Trouble at Christian Colleges and Seminaries

Just as the American church struggles, another institution gasps to find relevance and survival in these churning times. Christian colleges and seminaries face daunting challenges, some of them self-inflicted. Questions now arise about how people will be equipped for ministry in the future. Seminary enrollments across the country continue to decline. Costs continue to climb. Support from denominations and […]

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He Stopped the Sermon

After many years in the pulpit, Steve Simms gave up preaching. He turned the floor over to his congregation. And he’s never looked back. Every Sunday at Berry Street Worship Center in Nashville, Tennessee, the faithful gather to hear and share personally what God is doing in their lives. It’s unscripted, and often surprising. Simms says, […]

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End Times: Scary Sermons or Taboo Territory?

Are these the End Times? Are dangerous happenings in Syria and Iran the warning signs of a prophesied final battle? Are current political figures or religious leaders possible Anti-Christs? What are churches teaching about this stuff, if anything? Should anybody spend time trying to decipher cryptic biblical prophecies about the end of the world? It seems […]

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The End of Sermon Time as We Know It

The typical Sunday morning lecture time wasn’t working as well as it might. So, Pastor Rick Bundschuh set out to try some different approaches to engage his congregation, ignite their faith, and extend his messages well beyond the Sunday morning hour. Rick knew he’d be bucking centuries of methodological tradition–and challenging the self-identity of many  preachers […]

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Exporting America’s Religious Duds

It’s a major American export. Church ministry methodology. Much of it is accomplishing great things for the sake of the Gospel. And some exported ministry practices are just, well, embarrassing. I’ve been traveling in South America, and visiting some churches and ministries. It’s really interesting to see how Protestant churches here often closely resemble North […]

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We Don’t Talk About That at Church

We talk about all kinds of juicy, newsy things with friends at work or school. But not at church. No. No. No. We can’t talk about that at church. Someone might get upset. But the church’s avoidance of these hot topics is one of the very things that is driving people away from church participation today. […]

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Bible-Centered . . . or Jesus-Centered?

The man caught me after a screening of our documentary film, When God Left the Building. He wanted to talk about the “real reason” the American church is struggling. “Don’t you think the main problem is biblical illiteracy?” he asked. “Nobody knows what’s in the Bible anymore.” His concern is a common one. It’s caused […]

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10 Ways Through the Same-Sex Tsunami

Some say this is the one issue that will single-handedly destroy the church in America. I don’t buy that. But I do anticipate that some churches will suffer unnecessarily because of their mishandling of the same-sex controversy. Whether they like it or not, churches will increasingly face decisions related to homosexuality. These include: References to […]

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When Jesus Becomes a Fill-in-the-Blank

People describe the Christian faith as a “personal relationship with Jesus.” But in the church, how have we gone about encouraging and developing that relationship with Christ? Curiously, church services, classes and programs rarely pursue that relationship like, well, like a real relationship. It’s not for lack of good intentions. At some point, years ago, […]

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Kicking the Sermon Habit

It may be well-intended. It may be well-researched. It may be well-executed. But, the sermon, as we know it, fails to deliver. The weekly lecture isn’t just failing those who sit silently in the pews. The form itself is repelling much of today’s population, particularly men and younger generations. One of the most often mentioned reasons […]

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