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Here's a great quote from the late Dr. Ralph Winter:

People who are won to Christ rarely understand that they have been recruited to become soldiers in an all-out war. However, admittedly, individuals on their own can't "win a war." To win a war you need a whole lot of things.

The United States during the Second World War would be an example. Swarms of servicemen (including women) swirled about on planes, trains, and buses, heading off to ports of departure for the various theaters of war around the world. Eleven million were sprayed out across the globe in the Army, Air Corps, and the Navy.

But 200 million civilians staying behind were equally occupied by the war. As millions of men disappeared from their jobs, women took their places. A largely women's workforce ("Rosie the riveter") built entire ships in 30 days, medium bombers in four hours. Nylon was needed for parachute cords - no more stockings. No more coffee: incoming ships had no room for such trivialities because more crucial goods took their place.

Any idle moments or unused material were instantly challenged by "Don't you know there is a war on?" Family outings on Sunday became illegal if any gasoline was used. It had other more crucial uses. You could get a huge fine for unnecessary driving - driving unrelated to the war, like, yes, a family outing on Sunday!

Today, when Evangelical believers get together, they don't compare notes on how to win the war against the "works of the devil." They compare prices on home furnishings, vacations, adult toys. Truly, they don't know there is a war on! To them we don't live in a wartime economy but a peacetime context.

Greg Boyd quotes this recent letter to the editor from his local newspaper on his blog.

When I read letters sent in by Bible thumping Christians telling us how sinful we are and how right they are, how God is on their side, not ours, how God hates gays, liberals and other evil people, I close my eyes for a moment and say a quiet prayer. "I thank thee oh Lord that I am not and never will be a Christian."

Boyd then makes a fascinating point. He noted that Jesus attracted prostitutes and tax collectors, the sinners most despised in his day. He asks, "Where are the prostitutes and tax collectors of our day?" We generally despise gays and abortion providers. Are they attracted to Christians, as they would undoubtedly have been drawn to Jesus?

Think about that: gays and abortion providers would be drawn to Jesus.

Once again, I am thumped broadside with the radical nature of Jesus...and how little we understand what He was really like.

Very good article by Bob Hyatt on Next Wave ezine, called "Why I'm not Done with Church." I found myself amening frequently, as he gently admonished those who abandon the institutional church (which--disclaimer--has been my bread and butter throughout my adult life).

Then I got to the comments...and found some really good stuff by people who have left the institutional church.

The author makes a flippant parenthetical analogy about liking Jesus, but saying you can't stand his "wife." The church is the "bride of Christ," according to Scripture. I wish he had developed that a little further. Imagine saying, "I want to spend time with you, just as long as your wife isn't around, because I don't like her at all."

My thoughts on all of this are evolving. But as for me--I wouldn't function well as a Christian apart from the church. Maybe some people can, but not me. I need to be part of an organized church, regardless of how messy it is. It keeps me focused. Maybe I'm just undisciplined. No, I AM undisciplined. I probably wouldn't be good at running a home-based business; the office environment keeps me in line. I appreciate being part of social security, despite its flaws, because I would be a major flop at managing my own retirement funds.

Other people are different. But I'll bet not the majority of them. I suspect that most people who "give up on" the organized church have their occasional spurts of spirituality, but for the most part increasingly become Christians in name only--good people, but not people who conquer for Christ. Unfortunately, the exact same thing happens to hordes of people who faithfully sit in pews every Sunday. So casting stones is problematic.

But in the end, I still maintain with conviction: Christians need the church. Not necessarily that specific church down on the corner, but a fellowship of Christians along with all of their flaws.

Quote from Perry Noble about the church he pastors, Newspring:

We do not have the corner on the market when it comes to a movement of God.  We aren't doing church "the right way." We aren't doing church a better way. We are doing church the way God called us to do it

A number of dynamic, young, different-thinking megachurch pastors fly a little bit under the mainstream radar. I'm thinking of people like Perry Noble, Craig Groeschel, Francis Chan, David Gibbons, and Rob Bell. They are the future of evangelical Christianity. And yet, some of them strike fear into the hearts of mainstream, baby-boomer evangelicals, because they don't toe the party line. They are stretching evangelicals in some directions we've been ignoring during the past 30 years as we've been focused on wielding power--something tese young pastors show little interest in.

If you had a singles ministry that worked for 9 years, but is no longer effective, celebrate the 9 years of success. Close it down and do something different. Don't keep something on life support once its season has passed.

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."

Just stumbled across this. Well worth considering (but too late this year).

Here's a quote from Perry Noble, which I found on Tony Morgan's blog:

"Christians use prayer for an excuse for inactivity."

Sometimes, that is so so so true.

Jack and Suzy Welch, in BusinessWeek (Nov 17), cited three reasons Obama won. I already discussed the first two: clear vision and execution. Here's the third.

3. Friends in high places. "From the start, Obama had ­support from the media, which chose to downplay controversies involving him. Meanwhile, after the primaries, McCain began to take a beating."

Welch then talks about having the support of your board. "Every time you try to usher in change, some people will resist. They may fight you openly in meetings....But in the end, if your board has your back, defeat can be turned into victory. That's why you need to start any leadership initiative with your 'high-level friends' firmly by your side, convinced of the merits of your character and policies."

This, obviously, applies to pastors. Cultivate supporters. Don't just plunge into an initiative, convinced of its merits and that, therefore, everyone will just happily tag along. Lone Ranger preachers don't do well at any size of church.

"You may have winning ideas," Welch concludes, "but you need much more to win the game."

From my denominational perch, I've certainly seen many situations in which a pastor had the right ideas--a good vision for the church--but flopped in trying to implement it. Welch is saying that John McCain had good ideas, but that wasn't enough. Even Ron Paul and Dennis Kucenich had some good ideas, and they can rest content on the righteousness of their ideals.

But to bring about true change, you must be more than a one-trick pony.