Leadership in Organic Church

I believe leadership is one of the most confusing subjects about “organic” or “simple” church. We say that there aren’t leaders in the sense of a person or two doing all of the “leading”, making the decisions, running the meetings, doing all the teaching, etc. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t leadership. There most certainly leadership, it just looks significantly different. Milt Rodriguez just wrote a blog addressing this. And since he did such a good job, I’m just going to link to it. Below are some highlighted quotes from the article, though I recommend reading the whole thing.

Many people think that because organic churches have no clergy, they have no leaders. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In reality, we are ALL Continue reading →

Book Review: Pure Eyes

I recently read a few books on the subject of sexual purity. Most of them were directed specifically toward men, though one was written to both sexes. The latter correctly recognized that many women deal with lust as well, albeit they typically experience it in different ways than men do. Of these books, my favorite is Pure Eyes. All of the books acknowledge the difficulty a large percentage of men have with lust in general, and pornography in particular. They recognize the fact that many men (Christian men in particular) have sincerely wanted to and have tried to improve in this area, only to fail over and over again. The lesson is that will power alone isn’t enough to overcome this battle.

Of all the books, I feel that Pure Eyes does Continue reading →

Youth Ministry: Helping or Harming?

This is a review of the documentary called Divided. I’ll warn you up front, this movie may well be very challenging and upsetting. But I think it is right for the most part. So I challenge you, especially pastors and fathers, to take the time to watch it and consider what it says.

Before moving any further, let me first say that I was a youth group kid. I was very involved in my church’s youth group growing up, and I believe that it helped me to make healthy choices through my youth. So I’m not coming to this documentary with any chip on my shoulder, bad experiences, nor bitterness toward youth groups—just the opposite.

In a nutshell, the basic message of this documentary is that youth ministry isn’t biblical, it is not very Continue reading →

The Bible and Sexuality Part 4

Homosexuality

This topic is a continuation from the previous post.

There is certainly a lot of strongly held beliefs out there in regards to homosexuality, so in light of this, I think it will be helpful to look at some “facts” (that is, certain ascertains which I believe to be relatively hard to deny, though I wouldn’t put it beyond people to try):

There are homosexuals in our world.
There are people who practiced homosexuality, but who later happily and successfully switched to being heterosexual (meaning they considered themselves to be heterosexual and engaged only in this type of sexual activity).
For everyone one of the above people, there are probably more homosexuals (I’m guessing many more) who have honestly and Continue reading →

The Bible and Sexuality Part 3

Love As Primary

This topic is a continuation from the previous post.

The next question is, what do we do with this? Assuming the principals of sexual morality still apply, what are the practical implications for today? Should we pass laws forbidding them? Should we make sure everyone knows that the bible condemns such practices, and that we do to? Should we make sure not to associate with anyone who participates in such actions? These are all legitimate questions.

In order to decide what we need to do, we have to look at what our fundamental beliefs about Christianity are. Issues of sexuality can certainly cause (at least apparent) conflict between different values we hold to, such as loving people but hating sin. Which one wins? Continue reading →

The Bible and Sexuality Part 2

Instructions on Sexuality in the Old Testament

This topic is a continuation from the previous post.

So then, what does the Law say? Probably the best known prohibition in this area is one of the first ten commandments: “Do not commit adultery” (Deuteronomy 5:18). (Adultery is defined as a married person having sex with someone who is not their spouse.) In Leviticus 18, a list of other unlawful sexual relations are enumerated. Those acts prohibited are primarily incest, bestiality, adultery, homosexuality, and prostitution. (The punishment for these are described in chapter 20.)

In both Deuteronomy 22:28-29 and Exodus 22:16, marriage is commanded for unmarried/un-engaged people who have sex. In Deuteronomy 22:13-27, if a woman is Continue reading →

The Bible and Sexuality Part 1

I’ve studied the bible, examining what it says about sexuality. I wanted to do this as honestly as possible. In order to do so, I had to be open to the possibility of coming to a conclusion either way. I certainly had some motivation for finding that the bible doesn’t forbid or frown upon certain sexual relations. Could I determine that the sexual prohibitions were just cultural for that time and no longer apply in the same way today? If so, that would seem to free me and most other people in our culture. On the other hand, if I did find that the bible has clear guidelines about sexual relationships which still apply today, I’d keep all the conservative christians happy.

As much as I might not want this to be the case, I can’t get by Continue reading →

7. Can we find a way to address human sexuality without fighting about it?

Those who are observant may have noticed that I never finished a series I started last year. I intended to, but the subject matter of this question is difficult. It’s a big topic, and I had considered launching a whole series to address it. As I thought about what I would say, I came up with more questions than conclusions, which is why I haven’t written about it until now.

I think the simple answer to the above question is “No, at least not any time soon,” because people have strongly held beliefs on each side. That being said, I nevertheless want to take the time to offer a few further thoughts on the subject.

My first thought is that, while not Continue reading →

Rethinking the American Dream: The Failure of “The Pursuit of Happiness”

I don’t know about you, but the impression I have is that the “American Dream” is mainly about building your own personal fortune. (This doesn’t mean you’ll consider yourself rich, it just means that you are working on increasing your personal wealth.) I believe in this country this is what people think the pursuit of happiness is about. However, gaining wealth may actually decrease your happiness.

Having enough income to provide for one’s needs and create some amount of financial stability and security has a significant affect on one’s happiness. However, once the basics are taken care of, increased income quickly fails to bring increased happiness.^1,2

Overall, there is ample evidence to clearly show that one factor is the most significant in determining our happiness, and it Continue reading →

The Tyranny of Liberty

One of the core values of our country is freedom. Freedom is good, but I believe it is also often confused and misunderstood. The prevailing view seems to be that what will make us happy is having the freedom to choose to have or do whatever we want. However there is a downside to choice. Having the freedom to choose among nearly infinite options doesn’t bring about the utopia which it seems to be sold as having.

Have you ever gone to the store to buy chips, pop, something for a headache, toothpaste, shampoo, etc., only to be faced with dozen of different options to choose from? You may already know which option you want, but at some point, you had to decide for the first time. What are the differences between all of the different Continue reading →