My visit to Haiti

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Untitled from New Hope Adventist on Vimeo.

EASTER WELCOMES THE JONAS BROTHERS

There is an interesting article at USA Today that discusses the dwindling significance of Easter. For most hardcore Christians, this is the superbowl of our religion. This weekend is where every weekend service, devotion, prayer time meets – on the weekend that we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Or is it?

The article suggests that Christians are waning in their zeal to invite their unchurched friends to an Easter service.

David Kinnaman, president of Barna, told Baptist Press:

… those who celebrate Easter because of the resurrection of Christ are not particularly likely to invite non-churched friends to worship, suggesting that their personal beliefs about Jesus have not yet translated into a sense of urgency for having spiritual conversations with their acquaintances.

In fact, less than one-third (31%) said they would invite a friend to church on Easter weekend. And only and only 2% called this day “the most important holiday of their faith.”

The article speaks to the fact the Rick Warren’s church, Saddleback Community Church in Southern California will be hosting the Jonas Brothers in concert as part of their Easter weekend celebration at the Angels stadium.  As you can imagine, it hasn’t been hard to fill the venue.  All weekend services are completely sold out.

Is that what it takes now to get our established members to bring their friends to experience worship and listen to an invitational message about Jesus?

When we talk about rebranding our faith, we may need to start from the inside before we work on the outside…

Click here to read the full article

Headed to Haiti

Tomorrow morning I will be traveling with a group of  of 9 from Sharing Our Strength International to Haiti. This group hopes to accomplish the following: well drilling at Eden Garden Orphanage, testing the water supply at Canaan Orphanage, medical clinic, creating medical records for each child at Eden Garden, assessment and evaluation for future trips, and community development with the local leaders. Please pray for the team as they travel.

What CoCo Can Teach the Church

I must admit that I am a fan of CoCo.  Even though I am not a night owl, I always enjoy Conan’s show.  I thought it was fitting that he finally got to take the helm of the Tonight Show.

Even though it lasted for only 7 months, I think there are some lessons we can learn from the whole debacle between Jay and Conan.

The Washington Post has an interesting article covering Conan’s final show from last night.  Embedded in the article was what I thought was the heart of the problem:

And that’s the problem, isn’t it? Here we are, well into the 21st century, and wide swaths of our culture seem unwilling to move forward, let go, move on, hand things over to Generation X or younger.

People wonder if O’Brien was too hip and young (at 46?) to lull America into a gentle, happy sleep. Part of the “Team Coco” movement that rose up after O’Brien announced his resignation scintillates this creeping feeling that the Baby Boomers (Leno is 59) will never get out of the way. There’s at least some truth to that.

There is some truth to that, I believe.  Will boomers and builders ever move out of the way?

X’ers are a very different group of people.  We have been characterized by many descriptions, except for conformists.  This is always a challenge for boomers who are in leadership.  They assumed that we would eventually become tame – like them.  They assumed we too (like them) would become disillusioned and simply ‘fit in.’

Will the baton ever be passed to X’ers?  Or will we get passed over, like Conan?

Spiritual Retreat Resources

Spiritual Retreats are a great way to reconnect with God. Check these out…

Bon Secours Spiritual Center
(410) 442-1320 bonsecours.org…
1525 Marriottsville Rd, Marriottsville, MD 21104

Dayspring Retreat Center
c/o Nat Reid
11301 Neelsville Church Road
Germantown, MD 20876
301.428.9348

Am Kolel Sanctuary and Renewal Center
19520 Darnestown Road
Beallsville, MD 20839-3308
(301) 349-2799 Fax (301) 349-2744
www.sanctuaryretreatcenter.com

Loyola Retreat House
Faulkner, Maryland
www.loyolaretreat.org
(301) 392-0801

Orchard Christian Retreat Center
15712 Peach Orchard Road
Silver Spring, MD 20904
301-384-3305
MDVARETREATCTR@AOL.COM
WWW.PEACHORCHARDRETREAT.ORG

Wellspring Conference Center
11411 Neelsville Church Road
Germantown, MD 20876
wellspringministry.org

13210 Green Ridge Road, NE
Flintstone, MD 21530
301-478-2715
www.risingphoenixretreat.com