Articles

“Ouch!” was Bill Hybels’ response to the results of a 2004 survey of the spiritual growth and well-being of the congregants at Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago. Hybels had pastored Willow Creek Community Church for thirty years (as of 2005) using the seeker-sensitive Church Growth movement model of doing church. Since 1992, Hybels also had indoctrinated twelve thousand churches and their leaders with those same methods and practices through the Willow Creek Association (WCA). As a result of the 2004 survey, the church commissioned a three year study to delve into the reasons for the discontent and lack of spiritual growth in a large segment of those attending Willow Creek. The reasons for the survey results that shocked Hybels and his staff gradually emerged […]

Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, is the largest congregation in America having over 40,000 who attend the 16,800 seat nondenominational Christian mega church. From their base at Lakewood, Pastor Joel Osteen and wife Victoria preach an upbeat message to a worldwide audience of 200 million. The essence of their message can be found in Osteen’s best-selling book Your Best Life Now. Too many times we get stuck in a rut, thinking we’ve reached our limits. But God wants us to constantly be increasing, to be rising to new heights. He wants to increase you in his wisdom and help you make better decisions. God wants to increase you financially, by giving you promotions, fresh ideas, and creativity.”[1] In other words, God wants you to be […]

There is one incomprehensible moment in all eternity and creation’s flow of time at which the Creator’s incarnate Son was executed. Jesus was nailed to a rugged cross by His special creation—man. In Chapter 16 the tripartite story of mankind was briefly outlined: the Creation, the Fall, and Redemption. Before the foundations of the world were laid and before the creation of man, God knew man would reject Him, and He also knew the cost of that rejection. Because His holiness cannot abide the corruption of sin, sinful man was separated from God. Yet, God made a way for man’s sin to be washed away allowing return to a right relationship with Him. But that way would cost the death of God’s son on the […]

The modern American church has mistakenly sought to accomplish its mission through the attainment of cultural relevance by introduction of man’s ideas and methods and abandonment of unchanging biblical truth and authority in order to make the church acceptable to a culture that no longer deems itself fallen. As a result, many in the today’evangelical churches are abandoning a forthright proclamation of the gospel and replacing it with conversations about tolerance, charity, understanding, goodwill, and other noble-sounding objectives defined and dearly held by a humanistic culture. But once again we must look to the pithy writings of A. W. Tozer for wisdom and clarity. “When men believe God they speak boldly. When they doubt they confer. Much religious talk is but uncertainty rationalizing itself; and […]

John the Apostle began his gospel with these words, “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God.” [John 1:1. KJV] From this single verse we can know that God and His word preceded creation. Thus, the word of God is eternal and His truth unchangeable. It reflects His holiness and commands. God’s word was given to the authors of the Bible through inspiration. Their inspired thoughts and verbalizations were recorded and man received revelation about the nature and character of God and man’s place in the story of creation, the Fall, and restoration. When we accept the Word we acquire wisdom and are given everlasting life with Him. Because Satan is the enemy of God, he […]

The foolishness of preaching Writing to the Corinthians, Paul described his calling as an apostle of Jesus Christ. “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.” [1 Corinthians 1:17. KJV] In the next verse Paul explained that how preaching was received by the hearers depended on whether they were saved or lost. “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” [1 Corinthians 1:18. KJV] Matthew Henry wrote that the power and success of Paul’s preaching was not based on the wisdom of man’s words …lest the success should be […]

Doing church To achieve the goal of balance among the five purposes (fellowship, discipleship, worship, ministry, and evangelism), Rick Warren organized the Purpose Driven church around two concepts. According to Warren, the Life Development Process is the “what we do” at Saddleback. Circles of Commitment illustrate the “who we do it with.” Circles of Commitment contain four concentric circles surrounding a core. The goal is to move low commitment/maturity people from the outer circle to high commitment/maturity people at the core.[1] In this concept of “who we do it with,” the outer circle represents the community or unchurched where the purpose of evangelism occurs. This is a pool of lost people that occasionally attend but have made no commitment to Jesus Christ or the church.[2] […]

In The Purpose Driven Church Rick Warren writes that Christians are obligated to remain faithful to the unchanging Word of God but also must minister in an ever-changing world.[1] To accomplish this Warren developed a structure and process for doing church which he claims will allow it to continually adapt and adjust to a continually changing culture. These processes and methods are designed to be seeker sensitive, culture-friendly, and acceptable to the unchurched. As culture changes, old methods are disposed of and new methods are plugged in without harming or compromising the message. But is this true? If Warren is wrong, the widely-accepted assumptions and methods of the Purpose Driven Church will have critically if not mortally wounded evangelicalism in America and many other parts […]