“People forget what they are actually saying when they say ‘OMG’.

“We’re reclaiming ‘oh my God’ for the church.”

IT TOOK only three letters for a church to become the talking point of the neighbourhood.

The ‘OMG’ (‘Oh My God’) sign on St Paul’s Anglican Church in Australia, has become the subject of photos, laughter and an internet frenzy.

The Rev Howard Langmead said the sign was put there to “catch attention and be unexpected”.

SOURCE

This church believes they raised a man from the dead.

What do you think?

Wycliffe Bible Translators denied allegations that it removed the terms “father” and “son” from Bible translations meant for Muslim countries and said any problematic texts are no longer being distributed.

Russ Hersman, senior vice president of Wycliffe Bible Translators USA, told The Christian Post that many of the works that critics like the organization Bible Missiology have pointed to as changing familial terms for God and Jesus have either done no such thing or have already been pulled from circulation.

Read more here from the Christian Post…

Somebody please scratch my eyes out now.

This is an article promo over at Christian Post this morning.

At least change the picture.

Just sayin’.

Wow… we totally missed this from back in 2009… eerily  similar cerimony from the same Rabbi… no crown though.

Wonder if Paula feels ripped off in some way.

My friend, Matt Steen has two tickets to the Velocity Church Planting Conference coming up later this month in Atlanta.

Here’s a look at this year’s conference…

Velocity is the rate of speed.  What speed are we moving at?

OUR CULTURE PUTS A LOT OF EMPHASIS ON SPEED. Speed is daring and exciting. Often as the church we fall into the trap of needing to run faster and faster. We believe the faster we accelerate the more impact we will have. Often we have a different kind of impact as we hit the wall head-on.

WE CAN ALSO MOVE TOO SLOW. This can happen when our leadership lacks a clear vision and are paralyzed by the complexity of decisions before them. We don’t hit the wall. We simply never get to the wall.

VELOCITY IS ABOUT A DIFFERENT KIND OF SPEED. It is about keeping in step with the Holy Spirit. Jesus invites us into a new world. This world is His Kingdom. There are times when we must speed up. There are times that we must slow down. This is the velocity that we embrace.

We’re about Catalyzing Movements

We are committed to coaching church planters for greater missional impact.  It is our desire to catalyze movements of churches committed to…

•     Going missional by being the church in their community (Jerusalem).
•     Making the Gospel accessible throughout their region (Judea).
•     Launching church planting movement makers throughout North America (Samaria).
•     Developing strategic partnerships for global impact around the world (ends of the earth).

As Churchplanters.com we want to multiplying God’s vision by equipping young leaders for being the Church in North America and extending His impact around the world.

In order for your chance to win the tickets, just leave a comment between now and Friday morning over at Matt’s blog.  You even get a free lunch with Matt if you win!

Wow.  You know you’ve made it when TMZ publishes a picture of you with no shirt on.

Did you click on that link?  You sicko.

Joel Osteen can now add ‘hunk’ to his resume, after the Hollywood gossip website featured a picture of Joel coming out of the water with his surfboard in Hawaii on a family vacation.

Does Joel have stinkin’ paparazzi?  Or did someone with a camera phone call TMZ and say… boy do I have a picture for you.

Either way… I’m collecting this for my “Men of the Word” 2013 calendar.  I figure by the end of the year, TMZ will probably collect a bunch of famous pastors with their shirts off.

We already have Mr. January:  Eddie Long, from that famous self-clicked mirror shot.

We’ll give Joel the February shot.

I’m guessing December will be Rick Warren… after he’s lost all of the weight from their campaign.

My advice to Rick… stay off the beach… someone WILL take your picture and send it in.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

But seriously… I would hate to be Joel or Rick.  Truth is… there is not ever a private moment these days.  You’d think on Hawaii at the beach, you’d at least have a little bit of privacy… you know… being thousands of miles away from home.  But nope.  I would hate it if someone caught a picture of me at Walmart in my pajamas and posted it for all to see.  Thankfully for me… no body cares.  Not even TMZ.

With all the flack and disagreement, at least in the circles of evangelicalism that I follow, over the Elephant Room, I wonder why I’m just now hearing about this one:

Pastors, artists and other Christian leaders will join this weekend at the University of Miami for the One Conference, three days of rallies, music and motivation to affect South Florida for the faith.

With megachurch pastors such as Brian Houston and Greg Laurie, the conference is set for Feb. 10-12 at UM’s Bank United Center in Coral Gables.

They’ll tackle dire issues like human trafficking, fresh water for Haiti, Bibles for “unreached” people groups and how to respond to crises. But first importance will go to simple unity.

“We’re all different, but we’re of the same substance,” says Pastor Bob Coy of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, who will be one of the 15 scheduled conference speakers. “Anytime pastors get together, that’s good. Translating it into partnerships is difficult. But it’s healthy to get to know each other.”

Franklin Graham, another of the planned speakers, agrees.

“The churches are fragmented; everybody gets into their own niches,” says Graham, who runs the Samaritan’s Purse charity and the evangelistic organization of his father, Billy Graham. “We need to get them inspired, excited about the Word of God. The gospel changes lives instantly.”

Besides Coy and Graham, the planned speakers include:

The Rev. Pedro Garcia, the host pastor and spiritual leader of Calvary Chapel Kendall. Garcia, who became a Christian believer in 1996 at Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, is the founder of LIFE Radio (90.9-FM), which broadcasts to Miami-Dade and the Florida Keys.

Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., and founder of Harvest Crusades. Laurie led a crusade in Fort Lauderdale in 1995 and spoke at a Promise Keepers rally in Miami two years later.

Scott Harrison, founder of the nonprofit organization charity:water. His group has funded more than 3,800 water projects, providing more than 1.7 million people with clean drinking water.

Brian Houston, founder and pastor of Hillsong Church, which includes congregations in Sydney, London, Capetown, Paris, Stockholm and elsewhere.

Rich Wilkerson Jr., who runs a gathering in Miami called Vous. His ministry aims to infuse the gospel in music, teaching and the arts.

//

The conference is named ONE.  Features noteable evangelical leaders.  And is all about unity.

Big names, big topics, yet no one is decrying this one.

Wonder why.

SOURCE

Bishop Eddie Long has apologized to a Jewish group for last Sunday’s coronation of him as a King.

In Long’s words:

The ceremony was not my suggestion, nor was it my intent, to participate in any ritual that is offensive in any manner to the Jewish community, or any group. Furthermore, I sincerely denounce any action that depicts me as a King, for I am merely just a servant of the Lord… While I believe that Rabbi Ralph Messer has good intentions during his message at New Birth, I understand that the ceremony he performed on Sunday, January 29th, caused harm to the Jewish community, for which I am deeply sorry.

The ‘ceremony’ had many a person scratching their head.

To Long’s credit, he did look a little bewildered and slightly annoyed during the ceremony that made viral status on YouTube.

So, for now, I guess we can go back to calling him Bishop.

Carry on.

SOURCE

Pastor Darrell Gilyard admitted in 2004 that he fathered the child of a woman who had accused him of raping him during a counseling session.

Since his trial, Gilyard has been in prison… until about 2 months ago.

Not Gilyard is back in the pulpit.  After just 2 months.

Why?  Because, he says, he needs the money and feels God is calling him back into the ministry.

Gilyard is still on three years probation that restricts him from having any conduct with minors.  But the church, Christ Tabernacle Baptist Church, decided to make some exceptions so that Gilyard could preach:

1.  The church agreed to bar minors from their services

2.  The church agreed that Gilyard would not be able to do any kind of marriage counseling or other pastoral work.

Initially, Gilyard said he didn’t want to subject the church to negative press or go through it again himself.

A spokesman for the church:  “We are a group of Christians who are not afraid of controversy…He needs and wants to preach and we need somebody to minister to us spiritually — so why not him?”

Attendance at the church usually runs 5-10 people.  Attendance Gilyard’s first Sunday was 150.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-02-04/story/jacksonville-pastor-convicted-sex-crimes-back-pulpit#ixzz1lbSnMlVJ

OK… your thoughts?

Is there ANYTHING that should disqualify a pastor FOR LIFE from ministry?  Rape, incest, financial misdealings, adultery, alcoholism, homosexual behavior, sexual molestation, physical abuse?

Is there anything that, EVEN WITH a good accountability plan, should disqualify a pastor from EVER returning to the pulpit?

And how do you know when it’s ok to return?  When is the restoration plan considered a success?

No doubt that when a church decides they’d like to hear a man preach and will shut all minors out of the service in order to do so, that something as gone horribly wrong.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

This is so true.

This week as you prepare for your weekend services… which library will you read from?

As you deal with your staff and your congregation… which library will you read from?

Theological debates are fun.  I love them.  But when they begin to define your ministry or your personality, they’re all of a sudden not so fun.

Can you debate without getting angry?

Can you have a theological discussion and come away feeling ok with sometimes disagreeing on the non-essentials?

HT:  NakedPastor

The Diocese of Orange has officially closed on their purchase of the Crystal Cathedral property.  The Catholic church agreed to pay $57.5 million for the property.

The current Crystal Cathedral congregation has 3 years to find another place to worship.

You can read more here.

Much has been made of Baseball star Josh Hamilton’s ‘falling off the wagon’ last week.

Hamilton, who has struggled with drug and alcohol addictions, had a week moment last week when he had some drinks at a Texas bar.

To his credit, Hamilton handled things very nicely (in my opinion).  Hamilton has the eyes of the world on him and his Christian faith.

Without prompting (and with no script), Hamilton called a press conference to deal with the issue.

Here’s part of what he said:

After the statement, Hamilton kept his commitment to speak with a church group, at which time, he fessed up some more.

Editorial:  I think many more people would have a better thinking about Christians is we just fess up when we screw up.

But that’s not normally what happens.  By the time our sin becomes public, we’re so entrenched in it, that we deny wrongdoing.  Example:  Ted Haggard.

As a church leader, how important is it to admit when you were wrong… when you botched something… when you screwed up.

Obviously, moral failure is a little different animal… but in the day-to-day leadership of your church… with your leaders, your elders, your congregation… how important is it that you’re transparent and honest and humbly admit when you got something wrong.

To me, it’s a sign of a real leader AND a humble Christ-follower.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

From a press release, January 31:

What if Starbucks lost 80% of its customers? Christians across the USA are boycotting Starbucks for promoting homosexual ‘marriage’ in Washington State. There is an 80% Christian majority in the USA and 1-2% homosexuals.

“Christians are upset with Starbucks for turning against God, but we are glad to know that Starbucks doesn’t pretend to be for Christians,” said Pastor Steven Andrew, who is president of USA Christian Ministries. He calls every Christian and church to boycott Starbucks. Leviticus 22:18 says, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.”

“This boycott is important because God blesses those who obey Him and judges those who don’t obey Him (2 Chronicles 19:2),” he adds.

Don’t expect to hear sermons with “grab your Starbucks” or to see Starbucks served at churches. “Starbucks is no longer fashionable. If your church still uses Starbucks, then your pastor is a friend of the world,” he adds. God calls those who oppose Him “haters of God” (Romans 1:30).

It is hoped that Christians will quickly share this boycott with their church.

///

How many ways is this wrong?

What if we re-invented some cool things in the church… what would it look like?

Maybe an offering plate that cured world hunger?

A weekend service that actually challenged and changed lives?

I’d love a worship leader that gave backrubs like that cop as well. 

What are your ideas?