Worship for Dummies

Like a Georgia Pine in a sea of Dogwoods, Marva J. Dawn’s Reaching Out without Dumbing Down. A Theology of Worship for the Turn-of-the-Century Culture, stands out among the myriads of writings on worship. It tops my list of books on worship.

Knowing how to fit culture into our worship—and not the other way around—is the primary focus of Dawn. Culture cannot be avoided in our worship, and true worship should not elude us because of our culture. Dawn’s concern is that the American Christian’s worship is being “dumbed down” because

Why Are Medical Insurance Rates Higher for Churches? (Answer #3)

In a previous blog I shared the first two answers for why medical insurance rates are often higher for churches, ministries and non-profit organizations. This blog shares a third answer: 

Answer #3: Stress Leads to Poor Health 

Research has shown that stress can have a dramatic negative effect on our health. Stress affects our immune system, reducing our ability to ward off infection. Stress can lead to fatigue and cognitive dysfunction.  In the Learn 2 Live Stress Free Blog we find these statements: “Every day, science backs up the claims that over exposure to stressful environments and triggers lead to a rise in cardiovascular diseases, obesity, gastrointestinal illness, sleep disturbances, and other autoimmune ailments.  There have been even more studies revealing the mental and emotional by products of stress which include sadness,

Why Are Medical Insurance Rates Higher for Churches? (Answers #1 & #2)

“Why are insurance rates higher for churches?” This was the question I asked shortly after joining BIS Benefits, (BIS), as Operations Manager. I was had just made a career change from full-time Christian Ministry to working with a firm specializing in Employee Benefits.  Over 25% of our business at BIS is serving churches, ministries and non-profit organizations.  As I began to get my feet wet in the benefits arena, I discovered churches often have higher rates, (premiums), than many other industries or business classifications. This intrigued me. Why would churches have higher rates?

As I continued to grow in my understanding of employee benefits I learned that the rates set by the insurance carriers are determined by what is known as utilization. The insurance carriers are not the devil trying to wreak havoc on ministries—there are real reasons for inflated rates for Christian organizations. Insurers calculate group medical rates using factors that involve

Think Less, Pray More…Not!

The church sign along Five Forks Trickum Road in suburban Atlanta shouted its message: Think Less, Pray More. I didn’t like it!