The Malady of American Christianity: How Congregations Often Fail to Teach the Church’s Main Purpose What the Commandments Have to Do with It.

By Franklin L. Grepke

This author combines the Ten Commandments and how they affect the purpose of God’s plan for making Disciples. Social issues and a congregation’s lack of mission contribute to a weak and ineffective ministry. They are missing God’s specific plan found in the Great Commission. The malady or illness of a church can be cured by two things, God’s law, and the Gospel.

This author brings focus to both cures throughout the book. His focus is to stir up the Christian church, one believer at a time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664228771

Franklin L. Grepke

Certified as a Commissioned Minister of Religion, from The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS), served as a “Lay Minister”. Graduated from Concordia Lutheran College, Mequon, Wisconsin formerly Milwaukee. Educated at The University of West Florida, UWF with bachelor’s degree in communications. Frank Grepke is an Evangelist whom God has used to introduce many to Jesus. He is a churchman who has led spiritual movements in the marketplace, as well as on staff in churches in Michigan, Indiana, and Florida. Grepke has served key roles at Church Doctor Ministries. He has also taught pastors in Nigeria, West Africa and introduced Jesus to a nursing staff at a hospital in Moscow, Russia. Grepke’s passion is to help biblical churches reach the lost people for Jesus.

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Copyright © 2021 Franklin L. Grepke.

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except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher

make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book

and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

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models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English

Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry

of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-2879-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-2878-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-2877-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021906081

WestBow Press rev. date: 4/6/2021

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I want to thank Dr. Kent Hunter for his support, encouragement, and help in editing this manuscript. His experience as an author of several books like Who Broke My Church, Restoring Civility, and others has encouraged me with this project.

I want to thank my wife, Joann, for her encouragement and insights she has added to this book. Her devotion to be a life-long learner is an inspiration to me. Thank you, I love you.

Thanks to Karla Keesler, a friend, and the Administrative Assistant at my church, for her precision and careful editing and documentation of the book.

I thank my nephew, Neil Grepke, Director of Christ Academy and Theology Department at Faith Lutheran High School in Las Vegas, NV, for his precision and critique of the grammar and Theology. His suggestions helped me to refocus sentence structure and make the book clearer.

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 Heart Treasures

Chapter 2 What is in a Name?

Chapter 3 Worship

Chapter 4 Spiritual Kids’ Stuff

Chapter 5 Anger Management

Chapter 6 Sexual Drift

Chapter 7 Commanding Lifestyle

Chapter 8 The Power of Your Mouth

Chapter 9 Possessed by Possessions.

Chapter 10 Destroying Idols

Summary

Discussion Questions

About the Author

 PREFACE

The Malady of American Christianity is based on my observation of a threefold value system that many church goers embrace. While they may say their priorities in life are God first, family second, and country last; by actions and words their actual priorities in life are country (flag) first, family second, and God third. I will share my personal observations, biblical references, personal experiences and quotes from other authors. You will read shocking statements and stories. Keep an eye out for those statements.

The basic outline is in Exodus 20, the Ten

Commandments. All quotes of the Commandments are from Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. It is my hope to bring fresh insights about how the Ten Commandments and the purpose of the Church apply to the daily walk of the Christian. God has a specific plan for how the world is to be reached for Christ. This purpose includes that Jesus came to die for the sins of all people, to bring salvation through His life, death, and resurrection, and to model how to make followers or disciples.

Writing has always been a challenge for me. My heart is on these pages. It is my expression of love, faith, joy, forgiveness, and hope.

Church

When used with a capital C it is referring to the Church universal.

church

When used with a small c it is referring to congregations.

 INTRODUCTION

For by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God, you need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. ¹

Discernment can be frustrating for those who are gifted to have it. It can be a struggle to decide how to use this ability to help rather than hinder others in their faith. If words are chosen in the wrong way, they can offend. If they are spoken in a better way, they can encourage. They build up faith. My aim is to build you up in your faith. However, if some things written here cause a conscience issue, I pray it will lead to repentance and restoration.

There are some experiences worth sharing. God has gifted me with a heart and passion for seeing people’s lives changed by Christ. It is such joy to see the lights in their eyes when they know their sins are forgiven and they have a new future with God. Here are some examples: Does it matter to Brownie at International Harvester or the taxicab driver in Nigeria that I shared Jesus with them? Only God knows. Does it matter that the children I taught preconfirmation classes to in Milwaukee made me burst with pride when they told their stories about