How Did Christians Get Here? Have you ever stopped to wonder why most people are Christians? In many churches, especially those in evangelical denominations, there continues to be a great deal of discussion about things like evangelism, conversion, and church growth. The assumption of those conversations is that many people have and will continue to move from no faith or another faith to the Christian faith. In reality, most people are born into the faith. Bradley Wright, a Read More …
Archives for July 2010
A Call to Move Beyond “Common Christianity” (#0115)
Two Competing Views Author, theologian and progressive Christian thinker Marcus Borg suggests that there is often a disconnect between what pastors learn in mainline seminaries and what many Christians believe. In a recent Washington Post article, he explains the two conflicting views. To summarize the beliefs of most Christians, Borg creates a term: "common Christianity," which he explains to mean: . . .what most Christians took-for-granted until a generation or two ago - Read More …
One Pastor’s Plea for Marriage Equality (#0114)
The Presbyterian Decision Like many mainline denominations, the Presbyterian Church USA has been considering changes on the denominational level that would allow for marriage equality. According to the Presbyterian Outlook, the overture made at the 219th General Assembly that would have allowed "Presbyterian pastors to perform marriages for same-gender couples in states where these marriages are legal" was tabled. Effectively this decision means that Presbyterian pastors Read More …
The Changing Faith Practices of American Teens (#0113)
The Barna Group just released the results of its annual YouthPoll, which considers the faith practices of American teenagers. The article characterizes the faith of teenagers as a "picture of contrasts": Teenagers are consistently among the most religiously active Americans, with nearly six out of every 10 teens engaged in some type of group spiritual activity in a typical week. Yet, the spirituality of teenagers is also remarkably diverse and fluid. According to David Read More …
The M&M Church (#0112)
The Sunday Morning Divide I cannot count the number of times I have heard someone say that 11:00 a.m. on Sunday morning is the most racially divided hour of the week. I can, however, count the small number of occasions when I have been involved in a group discussion designed to move a given local congregation toward becoming intentionally multiracial and/or multicultural. Silence empowers the separation. Moving Forward or Standing Still? George Barna, author, researcher and Read More …
Ready, Set, Fail (#0111)
After a successful acting career, Blaine Hogan attended and graduated from Mars Hill Graduate School in Seattle, WA. He currently works for Willow Creek Community Church as a Creative Producer creating contexts and spaces for people to experience God using multimedia, movement, and performance art. To learn more visit his blog, follow him on twitter, friend him on facebook, or watch his videos. Recently, Hogan wrote about the important topic of failure: Please, for the love of Read More …