Browsing through McKay Used Bookstore in Nashville recently, I found a book full of powerful prophetic statements by a present day United Methodist minister, Carlyle Fielding Stewart III. The book was published by Abingdon Press in 2001. It is called: The EmPOWERment Church.
This guy sounds like an Old Testament prophet. What do you think? Here are some quotations from the book:
“Needed today is a church that is unafraid to invoke the presence of the Holy Ghost, reference the name of Jesus ostensibly and unapologetically in open air, and cultivate a climate of holiness.”
“The church, believe it or not, needs to be converted to Christ. We presuppose that the church is participating in the teachings, presence, and mind of Christ, but this is not always the case. In many instances, what is often practiced are organized forms of institutional ecclesiology.”
“Many people in church have an opinon of God, but not a saving relationship with God.”
“Every institution claiming to be a church is not practicing the teachings of Jesus or inviting the presence of the Holy Spirit into its daily affairs.”
“What flourishes in numerous churches is not the reality of Christ whose life and teachings constitute the foundation of the church’s mission, but a cult of the preacher.”
“Much of Christianity has lapsed into a diligent practice of organized religion rather than true Christian spirituality.”
“Often people with great potential are discouraged from serving the church because selfish pastors or spiritually insecure leaders impede their progress and stifle their participation in the Body of Christ.”
“The great scandal of our modern times is the number of people who are leading congregations, but not spiritually qualified to do so.”
“Too frequently church service becomes an exercise in power politics where flexing our ecclesiastical muscles becomes more important than humbly submitting ourselves to God’s authority and will for the church.’
“The ministry of the church appears to be run more like a business or government because the underlying principles of Christian spirituality are often absent.”
“Many mainline Protestant denominations in general, and United Methodism in particular, have forsaken their evangelical heritage in order to accommodate modern secular culture, and the perilous result has been a steady decline of those churches over the past twenty-five years.”
“In many churches there is a spiritual lethargy, a ho-hum, mater-of-fact, business-as-usual approach to the gospel and Christian faith that gives it little power or distinction.”
“Churches will continue to decline, rot, and die if a change in outlook and spirit does not occur.”
“We have stopped doing God’s business God’s way. We have failed to teach and retain those basic biblical, spiritual, and evangelical practices that bring favor from God and win souls to Christ.”
“We have become so secular in our approach to church life that we have lost our spiritual vitality.”
“The great tragedy is that we did not begin this way. The United Methodist Church, as well as other mainline denominations, began as a spirit-filled movement. If we are to regain our vitality, we must go back to those principles and practices that enabled the church to grow and prosper in its witness for Christ.’
