Pastor, Church Communications Guy, Church Website Designer & Blogger
In 1975, Bill Hybels assumed the leadership of a fledgling church plant that would grow into the rather influential Willow Creek Community Church. Under Bill's leadership, the church pioneered many concepts in the seeker-sensitive strain of worship and ministry. In 1997, Bill and his wife, Lynne, co-wrote Rediscovering Church, an inside … [Read more...]
I grew up white, middle class, and in the mid-south. My high school was diverse, but not peacefully so. Tensions ran high between races, classes, and groups, which was to some degree a reflection of the entire community. I very well should have grown to adulthood with all kinds of prejudice. But God, in His grace, showed me a different … [Read more...]
Back in the olden days (the mid-1990's) I preached a few times at a small church (averaging 12 each Sunday) in eastern Arkansas. They had a rotation system that determined who would take the visiting speaker home for lunch, and one day my lot fell to two elderly ladies who made awesome roast beef! As I sat in their living room visiting … [Read more...]
One of my favorite holiday movies is How the Grinch Stole Christmas, especially the new Jim Carrey version. Dr. Seuss invented a character that became so wildly popular, he's now a cliche (i.e. "Don't be such a grinch!"). Anyone who puts a damper on the holidays falls into the grinch category. As a Pastor, I'm immersed (often beyond … [Read more...]
I just watched a video of police pepper spraying peaceful protestors at UC Davis, which led me to investigate further into why people are occupying Wall Street (and plenty of other streets too), which further led me to read some of the testimonies of people who are suffering in this present economic recession. That last link is a … [Read more...]
Because of my role as an Editor and Online Community Facilitator, I'm exposed to a very wide variety of thinking within the modern church. I read blogs by the reformed, the missional, the fundamental, the emerging, the evangelical, and the conservative points of view. I read books about theology, church growth, business, leadership, … [Read more...]
Pastor Rick Warren has often said that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and an ounce of pretense is worth a pound of manure." Fake faith is a pet peeve of mine, and it is certainly an issue God addresses rather directly in Scripture. I believe God is serious about it because ultimately, Christianity with pretense hurts … [Read more...]
Not really. Or at least I'm not sure. Church planting is a hot topic right now in western Christianity, and it needs to be with the spiritual condition of North America and western Europe. And when anything is a hot topic, it creates tension. Tension can be good. Out of tension flows a creative discussion and differences of opinion … [Read more...]
Two thousand years ago, the good news of Jesus Christ had a tendency to upset entire social structures, flipping society upside down and leveling the playing field so that people from any position in life could have a restored relationship with God because of what Jesus Christ accomplished by His death on the cross. Throughout the New … [Read more...]
I'm writing this article to a generation that might never have heard the old song, Old Time Religion (so I included a clip from an old movie for you). I grew up in an old-fashioned church. We had an old building, built in 1833, and an old cemetery with civil war era headstones. We sang old songs on old instruments and most of the old … [Read more...]
