Thom Rainer writes that pastors can waste a lot of time on social media, counseling that they aren’t qualified to do, and handling phone calls and meetings that can drain time and energy. He suggests minimizing meetings, handling conversations as they come up, focusing on meeting agendas, and cutting non-essential tasks or having a secretary administrative tasks.

Source: Church Central

Pastor Enoch Adeboye, pastor of Redeemed Christian Church of God, shared in a recent sermon his guidelines for marriage. Adeboye advised his members to marry within the church so that pastors can help them during difficult times, but he added that men should not marry a woman who cannot cook and who cannot pray for at least an hour.

Source: Christian Today

After the U.S. Department of Education called for schools to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms of their gender identity, 100 pastors in Ohio wrote a letter calling on a change to the law and vowing civil disobedience. The pastors from Richland County argued that the mandate defied logic and could lead to privacy concerns.

Source: World Religion News

Churches tend to resemble their pastors, and that is especially true for new churches. The healthier the pastor, the more spiritually healthy the church will be. While sometimes a predecessor can create a toxic culture that can last for years, in many cases a church will begin to resemble the pastor after 5 years of influence.

Source: Christianity Today

After John Lennon joked that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, Baptist pastor Rev. Thurman H. Babbs of New Heaven Baptist Church in Cleveland threatened to revoke the membership of anyone who supports the Beatles. One person posted a sign along a Pennsylvania road that read: “God Forever, Beatles Never.” Lennon apologized for the remark, but ticket sales surged in the wake of the controversy.

Source: Cleveland.com

In current church giving trends, 15% of the church will donate roughly half of the church’s budget, and that percentage tends to drop the larger the church. In addition, half of that 15% will donate half of the capital campaign dollars. This small segment of donors are critical for the success of any fundraising campaign or meeting a church budget.

Source: The Charis Group

A series of threats and vandalism incidents in America have many church attendees on their guard in the event of a radical Islamist attack. With plentiful guns and easy online access to radical teachings, many fear that a church could be the next terror attack target after the murder of Rev. Jacques Hamel, in the Normandy town of St.-Étienne-du-Rouvray. Many churches are adding security guards and working on ways to prepare members for an attack.

Source: FOX news

Generation Z, those born after 1998, are the first generation that has been truly native to the internet and to computers. They make up 25% of the US population and will turn 18 this year. They are more culturally diverse and have yet to exert their influence on the wider culture, but they will soon, and changes are coming. They are wired to social media frequently, but social media also impacts their self-esteem. They report that they prefer Instagram and video content, averaging 11 hours of viewing online video content per week.

Source: Facts and Trends

Smartphones are addictive and our brain's instinctively respond to pings and social media updates, triggering dopamine rewards that make it a pleasure to check your phone. The expectation of text messages and the dopamine reward override the judgment of the prefrontal cortex where most judgment and reasoning occurs.

Source: CNN

The Gin Tub, a bar south of London, has employed technology from the 1830’s called a Faraday Cage to block cell phone signals inside of the bar. Patrons are unable to use their phones in the bar, and for the most part, it has changed the culture of the bar, winning the loyalty of many who enjoy the experience.

Source: Digital Trends

A LifeWay study found that 64% of Americans have had at least three conversations about politics in the past month, and 59% would rather talk about politics, compared to 41% who would rather talk about religion. 2 in 1 evangelicals talk about their religion more than politics. Men were more likely than women to prefer politics over religion.

Source: Facts and Trends

Former NewSpring Church pastor Perry Noble was removed on July 1st due to his struggles with alcohol abuse. However, over 500 members of his church have signed a petition to bring him back. The petition soon stalled out and was closed. Noble commented that he is focusing on getting better and serving his family.

Source: Charisma News

Pastor Preston Ulmerson, 29, has launched a group called “Doubters Club” alongside atheist Trax Henderson. The two have started the group in Colorado in order to help Christians and atheists have conversations about current topics. The group started with 10 members and has grown to 60, with two locations.

Source: Metro West Daily News

What Pastors Need to Know about Pokemon Go

The Pokémon Go mobile app for smartphones lets users track Pokemon characters by enabling the GPS on their phones to work with the app. Characters will appear as players walk around town, and oftentimes churches are one of the landmarks used, resulting in players venturing to churches whether or not they have an interest in it. This is an opportunity to meet people in your community and to be present with your congregation in a simple, fun way.

Source: Cross Map

A new survey from PRRI found that almost have of Americans believe that Christians face discrimination in America that is equal to the inequality that other groups face. Eight in ten white evangelical Protestants held this view, rising from six in ten back in 2012. Among the supporters of Donald Trump, three-quarters agreed that Christians face discrimination in America.

Source: The Atlantic

A California court ruled that Christian Mingle and Catholic Mingle, among other religious dating sites, cannot ban same sex users. Both sites will change “men seeking women” and “Women seeking men” options to simple questions about the gender of a user and then allowing users to search based on their orientation.

Source: Religion Clause

Williamstown, Kentucky has seen both the blessings and curses of the Ark Encounter attraction that is opening this summer through Ken Ham’s Answers in Genesis ministry. Ham promises jobs and revenue for the struggling region in northern Kentucky, and so far Williamstown has seen a boost in downtown business. However, the tax breaks and moral code for ark employees leaves many worried that the project could come with too many drawbacks.

Source: NPR

This week we talk about the big story of the week: Perry Noble being released from Newspring Church. Matt and Todd talk honestly about our thoughts and feelings about this story (and others like it that have happened recently).

This week we look at the tragic events of this past week, including police shootings in Baton Rouge and Minnesota, as well as the police shootings in Dallas. Where is the Church and how should she respond? We take an introspective look at this week's events and call the Church to action.

Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family may be one of the only people in America who can call Donald Trump a “baby” and not get attacked on Twitter. However, Dobson was referring to Trump’s faith, claiming that Trump had recently converted to Christianity, just in time to run for president. Trump did not comment on Dobson’s assertion.

Source: The Christian Post

The population of non-hispanic white infants was finally matched by minority infants in 2013, and as of 2015, the number of minority children reached 50.2%. It’s estimated that in the coming decades America will no longer be majority white and that not no single group will be the racial majority.

Source: Pew Research

Nearly 80% of the unchurched shared in a LifeWay survey that they would be open to hearing a friend talking about spirituality if it’s an important part of his/her life. Only 1 in 3 were open to being invited to church, but more than half would be likely to attend a community service or community safety event if hosted by a church.

Source: Facts and Trends

Ministry has shifted dramatically in the past 40 years, especially with the widespread use of technology for communication and for church meetings. From pastors inundated with emails to multisite churches, technology has made it harder to be more personal in ministry. In addition, families are more likely to be blended or divorced, the culture has embraced LGBT issues, and the church is more aware of global churches.

Source: Ministry Today

A number of changes are coming in the next 10-20 years for the church, including a need for more churches to rely on bi-vocational pastors and minimizing the role of seminary. Some churches will rely on seminary students with online degrees. Home churches and creative fundraising will also become important as more churches struggle to survive financially.

Source: Ethics Daily

This week we talk about 5 shifts in church planting in the last ten years... 5 reasons pastors avoid politics... and an update about our friend, Ed Stetzer!