A couple of paragraphs from this article jumped out at me. I think the author really nails a major problem in how the church engages men. (I think the author may have done this without fully realizing it’s importance or full depth.) Here’s what I’ve observed: a lot of men avoid men’s ministry because they
Category: Ecclesiology / Church
Shrewd As Snakes: Spiritual Abuse
I have heard of spiritual abuse but haven’t had a clear idea what it was or wasn’t. However, after reading these two articles today: “Poets Will Save the Church” and “‘Don’t Talk About It’: Reflections on Spiritual Abuse“, I believe I have a significantly better definition for it. Spiritual abuse is using God, the bible,
Shane Claiborne on Singleness, Marriage, and Community
…our deepest longing is not for sex but for love and that what we really long for is community. You can live without sex, but you can’t live without love… I still believe there is tons of work to do in the Church—and the world in general—to support celibate singles. So many champions of our
Hot Topics
No, I’m not talking about the “goth” is now mainstream (10+ years ago) mall retail stores. I’m referring to topics which people are talking a lot about here recently. I usually pay little attention to these types of conversations, because there’s generally so little of value ever said by anyone. I heard a report on
Friendship Between Men and Women: Sacred Friendship Gathering, Part 4
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Another main theme of the gathering was what a great witness it would be to the world if they saw Christians have healthy, loving friendships between women and men. As Jim Henderson later commented, “It would be powerful for the church to actually ‘lead’ this conversation but I don’t
Shrewd as Snakes: Forceful Messages
There are some messages I have heard which might be described as powerful, strong, or forceful. There is a world of difference between a message which is powerful because it boldly speaks the truth, and one which seems strong because of the aggressiveness of the messenger. This is a very dangerous situation, because a convincing
A Church of Men and A Church of Women?
There are not two churches, the church of men and the church of women, just as there are not Jew and Gentile, slave and free, etc. Of course we have made countless divisions among ourselves. However these are merely illusions. I don’t mean that they don’t exist or don’t matter. What I mean is that
The Central Core Foundation: Christ’s Life
As you may be aware, I follow a number of other church leaders. I have read many of their books and follow those who blog online (see my links). I have found most of what each are doing to be complimentary, overlapping, and quite similar in many regards. I certainly believe this gives some weight
Church for Men
I was asked to respond to an article by David Murrow titled “Where Have the Men Gone?”. I’ve been considering writing my thoughts about his ideas anyway and this provided a good catalyst. In this article, he touches on most of the major points I’ve gathered from reading his blog. (He is also the author
Worship or Concert?
I recently overhead a friend of mine commenting about the worship band at church. Basically, he felt that it was too showy. He mentioned how one of the guitarist “struts around stage”. This quickly got me thinking. Being a committed Christian who has attended a lot of church services and being a musician who has