Newsletters
Home Blog Page 1112

5 Things to Pray for Your Kids BEFORE You Need To

By
Andrew Linder
-
communicating with the unchurched

Over the years I’ve had multiple parents who’ve sat across from me in my office and expressed dire concern for a child who is on a foolish path. And their question is always the same: “What do we need to do?” While sometimes there are practical steps that can be taken, at other times there is little that can be done as a ‘quick fix’ to make up for years of neglect in parenting and prayer. And yet, prayer is still the best option.

Have you ever found yourself praying hot and heavy for your kids in the heat of the moment because of some trouble they were in, or some major decision they had to make? We’ve probably all been there, especially the older our children become.

While no child comes with any guarantees, here are five things to pray regularly for your children no matter their age (but especially while they are young)—things we easily forget to pray fervently about until the time comes that we need to.

Pray in advance about:

1.  Their Soul

In the end, nothing else matters in our prayers for our kids if we don’t pray first and foremost for their salvation. God has called us as parents to be the #1 factor in their lives that lead them to Him and ultimately to Heaven. That is a definitely a task that requires the ongoing power of prayer.

2.  Their Heart

Apart from their soul, nothing else is as valuable, or as vulnerable, as their heart. Put a high price on protecting their heart, for out of it are the issues of life (Prov. 4:23). One of the best ways to protect your child’s heart is by protecting what influences their mind. (What they watch and read, the amount of time they spend online, who their friends are, etc.) We need to pray that God would not only help their hearts to be good, but that He would protect their hearts from evil. Pray that God would give them a humble heart, a servant’s heart and a heart that pursues God, and is passionate about the things that are closest to the heart of God Himself. Because a pure heart is their greatest asset to making wise choices for the rest of their life.

3.  Their Life’s Mate

Second only to salvation, who your child chooses to marry is the most important decision they will ever make in their life. God has called you, as their parent, to be a big part of that decision. All throughout Scripture, we see examples of parents involvement both practically and through prayer, for God’s will to be performed in the person their child marries. This involves praying for their purity as well. The time to pray and prepare your child for a lifetime of purity and a life’s mate is now.

4.  Their God-Given Purpose

Your child is unique. So unique, in fact, that God has a specific purpose for their life that no one else can fill exactly like they can. Each of your children are wired differently than the others. They have strengths, gifts and abilities that are uniquely theirs and that align with their God-given calling in life. Your job as a parent is to help nurture those passions and cultivate a desire in their hearts to use them in the greatest way possible for the cause of Christ. This cannot happen easily apart from the power of prayer.

5.  Their Children

As you pray for your kids, pray in advance for their future kids, your grandchildren, because they will be raised by the kids you are raising right now. How well they do as parents in the future will greatly reflect how well you’ve done now. So parent now and pray now as if your grandchildren’s lives depended on it, because well…they do. Remembering that we are raising the future generation of parents ought to inspire us.

Sadly, many parents only begin to pray for some of these things once their children start to go astray, or start a relationship that they don’t approve of, or make life-changing decisions that scare them, and all of a sudden, they’re driven to their knees in prayer.

Here’s a better idea… Don’t wait. Pray now. Before you need to. And then enjoy watching your children reap a lifetime of the benefits.

“If every parent would pray for their child as fervently over the course of 18 years as they do in the heat of the moment, it could literally change their child’s life.”

Make it a priority today to take the time you need to pray for your kids individually and specifically, by name. Pray these five things over their lives, and watch God unfold the details.

“Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”  Philippians 4:6

This article originally appeared here.

The Dangerous Power of Vision: 6 Steps for Responsibly Stewarding the Power of Vision

By
Jenni Catron
-
communicating with the unchurched

Recently a friend called looking for some advice. She and her husband were at a crossroads. A few years ago they had sold their home and most of their possessions, left family and long-time friends to take a job across the country. They knew it was a risky adventure, but they were compelled by the vision of this organization. The organization had some audacious goals but not outside of the realm of possibility. They were excited about the possibilities. They asked lots of questions and took time to process with friends and mentors. They sought God for guidance and eventually made the leap.

Now they were struggling. They had made tremendous sacrifices only to discover that the organization really wasn’t ready to pursue the vision they had cast. This family was in upheaval because a leader didn’t fully understand the power of vision.

Sound crazy or extreme? Sadly, change the names and organizations and I hear a version of this story nearly every day.

VISION IS ESSENTIAL FOR INDIVIDUALS, TEAMS AND ORGANIZATIONS.

Proverbs reminds us “without vision people perish.” Those of us who are visionary by nature use this scripture to help us find significance in the visionary gift that we have.

But visions are dangerously powerful, and a leader who doesn’t understand that power has the potential to cause irreparable damage to the people they lead.

One of my greatest concerns for leaders is that we don’t fully grasp the weight of our influence on others. Influence by definition means “the power to change or affect someone.” Let this sink in…the POWER to change someone. Our position of influence gives us power that quite literally changes or at a minimum affects another person’s life.

You understand this… Think about the influence your parents have on your life. Think about your first boss. Think about your soccer coach or piano teacher. Your life has been shaped by their influence, positively and negatively.

Visionary leaders create hope and possibility. They appeal to people’s dreams and goals. They define a preferred future. The better a leader is at casting a compelling vision, the more influence they wield.

At their best, a visionary not only casts an inspiring vision, but they have the wherewithal to see that vision come to fruition. And while people may perish without a vision, we also know that “hope deferred makes the heart sick.” When a leader does not have the ability to see a vision become a reality, they create pain and hopelessness for those they lead.

SIX STEPS FOR RESPONSIBLY STEWARDING THE POWER OF VISION:

  1. Refine your vision with the wisdom of others. Visionary leaders nearly always underestimate what their ideas will entail. Because they are often removed from frontline activity, they have lost touch with what it takes to bring an idea to life. Don’t cast your vision to the masses until you’ve worked it out with a team of people who can help you understand what it will really take. And by the way, make sure you really listen in this conversation. Your gregariousness and charm can woo others easily.
  2. Slow down and be cautious. Once you’ve received critical feedback, count the cost for accomplishing this vision. What will it take? What will you risk? Who will take risks? What will it cost?
  3. Get in touch with reality. As you’ve processed the impact and the cost, think through the critical points in this vision. What key conversations will you need to have? Who may try to derail it? How likely are they to succeed? What difficult decisions will you have to navigate in order to keep the vision on track? What happens and who is impacted if the vision isn’t realized?
  4. Count the cost. What will this require of you? Will it pull you from other priorities and if so, what is the potential impact? What will it take financially? Do you have the margin to pursue it? What will it require of your staff? What will they give up? If you’re recruiting people based on the vision, what are they risking, and if you were in their shoes would you take the risk?
  5. Proceed humbly. If you have taken the time to process well and feel compelled to move forward with the vision, hold it humbly. Acknowledge what it is requiring of everyone, every step of the way.
  6. Evaluate your “why.” What motivates you to this vision? Is it a vision you would pursue even if it cost you everything?

Too often I see leaders cast a vision and pursue it without a full understanding of the cost and impact. We get so starry-eyed with the thrill of accomplishing the goal that we underestimate what it will cost, especially in human capital, to achieve it.

We’ve seen this play out with the business professional who scales the corporate ladder at the expense of his family. He cast a vision for why working hard would acquire their grand “American Dream” but they underestimated the sacrifice of their relationships.

We’ve witnessed the fast-growing church with their audacious growth goal that gets blindsided by a moral failure. They were racing so fast toward the vision that they blew past the warning signs.

We’ve read the stories of start-up companies that hire for rapid growth only to make drastic cuts when investment funds run out.

Visions have enormous power. And visions in the hands of strong leaders wield extraordinary power.

Power in and of itself is not bad, but power wielded carelessly leaves carnage.

Leaders, you have the sacred responsibility of stewardship. And two of the most precious things you’ll steward are vision and people. They are inextricably linked: “Without vision people perish,” but without people, visions are just pipe dreams.

We need you to be visionaries. We need you to dream great, God-sized dreams. Please don’t shrink away from that. However, we need you to equally recognize the power of those visions, and if they are not birthed of God and nurtured with humility, you risk wielding your power dangerously.

Leadership is sacred work. Visionary leadership is powerful work. May you sacredly steward your power for the glory of God and the good of others.

This article originally appeared here.

5 Otherwise Good Things That Can Ruin Your Marriage

By
Ashley Willis
-
communicating with the unchurched

There are many “good” things out there, but sometimes, we try to cram too many of them into our family life. It’s a tricky balancing act that takes great consideration. If we allow these good things to take priority over our marriage and family, all we’ll have left is a damaged relationship with our spouse and children. And, none of us want that! So, what are some “good things” that can go bad when left unchecked?

Well, here are five to consider…

  1.  Work

We must work to live, but we must also make sure that we don’t find ourselves living to work. If we’re not intentional about our time, work can eat up our schedule, and we can end up depriving our spouse and family of the time and attention they need from us. So, we must be willing to set boundaries. We need to watch the amount of overtime and travel we take on at work. We need to make it a priority to be home at a reasonable time, so we can engage with our family before bedtime. When we make our family a priority over our work, our relationships will be stronger, and our life will be in balance.

For more on this, click HERE.

2.  Techonology

I love technology, but it can distract me and eat up my time like nothing else can. So, I’ve had to set some important boundaries for myself. I try not to be on the phone when I come home to my family. I want to make sure that they know that they are more important than my Facebook feed. My husband and I both try to put our phones down as much as possible when we are home so that we can engage with one another and with our kiddos. It’s important that our spouse and family doesn’t feel like they have to compete for our attention with our screen. So, we must be willing to set intentional boundaries for ourselves and follow through with them. When we do this, our marriage and family will be healthier and happier.

For more on this, read THIS.

3.  Personal Hobbies

Please don’t get me wrong; we should all try to find time to engage in our favorite hobbies even after getting married and having children. The problem arises when we spend more time golfing than we do with our families. We shouldn’t put our scrapbooking hobby ahead of time with our husbands. If we are constantly trying to arrange our schedules around our hobby, then our lives are greatly out of balance. We must always put our marriage and family first. There is no hobby worth pursuing more than our spouse.

4. Children’s Sports and Activities

There are so many benefits to children being involved in sports and after school activities of all kinds, but these days, many parents are spending a fortune and many hours away from the rest of the family in order for their child to be involved in these activities. I understand that some children exhibit tremendous gifts at a very young age, and we feel like it is our duty as parents to further their skills. This is a good thing. However, when we throw our family into hyper-drive to attend all the practices, rehearsals, games, competitions, etc., this good thing can quickly wear on a family and become detrimental to the family as a whole.

Dave and I have experienced this firsthand when our oldest son, Cooper, was doing competitive gymnastics. We found ourselves at the gym nine hours a week and at overnight competitions on the weekends. Dave usually couldn’t attend the competitions due to church on Sundays, so Cooper and I would be absent from the rest of the family during that time. Eventually, the schedule began to take a toll on our family. I hated that we weren’t able to spend as much time together, and I didn’t think it was fair to my husband and other children. After talking it through with Dave and Cooper and praying about it, we decided to pull Cooper from the competition team and placed him in a Parkour class. He loves it, and we now go to the gym an hour and a half a week instead of nine hours a week. Our family functions so much better, and Cooper still gets to participate in a sport that he loves. It’s all about balance.

For more on this, click HERE.

5. Friendships

I love hanging out with my girlfriends, and I have the privilege of doing so on a weekly basis. However, I know there must be balance there as well. All too often, Dave and I have counseled couples who have allowed time with friends to usurp time spent with their spouses, or they let their friends govern their marriage. Unfortunately, some of those marriages ended in divorce. We are greatly influenced by our friends, so we must choose them wisely. We must also realize that we cannot put any friendship ahead of our friendship with our spouse. I believe our spouse should truly be our best friend. We can certainly have close friendships, but we shouldn’t spend more time with our friends than we do with our spouse and family. If we find that we can be more honest and open with our friends than our spouses, then we need to lean away from spending so much time with those friends and lean into spending more time with our partner. We are keeping ourselves from having the intimate marriage that God wants for us when we spend more time with our friends and allow them to know our deepest thoughts and feelings instead of our spouse. So, yes, let’s spend time with our friends but not let that time exceed the time we spend with our spouse.

Again, all of these things are GOOD when in balance. Let’s make sure that our marriage always takes priority over these things, and our relationship will be so much better for it.

For more on how to have a stronger marriage, check out our his and hers devotional called 7 Days to a Stronger Marriage by clicking here. Be blessed!

This article originally appeared here.

Time to Change Your Church!

By
Nicholas Batzig
-
communicating with the unchurched

I recently heard about a family in our denomination who drove nearly an hour to church every Lord’s Day for a number of years. Because of where they happened to live, there was no closer likeminded local church for them to attend. This family knew that committing to that long drive to the local church meant that they would not have the fellowship that they might have had otherwise. They did, however, expect that families in the church would invite them to lunch. After months of not being invited by anyone, the wife decided that she would be an agent of change. Every Sunday, she would bring a crockpot—with an easily prepared meal—to the church building. She would plug the crockpot in before the service and then invite families from the church to eat a meal with them after the service each Sunday. This is a prime example of what it means to “be the change” you are wanting in your church.

The Importance of the Local Church

Last year, I wrote a post titled “The Church Comes First,” in which I sought to give several reasons why I believe that, according to Scripture, the local church is to be the foremost sphere of priority in the lives of believers. I want to give further consideration to one of the points in that post where I suggested the following:

The church is dependent on the resources and service of its members. The communal aspect of the church on earth is absolutely dependent on the willingness of the people of God to give of their time, gifts, prayers and resources for the building up of the members of the local church. Both pastors and people alike are in need of the gifts and resources of the members of the local church. The Apostles make this abundantly clear through their illustrative references to “the body” (Rom. 12 and Eph. 4). Equally, they do so by the multitude of references to using gifts and giving generously. Building cost, utilities, outreach, worship supplies, office supplies, staffing, mercy ministry, missionary support, etc. require the generous giving of the time and money of the members of the body.

When we divide our labors and fellowship, we necessarily end up hurting the local church of which we are a part. Imagine for a moment what it would be like if a husband and father decided to give a 20 percent commitment to provide and care for his family and an 80 percent commitment to provide and care for other friends and families. You would expect a monumental breakdown in the dynamic of his family life. In such a case, there would necessarily be detrimental marital and parental consequences. Similarly, many local churches suffer because the majority of its members only give a 10-20 percent commitment to the local church of which they are a part and an 80-90 percent commitment to other organizations and activities.

The local church not only suffers when her members divide their time, labors, fellowship and resources to a significant degree among secular activities in society—she suffers when her members significantly divide their time, labors, fellowship and resources between numerous local churches, or between the local church and parachurch ministries. Church hopping—while it might seem like a harmless way to meet an individual’s social needs—only ends up hurting the body. Those who tend to divide their lives between multiple local churches, or between a single local church and a parachurch ministry, believe that they are meeting a need or correcting a deficiency. I fear that discontentment often lies at the root of much of this division of commitment.

Every church will have its deficiencies. Local church members must not allow discontentment to fester in their hearts and minds. Rather, we should seek to be “change agents” for the health and well-being of the body of which we are a part. I am not sure who first coined the (fairly cheesy) phrase “Be the change you seek,” but I find it to be full of wisdom—provided someone is not seeking to bring about change in a divisive way in the life of the church. In short, all of us are either “problem observers” or “problem solvers.” If the local church lacks fellowship among a particular demographic, we should be seeking to fill the gap—using our gifts to strengthen that particular dynamic of the local church. If the music in the church is wanting, we should be willing to fully use our gifts and talents to help better that aspect of the church’s life—or to encourage those in the body to do so through a use of their gifts in that area. If we find ourselves to be some of the only young adults or couples in the church, we should be active in inviting others in that stage of life to worship and fellowship with us. If the church’s hospitality is lacking, we should be seeking to model what it looks like to be hospitable. All of this should, of course, be done in loving communication with and humble submission to the elders and deacons of the church—but you should not wait for elders and deacons to take the initiative on bringing about change where we believe that we see deficiencies.

Imagine what it would look like if every member of a local church sought to use their gifts, labors and resources to the full in the local church. Imagine how many seeming problems would be resolved if each of us committed to doing our part to be a blessing and an agent of change. Problem observing fosters discontentment, problem solving yields peaceable fruits. In short, it’s time to change your church!

This article originally appeared here.

Teamwork Drills to Build Your Small Group

By
Mike Mack
-
communicating with the unchurched

I have loved coaching kids’ sports teams, especially basketball. One of the most rewarding parts of coaching for me is taking a rag-tag group of kids who don’t know one another at the beginning of a season and turning them into a team—a team that works together as one, each using his unique abilities for the good of the whole. A team that wins because five are better than one. It takes a lot of effort to build this teamwork—lots of drills and time spent together, both in and outside of practices and games. I love the way Coach John Wooden said it years ago, and I still share this quote with my teams: “It takes 10 hands to score a basket.”

Building a productive team as a small group is much the same. It takes intentional effort, both inside and outside group meeting times. It takes team-building drills such as these:

  • Go on a camping or hiking trip together and give each person a specific assignment.
  • Play a game such a volleyball, paintball or a role-playing game against another group.
  • Participate in a shared work experience or serving opportunity.
  • Identify a common “enemy” or challenge together.

Guide Them to Authentic Community

One of the first things you do as a leader is build relationships with the members of the group. This should begin way before the first meeting.

Finding Your Group

If you are just getting started and do not have group members yet, start with prayer. Ask God to show you exactly who he wants in your group. Then keep your eyes open to whom he will send. It’s highly likely—but not absolute—that these will be people already in your circle, people you already know. They may be friends, neighbors, co-workers, people you serve with or otherwise know from church, for instance.

To keep your eyes open for whom God sends, ask him for the spiritual eyes to see. In John 1:47-49, when Jesus saw Nathanael approaching him, he said, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” This surprised Nathanael: “How do you know me?” he asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” How did Jesus “see” Nathanael, whom he had never met? He had been praying that the Father would make known to him those whom the Father was going to give him out of the world (John 17:6).

Several years ago, I started a new “turbo group” (a small group that lasts about three to 24 months in which every member is a leader-in-training and will begin a new group at the conclusion of the group). When I first began planning it, I knew that the selection of this group would be critical to the future of our small group ministry. So I decided not to “recruit” the group or even make a list of names. Instead, I prayed every day that God would bring them. Because I believed these would be future leaders in our small group ministry, I did what the World’s Greatest Small Group Leader said to do: “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:38). I also asked for God to give me the eyes to see them when they came.

Larry walked in the front door of our office building one day and asked to see the small group minister. I reluctantly set aside my turbo group planning and went out to meet him, a bit dismayed by the unannounced intrusion into my work—I thought the visitor was a salesperson. I soon discovered that Larry and his wife, Glenda, had been led to Christ by Ralph Neighbour, one of the pioneers of small group ministry. Larry and Glenda had spent years in ministry themselves, and had recently moved to Louisville, looking for a church where they could be involved. Larry wanted to get back to his passion for discipleship in small groups.

I had known Chris and Tiffany for several years. Chris works on our backstage crew and has a huge servant’s heart. I saw Chris standing around one Sunday morning before the service. It seemed odd to me that he apparently had nothing to do. Something inside me told me to go over and talk to him. I obeyed, but had no idea why. On my walk over, God told me—and it was extremely clear—to ask Chris to be in the group. I stopped for a moment in the middle of our lobby. Chris is a successful home builder in our area, but I had not yet considered him as a potential small group leader. Finally, I obeyed, told Chris about the group, and invited him. I expected him to say he’d have to think about it, but he immediately said, “Yeah! I’m in!” He went on to tell me that he and Tiffany had just talked and then prayed about getting into a small group the night before.

The stories about how each of the other members came and how I knew them are also unique and amazing. Each one is a testimony to the fact that God is the Chief Shepherd and the Lord of the Harvest!

This article originally appeared here.

When the Pastor Receives Criticism

By
Ronnie Floyd
-
communicating with the unchurched

After 31 years of serving the same church, I can assure you that as a pastor, you will receive criticism. Understanding that this is part of reality will help see you through the grim times.

I know many pastors, and each one has undergone criticism. Criticism is inescapable in the life of a pastor. Few things challenge a pastor more than criticism.

There have been times when criticism has absolutely devastated me. It is especially difficult to receive criticism when given by someone you respect deeply or by someone who has completely misunderstood a situation.

Criticism can sideline or paralyze you, or it can help you be better in the future. I have personally experienced each of these situations.

Unquestionably, many times criticism is unfair; at other times, it is right on, with 100 percent accuracy! So, when you receive criticism as a pastor, what should you do? How should you respond?

1. Accept criticism.

When someone criticizes you as a pastor, accept it. Accept it with grace. I know this can be difficult at times, but do not let your body language demonstrate defensiveness or disapproval. Assure the person criticizing you that you will receive what they say, consider it, pray about it and determine the direction God wants you to go in the future.

2. Learn from criticism.

Criticism can be a great teacher. We should always be teachable, even through criticism. We are not perfect. We are not sinless. We make mistakes. We need to own them. We need to confess them as sin. If we have wronged someone, we need to make it right with them.

Those who are spiritually mature are able to learn from criticism. Pastors, always take the high road; you will never face a traffic jam there.

3. Outlive criticism.

If a person criticizes you unfairly, outlive it! Through the course of time, a life of integrity and honesty can overcome the criticism of others. Sooner or later, their criticism of you will fall on deaf ears.

Nothing is more powerful than a pastor who lives a consistent and Christ-centered life. Through time and the grace of God, you can outlive your greatest critic and the most unfair criticism. Therefore, outlive your criticism!

This article originally appeared here.

A Surprising Key to Boosting Productivity

By
Alvin Reid
-
communicating with the unchurched

Today my Disciple-Making Class will not meet for class. Why not? Because all the students will be taking the three-hour course time for a personal retreat. We will be doing two of these during the semester. The first one follows a uniform guide I gave them which you can find here. The second will be more up to the student in terms of its focus.

Taking time—three hours or more—for a personal retreat has become vital to me. It didn’t come easy. I’m a Type A, diagnosed ADD, hard charger and workaholic by nature. But creating margin in life generally and taking personal retreats regularly have literally changed my life. Our minds, our spirits, even our bodies and souls need breaks. And, I’ve found that by taking breaks and cutting out some unnecessary things in life I not only have less stress, but I get more done!

A personal retreat obviously helps our spiritual lives, but it does more. Much has been done in terms of willpower research. As followers of Christ we have remarkable resources—the Holy Spirit, the Word, the church, the call of God and more. But that does not keep us from being human. We still have limitations. We do not have unlimited willpower, and this impacts our interactions with others, our dealing with stress, and our ability to ward off temptation.

Willpower is an exhaustible resource. It has to be replenished. The mind, like the body, needs rest.

Willpower in itself is not a character issue. But, when your willpower is weak, it becomes a character issue. If we use willpower so much in one area, we suffer in another.

Willpower is replenished through rest, and margin. This changes as we age. I don’t have the stamina physically or mentally I once had. I can strengthen these, but I won’t ever match the strength I had when young. The ace is I have much more wisdom than I had when younger. So, I can say no easier than I was when younger and almost addicted to people pleasing. I can focus on a few specific things God called me to and stay more focused than when younger. And, I have a much, much greater appreciation for sabbath rest.

The first step in getting healthy is not diet and exercise, but getting enough sleep. The first step in having healthy minds is not to add more information, but to let them rest. When the Nobel Prizes were given recently in several fields, I was reminded of how Einstein finally solved relativity not when he sought to do so, but as he took a walk, giving his mind a rest.

If you want to be more productive, or simply have less stress, take breaks. This week I’ve had a really busy schedule, speaking a total of six times (I’ve lost count) to very different groups, as well as a number of individual meetings. I’ve enjoyed it thoroughly, and I’ve also taken some glorious naps and slept 10 HOURS last night. I’m also on break this next week. When I work, I work hard. But I do value those breaks.

Build margin into your life, take breaks and value retreats. It is life-giving.

This article originally appeared here.

Sometimes Pastors Need to Stir the Pot

By
Joe McKeever
-
communicating with the unchurched

As a pastor, how often do you stir the pot? Consider the following words from 1 Timothy:

“…according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal…”  (2 Timothy 2:9)

Pot-stirring: To take a stand on a controversial issue. Known colloquially as “opening a can of worms.” Rocking the boat. Rubbing the old cat’s fur the wrong way. Upsetting apple carts.

Expect it.

It’s a poor pastor who doesn’t stir the pot from time to time.

Do You Stir the Pot?

They didn’t crucify Jesus for sweet-talking the 23rd Psalm, for explaining the symbolic meaning of items in the Tabernacle, or for spending six months on the Greek verbs. He took a stand on what matters most, and when people didn’t like it, He held His ground and paid the ultimate price.

I remind pastors if they’re in this line of work for job security, they might want to think again. Right after reading Matthew 10, beginning at verse 16.

–Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to their courts, and scourge you in their synagogues.

–Brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child.

–You will be hated by all on account of My name.

–If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household.

–Do not think that I am come to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

–He who loses his life for My sake shall find it.

All over the globe, pastors and other sold-out Christ-followers daily demonstrate the reality of those words. It is to our everlasting shame that we in the 21st century American church expect our pastors to play it safe, to avoid controversy, to keep silent on matters which could offend.

3 Myths of Expository Preaching

By
Brandon Hilgemann
-
communicating with the unchurched

What is expository preaching?

If you ask around you’ll get a variety of answers and definitions.

But I believe there’s a lot of misinformation.

So to explain what expository preaching is, we need to understand what expository preaching is not.

There are three myths that we need to dispel:

1. EXPOSITORY PREACHING IS NOT PREACHING VERSE-BY-VERSE THROUGH BOOKS OF THE BIBLE.

You can preach expository sermons this way. There is nothing wrong with this approach. But there is a large group of pastors who champion this method as the only way for faithful expository preaching.

That is false. Expository sermons can also be topical.

It has nothing to do with the length of a passage or the number of sermons in a series of messages. You could preach a masterful, expository sermon on a single verse.

2. EXPOSITORY PREACHING IS NOT PREACHING A COMMENTARY.

It is not a presentation of your exegetical method. Exegesis is what we do to study a text, but a sermon is much more than breaking down the root of every Hebrew/Greek word. It could include this, but it doesn’t have to.

You may find it helpful. But if you share all of your word studies, you will clutter the sermon and confuse your audience.

Commentaries are helpful for study, but expository preaching is more than sharing your study notes.

3. EXPOSITORY PREACHING IS NOT BORING.

“Expository” sounds like a boring, 10-dollar word you learn in seminary. But expository preaching should be fascinating.

The Bible is not boring; some pastors are. Don’t confuse the two.

Good expository preaching should excite and inspire people as they see how the truth of God’s Word can radically transform their lives.

WHAT IS EXPOSITORY PREACHING?

Expository preaching is preaching with a high view of Scripture.

Expository preachers take the Bible seriously and know that nothing they come up with on their own will have any power to change.

They believe that “all is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

They believe God’s promise to Isaiah still applies to us today:

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11).

The inspired Word of God is the power of the sermon.

Therefore, I believe an expository preacher does four things:

  1. Studies the text. They begin by asking questions and seeking to understand the meaning of the text in the way God intends it to be understood. Instead of asking, “What will I say?” They begin with, “What does God say?”
  2. Argues the text. A sermon is a persuasive speech. There are skeptics).
  3. Applies the text. The Bible is meant to do more than inform believers. So the expository preacher connects how the truth of the text applies to their audience and should change how they think and live. They inspire people to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22).
  4. Stays in the text. This is critical: The main point of the text is the main point of the sermon. Expository preaching does not wander outside the boundaries of the Bible’s intended meaning. It keeps the text in context and does not speak authoritatively about what the Bible does not say.

It’s hard to define expository preaching simply. There are many ways to do it well and many more pitfalls.

Haddon Robinson said it best:

”Expository preaching at its core is more a philosophy than a method. Whether or not we can be called expositors starts with our purpose and with our honest answer to the question: “Do you, as a preacher, endeavor to bend your thought to the Scriptures, or do you use the Scriptures to support your thought?” (Biblical Preaching, 22)

This article originally appeared here.

Glenn Packiam: The Gift of the Christian Calendar

By
Jason Daye
-
communicating with the unchurched

Glenn Packiam is the pastor of New Life Downtown in Colorado Springs, Colorado. After serving as one of the founding leaders and songwriters of the Desperation Band, Glenn switched roles to be a full-time pastor. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in theology from Durham University. Glenn is the author of a handful of books including Discover the Mystery of Faith and Lucky. Glenn and his wife, Holly, have four children.

Key Questions:

What value does the church calendar hold for the modern church?

How can pastors use Advent to help the people in their congregations connect with God during the week?

What advice do you have for a pastor who hasn’t done much with the church calendar but would like to start?

[SUBSCRIBE] For more ChurchLeaders podcasts click here!

Key Quotes:

“[The church calendar] is an extension of discipleship. It’s about Jesus. It’s about marking time along the life of Christ.”

“The fast is not just an expression of religious piety; the fast is supposed to be a thing that leads you toward generosity and justice.”

“One of the things that the season of Advent invites us to reflect on is not just Christ’s first arrival (Advent, comes from the Latin word Adventus, which means arrival)…but on his future coming.”

“Advent reminds us that we are a people that live between two arrivals.”

“The Christian calendar doesn’t emerge out of legalism or trying to please God. It emerges out of this deep tradition of God’s people marking time differently, and that is our counter-cultural resistance.”

“I’m very passionate about helping people embrace [the use of church traditions] as an expression of their devotion and as a mechanism for discipleship—as opposed to a fussy, religious, have-to tradition.”

“If you’re hungry for a practice that intentionally teaches you to mark time differently and to weekly, daily, center your heart on Jesus is a very practical, embodied way, the church calendar is a wonderful, wonderful way to do that.”

Mentioned in the Show:

Behind the Scenes With Timothy Reckart: Director of THE STAR

By
Christine Yount Jones
-
communicating with the unchurched

In Sony Pictures Animation’s THE STAR (opening in theaters November 17, 2017), a small but brave donkey and his animal friends become the unsung heroes of the greatest story ever told, the first Christmas. Unsung heroes. Come to think of it, perhaps there are more unsung heroes than these animal friends.

The Star movieWe talked to one of those heroes–THE STAR’s director Timothy Reckart, about the challenges of making an animated movie based on the Bible, how the movie impacted his faith journey, and the encouragement he would give to church leaders about filmmaking.

Keeping It Real and True

Reckart emphasizes that while an animated story can take liberties, the team worked hard to ensure that the movie was faithful to the actual Christmas story. “We do want to be faithful to the Christmas story so every piece that covers the Christmas story was our priority to make sure that we were faithful to what’s in the Bible,” says Reckart. “Where we saw our opportunity to have creative license was in the fact that there is actually a lot of space, so to speak, between the lines of the biblical story. We get the annunciation, the angel and Mary, Joseph’s reluctance when he first hears the news, and conversations between the wise men and Herod. But there’s a lot of space in between those.”

Because THE STAR used animated animals to move the story forward, it was an opportunity for creativity. “The fact that we are telling the story from the point of view of the animals means that we can basically use them as like these viewpoint characters where we can be as creative as we want without risking sort of contradicting anything that is in the Bible,” explains Reckart.

Reckart and his team, including executive producer Devon Franklin, have done a good job of packaging the truth of the Christmas story in a way that appeals to kids and parents. At the same time, they’ve held to the biblical story’s truth. “So doing that point of view thing actually lets us be completely faithful to the story while also giving us room to sort of have fun and do some comedy,” explains Reckart. “So it means we can have comedy without making Mary and Joseph into comedy characters.”

THE STAR’s Impact on Faith

Because church leaders are interested in how the Christmas story impacts people’s faith journeys, we asked Reckart if there were ways that THE STAR impacted his faith journey. Just as God speaks on many levels, it seems that He spoke to Reckart in a very personal way since the movie is coming out at a time when there’s a lot of conversation in Christian circles about a Christian’s relationship to the environment and natural world.

“I suppose thinking about the story of Christmas from the point of view of the animals really brought home to me the fact that not only the God that created human beings came to earth as a human, but the God that created donkeys and cows and chickens and horses came to earth as a human being and their creator touched them with human hands,” says Reckart. “And that really brought home to me the fact that the stewardship of humanity toward nature that we read about in Genesis in some ways was even upgraded when God actually touched nature physically with human hands.”

What Does a Successful KidMin Look Like?

By
Missy McKinnon
-
communicating with the unchurched

Whenever I meet a fellow kids minister I start by asking about their church.
Over and over I hear the phrase,

“We are not very big.”

“We don’t have a lot of kids in our ministry.”

“We only have about nine kids.”

When did numbers become the only yardstick by which we measure success?

There are so many other traits a ministry should have to be successful.

I have seen large and small churches only babysit their kids.

You can read my thoughts about that here.

I have also seen large and small churches have successful kids ministry.

A successful kids ministry has absolutely nothing to do with the size of their church but has everything to do with what they are teaching their kids.

Here are a couple of things that a ministry needs to have a successful KidMin:

– Kids are excited to be there.

Please note that I did not say, kids are there every single week.

Let take a rabbit trail here: Stop focusing on things you cannot change. You cannot change how often kids come to church. A lot of the time, the kids cannot even change that!

I live in Minnesota, where everyone knows someone who has a cabin on a lake. They take trips up to the lake during the summertime. So, numbers are very, very low in the summer months, especially on long weekends.

Divorce is also another reason why kids do not come every week. They spend one weekend with mom, and one with dad. A lot of times it is something the courts have decided, so it is hard to change.

Maybe the kids are involved in sports. The church should never think that it is us against sports. Let’s teach our kids how to talk and minister to the other kids on their team. Kids who are on traveling sports teams spend a lot of time with their teammates. Let’s empower them to reach their peers.

OK, back to our main point—Would it just be absolutely amazing if every child in your ministry came every week? Yes, without a doubt. What are the probabilities that it will happen? Unfortunately, very low.

But, that does not say anything about you. It is the culture we live in.

Stop focusing on the numbers. Stop focusing on the kids that don’t come every single week. And start focusing on what you can control!

Make church fun and exciting! Teach the kids in your class the Word of God. The kids will want to come back. They will tell their teammates about church. They will beg their parents to come to church.

– Your kids know the Bible.
I do not mean that they only know that the Bible exists and that you can always find them in hotel room drawers.

No, I mean, that they KNOW they Bible.

They KNOW what God thinks about them.
They KNOW how to read the Bible.
They KNOW how to use the Bible as a weapon.
They KNOW how to look up a Bible verse.

We bought enough Bibles for all the kids in our ministry and had them sit in a small group and actually read straight from the Bible, and then talked about it afterward.

A successful ministry will enable the kids to learn from God for themselves.

– Your kids welcome new people.
When there is a new kid in your class, the other kids go up and introduce them. They are leaders, and they see what needs to be done and they do it.

They do not enter into cliques at church. Cliques are the natural thing to do when a group of people meet regularly, but that does not mean that they are right. They can have their friends, but they also need to be bold about meeting new people and making them feel welcome at church.

– You are mentoring someone.
At least one person. That person doesn’t even have to be an adult! Just be mentoring someone.

Train someone to do what you do.

It’s important to learn the art of delegation, if your ministry falls apart when you are gone, that is not good.

Stop focusing on what you cannot change and focus on the things that you can change.

God gave you the kids in your ministry for a reason, whether there are hundreds or 10. He gave them to you. He trusted them to you.

This article originally appeared here.

The Essentials for Website Housekeeping and Updating

By
Yvon Prehn
-
communicating with the unchurched

Just like we often clean the house before a special event, we also want our digital church home to be tidy. With your website and social media, fall is a good time to make certain that essential house-keeping tasks are taken care of for your website. Though not as exciting as creating special materials for special events, these tasks are essential for a church to have the most basic credibility. Some of these for social media overall include:

Updated and complete bios of your staff

People want to know who your leaders are—their background, education, why they do what they do. In an age when almost all business leaders have Facebook pages, blogs, Twitter accounts and almost everything else you can imagine for maximum exposure, for your church leaders to not have at least an updated and complete bio on your website does not communicate a positive image of your staff.

Updated links to staff blogs, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts.

Visitors today expect to get to know church leaders through social media. If the church leader is not able to do this for him- or herself, as is often the case when the leader is a baby-boomer who went to seminary before the days of the personal computer, assign a “web buddy” or editor or co-writer to update or create this content. This is a wonderful expression of how we can serve and support one another in the church. It is important to be honest about this. This is also a good time to drop links if the staff person isn’t using them.

Church Facebook pages should be more than photo albums

Yes, it’s very nice to have pictures of your latest fun event, but if you don’t also have some commentary about what’s going on, why you do what you do, and have comments that make it clear the material is for people outside the church, your church Facebook page will look like an insider photo album only for the people already attending. In the same way that you need captions for pictures for them to make sense to anyone besides the person who takes them, you need captions on the Facebook images you share.

Your website also needs some housekeeping and following are some suggestions for that:

The richer the content of your website, the more credibility you will have, so…

  • Be sure ALL ministries have updated descriptions and updated schedules. Without this very basic information, your church will not be taken seriously by visitors or seekers. Think about it: Would you do business with a company that did not tell you when it was open; what products or services it offered; or anything about the staff? Ask yourself what you would want to know about a church and its programs and be sure you have complete information on the website. Nothing kills the credibility of a church website more than programs that were over a year ago, and still listed as current.
  • Think about how to enrich ministry areas. This would be the idea of “value-added” features on a commercial site. For example, in the children’s ministry area you could not only have the basics about what you teach, what the children do, how you screen your workers, who to contact about the program, times, dates, etc., but you could also have practical parenting tips, or a Q&A section hosted by your children’s pastor.
  • Be sure to have a clear explanation of the Christian faith. It is astounding to me how few church websites have information on what it means to be a Christian, how one becomes a Christian, and links to either pages on the website or to other sites that answer questions about the Christian faith. Check out your site—what do you have on it in these areas? If not, you may want to take some time and create sections that clearly share your faith.
  • You can attach blogs from experts in the church on life-skill topics, link to other helpful sites, whatever you can think of to connect with people who are looking for the answers to life. If you have videos or photo galleries, be sure you explain what people are looking at.

Most of all your website MUST look like someone is paying attention to it. It must be up-to-date and content rich—that is a non-negotiable communication requirement for the credibility of every church.

REMEMBER that looks and graphics aren’t nearly as important as complete content that is easy to find

No one will get angry at your church or skip an event if they don’t like one of your illustrations or the font you use. However, those reactions may take place if you don’t have up-to-date information about a ministry that you advertise on your home page, if the links to a program don’t work or if you have a convoluted navigation system with insider terms to describe your ministry areas.

As you go into the fall holiday schedule, this time spent housekeeping and updating your site will lay a firm foundation for communications about special events for the rest of the year.

This article originally appeared here.

How Pastors Feed the Sacred Secular Divide

By
Markus Watson
-
communicating with the unchurched

I remember hearing a pastor say to his congregation at the beginning of a worship service, “This next hour is the most important hour of your week.”

No doubt, the weekly worship service is incredibly important. I’d even say it is one of the most important parts of the week for followers of Jesus.

But is it the most important hour? That’s debatable.

Consider the assumptions hiding behind this claim:

  • Doing sacred things is better than doing secular things.
  • Worshiping God at church on Sunday mornings is a sacred thing.
  • All the other things you do the rest of the week are secular things.
  • The sacred thing we do on Sunday morning advances the mission of God.
  • The secular stuff you do the rest of the week doesn’t really matter to God.
  • God is more pleased by the sacred thing you do on Sunday morning than by the secular things you do the rest of the week.

While very few pastors would verbally say these things, it is these assumptions that feed the sacred/secular dualism that we talked about in this earlier blog post. 

What Pastors Communicate to Their People

It’s not that pastors don’t value the work their people do during the week. And it’s not that they don’t think their people can do good for the kingdom of God while they are at work.

But pastors—intentionally or unintentionally—tend to communicate this message to their people:

​“Get a good job. Go to work. Earn a good salary. Work hard and with integrity. If there’s a Bible study at work, get involved in the Bible study—that’s a good, sacred thing you can do at work. Share your faith—that’s a good sacred thing you can do at work. And invite people to church! Oh, yes—invite people to church!  hat’s definitely a good, sacred thing you can do at work.

​“But when you’re not at work, make sure you come to church because this is where the sacred stuff really happens. And be sure to bring some of your money to church because this is where the sacred stuff really happens.”​

This leaves people with the impression that what they do Monday through Saturday is far less valuable in God’s eyes than what happens on Sunday morning. 

It’s a Discipleship Issue

This message becomes a discipleship and spiritual formation issue. If people don’t think God values their work or think of God as being present with them in the doing of their work, they are far less likely to feel connected to God or listen for God’s leading when they are not doing sacred church stuff.

One of the great challenges for the church today is to undo the dualism of the sacred and the secular—for the sake of the church and for the sake of the world.

This article originally appeared here.

8 Vital Instructions for All Leaders

By
Brandon Cox
-
communicating with the unchurched

If you’re a pastor or ministry leader, you can’t help but be drawn to the first and second letters of the Apostle Paul to his young apprentice, Timothy.

Every time I read through them, my heart burns within me and I’m taken back to those moments when I first began to serve and fulfill the calling God placed on my life to full-time ministry.

As I write this, I’m preparing to preach the “charge” in the ordination of an amazing young man who was once in the youth group of the church I led as Pastor, and now he’s being commissioned as the Youth Pastor in that same congregation.

There’s so much I want to tell him…things I learned early on, things I learned the hard way over the last 21 years of pastoral ministry, and things I’ve had to unlearn and relearn, framed with a better understanding of both truth and grace.

As I read again Paul’s letters to Timothy in preparation, I had to make difficult choices from among all of the words written to this young pastor in the ancient world. I finally narrowed it down to eight vital, unforgettable truths contained in a single passage in 2 Timothy 1:5-14…

I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me, either, even though I’m in prison for him. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News. For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News. And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News. That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return. Hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me—a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you.

If you’re a pastor or ministry leader, never forget these eight vital words of instruction…

1. Lean into your calling and gifts.

Paul told Timothy to “fan into flames the spiritual gift” given to him from God (v. 6). This stirring, this fanning, is an intentional and active process. It isn’t passive. It’s a matter of self-encouragement, like King David in the cave country when all were ready to forsake him.

Leaning into your calling and gifts means you must develop yourself, practicing and exercising and learning daily. It means choosing to re-focus on the sovereignty of the One who called you and the One whose gifts you must steward well.

2. Choose to keep growing bolder.

There will be many moments when you find yourself in the tug-of-war between boldness and timidity. Always err on the side of boldness, especially when it comes to representing God’s truth and grace.

3. Be ready to suffer.

If you’re going to become the man or woman God wants you to be, you will have to walk through a fire. You’ll have to be broken.

Education is great. Experience is helpful, too. But when it comes to growing mature leaders, suffering is the pathway God has chosen to grow and mature us.

Samuel Chand says,

Making friends with your pain is part of leadership. Our pains tell us we’re moving in the right direction. New pains will always be a part of your life as you continue climbing the ladder to your destiny.

~ Leadership Pain: The Classroom for Growth

4. Live under grace.

Performance-based perfectionism is the typical pathway of a leader, but it’s an absolutely exhausting way to live. Paul says that God’s plan has always been to show grace to undeserving sinners through the cross on which Jesus died.

The problem is we are often saved by grace to a life of striving to keep God and others happy with our performance. But if it’s grace that saves us, then it’s grace that will sustain us.

5. Keep it about the gospel.

Occasionally someone will ask me when we’re going to get beyond the basics at Grace Hills and go deeper than “just the gospel all the time.” But it doesn’t actually get any deeper than the gospel. It’s the beginning and end of our cause for existence.

When you look back to the good news about the redemptive and victorious story of King Jesus, dying, rising and reigning for eternity, you get all that you really need for life and leadership.

6. Commit it all to Jesus.

It’s a rather familiar verse in which Paul says, “I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return.”

I remember hearing Dr. Laverne Butler speak on that verse and outlining it in this way…

  1. We know whom to confess—Jesus.
  2. We know what to commit—everything.
  3. We know when to collect—at his return.

7. Trust the Word.

When I was wrestling with the call to ministry, my father-in-law and pastor, Danny Kirk, gave me a book to read, and it would shape the course of my ministry to come. It was the autobiography of Dr. W.A. Criswell called Standing on the Promises.

That book, about a man who devoted his entire life to defending the truthfulness of Scripture, would help to set my own theological foundation going forward. The Bible is God’s book. It’s perfect, infallible and entirely trustworthy.

That doesn’t mean I have all of the answers to every tough question about it. It simply means that when I don’t fully understand, I trust, and I believe that in the reading and preaching of God’s Word, there is a supernatural, life-changing power.

8. Walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Ministry is exhausting. Preaching the Word is a delicate and tedious task, when approached correctly. And Paul often talked about bearing the heavy burden of the care of the church.

Without the power of the Holy Spirit, you’re already headed for burnout and exhaustion. But with his power comes the energy to keep going, to keep preaching, to keep serving, to keep building and organizing the church and raising up leaders.

The pathway to the power of the Spirit isn’t trying harder. It’s trusting more. It’s yielding. It’s surrender and submission.

This is ministry 101. Lean into your calling. Keep growing bolder. Be ready to suffer. Live under grace. Keep it about the gospel and commit it all to Jesus. Trust the Word and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Great Divide (in the Church) in 2016, and Why It Still Matters

By
Ed Stetzer
-
communicating with the unchurched

It’s been 11 months since Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. And even as I reflect on the 2016 election now, I still believe it will be remembered for many reasons, including the fact that it was arguably the most divisive election in recent times. There was a record amount of proverbial mud thrown and threats made. Trump came out of nowhere to beat the seasoned former First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

To put it another way, the reality TV star beat the career politician. It was as nasty as that characterization sounds, with Trump personally berating every Republican in the race, and Clinton fighting investigations about her careless handling of classified emails.

But the most damage was probably not inflicted in the political or cultural arenas.

The Great (Church) Divide

When we as Christians in the U.S. look back on the 2016 election, we should take note of the divide it created, or perhaps revealed, in the church. This, I believe, is a divide that is just as strong today. We’ve made little to no progress over the past 11 months.

The division in the churches of America during and after the election was, in many ways, revealing and worth our notice (and conversation). Based on whom a person was supporting or opposing, relationships were ruined, ministry leaders were edged out of positions, and lines were drawn from pulpits and pews.

The problem is not that Christians had differing opinions. That’s part of being human. The problem is that brothers and sisters in Christ used the opportunity to paint each other as racist, uncompassionate, communist, anti-American and non-Christian—all based on whom they were voting for or against. It is one thing to differ and debate cultural issues, and even values, but it is another to judge a person’s standing with God based on which candidate he or she supported.

But, for some, who you voted for determined what kind of person you were. And, that’s not fair in an election where there are at least two very flawed candidates.

In many ways, the division basically ran along party lines. I had hoped that our political landscape would become more diverse with extra parties providing more choices and less chance of breaking into two teams, each fixated on the evil of the other.

But it once again became Republican v. Democrat, or perhaps Conservative v. Liberal. One would say, “I can’t believe you voted for Trump.” Another would say, “I can’t believe you voted for Hillary.” And both would turn to the person who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for either and say, “Your non-vote was a vote for the person I don’t like.”

It seems we cast more blame than light in 2016. And, many people have forgotten that Trump voters are not Trump, and Clinton voters are not Clinton, and thus personally responsible for everything they did or said.

Regretably, it was difficult to take a position on the whole thing without having your Christianity questioned. I personally pray for each president in office. As a social commentator I reflect on whoever is in the Oval Office. I am willing to call them out when I believe they are taking a position that goes against solid human values. I also praise them when they make good decisions. And I do this no matter what party they are in, or whether or not I voted for them.

Yet, I regularly see my faith questioned by people who think telling the truth is betraying their canididate (and, thus, God).

Where Our Values Really Are

Our values as Christians come from a Holy Spirit-led understanding of scripture, not a political platform. Our leader is Christ, not an elected official. Our family is the church, not a political party. We can easily agree with this while reading a blog, but are we living the principle out in the church and public spaces? Is our unity found in our political ideology, or in the faith that has been passed down through the centuries? Is our identity found in who we are in Christ, or is it found in how we pulled the lever for last November?

This is important to remember at all times, but especially in the face of other facts that can easily make us forget the truth of who we are and how we are to interact with each other and the world around us.

There have been more than a few divisions in the church over the last couple of thousand years. In fact, some people only see the church in light of these divisions. They point to our differences and denominational lines and ridicule us because we can’t seem to get along. In some ways, these division, for better or for worse, have defined us. We are in a spiritual battle. Conflict is to be expected.

A decent amount of the New Testament is dedicated to conflict resolution and dealing with issues that divide. So it isn’t that division must destroy us, but rather that we are to overcome with unity. And unity does not mean uniformity.

The church is not marked by the fact that we all vote for the same candidate any more than it is by everyone singing hymns or preaching from the King James Bible. Rather, we are marked by unity in the gospel.

Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another” (John 13:35). He didn’t say that people will know you are my disciples because you are an “always Trumper” or a “never Trumper.” He didn’t suggest that how you vote, or if you vote, was a sign of your relationship with him.

If that wasn’t Christ’s litmus test for his own followers, how can we adopt it in our interactions? If we break fellowship over how we participated in the last election, how can we expect the world to believe us when we tell them about eternal truth?

Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

Every politician will ultimately let you down at some level. Most end up going back on promises. Many lie without batting an eye.

Jesus never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Are we willing to burn our faith reputation and relationships over politicians or politics? I hope not.

Now, that does not mean we should not speak on issues of justice. We should—and we can even disagree, as is evidenced by my recent disagreement with fellow Christians around the Kaepernick discussion.

The 2016 election will leave its mark on history. But in the grand scheme of things, it is just another human event. None of the candidates were God in the flesh, lived a sinless life, died an unimaginable death or rose again to secure eternal life.

And, I am afraid that some are making this temporal election their eternal line in the sand, not their more important identity as Christians.

I will write more on this in the coming days, but the Body of Christ is more important than the body politic.

The church was founded by the King of Kings, not a president. So how ironic and sad would it be for us to allow someone we elected to influence our unity? The world is watching. We should not seek in a political candidate that which can only be found in Christ. The nation is divided. And so is the church.

But if we finally lead in the areas of love, unity and reconciliation as Christ calls us to, then the world will see us and consider the person of Jesus whom we reflect.

More on this in the coming days.

This article originally appeared here.

Benefits of Singing the Psalms

By
Jared Olivetti
-
communicating with the unchurched

Every now and then I get a call or email from my insurance agent. He wants to check in on me, make sure I’m still paying my bills and all that. But what I especially appreciate is he also wants to make sure that we’re taking advantage of the all the benefits of our insurance policies. Turns out you can have something that’s pretty good but not really realize and enjoy all the benefits. So it is with singing Psalms.

To be clear: This is not an air-tight argument for exclusive Psalmody. It’s not really about that at all. It seems to me that when we consider why we ought to sing God’s Word in worship, we tend to spend so much time on debating the question that we neglect the joy and benefits of actually doing so. So let’s skip the exegetical arguments for just today and consider some of the benefits of God’s gift of the Psalms. 

  • Accidental memorization of God’s Word – There are few more effective paths to memorization than singing. And there is nothing more worthy of memorization than God’s Word. Consider how easily we all learn the songs we listen to the most. Singing God’s Word regularly presses it deep into our memory, where it’s always ready to be used by the Holy Spirit. Few things make me happier than to see kids in our church singing Psalms without needing the words. Surely Satan trembles at this.
  • Brutal honesty – As Carl Trueman asked several years ago in The Wages of Spin, “What can miserable Christians sing?” Because it’s inspired by God, the Psalms are able to be far more honest and searching and depressed and discouraged and angry and fearful than anything we would have the guts to write for God on our own. Singing Psalms means that everyone coming to worship will be able to express their heart to God in a way pleasing to Him. Singing Psalms reminds me God isn’t interested in me putting on a happy face and pretending things are fine when they aren’t. He can handle your miserable singing!
  • Tangible unity with the worldwide church – Isn’t it an amazing thing to be at a concert and sing a famous song along with the artist and thousands of fans? It’s a moment of incredibly powerful community. Even better: Every Sunday when we sing Psalms together, we are joining with the church of the past 3,000 years. Although Psalm-singing isn’t the majority practice right now, it certainly has been for most of church history. Singing Psalms is a way to deeply enjoy our Spiritual unity with every saint. Further, by singing Psalms, we’re giving ourselves to the one hymnal the church will ever be able to agree upon— if we’re serious about showing the unity of the people of God, this is one great way!
  • Getting to know Jesus – This one takes the cake. God’s greatest blessing is the sending of His Son to be our Savior and Friend. What a blessing it is to read the gospels, seeing Jesus in action as he teaches and heals and dies and comes to life again! The gospels are the very best biographies ever written. But when we really want to know someone, we desire more than simply knowing about them. When we really want to know someone, we want to hear their thoughts, feel their emotions, get a sense of the deepest things of their heart. If the gospels show us all about Jesus, the Psalms open His heart to us. As Michael Lefebvre makes clear in Singing the Songs of Jesus, the Psalms are primarily Jesus’ songs and secondarily ours. Singing the Psalms is singing the heart poetry of our Savior, getting to know His miseries, joys and faith in the deepest possible way. Singing the Psalms means we don’t just sing to our Savior; we get to sing with Him.

What else would you add to the list? What benefits has God given you through the singing of His Word?

This article originally appeared here.

The Joy of Discovering Sin

By
Alastair Sterne
-
communicating with the unchurched

Have you ever had caramel salted ice cream that is “sinfully delicious”? Or have you ever had chocolate fudge peanut butter brownies with a jar of cream cheese icing on the side that are “so good they’re sinful”? There’s something tasty about sin. Now I’m not suggesting there’s anything implicitly sinful about good ice cream or brownies. However, advertisers often tap into a deeply embedded belief of our culture: If it’s really good it’s probably sinful. Why is that? It’s possibly the result of some caricatures of God—the grouchy old man in the sky whose only delight is being a buzzkill. “If it’s really good and delightful, God is probably against it,” or so the thinking goes. However, there is a more probable explanation for why we’ve connected sin with delight and pleasure: because we know that sin is tasty. Otherwise, we wouldn’t find it tempting whatsoever.

There are little pleasures and indulgences that cause our senses to heighten momentarily. The lingering eyes. Dwelling in the spite. Flirting “harmlessly.” Finding the “loophole.” Getting in the last word. The “maybe I shouldn’t have said that to him, but it felt good to get it off my chest” comments. Just. One. More. Episode. Whatever it may be, in most situations we don’t do these things because they immediately make us feel bad. We do these things because they give us a buzz. They immediately gratify. Our neurons fire up and our pleasure centers get activated. We like it. And just as we enjoy our little sins, we find “joy” in indulging in the big ones.

For example, you have an affair because of the allure of someone new, something more fulfilling, etc. It’s likely your conscience might catch up with you, you might even feel bad about the betrayal (you might not), but you do it anyway because the alternative feels good. Or, maybe you find a way to cheat on an exam. Why? Not because deception itself feels good (although it might), but the illusion of a passing grade gratifies you.

Over time we might start to feel guilty about some of these smaller sins or bigger sins. But without the help of the Spirit of God, our guilt won’t help us much. In fact, St. Paul writes to the Corinthians “worldly grief produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10). There’s no life in feeling bad as an end. There’s no life in trying harder and maybe even amending our ways by our own power. But why? Because even if we grow in this one area, we will discover yet another area to grieve in our lives.

You see when we see sin, we can start thinking to ourselves, “Oh, no. Not again. What’s wrong with me?” We move toward shame. But this only further illuminates the nature of sin. As St. Augustine taught, we are “curved in” on ourselves. We sin, we acknowledge it and feel guilty, but then we keep looking at ourselves and our sin. We might begin to focus on changing our behaviour or amending our ways—but we are still navel gazing. What’s the sin in that? Pride. If sin is illuminated in our lives, if we can actually identify it for what it is, it’s a gift from God. But we shouldn’t underestimate our ability to take good gifts and break them.

How do you prepare to confess your sins to God? When you screw up, when you know you’ve done wrong, what do you do? Do you ever sit in it? Do you consciously or subconsciously feel bad enough, long enough, until the feeling subsides? What’s the result? We feel we have earned the right to now ask for forgiveness. Do you see? This isn’t grace, this isn’t mercy—it’s a prideful attempt to first deserve and then extract forgiveness from God, the same forgiveness he has been offering to us all the while.

But as St. Paul also says to the Corinthians, “godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret” (2 Corinthians 7:10). The true joy in discovering our sin is that each time God illuminates sin in our lives, each time we feel the sting of conviction, the pain of grief over what we’ve done, it’s an opportunity for joy. Yes, it’s an opportunity to rejoice. The feeling might not be pleasant, in fact, conviction rarely is—however, the grief God produces leads to life and salvation.

When that persistent and irritating sin or that newly discovered dimension of shortcomings appears, it’s a sparkling new opportunity to encounter grace all over again. That is the joy of discovering sin. We never move beyond our need for grace and we never move into a reality where grace is not offered in a meaningful way. When God gives you eyes to see your life from his perspective, thank him for it. When you see your own brokenness, rejoice—because God is also offering you more grace.

Reflecting upon The Fall of Humanity in Genesis 3, St. Augustine penned a phrase in latin, “Felix culpa.” It is most often translated as “happy fault.” We should not misunderstand the intent of this phrase: it’s not fortunate that humanity disobeyed God or fortunate that we sin. But what is fortunate or happy is that even when we are at fault and even when we fall, God offers us grace. This idea—Felix culpa—is a concept that has captured minds throughout the ages: Thomas Aquinas, Ambrose and even the modern philosopher Alvin Plantinga. Artists have been inspired by this concept too. For example, The Roman Catholic liturgy for the Easter Vigil contains the lyric, “O happy fault that merited such and so great a Redeemer” (which Audrey Assad re-interpreted in her beautiful song Fortunate Fall). King’s Kaleidoscope also released a song called Felix Culpa. They translated it as “fortunate fall.” The chorus of their song contains the beautiful truth:

A fortunate fall,
my sins are stories of grace to recall
A fortunate fall,
I glory in my sins forgiven.

This article originally appeared here.

Ousted Activist: Jerry Falwell Jr. ‘afraid of free speech’

By
Megan Briggs
-
communicating with the unchurched

On Monday evening, October 30, 2017, Jonathan Martin was escorted off Liberty University’s campus in Lynchburg, Virginia by armed police officers. Martin cites his criticism of the university’s president Jerry Falwell Jr. as the reason for his ousting.

“This was evidently in response to my strong criticism of Jerry Falwell Jr.’s alignment not only with the darkest contours of Trumpism, but expressly with Steve Bannon & the alt-right he represents,” Martin wrote in a post about the incident on his Facebook page.

On Friday, October 27, 2017, Martin criticized Falwell, Jr.’s decision to be interviewed by Breitbart News. He also criticized Falwell’s positioning with former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon on his crusade to rid Washington of “fake Republicans.”

Martin came to the Liberty University (LU) campus to attend a JOHNNYSWIM concert Monday evening. He was also planning on “a time of prayer tomorrow morning [Tuesday] to seek divine guidance as to what faithful, humble-but-clear Christian resistance might look like.” Martin was invited backstage by members of JOHNNYSWIM when he was confronted by campus police, according to The News & Advance. Martin says he was escorted out of the green room, served papers and had his picture taken. Finally, the campus police told him he “would be immediately arrested” if he returned.

Getting personal in his Facebook post, Martin asks “What precisely is Jerry Falwell Jr. afraid of? He openly encourages students to carry weapons, but is afraid of public prayer from Christians who openly embrace nonviolence.”

Speaking to the News & Advance on the phone, Falwell attributed security concerns for the decision to remove Martin. Falwell explained the campus police’s attention was drawn to a potential protest involving Martin through his social media posts. “Our tradition has been to not allow uninvited protests,” Falwell said.

Falwell didn’t hesitate to lob his own criticism at Martin, telling the newspaper, “He wanted to showboat; he wanted to get some attention.” Falwell accused Martin of being intolerant of evangelicals who support President Trump, which Falwell has done from the beginning of Trump’s election campaign last year.

On Tuesday afternoon, the university posted the following statement to its Facebook page, explaining the reasoning behind Martin’s removal.

However, lest you think this is a petty conflict between the high-profile Falwell and a disgruntled outsider, Martin is no stranger to the evangelical church that Falwell exercises influence over. Martin served as a founding pastor of Renovatus Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, and as a teaching pastor of Sanctuary Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is also an author, and has written a handful of books, including How to Survive a Shipwreck.

Despite the turmoil involving Martin, 15 students showed up to pray at the previously scheduled meeting for Tuesday, October 31, 2017. According to student Alexander Forbes, the group was monitored by several LU police officers.

 

The Unintended Consequences of the Reformation

By
Megan Briggs
-
communicating with the unchurched

As the Protestant church celebrates the 500 year anniversary of the Reformation, we can’t help but analyze the consequences of this historic act. Martin Luther had no way of knowing the ripple effect his act of defiance toward the Catholic Church would have—not only in the Christian world but also in broader western culture.

For better or worse, Luther set into motion a move of individualism that would grow to shape the nature of western Christian thought and worship. When Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door at Wittenberg, the western church (and consequently the worldwide church) would never be the same.

And it’s not just the church that has felt the impact of those hammer raps. One could easily argue that Luther’s act paved the way for successive revolutions large and small alike. Things from America’s break from the English monarchy to the church’s modern practice of reading Scripture outside the context of a faith community can potentially be traced back to Luther. In fact, a recent CNN article makes a case for ideas such as democracy and capitalism stemming from Luther’s boldness.

Effects of the Protestant Reformation

While we have Luther to thank for key tenets of our faith like Sola Scriptura and justification by faith alone, I can’t help but think about what we left behind. In our haste to pull away from corruption and misguided theology, did we leave behind some good things? I’d like to propose a bit of a reformation of the Reformation (or rather, what has grown out of the Reformation). As we remember the incredible gift given to us by Luther, can we also consider the need to continue to reform as we prepare to be Jesus’s pure and spotless bride?

An Emphasis on Literalism over Symbolism

Before Luther, Scripture had not been translated into the common language yet. To an uneducated population—very few of which could even read their mother tongue—Latin was quite the stretch. Which is why educated priests were commissioned to teach people the Scripture. This is also why (to this day) when you go to a Catholic service, you will see the stations of the cross, meant to teach people about the story of Jesus and the incredible sacrifice he made for us. You may also see stained glass windows with depictions of stories in Scripture. You will also likely sing hymns that are oriented around Scriptural truths or stories from the Bible. These traditions are all rooted in the task of teaching illiterate people the principles of Scripture.

Then there is the ceremony of mass, which is highly symbolic in and of itself. As Father Augustine Tran explains on the Catholic Exchange, even the appearance of the altar is steeped in meaning:

We begin with the altar, which represents the body of Christ. The white cloth that covers the altar is Christ’s burial garment. When the priest kisses the altar, he is kissing Christ faithfully in contradiction to the kiss of Judas. The altar is a very strong symbol of the meal aspect of the Mass, because the Mass is a sacrificial meal as the Last Supper was. But the altar also looks like a tomb because it holds the relic of a saint. The ancient Christians celebrated Mass over the tombs of the Saints and martyrs to unite themselves with them, to ask for their intercessions, that they too would be just as faithful as the Saints and martyrs had been. That tradition continues today by putting small relics of Saints into our altars.

From the order of the service to the repeated rituals utilized, every service is designed to remind the participant of the sacrifice Jesus made for him or her. The atmosphere created in this kind of service is highly contemplative.

However, in the Protestant tradition, there is not as much emphasis on symbolism. Instead, the highlight of the Protestant service is the sermon, a literal experience of Scripture compared to a symbolic one that seems to envelop the whole service and allows for reflection. Intentional or not, a traditional Protestant service is concerned more with the cognitive and literal understanding of the gospel and Scripture.

Perhaps this more literal service was a byproduct of the fact that the Protestant tradition grew up with increasing access to personal copies of the Bible in the common language. Whereas the Catholic church did not develop with this luxury, the Protestant church did.

The Emphasis on the Individual Versus the Community

Another unintended consequence of the Reformation is the emphasis on the individual and what he or she decides to be true. Of course, we can appreciate Luther “going rogue” to address the abuses of the Catholic church and its leaders. His was essentially a one-man revolution against the establishment, and we can appreciate why he did it—especially after trying to articulate his concerns in a more collaborative way.

However, one has to wonder how we would be worshipping today had the Catholic church chosen to address Luther’s concerns. Within the context of community, the Reformation potentially could have produced a healthier, more unified church with the richness of symbolic tradition and empowerment by the Scripture and the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

1...1,1111,1121,113...1,198Page 1,112 of 1,198
855,266FansLike

New Articles

New Podcasts

Joby Martin

Joby Martin: What Happens When Pastors Finally Understand Grace

Jessica Mouser -
Joby Martin joins “The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast” to discuss what happens when a church leader has truly been run over by the “grace train" and understands the profound love and grace of God.
Jennie Allen

Best of 2024—Jennie Allen: Why Church Leaders Need To Pay Attention...

Jon Acuff

Best of 2024: Jon Acuff—How To Pursue Success Without Destroying Your...

Libin Abraham

Libin Abraham on God’s Surprising Job Description for the Pastor

ChurchLeaders.com is dedicated to resourcing, informing, and connecting a community of church leaders for greater Kingdom impact worldwide.
Contact us: support@churchleaders.com

Company

Trending

Popular Categories

© ChurchLeaders