What’s going or gone?

Radio personalities Randy and Spiff, on Atlanta’s Oldies 106.7, helped me endure the metro traffic woes earlier this week with a bit about things that are disappearing. Callers came up with all kinds of things like printed photos, daily newspapers, landline and...

Stop thinking of church as family?

I was a bit surprised by a recent blog at Faith and Leadership, where author/consultant Tony Robinson suggested that churches would be healthier if they stop thinking of themselves as a family. That ruffled my feathers a bit, because I’ve always thought the...

Evangelism and Ethics Are Inseparable

Proselytism is a dirty word for both secularists and goodwill Christians. Many secularists oppose any expression of Christian witness – at home or abroad. They favor freedom from religion. Many goodwill Christians favor freedom of religion and oppose witnessing that...

“Blood Done Sign My Name”

It’s an oft-told tale, usually found on television as a Hallmark Hall of Fame broadcast: a small Southern town torn apart by a racial killing. Sadly, there are lots of these kinds of stories, so the one told in “Blood Done Sign My Name” has to try...

When It’s Time to Move to the Next Ministry

If you are in ministry, there are times in your life when you have to make a decision about moving from one place of ministry to another. We often use very spiritual and theological language to explain this. In a recent conversation, someone asked me, “How did...

Living in the age of TMI

TMI — short for “too much information” — is often used when someone offers more personal details than the listener wants to hear. But it can apply to other areas of communication as well.Amid the busy publishing cycle this week I am taking moments here and there to...