Pastor Appreciation Month, Part 2: What Does A Pastor Do?
A number of years ago, one of my boys came up to me around Christmas with a very serious question. He said, “daddy, is Santa real?” In my head, I quickly reviewed all thing things a parent might say either for or against Santa Claus. I paused, and replied, “of course he was. Santa’s real... Continue Reading
Affirming Kids – Consider small ways to make kids feel important and valued.
My small effort…won’t dramatically change the staggering percentage of kids who feel adults view them negatively. Still, I do hope that my conversation…helped him sense that adults in his world do care about him Several years ago I read a Search Institute report that outlined 40 developmental assets children and youth need built into their... Continue Reading
Boys to Men — A Revealing Angle from the World of Advertising
…describes the trajectory of the new man-in-demand: “You lose the T-shirt and the skateboard. You buy an interview suit and a package of Gillette Mach 3 blades. You grow up, in other words.” The “Sunday Styles” section of The New York Times is often a useful barometer of the culture. On October 17, that section... Continue Reading
How to Fail at Failing; How Blockbusters Did and How Churches Often do
…that the problem may be in the preaching. That is the one thing you will always hear them say is the church’s strong suit. Really? Then why aren’t more people coming to hear you? How do you fail at failing? According to a recent article in Time magazine, all you have to do is study... Continue Reading
Relearning Old Lessons: a new generation of evangelicals have forgotten the lessons of the not too distant past
The Evangelical Left in less than a generation has garishly embraced statism as God’s instrument for justice on earth. The policies of the current Administration nearly encapsulated all that the Evangelical Left sought. Following is the annual report of the President Mark Tooley to the Board of the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) The... Continue Reading
The ‘Westminster Plan’: A Sensible Alternative to the PCA BCO 14 Amendments
Westminster Presbytery voted overwhelmingly against approving the proposed amendments, and that without misinformation, fears or confusion, and then voted unanimously to urge all its member churches to support the AC budget voluntarily. The 38th PCA General Assembly voted to send to the Presbyteries a number of BCO amendments. Presbyteries will vote on these amendments during... Continue Reading
Emergent Church Guru Brian McLaren Advices Episcopal Seminary Graduates to “Smoke What You’re Selling”
“The ‘us-versus them’ approach…is complicit in a whole series of atrocities that Muslim people.., Jewish people…, Native Americans.., African Americans.., women.., lesbian, gay, transgendered, and bisexual people…know about.” “Emergent Church” guru Brian McLaren, a prominent voice on the evangelical left, is increasingly high profile as a speaker in the Episcopal Church. Most recently, he gave... Continue Reading
Evolution and the Empty Nest Syndrome; A Most Unsatisfactory Explanation
You read that right. Shermer reduces the love of a parent for a child to “an evolutionary throwback.” Michael Shermer publishes Skeptic magazine, teaches at Claremont Graduate University, and writes a regular column for Scientific American. He is an ardent defender of evolutionary theory and a well-known critic of all supernatural claims. In a recent... Continue Reading
An Election Day Prayer for America
I make this prayer with absolute confidence that God hears and answers. I pray with great optimism for the future, for it is surely a future in the hands of a sovereign and just God. As we approach the November 2010 national elections in the United States of America, I have written a prayer for... Continue Reading
Pastor Appreciation Month, Part 1: In Praise of Pastors
And if you happen to be the solo pastor of a small church without any staff, you most likely fix toilets, furnaces, and leaky roofs, you are your own secretary, the one and only fundraiser, and run the food pantry. This is the first of a three part series on pastors—part 1 called “In Praise... Continue Reading