Posted by Christianity.com via GodTube.com.

I often hear Christians say that we should be more like the early church. And I must admit, I’ve been one of those Christians. But if we linger on how this would look, I wonder how many of us would rather stay put in our 21st century churches. After all, first century Christians clung to a set of values that differs quite radically from most Christians today.

If you are a committed believer, no matter what your occupation, you are in full-time Christian service. The workplace is your mission field.

Fewer Americans are attending church. So, who are these new churchless Americans? Are there significant demographic or psychographic differences among those who attend church and those who don’t? During the past three decades, Barna Group has conducted tens of thousands of interviews with unchurched people. Based on those interviews and the resulting “tracking data,” here are 10 facts about the “churchless” in America.

For Christians there are some very specific things you can’t do if you want to actually honor and follow the person we say we celebrate this season. So, I give you my “10 Things Christians Shouldn’t Do At Christmas.”

I fear that many white Christians are hiding behind “the gospel” instead of figuring out how it actually applies to the racial conflicts all around us. The gospel is only a solution when it drives us to do, only when what we believe about the free grace of God in Jesus makes us move. Only when we can make the connection between the gospel and the centuries of racial inequality in the United States, the lasting impact on our government and social structures, and the insidious and subtle effects on our own minds and hearts is it a solution.

I have taken pride over my 40-plus years as a photojournalist in offering dignity to subjects I photograph, especially those who are sick or in distress while in front of my camera. My recent photographic assignment to cover the Ebola outbreak in Liberia has proved exceedingly challenging for me.

Christians used to do some pretty crazy stuff. But in the past few years I’ve noticed the tables turning—secularists are now doing the nutty things religious zealots used to do. Christians were once fond of predicting the end of the world – with absolute certainty. Today, it’s secularists who predict the end of the world with absolute certainty. If we don’t turn from our environmental sins, global warming will consume the earth in a fiery apocalypse.

I am a pastor. I also have an iPhone. As a result, I have had to think through a number of things and make some adjustments in terms of productivity and technology. It has been a process over the last several years. I think I am actually thinking about this and applying it in a healthy way now. Here are some considerations and conclusions based on my own personal examination. This is slanted towards pastoral ministry but not limited to it.

As a committed Humanist and freethinker I will probably remain skeptical of the clergy – skepticism is in our blood, after all! But my experiences in St. Louis have convinced me that clergy have a role to play. If clergy conduct themselves with the ethical and personal courage I have witnessed in St. Louis and Ferguson, I’m thankful they are here. This atheist will keep working with - and learning from – the clergy.