By Joseph Phelps It felt as if I’d taken the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Minutes before Sunday’s service began a worshiper reported to me that the young man sitting next to him the previous Sunday became the self-confessed murderer of…
A strange invitation to uncommon discipleship
The author, who leads an intentional Christian community in Charlotte, N.C., attended the recent annual national conference of the Christian Community Development Association, a network of Christians committed to wholistic restoration for communities spiritually, emotionally, physically, economically and socially. This is…
Ebola ignorance
By Mark Wingfield Someone asked me why I included this phrase in my prayer at Wilshire Baptist Church’s worship service Sunday: “We pray that you would calm the anxious hearts of so many in our city. Help the ignorant to…
Remaining awake through a Pentecost
The author, who leads an intentional Christian community in Charlotte, N.C., attended the recent annual national conference of the Christian Community Development Association, a network of Christians committed to wholistic restoration for communities spiritually, emotionally, physically, economically and socially. This is…
The day I agreed with Satan
By Seth Vopat War rages with all its fogginess and once again we find ourselves in the United States questioning how we should respond. Will airstrikes alone be enough, or will we need ground forces? Ebola spreads throughout parts of…
Finding God in the in-between times
By Rob Lee I visited my dream seminary yesterday. I’ll spare you the specifics of where I want to go, but I have had my application in since Sept. 4, 2014, at 3:30pm, and I won’t find out until sometime…
Life by the clock or life by the compass?
By Bill Wilson Which do you live by: Clock or compass? If the clock dictates, your life is consumed with the immediate and pressing issues of the moment. Clock life is focused on short-term results. If the clock rules, you…
The new apostasy: Staying put
By John Chandler My colleague and friend J.R. Woodward, author of Creating a Missional Culture and leader of the V3 church planting movement, was recently leading a “Community of Practice” — a collection of church pastors and leaders working over…
Forever asking, what’s the next right thing?
Quite often, over the course of numerous conversations unfolding inside the circled wagons of wounded American evangelicalism, there develops this almost liturgically repetitious refrain among the faithful: Our best years are behind us. Whether it’s wistfully recounting the size of…