26
Feb 2020
I recently gave a presentation to a group of attorneys in downtown Nashville. I began the talk by identifying five significant challenges facing American Culture at this particular point in history. First, we continue to see high levels of emptiness, meaninglessness, and rising deaths of despair. Many Americans do not know their purpose and live mundane lives where they feel ignored, invisible, and unloved. Depression, addiction, and suicide rates remain high. Second, loneliness and social isolation are still on the rise. Ben Sasse says, “Among epidemiologists, psychiatrists, public health officials, and social......
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11
Feb 2020
Within Protestant Christianity, we find both mainline and evangelical traditions. Mainline churches were much more dominant in the middle of the 20th century after World World II, and despite notable exceptions, have experienced significant declines in membership and participation. Many mainline congregations are aging and are not reaching younger adults and families. Mainline traditions include the United Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterian Church (USA), Episcopalians, American Baptists, UCC, Disciples of Christ, Quakers, Reformed Church of America and African Methodist Episcopal. Evangelical traditions tend to be more conservative, often believe in biblical inerrancy, and feel the urgency of......
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04
Feb 2020
Thank you for supporting the “Building for Our Future” Capital Campaign! It is very exciting to now see the walls of our new chapel going up. We spent most of the fall digging into rock, excavating, and getting the site ready to build. This involved a significant amount of rock removal and detailed civil engineering to deal with stormwater run-off and drainage. The steel beams are being delivered this week and soon the chapel will be framed. We also appreciate your patience with our challenging parking situation on Sundays. We are hoping......
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27
Jan 2020
American scholar Sam Pascoe once said that, “Christianity was born in Israel, only to be taken to Greece and morphed into a philosophy. From there it was taken to Rome and made into an institution of civil power. Eventually, it migrated into Europe where it was developed into a culture. And later, it was brought to America and made into an entrepreneurial business enterprise.” One of the questions many ask as we begin a new decade is whether or not Christianity will remain relevant and vibrant in the future. Research continues to......
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09
Jan 2020
Between now and the end of January, we are accepting nominations for church leadership at woodmontchristian.org/nominate. LA Galyon will chair this year’s nominating committee which will begin meeting in February. This year, we will receive nominations for 1 Chair-Elect of the Board, 3 At Large Board Members, 7 Elders, and 30 Deacons. To serve as an elder, you must have been an active member of Woodmont for five years. To serve as a deacon, you must have been an active member of Woodmont for one year. We always want broad participation and......
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02
Dec 2019
The Thanksgiving season is a time to acknowledge the fundamental difference between envy and gratitude, coveting and contentment. We live in a culture with an economic system that, to some degree, fuels itself on coveting, desire, and wanting what others already have. Are we not told over and over again by marketers and advertisers that we deserve things that are bigger, better, and nicer than what we have? Are we not told that we would be so much happier if we just went out and bought whatever it is they are promoting?......
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18
Nov 2019
British New Testament scholar N.T. Wright has published numerous books over the years and lectured around the world. One of his best books is titled Simply Jesus. Wright opens the book by posing a series of questions about Jesus of Nazareth: “Who exactly was he? What did he think he was up to? What did he do and say, why was he killed, and did he rise from the dead? What might following him entail? How can we know if we are on the right track?” These are profound questions that modern-day......
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11
Nov 2019
A few years ago, Brett McCracken, who writes regularly for Christianity Today, wrote a very interesting article titled “21 Challenges Facing the 21st Century Church.” It was later turned into a book titled Uncomfortable. Brett was very honest and forthright in his assessment of what the church needs to pay attention to both now and in the coming years. I recently shared this article with the Woodmont Elders. As a pastor who thinks about the future of Christianity and the Church on a regular basis, I found this article very interesting. Here......
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27
Oct 2019
Years ago, Arthur Brooks gave a TED talk where he shared insight on the key to achieving happiness. That talk has now been viewed over seven hundred thousand times on YouTube. He argues that happiness is roughly fifty percent genetics, the way we are wired, and fifty percent how life plays out including major events and the ongoing decisions that we make. Specifically, he identified four key components to happiness: faith, family, community, and work. When it comes to work, Brooks argues that meaningful work and earned success is a key component......
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11
Oct 2019
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