For the last couple of decades Willow Creek Community Church outside of Chicago and Saddleback Church in Southern California have been the twin towers of influence in American evangelical circles. Thousands of churches have sought to emulate their success by adopting Willow Creek’s seeker church model and Saddleback’s purpose driven church model
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Why Willow Creek and Saddleback are Losing Influence While North Point and LifeChurch.tv are Gaining Influence
The Internal Revenue Service earlier this month sent a letter ( full text ) to the Minnesota-based Warroad Community Church indicating that it is closing an ongoing investigation of the church “because of a pending issue regarding the procedure used to initiate the inquiry.” Presumably the procedural problem stems from a decision by a Minnesota federal district court in January holding that IRS rules have improperly delegated authority to open a church tax inquiries.
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IRS Drops Church Investigation Until Procedural Problems Are Resolved
If you thought R&B artist Chris Brown’s career would be hurt by viciously beating his girlfriend Rihanna and threatening to kill her, you would be wrong. His song “Forever” is one of the top 10 iTune downloads after being featured in the YouTube video that’s taking the world by storm. Now, when I think of everlasting love and romance, I can’t say I think of Chris Brown
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Shake your groove thing … in church?
Bobby Gruenewald , Terry Storch , Dawn Nicole Baldwin , Carlos Whittaker (aka @bobbygwald , @terrystorch , @dawnnicole , @loswhit ) captured in a candid moment as we all collide at our hotel for Echo Conference ‘09 . No need for “caption please” because I’ll tell you what’s really going on…. Bobby just flew in from the other side of the world – it doesn’t matter where you are in the world, Bobby’s always just flying in from the “other” side. Terry, grinning from ear to ear, is stok
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Echo Conference 2009 “Behind the Scenes”
The Anglican Church of England, much like the Roman Catholic Church worldwide, like to share. I know, sweet, right? Aerobic exercises during mass (”Stand,” “sit,””kneel”… “roll over”), pawing out of the same hands for the Eucharist and sipping out of the same cup (or chalice, depending on how shee-shee your particular house of worship wants to
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Church of England makes water into swine?
The poll is closed, and a very small number of the people have spoken: I am to blog it out, exposing the rip-off to the daylight of scrutiny. Note, dear reader, that I never promised this would be a brief story; I think it’s important to be as accurate and complete as possible, because this story does not land in a happy place, and also because I want to be clear on how I came to be so sure that I have been ripped off. The handsome timepiece shown above — pictured in its bike-wreck-damaged state — came with a multi-mode lighting function.
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A Watch and Brownies Engraving
It is fascinating to hear these Uncivil War veterans voices on tape speaking about the Battle of Gettysburg.
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Gettysburg Veterans, 1938
David Cameron said yesterday that the next general election is absolutely not in the bag for the Tories. “The public are going to take a lot of convincing” about Tory policies, he added, particularly about their ability to be “safe and sensible on the big economic decisions” that must be taken in the coming years. As a result, Mr Cameron concluded in his radio interview: “We are really focused on what we need to do between now and the next election.” How true — and how sad.
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Headline-chasing is harming Tory credibility
What’s this? A “Pink List” of the “100 most influential gays in Britain” appears in The Independent on Sunday; I’ve moved up from 78 to 69; then — plop — through my letter box comes a smartly embossed letter from Coutts, the bankers to Top People. They’ve seen the list, they say.
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It’s queer, this letter from Coutts
Incestuous couplings, blood feuds, betrayals, ambition, hubris, suicide by fire, collision of egos, power struggles, revenge, retribution, tragedy, defeat, reconciliation of opposites, symbols of sex and power. Is this Wagner’s Ring Cycle? No, it is Volkswagen’s epic Takeover of Porsche Cycle.
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Can the Porsche mythology survive under VW?