They were wrong! Churches needs to get back to basics. Thanks Bob Burney

Willow Creek "Confession"

A Shocking “Confession” from Willow Creek Community Church
By Bob Burney
Tuesday, October 30, 2007

If you are older than 40 the name Benjamin Spock is more than familiar. It was Spock that told an entire generation of parents to take it easy, don’t discipline your children and allow them to express themselves. Discipline, he told us, would warp a child’s fragile ego. Millions followed this guru of child development and he remained unchallenged among child rearing professionals. However, before his death Dr. Spock made an amazing discovery: he was wrong. In fact, he said:

We have reared a generation of brats. Parents aren't firm enough with their children for fear of losing their love or incurring their resentment. This is a cruel deprivation that we professionals have imposed on mothers and fathers. Of course, we did it with the best of intentions. We didn't realize until it was too late how our know-it-all attitude was undermining the self assurance of parents.

Oops.

Something just as momentous, in my opinion, just happened in the evangelical community. For most of a generation evangelicals have been romanced by the “seeker sensitive” movement spawned by Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago. The guru of this movement is Bill Hybels. He and others have been telling us for decades to throw out everything we have previously thought and been taught about church growth and replace it with a new paradigm, a new way to do ministry.

Perhaps inadvertently, with this “new wave” of ministry came a de-emphasis on taking personal responsibility for Bible study combined with an emphasis on felt-needs based “programs” and slick marketing.

The size of the crowd rather than the depth of the heart determined success. If the crowd was large then surely God was blessing the ministry. Churches were built by demographic studies, professional strategists, marketing research, meeting “felt needs” and sermons consistent with these techniques. We were told that preaching was out, relevance was in. Doctrine didn’t matter nearly as much as innovation. If it wasn’t “cutting edge” and consumer friendly it was doomed. The mention of sin, salvation and sanctification were taboo and replaced by Starbucks, strategy and sensitivity.

Thousands of pastors hung on every word that emanated from the lips of the church growth experts. Satellite seminars were packed with hungry church leaders learning the latest way to “do church.” The promise was clear: thousands of people and millions of dollars couldn’t be wrong. Forget what people need, give them what they want. How can you argue with the numbers? If you dared to challenge the “experts” you were immediately labeled as a “traditionalist,” a throwback to the 50s, a stubborn dinosaur unwilling to change with the times.

All that changed recently.

Willow Creek has released the results of a multi-year study on the effectiveness of their programs and philosophy of ministry. The study’s findings are in a new book titled Reveal: Where Are You?, co-authored by Cally Parkinson and Greg Hawkins, executive pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. Hybels himself called the findings “earth shaking,” “ground breaking” and “mind blowing.” And no wonder: it seems that the “experts” were wrong.

The report reveals that most of what they have been doing for these many years and what they have taught millions of others to do is not producing solid disciples of Jesus Christ. Numbers yes, but not disciples. It gets worse. Hybels laments:

Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back it wasn’t helping people that much. Other things that we didn’t put that much money into and didn’t put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for.

If you simply want a crowd, the “seeker sensitive” model produces results. If you want solid, sincere, mature followers of Christ, it’s a bust. In a shocking confession, Hybels states:

We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.

Incredibly, the guru of church growth now tells us that people need to be reading their bibles and taking responsibility for their spiritual growth.

Just as Spock’s “mistake” was no minor error, so the error of the seeker sensitive movement is monumental in its scope. The foundation of thousands of American churches is now discovered to be mere sand. The one individual who has had perhaps the greatest influence on the American church in our generation has now admitted his philosophy of ministry, in large part, was a “mistake.” The extent of this error defies measurement.

Perhaps the most shocking thing of all in this revelation coming out of Willow Creek is in a summary statement by Greg Hawkins:

Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church. That we take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink all of our old assumptions. Replace it with new insights. Insights that are informed by research and rooted in Scripture. Our dream is really to discover what God is doing and how he’s asking us to transform this planet.

Isn’t that what we were told when this whole seeker-sensitive thing started? The church growth gurus again want to throw away their old assumptions and “take out a clean sheet of paper” and, presumably, come up with a new paradigm for ministry.

Should this be encouraging?

Please note that “rooted in Scripture” still follows “rethink,” “new insights” and “informed research.” Someone, it appears, still might not get it. Unless there is a return to simple biblical (and relevant) principles, a new faulty scheme will replace the existing one and another generation will follow along as the latest piper plays.

What we should find encouraging, at least, in this “confession” coming from the highest ranks of the Willow Creek Association is that they are coming to realize that their existing “model” does not help people grow into mature followers of Jesus Christ. Given the massive influence this organization has on the American church today, let us pray that God would be pleased to put structures in place at Willow Creek that foster not mere numeric growth, but growth in grace.

Bob Burney is Salem Communications’ award-winning host of Bob Burney Live, heard weekday afternoons on WRFD-AM 880 in Columbus, Ohio.


Copyright © 2006 Salem Web Network. All Rights Reserved.

Posted by Jason Epps at 2:51 PM 3 comments

Here is what happens when a 14 yr old student finds a project

If you deny Jesus as your Lord, publicly, He will deny you before the Father

McCain is asked: Is Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior?
McCain said his faith "is something between me and God."
GREER, South Carolina (CNN) — John McCain rarely speaks about his faith on the campaign trail.
So when an audience member here asked the Arizona senator on Saturday if he had "accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior," most of the voters gathered at Pete's Drive-In straightened up in their booths to pay attention.
"I am a man of faith," McCain quickly responded. "I have deep religious beliefs and values. I had experiences in my life where I had to rely on God not to get me through another day or another hour, but another minute."
McCain said he was proud to be "motivated by Judeo-Christian values" in his private and public life.
The same man asked McCain to clarify if that meant he had indeed welcomed Christ into his life.
"Sir, I attend North Phoenix Baptist Church which is my church of choice, and I also believe that talking too much about one's faith and religion in my view is something between me and God," said McCain, to audience applause.
– CNN South Carolina Producer Peter Hamby
Filed under John McCain, South Carolina
Posted 12/15/2007 11:00:48 PM Permalink

Global Warming - Truth or Farce?

Global Warming - Truth or Farce? Fear. The world's number one best way to sell anything! You most likely have heard them all; give to my ministry or the Lord Jesus is going to take me home. The sky is falling so vote for me. If you don't purchase it today, there will be none left...this is the last one. What scenarios in life can you think of that are fear based to move the hearts and men of women? During this election you will find the media will pull fear strings all day long. During the last election, the media dangled the thought of weather or not you sons AND daughters were going to be drafted. Time told the truth that there was indeed no draft under this presidential administration.Concerning Global Warming, we must first recognize that according to the book of Psalms, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Secondly we must stress, that later, in the Bible, the earth was given to man to take dominion, subdue it, dress it and keep it. Thirdly, we must realize that the earth is not our mother, earth is our servant. How does a rational person treat their servant? With respect and dignity. If you have a servant you treat the servant good. You feed them, you house them, you pay them, you take care of them. We must learn to take care of the place that God gave to us. This is already told to us when He said to Adam and Eve to, "dress it and keep it". That being said, I must interject some of my personal experience here. I will never forget the time I went to China and the Philippines in the early eighties. As far as I could tell there was a pollution problem. It was very minimal. You could smell diesel fuel everywhere and you could tell there was more of a problem than that of the United States. However, when I went back to these areas in 1998, nearly 11 years later, I could not believe my eyes! The pollution was so thick, It really looked as if our health would be in jeopardy if we went into some of these towns. Let me explain. When you come down atop a hill to go into town and you see the city lights from a distance, picture those city lights covered with such a cloud that you can't see ANY lights. That's what I saw in Makati City outside Manila. It was shocking and saddening to me. When I came back I understood Al Gore's paranoia. But Al Gore is selling fear to gain on his own aspirations. I travel 35 weeks out the year (35/52). I am in almost every major city year after year. I see Los Angeles has a problem but did not see the smog in New York or New Jersey. I did not see a problem in Miami, Dallas, Seattle or Houston. In fact, what I see is that the United States is already a leader among the world for reducing green house gases.First lets admit that if there is a problem polluting the earth, it must be dealt with in the largest populated regions of the world - ASIA. Who can do that? ASIA is bent on doing what they want to do, when they want to do it. That's why they call it communism. I don't think the problem of pollution in the world is going to be solved anytime soon.When I went to Alaska and saw the ice glacier gone at the same time of year that the posted picture showed an enormous ice glacier in the previous year, it was very telling that something is happening. Is it a 10 year cycle burp in natures course of burping, like so many talk pundits say? Or is it really effecting nature? Right at this moment there is an ice storm that has almost shut down the Midwest. This could not be the effects of global warming!I do know that the Bible promises that the next judgment to come is not in flood waters but with fire. Could it be that Global Warming is real and that it is all apart of the end times events? Could it be that Global Warming is the earth heating up from the inside? The Bible says that Hell will enlarge itself. I am not sure that anyone person has the answer on this subject, but I do know that we must be aware of those who would sell their agendas with fear that the sky is falling. We must do our part in being good stewards in dressing and keeping the gardens that God put in our trust. Let me hear your personal thoughts on this subject. Labels: end times, Global Warming, Greenhouse gas emissions
draft
5:14:00 PM
by David Woods

The media is so shocked over the intensity of BIBLE 101 in this election process? The public has become wiser. They have decided; no dope smoking, lewd acting, cross dressing, perverted person is going to take their place in the white house. This is why all the questions regarding Huckabees faith. We, the American people are tired of the scandal, the lying, the cheating, the adultery and the decay of morality in general. Bible quotes are plastered everywhere in Washington D.C., it's now time for someone who lives by those quotes and brings dignity and character to America. I hope to enjoy a landslide victory happen in the United States like when I saw Reagan/Bush pulverize Walter Mondale. Watch the landslide happen and weep as the "dark horse" cantors by all the rest who blatantly put morality on the back burner.