Adam McLane

Category: Christian Living

  • Drink the Kool Aid

    Drink the kool aid – verb, slang term – 1. the action of wholeheartedly buying into the vision of a religious organization, even to a fault. 2. a crude reference to the tragedy of People’s Temple massacre as lead by Jim Jones. Last night, Kristen and I watched Undercover Boss, and we giggled that people were…

  • Correlating Poverty to Religion

    “A Gallup report issued on Tuesday underscored just how out of line we are. Gallup surveyed people in more than 100 countries in 2009 and found that religiosity was highly correlated to poverty. Richer countries in general are less religious.” Interesting stuff. Jesus told the rich man, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell…

  • Why aren’t more people good?

    Maybe people don’t like to do good because they haven’t gotten bored with being bad? I had this thought while listening to an episode of This American Life called, Superpowers. In one of the stories a researcher spent months going to bars and asking patrons which superpower they would like to have and why. Most…

  • Open Letter to My Former Students

    Like all my friends in youth ministry, I have acquired a growing list of graduates that now scatter the globe. Some are freshmen in college this year, some are married and have cool jobs, and most are kind of in an in-between state. We bump into each other from time-to-time, we comment on one anothers…

  • Slaying the god of apathy

    I believe this little phrase, God opens and closes doors, has lead to people falsely blaming God for missed opportunities. We put this philosophy of open and closed doors above biblical concepts like perseverance, patience, and long-suffering. Myth: God Opens and Closes Doors We live in an apathetic culture. Sure, we are a culture of…

  • Giving and Receiving at Church

    Confession: There are times when I am frustrated with my church. To the point of not wanting to go. To the point of wanting to give up on organized church. To the point where I think the action of attending church may actually be hindering my ability to live out the Gospel in my life.…

  • The Journey

    Sometimes we get hung up trying to be perfect. It’s not about achieving perfection. It’s about the journey of pursuing righteousness while already having been declared righteous.

  • The God of Discomfort

    God doesn’t call us to a life of comfort. As an overweight, gainfully employed, hyper-educated American Christian– that phrase convicts. Recently, when I spend time in God’s Word, the Holy Spirit has illuminated in me this truth in a brand new way. God doesn’t call us to live a comfortable life. He calls us to…

  • Less studying, more doing

    The faith that Francis is talking about. This is the faith that will cause other people to look at you in horror and say, “That man is crazy enough to change this neighborhood.” Don’t know about you. But that message was a like a dart to the gonads for me. Stop talking, stop praying, stop…

  • Never be afraid to compliment

    I’ve noticed that many folks in ministry are cranky right now. No one seems to get along or agrees with anyone. (I had to say “many” because if I didn’t someone would get cranky about my use of generalization!) It’s all the rage to be a raging disagree-er. Exhaustion from the launch of the Fall…