Archives for category: church

We Are Church!

September 4, 2009 //

Francis Chan is joining the Flannel crew!

Flannel, the production team behind the Nooma series (featuring Rob Bell), is partnering with Francis Chan to produce a new DVD series called We Are Church.

Francis is a dynamic communicator. Last year, we took a group of college students up to the Passion Los Angeles event, and Francis’ words spoke deeply into our lives. His passion is contagious, and his communication style manages to inspire without bashing a person over the head (Lord knows, I’ve seen enough of that in my day).

Read the rest of this entry »

Categories asian american, church, communication, culture

Lost In Translation (The Untimely Demise of the TNIV)

September 2, 2009 //

I was deeply disappointed to learn (via Eugene Cho’s blog) that Zondervan will no longer continue to publish the TNIV translation of the Bible. I have been using the TNIV in my personal Bible reading and in preaching & teaching in our church community – I am sad both to see the TNIV discontinued and the way in which Zondervan is handling it.

Read the rest of this entry »

Categories books, church, communication, community, controversy, culture, preaching

Ideas and So Much More

August 13, 2009 //

My friend Dave Ingland, who I met at the first Idea Camp back in February in Irvine, California, just wrote a great piece about The Idea Camp. Since the next Idea Camp is coming up soon — August 28-29, 2009 in Washington, DC — I’d like to share a few of my thoughts as well.

Here’s a quick summary of the ethos behind the Idea Camp (you can read more here):

Read the rest of this entry »

Categories church, communication, community, innovation, justice, Kingdom of God, leadership, social media, social networking, tech

Shopping Malls and Altar Calls

July 20, 2009 //

In The Next Evangelicalism, Soong-Chan Rah identifies consumerism as one of the Western cultural captors of the church. If you’ve been around church for awhile, you’re probably familiar with the idea of “church shopping.” Church shoppers ask many of the same questions when taking a trip to the mall or choosing a church:

What style am I looking for? What’s the lowest price I can pay? Do I want the convenience, and predictability, of a nationwide big-box retailer? Maybe I’ll check out that hipster boutique?

And, even for those who are not shopping around, the primary question is not What can I give? but, rather, What can I gain? As my friend Jason Coker points out in a recent post, The Mega-Freeloader Church:

Read the rest of this entry »

Categories church, communication, community, Kingdom of God, missional

Friday Freebies: Crazy Love

July 10, 2009 //

Hey friends, must be a busy week here in the home office because we’ve got two — yes, count them, two — Friday Freebies in one week!

Some of our friends here in SD who run a great business called Christian Audio are offering a free download of Francis Chan’s book Crazy Love during the month of July.

Francis has been a featured speaker at many Passion events and is the teaching pastor at Cornerstone Community Church in Southern California. Francis is an engaging, challenging, passionate speaker — in the written version of Crazy Love, I keep hearing his preaching voice. In that sense, I think the audiobook version might communicate the message of his book more clearly.

Categories books, church, freebies