The World's Okayist Pastor

  The “war on Christmas” has begun. Or at least that’s what some Christians want us to think. Because  Starbucks , a company that has never claimed to be Christian, chose to have red cups without snowflakes, Santa or reindeer on them (just a reminder that none of those are Christian symbols), there is a "war on Christmas."   Once the “cup controversy” hit the news, old articles and videos came back about how using the abbreviation “Xmas” was anti Christmas and Christian. To address the "Xmas controversy," let’s learn a little Greek. X or “Chi” is the first Greek letter used in spelling “Christ” and is a common Christian symbol representing Jesus Christ. Therefore Xmas is Christian and appropriate for Christmas.   But regardless of what we choose to learn and teach about what’s Christian or not, I’d like to pose two bigger questions: why does the color of a coffee cup mean a person’s faith is being questioned and why do Christians feel that just because somethin

I learned many things while I was in seminary. I learned things from books, my professors and teachers, classmates. I learned a lot about my self during the process. Some of it was easy, others were very painful. I came away with a lot of knowledge. However as I have lived into this thing called ministry I have a list of things I wish I had been told, taught. So here is what I have learned and lived into so maybe it'll help others. Plus some of it is just plain funny how I learned these things. Laws and Rules- Although many churches are exempt from certain things, they are still called to follow many laws and rules. One of the main ones that comes up often is copyright laws and rules. Churches are notorious  for being communities of paper. We make a lot of copies of things and hand them out: bulletins, newsletters, inserts, etc. And while this isn't all bad to give people something to read and to take home it brings up the question of what are congregations legally allowed t