Piper spilling the “beans”?

Recently, pastor and author John Piper tweeted this:

To date it has more than 1,300 comments and almost 2,800 likes. Foxnews ran a story on it today here. It was an interesting read as Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Jewish leaders weighed in on the issue.

“Shots” fired. Expresso-ly at coffee drinkers.

. . . → Read More: Piper spilling the “beans”?

In Defense of Modern Worship Style

A headline from a recent article proclaims “There is a reason every hit worship song sounds the same.” The article goes on to quote a study in which the authors say, “if you have ever felt like most worship music sounds the same, it may be because the worship music you . . . → Read More: In Defense of Modern Worship Style

Reformation, Part 2

I love the comments about what needs to be reformed about worship and church life today. Several commented that reformation must start with the individual. This was true with Martin Luther, and it is true today. God is in the business of reforming, and we should ourselves be working to be . . . → Read More: Reformation, Part 2

Congregational Singing

Over the last year or so, there have been a multitude of blog posts about the decline of congregational singing. I agree with many of them. Reasons given range from too many songs in the congregational repertoire, keys that are too high to sing in, songs that are difficult to sing, . . . → Read More: Congregational Singing

Reflections on Love

Roses are red, violets are blue, I saw a sticker, that Darwin loves you?

Bumper stickers have always amused me. Some clever, some controversial, some political, some simply helping hold the bumper on the dilapidated car. I was on the way home from church on Sunday, and was “blessed” to see . . . → Read More: Reflections on Love

What Millennials Want

There has been much talk on the internet about what millennials want in churches. The Christian pollster George Barna has done a recent study that is very interesting. A Google search will also reveal many more articles and opinions on this issue.

I think this is a good question to ask, . . . → Read More: What Millennials Want

Creating Wonder, Sharing Joy

First, let me say that I don’t like coffee or even the smell of it. I do like my wife and she likes Starbucks, so by default I often find myself in one. So on a date last night, I found myself in Starbucks.

I was struck with their slogan for . . . → Read More: Creating Wonder, Sharing Joy

Relevance Revisited

I feel compelled to write one more post on relevance as it is such a driving force in our American Christian culture, usually for the negative. I see some trends in today’s evangelical church that are troubling.

Before I begin, I do want to issue a disclaimer: I don’t think we are to . . . → Read More: Relevance Revisited

Uncool is the new “cool”

Last week I read a post that I have been thinking about a lot. It resounded with me and was a great encouragement to me and my wife. The article is “Is Your Church Too Cool?” by Rachel Held Evans.

She had me in the opening paragraphs:

How a pursuit of relevance can undermine . . . → Read More: Uncool is the new “cool”

Secular artists, current styles and worship music

We had Lincoln Brewster on campus last semester and during our lunch conversation, we got off on worship styles. I was asking him about trends he was seeing on the West Coast, and we talked about how worship music is impacted by music of our culture. We also discussed how we typically are stylistically . . . → Read More: Secular artists, current styles and worship music