Author Archives: Jay F Guin

About Jay F Guin

My name is Jay Guin, and I’m a retired elder. I wrote The Holy Spirit and Revolutionary Grace about 18 years ago. I’ve spoken at the Pepperdine, Lipscomb, ACU, Harding, and Tulsa lectureships and at ElderLink. My wife’s name is Denise, and I have four sons, Chris, Jonathan, Tyler, and Philip. I have two grandchildren. And I practice law.

American Megachurches: Radio and television

Modes of interaction and publicity with the broader relationship to the public have also shifted in 8 years according to our research findings. In 2000, 44% of megachurches reported having a radio ministry and 38% a television ministry. However, in … Continue reading

Posted in Megachurches, Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments Off on American Megachurches: Radio and television

The Sticks

Here’s a link to an interesting conference on growing churches in smaller towns, called “The Sticks.” There’s definitely a tendency for the church growth seminars and literature to address urban and suburban churches, ignoring the thousands of churches in small towns … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

MDR: Matthew 5, Part 3 (a note on the meaning of “fornication”)

The exact meaning of “fornication” in this context has been hotly disputed. “Fornication” normally means any sexual immorality, such as incest, prostitution, adultery, or homosexuality. Another intriguing possibility is that it refers to marriages that would be illegal or terminable … Continue reading

Posted in Divorce and Remarriage, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

American Megachurches: Community Service

An area where significant proactive change clearly seems to be taking place among megachurches is within social ministry and community service programming and involvement. In 2000 a third (34%) of megachurches affirmed their congregation was “working for social justice.” By … Continue reading

Posted in Megachurches, Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments Off on American Megachurches: Community Service

MDR: Matthew 5, Part 2 (Questions)

Is fornication the exclusive ground for a divorce? In Matthew 19, Jesus should by no means be read as denying the Exodus 21:10-11 grounds for divorce. They were not controversial in his day, and when rabbis declared that divorce may … Continue reading

Posted in Divorce and Remarriage, Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments

American Megachurches: Multiple locations and multiple services

It’s hardly all that novel for a church to have multiple services. That’s been going on for a long time. But the survey found that more churches are having more services. Why? * Buildings are expensive. Multiple services avoid having … Continue reading

Posted in Megachurches, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

American Megachurches: Contemporary Worship

I guess most of us just assume that large churches have contemporary worship, but that’s not always been true. Many have grown with traditional worship styles. However, very few continue to be traditional. What was a strong preference in 2000 … Continue reading

Posted in Megachurches, Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments Off on American Megachurches: Contemporary Worship

MDR: Matthew 5, Part 1

As promised some pages ago, we now need to interpret the words of Christ in light of what we’ve learned from Paul. We need to avoid the temptation to treat Paul as less worthy of respect than Christ. Rather, the … Continue reading

Posted in Divorce and Remarriage, Uncategorized | Tagged | 4 Comments

American Megachurches: Politics

Megachurches, on the whole, have minimal involvement in politics. Well, this is a surprise! As you can see, the churches are moving toward the middle. Why?

Posted in Megachurches, Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments Off on American Megachurches: Politics

American Megachurches: Multi-ethnicity

It’s interesting to ponder why the mega-churches would be more successful at blending the races than others. Do they make a special effort? Is it about being big? Or the quality of the programs? Part of it has to be … Continue reading

Posted in Megachurches, Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments Off on American Megachurches: Multi-ethnicity