Author: MC Editor

Missional Shift or Drift?a Leadership Survey Report by Helen Lee | ChristianityToday.comResearch shows that pastors’ views of the gospel and mission are changing. But should we celebrate or repent?In the summer of 2000, Mike Lueken had every reason to be proud as a pastor of Oak Hills Church in Folsom, California. Every Sunday, thousands of people flocked to Oak Hill’s sixteen acre campus with its 35,000-square-foot facility, and the church was doing everything that a thriving, suburban megachurch with a $2 million budget was supposed to do. But then Lueken took a class at Fuller Seminary taught by Dallas Willard.…

It’s times like these that drive men and women to their knees. With the economy on the ropes, the populace split almost right down the middle on who should lead for the next four years, the country mired in two wars, global warming, it’s time to pray. And how should we pray? David Bryant is a former Madison resident and former president of Concerts of Prayer International who is now the leader of a national "Christ Awakening movement" called Proclaim Hope. At the invitation of some Christian leaders in the Pacific Northwest, he is offering a prayer that Christians can…

On September 9 over 50 people attended a forum at Blackhawk Church on human trafficking around the world. Guest speakers were Saejung Lee, an immigration attorney for the Coalition Against Domestic Violence, David Lippiatt, the Executive Director of WE International, a Madison-based non-profit focused on social justice issues and poverty around the world, and Elizabeth Schrader and Jenny Morvak, both on their way to Cambodia to work in an after care facility for six months.

"In Chris’ case, the songs got so popular through the church route and people were singing them so readily at every turn that it almost demanded that radio put them on. It was (as if radio) was missing the biggest thing and I think it finally awakened to that," says Shelley Giglio, chief strategist/director of label operations and artist management at sixstepsrecords, which is releasing the album through EMI. To aid churches anxious to have their congregation sing Tomlin’s new music, there will also be a special-edition CD featuring additional content aimed at teaching worship leaders how to utilize these…

For the first time since 1997, the Wisconsin Family Council has released its tally of Wisconsin Cultural Indicators. It "provides an overview of important indicators that impact Wisconsin’s best natural resource: her traditional families," said CEO Julaine Appling, in a news release. "When Wisconsin’s families are healthy, Wisconsin is healthy," she added. "When our state’s families are weak and struggling, you can be sure that will be reflected in the overall health of the state." The document offers no conclusions, but instead states "the numbers speak for themselves."

SPRING GREEN — Jim Blau’s house is uninhabitable, but for the second day in a row he was at the Community Resource Center at the Spring Green Town Hall, volunteering to help his neighbors recover from the floods. "I thought, I can’t do anything more here now – I figure why not help someone else out?" Blau said. "A lot of people have it worse than we do."Blau is one of several volunteers from the congregations at St. John the Evangelist Parish, Spring Green, and St. Luke Parish, Plain, who are stepping up to help their neighbors through a Catholic…

The U.S. District Judge Dan Hovland say that the Freedom From Religion Foundation has no right to sue a Dakota Boys Ranch.Read More >>

Michael Redd, an NBA guard with a higher purpose, is looking forward to playing at the Summer Olympics in China and focusing for the moment on a free "Now or Never" program that he is holding today and tomorrow to inspire youths and adults in his home-town of Columbus, Ohio.That’s not an unusual move for the Milwaukee Bucks guard and pastor’s son, who formed the Michael Redd Foundation in 2007 with his wife, Achea, to formalize their charitable giving. Last year, his outreach efforts included handing out free boxes of Thanksgiving food to the needy at the House of Peace…

From the U.S. Supreme Court to local school boards, religious liberties organizations such as the American Center for Law and Justice and the Rutherford Institute have waged a battle on behalf of Christian students and their right to practice and share faith on campus.There have been important victories, such as the ACLJ’s landmark triumph before the nation’s highest court in 1990’s Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens. That decision cleared the way for America’s public school students to lead and initiate Bible and prayer clubs. In 2001, the Rutherford Institute won when the Supreme Court found that…

Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation on Friday filed suit against the Rio School District for allowing a evangelical group to use its facilities for religious activities for free. The lawsuit, filed in Dane County Circuit Court, also alleges that Child Evangelism Fellowship Group benefits from school resources because paid district personnel help post and distribute promotional material for the group to district students, some as young as 5 years old.Read More >>