There’s been a lot of buzz about how social media has overtaken porn use as the primary Internet activity…of course, there’s a lot of porn going on in social media as well, so it might not be as clean of a break as you think.
Regardless of whether porn is the #1 or #2 activity, the reality is that it’s a huge industry—and thus a huge problem.
There’s also been huge coverage about Steve Jobs clamping down of porn with the iPad, but the reality is that anyone with an iPad can access porn through the Safari browser. And the lack of accountability software will only make porn that much more accessible. I wrote about that here, Why the iPad will be a smashing success…porn.
Below is the latest statistics on porn use. The numbers are staggering.
I’m curious as to how church leaders are addressing the porn issue. Can you share with me how your church is being proactive (or reactive) in regards to this issue?
Via: Online MBA
Great post by Jared Wilson over at Shrinkthechurch.com on the “Simple Church” concept. In it, Jared gives us 10 reasons to under-program the church. Here are a few that resonated most with me:
- You can do a lot of things in a mediocre (or poor) way, or you can do a few things extremely well. Craig Groeschel has some great things to say about this subject. Also check out Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger’s Simple Church.
- Over-programming dilutes actual ministry effectiveness. Because it can overextend leaders, increase administration, tax the time of church members, and sap financial and material resources from churches.
- Over-programming leads to segmentation among ages, life stages, and affinities, which can create divisions in a church body. Certainly there are legitimate reasons for gathering according to “likenesses,” but many times increasing the number of programs means increasing the ways and frequencies of these separations. Pervasive segmentation is not good for church unity or spiritual growth.
You can read the rest of them over at Shrink The Church by clicking here.
I’ve been very intrigued by the idea of de-programing the church, so to speak, since I read Andy Stanley’s The 7 Practices of Effective Ministry (affiliate link), in which Stanley talks about having a singular mission and creating steps to the end goal rather than programs that are ends within themselves.
I encourage you to check out both Jared’s blog and Andy’s book. I think that the Simple Church movement is an important development in the US church both to focus mission and combat Christian consumerism.
What are your thoughts? Are you taking steps to revamp your church programs? If so, what are you doing?
In a recent post over at Swerve, Pastor Craig Groeschel talked about the need to “let go of old assumptions about how to reach people.” In making his argument, Pastor Groeschel uses some troubling language to open his post: “The world is changing faster every day. Too many Christian leaders are working off old assumptions rather than new revelations.”
To be clear, this post is not an argument against new methods in ministry, or even Pastor Groeschel, whom I’ve never met. It’s just that his post got me thinking. I understand the importance of utilizing the latest technologies and implementing new strategies to reach people with the gospel of Jesus. My concern is that often times we buy into the myth of the new. As such we can easily turn the chasing of the latest fad into an idol for our ministry. It’s easy to get sucked into the mindset that new = better. And that’s just not the case.
We don’t need new methods for the gospel to be effective. Period. It is the Holy Spirit that works to make the gospel effective. Not our technology. Not our preaching methods. Not our music styles. And not our innovation.
As the writer of Ecclesiastes so wisely wrote thousands of years ago, “What has been is what will be. And what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
While some may dismiss this as poetic hyperbole that can’t be prescriptive, the reality is that there is much wisdom in this verse. God is ageless, timeless, enduring, the alpha and the omega. He is sovereign and the creator and sustainer of all things. But, “Man is like breath; his days are like a passing shadow” (Psalms 144:4).
As passing shadows, let’s not think too highly of our new methods and ways. I have a hunch that they too are like breath.
Rather, let our focus be on the enduring and unchanging Word and only Revelation of God – Jesus Christ.
We do not need “new revelations.” Though it doesn’t hurt to have new ways and tools to preach the Revelation of Jesus.
[Photo by splorp]