Ministry Tidbits A T G S Factoids From
Dec 24, 2015
Ministry Tidbits ATGS 98% of Americans profess to be “believers” in God, but only _____ worship in church on an average Sunday.
a. 25% c. 40%
b. 35% d. 50%
Ministry Tidbits ATGS 98% of Americans profess to be “believers” in God, but only _____ worship in church on an average Sunday.
answer: 40%
Ministry Tidbits ATGS
The speed at which we live our daily lives can and will directly affect the depth at which we live our devoted lives.
Leonard Sweet
Aqua Church, p. 162
Ministry Tidbits ATGS The Christian leader of the
future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self.
Henri Nouwen
In the Name of Jesus, p. 17
Ministry Tidbits ATGS 62% of Americans believe
that it does not matter what religious faith you follow because all faiths teach similar lessons about life.
George Barna
Absolute Confusion, p. 207
Ministry Tidbits ATGS When spirituality
becomes “spiritualization,” life in the body becomes carnal.
Henri Nouwen
In the Name of Jesus, p. 48
Ministry Tidbits ATGS The best test [of servant-
leadership] is: do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?
Robert K. Greenleaf
The Servant as Leader, p. 1
Ministry Tidbits ATGS
The two most computer-savvy segments of our society are children and ______________?
a. Teenagers (ages 13-20)
c. Grandparents (age 55+)b. Parents (ages 32-45)
Ministry Tidbits ATGS
The two most computer-savvy segments of our society are children and ______________?
answer: grandparents
Ministry Tidbits ATGS When we carefully consider
how Jesus lived while among us in the flesh, we learn how we are to live—truly live—empowered by him who is with us always even to the end of the age.
Richard Foster
Streams of Living Water, p. 3
Ministry Tidbits ATGS 71% of Gen Xers claim they are
Christians, but only 52% see themselves as religious, and only 25% say they are “born again.”
George Barna
Invisible Generation, p. 30
Ministry Tidbits ATGS A critical intellectual
capacity for 21st century leadership success will be the ability to build knowledge together with other colleagues.
Reggie McNeal
A Work of Heart, p. 131
Ministry Tidbits ATGS The goal of communion
[with God] is the becoming one of two hearts—yours and God’s.
Reggie McNeal
A Work of Heart, p. 152
Ministry Tidbits ATGS If we view our communion with
God as something functional and mechanical, we will be consumed with figuring out how to pray, how to study the Bible, how to…whatever.
Reggie McNeal
A Work of Heart, p. 152
Ministry Tidbits ATGS Gen Xers are influenced by
television even more than their boomer parents. Theirs is a postliterary culture for which sound and image have largely replaced the printed Word.
Eddie Gibbs
ChurchNext, p. 127
Ministry Tidbits ATGS ______ of Americans say religion is losing its influence in American life.
a. 48% c. 65%
b. 56% d. 72%
Ministry Tidbits ATGS ______ of Americans say religion is losing its influence in American life.
answer: 65%
Ministry Tidbits ATGS God calls His leaders to
live by design, carefully following the vision He has created for them.
George Barna
Power of Vision, p. 172
Ministry Tidbits ATGS Our best research techniques
suggest that every day thousands of people in America leave this planet for a known and permanently agonizing eternity, which we commonly refer to as hell.
George Barna
Evangelism That Works, p. 11
Ministry Tidbits ATGS _____ of Americans say “spirituality” has been increasing its influence in their lives.
a. 46% c. 62%
b. 54% d. 71%
Ministry Tidbits ATGS_____ of Americans say “spirituality” has been increasing its influence in their lives.
answer: 62%
Ministry Tidbits ATGS
How are churches getting larger and smaller at the same time?
Smaller through house churches and cell groups, larger through megachurches. Sweet, Aquachurch p. 138
Ministry Tidbits ATGS Only 1% [of Gen Xers]
view the worldwide absence of faith as a significant issue.
George Barna
Invisible Generation, p. 56
Ministry Tidbits ATGS
38% [of Gen Xers] say being a part of a local church is a desirable life condition.
George Barna
Invisible Generation, p. 62
Ministry Tidbits ATGSSpiritual formation is not a matter of trying harder, but of training wisely.
John Ortberg
The Life You’ve Always Wanted, p. 47
Ministry Tidbits ATGS In 1970 there were ten churches in
America that reported an attendance of 2000.
By 1990 there were over 300 such churches, 43 of which reported 5000 or more in attendance on a weekly basis.
By 1997, another church went “mega” every __________?
a. 1 week
b. 3 weeks
c. 1 month
d. 3 months
Ministry Tidbits ATGS In 1970 there were ten churches in
America that reported an attendance of 2000.
By 1990 there were over 300 such churches, 43 of which reported 5000 or more in attendance on a weekly basis.
By 1997, another church went “mega” every __________?
answer: 3 weeks
Ministry Tidbits ATGS The goal of spiritual
formation is transformation… If we cannot be transformed, we will settle for being informed or conformed.
John Ortberg
The Life You’ve Always Wanted, p. 34
Ministry Tidbits ATGS Church members who have caught the
apostolic vision for people, who experience celebrative indigenous worship, who are involved in pastoral conversation, and in a small group, and in a gift based ministry, and are involved in ministry with pre-Christian people are themselves far more blessed and “ministered unto” than if they had their own hired chaplain in a small traditional church.
George Hunter
Church for the Unchurched, p. 33
Ministry Tidbits ATGS In many places, effective religious
leadership has been replaced by management of the status quo. Managing to get by does not seem to be a bad alternative to the heavy demands placed on a pastor who chooses to lead in the spirit and pattern of Jesus.
Norman Shawchuck and Roger Heuser
Leading the Congregation, p. 20
Ministry Tidbits ATGS
Decentralized networks
Unpredictable world requiring a rapid response of “plan-do”
Uncertainty in dealing with the present, and pessimism and paranoia in considering the future
Change initiated at the periphery
Eddie Gibbs, ChurchNext, p. 25
Moderns PostmodernsCentralized hierarchies
Predictable world and long range strategic
planning and goal setting
Confidence regarding human ability to manage the present and face the
future
Change initiated at the center