Category Archives: Institutional Church

Of Starbucks and Calvinism, The Difference Between What I Want and What I Need

Posted on September 24, 2012 by PaulVK

Got this wonderful link from my friend Eric Dirksen on The Starbucks Lifestyle. It nicely illuminated the heart of the consumer mindset. It also struck me how badly I’ve wanted my church to be as welcoming, comfortable, popular, accepting, popular, … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture commentary, Institutional Church, theological, Wisdom | Leave a comment

It Takes A Religion for a Community to Forgive

Posted on August 11, 2012 by PaulVK

A friend recently turned me on to South Park. He told me about their religion episodes and one of the ones I saw was the Scientology episode. A ways into the episode the South Park character that is discovered to … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture commentary, Institutional Church | 2 Comments

On Direct and In-Direct

Posted on August 8, 2012 by PaulVK

A nice parable from “The Messy Middle” on how this expat learned indirectness, a common cultural trait of some Asian cultures. The dance of direct vs. indirect is such a funny one. I see it played out in churches all … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture commentary, Daily Links and Notes, Institutional Church | Leave a comment

The End of Christian Retail

Posted on August 3, 2012 by PaulVK

This week on my new favorite podcast, the Phil Vischer Podcast, they had an interesting discussion on the end of Christian retail. The part in question is the first 12 minutes of podcast #10. Skye Jethani made the point via … Continue reading →

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Christian should relate to Mormons like Christians related to Samaritans

Posted on July 23, 2012 by PaulVK

Richard Mouw continues his long term, thankless work of trying to help evangelicals think about Mormons. Relating to Mormons is not a simple thing. Christians are not very clear or well informed on Mormon belief. Mormons are culturally and religiously … Continue reading →

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What Did Jesus Start?

Posted on July 13, 2012 by PaulVK

Within a few minutes of each other I read how confidence in organized religion is down in America and I read a lovely piece on CRC Voices about the interaction between a local pastor and a girl coming in needing … Continue reading →

Posted in Institutional Church | 1 Comment

The Banality of Ministry

Posted on June 8, 2012 by PaulVK

Lottery Winners Church planters are an exciting breed of cat. They are filled with enthusiasm and drive. They overflow with visions of the church finally done right and whole cities renewed. In most cases this lasts until they actually start, … Continue reading →

Posted in Institutional Church, On the way to Sunday's sermon, Wisdom | Tagged | 2 Comments

My Case for a Holy Hypocrisy

Posted on June 1, 2012 by PaulVK

“The church is full of hypocrites” I regularly see Gandhi’s famous Christ quote on a bumper sticker at my child’s school. “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Fair enough. … Continue reading →

Posted in CRC, Culture commentary, Institutional Church, On the way to Sunday's sermon, Understanding the Bible | 4 Comments

Aldonza, the Bride of Christ

Posted on May 25, 2012 by PaulVK

Pt. 2 of My Case for a Holy Hypocrisy I’ve grown to love the musical Man of La Mancha. The movie version is torturous, you just need to know the story once and then get a copy of the soundtrack. … Continue reading →

Posted in Institutional Church | 1 Comment

My John Suk Fantasy

Posted on May 25, 2012 by PaulVK

Pt. 1 of My Case for a Holy Hypocrisy This month John Suk announced his intention of resigning from the CRC, my denomination. John was a former editor of The Banner, the official CRC magazine. The announcement really didn’t take … Continue reading →

Posted in CRC, Institutional Church | Tagged | 7 Comments