Category: Unity
Posted on March 27, 2020
by Brad Bates
1 Comment
Most churches are still putting a great deal of effort into making the 1 hour Sunday gathering viable over the internet for most of their church body. Some are making efforts to find discipleship opportunities outside of Sunday morning. And unfortunately, a great deal of people are still screaming that they want things to go back to the way they were.
Seeing all of these reactions, I can’t help but ask, should we go back?
Category: Change, Church, Faith, Life, Ministry, Pastors, UnityTags: Church, Church Growth, Consumer Church, Consumerism, COVID19, Egypt, Hebrews, Numbers 14, Pandemic, Promised Land, Seeker Sensitive, Success, The Way Things Were
Posted on March 16, 2020
by Brad Bates
4 Comments
According to Pew Research, about 15-20% of Christians in America are under the age of 30 leaving the mass majority of individuals identifying as Christian in America over the age of 30, with about 45-50% being over the age of 50.
Category: Church, Ministry, Pastors, UnityTags: Age distribution, Blog, CDC, Christian Blog, Christian Podcast, Church, Church Closing, Coronavirus, COVID19, Pew Research, Podcast, School Closings, Social Distancing, The Walking Dead, To Close or Not to Close, Toilet paper, Wuhan Virus
Posted on February 11, 2020
by Brian Baldwin
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Can you not with the “Jesus is the white man’s God”? Really, it’s so lame and easily refuted. This shows a serious lack of reading comprehension and an even worse victim complex. Everything is the white man’s fault somehow, even the spread of the… Continue Reading “We Were There”
Category: racism, UnityTags: Black History, Black Lives Matter, Christianity, Civil Rights Movement, Family, Interracial Marriage, Interracial Relationships, love, racism, Religion, Social Justice
Posted on February 10, 2020
by Brian Baldwin
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Cut off. That’s what black history month reminds me of. This isn’t an aim at anyone specifically, but generally speaking, that’s how I typically feel about black culture. That’s nothing new. I’ve felt that way since I was very young; way before I ever… Continue Reading “Bastard III (Black History Month)”
Category: Abortion, Cultural Engagement, History, UnityTags: Black Lives Matter, children, Christianity, Depression, Family, Feminism, History, Marriage, Music, Politics, racism, Religion, Sex, Slavery, Training
Posted on January 13, 2020
by Brad Bates
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Before The Mandalorian told us that “This is the way” as he protected that undeniably cute baby Yoda (spawning COUNTLESS memes), Jesus had already come before and shook up the world as he claimed and proved to be “the Way”, the Truth, and the life (John 14:6), and Paul who was once persecuting the followers of “The Way” was now claiming to be a follower of the teachings of “the Way” (Acts 24:14).
Category: Angry Christian, Church, Faith, Life, Pastors, Social Media, Truth, UnityTags: Acts 24:14, Angry Christian Podcast, Angry Christians, Apostasy, Apostate, Baby Yoda, Battle of the Ages, Christianity, Christians, Church, Church Growth, Church Wars, Cottage Grove Minnesota, Disney, Gallitin Tennessee, Generational Wars, Grace Christian Fellowship, In fighting, John 14:6, Journey Church, Knightsville United Methodist Church, Little Christs, Local Church, Martin Luther, Multi-Generational Church, Social Media, Southern Baptist Church, The Mandalorian, The Way, The Way the Truth the Life, This is the Way, United Methodist Church, Young and Old
Posted on January 8, 2020
by Brad Bates
3 Comments
What is to follow is a response from me to the article, Why Churches Should Ditch The Projector Screens and Bring Back Hymnals that was posted to http://www.thefederalist.com back in June of last year (2019). I have seen this article numerous times before, and had debated on responding, but it seems to have resurfaced again, and so I felt a respectful push back would do the discussion some good. And that is what I intend to do.
Please note that this article is not intended to attack traditional churches, or solely support contemporary churches, but to directly address the points made by this author in his article. As a worship leader, I have a deep appreciation for all aspects of church musical worship, so I appreciate and see the value in it all.
Category: Angry Christian, Church, Music, Unity, WorshipTags: 1 Peter 3:15-16, 1 Samuel 16:7, 2 Samuel 6:16-23, Amen, Church, Contemporary Church, Drums, Formal Church, Hymnals, Liturgy, Projectors, Psalm 138:6, Shape Note Hymnals, The Federalist, Tom Raabe, Traditional Church, Worship
Posted on November 21, 2019
by Brad Bates
4 Comments
After watching the western church response to John MacArthur/Beth Moore, Kanye, then Kanye/Joel Osteen, and now Chick-fil-A I can confidently say that the reality is these folks get triggered just as easily as their liberal and millennial counterparts…they just get triggered over different things.
Category: Angry Christian, Church, Cultural Engagement, Life, Truth, UnityTags: Beth Moore, Chick-fil-A, Chick-fil-A donations, Christian Outrage Culture, Fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22-23, Go Home, Houston, Jesus is King, Joel Osteen, John MacArthur, John MacArthur and Beth Moore, Kanye West, Kanye West and Joel Osteen, Lakewood Church Houston, Liberals, Millennial Generation, Outrage, Outrage Culture, Texas, Triggered
Posted on November 11, 2019
by Brad Bates
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You may not believe this, but I don’t agree with every Christian about every topic to come across the Church table. An even bigger shock is that every Christian doesn’t agree with me about every topic to come across the Church table. I mean they should…because I’m usually right…but that’s beside the point (totally joking!).
Category: Angry Christian, Church, UnityTags: baptism, Beth Moore, bible versions, Disagreement, Division, eschatology, Grace, John MacArthur, Kanye West, musical preferences, one baptism, one body, one faith, one god, one hope, one lord, one spirit, Sticks and stones, Unity, where the church meets, Women in Ministry
Posted on November 5, 2019
by Brad Bates
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I used to be obsessed in a very unhealthy way with politics. It consumed my thoughts, my actions, my social media, my discussions, my arguments…it very literally consumed everything. I spent many years expressing my views about all things political, and it was exhausting. It’s Election Day 2019, and here are some of the thoughts running through my mind on the matter.
Category: Government, Politics, UnityTags: Abortion, America, Angry, Angry Christians, Bernie Sanders, Christian Podcast, Christian Politics, Church, Church Podcast, Civic Duty, Democrat, Democrat Debate, Democrats, Disagreement, Donald Trump, election day, Election Day 2019, Elizabeth Warren, Exodus 18:21, gay marriage, Get out and Vote, Independent, Independents, LGBT, Libertarian, Michael Bloomberg, Not My President, Podcast, Political Division, Political Views, Politics, Republican, Republican Debate, Republicans, Thanksgiving, Tom Steyer, United States, Voting
Posted on November 1, 2019
by Brad Bates
1 Comment
In case you’ve been living under a rock or out of the country for the last month, let me just tell you…it’s been a busy couple of weeks for the American Church.
Category: Angry Christian, Church, Faith, Hate, Ministry, Truth, UnityTags: Angry Christian Podcast, Beth Moore, Christian Podcast, Complimentarianism, Division, Jesus is King, John MacArthur, Kanye Gets Saved, Kanye West, Unity, Women in Ministry
Posted on October 21, 2019
by Brad Bates
1 Comment
On one side you have the pastors and church leaders (the shepherds), and on the other you have the church body (the sheep). For decades (if not centuries) there has always been a tension between these 2 sides of the coin, which results in church splits, hurt relationships, broken testimonies, people being turned away from and turned off of the church, and a whole lot more. Each side of the coin seems to think they ARE the coin not realizing that they are but one side of the same coin….that there is another side.
Category: Angry Christian, Church, Life, Ministry, Truth, UnityTags: Angry Christian Podcast, bite the shepherd, Christian Podcast, Church abuse, Church Leaders, church members, Ephesians 4, health, hebrews 13:17, Jesus, love, mistreatment of pastors, Unity
Chris Cornell, Chester Bennington, Robin Williams, Kurt Cobain and the list goes on and on. Two people that helped shape me went out the same way that they did. There was a point in time when I could have joined this list. Not intentionally,… Continue Reading “Don’t Go Alone”
Posted on January 20, 2019
by Brian Baldwin
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On January 20th, 2013, my life changed drastically in an instant. In the span of maybe an hour, I went from looking for trouble at the bar to being distraught at the realization that I was at the mercy of a God I didn’t… Continue Reading “Identifying a True Christian”
Category: Church, UnityTags: Christianity, Church, Death, Faith, God, Jesus, Life, Prayer, Religion, Sin, Truth
Posted on January 14, 2019
by Brad Bates
6 Comments
THE MOVEMENT Around 1997, a man by the name of Jay Shafer began a now growing and increasingly popular movement known as The Tiny House Movement. The purpose or vision of most who are moving toward the Tiny House movement is really quite simple:… Continue Reading “The Tiny House Movement: A Big Lesson for the American Church”
Category: Church, Life, Ministry, Truth, UnityTags: Acts 2:42, American Church, Church, Clutter, Early Church, Excess, Francis Chan, Letters to the Church, Steve Timmis, Tim Chester, Tiny House, Tiny House Movement, Total Church
Posted on January 9, 2019
by Brad Bates
2 Comments
A ROYAL INVITATION Imagine, the Queen of England sends word to you that she would like for you to pay her a visit. She would like for you to come to England, sit down in her living room (or whatever that looks like in… Continue Reading “An Audience With the King”
Category: Church, Prayer, Truth, Unity, WorshipTags: Audience With a King, Church, If two or more, King, Prayer, Queen Elizabeth, Royal Invitation, Throne Room
Posted on April 21, 2017
by Brad Bates
2 Comments
This last week I went through a humbling experience. It was brought to my attention by my mentor (and spiritual father…and pastor) that some of my antics on social media may have caused hurt to some close to me, as well as reminding me… Continue Reading “Humility: The Churches Strength and Its Weakness”
Posted on December 1, 2016
by Brad Bates
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“Those punk kids will never understand what it’s like to have responsibility. When I was their age I already had a full-time job.” “Those old people are such tightwads. I’m glad our generation is a lot more generous.” “Look at those parents, their kids… Continue Reading “World War Infinity: The Generational Wars”
Posted on November 12, 2016
by Brad Bates
3 Comments
2016 has been….an interesting year. To say the least. But of all the interesting things in 2016, I think that it has been a pivotal year for the church in America. A revealing year. As I’ve stated in previous articles, the heart of much… Continue Reading “The Missing Spark of Revival and Unity”
Category: Church, Revival, Sin, Truth, UnityTags: Church, Election, repentance, Revival, Sin, Trump, Unity
Posted on October 24, 2016
by Brad Bates
1 Comment
This election season, unlike any other I’ve witnessed in my very short 16-year voting history, has been one of the most stressful and disheartening elections I have personally been through. We are still a good 2 weeks out from election day, but let’s not… Continue Reading “Minds Are Made Up. So where do we go from here?”
Category: Church, Cultural Engagement, Government, Life, Pastors, Politics, Truth, UnityTags: Church, Clinton, Future, Politics, Prophetic, Trump, Truth
Posted on July 12, 2016
by Brad Bates
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Growing up as a kid, when I would fall and get a scrape or cut myself somehow, my mother would apply a band-aid to my wound. But not BEFORE she kissed my boo-boo, washed the wound, and then applied some antiseptic ointment to keep… Continue Reading “Racial Band-Aids”
Category: racism, UnityTags: All Lives Matter, America, Band-Aid, Black Community, Black Lives Matter, Church, Civil Rights Movement, Hate, Heart, Injustice, Police, racism, Segregation, Slavery, White Community
Posted on August 31, 2015
by Brad Bates
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I realize that the old song “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” is referring to the loss of loved ones, especially in the body of Christ and ultimately seeing them one day in heaven. And I also realize that the song is most specifically referring… Continue Reading “When the Circle Becomes Broken”