I’ve started a new series here at the blog called Breaktime!  Check back each day at noon Eastern for something new each day that is a little less serious.  And comeback often when you need a little break. I’m not sure what I think about today’s “Breaktime!”  It’s awful cute.  She’s awful young.  But what is really going on here?  I’m not sure! Check out yesterday’s Breaktime! here… I think you’ll enjoy it! Know something I should include on a future Breaktime!?  Send it to me...

So… you have conflict in your church. When should you stay and fight? When should you leave? What issues are big enough to leave over? These are some pretty big questions. Here is Matt Steen and my response to this Joe McKeever article on whether or not it’s better, at least in some instances, that we are ok with being wronged… What do YOU...

[Start rant now] Really? A revival reunion? Remember the Brownsville Revival? Well… I was intrigued when I saw a headline that read “Holy Spirit Moves at Brownsville Revival Reunion”. Huh? You mean the same revival that put the host church into $11.5 million in debt? Yep… the same one, evidently. Don’t worry if you missed it though… you can purchase a DVD for just $12. Do I sound a tad bit cynical? Here’s more from an article earlier this year: A decade removed from the largest Pentecostal outpouring in U.S. history, the church is facing financial ruin. It...

Our friend Larry Osborne thinks a new study that shows a decreasing number of people who identify as “Protestant Christians” could actually be a good thing.  Here’s why: Cultural Christianity has never done anything to advance the kingdom. It only inoculates against the real thing. When large numbers of nominal and cultural Christians wave the banner of Christ, it confuses the message of the gospel. But now that they have ditched the title, it opens the door for genuine disciples to get the word out without all the confusion. Despite the drop in the number of people who chose the...

I learned a lot in this video. This guy is a lot more intelligent that I. For example, I had NO IDEA that Rockefeller was the guy behind the megachurch movement. Or, the fact that most megachurches believe in baptismal regeneration. Or, that megachurches are just ripping off the Calvary Chapel approach. Or, that when Jesus launched the church, there were 122 people at the first ever church service. It’s on the internet… it must be true.  

Dave Travis writes:  The layman droned on about his views on the shortcomings of his pastor. The leader in question was a man of close acquaintance, a person I had spent multiple hours with over the last 15 years. Like most leaders the pastor in question had much strength. Along with those strengths he did have some weaknesses as well. Over that same period the church had grown, thrived, planted churches, sent out leaders to other kingdom causes and he led the church in bettering its own local community. Now, it is true that he is no longer the ‘hot young pistol’ he once was in church...

DATELINE:  Sacramento. Bryan Davies, an evangelical Christian with a long, drifting beard, is the CEO of a family business that doles out marijuana and spirituality in fragrant, faithful harmony. His Canna Care dispensary, one of Sacramento’s longest operating medical marijuana providers, is as renowned for its political activism at City Hall and the state Capitol as it is for its calls to prayer. California’s medical marijuana industry has drawn people from mortgage brokers to car salesman, from hippies to computer geeks, into the marijuana trade. But Canna Care may well stand out for its...

Steve Law writes: Your church lobby tells new people in about 3 seconds the kind of people that your church wants to have. Okay, maybe just 2 seconds. It is really, really, really fast and most churches do not even know what they’re doing. I walked into one church and this is what I saw: Faded, worn out mauve carpet that “died” several years ago Furniture that I last saw in my 80 year old aunt’s house – and she died 25 years ago Bare walls on one side and pictures of old stuff on the wall A chandelier I looked around to see if it was a church or funeral home –...

Here is a great example of a testimonial that your church should consider doing this Christmas season. We all know that people are many times more accepting of invitations to church during the holiday season.  This video from LifeChurch.tv is a great example of the difference an invitation can make, but also can serve as a great motivator for your people to invest in others with a simple invitation. Who do you have in your church that could make a compelling video like this? Think about it, and act on it! Todd

It’s breaktime… time for some of my favorite tweets from the past week… Feel free to pass these on to your friends! “Special thanks to the lady that went off on the pastor just before the service started. I couldn’t do my job without you.”- Satan — Unappreciated Pastor (@Rev_Norespect) December 10, 2012 The Pastor Search Committee asked if I was a man of convictions. I said “A few…but no felonies.” Haven’t heard back from them. — Unappreciated Pastor (@Rev_Norespect) December 8, 2012 So excited!! Got a letter from the deacons....