We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.

We Need The Church

Baptism at Lake Roberts

Vicki & Chuck Rogers via Compfight

Last week we shared a thought-provoking article by Rachel Held Evans on the reasons millennials are leaving the church. This week we want to share a follow-up to that article that appeared on CNN’s Belief blog. Rachel lists the reasons why millennials actually need the church. Her thoughts actually apply to us all. Even in the midst of a deeply flawed collection of people and traditions, there is something basic and necessary about gathering with others to pray and wrestle with our faith. Here is a peek at Rachel’s thoughts on this:

Those who follow Jesus long for the day when their communion with him becomes complete, and Jesus promises this will happen through the church. The apostle Paul compared this union to a marriage. Jesus describes it as a banquet. No matter what the latest stats or studies say, Christians believe the future of the church is secure and not even “the gates of hell” will prevail against it. As much as I may struggle to fit in sometimes, as much as I doubt, question and fight for reforms, I am a part of this church, through good times and bad, for better or worse.

Related Reading

A Brief History of Political Power and the Church

The history of the church has been largely one of believers refusing to trust the way of the crucified Jesus and instead giving in to the very temptation he resisted. It’s the history of an institution that has frequently traded its holy and distinct mission for what it thought was a good mission. It is…

How To Fix The Church: The Kingdom of God (Part 4)

God has leveraged everything on the Church loving like Jesus loved, as outlined in our previous posts in this series. “By this the world will know you are my disciples,” Jesus said, “by your love” (Jn 13:35). By God’s own design, Christ-like love is supposed to be the proof that Jesus is real. In John…

The Evangelical Heart

qthomasbower via Compfight Rachel Held Evans posted recently about The Scandal of the Evangelical Heart. Citing a comment by John Piper (“It’s right for God to slaughter women and children anytime he pleases. God gives life and he takes life. Everybody who dies, dies because God wills that they die.”) she notes that when we approach the Bible in…

What Kind of Sinners Feel Welcomed by Your Church?

Perhaps the greatest indictment on evangelical churches today is that they are not generally known as refuge houses for sinners—places where hurting, wounded, sinful people can run and find love that does not question, an understanding that does not judge, and an acceptance that knows no conditions. To be sure, evangelical churches are usually refuge…

Greg Shares His Journey and Some Challenges Ahead

http://youtu.be/YdZKPG20kmQ Last September, Greg was asked to give the opening address at the Missio Alliance event Church & Post-Christian Culture: Christian Witness in the Way of Jesus. You can find more information here. Special thanks to our very own Stephen Konsor for his role in filming and editing this and other sessions. Enjoy!

Storming the Gates of Hell

Jesus said: “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” (Mt 16:18) To understand Jesus’ teaching here, there are a few things you should know. First, “Hades” was the standard term for the underworld, which means that Jesus was probably referring to the whole of the Satanic kingdom.…