The Week in Review

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT:

A CALL TO UNITY, A CALL TO PURPOSE

Written by Minister Jewel D. Williams

2/09

THESIS STATEMENT

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are distributed to every believer to facilitate the maturation process of the body as well as to fulfill the purpose of God in the world. Therefore, without the gift of the Holy Spirit to equip the believers to express these gifts through love there will be misuse of the gifts. It is imperative that love be the motivation behind the usage of gifts to promote unity in the fulfillment of the mission God.


INTRODUCTION

When one determines to examine the meaning of spiritual gifts, it is best to start with its origin. Author Bryan Knell in his article, Who owns Mission? states God’s rescue plan was put in place when he first called Abraham to establish a special family and Moses to form a nation to bless all people.[1] The way God’s plan was to be fulfilled was made clear through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Knell confirms that God showed his love to mankind by sending his Son. The gift promised by the Son was the gift of the Holy Spirit, which enables the believer to receive and give the love of God. It is through this love that the gifts of the Holy Spirit must operate to fulfill the purpose as ordained by God. The gifts of the Holy Spirit, also known as spiritual gifts are given to every believer to mature them, equip them for service and to build up the kingdom of God. Without love as the motivation for the usage of gifts, one is surely to misuse the gift and fall short of God’s purpose. Therefore, the overarching purpose of the gifts is to express the love of God to his children and then outward to the world.


SPIRITUAL GIFTS

What does it mean to have spiritual gifts? Is this the same as gift of the Spirit? These two questions are an excellent starting point to this study. The gift of the Spirit is the Spirit himself (Acts 2:38; 10:45; 11:17; Rom 5:5). Alister E. McGrath in his book, Christian Theology – An Introduction presents the teaching of Augustine of Hippo on this matter. What he states is, “Augustine concedes that Scripture does not explicitly state that the Holy Spirit is love; however, in that God is love, and the Spirit is God, it seems to follow naturally that the Holy Spirit is love.”[2] McGrath further states Augustine’s defense of the Holy Spirit as love is based on a complex argument, which finds it basis in scripture (1 John 4:7, 19). To affirm the Holy Spirit as love directs the believer in the understanding that what flows from the Holy Spirit is the love of God.

McGrath continues his explanation regarding love and the Holy Spirit and the benefit on the life of the believer. “The Spirit is a gift, given by God, which unites believers both to God and to other believers. The Holy Spirit forges bonds of unity between believers, upon which the unity of the church ultimately depends.”[3] Gailyn Van Rheenen expounds on McGrath’s presentation regarding the Holy Spirit and his purpose. In his book, Biblical Foundations & Contemporary Strategies - Missions he presents a graph that shows the mission of God. God originated the mission. Jesus Christ enacted the mission. The Holy Spirit gives power to the mission. The church carries the mission and the world hears the mission.[4] With his graph, Van Rheenen presents love as the motivating factor for all that God does.

God’s love explains further the need for the gifts of the spirit to be distributed to the people of God. Kenneth Boa in his book, Conformed to His Image explains the position of each into the body of Christ. He states, “every Christian is a minister with a unique contribution to make to the body of Christ. The central thrust of our ministries depends on the spiritual gifts we have received.”[5] He affirms that on the day that the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost, a new organism was created. This organism was the people of God being lead and empowered by the love of God through his Spirit. This leads to the next question regarding the gifts and who is the giver of the gifts? (Come back next week for the next installment of this lesson)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] Bryan Knell, “Who owns Mission?.” Evangel 24, no. 3 (September 2006): i-iv. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed January 23, 2009).

[2] Alister E. McGrath, Christian Theology – An Introduction, (Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2001), 312.

[3] Ibid, 313.

[4] Gailyn Van Rheenen, Biblical Foundations & Contemporary Strategies, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), 18.

[5] Kenneth Boa, Conformed to His Image, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), 301.

The Week in Review

How Can a Great God Want me?

As I was praying and worshipping God in the early hours one Saturday morning, I thought about something. How often do we stop to just remind ourselves of some of the characteristices and the attributes of God? Let me tell you about a few that I thought about.

He is the Alpha and the Omega - The beginning and the end of my life


He is the lamp to my feet. He is the Light unto my path - I do not have to stumble in this life because God has given His light.

He is Jehovah - He is my provider.

He is the Word - It will stand the test of time.


He is grace and mercy, but He is also judgment - He offers forgiveness and correction to those he love.


He is love - through his love I find true sacrifice.


He is joy and peace - I can stand in him.

He is holy - he wants a people to follow his purpose his way.


He has all the power and is all knowing, so I can trust and follow him, even if I do not know where it is leading.

And as I think about just a few of the wonders of this great God, I ask the question, "How can a great God like this want me?" And then I am comforted with the answer from Luke 4:18-19:


"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."


It is God who has called us, and it is God's anointing that is upon us helping to do his will. It is God's power that will send us, whenever, and wherever and to whomever he pleases. God's power will keep us even when our path seems unsure. With this promise, we can lay down all that has held us close to follow him. I leave this question with you to think about, what do you love more, your life, your comforts, those things you hold dear or is it God's will? Say yes to God's will, even if it means walking away from what yo love and hold dear.

Words of Encouragement

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. - Psalm 23

MONDAY
The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. My husband has been taking our family through these verses in our family devotions. I decided to share with you the things this time has done for me and I hope it will encourage someone today.  In the first verses David writes that God is his shepherd and he does not want.

When my husband asked my youngest daughter what this meant to her, she said that's easy, it means that I have everything I need so I don't need anything. That's not the exact way she said it, but that's the sum of it. What it meant to me was that I have everything I need so I do not have to "want" or to desire or worry about something. God has already taken care of making sure I have what I need. My husband then asked, what do you have? Jackie said, I have food, clothes, everything so I have everything I need.

If we could have the faith as this little one to simply take God at his word. God's word simply tells us that as our shepherd he will take care of what we need and as my youngest daughter said, that's easy, everything I need, God will give it to me. Today, I pray that we accept this simply truth, God is our shepherd and he will give us what we need (in fact we already have it) so we really don't need anything else! We'll talk some more about this.


TUESDAY
...He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,

The Lord is my shepherd. He leads. What does it mean to lie down in green pastures and be lead by quiet waters? In order for the sheep to drink from the water, the water must be still (quiet). In other words, God will lead his sheep to the areas where they can be feed and find drink.  God stills the waters in our lives so that we can come to the edge and drink and find our fill.
 
This scripture reminds us of the simply fact that we mentioned earlier, God has everything we need. This is part of that need my youngest mentioned. He gives us food (that green pasture that we can rest in) and he brings us drink at that place of quietness. What stands our for me is I cannot get the "drink", the living water if God does not quiet the waters for me to come near. Christ quiets the stormy waters that keep me from him and he allows me access to him.
 
Today I pray for us to be able to be lead by God to that place where he has proved for us. If we go looking ourselves, we will miss it, but if we allow ourselves to be lead, we will find the food and the water to keep our "spiritual" bodies healthy.
 
 
WEDNESDAY
...he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake...
 
The Lord is my shepherd. Restores me. While God leads me, he will also restore my soul in the process. He will guide me in path's of righteousness for his name sake. The shepherd will care for his sheep and give to them all that they need. He will not allow his sheep to wonder aimlessly without his guidance.
 
God is the one that leads us and in the process he restores, renews and refreshes us. Part of the restoration process takes places because we lie down in green pastures, pastures that allow us plenty to eat. He restores us as he leads us near the quiet waters to refresh us, restore us from the heat of the day that has been used in our daily walking.
 
I hope to encourage someone today to rest in God because he is the one that will restore your soul.  We do not have to become discouraged in our walk because our shepherd will continue to lead us and take care of our needs.
 
I pray for us today that God would restore some soul that is parched from the heat of life and lead them to the quiet waters.
 
THURSDAY
...Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
 
The Lord is my shepherd. No Fear. In this life we find ourselves going through some "death valleys". We find ourselves going into some areas that not only scare us, but we do not think we are coming out of those valleys onto the other side. Yet, David reminds us, we do not have to be afraid. David knew what it meant to be in some death valleys. He was running for his life, yet he had to have held on because he has a promise to become king and it had not happened yet. So he reminded himself, I will not fear any evil against me because I am not alone in these death valleys, you are right with me. Your rod and your staff comfort me. They comfort me because you use your rod to beat back the snakes and scorpians that are ready to attack me and your staff helps to direct me and it reaches out and catches me around the next if I fall in pits I did not see. As my daughter said, it's simply, you have everything I need so I do not have worry or have fear.
 
Today Lord somebody needs you to give them your comfort and remind them that you will continue to take care of them and no "death valley" situation can harm them because you will fulfill in your people what you have ordained them for.
 
FRIDAY
...You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
 
The Lord is my shepherd. Prepared table. I mentioned earlier what my youngest daughter said about having everything you need, so don't worry. As I thought about what she said, I instantly went to this last part of the scripture. I asked myself the question, why shouldn't I want?
 
What is the reason, because the way is made, the table is already set. When I thought about this, I thought about being invited to a dinner party. The host has prepared the food, set the table and she is only waiting for her guest to show up. You have not arrived to the place yet, but when you arrive you will realize what has already been set before you. Are you following me? Our Lord has already prepared every table we will need on this journey. And not only does he prepare it and is waiting for us to arrive to the destination he has the table set so that we can realize it, but he does it even in the presence of our enemies. He shows you off! Even the one that hates you cannot stop what God has already prepared for you. I don't know about you, but I am rejoicing even as I type. On top of setting out the "spread" for me to dine on, he anoints my head (gives me his spirit), my cup runs over (his provisions) and his goodness follows me all the days of my life. What a mighty God we serve.  I have one last note that I must say before I finish. If God does all this provides for us, takes care of us, gives us living water, prepares what we need, even before we come to the place where we realize we need, then shouldn't we be walking in that freedom?
 
I pray today that we do as my daughter said, acknowledge that it's simply we already have what we need and we don't need anything else. We already have what we need, Jesus and that's all we need.

The Week in Review

Foundations of Ministry

Written April 5, 2006

Church Leadership

Church leadership requires one to dedicate him or herself to the work of God. To minister in a leadership capacity with success, one must understand what they are being called upon to do. Two web sites, www.bible.org and www.biblebb.com try to help the leader understand what they are being called upon to do.


The first web site, www.bible.org writes about leadership development. Kenneth Boa, Th.M.; Ph.D., is the writer of the article, Leadership Development. In his article, he uses Jesus as the example to use as a guide for being a successful leader. Boa explains that Jesus picked his disciples and then for the next three and a half years, he taught them and empowered them for ministry (1). He explains that God did not need man as a part of the plan, but it was God’s purpose to use men from the start.


“First, they were well-trained” (2). When Jesus sent out the seventy-two they were given instructions on what to do and how to handle things if there were not received well. Jesus did not leave anything out of their training. Their training was what had the seventy-two rejoicing when they returned with good news of their success. The devil’s powers were stopped because of God’s power working through them. This is important to know and understand that it is through God’s power that all work is done. When one prepares God’s way, the work can be done.

“Second, they had a clear vision: They were impelled by Jesus’ urgent declaration that ‘The harvest is plentiful’” (2). A great leader must take the responsibility to define a clear picture of the mission. “Leadership is not merely a cognitive grasping of concepts…Leadership, like most things, is more caught than taught” (2).

An important fact mentioned is that Jesus took time to prepare for his mission. “Our Lord developed as a servant leader through personal discipline, through ‘reverent submission’…Jesus never invites us to do something he has not done for us first…He doesn’t ask us to love unlovely people without having first loved us in our unlovely state. He does not ask us to serve others without having first served us” (3).

“God has called us into being and is preparing us for a purpose” (3). God is in fact calling us to a purpose but the process is not guaranteed to be an easy one. “The hardships and struggles we endure during the transformation process will eventually provide us the strength we will need to accomplish the tasks our transformed nature will require” (4).

The last point Boa mentions is mentoring is mandatory. “Leadership development should be an ongoing process in our own lives as well as in the lives of those we seek to prepare. We should have multiple mentoring relationships” (5). These relationships consist of the one being mentored, to also reach out and teacher someone else. In these mentoring relationships, the one being mentored will be able to learn from one-on-one contact and experience. This is what Jesus did for his disciples. He took them with him and showed them how to be great leaders.

This article was different than what I thought it would be. This article did not give a list of things one should do. The article instead, calls for the reader to examine one’s self to determine if you are first being mentored and then are you mentoring someone else. It also encourages one to count the cost of leadership. It is not an easy path to take, but all the things one faces are to better them.

The second web site, www.biblebb.com, has an article written by Dr. John F. MacArthur Jr. The article, The Call to Church Leadership, calls for the leader to first be sure of their calling. MacArthur states, “leadership is not won by promotion, but by many prayers and tears. It is attained by confessions of sin, and much heart-searching and humbling before God; by self-surrender, a courageous sacrifice of every idol, a bold deathless, uncompromising and uncomplaining embracing of the cross, and by an eternal, unfaltering look unto Jesus crucified” (1).

MacArthur’s purpose is to help the leader understand the importance of being sure of their call. He states “A man must sense the calling of God as a consuming desire in his heart. He is not fit for ministry if he hasn’t sensed the call or if sin in his life is muffling the call” (2). The desire of the leader has to be the work and not the title or the perceived benefits of the position. Leadership training may help one to be a better leader in application of processes, but it cannot replace the dedication or desire within the heart of the leader. That desire to do the work has to come from God. This is the only desire that will enable a leader to stand in the difficult times.

MacArthur states, “The pastor must understand the responsibility of ruling, preaching, teaching, caring for, loving, and building up leadership in the church. He must set a pattern by example” (3). Boa also states this in his article.

MacArthur states, “the office of church leadership—specifically a pastor or a elder—is limited to men…Although women such as Deborah and Miriam occasionally spoke for God, none of them had an ongoing prophetic ministry” (2). While I agree with several of the points MacArthur states in his article, on this one I disagree.

When I looked up women in the Bible I found several interesting entries. In Exodus 15:20, Miriam is named a Prophetess. The amount of times she spoke does not determine her use unto God. How often one speaks for God is not what determines they are called for the mission. Romans 16:1-2 mentions Phoebe, a servant (and some versions say deaconess) of God. Luke 2:37 writes about the unknown woman that preached in the temple. The fact that her name is not listed, does not remove the fact that she was important enough to list in scripture so that her deeds were forever known. The woman at the well that has been preached about and taught about became one of the first evangelists as she eagerly went to tell others about Jesus (John 4:29).

I included the information regarding women for this purpose; God wants all his children; men and women to prepare themselves for his service. Everyone will not be called to be a Pastor or a minister, but even if you are working with the nursery or the Sunday school children, these same skills apply. You must count the cost of doing the work of God with a cheerful heart. It is important to seek wisdom from those that have gone before you and to impart wisdom to those that come behind you.

Work cited

Boa, Kenneth, Th.M.; Ph.D. Leadership Development. 2005. 4 April 2006. http://www.Bible.org.

MacArthur, John F., Dr. The Call to Church Leadership. 1986. 4 April 2006. http://www.biblebb.com.

Thompson, Frank Charles, D.D., PH.D. The Thompson Chain-Reference Bible, 5th ed. Indianapolis, IN: B. B. Kirkbridge Bible Co., Inc., 1988.

The Week in Review

Book Review – Radically Unchurched (part 3)

Personal Reflections

As I have reflected on this book along with the other information from this class, I have sought to find ways that I can improve my personal evangelizing. Along with many of the students from this class, fear was one of the barriers that kept me immobilized. As I have read the material from this class the first step that I plan to take is one of prayer. I need to continue to pray for God’s direction and help as I seek to do his will. I have often found myself freezing up when faced with opportunities to present the gospel to individuals. This course has helped me to see that I have not been alone in how I felt. This has been an encouragement to know that what I am facing is something that I can overcome. The material has helped me to understand the rejection I once ran from is not a rejection of me. An individual not accepting what I share does not mean I am not a success. Success is being willing to present the gospel message and leaving the results to God.

My current situation requires me to think creatively about how to reach others. I spend majority of my day indoors. I work from home as well as take my classes on line. This challenge has not been a discouragement but something that has excited me because of the new ways I believe the Lord is showing me to reach out to others. Some of the sites we looked at had tracts that could be used on line or sent through the mail. I will look into either using those or writing my own. One of the sites had a downloadable presentation that could be added to a website.

I added this presentation to my blog and have had some interest about the information featured. My website, http://home.comcast.net/~inhisword/site/, Williams Innovative Network (W.I.N) was originally started because I had a desire to touch the lives of people that were at work that might not be able to study the Bible as much but had a desire to read something that would encourage them through the day. I created two other blogs where I share the word of God. One of the sites is http://www.tri-productions.blogspot.com/ and is called Tri-Productions. The other site is for youth, http://gemsofjewel.blogspot.com/ and is called Fearfully and Wonderfully Made. I added the downloadable presentation of the gospel to this blog.

The class has also helped me to be more attentive to the concerns of others. Several of the former youth I was a youth leader over are in college and complain they cannot find churches to attend. While I cannot plant a church in those areas, I am praying about something God showed me just recently. I call it, “C.O.M.E.” It means College Online Ministry and Encouragement. I plan to send a link to each of my college students every Sunday with a message/study either through youtube or using the upload capabilities within the blogger account I have. I will give them the scripture and a brief background in the written area and then they can click on the link to watch the message. I am currently asking youth ministers to help my by allowing me to record them giving a message to upload. Several are excited about the opportunity to reach our youth in this way.

I do not expect this to replace church, but I do see it being a tool that can be used two ways. The first way is to help the college student have access to sound teaching when they are not able to catch the shuttles or get to the churches that are often a distance from the campuses. Secondly, I will ask the youth to participate in evangelizing their college roommates or friends. I plan to ask them to share the message with others around them. I have not worked all the details out, however I am in prayer now for God to show me how to complete this task. I believe this became a burden upon my heart in part because of the reading I have had in this class as well as in my class on missions. I was also excited after reading Reid’s statement that spiritual revival often started with our youth. This helped me see that what I desire to do is something that could make a difference. I will be working with three Christian teens this summer to prepare the look and feel of the site. I plan to record these youth before they go back to college to use their messages as the first presented when we go live.

I plan to incorporate evangelism in my teaching. I was recently appointed as the teacher for the New Membership class. I have been given the freedom to create the curriculum, as I feel led. One thing that I believe was missing in the current curriculum was evangelism. I believe if this is taught initially it will be something new members will be more comfortable doing. I have taken ideas if not the actual plans from all the material we have used. I liked the scripture memorization and I believe this would be something helpful. I plan on making scripture cards for each of the new members. They will be printed on card stock and can easily fit in ones pocket or purse. I believe from this class the overarching message has been to make sure the gospel message has been given clearly. I plan to make sure I present the gospel message clearly to the class so they will be able to do the same.

Finally, I am asking God to use all of my talents and gifts to witness as effectively as I can. I believe he is doing this, as with the creation of the on line messages for the college students. I am excited about being able to share the message of Christ with others. I walk away from this class with a greater desire for a change. The first change I asked God to do was to change me. If there is anything inside of me that is hindering me from doing as he commands, then I seek him to release me from that. Then I seek to be a change agent. I seek God to use me to love people so they can see Christ in me. I want to invade this world for Christ. I seek to live an incarnational life even greater than before. I will also seek more ways of living out servanthood evangelism. I will seek ways of touching people in tangible ways that might open up an avenue to present the gospel. I desire to be a radically changed person touching the lives of the radically unchurched and making an impact for the kingdom.

The Words of Encouragement

"When my life was ebbing away,I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD." - Jonah 2:7-9

If not for your grace. Salvation comes from God. I was listening to a song this morning by Israel and New Breed, titled If not for your grace and I began to think about what that means.

This scripture today is from the prophet Jonah. We know that Jonah was given an assignment from God that he did not want to do so he ran. But in his running from the work of God, he was also running into a dark situation (we find him in the belly of the fish).

Jonah gives this message after he has been rescued by God from his "grave-like" situation. Jonah said when his life was wasting away he thought about God and called to him. When you and I are in some grave like situations we must remember to call on God and know he will come to our rescue. He remembers in the rejoicing about God's goodness that those that hold to false idols lose the grace of God, that grace which saves us from our situation, our circumstances and even ourselves!

He is encouraged that he will keep every vow he has given to God after God came to his rescue. You and I should be thankful for the grace of God that releases us from our grave-like (death) situations. We should be thankful for the grace of God that saves us from sin, but also from the pits that are before us. This grace of God restores, redeems, and releases us. It releases us to worship, to serve so we can keep every vow we have given to the Lord.

So today, think this thought, were would you be without God's grace? I hope you listen today to the song "if not for your grace" on the video's listed on the side of the blog. And when you listen think about the grace of God that saves us.

I pray today that you would set someone free. Someone is in a grave like situation (even if it because of their own doing). Let your grace, God release someone from bondage and set them free; from death to life. We thank you today for your grace.

The Week in Review

Book Review – Radically Unchurched (part 2)

Evaluation

Alvin Reid achieves his intended purpose of showing the state of the church in how she responds to the unchurched. While part of the purpose was to show what churches lack, the main point was to show her how to turn this situation around. Reid makes some basic assumptions regarding the behavior of the church and the culture. He indicates that the church evades the culture (p. 37). He confirms that the Bible does tell believers to be separated from worldliness, however he also admonishes his readers that Jesus’ command is for believers to impact the culture with the gospel (p. 37). Per Reid, the church cannot maintain a stance that evades the culture.

Reid argues that the church tries to pervade the culture. He presents that these are the ones who do battle and seek to overpower the culture by might. He argues the battle is not between unchurched and churched people but between the forces of God and the forces of the Devil (p. 38). Reid’s conclusion is this cannot be a way that the church tries to reach the unchurched. Finally he presents the church as trying to invade the world. This method is one that Reid believes is best because it represents Jesus who invaded the world through his incarnation (p. 39). Reid’s conclusion is that in order for the church to penetrate the culture of the radically unchurched, it must be the power of God at work. It will be more than a change in perspective or desire for the church to invade the culture. It will take the church radically abandoning herself to God (p. 40).

Reid presents as evidence of his stand that a changed life can make a difference in the unchurched culture. He shares several stories about people who stood for what is right and based on that decision, later became some of the greatest influences in the lives of others; one of those was Christ (pp. 56-57). The purpose of these stories was to show how significant one person could be in the lives of people. Reid also illustrates that it will not be the one individual that changes the world, but the entire body, the church. This he says is how the world and the culture will be changed; when the individuals of the church bond together and work as the body should.

I cannot find anything in this book that I disagreed with. In fact, it is refreshing to see Reid’s candor and straightforward approach in his book. He outlines some of the problems that the unchurched have with Christians. One area in particular is the rudeness of believers. For example, he states we make a joyful noise at church but we are rude to servers in restaurants (p. 69).

One section that was interesting was how he explained the post-modern world and its effect on individual’s views. His overarching theme in this section was that the church cannot continue to “do” church the same way if she desires to reach the unchurched (p. 85). Reid posits with this information that revival throughout history has generally started with the young. This was a new learning for me. I believe Reid’s purpose for distributing this information is to awaken the church to involving the young people in the direction of the church. The old thought of the youth as the “church of tomorrow” has to be replaced with the thought that the youth are the “church of today” if any changes are to occur. Reid states that an effective foundation must be laid for the youth that includes teaching them to pray, to study the Bible, to witness, sharing in corporate worship and finally raising the bar for our youth (pp. 103-104). Reid’s plan for reaching the unchurched is done through a clear message, the giving of our testimonies and narratives, worship that draws unbelievers into an encounter with God, employing creative ways to communicate Christ and finally intentionally planting new churches that have the goal of reaching the unchurched (p. 107).

Reid’s book is one that a pastor or minister should read to have a better understanding of what the unchurched culture looks like. This book can be helpful to a leader as he or she prepares to develop ministries and outreaching tools. This book can also be helpful for Christian Education leaders. Reid’s continual admonishment is for the church to be more involved in evangelism. This book can help a church prepare its teachers first so they can be equipped to incorporate evangelism teaching into their curriculum. This book would also be useful for the average believer that is interested in keeping current on the affairs of the culture and ways to penetrate the world for Christ.

This book contributed to my understanding of the subject by showing me how the church must hold to the unchanging truth while being flexible to change those things that keep the unchurched from seeing the relevance of the church. Reid was clear in his presentation of the church’s need to utilize the New Testament pattern to be effective in a culture that sees the church as out dated and irrelevant. Armed with this information, any church can make radical steps to reach the radically unchurched.

(Come back next week for part 3, my reflection)