Friday's Catch: US Evangelicals' Favorite Heresies and More

Our Favorite Heresies of 2018: Experts Weigh In

Scholars explain what is most discouraging and encouraging about Ligonier theology survey that found 3 out of 4 US evangelicals are “Arians.” Read More

7 Other Weekend Metrics Church Leaders Should Study Regularly

Too often, church leaders only pay attention to weekend attendance and revenue patterns at their churches. Sometimes these numbers are referred to as “nickels and noses” or maybe the slightly more vulgar “butts and bucks.” However, there are many other factors to consider if we’re trying to understand what’s really happening inside our churches. Read More

Eat, Pray, Code: Rule of St. Benedict Becomes Tech Developer’s Community Guidelines

SQLite, the most-used database engine of the 21st century, throws back to a code of conduct created by a sixth-century monk. Read More

The version of the Rule of St Benedict listed in the SQLite's code is a communal rule of life that congregations might want to adopt as a part of their church covenant.

Things Christians Just Don’t Get To Do

This one began with a conversation, with a statement within that conversation: “Christians don’t get to hold a grudge!” It’s just not an option, not a vice we can allow ourselves. But it’s not the only thing Christians don’t get to do. There are other kinds of behavior that God rules out, that God describes as being nothing less than sinful rebellion. Sadly, this doesn’t always stop us. Some of these behaviors continue despite God’s insistence that they are unfittinng for his children. Here are a few I’ve encountered lately in life, family, and ministry. Read More

When Christian Leaders Don't Read the Word Regularly and Consistently

Chuck Lawless identifies five things that can happen when we no longer read the Word as regularly as we once did, when the time we spend in the Word grows less and less. Read More

Sing the Psalms [Podcast]

Tim Keller believes that every emotional condition, every life situation, is covered in the psalms in some way. Thus, whatever our condition, the psalms ought to be always on our lips. In preparation for the Sing! 2018 conference in Nashville, Keith Getty sat down to talk with Keller about how to incorporate psalms into corporate worship as well as family worship, counseling, and personal prayer. Listen Now

Why Student Ministry Is Failing in Most Churches

Here’s the big problem: Most churches either don’t value the student ministry enough, or they value the wrong things. And because of this, far too many young people are abandoning the church after they graduate. Although we could debate the statistics, the simple fact is that most student ministries see more students falling away after graduation than remaining in their faith. So here are three major problems that I believe have led to the failing state of student ministry in most churches.... Read More

Closing the Technological Discipleship Gap

Every week, you have congregants hurting their witness from destructive online rage fights while others have only a vague idea of what you mean by “the Twitter.” How do you disciple a congregation with such wide differences in behavior? Read More

Gospel Proclamation vs Gospel Demonstration

There is an interesting conversation going on right now in a lot of churches. Many people, and specifically people in leadership are asking, “How do we balance gospel proclamation and gospel demonstration?”

Gospel proclamation is proclaiming the gospel clearly. People hear the truth of salvation through Jesus Christ and have the opportunity to respond by grace and through faith.

Gospel demonstration is serving others in the name of Christ, showing his love when we act upon what we say we believe about Christ. Christians must be salt and light in a world that deeply needs that salt and light. I’ve preferred calling that “living out the implications of the gospel,” but it is ultimately a demonstration of that gospel transformation.

People have debated, “What is the mission of the church?” Is the church to speak truth, or show truth? I didn’t know we had to choose. And in fact, we don’t. Balancing these two important aspects of the mission is often more difficult than it appears, which has led to debates. As humans, we tend to lean in certain directions in life and ministry. The same happens in this discussion.

But we don’t always balance well, so some people end up doing more of one than the other.

At the same time, debate can be helpful as we figure out how to effectively show the love of Jesus as we continually share the love of Jesus. Read More

Marks of a Biblical Church Part 2: Biblical Churches in Different Contexts

What We Mean By “Church” Matters

Most of the references to “church” in the New Testament refer to specific groups of people in local settings. There is, for example, a universal Church, but the focus of the New Testament references are to local churches.

Today, that gets a bit murkier.

A few years back I was going to our local theater to see a movie when I was a part of a church that met in that same theater. So I made a joke that we were “going to church” to see a movie. My 13-year old daughter said, “No, the church is the people.”

And, she’s right. But she also called our other campus at the time (which had a building) our “church” when no one is in it.

The challenge is that the word church carries a lot of baggage and does a lot of work—often in ways that are different than what the New Testament teaches. Read More

Related Article:
Marks of a Biblical Church Part 1: What Makes a Church a Church?

Photo by Sarah Noltner on Unsplash

10 Thoughts on Christians and Halloween

Because this question comes up every year, I am updating and reposting this blog from two years ago. I have studied spiritual warfare for many years, so you might assume that I strongly encourage believers to avoid anything related to Halloween. That’s not exactly the position I take, as seen below.... Read More

In the 1950s dressing up as ghosts, goblins, and witches and going trick-or-treating, baking a Halloween cake, having a Halloween party, bobbing for apples, hollowing out a manglewurzle or pumpkin and putting a candle in it, and lighting a bonfire were considered harmless fun--old customs that people observed on All Hallows Eve, customs like greening the church for Christmas, exchanging gifts on Christmas Eve, eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday and hot cross buns on Good Friday. They were traditional ways of marking the changing seasons of the year. In the ensuing years the kill-joys have worked to turn the eve of Hallowmas, the feast of All Hallows, into something dark and sinister. For the ancient Celts the new year began in November. Dressing up as ghosts, goblins, and witches, playing tricks on others, giving food to those who demanded it, and lighting bonfires was their way of protecting themselves from what they believed stalked the night on the eve of the new year when the barrier between this world and the Other World, the world of the dead, was particularly thin, and all kinds of supernatural creatures were abroad. Now these customs are simply a reminder that we no longer need such things for our protection. We have Christ. They also provide us with a wonderful opportunity to meet and befriend our neighbors - a natural block party. Rather than cowering in fear like the Celts of old, let us use this night to be what Christ has called us to be - his representatives in our neighborhood, our community, and the world. 

5 Myths the Church Often Believes about Domestic Violence

Cathy sits in her car and counts her cash. She’s just dropped off her kids at school and reminded the principal that no one else can pick up her children. Not even their father.

Especially not their father.

The name “Cathy” is a pseudonym, but her story is real. One in 4 women live in destructive relationships and many of these women sit in church every Sunday, next to the abuser, the father of their children.

The tragedy of domestic violence is well-documented within police departments, counseling offices, and national organizations. But the one place it remains a secret and a source of denial is within the place that’s supposed to be safest—the church.

A Google search reveals various myths about domestic violence, but what myths are signature beliefs within the church? Read More

Photo by John Pablo Arenas on Pexels

How to Suffer Well in Church Planting [Podcast]

Tony Merida talks with Philip Moore about suffering in church planting. Listen Now

If Kids Don’t Understand Why Miracles Don’t Discredit the Bible, Their Faith Will Be Easily Crushed

“The light of common sense, thrown on the stories of making snakes out of rods, of the Red Sea dividing itself, of Christ’s making wine from water, curing blind men by rubbing spit in their eyes, walking on water, the story of the flood, God’s making the world in six days, of making a woman from Adam’s rib and all the mythical, miraculous stories of the Bible would cause any sensible man to question the veracity of the whole book, including all the stories of the gods, spirits, angels, devils, and the things that common sense tells us are not true.”

This quote, from a website devoted to atheism, is similar to so many I have received from skeptics over the years. The basic claim is this: Christianity defies common sense.

In other words, the very existence of miracle claims in the Bible immediately discredits it.

While there certainly are many Christians and skeptics engaging in deeper, more scientific or philosophical battles online, simplistic appeals to common sense are the down-and-dirty weapons often hurled through social media. You don’t need to know one thing about logic, theology, history, biblical scholarship, philosophy, or science to cobble together an emotionally impactful statement that can make someone feel utterly stupid for what they believe. That’s why appeals to common sense can be so powerful: They’re easy and effective. The general message is that what Christians believe is so ridiculous, anyone with just a little common sense can see it’s not true.

Common sense is presented as a one-size-fits-all bulldozer against faith.

And if your kids haven’t been trained to think critically about the nature of miracles, their faith will be easily crushed by that bulldozer.

Here’s a 10-step framework to help your kids think well about this subject. Each point builds on the last. You can easily use these brief explanations to discuss a point each day on the way to school or at the dinner table. Read More

"Common sense" is itself culturally-determined and reflects the cultural influences operative in the life of an individual--the individual's worldview. What is common-sense to someone living in rural Kentucky is not common-sense to someone living in urban Japan. The two individuals, when presented with the same situation, will take quite different courses of action which they both will regards as being simply a matter of common sense!  

The Best Way to Grow Your Church

Just like there’s no “one” way to exercise or eat, there’s no “one” way to do church.

A Sunday-school-driven church could crush it if its pastor really believed in it and stuck with it.

So could a church with orchestra music.

Or any number of things that 21st century pastors think have outlived their shelf life.

The church you serve can be effective with virtually any model of ministry as long as it uniquely fits who YOU are as the lead servant of your church and connects with your community.

And you know this.

Deep down you know this.

Yet you still second guess yourself. Read More

Image: Brooke Larke, Unsplash

3 Church Communication Lessons from That Church Conference

A few members of the Church Fuel team attended the That Church Conference this week, which is a communications and marketing conference specifically for churches. It’s hosted in the Atlanta area and brings in speakers from all over the country (and attendees from all over the world—like Singapore and Poland this year) who are passionate about helping churches navigate the creatively challenging and ever-changing communication and digital media best practices.

Our Founder and CEO, Michael Lukaszewski, spoke at the conference this year and so did a number of other speakers with a ton of helpful advice for church communicators. Here are our top takeaways from this year’s That Church Conference. Read More

Colleges Are Changing for Generation Z... And So Should You

The New York Times recently reported how the newest students – translation, Generation Z – are transforming the way schools serve and educate them. Bottom line? They are “super connected, but on their terms.” It’s proving frustrating and challenging. Or, as the dean of students at Purdue University confessed, “I do get discouraged.”

They do not tend to read books. They rarely read emails. They are a generation that “breathes through social media… sending presidents and deans to Instagram and Twitter.” Further, students today want to navigate campus life on their own, getting food or help “when it is convenient for them. And, yes, on their mobile devices or phones.” As the associate director of learning programs at Ohio State University noted, “It’s not really technology to them.” He’s right. With the iPhone coming out when most were in grade school, it’s just the natural way to do life. So now, schools such as Ohio State issue iPads, have courses marked “iPad required,” and are building an app that “in addition to maps and bus routes, has a course planner, grades, schedules and a ‘Get Involved’ feature displaying student organizations.” More customization is coming. Soon, when students open the app, it will know “which campus they are enrolled at, their major and which student groups they belong to.”

But it’s not simply a communication revolution. They are forcing course makeovers, “pushing academics to be more hands-on and job-relevant.” Millennials may have wanted climbing walls and en suite kitchens—but Generation Z wants all things career development. It’s even changing office hours. One journalism professor not only takes attendance via Twitter and posts assignments on Slack, but holds office hours at 10 p.m. via the video conference site Zoom “because that is when they have questions.” The only role email plays is instruction, as a business skill, on how to write a proper one. Read More

Do the Ten Commandments Have Authority Over New Testament Christians?

One of the first and most recurring things my kids have learned–at Sunday school, in Christian school, and around the dinner table–has been the Ten Commandments. In fact, my middle three children love to sing (incessantly!) the Ten Commandments song they learned for last year’s choir concert. As a Presbyterian pastor–but more so, as a Christian–I consider it one of my most obvious responsibilities that I teach my kids the joyful responsibility of knowing and obeying the Ten Commandments.

Could it be that I, along with countless other Christian parents and pastors, am making a mistake?

In his new book Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World, Andy Stanley insists that “The Ten Commandments have no authority over you. None. To be clear: Thou shalt not obey the Ten Commandments” (136). Mike Kruger argues forcefully (and charitably) against this bold thesis. It will surprise no one to learn–especially given my new book–that when it comes to the role of the Ten Commandments specifically, and the Old Testament more broadly, I agree wholeheartedly with Kruger and disagree strongly with Stanley. Read More

See Also:
Why We Can’t Unhitch from the Old Testament
Five Reasons to Obey the Ten Commandments
Marcion and Getting Unhitched from the Old Testament

Zombie Church: Restoring Life to the Undead

There are zombie churches among us. The undead church. Where undead persons feast. Where genuine life has been lost, and in its place is something . . . scary. Lifeless.

In some churches, the loss of life is obvious; in others it is more subtle. Have you ever walked into a church where everything appeared normal? Everyone was smiling and seemed so happy because, after all, smiling at church is what Christians are supposed to do. Everyone was personable, but no one was really personal. It might even have seemed like everyone’s friendliness kept you at arm’s length. How many people greeted you at church but never really took the time to get to know you? Have you ever gone to a church service where nothing seemed wrong per se but you just felt like something was missing?

Some of us have not only wandered into these churches, but we have sung in their worship, listened to their sermons, and returned week after week. Some of us have become part of these churches. Some of us have lived our whole lives in a zombie church. Read More

How To Start Training Your Church Leaders To Become Equippers, Not Just Doers

A simple, practical first step to help you or your team start building a team.

As pastors, we have a solemn obligation to equip church members to do ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12).

Instead, too many pastors burn out because the pastor and the church members expect the pastor to do most or all of the ministry for them.

Making the transition from the doer of ministry to the equipper of ministers is very hard for most pastors to do. And it can be even harder for church members to understand, let alone step up to. After all, pastors are in ministry because we’re passionate about doing it, and we’ve trained our congregations for generations to let us do it for them.

Shifting from doing all the ministry, to training others to do ministry doesn’t come easily. But it is essential. And it’s biblical. Read More

See Also:
If We Can Worship Anywhere, Why Go To Church?
5 Terms Christians Need To Stop Misusing
Six Church-and-Culture Issues I Don't Care About Any More
Six Church-Insider Issues I Don't Care About Any More
Forget The Extras – Your Church Needs To Get The Basics Right

Are you Leading Well? 13 Questions to Ask Yourself

Five years ago I began a new adventure: leading a new church in a new country. I accepted the lead pastor role at a great church in Canada, West Park Church in London, Ontario. This church is filled with great people committed to God and the cause of Christ. I’ve loved my time here and although I faced some challenges the first year, it has been a great experience. Before I even started, I spent three weeks preparing for my new ministry and I learned these four keys necessary to start well and sustain healthy ministry. I’ve also included 13 questions that help us determine how well we are leading.

I use the acronym PALM to illustrate these 4 simple keys. It describes four practices that not only make a new transition go smoother, but represent leadership priorities I recommend every good leader embrace whether or not he or she is new to a ministry role. I’ll briefly explain them and then pose some questions to help you evaluate how well you are embodying these principles. Read More

Also See:
7 Questions Leaders Should ask Themselves Every Morning

My Church Is Stuck, What Do I Do?

Just a few years ago our church was running a little over 150, today by God’s grace we have grown into a healthy, evangelistic and disciple making church of 700 and growing. We have averaged 20 percent growth for the past four years. We tested and tried the restored church paradigm and philosophy. We were determined to not stay STUCK. Today we get asked a lot of questions about this so let me explain.

The problem is widespread, the Church in America appears to be declining. Depending on which expert you talk with, between 70-90 percent of all churches are in need of some type of revitalization. Why are churches losing attendance? Why are salvations dwindling? Why are baptisms becoming harder to come by? After-all, we have the greatest message in all the world. Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead to forgive us of our sins!

The bottom line, no one’s listening. That’s right, the church has been pushed from the hub of a community and relegated to a silent partner. No one’s listening...

We are now living in a post-church culture. There’s no worldly benefit to attend church, and often aligning oneself with a church can bring negative connotations.

No one’s listening because... Read More

Image: Chris Liverani, Unsplash

20 NEW Politically Incorrect Thoughts on Church in America

This List Needed an Update for 2018. Here It Goes.

About four years ago, I was in a particularly feisty mood and I wrote this article to see how many church people I might offend.

Enough time has passed that it seemed appropriate to offer some new politically incorrect thoughts. I have plenty of them, but I’ll narrow it down to 20, because I like consistency.

Here’s my 2018 list.... Read More

A God Veiled in Time and Space but Revealed in Christ

If God wants us to believe in him, why doesn’t he come out of hiding?

When I read that songwriter Michael Gungor told his wife, Lisa, “I don’t believe in God anymore,” I experienced a familiar feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was the same one I’d had a couple of years before when Nick, a 20-something leader in our church, called in a panic. He was having doubts and wanted to talk. I spent hours with him, listening as he poured out his questions and fears. Over the months that followed, I prayed God would reveal himself to Nick, but his doubts hardened into unbelief. He began telling people he was an atheist.

Nick and Gungor seem to be following a well-beaten path to atheism: cognitive dissonance over the church’s stand on sexual orientation and gender; outrage over pain and injustice; doubts regarding the authority of Scripture; and an embarrassing feeling that science has rendered belief in the Bible’s claims ridiculous. If there are reasonable explanations for these conflicts, why doesn’t God just show us? Why doesn’t he come out of hiding? Why doesn’t he come out of hiding and reveal himself to my child, to my friend? Or, if he has, to where can I point them? The various doubts that tripped my friend before he fell into atheism were all situated on the bedrock of the hiddenness of God. His thinking went like this: Christians say that God requires people to believe in him or they will be eternally condemned; God, if he is good, would assist people in forming that belief by revealing himself; God does not reveal himself; therefore, God is either not good, or he does not exist.

Michael Gungor and my friend Nick are hardly alone on this path to atheism. According to a 2015 Pew Research Center survey, Protestantism is no longer a majority religion in the US, and 18 percent of adults raised in a religious tradition now consider themselves either atheists, agnostics, or unaffiliated—a shift driven largely by millennials. As far as many of these young adults are concerned, the burden of proof is on God. If he exists, he’s going to have to prove it.

The hiddenness of God, which was once a problem for philosophers and theologians, is now a reason for millennials and their older counterparts to reject the gospel. Christian parents and leaders can help them work through this, but they must be able to offer reasonable answers to two questions. First, why would a God who insists that we believe in him not give us more evidence—why would he hide? And second, where would he hide? One would think that the God described in the Bible would be hard to miss. Read More

The Cruelty of Victim-Blaming and the Hope for Redemption

During my past six years serving as a college pastor, some of my most disturbing conversations have been with unrepentant sexual assault perpetrators and their defensive Christian parents. In their attempts to justify their actions, too often I would hear from the perpetrators (and their parents), “Have you seen her Instagram account? Do you know what she’s like at parties? But she made the first move. Well, she asked for it. She has a history.” And so on.

With more than 20 percent of female undergraduate students experiencing some form of sexual assault or misconduct, these tendencies to blame the victim have led some to demand action or even walk away from the faith. But does Scripture remain silent to the injustice of victim-blaming? Does God remain silent to the cries of victims for redemption from their shame? Read More

Joseph Pearce Delves Deeper Into Narnia Mysteries, C.S. Lewis’ Literary Expertise

Why do we need yet another book about The Chronicles of Narnia? Hasn’t book after book explained the Christian symbolism in C.S. Lewis’ classic series of fantasy books?

Yes, but Pearce’s treatment is different. He literally does go “further up and further in,” delving deeper into not only the Christian mysteries found in “the Narniad” but also excavating meaning from Lewis’ literary expertise and his role as a social and cultural critic. He deftly points out where Lewis, as a scholar of medieval and Renaissance literature, alluded to great works from those periods and how he peppered his books with critiques of fads and movements to which he was averse.

The results are eye-opening, prompting awe of Lewis’ literary skill and genius. Read More

Image: Pauline Baynes

4 Things That Shouldn't Drive Church Growth (and One Thing That Should)

Something’s driving your church. There are a variety of things that drive a church…the challenge for many church leaders is no one is really quite clear on what that is.

What drives your church is critical because it impacts everything you do. Ultimately, it directly impacts both your health and your growth as a congregation.

As I talk to leaders of churches of all sizes, I find different factors at work.

As much as we’d all love to say Jesus runs the church, the reality is that church is a partnership. God seems to delight in human interaction, and while God is in control, leaders have a role.

How we play that role can create health or dysfunction.

Here are 4 things that shouldn’t drive church growth (and one thing that should). Read More

5 Stats about Global and Domestic Hunger

We see the commercials with pleas for financial help. The man or woman lingers on the street corner with a homemade cardboard sign that says they need food.

Whether through the distance of the television screen or the closeness of someone asking vehicular passersby for help, there are hints of hunger all around us.

But are they real? According to stats from Global Hunger Relief, the answer is “yes,” both in far away places and in our own cities and towns. Read More

Food insecurity and hunger are not confined to undeveloped countries. They are found here in North America, in the United States, in your community. It is a growing problem locally as well as globally. It is one of those problems that if you are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the problem.

Practical Preaching Advice for Pastors and Lay Preachers #21

An Open Letter to the Preacher Writing a Sermon

We are not called to convert people–we can’t; we are called to be loyal and consistent in loving, evangelizing, and praying for those the Lord has given us. Read More

Preach Simple Sermons

We must remember, it’s not the eloquence of the preacher, the clever cliches in his sermon, or enticing words of man’s wisdom that brings people to faith—it’s the power of the gospel. Read More

How to Build Tension When You Preach

What makes people find something interesting, compelling or having perceived value is determined by the level of tension built up against it....It’s your job to bring them to the place where they are ready to listen. You have to build tension in a way that makes people want to pay attention. So how do you build tension? Read More

Preaching: It's Not All About You

Over the past five decades, an insidious trend has crept into American preaching--and not only are most pastors unaware of it, they've embraced it! Read More

Is He Crazy To Share His Pulpit?

"The notion of sharing my pulpit was unthinkable, tantamount to a denial of my calling." Read More

While sharing your pulpit with another preacher may have its benefits, it also can have serious drawbacks as I learned during a two-year preaching ministry in which I shared a pulpit with three other preachers in strict rotation.

3 Reasons to Try Long-Range Sermon Planning

There certainly are times when we should preach a sermon God impressed upon us the day before, or even the morning of. But it’s OK to work ahead. In fact, it’s wise. Here are three kingdom-shaping reasons to approach sermon prep through long-range planning. Read More

Saturday Lagniappe: The Multi-Generational Church and Much More

The Beauty of Age Diversity in the Church

Annie Lavi discovers the multi-generational church. Read More

The one-generation church is a recent phenomena. Since New Testament times churches have been multi-generational. In most parts of the world the multi-generational church is still the norm.

How Our Culture Justifies Its Sexual Freedom (the 10 Commandments of Progressive Christianity #9)

“We should care more about love and less about sex.” Of all the postmodern cliches that abound, this one may be the most common. And it’s quite effective, rhetorically speaking. Read More

What to Do When the New Testament Quotes the Old

Since the Bible had no verse divisions until the 16th century AD, we ought to consider what this implies about how to read and study the Bible. Read More

Senior Pastor…Why Aren’t You Singing?

What message is the pastor sending the congregation when he does not join in the singing on Sunday morning? Read More

Walk Slowly Through the Pews

Take time to notice people, talk to people, and build relationships. Lead Pastors: This goes for you, too. They don’t want to just hear your message, they want to meet you. Read More

Loving Our Foreign-Born Neighbor

It’s no secret America is becoming more and more multicultural. The percentage of foreign-born people living in the United States continues to increase, and last year, it reached its highest level in over a century.... Some pastors and church leaders see this as a unique opportunity to share and spread the gospel. Read More

On Cultivating a Culture of Evangelism [Podcast]

Churches shouldn’t farm out personal evangelism to pastors, professionals, or programs. Instead, the goal for every church ought to be a culture of evangelism. Listen Now

Five Practical Steps to Evangelize Your Co-Workers

The American workplace is ripe, and now is the time to reach your co-workers for Christ. Very practically, though, how do you do it? Follow these five steps, and they’ll help you go a long way down the path of seeing a harvest of souls in the marketplace.... Read More

Have MDiv, Will Preach: Study on the Growth of Female Pastors

The percentage of clergywomen in most mainline denominations has doubled or tripled since 1994. That’s one key finding from “State of Clergywomen in the U.S.,” a statistical study released recently by Dr. Eileen Campbell-Reed. The professor of practical theology at Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas says she wanted to “remedy” a “deficit of information” about female leadership in the church. Read More

For Blacks, Lies Matter: Black Christians, The Trump Presidency, and New Research

I fear evangelicals have risked years of processing past racial trauma for a future devoid of Black voices among them. Read More

In overlooking or explaining away the character flaws of the candidates for whom they have voted or otherwise supported, evangelicals in the United States may have done irreparable harm to their witness to the unchurched. They have reinforced the perception that Christians are hypocrites. They have also shown a lack of trust in God, relying on human leaders rather than God. This was the sin that the people of Israel committed. Israel fell to invaders and its people were taken into captivity and were scattered to the four corners of the earth.

Billy Graham Center Explains Survey on Evangelical Trump Voters

Wheaton College-based institute studied how and why both white and non-white believers voted in 2016. Read More

Friday's Catch: The Hexing of Brett Kavanaugh and More

Brett Kavanaugh Target of Hexing Ritual This Weekend

A group of witches in Brooklyn, New York, plan on gathering to place hexes on recently appointed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Saturday, October 20, 2018. Read More

Modern-Day Exorcist: Kavanaugh Hex Should Not Be ‘underestimated’

After an occult bookstore in Brooklyn, New York made headlines for its plan to host an event to hex newly appointed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, members of the clergy have stepped up to engage in a battle they believe is taking place in the spiritual realm. Read More

8 Assumptions Pastors Can't Make In A Post-Christian Culture

The so-called Christian culture is going... going... gone. We need to get ready for what’s next. Read More

How Pastors Perceive Domestic Violence Differently

Most pastors want their churches to be a safe haven, but don’t have a plan to get there. Read More

Andy Stanley: Jesus Ended the Old Covenant Once and for All

A brief response to Robert Foster on my book, ‘Irresistible.’ Read More

Almost Half of U.S. Births Happen Outside Marriage, Signaling Cultural Shift

An increasing number of births happen outside of marriage, signaling cultural and economic shifts that are here to stay, according to a new report from the United Nations. Read More

3 Warning Signs Someone Is Dabbling in the Occult

Amanda, a 28-year-old Los Angeles resident, prays nightly and believes in Jesus.

She also chants, goes to Kundalini (yoga), meditates with a group and is into crystals. “The energy they hold is this ancient energy,” she said. “It helps your own energy when you work with them; when you’re near them.”

According to a recent Pew Research poll, she’s not alone. Most Americans “mix traditional faith with beliefs in psychics, reincarnation and spiritual energy that they say can be found in physical objects such as mountains, trees and crystals.”

A staggering 41 percent of Americans believe in psychics. A stunning 42 percent believe spiritual energy can be located in physical objects.

I recently did a series on the paranormal. You can get the installments in .pdf or .mp3 format HERE. I could tell it was one of the more eye-opening series I had ever done. Why? Because people genuinely didn’t know the difference between authentic spirituality and the world of the occult.

I started off by mapping the spiritual world, specifically the great spiritual conflict in the heavens and the nature and work of angels and demons.

Then I took the rest of the series to walk through the three marks of the occult.... Read More

On his blog Kevin DeYoung is posting an article series dealing with expressive individualism, which I suspect is an important cultural factor behind the interest of Westerners in the occult in this century. The first two articles are "What Is Expressive Individualism" and "Why Is Expressive Individualism a Challenge for the Church?" Expressive individualism is a strong influence in popular culture in North America, particularly in the United States.

Thursday's Catch: How to Leverage Christmas and More

11 Strategies to Reach the Unchurched During Christmas

As the general population thinks less about the Christian faith, Christmas provides a unique opportunity to reach people who no longer ordinarily attend church. What’s surprising is that many churches don’t really leverage Christmas to make the impact it could. Read More

Even Japan which has a very small Christian population celebrates Christmas. This prompts me to wonder how Japanese Christians might leverage Christmas to reach Japan's large non-Christian population.

Six Best Practices for Increasing Church Giving in a Church Revitalization [Podcast]

Churches need funding for ministry. Whether you’re in a revitalization or not, these principles can help you when it comes to increasing giving in your church. Listen Now

The Importance of Narrative: Utilizing the Entire Bible to Train Up Well-Rounded Leaders

How does theological education think through relevancy in the 21st century? Read More

We Have No Divided God: A Review of Irresistible by Andy Stanley

A man of uncommon discernment when it comes to spotting broader trends in secular culture, Stanley has identified two major issues for the modern church to address. Here, sadly, is where I find my agreement with Stanley—such as it is—coming to an abrupt halt. If his diagnosis of two definite problems is on target, the solution he offers is untenable and even dangerous. Read More

How Can Missionaries Avoid the Trap of Colonialism?

You might be a missionary – someone called and sent to serve God cross-culturally - but chances are, you don’t like being called a missionary. Read More

Why Evangelicals Voted Trump: Debunking the 81%

Ahead of the midterms, the Billy Graham Center Institute examined the most infamous statistic about faith and the 2016 election. Read More

No True Church Just Preaches the Gospel

People get in debates about the mission of the church and talk about it in really abstract ways. Sometimes this leads to people saying or thinking, “The church should just preach the gospel.” Well, should it?

Defining the Mission

Commissioned by Jesus, for a church to be the church it must be in the business of “making disciples.” The church goes about making disciples by “baptizing” and “teaching all that I commanded,” says Jesus (Matthew 28). In other words, preaching the whole counsel of God and administering the two sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are central to what the church should be doing. Each local church should also be gathering together publicly to worship and pray together too (Acts 2:42).

The theological tradition that my church belongs to would frame it like this: the local church is called to preach the gospel, administer the sacraments, and exercise church discipline (See the Belgic Confession, Article 29 and Westminster Confession of Faith, 25.3).

As a bare minimum, for the local church to be the church it must have these things happening regularly. The proclamation of the gospel itself creates the community of the church, so we can say, for example, wherever the gospel is preached and the sacraments are administered—there is the church.

The thing is though, in order for us to be doing this faithfully in a local community, there has to be actual participation in the local community by the local church beyond the Sunday gathering. Otherwise, there’s no way of bringing other people into the social environment by which people can actually be made into disciples of Jesus. So discipleship itself has to go outside of the walls of the local church in order for disciples to be invited, gathered and made into disciples inside of the church. Read More

When the Downcast Can't Reach Our Hymns

Life is not always about rejoicing … it is often about lamenting as well.

And yet, when we come together to sing songs about the greatness of our God and His role in our everyday lives, we rarely sing songs of lament. We lift up lyrics and melodies that soar to the steepest heights of joy and heavenly elation … and unfortunately, our lyrics often soar so high that someone who is drowning on the ocean floor of their personal despair can’t reach them.

Our songs can even render them disjointed—if not wounded—in an experience that should instead instill in them a sense of safety, honesty, and ultimately, the hope of grace to endure the depths, not just proclaim the heights.

The ancients understood better than we do that singing to God and with His people need not be so lopsided on the sunny side. Scripture is replete with both the light that shines in real life, as well as the shadows that are inevitably cast between the rays.... Read More

Spiritual Insecurity, Fear and the Gospel: Contemplating the African Spirit World

The common African worldview is built on two spiritual codes that cannot be flouted: The first is that one’s health and life depends on the happiness of the Supreme Being, lesser divinities, the ancestors and spirits. The second code affirms that the ancestors and magic protect us against evil powers, witchcraft and sorcerers.

Thus, traditional Africans are raised from birth to appease spiritual powers and balance life forces to ensure prosperity in this world. It is understandable that when an African believer places his faith in the person of Jesus Christ as his Saviour, spiritual insecurity and fear may continue to cling to his heart.

Sickness, confusion and uncertainty may present a special form of temptation to doubt. This may not be experienced to the same extent by a new believer with a western worldview which affirms only the material world and denies the supernatural.

The African and Christian worldview stand in stark contrast to one another and conversion requires a painful wrenching from the African worldview, upbringing and experiences. For instance, the African Christian can no longer consult with diviners to find the causes and solutions to life issues, but must accept that people cannot always be certain about why bad things happen and must instead entrust himself to the care and protection of God. Read More

Christian, What Do You Believe? Probably a Heresy About Jesus, Says Survey

The First Council of Nicaea

Third study of the state of American theology, examining 34 beliefs, released by Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research.

American evangelicals are “deeply confused” about some core doctrines of the Christian faith—and the fourth-century heretic Arius would be pleased, according to a new survey.

For the third time, Ligonier Ministries has examined the State of Theology in the United States, conducted by LifeWay Research and based on interviews with 3,000 Americans. The survey, also conducted in 2014 and 2016, offers a detailed look at the favorite heresies of evangelicals and of Americans at large.

Ligonier wanted to know what Americans “believe about God, salvation, ethics, and the Bible.” Read More

Also See:
Lord, Have Mercy on 67% of Us
Evangelicals' Favorite Heresies Revisited by Researchers

Eugene Peterson: The Jesus Way Vs. The American Way

In this short excerpt from his book The Jesus Way, Eugene Peterson encourages Christians to attend not only to the “the truth” and “the life” of Jesus, but also to “the way” of Jesus—and he explains why he believes that the way often followed by North American Christianity and its consumer-driven churches is not the Jesus way at all. Read More

Also See
Eugene Peterson Enters Hospice Care

The Irresistible Connection Between the Old and New Testaments

Jesus reading from the Old Testament in the synagogue 

Why Andy Stanley's “unhitching” robs Christianity of power

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus finishes a long series of parables by asking his disciples, “Have you understood all this?” They reply, “Yes.” Then Jesus closes his teaching, saying, “Therefore, every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old” (13:51–52).

Like many Matthew scholars, I think that the “new” that Jesus refers to is his teachings passed on to his disciples, as with the immediately previous parable. The “old,” then, refers to the Scriptures that Jesus has on his lips throughout the gospel: the Law of Moses and the psalms of David and the words of the prophets. Not all Christians have received the old as “treasure,” however. At least since the time when Peter and Paul carried the good news of Jesus beyond the boundaries of Israel, Christians have struggled with the Old Testament (OT). Some outright reject the OT. Others simply ignore the OT unless it somehow illuminates a passage in the New Testament (NT). Whether through disdain or neglect, Christian history tells us that many Christians have not found the OT a “treasure” to their faith.

Within this long tradition stands Andy Stanley, who received some sharp criticism earlier this year for claiming in a sermon that Christians should “unhitch” themselves from the OT. But, to be fair to Stanley, many preachers and teachers have unhitched themselves in practice from the OT, even if they have not made that clear in the stark way that Stanley did back in April.

Thus, while I find Stanley’s position troubling, I also think it provides an opportunity for us to consider the place of the OT in the life of the church and the Christian. Given that Stanley’s comments pushed this topic to the fore in recent months, I begin my reflection on this topic by offering some comments on his recently published book, Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World, which elaborates on some of his preaching from earlier this year. After looking carefully at Stanley’s work, I want to offer some positive comments on the OT within Christianity. Christians have good, biblically based, irresistible reasons for treasuring the OT. Read More

4 Keys to Making Sense of Those Troubling Bible Stories

Anyone who has spent any time in the Bible could probably compose a list of stories that leave them baffled or reeling. Many committed followers of Jesus feel quietly conflicted about Christianity’s holy book—particularly the Old Testament. Tales of warfare, genocide and violence against women could not seem any farther from the “good news” that brought them to faith.

What does a person committed to the gospel of Jesus and the sacredness of Scripture make of stories that seem to reflect the worst of humanity—sometimes even implicating God in the horror? In what sense does a story like Jephthah’s daughter function as inspired literature?

These are vitally important questions; they invite us to take a deeper look at what the Bible is and how its pieces fit together. Following a few basic reading practices can help us find our footing as we navigate some of the Bible’s darker chapters. Read More

Don’t Expect Unbelievers To Act Like Believers

It is something I see again and again, and something that baffles me every time: People who expect unbelievers to act like believers. So often I see Christians acting surprised that their non-Christian friends or family members are acting like non-Christians. John Owen addresses this in his great work Overcoming Sin and Temptation. The book deals with the subject of mortification, of putting sin to death, and Owen dedicates one chapter to explaining why only Christians can behave like Christians. Read More

What Trees Teach Us about Life, Death, and Resurrection

God Loves Trees

Other than people and God, trees are the most mentioned living thing in the Bible. There are trees in the first chapter of Genesis (v. 11–12), in the first psalm (Ps. 1:3), and on the last page of Revelation (22:2). As if to underscore all these trees, the Bible refers to wisdom as a tree (Prov. 3:18).

Every major character and every major theological event in the Bible has an associated tree. The only exception to this pattern is Joseph, and in Joseph’s case the Bible pays him its highest compliment: Joseph is a tree (Gen. 49:22). In fact, Jeremiah urges all believers to be like a tree (17:7–8).

The only physical description of Jesus in the Bible occurs in Isaiah. “Want to recognize the Messiah when he arrives?” Isaiah asks. “Look for the man who resembles a little tree growing out of barren ground” (53:2, paraphrase mine).

Do you think trees are beautiful? You’re in good company. God loves trees, too. By highlighting every sentence containing a tree in the first three chapters of Genesis, one can get a pretty good sense of what God thinks about trees. Nearly a third of the sentences contain a tree.

Genesis 2:9 declares that trees are “pleasing to the eye.” This aesthetic standard does not waver throughout the Bible. Whether God is instructing his people on how to make candlesticks (Ex. 25:31–40), decorate the corbels of the temple (1 Kings 6), or hem the high priest’s robe (Ex. 28:34), the standard of beauty is a tree (and its fruits). If we were to examine the most comfortable seat in a home today, odds are that it faces a television. In heaven, God’s throne faces a tree (Rev. 22:2–3).

In Genesis 2, God makes two things with his own hands. First, he forms Adam and blows the breath of life into his nostrils (v. 7). Then, before Adam can exhale, God pivots and plants a garden (v. 8). It is here, under the trees, that God lovingly places Adam, giving him the job of “dress[ing] and keep[ing]” them (v. 15, KJV). The trees have their only divinely established tasks to accomplish. God charges them with keeping humans alive (Gen. 1:29), giving them a place to live (Gen. 2:8), and providing food to sustain them (v. 16).

Strangely enough, Scripture continuously portrays trees as things that communicate. They clap their hands (Isa. 55:12), shout for joy (1 Chron. 16:33), and even argue (Judges 9:7–15). What makes this pattern especially odd is that creatures that obviously do communicate—such as fish or birds—are virtually mute in the Bible. Over the thousands of years people have been reading the Bible, this has been passed off as mere poetry. But in the last two decades, tree scientists have discovered something fascinating about trees: They really do communicate. They count, share resources, and talk with each other using a system dubbed the “Wood Wide Web.”Read More

Monday's Catch: Faithfulness and More

Faithfulness: God's Goals + Ordinary Actions = Extraordinary Results

It’s great to dream big dreams. It’s greater to be consistent in the small, mundane tasks that make those dreams possible. Read More

7 Bad Decisions Leaders Make When in Decline or Plateau

Much of what I’ve learned in this post though I learned through suffering through my own bad decisions as a leader during periods of decline or plateau. I’d love for you to learn from my experience. Read More

Baptism in the Early Church

Some conclusions from historian Everett Ferguson’s magisterial 975-page tome, Baptism in the Early Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries (Eerdmans, 2009).... Read More

How to Be an Effective Worship Leader to All Generations

To be a good worship leader, you may think that it is your job to offer a wide variety of music styles to keep the congregation happy. But, there are two problems with this.... Read More

Practical Preaching Advice for Pastors and Lay Preachers #20

Four Destructive Mindsets That Can Wreck Your Preaching

The way we think about ourselves effects the outcomes we see in life. This is never more true than how we think about our preaching. Read More

What Is a Bad Sermon and How Do I Recover from Preaching One?

Pastor, you are a Christian first. If you did not carry out your calling effectively, rest in the finished work of Christ and in the knowledge that you are a child of God by faith alone. Read More

5 Great Ways to Continually Develop as a Preacher

Do you want to develop as a preacher? Of course, you do. That’s why you’re reading this. But if you’re like most pastors, it’s hard to know where to start. Read More

How To Engage The Whole Congregation

All of us have a propensity to want to communicate in our own preferred style. But what if your style doesn't reach everyone? Read More

9 Preaching Mistakes You Must Avoid

From preparation to delivery, keep an eye out for these preaching traps. Read More

Is Your Preaching Stained With Blood?

American Christianity is far less bloody than it used to be. Why? Read More