In other words What is it that Arminians or Calvinists DO WEEKLY that is SO DIFFERENT because of their THEOLOGY?
Two major points come to my mind. Both touch pretty much all the five areas and can not be isolated:
1.Prayer/Evangelism. When praying/witnessing for/to the lost (friend, family member, etc.), obviously both camps (arminians, calvinists) pray to God to intervene in their lives with a saving power.
a.In the arminian system, salvation is basicaly dependent on the person; what or how would they pray to God? What can God do in a person's life that He already has not done? They surely can not ask God to grant repentance or to change/soften a person's heart since all of these are up to the individual. Their hope is in the person that he/she would change his/her mind and believe....
b.In the calvinistic system, salvation is dependent fully upon God, hence when they pray/witness they place their hope in God the Holy Spirit that He intervenes and grants repentance to the unsaved individual.
-If a friend or relative dies unsaved, who is to blame than: God for not electing or the person for not believing? Certainly God is not to be blamed for anything!
I believe the above case is equally painful for both sides. Regardless, it is clear that someone's prayer life/witnessing is greatly affected by his/her beliefs.
2.Fellowship/Revival.
a.Arminians define Revival as a group of people deciding/believing in the Gospel- or when believers rededicate their lives- at the same time and at the same place. It is the Holy Spirit who brings conviction when hearing the Gospel, but according to them Revival should not be expected from God directly but from a group of people. If they pray for Revival, what exactly they expect God to do? Intervene? How?
b.Calvinists define Revival as a sovereign act of God in people's lives. It is sent directly by God through the Holy Spirit by the Word of God. He decides when, where, and why send a Revival to a group of people. Certainly prayer plays a major role in this issue again.
All of these therefore: Worship, Evangelism, Discipleship, Fellowship, Ministry/Missions are greatly affected by our beliefs. The difference is not so much outwordly, but inwordly.
I am still working on my English, so forgive me for all the errors I made in this post (and all the others too
), but I sure hope you all understand what I was trying to say.
Serving Him together
Felix