Every Instrument Is Necessary

A conductor was rehearsing his great orchestra. The organ was rolling, giving beautiful melody. The drums were thundering. The trumpets were blaring out. ...

A Church Is Not an Audience

A sharp distinction ought to be made between a church and an audience. An audience is a group of unrelated people drawn together by a short-lived attraction. ...

You're Forgiven Already!

Garrison Keillor spins another tale:

"Larry the Sad Boy ... was saved 12 times in the Lutheran church, an all-time record. Between 1953 and 1961 he threw ...

Community in the Bible

The Bible is all about community: from the Garden of Eden to the City at the end.

Protestantism Against Secularism

It seems to me that despite its priority for socio-political change, organized Protestantism shows little strength for stemming the secular tide. It ineffectively ...

Desired Attendance

During one service I was complaining to the Lord about the lack of attendance: "Lord, attendance is just not what I'd like it to be." This ...

Vote Early, Vote Often

"Tell me how we get 100 votes to keep an evening service when only 15 show up."

Sleepwalking to Worship

I believe a very large majority of churchgoers are merely unthinking, slumbering worshipers of an unknown God.

The Help of the Body

Alone I cannot serve the Lord effectively, and he will spare no pains to teach me this. He will bring things to an end, allowing doors to close and leaving ...

We Need Each Other

Communion is strength; solitude is weakness. Alone, the free old beech yields to the blast and lies prone on the meadow. In the forest, supporting each ...