The Lent and Easter season is my favorite time of the year to attend church. Not that I don’t enjoy worshiping in church at other times of the year, but I always look forward to Lent church services, as somber as they tend to be. Obviously one reason I love this part of the church [...]

Several weeks ago, we ran a poll asking what you were doing to commemorate Lent. 28% of you said that you weren’t doing anything special. Well, it turns out that doing nothing can also be a way of commemorating Lent and Easter. Drawing from a NYT travel article about “do-nothing vacations,” Angelo Matera at Godspy [...]

If you haven’t come up with a romantic date idea for your significant other yet, well, you’re in trouble. But Relevant Magazine has put together some good last-minute, low-budget ideas for Valentine’s Day. There’s an interesting one partway down their list:
Although many of our major holidays still involve elements of service to the less fortunate [...]

surveys – Take Our Poll It’s common to give something up for Lent, or to mark the season with an activity like prayer or Scripture reading. Inquiring minds want to know: what are you doing to mark Lent this year? A special prayer or devotional practice? Some kind of community service? Giving up TV/blogging/Mountain Dew? Is your church [...]

There are lots of good Ash Wednesday reflections out there today, but the one that struck me most forcefully today is this reflection at Mere Orthodoxy. Understanding our own death, brokenness, and isolation from God is the first, necessary step towards experiencing the joy of the Resurrection:
The solitary silence that approaches death enables us to [...]

Over at Church Marketing Sucks, Joshua Cody wants to know why more predominately-white churches didn’t celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr Day yesterday. MLK Day, Cody argues, was a perfect opportunity for churches “to move towards breaking the ‘white church/black church’ stereotype.”
So I’m curious: did your church commemorate MLK Day in any way? Did the sermon [...]

It’s almost Christmas, which means it’s time for… Twelve Days of Jesus Junk over at Heal Your Church Website. The list is already up to Day 5, but it’s not to late to read all about such cosmic wonders as the ‘Jesus Loves You’ Kazoo and the Life-Like Baby Jesus doll. (The latter item costs [...]

Found an article this morning on Ethics Daily about the Advent Conspiracy.
Sounds mysterious.“We celebrate Jesus’ birthday by giving ourselves presents,” McKinley says. “We don’t give him anything.” McKinley is pastor of the Imago Dei Community…
[Last year] McKinley and a few pastor friends from around the country hatched what they called the Advent Conspiracy. [...]

Liberty Counsel’s Matthew Staver is out with a “Naughty & Nice” list for stores this holiday—excuse me, Christmas—season.
If the store doesn’t specifically use the word “Christmas” in its store promotion, it goes on the “naughty” list and all God-fearing Christians are expected to boycott the business. Home Depot made that list by using phrases such [...]

Mitch Lewis has a Maundy Thursday reflection about Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet, and the message he was sending to his disciples when he did so. From his post:
Peter says, “You shall never wash my feet.” When Jesus insists, Peter want to turn it into a symbolic religious ritual: “Lord, not my feet only [...]