Tag: Church
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The Value of Ministries of Mercy
It seems that Micah 6.8 is quite clear and straight-forward in its summary of living as God’s People in this world: He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?To do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Yet, for some reason, many Christians, and too many churches,…
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10 Minutes After Church
What do you usually do immediately after your Sunday morning church service ends? If you’re like most of church-going humanity, you probably have a routine. Upon the final “Amen”, you arise from your regular spot and your body follows a subconscious script. You may go to the nursery to pick up a child, maybe you…
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Resources for Racial Reconciliation
Since February is designated as Black History Month in the USA, I wanted to take the opportunity to post something that might be helpful in the ongoing discussions about Racial Divides and Racial Reconciliation. Racial tension and racial division are major issues in our culture – and, sadly, still issues in the American Church. This…
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Empty Pews: 10 Days When Church Attendance is Most Down
According to Thom Rainer‘s research, the 10 Sundays each year when church attendance is most noticably down are: Father’s Day. The Sunday after Thanksgiving day. Memorial Day weekend Sunday. Labor Day weekend Sunday. The Sundays before and after Christmas. The Sunday nearest the Fourth of July. The Sunday nearest to New Year’s Day. Time changes:…
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The Responsibility of the Church
Lesslie Newbigin, in his book The Reunion of the Church, challenged the Church to be on mission: “The responsibility of the church is to declare to each generation what is the faith… This is always a fresh task in every generation… No verbal statement can be produced which relieves the Church of the responsibility continually…
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Pastors and Their Friends
At the risk of being self-serving, I want to commend an article recently posted by ByFaith magazine, written by Walter Henegar, titled Your Pastor Needs Pastor Friends. I recommend it not only for those who are part of the congregation I serve, but also to all who regularly read this blog, as well as to…
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Prodigal Church
My thanks to Jared Wilson, not only for another thoughtful book, but for expressing many of the very things I would like to express. In his 2015 book, Prodigal Church: A Gentle Manifesto Against the Status Quo, Wilson has written a book I wish I had written.
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Race & the Church RVA: Why Do We All Look the Same?
The second gathering of Race and the Church in Richmond, Virginia took place on Saturday morning March 12. The theme was: Why Do We All Look the Same? A Cultural & Theological Analysis of Underlying Church Dynamics; featuring speaker Dr. Alexander Jun. Alexander Jun is a professor at Azusa Pacific University, a TED Talk speaker,…
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The Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times
Dr. Os Guinness speaks to Acton Institute, a message titled: The Power of the Gospel No Matter How Dark the Times. This message, though long, is powerful, and is related to a post I published earlier this week titled: Culture Shaping Power of the Church.
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Culture Shaping Power of the Church
Os Guinness, in his excellent book, Renaissance, concerning the church in midst of the present challenges unprecedented in Western Culture, notes the culture changing and culture shaping power of the gospel, when the gospel is both declared by God’s People and is actively shaping God’s People. When many of our churches are caving in pursuit of…
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Marks of Revival
I had the privilege last week to meet a man convinced we are headed for revival. He is a gentle man, who thinks often of God, wishing for a return to some semblance of the way things used to be – minus the overt sins of racism and sexism that were so widely tolerated in…
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Illustration of a Healthy Church
If our congregation were to be a church with the gospel, plus a group that enjoys being together in community, but we were not on mission to reach out to our neighbors and the Nations, for the sake of advancing Christ’s Kingdom, then we would just be another social club for people to attend. Gospel…
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Authentic Church: Road to a Re-newed Reality
I have been mulling on something the late Francis Schaeffer said: “There are four things which are absolutely necessary if we as Christians are going to meet the need of our age and the overwhelming pressure we are increasingly facing.” No doubt that the Church, in our culture as well as other cultures, faces increasing…
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Top 3 Needs of the Church Today
The late great John Stott was asked: “What are the top three needs of the church today?” Here is Stott’s prophetic three-fold response: The church’s most basic need is to remember what kind of community it is, and in particular its double identity. For God calls his people out of the world to belong to…
