The western world has a large number of Christians who do not openly share their faith with others. This act is perceived by many as proselytizing, making them unwilling to evangelize. Yet the mission of the Church is to proclaim the Gospel. Christ himself was sent by the Father “to
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The following discussion and self-assessment questions come from the book, Signs of Life: Catholic, Mainline, and Conservative Protestant Congregations in Canada. (Authored by Bill McAlpine, Joel Thiessen, Keith Walker, and Arch Chee Keen Wong) How central is evangelization in your congregation? Do you teach and preach on this topic? How
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A missional Church is necessarily a praying Church. Why is this? It is because the Holy Spirit is the main agent of our salvation. Prayer prepares the hearts of people to believe in Christ when they hear or read the word of God. Their conversion is the result of God’s
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Did you know that there exists a method for praying at all times? It is called the Jesus Prayer and involves invoking the Name of Jesus as frequently as possible with the following formula, “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This formula is based
Continue readingAccording to The Pillar Survey on Religious Attitudes and Practices, there are factors that can help predict whether children raised Catholic continue practicing the faith as adults. These factors are the following: Attending Catholic school Going to Mass weekly with the family Saying grace Living with parents who are married
Continue readingTommy Barnett was the senior pastor of Phoenix First Assembly of God in Arizona. His church was referred to as “The Church with a Heart” because of its more than 260 outreach ministries. Over the years and through its missionary efforts, it has experienced remarkable growth. Barnett says the growth
Continue readingJust the other night, I had the pleasure of once again sitting down to one of life’s greatest pleasures, that, of course, being the reading of theology. And through the various musings put forward by the author, some of which were dry of course, one obvious and exciting truth in
Continue readingScriptures remind us that our spiritual battle between good and evil is real: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph. 6:12) We
Continue readingLearning to be a missionary takes place in a context and attitude of love for people who do not know or follow Christ. It requires being open to the ideas and perspectives of others and suspending our personal, cultural and religious ideas to listen to their experience. The path to
Continue readingThe Brooklyn Tabernacle Evangelical church has emerged as one of the largest Christian communities in New York City, but its journey to this point was far from straightforward. When Jim Cymbala assumed the role of pastor in the early 1970s, the church counted only about 30 members and teetered on
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