Five “Fake News” Stories That People Believe about Early Christianity
- Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.
- The divinity of Jesus was not decided until the council of Nicea in the fourth century.
- Christians did not have a “Bible” until the time of Constantine.
- The “Gnostic” Gospels like the Gospel of Thomas were just as popular as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
- The words of the New Testament have been radically changed and corrupted in the earliest centuries.
12 Principles on How to Disagree with Other Christians
- Welcome those who disagree with you (Rom. 14:1–2).
- Those who have freedom of conscience must not look down on those who don’t (Rom. 14:3–4).
- Those whose conscience restricts them must not be judgmental toward those who have freedom (Rom. 14:3–4).
- Each believer must be fully convinced of their position in their own conscience (Rom. 14:5)
- Assume that others are partaking or refraining for the glory of God (Rom. 14:6–9).
- Do not judge each other in these matters because we will all someday stand before the judgment seat of God (Rom. 14:10–12).
- Your freedom to eat meat is correct, but don’t let your freedom destroy the faith of a weak brother or sister (Rom. 14:13–15).
- Disagreements about eating and drinking are not important in the kingdom of God; building each other up in righteousness, peace, and joy is the important thing (Rom. 14:16–21).
- If you have freedom, don’t flaunt it; if you are strict, don’t expect others to be strict like you (Rom. 14:22a).
- A person who lives according to their conscience is blessed (Rom. 14:22b–23).
- We must follow the example of Christ, who put others first (Rom. 15:1–6).
- We bring glory to God when we welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us (Rom. 15:7).
Seven Costs to Being an Evangelistic Leader in Your Church
- It is spiritual warfare.
- You will be viewed as narrowed minded.
- Something else must be sacrificed when you are an evangelistic leader.
- Some of your members will complain.
- New converts will be seen as threats or inconveniences in your church.
- Discussing theology is easier than doing theology.
- You will have to break out of your holy huddles.
We Are Saved By Feelings Alone
To be clear, I don’t want to dismiss the importance of emotions in spirituality. Joy, peace, wonder, and gratitude are all hugely important. But love, generosity, hospitality, kindness and peace-making are behaviors. My concern here is the feeling/action divorce which allows many Christians to feel loved but who aren’t very loving.
In search of the minimum viable audience
The solution is simple but counterintuitive: Stake out the smallest market you can imagine. The smallest market that can sustain you, the smallest market you can adequately serve. This goes against everything you learned in capitalism school, but in fact, it’s the simplest way to matter.
When you have your eyes firmly focused on the minimum viable audience, you will double down on all the changes you seek to make. Your quality, your story and your impact will all get better.
Rural and urban gun owners have different experiences, views on gun policy
Rural and urban gun owners, in particular, differ in many ways. Three-quarters of those in rural areas (75%) say they own more than one gun, compared with 48% of urban gun owners. And while protection tops the list of reasons for owning a gun among both groups, gun owners in rural areas are far more likely than urban owners to cite hunting as a major reason they own a gun (48% vs. 27%, respectively).
Sharp Partisan Divisions in Views of National Institutions
A majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (58%) now say that colleges and universities have a negative effect on the country, up from 45% last year. By contrast, most Democrats and Democratic leaners (72%) say colleges and universities have a positive effect, which is little changed from recent years.
Human chain of 80 saves family from drowning off Florida beach
Strangers on a Florida Panhandle beach formed an 80-person human chain to rescue nine members of a family who had been caught in a riptide and pulled too far from shore.