Nicholas Kristof has another column about the awful reality of human trafficking. (Reader discretion advised.) So for those of you doubtful that “modern slavery” really is an issue for the new international agenda, think of Srey Pov—and multiply her by millions. If what such girls experience isn’t slavery, that word has no meaning. It’s time … Continue reading »
Tagged with church …
Pray for Yousef Nadarkhani
Have you heard about Yousef Nadarkhani? He’s a Christian pastor in Iran who is facing state-approved murder for the “crime” of apostasy. Apostasy is turning away from a belief, either to another faith or to atheism. It’s a crime punishable by death in some (all?) countries with Islamic legal systems. In civilized places, it’s a … Continue reading »
Age-Segregated Worship On the Way Out?
Here’s an interesting sign of the times: Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale now offers only one service at 10:15 a.m. with, essentially, blended worship – that means no more separation based on age, likes and comfort. For years Coral Ridge was the best-known Presbyterian Church (PCA) in the country, due to the influence … Continue reading »
The Church and Working Class Americans
Here’s an interesting finding, reported by LiveScience today: In the 1980s, the researchers found, there was little difference in religious participation between high school- and college-educated whites. But by the 2000s, a gap appeared. Today, 46 percent of college-educated whites go to a church, synagogue or equivalent institution at least once a month, compared with … Continue reading »
Reminder: Some People Are Jerks
The other day, I watched this video on YouTube. It’s amazing. I can’t imagine how much effort went into filming it. The song itself is fine, but, frankly, I heard it enough a couple of decades ago to last me. I’m not sure what it has to do with Grand Rapids, but, whatever. (According to … Continue reading »
On Mission Statements (Why Waste Time On ~)
In another article, I talked about our new mission statement (“Sharing the Life of Christ”). I’ll be saying more about it later, but first I wanted to answer the obvious question: “Why a mission statement?” Mission statements are infamous wastes of time. People sit around hashing them out, they’re announced with great fanfare, and then, … Continue reading »
Sharing the Life of Christ
I heartily approve of the mission statement recently adopted by our Session: “Sharing the Life of Christ.” The first reason I like it is that it’s concise. I used to work in big companies that had those horrible mission statements nobody could repeat or even knew existed, half a page of fashionable buzzwords strung together, … Continue reading »
The Seminary Bubble
Via Twitter, I saw a fascinating article on Forbes’ blog about the “Seminary Bubble.” Excerpt: After all, what matters more to the customer, the member: the ability to discuss the relationship between Paul Tillich’s theory of ultimate concern and Karl Barth’s version of neo-orthodoxy in light of the demythologizing textual hermeneutic of Bultman, or the … Continue reading »
Why No Sermon Podcast?
Here’s why there’s not a sermon podcast again this week. See the yellow highlighted region? That yellow portion is the sermon. The microphone was off, or something. I don’t know if it was something I did wrong, or something in the soundbooth. (Occam’s Razor says it was me.) But the past couple of weeks, it’s … Continue reading »
Members and Attendees
Now you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it.—1 Corinthians 12:27 Are you a member of this church? Would you like to be? Our denomination, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has a website where you can find different types of reports by our Research Services arm. If you’ve ever wondered how many Presbyterians … Continue reading »