“There was a dynamic missing, so the pastor did a pretty brave thing,” he recalls. “He decided to get rid of the sound system and band for a season, and we gathered together with just our voices. His point was that we’d lost our way in worship, and the way to get back to the heart would be to strip everything away.”Reminding his church family to be producers in worship, not just consumers, the pastor, Mike Pilavachi, asked, “When you come through the doors on a Sunday, what are you bringing as your offering to God?”Matt says the question initially led to some embarrassing silence, but eventually people broke into a cappella songs and heartfelt prayers, encountering God in a fresh way.
Tag: Discipleship
Review of Jennie Allen’s “Restless” Curriculum
- short story/essay by the author
- reading and questions of a portion of scripture from Scripture
- other verses and more personal questions
- a “project” that could involve journaling or drawing
- conclusion, with more questions
- When was the last time you dreamt about doing something specific in your life?
- Are you coming into this study with any hurt and disappointment regarding your dreams?
- Describe some of the tensions that occur when many unique pieces are challenged to worth together as one body for one purpose.
- Do you think this restlessness is discontentment or a restlessness from God wanting to move you toward more?
On the Fourth Day of Christmas…We’ve Forgotten All About It
What Does It Mean to Be Alive?
I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” (page 115).
A Schism in the Church? Maybe. Maybe Not.
Tony Jones has called for people to leave the church:
The time has come for a schism regarding the issue of women in the church. Those of us who know that women should be accorded full participation in every aspect of church life need to visibly and forcefully separate ourselves from those who do not. Their subjugation of women is anti-Christian, and it should be tolerated no longer.That means:
- If you attend a church that does not let women preach or hold positions of ecclesial authority, you need to leave that church.
- If you work for a ministry that does not affirm women in ecclesial leadership, you need to leave that ministry.
- If you write for a publishing house that also prints books by “complementarians,” you need to take your books to another publishing house.
- If you speak at conferences, you need to withdraw from all events that do not affirm women as speakers, teachers, and leaders.
But I do see some difficulties with it. Although I share his disbelief that this still happens (see my comment here, plus, I never really even knew this happened until early 2000s, and only later learned the word complementarian), it’s going to be harder to accomplish than not.
Point 1: It’s not easy to leave a church, especially if there are not that many to choose from in your town. It’s even harder if you have familial ties to it. And a church that may not officially let women hold positions of ecclesiastical authority is actually one in which I saw men and women working together to lead the church. Really. In the Catholic church in which I grew up, the priest and the director of religious education always seemed to me to be a team, working together. I never saw any indication of hierarchy. Even though he led mass, she was always participating too, and girls and boys were both allowed to be altar girls and altar boys.
If one feels he or she cannot leave a church, then one should not sit idly by and should continue to push for women’s involvement. Nominate them as elders/deacons–even if it isn’t “allowed”. Keep suggesting opportunities for women speakers. Give everyone you know a copy of “How I Changed My Mind About Women In Leadership“. Educate others who just don’t know. You don’t need permission to have your own small group, so buy the book and discuss it with others.
Point 2: Make sure you can line up a new job first.
Point 3: This would work for someone who is a popular and established writer. For me, not so much. If I was offered a book deal, I’d probably take it no matter what!
Point 4: Probably the easiest for those who speak for a living, but still definitely a fearful step to take.
Is Tony’s idea totally feasible? Nope. But it’s a call to action to those who aren’t acting. What will you do?
Cats, Emily Dickinson, & Christian Celebrity Culture

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Photo Credit: David Schell |
Are you nobody, too?
Then there’s a pair of us — don’t tell!
They’d banish — you know!
How dreary to be somebody!
How public like a frog
To tell one’s name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!
Also, feel free to add more examples of Nobodies in the comments!
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Speaking the Truth In Love
A few minutes ago, Rachel Held Evans asked this on Twitter:
- Speaking the truth patiently.
- Speaking the truth kindly.
- Speaking the truth without envy.
- Speaking the truth without boasting.
- Speaking the truth without being arrogant about it.
- Speaking the truth politely.
- Speaking the truth unselfishly.
- Speaking the truth good-naturedly.
- Speaking the truth without resent.
An additional thought I just had is that since Jesus says HE is the truth (John 14:6 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.), then how do we speak Jesus to others in love? Do we follow the description of love above, or do we beat people over the head?
I Once Was…But Now I’ve Found… an interview at Tyler Tully’s “The Jesus Event”
When Tyler Tully asked if he could interview me for his “I once was…but now I’ve found…” series, I said sure, but I was a little perplexed as to what the topic could be. I never had any sort of major moment of conversion that is popular in much of evangelical Christianity and although I left church for a time as a teenager and came back, I never really felt it was that momentous and didn’t completely redefine my faith or who I was. So we came up with the idea of exploring the ecumenical Christian journey I’ve been on since, well, birth.
Kelly, you were raised in an ecumenical environment, where you were exposed to different flavors of Christian worship and practice. Why were you exposed to that type of cultivation, and what did you enjoy most about it?
I was exposed to ecumenism because my parents had always gone to different churches and that didn’t stop when they got married. My dad was Catholic and my mom was Protestant (United Church of Christ). I guess they wanted us to be able to go to both rather than picking one. I was even baptized in both of them–on the same day! I can’t say that as a child I enjoyed anything about it; it was more of an annoyance to often go to both churches every week (Saturday night Catholic mass and Sunday morning Protestant church service) but as an adult I have greatly appreciated it because it helped me to understand from an early age that no one denomination is perfect or right about everything. I do remember as a child that when we would say the Lord’s Prayer, I would recite it the opposite way of the church I was in (the versions were slightly different) and when we would recite the Nicene creed in the Catholic church, I wouldn’t say the line about believing in one holy catholic church, because to me, I went to two churches that were equally valid. I didn’t know then that catholic in that context meant universal.
To read the rest of the interview, in which Tyler asks me about church shopping, modesty culture, college ministry, and the future of the church, please visit “The Jesus Event”.
Toning it Down (Part II about tone)
I learned that the right thing said in the wrong way is the wrong thing. –Brad Lomenick, The Catalyst Leader
I’m Not Tone Deaf (Part I about tone)
19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another. –Galatians 5:19-26