Life Cartography is written by Charles Porter.

Category: Ramblings related to church stuff.

  • The unseen partner of break through leaders

    The unseen partner of break through leaders

    The Point of the Spear. The place of change. Leadership and the market loves change makers. The disrupters. Those who see the sea change and anticipate the new direction. Looking past the surface success of these “Point of Attack” leadership, often you will find a strange duality between the Spear Leader and the Shield leader. […]

  • The Failed Promise of Relevance.

    The Failed Promise of Relevance.

    Another article floating around the internet, being shared ad-nausea by everyone tired for old ways of “doing” church. Change your music! Target young people! Be more relevant! Shorten your services! Out with the old, in with the new! Be more relevant! And “If you don’t like it, serve in the nursery!” You had your time, […]

  • Hillsong’s Naked Cowboy Fiasco, and the leadership quandary.

    The internet, a least the internet that cares about such things, blew up last week when someone posted video of a youth pastor from Hillsong New York jumping around on stage dressed as “the Naked Cowboy” (who by the way, wasn’t naked but certainly was appropriately dressed.) “Ah ha! See, we told you Hillsong is […]

  • Why it doesn’t matter if Bryan Huston and T.D. Jakes do or don’t support gay marriage.

    Why it doesn’t matter if Bryan Huston and T.D. Jakes do or don’t support gay marriage.

    The blogsphere is alive and well friends. Full of decent journalism, no. But alive and well, yes. Christians have eagerly shared articles claiming to show Hillsongs’s supposed endorsement of homosexual lifestyle at their New York campus. Opps, turns out that it’s not quite the whole story. But those links are still up there, alive and […]

  • You don’t preach the Word of God, and neither do I.

    “We just preach the Word of God.” “I just preach the Word, and let the chips fall where they will.” I’ve heard many variants of this statement. And none of them are true. At least not completely.  Only once have I only preached the word. A group of friends memorized the book of Philippians. In […]

  • The Truth about why Christians don’t invite their friends to your church.

    The Truth about why Christians don’t invite their friends to your church.

    Every pastor that I know wants this church to grow. Every pastor that I know also realizes that the single best way for that growth to happen is when his people invite their friends, relatives and neighbors. Fewer than 2% ever do. Why? I don’t want this post to be too negative, but rather give […]

  • Why people are leaving urban churches in Africa.

    A friend asked me why people leave churches in Africa. My 14 years in Africa is a very limited perspective, but my friends from around the world can perhaps add to my weak thoughts. Remember, my thoughts are reflective of urban areas, not small villages. 1. People leave churches because of urban growth and sprawl.  […]

  • Joseph was not a total idiot, and other Christmas myths debunked

    There is something wrong with the traditional Christmas narrative. Joseph is too much of an idiot. But Joseph was not an idiot, and why we have the Christmas story totally wrong. Joseph was a total idiot. That is, if the traditional reading of the Christmas story is right. Think about it. The way we make […]

  • Jesus and the Naughty List

    My 4 year old was worried about the naughty list. Her, shall we say, “impulse control” is sometimes missing. After one little altercation in the car on the way to church, her little voice piped from the back row of the minivan. “Will I not get any presents for Christmas?” The frustrated father in me […]

  • Leaders Fail before they fall

    Leaders Fail before they fall

    Three scriptures where Christian leaders fail to follow before they fall. 1. Let your gentleness be evident to all. 2. Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life 3. He called “some” I’ve never met someone who wakes up one morning and says “Today, I want to ruin my life, my reputation, my family, […]