Well, no and yes. Let me explain. No. When it comes to surviving a global pandemic, where everything is temporarily stripped down to the basics—food, clothing, shelter—physically meeting in a local church is not essential. It is appropriately put on hold or done virtually. Not all agree, however—even church leaders. For example, one pastor recently articulated his anti-social distancing sentiments … Read More
Reaching Those Who’ve Been Hurt by the Church, Part 2 of 3
***Last week (Part 1) we made the “awareness” case. This week (Part 2) and next (Part 3) we get more practical, sharing the remaining nine of ten essentials for reaching those who’ve been hurt or disillusioned by the Church. For a full version of this article see here. 2) Empathy: It’s at this point that we, as believers, have a … Read More
How Bart Ehrman’s “Misquoting Jesus” Misses the Point, 1 of 2
I mentioned here that I’ve been thinking a lot about understanding and addressing millennial apostasy. I’ve been doing this by identifying and looking through several lenses, one of which is a loss of confidence in the authority of Scripture. In my research, I’ve found that Bart Ehrman’s New York Times bestseller Misquoting Jesus has been a major contributor to this … Read More