FAITHFUL AND FRUITFUL CONGREGATIONS WHO ARE EXPERIENCING FOUR KINDS OF GROWTH:
One of the major positive emphases of the Transforming Churches Network materials is the fundamental questions that are asked of participating pastors and lay leaders: (1) what are you responsible for? (2) what are you accountable for? (3) what kind of authority have you been given to accomplish your mission and ministry?
Now, if we look at these questions as a congregational member, our answers will probably be quite different than if we look at these same questions from the multi-faceted ways that the Scriptures understand our life to be as His people.
When Christ ascended He gave five gifts to humankind; of these gifts, some were pastors and some were teachers. What was their counsel and practice?
When Christ ascended He gave five gifts to humankind; of these gifts, some were evangelists. What was their counsel and practice?
When Christ ascended He gave five gifts to humankind; of these gifts, some were apostles and some were prophets. What was their counsel and practice?
Loren Mead, of the ALBAN INSTITUTE, advocated that the local congregation embrace, and work toward, four kinds of growth. These are the four kinds of growth identified by Mead, with my personal comments added:
THE WORLDVIEW OF FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
Introduction
We live in a world filled with prophets, individuals who are dissatisfied with the way that things are and who articulate a new design for living that moves a people toward a preferred way of personal and communal existence; in other words, they engage in designing and fostering a revitalization movement within their respective societies.
Who Are You: the importance of “naming” things as they really are