Why you may be having trouble finding volunteers at church:

Vibrant churches are very reliant on the power and number of their volunteers.  Mark Beeson, the pastor at Granger Community Church has written a piece on why good people volunteer.  His insights may help you in building a successful volunteer base at your church.  See if you are offering your people these opportunities…

Why the term “African-American” should be reserved for those who are truly from Africa:

Last year the number of Africans here topped a million, and we could use that as a numerically convenient time to let go of the conceit we have gotten used to over the past twenty years, that black people born here are ethnically hyphenated people of half “African” ancestry.

It just doesn’t go through. The black American does not look back on a childhood in the African “old country.” The black American speaks English natively, not Twi or Hausa (and in truth, it’s possible that not a single slave brought to the United States spoke Swahili). Barely a black American alive today knows anyone who ever even knew a slave born in Africa.

In Missing the Missional Mark, Ed Stetzer reflects on the current discussion about the term “missional”:

Clearly there is a misunderstanding at some level. Either men like Leeman are not putting much effort into understanding missional thinkers, or some missional thinkers are not being clear enough. My guess is, guys like Leeman can try harder, and some missional thinkers could be more clear.

Tullian Tchividjian keeps the individual and cosmic dimensions of salvation together. May his tribe increase!

In my opinion, there’s way too much needless debate in Reformed theological circles on whether the finished work of Christ — the gospel — effects salvation for individual sinners (the “penal substitionary atonement” group) or if it brings about a renewed creation (the “God is on a mission to restore all things to Himself through the person and work of Jesus Christ” group). Maybe I’m missing something, but it just doesn’t seem that complicated to me.