Addendum: Steven Furtick Needs Your Seat

Last updated on: August 16, 2018 at 2:21 pm By Zach Hoag

Thanks to a heads-up from Matt Stout, the following “Code” from the Elevation Church website is presented without comment as an addendum to yesterday’s post: Ok, maybe one comment. When a church publicly declares that it is built on “the vision God gave Pastor Steven” and will “aggressively defend that vision” and then threatens you that it “needs your seat” if you are all about your “personal preference”, and finally compares itself to a high-end steakhouse chain and brags about its obsession with numerical... Read more

What Furtick’s Millions (and the “We Serve a Lead Pastor” Mantra) Might Mean

Last updated on: August 16, 2018 at 2:21 pm By Zach Hoag

In the heart of the Bible belt, Steven Furtick’s new-school Southern Baptist Elevation Church continues to boom – and make media waves. The latest hits have come in the form of a leaked infographic from the church listing 30 reasons why it’s the best place to work, and yet another local news story about Furtick’s million dollar home and how that connects to his salary and book sales. To be honest, none of this is surprising in the least, as... Read more

Three Reasons You’re Not Too Smart for Orthodoxy

Last updated on: August 16, 2018 at 2:21 pm By Zach Hoag

In my experiences within both conservative and progressive Christian circles, there seems to be a kind of mutual playing in the politics of fear with regard to the other. On the conservative side, progressives are viewed as morally bankrupt libertine weaklings who lack the backbone to stand up to “the culture.” In the words of one famous conservative preacher, this is because they are a bunch of ivory tower elites who are “educated beyond their intelligence.” But on the progressive... Read more

Frozen & the Fixer-Upper

Last updated on: August 16, 2018 at 2:21 pm By Zach Hoag

I’m a dad to two little girls. Gemma is newly four, and Pippa, newly two. And, as is the trick when one has two children fairly close in age, they have reached a blessed phase in which they enjoy lots of the same things, even if they enjoy them in slightly different ways. This past Christmas was one of those things, with both kiddos fully aware and engaged in the ecstasy of tearing through wrapped toys and watching Santa cartoons and... Read more

Like Sheep Amidst the Wolves (of Wall Street)

Last updated on: August 16, 2018 at 2:21 pm By Zach Hoag

Okay, so if you need some kind of disclaimer about the sex, swearing, and drug use that pervades the DiCaprio/Scorsese masterpiece The Wolf of Wall Street, please consult Focus on the Family’s Plugged In Movie Review (if you dare). Suffice it to say, there are not graphic or profane scenes in this film – the film itself is a graphic and profane scene. It is, in this sense, an experience of the excessive, a revelation of the gratuitous. And how... Read more

The Church is a Her: Why I Love the Ecclesia Effeminate

Last updated on: August 16, 2018 at 2:21 pm By Zach Hoag

For a while now, lots of preachers and pundits have been lamenting the feminization of the church. This begins with demographic studies that reflect a greater female participation than male, and continues with a condemnation of the broader “Omega male” culture that is giving men the permission to stay passive – and stay home on Sundays. Some prominent churches and ministries seem entirely predicated on the mission to draw men back into the fold by reinforcing “biblical” male roles and responsibilities. Perhaps... Read more

Rooted: (How Not to) Rage Against the Machine

Last updated on: August 16, 2018 at 2:21 pm By Zach Hoag

Since I’ve gone and quit the Progressive Christian Internet already this year, it makes sense that I might blast out another new year exhortation, this time regarding our tendency to rage against the machine in ministry and mission. Specifically, I’d like to touch on the tendency for missional pastors and ministers to become radically anti-institutional in our zeal for reaching a post-Christendom culture. To, in essence, rage against the denominations, organizations, structures, programs, politics, and economies that have come to... Read more

Worship, Worth-ship, & Sleeping Committees

Last updated on: August 16, 2018 at 2:21 pm By Zach Hoag

Got to share one of my favorite Wright quotes today as a reflection at First UMC Burlington. It’s from his (underrated) book, For All God’s Worth: True Worship & the Calling of the Church. And it has to do with the definition of worship, which was relevant because First UMC’s mission is to be a worshiping community, walking in the way of Jesus, believing in place. Check it out and let me know if it resonates: The word ‘worship’ means, literally,... Read more

The Christmas Post

Last updated on: August 16, 2018 at 2:21 pm By Zach Hoag

I know. Your feeds have been inundated these past few days with posts about The Christmas Story. Some have inspired with deep reflection. Others have guilt-tripped with consumerism protests or anarchist manger diatribes. Still others have been so cheesy as to cheapen the Incarnation itself, like a Wal-Mart version of the Word Made Flesh. This is certainly an 11th hour offering (ok, it’s technically the day after Christmas), and I hope it’s not too cheesy. My aim is to inspire.... Read more

When Celebrity Christianity Backfires

Last updated on: August 16, 2018 at 2:21 pm By Zach Hoag

Let’s be real, you guys. The Internet does not need another post about what is certainly now the most significant bearded Christian duck-hunting reality show controversy OF ALL TIME. And honestly, I wouldn’t add one if I didn’t think this might be a slightly different angle than the majority of what I’ve been seeing in my feeds, which amounts to either conservative or progressive Christian outrage at A&E or Phil Robertson. But is this outrage, on either side, the best response... Read more