Category Archives: Institutional Church

How the Church Can Finally Finish the Job of Destroying its Reputation begun by a thousand Internet Complaints, and the Poor that ignore them

Posted on April 18, 2014 by PaulVK

The Church’s Bad Reputation I regularly read on the Internet about the Church’s bad reputation: Christians in the past have been responsible for bad things (and they’ll probably do it again). People have had bad experiences in churches (and will … Continue reading →

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CT: 5 Things that surprised me when I moved to a secular job

Posted on April 8, 2014 by PaulVK

ht: Voices via Bill Vis CT Leadership Journal In ministry it’s harder to leave work at work. Public vs. private: in ministry there is an expectation of a personal relationship Criticism in ministry tends to be more personal Charitable giving vs. … Continue reading →

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The Problem of Lonely Pastors

Posted on April 5, 2014 by PaulVK

  A link was posted on the CRC Pastors Facebook group. It’s a closed group so we don’t share outside of it but since I write what I’m about to share and it doesn’t involve the stuff of others, only … Continue reading →

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Studying Church

Posted on March 11, 2014 by PaulVK

The Science of Church A piece was recently posted on an admittedly unscientific survey of CRCs that have grown by 20% in the last 5 years. It drew some comments on CRC Voices and other places. I thought it might … Continue reading →

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Seeing the Ukraine Conflict in the Temptations of Christ

Posted on March 5, 2014 by PaulVK

Ukraine This video caught my eye. http://nyti.ms/MLqimF The Ukrainian soldiers trying to recover their dignity by “going to work” guarding warplanes. The Russian troops (sans flags) preventing their advance to their base, firing warning shots. This is of course a … Continue reading →

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Resisting Divorce

Posted on February 27, 2014 by PaulVK

Anne Rice I heard about Anne Rice’s departure from the church a few years ago. I hadn’t read any of her books, just noted the ruffle in the Internet conversation. This week when Skye Jethani made a comment about her … Continue reading →

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Beginning to Suspect the Bubble

Posted on February 1, 2014 by PaulVK

Zeitgeist Zeitgeist is a handy word. It means the spirit of the age, the communal water of assumption we take in and can’t help but assimilate and/or push back from. Two of the more interesting pieces this week were a … Continue reading →

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Why Churches Grind Up Pastors

Posted on January 2, 2014 by PaulVK

God’s Own Fool My post “God’s Own Fool” was picked up by the CRC Network and a number of pastors made comments about why pastors become bitter and burned out, unlike my father and those like him. I can understand how … Continue reading →

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The Miracle of Common Bible Reading as Compared to reading other Ancient Literature

Posted on December 31, 2013 by PaulVK

Reading Ancient Classics Rod Dreher is reading Dante, or rather a commentary on Dante. He comments on now this particular book helps him read Dante. I remember taking a class in college on Dante and I understood very little of … Continue reading →

Posted in Institutional Church, Understanding the Bible | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Portrait of a Minister’s Pain

Posted on December 24, 2013 by PaulVK

Found this on an Atheist blog. Powerfully moving, very real, very true, very common. Worth reading.

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