Hila­rious. A very tongue-in-cheek article about what first-century church lea­ders nee­ded to know in order to be more suc­cess­ful. After all, Chris­tia­nity appa­rently did not suc­ceed well, did it? Sha­lom Mar­ke­ting Ltd. was recently con­tac­ted by a mem­ber of your coun­cil, asking us to tell you about our ser­vi­ces. He said to make it clear that he was foo­ting the bill for this ini­tial eva­lua­tion, with the hopes that our sound advice will encou­rage the coun­cil to hire us to guide your mar­ke­ting efforts for the next stra­te­gic stage in your movement’s life. … → Con­ti­nue Rea­ding: How to Become a Suc­cess­ful Religion

We live in a world full of males who have pro­lon­ged their ado­les­cence. They are neither boys nor men. They live sus­pen­ded bet­ween childhood and adulthood, bet­ween gro­wing up and being a grown-up. Let’s call this kind of male Ban, a hybrid of both man and boy. This kind of male is everywhere, inc­lu­ding the church and even voca­tio­nal ministry. … → Con­ti­nue Rea­ding: For Men Who Aren’t Boys