A Look at Kent Hunter’s “The Future Is Now: How God Is Moving In The 21st Century Church
I have enjoyed Kent R. Hunter’s, of Church Doctor Ministries, ebook “The Future Is Now: How God Is Moving In The 21st Century Church.” To conclude, I will not comment and leave the words of Kent to speak for themselves.
From Chapter 16 – Snapshots of Tomorrow Today, Hunter Concludes: “The church of the 21st century will make many changes, or it will cease to exist. These changes are really not new, but old. They are New Testament. They are biblical. There is much evidence to think that the greatest days of the church, perhaps in all of history, are ahead. A networking world is the perfect platform for worldwide witness, worldwide revival, worldwide Christianity. Today, Bible studies are being held in Iran, a closed country where it is illegal to study the Bible. However, people are doing it. They are doing it in their own Farsi language, They are doing it on the Internet. They are studying the Gospel of John. This type of networking is a snapshot of the church in the future — a church that, at the end of the day, will look much like the church of the past.
One of the constant and continual directions John Wesley used during the Great Awakening was to point people back to what he called “the primitive church.” His assumption was that if we just did what the 1st century church did, but did it in contemporary ways, the church would be effective and revival would result. That is what he said, and that is what God did. The church of the 21st century cannot improve on the 1st century church. It does not mean we wear sandals and tunics. It is the 1st century church, in 21st century clothes. If we focus on New Testament Church culture (values, beliefs, priorities, attitudes, and worldviews) and contextualize that to 21st century, indigenous delivery systems targeting this postmodern world, God will use us for revival. I have no question about that, whatsoever. Do you?"