Presby-Musings

I was reading some minister's sunny blog post the other day about how the Presbyterian Church (USA) wasn't really  dying, and that all of the other mainline denominations like the Episcopals , Methodists , Lutherans , etc. weren't really dying either. The gist of the post essentially came down to this: it depends on what you mean  when you say that mainline denominations are dying.  If by dying you mean that they are dwindling in number, closing churches , losing congregations to other denominations, not attracting young people/families/younger ministers, and becoming increasingly political and divisive---that's not really dying.  But if you mean dying to orthodoxy, creeds, biblical authority, Christocentric theology and the like---then yes, they are dying.  Which, in this sunny author's view, was not really  dying, but living. Huh? Here's what I would like to offer as a rebuttal: Hogwash. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if there are...

This week I'll be continuing the sermon series "Together," an in-depth study on my church's core values.  Throughout the series we have asked very serious questions to each of our core values---values that we call "The Five Things."  These questions have served to get us focused on what is truly important for us to know about our values in order for us to more effectively accomplish our vision to be the kind of church that reflects and reveals the unselfish love of Christ to the world. The sermon this week is centered around the fourth of our Five Things: Love.  And the question that we are going to be asking is a simple one, but one that carries with it some series implications as to how we live our lives both as individuals and as a community of faith. Are We Loving God , Loving People and Loving the World?  Jesus said this: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will kn...

David Kinnaman, one of the co-authors of the influential book " unChristian " and the president of Barna Group (one of the most on point research companies in the country) has a new book: You Lost Me : Why Young Christians Are Leaving the Church and Rethinking Faith. I had the chance to see Kinnaman this past week at the Catalyst conference and to hear him speak a couple of times. The thing about Kinnaman is that he backs up his assertions with data, which is what made "unChristian" such an eye-opening work. I fully expect that "You Lost Me" will be just as eye-opening, and sobering. I have an extra copy of "You Lost Me" that I will give away to the first person who offers a comment on this blog. Leave your email so I can contact you. Visit the book site at www.youlostmebook.org Related articles The Barna Group - Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church (connecttofammin.wordpress.com) Why Are Christians Leaving the Church? Tur...