Beth Moore Has Had Enough of ‘Sinful’ Evangelical Misogyny

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May 5, 2018

Beth Moore just published an open letter to Christian men. In her quintessentially graceful and humorous style, Moore lays out a not-so-humorous message: The church has a misogyny problem it needs to deal with.

Beth Moore starts her letter out by saying she’s told Ed Stetzer that when he hears news that she is on her deathbed, Stetzer is to “elbow his way through my family members to interview me about what it’s been like to be a female leader in the conservative Evangelical world.” The reason he’s been asked to wait until she’s about to die is because she’ll “get fried like a chicken,” Moore explains.

Beth Moore Worked Within the System

She goes on to articulate, in purposefully vague detail, the ways in which she “worked within the system” of the Southern Baptist Church to be a leader and minister to women both in the SBC and beyond. When she had men show up to her classes, Moore didn’t kick them out, but kept teaching. For the most part, this worked for her. And, she does not fail to mention (in a few places) the men who have encouraged her, fought for her, and shown her favor over the years. However, after reflecting on her decades-long ministry, Beth Moore is unsettled by the way she was treated in some cases and the behavior she adopted to stay below the radar, so to speak.

As a woman leader in the conservative Evangelical world, I learned early to show constant pronounced deference—not just proper respect which I was glad to show—to male leaders and, when placed in situations to serve alongside them, to do so apologetically. I issued disclaimers ad nauseam. I wore flats instead of heels when I knew I’d be serving alongside a man of shorter stature so I wouldn’t be taller than he. I’ve ridden elevators in hotels packed with fellow leaders who were serving at the same event and not been spoken to and, even more awkwardly, in the same vehicles where I was never acknowledged. I’ve been in team meetings where I was either ignored or made fun of, the latter of which I was expected to understand was all in good fun. I am a laugher. I can take jokes and make jokes. I know good fun when I’m having it and I also know when I’m being dismissed and ridiculed. I was the elephant in the room with a skirt on. I’ve been talked down to by male seminary students and held my tongue when I wanted to say, “Brother, I was getting up before dawn to pray and to pore over the Scriptures when you were still in your pull ups.”

Unfortunately, any woman who has spent time in ministry can hardly read Moore’s words without recalling memories of their own of times they have been belittled, overlooked, or dismissed—not just by men, but sometimes women as well—simply because of their gender.

The Event That Broke Beth Moore’s Silence

Moore says she put up with these “peculiarities” associated with being a woman in leadership due to her belief that the actions of her peers were rooted in their understanding of 1 Timothy 2 and 1 Corinthians 14. However, something shifted in October 2016 that made Moore start to pay more attention to these peculiarities.

Then early October 2016 surfaced attitudes among some key Christian leaders that smacked of misogyny, objectification and astonishing disesteem of women and it spread like wildfire. It was just the beginning. I came face to face with one of the most demoralizing realizations of my adult life: Scripture was not the reason for the colossal disregard and disrespect of women among many of these men. It was only the excuse. Sin was the reason. Ungodliness.

The Strange Burden of Participating in Social Media

By

Chris Martin

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May 4, 2018

Over the last year or so, I have become more discouraged about social media and what it is doing to us than I have ever been.

Often I think to myself, “The only reason I use social media any more is because it’s such an important part of my job.” Really, it’s central to my job.

Then, some weeks, what I see on social media encourages me and gives me hope for the medium as a useful tool for the church.

One of my friends recently left social media entirely. He deleted all of his accounts and isn’t going to engage on Twitter, Facebook, etc. any more. I kinda wish I could bring myself to do that, but every time I consider it, I can’t.

It’s not that I can’t bring myself to leave social media because I have some sort of unhealthy addiction to it or because I need to be informed about what all of my friends are doing with their lives. (At least I don’t think that’s why.)

I think I can’t bring myself to leave social media because I have a sort of strange burden for it as a medium.

Shining a Light in the Darkness

Social media can feel like a pretty godless place sometimes. Watching Christians gnaw on the necks of other Christians over everything from biblical sexual ethics to minute matters of church history is nauseating.

“Hot take” culture, in which we all feel the need to respond with our profound two cents on an issue before knowing all the facts, is, I believe, demonic.

There are times, like the times we’re in right now, during which I question if Christians have any place on Twitter or other such platforms.

Does the good of connecting with people across the world in order to share and discuss ideas outweigh the bad of harassment and rampant sinful communication?

It can be hard to tell.

I’m going to do more writing on this study soon, but according to the Pew Research Center, two-thirds of adults have witnessed online harassment.

That’s not OK.

It’s not like it’s getting any better, either; younger people are more likely to witness harassment than older people. Part of this is due to younger people being more engaged online, but it is also likely due to younger people harassing more.

When I see statistic like this, I get discouraged and think Christians, myself included, would be wise to just disengage from social media entirely.

Why willingly participate in an environment in which such evil persists with no viable way to stop it?

We don’t have to be on social media, so why involve ourselves in such negativity if there is no need?

I ask myself these questions and then I remember:

I am compelled to participate in the nasty mess of social media because I have been commissioned as a steward of the only light bright enough to pierce its darkness.

Only the gospel can redeem the hateful poison that fills Twitter timelines and YouTube comment sections.

I believe, as a Christian and steward of the gospel, that I have I responsibility to maintain a presence on social media and do my best to reflect Christ on the various platforms in which I participate. I don’t always do this well, but this burden is what prevents me from deleting my accounts every time I consider doing so.

My life would be so much simpler if I forgot Twitter existed and packed up my Facebook profile once and for all. But I can’t bring myself to do it because I feel as though it would be motivated by cowardice, not by any sort of sanctified step of faith.

A 5-Step Process for Leaders to Handle Their Mistakes

By

Dan Reiland

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May 4, 2018

When you are out in front and taking new territory, missteps are part of the journey. If you aren’t making mistakes, you probably aren’t leading.

All leaders make mistakes, the key is to not make the same one twice. If a leader makes the same mistake twice, it’s an indication they are not learning.

I’ve sure made my fair share of mess-ups and I’m not free from them now. Hopefully, not as frequent these days, and the context is also important. That is, you are doing more things right than wrong. But again, if you are leading in uncharted waters you will make mistakes.

Leaders who try to cover up, justify or minimize their mistakes often struggle with deeper issues. It can be anything from pride, to insecurity, to not wanting the mistake to be revealed.

But other times we just take ourselves too seriously. And it’s highly beneficial to be in an environment that is forgiving of our goof-ups.

At 12Stone we give two fun awards each month at our All Staff meeting. One is called the Good Bird, and it’s given out for great servant leadership. The other is called the Dirty Bird, and it’s kind of our “Dumb and Dumber” award. The scary thing is that I think our staff loves getting that one more! We laugh and have a great time with it. The important thing is that we can laugh at the dumb things we do and the mistakes we make because it’s a safe and healthy environment.

A 5-step process to handle your mistakes well:

1) Own it completely.

On more than one occasion relating to a staffing issue that was several layers away from me, and I was not personally involved, I’ve said to our senior pastor, “I’m responsible for this situation and I’m on it.”

If something is directly your fault, it’s all the more important to own it fully. Sometimes an apology is due, then move on.

Don’t try to dodge it, hide it or back the truck up over someone else. Just own it and move forward.

2) Disclose it quickly.

When you make a mistake, speak up right away. This is courageous and clears the air. It enables everyone to move toward solutions and make progress rather than assign blame.

If something goes wrong, you should be the first one to say, “Hey, I made a mistake.” Not “My bad.” Don’t minimize it. It’s better to say, “That’s my mistake.” Our words as leaders make a difference.

It’s not necessary to make it a big deal. In fact, a poised and matter of fact statement is all that is needed.

Your boss, or your team will love you for it, and your candid and mature disclosure increases trust. They will have more respect for you because you saw it, owned it and spoke up.

And it’s never a good idea to have your boss find out from someone other than you.

3) Solve it correctly.

Solutions help turn the corner from a problem to progress. A good solution changes the focus from the negative tone of a “mistake in the air,” to one of forward motion and progress.

Dive in deep to fix the mistake. Cosmetic work that is just enough to cover the surface doesn’t really fix the problem. Solutions that last require more than veneer touch up.

Understanding what went wrong and the difference between, for example, a system failure or human error is essential.

Follow up is required, repeatedly, until it’s fully rectified. This might be accomplished in a few days, or it could take weeks or months. It doesn’t matter, solve it correctly whatever it takes.

4) Learn from it thoroughly.

If you are like me or most leaders, we move pretty fast.

There’s a lot to do, so I have a tendency to move on a little too quickly. How about you?

Once a problem is solved, I’m on to the next thing. But that doesn’t mean I’ve actually learned something.

It’s important for me to take some time to think through what caused me to make the mistake.

For example, did I lack experience? Did I make the wrong decision, and if so why? Did I not think through the issues enough? Was I distracted? Was it more circumstantial? This process will be relevant and helpful to you as well.

From there, it’s wise to take a few minutes to acknowledge how you would do it better next time.

5) Get over it appropriately.

Don’t beat yourself up. If you have completed the first four steps, shake it off.

Match your level of response to the size of the mistake.

For example, let’s say you blew an appointment, you just missed one and you never do that. The whole process should take you about five minutes. Own the mistake, lead with an apology, set a new appointment, figure out what broke down in your system, and get over it.

Or, for example, you made a $200,000.00 budgeting error, and now you’re in the red for that much money. That’s a mistake of a different magnitude.

It’s is going to be complex before you even get started. It will take time to understand what actually happened. It may take months to solve the problem, etc.

But it still starts in the same place. Own it fully and disclose it completely, then dig in to the solution and learning.

There it is.

Own it completely.
Disclose it quickly.
Solve it correctly.
Learn from it thoroughly.
Get over it appropriately.

Pass this on to your staff and friends who lead!

This article originally appeared here.

Researchers Find Hidden Text on Dead Sea Scroll Fragments

By

Megan Briggs

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May 4, 2018

Researchers at an international conference to commemorate the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls revealed a fascinating new discovery on Tuesday, May 1, 2018. Some 70 years after their discovery, researchers are now able to decipher words from fragments of the Scrolls previously unreadable.

The discovery came to be through an inventory and cataloging maintenance project. Oren Ableman, a PhD student, was assigned to sort through fragments of the Scrolls that had been left almost untouched since their unearthing in the 1950s. Ableman’s work became exciting very quickly. “With the very first fragment, I saw a letter and knew there was something there. That was the initial moment of excitement,” he says.

The discovery was made possible thanks to technology from NASA, which allowed previously undetectable letters to be seen on fragments of the Scrolls. Researchers are using an infrared microscope connected to a computer to find writing on the Scroll fragments. If something is found on the fragments, an image is captured, thus digitally preserving the fragile contents of the Scrolls. “Every image is an act of preservation,” says Pnina Shor, head of the Israel Antiquities Authority’s Dead Sea Scrolls Lab. “If, God forbid, something happens to the scroll, we still have 100 percent accurately reliable images.”

What Do the Dead Sea Scroll Fragments Say?

While some of the fragments belong to other Scrolls that have been cleaned and identified, one fragment appears to belong to a previously unknown manuscript. “This fragment could not be attributed to any one of the known manuscripts,” the conference organizers said. Another fragment contains a single Hebrew word, “zamra,” and likely belongs to the Great Psalms Scroll since the word appears only once in the Book of Psalms. Yet another fragment is determined to come from the Temple Scroll, which is a text containing directions for services in the Temple.

The fragments were taken from Qumran’s Cave 11 and were stored in cigar boxes, which were used to preserve the Scroll fragments when they were first discovered. Today, these boxes are stored in controlled cave-like conditions at 20 degrees centigrade with 48 percent humidity.

According to Ableman, there are another 20 or so boxes from Cave 11 that still remain to be sorted, cleaned and treated. The work is tedious and time-consuming. Ableman has found text on only 12 of the 82 fragments he’s worked on so far. Despite the hard nature of the work, Ableman is “honored” to be a part of the project.

The week-long conference was held at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. “The Dead Sea Scrolls at Seventy: ‘Clear a Path in the Wilderness’” was sponsored by the Israel Antiquity Authority, the Hebrew University’s Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the University of Vienna and New York University, and the Israel Museum.

The Dead Sea Scrolls represent the second-oldest and most complete manuscripts we have of what we now call the Old Testament. Dating back to 200 BCE, most of the texts are in Hebrew, with some in Aramaic and Greek. In addition to the texts that have been canonized into the Hebrew Bible, texts such as the Book of Enoch, the Book of Jubilees, the Book of Tobit and Psalms 152-155 were also found.

The Real Problem With Mother’s Day

By

Melissa Edgington

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May 3, 2018

Around this time each year, I see blog posts about the foolishness of Mother’s Day, about the lack of fairness in it all, about the gloating mothers and the grieving mothers and the women who wish they are mothers. And, I completely get it. I really do. Mother’s Day, in some ways, is a hard day.

I myself sat in a pew shortly after I learned that, once again, the child in my womb no longer had a heartbeat. I occupied my regular seat that morning while the Mother’s Day video played, thinking of little else except when the all-too-familiar bleeding would begin. And wondering what God’s plan was for me, as a woman. As a mother.

And, many of you will sit in a pew or choose to stay home this Mother’s Day, and you will come face to face (as you do every day) with the grief of an empty womb. Or a mother gone to Heaven. Or a child who is in trouble. Or a broken marriage. Or the memory of standing next to your baby’s grave.

Grief is an overwhelming sensation on any day, but on a special day that’s set aside to celebrate motherhood, it can be downright crushing. We feel robbed. We feel angry. We feel helpless and sometimes just plain hopeless.

And, I don’t blame any woman in the world for feeling those feelings. We feel how we feel.

But, please allow me to gently remind us all, friends, that Christianity is not a faith about feelings. No, it is a faith of pure, uncut, unadulterated reality. And, it calls us to something higher than our feelings. The reality is that God is sovereign. The reality is that He knows infinitely more than we do. The reality is that He is good and trustworthy. The reality is that because of Jesus Christ, one day everything in the universe will be set right again. The reality is that there is great hope in Christ.

Grief can sometimes cloud our reliance on these truths, but they remain true just the same. Feelings come and go, but His word is always true, and He never changes.

Now, as Christians we live together in community, and we live out our faith not only toward Christ, but toward each other. We give Him our worship and our obedience and our love, and we give each other loyalty, support and encouragement. We aren’t called just to love God, but to love each other—the kind of love that says, I rejoice when you rejoice, and I grieve when you grieve.

So, what does this mean for Mother’s Day? It means that, with the strength of Jesus within us, we can turn to our friends and weep with them over their miscarriages. We can grieve with them over the loss of their mothers. We can offer our shoulder when they need to fall apart over the death of a child. We can cry and call out to God on their behalf, and we can acknowledge their pain.

We can also turn to our friends and pinch the chubby cheeks of their newborn babies. We can give them a pat on the back and tell them what an amazing job they’re doing. We can honor our mothers or we can honor the memory of our mothers. We can be genuinely happy about all of the little children scampering around our friends’ feet.

And, we can praise God that He is present through it all.

Problem With Mother’s Day

You see, the problem isn’t that Mother’s Day is an evil thing that Hallmark created in order to make women feel less-than. It’s wonderful to recognize the incredible role that mothers play in the kingdom of God. The problem is that our self-centered culture has taught us that what matters is how we feel.

But, the Bible tells a completely different story.

According to God’s word, what matters is how well we love Christ and how well we love others. Shouting about how unfair things are does nothing for a grieving mother. It does nothing for a woman who is desperate to conceive. It does nothing for a mama struggling to keep her head above water with four little children underfoot. And, it does nothing to build a community of faith that grieves together and rejoices together.

So, don’t let the loud voices out there who are supposedly advocating for hurting women convince you that Mother’s Day is a sham. It’s an opportunity to love like Christ loves. Sacrificially. And it’s a chance to remind ourselves that our feelings are not the be all and end all. In fact, they are very often deceptive and filled with lies that mar the truth. Don’t forget the reality of your situation on Mother’s Day, whatever it may be: God is sovereign. He is good. And, we can trust Him.

This article originally appeared here.

Hospitality in the Way of Jesus

By

Robert Lay

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May 3, 2018

We all know Peter’s advice to practice hospitality (1 Peter 1:9), but this advice does not originate from him or the apostles. They learned it from Jesus. The homes in the time of Jesus and the early church became the new wineskin where the new wine was poured in. The house structure was flexible enough and could be stretched and expanded without bursting. Jesus knew the power of the Gospel of the Kingdom needed flexible, low-cost structure that could spread easily and quickly.

The proximity of gatherings in homes provided double results. On the one side, it was the ideal environment for fellowship and edification of the Body of Christ, and on the other side, it was the ideal situation for unbelievers to have an encounter with Christ. The Church grew based on these two pillars.

Way too many activities in the traditional church happen in the Church Building. Our house and our table full of food are the best fellowship and evangelistic tools. Jesus liked to eat, even with sinners. Those who don’t know Jesus find an attractive environment and get in contact with the Christ that lives in us. When was the last time a sinner sat at the table with you in your house? So often we invite them to a Church Building. It’s far better to first invite them into our homes, then we can take them to a building for larger fellowship.

The homes were strategic and the ideal delivery system for Jesus’ salvation plan.

Let us consider this, change our habits and adopt a Kingdom of God culture as our lifestyle!

Help us God!

This article originally appeared here.

How to Address Sexuality in Your Youth Group

By

Brian Berry

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May 3, 2018

Every year we dedicate a series of messages to the subject of dating, love, sex, relationships, marriage and stuff like that. We change up the “theme” and write new material and include new voices every year. Currently, we’re a few weeks into our series called “Uncovered,” and on the first Sunday of the series, we passed around “anonymous surveys” about sexual opinions and experiences.

We asked our students to list NO names, only check a box indicating their gender. In addition, we specifically asked them not to lie or make crap up because it would not help us, and we’d rather they didn’t fill it out if they couldn’t be honest. Then we then had them fill out the survey, fold it in half and then give it back.

Here’s the exact list of 11 Questions. The first 10 are Y/N and the last one was multiple choice:

Have you ever viewed porn videos, websites or pictures?
Have you been part to an explicitly sexual conversation w/friends?
Has a parental figure ever discussed the issues of sexuality w/you?
Have you had an intimate kiss?
Do you feel it is alright to “make out” with someone outside a boyfriend/girlfriend situation?
Do you feel it is alright to “make out” with someone if you are in a boyfriend/girlfriend situation?
Do you feel it is alright to explore one another’s bodies “above the belt” within a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship?
Do you feel it is alright to be in a sexual relationship with “someone you love” outside of marriage?
Have you had sexual intercourse?
Have you been involved in sexual activites “below the belt” but not to the point of actual intercourse?
I feel same-sex sexually active relationships are: God’s plan for some __ A sin____ Not sure___ Great if monogamous ___

Today I tallied the results. We had a total of 44 high school women and 39 high school guys fill out the survey (so 83 total) on one Sunday morning in Encounter on April 27, 2014. You can download the results here if you want.

As I tallied this stuff up, I discovered some things you’d expect and some you probably wouldn’t. But here’s the stuff that wrenched my gut and keeps me up at night. Don’t forget, this is ONE survey of ONE high school youth group on ONE Sunday morning. Students who came to church at 9 or 11 a.m. on a single weekend. That’s limiting your audience by a lot and “ruining” all statistics for “the big picture” of teens in our culture But it’s enough to give me a reality check in my own ministry.

If you attend JCC, here you go. If you don’t, you might do this in your own youth group. Here’s my reminders:

9 Hidden Factors That Make or Break Leaders

By

Carey Nieuwhof

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May 3, 2018

So you’ve noticed something.

Your ability to lead well seems to fluctuate.

Some days (and seasons) you seem to be in top shape. You have energy and enthusiasm, a clear mind and your decision making is sharp.

But on other days (and in other seasons) you’re sluggish, fuzzy or so burdened down you feel like you can’t lead anything well.

What gives?

What I’ve learned in leadership is that on most days, there are hidden factors at work. These hidden factors can make you excel, or they can completely work against you.

Knowing what’s at work in the background can be tremendously liberating. Once you realize what’s helping or hurting you, you can deal with it.

So what hidden factors threaten to make or break you as a leader?

9 Hidden Factors That Make or Break Leaders

Here are nine I’ve identified at work in my leadership. You’ll notice many have to do with a leader’s mind, while a few are more physical. You’ve likely seen them at work in the background of your life and leadership too. Understand them, and you’re ahead. Miss them, and you’re behind (again).

It should be no surprise so many of the factors are in your mind. Leadership, after all, is a mind game.

Work at the mental aspect of leadership and you’ll discover what many leaders have discovered: Changing your mind about how you lead, feel and think changes everything.

And while not all nine are critical issues, wise leaders know these are the factors that make or break them. So they make sure they leverage them to make them, not break them.

1. Weight
Anyone who has led anything remotely significant is familiar with the weight of leadership.

The weight of leadership is the sense of responsibility you carry that goes with your job.

The problem is it never turns off easily.

It follows you home. It accompanies you to bed. It travels with you on vacation.

It’s hard to shake the weight of leadership. You feel it because you are the leader, and you’re likely the leader because you’re the kind of person who feels it.

So what can help lift the weight of leadership? A few things:

Naming it

Doing something fun (the power of distraction)

Prayer

Talking to a friend or mentor who understands

When it’s appropriate, the weight of leadership can spur you toward leading better. But when it crushes you, all of the benefits of feeling responsible for what you lead disappear.

The weight of leadership never leaves leaders. Wise ones learn how to deal with it.

2. Pace
Many leaders run hard. But you can only run so hard so long.

For many of you, it’s been too long.

Any leader can run hard for a season, but even if you avoid burnout, eventually it becomes counterproductive to run hard all the time.

Why?

Your mood tanks. Your fatigue rises. Your productivity drops.

And—bottom line—it’s unsustainable.

Smart leaders ask themselves: Am I living in a way today that will help me thrive tomorrow? If not, why not?

Are you living in a way today that will help you thrive tomorrow?

7 Ways to Support Your Pastor on Sundays

By

Ron Edmondson

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May 3, 2018

Sunday mornings are a stressful time for pastors. My ministry includes interacting with dozens of pastors each week. It appears to me that there are some common experiences on Sunday morning for many of us.

I also know most people who love their church…and love their pastor…want to help any way they can to make the Sunday morning experience the best it can be. That’s what this post is about.

Here are seven ways you can help your pastor on Sunday:

Pray.

Pray for your pastor. Ask God to open the ears of the people, to guide your pastor’s heart and to bless the services with His Spirit.

Don’t critique.

Sunday morning is not the best time to bring complaints. It is very distracting when the pastor is about to speak to hear criticism that will have to be dealt with later. It weighs very heavy on the mind and gets in the way of focusing on the message.

Hold those until Monday, but even then, ask yourself if sharing it is personal to you or genuinely helpful to the entire body.

Don’t share something you want us to remember.

Most likely we will forget what you told us by the time Sunday is done. Send us an email later or call us Monday morning. If it must be shared on Sunday, please write it down for us so we can remember the details.

Our minds are so clouded on Sunday thinking about a million different things. And we try hard to make our focus about a message we hope God will use.

Be Kingdom minded.

Think of others interests even ahead of your own. Keep in mind the temperature in the room may not be your ideal temperature, but it may be exactly the right temperature for someone else.

The 4 Friends EVERY Pastor Needs

By

Ike Reighard

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May 3, 2018

Pastors may be the most well-known, loneliest men on the face of the earth. Friendship is a vital part of New Testament ministry and leadership. Without quality, biblical friendships, we are modeling a flawed Christian lifestyle for our church members. Yet, for many, the difficulties of pastoral friendships outweigh the benefits.

Most pastors find themselves in an unhealthy relationship where their wife is their only friend and counselor. If a pastor continues to project his problems onto his wife, she will grow disillusioned and desperate to leave the ministry. I believe a pastor’s wife should be his best friend, but she should not be his only friend.

In my 30 years of ministry, I have learned that every pastor needs at least four types of friends.

The developer

Your best friend will always be the person who brings out the very best in you. According to Billy Graham, he wouldn’t have made it as an evangelist if he had to minister alone. Over 53 years ago, Billy Graham met his staff and best friends: Cliff Barrows, George Beverly Shea and Grady Wilson. These three men protected him, strengthened him, counseled with their wisdom and corrected him when he needed it. He is convinced that without these friends he would have burned out within a few years after his first groundbreaking crusade in 1949 (Just as I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham, pp. 125-129).

Developer friends will bring the gift of encouragement to a pastor’s life and bring out the very best in him.

The designer

We tend to think of a mentor as a personal, hands-on coach. The Latin and Greek define them more as “advisors” or “wise men.” Jesus was a master mentor. He ministered to thousands, trained hundreds, equipped 12 and had an intimate friendship with three men.

The designer mentors us in our marriage, ministry, child-rearing, civic involvement, business acumen or any area where we need a model. Designer mentors may live near or far, be acquaintances or strangers, or may even be dead. They “design” our lives through Scripture, books, tapes, articles or seminars.

5 Tips for Helping Your Church Beat the Summer Giving Slump

By

Rich Birch

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May 3, 2018

Summer is on the way. For many churches that means some of our dynamics shift and change. People are more likely to be away on vacation. Families are taking their kids to summer camps. We can see a decline in attendance at our churches. On top of the softness in attendance, many churches see a small decline in their giving over the summer time. Now is the time to start planning for this annual reality and put into place a few strategies to help your church reverse this trend.

5 Tips for Helping Your Church Beat the Summer Giving Slump

Most churches operate on a thin margin between their normal monthly giving and their expenses. Oftentimes, that margin goes away in the summer months. This can be a problem for a church because they are attempting to invest to get their ministries ready for a busy fall, and just at the moment they are looking for a few extra resources, the cash flow just can’t sustain those investments. This doesn’t need to be the case! You can put a few practices in place this spring and summer to help your church launch into the fall strong because of healthy giving over the summer months. Here is some practical help for your church to navigate through this season in the life of your church!

1. Automation beats Determination

Late spring is the perfect time to remind people that they can set up automated giving to your church. Explain to people that if just rely on determination in their lives they will often fade out. However, if you set things to run on automation, they happen consistently over time. Ask people to join your automated giving program to continue to fuel the ministry of the church.

Don’t rely on just a single announcement to get this request through to people, but communicate this message through a few different channels. Make sure to at least communicate it in these 5 ways:

Announcement – Take time out to explain it during a Sunday morning.
Walk Away Hand Out – Give them a card to take with them explaining how to set it up.
Immediate Email – Follow up with a Sunday afternoon email from your team reinforcing the message.
Direct Mail – Time a piece of mail to arrive at your people’s homes shortly after the announcement.
Later That Week Email – Email your people again a few days later to remind them and let them know that others have been signing up too!

5 Benefits of Automated Giving for Your Church:

Smooth Out the Bumps – As people travel in summertime (or at other times of the year) their giving will continue to flow to the church.
Not Prepared – People are increasingly carrying less cash (let alone checks) with them on Sundays.
Larger Average Giving – Studies have shown that people who give online and through automated methods give larger individual gifts and more over time.
Regular Reminder – By people giving regularly to your church they will receive a consistent reminder of your church and how they are growing in their relationship with Jesus. It’s a part of discipling your people!
Increased Revenue – You will see more giving flow to your church.

2. Consider Hosting a 90-Day Tithe Challenge

A 90-Day Tithe Challenge picks up on Malachi 3, where God seems to indicate that he wants people to challenge him in generosity. Ask people to tithe for three months to your church, and if they then believe God hasn’t been faithful to them during that time, give them back their tithe…no questions asked!

If you haven’t heard of this before I could understand if you are suspicious! I would suggest you start by listening in on other churches as they talk about this with their people. Listen to their messages and download their materials. It will help you frame up how you’re going to present this challenge to your community. Here are some churches who have done the 90-Day Tithe Challenge:

Liquid Church – I think Tim did a superb job with this.
LCBC – Some great support materials, including updates and resources.
Life.Church [Video] – Hear Craig doing a great job explaining the challenge.

5 Questions to Ask Before Hosting a 90-Day Tithe Challenge:

Do you want something for people or from people? Many churches report an increase in regular giving when they utilize a campaign like this, but if that’s your only reason for doing it, people will know. Do you really believe that a generous lifestyle is what people need? Are you modeling that in your own life? Take some time to reflect and pray before deciding on this direction. Make sure you are looking to help people, not just increase your offering.

What’s the easiest way to gather interest? A well thought-out response card during the service should make it straightforward for people to get more information. This is a massive (and sometimes intimidating) decision for people to make; we don’t want them getting tripped up on a clunky response mechanism. (Tip: Ask people to respond if they are looking for more information, rather than asking them to commit to the challenge right in the service.)

How are you going to thank the people who get involved? It’s a big deal that people are giving in this way. For most of the program participants, it will be the most significant giving they have done to a church in their entire lives. You need to reinforce that they are making the right decision. There will be a lot of indications in their lives that this is the wrong decision…including bills, car repairs and family members! Sending people a copy of a book like The Money Challenge: 30 Days of Discovering God’s Design for You and Your Money might be a great way to reinforce this decision!

How will you keep people engaged? It’s one thing to commit to doing a challenge like this during a service when people feel inspired; it’s another thing to stay motivated for the entire 90 days! We sent emails every Thursday to all the people who signed up to participate in the challenge. Some of the emails were encouragements from Scripture, some solicited stories, others retold those stories to people to keep them encouraged. We finished the challenge with a video from our lead pastor, thanking people for participating and encouraging them to continue.

How can you publicly celebrate this breakthrough? Churches who have been through this process have seen so many cool stories come out of the people’s lives who commit to this challenge. How are you capturing these stories and then sharing them with the wider church? You can see an example of one of these stories from Liquid Church here. Sharing these stories builds your people’s faith to consider taking this massive step in their lives!

Websites & Mobile Devices: The New Frontier

By

Yvon Prehn

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May 3, 2018

Congratulations! You are finally happy with your website! But just when you thought you could relax, statistics like this appear:

■ There are over 1.2 billion mobile web users worldwide

■ In the U.S., 25 percent of mobile Web users are mobile-only (they rarely use a desktop to access the web)

■ Mobile device sales are increasing across the board, with over 85 percent of new handsets able to access the mobile web

These statistics caused one blogger to remark, “Many users will likely only ever see the mobile version of your site. That’s an astounding revelation isn’t it?” It’s an “astounding revelation” to communicators in the church that care about reaching as many people as possible with the gospel message as well as with updates and schedule details from the church. Depending upon the demographics of your church, the number of people only accessing the important information (that you put on your website) through their mobile device is most likely a large and probably growing part of your congregation.

Our challenge is how to make certain our website is accessible on mobile devices.

Recognize your limitations

Most of us do not code our websites from scratch: you’re probably using a template from one of the many fine companies that make them for churches. Perhaps someone at your church designed your website, and in the church office you are responsible to update it. We’ll talk about what you can do in a minute, but because you can’t control the underlying construction of the site, there are many aspects of mobile design you can’t do anything about. That’s a limitation you need to understand and live with.

The primary thing about your website that you must make sure of (and this is something all the major companies do today) is to make certain the site is what is termed “responsive”: the site knows if it is being viewed on a desktop, tablet or phone and the content resizes to be read most effectively with that device in mind. The site responds to the device being used to view it.

Not that long ago on mobile phones, the website was exactly like it was on the desktop, tiny and hard to read or navigate. Now, sites are optimized for mobile phones and tablets and the material is much easier to read and the sections easier to find. If your site is built on a WordPress foundation or your designer used WordPress, this feature has been built into most sites today.

If your site is not responsive, this is the first thing you must insist on in order for your site to both have credibility and be useful to your audience. None of the suggestions below will matter if you have a tiny, shrunken version of your website on a mobile device.

Do what you can do to make your mobile site more effective

■ Be sure you are using a template that looks good on a mobile phone. This is #1 and the most basic, but it’s especially true when you are picking out a template from a national company. Be sure you check it out on your mobile devices before you commit to it.

Some templates are simply easier to read and navigate on phones and tablets than others. Some template designs look great on the desktop but are totally confusing on a mobile device. Take the time to check them out before you invest the work in personalizing one for your church. If the template you picked out doesn’t look good on mobile devices, you can usually switch templates within a company without losing any data. Start here: optimize your template choice before you do anything else.

■ Check out the template navigation on mobile devices before you finalize template choice. Some templates are intuitive and work well, for others it is very difficult to find various ministries or the location of the main menu can be in an odd place or very hard to find. (This is something we take for granted when we work on our desktop computers.)

■ Check out what your header or nameplate looks like on the mobile phone. Some seriously odd things can happen here if you try to use an old graphic of such a size that doesn’t resize well to mobile devices. If the image is cropped oddly or the name of your church isn’t clear, people will click away without trying to figure out what’s going on. If you like the rest of the template, this isn’t a major concern: you can simply redo your logo or nameplate in Canva.

■ Understand the navigation system on mobile devices. This may be very different than the layout of your website on your desktop computer. If you display information in sidebars (that you expect people to be able to see when they first come to your site) this may not work for your mobile layout. Different templates and programs put sidebar material in different places, or in different orders! The important thing is: you need to figure out what appears on your mobile site and keep that in mind as to where you put material on the desktop version you work on.

Sometimes instead of making things more difficult, the mobile template will do things more clearly than on the desktop version. For example, on my site, I put small thumbnails by the articles and I always caption them. In desktop viewing, they are a minor graphic element, but on the mobile version, the picture is centered directly below the title and the caption is below it. I had nothing to do with that design change, but I really like how it looks on mobile devices and now I can select images and captions with this in mind.

Check out all changes on the mobile version of the site after you make them on the desktop

Again, you will not be directly modifying your mobile site. Whenever you make website changes on your desktop system those changes may look fine on your desktop, but what works well on your desktop may not look good (or work well) on the mobile version, even if it is responsive. This means you must keep checking back and forth to make sure both sites look good, are readable and make sense in navigation. This can be a pain to do, but having your phone by your computer and checking out changes is essential.

If you are building your site and using the Genesis framework, get the Design Palette Pro plugin. You can make changes in the look of your site (layout, type, colors, etc.) and on the side of the page are little icons that immediately let you see what it looks like on your phone or tablet. True, you can always simply resize your website, but a plugin like this will immediately give you an accurate preview.

Design tips for effective mobile viewing

Here are specific design suggestions, but keep in mind that your success will depend upon your specific system, and which features you can and can’t control.

■ Think SIMPLE. This is particularly important for graphics. A gorgeous photo that looks great on your desktop monitor may turn into a muddy mess on the phone. Plus, the print overlay over the same photo may be unreadable.

Graphics — and the words on them — must be super-simple in order to be useful on mobile devices. The message must be readable at small sizes.

If you are designing web graphics with Canva (and I highly recommend it), shrink it down (using the little slider on the bottom right of your canvas) periodically as you work to make sure your image is clear and readable at a small size.

■ Think SMALL. For faster, more efficient sites both on your desktop and mobile versions, you want your images to be as small as possible. This can be a challenge especially for PNG images, which is the recommended graphics format for the higher resolution images on mobile devices. Though the resolution is great, PNGs are many times larger than JPEG images.

The solution is to use a compression program that shrinks them down significantly. Tinypng is a site everyone can use. It compresses both png and jpeg files. WordPress has a fantastic plugin that will do the compression for you automatically.

■ Make links big enough for big fingers. One of the most frustrating things for mobile devices is that the links may be one tiny, underlined word and very difficult to hit exactly. If possible, use an icon or image. Even making a link in BOLD CAPS gives users a bigger target to hit quickly with their thumb.

If you have a choice, stick with simple, sans serif typefaces. Don’t get fancy with your type choices, if you have a choice. Go for clean and clear. Get variation from using point size, bold and italic consistently. Arial, Avenir, Roboto or Helvetica are some recommended choices, with Open Sans and Lato being two newer ones. My website uses Lato and I love its clean, readable look.

Continue improving, tweaking the versions of your site Making certain that both the desktop and mobile versions of your site work well is a continuing challenge, but also a great way to be obedient to the biblical goal of “being all things to all people that we might win some” (1 Cor. 9:22).

The Silent, Destructive Communication War Between Boomers and Millennials

By

Yvon Prehn

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May 3, 2018

There is a silent war going on in churches today. Nobody talks about it and many in the church are not even aware it is going on, but it continues day after day and the injuries, both to individuals and to the Kingdom of God, are immense. This is the war of communication expectations between talking on the phone, email, and texting.

Though this conflict can happen between any members of the church, for purposes of this article, I’m going to oversimplify it by sharing what I’ve seen happen many times between Boomer and Millennial age groups. Though I’m using these two groups as examples, read into them “Boomer and older” and “Millennial and younger.”

Here are some typical Skirmishes:

Situation #1: A Boomer congregation member places a phone call to a Millennial Youth Pastor and leaves a message. No response. Boomer tries email. No response. Sunday comes around and Boomer angrily confronts Millennial, “I was going to contribute two scholarships to Winter Camp, but since you didn’t have the courtesy to respond to my offer, the scholarship money has been donated elsewhere.” Millennial responds, “I’m really sorry. I didn’t get any of your Messages.”

Situation #2: Millennial Youth Pastor texts the Boomer age people in the church who have said they want to be part of the prayer team for youth. She is excited about the list she received from the church office and sends a series of Instagram links along with the texts showing the kids they will be praying for at an upcoming strategy session at Starbucks.

When the time comes for the strategy session, only one person out of the 15 she sent multiple text messages to shows up. On Sunday, when she tries to be kind and ask why various Boomer individuals didn’t show up, she gets a combination of blank stares and replies of “You never contacted me” in response.

What is going on

In both groups, the person sending the message felt they were doing all they could to communicate. However, just sending a message is not the same as communicating a Message.

In both cases the message was never received by the party it was intended for.

Before I get to specific advice on how to deal with this redemptively in the church, let’s step back and realize that we are at a unique time in the world of communication because, though we have many channels of communication available today, different groups use different tools that do not necessarily communicate with each other. Following are some examples of this:

Millennial communication channels — Many Millennials rarely talk on their phones — they don’t answer them or listen to messages. Nor do they read email — they rarely sit down at a computer because they do everything with their phones. Except talk on them.

They text. A lot. They constantly scan and send social media on their phones. These are the communication channels they use.

The result is that if they are called and left a voice message or sent an email, chances are they won’t hear it or see it.

Boomer communication channels — Boomers talk on their phones. They listen to and leave messages. Many have no idea how to text, how to receive one or how to send one. Many of their phones don’t have the texting app enabled or it may not be available. If they have it, they may not know how to use it.

For many Boomers, their preferred method of technological communication is email, though many Boomers and older don’t even know how to use this. The Boomers who use email, assume everyone has email and responds to it.

The social media of choice for many Boomers is Facebook — but they use Facebook at home on a computer and they primarily look at the updates and ignore (or are not aware of) messages sent through Facebook.

Of course, there are many exceptions to the examples above, but they are worth considering when communication problems arise.

Suggested solutions

Before practical solutions, as is always the case, let’s look at the spiritual solutions first.

For all age groups in the church, we do well to remember that we serve a Lord, “who did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom (Matt. 20:28).”

We are commanded to “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, (Phil. 2:3).”

How then can we act with humility and a heart of service in our intergenerational communications? Here are some suggestions:

1 Be honest in your print and online church communication listings. Many problems arise when a church lists staff email addresses, but the staff members do not answer their emails. Where this is particularly destructive and happens often, is between youth pastors and parents, where the parents email and the youth pastor doesn’t respond.

2 If an email address is given, staff MUST commit to checking and responding to email. There’s a silent war of communication expectations between generations going on in churches today.

3 If staff won’t do this and prefers to text, DON’T list their email. List a number they can be reached and specifically state “Pastor Jeff prefers to communicate via text.”

4 In the church, if you are on a committee or volunteer for a ministry or work with volunteers, before anything else, ask “What is your preferred communication method? Text, email, phone call?” Then respond in the way requested, even if that is not your preferred method.

5 If you don’t know how to text, consider learning how to do it. If typing with one finger or your thumbs seems impossible, most phones today make it possible to send a text by dictating it into your phone.

6 If you hate to respond to email — get an app on your phone and do it anyway.

In conclusion

These are not easy communication changes to make, particularly if you have to learn a new way to communicate, but warring communication methods hurt individuals and the church. Pray for patience and grace with yourself and each other and remember it’s not about you, but about keeping peace and growing the Kingdom of God.

‘I Can Only Imagine’ Takes a Victory Lap

By

Bob Ditmer

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May 3, 2018

To say the inspirational movie I Can Only Imagine was a box office hit, is a bit of an understatement.

The true story about the life of Bart Millard, lead singer of the Christian band MercyMe, and his struggles with an abusive father, brought in $81 million at the box office. The movie only cost $7 million to create.

Now, the hit movie is headed to the small screen. The film will release digitally on June 5 and on Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus DVD and Digital), DVD, and On Demand June 12 from Lionsgate and Provident Films. The movie could also prove to be a draw for local churches. Some publishers have already produced DVD small group kits based on Millard’s story. It might also be appealing to parents for a family movie night.

The movie package will feature over three hours of extras including seven deleted scenes, seven in-depth short features and more. Some of the special features include “MercyMe: The Early Days,” “Imagine Forgiveness with Bart Millard,” “Casting I Can Only Imagine,” and Dennis Quaid: “On My Way to Heaven.”

Millard sees the movie as an evangelistic vehicle. In the opening days’ success of the movie at the box office he told KALB he was thrilled about the public reception but added there’s a bigger story behind the bottom line, “No one is out of the reach of Christ. If people walk away with that kind of hope, then we’ve done our job.”

Cindy Bond had high hopes for the movie, as all producers do for their efforts, but she admitted she never saw this level of success. She told the Sacramento Bee, “Oh my gosh, I have not landed; I’m just orbiting the earth. My feet haven’t touched the ground. Hollywood is not ignoring this faith-based film,” she said. “This movie jumped up and said, ‘Hello!’ It elevated the whole genre.”

Reach of I Can Only Imagine Continues to Grow

And as they say on those late-night infomercials– “But wait, there’s more!”

Last month, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed HB 3473 into law, which legally “declares the official inspirational state song to be ‘I Can Only Imagine’ by MercyMe.” The measure also orders the State Library to keep a copy of the song in its records. The film was shot in Oklahoma.

But the continued success of the movie, and the song it was based on, shouldn’t come as a surprise. For some time it appears as if a divine hand was guiding its good fortune.

The song was quickly a hit on Christian radio when it was released in 1999, but it reached heights no one could have predicted four years later when some shock jocks on an FM rock station in Dallas played the song on a dare.

Fitz, Tony and Big Gay Steven, then-hosts of Wild 101 FM’s “The Fitz Show” decided to play the song as nothing more than a joke. And when they did, something unexpected happened: the phone lines lit up with requests for “I Can Only Imagine” to be played again. Listeners loved it.

I Can Only Imagine appeals to a secular audience

Soon, interest in the song snowballed and the band’s record label began sending copies of it to top 40 stations across the country, challenging program managers to play it. When they did, their phones blew up as well, with the masses wanting to hear more of the Christian song.

“Word just started getting out. Our label didn’t know what to do with it. How do you even promote this?” Millard told The Church Boys podcast. “They agreed to send a copy to the stations and say, ‘Play it once and if you don’t get a reaction just throw it out.’”

He said that those who played it quickly saw the song top their charts, with MercyMe members explaining that DJs were contacting them and saying that this was the first time in their careers that people were actually calling to thank them for playing something inspirational.

Now, the next mission field for the movie appears to be at local churches and how God might use a DVD to continue spreading His story of grace and redemption.

President Trump: Prayer Built This Great Nation

By

Megan Briggs

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May 3, 2018

Faith leaders joined Vice President Pence, President Trump and members of his cabinet in the Rose Garden this morning to observe the National Day of Prayer 2018. The theme of the day was unity.

“The sweetest words the President and I ever hear are ‘I’m praying for you,’” Pence said. The Vice President drew attention to the fact that prayer has been the binding thread that has kept the nation together through its earliest and most tumultuous times.

“The federal government will never, ever penalize any person for their religious beliefs again,” Pence promised. “Believers of every background have a champion in President Donald Trump.” Pence read from Jeremiah 29:11 to the crowd gathered.

Cissie Graham Lynch (granddaughter of Billy Graham) gave the first prayer of the event. She thanked God for the President and Vice President and asked that he would help all those in leadership to lead well. She also asked for a time of mending toward unity and for peace. Following Lynch, Priest Narayanachar, Sister Bingham, Chaplain Agbere, Rabbi Shemtov and Cardinal Wuerl each offered prayers.

As Trump addressed the group, he started by quoting Billy Graham’s thoughts on prayer. “Prayer is the key that opens [to] us the treasures of God’s mercies and blessings.” Trump then articulated the role faith and the prayers of religious Americans have had in building the United States.

“The prayers of religious believers helped gain our independence, and the prayers of religious leaders like the Reverend Martin Luther King—great man—helped win the long struggle for civil rights. Faith has shaped our families, and it’s shaped our communities. It’s inspired our commitment to charity and our defense of liberty. And faith has forged the identity and the destiny of this great nation that we all love,” President Trump said.

President Trump used the opportunity to sign another executive order, the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative. Trump explained the initiative would ensure “the faith-based and community organizations that form the bedrock of our society have strong advocates in the White House and throughout the federal government.” Additionally, Trump says the initiative will “ensure that faith-based organizations have equal access to government funding and the equal right to exercise their deeply held beliefs.”

Concluding his speech, Trump said, “Today we gather to remember this truth: We thank God for the faith of our people. We praise God for the blessings of freedom. And we ask God to forever bless this magnificent land that we all love so much.”

The 12 ‘most effective’ Preachers in English

By

Megan Briggs

-

May 3, 2018

In 1996, Baylor University’s Truett Seminary sent out a survey to professors of homiletics to determine who were the most “effective” preachers in the English language. Twenty years later, the seminary was curious to see who professors would identify as today’s most effective preachers. The results are in, identifying 12 known and lesser-known preachers who “exemplify” the art of effective preaching.

“More preachers can be heard by more people than ever before in history,” Dr. Hulitt Gloer, director of the Kyle Lake Center for Effective Preaching, said before he announced the list of recognized preachers.

Gloer then read the following list of preachers (in no particular order):

Alistair Begg
Tony Evans
Joel Gregory
Timothy Keller
Thomas Long
Otis Moss III
John Piper
Haddon Robinson
Andy Stanley
Charles Swindoll
Barbara Brown Taylor
Ralph Douglas West

Gloer emphasized there is no winner on this list, rather these people are on a “level playing field.” Additionally, Gloer articulated these people are examples to look up to in the art of preaching. They are not necessarily the most effective preachers in world, but the ones the English-speaking church has heard and are familiar with. “The most effective preachers we will never know about,” Gloer stated. He explained the truest, most effective preacher may be in a local church without a public platform. As we look over this list, we are to view it as a learning exercise for effective preaching and not a competition.

How the List of Most Effective Preachers Was Determined

Truett Seminary sent the same criteria that was used in the 1996 survey to approximately 500 professors of preaching throughout the world. Seventy people responded to the criteria, giving their opinions on how it might need to change for today’s list. Truett Seminary then formed new criteria based on their recommendations. They sent the updated survey to the same 500 professors over the course of two years. One hundred seventy nine professors responded, and they closed survey in December 2017.

As far as the people who made the list, Gloer had brief comments to say about each person. Although a few stuck out due to their names also appearing on the 1996 list. “Pretty good staying power, I’d say,” Gloer said of these people. There were four preachers who appeared on the current list and the 1996 list: Thomas Long, Haddon Robinson, Charles Swindoll and Barbara Brown Taylor.

Gloer acknowledged the recent passing of Haddon Robinson, stating Robinson “was still among us” when the list was being compiled.

Commenting on the differences between the 1996 list and today’s list, Gloer observes there are three African Americans, but still only one woman. Gloer said “we hope that changes.” He also mentioned about half of the preachers are academics, while the other half are pastors.

Criteria for the Most Effective Preachers

As far as the criteria used to identify the most effective preachers, the following list was found on Baylor’s site.

Biblical/Exegetical – The effective preacher’s sermons are the result of careful exegetical study of selected biblical texts, revealing an awareness of their grammatical/syntactical, historical, cultural, literary, and theological dimensions and ever attentive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Relevance – The effective preacher’s sermons demonstrate a proper hermeneutic which bridges the gap between the meaning of the text in its historical context and its meaning for the contemporary context of the hearer resulting in the application of its meaning to everyday life.

Person of the Preacher – The effective preacher’s life and ministry demonstrate such authenticity, integrity and commitment to the Christian faith that the sermon is never questioned or compromised by the character of the preacher.

Theological/Orthodox – The effective preacher’s sermons proclaim the great truths of the Christian faith in keeping with the great Christian theological and ethical tradition.

Sermon Form – The effective preacher’s sermons employ a form/structure/shape which allows the meaning of the text to be exposed in an understandable manner so that the hearer is engaged from beginning to end.

Effective Communication – The effective preacher’s sermons clearly communicate the central truth(s) of the biblical text by the use of accessible language and effective images and illustration so as to have an affective impact on the lives of the hearers and an awareness of the presence and power of God.

Delivery – The effective preacher’s sermons are delivered skillfully employing a style authentic to the preacher and appropriate to the hearers. The style and delivery never supersede or hinder the content of the sermon but enable hearers to better hear and understand it.

The results of the 1996 survey named the following people as the most effective preachers: Rev. Walter Burhardt, Dr. Fred Craddock, Dr. James Forbes, Rev. Billy Graham, Dr. Thomas Long, Rev. Lloyd Ogilvie, Dr. Haddon Robinson, Dr. John Stott, Dr. Charles Swindoll, Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor, Dr. Gardner Taylor, Dr. William Willimon.

Iowa Lawmakers: ‘No Abortions After First Heartbeat’

By

Bob Ditmer

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May 3, 2018

Iowa appears poised to enact the nation’s toughest abortion law, outlawing abortion when the baby’s heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks.

The legislation was approved by the Iowa legislature Wednesday night and now heads to Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, who has indicated she might sign the bill. Her spokeswoman, Brenna Smith, said in an email to World Magazine, “Governor Reynolds is 100 percent pro-life and will never stop fighting for the unborn.”

Iowa abortion law could challenge Roe v. Wade

Other states have tried to introduce similar bans, only to have them overruled by the U.S. Supreme Court. But lawmakers acknowledged and even welcomed the near certainty that pro-abortion groups would challenge the measure in court once it became law.

State Sen. Jake Chapman, from Adel, Iowa, said he would “love for the United States Supreme Court to look at this bill and have this as a vehicle to overturn Roe v. Wade,” the 1973 decision that legalized abortions of babies who could not survive outside the womb.

“We at the state legislatures, especially Republican-controlled legislatures, have a responsibility to kind of reload,” State Senator Rick Bertrand told the New York Times. “We need to create vehicles that will allow the Supreme Court possibly to reach back and take this case, and to take up an anti-abortion case.”

One of Iowa’s congressmen, Rep. Steve King, supported the measure and cheered its passage in the the Iowa General Assembly. He also sees the law as a catalyst to ending legal abortion.

“It was a pleasure supporting the efforts of members of Iowa’s House and Senate to secure passage of Senate File 359. Legislators share my belief, and the belief of the many pro-life organizations that joined in this effort, that the time is right for a challenge to Roe v. Wade to occur.”

“On the federal level, we have a pro-life House of Representatives, a pro-life United States Senate, a pro-life President and a United States Supreme Court that may well be receiving a new Constitutionalist Justice in the near future.”

“We should pair a federal Heartbeat Bill with the Iowa Heartbeat Bill to set the stage for the complete overturn of the Supreme Court’s terrible Roe v. Wade decision.”

Rep. King, who quipped, “If a heartbeat is detected, the baby must be protected,” introduced the federal Heartbeat Protection Act. It has 171 cosponsors, and the support of 162 pro-life organizations and leaders.

While the Iowa legislation has larger political implications, many pro-life groups dismiss suggestions the bill is nothing more than a legal maneuver or a political strategy.

“This legislation affirms the scientific fact that human life begins at conception,” the American Family Association, a conservative Christian group based in Mississippi, said in a statement. “Those of us who are against abortion have no hidden agenda. Our goal is plain and simple—to once and for all end the horrible practice of abortion and to create a society that values life from conception to natural death.”

The Iowa legislation has been widely criticized by pro-abortion groups as taking women’s rights in the state back 50 years.

How to Visualize Your Creativity With Storyboards

By

Dan Scott

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May 2, 2018

Creativity. Ideation. Brainstorming. Design Thinking.

You can hardly go anywhere around the Internet and not be hit with these buzzwords and ideas. And to make each of them effective, it comes down to process.

Any creative endeavor needs a process, a method by which the creator can capture abstract ideas and push them toward a tangible product and ultimately to someone (or hopefully more than a someone) to experience.

Enter Storyboards.

I often tweet or Instagram photos of our creative team’s storyboards.

When I do, I get an inevitable question: “What are those cards about?”
That along with a follow up question much like, “I’m intrigued; how do you use them?”

The great thing is that the answer to these questions is more simple than the organization of cards makes it look.

Want to know why? There are NO RULES to storyboarding!

OK, maybe that’s not entirely true. Perhaps storyboarding requires a few guiding principles, but overall, when it comes to the creative process there are no rules. Each project you encounter will define how you’ll need to storyboard that given project.

At the most basic level, creative boards and note cards along with the storyboarding process create an easy, organizing framework to visualize your creativity. Storyboarding helps you see the story you’re going to build with your creative endeavor (book, talk, sermon, event, essay) before you actually sit down and do the hard work of hammering out the details.

In short, storyboarding helps you visualize what’s possible with your creativity.

Let’s break this down:

Here’s what you need:

Two creative boards. (Or a wall. Or a flat surface.)
Index cards of various colors. (Or Post-It Notes. Or Tear sheets. Or paper.)
Push-Pins. (Or tape. Or sticky-tack.)
Sharpies. (Or generic markers. Or pens. Or any writing utensil)
Your team. (Or just yourself.)
Ideas. (Or…nope, pretty much ideas is what you need here.)

Here’s what you do:

Make a plan.

Assign different colors note cards for each of the elements you need in your project. This can be done ahead of time. It can be done on the fly as you realize you need a new category.

The exact colors don’t matter necessarily. What’s important is that your colors are consistent throughout the project you’re creating. However, something I’ve discovered along the way is reserving the black and white colored cards for organizing information such as generic headers. I use colors to organize the type of ideas.

When you have a reoccurring creative meeting, consider standardizing your colors to make the process more of a creative habit. When we plan large group creative meetings, the elements we need each month don’t change. Having assigned colors for these seemed wise. These colors are even reflected in our shared google docs with writers. The habit of standardizing the meeting has influenced how we focus our attention as we move through the different elements. We know that when we’re working through the orange cards, we’re talking about the host introductions and games; red means Bible story conventions. When we refer back to the board, we don’t have to figure out what the colors mean each month.

TIP: For larger endeavors, consider making a color key somewhere on the board. Make it easy for your team to decipher what each of the cards represents.

Brainstorm.

The first creative board is your brain dump board. Start the process by throwing out all of the ideas that pertain (or don’t) to your ideas. You can either do this with cards and a creative board or just start jotting down ideas on a whiteboard or tear-sheet. The first rule of brainstorming is there are no bad ideas. Now, we KNOW there are bad ideas that people will submit. But this is not the time to evaluate the ideas that people throw out in the conversation. Evaluation at this point might kill creativity.

TIP: No typing. Typing uses the left side of the brain which isn’t ideal for creativity. Engage the right side of the brain with writing. Use note pads, notebooks and pens to jot down ideas. The process of writing will get your brain thinking in a way that will help your creativity.

Organize Your Content.

Once you have your ideas, it’s time to see if they’ll work. Here’s where you start to evaluate the ideas and start placing them on a storyboard.

Five Decisions That Helped Turn Around My Small Town Church

By

Travis Stephens

-

May 2, 2018

The small town church where I serve as Executive Pastor will turn 12 years old this year. In those 12 years we’ve experienced incredible growth in many different areas. We’ve seen hundreds of people experience salvation and take their next step through baptism. We’ve seen our giving increase tenfold. And we saw our average weekend attendance top 700 people, in a one stop-light town with a population of 2,200.

I believe small town pastors have amazing opportunities to do big things in their communities. I believe your small town church can make a big impact, and I believe your small town church can grow; I believe this because I’m living it.

But, before I get you too excited, let me warn you that it wasn’t always this way.
When Strong Tower Church was launched in 2006, we only knew one method of doing church, the way everyone else in our community was doing it. We launched with 87 people in attendance at our first service, and at the end of 2006, we had grown to 86 people. Best-case scenario at this rate was closing our doors after 86 years. Not exactly what you dream of when you plant a church.

The Barna group said that in 2003, the average Protestant church size in America was 89 adults. So, after our first year of ministry, we had basically achieved average. It was at this point we knew we had to start making some changes if we wanted to see the church grow.
In the past 12 years, I can say almost everything about our church has changed. The one thing that has remained the same has been our passion to uplift the name of Jesus and our passion for loving people. I have no doubt that these two things have been the cornerstones of our success.

As far as the changes that have helped us grow, there are far too many to fit into one blog post. Maybe someday I’ll write a book about all of them. But, I do want to share some of the major changes that I believe have made the biggest impact along the way.

We stopped settling for good enough and started saying, “Make it better.” It is so easy in rural churches to settle for good enough. We did it for far too long. Our worship’s not great, but it’s good enough. We never get started on time, but it’s good enough. Our coffee is not great, but it’s cheaper and that’s good enough. You get the point. As long as you’re OK with good enough, you’re going to have an average small town church at best. You have to change your mindset and your congregation’s from good enough to let’s make it better.

We started making kids’ ministry a priority. This is the first ministry I mention because I believe it’s the most important. People will put up with a lot of good enough, as long as you offer an excellent kids’ ministry. It needs to be safe, which means you have volunteers background checked. You also have a check-in system for kids so that a random stranger can’t pick them up at the end of service. It needs to be fun, which means you have people who love kids and don’t mind getting onto the floor to play. And it needs to be a place where they can learn about Jesus on their level, which means you’re teaching them in creative and practical ways.

Our pastor changed how he preached. He even changed how he was dressed while he was preaching. He went from slacks, shirt and tie to blue jeans and a t-shirt most weeks. This made him more approachable because people felt like he was more like them. And it helped draw a younger crowd. We went from preaching mostly stand-alone messages to preaching sermon series. This created more interest because people knew what was coming up. It made it easier to invite people, and the messages became more practical.

7 Reasons You Need a Sermon Evaluation Team

By

Chuck Lawless

-

May 2, 2018

Many of us remember our seminary preaching classes that included critique (sermon evaluation) from our peers and professors. In fact, I still remember the negatives my classmates pointed out after I had preached—and I took that class almost 30 years ago! Still, I think all of us who preach regularly need to have a team that evaluates our preaching. Here’s why:

7 Reasons You Need a Sermon Evaluation Team

None of us is a perfect preacher. We know that’s the case, but we still don’t regularly invite critique and seek improvement. We act as if we don’t need to improve much if we reject opportunities for evaluation.

We need to know whether we’re connecting with our congregations. Just because we feel good about our sermon doesn’t mean the congregation heard it as we intended. Talking with others who listen intently to our messages can tell us a lot.

We model humility by seeking input from others. Within most of our churches are staff members, small group leaders and Bible study teachers who themselves can improve through critique. They’re more likely to get on board with the process if we pastors are leading the way.

We can only assume how others hear our sermons if we don’t ask. Sure, some may tell us how much they appreciate our preaching, but we still don’t know what others think without asking them.

Folks who don’t like our preaching are less likely to tell us. They may tell others behind our back, but they’re often reticent to be that honest with us. A sermon evaluation group that speaks with integrity can address this omission.

Few of us are so self-aware that we can fully critique our own sermons. No matter how self-aware we think we are, it’s always difficult to evaluate our own work without bias.

The Word of God is worth our intentional improvement. No matter how long we’ve preached, we can still grow in communication skills. Our gospel message is so important that all of us should want to continually improve.

Pastors, I’m asking you to help us via your comments. Do you use a sermon evaluation team? If so, who are they? What process do you use?

This article originally appeared here.

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