The teachings of Jesus have shaped history and given definition to civilization. In the final section of Matthew’s rendering of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches about His own teaching: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
Where Wise People Build Read More »
Brett MacCraken’s new book, Hipster Christianity: When Church and Cool Collide, has gotten high visibility right out of the gate with an article in the Wall Street Journal. Is there an increasing trend to make church trendy that is artificial and disingenuous? The inevitable debate looms as John Wilson takes exception with what he sees
Debating “Hipster Christianity” Read More »
When I was a kid and there was some kind of heated disagreement between me and my friends, the whole argument sometimes boiled down to this refined philosophical query: “Says who?”
“Says who?” Thoughts about Authority Read More »
A marketing consultant advises early church leaders.
How to Become a Successful Religion Read More »
She has written vampire novels and enjoys reading the biblical scholarship of D.A. Carson. She announced years ago that she was returning to Christian faith and now says she will hold onto faith in Jesus, but the church is another story. She says “Christians have lost credibility in America as people who know how to
Leaving the church, but not leaving Jesus Read More »
If you haven’t seen someone faint at a wedding, you haven’t seen the real thing. Here is a compilation. Don’t laugh too hard! (Use SHARE/SAVE below to share a laugh.)
Weddings – for the “Faint” of Heart Read More »
Will tweeting in worship, sex talks, and metrosexual makeovers draw young adults into churches? Brett McCracken raises the question in an article today in the Wall Street Journal. He talks about “a mania in recent years, as baby-boomer evangelical leaders frantically assess what they have done wrong (why didn’t megachurches work to attract youth in
“Wanna Be Cool” Christianity Read More »
A mosque near Ground Zero? As you know, the Brook Network (thebrooknetwork.org) is all about “sharing ideas, pursuing wisdom.” Serious Christ-followers, and especially leaders, need to be committed in this tumultuous time in which we live to “the wisdom from above.” (I read a quote this morning from leadership guru Jim Collins: “There is no
The Mosque, Ground Zero, and Wisdom Read More »
Now that President Obama has commented specifically on the building of a mosque in the vicinity of Ground Zero in Manhattan, the heat has been turned up in the debate about the legality and the wisdom of the project. To get a sense of the discussion in evangelical circles the article in Christianity Today online
Ground zero controversy Read More »
There has been so much focus in the last twenty years on large churches, that one obvious point has been overlooked: is it possible for small churches (however one defines “small”) to have a fruitful and strategic ministry? The answer, of course, is “yes.” How could we not think that God indwells churches of every
The strategically small church Read More »
In ministry we must take aim at the heart of human experience, the matters of the soul. When one looks out at a congregation one could choose to focus on the differences that are so apparent. There is Mr. Johnson who just turned 80; Mrs. Wilson whose latest pregnancy prompted a fast-growing, life threatening skin
People different, people same Read More »
Archbishop William Temple said: “We only know what matter is when spirit dwells in it; we only know what man is when God dwells in him.” There is no aspect of us that is either incapable of worship, or more capable. God made us, he made all of us, and he is interested in nothing
According to last year’s U.S. census, 45% of households are maintained by unmarried women or men. In our churches, single adults comprise a third or more of the typical congregation. So why is it that most churches offer very little reflection on the single life? Why is it that biases against unmarried adults remain so
The Mount Olive school district of New Jersey has made a pronouncement: “D” is just not good enough. And there is a lesson for life and leadership in here. The district has dropped “D” from the grading system, so a student may get an A, B, or C for a grade, or an F for
“D” is not good enough Read More »
I’ve written in the past about Christopher Hitchens, the razor-tongued journalist whose writings on atheism have convinced some and come off as woefully uninformed and biased by others. His 2007 book, God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, was a popular anti-creed, and he liked to travel the country debating believers. Now Hitchens is facing
A prominent atheist faces cancer Read More »