7 Habits of Highly Ineffective Pastors November 30, 2007
Posted by Gordon in Pastor's Stuff.1 comment so far
These are the 7 habits of the most highly ineffective pastors in America today:
1- Preach and go home. Let someone else do the pastoring. That’s what “Associates” are for.
2- Follow what the bigger churches are doing. Why go to the trouble of listening to God’s voice? Just copy what the big-guys are doing. It’s bound to work, or at least put more butts in the seats.
3- Start a building fund. Nothing says, “Ineffective” like a pastor who pussy-foots over controversial sermon topics in order to keep those pledges rolling in. Don’t forget the basketball courts! (more…)
Baptist Liturgy Part II November 30, 2007
Posted by Gordon in Worship.Tags: baptist church, Worship, worship leader, worship music
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Let’s face it; worship in contemporary churches is no longer purely an issue of theology and spirituality. Worship is a multi-million dollar industry.
Worship is also a sub-culture in and of itself. Worship is now an experience. The content and direction of worship within Baptist churches is controlled by forces outside of us. The biggest force that determines what many churches will be singing is the market, [as mediated through Word and Koorong.]
The biggest single influence on the content and style of worship leading & singing has been one particular church in the Hills district of Sydney: Hillsong.
Pete Ward’s book ‘Selling Worship’ is an excellent history of the development of modern worship music. He charts the earliest beginnings of the music genre and also deals with the development of worship as an ‘industry. In the chapter ‘The Growing Market’ he outlines in detail the economic context of worship and the associated growth in allied industries:
Why Baptists suck at the Web - Part I November 28, 2007
Posted by Gordon in Web.Tags: australian baptists, Baptist blog, Baptist blogger, Christian websites, church websites, web for church
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I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Baptists in Australia suck when it comes to the Web.Many churches do not have web sites, although we are now 7 years into the new millennium. Many that do have websites do them badly in terms of content and style.
The news is good though, the web revolution is sweeping through Baptist churches and the quality is getting better with each month.
There are a plethora of web hosting services that offer stylish and practical ready made web templates that can be updated easily. Gone are the days when we had to rely on a steady supply of geeks in the youth group to make a website for us that we couldn’t possibly update because we had no HTML programming skills.
There are a couple of possible reasons why Baptists have been so loathe taking to the web and getting with the action. Here’s my unscientific and highly subjective perception: (more…)
Baptist Liturgy Part I November 26, 2007
Posted by Gordon in Worship.Tags: Worship
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A quote from an Anglican minister caught my attention recently. He said that his idea of heaven was ‘a Baptist sermon with Anglican liturgy’, and his idea of hell was ‘a Baptist liturgy with an Anglican sermon’. (more…)
Blogging Baptist revolution November 25, 2007
Posted by Gordon in Uncategorized.Tags: Baptist issues
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Blogging Baptist pastors have started to make their influence felt in the American Baptist scene. This is part of a story reported at time.com:
For those who follow the internal politics of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) somewhat less avidly than the NBA playoffs or even the World Cup, perhaps the most interesting news out of their annual meeting, held this week in Greensboro, N.C., is that bloggers elected a president. (more…)
Careful when you ‘pitch’ your tents - world class pastor’s blooper November 22, 2007
Posted by Gordon in Humour.add a comment
Press pause after the blooper and check out this guys facial expresion. What’s your worst blooper?
Drunken Jesus November 21, 2007
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I attended the funeral of an 18 year old ex-classmate of my daughter this morning. He died in a horrific car accident a year to the day of his graduation assembly at school. It was the largest funeral I have ever been at. He was an extremely popular and highly regarded leader of the pack at school and in his sport. He was a larger than life character who attracted an enormous following especially amongst his friends. He was never short of attention from girls. He was very much a party animal and has downed a few beers or two in his short life. There were quite a few stories about his funny exploits whilst inebriated. (more…)
Wedding Service Disasters November 21, 2007
Posted by Gordon in Humour.add a comment
Ever had any of these happen to you? what’s your worst experience of a wedding or church service disaster?
Forget Saddleback 40 Days, I’m into Fitness Praise! November 21, 2007
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Revving down - the future of ordination November 18, 2007
Posted by Gordon in Uncategorized.Tags: Baptist issues
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Queensland Baptist churches face a watershed change on the issue of ordination, which has wider ramifications. At this years Assembly a committee charged with looking at the issue gave a report and flagged a potential change to be voted on at next years Assembly. You can bet your bottom dollar that next years Assembly will be the best attended in a decade, and the stoush will be of almighty proportions. (more…)
