Church & Culture
Small churches aren’t just for small towns.
There are thousands of small churches in big cities and sprawling suburbs, too.
But there aren’t enough of them.
Yes, you read that right. The problem with the church in big cities isn’t that we have too many small churches, ...
Millennials won't build the kinds of churches their parent and grandparents built.
Because Millennials are not a homogeneous demographic group, as we established in my last post, there is no secret key to unlock their heart and grab their attention.
In a world of unlimited ...
Millennials defy categorization. But that doesn’t stop us from trying to categorize them, anyway.
Especially for Baby Boomers like me. We love categorizing people. It makes ministry easier. Simpler. Safer.
You know, boring.
As I wrote in Why Church Leaders Will Never Understand ...
I love dialog.
It’s great hearing and reading other people’s opinions. Even when they disagree with me.
Because good communication matters to me, I want to enhance all of our dialog – especially online – with a friendly word of advice to a particular group ...
Our churches are filled with normal people.
Normal to us, that is. Normal like you and me.
The church is also filled with freaks and weirdos. Some churches are filled with freaks and weirdos sporting tattoos and piercings. Others are filled with freaks and weirdos in suits and ...
Criticism is a valuable tool.
When it’s done right it can, and has, changed hearts and minds.
Martin Luther did it with his 95 Theses. Martin Luther King Jr. did it with his I Have a Dream speech. Long before both of them, Jesus did it with the Sermon On the Mount.
Criticism ...
No church is automatically friendly. Especially not to outsiders coming in.
In some places, friendliness is harder than others. Like where I live, in Orange County California.
The Orange County population is so varied, so new and so busy, we don't develop relationships without ...
If you’re a pastor and you’re not using social media, you’re not pastoring your church as well as you could.
Whenever I say that in a minister’s conference I make some pastors mad.
I’m okay with that. Because I also get looks of relief and whispers ...
Unspeakable evil visited Orlando over the weekend.
More than a tragedy. More than a disaster.
Evil.
In trying to make sense of events like this, we’re all capable of saying something stupid.
Christians are no exception to this. Sometimes we say dumb things. Things that hurt ...
We need to hear from the small, not just the big.
From the poor, not just the rich.
From the weak, not just the strong.
From the failures, not just the successes.
From the struggling, not just from those who have overcome.
From those who are still vulnerable, hurting and who will ...
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