Building Attractive Christianity:: A Layman’s Observations and Suggestions

By Professor Samuel C. Obi

This book elaborates on how to build God’s Church and challenges individual Christians, the clergy, and the Church to examine themselves and to live as the Lord requires in building His Church. It sends a message to the Church which needs to minister to the world as the body of Christ in that it has a responsibility to represent Christ to the world. It also sends a message to the individual Christian who needs to live as light to the world, because every Christian has an obligation to live a life of sacrifice for the Lord.

Chapter 1 introduces the fact that the average American Christian today does not find church attendance as attractive as attending most other social events. Chapter 2 discusses the attractiveness of Christ and argues that, if Christ was attractive to the throngs of people who followed Him during His days, His Church would be equally attractive to the world of our days. Chapter 3 covers the subject of how Christians can assist in fulfilling Jesus' Great Commission of preaching the Gospel to everyone.

Chapter 4 discusses how to help Church leadership, as representative of the Church, to be attractive. Chapter 5 discusses how to help the Church to be attractive in its ministry to the world, emphasizing that we must demonstrate to the world that we are loving people who have the love of Jesus Christ. Chapter 6 explains attractive Christianity as the culmination of the sacrificial efforts of the Church and Christians. The chapter describes how this budding Church would experience a harvest of harvests much like the mustard seed example which grew and fed birds of the air. Chapter 7 discusses why everyone should be born into the Kingdom of God and provides steps on how to be a born-again Christian.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781728334561

Professor Samuel C. Obi

Professor Samuel C. Obi is a Professor and Director of Technology at San Jose State University where he has taught since 1989. He also teaches courses in the Manufacturing Systems program in the College of Engineering. His expertise is in Manufacturing Systems, including manufacturing processes, manufacturing planning and control, quality control, product prototyping and development, green and sustainability product design, computer-integrated manufacturing, general material processing, industrial ethics, and technology and civilization. Dr. Obi has helped to found and lead many programs and organizations throughout his career. He is also an active technology transfer agent. His specific research interests are in manufacturing systems, technology transfer to developing economies, and ethics and the technologist/industry. Presently, he is the Trustee of the Rho chapter of the honorary Epsilon Pi Tau, an honorary organization for professions in technology. He also served as the Regional Director for the Honorary for many years. He has served on numerous departmental, college, and university committees as well as being an adviser to various university student clubs. He has also helped to found programs and cultural organizations geared to helping Nigerian and African immigrants adjust to life in American society. Prevailing Love, which is his 12th book, is written to enlighten and encourage its readers to endeavor to go the extra mile to increase love in their lives, families, neighborhoods, workplaces, societies, and the world in general. His other books include: Altars of Living Sacrifices; Overcoming Your Losses, Giants, and Mountains; Building Attractive Christianity; Exalting God’s Faithfulness; In Remembrance of Christ; Purpose in Waiting; God’s Kingdom First; A Table Prepared Before Me; A Handbook of Productive Industrial Ethics; Introduction to Manufacturing Systems; and Readings for Amerigerian Igbo. He has also authored many peer-reviewed and technical articles in his profession, and has presented at numerous professional conferences and events.

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Building Attractive Christianity: A Layman’s Observations and Suggestions

Professor Samuel C. Obi

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© 2019 Professor Samuel C. Obi. All rights reserved.

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Published by AuthorHouse 11/11/2019

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Scripture quotations marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-7283-3457-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-3456-1 (e)

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Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1 Introduction

The Attacks on the Modern Church

What is Jesus’ Objective in His Declaration?

Present Challenges

Mammon

Sexual Sins

Unscriptural Doctrines

Dependence on the Flesh

Lack of Holiness

Rebellion

Denominational and Doctrinal Differences

Different Levels of Spiritual Maturity

Chapter 2 The Attractiveness of Christ

Christ’s Divinity

Jesus Was Love

Jesus Had Power

Jesus Performed Healing and Other Miracles

Jesus Was Our Sacrificial Lamb

Jesus Had a Purpose

The Attractiveness of the Cross

Chapter 3 How Christians Can Assist in Fulfilling Jesus’ Objective

What We Can Do to Assist

Christ’s Divine Nature

Our Lord’s Prayer Example

Christ’s Sacrificial Living

Mustering Our Talents for Service

The Whole Thing Revolves Around a Love for Human Needs

Food Provision

Accommodation

Education and Training

Careers, Jobs, and Social Needs

Caring: Assisting in Housework, Running Errands, Physical Help, Etc.

Caring: Hospital and Prison Visitation

Others: Volunteering Ourselves, Our Resources, and Time; Community Service; Greeting and Conversing with People; Keeping Company; Entertaining People, Etc.

Commitments

Fulfilling God’s Righteousness

Chapter 4 Helping the Church to be Attractive: Ministry to the Church

Starting from the Basics

The Role of Prayers

Calling versus Wanting

My Church versus God’s Church

Talents

God’s Talents and Gifts

Some Examples of What is Happening in the Churches these Days

Elections to the Board

Hiring of Pastors and Priests

Appointments or Elections of Church Ministry Directors

Abuse of Offices

Recommendations

Recommended Requirements for Pastors

Recommended Roles for Pastors in Today’s Churches

Recommendations for Church Administration

Staying in Unity

Chapter 5 Helping the Church to be Attractive: Ministry to the World

Loving God and Man

Loving Others as Ourselves

The Attractiveness of Love

Why We Should Minister to Our Enemies

Opportunities for the Church

Specific Services the Church Can Perform

Monumental Humanitarian Organizations

Emergency Relief

Humanitarian Services

Education and Scholarships

Health and Wellness Centers

Agriculture and Animal Husbandry

Electrification of Communities

Evangelism to the World

Contextual Evangelism

Worship and Fellowship Should be Exciting

Using Great Songs and Choruses

Remove Discrimination in All its Forms

Use Members Often to Share Testimonies About God’s Works in Their Lives

Occurrences Worthy of Celebrating

Chapter 6 Attractive Christianity: The Culmination of the Sacrificial Efforts

Jesus Will Draw All People to Himself

His Drawing Power

Feeding the People

Healing the Sick

In Performance of Miracles and Raising the Dead

A Harvest of Harvests

The Mustard Seed Example

How About the Tree Trunk?

Birds of the Air or Birds of the World

Formidable Power to Feed the World Spiritually

Single Most Powerful Entity in the World by Influence in Everything

The World Order of Government: Righteousness

Church Denominations Teaming Together

Single Most Powerful Force to Deal with Evil

Joy Like Never Before in the World

Chapter 7 How to Become A Child of God

You Must be Born Again

You Must Denounce and Abandon all the Worldly Evil Things of the Past Lifestyle

You Must be Serious with Yourself and Live a Life that Pleases God

The Process of Spiritual Growth

Be at Peace with Yourself

Search Your Life Continually for What Should be Improved and What Should not be in It

Final Words

About the Author

Preface

IT IS NO SECRET that, in our present times, Christianity has lost much of its attractiveness and power. The Church and the average Christian have lost much of the power needed to live a successful Christian life and accomplish the Great Commission of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As a layperson who has attended church literally all his life, actively participated in some leadership roles in different churches and denominations, and successfully founded and managed multiple Christian fellowships, this author feels it is necessary to write something about this important but disturbing topic.

This kind of book topic could not have arrived sooner at such a time as this when the Church is literally struggling with many issues, including moral and weakness problems all of which bear on church membership and strength. The topics covered in this book will help to enlighten and energize the Church to pull out from its stagnant struggle into a powerhouse that the Lord Jesus meant it to be. They will also act as a catalyst to every lukewarm Christian and church, and especially rejuvenate them to be as active as the Lord intended. This will bring some new spark and life to weak and fledgling Christians and churches. The ultimate result will be to spark both spiritual and numerical growth in the Church of God.

While it generally elaborates on how to build God’s Church, this book specifically challenges individual Christians, the clergy, and the Church to examine themselves and live as the Lord requires in building His Church. For individual Christians, it delves into how to be more effective Christians in an ever-challenging world. For the clergy, a chapter is dedicated on how to start and grow a congregation in a godly manner. For the Church, another chapter is dedicated to how to prepare, plan and more effectively minister to, and evangelize, the world. The Lord Jesus Christ clearly had certain things in mind when He established the Church. He knew that if He attracted people to Himself, the Church, which is His body, can also attract the same people to itself as He did. However, this is not happening. Clearly, something is not working out here and it is not the Lord’s fault. This problem is from the Church. Therefore, this book helps both Christians and the Church to examine themselves in order to do a better work.

This book has two thrusts. The first is the message to the Church which needs to minister to the world as the body of Christ. The Church has a responsibility to represent Christ to the world. The book will be especially handy to members of the clergy in self-examining themselves and their work for the Master. Nothing pleases the Lord as when we are obedient to His will, work, and commandments. The book tries to cover many of the key areas of the Church where improvements can be initiated. As leaders of the Church, the clergy have immense power in determining the direction of the Church.

The second message is to the individual Christian who needs to live as light to the world. Every Christian has an obligation to live for the Lord. The apostle Paul called this life a living sacrifice. It is a life of holiness and service to the Lord, which is actually a life that is dedicated to serving others. It is only in Christians living as Christ lived and doing things the way Christ did that the attractiveness of Christ can come to the Church. Only then can Christ begin to again draw all men to Himself. Only then can the Church begin to again experience positive spiritual and numerical growth.

In this book, the term Church with a capital C collectively represents all the Christian entities in the world as an institution. All persons and organizations who identify themselves as Christians belong to this institution. The term church with a lower-case letter c represents any of the local Christian fellowship groups, congregations or gatherings which espouse themselves as Christian organizations.

The issues and ideas expressed in this book should be seen as one man’s observations, opinions and suggestions about the Church and how to improve the institution. While these are certainly not the only issues and ideas, the author expects disagreements and corrections in at least some of the observations and expressions. It is hoped that as Christians begin to genuinely express these varied perspectives, some understanding of what really matters will evolve. This understanding will yield much benefit to the Church.

This book has seven distinctive chapters that are designed to approach this topic from key perspectives. Chapter 1 introduces the challenge facing the Church in our modern time, which is the fact that the average American Christian today does not find church attendance as attractive as attending most other social events. It notes that the reasons for this negative attitude are because of mammon, sexual sins, unscriptural doctrines, dependence on the flesh, lack of holiness, rebellion, denominational and doctrinal differences, and different levels of spiritual maturity. Chapter 2 discusses the attractiveness of Christ and argues that if Christ was attractive to the throngs of people who followed Him during His days, His Church would be equally attractive to the world of our days. Chapter 3 covers the subject of how Christians can assist in fulfilling Jesus’ Great Commission of preaching the Gospel to everyone. This chapter notes that Christians should endeavor to emulate Christ by assuming His divine and loving nature, and being prayerful in trying to accomplishing this task.

Chapter 4 discusses how to help Church leadership, as representative of the Church, to be attractive. It calls attention to the importance of seeking and employing people’s talents in the work of God. It also notes that Christians must pay attention to some basics such as the role of prayer, calling versus wanting, and the notion of my church versus God’s Church in Church leadership and management. Chapter 5 discusses helping the Church to be attractive in its ministry to the world, calling attention to the fact that we must demonstrate to the world that we are loving people with the love of Jesus Christ. Chapter 6 explains attractive Christianity as the culmination of the sacrificial efforts of the Church and Christians. It emphasizes that Jesus is actually the One who will draw all people to Himself using His drawing power. The chapter also describes how this budding Church would experience a harvest of harvests much like the mustard seed example which grew and fed birds of the air. Chapter 7 delves into why everyone should be born again into the Kingdom of God and provides steps on how to be a born-again Christian.

Professor Samuel C. Obi,

Department of Aviation and Technology,

San Jose State University.

November 2019.

Acknowledgements

I GIVE ALL THE credit to God who inspired the topic of this book, provided me with the opportunities to live, know Him, and gain the knowledge and information to write this book. All glory and honor belong to Him forever and ever. May His name be hallowed. To those who helped in my Christian upbringing (parents, relations, mentors, teachers, pastors, friends, etc.), words can never be enough to express