Despite the rain on Halloween we had a steady flow of trick-or-treaters. The next day, Sunday, the rain stopped and the sun shone in the cloudless sky. Unseasonably warm, it promised to be a nice day. With a few extra minutes before church, I when to retrieve the weekly paper in our paper box. A […]
Two weeks ago I wrote that a spiritual discipline is something we do to draw closer to God or to honor him. To be of value we need to do this willingly with joy and in anticipation. I gave 17 possible disciplines to consider. Going to church wasn’t on the list. Should going to church […]
A simple definition of theology is studying God. Since I love God so much and love reading about him in the Bible you’d think I’d love theology, too. Right? Well I don’t. Learning about God and contemplating him through his word excites me. I look forward to it every day. Yet theology leaves me cold. […]
The Myth of Self-Sufficiency The ideal in the United States is personal self-sufficiency. But this is a myth, an unattainable pursuit that will eventually leave us broken or alone—or both. John Donne understood this. He said “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.” We need others; […]
Most people who go to church say they want their church to grow. However, they usually have an unstated assumption: they want the new people to be just like them. Although understandable, this is also wrong. Unfortunately, the only place to find more people like them is at another church. In essence, they want to […]
Examine Your Reasons for Staying Home on Sunday Last Sunday I asked the question, Why do you go to church? Today, I ask the opposite question to everyone else: Why don’t you go to church? Though I’m not in this group, I’ve talked to many who are. They have multiple reasons, some of them good, […]
Reasons People Give for Going to Church I often wonder why I go to church. Seldom do I come up with a good answer, that is, the real reason why I show up on Sundays. I’m not even sure if I know the theologically correct response. Here are some reasons I’ve heard over the years: […]
Today in the United States, a three day holiday weekend (for Labor Day on Monday) effectively marks the end of summer. As I anticipate going to church, I know I’ll see fewer people there. I’m bothered over the low attendance. And I’m bothered that it bothers me. Growing up, only two things kept me from […]
By Bob Hostetler (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)A book bearing the instruction to “quit going to church” might strike some church-going folk as a text to avoid, one surely full of disrespectful thoughts or even heresy. This is not so with Bob Hostetler’s book. Bob pens his work, not as one who has dismissed church attendance […]
In my post “What I Learned From The Great Divorce,” I shared three levels of spiritual understanding for a book: reading it, seeing it preformed, and discussing it afterward. These have parallels to our spiritual journey. 1. Read I was intrigued when I read C. S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce. However, my primary reaction was […]