"One basic premise in my own philosophy of the church is that people themselves are the ministers.."
"Two things are necessary: people must be trained to use their own gifts in ministry; and the church must grant the people the right to minister in crisis situations on the spot."
"We must begin to see what Christ is seeing and respond accordingly. He didn't start a political movement. In fact He shunned politics. Yet He was involved politically, not from a movement point of view but because what He did had fantastic political implications. The prophetic lifestyle is person oriented."
"To live prophetically in the world is to speak Christ's love and redemptive power into the heart of the individuals caught in sin. We see Jesus doing this. He didn't speak generally to the world but He did confront individuals- He touched this sick person, He released that demon-possessed person, He forgave the other person who was notorious sinner."
"The dynamic for church growth is Spirit-filled people meeting other people's needs in Jesus name wherever they are. You can't reduce that to methodology."
There were so many things in this chapter that made me happy I go to a church that does exactly this. There were also some things that convicted me to do better. I could've quoted the whole chapter but I will leave you with this last one that is so true and right on as far as I am concerned;
"If we are isolated from others, living within the context of monologue so far as church life goes, we will probably accept uncritically many practices which have no validity. Or if they are valid, we don't why and therefore cannot use them to best advantage. And we are totally unaware of alternatives that might suit our particular situation better."
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