Bishop Michael Curry: Love Could Bring Heaven to Earth

May 21, 2018

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle invited American Episcopal Bishop Michael Curry to deliver the sermon at their wedding on Saturday, May 19, 2018. With as many as 2 billion people watching worldwide, Bishop Curry delivered a powerful sermon on the impact love could have on the world if and when people choose to embrace it.

“Imagine our world when love is the way. No child would go to bed hungry in such a world as that. Poverty would become history in such a world as that. The earth would be as a sanctuary in such a world as that.” Curry said.

Curry went on to describe a world in which people would “treat one another as children of God, regardless of differences.” We would “study war no more,” there would be “a new heaven, a new earth, a new world.” In short, with Curry’s references such as these to Scripture, he is essentially saying once the world learns to love, we will experience heaven. While he didn’t make this connection directly, the implication is that when people learn to love, every tear would be wiped away, there would be no more war, no more striving—only peace. These are images straight from Revelation and Isaiah where the writers are describing some future time we think of as heaven.

Of course, this is not a concept new to Curry’s sermon. Quoting the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Curry repeated this idea in King’s words: “We must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love. And when we discover that, we will be able to make of this old world a new world. Love is the only way.”

Curry also referred to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit who, Curry says pointedly, was a scientist, a Catholic priest and theologian, and “a true mystic.” Chardin suggested the discovery of fire was one of the most monumental human technological discoveries. Acknowledging the fact that he was able to travel from the U.S. to England and the fact that 2 billion people were viewing the wedding from various locations around the world at that moment, Curry attributed these advances to humans’ ability to harness the power of fire. But Chardin claimed that if humans could harness the power of love, “then for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire,” Curry explained.

What Does Jesus Have to Do With Love?

Curry did mention Jesus a few times in his 14-minute message. Early in his sermon, he mentioned the love that can bring two people together in matrimony and keep them there, through the ups and downs of marital life. Moving on to describe where we learn to love, Curry says:

Jesus of Nazareth taught us that the way of love is the way to a real relationship with the God who created all of us, and the way to true relationship with each other as children of that one God, as brothers and sisters in God’s human family.

One scholar said it this way: “Jesus had founded the most revolutionary movement in human history: a movement built on the unconditional love of God for the world and the mandate to live that love.” (Charles Marsh’s The Beloved Community)…

…He didn’t sacrifice his life for himself, or anything he could get out of it, He did it for others, for the other, for the good and well being of others. That’s love.

Next Curry quoted the quintessential passage most Christians refer to when the topic of love comes up: 1 Corinthians 13. After quoting verses 4-7, Curry explains the way of love more succinctly by telling those that may not know that although this is Paul’s description of love, this is in fact “the way of Jesus. And it’s a game changer.”

Bishop Michael Curry’s Message Was Controversial to Some

Many have commented on the high-challenge and potentially controversial nature of Curry’s sermon. Controversial because he was giving a sermon among some of the wealthiest, most famous and most powerful people in the world, and he was asking them to consider the self-effacing love Jesus showed the world when he died for them. He asked them to think about poverty and war—two things that don’t immediately come to mind when one thinks about appropriate topics for wedding sermons. Reading between the lines, one doesn’t have to think too hard to realize Curry is challenging the audience to embrace and seek to exemplify Jesus’ model of sacrificial love.

10 Nazarene Pastors and Their Wives Killed in Cuban Air Crash

Bob Ditmer

May 21, 2018

Ten Nazarene pastors and their wives were killed in last week’s Cubana Flight 972 that crashed shortly after takeoff near Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuba.

The couples were returning home to the church’s Cuba East District from a minister and spouses’ retreat.

“They were leaving an event at the El Nazareno evangelical seminary and were returning to their province in the eastern region,” Maite Quesada of the Council of Churches of Cuba told CBN News.

Cuba Church of the Nazarene President Leonel López said the retreat was a three-day event and was attended by 125 couples.

“They were men and women faithful to God, to their families, to their neighbors and to the people.”

According to López, the bus driver said the East District couples who were on Flight 972 were singing and praying on the bus on the way to the airport.

López said several children, adolescents and young are left orphans without their fathers and mothers. Some of them have no extended family.

“May all the Church of the Nazarene family unite in prayer on behalf of our brothers and sisters,” said Carlos Saenz, Church of the Nazarene Mesoamerica Region Director.

The Nazarene Church has been in Cuba for 72 years.

The 39-year-old Boeing 737 commercial aircraft, rented from the Mexican firm Global Air, owner of Aerolíneas Damojh, had been the subject of two serious complaints about its crews’ performance over the last decade, according to authorities in Guyana and a retired pilot for Cuba’s national airline.

Mexico’s government said late Saturday that its National Civil Aviation Authority will carry out an operational audit of Damojh airlines to see if its “current operating conditions continue meeting regulations” and to help collect information for the investigation into Friday’s crash in Cuba that left 110 dead.

The plane that crashed was barred from Guyanese airspace last year after authorities discovered that its crew had been allowing dangerous overloading of luggage on flights to Cuba, Guyanese Civil Aviation Director Capt. Egbert Field told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Romulo Oms, a retired Cubana de Aviación and Aero Caribbean pilot who now lives in Miami, told the Miami Herald it’s possible that cargo might have played a role in the Cuban crash.

“Before takeoff, all planes need to be balanced according to their mix of passengers, cargo and fuel. He said that since the plane took off and seemed to immediately have problems in the air as it made its turn toward Holguín, it’s possible that poor balance could have contributed to the crash.”

Witnesses told state media that one of the plane’s engines appeared to be on fire and it hit electrical wires as it was going down.

Friday’s crash was among the worst aviation disasters in Cuban history. On Sunday Cuba entered its second day of national mourning for the crash victims.

“We’re all at home in mourning,” wrote one Cuban social media commentator. “No music or laughs, only pain and tears.”

The first funerals were held Sunday in Holguín.

The Best Follow-Up Processes for First Time Guests

Michael Lukaszewski

May 20, 2018

Churches spend a lot of time, money and energy encouraging guests to visit their church. And rightfully so.

Our churches should be places where the community is welcomed and where guests are expected. We should create welcoming environments, equip our people to invite, and constantly be on the lookout for fresh ways to advertise and promote.

But getting people in the front door might just be the easier part of a two-step process.

One of the biggest challenges churches face is how to invite first-time guests back and help them connect with the life of the church.

Not just to attend, but to stick.

Not just to visit, but to connect.

With all of the focus on reaching first-time guests, we can’t forget that the follow-up or connection process is what helps new people find their place in the church.

Without a good follow-up process, your front door will be more like a turnstile, inviting people in and just sending them back to their regular lives.

So what should you do after a first-time guest visits?

What makes a great follow-up process?

First, a few very important principles.

1. Your follow up process should be intentional.

Guests are going to visit your church in the coming weeks, whether you are ready for them or not.

That’s why it’s smart to think through what you want to purposely happen next.

There’s no need to rely on hope. You can carefully craft a strategy and a process that happens every single time.

Your follow up process should have an intentional ending. In other words, it should lead to one clear place. What do you really want these new guests to do? Where do you want them to go? You don’t need 10 different options; you need one clear step.

And speaking of steps, you can intentionally design each step of the follow up process. Whether it’s an email, a text message or a personal invite, each step should be there because it’s important.

2. Your follow up process should be personal.

It’s important to realize that your church can’t follow up with people; people at your church can follow up with people. So even as you design an intentional process (and can use automation in that process), it needs to be personal.

If you send emails, make sure they come from a real person and can receive a real reply. If you send text messages, make sure they come from a real person and can receive a reply. If you send a hand-written note card, make sure it’s signed by a real person who leaves a real phone number.

I’ve seen churches adopt a “concierge” approach for guests—a volunteer or staff member acting as a single point of contact for a new guest. We think this is one of many awesome ideas to stay connected to your guests.

3. Your follow up process should be automated.

As you build your intentional and personal follow up process, remember that a good bit of it can be automated.

This is particularly true when it comes to email.

New guests to your church don’t need to be subscribed to your weekly or monthly e-newsletter, dropping into regular communication without any helpful context. Instead, they need a carefully crafted series of introductory emails. They should receive these messages before hearing anything else.

A new person needs to know the basics before they hear about what’s current.

Craft an email sequence that introduces them to the regular ministries (not just the special events), shares the story and heart behind your church, and invites them to the most appropriate next step.

If you’re a Church Fuel member, login to the resource library and download the automated follow up campaign. It’s a Word document so you can quickly customize it to suit your needs. You’ll also find a coaching video explaining how to set things up and what types of technology to use.

Building Your Follow-Up Process

With those principles in mind, let’s talk about some action steps you can take to build an intentional, personal and automated follow up process.

1. Decide

The first step in building a follow up process is to decide what you want people to do. You’re beginning with the end in mind and asking the question, “What’s the main thing we want guests to do?”

You must intentionally craft a process that leads to this one clear step, not provide a myriad of options that will confuse new people.

If your current follow up process isn’t working well, clarifying the desired outcome will help.

2. Draw

Once you know where you want people to end up, it’s time to draw out your process. There are all kinds of technological tools you can use to create flowcharts, but at this point, I recommend you keep it simple.

Get a few people together in a room with a whiteboard and start drawing. The first-time guest is a stick figure on the left side and the action you want them to take is on the right side. Then start debating the steps.

Once you’ve got it on a whiteboard, it might be helpful to draw it in a flowchart. I use a Mac tool called Omnigraffle to make org charts and flow charts, but there are lots of other tools online.

Again, if you’re a Church Fuel member, you’ll find a template (PDF and original Omnigraffle version) in the Resource Library.

3. Implement

Once you’ve decided the goal and determined the steps, now it’s time to implement your process.

If you’re a visionary leader, this might be when you mentally check out. Visionaries often think decided is the same thing as done. But it’s actually executing the plan that leads to results.

If you are a WOW type of leader, involve a HOW person to help make your process a reality. Set up the systems and implement the automation that will make the follow up process actually work.

This may take a few weeks, but don’t give up.

4. Measure

Once you implement your process, there is a good chance it won’t work. I know that’s not very encouraging. But your process is just your first draft. It hasn’t gone through editing, improvement or quality control yet.

That’s why you need to collect data on your process and look at it carefully. Are people opening or clicking on the emails? Are people responding to the text messages? Is your one clear step actually the right step or is there something simpler or better that should take it’s place?

Don’t just tweak your process based on gut feeling; use real numbers.

Figure out your guest connection rate, which is the number of new people connected after six months of visiting divided by the total number of guests in the control time period.

Measurement just might be the secret sauce of the entire follow up process.

5. Adjust

If you know what’s working, keep doing it.

But if your careful analysis of the numbers and process uncovers some things that aren’t working well, make changes.

In other words, if your process isn’t working the way it should, change it. Get the same group of people together and come up with version 2.

Take a Next Step

If you’re looking for more help creating and implementing a first-time guest process, join Church Fuel.

We are a community of pastors who value practical coaching and resources and encourage one another to grow healthy. Reaching new guests and helping them get involved in the life of the church is a regular topic among our members.

Every month, we release a brand-new master class, covering topics like volunteers, connecting people, preaching, finances and more.

Members also get access to a resource library full of documents, spreadsheets and templates, including lots of follow up resources. There are members only office hours and round tables where you can get personal help when needed.

There’s no long-term contract and a money back guarantee, so you can check it out without pressure. Learn more here.

This article originally appeared here.

Surviving: VBStress

Corinne Noble

May 20, 2018

If you are in kids ministry you are most likely right in the middle of a super busy summer preparing for a major event or two. Whatever you call it: VBS, Kids Camp, Kids Week, Summer Slam, etc., you are probably feeling a bit overwhelmed, inadequate and stressed about how it is all going to come together. I am right there with you! This year is my first time putting together a VBS, and it is a LOT of work. I have put together camps, major Halloween/Easter events and lock-ins, but VBS is the monster of all kids ministry events. I haven’t even had the time to blog these last few weeks since all my spare time is consumed with VBS planning. There are so many details that go into planning a VBS that it is easy to get stressed out for weeks or months about just one event.

I have put together five steps to help us all survive VBStress, and make it to the fall in one piece.

Step 1: Get Organized

There are so many meetings, purchases, activities, schedules and details that go into making a VBS great. If you’re not careful, your brain and storage areas will begin to look like a bomb went off. Lists and labels are your friends. Make lists of everything. Simply getting it all on a list and out of your brain will make you feel a lot less stressed. I like to use the app Wunderlist to keep my lists digitally, but a simple note pad on my desk works too. Most likely, your purchases are starting to pile up, and you will want to get all of your supplies organized as well, so my advice is to go through everything. Last week, we went through everything, organized it into clear tubs and labeled them. I found stuff that I had bought over a month ago and completely forgot about. This step will work wonders for your VBStress.

Step 2: Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

That might be a dirty word for some of you, but you can’t put your VBS together alone. It can be hard for me to let go of certain tasks in ministry because I feel like I’m the only one who knows how to do it the way I want it done. That may be true, but ministry is all about empowering and raising up other leaders. You can’t do that while holding on to everything so tightly. Go back to step 1, and make a list of all the tasks that need to be done before VBS. Now, separate them into two categories: Things only I can do and things other people can do. Delegate all of the items in the second category to anyone who is capable and willing. I held a meeting about a week ago where I let my volunteers know that I had a lot of decorations, snacks and small group activities that still needed to be prepared. The response was amazing! Some volunteers came to help organize and create decorations at the church, and others took snacks and small group activities home to prepare and bring back. Last week’s delegation knocked many hours (possibly days!) off of my plate to work on things only I can do.

Step 3: Set Goals

While you are making all of those lists back at step 1 make sure you add some deadlines. Some tasks won’t need to be finished until the day VBS begins, but other tasks have to be completed by a certain date. If you are buying t-shirts for VBS make sure you know when they need to be ordered to have them in time for VBS. If you are planning on having meetings, decoration days, practices, etc. you’ll need to have those dates set in advance, communicate them to your volunteers, and make sure everything is ready by those dates. Setting goals will keep you from having a looming to-do list that is completely disorganized.

Step 4: Remember the Why

Don’t fall prey to getting so caught up in all of the practical details of putting VBS together that you forget the “why.” Why did you decide to do VBS in the first place? What is your vision? My “why” is to see as many kids as possible come through the doors, learn about how much God loves them, and receive salvation for the first time. Don’t let yourself forget the “why,” and constantly present the “why” to your VBS team and pastoral staff. If you don’t believe in your vision and cast it out, no one will.

Step 5: Pray

This might seem overly obvious or cliché, but it’s easy to forget about prayer when you are so busy preparing. One of my volunteers has really challenged me in this area. She is always praying for our VBS and the kids who will be coming, even while she creates VBS decor on the floor. Sometimes we just need to stop, be still and pray. When the stress starts to slip in, fight it with prayer.

I hope these five steps will help you as you prepare for your VBS and other summer activities. I will be praying for you and your teams as we reach thousands of kids this summer through VBS. What are your tips for reducing VBStress and making it unforgettable event for kids and families?

This article originally appeared here.

Do You Have a Culture of Multiplying Disciples?

Mario Vega

May 20, 2018

Multiplying disciples

Editor’s Note: You might share this short piece with your small group leaders to help promote a culture of multiplying disciples. The ongoing week-to-week ministry and work of small groups can cause us to lose sight of the big picture. Sometimes, creating long-term change begins with the simplest steps.

Each leader and cell member should focus on their priority, which should be promoting relationships that lead to making disciples who in turn make other disciples—multiplying disciples. In this way, cell multiplication will be guaranteed. Making this a habit is only hard at the beginning. Over time, the habit becomes easier and easier to maintain. Maintaining a habit requires much less energy and effort than when it is initiated. Making it a habit from the beginning allows the rest of the way to flow naturally.

In an investigation developed by the University College of London, they researched the time it took a person to acquire a new habit. Habits formed from 18 to 254 days, depending on the type of habit. But the critical average was 66 days. In self-help circles you hear that a habit is formed in 21 days, but that is an average that science does not support and that causes people to become discouraged. You need to persevere for 66 days to acquire a new habit. The key then is perseverance.

The church helps form habits when it encourages and exemplifies behavior over and over again. This is especially important in a body like the church because there are constant changes and the baton is continually passing from one generation to another. The persevering dedication to relationships with people and the discipling of new leaders will create a cell culture of multiplication that will then flow in a very natural way.

This article originally appeared here.

Top 6 #RealityChecks of Marriage

Debra Fileta

May 20, 2018

The following excerpt is adapted from Debra Fileta’s brand new book, Choosing Marriage, and is used with permission.

I had a set of unrealistic expectations going into marriage.

I was in my early 20s when I first met John, and I was completely enamored with the love of my life and soon-to-be husband. He could absolutely do no wrong in my eyes. Since dating was perpetually awesome, naturally I assumed marriage would be even more awesome. Why wouldn’t it be?

The actual experience of marriage shattered my idealism, because when you’re living with someone day in and day out, you quickly move from expectations to reality. But after 10 years, I see John in a much deeper, more significant way. He’s no longer the man who could do no wrong. Rather, he’s a human being who has flaws, weaknesses and sins, just like I do. I’ve seen the beautiful sides to him, and I’ve also seen the ugly sides to him. Sides he’s also seen in me.

But in the reality of who he is, my love for him has been forged so much deeper. Not despite of his weaknesses, but because of his weaknesses. I see him, the real him, and I love him more deeply with each day. Because you can’t experience real love with a person until you’ve experienced the entirety of a person—the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful.

FROM ASSUMPTIONS TO TRUTH

We all enter relationships with a set of underlying assumptions, even though we often don’t notice their existence. They shape our actions, choices, behaviors and feelings, and they influence our interactions. Our view of relationships is shaped by the relationships we engage in starting from the earliest years of our life. Everything we know about love begins taking shape based on how love was communicated to us in the early years of our childhood within the context of our family of origin. Assumptions are shaped by past relationship experiences, from the way we interacted with our parents or the people who raised us, to the friendships we develop, to the people we date, and all the way through to marriage. And slowly, those assumptions begin making their way into how we interact with the people closest to us, which is oftentimes why they go unnoticed until we get married.

In gathering research to formulate the chapters of this book, I asked over 1,000 married people to identify what areas of marriage came with the biggest reality check. Here’s what they reported.

Personality Differences

Opposites attract. We tend to be drawn to people who possess the qualities, strengths and personality traits we lack. It’s not uncommon for an introvert to be married to an extrovert. Or for the funny guy to be married to the serious gal. Or for the laid-back person to be married to the structured person. And it makes sense, because we are often attracted to people who add something to our life. So yes, opposites do attract—but then they attack. The very same personality traits that draw you to someone initially are the exact traits that can cause conflict later on. My husband and I have some significant differences in our personalities. We often joke that I’m the gas, and he’s the brakes. I tend to want to go-go-go through life, while his laid-back personality keeps us grounded and present. Our unique qualities add depth and balance to our marriage, but if we’re not careful, these differences can cause major misunderstanding and tension.

It takes a serious commitment to understand each other, communicate and allow our personality differences to become an asset rather than a point of contention. The many different layers to our personalities need to be understood and expressed throughout marriage.

Sexual Issues

I remember one of the very first times I worked with a couple who came in for sexual issues. They had been married for four years and hadn’t consummated their marriage. After a series of counseling sessions, we were able to dig deep and uncover the reasons. There was a lot of guilt and shame attached to the topic of sex, and those assumptions had to be undone through the process of counseling. The good news is that within a few months of counseling, they were able to move forward in healing and finally experience sex in a meaningful way.

These types of sexual struggles aren’t as uncommon as one would think—they just aren’t talked about. In fact, in my survey of 1,000 married people, 80 percent of married people reported experiencing sexual struggles in marriage. So many people are dealing with the reality check of sexual issues and problems, and because of the stigma we’ve created surrounding this important topic, many couples end up needlessly suffering for far too long. We tell couples that just because they wait, their sex life will be great, rather than preparing them for the potential issues that might arise along the way. No matter what aspect of sexual struggles you’re experiencing in your marriage, there’s hope for healing (much more on this in Choosing Marriage Chapter 8: Sex Marks the Spot).

How to Travel Smarter, Faster, Lighter and Cheaper

Brian Jones

May 20, 2018

Senior pastors of growing, outreach-focused churches have two things in common: They all travel a lot, and they all hate traveling.

Whether it’s…

Attending a conference
Speaking at a church or event
Sitting on the board of another organization
Taking continuing education courses
Going on mission trips
Getting the heck out of dodge for vacation
Or what’s become my favorite learning experience—flying to a metro area and interviewing eight to 10 pastors of growing churches twice our size and taking video/pictures for my staff back home…

Even the most reluctant senior pastors among us will find themselves leaving their daily routine and squeezing into seat 23C of a Delta flight between three to six weeks a year.

We all agree that we love doing what we do when we get to our final destination. What we hate are the headaches, frustrations, delays and complications common to all travelers.

It occurred to me last year that without a concrete plan for hitting the road I was wasting precious ministry time before, during and after all my trips.

What I needed was a concrete plan for how to travel smarter, faster, lighter and cheaper especially if someone decides to Move to Portugal, so I decided to reach out to friends of mine across the country—distinguished business and ministry leaders for whom travel is a significant part of their job—and I asked them this question:

“What are the three best lessons you’ve learned in all your years of travel that you can share with senior pastors like me that will help us travel smarter, faster, lighter and cheaper?”

It turns out they all share the same frustrations with travel that we do.

But their insights on how to travel smarter, faster, lighter and cheaper were pure gold. But before we get to their recommendations, let me share with you the three best purchases I’ve made that will make your travel much easier. For me, half the battle is getting the right equipment.

3 Must Have Recommendations

BEST TRAVEL SUITCASE
Samsonite Winfield 2 Hardside 20″ Luggage
$79 on Amazon

I believe this is the best travel suitcase on the market for the price. I bought it in brushed orange, so it stands out if I’m forced to check it plane side on smaller flights. Meets TSA specifications for carry on. Bags are always a personal preference, but the price, sweet look, eight colors to pick from, durability, built-in TSA lock, multi-direction wheels and inner compartments make this a no-brainer purchase. Here’s a quick video review to show its features.

BEST BACKPACK (for travel and everyday use)
Kaukko Backpack
$59 on Amazon

Here are the two things I love about this bag: First, the “trolley” or “pass-through” sleeve allows it to fit snugly over the handles of my travel suite case. Doing this allows them to become one unit so I can zip around terminals without carrying my backpack. Second, it’s great for everyday use. (FYI: I only like this specific version of the bag. I hate the rucksack version.)

BEST HEADPHONES
Boise QuietComfort 35 II
$349 from Bose

Recommended by some people in this article, this has been the single best technology investment I’ve ever made with the highest ROI. Worth every single penny.

Travel Advice From Industry Leaders

Camilo Ruan, US Sales Director
Kneat Software

1. Learn how to pack for ease of use and success:

Lay out everything and eliminate anything you “might” want to wear but are not sure.
Pack clothing for multiple uses/versatile. If there is a pair of shoes, a shirt, a pair of pants you can use for casual and business, do it!
PACKING CUBES! Greatest invention since the airplane itself. This article shows my current preferred method.
Figure out a folding system and stick to it. Watch this video. All the cool kids are doing it.
Get actual travel size items like shampoo, toothbrush, etc. and have them in a small bag you only use for travel.
Never check in bags. Ever.
Merino wool! Seriously. Lightest, warmest fabric you can take.
Thin jackets like Patagonia, etc. if you’re going to go somewhere cold.
I only pack clothing for three days tops, even if trip is longer, and only what fits in my carry on. Most places/hotels have laundry facilities.

2. Transportation in and out of airports:

Uber/Lyft everywhere. Avoid rental cars and taxis like the plague
If you can get either TSA approved or “Clear,” it’s worth its weight in gold.
If you need to rent a car, get a major rental car plan like National’s Emerald Club so you can go straight to car instead of waiting at the counter. You may also consider using Travel Masters for crawley to gatwick taxi.

3. If flexibility in travel schedule is key, fly with an airline that allows changes without charging you an arm and leg for last minute changes (ex. Southwest).

4. Sometimes you want to talk to people sitting next to you. Sometimes you don’t. Nothing says “l don’t want to talk right now” like a pair of noise-canceling headphones like Beats Studio or Bose.

5. Charging blocks. I have at least two with me at all times. One lightweight (one complete charge) and a heavier one (two+ charges for my phone).

6. Pick a central managing electronic system for everything. I use Evernote for my whole life, so anything I need to recall is there: flight numbers and boarding passes (I also put my boarding pass in Apple Wallet). I’ll take pictures of everything and save them in Evernote for quick recall. I also have every app for every airline in a folder in my iPhone.

7. Neck pillow!! I’m not a first-class guy, so I always carry a neck pillow to rest on for long flights. Tumi has this one that is a jacket that turns into a neck pillow. It’s pretty fly.

Raising the Bar

James Emery White

May 18, 2018

I was talking to our church staff recently about a counterintuitive idea. At least, it’s counterintuitive to many: The higher the standards, the stronger the team.

Why is that counterintuitive? Because we tend to think that raising our standards will thin the ranks and weaken what we have. We feel the need to accommodate people, not challenge them.

So here we are, attempting to cast the vision for Christ’s mission in our deeply fallen world, to live lives individually and collectively that serve the least and reach the lost, to kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight…

…and what do we do?

We lower the bar on all things related to the cause of Christ and, as a result, we train people to minimize the significance of it or blow it off entirely.

Consider the following comparison:

A youth soccer team coach tells a parent that if their child misses practice before a game, they won’t play that week. Period. And if their child misses more than three practices, they are off the team.

The effect on the parent?

They move heaven and earth to never miss a practice.

Let’s say that same parent is a volunteer with their church’s children’s ministry. They consistently arrive late, cancel at the last minute or, if they do show up, are unprepared.

The response of the children’s ministry leader?

There often isn’t one. The idea is that every volunteer is doing them a favor by even feigning to serve.

The effect on the parent?

They continue to treat volunteering as unimportant and inconsequential.

Here’s our fear: If we raise our standards and enforce them, we will lose people. And, no doubt, that is true. But did you really ever “have” them to begin with? No. You will lose the ones who were already demonstrating a lack of commitment. But the people you do “have” who are open to the challenge will begin to take the cause of Christ more seriously. And they should. The church is the hope of the world; youth soccer is not. Yet we treat soccer like it is and the church like recreation.

That must change.

We must remember that there is no greater cause than the cause of Christ. We must cast the vision of that reality to those we lead. We must hold them, and ourselves, to the highest standards of commitment and excellence.

Which means the goal cannot be to accommodate…

…but to disciple.

This article originally appeared here.

Practical Help for Developing Your Church’s Team Culture with Lee Coate

Beth Colletti

May 18, 2018

We’re in for a treat today with Lee Coate, the executive pastor in charge of ministry and media at The Crossing Christian Church in Las Vegas.

The Crossing began in 2000 as a partner plant coming out of Canyon Ridge Christian Church. It started with a large plant team and has experienced steady growth since its inception. Every community has a unique culture, and that is certainly true for the city of Las Vegas. The staff works to learn from the culture in the larger community as well as intentionally implement the church culture as they grow and hire new staff. Lee talks with us today about how he navigates culture at The Crossing.

Navigate culture. Lee views his role as a sort of culture engineer. You can often find him walking the halls and connecting with the 50 or so staff at The Crossing, trying to get people unstuck, dealing with conflict or figuring out how to get more collaboration and communication across different departments. Throughout his days he’s navigating and cultivating culture to ensure that the staff keeps the church’s values at the forefront of their minds as they work, lead and make decisions.
Be aware of the culture in your city. Las Vegas is unique culture-wise in that things are always being updated and renovated to something new. It’s been interesting to see this mentality influence the residents in the Las Vegas area where people get bored really quickly and need to be reengaged frequently. As a result, The Crossing’s ministry has to be designed to address that. The executive team spends a lot of time looking at how to move people from the streets to the seats, and then what the steps through that process look like. Even this process needs to be refreshed fairly often. At The Crossing they are constantly reengineering the top of their “engagement funnel” as far as a growth plan in order to find new ways to keep people engaged and get them into community.
A unique twist on the engagement funnel. One example of how The Crossing invites people to connect with the church and each other is through their Discover process. In Discover, visitors have the chance to meet the pastor and are taught the six core values of the church in a creative way that does not include sitting in a classroom for an extended period of time. Instead people take a tour of the campus, experiencing brief presentations at different stops which coordinate with the church’s values.
Guard your church’s culture. Those six core values are constantly reinforced among the staff as well. The larger you get as a team and as a church, the more intentionality somebody needs to have toward culture. This is where Lee comes in. Each week he holds a Monday Morning Meeting with the people on his side of the org chart, which is all about culture rather than “business.” During this 45- to 60-minute block, they discuss anything from articles or podcasts to books they are reading together. Whatever they are talking through, Lee is intentional about linking it back to the church’s core values, using this time to reinforce what The Crossing is all about. These practices are especially important with new hires coming in where the culture needs to be communicated from day one.
Learning in tragedies. Even with all efforts toward intentionality and strategy in making decisions, particularly to help in the community, The Crossing learned during the October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that they had to put some of those philosophies aside. During these times, people just want to have something to do and they need you to help them with that, even if it’s only delivering water to a fire station. Be prepared to set aside your desire to be strategic, and help people with the emotional and spiritual needs they have to respond and help during tragedies, even in small ways.

You can learn more about The Crossing at their website www.thecrossinglv.com. You can also email Lee at lee@thecrosslv.com.

This article originally appeared here.

What Makes Prayer So Difficult. And Why We Keep at It

Joe McKeever

May 18, 2018

In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. (Romans 8:26)

Tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer. That’s a good thing. It keeps us focused on the importance of prayer, and probably dumps a load of guilt on all of us for not praying more or better.

Three aspects of prayer make it difficult, and probably even unreasonable. And then, one overwhelming reality keeps us at it with the strong confidence that praying is the best thing we can ever do.

The three impossible aspects of prayer that befuddle us…

–One. The Object of our prayers is unseen.

In prayer, we are addressing One we’ve never seen and can’t even prove exists. And yet, we keep at it, drawing aside day after day, year after year, speaking to the Invisible, Unprovable Lord in the firm belief that He is there, that He hears, and cares and will answer.

Is this bizarre or not?! Smile, please.

–Two. The expression of our prayers is uncertain.

We simply do not know how to word our prayers. We are mortals addressing the Immortal, the creation speaking to the Creator, sinners kneeling before the Holy One.

We are never quite sure whether we should do it this way or that way. We hear someone else pray and either we are sure that’s not how it’s done or we envy them their ease in talking to the Father.

“In the same way, God helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26). We do not know how to pray as we should.

We knew we didn’t. But here we find the great apostle admitting to the same problem. We’re not quite sure whether that’s comforting—as in “misery loves company”—or depressing, since we were hoping that others surely prayed better than we do. And we find they don’t! And how awful is that!

–Three. The outcome of our prayers is in doubt.

For good reason, pollsters never announce what percentage of our prayers get answered and what portion lie there unaddressed by the Almighty.

It’s impossible to know.

We may believe God answered this prayer or that one. We may believe He sent us what we needed instead of what we requested. Or, we may believe He said ‘no’ to our request. But we do not know for certain.

We do not know what would have happened had we not prayed.

There is no way to over-emphasize this: Ninety-five out of a hundred times, we will never know what God did with our prayers. We pray for the President of the United States, but have no idea whether our prayers did any good or not. We pray for our children when they head off to school, without a clue whether our prayers are responsible for keeping them safe and sharpening their minds and growing their hearts. We pray for the missionaries on the other side of the world, but none of them ever call to say, “Thanks for praying. Here is what God did in answer to your prayers today!”

So, we pray by faith.

Faith in prayer means we address One we cannot see, cannot prove exists, in the hope that He is there, that He cares, that He is listening and that He will answer. We pray anyway.

Faith in prayer means we do the best we can at wording our prayer even knowing it’s always being done poorly. We pray anyway.

Faith in prayer means we may not know until we arrive in Heaven what God did in answer to our prayers. We pray anyway.

We keep praying. Here’s why.

The question then becomes: Why then do we keep praying? What keeps drawing us back?

God has stacked the universe in favor of His children praying. Stacked the cards, so to speak.

It’s all in that amazing eighth chapter of Romans.

Verse 26 says, “The Holy Spirit intercedes for us.”

Verse 34 says, “Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for us.”

Get that? Both the Son and the Spirit are on our side, interceding for us with the Father.

Is that bizarre or what? I mean, wonderfully bizarre.

Not Every Christians Feels Responsible to Share the Gospel

Bob Ditmer

May 18, 2018

Do you share the gospel?

A new Barna poll finds that over the past 25 years a growing percentage of Christians believe sharing the gospel is optional. And it appears one of the biggest factors in that decision is the cultural belief that telling someone Jesus Christ died for their sins is judgmental.

Barna researchers asked these same questions in 1993 and compared the results to today.

Just 10 percent of Christians in 1993 who had shared about their faith agreed with the statement “converting people to Christianity is the job of the local church”—as opposed to the job of an individual (i.e., themselves). Twenty-five years later, three in 10 Christians who have had a conversation about faith say evangelism is the local church’s responsibility (29 percent), a nearly threefold increase.

The most dramatic divergence over time is on the statement, “Every Christian has a responsibility to share their faith.” In 1993, nine out of 10 Christians who had shared the gospel agreed (89 percent). Today, just two-thirds say so (64 percent)—a 25-point drop.

In an effort to explain changes over the years, researchers asked if there are conditions that make sharing the gospel unacceptable. Non-Christians tend to have more of a “buyer beware” stance when it comes to religious conversations. They are also more likely to say talking about one’s religious beliefs is “always unacceptable” (7 percent) than practicing Christians (3 percent) or non-practicing Christians (1 percent). On the flip side, practicing Christians are twice as likely as non-Christians to say there is never a time when sharing religious beliefs should be off the table—that is, spiritual conversations are always acceptable (26 percent vs 12 percent).

When it comes to specific conditions that make talking about religion unacceptable, six out of 10 non-Christians say a person must not share if their religious beliefs are “disrespectful or judgmental” (61 percent). Beliefs perceived as disrespectful or judgmental are the top reason sharing views on religion would be uncalled for: about half of all adults agree (48 percent). This is the case for all faith categories, including Christians, but they are less likely than non-Christians to say so. Practicing Christians seem to be more concerned than other groups about what’s going on inside the person who is sharing; 41 percent say talking about faith in anger makes sharing unacceptable. Other common barriers are when “someone has asked you not to” and “if the timing is inconsiderate.”

Roxanne Stone, editor in chief at Barna Group concludes:

“So what’s happening here? Why are Christians so reluctant to talk about their faith? The overarching cultural trends of secularism, relativism, pluralism and the digital age are contributing to a society that is less interested in religion and that has marginalized the place of spirituality in everyday life,” continues Stone. “As a result, Christians in America today have to live in the tension between Jesus’ commands to tell others the good news and growing cultural taboos against proselytizing—a core part of Christianity from its origins and, many practicing Christians believe, is essential for the salvation of their listeners.”

The data might also be instructive to church leaders in how they present ways to evangelize in a constantly changing America.

Episcopal Church Dumps ‘Husband and Wife’ for ‘Two People’

Bob Ditmer

May 18, 2018

episcopal wedding ceremony — Adobe Stock #76262718

In an effort to become more gay-friendly, the Episcopal Church in the United States has decided to scrub the words “husband” and “wife” from Episcopal wedding ceremonies.

The changes to the denomination’s revered Book of Common Prayer removes the phrase “the union of husband and wife” and replaces it with “the union of two people,” and replaces the section that talks about part of God’s intention for marriage being “for the procreation of children” with the phrase “for the gift of children” to make it more acceptable to same-sex couples who may wish to adopt.

Couples will still be able to opt for the traditional “husband” and “wife” when making their vows, but this will not be included in the standardized version.

On his Facebook page, Rev. Franklin Graham wrote, “I’ve got news for them—just changing their words in their ceremony won’t make it right,” adding, “You cannot change what God has defined.”

“Through the centuries, people have tried to reinterpret, repackage or rewrite God’s laws to suit themselves and their own evil desires,” he said. “It’s nothing new; but the end result is always the same. It’s called disobedience—it’s called sin. And sin brings God’s judgment.”

The change is not being well-received by the Church of England either.

Last October, Church of England Secretary General William Nye criticized the new wording and suggested it could lead to an official split. In a letter, which emerged earlier this month, Nye threatened to cut ties with the U.S. church, which is a fellow member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, if it introduces the new service as standard.

He urged the church to consider keeping the new service on “trial status” indefinitely to avoid “irrevocably redefining marriage,” adding that the new rites “constitute a clear divergence from the understanding of marriage held throughout the history of the Christian church.”

But the letter revealed a deep division even within the English church. More than 300 members signed an open letter distancing themselves from Mr. Nye’s statements.

“Thank you for leading the way on this important issue,” a group wrote in an open letter posted online.

“We are grateful that you have recognised that not all married couples can have children and that a gender-neutral approach will enable us to become a loving and inclusive church for all. We still have a few problems to sort out over here with those who keep threatening to leave, but we know that your actions have given great hope to thousands and shown that the church is not as homophobic as it can sometimes appear.

We therefore want to publicly ‘dissociate’ ourselves from Mr. Nye’s initial response and are expecting ‘stringent consequences’ as a result of his actions.”

Being a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, the U.S. Episcopal Church comes under the loose governance of the Church of England, and consequently the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. He has continued to affirm the traditional definition of marriage as between one man and one woman but has been criticized for failing to call homosexual sex “sin.”

What You Need to Know About Trump’s Plan to Cut Planned Parenthood Funding

Bob Ditmer

May 18, 2018

In fulfillment of a campaign promise to stop tax dollars from paying for abortions, President Donald Trump announced a proposal aimed at protecting life in the Title X Family Planning Grant Program.

The proposal is designed to update regulations to ensure taxpayer funds aren’t used for programs where abortion is part of family planning.

The administration request would block facilities from receiving federal dollars for family planning if they are housed in the same facility as a clinic that provides abortions.

The Department of Health and Human Services said that the proposal was being filed in order to “ensure compliance” with laws that prohibit federal funds from going toward abortions. The amount the federal government spends on family planning services, including birth control, STD testing and cancer screenings, will not be cut. The program covers 4 million low-income people.

The intent of the proposal is to shift federal funds from Planned Parenthood and instead to community and rural health centers, or otherwise pressure Planned Parenthood to no longer provide abortions.

It does not cut funding or family planning services but makes clear that abortion is not considered family planning.

Change affects small portion of Planned Parenthood funding

If the proposal is adopted, Planned Parenthood would still keep the overwhelming majority of its funding, which is mostly provided under Medicaid and may only be cut off through legislation signed into law by the president.

White House officials say “the proposal would require a bright line of physical as well as financial separation between Title X programs and any program (or facility) where abortion is performed, supported or referred for as a method of family planning.”

Planned Parenthood is the country’s largest abortion provider. In 2009, the organization performed just over 330,000 abortions, about 40 percent of all abortions that year. It is expected to sue to stop the rule change.

“Everyone has the right to information about their healthcare—including information about safe, legal abortion, and every woman deserves the best medical care and information, no matter how much money she makes or where she lives. No matter what,” said Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “They won’t get it under this rule.”

An administration official denied that the proposal would contain a “gag rule” preventing doctors from counseling women about abortion, as several news reports have stated, though acknowledged that the rule would no longer contain a mandate that clinics must counsel and refer for abortion.

Pro-life groups hailed the rule change as a campaign promise kept.

Ed Stetzer tweeted:

For a long time, the nation’s largest abortion provider, #PlannedParenthood, has pretended that abortion is not central to its work, so this gives them an opportunity to show that it is not. I’m thankful that the Trump administration has made this move. https://t.co/m7CckjTGAY

— Ed Stetzer (@edstetzer) May 18, 2018

Mallory Quigley, vice president of communications for the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, told NPR, “Clearly they (Planned Parenthood) view the Title X Family Planning Program as their personal slush fund, to which only they are entitled for propping up their massive abortion enterprise.”

The 1970 law establishing Title X states: “None of the funds appropriated under this title shall be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning.” But in the 1970s and 1980s, the law was interpreted to allow Title X programs to refer patients for abortions, be co-located with abortion clinics, and lobby for pro-abortion policies—so long as federal dollars did not directly fund abortions. In 1988, President Reagan’s secretary of Health and Human Services issued regulations to end these practices that blurred the line between funding contraception and promoting abortion.

The 1988 Reagan regulation was immediately challenged in court and never enforced, but it was upheld by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision. However, Bill Clinton took office and killed the Reagan regulation, a policy that has remained in effect to this day.

UPDATE: 10 Fatalities at Santa Fe High School in Texas

Megan Briggs

May 18, 2018

Update

Police have confirmed nine students and one adult have died. The suspect is 17-year-old Dimitrios Patgourtzis, a student at Santa Fe High School.

Officials say several pipe-bomb explosives were planted throughout the school and outside; law enforcement officers are still going through the building.

USAToday spoke to a student, Grace Johnson, about the incident. A student and the chaplain of the high school band, Johnson said “We were hearing gunshots and many kids were having panic attacks. We sat in a circle and prayed for all of our peers and that they were going to be all right. We prayed for whoever was doing this that something changes in them.”

A shooting at a high school about 36 miles outside of Houston, Texas occurred this morning. News reports are confirming at least eight people are dead.

The Santa Fe Independent School District issued an update stating:

“This morning an incident occurred at the high school involving an active shooter. The situation is active, but has been contained. There have been confirmed injuries. Details will be released as we receive updated information. Law enforcement will continue to secure the building and initiate all emergency management protocols to release and move students to another location.”

According to local news station ABC13, witnesses report the shooting took place in an art class between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m. We also know the fire alarm was pulled and students began exiting the building.

Officers from the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office and the nearby Harris County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene; so did agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Witnesses report the shooter was armed with a shotgun. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said one suspect is in custody and a second one is detained and being questioned. Both suspects are believed to be students. “The number varies, but the number could be between 8 and 10 fatalities,” both students and staff at the school, Sheriff Gonzalez told the press. The school is still being searched and investigated by law enforcement officers.

As students exited the building, they were searched by law enforcement officers and told to walk over to a nearby grassy area alongside a row of school buses.

“It’s been happening everywhere,” one student said. “I always felt like eventually it would happen here. I wasn’t surprised, I was just scared.”

President Trump commented on the shooting in a press briefing. “We grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our love and support to everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack.”

Details are still forthcoming. Please pray as law enforcement secures the scene and parents and children are attempting to reunite.

5 Things to Do While You Are Single

Jarrid Wilson

May 17, 2018

Being single isn’t a disease. It’s an opportunity for you to grow, learn and experience life in a way that you won’t be able to when you are married.

Here are 5 things to do while you’re single:

1. Become firm in your faith.

Build your faith on a foundation that cannot be shaken, no matter whom you encounter. This will not only bring you peace during your season of singleness, but will also help you in your journey of finding the person you plan on being with for the rest of your life. Don’t let your beliefs change depending on whom you’re trying to impress. This tactic will always come around to hurt you in the long run. Find someone who complements your devotion to God.

2. Get grounded in your personal identity.

Know who you are before trying to explain it to someone else. Be confident in your purpose, your body, your identity and your life choices. Relationships will not fix your identity problems, but they can be an a great addition to who you are as a person.

3. Focus on school, or starting your career.

You have a lot of time on your hands. Instead of spending it wallowing in your singleness, go make something of yourself. You are worth more than what sitting on a couch waiting for your significant other makes you out to be. Step out into the world and take maturity by the horns. Start building your future instead of simply dreaming about it.

4. Learn to be independent until needed otherwise.

There is nothing wrong with aspiring to be a stay at home mother, or even being a man who works from home. But until either of these opportunities come into play, you need to make sure you are doing everything possible to provide for yourself, your future family and your future aspirations. Don’t live day-to-day. Plan for the future, be a good steward of what you have, and look forward to the possibilities. You owe it to yourself to mature in all aspects of your life.

5. Stop dating people you know aren’t right for you.

While you’re single, stay away from mindless dating experiences. If you’re not dating with intention, it will always end up in destruction. If you know someone isn’t your type, don’t give them the time of day. All you are going to do is hurt them and bring yourself confusion. Stop dating the wrong people and start focusing on becoming the person God has called you to be.

This article originally appeared here.

10 Reasons Why Pastoring Is the Best Job in the World

Todd Gaddis

May 17, 2018

Never in nearly three decades of being a senior pastor have I known those in my profession to be more battered and beleaguered. Thousands leave the ministry annually. Rarely a week goes by that I don’t hear of another church conflict or forced termination.

Statistics back this claim, as a recent Gallup Poll revealed that the clergy has fallen to a favorable rating of only 42 percent of those surveyed. At least we still rank above lobbyists, car salesmen and members of Congress.

Despite the decline and doom, I contend that being a pastor is the best job in the world. Here are 10 reasons why.

1. We get paid to study the Bible and prepare messages.

Obviously, money had nothing to do with the career path I’ve taken. Nevertheless, I’m filled with gratitude for being able to make a living at something I would be doing even if I wasn’t in full-time vocational ministry.

2. We’re dealing with matters of eternal significance.

As ministers, we are continually meeting people at that critical crossroads between heaven and hell. What a privilege and responsibility it is to equip the saints in this life, as well as prepare them for the one to come.

3. We get more opportunities for evangelism.

Though I’m overjoyed when laypeople lead others to the Lord, I never grow weary of being a part of someone’s salvation experience. In fact, I feel conviction and get restless if too much time passes between such encounters.

4. We enjoy a flexible schedule.

Sure, our down time is limited. It seems as though we have to be “on task” 24/7. This arrangement, however, affords us more chances to run errands, get work around the house, meet family demands, etc.

5. We get ministry expansion possibilities.

This website is a prime example. Also, in addition to numerous articles, radio spots and newspaper columns, I’ve self-published 11 books since 2004, which would have never happened had I not been a pastor.

6. We minister to people at significant points in their lives.

It’s not that I like hanging out at funeral homes and hospital ERs. Nevertheless, it is exhilarating to connect with and minister to people when life matters most—births, baptisms, graduations, weddings, family crises, sicknesses, funerals, etc.

7. We get to preach.

I’m amazed the number of people who fear public speaking. I thoroughly enjoy gaining people’s attention bringing forth the Word, especially when I know I’ve come prepared and am speaking under the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit.

8. We have more opportunity to develop spiritual disciplines.

Now, more than ever, I feel the need to model Jesus and “withdraw to lonely places and pray” (Luke 5:16). The time and places are there, if only I exercise discipline and take advantage.

9. We have a voice in the community.

After nearly 18 years at my previous church, I became minister of the community as well as the congregation. This opens doors for civic clubs, local events, board appointments, school events and the like.

10. We can go on mission trips and enjoy other travel options.

I was able to go to Israel for the first time last year with a pastors-only group. I’ve also participated in numerous stateside and international mission trips, most of which I could not have done had I not been a pastor and received support from the church.

Upon becoming a pastor in 1990, I figured I’d eventually move into a denomination position or some other parachurch organization. Twenty-eight years later, that hasn’t happened because God wants me right where I am.

There are days when I want to throw in the towel. Sometimes it seems as though I’m just spinning my wheels and going through the motions. But isn’t that true with any job? What higher calling could there be than preaching the Gospel and shepherding God’s people? It’s the best job in the world.

This article originally appeared here.

Helping Preteens Transition to Student Ministry

Matt Morgan

May 17, 2018

We have successfully navigated the graduation season, and now our “6^thgraders” are officially “7^th graders.” For us, this means that these preteens are introduced into student ministry programming on Sundays. As quickly as this transition happened (Sunday night for us), it really was not done without some planning and intention. I have to say that we have not perfected the method, nor have we done everything we actually want to do. But here some things that we are doing this year to transition 6^th graders into student ministry:

1. Graduation
In the Sunday Celebrations post, I talked about our 6^th grade graduation. This event was held to honor the students’ completion of children’s ministry and to encourage them for the next phase of life. Marking the rite of passage with a special event helps these students to know that it is time to turn the page. It prepares them mentally for the coming weeks of a new staff, new environment and new opportunities.

2. Assimilation
These “7^th graders” entering student ministry will most likely spend the majority of their time with fellow “7^th graders” or the grade just above them. Our student ministry recognizes this and plans a trip for incoming 7^th & 8^th graders. These students head out of town and spend the weekend bonding with a dinner theater and amusement park. The event is a great opportunity for bonding between these students and the student ministry staff.

3. Familiarity
Everything is changing for a preteen. It’s nice to have something consistent from time to time. As Preteen Pastor, this is where I really appreciate our student ministry team. They have invited me to remain in the lives of these students. I will be attending the fun trip with these students as well as speaking in the student ministry services a few times over the summer. Our hope is that a familiar face will help to acclimate these students into the new ministry and allow them to worship in this new environment without fear or anxiety.

4. Cross Contamination
For the past two months, these students have had dose after dose of the student ministry staff in some form. We have invited them into the 6^th grade environment to begin getting face time with the students. We think it’s important for the students to develop trust in the student ministry leaders prior to their graduation. This is equally, if not more, important for their parents. At each parent meeting this past semester, we would speak to the parents about the transition. We took every opportunity possible to let a student leader speak to the parents about what to expect and how to stay involved. It was a huge help to have student ministry come into our world and begin speaking to students and parents.

5. Follow the Leader
In this case, we’re actually talking about follow the students. We encourage our small group leaders to move into student ministry with the students. It makes our job tougher because we have to refill those positions for the coming year, but we think the influence outweighs anything else. The leader has earned the trust of the student and the parent, opened lines of communication with both, and learned so much about the spiritual condition of the student. It just makes sense for them to continue walking through life with their students. We’re not to 100 percent in this area, but we are celebrating that we do have several leaders moving up with their group.

This article originally appeared here.

In Nigeria, Kidnapped, Raped, Mocked, Saved by God: A Boko Haram Survivor’s Story of Radical Forgiveness

Lindy Lowry

May 17, 2018

In Northeast Nigeria, sexual violence is a characteristic of the ongoing insurgency, during which thousands of women and girls have been kidnapped and raped by Islamic extremist group Boko Haram. Many are forcibly married to their captors and become pregnant from rape. Some have managed to escape or have been rescued and allowed to return to their almost completely destroyed villages to try to rebuild their lives.

But for many of these women—like Esther from the West African town of Gwoza in southern Borno State—the persecution doesn’t end. They return to their village only to face discrimination and rejection by family and their community who label them “Boko Haram women.” Their children, conceived from rape, face an even greater risk of rejection, abandonment and violence.

For a year, Esther was held captive by Boko Haram militants. Her captivity left her with deep emotional wounds and a child she named Rebecca—the baby others in her family and village call “Boko.” Here, Esther shares her story as her baby daughter looks into the camera, seemingly oblivious to the fact that this world can be an extremely cruel place.

The last thing 17-year-old Esther remembers seeing the day her world turned upside down was her father’s collapsed body lying lifeless on the ground.

Before that October day, Esther and her father lived a pretty simple life after her mother passed away. She attended school and took care of her ailing father as best she could.

In October 2015, everything changed when Islamic extremist group Boko Haram (which translates “non-Islamic education is a sin”) struck her town. When the first gunshots rang out, followed by harrowing screams, Esther and her father ran to escape. It was too late—the attackers had already surrounded their house.

The rebel militants struck down her father and left him in a heap on the ground. Esther became a Boko Haram captive. As rebel fighters carried off her and several other young women in the town to their hideout in the Sambisa Forest (where Boko Haram drove thousands of those they kidnapped), she continued to look back, her eyes fixed on her father. Esther doesn’t know if he survived or died that day.

She assumes the worst.

AN UNIMAGINABLE NIGHTMARE

Life in the hands of Boko Haram was the worst nightmare Esther could ever imagine. There in the Sambisa Forest, the terrorists employed diverse tactics to coerce the kidnapped girls to renounce their faith in Christ and swear their allegiance to Allah, the Muslim God. When enticement with privileges didn’t work, they quickly resorted to violence.

Many of the girls could not resist and married their captors, Esther says.

Esther also fought extreme pressure. The militants found her beautiful; many wanted her as their wife. However, Esther, like her namesake in the Bible (Esther 4:16), determined to not give in.

In her heart, she decided: If I perish, I perish. But I will not become a Muslim.

Her resolve was no doubt courageous, but it also wreaked dire consequences. Trying to hide the tears trickling over her cheeks, Esther looks down as she recalls how she was continually raped.

“I cannot count how many men raped me. Every time they came back from their attacks, they would rape us…defile us…”

She is silent as she attempts to regain control over her emotions.

“Each passing day, I hated myself more and more,” she says. “I felt that God had forsaken me. There were times when I was so angry with Him… Still, I could not get myself to renounce Him. I found myself remembering His promise to never leave me or forsake me.”

To get prayer updates like this about persecution in Africa and around the world, click here.

UNENDING PERSECUTION

Eventually, Esther became pregnant. Who the father is, she does not know.

“I had no idea how on earth I would ever be able to love this child,” she says, remembering how she felt when she learned she was pregnant.

In November 2016, the Nigerian military rescued Esther and the other kidnapped girls in captivity. Esther came back to her village, pregnant, hoping to find support. Instead, many of the people in her community rejected and shunned the former captives, labeling her and others “Boko Haram women.”

Salamatu Umar knows that label all too well. She was also abducted by Boko Haram in 2015, when she was just 15, and was forced to marry a Boko Haram fighter. She and another girl eventually escaped their captors, running away while they were collecting firewood for cooking. Salamatu was pregnant at the time.

She is free—and yet continues to be wounded.

“People call me ‘Boko Haram wife’ to my face,” she told NPR. “They say I am the wife of a killer—so how can I be afraid of Boko Haram? They say my son is a Boko Haram baby.”

A February 2016 Unicef report sheds light on the stigma and the continued persecution of former Boko Haram captives when they return. The report indicates that villagers view these women, girls and their children as a direct threat, fearing that they have been indoctrinated and radicalized by their captors.

Underneath the Surface of Leadership Development

Dan Reiland

May 17, 2018

The foundation of any building is the most critical element. The foundation is what everything rests upon.

Your home likely has a foundation consisting of a continuous concrete footing, foundation walls of poured concrete and a concrete floor slab. Other components from soil compaction to waterproofing are crucial.

If any of these things are faulty, no matter how beautiful your home is above the foundation, you can experience major problems.

Leadership development is similar because the foundation is essential to the process and the outcomes. What is underneath the surface makes all the difference.

We talk a lot about things like pipeline, curriculum, metrics and systems. These are all good and important components.

These components make up the structure and style of your leadership development, but they don’t embody the foundation or the heart of your leadership development. They are above the surface.

The heart of your leadership development charts the course over the long haul and embodies elements like your values, motivation and spiritual integrity.

If your developmental foundation is solid, the flaws above the surface are not damaging and are relatively easy to improve.

If your foundation is faulty, no amount of talent and hard work in the day to day will deliver the results you want over the long haul.

The great news is that these four components are not determined by talent, resources or skill. They are all about who you are as a person.

The “Big-4”:

1) Character

Therefore, when developing others, you reproduce who you are.

It’s not as simple and direct as an apple tree produces an apple.

We know there are many other influences in play with each person you develop, from their personal decisions to human genetics.

However, as far as their leadership behavior goes, and in time, even their leadership instincts, they are a reflection of you as their leadership coach and/or mentor.

Over time character drives values and principles deep in those you develop. Your integrity carries over into every aspect of how you lead.

It’s an interesting principle because as we often say about character, it’s who you are when no one is looking. That’s true. However, it’s equally true that you can’t hide your true character over an extended period. And if you are a leader, people are watching you.

Whatever philosophical position you take, your character is at the core of your leadership.

Key question: Can the people you lead fully trust your character?

2) Modeling

Leadership is more caught than taught.

Therefore, what you practice is more important that what you preach.

“Example is not the main thing in influencing others…it is the only thing.” – Albert Schweitzer

It’s the little things that involve attributes such as kindness, generosity and humility that shape what you do and how you do it.

What you put into practice (model) is more visible than your character, but the two are connected. As an example, you can model generosity as a show, or as a genuine part of your character. That all depends on who you really are.

For example, my friend and leadership mentor John Maxwell has always treated me with kindness, generosity and respect. It didn’t matter if anyone was looking or not. You can’t fake that for 37 years. John’s character is true.

Please don’t misunderstand, it is good to model certain behaviors intentionally, but they must always be genuine. Not perfect, but genuine.

Key question: If people modeled your behavior, would you like what you see?

This Church Is Spreading the Gospel With Food

Megan Briggs

May 17, 2018

The Vineyard Ministries in Hampton, Virginia has opened a non-profit grocery store. Originally intended to help its members, last year the church opened the store to all people in their community. So far the store has helped 10,000 families.

“In the richest country in the world, there should not be a need,” Pastor Jacob Hopson told a local news station. “There should not be a child that looks forward to school because they know that’s the only meal they’re going to get.”

The need for affordable, fresh food is acutely felt in Hampton. While 11 percent of people in Virginia are “food insecure” (not knowing where their next meal will come from), according to the Foodbank of America, in Hampton 16-26 percent of the population is food insecure. Vineyard Ministries’ store, called The Storehouse, carries fruit, vegetables, meat, and dry goods at low prices to combat this food insecurity.

On the church’s website, the goal of The Storehouse is articulated: “The objective is to take your food budget from $600+ and cut it in half with the best and freshest food available.”

Pastor Hopson says the store is for everyone, not just low-income families or Christians. The church opened the store in 2015 (the same year the church started) and invited its members to shop once a month. When they saw how much it was helping their members, they decided to open it up to the community. Currently, donations and money raised through Vineyard Ministries pays for the food. But Pastor Hopson hopes the store will pay for itself one day.

The store is the first non-profit grocery store in Virginia. Looking to the future, Pastor Hopson is hoping to continue to help Hampton with a half acre of land for farming and a trailer for growing hydroponics.

While opening a grocery store might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of community outreach, it does seem to line up with the mission of Vineyard Ministries. The church is “more concerned about building its members than a building.” What better way to build up their members and help their community than meeting a very practical need?

James 2:16 comes to mind with the Vineyard Ministries’ outreach efforts: “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?”

Bishop Michael Curry’s Message Was Controversial to Some

What makes a great follow-up process?

1. Your follow up process should be intentional.

2. Your follow up process should be personal.

3. Your follow up process should be automated.

Building Your Follow-Up Process

1. Decide

2. Draw

3. Implement

4. Measure

5. Adjust

Take a Next Step

Step 1: Get Organized

Step 2: Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

Step 3: Set Goals

Step 4: Remember the Why

Step 5: Pray

Multiplying disciples

3 Must Have Recommendations

Travel Advice From Industry Leaders

Camilo Ruan, US Sales Director Kneat Software

Change affects small portion of Planned Parenthood funding

Here are 5 things to do while you’re single:

1. Become firm in your faith.

2. Get grounded in your personal identity.

3. Focus on school, or starting your career.

4. Learn to be independent until needed otherwise.

5. Stop dating people you know aren’t right for you.

1. We get paid to study the Bible and prepare messages.

2. We’re dealing with matters of eternal significance.

3. We get more opportunities for evangelism.

4. We enjoy a flexible schedule.

5. We get ministry expansion possibilities.

6. We minister to people at significant points in their lives.

7. We get to preach.

8. We have more opportunity to develop spiritual disciplines.

9. We have a voice in the community.

10. We can go on mission trips and enjoy other travel options.

AN UNIMAGINABLE NIGHTMARE

UNENDING PERSECUTION

The “Big-4”:

1) Character

2) Modeling

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Camilo Ruan, US Sales Director
Kneat Software