Welcome from the Founder

Hi, my name is Marc Stein and I am the reluctant founder of Culture Bender. You see, I already have a great full time job and an even fuller personal life.

The reason I finally decided to jump in and create Culture Bender is because we, as followers of the risen Christ, need a safe place to gather, eternally process the needs of our communities and develop relevant, practical and actionable responses.

I was really convinced as I was writing a provocative article for the Fall 2015 issue of Outcomes Magazine entitled, Facing Today’s 800 Pound Gorilla.  The article is about the waning Church in America, our role in the stereotyping of Christians and what we can do about it.

Since then, I wrote a second instructive article published in the Fall 2016 issue entitled, Kingdom Innovation Leadership, The Road to Relevance for Christian Ministry and taught a full-day intensive on the same content.

Anyway, after the first article, I could not find anywhere to discuss the concepts so I invited a few friends to work through some of the issues and solutions together. That’s when the lights came on.

If you are like me, I know it pangs you to see and feel the dissension and polarization; within and outside the Church. It seems we are battling on every front, doesn’t it? It’s easy to get discouraged and fearful. We need to be around others who also need encouragement, support and the protection that comes with community.

I believe we can stand strong in our faith and still love as Jesus modeled in the real world. At the same time, we cannot continue to take the bait of the enemy and repeatedly fall face first into his ugly little plan. Hello?

The motivation behind Culture Bender is to create a health environment to externally process the issues of the day from a positive, authentic and open Christ-like perspective and figure out what to do about it.  It is not intended to necessarily engage non-believers or a platform for them to challenge us.  Non-believers are welcome to participate but everyone participating must remember that this is our home.

We are at a crossroads and few of us want to continue down the same road we are traveling. Although Culture Bender could eventually even be seen as controversial by some, Culture Bender is grounded in the love of Jesus and the fruit of the spirit.

We really need you and your contribution. Please be patient as we build out this site together.