1. The ministry is hard, exacting work.

The apostle Paul compares the work of ministry to three vocations, and all of them involve a goodly amount of sweat — soldiers, athletes, and farmers. The calling of the ministry is not for buttercups, and if buttercups can do it, it isn’t ministry...

On October 31st, 1517 the "Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences” was posted on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg Germany. We know it as Luther’s 95 Theses. The thoughts of this then little known pastor and professor would eventually reach the Pope himself, and light the fuse of the Reformation. In doing so, Luther shows us that sometimes the most God-glorifying thing to do is not to sit quiet and honor authority but to speak your mind and question it. He showed the world that sometimes, when just one mouth is opened and one hand is raised, the entire world can change.

Attendance at Christian churches among millennials is going down. There are many factors that play into that downward trend.

However a common critique is that for the last 30 years both church leaders and potential church attenders have been asking the wrong questions in their efforts to reach out and in their search for someplace to belong. Namely, the focus for both has been on matters of style and catering to consumer sensibilities. And after decades of making style and consumer questions the most important thing people are finding themselves dissatisfied.

Here are three better questions to ask when looking for a church.

According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. Over the next 50 years Islam is expected to expand by more than 1 billion adherents. Despite this growth, the basics of Islam remain a mystery to many.