Creepy Chick-fil-A and New York(er) Values: The Shock (and Slander) are Getting Old
It’s easy to shake our fists at a culture that seems to at every turn want to make religious expression not easier, but harder for people of faith.
But, we must remember that our anger and frustration will never win hearts or change minds for Christ. Those emotions are a barrier to loving and caring for others well in Jesus’ name.
Just as we wish to be given the freedom to hold out views, so too should we give others the latitude to express theirs. Open discussion and debate about these issues can be helpful; in person screaming matches and comment wars on social media are not.
6 Reasons Many Pastors Don’t Need An Office Any More
- We’re More Mobile Now
- People Don’t Drop By As Much As They Used To
- Offices Cost Too Much
- An Office Can Reinforce A Punch-the-Clock Mentality
- An Office Can Stifle Creativity
- An Office Can Isolate Us
7 Ways To Grow Church Attendance By Increasing Engagement
- Challenge People To Serve
- Provide A Clear Path Toward Involvement
- Focus All Programs Around Your Mission
- Make It Uncomfortable To Stay Disengaged
- Preach Action, Not Knowledge
- Try Using Active Language
- Reward Progress
Instead of xenophobia—a fear of those who are different than us—the church is to adopt philoxenos—a love of those who are different from us. We are to be hospitable to those who are different than us. We are to sit at table with the stranger.
Increasing Leadership By Decreasing Control
To decrease control by trusting that God awaits to take all of us into a new horizon of wonder and awe will, in effect, increase our leadership skills. When a few in America dared cross the mighty Mississippi and head for the West they had no concept of Rocky Mountains, Arizona Desert, nor the eventual downtown Los Angeles. So it is in the church. Each day we stand at the Mississippi of spiritual potential with a call from the Spirit to cross it.
Muslims in America: Immigrants and those born in U.S. see life differently in many ways
When Pew Research Center surveyed American Muslim adults in 2017, the findings revealed important similarities between foreign-born and U.S.-born Muslims. For example, immigrants and U.S.-born Muslims engage in religious practices at about the same levels. At the same time, there are also important differences. Immigrants tend to have secured a stronger socioeconomic foothold than U.S.-born Muslims, and they generally express more positive opinions about their place in America.
Generation X — not millennials — is changing the nature of work
The generation that is quickly occupying the majority of business leadership roles is one that’s grown up playing video games, spends the most time shopping online, and uses social media more habitually than any other generation.
If you were thinking it’s millennials, that’s probably because they’ve dominated the media’s focus for the past decade. But it’s actually Generation X, which covers those born between 1965 and 1981 by our definition.
Women Who Watched “The X-Files” Pursued More Careers In STEM
Women who watched The X-Files regularly were 50% more likely to work in STEM, and nearly two-thirds of the women surveyed who work in STEM said Scully served as a role model.
Google’s astounding new search tool will answer any question by reading thousands of books
Google now has a way to convene that kind of forum—in half a second. Speaking to TED curator Chris Anderson yesterday (April 13), legendary futurist Ray Kurzweil introduced “Talk to Books” a new way to find answers on the internet that should bring pleasure to researchers, bookworms and anyone seeking to expand their thinking on a range of topics.