Experiencing God's Love in the Church: The Missing Ingredient in Today's Church and How to Bring It Back

The church is not dead, nor does it need to be abandoned as some think. It is still a body that can best demonstrate the heart of God to a needy world. Many have looked at the church with all its flaws and turned their backs on it saying it has passed its prime. The main reason for this is that the church has lost its love for one another and consequently for God. While the church may serve God, try to please God, and make efforts to obey God, love is sadly missing. This lack of love for one another manifests itself through church splits, lack of loyalty, ostracizing those who disagree, turning on one another over insignificant reasons, church hopping, firing pastors, etc. Experiencing God's Love in the Church seeks to challenge believers to renew their commitment to loving one another, and in so doing, returning to what Christ intended His body to look like. When the world sees GodÂ’s people truly loving one another, they will then be more apt to see how the Father sent the Son as a demonstration of His love for them.

Tom Blackaby, director of international ministries, Blackaby Ministries International, is coauthor of The Family God Uses: Leaving a Legacy of Influence, with his wife, Kim, as well as: The Man God Uses, Anointed to Be God's Servants, The Blackaby Study Bible, Encounters with God Daily Bible, and more. His degrees are: doctor of ministries (Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary), master of divinity (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary), bachelor of education (University of Saskatchewan). Blackaby served four years as national worship consultant for the Canadian National Baptist Convention, and he, Kim, and their three children live near Vancouver.