Christianity 2009.10: The Finale
Ask any combat veteran what got them through the hell we call war and most will tell you a story of camaraderie, Intestinal Fortitude and a great leader. The veterans of WWII’s Easy Company all speak highly of the exceptional leadership of Dick Winters, the companies senior officer. Major Dick Winters exhibited these leadership traits: * Exceptional Courage * Never asking his men to perform a task he would not do. * Putting his men’s needs in front of his own. * Strict adherence to moral attributes and values. * Setting the example and leading the way. * Grace and …
Christianity 2009.9: Parenting Spiritual Champions – Part II
In this post we will continue to look at some real world statistics on parents who have raised Spiritual Champions. By this, I mean children who are now adults and display the Legacy Character Traits and consider themselves active, saved Christians who are still working on spiritual growth as young adults or parents themselves. Traits of Parents Who Have Raised Spiritual Champions: Part 2 7. Focus on Godly Character Rarely in the parenting research I look at do you find something that is 100% across the board agreed on by parents, however, focusing on Godly character and character traits was …
Christianity 2009.8: Parenting Spiritual Champions
For the first 7 posts of this topic, I have focused on what I perceive is the current problem with Christianity and why we (Christians) are being the subject of increased attacks and skepticism especially from the younger generations. Next, we will look at some real world statistics on parents who have raised Spiritual Champions. By this, I mean children who are now adults and consider themselves active, saved Christians who are still working on spiritual growth as young adults or parents themselves. Traits of Parents Who Have Raised Spiritual Champions: 1. Parenting is their primary job. Parents of spiritual …
Christianity 2009.7: The Real Legacy
Today we will continue to look at the foundations of followers of “The Way” and how being true to these foundations will bring forth a more spiritual journey and relationship with Christ. For parenting, these are the foundations I want to instill in my children through my own personal modeling as well as core development while they are growing up. 4. Intentional Spiritual Growth. Following the way means that we derive our direction in life from our relationship with God. My life changed significantly when I finally submitted to God and begin to ask God to direct my life for …
Christianity 2009.6: Breaking The Mold
In this post we will look at a new type of Christian that is popping up in many local churches and we will also begin to unpack the traits of these new type of Christians. Actually these Christians are not knew at all because I personally believe they emulate more the early “Followers of the Way.” First, I must address that many of these young Followers are currently frustrated with the current state of Christianity just like the outsiders but instead of leaving the church, they are trying to help the church evolve and in many instances, starting their own …
Christianity 2009.5: The Early Christian Movement
In order to get a grasp on where the Christian faith is currently and where we need to move to next, I think we must first examine our roots. I wanted to know if todays Christian movement matched that of the early followers. Note that in the beginning, followers were not called Christians but “Followers of the Way.” I will also use this term to describe the modern Christian believers who break the traditional mold and exhibit some of the traits of the early Christians. I believe the example being set by many of these “Followers” is the key to …
Christianity 2009.4: Why Perceptions Matter
There are 4 reasons why perceptions matter. 1. What people think about us, influences how they respond to us. Peoples attitudes and perceptions drive their actions. If their attitudes about Christianity are already negative, we are already at a disadvantage. 2. What people think about us, should help us be more objective. We need to be more objective and transparent. When we go to church and hang out with Christians, we are seeing the faith through rose colored glasses. Outsiders are trying to tell us that we are not being honest with ourselves. We are what we are, not what …
Christianity 2009.3: Should We Care?
Jesus said the world would hate us and Christians certainly go against the modern day “do whatever feels good” attitude but shouldn’t outsiders just repent and accept the truth of Jesus? Many people try this route with outsiders with little success and actually cause more damage. As Christians, we often want to preach the good news but we fail to exhibit the other side of Jesus. Grace. See John 1:14. Embracing truth without embracing grace leads to legalism. Just as grace without truth leads to compromise. Still, the Barna research shows that Gen X and Y say they rarely see …
Christianity 2009.2: Who's To Blame?
We are going to look at the 6 biggest themes that draw the most skepticism and objections from outsiders. 1. Hypocritical 2. Too Focused on Getting Converts 3. Anti-Homosexual 4. Sheltered 5. Too Political 6. Too Judgmental We are going to look at how these outsiders arrive at these conclusions as well as how these perceptions affect their acceptance of Christ. We will also look at how we can change these perceptions and how to build bridges to reach these generations while not compromising our own faith and values. I will also look at a concept I call the “Followers …
Christianity 2009.1: What They Think
Christians have an image problem. Many people outside the Christian faith, many of them young adults, have little trust in the Christian faith. Outsiders admit their emotional and intellectual barriers go up around Christians and they reject Jesus and Christians because they feel Christians are rejecting them. I don’t meet a lot of people who have never heard the word of Jesus Christ. I do however meet a lot of people who were once Christian but have now left or even worse reject the faith altogether. Generation X and Y have thrown a whole new dynamic into our faith. These …
