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Helpful Resources
See what the Center offers: Michael's weekly column, articles, recommended books, available courses, speaking topics, and audio. |
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Equipping the Church to engage the culture with the redemptive mission of Christ
As American culture continues to descend into moral anarchy, secular humanistic schemes, and spiritual ignorance, the only hope for our nation lies in a renewed church that both appropriates and applies biblical truth to the real and pressing problems of our day.
The Center for Christ & Culture exists to support this purpose: Equip Christians with a thoroughly biblical interpretation of reality, rooted in the missional purposes of God in order to press the supremacy of Christ in all things.
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Mark Penn, author of Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow’s Big Changes
(Hachette Book, 2007), is widely regarded as one of the most perceptive
pollsters in American politics. It was Penn who identified “soccer
moms” as a crucial constituency in President Clinton’s 1996 reelection
campaign. The unique feature of Penn’s approach is that he looks for
and has been able to identify, with some success, small patterns of
behavior that wield great influence in our culture. According to Penn, “Microtrends
is based on the idea that the most powerful forces in our society are
the emerging, counterintuitive trends that are shaping tomorrow right
before us … In fact, the whole idea that there are a few huge trends
that determine how America and the world work is breaking down.” The
power of individual choice is increasingly influencing politics,
religion, entertainment, and even war.” In summary, Penn writes, “In
today’s mass societies, it only takes one percent of the people making
a dedicated choice—contrary to the mainstream’s choice—to create a
movement that can change the world.”
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Today,
being a Christian businessman is almost always reduced to nothing more
than personal piety and evangelism in the workplace: “Be good and try
to convert your coworkers.” Others may feel that giving a portion of
their profits to missions fulfills their business’s missional purpose.
While these activities are indeed good, this worldview of business
remains inadequate in advancing the all-encompassing redemptive mission
of Christ, that is, the kingdom.
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After more than eight years of writing, teaching, and speaking on the subject of Christian worldview from an academic level, I now feel it is time to roll up my sleeves and personally begin to help others apply these principles so they can both experience personal transformation and become transforming agents themselves. Thus I am launching a new initiative called KINGDOM PROJECT™, a discipleship/training program to help Christian business/institutional leaders discover how their vocational gifts and their enterprises can tangibly advance the kingdom of God.
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A poll by the Pew Research Center reveals that “eighty-one percent of 18- to 25-year-olds…said getting rich is their generation’s most important life goal.” The second most important, according to the survey: being famous.” Described as the “millennial” generation, 51 percent listed being famous as the second most important life goal! A Gallup Panel survey of 18- to 29-year-olds found that 55 percent agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, “You dream about getting rich.” Anecdotally, one only has to watch the latest season of the hit series American Idol, which began last week, to realize that many in this generation are obsessed with fame and fortune to the point of radical self-delusion. I’m not criticizing the show; I actually like it. I delight in seeing those who actually do have talent realize their dreams. However...
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The holidays have ended and it is time to once again leave behind the fun and fellowship so unique to this wonderful time of year. I confess that for me this is hard, especially this year when our oldest is away from home serving in the Marine Corps. However, as much as I may want to remain within this psychological and spiritual refuge I cannot nor can any of us. While the temptation may be to remain in permanent retreat or seclude ourselves from the world, we simply cannot if we love Christ. It is into this fallen world with its warring forces that we must return as soldiers in the Lord’s army.
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In Corpus Christi, Texas, where my parents live and worship, the
Christian community was rocked two years ago by the shocking conviction
of Hannah Overton. In an outrageous series of events, this gentle
thirty-year-old Christ-follower, wife, and homeschooling mother of five
was sentenced to life without parole in the death of Andrew Burd, the
four-year-old child that she and her husband were adopting from the
foster-care system. By every account, the justice system not only
failed but also may have actually crossed the line into willful
misconduct, resulting in an unimaginable nightmare for the Overtons.
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It
is not enough to respond to the marriage crisis within the church by
saying, “My marriage is fine!” If we abide together in Christ, then we
together must prepare and care for marriage generally, and intervene
specifically when any marriage is endangered.
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