Everyone who calls me to speak somewhere, it seems, wants me to address the issue of declining church membership, and particularly how to connect with younger adults. The problem is that sometimes the invitation is built on a false premise. It’s the hope of many churches that if they can find a way to connect…

My son, Mattias, was in a religious school in town for a while for preschool. We knew going in that their beliefs did not align in a lot of ways with ours, but there are limited options in a town the size of Pueblo. I’ll admit it was pretty funny the day we got a…

The bad church signs were quite a hit last week, so I thought I’d share some more of my favorites. And if you didn’t see the first batch of bad signs, check them out here. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. Anyone who can guess what part of the…

It’s bad enough when Christians sit silently by while LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer) folks are marginalized, ridiculed, abused, raped or even killed for who they are. It’s another when Christians actively engage in the exclusion of people based on their identity or orientation. And then there’s John Piper. It seems Piper has…

I’ve written quite a bit about churches like Mark Driscoll’s Mars Hill and the concerns I have about a lack of accountability, given that they’re not part of a denomination or other larger body of oversight. Churches led my ministers like Driscoll and John Piper seem to be independent, yet pressing a surprisingly consistent agenda…

My friend, Travis Mamone, did a short video about all the stuff emergent Christians are prone to pop off about. Yeah, he pretty much nails me in it. Check out Travis’ blog at the link above on his name, and, dig the Something Beautiful Podcast where he’s a co-host.

There are plenty of websites that generate fake church signs, but thankfully there are still more than enough real examples of church messages that can evoke emotions across the spectrum. I’ve collected a few of my favorites here and thought I’d share. I’ve passed on all of the cliche ones like “God answers knee-mail’ and…

There are plenty of websites that generate fake church signs, but thankfully there are still more than enough real examples of church messages that can evoke emotions across the spectrum. I’ve collected a few of my favorites here and thought I’d share. I’ve passed on all of the cliche ones like “God answers knee-mail’ and…

Barack Obama made a public effort this week to reach a compromise with religious employers on the government’s new health care plan. At issue was a requirement that all employers offer birth control to women through their insurance plans, however some religious organizations take specific moral issue with birth control. The compromise, to me, seemed…

The “E Word” in Christianity is a funny thing. In one respect, Evangelicals are self-identified, and therefore, self-defined. On the other, popular culture (particularly media) lays its own meaning on what it means to be Evangelical. In the latter context, the word inevitably translates to “Conservative Christian.” But I think this definition isn’t fair. What’s…

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