In the time leading up to Christ, there were 70 or so would be Messiahs. Of course, most all of them were brutally struck down by the Romans (with no resurrection), proving that they were not the Messiah. Still, it is striking how many people clearly were looking for a Messiah in that time (and 70 or so were delusional, thinking that they were…

Below is a condensed version of the article "Why Should Churches Use Video?"

from Christian Media Magazine

April 9, 2013

Video is the…

In case you are not a Dallas Cowboys fan or you were living in a cage the last 48 hours or so, Jerry Jones once again showed why his team will never win another championship. Jones is a great owner--but a terrible GM and coach. He constantly undermines his coaches, overrules them, tells them what other coaches to hire all the way down to the conditioning coach.

This past…

"Wouldn't it be safer if . . . ." I know the argument. I have used it in the past. But rarely anymore. Because the safe argument is killing churches. Why? Here are the reasons. (Above is a funny illustration from Francis Chan of those that live life scared, courtesy of Joy Rousseau)

1. #1 - It paints a harsh,…

One of the biggest challenges that exists in both the church internally and in the church's outreach or mission is that for the first time in modern history, six generations are now alive at the same time in the church.

This includes Seniors/GI Generation (1900-1924), Silent Generation (1925-1945), Boomers (1946-1964), Gen X (1965-1982ish), Millennials (1983-2000ish),…

This Sunday we are having an old style "Friends Day," where we are encouraging members to invite their friends to our worship service. It simply gives members an excuse to invite their friends. It will be good to see what kind of response we get from this.

Some questions arise, such as, Are people motivated to invite yet?…

Today, scanning through my Zite app (through which I get a ton of news stories on faith and culture), I found this shocking headline: DOJ Informs Employees to Verbally Affirm Homosexuality. Here is the article:…

Today, scanning through my Zite app (through which I get a ton of news stories on faith and culture), I found this shocking headline: DOJ Informs Employees to Verbally Affirm Homosexuality. Here is the article:…

Part of the Restoration Plea was to go back to the Bible. The Bible is the inspired Word of God, and our sure guide for our faith and practice. The early Restoration leaders saw themselves as continuing the reform brought about by Martin Luther and the Reformation, which also had as its plea to "go back to the Bible." Thankfully, we are not alone in our belief that the Bible should be our guide, even if we have drawn some conclusions that are different than others.

The idea of…

The stats are in, and those 18-30 are increasingly unlikely to "go to church." Recent polling shows 30 percent of this age church claims no religious affiliation at all. And in my own fellowship, Churches of Christ, this age group (and even Gen X, my own generation), is deserting our fellowship in droves. This saddens me greatly, and it is laid upon my heart to do everything possible to reach these generations. 

Why are they leaving? A variety of…

To whomever wrote this, thank you. There have been many years when I have not attended church on Mother's day due to the hurt I felt when women stood and I just sat there. Not having children wasn't my choice, but I know that God has other plans for my husband and me. I also felt guilt in not being there to thank my own mother and support my friends who do have children. Please don't get me wrong, I truely believe that motherhood (and fatherhood) should be celebrated and rejoiced over, but I…

Mothers are so precious! None of us would be alive without a mother (and a father--but it is Mother's Day today). We all have a mother. Our parents had mothers. Our grandparents had mothers. Jesus had a mother. Only Adam and Eve did not have a mother. And yet, they were both made in the image of God.

The creation account in Genesis says this:…

Frank Viola is the author of "Pagan Christianity" and numerous other books. He and I have become Facebook friends over the past couple of years. I have appreciated some of his recent works with his approach of looking at the narrative of Scripture through a Christological lens, too.

Frank has just released a new book called "God’s Favorite Place on Earth."…

One of my minister friends posted a link to this article, which I have reposted below. Here is the original link: I do think it is okay to honor certain people. The Bible says to give honor to whom honor is due. We can find ways to honor and those those who are not mothers, and many of the suggestions in the article I think can be…

One of the great joys of my ministry is helping people discover their Spiritual Gifts.  This helps people see how God has made them, how they can serve in God's kingdom, and where God is already at work in their lives.

Some people rarely are affirmed. Or they have been forced into a box. Or tried to be made a teacher or…

In the book, Outspoken: Conversations on Church Communication by WIll Mancini and Leonard Sweet and…

Whenever I do Missional Outreach Seminars, I divide the participants in smaller discussion groups to have them share what hopes and dreams that God has laid on their hearts to reach out to the community. I do a similar thing when I sit down and help people…

This essay is prompted by a paper entitled "Moving from Solitude to Ministry," by Henri Nouwen. (1) In this paper he states:

"But in the spiritual life, the word discipline means "the effort to create space in which God can act."  Discipline means to prevent everything in your life from being filled up. Discipline means that somewhere you're not occupied, and certainly not preoccupied.  In the spiritual life discipline means to create that space in which something important…