Continued from Part 1
Rules of Engagement
Toward the end of the book, Andy Stanley gets into the subject of preaching and engaging people and finally how a church can become “Deep and Wide.”
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Trusting the True Shepherd
You don’t have to spend much time in the Christian blogosphere before you encounter the stories of those who have been hurt by the Church. These first-person narratives are often raw and unsettling—they include details that most of us would rather not know, and ones that once we do, we can’t easily erase from our minds. These stories are unusually transparent and reveal a pain that is clearly lingering. Because of this, it’s easy for some to discount them as exercises in self-absorption and unhealthy introspection. After all, shouldn’t we leave the past in the past? Can’t we just move on?
And we could do that, we could let things lie if spiritual abuse weren’t an ever-present reality, if it didn’t regularly make headline news. We could move on if pastors didn’t tell seventeen-year-old girls that they were “God’s gifts” to fulfill them sexually. If victims of such abuse were not made to feel that they were somehow responsible or that they would hurt “Christ’s cause” to speak about it.
And I guess we could leave well enough alone if spiritual abuse didn’t cut both ways. If ministries didn’t routinely supplement budgets by underpaying staff with the caveat that they’ll be eligible for welfare. If pastors’ wives and children weren’t targeted for the sake of simply existing. If 1,700 pastors didn’t leave ministry every month—many out of despair and discouragement.
But they do.
Book Review - The Great Evangelical Recession
The sands are shifting. The times are changing. And like an ant on the edge of a sand trap, the American Church can sense something is happening. Ask any observer of evangelicalism—inside the Church or out—and you will hear some explanation for the problem. Some point to our own failings, and others point at the encroaching tide of secularism. It’s our smug self-satisfaction, or it’s the bold advance of the homosexual agenda. But something is wrong, and change is afoot.
Texas Church to Host Handgun License Class
Body
“It’ll make people feel more secure about where they are, and hopefully the more people get the license the safer we’ll all be”
Danish church makes outrageous demand: It's pastor must believe in God
Body
“Europeans have become accustomed to the idea that the church is a public service in line with your telephone company or power plant.”
Book Review - Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City
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I saw a slight criticism of Tim Keller’s book Center Church about a month after it was released this September, but there was no way that the critic could have read the entire book so fast! The criticism got my attention and after reading what Keller had to say about his own book, I decided to buy it and check it out. I had my doubts after having read a few comments from people who voiced their reservations about Keller’s direction. So, I want to lay out a report of what the book is about and what some of the key thoughts are that drive the direction of this book.
