Advent Resources for Youth
As many are aware, the Christian season of Advent began yesterday.  I didn’t grow up celebrating Advent, but I’ve come to appreciate it in recent years.  In a culture that can barely wait to shove the Thanksgiving leftovers in the refrigerator so they can get in line for the Black Friday sales, Advent calls us to put aside the shopping and 24/7 holiday music on the radio and approach the seasonal celebration with reverence and understanding of why Christ came to Earth and why he will come again. If your church regularly observes the Advent season, it’s very likely that your youth have gained a familiarity with the traditions and meaning of the season

Immerse Yourself in the New Testament
The “You’ve Got the Time” Bible listening initiative is gaining momentum and we’re feeling the excitement and affirmation. Two weeks ago, I was all over Arkansas telling the story of this amazing resource. (See www.thefellowship.info/ygtt for more info.) There are at least four implications for this experience. 1) Personal Growth – spending 28 minutes a day listening to the New Testament will certainly have an impact on each of us. 2) Congregational Spiritual Formation – hopefully, Sunday school classes and other small groups will have listening times and engage in spiritual conversations. We talk about every other topi

Aspirins or Vitamins?
What is the greatest challenge facing our churches today? That was the topic of a recent conversation my friend was having with his aunt. You see my friend is not a minister. He is a young Christian, a church researcher, and a marketing genius. His aunt is a highly successful business professional in midlife. She lives on the West coast, and has little to no connection with the institutional church. She listened to my friend go on an on about the challenges facing churches, and then she interrupted him to ask a question: “Did you know that in the U.S. vitamins are a $3 billion per year business?” He was not aware of that statistic. She then asked him, “D

Generosity and Wisdom: A Progressive Combination
A week ago I sat over lunch with a kind and soft spoken man who is 88 years old. He walks with a limp, is hard of hearing, and drives slowly enough to make an observer wince somewhat frequently. He would be easy to dismiss, overlook, or underestimate as one whose time had passed. That would be a mistake. We met as he became a primary care giver for his sister, a woman who had made a generous bequest, a gift in her will, to CBF Foundation for the benefit of CBF Global Missions field personnel salaries. After having been her caregiver in life, he was entrusted with the care of her estate as executor for her and her late husband. I admired his persistent frugality as he to

Bread for the World releases annual hunger report
Bread for the World released its annual hunger report yesterday at a news conference in Washington, D.C. Here are the vital details from their press officer, Shawnda Hines: New Report Warns Against “Bubble” Economic Recovery   Washington, DC, November 23, 2009 – A new report released today by Bread for the World Institute warns that unless the triple threats of hunger, unemployment, and climate change are addressed, any economic recovery will only lead to another bubble.