People say stupid things (me included). But, they also say insightful things. And, beauty is often in the eye of the beholder.

Part of the problem with online "discussions" is not that we say a mix of things, but that those conversations are very public and hang out there long after the conversation is over. So, while most of us know how often we fail to maintain civility and basic manners and say stupid things, we seem to forget the public and semi-permanent nature of these conversations.

Yet, I love a helpful blog discussion.

I'm continuing the 2009 blog in review with some highlights from March. Below we've got some good research and a lot of Andy Stanley.

MARCH 2009

Preaching to the Younger Unchurched

Let us begin by saying that not only is it possible to preach to the unchurched, it's quite probable you're already doing so, perhaps weekly. Just because someone has awareness of your church or has attended a service at your church does not make them churched. Consider those that show up for their annual visits on Easter and Christmas. They may have sat through the last 20 years of your holiday cantata, but that doesn't make them churched. Entertained, sure. Inspired maybe. But certainly not churched...

[read it all here]

Andy Stanley

This interview with Andy Stanley is helpful and provocative. It generated a lot of conversation on and off the blog. I actually had to interrupt the interview in between parts 2 and 3 to address some of the responses. If you missed it, it's definitely worth checking out.

Andy Stanley on Communcation Pt 1
Andy Stanley on Communcation Pt 2
Responding to Stanley
Andy Stanley on Communcation Pt 3
Andy Stanley on Communcation Pt 4
Andy Stanley on Communcation Pt 5

Barna: How Many Have a Biblical Worldview?

Barna Research has published the results of a survey that "explored how many [adults] have what might be considered a 'biblical worldview.'" This is a helpful study that will confirm the conclusions many have already drawn - and may surprise some of us as well. What does Barna mean by a "biblical worldview?"

[read it all here]

The Decline of Religion in America

...the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) has caught everyone's attention today as it points out the decline of religion and the rise in secularism in America

[read it all here]

Receptive People

Yesterday I talked with Cathy Lynn Grossman for USA Today about Americans' receptivity to evangelistic contacts and outreach from a church. I pointed to some recent research done by Lifeway Research and the North American Mission Board where we surveyed over 15,000 people (read more on this report via Lifeway Research). It turns out most people said they would be willing to receive information about church in a personal conversation with a family member, friend or neighbor.

[read it all here]

We're continuing the review of some of the highlights from last year's blogging and are dropping in on 6 posts from February. Family, history, culture, sin, church and discipleship. There's something for everyone!

FEBRUARY 2009

Deposits and Withdrawals

People often ask me how I balance work and travel. Sometimes it is really a question. Other times, they are just reminding me to be sure to do that. By no means, do I think I have it all figured out, but my wife says she thinks we have a good balance.

Missional Family Tree

Editors from Leadership Journal have constructed something like a Missional Family Tree that traces the influence from "The Missional Church" edited by Darrel Guder. The chart accompanies an article by Alan Hirsch on "Defining Missional." It's an interesting visual.

Finding Your Way With The World

How do we respond to the predominant social forces around us? Here are three typical reactions and one better way.

Missional Tribe Interview

An interview I did for Missional Tribe where I shared some thoughts on the missional nature of the church, cooperation, and the need for less armchair missiologists, and more real-life practitioners.

The Biggest Sin in Your Church

I was interviewed by Brian Proffit for Rev! Magazine concerning the "80/20" rule in most churches - where 20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work. It's a good conversation to have and I wanted to share ours with all of you here on the blog.

I talked about the most common sin in many churches. I am guessing there are many, but I think one of the most common is a lack of obedience.

Rethinking Discipleship

Notes from my talk on Discipleship for Church Planters at the ChurchPlanters.com Conference in North Georgia.

Feel free to interact at the individual posts or here at this one.

2009 has come and gone. As I was thinking back on this past year on the blog I realized we've interviewed some great leaders, had a number profitable discussions, and probably annoyed a few readers in the process. I think we've done more good than harm here, and I wanted to point back to a few of the more important posts you might have missed, or want to revisit. I'm breaking it down into 12 separate posts, starting with this one covering the month of January.

JANUARY 2009

Interview with Alan Hirsch

I believe that the closer we get to Jesus, the more 'dangerous' he is to us. We prefer to keep him at arms length and engage him from the relative safety of objective theology. Why is it worth it? Because without Jesus we have no legitimacy, or in fact do we actually have Christianity, because Christianity minus Christ equals Religion. And hey! Who wants a religion? Is it worth it? It is our eternal destiny to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom.8:29.) We cannot escape it. It is our joy, our salvation, our freedom. All else is just messing with the fringes of the faith.
- Hirsch

Stemming the Decline of the Southern Baptist Convention

The SBC I care about is in decline. Yes, it's part demographics (i.e. we're historically rural and such regions are in numeric decline) and ultimately changes have to be made at a local church level. But, many believe there are issues the convention can acknowledge and address to help turn around the decline. Denying the facts won't help, nor will a theological left turn, but there are things that need to change to reverse the decline.

Interview with David Fitch (video)

[see the entire post here]

Converts to a Cause or Christ?

So, my Reformed friends, let's not only read 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John (that is, John Calvin, John MacArthur, and John Piper), let's go plant some more churches. My emerging church friends, let's take a pause from the theological rethink and head into the neighborhood and to tell someone about Jesus. My missional friends, let's speak of justice, but always tell others how God can be both "just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." My house church friends, let's have community, but let's be sure it is one focused on redemption. My Baptist friends, let's focus more on convincing pagans than Presbyterians. And, my charismatic friends, let's focus less on getting existing believers to speak in tongues and more on using our tongue to tell others about Jesus.

Contextual Preaching

If the church is to become an indigenous expression of its context, then contextualization comes into play. When it comes to contextualization, reality suggests that the eternal, universal truth of God's Word is understood and appropriated by people through a cultural grid or framework.

Though we understand and appropriate the truth as conditioned by culture, biblical truth is eternal. However, we, and our hearers, are not!

The State of Church Planting

North American Christians are interested in church planting in a way not seen for many decades. In response, Leadership Network commissioned a research project that surveyed over 200 churchplanting churches, more than 100 denominational leaders from dozens of denominations, and over 45 church planting networks.

Starting a Church Without Losing Your Soul

Church planting is a rigorous task that leaves planters physically, emotionally and spiritually drained. Church planters are busy and stressed. The inherent instability of church planting places constant pressure on these Alpha-leaders to excel. They feel that every sermon, every service, every advertisement, every contact, and every event must be exactly right for them to succeed. Performance pressure overwhelms their theological moorings as to who they are in Christ creating an incessant anxiety which drives them even further into the work that drains them. It's a vicious cycle.

The Dangerous Church in 2010-2020

I have been asked to do a bit of "prognosticating," which can be a dangerous thing. My friend Linda Stanley asked me to set up a conversation about what I think will be the marks of the "dangerous church" in 2010 and stretched on to 2020.

When I think of "marks" I want to talk about distinguishing biblical marks, or what makes a church a church. But, that is not quite my assignment and I have commented on that elsewhere, so let me focus on what they mean.

Some of this will be statistical, some my personal beliefs, and some my hopes. You sort them out.

[read it all here]

Feel free to read them all and comment at the individual posts or comment right here.

While you were fooling around on vacation you might not have given this blog the attention it deserves. ;-)

Just in case, here are the last several posts on at the blog:

Barna's End of Year Review
The Barna Group has just released four themes they see from their research in 2009. Read the excerpts below, check out the full article here, and come back to discuss.

Preaching Magazine Interview (Parts One, Two and Three)
I was interviewed by Preaching magazine about preaching (go figure) and reaching the young adults who are disconnected or disconnecting from church. It was a good conversation that I'm reproducing here in three parts.

Merry Christmas from the Stetzers
Everyone gets a Christmas card from my family!

Gallup on the Decreasing Numbers of Self-Identified Christians in America
In 1948, 91% of Americans identified with a Christian faith. In 1989, 82% of Americans identified as Christian. Ten years ago, it was 84%. This year, it's down to 78%. Check out the article and research coming out of Gallup.

How Protestant Pastors Spend Their Time
This is already generating a lot of conversation. Check it out.

Top Ten Theology Stories of 2009
Collin Hansen did a "top ten theological story" list for Christianity Today. He gets it (mostly) right. Here I interact with his list.

Biggest Changes in Chrisitanity in the Last Decade
Christianity Today asked several of us to answer, "What was the most significant change in Christianity over the past decade?"

Upcoming Sunday Preaching (or what used to be "Saturday is for Seminars")
Some of the places I'll be preaching in the coming year.