Robert Wright (meaningoflife.tv) wrote The Evolution of God, which considers what brings out the best or worst in religions based on a view that understands a moral growth of the Abrahamic God.

He is interested in the circumstances that brought out the best in religion in ancient times so that we can extrapolate to modern times to see what we need to get the best out of our religious landscape today.

Wright and and Tyler Cowen (George Mason Univ) duke it out in an interesting video interview.  Watch it and let me know what you think.

Does Wright’s non-zero sum God allow scenarios for peace and expanding horizons of hope for Christians today?  Please leave some comments below of anything that hit you while watching these two blogging heads discussing these issues.

The New York Times Religion Brief recently highlighted a survey by the American Religious Identification Survey that focused on the state of Judaism in the United States.

Of the 5 1/2 million people in the general Jewish population in the US, the majority consider themselves religious.

But the big surprise was the significant rise in one category of response in the landmark survey.  The finding makes Judaism and Christianity more alike than never before from one specific point of view. . . Read the rest of this entry »

What if I said, I can give you front row access to the following ministry leaders’ and pastors’ teaching:

• Scott Williams (www.LifeChurch.tv)
• Perry Noble (New Spring Church)
• Dan Kimball (Vintage Faith Church)
• Nancy Beach (Willow Creek Church)
• Leonard Sweet (Author/Futurist)
• Mark Batterson (National Community Church)
• Reggie McNeal (Leadership Network)
• Ed Stetzer (Lifeway Research)
  
• Dave Ferguson (Community Christian Church)
• Alan Hirsch (Forge Mission Training Network)

Well, the truth is, you can have access to their priceless content and much more actually.

At what price?  How about: $FREE?

I just registered and you should too .  .  . Read the rest of this entry »

Are you “ON” with respect to your ministry 24/7?

Rick Warren talks about the critical reasons for scheduling your Sabbath.

It is so important to make sure you attend to the energy you have available for Christ’s work so that you can fulfill the motivations you have for your ministry.

Rick Warren points to 2 Corinthians 4 to explain his own source of motivation - and why it will keep you going when the going gets tough.

Listen to what Rick Warren says in this video clip about being aware of your ability to focus and how it should impact your work:

Do you plan your work and then work the plan without regard to the person that’s doing it — YOU?

This was such a great reminder on how to best use my talaents in kingdombuilding work.   For example, it allows me to take a different look at Mondays, not as a drag getting back to the desk or as the beginning of a long week ahead, but perfect for the things that I schedule for that day now.  Having clarity for knowing what stuff I should push or schedule for Mondays in this example makes me look forward to that day.

Hope you found some nuggets to help you recenter your approach to your daily work today!

John Piper does it. Tim Keller does it.

The question is, can every other preacher do it?

Great preaching is just one of those things where you know you’re looking at it when you see it.

But the question is can great preaching include illustrations that are more than literary depictions put forth with the vocal chords?

John Piper doesn’t think so!

It may not get you into hell, ‘in the short run’ says Piper as noted by some that follow his teaching on preaching. He says it is a crutch for the lazy in the pulpit. Just listen to his argument against using movie or other video clips as supporting sermon illustrations . . . Read the rest of this entry »

Three churches are now streaming live worship services on the media-magnet, the Apple iPhone.

Northland in Florida is the latest to join the soon-to-be crowded iBandwagon for sure.  It’s only a matter of time before iPhone streaming announcements are made on a monthly or weekly basis by each additional church trying to reach the digerati generation with their own live Church.

This sounds slick, cool, hip and “with-it” for churches to jump to broadcasting via iPhone.  But are you really able to authentically worship God on an iPhone or iPod Touch?

For those that are staunch advocates to use any and all technology available to bring church to the people — Do you loose anything in the iPhone iGod experience?

Is the iGod you meet on the iPhone while you’re in your car, at the mall or in line to buy a frosty at the drive thru, the same God that you meet in the holy sanctuary of a brick and mortar church?

As a techie, I wholey embrace the online worship space as it is experimenting and developing its own identity right now.  But I’m not fully convinced yet if trying to distribute live worship services on the iPhone as if it is like any other interactive content is completely valid.

Would you help me sort this out and add your own thoughts on the matter?  Please leave a comment below.

Every summer, I try to do something I call “evergreening.”

It’s all about tending to the soil.  Clearing a path.  Planting new seeds.  There may be no immediate visible gain. What is happening? It’s investing in something worthwhile — renewing ourselves for the future.

With this in mind, our family tries to incorporates visits to new churches or conferences into our summer vacations.  It gives us a fresh perspective, a wake-up call and allows us to take a breather to “reset” ourselves.

Last year, we visited New Song, North Coast Church, and some others great ministries in southern California.  And back on the east coast, our whole family renewed our spirit at the JAMA conference in Philly.

This year: Wave Church in Virginia Beach.  As an added bonus, we found out that they are hosting the Wave Conference and one of my favorite pastors will be there too, Pastor Ed Young:

Check out the Wave Conference Center — part of the church’s facilities where the conference will be held!

I’m excited.

What about you?  What are you doing this summer to clear the path, plant new seeds and refresh your outlook for the future?

Here’s the reason why most churches aren’t growing fast enough or even at all:

Churches are disillusioned about their “first-time guests“

Ask most visitors to a church which is the most apprehensive part about stepping foot in a new church?  You can give them some options — Is it. . .

• making you wear a name tag that screams out “I’ve never been here!”
• shaking hands and saying hi to strangers during the “Passing of the Peace”
• made to stand during service in front of an entire group of strangers
• being chased down to fill out intrusive “first-time guest visitor cards”
• OR pressured into staying for the after-service coffee hour where no one is probably going to talk to them

The answer will be YES.

Similar questions were in fact asked about first time visits to church.  Some of the answers give you a clue as to how they want to be treated. . . Read the rest of this entry »

I received the following email in my inbox today.

I already knew that it was taking up too much space, even in bits and bytes form.  But before I hit the delete button, I paused for a moment scan it.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: mrsjosianeanzu mrsjosianeanzu <mrsjosianeanzu6@msn.com>
Date: Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 8:41 AM
Subject: From Mrs Josiane Anzu
To:

From Mrs Josiane Anzu

Dearest One,

With Due Respect And Humility,

I was compelled to write to you under a humanitarian ground. My name is Mrs Josiane Anzu and I am married to Mr.Paul Anzu director of petroci Cote d’Ivoire.We were married for 9 years without a child. He died after a Cadiac Arteries Operation.

And Recently, My Doctor told me that I would not last for the next six months due to my cancer problem (cancer of the lever and stroke).Before my husband died last year there is this sum $2.3 Million Dollars that he deposited with a Bank here In Ivory Coast.

Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to any good God fearing brother or sister that will utilize this fund the way I am going to instruct herein.
I want somebody that will use this fund according to the desire of my late.husband to help Lessprivilaged people, orphanages,widows and propagating the word of God.

I took this decision because I don have any child that will inherit this fund, And I don want in away where this money will be used in an unGodly way. This is why I am taking this decision to hand you over this Fund. I am not afraid of death hence I know where I am going.I want you to always remember me in your daily prayers because of my up coming Cancer Surgery.

Write back as soon as possible any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing another person for this same purpose, Hoping to read from you asap.

God bless you as you listing to the voice of reasoning,

Mrs Josiane Anzu.

Read the rest of this entry »

How do you measure success at your church or ministry?

Is it how many programs you are running or people that have signed-up for bible study groups?

Is it how many worship services you provide or how many multi-sites you have planted?

Is it how many baptisms you perform each year?

Is it related giving and tithing stats per person or family or percentage of income?

The church *is* a machine that needs to care about the classic ABC’s of running a church (how many people are we Attracting?, How big is our Building?, How many people are giving over their Cash as offering?) amongst other metrics.

But there’s one critical factor that is not only more indicative of a healthy church, it’s a non-negotiable as best put by God’s Word itself. . . Read the rest of this entry »