How a Google Voice Number Transformed My Youth Ministry

This one takes a look at how a Google Voice Number made a big impact in a youth ministry and suggests how it can be incorporated into church life more broadly. Very interesting (we used to do this in various ministries I’ve been involved in, but with a box and anonymous slips of paper).

When Christians Don’t Get Along

‘You’ve felt it before. That thick tension when a disagreement between two ladies at church has spread, and now it feels like every woman in the congregation is being drafted onto teams like some sort of high-stress kickball game. Or that spike of annoyance and adrenaline when you run into someone you were hoping to avoid on your way to the sanctuary—not because you harbor malice toward her, but because she rubs you the wrong way, and you just don’t feel like dealing with it this morning.’

I Was Helped by a Hypocrite

This is a very common issue – we get helped by people who turn out to be hypocrites. Does that undo any good we derived from their ministry to us? When we are confused, does it mean our own faith is in trouble? This one offers excellent counsel.

Is the ‘no food or drinks in the sanctuary’ policy harmful?

‘A guest walks into the worship center with a cup of coffee. An usher smiles, but then gently says, “I’m sorry, you can’t bring that in here.” The guest nods, takes another sip, and steps back into the lobby to finish it. Nothing harsh was said. No one intended harm. But something subtle shifted. The issue isn’t coffee. It’s culture. Many churches would never say, “We care more about our building than people.” But sometimes, policies quietly communicate exactly that. A simple sign about food or drinks can reveal deeper priorities. And that’s where the concern begins.’

Preachers at the Movies

This one jumps from films to tech and moves on to make some helpful points about affections.

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey – a review for preachers

On a similar note, Chris Green does a preacher’s-eye review of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey: ‘Make all the allowances you need for the impossible task of turning an epic poem into a magnificent film.  Along the way Nolan has subtly adjusted the moral frame of the movie, because true Homeric morality is ugly to a Christianised world.’

From the archive: All you can do is pray

‘Whilst all you can do is pray, it’s not like that isn’t doing anything. It’s not like I’ve said, all you can do is offer some bizarre incantation in the hope (though we know it doesn’t do anything in reality) that something might happen. We shouldn’t be talking about prayer like it’s voodoo, with a similar chance of success. You can’t do anything except pray, but what a thing that is to have in your arsenal! To know people are praying to the living, sovereign God who is in control of the entire universe and who calls on us to pray so that he might work through our prayers – that is something, right? No ‘just’ about it – it’s not a hail Mary (a great term for a play that probably won’t work) – it’s petitioning the God of the universe in the way he tells us we properly should.’