Leap of Faith

One of my favorite movies is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In it Harrison Ford’s character is faced with difficult trials in order to regain the Holy Grail, the cup Jesus used at his last supper. One of the tests he has to endure is to make a seemingly impossible leap across a […]

Next Steps?

Carol joined the church a month ago. She’d been attending worship for several weeks and liked what she heard and what she experienced. She’d even made a new friend or two. Joining the church seemed like a good thing to do.

But that was last month. Carol still liked worship, but she was a […]

Don’t Stop … Thief!

One of those ten commandments is about thievery. The Bible generally frowns on stealing stuff from others. Although neither Israel nor Christians ever condoned cutting off a thieve’s hand as punishment, there were some pretty stiff penalties for thieves.

On the other hand, the writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us:

What has been will be again, […]

The UMC: On It’s Way Out

Umc is on its way out

No matter how the UMC crisis is resolved it’s over for the UMC. In the near future the denomination will be tore apart somewhere along the lines of 60/40, with 40 to 60 percent leaving the denomination to either form a new denomination or abandon the institutional church all […]

Unplugging from Cable

I was with my grandson … 13 years-old … yesterday and he asked grandma and I, “Do you have cable?” I admitted we did and he responded:

How can you stand cable and all those commercials? I hate commercials!

To be fair, so do I. In fact, my Kansas City apartment is completely unplugged from commercial […]

When Will You Hip Hop?

Do you remember the fight your church had when you added a drum kit to the sanctuary’s platform?

Well, that’s nothing compared to what’s coming.

Maybe you haven’t heard the news: As of 2019, Hip Hop is the number one selling music genre in the US … it surpassed rock-n-roll rather handily.

So, when will you […]

Embrace Entertainment

A recent comment about a local big box church (that’s successfully reaching, baptizing, and discipling young adults):

“They’ve given in to entertainment evangelism.”

… as if entertainment was a four-letter, distasteful, disgusting word.

If you’re going to reach young adults I’ve got three words for you:

Get
over
it!

Jesus specialized in entertainment evangelism. He told stories, AKA parables. He captured […]

Is VBS in Your Future?

It seems like every church campus I pass has a banner advertising their Vacation Bible School ministry. There are some new schedules I’m seeing this year … consecutive Saturdays, Sunday mornings, and one evening each week all summer.

Let me ask you a tough question: What is your goal for this year’s VBS?

No, not […]

Are You Ready for the Change?

My wife works in a pagan bookstore. She’s one of two Christians who work there – everyone else is Wiccan, polytheistic, or one shade or another of neopagan. (In a related note, the vast majority of those who patronize or work at the bookstore are former Christians who have turned their backs on the […]