So you are concerned about losing a whole generation from the church. We all are. Young adults seem less interested in Christianity than ever before. We wonder why they aren’t attending our churches. After all, we have carefully created programs for every life-stage: for children and teens, for young parents, for older adults, and for singles – both older singles and… specifically for them – for single young adults! Why aren’t they connecting with that ministry? Perhaps we need to... Read more
I just heard a Christian talk show host talk about how “men, in particular, are prone to be workaholics, putting their work before their family and/or their church.” (I have news for him, women struggle with this as well…). As a pastor, I have tried to help members of our congregation to live less chaotic lives. In the past, I’ve talked about the need to balance work and life. In a culture that celebrates the workaholic, pastors see too many... Read more
Just listened to one of Phil Vischer’ excellent podcasts, where Phil and co-host Skye Jethani interviewed Tom Nelson (Tom is a pastor, and the head of Made to Flourish, a national pastors’ network arranged by region. He is also the author of the essential book “Work Matters.”) They said something that has invigorated me as I do this ministry of (re)integrate and work on my dissertation on this subject. They said that churches (and the pastors that lead them) make... Read more
God putting us in charge of his stuff all started way back with Adam and Eve. In the first chapter of our Bibles, God said, “Let us make humanity in our image, so that they will have dominion and will rule over the creation.” In the second chapter, the Bible tells us that God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. That is God’s MO. He places people... Read more
I don’t remember the commencement address at my college graduation. He or she did not leave much of an impression. For my Master’s degree, the speaker was some European scholar who the school had just given an honorary doctoral degree. He droned on and on about stuff that had nothing to do with what 90% of the graduates would be doing. I was frustrated that my fellow students and my family had to endure that when it could have been,... Read more
PEACE. It has the connotation in English of quiet tranquility and calm restfulness. But in my studies in the original languages of the Bible, I have discovered that the word “Peace” means a whole lot more than that. Isaiah foretold of the coming of the PRINCE of PEACE. Jesus Christ is ushering in a peace that is more than what the English word conveys. And he is using redeemed people to do it! God’s purpose for every person, every society,... Read more
“Hi Ho, Hi Ho – It’s off to work we go…” We don’t usually sing this with the gusto that the seven dwarfs did. We usually sing it with frustration and indignation – that co-worker is there that makes things so difficult. That boss is such a pain in the neck. Those customers are always so demanding. The work is just so unsatisfying. Surely God did not create us to work. He created us to rest. Work is just a necessary... Read more
In a recent Op-Ed piece, William Doyle, an American who recently accepted a position as Lecturer on Media and Education at the University of Eastern Finland, wrote about his extremely positive experience with the Finland public education system. “For five months, my wife, my son and I experienced a stunningly stress-free, and stunningly good, school system. Finland has a history of producing the highest global test scores in the Western world, as well as a trophy case full of other... Read more
Max Ehrenfreund, the editor of the Washington Post’s Wonkblog, recently wrote an article entitled “A strange but accurate predictor of whether someone supports Donald Trump.” What is that predictor? Those who favor authoritarian leadership are more likely to vote for Trump. That was the finding of research done by Matthew MacWilliams, a doctoral candidate at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Amanda Taub dug beyond MacWilliams’ research and found other sources that corroborated the evidence. The University of North Carolina’s Marc... Read more
Introducing the (re)integrate preaching application matrix. Chris Rosebrough (the “Captain” of Pirate Christian Media) recently wrote a scathing post at “Letter Of Marque.” He wrote, “There is an epidemic of Narcissistic Eisegesis a.k.a. Narcigesis, infecting the churches in America today. Pastors and Bible teachers have mastered the art of allegorizing all of the characters and details of every Bible story in order to make the stories about YOU.” When I first read this, I couldn’t help but bust out... Read more
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