News from the Tetreaus
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“As we watch the fiasco of American politics unfold before us, it’s refreshing to remember that God’s Kingdom and his work for the church is not dependent on who is in office here or anywhere else.” Barnabas Chronicle
Pay-to-Pray Scam: Christian Prayer Center Must Refund $7 Million
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“For four years, anyone with a prayer request could pay the Christian Prayer Center (CPC)—a website with nearly 1.3 million Facebook fans—between $9 and $35 to intercede for them.” CT
Discussion
Megachurch implodes in Minneapolis
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Deep divide dooms onetime megachurch North Heights Lutheran
North Heights Lutheran has been in a “downward death spiral” for more than a decade due to a bloated staff, overbuilding, exaggerated membership numbers and expenses far outweighing income
Discussion
Every Christian Is a Teacher
The Early Expansion of the Church
What common feature do you find in these excerpts from Acts?
“And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.” (Acts 6:7)
“But the word of God grew and multiplied.” (Acts 12:24)
“And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.” (Acts 19:10)
“So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.” (Acts 19:20)
These verses highlight a noteworthy phenomenon that Luke recorded about the first century church. Like the ripples from a pebble tossed into a pond, the influence of the Word of God moved out into the world. Luke traces this noteworthy expansion from Jerusalem to as far west as Rome.
Discussion
Andy Stanley backs off from comments about small churches, selfish parents
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“As much as I wish folks would listen to the entire message, it really doesn’t diminish the absurdity of what I said.”
Discussion
Face up to these five realities of church life today
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Face up to these five realities of church life today
- Sunday school attendance is no longer an accurate metric
- Singles ministry is dead
- Not every church should be a megachurch
- Young adults are still coming to churches, even to traditional churches
- Church today takes more hooks, not bigger hooks
Discussion
The Flexibility of Rome
A few years ago, I stopped by a friend’s church in Washington, D.C. to walk to lunch with him. He had just finished a gut-wrenching meeting where a recent church member explained he had converted to Roman Catholicism without informing the pastors of the church.
The church member’s main justification for the conversion was the intellectual dearth among Protestants and particularly Baptists. And he held this out as the force that drove him to cross the Tiber.
My friend valiantly attempted to share the gospel with the young man from God’s Word and to pull him back to the true faith. But the deed was done, and the excuse was that Baptists lack intellectual and academic validity. And this excuse was given to a pastor with a doctorate in church history from Cambridge.
Discussion