Served or Serving: Curing the Sickness That’s Killing The Church
But what might happen if we thought of the church, not as a set of structures, programming, goods, and services, but as a meal? The question we have to answer together is whether this meal is more like going to a restaurant or sharing a potluck. If it’s a restaurant, our tastes matter. We can pick and choose from the menu and request our salad dressing be served “on the side.” We can rightly regard the pace, kindness, and delivery of service. Our needs and perceptions matter at a restaurant. If we like the “experience,” we can leave a tip.
A potluck is different. If church is a potluck, we know to arrive with an offering and prepared to serve and be served. We demonstrate gratitude to the others who have come equally prepared to provide a feast for all.
I Am the Center of the Universe
I can only come to one of two conclusions about my frustration over this inevitable fact of life: either I am the center of the universe and you all don’t know, or — I am not the center of the universe and I am upset that you all know.
Most Hispanic Christians Ambivalent Toward Israel
Among Hispanic Christians who support Israel’s right to exist, few cite the Bible (7 percent) or Bible prophecy (11 percent) as the reason for doing so. Instead, 55 percent say Israel has a right to exist because every nation has a right to exist.
Five Overcorrection Mistakes Churches Make
- A different kind of pastor.
- A different emphasis on evangelism or discipleship.
- A different emphasis on reaching newcomers versus taking care of the members.
- A different kind of leadership structure.
- A different kind of system to oversee financial controls.
Too often, however, our teachers receive no or few expressions of thanks. This shouldn’t be. In the strongest possible way, I want to encourage churches to do more to thank their teachers. Here are a few ideas.
It turns out, though, that the one who usually lets us down is us.
Our unwillingness to leap, to commit, to trust our own abilities.
It’s the internal narrative that seeks disaster just as much as it craves reassurance.
That’s the one we ought to be vilifying, fortifying ourselves against and frightened of.
Millennials are the most likely generation of Americans to use public libraries
A new analysis of Pew Research Center survey data from fall 2016 finds that 53% of Millennials (those ages 18 to 35 at the time) say they used a library or bookmobile in the previous 12 months. That compares with 45% of Gen Xers, 43% of Baby Boomers and 36% of those in the Silent Generation.
Gangs of aggressive killer whales are shaking down Alaska fishing boats for their fish
The orcas will wait all day for a fisher to accumulate a catch of halibut, and then deftly rob them blind. They will relentlessly stalk individual fishing boats, sometimes forcing them back into port.
The reason Manu Ginobili means so much to San Antonio
He’s commonly known as a man of the people. It’s not unusual to catch him in the middle of a conversation with a random fan. In a city where most residents literally speak his language, one could argue he’s more loved as a person than Tim Duncan, who is the godfather of the team, but an undisputedly distant one.