Christianity can maintain relevance in the modern world through prayer. As Christians, we forget how powerful we are. The Lord has given us power and dominion over all creation; there is power in the tongue. Even though, we may feel like majority of the world is out of touch with God, it does not mean that we stop believing that God can change things. Some Christians have lost touch with Jesus Christ. Other individuals have never had an experience with Him, nor do they care to have an experience with Him. It is time for Christians to rise up, and take back what we have allowed the devil to steal from us, in this instance, we are fighting that the Christian faith does not die in modern times. A revival needs to take place in all of the …show more content…
We should reflect the image of God in the way we speak, and in our actions. The world is changing day by day, and in order to bring more disciples to Christ, we have to be in alignment with Christ. At all times, people should be able to see Jesus Christ in us, a mirror reflection of God. Curtis tells a story, of four blind men and an elephant. Each man had a different perception of what they perceived as true based on them individually touching the elephant. They never came to the conclusion that it was actually an elephant that were touching. Furthermore, they concluded it was a pillar that holds up a building, rope, wall, and a large hose (11). Every man was walking in his own moral relativism, perceiving their own truth as true, and did not give the opportunity to realize they all were wrong. The choice to hold on to their own views caused their friendship to fail (11-12). Another way to capture the attention of the unbelievers in the modern world is to apply special revelation (17). Christians should intentionally make it a priority to become educated in scripture. Our knowledge and understanding will help break through the thick barriers that the children of today’s society have …show more content…
In the old and new testament, breakthrough manifested through intercession and prayer. The next step is meditating, being still in the presence of the Lord, and learning how to hear His voice, so we can hear the directions to solving the issues of the world. As Christians, we must be united in our faith, and fight together, and stop causing division amongst ourselves. When we join together in worshipping a revival begins to take place, and blessings began to fall down from the sky, and what we once thought as a problem is no longer so. Anthropologists often deal with communities, who have converted to Christianity in all parts of the world. One anthropologist notes during a revival in 1977, the Holy Spirit fell upon 390 Urapmin, from Papua New Guinea and they were converted to Christianity. One citizen recalled only knowing the religion of their ancestors, but ever since the conversion everything has changed (Robbins, 2007, 11). My point is that no matter the culture, era, or earthly turmoil we experience, that at any given time the Lord can rain down His Spirit and can change a whole generation. In conclusion, there are multiple avenues that can be traveled to keep Christianity relevant in the modern world, through our faith, prayer, meditation, worshipping, and revivals. We will be heard, but we need to be patient. Furthermore,
The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity written by Philip Jenkins looks over religion as a whole in the future. Philip Jenkins was a Distinguished Professor of History in 1973 and was the Co-Director for Baylor's Program on Historical Studies of Religion, he has studied the Bible and the Quran. The main religion being Christianity, as it flows South to other countries such as Central America and southern Asia and Africa. Jenkins also covers “The Rise of Christianity” where he predicts that it will increase in the coming years. The world would be moving from secularism to non-secular as the Northern states and countries are urbanized. The Southern countries are not urbanized, they believe in the practice of spirituality. In the Next Christendom, Jenkins also predicted that there will be a big population growth in the next coming years as Christianity spreads. Christianity as a whole can be adapted to many different cultures, as it is not as strict as many other religions such as Muslims. In other religions you would have to be
We need to be the voices challenging the ideas people have about God. Alex McFarland has done this in his book, "The God You Thought You Knew". He takes each of the myths that people believe about God, and destroys them with the truth of God 's word. Each myth is replaced with the truth of the Gospel. He covers great topics like the perceived intolerance of Christianity to the supposed dispelling of Faith through science.
Finney, Charles Grandison. Lectures on Revivals of Religion. New York: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 2009. Accessed April 21, 2014. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/finney/revivals.toc.html.
...at's right and believing in what you say is all it takes to make the difference. How can we apply this to our lives? Sharing God's gift of salvation to every person we know, no matter what they might say or think since the gospel is God's power for salvation, and if we are totally sure about that, then why should we keep it a secret? Surely, your message will not return empty.
After reading The Next Christendom by Philip Jenkins I found that this book reminded me of a memorable passage from the movie Apollo Thirteen: a military man in the tense Houston control shares with a political figure his forewarning that the tragedy before will be the catastrophic moment for the space program Mission control flight chief Gene Kranz overhears their conversation and addresses it: 'With all due respect, gentleman, I believe this will be our finest hour.' This summarizes the book quiet well as the apparent demise of the western church (when the day comes) is forecasting on its fate over against the perceived adversaries of secularism and post-modernism. Jenkins reminds us that when view through a wide-screen lens so to speak, the inherent threat often yields to a broad outlook of opportunity, painting a clear picture of the future of Christianity in colors unaccustomed to American thinking, outlining the characteristics of the fast growing Christian churches that are outside of Western Europe and US. Jenkins also shows the possibility of conflicts between Christianity and other major religions (such as Islam or Hinduism). Speculating what affects this will have on established churches of having a Christian majority outside the west. The basic premise of this book I think is simply: the heart of Christendom has moved from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere, what is surprising about this premise is that the northern hemisphere did not see the move, and still deny that it is moving.
Christianity has its challenges. It places demands on us that set us apart from the rest of our world. The bible calls us a peculiar people, who navigate the challenge of living IN the world, without being OF the world. When we say ‘no’ to temptations that are enjoyed by the masses, we are labeled as self-righteous snobs, religious weirdoes, or worse. But we persevere, and we press toward that invisible line the Apostle Paul drew in the sands of time…for the high calling in Christ Jesus.
The Emergent Church has both positive and negative effects. It’s beneficial in the way that it is adapting to today’s culture to assist with evangelism, but it isn’t a totally comfortable concept to grasp. Neither is postmodernism, which the emerging movement basically represents in its theologies and ideas. The fact is that for as many questions that it can answer in Christianity, it raises twice as much. However, whether or not the culture accepts this movement, the one thing that seems inevitable, is its growth.
The broadest definition of Christianity is also perhaps the simplest. Across the history and branches of the religion, “it is faith in Christ, not the scrupulous and religious keeping of the law...which is the basis of salvation” (McGrath 15). The religion that is now a major global force has grown out of a small group tucked away in one corner of the world, breaking and changing over time, yet united by a faith in this revolutionary man who claimed to be the son of God, Jesus Christ.
I agree with Camp’s discussion on prayer because, as the title of the chapter it self says, it demonstrates how Christian disciples trust in God instead of flawed human calculations of how things will turn out. Prayer also helps make us obedient to God’s will, especially when used in a context similar to “The Lord’s Prayer”, where we as Christians ask the Lord to fulfill His will on earth and provide for our daily needs as we take up our cross on a daily basis to help establish His coming
and grow in the scope of their experience and understanding of their faith.1 All Christians engage
The rise of Christianity in western civilization is arguably among the most important memories in history. There is no denying what the spread of Christianity has done for the world, for better or worse. Its impact on western civilizations is unrivaled and unprecedented. Christianity slowly became something for many individuals to turn to; in times of hurt it provided comfort, in times of pleasure it gave thanks. The will and belief for salvation has driven individuals to be better, and to have a reference while in need.
That isn’t to say there aren’t pockets here and there where that spirit is alive, but as the Church is perceived as a body, so will the world perceive its function, which is largely as a partial paralytic. The nature of its mass congregation is in my opinion, reduced to following a ritualized practice that serves security of the one’s own soul, while vainly proclaiming messages from a practiced pulpit for world outreach in daily life. Then everyone goes home. The outreach that does get done tends to be of a charitable nature, highly organized and outperformed by many secular outfits, where the inductive power is carried by genuine empathy, a desire to help fellow man. Again, the Church means well, but its efforts seem to move with a sense of obligation, rather than true mission. I would argue that the congregations get too large, too organized, do not engage the issues that face culture ...
Christianity experienced many pitfalls along the path to fulfillment. As in history, today we find ourselves learning Christ’s lessons all over again. The earliest Christian worshipers endured many hardships not experienced by society today. These differences in science, technology, and lack of practicing our beliefs have caused a rift between early Christianity and Christianity today.
A casual look at the world today reveals the evidence that Jesus’s efforts were effective. Christianity is currently throughout most parts of the world, and ...
...t addresses the mission of the Church, saying Christians do not only have a future hope, but a present hope. Jesus “was not saving souls for a disembodied eternity but rescuing people from the corruption and decay of the way the world presently is so they could enjoy, already in the present, that renewal of creation which is God’s ultimate purpose – and so they could thus become colleagues and partners in that larger project” (p. 192).