Rich Mullins On Being Born Again

Rich Mullins On Being Born Again :

"You guys are all into that born again thing, which is great. We do need to be born again, since Jesus said that to a guy named Nicodemus. But if you tell me I have to be born again to enter the kingdom of God, I can tell you that you just have to sell everything you have and give it to the poor, because Jesus said that to one guy too…[And he paused in the awkward silence.] But I guess that’s why God invented highlighters, so we can highlight the parts we like and ignore the rest."

FBC-Wilmington Showing Solidarity With Those Suffering From The Financial Crunch

The other week it was decided at FBC-Wilmington's business meeting on the church's budget that the staff shouldn't raise their salary or so I heard as I wasn't actually at the meeting. Nonetheless, I believe this is a wise decision as it shows our church's willingness to take seriously Jesus' call to identify with the poor and the suffering---so in taking these measures, our church has put these beliefs into action with the Christocentric integrity that is needed in the American church as well as living out Jesus' call for social justice through the church.

Americans leaving churches in droves

Americans leaving churches in droves
Julia Duin (Contact)
Sunday, September 21, 2008

"Quitting Church: Why the Faithful Are Fleeing and What to Do About It" (Baker Books) is the new book by Julia Duin, assistant national editor (religion) at The Washington Times. In this excerpt, she details her personal experience and survey numbers showing the difficulties evangelical churches have with keeping their members.

"You're not going to church?" I asked him.

It was his birthday, so we had met for dinner at the Olive Garden, one of our favorite Italian restaurants. He shook his head. "Matt," I will call him, was legally blind and unable to drive. That and a few other handicaps had not prevented him from having a decent-paying job with the U.S. government, from amassing a world-class library in his home, and from being the go-to guy with answers to all my questions about Reformed theology.

But here he was, disconsolate. A reporter by trade, I dragged his story out of him.

"I don't mind taking the metro to church, but you know me," he said. "I'm pretty Reformed, and the kind of church I like is always at least two miles from the nearest stop."

(Read More: Here)