Author Archive
April 21, 2016 | by Guest Authors | Church Legal Issues, Finances, Pastoral Development, Shared Articles
By: Raul Rivera April 21, 2016 In September of 2014, amidst internal controversy involving his leadership, Mark Driscoll resigned as founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington. One month later, it was announced that the mega-church would dissolve effective January 1, 2015. Fast forward 18 months from his resignation, and Mark Driscoll is […]
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April 14, 2016 | by Guest Authors | Church Growth, Pentecostal Revival
By Trevor Grundy Pentecostalism is one of the fastest-growing movements in world Christendom, with an estimated 500 million followers. “A century ago the face of European Christianity could have been labeled as white, but now it is increasingly becoming multicolored,” said Israel Olofinjana, a Nigerian-born minister in London told the Times. While aging Church of […]
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March 29, 2016 | by Guest Authors | Church Legal Issues, Civil Disobedience, Persecution of Christians, Shared Articles
By: Hans von Spakovsky and Tiffany Bates The plaza of the U.S. Supreme Court and the courtroom itself were full of people you don’t normally see at the court—priests, ministers, and nuns of various religious orders. They were there Wednesday to hear the U.S. government argue that the Little Sisters of the Poor—an order of Catholic […]
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March 29, 2016 | by Guest Authors | Church Growth, Finances
By Kent Woodyard “If your church isn’t strapped for cash, your vision isn’t big enough.” I heard this quote at a church planters conference in California last fall, and I’ve been repeating it ever since. Budget shortfalls and tightened purse strings are the source of much consternation and hand wringing in church offices around the […]
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March 22, 2016 | by Guest Authors | Church Growth, Church Legal Issues, Pastoral Development, Shared Articles, Uncategorized
By: Raul Rivera March 17, 2016 The sound of Pastor Fred’s voice over the phone was heartbreaking as he reported the embezzlement crime to the local police. Only days before, the church had announced that the fundraising for its building campaign had successfully raised $500,000 to construct the church’s new sanctuary and children’s wing. They […]
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March 22, 2016 | by Guest Authors | Church Legal Issues, Civil Disobedience, Historical Study, Persecution of Christians, Shared Articles, Uncategorized
By: David Koyzis What happens when the demands of government contradict our faith in a fundamental way? What if, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we are called to bow the knee to a false god and, in so doing, deny the one true God (Dan. 3)? Or, more likely, what if we are made to […]
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March 17, 2016 | by Guest Authors | Church Growth, Pastoral Development, Research, Uncategorized
Released by Barna Research 11:30AM EDT 3/16/2016, © 2016 by Barna Group. The United States is in a cultural crisis. There are gaping fissures between the rich and poor, growing tensions between races, disunity among faith groups, increasing resentment between genders, and a vast and expanding gap between liberals and conservatives. Generation, gender, socioeconomics, ethnicity, faith, […]
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March 15, 2016 | by Guest Authors | Church Growth, Historical Study, Missions, Shared Articles
By: Karl Vaters I want my church to grow. I want your church to grow. But more than anything, I want The Church to grow. I want as many people as possible, all over the world, to know Jesus. The good news of the gospel can’t be confined within the walls of my church, the […]
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March 11, 2016 | by Guest Authors | Historical Study, Middle East, Persecution of Christians, Shared Articles
BY: Amanda Casanova / Religion Today Contributing Writer Watchdog groups are reporting that as many as one million Muslim converts are risking prison or death in Iran by worshiping as part of a house church movement. Open Doors USA estimates there are about 450,000 practicing Christians in Iran. Others estimate more than 1 million. According to Fox News, […]
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March 11, 2016 | by Guest Authors | Church Legal Issues, Shared Articles
BY: Amanda Casanova | Religion Today Contributing Writer A Missouri court has ruled in favor of a Catholic diocese’s decision to fire employees that violate the diocese’s religious beliefs. According to ChristianToday.com, the Missouri court ruled that the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph had the right to fire Colleen Simon from her role as director for social ministries at […]
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