This picture helps explain why posts around here have been a bit light lately. I traveled to New Mexico and Arizona for vacation recently and saw some incredible beauty created by our God, as well as some architectural marvels. The way this church in Sedona is built right into the rocks was pretty amazing. Also, I felt like a tiny ant with all the mountains out there.
But without further ado, here’s a list of great things to read and listen this week. Continue reading
Andy Stanley Claims People are ‘Selfish’ for Choosing Small Churches
There’s an uproar going on after North Point pastor Andy Stanley bashed small churches and insulted people who choose them by calling them “selfish” and claiming they don’t love their kids.
There’s a ton of reaction online, including this one.
Here’s mine … the Bible tells pastors to be shepherds, not CEOs. Stanley and other mega-church pastors are CEOs due to the sheer size of their churches. I’ll take my tiny little church and its verse-by-verse Bible teaching and pastor who knows my heart for truth and actually listens if I’m concerned by a song we’ve used or if I don’t agree with something he says. I’ll take that anytime over a megachurch and a false teacher like Stanley who openly rejects the biblical calling for a pastor.
10 Reasons to Break Up with Joel Osteen
The Messed Up Church blog has 10 compelling reasons to “break up” with Joel Ostend’s teaching.
The Christian church today (as it always has been) is buffeted by false doctrines. This is no surprise, since the New Testament repeatedly warned us this would happen. But when I look at the problem and try to discern the root causes I can think of a few. One of the roots I see is the astonishing level of biblical illiteracy even among those who identify as Christians. Continue reading
There is a rampant problem among the Christian church at large today that some might call the “attractional” model of church. More people are probably more familiar with the term “seeker-sensitive.” This is also a philosophical tenet of the Church Growth Movement which you can learn more about in my post from a couple days ago.
Too many churches and church leaders think if they make church more appealing to non-Christians they’ll attend and eventually be converted.
This is s driving philosophy of nationally known pastors like Rick Warren, Bill Hybels and Andy Stanley and their respective mega-churches. Stanley’s writings and interviews have made it clear he thinks the church should be for the “unchurched.” He’s even claimed pastors are no longer supposed to be shepherds of their congregations. And Warren speaks freely about the fact that he set out to build a church for “Saddleback Sam,” actually polling people to find out what they wanted in a church. Continue reading
Today’s broadcast of Stand Up for the Truth discusses the recent news that came out regarding Steven Furtick and Elevation Church and a rather disturbing coloring book for the children of that church. I think Mike and Amy did a job of treating this with the gravity it deserves and Godly attitudes. Listen here. Continue reading
