Today our nation observes Martin Luther King Jr. Day. While many people know about The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., far fewer are familiar with any of his sermons beyond "I Have a Dream." I invite you to take a few minutes to read two excerpts from Dr. King's sermon entitled "Guidelines for a Constructive Church," which he preached at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on June 5, 1966. This morning I would like to submit to you that we who are followers of Jesus Christ, and Read More …
Discipleship
Contemporvant Worship: Too Close To Reality? (#0242)
A generation ago many congregations began adding "contemporary" worship services. While any style of worship can be done well and in ways that clearly glorify God, any style is also capable of falling well short of those standards. The following video about "contemporvant" (a made up word created by blending contemporary and relevant) worship illustrates what can happen when contemporary worship loses its way. So What? According to multiple sources, this video was produced by Read More …
Serving God or Serving the Church? (#0239)
Donald Miller is the author of several books including A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing my Life (2009) and Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality (2003). To connect with him, read his blog, like him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter. This past week, he posted, "Is Church Life Stifling Your Creativity?," which concludes with these words: Here’s the point of this blog post: There is a difference between what “the church” Read More …
Studying the Beatitudes in Real Time (#0238)
A few days ago, I blogged about my ongoing quest to learn more about Jesus. In that post I suggested that 2011 may be a year I devote considerable time to examining Jesus' preaching via the Sermon on the Mount. Since that time, I learned of a unique opportunity to study the Beatitudes, which lead off Matthew's account of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-12). Kimberly Knight, Circuit Rider and web admin for the Beatitudes Society, recently blogged about a new interactive live Read More …
A Year With the Sermon on the Mount (#0236)
For the last few years, I have been studying the life and ministry of Jesus in an attempt to more fully answer the question: “Who is Jesus?” A few months ago I wrote series of posts sharing areas of emphasis in my study of Jesus over the last several years: prayers, parables, priorities, and creed. Recently, I read a blog that has led me to ponder the possibility of spending some time focusing on preaching. That blog, "A Year With the Sermon on the Mount," encourages Read More …
Atheist Billboards and Christian Responses (#0233)
Billboards are big business. According to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, they produced $4.4 billion dollars of advertising revenue in 2008. While religious billboards account for an insignificant portion of the market, they often generate publicity that extends to an audience far greater than those who drive by and personally view the sign. Take for example two recent billboards paid for by the American Atheists: This billboard ad (pictured above) appeared in Read More …
Vision & Strategy Trends (#0232)
Will Mancini is the founder of Auxano – a church consulting group with a unique approach to developing a church’s vision frame before providing traditional consulting services. He is the author of Church Unique: How Mission Leaders Cast Vision, Capture Culture, and Create Movement (read my review here). Mancini's first blog post of 2011 is packed with relevant information about trends in vision and strategy for churches. He sees eleven trends for 2011 and beyond: Read More …
The Priesthood of Believers NOT of Staff (#0224)
Adam McLane of Youth Specialties recently blogged about an all too common functional reality: the priesthood of the believers being in embraced in theory, but not in practice. He writes: Most people on church staff have no idea how to turn the reigns of their ministry over to the church. It seems counter-productive to lead without holding the reigns. The attitude is generally that church staff are the experts, seminary trained, denominationally ordained and battle-experienced to do the Read More …
Why People Choose Your Church (#0223)
According to the Faith Matters Survey (2006) of 3108 people, the top reasons people chose their current congregation (according to reasons they indicated were "very important) are Theology or religious beliefs (60%) Liturgy or style of worship (45%) Marriage, spouse, or partner (40%) Family [other than spouse] (40%) Clergy (39%) Location (32%) Childhood congregation (27%) Friends Political or social views So What? Liturgically speaking today is the first Sunday of Christmas, Read More …
Why the Incarnation Matters (Part 2 of 2)
Yesterday, I shared what others wrote in response to the question: “Why Does the Incarnation Matter?” Today, I offer my own answer (following the same guidelines of responding in 100 words or less): The Incarnation is the story that reminds us how God is with us (Emmanuel), a story which begins with a baby born in the house of bread (Bethlehem) who is the Bread of Life. The Incarnation is intentionally too rich and filled with possibility to be fully conveyed with human language. Modern Read More …