To give a forum for responding to the recent article here at the Worldview Church Worship Arts page, post your comments here about how your church promotes the arts?

Other things to share might be:

• What kind of teaching is done on the arts?
• How does the church defend artists?
• Does your church support and finance artistic expresssion?
• Music is one thing, but what of the other fine arts?

As a follow-up to the previous blog discussion about the message of Christmas (here), I now wonder about the message of Easter as well...

The resurrection of Christ is a confronational message -- opposing logic and reason according to many -- and setting up the believer as "foolish" according to Paul (1 Corinthians 1).

Yet, the resurrection is central to Christian Truth and, as Paul points out, our message is hopeless without it (1 Corinthians 15).  It is a key tenet of Christian Worldview.

How will your church confront the status quo -- even among those who call themselves Christians?

Well -- how did your church do regarding Christmas this year?

I've noticed that some pastors mostly ignore the Christmas message until the Sunday just before Christmas or even Christmas Eve, while others spend a number of weeks on Christmas themes using the Advent calendar or other guiding themes.

It is unfortunate that a great opportunity in Christmas is missed by many pastors and congregations.  They worship the baby in the manger and miss the full implications of the Incarnation, and more importantly how that fits in the overall scope of Scripture.  The Christmas story is full of opportunity to show the truth of the Creation-Fall-Redemption framework of the Christian worldview.

How did it go for you?

I began wondering today, as I continued to receive emails and notes regarding the physical destruction from cancer in the human body, about our response to this disease.  Friends, colleagues, and acquaintances are all suffering.  Radiation, chemotherapy, and other kinds of treatments are pursued with a vengeance.  Doctors and patients seem to stop at nothing to get rid of the cancer that is ravaging the body.

St. Augustine appropriately drew the analogy that sin is a cancer of the soul.  So, I wonder, what would happen if we considered sin in the same way as we do physical cancer?  What if we stopped at nothing to "get rid of the cancer" that is destroying our souls, our families and our churches?

I was just wondering how many of you had and discussion about the upcoming Election in your recent Sunday services.  Did the Pastor preach about politics?  Were you reminded?  Did a Sunday School class cover the topic?

What happened in your experience?

The Worldview Church is sponsoring a series of conversations on the topic:

"Seeking the Kingdom: The Church's First Priority"

• We will be meeting once a month for the next six months to discuss such topics as the nature of the Kingdom, discipleship and the Kingdom, and ministry and the Kingdom.
• Reservations are on a first come/first served basis, with a limit of 20 participants in each session.
• Sessions will be held the first Monday of each month, November to April, at either 2:00 Eastern or 8:00 Eastern.

The topic for November's webinar is "What We Seek: A Kingdom Manifesto."

• We have prepared a paper with questions for discussion which you will receive upon registering for the November webinar.
• Register by writing to T. M. Moore at tmmoore@ailbe.org.
• We will send you "What We Seek" and enroll you as a participant either at the 2:00 or 8:00 session.

Has anyone else noticed the general decay of appearance in those leading the church from Sunday to Sunday?

Pastors in jeans, Worship Leaders with uncombed hair, others with t-shirts, shorts, and other assorted everyday clothing. It seems to me that the overall "look" of the church has become sloppy and disheveled in an effort to "make people comfortable."

Has anyone else noticed? What do you think? Can anyone from a more formal worship setting share their thoughts about their experience?

Is corporate worship the proper place for social issues?

Well -- yes and no.

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