Jim Collins said, the difference between Good and Great is how you confront the brutal facts. You can’t confront them if you don’t know them. Every five years the National Church Life Survey (NCLS) conducts a survey into church life and mission in Australia. Previously they have done some great work tracking the effectiveness of [...]
Category Archives: Research
Rodney Stark: The Truimph of Christianity
15 October, 2011 – 8:30 PM
A new study of the Christian movement from one of my favorite authors is due out this month. From the blurb: More than 40 percent of the people on earth today are Christians, and their number is growing more rapidly than that of any other major faith. In The Triumph of Christianity, acclaimed religious and [...]
Two great commentaries on Acts
23 July, 2011 – 11:39 PM
Still working on the next book about the movement Jesus founded. Here are the two commentaries on Acts I keep returning to. “The Acts of the Apostles (Pillar New Testament Commentary)” (David G. Peterson) “The Acts of the Apostles : A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary” (Ben Witherington) Anyone else have recommendations?
Who let the dog out?
6 July, 2011 – 12:06 AM
Saffie the Wonderdog and I escaped last week to do some work on my next book. Actually, Saffie hasn’t been much help. She sleeps in until 9am, has her morning nap at 11am and wakes up ready for a walk on the beach at 2pm. It’s a dog’s life. The next book is on Jesus [...]
Rising Religious Tide in China Overwhelms Faith in Atheism
1 March, 2011 – 8:21 AM
One of the last great efforts at state-sponsored atheism is a failure. And not just any kind of failure. China has enforced its anti-religion policy through decades of repression, coercion and persecution, but the lack of success is spectacular, according to a major study. The survey involved a random national sample of 7,021 people ages [...]
Another look at megachurches
24 February, 2011 – 3:50 AM
None of the things we all believe about the megachurch is true. Rodney Stark Even with congregations of more than 1,000 members, the Baylor Religion Survey found that megachurches surprisingly are more intimate communities than small congregations of less than 100 members. Megachurch growth is mostly due to their members, who tend to witness to [...]
Movements that Move
10 February, 2011 – 6:31 PM
Dwight Marable has just published a field study of the principles that drive Movements. Here they are: Intentional Reproduction: New converts participate in new, small churches and in turn reach out to their social networks and start more new churches. Continual Training: Training is given in small pieces in the homes of believers, at the [...]
Blessed are the educated
18 June, 2010 – 1:01 PM
Here’s a study that shows, if you attend church in Australia you are far more likely to be university educated. So which is the chicken and which is the egg?
Jesus number one in Oz
27 November, 2009 – 1:37 PM
New research reveals that a majority of Australians (54%) rank Jesus as the number one most influential person in history. Albert Einstein came in at second place (16%). 83% responded that Jesus was a real figure from history. Of these believers 43% believed Jesus had miraculous powers and he was the Son of God. 2 [...]
Pentecostal power
17 November, 2009 – 5:56 AM
What is remarkable about this new strain of Pentecostalism is the heroic intensity of the ministries, which have not yet evolved into tired bureaucracies. The founders of these programs are driven by a sense of calling, a feeling of thankfulness for how God has intervened in their personal lives, and they are constantly reinventing their [...]
