Why Youth Stay in Church When They Grow Up – This is worth reading. The three main points are these. 1) They are converted. 2) They have been equipped, not entertained. 3) Their parents preached the gospel to them.

What the New Atheists Don’t See – “The British parliament’s first avowedly atheist member, Charles Bradlaugh, would stride into public meetings in the 1880s, take out his pocket watch, and challenge God to strike him dead in 60 seconds. God bided his time, but got Bradlaugh in the end. A slightly later atheist, Bertrand Russell, was once asked what he would do if it proved that he was mistaken and if he met his maker in the hereafter. He would demand to know, Russell replied with all the high-pitched fervor of his pedantry, why God had not made the evidence of his existence plainer and more irrefutable. And Jean-Paul Sartre came up with a memorable line: “God doesn’t exist—the bastard!””

Male sexuality and marriage-onlyism — or, actually… – “Anyone thinking the ‘male sexuality’ battle is over & done, we still have a long way to go. Marriage-onlyism, even when delivered with trendy clothes & a cool haircut, is still merely the oppression of men. My heart aches to see younger men grow up free from this teaching, so they don’t have to doubt their sexual gifting, their equality in the Body of Christ, or their equality within society.” You must read the whole article (it’s not long!) for that to quote to really mean what it ought.

It Only Takes One Generation for a Church to Die – It’s important that we not take our churches for granted. This is why.

I read a lot of websites and blogs. I bookmark a lot of the really good things I read and often never return to them. I’ve decided to start sharing some selections here to pass on some helpful, useful, or fun things. We’ll see how this works. I hope you enjoy them.

10 Principles for Church Music – I particularly enjoyed thinking about number seven, “The main sound to be heard in the worship music is the sound of the congregation singing.”

Tire-Kicker Christianity – Some helpful thoughts in faith, and the usefulness of and limits of apologetics.

I Disagree with Jesus –  Some wonderful thoughts on when we disagree with Jesus. What as Christians do we do, then? Unfortunately some people answer this question wrong and drift off into dark waters (and take people with them).

I Am Unalarmed – Many of our young men and women are leaving the church. Why, and what can be done about it?

Evaluating Bugliosi’s Case – “Former Los Angeles prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi has written a book examining the case for Christianity and he finds it would not stand up in a court of law.  Bugliosi purports to make a logical, objective analysis so his conclusion seems to have some rational force. But it actually fails upon closer examination.”

The annunciation, the two Messiahs, and Divine Justice – “There is a certain type of sermon one hears from time to time that has always bothered me. It goes roughly like this: “The reason the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ own time rejected him was that their thoughts of the Messiah were earthly. They wanted a military Messiah who would set up a kingdom on earth. Therefore their minds were closed to recognizing and accepting Jesus for who he was. The problem with this is that it gives the entirely false impression…”