Synopsis

After an introduction by Cardinal Meyer, Dr. Craig began his lecture by saying that Christian Philosophy shapes the culture so that ears remain open to hear the gospel. The two positive components of Christian Philosophy are natural theology and evidences. Dr. Craig said that natural theology seeks to prove the existence of God apart from Divine revelation and Christian evidences seek to provide warrant for believing that God revealed himself in the person of Jesus Christ.

Dr. Craig says that what is needed in secular culture today is what C. S. Lewis called Mere Christianity. He explains that Mere Christianity is the basic central truths of the Christian faith. He did not say what those were in this lecture. He then dives into the ways in which Christian apologetics aides in the task of personal evangelism, particularly on college campuses. First, it makes Christians more confident in sharing their faith with others. Second, it makes Christians more effective in evangelism.

After giving arguments for the effectiveness of Christian apologetics, Dr. Craig concludes by giving practical suggestions for using apologetics in personal evangelism, here are a few: Don’t allow the arguments to distract you from sharing the gospel. Be as simple as possible with your arguments. Have a list of arguments memorized. Never forget that our goal is to when people and not arguments.

Evaluation

In May of 2013, my first introduction into apologetics was given in a presentation on presuppositional apologetics in which evidential apologetics was spoken of negatively. I was trained to take part in evangelism at large sporting events that drew large crowds; therefore, I must admit that any evaluation that I have comes from that background.

I was very surprised by some of the things that Dr. Craig said in this lecture. When I heard him speak of natural theology and evidences my guard went up because I was previously told that we should not allow God to be put on trial; therefore, we should not give evidences to the unbeliever thereby making him judge. As Dr. Craig began to talk about these things, especially the reason for giving them; namely that every person is precious to God and that the impact of a converted intellectual has a great influence on culture, my guard came down and I lessoned.

I must say that the practical suggestions that Dr. Craig gave would be very helpful. First, one of the most helpful is to only use apologetic arguments after sharing the gospel. You may not have to give apologetic arguments at all. Second, having a list of arguments with their premises memorized is very helpful. The Kalam Cosmological Argument and Ontological Arguments are examples. Lastly, never forget that the goal is to win people and not arguments. Having been active in evangelism, I must say that these suggestions are very helpful. I will likely use them as I do personal evangelism going forward.

Reading Carefully Part 1

Hermeneutics:
Lesson 2
Reading Carefully Part 1

Introduction

Today we will discuss reading sentences carefully. Next week will expand outwardly to paragraphs and discourses. I like how Duvall and Hays began this chapter by using figurative imagery. It interests me because using figurative imagery is often used by the biblical writers to get their point across to the reader. Figurative imagery employees our emotions. As a side note to this lesson on reading sentences carefully, two common types of Figurative imagery used in Scripture are: similes and metaphors.

Many people have trouble distinguishing between simile and metaphor. A glance at their Latin and Greek roots offers a simple way of telling these two closely-related figures of speech apart. Simile comes from the Latin word similis (meaning “similar, like”), which seems fitting, since the comparison indicated by a simile will typically contain the words as or like. Metaphor, on the other hand, comes from the Greek word metapherein (“to transfer”), which is also fitting, since a metaphor is used in place of something. “My love is like a red, red rose” is a simile, and “love is a rose” is a metaphor.1

Duvall and Hays began this chapter using the analogy of a young man reading a love letter. This tactic really worked on me because when Darlene and I became engaged to be married she was in Louisiana and I was at Ft. Knox in Kentucky. Then, in our second year of marriage we were separated again by a continent, and the Pacific Ocean for eight months; she was in Texas and I was in Korea. I read and re-read her letters in the way that Duvall and Hays describe. So, when they tell me that I should study over Scripture the way that I studied Darlene’s letters when I was in Korea, my emotions help me to understand what they mean.

The first thing that we are to do in our journey into God’s word is to observe as many details about the text as possible. Duvall and Hays tell us to refrain from interpreting and applying the text during this stage. At this point we are asking, “What does the text say?” Not, “What does the text mean?”2

Things to Look for in Sentences

1. Repetition of words – Look for words and phrases that repeat.
2. Contrasts – Look for ideas, individuals, and/or items contrasted with each other.
3. Comparisons – Look for ideas, individuals, and/or items compared with each other.
4. Lists – Whenever the text mentions more than two items, identify it as a list.
5. Cause and Effect – Look for cause-and-effect relationships.
6. Figure of Speech – Identify expressions that convey an image using words in a sense other than the normal literary sense.
7. Conjunctions – Notice terms that join units: and, but, for, therefore. Note what they are connecting.
8. Verbs – Note active, passive past, present, etc.
9. Pronouns – Identify the antecedent for each pronoun.3

Conclusion

The first step in the interpretive journey is to make as many observations about the text as possible. This list of nine things that Duvall and Hays gave us to look for are not exhaustive, but they are a really good start to begin digging deeply into the word. Read the text several times and observe the details. When you do, write down the details that you have observed. Every sentence in the Bible is rich with details, some more than others; therefore, I encourage you to dig deeply into every sentence at the beginning of your study.4


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1 Metaphor. Merriam-Webster. Accessed October 04, 2017. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metaphor.
2 J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays, Journey Into God’s Word(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), 23.
3 J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays, Grasping God’s word: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012), 62-63.
4 Ibid.

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Do Not Fear the Unknown

Our church recently underwent several changes based on the vision of her elders. When change comes: 2.5% of persons are innovators, this would be our elders. 13.5% of persons are early adopters, in other words they immediately embrace what the innovators envision. The majority, 64% of persons fear the unknown; ½ will lose those fears early and the other ½ once the changes bring positive results. However, my recent studies showed me that about 18% of persons have a predisposed attitude against change and do not see a need for change.1 

My Church is Sylvania Church in Tyler, Texas. We are a Southern Baptist Church; therefore, previously when you came into one of our worship services from another Southern Baptist Church you knew what to expect with a few variations. However, on or about September 9, 2018, at the end of the service, our pastor announced that we would be changing the format of our worship service. There would no longer be announcements during the service, nor a break to shake hands with the other members of the congregation. He said that he and the elders have been discussing this for a long time. When he made this announcement, knowing a little bit about church history my mind went to a picture like this one.

I have a confession to make, I was in the bottom ½ of the 64% who fear the unknown. We have now had about six or so services worshiping through songs of adoration, worshiping through confession, worshiping through songs of assurance, worshiping through scripture reading, worshiping through preaching of the word, worship through songs of thanksgiving and a benediction recited by the entire congregation. Though I was hesitant to embrace this model until I saw it in practice, I now confess that I love what the elders have done, and the gospel of the kingdom of God is the reason:

1. Adoration: God is righteous and holy. He is morally perfect; and therefore, separate from everyone and everything that is not.
2. Confession: No matter their people, nation or race all men and women are sinful. No one is able to approach God by his/her own efforts. We are all dead in our trespasses and sins.
3. Assurance: Jesus Christ is the answer to our sin problem. Jesus lived a perfect and holy life. Jesus died as a substitute for our sins. He took upon himself our guilt and gave us his righteousness and holiness. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day. God has given Him all authority in heaven and on earth.
4. Thanksgiving: This does not result in the salvation of every person, but solely those who repent of their sins and place their faith in Jesus Christ as savior; and therefore, follow Him as Lord.2 

I love this new worship model at Sylvania Church in Tyler, Texas, because it causes me to focus on the righteousness and holiness of God. To reflect on our own inability and sinfulness. To look to Jesus Christ for what he has done in assurance and follow His commands in thanksgiving.
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[1]Rodney A. Harrison, Jeffrey A. Klick, and Glenn A. Miller, Pastoral Helmsmanship: A Pastor’s Guide to Church Administration(U. S. A.: ICM Publishing 2014), 241-242.

[2]M. David Sills, Reaching and Teaching: A Call to Great Commission Obedience (Chicagoe: Moody Publishers, 2010), 124.

Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?

Photo by Joseph Hooper Freely

Introduction

I watched a debate between Marcus Borg of the Jesus Seminar and William Lane Craig of Reasonable Faith on the validity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The debate was sponsored by Denton Bible Church and held on the campus of the University of North Texas on October 22, 2001. The tile of the video is William Lane Craig vs Marcus Borg: Did Jesus Rise From the Dead? 

Synopsis

Marcus Borg sees the Gospels as a developed tradition. He explains that this is true because the Gospels were written between 70-90 AD, many years disconnected from the actual events. Thus, he states that the stories were added to the actual events overtime. He also says that the gospels have two voices: The historical voice of Jesus and the voice of the early Christian communities that produced the Gospels. He also sees the Gospels as history remembered and history metaphor rather than literal history. For Dr. Borg the only historical ground for Easter is in the visions of the early church and his memorial presence in their community, the breaking of bread. He does not believe that a bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ matters, what matters is that you experience him. Finally, for Dr. Borg the central truth is that Jesus lives in the hearts and minds of Christians, that God has vindicated him, and Jesus is Lord. He concludes by saying that the stories are really true even though they are not literally true.

William Lane Craig gave two basic contentions which he aimed to defend: 1) Jesus resurrection was confirmation of his radical-personal claims of divinity. 2) If Jesus did not rise from the dead Christianity is a delusion which no rational adult should believe.

Regarding the resurrection, Dr. Craig gave four facts: 1) Jesus was buried in a tomb by Joseph of Arimathea. 2) Jesus tomb was found empty by the women who followed him. 3) Differing individuals and groups experienced post-mortem appearances of Jesus. 4) The disciples suddenly came to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead and preached Christ without fear. 

Dr. Craig states that if Jesus did not rise from the dead he is nothing more than a rotting mass of flesh. Liberals believe that he only exists in what he symbolizes, and he states that Dr. Borg bases his beliefs on metaphor. Dr. Craig says that metaphor presupposes literal truth; if there is no literal truth, then there is no metaphoric truth.

Evaluation

All four gospel accounts have as a foundational Christian belief that Christ physically rose from the dead. In Mark the tomb is found empty by the women, in Matthew the tomb was found empty by the women whom he appeared to when the left the tomb, in Luke the tomb was found empty by the women who saw angles at the tomb, and in John Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene at the site of the tomb in the garden where she clung to him. All four Gospel accounts have this in common; they all claim that the women found the tomb that Jesus had been physically placed in by Joseph of Arimathea empty on the first day of the week. Matthew, Luke and John include appearances, Mark also if 16:9-20 is included in his writing.

A physical bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is claimed by the original apostles and Paul in the book of Acts. Paul gives a list of four evidences that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God: 1) Christ death for our sins. 2) His physical burial. 3) His resurrection on the third day. 4) His post-mortem appearances to many persons. (1 Cor 15:3-11) He goes on to say, “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith is also vain.” (1 Cor 15:14, NASB) He goes on to say that if Christ is not risen, he and the other apostles are false witness of God. (1 Cor 15:15) Any Christianity that denies the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ is not Christian. The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is foundational to Christ claim of divinity and our Christian hope.

Worldviews and Religions

Photo by Ben White on Freely

What advantage does the apologist gain in calling Christianity a 'worldview,' as opposed to a 'faith' or 'religion'?

I use the New American Standard Bible, 1995, in my daily reading of the word and in study. The pericope at the beginning of the 3^rdchapter of 1 Peter is a good one because in two words it encompasses the context of the entire chapter. The translators Pericope at the beginning of the 1 Peter chapter 3 says, Godly Living. Part of the context of godly living is to be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks us to give an account for the hope that is in us. Not only is it, godly living, to give a defense for our Christian hope but to do so with gentleness and reverence. (cf. 1 Pt 3:15) Is Peter saying that we should fear those whom we are giving a defense to? No, I think that he is saying that we should respect them and part of respecting them would be to not use words like religion when referring to their unbelief, when we know that they may take offense to it. The gospel is offensive enough to the unbeliever in its own right, let us not offend them unnecessarily.

The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. (2 Tm 2:24-26, NASB)

A month or so ago the Lord put this passage on my mind and I am now taking it to heart. I think that it is a very important passage for the apologist because the passage gives us the reason for arguing, the manner by which we should argue and reminds us not to quarrel.

An atheist is opposed to being called religious because he sees religion as being a set of irrelevant beliefs, values, and practices. Even a Christian would feel strange calling atheism a religion because its belief system is not associated with the supernatural.[1]

A worldview on the other hand is a person’s operating system. A world view could be defined as beliefs that guide a person’s thoughts, words and actions.[2]It is a patch work of ideas by which a person views God, the nature of the universe, the nature of human beings, knowledge, and ethical principles by which a person lives.[3]Given this definition atheism and Christianity could both be called worldviews.

Considering that our goal for the unbeliever is repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, and that the Scriptures teach us to be kind to all and correct with gentleness it would be most kind to use the term worldview when giving a defense to unbelievers.

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[1]Thorvald B. Madsen, Worldviews and Christianity(Kansas City: Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, date unknown), 8.

[2]Ibid, 1

[3]Francis J. Beckwith, “Introduction,” in To Everyone an Answer: A Case for the Christian Worldview, ed. Frances J. Beckwith, William Lane Craig, and J. P. Moreland (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2004), 14.

The Interpretive Journey

Journey into God’s Word:
Lesson 1
The Interpretive Journey
Introduction

Many of you have been reading the Scriptures much longer than I. I began reading the Bible in May of 2003. Through the work of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, God saved me from the penalty of sin, he is now saving me from the power of sin, and he will save me from the presence of sin.

I will be teaching a hand’s-on approach to reading, interpreting, and applying the bible in the small group that meets in my home. I will be teaching 15 lessons adapted from: Duvall, J. Scott and J. Daniel Hays. Journey into God’s Word. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008. I will post these lessons to my blog. Each blog can be found under the subject hermeneutics.

Recently I attended a class by our pastor Phillip Dancy on praying through the Scriptures. I thought that the class was great because it is my habit to read the scriptures daily and pray in relation to what I just read. What he taught coincides with my personal daily practice of reading the Bible and praying what I read. However, if we are to interpret the meaning God intended we must go deeper into God’s word than simply reading the text. Duvall and Hays call the process of interpreting and grasping the Bible a journey into God’s Word. It is a journey because we are separated from the biblical audience by culture, language, situation, time and sometimes by covenant.1

New Testament believers are under the New Covenant; therefore, we approach God by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ through faith. The people of the Old Testament were under the old covenant; therefore, they approached God through the Mosaic and Levitical law.2

For these reasons an intuitive interpretation will not work. Typically, Christians take three approaches to reading and interpreting Scripture. If the text looks as though it can be directly applied to their lives they do so. If not, they may spiritualize or take an allegorical approach to interpreting biblical meaning. Or they may skip past the passage all together and move on to a different passage.3

The goal for this lesson is to interpret the meaning of the text that God intended. We shall not create meaning but seek the meaning already in the text. We must do this because the Bible is God’s communication of himself and his will to us.4

Interpretive Steps:

1. Grasp the text in their town - What did the text mean to the biblical audience? This will take a little willingness to do research.
2. Measure the Width of the River to Cross - What are the differences between the biblical audience and us? Once you understand the biblical audience’s culture, language, situation, time and covenant you can answer this question.
3. Crossing the Principlizing Bridge - What is the theological principle in the text? See criteria for principles. 
4. Grasping the Text in Our Town - How should individual Christians today apply the theological principle in their lives? There are many ways that the principles can be applied. Depending on your personal walk with the Lord there may be an application of the principle that is right in your life that would not be right in the lives of every believer. This is where interpretation might get personal but not so for the other steps.5

Criteria for Principles:

• The principle should be reflected in the text.
• The principle should be timeless and not tied to a specific situation.
• The principles should not be culturally bound.
• The principle should correspond to the teaching of the rest of Scripture.
• The Principle should be relevant to both the biblical and the contemporary audience.6 

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1 J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays, Journey Into God’s Word(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), 12.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid, 13.

4 Ibid, 14.

5 J. Scott Duvall and Daniel Hays, Grasping God’s Word: A Hand’s-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible Laminated Sheet, 3^rded. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007), 1.

6 Ibid.

Online You

Today concludes the 12th class in my endeavor to obtain a Master of Theological Studies. I am now 4/5 of the way through the formal•structured•discipleship program that I launched into on March 14, 2016. I have looked forward to the remaining three classes since I began the program, not because they are the last three classes but because of their subject matter. The last three classes are:

1. Apologetics: Apologetics is based on the words of the apostle Peter in his first letter; “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you.” (1 Pe 3:15) 
2. Evangelism & Discipleship: Evangelism & Discipleship is based on the Great Commission set forth in Matthew 28:16-20. The Lord Jesus Christ who had been given all authority in heaven and on earth commissioned his disciples to go and make disciples, baptize and teach them to observe all of his commandments. 
3. Missiology: Missiology is the study of foreign missions. When Jesus commissioned his disciples to go make disciples, baptize and teach them to observe all of his commandments he commissioned them to go to all the nations. In Acts 1:8 Jesus told his disciples that they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem (which is where they were when he said this), in all Judea (the country that Jerusalem was in), in Samaria (the closest neighbor to Judea) and even to the remotest part of the earth.

These three classes are at the center of my heart and the reason that I started writing this blog. I desire to tell people about the hope that is in me. I desire to make disciples and teach them all that Jesus commanded. I desire to do so wherever the Lord should send me even to the remotest part of the earth.

2 ½ years ago I started into the Master of Theological Studies program because the Great Commission had been put on my heart and just like the disciples of Jesus Christ were discipled by him for three years before he commissioned them, I desired to be discipled. My mind has been changed a great deal by all that I have read and the things that I have heard while going through this program. I see the Great Commission in a much different light than I did before. I am looking forward to starting these final three courses and I am looking forward to what the Lord will have me doing after completion. Not my will but let the Lord’s will be done.

Online You: Online Education for the Church from Midwestern Seminary.

Autopsy of a Deceased Church

Rainer, Thom S., Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 ways to Keep Yours Alive. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group, 2014.

Biographical Sketch of the Author

Thom S. Rainer is the president and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources. Dr. Rainer graduated from the University of Alabama in 1977. He also earned a Master of Divinity and a Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the father of three adult sons and grandfather to 10. After graduating from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, he served at that seminary for twelve years as the dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism. He then founded a consulting firm that provided insights to over 500 churches during the 20-year history of the Rainer Group. In addition to Autopsy of a Dead Church, Dr. Rainer has written more than a dozen books.1

Summary of the Contents

The first two chapters set the tone of the book. Jesus told Peter that the gates of Hades will not overpower Christ’s church, local churches do die while the universal church always lives. Dr. Rainer says that a church’s growth may be rapid, but its decline is usually very slow, therefore it may be imperceptible to those in the church.

In the next nine chapters he describes the symptoms that dead churches have prior to their death. The most common of these is that these dead churches lived for a long time with the past days being the hero. The second is that the church refused to look like the community. This is not referring to looking like the world in sin, but in the makeup of the persons in the community: race, age, sex, socially and economically. Everything began to move inwardly in these churches. This comes to the forefront in the budget of these churches, spending that goes outward is eliminated. This is also seen in the great commission mindedness of the church’s members. They wall themselves off from the community that the church is in, the spending money outside the church is eliminated, and all evangelism ceases.

These churches become about me, myself and I. Individuals fight over personal preferences and would rather see the church cease than give in to the preferences of another. So, first wall yourself off from the community, then wall yourself off from those who are in the church. With this the tenure of the Pastors begins to decrease. The congregation is unwilling or unable to change; therefore, the pastor either leaves or is fired after a couple of years. 

The people in the church rarely if ever prayed together which also reveals the fact that they had no clear purpose for even existing as a church. Oh, they would pray before a meal, but would not pray for the mission of the church, the community or even for those in the church. Lastly, they became obsessed with the facilities. They memorialize the past; certain facilities that where associated with the past are held in high esteem while others go to rot.

The second section of the book deals with what to do if your church is showing symptoms of sickness, is very sick or is dying. Dr. Rainer says that 10% of churches are healthy, 40% have symptoms of sickness, 40% are very sick and 10% are terminal.

The church showing symptoms of sickness has the best chance of not dying with the right treatment. Pray that the Lord opens the eyes of the leadership and the members to reach into the community. Notice how the church members spend their time. Notice how the church spends its money. Make plans to evangelize the community taking others along with you.

The next advice is for the very sick church. The church must admit that it is in dire need. The church must pray for wisdom. The church must be willing to change. The change must be great commission and great commandment focused. If these do not happen a very sick church will become a terminal church.

The last advice is for the terminally ill church. Sell the property and give the funds to another church or give the building to a startup church that consist of people who actually live in the community. You could also merge with another growing church giving their leadership full authority over your persons and property. In other words, die graciously.

Critical Evaluation

While I very much enjoyed this book and think that there are many insights written into it that we should pay attention too, there are a few things that concern me. Dr. Rainer is a wonderful brother in Christ, but his consulting mindset seems to be a little like an American businessman. A church is not a business no matter how businessmen try to make it out to be one. Businesses are in business to make money and grow. The Lord may cause a local church to grow for a time, but this is not the purpose of the local church. All local churches are temporal. The church of Jesus Christ is universal and eternal. The purpose of the local church is to grow the universal church.

If we want to study the church, we must always begin with Jesus words to Peter in Matthew 16:13-20. Who is Jesus? Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. (vs. 16) Jesus told Peter that this was revealed to him by the Father, not by flesh and blood. On this confession Jesus told Peter that he would build his church and nothing, not even the gates of death would overtake it; (vss. 17-20) in other words, the church built on the confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God would never die. I will not go in to the Catholic understand of this passage; however, even from their perspective it is understood that the church would never die.

Before his ascension Jesus promised the disciples the baptism of the Holy Spirit. From this we turn to Acts 2 and the day of Pentecost, the birth of the Christian church. Those who believed were baptized and added to the church. “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42, NASB95) This is the picture of all healthy local churches; devoting themselves to scriptural teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 

In conclusion, the point that I would like to make is that the church that was established on the day of Pentecost continues to live to this day, but the local church in Acts 2:42 that was devoting themselves to the apostles teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer is no more; they are, however, memorialized for us in the book of Acts as an example.

Local churches from the first established church in Acts 2 to the local churches today were never intended to be eternal, it is the universal church that is eternal. The purpose of the local church is to make disciples, baptize them and teach them to observe all that Jesus commanded the first disciples; then they are to go out and do the same which means at some point that local congregation will be no more, but many new congregations will take its place.

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1 About Thom S Rainer, cdli:wiki, https://thomrainer.com/about/.