Quantcast
Channel: America – The Church Sofa
Viewing all 45 articles
Browse latest View live

Nayara Goncalves – The worlds best preacher?

$
0
0

Imagine the scene.

You’re at the shop where you work. You’ve worked there for a while, in fact you’re the manager. The week was the same as normal, you went to church on the Sunday, you go back to work on the Monday. Its now the Friday and church is just about a distant memory.

As you’re about to slide deep into the same day to day routine, this guy with a mask on comes in. He has a gun. He’s asking for money.

Do you:
A) Duck and run.
B) Give the dude what ever he wants… knowing you’ll probably have to make up the shortfall.
C) Talk to the guy about Jesus.

If you choose C, you might be considered insane, and to be honest no one on the sofa is suggesting you should give it a go. So all credit to Nayara Goncalves from Florida who spent 5 minutes talking to the above mentioned masked guy about Jesus. He ended walking out, after apologising, saying the gun was a replica and explaining why he was doing what he was doing.

While part of me thinks she was crazy, she not only defused the crazy and possibly dangerous situation, but the news of what Jesus can do is being reported around the world.

Nayara Goncalves. We salute you!

BBC News

The post Nayara Goncalves – The worlds best preacher? appeared first on The Church Sofa.


Welcome to Jesus Camp

Weekly RoundUp: The Red Shirt Edition

$
0
0

Welcome to this weekends weekly roundup:

The post Weekly RoundUp: The Red Shirt Edition appeared first on The Church Sofa.

Weekly RoundUp: The Serious Edition

$
0
0

Trigger warnings for this one, as some of the links include discussion about possibly sensitive topics. Please remember that some of the following in particular is a review of the comments and discussion made over the last week, and as sometimes is the case, some of which have been apologized for:

The post Weekly RoundUp: The Serious Edition appeared first on The Church Sofa.

When Church Meets Doctor Who…

Things To Think About During A Church Service

$
0
0

What worries you during a Church service?

A few days ago, the Church Sofa lads were chatting about the possible things that may worry people about a Sunday church service. Whilst we were wondering if people were concerned if they would sit on a pew, or a chair, we decided to ask a random sample of people what worried them about a Sunday morning church service.

The list of results, were found to be intriguing and shocking:

  1. Do I really have to be nice to my neighbor?
  2. Strength of tea
  3. Sermon Length.
  4. After the service, do I go to the super market around the corner, or the one down the road?
  5. Going to sleep during the first chorus.
  6. The Church Warden.
  7. Getting back ache from the pew.
  8. Strength of communion wine.
  9. Have I turned my phone on silent?
  10. Does my neighbor have a bigger and better gun on him then I do?

Guns in Churches? Good or bad idea?

Read More about point 10 at The Christian Post.

The post Things To Think About During A Church Service appeared first on The Church Sofa.

Jesus Beer?

Pastor Mark Goes To Strange Fire

$
0
0

When a pastor goes to a conference to publicize their book, they get their book confiscated? Maybe.

The story starts with Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in America taking a trip to The Strangefire Conference and tweeting:

Ok. Nothing particularly noteworthy about that, but… awhile later he then tweets…

Which prompts the following from Mike Riccardi, the local pastor at Grace Community Church in Los Angeles who seems to be at the Strange Fire conference posting the following on Facebook: Driscoll-Strangefire Alright. So far this is looking like either a publicity stunt, a spat between two Christian organisations with different theology, or really bad communication? With that in mind Christianpost.com has found a tweet, that suggests this whole thing may just be a joke:

 

I’m confused.

If it is a Joke… any idea what the punchline is?
If its some theological spat and the books were confiscated… whats going to happen to those books?

What would you do with a load of unwanted Christian books?

The post Pastor Mark Goes To Strange Fire appeared first on The Church Sofa.


Be Ready To Answer For How You Vote!

Go to Church. Get a gun.

$
0
0

Attracting young men to church can be a challenge.

Some churches offer bacon rolls, others have gatherings in a pub.

The Lone Oak First Baptist Church in America is offering steak meals and possibly a gun, in what their Facebook page call a “2nd Amendment Celebration”:

According to The Huffington Post

The churches seek to draw in young “unchurched” men who are passionate about hunting and their second amendment rights. The Courier-Journal described the atmosphere at these events as a mix between a political rally and a prayer meeting.

“We have found that the number of unchurched men who will show up will be in direct proportion to the number of guns you give away,” McAlister said to the Courier-Journal. He claims that 1,678 made “professions of faith” at some 50 events last year, most of which took place in Kentucky.

Not all churches approve of this tactic for spreading Jesus’ word. Rev. Joe Phelps, pastor of Louisville’s independent Highland Baptist Church, commented, “How ironic to use guns to lure men in to hear a message about Jesus, who said, ‘Put away the sword.’”

Pastor Nancy Jo Kemper of New Union Church in Versailles called the events a “travesty,” adding, “How terrible it would be if one of those guns given away at a church were to cause the death of an innocent victim.” She said that the giveaway verges on bribery and “makes a mockery of what evangelism, to my way of thinking, ought to be.”

McAlister defends his gun-promoting strategy as simply, “affinity evangelism,” with hunting as a hook to catch Kentucky men. “So we get in there and burp and scratch and talk about the right to bear arms and that stuff,” he said.

Read More.

I wonder what else churches could give away to attract people? Swords, to attract fans of sword fighting? Unstable nuclear material to attract people curious about bomb making? Helium balloons to fans of people with funny voices?

Is there a line?

The post Go to Church. Get a gun. appeared first on The Church Sofa.

Christian Warning of The Week

Vice Profiles –“The Slut Shaming Preacher”

$
0
0

As the title suggests, there maybe one or two things here that may upset (The above sign is a mild example). Particularly around the 4 minute mark…

I cant help but think for a guy that seems quite “westboro” in his approach. he comes across as mild mannered in the interview section. If this was in England, would he just get ignored?

More can be read over at Vice.

The post Vice Profiles – “The Slut Shaming Preacher” appeared first on The Church Sofa.

The Independence Day Church Service…

$
0
0

Maybe I’ve simply missed this, I knew that Independence Day was a big deal in America (the movie kinda gives that away), but I didn’t realise there were Independence Day celebrations held in Churches.

The Independence Day Church Service was covered in an interesting blog from Benjamin L Corey over at patheos.com :

If your church is going to be holding an Independence Day celebration this year, I hope you’ll think this through and decide to skip it. Celebrating Independence Day at church is among what I believe to be the most offensive things we could do in a place that is supposed to be reserved for worshiping the God we see fully revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the one who taught his disciples to pay their taxes, and nonviolently love their enemies– even to be willing to lay down their lives to love their enemies.

Read More

Strong words, but at the very least it seems that Independence Day services can be an excuse for…

FIREWORKS IN CHURCH!!!

The post The Independence Day Church Service… appeared first on The Church Sofa.

Weekly RoundUp: The Serious Edition

$
0
0

Trigger warnings for this one, as some of the links include discussion about possibly sensitive topics. Please remember that some of the following in particular is a review of the comments and discussion made over the last week, and as sometimes is the case, some of which have been apologized for:

The post Weekly RoundUp: The Serious Edition appeared first on The Church Sofa.

When Church Meets Doctor Who…


Things To Think About During A Church Service

$
0
0

What worries you during a Church service?

A few days ago, the Church Sofa lads were chatting about the possible things that may worry people about a Sunday church service. Whilst we were wondering if people were concerned if they would sit on a pew, or a chair, we decided to ask a random sample of people what worried them about a Sunday morning church service.

The list of results, were found to be intriguing and shocking:

  1. Do I really have to be nice to my neighbor?
  2. Strength of tea
  3. Sermon Length.
  4. After the service, do I go to the super market around the corner, or the one down the road?
  5. Going to sleep during the first chorus.
  6. The Church Warden.
  7. Getting back ache from the pew.
  8. Strength of communion wine.
  9. Have I turned my phone on silent?
  10. Does my neighbor have a bigger and better gun on him then I do?

Guns in Churches? Good or bad idea?

Read More about point 10 at The Christian Post.

The post Things To Think About During A Church Service appeared first on The Church Sofa.

Jesus Beer?

Pastor Mark Goes To Strange Fire

$
0
0

When a pastor goes to a conference to publicize their book, they get their book confiscated? Maybe.

The story starts with Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in America taking a trip to The Strangefire Conference and tweeting:

Ok. Nothing particularly noteworthy about that, but… awhile later he then tweets…

Which prompts the following from Mike Riccardi, the local pastor at Grace Community Church in Los Angeles who seems to be at the Strange Fire conference posting the following on Facebook: Driscoll-Strangefire Alright. So far this is looking like either a publicity stunt, a spat between two Christian organisations with different theology, or really bad communication? With that in mind Christianpost.com has found a tweet, that suggests this whole thing may just be a joke:

 

I’m confused.

If it is a Joke… any idea what the punchline is?
If its some theological spat and the books were confiscated… whats going to happen to those books?

What would you do with a load of unwanted Christian books?

The post Pastor Mark Goes To Strange Fire appeared first on The Church Sofa.

Be Ready To Answer For How You Vote!

Go to Church. Get a gun.

$
0
0

Attracting young men to church can be a challenge.

Some churches offer bacon rolls, others have gatherings in a pub.

The Lone Oak First Baptist Church in America is offering steak meals and possibly a gun, in what their Facebook page call a “2nd Amendment Celebration”:

According to The Huffington Post

The churches seek to draw in young “unchurched” men who are passionate about hunting and their second amendment rights. The Courier-Journal described the atmosphere at these events as a mix between a political rally and a prayer meeting.

“We have found that the number of unchurched men who will show up will be in direct proportion to the number of guns you give away,” McAlister said to the Courier-Journal. He claims that 1,678 made “professions of faith” at some 50 events last year, most of which took place in Kentucky.

Not all churches approve of this tactic for spreading Jesus’ word. Rev. Joe Phelps, pastor of Louisville’s independent Highland Baptist Church, commented, “How ironic to use guns to lure men in to hear a message about Jesus, who said, ‘Put away the sword.’”

Pastor Nancy Jo Kemper of New Union Church in Versailles called the events a “travesty,” adding, “How terrible it would be if one of those guns given away at a church were to cause the death of an innocent victim.” She said that the giveaway verges on bribery and “makes a mockery of what evangelism, to my way of thinking, ought to be.”

McAlister defends his gun-promoting strategy as simply, “affinity evangelism,” with hunting as a hook to catch Kentucky men. “So we get in there and burp and scratch and talk about the right to bear arms and that stuff,” he said.

Read More.

I wonder what else churches could give away to attract people? Swords, to attract fans of sword fighting? Unstable nuclear material to attract people curious about bomb making? Helium balloons to fans of people with funny voices?

Is there a line?

The post Go to Church. Get a gun. appeared first on The Church Sofa.

Viewing all 45 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images