By Alan Rudnick Starbucks red cups are out to bring us holiday cheer, but the response on social media has not been very cheerful. Joshua Feuerstein, a former Arizona pastor shared a video on Facebook that went viral with over…
The 4 realities of 21st century religious life
By Alan Rudnick The Pew Research Center released its 2015 U.S. Religious Landscape Study and it can be confusing to read. According to The Atlantic, it can be challenging to interpret the massive data dump of spiritual information because of…
Evangelicals, admit racism is real
By Alan Rudnick News broke on Wednesday that South Carolina deputy Ben Fields, who brutally abused a student in school — WWE-styled — was fired. The abuse was caught on tape. This incident was the latest in a series of…
The church is not ‘Cheers’
“Is that we are called to do? Create a place where everyone knows your name? Did Jesus call us to build a Christian version of Cheers?” Those are the words of Adam Hamilton, senior pastor of the Church of the…
Pope Francis is good for Christianity
As Pope Francis visits the United States, Catholics are full of excitement as the Holy Father visits in Washington, Philadelphia, and New York. It is very clear that his leadership will set a very different tone for the Catholic Church….
Pastor, preach on Charleston shooting
We know now that Dylann Roof acting alone in the shooting and killing that occurred at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C. The outpouring of shock, anger, sadness and grief was abundant on social media and on television. As a…
How to bring dignity to firing church staff
Firing staff is never a pleasant experience. No one (except maybe Donald Trump on television) looks forward to telling a person that they now have to find another job. Firing people in an organization or church is often met with…
Church bullies
Today on Facebook, I posted Thom Rainer’s “9 Traits of Church Bullies”. The amount of reposts tells me that church bullies are growing problem in churches. Usually, we think of bullies at school but churches suffer from bullying as well.
Ashy Baptists
Ash Wednesday is an occasion to mark the beginning of Lent and be marked by ashes. To receive ashes on our forehead and hear the words, ‘You are dust and to dust you shall return’ can be a powerful reminder…