Musing About Music
I certainly don’t claim to be an expert on music. I can’t read it at all, but I’ve been thinking about how we use it, and am always asking the “why?” question. I want to know why we do things …...
View ArticleChristianity Today Gleanings: Are Christians Really Hypocrites? Barna...
“This research may help to explain how evangelicals are often targeted for claims of hypocrisy; the unique ‘sin’ of evangelicals tends to be doing the ‘right’ thing but with improper motives,” says...
View ArticleThree Year Olds Have No Sense
Last night, my wife, Beth, had one of those scares that all parents dread. It’s the sort of thing that could happen to anyone, but last night it happened to her. She took the girls to Barnes and Noble...
View ArticleRabbit Trails (5/18/13)
After a long absence, my schedule has relaxed a little, and I thought we should bring back the Rabbit Trails. Hopping down the WWRT this week… The radio ministry of Harold Camping – the guy who has...
View ArticleGrace Ain’t Easy
“One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.” (Proverbs 29:23, ESV) Grace isn’t easy. It sounds easy, but it isn’t. It requires something of me that I am normally...
View ArticleRabbit Trails (5/25/13)
Hopping down the WWRT this week… Top urbanists agree that casinos are bad for cities. This is a really moving piece from a man who group up in the always tumultuous Iran. I wish I could write the way...
View ArticleSoul Searching 1: Mapping The Big Picture
For the last several weeks, one of the books I’ve been working through is Christian Smith’s Soul Searching (2005). The book is full of statistics and studies, and is interesting if you sort through the...
View ArticleSoul Searching 2: The Rebellious Teen?
As we continue our trip through Christian Smith’s Soul Searching, a word about the research methodology itself. I thought the method of research for this work was really quite thorough. Here is Smith’s...
View ArticleSoul Searching 3: Teen Church Attendance
Today, as we continue to look through Christian Smith’s Soul Searching, we’re taking a look at teen religious service attendance. Before I show you the table, some definitions: CP = Conservative...
View ArticleRabbit Trails (6/08/13)
Hopping down the WWRT this week… Turns out that the French treat ADHD in children differently that we do with different results. Interesting. I found this little info-graph showing some hypothetical...
View ArticleSome Thoughts About Surveys (A “Soul Searching” Caveat)
As I’ve been blogging through Christian Smith’s “Soul Searching,” I’ve had this recurring thought that the data in this research is now 10 years old. How much has changed in 10 years? I suspect that...
View ArticleSoul Searching 4: Teen Belief
Today, we’re taking a look at some of the specific beliefs of teens as shown in the research found in Christian Smith’s Soul Searching. We’re asking the question, “What is the God in which most teens...
View ArticleThe Issue Is Idolatry
Today, I want to take a break from talking about statistics, and get back into one of my pet issues: worship. I found a recording of an N. T. Wright lecture he gave at Calvin College back in 2002 about...
View ArticleSoul Searching 5: Teen Religious Experience
Continuing our cruise through Christian Smith’s Soul Searching, let’s take a look at what teens say about their religious experience. For the table… CP = Conservative Protestant, MP = Mainline...
View ArticleThe Gospel For Those Broken By The Church
I’ve listened to this lecture more than once over the last couple of years, and listened to it again this morning at the prompting of a friend. It’s worth a listen… <p><a...
View ArticleThe Irony Of Relevance
A pastor friend of mine recently gave me a copy of chapter five of Oz Guinness’s 1993 Dining With The Devil: The Megachurch Movement Flirts With Modernity. I have to tell you that, 20 years later, it’s...
View ArticleOn Tradition
Jaroslav Pelikan on Tradition: Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. Tradition lives in conversation with the past, while remembering where we are...
View ArticleSoul Searching 8: Not Too Religious
Continuing to look at the major themes uncovered in the one-on-one interviews in the book Soul Searching by Christian Smith. The first of these themes we’ve been sorting through is the idea that...
View ArticleRabbit Trails (6/29/13)
Hopping down the WWRT this week… Of course, the big news this week is the Supreme Courts ruling in the DOMA case. Here’s a thoughtful and calm response from Ed Stetzer. What should churches do now? The...
View ArticleSoul Searching 9: Everyone Decides For Themselves
Continuing in chapter 4 of Christian Smith’s Soul Searching, we look at yet another major theme of American teen religious belief: everyone decides for themselves. (Full Series) Who am I to judge?...
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