I read something recently that gave me reason to pause–literally and figuratively.

The New York Times published the article, “Taking a Break From the Lord’s Work“– a well-documented plea for pastors and leaders of other faiths to take a break. Like, for real. See if the opening paragraph doesn’t snag you:
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We saw this sign on the way home from the pool today. It sits in front of a large church here in town. Obviously, it’s referring to the Sunday services held yesterday on the Fourth of July.

My question to you: Is this a good idea or a bad idea?

Let’s face it: Most Christian conferences, at some point, get boring.

You know what I’m talking about:

• The one guy who’s presenting only because he’s family friends with the senior pastor of the church the conference is being held at.
• The fatigue of the cross-country road trip to get to the conference starts to set in. Sleepy… Getting… so… sleepy…
• The pastor who insists on preaching a three-point, 60-minute sermon when he’s been told to only go 20 minutes.

Boring.

But I found myself at a conference last year that was unlike any I had been to before. STORY. STORY held my attention from beginning to end (maybe it was the city-wide search for free copies of the Divine Conspiracy?) and this year looks to be even better.

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Coming soon to an online church near you? The virtual choir.

I had a refreshing conversation with a friend recently. So wonderfully refreshing.

We were talking about how Christians in this culture have come to be known as the people who hate abortion and homosexuals. Forget the life-giving relationship with our Creator, we want to make sure people know what we’re against. We’ve painted ourselves into a corner and there doesn’t seem to be a foreseeable way out.

My friend then shared the most vivid, truthful analogy I’ve ever heard regarding the mess we Christians have put ourselves in. He said:

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Whenever I see people at a Christian concert or conference make the “Satan” sign, I wonder to myself, “Do they know what that means? Or maybe they’re from Texas?”

Either way, here’s a chart that decodes the thumb-index-finger-pinkie sign, once and for all. If you don’t know, now you know. (And maybe you’ll think twice before flashing the “fingers” at the next TobyMac concert.)
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You know what gives me hope? My brothers and sisters in Christ. That’s what gives me hope.

I recently received an email from a friend. She had set up a fund at her church to help a mutual friend pay for her son’s cancer treatments. This email outlined how I could help with the effort, complete with mailing address and how the whole process was going to work:

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UPDATE: Winners are announced below! Thanks to everyone who played.

I met Scott McClellan in person at Cultivate last year in Chicago. I knew we would get along when he was given iPod duty in my car and chose “Regulate” by Warren G. Classic.

Scott’s written for this blog before and runs REALfakeADS.com. He’s also editor for COLLIDE–a magazine where media and church converge.

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Jesus’ charge to his followers in Matthew 28 is this: “Go and make disciples of all nations.” My question to you is this:

Is inviting someone to come to a church service fulfilling this command?

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From one of Michael’s last posts:

The ultimate apologetic is to a dying man.

That is what all those “Where is God?” statements in the Psalms are all about. They are, at least partially, invitations to Christians to speak up for the dying.

All the affirmations to God as creator and designer are fine, but it is as the God of the dying that the Christian has a testimony to give that absolutely no one else can give.

We need to remember that each day dying people are waiting for the word of death and RESURRECTION.

Michael Spencer, a.k.a. “iMonk” died tonight after a long battle with cancer.

We grieve with those who grieve. We rejoice knowing the Michael is with his LORD.