Wednesday Link List

The links are on me!  Actually, the Religious Newswriters Association people were all at a convention last week, so mysteriously, there was no news.

• When the courts rule allowing distribution of religious pamphlets, remember that means all religions.
• Vicky Beeching was interviewed by the Unbelievable podcast host Justin Brierley as to whether a person can still claim to be Evangelical if they are gay.
• Fox News aired a 10-minute feature and first interview with Meriam Ibrahim following her resettlement in the U.S…
• …Meanwhile, Thursday (9/25) marks the two-year anniversary of Saeed Abedini’s imprisonment in Iran for his faith. His wife plans a prayer vigil outside the White House to urge the President and State Department to do more.
• Copycat Churches: “When it comes to church planting in this decade, everyone is putting up the same taco stand.” 25 questions to determine if you’re just doing what everyone else is. (This originally appeared in the summer, but is worth noting.)
• On his CT blog The Exchange, Ed Stetzer proposes a fresh paradigm for issuing pastor credentials.
• I’m not sure what I would be thinking if the head of my denomination expressed frequent doubts about God’s existence.
• So how about a worship service that makes you feel terrible? “We must first feel the weight of God’s glory pressing us, pulverizing our vain attempts at good works into dust.” Why part of worship’s job is to make us feel uncomfortable.
• A Moody Publishing author slips in to Oprah’s Life You Want Weekend in prayer, and leaves still praying.
• Worlds Colliding: Ministry meets martial arts in a short clip from a New York State church’s fight night. (The most bizarre video you’ll watch this week.)
• Okay everyone, yes, I missed the irony in a link last week. That Caribbean study cruise is on the theme of enduring persecution and suffering.
• Church History (Recent): Termed “The most comprehensive summary of Youth for Christ’s 70-year history that’s been written;” this takes you to a 25-page .pdf. (Billy Graham was given half a desk to work at.)
• An Orthodox Jewish sect posted notices around a section of London last week trying to segregate men and women on sidewalks.
• This just in: Church choral music is dying. Here’s one person’s suggestions as to why.
• The noise is always louder when a celebrity falls off the purity wagon.
• Recycling the September Service Sermon: The problem with this message is that not everyone can lead a small group.
• Academic Alley: This review of two chapters of a book on New Testament ethics leaves me wanting to read more.
• Essay of the Week: Lots of buzz around the ‘net for this refreshed and expanded ‘guard your heart’ type of message that Sarah Bessey titled Guard Your Gates.
• A Jewish lawyer, writer and rabbinical student praises Chick-fil-A’s Truett Cathy for honoring Christianity’s sabbath.
• Even if the Left Behind remake is popular, the doctrine it’s based on is not, either among scholars who study Revelation, or people in general outside the U.S.  Sample: “Rapture-based theology teaches us to think and hope for an escape from this world, not endurance to persevere in it.”
• Pastoral Refresher Course: Eight concise reminders for officiating at a funeral.
• Christian apologist J. Warner Wallace is into a nautical theme lately, with articles about cruise ships versus rescue boats and turning around large ocean liners. (The second article is actually about forming local apologetics organizations.)
• A New Testament professor challenges popular interpretations of four gospel parables.
• Religious institutions that put emphasis on dress codes turn students and staff into modern Pharisees. (One student: ” They’re [the codes are] contributing to the spiritual shallowness of our membership”)
• Adding a second service next month, one pastor sees multiple services as a big win.
• This should be one of the weird stories we end with, but I’d hate for anyone to miss out on Jim Bakker’s Time of Trouble Beans and End of the World Biscuits.
• Though he wasn’t a featured guest, Lecrae performed last week on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
• Working the seniors’ home circuit wasn’t the way Pastor Conrad wanted it to end.
• When a church picketed a strip club, they probably didn’t consider the means whereby the club would fight back.
• In a recently released documentary film, Nashville pastor Pete Wilson notes that sex trafficking is taking place just 50 feet from his church’s front door.
• The California Southern Baptist Convention expelled a church over… well you can probably guess what issue.
• Billed two weeks ago in Toronto as “Festival of Hope,” the Franklin Graham team rolls into Erie, PA this Saturday and Sunday under the banner “Rock The Lakes.”
• This item links you to the first chapter of a Christian mom’s sanitized fan-fiction of Harry Potter aka Hogwarts School of Prayer and Miracles. Also some clarification of her intent.
• A “Virginity Rocks” T-shirt results in an eighth-grader being forced to change.
• Lost Songs Department: From 41 years ago — gasp! — Jesus Music band The Archers’ Put On Jesus. (It says The Archers, not The Archies.)
• If you’re up for one more round on this topic, a former women’s ministry leader at Mars Hill answers questions.
• It always amazes me how people who can’t do everyday tasks are able to do extraordinary things.
• Finally: When your child swears in Sunday School: Identifying 15 Awkward Church Moments.

Our closing graphic is from eScapegoat, which allows our Jewish friends to transfer their sins to a goat roaming the internet collecting sins for Yom Kippur.  (Note: No actual Halachic atonement implied.) Click the image below to visit.

 

Wednesday Link List

Another week that started with, “I think we’ll only do about 20 links this time;” and ended with…

• The idea of ‘technical virginity’ while appearing honorable, may be placing in teens and young adults a flawed notion of what constitutes true purity.
• A case for more announcements in church. Wait, what? Shouldn’t that read fewer announcements? …
• …In either case, an announcement or two might have been helpful when the pastor says, ‘Oh, and by the way, I sold the church building last week.’
• Many preachers speak from the security of a typed manuscript. However, here are some thoughts if you decide to drive off road.
• Church History Lesson: Read a preview of chapter one of Matthew Paul Turner’s book, Our Great Big American God, releasing in two weeks. (Pentecost, American Style happened long before 1906.)
• Is the age of celebrity pastors with adoring fans slowly waning?
• Known online only as Eagle, he shares his story as well as the things he wrestled with; the things so many wrestle with. (There will be four parts to this, part two is now available.)
• Buried in this story: Johnnie Moore is transitioning from Liberty University to Chief of Staff for TV producer Mark Burnett.
• 

  You can also read today’s link list at PARSE, the blog of Leadership Journal; just click this image

  Big news around PARSE’s CT headquarters last week was the launch of The Behemoth. No it’s not a theme park ride…
• …The same week, PARSE’s Skye Jethani launched a daily service whereby he will wake you up each morning. (Breakfast not included.)
• Theology on tap: If you like some beer with your Bible study, there may be a small group just for you.
• Vocational ministry: There’s an online assessment test you can take to verify your calling, though in several places, the website is clear that it’s for men only. (Question 1: Do you have a …?)
• Greeting one another in church with a holy kiss may not be the next big trend, but here are some things to think about the touchy subject of touch.
• The Pastor Gig: Keeping your feet on the ground when recognition, affirmation, and people-pleasing come knocking at the door.
• Including the story of Adam in your gospel presentation may be problematic, and here’s why…
• …In other apologetics news, William Lane Craig dares to suggest that all those rapture party napkins and favors will never get used because the ‘great snatch’ ain’t happening.
• Best camp pickup-day story ever.
• A better picture of how Paul’s epistles were written goes something like, ‘Tertius, step into my dungeon and take a letter.’  The Bible’s dictation factor…
• …And those little notes at the top of each Psalm can be really complicated.
• This story just broke me this week.
• If you’re a male in church leadership, you’ve got it made, though you might want to consider the impact this has on the women in your church.
• Worth sharing: Some practical considerations for starting spiritual conversations.
• Phil Vischer’s What’s In The Bible series is partnering with Seeds Family Worship ministry for live events across the U.S.
• A side of Stephen Colbert you haven’t seen before. Or click here to watch the 10-min. video.
• Testimony: “If I was discipled to anyone in middle school, it was to the pop stars of the contemporary Christian music scene.”  The case for K-LOVE.
• While your son or daughter may be off to an Evangelical college, it’s also highly likely a LGBT-friendly club exists on campus.
• At a younger level, an 18-year old in process of leaving high school offers advice to some girls who are just entering high school.
• Making the case for church-based bookstores. (Omitted possibility: Doing this in partnership with a brick-and-mortar store, if one is nearby.)
• Essay of the Week (1): While many of us are secure in our tribes, there are some benefits to being on the margins…
• …or as this author refers to himself, as “an Evangelical expat”. (Get to know them; they’re increasing in number.)
• Missed this one last month, and didn’t want you to. I tell ya…teenagers these days.
• A more measured look at the Driscoll situation and its implications for other megachurches.
• I’m all for giving this apologetics book visibility, though this review really got into a lot of detail.  Here’s my own overview of what the book sets out to accomplish.
• On the sixth day of creation, the Father gave to me: ‘Take tomorrow off, okay.’ The six day work week and the story of origins.
• This list is hardly exhaustive, but with everybody and his brother doing their own Bible translation, you can’t tell the players without a program. (Absent when photo taken: The Voice and N.T. Wright’s NT, to name a few.)
• Just days from now, on the UK August Bank Holiday, the Greenbelt Festival 2014 lineup features a seemingly endless list of presenters and performers. (I got to be on the grounds at Greenbelt for a measly three hours once; would love to go back!)
• Essay of the Week (2): Those “What on earth was I thinking?” moments.
• More than architecture, the ministry story is also highlighted in a look at the three famous Orange County, CA churches.
• Nadia Bolz-Weber returns from sabbatical and lets her congregation know how much she missed them. (Click the link to listen to the 12 min. sermon as you read.)
• Music Resource of the Week: Getting your worship time running on all cylinders.
• Song of the Week: This remake of Hillsong United’s Oceans. (By the band I affectionately call Garfield Minus Garfield.)
• Book Trailer of the Week: This book released a few weeks ago, but engaged and pre-engaged women will especially appreciate A Christ Centered Wedding.

Oh oh! The internet meter just ran out again and I’m out of quarters.

Paul Wilkinson is widely regarded as the world’s best writer who does a column called Wednesday Link List for PARSE, and blogs the rest of the week at Thinking Out Loud and Christianity 201.

Wednesday Link List

Too much rain in England, too little in California. Snow and ice in Texas, a balmy 70-degrees at the Winter Olympics. Whether you believe these are the end times, or simply attribute it to global warming, either way, it’s time to pour a coffee and read this week’s link list. 

This Wednesday feature is owned by PARSE, the blog of Leadership Journal, a division of Christianity Today.Clicking anything below will take you there, where you can click on individual stories.

• What if the people who put their energy into this pessimistic, satirical church website had instead created an actual fruit-bearing church that non-Christians would want to attend?
• The face of Evangelicalism in the UK is somewhat monopolized by programs managed by the ministry conglomerate, Holy Trinity Brompton.
• One of the stars of National Geographic’s Snake Salvation is dead of a snake bite. He is also reported to have refused medical intervention.
• One survey is suggesting that only 11% of young Christians could come up with an answer to the “Why Wait?” question.
• Move over, Systematic Theology, there’s a new theological textbook in town.
• A Philadelphia reporter looks at a Catholic and a Mormon congregation experiencing very different states of financial health.
• Christian rapper Bizzle has reportedly received death threats following the posting of a video that is a response to a song sung at the Grammy Awards.
• The latest faculty member at Southern Evangelical Seminary & Bible College in Matthews, N.C is a robot. Current duties include frightening a cat, but its role will increase in a study of human-machine relationships and ethics.
• Pastors: Check out this succinct summary of three lessons learned in an art gallery on maintaining unique ministry vision in a copy-and-paste world.
• Not sure if there was a swimsuit competition, but one writer has composed a list of the top 60 Evangelical theologians…
• …but one astute reader noted that absent from the list was Roger Olson.
• Kirk Cameron’s Unstoppable film from Provident Pictures tops the Christian DVD chart this week.
• Reconciling the Old Testament God and the New Testament God may be rooted in a wholly Trinitarian understanding of both.
• Straining at gnats and swallowing camels? Forget the young-earth/old-earth controversy, the in thing this week has to do with camels in Genesis.
• Tired of the same old ministry models? How about a marijuana ministry that offers cannabis compassion?
• Missional churches are naturally opposed to the big-box, attraction church model, but even in that context, there is a need for collective, corporate gatherings.
• From the land down under — you may need enhanced internet service — 10 rules for preaching the parables.
• Uber-blogger Tim Challies has kicked off a new series dealing with “some of Christianity’s most notorious false teachers.” Begin with Arius, who didn’t believe Jesus was co-eternal with God.
• A Mennonite pastor notes that his church’s discussions about sexuality often omit specific references to sin.
• Lost video treasures: Here’s an alternative rendering (that’s a clue) of the popular worship song 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord).
• Essay of the Week: What kind of world do your kids choose to live in?
• A blogger who is in the middle of converting from Christianity to Judaism interviews someone who has ‘de-converted’ from Christianity to atheism.  A Christian writer says such stories “are like blood in the water for circling skeptics.” Read her reaction.
• Not sure why they published this as a women’s book, as I know a few guys who also feel their world is crashing: You’re Going to Be Okay is the newest from Holley Gerth.
• The latest conflict between pro-life ideals and abortion inducing drugs doesn’t involve an organization concerned about health care spending; this time it’s about a pharmacist.
• When a converted lesbian spoke at Wheaton College, some students organized a demonstration, though not necessarily against the choice of chapel speaker.
• Despite being in a “people business,” many pastors are terrible at leading their own staff. Clout author Jenni Catron suggests three reasons.
• Okay, just hypothetically, what if Evangelicals had this type of website? (Catch the last video, Attending a Mormon Church Service — three hours with no coffee break — also on YouTube.)
• Who knew? There’s a blog with a high Technorati rating called Theology For Girls.
• I liked this book, but with some language issues, it’s not for sale at CBD.
• If you transition from a megachurch to a small church plant, you’ll need to adjust your worship singing volume.
• Finally, I just had to go to Yahoo Images and look up Salvation Mountain upon hearing that its creator died this week. (Technically, it was God that made the mountain…)

Paul Wilkinson blogs daily at Thinking Out Loud, but has been known to name-drop this Christianity Today connection in conversations. Suggestions are welcome, but make sure they’re real stories.

Upper photo: sourced at Matthew Paul Turner’s blog, who got it from Tumblr. Click image to link.

Clark Bunch includes one of these CoffeeWithJesus.com panels in his Monday blog post each and every week.

Wednesday Link List

So, if you’re following the saga, sometime in late June we agreed to make the Wednesday Link List part of Out of Ur, which is part of Leadership Journal, which is part of Christianity Today, which was founded by Carl F. Henry, who was not related to Buck Henry. But then, last weekend, Leadership Journal officially rolled out PARSE which is where each of the links below takes you… you can click through from there.

To celebrate our first official PARSE column, we bring you both quality and quantity this week…

• A Christian radio host says that the ‘yuck factor’ children have when first introduced to the idea of gay sex is slowly disappearing. Needless to say, her new book is the target of not-so-favorable reviews.
• Joni Eareckson Tada is nominated for an Oscar…for singing; beating out Taylor Swift and Coldplay. Honestly, we don’t make these stories up.
• The naked girl in the iconic, prize-winning photograph of the Vietnam war is alive and well and speaking about her Christian faith.
• The cute story which ended last weekend’s sermon may not be a candidate for snopes.com, but sociologist Bradley Wright says that often pastors rely on unfounded statistics that don’t survive a fact check…
• …Meanwhile, Wright and pastor John Ortberg have collaborated to produce SoulPulse, a smart phone app to help you gauge spirituality.
• Tony Campolo is preparing to step down as President of an organization he began nearly 40 years ago. But another writer charitably suggests that “200 speaking engagements” hardly constitutes retirement.
• Life in the Inner-City: Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove posts an open letter to his city’s Chief of Police about drug enforcement, racial profiling, and treating people as guilty until proven innocent.
• Would you stand by and watch a friend take out a loan at 5,853% interest? The Church of England is launching a taskforce to look into “payday lenders,” which are also common here in the U.S. and Canada.
• So what’s the best commentary for each Biblical book? Here’s an up-to-date list from someone I know chooses carefully from a Pentecostal perspective.
• Rock ‘n Roll is a vicious game, and in the modern church, worship leading is a young man’s game.
• They may not use the term seeker sensitive, but some Catholics think the sermons are too simple.
• Maybe you should keep your Myers-Briggs results bookmarked next to Genesis 1, because your particular creationist opinion may be determined by your personality.
• (For the record, I feel about Myers-Briggs the way I feel about Astrology, which means I don’t believe in it; but then again us Geminis are naturally skeptical.)
• Ministers in the United Church of Canada want to form a clergy trade union. The group is not yet a certified bargaining unit.
• Going Deep: It’s hard to talk about the doctrine of “separating ourselves,” when there are six degrees of separation (pun intended, and there’s only four) and we haven’t fully defined our terms.
• Essays of the Week: This article from a preacher who struggles with porn, was inspired by this open letter from an 18-year old girl who shares the struggle.
• Striking a nerve? Warning signs for pastors that your relationship with God may be strictly professional.
• A dual-purpose article gives a leader’s insight into his process of choosing Christian books, and also argues the principles underlying the notion that leaders are readers.
• A new blog, Mormon Doubter, offers a slightly amended version of the LDS Articles of Faith, in the spirit of full disclosure.
• Oh, to be young again! We had 20,000 people on a farmer’s field in Pennsylvania. They have 20,000 in an arena in Atlanta. (With climate control and indoor plumbing, too)
• I’ve always thought I was a fan of blended worship, but in fact, the thing I prefer is more rightly called Convergence Worship.
• Turnabout: After an armed home invasion, missionaries in Mozambique receive love from the very people they’re serving.
• That February 4th debate between Bill Nye the Science Guy and Ken Ham the Creation Man will be streamed live after all.
• Ministry gimmicks. Pastor stunts. You’ve already heard about them, now read the top 12 outlandish things that happen at church.
• Podcast of the Week: On Pop Theology talks to Dr. Robert Alter about reading the book of Genesis through a different lens. (Warning! Your mileage may vary.)
• At Desiring God, same-sex attraction as idolatry: “…same-sex desires are cravings for what we want to see in ourselves, but lack.”
• Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman: “You travel all around the world making a movie and record built around surfing, and really push yourself to ride some really challenging waves, so it’s more than a bit ironic to get injured in your own backyard.” Thankfully, Jon’s gonna be okay.
• If your knowledge of Christian music goes back to the Larry Norman era, we unearthed this classic radio show demo of A Joyful Noise with Paul Baker.
• Mark Driscoll says size doesn’t matter; a megachurch can offer the same degree of personal care as a small church.
• Man looks on the outside… and Jered Wilson offers, by way of contrast, a short tribute to pastors who are overweight, but preach weighty truth.
• Eventually, every analogy breaks down, but try this one, ‘Prayer is like______.’
• Multiple Marriages (but not the way you’re thinking): British couple Alex Pelling and Lisa Gant got married in 2011. More accurately, they began getting married in 2011.
• Not everybody who homeschools thinks everybody should homeschool.
• A watchdog site focused exclusively on James MacDonald and Harvest Bible Chapel is shutting down.
• Cartoon of the week: That awkward tithing moment.
• Finally, on a slow news day at Christian Post, we were given the Top Five Biblical Dog Names, a good time to mention that I always thought “Browser” would be a great canine name.

Link sleuth Paul Wilkinson is also available to DJ your next youth group meeting or help you herd your cats. He writes these little disclaimers at the end of the list for CT/PARSE readers and sometimes forgets to remove them here.

Trouble reading this? We’re experimenting with leaving out the “<big>” tag on each line for the first time; but if it’s small for ya, we’ll update midday. This classic blog theme has a default that’s somewhat miniscule.

Our closing graphic is from a collection of 30 mean letters written by kids.

Wednesday List Link

Lloyd the Llink Llist Llama makes his annual January visit

The list is back, though there was a link list on Saturday, December 28th at both Out of Ur and Thinking Out Loud you can scroll back to. If you caught that one, then you’re ready to kick off another year of link love. First, about the picture, it’s one of the “winners” — if you can call them that — of the Worst Christian Book Covers for 2013. (Click the link, then work your way to number one.) I don’t know where they found these — though this might help — but the list for 2012 did contain some you might recognize.  The rest of the links here will switch over once Out of Ur goes live with the list.

• Ever been through a church split? Turns out atheist churches have them, too.
• Calories, cavities and Christian music all in a single drink? Pepsi Mid-America produced 12 millions cans of sanctified soda.
• Remember when you missed a few weeks of Sunday School and the teacher would phone you to see if you’re okay? Maybe they should do that for public figures who skip church. (Someone won’t be getting a gold bar on their Cross and Crown pin.) (Is this article related?)
• “It is startling to see people who are supposedly in their peak earning years instead walking the unemployment line. Worse, the likelihood of such folks returning to the income level they enjoyed prior to being let go runs just about to zero.” What’s your church’s response?
• Chris Tomlin sells gazillions of albums and song downloads each year, but as he tells CT, each of the songs begin in a local church setting.
• Which makes this as good a place as any to introduce some 2014 resolutions for worship leaders.
• This may or may not be a good time to be a female academic at Cedarville University.
• If I could squeeze in one last “new year” article, it would be Shane Claiborne’s 14 Hopes for ’14.
• Here’s a response to everybody out there who’s into bashing megachurches.
• On the other hand, here’s a rather clever article titled 7 Thoughts on Becoming a Better Hater.
• Meanwhile, a group of Satanists in Oklahoma City want to make Satan a little more user-friendly.
• Even though it’s not getting the same attention as a published book, at least one blogger is looking closely at Rob Bell’s What is the Bible online series.
• A Catholic priest and a Lutheran walk into a bar… Okay, it was actually a Krispy Kreme store.
• Andy Stanley explains why he’s not a prosperity preacher, even though he has a new book titled, How To Be Rich.
  
• Also at Religion News Service, a list of five major films destined to make 2014 the year of the Bible movie.
• Our Essay of the Week is actually a book review, and not a favorable one at that. Sample: “If Disneyland were a church, Joel Osteen would be its pastor.”
• Which is as good a place as any to suggest you check out this .pdf of Skye Jethani’s Ten Commandments for Interpreting Scripture.
• A member of a Presbyterian church search committee describes how the process looks from that side — “collectively trying to locate a particular tree in a forest while blindfolded” — and some things her church did right.
• This just in: The Bible is not God.
• Some people on Twitter have way too much time on their hands. (There’s a new thing like this every 3-4 days, too.)
• Matt Chandler guests at World Magazine, with an appeal to churches to get engaged in the abortion battle.
• In today’s flight of fancy, Oprah is to Jesus what the usual show guest is to the woman at the well. (Easier to click than for me to explain it again.)
• And now for something completely different. It’s a letter from a church. Maybe your church. But this requires some multiple choice work on your part.
• An atheist woman and her daughter will attend your church if you’re the highest bidder. It’s Jim and Casper Go To Church and I Sold My Soul on Ebay all over again.
• Blog Discovery of the Week: Calling himself a “future bestselling author,” Wade Webster is re-writing his way through some classic Old Testament stories. (No specific link; your tour will be self-guided.)
• This meets my definition of the completely shallow news story. (And by the way, my church is bigger than your church.)
• The runner up: Liberal limericks.
• On the other hand, a picture you don’t want to see in a story you don’t want to read.
• This article on rescuing sex slaves looks interesting, but I chose not to sell out my Twitter account in order to finish it. (The publisher is a rather prolific manufacturer of email, so that won’t work either.)
• In Christian music news, the talk is DCTalk, and a 20th anniversary reunion tour.
• Finally, if you’re looking to do more online discovery, BibleGateway.com reveals the charter membership roll in its new Bible Gateway Blogger Grid.

Head Counting at Worship

Every summer I attend camp meeting where one of the ushers not-so-surreptitiously does a headcount during the sermon. In most churches we count heads. The apologetic goes like this, “God likes Numbers, he has a whole book of them.” (People seriously say that.) But didn’t King David get in trouble for doing that sort of thing? Anyway, this week, I did some studying of the churches in the U.S. and Canada with the highest attendance, and thought I’d share the top 20 for both, as well as links where you can access this information and sort it by state (or province) and denomination.

First, for the U.S.:

Church Name	City	State	Average Attend.	Denom
Lakewood Church Joel Osteen	Houston	TX	43500	NONDENOM
North Point Community Church Andy Stanley	Alpharetta	GA	30629	NONDENOM
LifeChurch.tv Craig Groeschel	Edmond	OK	30000	EC
Willow Creek Community Church Bill Hybels	South Barrington	IL	25743	NONDENOM
Fellowship Church Ed Young	Grapevine	TX	24162	SBC
NewSpring Church Perry Noble	Anderson	SC	23055	BAPT
Church of the Highlands Chris Hodges	Birmingham	AL	22184	NONDENOM
Saddleback Church Rick Warren	Lake Forest	CA	22055	SBC
Southeast Christian Church Dave Stone	Louisville	KY	21764	CHRISTIAN
Gateway Church Robert Morris	Southlake	TX	21403	NONDENOM
Central Christian Church Jud Wilhite	Henderson	NV	21055	CHRISTIAN
Phoenix First Assembly of God Tommy & Luke Barnett	Phoenix	AZ	21000	AG
Second Baptist Church H. Edwin Young	Houston	TX	20656	SBC
Christ’s Church of the Valley Don Wilson	Peoria	AZ	19931	CHRISTIAN
Christ Fellowship Todd Mullins	Palm Beach Gardens	FL	18965	NONDENOM
Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale Bob Coy	Fort Lauderdale	FL	18521	CAL
Woodlands Church Kerry Shook	The Woodlands	TX	18385	SBC
Eagle Brook Church Bob Merritt	Centerville	MN	17091	BGC
Cornerstone Church John Hagee	San Antonio	TX	17000	NONDENOM

Second, for Canada:  (by province) (which is basically the entire list)

Crossroads Church	NONDENOM	2000	Red Deer County	AB	www.crossroadschurch.ca	Dan Cochrane
Sherwood Park Alliance Church	CMA	2000	Sherwood Park	AB	www.spac.ab.ca	Greg Hochhalter
Beulah Alliance Church	CMA	2400	Edmonton	AB	www.beulah.ca	Keith Taylor
Centre Street Church	EVAN	7000	Calgary	AB	www.cschurch.ca	Henry Schorr
First Alliance Church	CMA	3000	Calgary	AB	www.faccalgary.com	Scott Weatherford
Broadway Church	NONDENOM	2100	Vancouver	BC	www.broadwaychurch.com	Darin Latham
Trinity Baptist Church	ABC	2200	Kelowna	BC	www.trinitybaptist.net	Wayne Alguire
Willow Park Church	MEN	2000	Kelowna	BC	www.willowparkchurch.com	Mark Burch
Northview Community Church	MEN	2700	Abbotsford	BC	www.northview.org	Jeff Bucknam
Willingdon Church	MEN	5000	Burnaby	BC	www.willingdon.org	John Neufeld
Springs Church	NONDENOM	7500	Winnipeg	MB	www.springschurch.org	Leon Fontaine
Church of the Rock	NONDENOM	2500	Winnipeg	MB	www.churchoftherock.ca	Mark Hughes
The Meeting Place	MEN	5000	Winnipeg	MB	www.themeetingplace.mb.ca	John Neufeld
Southland Community Church	NONDENOM	3300	Steinbach	MB	www.mysouthland.com	Ray Duerksen
Agincourt Pentecostal Church	PAC	2200	Toronto	ON	www.apchurch.com	Keith Smith
Bramalea Baptist Church	EVAN	1800	Bramalea	ON	www.bramalea.org	Stephen Sheane
Rhema Christian Ministries	NONDENOM	2000	Toronto	ON	www.rhemaonline.ca	Denise Blagrove
Richmond Hill Chinese Community Ch.	EVAN	2800	Richmond Hill	ON	www.rhccc.ca	Daniel Splett
The Peoples Church	NONDENOM	3800	Toronto	ON	www.thepeopleschurch.ca	Charles Price
North Park Community Church	NONDENOM	2500	London	ON	www.northpark.on.ca	James Bekkers
The Meeting House	NONDENOM	4401	Oakville	ON	www.themeetinghouse.com	Tim Day
Eglise Nouvelle Vie	AG	3600	Longueuil	ON	www.nouvellevie.com	Claude Houde

Finally, as a sample of the global information — since I can’t figure out how to merge the various continents, Africa:

Attendance	Church Name	Continent	Country	State or Province	City	Church Website
75000	Deeper Christian Life Ministry	Africa	Nigeria		Lagos	http://www.dclm.org/
6000	Jesus Celebration Center	Africa	Kenya		Mombasa	http://www.jccmombasa.org
50000	Living Faith Church (Winner’s Chapel) – main campus	Africa	Nigeria		Lagos	http://www.davidoyedepoministries.org/
50000	Apostolic Church	Africa	Nigeria		Lagos (Ketu)	http://www.tac-lawna.org
40000	Redeemed Christian Church of God	Africa	Nigeria		Lagos	http://www.rccg.org/
35000	United Family International Church	Africa	Zimbabwe		Harare	http://ufiministries.org/
32000	Christian Revival Centre	Africa	South Africa		Bloemfontein
30000	Word of Life Bible Church / International Gospel Center	Africa	Nigeria	Delta state	Ajamimogha Warri	http://www.ayo-oritsejafor.org/tav/index.php
30000	Lords Chosen Charismatic Revival Church	Africa	Nigeria		Lagos	http://www.thelordschosenworld.org/
30000	Christ Embassy (Believer’s Love World Fellowship)	Africa	Nigeria		Lagos	http://www.christembassy.org/pilotsite/
30000	Doxa Deo	Africa	South Africa		Johannesburg	http://www.doxadeo.co.za
25000	Rhema Bible Church	Africa	South Africa		Johannesburg	http://www.rhema.co.za
22000	Christian Life Church	Africa	Uganda		Kampala	http://www.christianlifeministries.org/
20000	Eglise Protestante Baptiste Oeuvres et Mission Internationale (The Works and Mission Baptist Church Int’l)	Africa	Cote D’Ivoire		Abidjan
20000	Light House Chapel	Africa	Ghana		Accra	http://www.lighthousechapel.org/
20000	Mountain of Fire and Miracles	Africa	Nigeria		Lagos	http://www.mountainoffire.org/home/index.htm
20000	Dunamis International Gospel Center	Africa	Nigeria		Abuja	http://dunamisgospel.org/aboutus/index.html
15000	Winners’ Chapel International Nairobi	Africa	Kenya		Nairobi	http://www.winnersnairobi.org/
15000	Christ Is the Answer (formerly Nairobi Pentecostal Church)	Africa	Kenya		Nairobi	www.citam.org
2000	Parklands Baptist Church	Africa	Kenya		Nairobi	http://parklandsbaptist.org
2000	Nairobi Baptist Church	Africa	Kenya		Nairobi	http://www.nairobibaptist.co.ke

The Church is Changing, But is it Changing Fast Enough?

Heard on U.S. election night:

The Republican Party needs to realize that the country is changing faster than they are.

As soon as she heard this, Mrs. W. saw an immediate connection to the church, or rather, The Church. While some within the institution are somewhat resistant to changes taking place — changes which include

• midweek meeting to small home groups
• traditional hymns to contemporary choruses
• suit and tie to casual dress
• Authorized Version to the NLT and The Message
• sanctuary decorum to coffee cup holders

— these superficial changes either belie attitude adjustments which never happen or are simply too superficial, not drilling down to the bedrock of the decision-making process which guides objectives and intentions.

In other words; “Yes, we’ll add drums and electric and electric guitars as long as understand that we’re just doing this to reach out to the community, and not because it’s our first choice. And we’re leaving in Amazing Grace and Blessed Assurance.”  Which is to say that we don’t really embrace change, it is simply something that has been thrust upon us.

At a certain level, that’s okay. Reaching the community is a valid goal. But the world at large does embrace change; you could say the broader culture thrives on change.

So we change, and the pace of change is increasingly accelerating, but meanwhile the pace of change in the wider marketplace is accelerating faster. All of which leaves us with churches with ‘relevant’ preaching that is becoming irrelevant and contemporary music in a world where ‘contemporary’ is somewhat of an adjective fossil.

Or worse, we go casual and informal only to discover that the next generation actually craves liturgy or even pageantry. Or we go with slick multimedia not realizing the cry of peoples’ hearts is for interactive communication. Or we add some rap to the opening song in a city where the top radio station plays country. Or we address employment needs in a place where the greatest issue is depression and mental health. Or we build gigantic mega-churches which mitigate against the authentic community life some are seeking.

Like the Republican Party, we’re left with a system that simply hasn’t responded to a changing world, because we’ve become so expert and so efficient at being the church to speak to the culture as it existed in 1995.

Make more changes? I can hear the groaning at that thought, but as changes come faster and faster to every facet of life, we need to rewrite the playbook and the rulebook continually.

Now excuse me while I nail this to a door somewhere.

 

Skye Jethani: Multi-Site is Biblically Counter-Intuitive

This quotation is from the Phil Vischer podcast (episode 23) and occurs starting around the 32:00 mark, with this text around 35:00

If I’m going to go and sit in a room with a bunch of strangers and watch a screen anyway, why not just sit at home and watch the same thing and not have to deal with the parking headaches… Here’s the irony: In my mind: of all the religions out there, Christianity is the one for whom incarnation is absolutely essential. It’s the foundation of our faith; God became flesh and dwelt among us. That’s the incarnation. And now we are disincarnating the Church … the pastor’s just a projection of pixels on a screen, I don’t really know the people around me because it’s such a massive community that I’m just anonymous in it. And I think, frankly, that although these trends are happening… I don’t think it’s going to last…

Here’s the thing… I can come in as a guest speaker. I know a little bit about your community, a little bit about that congregation. I can say some things, I can drop some bombs, I can fly away. But when you are incarnate in that community, like this pastor [where I was last week] he’s telling me what’s going on in this church, people who are sick, families that are struggling, the nitty gritty of living life together in community and he knows these people… He takes that knowledge of his sheep into the pulpit with him as he crafts a sermon and studies the word of God, brings the reality of his congregation’s unique challenges and struggles together with the word of God. This is what you see Paul doing in Paul’s letters writing to specific churches. He’s combining the truths of the gospel with the reality of the church… The reason why God has given leaders to the church, shepherds in particular, is so that somebody on the ground is incarnate, who knows God’s sheep and can help them each with his word and the reality that they are experiencing individually and corporately in the body.

~Skye Jethani

Wednesday Link List

Time for another episode of Link-O-Rama…

• Our opening graphic is a t-shirt from Café Press which can be yours for only $27.00 U.S.  It’s called “The lamest sin.”
  
• In a single-shot sermon from a guy who always preaches in series, Andy Stanley delivers the strongest-ever apologetic for small group ministry in a message titled Stumbling Along.
  
• Bill Hybels addresses delegates to this year’s Leadership Summit as to why Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, was pressured by the gay community into cancelling his signed contract to be a speaker at the event.
  
• In this week’s chapter of Schullergate, the big glass church gets told they can’t decide not to sell, but need  to accept one of the bid offers.  Details at Orange County Register, but follow the Register for updates on this as the story changes regularly.    This just in: The Roman Catholic diocese has raised its bid.
  
• CBN News reports an affiliate of a well-known terror organization is using four animated cartoons to recruit children.
  
• 

  Kanon Tipton - Pint Sized Preacher

  A kids story of another kind: Kanon Tipton, the 4-year old “pint-sized preacher” gets interviewed on NBC’s Today Show.
  

• Here’s another one of those online prayer request sites.  I’m not sure about all this.  I still think your best bet is to be involved with a group of brothers and sisters who will come alongside to pray with you when you need them.  Fall is a good time to join a small group.  If your church doesn’t have them, find one that does which allows outsiders to join.
• Fall kickoff got you bewildered?  Here are ten reason to under program your church from Jared Wilson.  Sample: “If a church looks like it’s doing lots of things, we tend to think it’s doing great things for God. When really it may just be providing lots of religious goods and services. “
• The boomers aren’t going to accept being called “seniors” which raises other questions about how we do “seniors’ ministry.”  Start at Trey Morgan’s blog and then link through for more from Thom Rainer.
  
• It’s not just hell and heaven.  Some Evangelical scholars are questioning the whole “Adam and Eve” thing.  Start at Tony Jones’ blog and the click through for the full NPR story.
  
• The current Miss Canada, Tara Teng, kicked of the Ignite the Road to Justice Tour on Monday, traveling from Vancouver to Ottawa thru September 4th to raise awareness of human trafficking.  More in this story at B.C. Province.
  
• Speaking of which, Dr. Robert Peterson of Covenant Theological Seminary offers a video response to Rob Bell’s Love Wins.
  
• Pete Wilson gets embedded deep behind the lines at Saddleback Church and does some serious Megachurch myth-busting.
  
• Indie music link of the week: Toronto-based Every Spare Second — click the titles in the left margin to play full songs.  Similar to Owl City and To Tell.
  
• Greg Laurie says that casual, consensual sex is hurting America.
• Christianity Today talks to the cast and director of the movie, The Help.
• Pastor Michael Minor decided the best way to fight the obesity epidemic was to begin in the church fellowship hall.  Might not be a lot finger-lickin’ going on at his Tampa church.
  
• On Thursday, Regent Radio, the internet broadcast arm of Regent College, begins an 11-lecture series by historian and missiologist Andrew Walls.  The lecture series “From Tertullian to Tutu: 2,000 Years of christian History in Africa…” was delivered live at Regent. One free lecture per day at Regent Radio; click the play arrow in the middle of the page.
  
• “People can’t worship while bats rain droppings and urine over them. Services have had to be cancelled.”  That’s the complaint over at St. Hilda’s Church in Ellerburn, somewhere in the UK; but an environmental group is preventing the church from evicting the bats.
  
• A gay website — no I’m not a regular reader, thanks for asking — is reporting a Princeton Review study saying that Wheaton College is the least LGBT-friendly school in the U.S.  Gee, ya think?
  
• Here’s a break from all the seriousness with Beaker from Sesame Street performing Ode to Joy. Join the fifteen million viewers to date.
  
• Our Christian-flavored cartoon discovery of the week was Cake or Death by Alex Baker, and I hope to soon go through the archives and read every single one of them.  Here are some recent entries: