Church plans to burn Qur’an
Evangelical leaders blasted a Gainesville, Florida, church’s plans to burn Qur’ans on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. [read]
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What is a “movement”?
Leaders can aim at building institutions or building movements. Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, says: “a movement is marked by an attractive, clear, unifying vision for the future together with a strong set of values or beliefs.” He goes on to identify four characteristics of a true movement. “First, the vision
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“Today I quit being a Christian”
It was thrilling several years ago when Anne Rice, the bestselling author of Interview with a Vampire and other similar novels, announced that she had returned to the faith of her youth and had a fresh new relationship with and devotion toward Christ. Her subsequent novels celebrated the majesty of Christ. So when she wrote
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Ten practical ideas for worship
Here are ten practical ideas on the life of worship in a Whole Church. Plan a time to teach the Whole Church about the purposes of worship (bowing and serving), but do so only after you have delved into and been inspired by the Scriptural texts that form the background. Make worship planning a group
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Is it illegal to preach about homosexuality?
In many countries there is a debate about when public speech about moral and ethical issues crosses a line that puts it into the category of a hate crime. Nobody would question that it should be illegal for a neo-Nazi leader using a microphone to incite acts of violence against Jewish people in a neighborhood.
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What to make of “so-called gods”
Christians contend that some of the tenets of neo-pagan religion seem to draw power that comes out of darkness, the realm of the satanic in biblical terms. What about this?
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Who speaks for evangelicals?
A brief article by John Ortberg puts an important issue on the table regarding identity–and the comments it is generating are telling.
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Why would someone want to be a neo-pagan?
Christian apologetics requires us to not only understand other religions and spiritualities, but to understand their attraction. So what about neo-paganism in all its various forms? (There are about 300,000 people in the U.S. and about a million worldwide who describe themselves as “Pagans,” “Wiccans,” or “Druids,” although there are other groups that generally ascribe
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Two Prayers: for Morning and Evening
A Morning Prayer Dear Lord… As this day begins I confess that I will need you every moment. I long to know you more deeply today. Help me in what I say to other people. Give me wisdom in each decision I will make. Make love and truth the motives behind everything I do. And
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Five Kinds of Deep Preaching
Scott Chapman has an interesting article on the question of what people really want when they ask for “deeper preaching.” The answer may be more complex than what one would guess. He breaks it down to five issues: biblical depth, intellectual depth, experiential depth, cultural depth, and applicational depth. [READ]
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Wisdom the craftsman
I’ve been working this week on one of my favorite passages from the Old Testament, Proverbs 8. In this book of wisdom, a voice is given to wisdom itself. A voice that summons us to lives of discernment, prudence, humility, but also prosperity and power. Wisdom is the repudiation of the ugliest side of our
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Image is everything – Part 2
No 21st century image consultant would ever think to say this: you were created in God’s image, in his likeness. That means that to find your true self you should not just look inside yourself. The key to what is inside you is actually found outside you. You didn’t just develop. You were made–shaped by
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Image is everything – Part 1
You press a button and the television screen pops to brightness. What was a dead grey screen now projects a cool-blue background, a multi-colored logo in the upper right corner, and a head-and-shoulders shot of a newscaster whose skin shows no blemish, whose hair is sculpted, whose voice flows, and whose eyes lock on your
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25 ideas for seeking cohesion in your church
Think of a time when your church was as unified as you have ever seen it. Make a list of the factors of unity and cohesion at work at that time. Think of the last several times someone told you that your church was their place of hope and connection. What was happening in that
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Who has the right to dance at Auschwitz?
That’s the eye-catching title of an AP article about a home video that has gone viral on the internet in which a small group of people are seen dancing to the disco tune “I Will Survive” at the gate of Auschwitz and other sites of the Holocaust. The key to understanding the video is that
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