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STATISTICS: 444 entries, 753 comments
LAST UPDATE: 08.03.09 11:13am BROWSE BY CATEGORY Christianity Meets Culture (48)Church (62) Culture (16) Environment (2) Food (1) Guest Bloggers (3) Mission Trips (16) Money (2) Music, Poetry, & Scripture (77) My Life (75) News (52) Observations (25) Postmodernism (32) Recommendation (47) Site Related (12) Social Justice (12) Spirituality (24) ARCHIVES BY DATE May 2009February 2009 January 2009 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 ADDITIONAL PERSPECTIVES Internet MonkI was thinking... Martin Roth Online Thinking Out Loud Aaron B Smith Next Wave Beautiful Feet e~mergent kiwi Matt Gough ORGANIZATIONS I LIKE MosaicMosaic Life Mars Hill That the World May Know Compass Arts Gospelcom.net Crossroads Ministry National Alliance to End Homelessness PEOPLE I LIKE Charlie PeacockBrian McLaren David Roche McNair Wilson Leonard Sweet Brennan Manning Garison Keeler
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Church entries September 17, 2007
Sunday Mornings
I received this from a pastor friend of mine. This reality has been more and more apparent to me the last few years. Sadly, Sunday morning is a prime time when most of God's missing... August 14, 2006
Why I Don't Go To Church Anymore!
Interestingly enough, this post got published by accident last week. I had posted it in draft mode until I had time to read through it and post something about it. I re-read the article and... January 10, 2006
Lord, Lord of the Rings
I have been teaching in adult sunday school lately with a fellow church-goer and ponderer of the "emerging church" movement on that very subject. There's a fairly good curriculum by IVPress called Emerging Culture by... October 24, 2005
Be the Church Instead of Just Going to Church
Millions of people are seeking God without going through a local church. Americans are creating new forms of religious experience and expression that are replacing the common approach (i.e., attending events and programs at a... July 27, 2005
Preaching to a Postmodern World
The better seminaries have long included courses in the missions curriculum to help prospective missionaries 'read' the culture that are about to enter.' observes Don Carson. 'But such courses are rarely required of students in... June 23, 2005
Church Marketing Sucks
I've always thought it was indeed true that church marketing sucks. But I never imagined there was a site out there called that! Funny. Frustrate. Something's wrong with your church. Something's wrong with the Church.... February 28, 2005
Clergy Feel Increasingly Overwhelmed
This article was actually in our local newspaper in Grand Rapids last weekend. I thought it did a good job of pulling a lot of research from respected sources for some of its information. CLERGY... October 17, 2004
Standard of Fakeness
Days like today I am reminded how ugly my sin is. Going to church, for some reason, prompts me to put on my best nature, attitude and smiling face. But with a long weekend of... October 11, 2004
Unknowledgeable Youth
I've been teaching sunday school for the high school class at our church the last several weeks. It's been challenging and fun as I learn how to communicate with them. Most of the time, I'm... October 01, 2004
September 20, 2004
Good Church Service
Yesterday when I went to church, I came away feeling the best I had felt in a while. The service was just so nice. We did things in the service that I'm not sure I've... July 12, 2004
Sunday Morning Madness
It's a rare occasion when getting ready for church on a Sunday morning is effortless. What with preparing for encounters with people at church who might need to know the latest on the building renovation... June 21, 2004
CRC edges toward change on Mass stance
The Christian Reformed Church is the denomination to which I belong. This is welcome news for me... They did not quite take it back, but leaders of the Christian Reformed Church on Thursday took a... June 19, 2004
Stick to the Things We're Good At
The other week I announced to the deacons that I was going to be stepping down from the role of "chair" of deacons in lieu of nurturing family ties. Stress has pushed me over the... June 15, 2004
I Just Want to Go to a "Normal" Church
Our church is different. I've described as a church where a pastor (or other leader) would never be able to lead a Purpose Driven Life book study, for example. It doesn't matter that churches, christians--even... June 07, 2004
It's Official
In church yesterday our council president announced that Jack Kooreman will be accepting our call as pastor. YAHOO! Can't wait to start digging in with a new pastor, not to mention the fact that our... May 20, 2004
The "Unchurched"
I'm not crazy about calling people "unchurched" because it sounds like they're in the wrong--it's not politically correct. But, Barna's at it again with some very interesting statistics. Number of Unchurched Adults Has Nearly Doubled... May 18, 2004
Presbyterian
This weekend my family went to Princeton, New Jersey to watch and celebrate my brother's graduation from Princeton Seminary. We rented a van and piled in for the 12 hour journey to the east coast.... May 13, 2004
Waiting
Our congregation is waiting for a response from the pastor we put a call out to. There was an overwhelming majority to vote to call him a couple weeks ago. And so we're in the... May 10, 2004
Believing Without Belonging
Today I heard a report on NPR called New Religion Survey (streaming audio report). At first I was a little guarded because the promos for the spot sounded a little, I don't know, "cultish." In... May 02, 2004
The Voice of One
It befuddles me how one person--or a small group of people--in an organization such as a church can have such power and control over how things are done. There is one person at our church... April 20, 2004
7%
I found out last week that 7% of our church's members are under the age of 21. That's depressing. I wonder how it stacks up against other churches.... April 19, 2004
Axis
A co-worker sent me this link to check out the other day because of my interest in web technology (my day job) and postmodern church. There's a church set up by Willow Creek in Chicago... April 14, 2004
Choice is Normal
As I was driving through town on my way to church the other day, I noticed a Burger King restaurant. Just then, I had this freaky intersection of thoughts in a flash of a moment.... April 07, 2004
New Breed of Church
This article touches on some points that I've been struggling with our church for a couple years now. It does a good job of outlining some of the major points I think many churches fall... March 24, 2004
In Times Like These
I miss having a pastor. I realize that now. I miss that assurance of a spiritual leadership that a pastor brings... someone who is thinking about me and my family at least every now and... March 15, 2004
Tri-generational Church
There is a problem beginning to emerge as a result of the baby boomer population: there are a lot of baby boomers, and not as many baby busters (also known as generation X). What does... March 08, 2004
Sweet Comfort in Church
Our family visited a church other than our own last night. We went to visit old friends who were in town and this was our chance to visit with them. It was the first time... February 22, 2004
I Want to Go Deeper
Today in church I was sitting there thinking about how we--the members--treat each other. It's been something that's bothered me for a while--just how "surfacy" we tend to be around each other. Sometimes, I catch... February 19, 2004
A New Generation of Pastors Places its Stamp on Ministry
In addition to my "I want a pastor who..." post from a couple days ago, this is an interesting look at pastors in general (from Barna Research) as we approach a new age. "According to... February 15, 2004
I Want a Pastor Who...
The other day I was in a special council meeting because we are nearing the end of our search for a new pastor at our church. The search committee has done a good job of... October 04, 2003
What's More Important
As the chair of deacons at my church I have been meditating on my role as leader. Some days it can be easy and even fun, but some days the magnitude and responsibility of the... October 02, 2003
A Real Postmodern Church in Holland
I attended a conference last week put on by V.I.S., a service organization in Grand Rapids doing wonderful things in our community to help people. The conference is held every year and is meant to... September 25, 2003
Twenty-somethings Struggle
Twentysomethings Struggle to Find Their Place in Christian Churches Adults in their 20s make decisions about everything from education to marriage, from career to kids. Their faith practices and spiritual priorities are also established during the... September 08, 2003
Small Church Growth
Another article from Barna research that caught my attention on small churches and the growth (or lach thereof) they experience. Our church is definitely in this boat. "(Ventura, CA)--The United States is dominated by small... June 16, 2003
Mosaic Life
I met someone this weekend that totally impressed me. He is the pastor of a new church in my area that is breaking new ground in the areas of anti-racism, and postmodernism. As far as... May 23, 2003
Churches Are Flailing Around
...to figure out how to bring our understanding of the Christian gospel to those who need it. How do we do that? I'm not sure we know how..." "Churches in decline often have no idea... April 30, 2003
Persecution
Lately I've been getting down on myself for the lack of spiritual discipline I have. I seem to only care about my relationship with God when things aren't going well. That makes me sick. I've... April 29, 2003
Small Group Report
We had our last small group meeting two nights ago. I started the meeting by saying that the conversation we were about to have was never ending. That was to be the beginning of an... April 16, 2003
Open-Source Church
Samuel posted several links about faith and open source and where those two concepts intersect. I find this concept very interesting. Check out these quotes from an article on TheOoze. To me, the processor of... April 15, 2003
Church Transition Committee
Tonight I and six others from our church met as the first of several months of discussion and planning on how to move our church from a pastorless situation to having a pastor (or pastors).... March 17, 2003
Small Group Report
We had another great discussion in small group last night, this time about the internet. People in the class were engaged and interested. We talked about a brief history of the internet, online faith experiences,... March 10, 2003
Postmodern Church Birthed in Austin
I stumbled on this article today. I think it does a great job of getting at some of the issues the church faces today. Increasingly, today's 20's and 30's crowd are not going to church... March 06, 2003
There's No Insult Like the Truth
After church last Sunday, I had a conversation with the man at our church in charge of the set up of the sanctuary. He and I were discussing the limitations and potential solutions of the... March 04, 2003
Small Group Report
Two nights ago we met for our third time as a small group studying "postmodernism." The class was once again energized and taking in every word that was said. I started off the class with... February 24, 2003
True Worshippers
Yesterday, a woman that goes to my church pulled me aside and gave me some words of vision for our church. She had been praying upon my request to do so in light of all... February 18, 2003
Is Our Church Ready to Change?
Last night I met with a committee from our church for the first of three meetings on what to recommend to our council about how to "redream" our church's mission. The meeting went well--a lot... February 08, 2003
Small Group Report
I don't know why it's been 6 days since I had my first small group on "postmodernism" and I haven't reported it on this site yet. Maybe going to church tomorrow has put me in... February 05, 2003
Vision for Technology in Christian Education
Okay, this is cool. My brother pointed me to this site yesterday. It turns out this guy is a co-seminarian of his at Princeton. What I like about what's on his site is that he's... February 02, 2003
Small Group
Today I start a small group at my church on the topic of postmodernism. The main issue I'll be pointing out to the group will be the problem that most churches (including ours) operate under... January 26, 2003
Vision for a Vision Committee
Today I accepted a call to be on a committee that will decide how our church should go about "re-visioning" our vision statement. Whew, that's a mindful. Why we have to put together a committee... January 08, 2003
What the Church Faces in the Future
*** This was originally posted as a reply to the poll "In the future, the biggest issue for the Church will be..." on Christdot. *** I think apathy is a close 1st, and human cloning... December 16, 2002
Preferred Type of Service
Christdot did two polls that reveal what type of church service people are intersted in. The results are very helpful in understanding where we should be turning our services. How old are you? 0-12 0.00... December 06, 2002
Church in the Eyes of America
According to this article, "less than one-third of non-Christian adults have a positive impression of born-again Christians and less than one-fourth have a favorable view of evangelicals." "One of the reasons it's hard to attract... November 04, 2002
The Church: Epicenter of Creativity?
What if the church was truly the center of creative thought in our society? Ahhh, what a thought. We're a long way from there. "I think it’s a tragedy that Tarentino, Spielberg, dreamworks, Hollywood, all... July 11, 2002
The "Official" News
Husband-and-wife pastors ousted at <Name of Church> Thursday, July 11, 2002 By Matt Vandebunte The split between a local congregation and the first woman ordained as a minister in the <Denomination> is official. Citing a... June 20, 2002
Chair of Deacons
I met with the chair of deacons this morning for breakfast. It was a good meeting and a good time for he and I to learn more about each other. That seems to be a... June 17, 2002
A Deacon
It's official. I'm a deacon in my church as of the congregational vote yesterday. I'm scared. I have little clue as to what it means to be a deacon in the CRC or any church... June 09, 2002
Dear Church,
I've never written a letter to you before. I've never had to. I was introduced to you when I was a child, and have been visiting you almost every week since then. You have been... June 03, 2002
Prayer from My Sister
Lord, fill them with indescribable peace in the midst of this mess. Give them clarity and wisdom about how to respond. Give them renewed emotional and spiritual energy. Allow them to find solace in your... May 31, 2002
Beige-ianity
The aftermath of the pastor's leaving is harder than I thought it would be. My wife went to their house yesterday afternoon while I watched the baby. She visited with them (along with several others)... May 30, 2002
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