Over 100 years ago, Charles Spurgeon proclaimed every Christian here is either a missionary or an imposter. Recollect that. You either try to spread abroad the Kingdom of Christ, or else you do not love Him at all. You are either doing good, or you are not good yourself. That kind of challenge has been [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Consumerism’
14 Ways to Raise the Bar
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged clarity, community, Connecting, Consumerism, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Leadership, Missional Ministry, Relevant Ministry, Valuable life goal, vision on September 26, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Cynical Sensitive
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged building momentum, community, Connecting, connection, Consumerism, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Leadership, Relevant Ministry on August 22, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Thirty years ago, Bill Hybel pioneered the “Seeker Sensitive” movement and became the poster child for evangelicals. Casual, connecting, creativity, kicking music, themed Sunday school, anonymity and low expectations were in. Recently, Hybel’s “Reveal Study” highlighted surprising trends. A large part of his church failed to become disciples once they were introduced to Christ. Even [...]
Yes, I’m Addicted
Posted in Bahler Family Doing Life, Evolving Culture, tagged Authentic, Bahler Family Doing Life, community, Connecting, connection, Consumerism, Hope, Valuable life goal on June 21, 2011 | 1 Comment »
I’m an addict. I must confess. Maybe you are as well? I took the Father’s Day challenge and unhooked from the web all day Sunday. I even let my smart phone battery go dead. And it was, well…lonely. For 24 hours I lost connection with all my on-line chatter. No news, Facebook, email, text messages, [...]
Taking Risks
Posted in Bahler Family Doing Life, Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Bahler Family Doing Life, Connecting, connection, Consumerism, Evolving Culture, Faith, Hope, Leadership, love, missional, Purpose, Relevant Ministry, Valuable life goal on May 11, 2011 | 6 Comments »
Ten months ago, we met our 12-year-old daughter in China. We were scared and overwhelmed but driven by the vision that we were being called to stretch beyond our own comfort. Francis Chan’s words were ringing in our ears: God hasn’t called us to comfort. We’re called to take big risks so that if He [...]
I Want, I Need
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Consumerism, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Hope, Leadership, Relevant Ministry on February 8, 2011 | 4 Comments »
Friday, February 11th we’re hosting a pastor’s lunch in Naperville, IL. Alan Hirsch is speaking on “Everyday Mission For Everyday People.“ We filled the 100 available seats in four days and have a waiting list. What is stirring this passion to find purpose beyond ourselves? James Emory Wright’s thoughts are very revealing: The names say [...]
Barnes & Noble, USA Today, and The Church
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged alignment, building momentum, communication, community, Connecting, connection, Consumerism, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Leadership, Purpose, Relevant Ministry, vision on September 7, 2010 | 6 Comments »
I used to love hanging out at Barnes & Noble, sipping tea and browsing books. But I haven’t been there in months. Here’s a great read from the “Church and Culture” blog that explains why Barnes & Noble has been floundering and offers excellent advice for the church: “How did Barnes and Noble fall so far [...]
The Most Important Person
Posted in Bahler Family Doing Life, tagged Bahler Family Doing Life, communication, Connecting, Consumerism, Faith, Hope, Leadership, legitimacy, love, Purpose, trust, Valuable life goal, vision on July 16, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Pastor and sociologist Tony Campolo explains the concept of “The Looking Glass Self” like this: We see ourselves as we believe the most important person in our life sees us. Tony tells us that if we make Christ the most important person in our life and recognize that he loved us enough to die a [...]
Fast-Food Fasting
Posted in Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Consumerism, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Faith, Leadership, Purpose, Relevant Ministry on July 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Outreach magazine reports that Brian Davis, the externally focused director at LifeBridge Christian Church in Colorado, challenged the congregation to fast from fast-food for 30 days and donate the money saved to the local food bank. The Fast 4 Food campaign raised more than $40,00 in one month at the 3000-member church. One family reportedly [...]
We Want to Participate
Posted in Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged alignment, Connecting, Consumerism, creative spirit, Evolving Culture, Hope, Leadership, missional, Missional Ministry, Purpose, Valuable life goal on March 18, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Many years ago there was an invalid man who laid by the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. It was believed that the water could heal but the man had no one to help him get in, so for 38 painful years he waited for a chance until Jesus came by. Many of us have unused [...]
March Madness And Christianity?
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Consumerism, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Faith, Leadership, Valuable life goal on February 27, 2010 | 7 Comments »
It happened Wednesday night. All Big Ten basketball player Robbie Hummel, of my Purdue Boilermakers, blew out a knee ligament. His year was over. #3 ranked Purdue was 23-3 and playing with the kind of confidence that gets you to a final four. It’s been 31 years since their last one and this was the [...]
It Is Well With My Soul
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged clarity, Consumerism, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Hope, Incarnational ministry, Leadership, legitimacy, Missional Resurgence, Valuable life goal, vision on February 11, 2010 | 2 Comments »
I’m still trying to process what I saw and heard at the Verge Conference in Austin last week. With all the talk of the younger generation checking out, why did 3,500 young people show up for an aggressive three-day challenge to get beyond “feel good” Christianity? This wasn’t the typical boomer crowd that frequent many [...]
Who Will Save Us?
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged building momentum, clarity, Consumerism, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Faith, Hope, Leadership, legitimacy, love, missional, Missional Ministry, Relevant Ministry, vision on February 3, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Who will save the church? That depends on what you mean by ‘save.’ If you mean “what will keep things just as they are?” then the answer is nobody will. It’s over. And if you mean “who will maintain that handy place where we get encouraged on weekends, have our weddings and funerals, hang with [...]
What about the other 180 million?
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Authentic, building momentum, Connecting, connection, Consumerism, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Hope, Leadership, Relevant Ministry, Three Relevant Ministry Responses, trust on January 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Al Hirsch, author of The Shaping Of Things To Come and The Forgotten Ways, estimates that only 40% of the US population can be reached with the prevailing church models of today (mega church, multi site, small groups, etc). Of course 40% does represent 120 million Americans who are open to a church model built [...]
2009 – Christianity In Review #2
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged alignment, Authentic, clarity, communication, Consumerism, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Faith, Leadership, Missional Ministry, Purpose, Relevant Ministry, trust on December 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Theme #3: Biblical literacy is low and will remain so. Barna’s findings related to Bible knowledge and application indicate that little progress, if any, is being made toward becoming more biblically literate. Barna notes, “Bible reading has become the religious equivalent of sound-bite journalism. When people read from the Bible they typically open it without [...]
2009 – Christianity In Review
Posted in Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Relevant Ministry, tagged Consumerism, Empowering Leadership, Evolving Culture, Faith, Hope, Leadership, legitimacy, Relevant Ministry, Valuable life goal on December 21, 2009 | 6 Comments »
George Barna may be the most respected Christian researcher in the US. Here’s his year-end review of Christianity in America, synthesized from thousands of interviews and numerous research projects in 2009: Theme #1: Americans are more interested in faith and spirituality than Christianity. Faith remains a hot topic these days. And nearly everyone has something [...]
Get my posts via Email
-
Your Comments. Thanks, They're Appreciated.
Ed Bahler on Mega-Churches: Something… paymn on A Quiet, Prayerful Search Melanie Van Wyhe on Mega-Churches: Something… Ed Bahler on I am Convinced sammynmick on I am Convinced Ed Bahler on I am Convinced Earl Borron on I am Convinced -
Your Recent Favorites
My Tweets
- @Kristinruther...yes my wife :)...4 months ago
- Thanks...miss them. Why don't you swing by Starbucks next to Cracker Barrel ...I'll try to pick ypu up....4 months ago
- Learning to launch missional ministries here at Future Travelers. Great conversation with @alanhirsch, @_matt_carter, @johnburke, etc...4 months ago
- In an hour...4 months ago
- I love you a lot Clint. I worked through it with mom. Be at peace with it....5 months ago
Tag Cloud: Font Size Reflects The Number Of Posts
Background Information
-
Recent Posts
The Archives
-
Clicks People Found Of Interest
- None
-
Alltop posts on Christianity
-
