Boston Celtics Head Coach and Outspoken Christian Joe Mazzulla Stuns Reporters During NBA Finals

June 10, 2024

Joe Mazzulla Boston Celtics — Screengrab via YouTube @CLNS Media Boston Sports Network

Boston Celtics head coach and outspoken Christian Joe Mazzulla stunned reporters during a press conference prior to Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

The moment occurred after Yahoo Sports’ Vince Goodwill remarked that Mazzulla and Dallas Mavericks Head Coach Jason Kidd are the first two Black head coaches in the NBA finals since 1975.

“For the first time since 1975 this is the NBA finals where you have two Black head coaches,” Goodwill said. “Given the plight sometimes of Black head coaches in the NBA, do you think this is a significant moment? Do you take pride in this? How do you view this or do you not see it at all?”

Without hesitation, Mazzulla answered, “I wonder how many of those have been Christian coaches.”

Mazzulla’s response left the entire room silent for nearly six seconds, until the next reporter was selected to ask a question.

After starting his coaching career as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics in 2019, Mazzulla was named the team’s interim head coach in 2022 after Ime Udoka was suspended for the entire 2022-2023 NBA season.

Mazzulla was named the Boston Celtics’ permanent head coach on Feb. 16, 2023, and coached the team to a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals.

In the 2023-2024 season, Mazzulla coached the team to the NBA Finals. The Celtics currently have a 2-0 lead in a best of seven series with the Dallas Mavericks.

After the Boston Celtics swept the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, Mazzulla told ESPN’s Lisa Salters, “It’s just where God has us right now. We’re all exactly where we’re supposed to be, and right now everyone’s mindset is on helping each other and winning.”

‘Dread, No Hope’—Sexual Abuse Survivor Tiffany Thigpen Describes Heading Into SBC 2024 Annual Meeting

Jesse T. Jackson

June 10, 2024

Tiffany Thigpen Jules Woodson SBC — (L) Jules Woodson (R) Tiffany Thigpen. Courtesy of Tiffany Thigpen

Tiffany Thigpen, a sexual abuse survivor and advocate, says she has lost hope in the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) leadership.

Thigpen was 1 of 10 named in the SBC’s apology given in a resolution titled “On Lament and Repentance for Sexual Abuse” at the SBC’s annual meeting in June 2022.

Thigpen told ChurchLeaders she wants the more than 11,000 SBC delegates, called messengers, headed to the annual meeting this week (June 11-12) to understand that she believes “the people who truly run the show will never allow” sexual abuse reform to move forward.

Asked how she felt coming into this year’s annual meeting, Thigpen replied, “I seriously walk into this convention feeling dread, no hope. I have no expectation of anything good happening even IF the messengers vote yes for it.”

“The theme of the Anaheim Convention was ‘Jesus, the Center of It All,’ and that year I had more hope than I’ve had in years,” said Thigpen. “Not because of the theme or the banners, of course, but because I truly felt people were beginning to change their views of us—sexual abuse survivors.”

Thigpen continued, “By the end of the week, I truly felt the will of the messengers would prevail and that now that there was understanding, it would be followed by action.”

“All we’ve ever wanted was for this to never happen to other faith-filled children and teens; we never want another to suffer as we have,” she added. “We had no other agenda, no long game of swaying your theology, and no plans to destroy. We strictly have come to protect and thwart evil.”

The sexual abuse advocate of 17 years described the last several years as being filled with “brutal empty promises and excuses.” Because of that, Thigpen shared, “I have no hope of change promised.”

“With the bold political and agenda-based overpowering of the [messengers’] will, I head into this convention with serious doubt that the banners are true for the whole convention,” said Thigpen.

“Is Jesus the center of it all?” she asked. “Jesus being the center looks very different than this. My wish for the entities of the SBC and its 47,000 churches is to live like you believe Jesus to be the center of it all. To live out 1 Corinthians 13.”

Nearly 300 ACNA Clergy and a Texas Diocese Call for Male-Only Priesthood

Kathryn Post

June 10, 2024

Anglican ordination of women — (Photo by Lininha_bs/Creative Commons)

(RNS) — At an Anglican theological conference in January, UK priest and political commentator The Rev. Calvin Robinson stirred up a long-simmering controversy when he called women’s ordination a “slippery slope” akin to a “Trojan horse” and to “cancer.”

“This is how the liberal infestation of the church began,” Robinson insisted. “The doors were left open for the Marxist ideologies to gain a foothold, gender theory, queer theory, critical race theory — it all began with feminism.”

Robinson’s provocative remarks, delivered in an Anglican Church in North America diocese that ordains women, led to his removal from the remainder of the event. Months later, nearly 300 ACNA clergy have signed an open letter opposing women’s ordination to the priesthood, a wedge issue that has divided ACNA members since its inception in 2009, and an entire diocese has published a resolution calling for a moratorium on ordaining women.

On May 26, “The Augustine Appeal” appeared on the North American Anglican, a socially and theologically conservative publication. Authored by three ACNA priests and published weeks before ACNA elects its new leader, or Archbishop, the letter states that the “unresolved issue of women’s ordination to the priesthood imperils the mission of our Province.” It also expresses hope that the College of Bishops will find “a creative solution to restore orthodoxy” and institute a male-only priesthood. As of Friday (June 7), the appeal had been signed by 296 ACNA clergy.

A few days after the appeal was posted, a new resolution was published on the same Anglican site, this time by an elected group representing the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth (ACNA). The diocese asserts that when it joined ACNA in 2009, it did so only provisionally, given the ordination of women in parts of the denomination. Now, it wants to be in “full communion,” — but to make that possible, it says ACNA must come to a consensus on women’s ordination.

“(W)e call upon the college of bishops, under the leadership of the next archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, to agree to a moratorium on the practice of the ordination of women in order to facilitate full communion throughout the province as we come to a common mind on this issue,” the resolution says. The authors of the resolution and a spokesperson for ACNA declined to speak to RNS for this story.

Since ACNA’s 2009 split from The Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada over the latter two’s acceptance of LGBTQ+ clergy and marriage for same-sex couples, the denomination, also referred to as a Province, has allowed each diocese to decide the issue of women’s ordination. The church’s bylaws bar the Province from restricting dioceses’ authority to decide whether to ordain women priests and deacons. ACNA doesn’t allow women to become bishops.

Following Robinson’s ejection from the event, some ACNA priests voiced concerns over what they saw as organizers’ silencing of the truth. Among them were two priests, the Rev. Jay Thomas and the Rev. Blake Johnson, who later joined with the Rev. Ben Jefferies to author the Augustine Appeal. All three authors are graduates of Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Wisconsin, a theologically conservative Anglican seminary that identifies as Anglo-Catholic. Jefferies and Thomas are also regular contributors at the North American Anglican. Ten priests who signed the letter, including the three authors, declined to speak to RNS for this story.

As Ivory Coast Methodists Depart UMC over LGBTQ+ Issues, Africa’s Other Methodists Take Stock

Fredrick Nzwili

June 10, 2024

African United Methodist — Members of the United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe hold placards while protesting at the church premises in Harare, Thursday, May 30, 2024. The protests, which denounced homosexuality and the departure of the church from the scriptures and doctrine, come barely a month after the United Methodist Church Worldwide General Conference held in North Carolina, US repealed their church's longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy, removing a rule forbidding "self-avowed practising homosexuals" from being ordained or appointed as ministers. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — After the United Methodist Church voted this spring to allow its clergy to marry same-sex couples and lifted its ban on ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy, Methodists around the world watched how the denomination’s African members would respond.

On May 28, United Methodists in the Ivory Coast seemed to provide the answer when they announced the departure of their annual conference, a jurisdiction of some 1 million people, from the worldwide church.

At the annual conference’s extraordinary session in Cocody, a suburb of the capital, Abidjan, Bishop Benjamin Boni, president of the annual conference, accused the United Methodist Church of sacrificing its integrity and charged that the denomination had distanced itself from Scripture, thereby making the UMC no longer suitable for Ivorian Methodists.

But the United Methodist Church, formed in the United States in 1968 from the merger of two existing Methodist bodies, is only one branch of a faith tradition that has deep roots in Africa, and its culture is complicated by European colonialism and its aftermath.

In Ivory Coast, Methodism was brought to the then-French colony of Cote d’Ivoire In 1914 by William Wade Harris, a Liberian evangelist. Harris, who later belonged to the American Episcopal Mission, left a legacy of Harrist churches, which practice a syncretic mix of traditional African and Christian faith. But the traditional Methodist practice he helped establish went on to make ties to the British Methodist Church, only claiming its independence in 1985. It joined the United Methodist Church, based in the United States, in 2004.

The history of United Methodism and other Methodist denominations has complicated the response to the UMC decisions on LGBTQ+ issues.

“This is a matter of one denomination,” said the Rev. Martin Mujinga, the general secretary of the Africa Methodist Council, a pan-African association of Methodist, Wesleyan and United and Uniting churches.

At the African Methodist Council Summit in Lagos, Nigeria, May 29-June 2, said Mujinga, the question of how to respond to the UMC’s changes to its rules on LGBTQ+ matters “was discussed in passing. We did not want the issues of one denomination to crowd discussions of others.”

Before the May decision, in August, more than three-quarters of the 91 congregations in the UMC’s Kenya-Ethiopia annual conference voted to withdraw from the denomination, aligning with the Global Methodist Church, a new denomination formed by conservative former UMC churches and leaders.

According to the Rev. Wilton Odongo, a former UMC general secretary, now president of the Kenya provisional Global Methodist Church in Kenya, “We looked at our laws in Kenya and we found out they cannot allow this. So we moved out, about 77 congregations. We had been following the theological discussions and how the global church was functioning. We saw that (it) was not following the order and the structure and had become dysfunctional.”

But the UMC’s formal presence in Kenya dates back only to the early 1990s, and for most of the former British colony’s existence as an independent nation, the primary expression of Methodism has been the Methodist Church in Kenya, a denomination that gained autonomy from the British Methodist Church in Kenya in 1967. By 2019, the church had 1,000 congregations with a total Methodist community of more than 800,000, far outstripping the UMC community.

Watch Your Mouth, Christian!

Michael Kelley

June 10, 2024

watch your mouth — Adobestock #336101304

Klingon is an actual language. That’s right—the war-loving, spear-toting villains of the Star Trek world have an official language of their own. And people speak it. In fact, you can even get a collegiate scholarship if you are familiar with the alien language.

Similarly, there are those people out there who write letters in Elvish, a language originating in The Lord of the Rings.

More common is the dialect spoken between those people who know something about cars. Enter into their conversation and you might hear stuff about carburetors and engine blocks.

Or maybe the language of couponers who talk about BOGO and rebates, informing one another who is selling Pampers wipes at a discounted rate this week.

Stick me in any of these situations and I’d be totally lost. Completely uncomfortable. Absolutely without anything to say. But if you were integrated in the sub-culture of Star Trek, The Lord of the Rings, mechanics, or thrifty shoppers, you would feel right at home.

Sub-cultures are like that. They have their own language, dress, and customs. And if you’re a part of that sub-culture you feel right at home. You, as a member, have integrated the speech, clothes, and food into your life and now you don’t even give it a second thought. You freely communicate in Klingon to those about you, not worrying too much about the unenlightened who haven’t bothered to pick up their own pronunciation guide. And sub-cultures are everywhere. Chances are you belong to at least one, even if you don’t realize it. You might be a member of the technology subculture. Or the home school subculture. Or the SEC football subculture.

Me? I’m a card-carrying member of the Christian subculture. It’s a subculture with our own rock stars, communicators, and authors. It’s filled with customs, dress, food, and especially language that are as unfamiliar as the cliffs of Mordor or the eating patterns of dwarfs to the common observer.

If a person walked into the church today, they might as well have stepped into a comic book convention, for they would likely find a group of people so entrenched into their own subculture that they don’t even think about what they’re saying, singing, or preaching any more. After all, everybody understands them; they’re seeking the same language.

Here’s the good thing about a subculture—it’s safe. It’s comfortable. It’s easy. It’s part of who you are. And inside the comfort of a subculture, you don’t really have to think a lot about what you’re saying or the meaning behind it. You just assume that everyone around you knows what it means to be “saved,” they know how to “repent,” and they know what it means to call God “holy.” So you just rattle on, firmly entrenched in the familiar.

But that’s also a reason why we, as Christians, should watch our mouths.

5 Things Pastors Dread Hearing After Preaching a Sermon

Eric Geiger

June 10, 2024

Preaching is simultaneously exhilarating and exhausting. Though I am not sure how it could be proven, some have articulated that preaching one sermon is as emotionally and psychologically taxing as an eight-hour workday. If you are like me, you know you should rest in the promise that His Word does not return void, yet you often wish you had said things differently. Doubt and insecurity can creep in. There is also the spiritual reality that you are susceptible to attacks from the Enemy. Jonah was depressed and wanted to die after the great revival the Lord used him to spark. The apostle Paul said he had to beat his body into submission after he preached. With that as a backdrop, here are five things pastors dread hearing after preaching. Pastors, I am going to hypothetically respond in ways you have been tempted to respond, but have loved people too much to do so. (Though my list varies a bit from his, I must give credit to my boss, Thom Rainer, for initially posting on this subject.)

5 Things Pastors Dread Hearing After Preaching a Sermon

1. You used that illustration before.

Yes. Yes, I did. I preached my guts out for 35 minutes and used one two-minute illustration again. I am sorry you were unable to absorb any of the other 33 minutes because I am such an idiot for reusing an illustration. If you want to go complain to the worship leader about singing some of the same songs, he is over there. Oh wait, you actually only complain when he sings a new song. Hold on, let me write this down so I won’t disappoint you: No new songs, but only new illustrations.

When Prayer and Corporate Worship Aren’t Working

Ruth Haley Barton

June 10, 2024

When I entered into spiritual direction I had been working very hard at practicing the spiritual disciplines I had been taught in my Protestant upbringing—Bible study, wordy prayers, corporate worship and teaching, participating in a small group, serving with my gifts in the church, etc. I was sure I could make it all work if I just tried harder. And try harder I did—to the point that I was not only exhausted from ministry but exhausted from trying to become a better person with practices that could only take me so far.

“There is a temptation to think that spiritual direction is the guidance of one’s spiritual activities, considered a small part or department of one’s life. This is completely false. Spiritual direction is concerned with the whole person not simply as an individual human being, but as a child of God, another Christ, seeking to recover the perfect likeness to God in Christ, and by the Spirit of Christ.”
—Thomas Merton

Part of my desperation was the fact that the practices and habits people had told me were supposed to work in bringing about my transformation were not working, no matter how faithful I was to their program. I was embarrassed and felt very defeated.

Fresh Practices for Leaders Who Are Trying Too Hard

Surprisingly, my spiritual director encouraged me to stop doing what wasn’t working (!) and to pay attention to what I was longing for. It was the strangest and most wonderful feeling to be freed from the corporate worship and prayer methods I had practiced for so long in the hopes there might be something new for me! While I continued to lead in the arenas where I had responsibility, I had a private place for letting go of what wasn’t working and trying some new things. This was all very hopeful.

Eventually my director helped me to understand that I was in a transitional place in the life of prayer and began to guide me into fresh disciplines that corresponded to my need and fostered fresh experiences with God that I was so thirsty for. Her concrete guidance, along with the confidence she conveyed, marked out a new path for me.

One of the key moments in my early experience with spiritual direction was when I was able to be honest about how dry and lifeless Scripture had become for me. Even though there had been a time when Scripture was a place of life for me, years of serious study and then the responsibility of teaching others regularly had made them a tool of my profession rather than a place of intimate encounter. I was scared to death to admit this to anyone.

But in the safety of spiritual direction, I was able to talk about the wall I had hit with Scripture, receive encouragement to let go for a while (such freedom and relief!), and then have God return the Scriptures to me as the gift he intended—through the practice of lectio divina. If I hadn’t had the courage to let go, I might never have received such a beautiful new gift!

When the Leader Doesn’t Feel Like Praying

A natural pitfall of leadership, in particular, is that the boundary between one’s personal spiritual life and the demands of one’s profession can become very blurry. Pastoral leaders may come with a great sense of guilt that “I just don’t feel like praying” or “I study Scripture so much for my sermons, I am no longer able to engage corporate worship!”

Corporate leaders might have created a false dichotomy between their spiritual life and their leadership, having no idea how to engage spiritual disciplines that will help them forge a connection between their soul and their leadership.

One of the most significant contributions a spiritual director can make in the life of a leader is to create space for reflecting on the spiritual practices that open us to true transformation. In this space, we are helped to quiet feelings of “ought” and “should” so that we can pay attention to what’s really going on, spiritually speaking. We can be honest in reflecting on practices that are no longer fruitful for us or may have become layered with all sorts of professional expectations. This can open the way for letting go of what isn’t working and claiming fresh disciplines for ourselves.

The role of a spiritual director is to provide guidance for entering into spiritual disciplines that will help us forge a stronger connection between our soul and our leadership. The practice of mindfulness, paying attention to one’s breathing, building time into each work day for silence, prayer, contemplative Bible reading, staying attuned to inner dynamics of consolation and desolation, allowing such awareness to shape decision-making are all practices that strengthen the soul of one’s leadership.

A seasoned spiritual director will have training and experience with a wide variety of spiritual disciplines that correspond to our desire and our need. They can open up a treasure trove of spiritual possibilities for leaders who have done all they know to do and are desperate for fresh ways of connecting with God. This offers a world of hope to leaders who have lost hope in their ability to connect with God in the context of their leadership.

7 Marks of a Good Apology vs. 8 Marks of a Bad Apology

Brad Hambrick

June 10, 2024

Repentance is an essential part of the Christian life, relational health and maintaining an accurate view of the world. Repentance is when we quit trying to make our dysfunction “work” and embrace the life-giving alternative to our sin that God offers. When we direct repentance toward a person we have offended, we often call it an apology. For this reason, Christians should be better at a good apology than anyone else.

In the context of offense (when we are the offended party), it can be difficult to be objective about whether a good apology or a bad one, healthy or unhealthy, genuine or obligatory. Motives are subjective and rarely all good or all bad.

In this post, I pull from several previous posts and resources in order to try to identify the markers of a good apology (i.e., God-honoring) and markers of a a bad apology (i.e., one that fails to accomplish God’s redemptive agenda after an offense). I hope these help us repent well when are the offending party and discern wisely when we are the offended party in a conflict.

7 Marks of a Good Apology

Ken Sande in Peacemaking for Families, his excellent book on conflict resolution, describes seven elements of repentance (bold text only). This outline is developed in the order that words of repentance would typically be spoken in conversation. Explanations and applications will be provided for each point.

* This material is an abbreviated excerpt from the mentoring manual for the Creating a Gospel-Centered Marriage: Communication seminar (unit 5), so while in places it has a marital focus it is applicable to any relational context.

1. Good Apology: Address Everyone Involved.

If someone was directly or indirectly affected by your sin or observed your sin, then you should seek their forgiveness. When you fail to seek forgiveness you leave that person believing you think your actions were acceptable to God (particularly damaging for children and others over whom you have leadership responsibilities). Our repentance is often used by God to awaken us to the far-reaching, unintended consequences of our sin.

Mentality: Think of relationships scarred by sin as rooms of your home infected by termites. Sin is a destructive force that enjoys doing residual damage until is it exterminated by repentance and forgiveness. There is no such thing as an “insignificant termite” in your home. Likewise, there is no such thing as an “insignificant effect of sin” in a relationship.

2. Good Apology: Avoid If, But and Maybe.

Our first tendency in repentance is to soften what we admit. Words like if, but and maybe have no place in repentance. “If” calls into question whether what you did was really wrong. “But” transforms repentance into accusation. “Maybe” indicates you are not convinced your actions were wrong and invites a conversation (or debate) that is likely to go badly and, regardless, is not repentance.

Acknowledge you violated God‘s character. Repentance is about more than acknowledging sub-optimal behaviors. It is an admission that I misrepresented the character of the God whose name I bear when I call myself a Christian (i.e., literally “little Christ” when the title was first given in Acts 11:26). When we seek forgiveness we are saying, “I failed in my life purpose to be ‘an ambassador of Christ (2 Cor. 5:20)’ and I want clarify what I distorted to you.”

7 Deadly Sins of Guest Preaching

Chris Pascarella

June 10, 2024

So you’re invited to preach at someone else’s church. Or a conference. Or a chapel service. The venue doesn’t really matter. What does matter is not committing one of the seven deadly sins of guest preaching.

7 Deadly Sins of Guest Preaching

Preaching in front of your own church is way different than being a guest preacher. Preaching at “home” means you know the audience. You know how to apply the text and to whom. As a guest, you just don’t know. Consequently, these deadly sins will keep you from communicating effectively to your audience.

Sin 1: “This is my smokin’ hot wife”

Do. Not. Say. This.

Ever.

Ever, ever. (Seriously)

It’s disrespectful to your wife and it’s awkward for the audience. Honor your wife; don’t sexualize her. It goes without saying too: Never say this to an audience filled with teenage boys.

Sin 2: Travel Itinerary Intro

Don’t give a rundown of how long it took you to get to the conference. It’s boring. No one in your audience really cares how long it took for you to fly out there. What they need is an effective introduction which grips their imagination.

Sin 3: No contextualization

Once you get into the message, it’s deadly to lack contextualization. Don’t preach in New York City like you’re speaking at a rural Kentucky church. Don’t preach like Tim Keller to a country church. Adapt your style, illustrations and applications to the setting. Lack of sensitivity to the context will alienate your audience. Don’t be a selfish preacher.

Sin 4: Canned Messages

A “canned” message is a sermon preached more than two times. It’s deadly. Not only for the audience, but also for your own soul. Why? Preaching canned messages often involves “going through the motions.” You’re preaching to preach. Pushing yourself to preach new material will drive you back to the text and desperate reliance on God.

The Most Powerful Worship Song You Will Ever Sing

David Santistevan

June 10, 2024

This is the most powerful worship song you’ll ever sing because sometimes there’s a lyric that just smacks you in the face and roots your life back in reality.

One of those phrases is from the worship song “Unbroken Praise” by Matt Redman. It goes like this:

“Let my deeds outrun my words. Let my life outweigh my song.”

Ouch. I feel so often I can stress and strive for my art to get recognized—for people to love my worship leading. For the church to love my songs. For people to appreciate what I make. But in reality, I would rather be known for my life than for the art I create.

So much of this has been said before. Especially from a writer like Redman.

Coming back to the heart of worship …

Now to live the life …

A life of worship isn’t new information. It’s on the t-shirts.

If our lives don’t back up our worship songs, it’s empty.

The Most Powerful Worship Song You Will Ever Sing

Worship leaders, if our personal worship doesn’t outshine the stages we stand on, we’re missing the point.

But what is the answer? To stop singing altogether?

That’s like telling someone who doesn’t eat healthy to stop eating. For a season, that may be good. We call that a fast. But a better long term strategy is to start eating better.

Or it’s similar to a runner who knows all about running—what shoes to buy, how to stretch, the ins and outs of training, and the psychology of marathons, but doesn’t actually run. It’s a head knowledge without practice.

This Powerful Worship Song … I Surrender All?

On our new record, we’ve arranged a cover of the hymn “I Surrender All.” This is a worship song I’ve struggled to sing my whole life. It’s a frustrating, annoying song. Not because it’s old or the melody is archaic, but because it’s such a massive commitment. It’s impossible to sing half-heartedly.

When Disagreeing With Other Christians

James Emery White

June 9, 2024

Must Christians agree on everything? If not, how should they disagree? Few dynamics regarding conflict are more important to understand in our fractured culture yet are so seldomly taught.

Let’s get some language around our conversation.

First, the word orthodoxy, which simply means “right thinking.” It has a sister word, orthopraxy, which means “right living.” Throughout the history of the Church, hammering out what constitutes those two words has been critical. It’s what led to the great councils of the Church, such as the Council of Nicaea in 325, which determined orthodox thinking about the nature of Jesus as being fully God and fully man.

There are two other words that are critical: the word primary and the word tertiary. Primary issues are essential issues, matters critical to historic Christian orthodoxy and orthopraxy. They are so “primary” that rejecting these ideas, watering down these ideas, or misrepresenting these ideas would be considered heresy and no longer representative of the Christian faith.

Heresy comes from the Greek word hairesis, which essentially means to choose for yourself over and against orthodoxy. Or more specifically, over and against apostolic teaching as found in the Bible. Rather than submitting to the transcendent truth of the Christian faith, you make up your own truths and beliefs.

Tertiary issues are non-essential issues. Christians disagreeing on those things is not debating orthodoxy, but rather debating points that are non-essential to the message of the faith.

So when it comes to what we understand to be the essential doctrines of the Christian faith, we want to have absolute unity. There are certain things involved in being a Christian church—certain beliefs and convictions and doctrines. If you cease to hold to those beliefs, you cease to be a Christian church.

But having said that, on the non-essential beliefs, we want there to be liberty or freedom. Paul talks about this in the 14th chapter of Romans, reminding us not to pass judgment on other people over disputable matters. He then goes on to say that whatever you believe about disputable matters—meaning those things not central to the Christian faith nor in direct conflict with the central core of the Christian faith—should be kept to yourself.

And quite frankly, much more falls under this category than we may want to admit. Tertiary issues would include such things as the various views about the unfolding of the end times or styles of worship. Primary issues revolve around such things as the Person and Work of Jesus, the nature of God, and the inspiration and authority of the Scriptures.

This is why creeds were created—to state, definitively, what the primary issues are and to spell out the exact nature of historic Christian orthodoxy. The same kind of distinctions can be made when discussing the nature of orthopraxy.

In the essentials, we have unity; in the non-essentials, we have liberty; but in all things, we have charity.

So, what to do when there is disagreement with another Christ follower? I would suggest you put whatever the issue may be through a bit of a matrix.

First, is it a matter of orthodoxy or orthopraxy?

Second, within those categories, is it primary or tertiary?

If it doesn’t really fall into orthodoxy or orthopraxy, it’s not worth engaging. If it does but it’s not primary, then I would limit the amount of energy you put into the disagreement about it.

But if it is a matter of orthodoxy, and it is primary in nature, then yes, you need to take a stand. Lovingly engage with another Christ follower because it matters and they matter. I would also engage if they were taking a matter that isn’t orthodoxy or true orthopraxy, or taking something tertiary and elevating it to the level of primary orthodoxy and the test of what it means to be a Christian.

10 Things Parents Want From Youth Ministry

Michael Bayne

June 9, 2024

thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

When it comes to partnering with parents, every children’s pastor and youth pastor is trying to find the magic button that will make that aspect of ministry happen. They want to know what parents want from youth ministry. Every minister I have talked to wants to engage parents, but many of them feel like they are failing. Some feel like they are not doing enough. Some leaders feel like what they are doing is not effective. Some don’t even know where to begin. Today, I hope you will step back and take a deep breath and realize that there are some basic things you can do to partner with parents that should be a normal part of your week-to-week game plan. With the ministry you lead right now, you are already doing more for parents than you realize.

Here are 10 things you are probably already doing that parents want from youth ministry…

Parents want you to help their child or teen understand more about faith and grow spiritually.
Parents want you to create a sticky environment. Parents want you to create an environment that their child or teen wants to attend.
Parents value friendships for their children! Parents want their child or teen to develop strong friendships in your ministry.
Parents want a safe environment.
Parents want to be informed about what’s going on in your ministry.
Parents want to know there is a group leader tracking with their child or teen.
Parents want to know you can be trusted as a ministry leader.
Parents love it when kids and teens can explain what they discovered each week in your ministry.
Parents want to be followed up with when they have a question.
Parents want you to honor their time by keeping your ministry on time.

These are 10 things you are already working on that parents want from youth ministry. If you are working on these 10 things, then you are shaping the base of trust you need to partner with parents. If you miss on these 10 things, then the other ways you engage parents will be minimized.

I am going to tell you what every parent wants to tell you every week: Thanks for investing in our kids! What you do matters!

How To Lead When You’re a People Pleaser

Rusty George

June 9, 2024

When you think of a leader, do you think of a people pleaser? A leader is supposed to charge ahead, not care about the casualties along the way, and take us to where we most likely don’t want to go. They disregard the negative feedback and push back, they eat complaints for breakfast, they never worry what anyone else thinks of them. Right?

Here’s the problem: Not all of us are wired that way, yet we still are called to lead. Let’s face it, some of us are people pleasers. No matter what personality test you are using, the reality is some of us don’t want to poke the bear, don’t want to rock the boat, try to keep everyone happy, and think not only that this is the definition of Christian unity, but that it’s also possible to achieve!

Many of us who are first born kids are saddled with this burden. We naturally want to be in charge and lead, but we also want to make mom and dad happy. We are pleasers. So what do you do when you realize you have to lead, you will not make everyone happy, you won’t get all YES votes, and yet you so desperately crave everyone to applaud your decisions?

3 Suggestions for the People Pleaser

1. Focus on the mission

As a leader who can drift towards keeping people happy, the mission is my North Star. There have been times I have yielded to public opinion or perception at the cost of sacrificing mission momentum and I’ve always paid the price. Leaders do three things: They define reality (Here’s where we are) the determine destination (that’s where we are going) and then they decide how to get there (that’s strategy). Once you clarify this in either your organization, volunteer project or even your family, you will only see people as those who are working with you to get there or working against you. You empower those working with you. They help lead the work while you have to take a knee and talk with those working against you. If they can’t do it or won’t do it, they haven’t rejected you. They may say they do, but what they’ve really rejected is the mission of the church.

2. Figure out the rebellion

Why is this person not “pleased” by you or your leadership? Not what they say, but what they really feel. Most will over-spiritualize their reason: “God told me…” or “You’re evil and I’m righteous…” Or, they will overpopulate their reason: “We all feel this way…” or “Everyone is about to bail…”. Climb below the surface with some time, attention and a listening ear and you’ll probably discern they are hurt by losing preferences, position or power. If they can see what it is, there’s a chance to build back the relationship without giving in to what they demand.

3. Be the most encouraging person in the room

It’s easy to confuse this with pandering for compliments or approval. However, instead, this is just accentuating the good things. Everyone likes an encourager. Even if you have to deliver bad news, it’s hard to be too upset with someone who encourages them and has the best of the organization in mind. And if they do, then their selfishness would disrupt your team if it hadn’t already.

Letting people down, or not always pleasing them is tough… but if you give a mouse a cookie…In the end, if you sacrifice the mission and others needs for your need to be loved by all, one day we’ll realize we don’t have any of these things.

This article about leading as a people pleaser originally appeared here.

Heaven’s Eternal Rewards Program

Greg Stier

June 8, 2024

“So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God” (Romans 14:12). The Judgment Seat of Christ is one of the most underestimated, under-preached subjects in the entire Bible.

What is the Judgment Seat of Christ? It’s where all believers in Jesus will stand before him and give an account for every action, thought, and motive we ever had as Christians.

This judgment is not to determine entrance into Heaven—that was decided on the day you put your faith in Jesus to save you. There will be a different judgment, often called the Great White Throne Judgment, that will grant entrance to Heaven to those whose names are written in the Book of Life and send those who didn’t trust in Christ for salvation to eternal separation from God in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15).

But the Judgment Seat of Christ will determine the amount of rewards believers will carry with them forever in Heaven (1 Corinthians 3:11-15). This judgment will determine whether or not you’ll hear Him say: “Well done, my good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).

Rewards That Never End

Don’t buy the myth that you’ll cast all your crowns before the throne of Christ. That comes from a poor interpretation of Revelation 4:8-11.

You won’t.

You’ll carry these rewards throughout eternity, and when you look at them, you’ll remember Jesus saying, “well done.”

You’ll remember the smile on Jesus’s face when he gave them to you. God’s rewards program has no expiration date—these heavenly rewards will be eternal symbols of your earthly faithfulness.

Don’t Miss Out!

The thought of being disqualified for these rewards (1 Corinthians 9:27) terrified the Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 5:10-11).

It should cause us to tremble too. But it should also motivate us.

While waiting in a Roman prison to be beheaded, Paul excitedly penned some of his final words:

I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

This year on Nov. 9, during our global event Dare 2 Share LIVE, we’ll show a powerful drama about the Judgment Seat of Christ that will inspire teenagers and adults to strive for heavenly rewards.

Go to Dare2sharelive.org to sign up for more information about this global day of youth evangelism. But more than anything, choose to live your life to win that crown, to see that smile, and to hear those eternally satisfying words: “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.

A Small Group Path to Worshipful Submission

Steve Gladen

June 8, 2024

For this question I want to expand on the traditional definition of worship. Here it means complete submission to the Holy Spirit, total surrender, including sacrifice of the junk that is in us. The small group point person is the starting point for worshipful submission throughout the ministry. Our example trickles down through our leadership, so our personal submission and surrender to the Lord is a critical factor to everyone we lead. We must continually put ourselves on the altar as living sacrifices (see Rom. 12:1), knowing that God wields the knife as a surgeon, not an assassin.

A Small Group Path to Worshipful Submission

The following habits have kept me going for thirty-five years in ministry:

• Quiet time. Whatever it takes, I make it happen. I am a terrible reader, so I use audio via the Drivetime Devotions app. Ten minutes of Scripture sets the table for me to reflect with the Lord. Spend time with God to be used by him.

• Tithing and time. When God owns your finances, he owns you. When God owns your calendar, he owns you. Giving is worship.

• Community. Authentic human relationships—especially with those who love you in ways that improve you—make you more Christlike.

Worship helps you and your leaders connect the ministry dots so every- one “gets it.” Helping all your leadership connect with God will do more than a hundred times as much as training. So in sustaining your ministry, keep yourself and your leaders in close touch with your best advocate, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit held first century churches together through – out all the chaos and turmoil, and he will do the same for yours. You may think you control your ministry, but it is his ministry, and he controls it. Plan for and expect meaningful experiences that allow God to do what only he can do, and it will make your job a lot easier!

Is Your Church Healthy?

Chris Swain

June 8, 2024

Do you have a healthy church? Take this checkup to find out.

I will never forget this crazy situation I experienced in middle school. I was in the 7th grade and attending an American School while living in Germany. My father was in the Army, and I was a military brat. The school was pretty small, so we only had a few classes for each grade. For reasons never explained to us students, the faculty decided to reconfigure each class based upon learning need criteria. More simply put, the three classes would be set up based on how students performed. “A“ students would be in one class, “B” students in another, and “C“ students in the final group. It was the eighties, so no one really pushed back on this. We were told that we would all take tests and the results would place us in our new classes. On the day of the test, the teacher of my class looked over the results as we were handing them in and frowned.

“No,” he yelled, “this is not going to work!” He handed our tests back and, holding the answer key, told us to erase any wrong answers and replace them with the correct solution. We were dumbfounded but also pretty excited to be experiencing this wholesale upheaval of the rules in our favor. It was like we had won the lottery. I was especially thrilled because if my past grades were to be the actual indicator, I would have been a shoo-in for the “C” class. As it turned out, every single one of us got into the “A” class. I’d like to say something happened and the teacher was ratted out, and everything was returned to a fair and just teaching system. But that never happened, and I spent my 7th and 8th-grade years in a class with students who had been given the answers. We will never know who “belonged” in the class because our circumstances delivered the answers. I want to think this situation drove some of us to achieve at a higher rate but who knows. When it came to this critical crossroads of our learning, we were simply given the answers. We passed the test and did well on it because we were told what to write. But few of us could actually apply or reiterate what we had learned. This whole experience shortchanged us as students, even though it felt great at the time, there was a long-term impact on my progress. You can’t just skip learning fundamental basics and expect to excel. We were not equipped, we were handed the answers and told what to do with them

Is Your Church a Healthy Church?

While this is an atypical story (I hope), I feel like I have experienced it again and again in the church. Rather than equipping the Saints, too often we tell those we lead what to think, what to do, and how to do it. I typically hate it when someone makes me work through whatever question I have rather than just giving me the answer, but the truth is that until I have struggled through it, I really don’t know how it connects.

We teach our people in Sunday school/small groups. We teach them in our worship services. When they ask questions, we most often hand them the right answer. But in order to equip, we must go farther than teaching information and press into showing them how to apply it. Matthew 28 is clear, “teach them to obey everything I have commanded you,” says Jesus. Notice He doesn’t say, “teach them to understand everything I have commanded you,” or “teach them to know everything thing I have commanded you.”

No, He says, “teach them to obey…” That means we have to put it into action. That means we have to help people connect the truth of Christ’s words with the actions that go with that understanding. That is what equipping is. So, do you have a healthy church when it comes to equipping the Saints? Here are a few questions to mull over:

How many environments in your ministry are focused on student/learner?
Are your people aware of what their next step is in their journey as a believer no matter where they currently are?
Are your staff or key leaders doing the majority of the work of the ministry?

These basic diagnostic questions, if answered honestly, will help you determine if you need to take a deep dive on implementing more equipping and transition away from mere teaching. A healthy church equips the Saints to do the work of the ministry. Do you have a healthy church in this area?

This article about having a healthy church originally appeared here

‘Hug Your Kids and Talk to Them About Jesus’—Pastor Jesse Morgan Encourages Parents in the Midst of Lucy’s Death

Jesse T. Jackson

June 7, 2024

Jesse Morgan Lucy Morgan — Screengrab via New Creation Living blog

Jesse Morgan, the worship and discipleship pastor from Green Pond Bible Chapel in Rockaway, New Jersey, who has been sharing about heartbreaking loss of his 6-year-old daughter Lucy, has posted details about the morning she passed.

The Morgans, a family of six who were enjoying a getaway at a lake cottage in Maine, were relaxing on Saturday (June 1) when they heard screaming from their children.

Morgan and his wife, Bethany, rushed to discover that a badminton racquet the children were playing with had accidentally broken on a downward swing, and a sharp piece of the racquet had entered Lucy’s skull.

After four days in the hospital, Lucy never regained consciousness and passed in the early morning hours of June 5.

“On June 4, the morning of the day Lucy was predicted to pass,” Morgan wrote in his latest blog post. “It was very hard to distinguish the groans and cries I heard from Bethany at 3am that morning from the ones I heard on the morning of September 4, 2017 when Bethany birthed Lucy.”

He added, “The pain of a mother in this situation is so incredibly unique, heavy, and frankly awe inspiring to witness. Through our groaning I have been given new eyes to see Romans 8:18-27.”

“Bethany can feel so deeply and viscerally and unashamedly does so as the Spirit intercedes for her. I am so proud of how she bore this impossible burden these past few days by God’s grace,” Morgan said. “The only reason we can even still stay sane is the grace He shows to us in bringing us this far.”

Morgan said of God, “We know what He’s done, where He’s brought us, and where He’s bringing us. It’s the path that is unknown and often terrifying. Yet, even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, He is with us.”

After consulting other medial specialists, doctors concluded that Lucy had “endured brain death.”

Morgan explained that after “significant thorough testing and even more repeated tests to be certain, brain death was declared 1:32am on June 5, and her heart stopped beating around 4am. Lucy was with Jesus.”

New Center for Baptist Leadership Aims To ‘Revitalize’ the SBC

Jesse T. Jackson

June 7, 2024

Center for Baptist Leadership William Wolfe — Screengrab via Center for Baptist Leadership website

Led by William Wolfe, the Center for Baptist Leadership (CBL) was formed earlier this year with the mission to “revitalize” the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).

According to the CBL’s website, it will focus on “cultivating courageous and uncompromising Baptist leadership for the 21st Century.” The CBL plans to provide resources to equip churches to “tackle issues of pressing concern in SBC life, theology, and polity.”

Wolfe, who serves as the CBL’s executive director, is joined by an advisory board that includes Pastor Tom Ascol, Pastor Mark Coppenger, pastor and Oklahoma State Senator Dusty Deevers, Pastor Steve Gentry, Christian ethicist, economist, and engineer Craig Mitchell, Pastor Lewis Richerson, attorney Sam Webb, and attorney Jon Whitehead.

Sharing his passion for the SBC, Wolfe told ChurchLeaders that he came to know Jesus through a “faithful Southern Baptist pastor.” Wolfe grew up going to church, but he said that after the unexpected death of his 15-year-old brother, his life was in “total shambles.”

“Through that period of grief and personal disaster” at the age of 22, Wolfe said he met Capitol Hill Baptist Church Pastor Mark Dever. “He shared the gospel with me, [and] I became a Christian,” said Wolfe.

Wolfe moved to Washington D.C. to attend Capitol Hill Baptist, was baptized, and began to get plugged in to what he describes as an “epicenter of church reform, church revitalization work there with 9Marks.”

While living in Washington D.C., Wolfe began working in politics, including for the Trump administration. During that time, Wolfe said that he saw the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) fail to represent SBC interests.

“So that sort of planted, you can say, a rock in my shoe in terms of my interest in Christian political theology and what it looked like to be a faithful witness in an increasingly woke world,” Wolfe said.

He added,

I thought that to do that, church leaders should embrace unapologetic Christian conservative and ethical commitments and represent the interests of your average American Christian in the pews to the institutions of power the publishing arms, the media, not try to bend the people in the pews to accept the coastal elite narrative of progressive social justice Christianity.

Russell Brand: A Vote for Trump Is a Vote for Democracy & Freedom

Stephanie Martin

June 7, 2024

Screengrab via X (formerly Twitter) / @rustyrockets

In a new episode of his “Stay Free” podcast today (June 7), English actor and comedian Russell Brand revealed why he thinks Americans should re-elect Donald Trump. Brand, who recently became a Christian, isn’t an American citizen but is vocal about a wide range of political topics.

In his latest podcast episode, Brand spoke to model Elizabeth Pipko, a Republican National Committee spokeswoman, about the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Before the interview was posted midday Friday, Fox News Digital obtained an exclusive clip and shared some quotes.

Brand also plugged the episode on social media, showing footage of Pipko gifting him a signed red MAGA cap.

Russell Brand: Trump Support Doesn’t Equal ‘Armageddon’

Brand, who often addresses conspiracy theories, performed last month at a campaign event for independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. But the actor, 49, said in Friday’s podcast that Americans have a clear choice for their next leader.

“In a straight choice between Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” Brand said, “if you care about democracy, if you care about freedom, I don’t know how you could do anything other than vote for Donald Trump for precisely the reasons that [liberals] claim that you can’t.”

He continued,

They act as if a vote for Donald Trump is almost like you’re directly voting for Armageddon, like you see hysterical performances outside of courtrooms, endless MSNBC bombast. But I’m starting to think that, no, a greater threat to democracy is this kind of technological feudalism that tells you that it cares about you and that it’s protecting vulnerable people, all the while increasing censorship, increasing the funding of wars, increasing the division between ordinary Americans.

Russell Brand Decries How Trump Is Treated and Portrayed

In the preview of his new podcast episode, Brand also addresses what he considers the unfair treatment of former President Trump. He mentioned Trump’s legal battles and recent convictions, decrying the “weaponization of the legal system.”

“For a long time…I’ve been concerned about the snobbery and the contempt and condemnation in which people that support Donald Trump are plainly held by his detractors,” The actor told Pipko. “And this is while you have an administration that’s emulating his policies, plagiarizing from Donald Trump, while simultaneously criminalizing him from the weaponization of the legal system.”

“The idea of this…Orwellian nightmare continuing all the while they’re telling you that they’re helping you, is a far greater threat than their constant portrayal of Trump as a mad strongman figure, a kind of 21^st-century reiteration of the despotism of the last century,” Brand added. “For me, what we are facing now is a bigger threat than that.”

‘I Don’t Identify as the Disgraced Former Pastor’—Carl Lentz Reflects on Scandals in New Podcast

Dale Chamberlain

June 7, 2024

Former Hillsong East Coast Pastor Carl Lentz has released a tell-all podcast alongside his wife, Laura. In the first episode of “Lights On With Carl Lentz,” Lentz opened up about the events of the past four years, during which he has been absent from the spotlight.

The podcast is part of the B-Side network, which was founded by rapper Lecrae, singer Michelle Williams, and Pastor Tim Ross. Notably, Ross serves as oversight pastor at Mike Todd’s Transformation Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Lentz was hired in 2023 to help with ministry strategy.

Lentz had been the pastor of Hillsong Church’s New York location, and during his tenure there, he grew the church into a multisite congregation while rubbing elbows with celebrities and professional athletes. However, he was dismissed from the church in 2020 after admitting to an extramarital affair.

Later, allegations of spiritual and sexual abuse were levied against Lentz. He has denied that these allegations are true. No legal action against Lentz has resulted from the allegations.

“When you go through something like we’ve gone through,” Lentz said at the beginning of the podcast, “you either break down and die and let it define you for the rest of your life, or you get up and you fight and you try to break through and remind yourself that we’re all writing our story and nobody else can control the true, real narrative of your life.”

“And we have had a journey of making sure we don’t lay down, die, and let a hard chapter define us,” he added.

Speaking of the scandals that have surrounded his life, Lentz said, “I’m at fault.”

“My decision, my choices—that’s my responsibility, and I take responsibility for it,” he continued. “I have wanted people to know, when I get a chance to talk to them, that I’m deeply sorry for what happened, and it’s nobody else’s responsibility. It’s mine.”

“I mismanaged my personal life. I hid things that I should not have hid. I lied about things I shouldn’t have lied about. I was confused about who I was at times, didn’t get help for it,” Lentz said. “And the result was a whole lot of pain for a whole lot of people, which I will remain deeply sorry for for the rest of my life.”

He added, “I don’t live in the shame of it, but I will never forget the impact that it had on people. And it’s nobody else’s fault. It’s my fault.”

Lentz said that his goal now is “living amends,” both publicly and privately. Even still, he went on to express that he doesn’t see himself as a “disgraced pastor.”

5 Things Pastors Dread Hearing After Preaching a Sermon

1. You used that illustration before.

Fresh Practices for Leaders Who Are Trying Too Hard

When the Leader Doesn’t Feel Like Praying

7 Marks of a Good Apology

7 Deadly Sins of Guest Preaching

Sin 1: “This is my smokin’ hot wife”

Sin 2: Travel Itinerary Intro

Sin 3: No contextualization

Sin 4: Canned Messages

The Most Powerful Worship Song You Will Ever Sing

This Powerful Worship Song … I Surrender All?

Here are 10 things you are probably already doing that parents want from youth ministry…

3 Suggestions for the People Pleaser

Rewards That Never End

Don’t Miss Out!

A Small Group Path to Worshipful Submission

Is Your Church a Healthy Church?

Russell Brand: Trump Support Doesn’t Equal ‘Armageddon’

Russell Brand Decries How Trump Is Treated and Portrayed

New Articles

New Podcasts