Spiritual Cleansing a ChurchThis issue explores the subject of dealing with past sins in a church to remove walls and break strongholds in your church so growth can again occur.
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Drawing Near to God in a Solemn Assembly |
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By Julia Thistle
As prayer coordinator at Christ Community Church in Brazil, Indiana, I found myself disheartened at my personal level of commitment to Christ. As I examined myself in the light of the New Testament Christian in the book of Acts, I wondered: where was the love, joy, boldness, and power to lead others to Christ? Where was the manifest presence of God that flooded their prayer times, comforted them in jail and accompanied them on their journeys? I didn’t just want to come closer to God—I wanted God to come closer to me. I reached a point where nothing short of a deeper participation in the life of God would satisfy me.
The Holy Spirit revealed my need for a deep personal repentance before I could move forward. As I began to walk down this path, I felt a longing for my church to experience it as well. As with many churches, CCC appeared on the surface to be a successful, growing congregation of more than 600, but there seemed to be an increasing undercurrent of passivity toward spiritual things. We needed spiritual renewal.
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Extreme Makeover: Church Edition |
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By Sandra Higley
Regal Books has just released a 2005 updated edition of Setting Your Church Free under the new title of Extreme Church Makeover: A Biblical Plan to Help Your Church Achieve Unity and Freedom in Christ. Authors Neil Anderson and Charles Mylander show how to apply principles of repentance, faith in God, and corporate conflict resolution to bring healing and renewal to churches and their members.
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Seven Principles for Spiritual Cleansing |
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Tips & Tools
By Dr. Joseph Winger
If you suspect that your church is laboring under a spiritual bondage, here are seven principles to help you cleanse your church campus:
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Is My Church in Need of Spiritual Cleansing? |
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Points of Interest
By Joseph Winger
How would I know if my church had a spiritual bondage? All churches, like people, exhibit imperfections, but when negative patterns emerge, root issues are usually at work. If at least one of these five profiles clearly describes your church, you may need to do a little spiritual house cleaning.
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Help! This Is New Territory! |
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By Jonathan Graf
It was an odd thing. As I preached that Sunday morning, every time I stepped into the area immediately behind the pulpit I struggled to collect my thoughts. When I wandered to either side, my mind was clear and I could speak with ease. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me; that I was giving into suggestion. You see, the pastor told me how difficult it was for him to preach from behind the pulpit. Now I was experiencing this phenomenon myself.
Today, in the United States, there is almost no plus church growth occurring anywhere. Most churches that are growing, are doing so by pulling sheep from other less exciting churches in their communities—not by people coming to Christ. Most denominational church leaders will tell you their churches are full of infighting, lack of commitment. Many—if not most—churches are either status quo or in decline.
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May 2006