Culture
President Barack Obama has captured the imagination of the world, and by doing so has earned the world's most prestigious peace award, The Nobel Peace Prize. Like millions of Americans I woke up this morning to the stunning news that the President had been awarded the Peace Prize.
Church news
I'm back at The Cove this week leading conferences for the Billy Graham School of Evangelism. Yesterday we covered "Keys to Thriving in the Smaller Church." About 150 pastors, spouses, and church leaders attended the back-t0-back sessions and offered great stories from their own small churches.
Culture
Shame on U. S. Congressman Joe Wilson, R-SC, for his outburst during President Obama's address on health care to a joint session of Congress. Multiple media channels are reporting that Joe Wilson is the person who yelled, "You lie!" during President Obama's speech tonight.
Christianity
I had the privilege of speaking at the Convocation on the Rural Church, sponsored by Duke Divinity School this month. The conference setting was the beautiful Kingston Plantation Resort at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the weather was great for a few days at the beach. The group attending the
church as abbey
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grLdWkDcOR4&border=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1] Ed Stetzer coins the phrase "ministry pornography" to describe a new kind of lust in the hearts of pastors and staff
church as abbey
In the gift economy, information wants to be free. So, here are the latest freebies I've run across that are both free and excellent. The new Neue Quarterly will be out soon, and my article "Remembering Why You Said Yes" is in this issue. You can
Christian history
This is part 1 of my exclusive interview with Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family. Parts 2 and 3 will be posted Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Interview with Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family: Part 1 by Chuck Warnock Jeff Sharlet is author of The Family: The Secret
Community
In their infinite wisdom, our board of supervisors has decided the way out of our county's financial squeeze (we're the 2nd poorest county in Virginia) is to allow beer and wine sales on Sundays. One supervisor commented tonight, "This isn't about religion, it&
Creativity
Over at Harvard Business's online blog, Umair Haque launches a blistering attack on Wonga, a UK payday lender that charges 2,689% annual interest! In other words, a $100 loan paid back a year later will cost the borrower $2,689. Incredibly, Haque points out that three venture
church as abbey
Les Puryear posted an interesting list of small church distinctives this week. His list got me to thinking about the possible differences in "old" small churches and "new" small churches. By "old" I mean what we typically think of as a small church whether
church as abbey
In all the conversation about churches and change, one particular topic seems to be the unmentioned gorilla in the room -- clergy pay. By clergy pay, I mean what most of us had in mind when we went to seminary -- "I'll get this great theological education
Congregation
Peter Steinke has written a helpful book, Congregational Leadership In Anxious Times. Steinke subtitled his book, Being Calm and Courageous No Matter What. Good advice for these anxious times. In my presentation to small church pastors at The Cove last week, I borrowed Steinke's "13 Triggers for