Rebutting the ARIS Survey Results

Today I was reading a recent USA Today editorial piece, which examines the much discussed, recently announced “decline and fall of Christian America.” This op-ed was mostly a critique of the Newsweek thesis, that the recent ARIS survey showed a clear decline in Christian influence on American life.  Basically, Stephen Prothero points out that even though the percentage of Americans claiming a particular religion (or denomination thereof) has decreased since the study began in 1990, much of those

Should we be a Christian Nation?

In order to look at American post-Christianity, it is of the utmost importance to examine the question of whether it should be a goal for America to be considered “Christian” in the first place.  Now, I don’t have a desire to get into the political quagmire of the intentions of the Constitution and the Founding [...]

Things Not to Do (1)

Do not put “Welcome to our little website,” or any derivative of this on your website. People know that it is your website.  They just clicked or typed the url to get there.  You can say “welcome” if you really feel the need, but the full message just really sounds hokey.  It also gives the [...]

Finding Meaning in Leviticus

Many of you know that I just recently finished going through the Bible cover-to-cover in 90 days.  It was a challenge in many ways, but in another sense it was exciting and refreshing.  I don’t think that reading so much scripture so fast is necessarily the best way to study always.  I often counsel students to whom I minister to read it slowly, in bite-sized chunks, and think about it.   I did learn different things than when I’d read the Bible through in a much longer period of time, though. Read the rest of this entry »

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Today’s Video Infection

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In a New York Minute

This was my sermon from March 22nd at Grace Vineyard.  I hope that it affects your life.  Please leave any comments.  I love the interaction regarding my sermons.

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9000 Foot Biscuits

Tonight Peichi was baking biscuits and watching American idol.  She is a really good cook.  As she was finishing, she asked me to come help take them out of the oven.  She said that she was afraid that they were going to get a “little bit high,” as there was a rack a few inches [...]

What I Want to Want

I started out the day re-reading a section of Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline.  I tried to allow his section on Christian meditation to sink in as I ate lunch, and then headed out.  It was a perfect day today, one of those Texas days that you just can’t waste.  There were no sweeping Spring hailstorms, or silent freezes of winter, and the summer furnace had not been stoked yet.  Outside, there was nothing but miles of blue sky and all of creation going through its April busywork.  I went to the park.

As I turned off the car in the parking lot, I grabbed my Bible.  I was looking for a passage in Philippians, but ended up reading 1 Thessalonians 5:5.  “You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.” I let that seep in, and I began to walk, meditating on being a son of light and day. Read the rest of this entry »

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What Makes a Good Church Web Ministry (Part 4a)

I just watched a video webinar from Drew Goodmanson and Cynthia Ware that was linked from Drew’s site. It presents the data from a survey that they helped conduct. I must say that it is making me re-examine some long held preconceptions of church social networking in my mind. I am coming to realize that much of what I had thought two years ago is not working out socially the way I expected. It is one of those slap-in-the-forhead moments.

Peichi’s Mailbag

Peichi has a hobby of signing up for things online to be sent to her in the mail. This is a really good thing. She gets free samples of things that are just breaking into the market. She gets coupons that save us hundreds of dollars. Some people go shopping and come home over a [...]