This week I challenged readers to write their own tips on choosing a church- How to Choose a Church (A Challenge). It’s really easy to pull an article from the blogosphere, dismantle it, and move on to the next article. I don’t want to do that. I want to critique, contribute, and get critiqued. So here is my offering for non-church goers on how they should choose a church. 1. Talk to your friends. This Read More …
This week I was led to this article A Non-Churchgoer’s Guide For Finding A Church For Your Family. I was quite interested in what the author would have to say about how to choose a church. This article however was not helpful at all since it was filled with all kinds of assumptions not based on how churches actually are. First, I want to say that I really liked Mr. Nick Shell’s article 8 Non-Religious Read More …
I have a heard a lot of trash talking lately about professors. What I am hearing isn’t critic of material or teaching style or even the usefulness of the class, I have heard people say some pretty nasty things about the teachers themselves. These judgements leveed are based on classrooms interactions, methods of grading, and hearsay. What is most startling is that students are gleaning from these interactions the professors motivation. Read this next line Read More …
When times are tough it’s difficult for me to remember the blessings I’ve received. Sometimes I get so caught up in the here and now that I simply get tunnel vision. With stress, I tend to get focused in on what is causing that stress ignoring the bigger picture of my life. It could be finances, school, work, any of a hundred different causes. I’m sure that I’m not the only one guilty of Read More …
Preaching is a form of communication where it is difficult for the preacher to utilize any feedback given from the congregation. With a single sermon there are as many opinions as there are listeners-sometimes more! With my own sermons, I realize that not every one is going to be a home run. But often, when I think one is terrible, someone will inevitably tell me how they experienced renewed faith though it. In seminary I Read More …
Going on trips is a necessary part of any youth ministry. After my first couple years of taking youth to Christian Family Night at Magic Mountain, I learned that something freeing seems to happen on these trips–youth talk waiting in lines. At theme parks young people open up in ways that they just don’t do when sitting in an office. This applies to being in your office as well. I’ve found that if a youth Read More …
My brother and I were doing some last minute shopping around mission/fashion valley and we noticed on several street corners these Christians with yellow signs. The signs said, “Jesus died for you” “Jesus loves you” “Jesus bore your sin.” On the same street corners were people begging for money. I felt like there was something wrong with this situation. So, what’s wrong with this picture? -jpserrano
For the last couple of days, I have been reading repeatedly an account and commentary by Rev. Rich Lane on being pepper sprayed during an Occupy Wall Street (OWS) demonstration in Seattle. I have come back to it many times because I find it to be both thought-provoking and troubling. I suggest you read the whole article here before you read my response. Rev. Lane recounts from his perspective the confrontation that initiated the whole incident. He writes, Read More …
At PLTS, a popular phrase quoted is two words from Martin Luther. Students will triumphantly announce something like, “Well, Luther tells us to SIN BOLDLY.” It seems it is more often than not used as an excuse to allow sins (not Sin) to continue in the life of the believer. It has become a license to allow breaking the commandments–behaviors that transgress the way God would have us live as members of the Kingdom of God Read More …
I had the opportunity this last month to participate in a two day anti-racism training at my seminary. I really appreciated the effort of the seminary to bring the problem of racism to the forefront of the thoughts of the whole campus, alongside those whom deal with it on a regular basis. Those who call themselves Christian should be committed to anti-racism. I understand that not everyone had my experience (as there were two groups). Read More …