Marks of a Healthy Church Essay

conceptionIn the New Testament, the church building female genitalia be referred to as the topical anesthetic church or the worldwide church. The local church is a arrange where assemblies of believers come to set downher at a particular location and time. The universal church refers to the body of Christ. Many churches believe that they are healthy beca design they experience a certain number of people on their membership roll. wholesome churches measure their apparitionality harmonize to Gods Word.This report seeks to bugger off that healthy churches are measured in religious terms versus quantitative terms follow biblical instead of cultural patterns of ministry are establish on theological instead of sociological foundations focus on ministry non a marketing model and adopt scriptural not sacrilegious models of leadership. This will be done by examining Kenneth Gangels password on the different attach that can be practice sessiond to gauge a healthy church in h is expression The mark of a sizable Church.Brief SummaryAccording to Kenneth Gangel, in his article The Marks of a Healthy Church, he seeks to explain the characteristics of a healthy church development the measurements of the unearthly, biblical, theological, ministry model, and scriptural model of leadership. To accomplish this Gangel cautions spiritual leaders not to point caught up in measuring church product in mathematical terms. They should accentuate the holiness and sovereignty of God through Bible study, worship, prayer, praise, and fellowship. In following biblical instead of cultural patterns, churches do not nip compelled to stay up with the times or get hooked on religious fads and slogans. Churches should not push alot of programs and believe that they are right expert because they are successful.They would do well to check them and their success against the Word of God. Gangel in any case wanted spiritual leaders to ensure that they are paying maintenance to the true vigor or teachings of biblical theology and not get caught up in sociological perceptions of what the church should be. They should seek Gods plans for the church and tune out outside influences.A healthy church seeks to remain spiritually effective by following the ministry model of the owing(p) Commission according to Gods grace, authority, and resources. Churches must never use the marketing or worldly model of seeking resources to accomplish their goals. sacred leaders will have trials and be scrutinized but they should never mete out on a secular form of leadership in pronounce to deal with these trials. They must pay attention to the essential functions of guiding and leading(a) a healthy church.Critical InteractionGangel has taken an in knowledge approach to explaining what constitutes a healthy church. He seeks to mother clear that spiritual leaders have to use a biblical approach to assessing church exploitation or a healthy church. Some of the theologi cal issues that I have found to be at stake in the article are the beliefs that church growth is an indication that the church is growing according to what God has mandated for the church.Church growth should always be evaluated to ensure that the growth is occurring for the right or biblical reasons. The other theological issue is qualification sure that the spiritual leader and the church are not conforming to the world and its way of doing things. The Bible is the road map that has been given to the spiritual leaders and the church to ensure that they do not go amiss(p) or spiritually off course.Gangels opinion that the church should not get caught up on spiritual fads and slogans is backed by bath F. MacArthurs warning that the abandonment of the scriptures as a regulatory linguistic rule has opened the church to some of the most detestable of abuses. These abuses include transport in secular artist into worship services, a sideshow with a genus Circus theme, and wrestlin g shows. Gangel is prompted to write about this subject because he was noticed and larn about churches hinging their spiritual health on numerical terms of growth instead of biblical terms.His goal is to enlighten and warn the church to make sure they are using biblical measurements in determining the spiritual health of the church. The author has done an exceptional job in proving his thesis, that on that point are biblical marks or measurements of a healthy church. Gangels key strengths in this article are the five biblical marks that he has used to compare to the secular tenants that society likes to use. As he was explaining the five biblical marks of a healthy church, I deficiency he would have addressed what happens to a church that follows the tenets of society.ConclusionThis paper has critiqued the article Marks of a Healthy Church. The authors discussion in this article clearly lets us know that church should use caution when it comes to evaluating its growth. The marks that should be used to assess the health of the church are spiritual, biblical, theological, ministry model, and scriptural model of leadership. Everything that the church does should be checked by the Word of God.After reading this article, someone may make the say that the church should do what it has to in order to reach the unbeliever. In my opinion, we as believers are not to let down our beliefs in what God has commanded us to do in order to reach an unbeliever. By all means, we can use Godly tools to witness to them where they are.Selected BibliographyEnns, Paul.The blue Handbook of Theology.Revised and Expanded. Chicago, IL moody Publishers, 2008.Gangel, Kenneth O. 2001. Marks of a Healthy Church.Bibliotheca Sacra,no.158 vol.632(October December). http//galaxie.com/article/5724 (accessed October 15, 2012).MacArthur, John F., How Shall We Then holiness? in The Coming Evangelical Crisis,ed.David Wells (Chicago Moody, 1996), 181 2 . Paul Enns, The Moody handbook of Theolog y, Revised and Expanded (Chicago, IL Moody Publishers, 2008), 257 3 . Gangel, Kenneth O. 2001. Marks of a Healthy Church. Bibliotheca Sacra 9, no.28 vol. 632 (October December). http//www.galaxie.com/article/5724 (accessed October 15, 2012). 4 . ibidem, 468. 5 . Ibid., 469. 6 . Gangel, 470. 7 . Ibid., 474 8 . Ibid. 9 . Enns, 359-360. 10 . MacArthur, John F., How Shall We Then reverence? in The Coming Evangelical Crisis, ed. David Wells (Chicago Moody, 1996), 181 11 . Gangel, 467-468. 12 . Ibid.