Tom Bandy, a church development guru and ecumenical pastor tells a story that is relevant to all believers: The retreat was being held in a lodge beside a lake. During the break, we all gathered on the beach to watch the kids play. One child was dressed in swimsuit, bathing hat, plastic flotation "duck", and snorkel. She kept running down to the edge of the water, dipping her feet into the lake, yelping, and running back to her towel. All the observers laughed heartily. Later during dinner at Read More …
The Future Church – Less Real Estate (#0029)
Looking into the Future: The Top 10 Changes for the American Church 10. Less Real Estate Over the past fifty years, churches have sought to acquire more land and build more buildings as a growth strategy. For the average church, excepting office space and school space, most of the square feet within their campuses are used only a few hours a week. The cost to maintain these large campuses is significant. Any honest consideration of human resource (custodial Read More …
Review of Deliberate Simplicity (#0028)
Browning, Dave. Deliberate Simplicity: How the Church Does More by Doing Less. Zondervan, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-310-28567-0. Meet the Author Dave Browning is a visionary minimalist and the founder of Christ the King Community Church, International (CTK). CTK is a non-denominational, multi-location church that has been noted as one of the "fastest growing" and "most innovative" churches in America. Deliberate Simplicity is his first book. To learn more, read his Read More …
Review of Rediscovering New Testament Prayer (#0027)
Koenig, John. Rediscovering New Testament Prayer: Boldness and Blessing in the Name of Jesus. Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1992. Meet the Author Koenig began in ministry in the Lutheran (LCA/ELCA) church as a pastor for twenty years before becoming an Episcopal priest in 1993. Since 1978, he has been on faculty at General Seminary, where he is currently Professor of New Testament. He has written six books all in the broad area of biblical theology Read More …
Review of Partly Right (#0026)
Campolo, Tony. Partly Right: Learning from the Critics of Christianity. Thomas Nelson, 1985 (rev. 2008). ISBN: 978-0-8499-2086-8. Meet the Author Tony Campolo is an ordained American Baptist pastor, professor emeritus at Eastern University, founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education, author of 35 books, and popular speaker. He is a media commentator on religious, social and political matters, including appearances on television programs Read More …
The Changing Church – Looking into the Future (#0025)
The rate of change in the America culture is often far more rapid than within the American church. The church, however, must proactively and strategically consider and act to enable it to live into its purpose now and in the future. I created a Top 10 List of the changes I believe will be most helpful over the next several years. I revisit and revise the list often. The latest revision follows: Looking into the Future: The Top 10 Changes for the American Church 10. Read More …
How Should a City Council Pray? (#0024)
Lodi, a town with 62,000 residents located between Sacramento and Stockton and the self-proclaimed Zinfandel Capital of the World is now famous for an entirely different reason: prayer. At the heart of the issue is how the council begins its meetings. For many years each council meeting has started with public prayer. This became an issue in May when the city received a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation that challenged the use of the words Jesus Christ Read More …
Review of The Heart of Prayer (#0023)
Barrs, Jerram. The Heart of Prayer: What Jesus Teaches Us. P&R Publishing, 2008. ISBN: 978-1-59638-10302. Meet the Author Since 1989, Jerram Barrs has served as Professor of Christian Studies and Contemporary Culture at Covenant Seminary. Previously he served the L’Abri Fellowship in England, where he also pastored the International Presbyterian Church. He is the author of several books including Learning Evangelism from Jesus and The Heart of Evangelism. Book Read More …
Review of The Prayer of the Lord (#0022)
Sproul, R.C. The Prayer of the Lord. Reformation Trust, 2009. ISBN: 978-1-56769-118-4. Meet the Author R.C. Sproul is the founder and President of Ligoneer Ministries and can be heard daily on the Renewing Your Mind radio broadcast . He is a teacher, theologian, and pastor. Sproul is currently serving as the director of Serve International, and as senior minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Florida. Sproul, an ordained Presbyterian teaching Read More …
Review of On Earth as in Heaven (#0021)
Braun, Kay Bender. On Earth as in Heaven: Praying at the Crossroads. Augsburg Fortress, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-8066-8009-5. Meet the Author Kay Bender Braun is pastor of St. Petri-Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has a background in journalism and has written for diverse publications including The Charlotte Observer, the team magazine for the NBA Charlotte Hornets, and Word in Season, a daily devotional published by Augsburg Read More …