My friend has Lyme disease. He suffers from flu-like symptoms and chronic fatigue most days. It has cost him his job, his livelihood, and, on the darkest of days, his dignity. As a friend who can only observe and listen, it’s the stuff that makes you cry. To make matters worse, most of his family suffers from it, too, while …
Neglected, dusty, and crisp—3 descriptives that aptly describe the Bible that sits motionless from the bookshelf in many American homes. It rests just low enough on the shelf to be noticed, yet remains high enough to go untouched. Recent estimates purport 3.9 billion Bibles have been purchased over the past 50 years. Ben Irwin, a creator of the Community Bible …
One of the realities of planting a church is that you have limited time and energy. That’s why we love sharing our favorite resources. With Advent beginning this coming Sunday, we are passing on this helpful resource from our friend and V3 contributor A.J. Sherrill. Here’s a short excerpt from a devotional guide he developed for Trinity Grace Church. You can learn more about A.J. and his …
Christianity is not (only) one of the great things of history; history is one of the great things of Christianity. Henri Du Lubac An Observation I enjoy reading the “Who We Are” pages of random, non-denominational church websites (such as the one I am a part of). What strikes me is the homogeneity of descriptives such as contemporary, rock, relevant, …
A Tragedy “We don’t regularly take communion,” the pastor confessed with a confident tone of contemporary conviction. “Many weeks we just can’t fit it in.” These were the words I heard just before guest preaching at a large, influential church in a major American city. My soul cried. He was right. In addition to staples like the sermon and songs, …
An illusion is an error in perception. Over time we subtly rename perception, “reality.” And it is not uncommon to believe we are living in God’s reality when we are actually steeped in personal illusion. The tragedy is that church planters are equally as susceptible to living in illusion as anyone else. I know I am. The 20th century, Serbian …