Since a lot of this blog highlights the dangerous pastors, preachers, and authors of today, I thought I would point out a few of the good ones I have learned from over the years.  These guys teach a message that does not involve money, celebrity, or false doctrine.

• John Piper: Most people know of him.  Really powerful speaker and teacher with a lot of Gospel centered teachings.  Website: http://www.desiringgod.org/
• Francis Chan: A guy who preaches really strong about serving and sacrifice for the greater good.  It's reported that he gives away about 90 percent of his income and no longer takes a salary form the church he pastors.  Website: http://francischansblog.blogspot.com/
• Jared Wilson: Guy on the east coast with a heart to preach the Gospel and reach people.  Website: http://gospeldrivenchurch.blogspot.com/
• Eric Knox: A former City Bible youth pastor who had a massive life change in the course of his ministry and founded two Gospel-centered churches (one in Portland and one in Los Angeles).  One of the best preachers/teachers you will ever hear.  Website: http://www.sojournvillage.com/
• Donald Miller: Great author and speaker with an approach to religion and faith that speaks to everyone.  I highly recommend reading his books.  Website: http://donmilleris.com/
• Brennan Manning: Another great author who wrote one of my favorite books of all time "The Ragamuffin Gospel."  Website: http://www.brennanmanning.com/

I know there are plenty more out there, but these are the few that I have come across who seem to have a really great message on Gospel-centered living.  If anyone knows of any other solid pastors, teachers, authors or leaders or thinks one of the people I mentioned are not so great, please do share.

Interesting blog I found. Some readers of City Business Church can probably relate.

recoveringfundamentalists.com

I found this blog post and thought it was an interesting piece.  I especially liked reading the comments.  I'm curious to see if we can get the same kind of discussion going on here.  KenGurley writes:

Lately, I've been thinking about a report I read a year or so ago.  The report was based on a national survey sponsored by Christianity Today International and Zondervan Publishers and found in the Leadership magazine.  The report said that there were five kinds of Christians in America.

Rather than grouping these folks by their individual denominations, the survey groups them by their overall beliefs.  The five types of Christians are:

Active Christians.  These believe that salvation comes through Jesus Christ and are committed churchgoers.  They read their Bibles and share their faith.

Professing Christians.  Beliefs are similar to Active Christians, but their actions differ.  They are less involved in church and less committed to Bible reading and sharing faith.

Liturgical Christians.  Primarily Catholic and Lutheran, these people are regular churchgoers, have a high level of spiritual and community activity and recognize the authority of the church.

Private Christians.  The largest and youngest segment surveyed believe in God and in doing good things.  The majority own a Bible but do not read it.  Only about one-third attend church at all.

Cultural Christians.  Little outward religious behavior or attitudes.  They are aware of God, but have little involvement with him.  They believe that there are many ways to God and that Jesus Christ is not the only way.

One item of interest was that 9 in 10 Active and Professing Christians believe that accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord is essential to salvation.  Liturgical, Private and Cultural Christians hold to "believing in God" as the main characteristic of being a Christian.  For a large percentage of people who called themselves Christian, Christ is not the centerpiece of their faith.

Based on the above categories, I guess you can call me an Active Christian.  I believe Jesus is still "The Way."  What about you?

I would say I am more of the professing Christian type, with traits of an active Christian.  I believe Jesus is the only way and I have a deep faith and commitment to serving Him.  However, I don't read my Bible or share my faith as much as I should and I have not been involved with a church (as it's commonly known) for about 4 years.  I used to be the active Christian type but found myself burnt out and empty after a number of years of living by the "rules" of Christianity.

So I'm curious, how do readers of CBC categorize themselves?

The Christian Post reports that pastors can now go to a website where they pledge to keep their sermons Bible-based, and avoid the rampant practice of so many modern-day pastors who preach sermons based more on positive thinking, personal wellness, general ethics and extra-biblical topics than they do on the Word of God.

At the LC I used to attend here in NorCal they had a guy on their pastoral staff who was a (professional) Motivational Speaker, and who was often asked by the SP to speak on Sundays, amidst a lot of flair and hoopla. They would even put up a life-sized, cardboard cut-out of him in the church lobby, of him standing with his hands held out and smiling.

His “sermons” were usually quite animated, and were filled with various jokes, antics, high-jinks and histrionics, with him bouncing — and often jumping – all over the platform, and were filled with references that always managed to center upon himself, his wife, or his child. It was quite a show.

He always "preached" on the same motivational hokum he spoke on to all the secular corporations and Fortune 500 companies, with titles like: “Believing In Yourself,” “Don‘t Ever Quit,” “You Can Have What You Want,” and “Dare To Be A Dreamer.” The only difference was in the Sunday sermons, he would typically throw in one or two Bible verses to make it sound like the people were getting a real sermon. 

As I recall, the people ate it up.

-joe

I was reading though the New York Times today and found this article highlighting some pretty interesting websites.  Apparently there are a number of prayer sites including prayabout.com, ipraytoday.com, and ourprayer.org where people can anonymously post prayer request with the goal of having others pray for them. According to the article, the company that runs one of these sites gets almost 2 million prayer requests a year. Although I get the idea and think using the web for social networking and community building is a good thing, I'm still baffled at the number of "crazy" Christians that are out there. I don't get why so many people seek God like a candy giver. Praying for health, safety, and guidance is one thing, but asking God to help your husband listen to his psychiatrist or asking to get an A on an exam seems a bit out there to me.  Maybe I'm the only one, but I like to believe that God's got my life under His complete control and my praying should be focused on God's work in others lives more then my own.  Any thoughts? 

Christians have been getting a bad rap on this blog, and I just want to share a story I heard about a lay pastor in Tulsa, Oklahoma who helped a bunch of Indian/Kuwaiti Immigrants escape slavery from a local manuracturing plant. The men were forced into a kind of virtual slaved labor, with almost no help of escape.

The story picks up here

Thankfully, a couple of workers were able to sneak out (leaving the factory without permission was forbidden under armed guard) on a Sunday and they slipped into the nearby church to participate in worship and escape the oppressive conditions of Pickle’s prison. Mark Massey, a lay minister there, connected with the men and befriended them in spite of their broken english and seemingly suspicious demeanor. Eventually, he learned of their plight and began to smuggle them out into his own home, vacating his house so that dozens of Indian workers could find a safe place of refuge while he contacted local organizations to collect food and resources for the men. meanwhile, he also recruited the only lawyer he knew for the cause, an attorney who humorously admitted that prior to this case, he couldn’t even spell “immigration.”

What stuck out to me was an encounter between massey and some of the workers one night when he was helping them to escape the factory- two of the men had brought their friend who told Massey, “I’m hindu- but will you help me as well?” and Massey replied, “of course- that’s what the gospel is about.”

The whole story is spelled out in an episode of This American Life. It's a fascinating look at a pastor in a mid-western town who shortly after 9/11 sacrified his life to help a bunch of Middle Eastern men. And why did he do it? Because it's what Christ would do.

I just want to point out that there are a lot of good Christian out there. And frankly, we need to help tell their story. Because, if not. All we're gonna get is "The Glories of the Prosperity Gospel" and "How to Raise up a Standard to Fight a Tide of Sexual Immorality."

I have to be honest, my faith in Christ is hanging by a thread. And most days I think I would be happier just being an atheist. 

That said, posts like this from other Christians, give me hope.

If the Prosperity Gospel could be widely discredited, then perhaps whatever pain America has coming because of our greed and profligacy might be redeemed.

The silver lining of this coming recession, is that it will expose the Prosperity Preachers and the evil they preach. And it may just save my Faith.

Just want to point out a nice little blog by Erik Kowalker:

http://kowalkerjourney.com/

This is what a blog looks like when the author actually cares. 

Anyway, he has an interesting take on why people aren't bringing their Bible to Church. 

"In visiting quite a bit of churches over the past several years, I can attest to what Oregonian journalist Nancy Haught observed. What ever happened to people bringing their Bibles to church?!?!I think their are two main reasons why people do not bring their Bible to church: The Bible verses for the sermon are either in the church bulletin or on the PowerPoint screen on the stage. My gut tells me that over the course of time, this practice of showing a verse here and there via somewhere else other than the context of the Bible book, just might hurt rather than help people in learning the Bible. So, next Sunday, keep your Bible home…you won’t need it."

Because evidently, I can't get enough of these lists. Here is some stuff Educated Black People Like: 

- Moving to Atlanta

- Howard University

- Neo Soul 

- Correcting Others

- Talking About Uneducated Black People

And the best thing educated black people like is: 

- Mega Churches

Here's my favorite part:

Attending services is very stressful on the EBP because it is difficult to concentrate on “the word” and not talk about others. However, Mega Churches have a solution for this problem – the overflow room. The church’s staff of ushers, all wearing white gloves, usually directs those that are inappropriately dressed to the overflow room. Yes, it says “come as you are”, but please don’t go out and buy and outfit that is club-worthy to wear to church.

When it comes to tithing, EBP are very careful to always give the full 10% as it serves a dual purpose. Tithing gives them the opportunity to follow the scripture and it also allows them to show off their salary to the finance committee without actually “showing off.”

I don't really know if this is  true, as the only mega church I attended was 99% white people, but I still laughed. 

It's Sovereign Grace Ministry month here at City Business, so here is another blog from someone who left her church.  What's especially great about this blog, is the beautiful young lady includes the different email exhanges she had with her pastors during the time she thought about leaving. 

Here's the email she received after she finally convinced the pastor she was leaving:

I suspect that the way you are thinking you would never have been present to hear Paul's letter to the Galatians being read to the congregation.

Hahaha… Good one, pastor, Good one. You got her. PWNED!

If you have time, read through the entire email exchange. It's the classic passive aggressive approach to pastoring. "I love you.  But because you want to leave the church, you are walking in sin. I want to you help you resist this sin. Oh, and the church is the bride of Christ."