Happy Thanksgiving, from General Zod.

This weekend the General reminds you to use your digital devices as Zod intended, and not while driving. Obey your authorities this weekend…and kneel!

Megachurches are predominantly white, suburban, conservative congregations led by baby-boomer pastors. That is what an infographic about floating around the web lately has revealed. It’s based on research compiled by Forbes, The Christian Post, and Leadership Network.

For the most part the stats look very positive for mega and gigachurches (yes, that is a term now being used widely). These massive congregations, unlike many other churches, are still growing. They’re expanding staff, seeing increasing budgets, and have an optimistic outlook.

But buried in the positive stats about megachurches may be signs of challenges ahead. Could a bubble be forming that when it finally bursts will require the mega-model to be reengineered? Are we seeing the maturation of the megachurch movement into a sustainable and long-term model for…

Read part 1.

What I find most interesting about Tony Jones’ thesis is the way it can explain far more than just the Emerging Church Movement. I think contemporary youth ministry may also help us understand the rise of the megachurch movement in the late 1970s and 80s (and probably other movements as well). The number of megachurches exploded in that time from just 10 in 1970 to over 500 by 1990…most started by baby-boomers with youth ministry backgrounds.

Remember that the whole notion of a youth culture really emerged after World War II. Television, rock ‘n roll, and the economic boom after the war resulted in a generation of young people with disposable income and the opportunity to express themselves in ways foreign to their Depression-generation parents.…

Did the modern youth ministry movement create the Emerging Church? That’s the question Tony Jones addresses in a recent blog post. While presenting a paper at an academic conference, Jones fielded questions from professors of youth ministry primarily from evangelical colleges and seminaries.

Jones said to them, “You all have strong feelings about the emerging church movement, most of them negative.  Well, you are directly responsible for the emerging church movement.”

He went on to describe how contemporary youth ministry shuns the “accoutrements of power (vestments, titles, special roles and rites). Instead, youth are encouraged to engage all of the practices of the community equally.” In other words, the rejection of structural authority and the focus on a flat structure of relational authority which has marked the…

General Zod would like to remind everyone to have a great weekend, don’t drink and drive, and of course…kneel!

Read part 1
3. Social action is a partner of evangelism. This, finally, is where Stott lands on the matter. He believes that social justice and evangelism “belong to each other and yet are independent of each other. Each stands on its own feet in its own right alongside the other. Neither is a means to the other, or even a manifestation of the other. For each is an end in itself.”

Here is where John Stott not only reveals his theological brilliance, but also his Christ-formed heart. He recognizes that forcing every facet of the Christian life to fit into a mission/evangelism framework is untenable, and insisting that social action somehow justify itself in relation to evangelism is to ask the wrong question. In other words, we…

Is social justice an essential part of the gospel? The question has been raging for decades, and in some circles the matter was settled long ago. But a new generation of evangelicals with a strong inclination toward social engagement is reviving the debate. But I’m increasingly convinced that we are framing the debate incorrectly, and missing the point as a result.

The latest example came last week when Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (my alma mater) hosted Jim Wallis and Al Mohler to debate the role of justice in the mission of the gospel. Wallis, the president and CEO of Sojourners, affirmed the centrality of social justice in the gospel, while Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said it was an implication of the gospel but not…

Our local PBS station broadcasts a show on faith and religion every Sunday. 30 Good Minutes has been on the air in one form or another since 1956, and many influential and thoughtful faith leaders from around the world have been featured on the program. This Sunday it’s my turn. I was invited by my friends Eboo Patel and Dan Pawlus on the program to talk about evangelicals engaged in interfaith dialogue and cooperation.

Watch the full 15 minute interview online, or this Sunday at 5pm on channel 11 in Chicago. Check out more about the history of 30 Good Minutes on the program’s website, and watch past interviews on their YouTube Channel.