John Piper is Pastor for Preaching and Vision at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, MN. He grew up in Greenville, SC, and studied at Wheaton College, where he first sensed God's call to enter the ministry. He went on to earn degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.) and the University of Munich (D.Theol.). For six years he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, MN, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem. John is the author of more than 40 books including Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist and Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren.
Beware: The Bible is About to Threaten Your Smartphone Focus
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Thank you Ed for sharing your insights into the Church Growth Movement. I have my reservations with Church Growth models because it has done more damage than good in the Body of Christ. Over the years, western churches are more focused on results, formulas and processes with little or no emphasis on membership and church discipline. Pastors and vocational leaders are burnt out because they're overworked.
I do believe that the Church Growth model is a catalyst to two destructive groups: The New Apostolic Reformation and the Emerging Church. Both groups overlap and have a very loose definition. They're both focus on contemporary worship, expansion of church brand (franchising), and mobilizing volunteering members as 'leaders' to grow their ministry. Little focus on biblical study, apologetics and genuine missional work with no agenda besides preaching of the gospel.
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Thank you for sharing such a good article. It is a great lesson I learned from this article. I am one of the leaders in Emmanuel united church of Ethiopia (A denomination with more-than 780 local churches through out the country). I am preparing a presentation on succession planning for local church leaders. It will help me for preparation If you send me more resources and recommend me books to read on the topic. I hope we may collaborate in advancing leadership capacity of our church. God Bless You and Your Ministry.