Several years ago, Christianity Today columnist Tim Stafford chided evangelical Christianity “which thrives in Houston but can’t get to first base in Manhattan.” That might no longer be the case. A new survey indicates the gospel has made impressive gains in New York City. If it can make it there, can it make it anywhere?
Economists tell us America has sufficient financial wherewithal to fix its debt problem. We have insufficient political will however. The Book of Jonah tells us why. Resolving our debt problem requires recognizing fallen human nature—not appealing to it.
Halfway home is better than being “stuck.” In October, David Kinnaman has a book coming out, titled You Lost Me. Kinnaman is president of The Barna Group, a research organization. His book focuses on young adults who have left the church and in many ways have become lost to it. Kinnaman says they are “stuck.”…
Karl Marx is dead. Long live Karl Marx. As the stock market slides and home values collapse, it’s difficult for most to decipher how “credit default swaps” and “collateralized debt obligations” contributed to the mess. A new book, Reckless Endangerment, deciphers the debacle. It also reminds us of why Karl Marx still lives.
When Europeans first set sail, they were surprised to discover their technological superiority over the rest of the world. European explorers attributed much of this to one of their inventions, the modern university. Today they’d be surprised at the inferiority of education, especially in the United States. What went wrong?
The lofty language of the U.S. Department of Labor (today marks “a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country”) doesn’t seem to fit reality. Labor Day isn’t acknowledgment; it’s escape—from work. That’s because words like holiday, prosperity, and well-being have lost their meaningful connection…
Scientists have discovered that when 10 percent of a network is committed to an idea, it spreads throughout the entire network. Any 10 percent can do it. Social media enthusiasts say this explains Facebook and Twitter’s effectiveness. They are effective—at spreading ideas. If however the aim is to change institutions, it still requires only 10…
Starbucks doesn’t have a sexy mission—which is why it’s successful. Successful companies make a distinction between mission and purpose. Mission is what an organization does. Starbucks sells coffee. Not very sexy. Purpose is why a company exists. For Starbucks, it’s experiencing the third place. Sexy. Faith communities often conflate the two, however, creating a mish-mash…
If it’s sauce for the goose, it’s sauce for the gander. Michael Shermer intuits a pattern. Our brains are “belief engines” that naturally “look for and find patterns” and then “infuse” them with meaning. This debunks the idea of a deity. What’s ironic is Shermer intuits a universal pattern that everyone infuses patterns with meaning….
Guess who speaks in tongues? In his soon to be released book, You Lost Me, Barrna Group president David Kinnman describes a growing percentage of Christians who have checked out of church. He calls them exiles, calculating there are between eight to twenty million of them. Exiles think culture, then Christianity. When you approach faith…