This Christian Life

The coming evangelical collapse
This article was passed on to me by a good friend, and I thought it too interesting to pass up. It seems to resonate with the things I’ve been reading and observing over the last...

The Screen
Photos are a big part of our family and we often have photos to share with each other. Typically, there are a combination of formats that we show photos in. Some are prints, some on...

The Gospel According to Bono
The Irish rock band's songs and lyrics are being used by the Episcopal Church in so-called "U2 Eucharists" as a means of attracting young people who relate to the group's social activism. IN HER sermon,...

Don Miller
We're pleased to announce that Don Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz, will be offering a public talk--hosted by the Student Life Division at Calvin--on Saturday, April 22 at 9:00 p.m. in the Fine Arts...

Multi-tasking is Normal
The Multitasking Generation Naturally, iTunes is open, and Piers is blasting a mix of Queen, AC/DC, classic rock and hip-hop. Somewhere on the screen there's a Word file, in which Piers is writing an...

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...

The New Snail Mail
According to a study by the Pew Internet and American Life project, barely 5% of American teens aged 12 to 17 prefer e-mail over instant messaging as their digital communications method of choice. Teens view...

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...

Leaders call 'Emerging Church Movement' a threat to Gospel
From an article on bpnews.net: A recently developed way of envisioning church known as the "Emerging Church Movement" deals carelessly with Scripture and compromises the Gospel, according to a prominent evangelical scholar and a Southern...

More People Use Christian Media Than Attend Church
The latest from the Barna research group: In our media-drenched society, people have become accustomed to experiencing and interpreting reality through the mass media. A new survey shows that the faith realm is no different....

Interruptions are Normal
Have you ever been right in the middle of a sentence, and you hear a distant phone ringing? The person to whom you're talking freezes, says, "Mine" and quickly swipes at their side or digs...

Movie Night
My brother and a friend are putting on a full day showing of all the Lord of the Rings movies at his church. I think it's a great idea! I was thinking it would be...

Postmodern Churches
Through my job I get to do all sorts of cool things for many different types of clients. Lately, I've met with a couple people to discuss putting up websites for their new church. Most...

The New Kind of Community
Whether you call this era "modern" or "postmodern" you have to admit there is a tension exists between individuality and community. Individualism is at an all time high. Everyone has their own... everthing. I have...

Don't Forget the History
We had a church gathering of sorts today. It was nice. It's always nice to be with church people outside of the regular sunday-morning-service mode. While there, I had a conversation with a guy whose...

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...

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...

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....

Modern-era T.V. in a Postmodern World
In a postmodern world, I find it interesting how many shows on regular-old broadcast TV are mystery, courtroom, or detective related. If I were to guess what types of shows would be more popular in...

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...

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...

Change is Normal
Saturday I was working on my computer at home and popped up iTunes to listen to the radio. As I was strolling through the stations looking for something to listen to that would fit my...

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...

What People Talk About
Do you know what people talk about during the week? In our latest national survey we examined common topics of conversation and found the following: Four out of ten adults discuss religious beliefs or spiritual...

Do We Need A Postmodern Church?
"'Do we need a postmodern church?' Sometimes I wonder why we don't just say no, but I think we need to keep wrestling with the question. "...we come to distrust dominant worldviews or interpretations partly...

Inflatable Church
INFLATABLE CHURCH BRINGS NEW MEANING TO MOBILE WEDDING... The world's one and only inflatable church is here to allow couples to get married wherever their hearts desire. This fantastic air filled building is 47ft long...

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...

At the Crossroads
I'm reading a book, At the Crossroads, by one of my favorite Christians (and Christian artists), Charlie Peacock. I regard him as a genious in music, and very wise in person. An interesting quote from...

Colson's Poster Boy Isn't That At All
I recently read an article published by Christianity Today by Charles Colson. While I greatly respect what he has done in his life ministry, I do not agree with his article and think it's the...

Presentation on Postmodernism
Tonight I make a presentation to the council at my church on the topic of technology, postmodernism, and the challenges many churches face today in providing a haven for today's believer. I'm still working on...

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...

Hymns--Revised Standard Version
Is it time for the "church" to change the words in hymns to better suit our times? In Quest of an Ancient Future: Old Hymns, Contemporary Context--by John R. Throop While there are hymn writers...