I recently ran across this presentation by Gary Hamel, an author and management consultant who has been called “the world’s most influential business thinker” by The Wall Street Journal. Hamel advises Fortune 500 companies and writes for Harvard Business Review. He is also a deeply committed Christian. In 2009, he was invited to speak at the Global Leadership Summit, an annual gathering of pastors and church leaders organized by Willow Creek Community Church. Hamel spoke with thoughtfulness and passion about the need for churches and ministries to change. Some of his basic arguments are found in this WSJ blog post. But if you can do so, please watch the full 57-minute video presentation; you won’t be disappointed.
Opinion pieces
Tags: Church Trends
In the 2006 movie Talladega Nights, a racecar driver named Ricky Bobby prays with his family at the dinner table: “Dear Lord Baby Jesus…We thank you so much for this bountiful harvest of Dominos, KFC, and the always delicious Taco Bell. I just want to take time to say thank you for my family: my two beautiful, beautiful, handsome striking sons, Walker and Texas Ranger, or TR as we call him. And, of course, my red hot smokin’ wife…” Despite the silliness of this prayer, there is something about it that rings true. The character addresses God in very a personal way. The things for which he is giving thanks may look tasteless. But they are what he values and loves.
by Chris Kelly
I’ve been trying to figure out what’s wrong with the Christian church these days. Some of my friends see back-biting, infighting, inter-church animosity. Others see a lack of church growth. I suspect they are mostly concerned with the lack of growth in numbers, which I agree is serious. But that is a sign of the lack of inner growth, which is my main concern.
Here are some trends that get me riled up. Why do churches reject glorious old hymns, preferring anything written less than one year ago if it features drums and syncopation? Why are we so quick to jettison 2,000 years of Christian culture and embrace the latest fashions and trends of the world?
Tags: Church Trends
by Caitie Hutton
Less is not always more. Especially when it comes to clothing on a Friday night. More and more college women are wearing next to nothing in an effort to stand out and “look hott.” Instead of rejecting the sex-symbol stereotypes about women in the media and pop culture, young women are reinforcing them.
by Susan Hong
[Editor's note: This article was written by a graduate student at a medium-sized private university. The original post can be viewed at Susan's blog.]
I lucked out with having one of the most amazing, personable departments ever. Most students tell me about how apathetic, cold, and sometimes even spiteful their professors can be. I realize that I am blessed. God blessed me with the BEST professors and advisors- we’re talking incredibly accomplished people in their field, Harvard Ph.D’s who are on the frontlines of social science, medicine/epidemiology, public health, and political science research. Not only are they accomplished, but they are NICE!
Tags: Academia
by Andrew Kim
A majority of Korean-Americans identify themselves as Christian. If they attend church on a weekly basis, one would assume that they did so because of their faith. But faith is not the sole reason that Korean-Americans spend their Sundays in God’s house. Upon their arrival in America, many Koreans speak very little English. One of the few escapes from this strange new world in which they are submerged is the church. Church becomes a place not only for prayer but a haven where Koreans can feel comfortable, surrounded by people who resemble them.
About 40% of Korean-American Christians became Christian after their arrival in United States. The church became an important place for social gathering. It makes us wonder how many of these “conversions” are real. Do they see themselves as Christians because they began to identify with a new social group? Or did they truly see the light through the preaching of the gospel and having their hearts changed by God?
Tags: Race and Ethnicity
by Oleg Shklyaev
Christians of different denominations read different Bibles. The collection of texts known as the Bible has changed over time. The earliest Christians had the Old Testament, some letters from the apostles and oral tradition. A list of 22 books of the New Testament appeared in the Muratorian Canon around AD 180. In AD 365, Athanasius of Alexandria listed 27 books. A Latin edition of the Bible called the Vulgate appeared in AD 383 and became the standard for the Western world. In addition to the 66 books found in the current Protestant Bible, the Vulgate also had the so-called deuterocanonical books and apocrypha. Some differences persist today. For instance, the Ethiopian “narrow” canon includes 81 books.
Tags: Church History, Scripture
by Joe Schafer
Skepticism is the philosophy that casts doubt on everything. Skeptics may say that all religions are the same. But they do not think that all of them are true. They probably think that none are true. To them, religions are metaphors for some grand, overall truth, but what that truth is, they cannot say. They might say that they believe in God. But to them, God is vague and unknowable. Many skeptics claim to have faith. But their faith has no defined object. They place their faith in faith itself.
Tags: Modernism, Philosophy
by Nate Turnock
When you hear the word faith, what comes to mind? The term is notoriously hard to define. All of my life I was told to believe in God. But I never could understand how to have faith. I saw it as blind action with no rhyme or reason. Like pushing all your poker chips into one big pot, hoping that your cards are better than the other guy’s.
Tags: Faith
Keller on the Gospel
May 28, 2010 in Commentary, Personal Experience by Ruthie | No comments
Earlier this month, another Seed contributor, Andrew, and I attended Chapter Camp with Intervarsity. It was an awesome time for many reasons, but really it was all about the bible study. That consumed our time and minds and energy. We studied the first half of Mark, aka “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” We’ll study the second half next summer. It’s not that I’ve never studied any Mark before, but this time I saw God as huge and mysterious, the way he really is. I had so many questions, and so did everyone else. I am so glad that we weren’t satisfied leaving the pieces of Mark at what we’d heard that this or that was supposed to mean for us but kept digging. The great thing is that we prayerfully approached what we didn’t understand, began to understand, and were moved by it. We all came to the table leaving behind what we thought we already knew and just read what Mark had to say. God worked in that. I saw Jesus as love and a man and I was moved to tears when he cured Legion. We let Jesus be Jesus and he met me there. Too often, I don’t experience the reality and magnitude of Jesus when approaching the bible. This time was entirely refreshing.
Just today, thinking about all of this, I found an article by Tim Keller, “Preaching in a Post Modern City.” He gives an interesting perspective on how we live and fail to live gospel centered lives. He talks about how we become the changed people that we desire to be and are supposed to be. Speaking about virtue he says,” it particularly grows by a faith-sight of the glory of Christ and his salvation.” I believe that to be true, that seeing Jesus is powerful and causes us to move. He also says, “Is [the gospel] basically about what I must do, or basically about what he has done?”