Tag: Church
-
Sabbath Breakers
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any…
-
Observing vs. Engaging at Church
I first made this discovery at work but then noticed it in my own life. As you can imagine, I’m a little schizophrenic at the National Youth Workers Convention. I hold several different roles simultaneously, which keeps me constantly moving and shifting from one role to another. And during our general session– I’m all over…
-
When your kids hate church
My kids don’t get excited about going to church most Sunday’s. That’s putting a nice bow on it, isn’t it? Let’s take the pretty bow off for the sake of this post. They hate going to church. Yesterday, I sat in the car with a child who refused to participate. Not all Sunday’s are like…
-
Level of Difficulty
I’ll admit it. I’m a recovering video game junky. Up until Madden 2005 I used to incessantly play anything football EA Sports produced. One of the fun things about the Madden games is that you can adjust the level of difficulty to match your skill level in the game. So, if you were new, you…
-
What Would Judas Do? Moralistic Therapeutic Deism and You
The youth ministry world is wrestling through the ramifications of what Christian Smith coined as Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. What is MTD? After interviewing 3,000 teenagers, the authors found that many young people believed in several moral statutes not exclusive to any of the major world religions: A god exists who created and ordered the world…
-
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.…
-
When did ministry become an office job?
Somewhere along the way ministry became a desk jockey job. When I read the book of Acts and even the pastoral epistles I get the idea that being a pastor was action packed. John didn’t kick it in staff meeting for 2-3 hours per week. Peter didn’t make edits to the bulletin. Matthew didn’t work…
-
Nehemiah vs. The American Church
I love the audacity great faith brings. It’s idealistic. It’s over-the-top. It’s incomprehensibly arrogant simplicity. It’s stupid fun to be around. And that’s why I love my church. This little church in the city truly believes they can be instrumental in seeing a new San Diego rise up to be an amazing place to live.…
-
Apocalypse Now – Life and Theology in Haiti
24 hours into my second trip to Haiti and I started crafting this phrase: Theology and culture always co-mingle. You just hope that theology and culture never conspire against the goals of the church. In America: Theology and culture conspire to destroy the church through our belief in the American Dream and pursuit of happiness.…
-
The Kingdom of God is a Place Where Orphans Dance
Those were the words of my friend and teammate, Mark Helsel. Our team was overwhelmed today as we joined in the craziness of an orphanage running in the backyard of a doctor turned pastor. Today we got a glimpse of an amazing ministry here in Carffuer, the Sons of God orphanage. What is it? Well,…