The terrorist attack in Mumbai last month hit home for me. I saw the breaking news on CNN.com and immediately called my father. I have aunts, uncles, and cousins that live in Mumbai within walking distance of the Taj and Oberoi hotels. In fact, I’ve been to both hotels on numerous occasions. Thankfully, everyone I know was okay. But the shock, anger, and grief for the Indian people has not yet faded in the aftermath of their own 9/11. As more is learned about how the attack unfolded, where the terrorists came from, and the apparently inept intelligence and response by the Indian government, we can lose sight of the human stories within this tragedy.

Philip Yancey, one of the church’s most gifted writers, was in…

The financial talking heads are attributing the current economic crisis to a number of things: lack of regulatory oversight, bad mortgage lending practices, and globalized market structures. But some of the more plainspoken pundits sum up the mess in a single word: Debt.

Simply put, for too long people have been spending more than they have. We have been purchasing homes we cannot afford, saving less than we should, and racking up debt at an unprecedented rate. The average American currently has a negative savings rate and over $8000 in credit card debt. As Dave Ramsey says, we are not “acting our wage.” On a national level, we have been importing more than we export and borrowing money from foreign governments to make up the difference.The…

Has anyone else noticed an increase in church advertising? I’m not opposed to getting the word out, but sometimes churches take it too far. They seem to believe that there really is no such thing as bad publicity. But at what point does the medium contradict, or even demean, the message?

Although some churches are developing much more sophisticated ways to market themselves–we’re working on an article for Leadership about churches using Google Adwords–I want to take a brief look at a much older, but still potent form of advertising…the billboard.

A reader recently sent in this photo. It comes from a church near Kansas City. It’s not unlike a church billboard in my areas that says “Kids love our church. It’s FUN!”, but it takes a much…