"If God knows, will you eat that Halloween candy?" is a question worth answering, and the title of Cathy Lynn Grossman's USA Today article. As a means of answering that question she explores recent research: According to lead author Kristin Laurin of University of Waterloo, Canada, "This is the first empirical evidence that simple reminders of God can diminish some types of self-regulation, such as pursuing one's goals, yet can improve others, such as resisting temptation." So Read More …
American Faith at an All-Time High (#0532)
Joel Osteen is truly unique. He is Pastor of America's largest congregation; Preacher of happiness (above all else); and an Accidental popular author and preacher ("inherited" his dad's congregation and has no formal training - e.g. seminary). Cheryl Wetzstein's article in the Washington Post provides a look into his latest claim: "I see faith in America at an all-time high." So What? Of course, Osteen bases this lofty assertion on nothing more than his own incredibly Read More …
Pastors & Forced Termination (#0531)
Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, recently shared some observations on church staffing trends in a piece for the Christian Post. One of the six trends he discussed is the percentage of senior pastors who lose their jobs each year because of forced terminations. Over the last seven years, approximately 1.5% of senior pastors have been subject to forced termination each year. So What? Basic math indicates that over that 7 year period, 10.5% of senior Read More …
Surprising Statistics About Catholics (#0530)
David Gibson and Kevin Eckstrom recently wrote about an online survey of 1,400 adult Catholics. The research, conducted by D’Antonio, Gautier and Dillon in cooperation with the National Catholic Reporter, found: 86% don’t think that following the Vatican’s teachings is the only way to be a loyal member of the faith 83% say the clergy sexual abuse scandal has hurt the bishops’ moral and political credibility 74% said you could be a good Catholic without donating time or Read More …
Halloween at the Hell House (#0529)
Brian Kirk's recent article, "Christian Haunted Houses: Scaring the 'Hell' Out of Teens?," caught my attention for several reasons, including: fear based evangelism targeting teens remains a tactic used by fundamentalist Christians hell houses or evangelistic productions staged to "convert" teens and "save" them from hell are an extreme form deployed each year at Halloween I have been to the Hell House at Trinity Church (Assemblies of God) in Cedar Hill, TX (the "original" upon which so Read More …
Charities Could Lose 5 Billion Dollars a Year (#0528)
Suzanne Perry's recent article, available on the Chronicle of Philanthropy's website, explores the projected decrease in giving to charitable organizations if the charitable deduction were to be limited for the wealthy as per President Obama's recent recommendation. One study projects the potential reduction in giving at a range of $2.9 - $5.6 billion per year while another projects $1.7 - $3.2 billion per year. (The possible change in charitable deductions is significant Read More …
Church Websites & First Impressions (#0527)
When I visit a church website for the first time the following items are most likely to make a negative first impression: Unattractive and/or dated overall appearance Unhelpful information: upcoming events happened months ago, multiple typographic errors, etc. Lack of easy access to basic data: contact page, worship information, and staff profiles So What? Today most potential church visitors will visit a congregation's website before attending worship or any ministry activity in Read More …
Bible-believing Means . . . (#0526)
Casey and Bob Baggott, executive minister and senior minister of the Community Church of Vero Beach, recently wrote an article for TCPalm about just what it means to call one's self "Bible-believing." In contrast to those who are Biblical literalists, the Baggotts propose: . . . none of us is capable, nor do we choose, to live out every literal dictate of the Bible. Instead, all faithful people must apply some principle by which we are capable of discerning the underlying Read More …
Christians Share This (#0525)
Harvey Cox, Hollis Research Professor of Divinity at Harvard, begins a chapter he contributed to The Seven World Religions Introduced by Preeminent Scholars from Each Tradition (1993, Arvind Sharma, ed.) by describing what "the proverbial visitor from Mars" would note if given the opportunity to travel to earth to observe Christians. After covering the dizzying diversity of the religious gatherings and the shared oddities (e.g. "the people would sometimes swallow small quantities Read More …
Do You AudioBoo? (#0524)
Earlier this week I discovered AudioBoo. I invite you to listen to a two minute message I just created using that tool: My Initial Experience with AudioBoo (mp3) So What? AudioBoo seeks to "be the one platform you use when you want to record audio, share it or keep it safe for the future." Currently you can record new content from your computer or iPhone, Android and Nokia devices. Soon, you will also be able to do so using Blackberry and Windows Mobile. AudioBoo Read More …