What I’m Reading – 4/17/15

Below are some of the articles and books I’ve read recently that you may enjoy perusing.

• “The Writing’s on the Wall for Christians,” by Rod Dreher — Insightful and sobering piece in TIME magazine on Christians in the public square.

• “A Slow-Motion Christian Genocide: We Can’t Ignore It Anymore,” by Richard Land — Dr. Land calls for the world to respond as Christians are dying at the hand of radical Islamist groups like al-Shabaab and ISIS.

• “Interview With a Christian,” by Ross Douthat — A NYT columnist imagines what it might look like for a member of today’s press to interview him, as a Christian, in light of recent religious freedom debates.

• “Gardner C. Taylor, dean of black preachers, dies at 96,” by B. Denise Hawkins and Adelle M. Banks — Some of you may not know who this great preacher was, but his amazing life and massive impact are worth reading about, following his recent death.

• “One Key Reason Most Churches Do Not Exceed 350 in Average Attendance,” by Thom Rainer — While offering some caveats, Rainer explains that “One of the key reasons most churches do not move beyond 350 in average worship attendance is they do not have sufficient leadership and structures in place.”