America welcomes Christians, Jews; atheists, Muslims not so much
Nearly 7 in 10 (69 percent) recognize the USA as a nation of many religions. However, that doesn’t translate to a welcome mat at everyone’s front door.
Roughly 9 in 10 Americans say it is a welcoming place for Christians and Jews. Only 67 percent say it is welcoming to atheists, usually in last place on public favorability polls.
And just 57 percent see America as welcoming to Muslims, according to the survey, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
Why the missional movement will fail
The missional movement will fail because, by-and-large, we are having a discussion about mission devoid of discipleship. Unless we start having more discussion about discipleship and how we make missionaries out of disciples, this movement will stall and fade. Any discussion about mission must begin with discipleship.
Go Big or Go Home: How “Big” Has Invaded the Church
But the concept of “big” outside of God himself is simply not part of the gospel. In fact, the word only appears four times in the whole New Testament, most tellingly in a cautionary tale: the Parable of the Rich Fool who looks for shalom in his bounty. “I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain” (Luke 12:18). Isn’t this exactly what we do when we build big churches? We seek to “store up” the faithful—our faithful—to secure the proof that our lives of Kingdom work have not been in vain? We create a thumping worship experience to mirror the buzz of the Holy Spirit, who can’t always be counted on to show.
Do you really think God needs you or I to do anything in order to accomplish what he wills? We’re overestimating our value by 100% if we do. God uses means to accomplish his will, yes. However, he decides the means, not us. He chooses his servants, both great and small, to accomplish the tasks he wants them to do. We’re going by the wrong economy if we measure kingdom impact by worldly numbers.
Loving The Enemy: Jesus and The Early Church
We’re so comfortable with the idea of necessary violence as part of our way of living, that it is almost impossible to fathom that Jesus is calling us to a non-violent way of life as part of our kingdom witness. Seriously! Listening to some Christians defend the use of violence leaves me the impression that the Jesus they follow entered into Jerusalem with military gear and an assault rifle, like captured in the picture here.
10 Things the Church Can Learn from Community Theater
Hearing Corey’s excitement for the show and his experience in this intergenerational cast, I couldn’t help but think of the many aspects of community theater which are touchstones of good spiritual community … and which the Church may need to be reminded of occasionally.
Ushers serve as ‘doorkeepers’ to worship
If church is a place where souls are saved, he reasons, what could be more important than getting people in the doors and engaging them?
“If you come in and nobody speaks to you, you carry that mood to your seat. So when people come in, I always look them, smile and say ‘Good morning,'” says Wilson, 82, who began ushering at Perkins Square at 8, returned to it at Enon in 1957 and hasn’t stopped. “They can focus their minds on what the pastor is saying.”
Man calls police to arrest his cat for eating his bacon
The dispatcher kept her cool when she asked if the man wanted to press charges against his wife or against his cat. When the man replied that he wanted them both arrested, the dispatcher said:
“Sir, it’s not an offense to let your cat eat your bacon. And we don’t arrest cats.”
The man shockingly attempted to protest the dispatcher’s statement. He insisted that his girlfriend enabled the cat to steal his food, and thus his girlfriend should be arrested. Finally, after what people are calling an unbelievable defense, the man cut his losses and ended the call.
Thanks for the mention!