139 Billion for the 1.6 Billion

May 20, 2007

I ran across a list of statistics found at the Center for Missional Research website. Two stats in particular struck me: First and foremost, approximately 1.6 billion people have never heard the eternally significant good news in this sentence: "For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Second, if all members of historically Christian churches in the United States had raised the amount Read more [...]

Minority Population Tops 100 Million

May 19, 2007

This article grabbed my attention yesterday. Ethnic and racial minorities now account for about 1/3 of the United States’ population, breaking through the 100 million barrier for the first time. On a national scale, Hispanics are the fastest growing, followed by Asians. There are more minorities in the United States today than there were people in 1910. And four states along with the District of Columbia have more minorities than members of the majority white population. I pastor in a region Read more [...]

Appreciate What You Don’t Deserve

May 10, 2007

I’m on vacation at the beach this week. Today started with waking up at 10AM, then reading on the beach, swimming, biking with my wife, and finally an evening at a nice restaurant. Needless to say, I feel refreshed. On our way down to the white sands of the panhandle of Florida (about a 12 hour drive for us), my wife and I discussed the fact that I deserved this getaway. I just finished another semester at the seminary and completed a large research project. After a long semester, I felt like Read more [...]

Research Shows Religion Benefits Children

May 4, 2007

Proverbs 22:6 Teach a youth about the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Go figure. Church is good for kids. A recent study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Educational Statistics (or NCES for short) validates what many of us already knew anecdotally. In fact, the more the parents attend church with their children, the better the kids fare in regards to behavior, emotional needs, and cognitive ability. Additionally, as the frequency Read more [...]

The Church and the Purple Pen

May 2, 2007

When I was in the corporate world, my boss would sometimes jokingly use a purple pen to review my work. He was poking fun at the fact that some school systems think red might be too offensive a color with which to grade. Like I mentioned in my last post, the purple pen was before my time. My teachers used lots of red ink on my work. Such is our current culture. We hate to tell others that they are failing in a certain area. We don’t want our children to experience the pain of being below average. Read more [...]

Flunking Out of Church

April 27, 2007

I can vividly recall one of my first tests in school. It was a new school year, and my second grade teacher was returning the first quiz. I looked at my paper and smiled. I was pleased because I had gotten half the questions right for a grade of 50%. Getting one out of every two was pretty good. I played little league, so I knew that I was batting .500. I felt real smart Excitement filled me as I went home to show my parents. After I handed them my paper, their expressions led me to believe that Read more [...]

Growing Church Plants

April 24, 2007

Ed Stetzer and company at the North American Mission Board recently unveiled some research that shows why some church plants experience higher rates of growth than others. Below is a summary of the ten factors revealed in this research that proved to be the most successful in helping a church plant grow: Location: Schools prove to be excellent locations for church plants for two three big reasons – visibility, space, and low cost. Ministry: In general, the best way to reach new families is reaching Read more [...]

The Name Forbidden

April 19, 2007

First and foremost, before reading my blog please take a moment to say a prayer for those affected by the Virginia Tech shootings. Erin, my wife, once dog sat for a week. It was while we were engaged, and I thought that I would be a good fiancé and help her out one afternoon while she was caring for these animals. So I took a pizza and a movie over to the house since we couldn’t go on a date that night. “Need any help, Honey?” “Yes, could you give the dogs a treat while I’m cleaning Read more [...]

For Advanced Thinkers Only!

April 15, 2007

There is a club out there that I have no desire to join. In fact, very few I would say truly want to be a part of this club. But those of us who attend semi-scaries seminaries can fall onto its membership roll all too easily. This club’s motto: the gospel is for advanced thinkers only. The only entrance prerequisite: arrogance. The trap of arrogance lurks around many churches. I too struggle with taking pride in what I know about the Bible. The passionate pursuit of spiritual knowledge can make Read more [...]

Church Drop-Outs

April 12, 2007

Every church has its fair share of members who spread the grass-is-greener syndrome. They are usually in the vocal minority, and they usually like to argue about non-essential matters, such as whether the bulletins need to be tri-fold or bi-fold. They also have a propensity to “drop out” as soon as their needs aren’t being met at their church. LifeWay Research recently conducted a study on why this group of people play church hopscotch. LifeWay dubs them church switchers. Not surprisingly, Read more [...]