Box-cutting Thoughts

My Thursday blog on how to fix your church is now entering its second year. Time to reflect or even to do a top ten list:

#10 – Social media matters. I didn’t like Facebook when I first started using it, but now I am connecting with people for whom it is their preferred source of information.

#9 – Information is different from advice. Advice is when I tell you how I would fix your problems. Information is when I share relevant ideas in hopes that you’ll find something useful for walking your own path. Information is fun to share. It is given without any agenda or hope people will do things my way.

#8 – Fiction, art, and movies are all helpful in visualizing our hopes, problems, and solutions.

#7 – Inner city ministries and remote rural congregations have more in common than they think. Those who minister to people on the edges of society need to stick together.

#6 – Postmodern people don’t care what authorities say, they want to relate to you. If you are a pastor, don’t try to be an authority.

#5 – Postmodern people like things said short…. tweet

#4 – Most denominations are dying – the future of Christianity belongs to something different.

#3 – The Gospel of Jesus comes alive when it is spoken in context. Instead of saying, “God is love,” say, “I forgive…” or “This gay person and that gay person have a right to marry” or “This money needs to be given to this situation.”

#2 – Local congregations matter more than denominational aspirations, but caring for the people of a neighborhood trumps both. 

…and drum roll, please!

#1 – Follow your own unique vocation or calling. This is true for both local churches and the people who serve them. 

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