Youth Group Madness: Is This Teen Evangelism?    Link

Parents, do you know if your child has ever played "Bedpan Relay"? Or been asked to lick peanut butter out of someone's armpit? Or been dared to drink what someone has chewed up and spit out? Has your daughter been introduced to a game of "Christian Strip" or a game of "feeling" the legs of five guys when blindfolded to see if she can identify which legs belong to whom? Do you know what goes on in your teen's youth group? If you don't, you need to find out. These methods are a sure formula for making youth groups popular enough for even unregenerate teens to want to come to church. It causes youth groups to grow, but does that make it right? (note: broken link in this article is fixed here)... [Read Link]

Market Driven Church vs. The Apostle Paul - Part 2

God told Jeremiah, "An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule on their own authority; and My people love it so!". Is there a lesson to be learned about the dangers of "judging by popularity" in that passage? We must look beyond what is popular with man and judge churches, trends, and new movements according to the standards of success outlined in the bible. Paul's letters to Timothy are key. ... [Read More!]

Market Driven Church vs. The Apostle Paul - Part 1

The two epistles from Paul to Timothy outline a ministry philosophy that challenges the prevailing wisdom of today. Nothing in these pastoral instructions hints at a market-driven philosophy. In fact, most of Paul's pastoral instructions are impossible to harmonize with the theories that are so popular today. Shouldn't 1st and 2nd Timothy still be a guide to pastors even in today's culture?... [Read More!]

Two Kinds of Relevance    Link

Mark Dever recently spoke about a sermon that he heard which was based on
Psalm 15 "Lord, who may dwell in Your sanctuary". He says that everything in the sermon was true. In some ways it was a feast of truth. The preacher exhorted us to do good, speak well, keep our word, do business justly, not slander, etc. Everything he said was faithful to the text. Dever then asks the question: "How could that sermon have been made even more relevant?" He suggests two possibilities. One way may have been to use updated examples, and make the sermon more catchy, and use some video clips perhaps. The other way to make it more relevant is often neglected today. ... [Read Link]

How To Make Your Own "Relevant Pastor Blog"

Have you ever noticed how many growth-driven pastors today have written their own books on "how to seem relevant to the world"? That's why it amazes me that this particular book title has never been thought of before, given the fact that so many of them also have their own blogs. I've been reading those blogs for a couple of years now, and have noticed enough similarities, that I think I could write this book for them! Here's a sneak peak at the blogging checklist that I'd put on the back cover of such a book. ... [Read More!]

Is Your Pastor a Comedian?

Someone who is near and dear to me recently announced that he had switched churches. I was surprised by this since his children were plugged-in and really flourishing at his old church. When I asked him for the reason for his switch, he gave me one simple answer: At his new church, "the pastor is much more funny". He said that the pastor at his old church simply didn't keep his attention. I was taken back by the shallowness, as he began to reenact for me how his new pastor would clown around on stage, to imitate biblical characters such as Samson. ... [Read More!]

Do Large Followings Indicate 'Success'?

Numerous seeker-driven church leaders came out slugging this week in defense of numeric statistics being a valid indicator of "church success". We know that growth CAN be indicative of church health, but this is not always the case. There are large churches that are corrupt, and small churches that are healthy and blessed of God. Unfortunately what is typical of so many modern church leaders is that large crowds, positive feedback, and audience excitement all work together to cause a placebo effect, giving the perception that they are on the right track. Many of these leaders end up overlooking the more accurate and biblically-based indicators of ministry-success and church health. ... [Read More!]

Drawing Crowds With Sex Therapy Sermons

I'm usually suspicious of conspiracy theories, so I realize that if you are like me, you're going to want proof that what follows is a REAL conspiracy.
I'm going to attempt to convince you that - when churches abandon biblical doctrine in favor of repetitive themes on "how to have great sex", their true motives are often concealed beneath a pious cover story of "helping people understand what the bible teaches on this topic". Here's a look at the real motivation behind this new trend within growth-driven churches, in which audiences are bombarded by an inordinate amount of Sunday morning sex training, often advertised in a risque' manner. If your pastor sounds more like a sex therapist lately, than a minister of the gospel, this may be why. ... [Read More!]

Do You Go To a 'Me Church'?

It's true, you are unique, and there really is nobody quite like you. Let's face it, the old way of doing church just didn't seem very relevant; in fact - you found it boring. But now we live in a time when churches recognize that you are special, and want to meet you right where you are at. Here's a short video that might help you determine how far your church is willing to go in meeting your felt-needs. ... [Read More!]

The Letter That Could Announce American Revival

It's a letter from a pastor to his flock, and the admissions
he makes reflect a miraculous God-given change of heart.
After following the seeker-sensitive paradigm for years,
he's come to the conviction that Galatians 1:10 applies to him
"If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ". Now he's decided to follow God's strategies instead. More letters like this might be an indicator of true revival starting in the American church. ... [Read More!]

Bribery: Whatever It Takes To Get Them In Church

It occurred to me - we Christians might just be missing out on the next great opportunity for church growth. We could achieve so much more than we do today if we weren't so stingy and inhibited by tradition. We've been offering a lot of things to bring in the "unchurched" over the past decade or so from food courts to tennis courts, coffee shops to gift shops and pop rock to hip-hop. The list goes on. But now, brothers and sisters, it's time to rally the troops and raise that bar once again ... [Read More!]

Don't Judge Us: "The Ends Justify The Means"

Parents, this may not be the best post for children to read. I find myself embarrassed over the actions of one midwest mega-church that's really pushing the envelope for what's acceptable in church. Here are some audio clips of the irreverent and inappropriate language that comes forth from this "pulpit". Meanwhile, in the youth group we have weekly rock concerts that get defined as "worship". One of their teens says she likes going to this youth group instead of with her parents - because you can
"do what you want to do, dance around or whatever". ... [Read More!]

Counting The Costs or Gambling on God?

Here's another modern church that sees no biblical conflict in using carnal or worldly methods to accomplish the goal of getting more people in the doors. This time around, it's a sermon series based on a "gambling theme". The Texas church is handing out poker chips in the community with their church logo on them. A pastor of the church says: "the goal is to capitalize on the Texas Hold 'Em craze and make our services an easy invite for the people in our community". ... [Read More!]

Acts Church: Built Through Purity Not Pragmatism

The display of wrath within the Acts 5 church caused not two, but three casualties: Ananias, Sapphira, and the legitimacy of today's Seeker-Sensitive movement. In this chapter of the bible, God makes it clear to anyone who has eyes to see, that His priorities are different than the aims of modern pragmatism. In the Acts 5 church, we see the co-existence of two things that many today would think are in opposition with one another:
1) Unbelieving "seekers" were scared away from the church, and
2) God still grew His church. ... [Read More!]