Sermon Text Ephesians 2:19-22 Sermon Excerpt The so-called religious right has sought to make their version of Christianity the only authorized American version. While many within this group market a message that suggests a literal approach to the Bible is the only correct approach, the general public are not embracing that news. In fact, only 3 in 10 people approach Scripture with a highly literal interpretative framework, and an understanding that it is the actual word of Read More …
WHCB: Denominations (#1188)
Christian Piatt includes denominations on his list of five things that are holding Christianity back. He suggests that with so many denominations the "distinction from others like them are so minute that even the members within a given denomination can’t tell you what makes them unique." Additionally, he argues that "with the trend toward personal and local autonomy taking hold in many Christian communities, there is increasingly less of a reason to keep such hierarchic Read More …
WHCB: Church Buildings (#1187)
Christian Piatt includes church buildings on his list of five things that are holding Christianity back. He suggests that "they have become an albatross rather than an asset." Reality Check Most American congregations own buildings. The costs associated with maintaining these structures is significant. In congregations that are in the midst of extended periods of plateau or experiencing years of declining membership, the percentage of the annual budget needed for their upkeep Read More …
What’s Holding Christianity Back? (WHCB) (#1186)
Christian Piatt is the author of multiple books, including Banned Questions About Jesus and Banned Questions About the Bible. Recently, he shared a list of things he feels are holding Christianity back: church buildings, denominations, worship, church boards, and fear. So What? Piatt labels these items as "the five biggest things I’ve seen that tend to keep us from doing our best work as the living, breathing body of Christ in the world today." While Read More …
Online Learning in Congregations (#1185)
Over the last decade online learning has grown from a niche market to something that touches nearly everyone. Increasing numbers of students take online courses as part of their educational programs in K-12 and higher education, and employers continue to shift more and more of their training to online formats. Given these shifts, it is logical to assume that the future of education in the context of congregations will include online learning. The Rt. Rev. Kirk Smith, bishop of Read More …
Common Pastoral Mistakes (#1184)
Eric Geiger, Vice President at LifeWay Christian Resources, recently shared three common mistakes pastors make: not offering clarity, underestimating the power of culture, and switching strategies too frequently. So What? This short list can serve as a helpful tool for those interested in sincere introspection. If you serve in pastoral ministry, which of these three areas is most challenging for you? How might you focus on strengthening your competency in that area Read More …
Liking = Protected Speech (#1183)
According to a court decision made last week, clicking "like" on a Facebook post or page is now considered to be free speech protected by the First Amendment. This ruling by Judge Traxler of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, VA overturns the earlier ruling, and has significant implications for employment (the matter at hand in this case) and beyond. So What? The online world has grown and evolved at a rapid rate. Laws developed before the internet expansion often do not Read More …
Sermon: Life-Giving Wind (#1182)
Sermon Text Acts 2:1-22 Sermon Excerpt Journey with me into the story. . . Step back and ask yourself, “If I had all the power in the world and wanted to enable a huge crowd of people from different parts of the world to speak to one another, wouldn't I just give them a common language?” And, if I foreknew that the occasion was to go down in history as the birth of a religion, wouldn't I choose a brand new language with a catchy name that would make the jobs of marketing and Read More …
Giving Advice (#1181)
Chip Bell, co-author of the international best-selling book Managers as Mentors: Building Partnerships for Learning (2013), recently shared four sequential steps for effective advice giving: clearly state the performance problem or learning goal, make sure you agree on the focus, ask permission to give advice, and state your advice in first person singular. So What? Just about every person is a mentor to someone else. In church life, such relationships are often Read More …
Learning from Church Spies (#1180)
Terry Mattingly writes the nationally syndicated “On Religion” column for the Scripps Howard News Service in Washington, D.C., and is director of the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. His latest article, "Lessons Learned from Church Spies," features the story of one spy's experience. The church spy, Chuck Lawless (evangelism professor and the graduate dean at Southeastern Baptist Theological Read More …