A pair of architects in Belgium have created an unusual structure–a see-through church.  It’s not a functional building, but rather a piece of public art that stands ten meters high. The design consists of 100 stacked layers and 2000 columns of steel plates. From some angles it looks like a traditional church with a steeple. But change your location and the solid walls become so thin they disappear in the sunlight.

Take a look at more photos here.

The architects said they were motivated by the growing number of abandoned churches in Belgium, and the declining role of religion in the highly secularized country. They have titled their structure “Reading Between the Lines” because it “extends this idea of transparency onto the church and equally onto the…

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…

For years I’ve been trying to help people see that popular consumer culture is a form of religion. It offers us a sense of value, identity, and context that traditional religions once provided. Similarly, pop culture has sacred symbols. How do I know this? Because when one of these symbols is altered the faithful will rise to protest the act of irreverence.

The Coca-Cola Company learned this lesson in 1985 when they released New Coke. And earlier this year when Gap changed their logo, hoards of angry white females rioted via social media. Gap relented and the retail deity’s image was restored.

The latest victim of pop-culture blasphemy: Superman. Photographs have leaked from the production of Warner Brothers’ new film Man of Steel showing actor Henry Cavill wearing…

Read part 1 of ‘Redefining Radical’

Consider who is celebrated in most churches. Typically it is the person who is engaged in “full time Christian work”–the pastor or missionary, or people who pursue social causes that result in a big and measurable impact. (Who isn’t talking about William Wilberforce these days?) Similarly, those who behave like pastors or missionaries periodically in their workplace, neighborhood, or perhaps on a short-term trip overseas are praised for these actions. But a church will rarely, if ever, celebrate a person’s “ordinary” life and work.

For example, Andy Crouch tells about a pastor he met in Boston. The pastor recounted the story of a woman in his congregation who was a lawyer for the Environmental Protection Agency. She played a vital role in…

40 years ago the Boeing 747 entered commercial service on route between New York and London. While the spectators marveled at the technological achievement-no one had seen 700,000 pounds of aluminum fly before-no one in the crowd realized that they were also witnessing a sociological revolution-no one except Juan Trippe. Trippe was president of PanAm, the first airline to purchase the massive new Boeing. The visionary businessman knew the huge plane would change air travel, but he predicted much more. Before the plane had even left the drawing board, Trippe said that the 747 would be “…a great weapon for peace, competing with intercontinental missiles for mankind’s destiny.” His remarks may have been interpreted as hyperbole in 1970, but most now agree that the Boeing 747 has…

This comes from Honda’s global website:

Honda engineers are committed to the development of advanced technology, but recognize that the purpose of technology is to serve the needs of people. At Honda, this philosophy has long been expressed as “man maximum, machine minimum.” In short, Honda’s goal with each product is to minimize the space required for machinery, while focusing on the comfort and functionality of the product for the people who will use it.

The “man-max, machine-min” philosophy has been guiding Honda for decades. It can be seen in their cars and even in their new corporate jets which have odd looking engines mounted above the wing rather than below or on the tail like most small jets thus allowing greater interior space. This…

Something’s wrong. We pastors are the stewards, the spokespeople, the advocates of a message of hope, life, and peace. And yet so few of us seem to be experiencing these qualities in our own lives. Something’s wrong. In a world saturated with fear, insecurity, and stress, we are to show a different way. And yet those at the center of the church are burning out and leaving ministry at a rate of 1,500 per month. If that’s what’s occurring at the heart of the church, why would anyone on the fringe want to move in closer? I’ve just read an article by two Christian counselors about the soul-killing impact of church ministry on leaders.…

Conventional ministry wisdom goes something like this: When launching a new church, first analyze the felt-needs within the target area or population. Then construct ministries to address those felt-needs. Felt-needs based ministries will draw people to your church, and simultaneously positively predispose seekers to the gospel message. In this scenario, caring for peoples’ felt-needs plays a supporting role in the mission.

What if this conventional wisdom is wrong?

The idea outlined above is what I was taught in seminary, it’s what I read frequently in ministry books, and it’s what I see practiced virtually everywhere I go. But I increasingly suspect that the theological foundation for felt-needs based ministry may be sand rather than stone.

The biblical rationale comes primarily from the gospels.…

I don’t drink coffee but that hasn’t stopped me from using the Starbucks across the street from my church as a second office. I sip my overpriced beverage in the armchair near the window. On this afternoon I was meeting Greg and Margaret*—members of our church I’d worked with closely for the last few years.

“We’ve decided to leave Blanchard,” Greg started. “For two months we’ve been church shopping.” Church shopping—where did that dastardly term come from? I thought while gazing out the window at the swarm of suburbanites fluttering between The Gap, Banana Republic, Barnes & Noble, and Williams-Sonoma.

“We really love Blanchard,” Margaret added to soften the blow. “It’s been a great church for our family, with a wonderful children’s program. Greg and…