Church
301 conversations where the hosts get into church.
301 conversations
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Church, emotions, and the self-focus of affluence
- How do you help people in an affluent, self-focused culture see that they need Jesus?
Ben revives a question from two or three shows back: are church services and worship tunes postured toward certain personality types — predominantly emotions and dealing with emotions?
From No. 603 · Found Out
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Leadership training for church leaders: get a business manager
- Do people who lead churches need leadership training?
Mike's real question: to what extent do people need leadership training to lead churches? Ben gives two distinct answers.
From No. 602 · Relationship Counseling
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The New Testament case for human shaping
- What does the New Testament actually say about spiritual authority and submission?
Ben walks the New Testament texts: Hebrews 13:17 ('obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls') presumes a soul-watching laborer, not a rule-maker;…
From No. 600 · Rage The Elephant
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Confetti and lasers: what should God's people be known for?
- Do we want to be known as the confetti and lasers people?
- What should God's people be known for?
Ben redirects to the docket's denomination question: when someone hears Silas's church described as 'the confetti and lasers people,' should that sting?
From No. 598 · Emphasis | Accountability, Worship and Praying with Strangers
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How to tell your voice from God's: the Bible test and leniency
- How can you tell the difference between you speaking and God speaking?
Ella distills the question: how do you tell the difference between you speaking and God speaking? Her first answer: we have a Bible — what God is telling you is probably already in it ('Ben's gonna have a proud papa moment').
From No. 597 · Maybe A Word From God
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Dawson's question: what to watch for in a new church
- What should you pay attention to when stepping into a church community for the first time?
Dawson, a third in-studio voice, asks what to pay attention to when stepping into a church you've never visited.
From No. 595 · Trust But Verify
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What does it mean to make disciples
- What does it mean to make disciples — is it just giving information, or does it involve accountability and structure?
The hosts take up the third topic: two extremes of disciple-making. On one side, being only an information provider and leaving everything to the Spirit; on the other, running…
From No. 545 · By Invitation Only
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Bear Grylls' church critique, prayer, and discipleship
- Is Bear Grylls right that Jesus would struggle with 99% of churches, and would you stay if the production were stripped away?
- How do you practice real one-on-one discipleship instead of relying on church programs?
The hosts discuss Bear Grylls' Christian Post interview: he is unabashedly open about his faith but says Jesus would struggle with 99% of churches today, urging people to stay…
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Is it more holy to sing only the Psalms or only scripture?
- Is it more holy or valuable for a church to sing only the Psalms or only scripture in worship?
The hosts take up the man whose church sings only Psalms (and a harder variant: only exact scripture, citing Ephesians' "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs").
From No. 487 · Sing What You Want
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Church image problem, point one: politics
- Does the church have an image problem, and are the article's six fixes good?
- Should Christians and churches stay out of partisan politics to witness better?
The Carey Nieuwhof article walkthrough begins: 'The church has an image problem — six ways to fix it.'
From No. 477 · Shofar, Shogood
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What is a non-practicing Christian?; where people say they'd learn about the faith
- What does it mean to be a 'non-practicing Christian'?
The hosts chew on what 'non-practicing Christian' means, teeing up Nathaniel on-air — a host answers for him and gets comedy-punished with a Grimace-vs-Hamburglar riff.
From No. 464 · Buying International Locusts
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Should churches count? Data, demographics, and ministry
- Should churches survey, count, and steer ministry by data?
The survey sparks a long reflection on whether churches should spend resources surveying, counting, and marketing.
From No. 464 · Buying International Locusts
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Jim Palmer's 25 mistakes: putting church over community
- Is putting church over community a real mistake or a false dichotomy?
A host reads Jim Palmer's list of '25 mistakes I made' as a pastor of a large North American church, and the hosts decide to walk through the list one critique at a time.
From No. 458 · 12 to 13 Mistakes From Wildin
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Only thirteen percent of evangelicals tithe
- What percentage of evangelicals actually tithe?
- Does a day set apart as holy still matter beyond legalism?
A giving study ("The Generosity Factor" finds only 13% of evangelicals tithe, half give less than 1% of income, and the median church giver gives about $800 a year.
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The church at Sardis and what makes a church great
- How would you know if you were in a dead church?
A host who has been preaching through Revelation 2-3 raises the church at Sardis, which has a reputation of being alive but is dead, and wonders how anyone would know they were in a dead church.
From No. 442 · Christians Don’t Understand Christianity
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Dear LFTP: teen chafes under mom's church insistence — don't bring gas to the fire
- How should a teen handle mom's insistence on church attendance?
A 15-year-old resents mom insisting on church attendance. The hosts side mostly with going — "you're 15, shut up, put on your mask and go" — but warn the teen not to hinge faith…
From No. 429 · Following the American Jesus
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The mythical 'perfect Christian' posturing
- Is the 'perfect Christian' posture a real thing churches run into, or just an easy target for opinion pieces?
A host asks whether the 'perfect Christian' — people posturing as having it all together — is a real thing churches run into or just an easy target for opinion pieces.
From No. 424 · When Culture Lacks Objective Reality
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The medium is the message
- Is it incumbent upon the church to hitch itself to the fastest media wagon?
Jay joins an extended discussion of Marshall McLuhan's line that the medium is the message: once the church ties itself to a platform like DirecTV or Facebook, it encourages people to use that medium for everything else on it too.
From No. 422 · Jesus, Technology and Persecution
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Dear LFTP: the no-show relatives and the catered dinners
- How should we greet relatives who RSVP'd to our party, never showed, and never explained, nine months ago?
Mike reads a second Dear LFTP letter: relatives RSVP'd to a hosted party last year, never showed, gave no reason, and the hosts paid for their dinners; how should they greet them at an upcoming event?
From No. 411 · Dudes Are Prone to Buffoonery
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Would you follow Christ alone?
- Would you follow Christ on your own if your church community were taken away?
Mike asks whether listeners would follow Christ on their own if community were stripped away, no Zoom church, no classes, picturing Moses herding sheep alone in the desert and a shepherd living three months in a distant field.
From No. 402 · It’s OK to Stay Home
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Practical kingdom actions: check-ins, restraint, and giving
- Should churches keep meeting in person during the pandemic?
Asked what the kingdom of Christ should be doing, a host gives three recommendations: make phone calls to isolated and immunocompromised people (even just dropping things on the…
From No. 398 · Thus It Begins…COVID
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Caring about what people care about
- When someone's pet is facing surgery, is showing up or praying for the pet a legitimate pastoral-care move?
- Do people wrongly assume pastors are available to do anything at any time?
The dog-surgery news sparks a real discussion: would you go sit in the vet waiting room, and should you pray for someone's pet?
From No. 396 · Pet Pastoring and Confounded on Dear LFTP
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Chasing half-committed disciples
- When discipling people who stay half-committed, is the right move to keep chasing them or to move on?
Talking over recent conversations with Joy Fatima of Wings of Refuge and an upcoming film on sex trafficking in Iowa, the hosts wrestle with a ministry frustration: people who…
From No. 339 · Kenny Got A Plane
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Dear LFTP: advice for a woman who wants a divorce
- Where can a non-religious woman with no community turn for help ending her marriage?
A Dear LFTP letter is read from a self-sufficient, non-religious woman who grew up in an abusive household, moved out at 16, and now wants a divorce; her husband agrees to give up parental rights, so the legal side is seen as straightforward (mediation, no trial).
From No. 318 · Five Easter Sermon Errors