54% of Weekly Church Attenders Believe Torture is OK

The Pew Forum offers a very disturbing view of regular church attenders with their latest report on torture opinions.  We might all be better off staying home on Sunday mornings if this is the best we can do. When asked to respond to the statement, “Torture to gain important information from terrorists is justified…” here’s [...]

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China’s Dead Sea Scrolls: An Ancient Case of Contextual Christianity

Contextualization is the buzzword in missional thinking today, but it’s not a new concept.  In 635 AD, Christianity followed the Silk Road and entered China’s capital city of Chang’an, now known as Xian.  Aleben, a bishop from Persia, led a contingent of two dozen monks on a 3,000 mile journey into the heart of China. [...]

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New Policy: No reviews of free books

I am announcing a new policy to which the staff of Confessions of a Small-Church Pastor will immediately adhere. Okay, I’m the only staff there is, so I am the one immediately adhering. Drum roll, please!  Okay, here it is: I will no longer review free books on this blog. If I review a book, [...]

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Slip, Slidin’ Away

Paul Simon writes great lyrics, and Slip, Slidin’ Away is one of my favorites.   Which brings me to the Pew Forum report on Faith in Flux: Changes in Religious Affiliation in the US.  “What does Paul Simon have to do with religious affiliation,” you ask?  Well, Slip, Slidin Away could be the new theme song [...]

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Practicing Pastoral Courtesy

The accusation of sheep-stealing has been made by pastors for as long as there have been at least two pastors in existence.  And, the standard reply from the accused to accuser is, “If you were feeding your sheep, I couldn’t steal ‘em!”  But, that silly exchange raises the serious question of ministerial ethics.  Is anyone [...]

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Sermon: The Power of His Name

Here’s the sermon I’m preaching tomorrow, Sunday, April 26, 2009. I hope your Sunday is wonderful wherever you gather with God’s people. The Power of His Name Acts 3:12-19 12When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our [...]

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NOC09 blog tour stops here Thursday

I’m leading the Small Church Idea Forum at the National Outreach Convention 2009 in San Diego, CA on November 4-7, 2009.  The NOC09 blog tour is stopping by today to leave some questions in the comment section.  Click on the tiny number beside the “quote balloon” to the right of the title of this post [...]

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Find a need and fill it still works

Tonight I served as the “community host” for Family Night Out with No Reservations at one of our local restaurants.  Families were invited to eat dinner together, and the idea was to get parents and kids talking about drug and alcohol issues during dinner.  Kids under-12 ate free, and each family received a tote bag [...]

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Over 200,000!

Today this blog went over 200,000 views!  Of course, you get all the credit because without you — and a couple of hundred-thousand others — Confessions of  a Small-Church Pastor would never have reached this milestone.  So, thanks for stopping by, or for reading by feedreader, or email, or Facebook, or Twitter, or however you [...]

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How Pastors Spend Their Time

The old joke is that pastors work only one hour a week — Sunday morning at 11 AM.  If I could get a gig like that, I’d take it, but the reality is that pastors, and other church leaders have very busy work schedules.  I was thinking about this the other day, and here’s how [...]

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