Feb 20, 2008
If you have been in a church for any length of time, you have no doubt seen or experienced first hand a crisis. Things like the pastor retiring, interpersonal conflict among members, moral failure of church leaders and even changing the color of the carpet can lead to a crisis. While such crisis situations will come, the real test is how will the church handle them. Is there a plan in place or do most churches just try to cope with them as they occur?
Feb 11, 2008
We have all done it – made excuses as to why we might not attend any particular church service – whether we have actually acted on them or not. My pastor recently presented a humorous look at what a church might do in order to provide no excuse to miss church. They’d hold a special service called “No Excuse Sunday” which might look something like this.
Jan 30, 2008
I came across an interesting article today where author John Shore had compiled a list of statements wherein non-Christians, in their own words and in a casual, straight-ahead, first-person style, say what they think of Christians in general and specifically how they feel about the dynamic wherein Christians try to convert them. These statements reveal that those of us who call ourselves Christians may be sending the wrong message to unbelievers.
Jan 29, 2008
We have to go where the people in need are at so why not a bar? Crosswalk reports on an original story by the Patriot-News that Chuck Kish, a senior pastor at the Bethel Assembly of God in Carlisle, is launching a program at the Market Cross Pub next month to put chaplains in bars. They will not be there to preach on the sins of excessive drinking nor to evangelize but rather to offer help to people who want it.
Jan 26, 2008
Two stories in the news of late have really left a bad taste in my mouth. The first involves a radical Baptist church in Kansas who protested the actor, Heath Ledger’s memorial service with signs claiming he had died and is in Hell because he played a gay character in “Brokeback Mountain.” The second story involves Christian groups who gathered for a demonstration and prayer vigil outside the headquarters of ESPN over their disapproval with how the television network.
