The Culture of God’s Word: Faithful Ministry in a Post-Christian Society

When It Comes to Spreading the Gospel, Relevance Is Irrelevant
- A thoroughly biblical approach to social witness and the transformation of souls
- Reminds us that while we have a part to play in evangelism, it is God who Gives the increase

Some fight to recover Christian culture; others abandon any hope of transforming culture. Both mindsets are at odds with the early church. The apostles weren’t seeking to convert cultures but people, because God’s word cultivates its own culture--the culture of the word. When the word is sown, the culture is grown. Our mission remains the same today: a stubborn commitment to proclaim God’s word.

In The Culture of God’s Word, Harold L. Senkbeil and Lucas V. Woodford reclaim the biblical approach to transformation and social witness. By returning to the apostles’ own example in the book of Acts, we are reminded of the power of the gospel. God’s word embraces broken hearts and broken lives and transforms them in Christ Jesus. The church is born of God’s word and grows by God’s word. The pursuit of relevance has failed. The culture wars distract from the mission. But God’s word cultivates a faith that endures in a chaotic world.

＂Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.＂ --1 Corinthians 3:7

Harold L. Senkbeil is executive director emeritus of DOXOLOGY: The Lutheran Center for Spiritual Care. His pastoral experience of nearly five decades includes parish ministry, the seminary classroom, and parachurch leadership. He is the author of numerous books, including the award-winning titles The Care of Souls, Christ and Calamity, and Dying to Live.
Lucas V. Woodford is president of the Minnesota South District of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod and associate pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Farmington, Minnesota. With Harold L. Senkbeil, he is the coauthor of Pastoral Leadership: For the Care of Souls.