Paying the Price of Criticizing Your Church – Byron King, who is what we would call a district superintendent in the Mormon Church, has informed popular Mormon podcast John Dehlin that he is no longer part of the LDS church: "'I acknowledge your right to criticize the Church and its doctrines and to try to persuade others to your cause,' King writes in the letter. 'But you do not have the right to remain a member of the Church in good standing while openly and publicly trying to convince others that Church teachings are in error.' In addition to the charges listed in the letter, Dehlin claims he’s being targeted for expressing public support for same-sex marriages, and the ordination of women."
Sermon Feedback in Real Time – "Whatever your background, most communicators…enjoy having people in the audience provide feedback … Verbal call and response feedback. Responding in the moment … [S]ome of you that are immediately thinking if anyone spoke up during our Sunday services that they would be immediately removed… Now in the church I group up in, there were only a few folks who had 'permission' to respond to the sermon on a Sunday morning, and they usually went with the traditional 'Amen' or 'Hallelujah …'" What follows this introduction is a wild and wacky list of 50 alternative words or phrases you can use to encourage the person up front. (Or throw him or her completely off their game.)
The Pendulum Swing of Ministry – "1. I’m doing an awesome job vs. I’m doing an awful job. 2. I’m completely overwhelmed vs. I’m so bored 3. Things are going great personally vs. I’m in the ditch. 4. I love the church vs. I’m so frustrated with the church. 5. Micromanagement vs. Abdication." "Knowing the pendulum swings of ministry and leadership can help you manage the pendulum swings of ministry and leadership."
Proof-texting the Quran – "Instead of taking the time to actually read the Quran ourselves and listen to faithful Muslims tell us what their faith is actually about, we’ve allowed ourselves to buy into the hate-filled lies of fear-mongers on the Internet, cable news, talk radio, and even the pulpit. We cling to the cherry picked verses they throw out from a book they’ve never read and rally around the converted outliers they parade out to confirm our suspicions of a secret Muslim conspiracy to take over the world."
Anatomy of a Transition – "… The all-white church moved to its current location in a mostly white neighborhood in the early 80s—and its new neighborhood began to change. In addition to a racial change, the neighborhood’s major employers moved to other places. And we realized we needed to bring in younger, more diverse members to help our church thrive. Our church had to make big changes or die …While our diversity is increasing, we must continue efforts to reflect the racial makeup of our neighborhood. But after much prayer, strong lay leadership and a willingness by many to be courageous, change has come … We have made the change from survival mode to the hope of thriving."
A Different Take on Free Will – A book review: "I also wonder if [author Vincent] Bugliosi has thought about what the elimination of free will would accomplish. This of course would not be difficult for God to do. He would simply reoccupy the space He has created between us and Him and would force us to do His will. Whatever God wished to do with us, whatever task He had in mind, we would simply do—without complaining, without resisting, without evading. We would be, in effect, machines. If God ever does listen to Bugliosi and grants this wish, I certainly hope that He also eliminates our self-awareness. I can think of no worse fate than to spend endless time being controlled, directed, adjusted, worked – totally devoid of any ability to plan or to choose or to accomplish."
Christian Fiction Sales Down 15% – Publishers Weekly reports the drop in one particular category of Christian book sales, "Many see what [Tyndale's Karen] Watson calls 'a winnowing away' of Christian houses publishing fiction as part of the reason for the drop in sales. Moody Publishing’s River North imprint moved from 8-12 releases in 2013 to 3-5 in 2014. Abingdon Press 'paused' in acquiring fiction in August 2014, pulling back from its 25-35 fiction titles per year; and B&H Publishing Group 'realigned' its fiction strategy to only publish novels tied to brands such as B&H Films or other cross-platform initiatives." But the article stresses that the publishers are "not in panic mode."
Describing Your Dream Church – "Talking about one’s “dream church” is—increasingly, I’ve come to think—an exercise in not only futility but flat-out gospel denial. The church does not exist to meet our every need and satisfy our various checklists of tastes and “comfort zone” preferences. If anything it exists to destabilize such things. The church should draw us out of the dead-eye stupor of a culture of comfort-worship. It should jostle us awake to the reality that comfort is one of the greatest obstacles to growth. The two years I’ve attended my current church have been difficult and full of discomfort, but also probably the most spiritually enriching two years of my life."
When a Social Media 'Friend' Dies – "How do you mourn someone you only knew as an idea?" Right there, you may disagree with the premise. The article continues, "I will experience more death than my parents, because I know more people than my parents. People I haven’t given any thought to in years, people who—for all generations before mine—would have simply slipped out of mind, can remain on my social radar simply because there they are, archived. Here, look: a wedding album. There: a birthday reminder. And inevitably, at some point: a death."
Atheist Reaps Huge Profit from Bible App – "A self-professed atheist is reportedly making over $100,000 a year selling a Bible app that he designed … Trevor McKendrick found a gap in the app market for a Spanish translation of the Bible and made the app for about $500. He now makes about $6,000 a month for his app and has added an audio version as well. The Mormon-raised app designer said that he feels guilty about profiting from a book that he believes to be a work of fiction."
Two for the Road – (1) Unicorns exist after all. The Bible says so. (2) Why a former Colorado pastor is collecting used women's bras.
Inclusion of stories here does not imply endorsement. Paul Wilkinson blogs at Thinking Out Loud.
