Monthly Archives: April 2008

Church for Atheists?

Do atheists want to go to church too? NY Magazine writes about an 850 person meeting of the Society for Ethical Culture. There’s a growing conversation about organizing their “religion.” Instead of atheists being just political activitists fighting for separation of church and state…
…some atheists are taking seriously the idea that atheism needs to stand for […]

Encouragement to Preach the One Gospel

A true quote from Justin Childers quoting C.J. Mahaney quoting C.H. Spurgeon:
“Whitefield and Wesley might preach the gospel better, but they cannot preach a better gospel.” (I suspect a more direct quote can be found here.)
Childers goes on to say, “Prepare your heart to hear THE GOSPEL this Sunday, proclaimed by a man who cares deeply […]

Unchurched folks like old church architecture

Apparently, unchurched Americans prefer going to medieval-style church buildings instead of contemporary buildings, according to a LifeWay Research survey. This includes utilitarian and/or multi-purpose buildings aiming to be seeker-sensitive. I suppose this means that those seeking God tend to go where they think God might be. Go figure!
I do notice that when unchurched people come into […]

New Seven Deadly Sins

You may have heard that the Vatican revised the list of Seven Deadly Sins to emphasize that sin is not just an individual matter but has “social resonance.” The new list is:

Drug abuse
Morally debatable experimentation
Environmental pollution
Causing poverty
Social inequality and injustice
Genetic manipulation
Accumulating excessive wealth

P.J. O’Rourke’s reaction to these new Seven Deadly Sins is hilariously tongue-in-cheek:
Not to argue theology with the Vatican, but environmental pollution is […]

Tired: Good or Bad?

When asked “How are you doing?” the most common answer I hear is “Fine” or “Pretty good.” Can you guess what is the second-most common answer is? People say, “Tired.” Part of the reason I think is that there is a bit of virtue in being tired: “I’ve been working hard” or even “I’m really […]

How to Pray for Preachers

Justin Childers suggests how to pray for preachers:

During the week, pray for God to reveal the burden of the text to him.
During the week, pray that God would grip the preacher’s heart with His glory revealed in the text.
On Sunday morning, pray that God would free him from distractions.
On Sunday morning, pray that he would proclaim the truth boldly […]

“The Absent are Safe Here”

“The Absent are Safe Here” declares a plaque on the living room wall of Robertson McQuilkin, so the story is told by Haddon Robinson (and written about by Ray Pritchard). To deter himself and guests from speaking ill of others behind their back, McQuilkin put the plaque on display to look to when words drifted […]

Why pray aloud when God knows our hearts?

David Powlison writes about verbal prayer asking: Should we really call it a “quiet” time?
So the standard practice for both public and private prayer is to speak so as to be heard by the Person with whom you are talking. Prayer is verbal because it is relational.
…I’ve known many people whose relationship with God was significantly transformed […]