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ministry

on sacrifice, service, and strength: [saint luke, the winged ox]

authentic christianity, bible literacy, ministry, READ, the latest 0 comments

Historically, Luke has been symbolized by a winged ox or bull. It’s a figure of sacrifice, service and strength. These are the three qualities about Luke the New Testament writer that stand out the most as I try to imagine what his life would have been like. Stepping into the [...]
how to ensure your efforts land you in the right place

activist faith, for reflection, ministry, missions, outreach, SERVE, the latest 2 comments

Trajectory. This word has buzzed around in my head all week. tra·jec·to·ry [truh-jek-tuh-ree] noun, plural -ries. 1. the curve described by a projectile, rocket, or the like in its flight. 2. the path described by an object moving in air or space under the influence of such forces as thrust, wind resistance, and gravity, esp the curved path of a projectile I blame Pastor Steve McCoy [...]
[reasons they leave #6] the church is unfriendly to doubt

engaged in culture, ministry, outreach, the latest 10 comments

My Thoughts on Reason #6 of The Barna Report They threw leaves into the air on this beautiful Fall Sunday. I wish all our days could reflect such happy abandon. I stood in front of my church across from the courthouse plaza watching those kids. On my mind, like weights, [...]
[video] 60 seconds to significance: why is work important?

engaged in culture, ministry, the latest, worldviews 3 comments

It’s all about transforming lives. I’ve seen this in rural Kenya, as well as downtown in the city where I live in here in Florida. We all want to feel like we’re able to contribute to society in some way. In fact, I could argue that one of the [...]
[reasons they leave #5] the exclusivity of christianity

engaged in culture, ministry, outreach, the latest 14 comments

“I’ve got good news and bad news,” I announced to the fifteen or so members of my church’s high school youth group. “The good news is I brought cookies. The bad news is I need help with my homework. I’ve been asked to write a blog post about this reason [...]
[reasons they leave #4] the church is judgemental regarding sexuality

engaged in culture, ministry, the latest 14 comments

Is leaving the church the same thing as leaving God? Just days ago, I received this text message from a teenager struggling with finding Christian community. God is important to her. She’s a young woman with faith much stronger than many adults. And yet she still wonders how the church [...]
[reasons they leave #3] church antagonism towards science

engaged in culture, ministry, outreach, the latest 12 comments

“God, why is the sky blue?” I was eighteen when I finally asked Him; not relying on the answers that I was taught all my life in school. His reply ended up being more deeply touching and radical than anything I’d ever heard, and, from that moment on, I felt [...]
[reasons they leave #2] shallow experience of christianity

engaged in culture, ministry, outreach, the latest 27 comments

Reason #2 – Teens’ and twentysomethings’ experience of Christianity is shallow. A second reason that young people depart church as young adults is that something is lacking in their experience of church. One-third said “church is boring” (31%). One-quarter of these young adults said that “faith is not relevant to [...]
[reasons they leave #1] churches seem overprotective

engaged in culture, ministry, the latest 34 comments

the back story, my story, and his story (about why young Christians are leaving the church) In Barna’s research on why young Christians are leaving the church, they identify some numbers worth repeating here: 1) the project spanned five years; 2) the research included eight national studies; and 3) nearly [...]
why young christians leave church

engaged in culture, headline, media, ministry 21 comments

Three out of five. That’s what the research shows. According to Barna Group, 59% of young adults leave church permanently or for an extended period for one of the six reasons that we’ll be talking about here. Regardless of the reasons, that’s a number that disturbs me. I don’t like [...]
to the ends of the earth

headline, ministry, missions, outreach, READ, SERVE, the latest 1 comment

I’m standing in a remote village in Haiti on the shore of the massive Lake Azeui. I upload a picture of some of the members of our mission team to Facebook and Twitter. They’re singing and dancing with the locals. There’s a communication gap, but music always seems to bring [...]