Featured Poll

Okay, we assume “It Depends.” But, beyond that, for most Christians today in the western culture, what is a realistic perspective? Every church has its party line about attendance and the relationship of the official schedule and what good Christians are expected to do regarding that schedule.

We are not talking about baseball teams, Women’s Bible studies, or special concerts or fundraisers. We are not talking about showers, weddings, or funerals or Good Friday, but the regular weekly routine.

Aged baby boomers introduce choruses from the 1990’s as contemporary choruses. Are they right? The term is quite relative. Compared to the hymns of Isaac Watts, for example, they are contemporary. But only relatively so, IMO.

Others use the term as a code word for “rock” or “light rock,” which, at one time, was a taboo word in much of the evangelical world at large (esp. Baptists).

So when you hear the term, how do you interpret it?

Your comments make polls more interesting, so please feel free to opine.

I have friends who are Plymouth Brethren, and they will not allow a woman to ask questions in a Bible study based upon one of the passages below. Although I do not quite interpret things the same way they do, I respect them because they are trying to let the Bible, not the culture, dictate their beliefs.

What is your view on this matter? The trend toward shorter sermons and more music has not caught on everywhere. Likewise, many pastors still preach expository sermons that dig deeply into the Word, as well as well-studied topical sermons that are grounded in Scripture. In some churches, the Scriptures are read with little meaning, and texts are never expounded. Others emphasize theology and church history, but do so at the expense of actual Bible content. What are your views on the matter? All the aspects of a service matter, but do they matter equally? What is your view?

I have only pastored two churches, and neither had a budget (but we did have spending limits in certain categories). One was a small church of about 45, the other not as small (about 200 for at least a decade of my time there). My last church didn’t have a loan for over 25 years and both churches stayed in the black.

Of course, a lot of things factor into this, like buildings that were paid off, etc. I know of a Christian organization that did well financially until they got a budget.

Paul wrote (NKJV)

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.

I chose the NKJV because it retains the word “carnal,” and the term “carnal Christian” was derived from that. So do genuinely carnal Christians exist? Or are these new believers who haven’t progressed much? Or is Paul uncertain about their conversion?

This could tie in with 2 Corinthians 13:5 perhaps?

Terms are words. Words can create a certain atmosphere, and that is certainly true with labels like “fundamentalist” or “evangelical.”

Of course these terms can be modified “neo-fundamentalist, neo-evangelical.” If we polled about all possible descriptors, it would be too much.

So please approximate the terminology nearest to where you are when it comes to using the term “fundamentalist” and “conservative evangelical.”

We have had many such polls and discussions in the past, so this is an attempt to monitor trends in terminology.

Lately I’ve found myself looking at developments on the world stage, as they say, and thinking, are these events going to be in the history books of the future as turning points that lead to WWIII?

• Increasing nuclear capability in N. Korea
• Increasing Russian aggression, end of nuclear arms treaties
• China… enough said.
• Iran’s continued progress toward nuclear capability.

Soon it will be three years since we were quarantined. While many churches still live stream as a result (like we do) and gained some out of town viewers, many churches I know of (including ours) have not bounced back when it comes to in-person attendance. But it might simply be that the little churches are shrinking while bigger ones are growing. Or not? What is your church in-person attendance situation since the quarantine?

Poll Results

Has your church in-person attendance recovered from the COVID decline?

I believe a lot of things I would rather not believe. There are things about God I do not particularly like, but I realize the problem is mine. The God of the Bible and the teachings of the Word can be offensive or painful to embrace. Which is the hardest? Yours might not be on the list, so please choose from the list but then feel free to comment.

The question relates not to the world at large, but young, new, or less mature believers. This is obviously based upon your experiences and observations, and is about the situaiton in the now, not the past.

Poll Results