I'm not all that interested in future church trends or new growth techniques. For 2000 years, the most relevant church has always been the one gathering around a table, caring for the neighborhood, following the words and ways of Jesus.
One lesson that we Christians have not learned in the last 2,000+ years is that Jesus had no political control over the Roman Empire and he still changed the entire world. We keep trying to change the world the way the Roman Empire did, instead of the way Jesus did.
If America’s original sin is slavery, the original sin of the church is anti-Judaism and antisemitism. Before the New Testament was fully written. we see evidence of it... If you look at the passion accounts in the four Gospels in chronological order, you see Rome...
But you can’t prove that Easter is true by going backward, only by going forward. Because John says that’s where the risen Christ is, on the move, ahead of us, not behind us. You know what is for me the main proof of Easter? It’s you! Despite all of the setbacks and...