Revitalizing Church Through an Outward Focus
Evangelism in transformational churches is not viewed as an activity done by a few while everybody else watches. A church needing revitalization needs to understand that evangelism is not a spectator sport.
We appreciate decency. We applaud decency. We teach decency. We seek to develop decency. Decency matters, right?
Then why isn’t decency doing better in the presidential race?
The leading candidate to be the next leader of the free world would not pass my decency interview. I’d send him away. I’d tell my daughter to stay home. I wouldn’t entrust her to his care.
U.S. religious groups and their political leanings
Mormons are the most heavily Republican-leaning religious group in the U.S., while a pair of major historically black Protestant denominations – the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and the National Baptist Convention – are two of the most reliably Democratic groups, according to data from Pew Research Center’s 2014 Religious Landscape Study.
But on February 20th, I sang “I’ll Fly Away” with gusto because it expressed what I knew was true about Rose Marie Paden.
And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this down: Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from their hard work; for their good deeds follow them!”
Amen, and Amen. Rest in peace, Rose Marie. Say “Hello” to Lowell for me.
What To Say When You Don’t Know What to Say
Or maybe we need to be more like the friends of Job before they thought they had life figured out and tried to offer their ill-fated advice. Job had lost his children, his health and his livelihood (Job 1-2). He was in agony and his friends (like good friends do) quickly came to his side. For seven days, they sat in silence with him and were great comforts until they opened their mouths. If you’re like me and get flustered in difficult situations, the best thing to say may be nothing at all.
Yet, as much as this was what I was expecting, my eyes were opened. Maybe re-opened. Maybe this was a reminder. What I heard and learned from this report was how spiritually focused these people are. One congregation in particular, one which met under a small metal roof with no walls opened my eyes to a weakness of being a Christian in the United States. Their devotion convicts us of spiritual complacency at the very least. These Christians meet for worship or Bible study on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (and sometimes on Saturday). Here in the Bible Belt, Christians struggle to attend once a week – some once a month. However these Christians gather multiple times a week to spend time in fellowship, the apostles teaching, and in prayer (Acts 2:42).
Move over, 2 Corinthians: Proverbs takes center stage in latest Bible flap of GOP campaign
The bigger puzzler, of course, is that Rubio — like him or not as a potential president — speaks often and eloquently about his Christian faith. Why would he diss the Bible? That accusation fails to pass the “smell test.”
Most news stories on the flap covered the same basic territory, but give extra credit to the Post and CNN for reporting Rubio’s full response.
The Florida senator’s explanation of exactly what he said — and the specific Bible book the Cruz supporters were reading — will be relevant to many voters of faith.
Charles Schwab CEO tests job candidates over breakfast by making restaurant mess up order
Bettinger told The New York Times he sometimes invites potential hires to breakfast and sets up a situation where they unknowingly have to react to a wrong order.
The world’s deadliest animal isn’t a shark or even a human
The world’s deadliest creature isn’t what you’d expect. A 2014 graphic from Bill Gates’ blog outlined the number of deaths per year related to animals. Scroll down and you’ll see the biggest offender: mosquitoes.
The new Angry Birds movie whitewashes a depraved history of avian terrorism
In sum total, the angry birds aren’t just angry—they’re 100 percent consumed by a culture of death. But this is where it gets even more troubling: Not only are the birds willing to sacrifice themselves for jihad, they’re also willing to sacrifice their unborn children.
Indeed, what’s ostensibly inside the pig structures that the birds are attacking? Bird eggs. The Angry Birds are willing to flatten the very villages in which their unborn children are spirited away! In effect, they’re willing to commit infanticide—and risk the future of their entire avian race—in their obscene campaign of genocide.