Who Was Jesus’ Best Friend? A Look at the Disciple Simon Peter

By

-

November 24, 2023

Who was Jesus’ best friend, kids may wonder. When you’re talking about Jesus’ earthly life and ministry, introduce teens to Simon Peter. Read on for one youth minister’s moving letter to his young son.

Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” John 13:33-37

Dear Peter Bjorn,

I want to introduce you to a very special person. He’s so special we named you after him. Simon Peter was one of Jesus’ original disciples — and one of the first people Jesus called to be his full-time disciple.

Peter, along with James and John, made up Jesus’ inner circle. They had a special glimpse into the things of God, and among this inner circle, Peter often acted as leader and spokesperson. His name heads every list of the Twelve in the New Testament.

Peter was passionately devoted to Jesus. He claimed he would never deny Jesus and promised to fight to protect him from any harm.

Who Was Jesus’ Best Friend on Earth?

In fact, you might say if Jesus had a best friend on earth, it was most likely Peter. After Jesus called him to leave his fishing business and devote his life to the ministry of the Kingdom, Peter seemed to never leave Jesus’ side. He was never more than a step behind, covered in the dust Jesus’ sandals kicked up. When Jesus was walking up a hill and stopped abruptly, Peter’s nose probably bumped into his butt. Peter vowed to follow Jesus anywhere.

Good disciples want to mimic and copy their rabbi’s every move. Peter seemed to have taken this to an extreme level once while out at sea. All the disciples were shocked and scared when they saw their rabbi, Jesus, walking on the water out at sea.

Generational Discipleship: It Starts With Connection

By

Christina Embree

-

November 24, 2023

We have to start somewhere. Generational discipleship doesn’t just happen. No matter what structures or programs we have in place, no matter how stunning our stage presence or powerful our preaching, no matter how nice our facility or how big or small our building, without the connections that lead to meaningful relationships, we will miss out on the greatest opportunity for lifelong disciples within our faith communities.

In the Connect Generations case study in 2022, one interesting insight into how connection plays out in the participating churches emerged.

For starters, in the ten churches that were surveyed, there were ten different understandings of connection, relationship, discipleship, and mentorship. Definitions of these words were intentionally not given to the participants.

The goal was to see if generational discipleship, the passing of faith from one generational to another, was being observed by the participant without input or bias from the researcher.

In the end, only two participants differentiated between connection (a chance or space to interact), a relationship (something that moved beyond the greeting at church), and discipleship/mentorship (a passing on of faith or life lesson from one person to another). Only one participant could articulate a path from connection to relationship to discipleship/mentorship where the passing of faith was the primary intent.

In general, mentorship was primarily seen as simply passing a skill or task to another such as how to run the sound board or cook the meal for the yard sale or cut the lawn or teaching someone to take over a vacated role on a committee. Mentorship was only spoken of by one participant in a way that involved any form of spiritual formation or the sharing of personal life lessons.

The ways in which discipleship was understood were equally vague, with all but one referring to a discipleship program or curriculum as the primary context for discipleship. One participant responded to the question on mentorship/discipleship by saying, “We don’t use a lot of religious language…Mentoring is still a thing but not necessarily spiritual or religious.”

Another offered their church’s definition of discipleship as simply “embodying faith” but offered no practice tied to the experience of discipleship in their church other than starting a mentoring program in January.

Finally, another answered the discipleship/mentorship question by sharing, “Intergenerational relationships are more about hanging out and having fun not intentional discipleship or mentoring.”

Why is this important? Because if we are to take seriously our call to make disciples on all, including the all that shows up in our church each Sunday, we need to know what it is we are doing.

This is what generational discipleship is all about. It’s the passing of our faith from one generation to another. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Our faith doesn’t accidentally get passed on by way of a good book or a great worship song. Our faith is passed from one generation to another. It is passed in relational community.

The 5 Essential Practices of Leaders Who Multiply Leaders

By

Dave Ferguson

-

November 24, 2023

Five…four…Ferguson picks up his dribble…three . . . two . . . one . . . Ferguson shoots and scores! They win! They did it! Ferguson’s last-second shot has won the championship!

With my hands raised in victory, I shouted those words in the driveway of my house as a kid. In fact, I created a heroic drama like this hundreds of times every summer.

I bet you did too.

If it wasn’t a game-winning last-second shot, how did you imagine yourself as the hero somewhere?

My wife, Sue, who became a teacher, saw herself being like Anne Sullivan: teaching the next Helen Keller and helping her students discover how to learn.

Maybe you dreamed of taking a spaceship into outer space as the whole world watched to see whether you would land safely.

Perhaps you envisioned yourself in front of ten thousand screaming fans, nailing a face-melting solo on your electric guitar.

Maybe you imagined dancing so beautifully that when the music stopped, the crowd erupted with a standing ovation.

I believe God put that dream to be a hero within each of us as our way to make a difference and to leave our mark on planet Earth.

Jesus as a Hero Maker

Jesus’ death on the cross was heroic. Jesus told his Father, “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42), and then he stretched out his arms and gave his life for us.

But Jesus didn’t stop with being a hero. He made heroes out of his closest followers. We know that Jesus was a hero maker by how he allocated his time and energy as a leader.

When you think of Jesus’ ministry, do you picture him speaking to the crowds—Sermon on the Mount, feeding of the five thousand—or spending time to train the Twelve? One researcher says the Gospels put 3/4’s of their emphasis on the training of the Twelve. He calculates that from the time Jesus told the Twelve that he’d teach them to multiply (“I will send you out to fish for people” [Matt. 4:19]) until his death, Jesus spent 73 percent of his time with the Twelve. That’s 46 events with the few, compared with 17 events with the masses. The ratio of time Jesus spent with the few versus time he spent with the many was almost three to one.

Undistracted Holidays

By

Daniel Henderson

-

November 24, 2023

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. If you are like me, you probably feel deep unrest with the world’s blatant devaluing of the day that has been set aside to reflect on the good gifts of our God and His abundant blessing on our lives. Instead, the world is consumed with secular parades, multiple NFL games and endless marketing to our consumer-driven culture about Black Friday specials. Even for the devout, distractions abound during this season of celebration. Preparations for an unprecedented day of feasting, complications of travel and even engagement in the complexities of family relationships can draw us away from a focused heart of gratitude. What does it mean to be undistracted during the holidays?

As we gathered to express our thanks for the Thanksgiving meal, I shared a reflection that was a bit morbid, but a good reminder. I said, “If we knew that this would be the last Thanksgiving for someone among us, how would this affect the way we cherished our time together?” We talked about taking some time to all share the things we were most grateful for in 2018. With good intentions, we failed to really capitalize on the moment. The distractions of seven small and very active children, cleaning up the kitchen and, for some, tuning in to football caused us to lose focus.

Undistracted Holidays

With the Christmas season now kicking into full gear, it isn’t going to get any better. We must think clearly about the little but dangerous distractions, and brace ourselves for a better focus.

The First Christmas

Recently, I read a commentary about the potential distractions that even Mary and Joseph may have faced at that first Christmas. In their much simpler environment, there were diversions that may have derailed their savoring of all that God was doing. This writer proposed the following possibilities:

Christmas Teaches Us The Kind of People God Uses

By

Ray Hollenbach

-

November 24, 2023

When important people come to town, everyone one knows it. NBA stadiums sell out months before LeBron show up for game time. When Selena Gomez or Tom Holland do a personal appearance, hundreds of screaming fans will show up hours ahead of time. When the President visits your city, you can be sure the mayor will meet him at the airport, and schoolchildren will be there to give the First Lady flowers. The Christmas story shows us that God does things differently. You might even call His way sneaky. God uses people we might overlook. The most important person in the history of the world snuck into town late one night and definitely did not stay in a five-star hotel. Actually, Jesus was smuggled into Bethlehem through the womb of a teenage girl, who gave birth in a barn. That’s different. We all know the story of Christmas: the baby, the barn, the shepherds, and magi. Hidden inside that familiar story is the surprising revelation that God’s way is to ignore the big shots and use nobodies instead.

Count the “Nobodies” God Uses:

Mary

Mary was a teenage girl from a small town. In Bible times, women were not important people, and teenagers were even lower on the scale. Mix in her pre-martial pregnancy, and you’ve got a real nobody on your hands. Mary was God’s choice. She conceived the baby Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. God considered her somebody important and gave her a pretty tough assignment!

Joseph

Joseph was a nobody, too. He was just a working man. He was faced with a choice between trusting God and protecting his small-town reputation. But reputations belong to important people, and most of the important people were in Jerusalem. Joseph said yes to shame, yes to love, and yes to God, so God chose Joseph to act as a foster-father to the Savior of the world.

Shepherds

Shepherds are not important people, just the opposite: second-shift schmucks who work outdoors. Back in that day, watching sheep was not exactly a rock-star kind of gig. Yet they were the first guests invited to the celebration; they saw the skies ripped open and heard the song of heaven. In just one winter night, these social misfits witnessed more of God’s glory than all the priests in Jerusalem.

The Magi

The Magi: They were nothing more than rich pagan astrologers. It didn’t matter if they had money; they were foreigners. Foreigners have the wrong religion, the wrong clothes, and the wrong sacred books–yet the Father invited these rich pagan astrologers, strangers in Israel, to celebrate the birth of the King.

Elizabeth & Zechariah

Elizabeth & Zechariah were a kindly old couple engaged in harmless religious activity. They are the kind of people society ignores–unless they are driving too slowly on the highway. This childless couple found themselves unexpectedly drafted to care for and raise the greatest prophet of the Old Testament tradition–and the forerunner to the Messiah.

Anna & Simeon

Anna & Simeon: Alone and elderly, they were two people almost completely invisible in Jerusalem. Invisible to everyone except the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God had been whispering to them for decades that they would witness the most important event in human history. Even after they held the baby Jesus that day in the Temple, the world would have considered them people at the margins of society, yet Simeon and Anna were in on God’s secret plan decades before the rest of the world knew what was going on.

The secret message inside the Christmas story? God invites the nobodies. And when God invites you to the table, He provides everything you need. The powerful people, the beautiful people, and the cool kids might not make it to the celebration. They’re welcome, but they might be too busy building their own kingdoms. Meanwhile, God’s kingdom is filling up with the people no one notices.

This season, if you are a nobody—rejoice! You are not far from the Kingdom of God.

This article about the story of Christmas originally appeared here, and is used by permission

Lone Youth Pastor? Consider Cooperative Youth Ministry

By

Kevin Boer

-

November 22, 2023

Wondering why a lone youth worker tends to feel desperate? Keep reading for helpful insights about cooperative leadership in youth ministry.

Twenty-five years ago I was fresh out of college with an engineering degree. Somehow I landed a youth pastor position. As I sat in my storage closet of an office, I realized I had no clue how to reach and disciple teenagers.

Then I saw a flyer from National Network of Youth Ministries saying, “Reach teenagers together! Connect with other leaders in your community.” I thought, “What do I have to lose?” So I started calling other youth leaders.

At our first network gathering, I asked, “How do we reach teenagers together?”

Don’t Be a Lone Youth Leader

You may feel that same desperation in ministry. You aren’t alone. The greatest issue facing all leaders is isolation. God said in the beginning, “It is not good for man to be alone.” He created us to be in community. That’s why the network values the principle of cooperative leadership.

Early in my ministry career, I realized this: All leaders need to connect with other leaders on their journey if they expect to finish well.

Why Cooperative Leadership Matters in Youth Ministry

Cooperative leaders live out two actions:

1. They follow Jesus.

While Jesus was on earth, He could have done all the ministry by Himself. He “could have called 12 legions of angels” (Matthew 26:53). But instead He chose a ragtag group of disciples who led the greatest movement ever. We start leading by becoming followers of Jesus because greatness comes from serving Jesus first, then serving others.

2. They help other people follow Jesus.

Who are you encouraging to lead? Barnabas is my favorite person in the Bible. He gave it all away and equipped Paul and John Mark to do the same. Barnabas’ selfless leadership set the stage for the church’s persecutor to become its greatest catalyst (Acts 9:27). God is still using this kind of leadership!

Kanye West Named Billboard’s Top Gospel Artist, Immediately Returns To Explicit Lyrics In New Song

By

Jesse T. Jackson

-

November 22, 2023

Controversial “Jesus Is King” rapper Kanye West (Ye) was named Billboard’s Top Gospel Artist of 2023 during its annual Billboard Music Awards on Sunday night (Nov. 19).

This is West’s third straight year of claiming Billboard’s Top Gospel artist award, beating out CeCe Winans, Elevation Worship, Kirk Franklin, and Maverick City Music.

According to Billboard, West’s 2021 release of his album “Donda,” named after his late mother, not only debuted on the top of the all-genre weekly Billboard 200, it also topped Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums and Top Christian Albums charts.

West’s “Donda” was the follow up to his first Christian-themed album “Jesus Is King” (2019), which was nominated for a Dove Award for Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year at the 51st Gospel Music Awards. West lost to Social Club Misfits’ album “Mood//Doom,” but was awarded Top Gospel Album at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards and Best Contemporary Christian Music Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards—making it West’s 22nd Grammy award.

“Donda” features many popular artists including Jay-Z, Marilyn Manson, Pop Smoke, Travis Scott, Kid Cudi, André 3000, among others, and West bleeped out curse words.

As ChurchLeaders reported in a 2019 article titled “Kanye’s Spiritual Transformation Is Genuine, Says Pastor,” West gave his life to Jesus the Spring 2019 and was discipled by senior pastor of L.A.’s Placerita Bible Church. In 2020, West appeared alongside the world-renowned pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston Joel Osteen during one of West’s Sunday Service concerts.

Following the announcement of his salvation, the world has witnessed West’s ongoing controversies and unhinged statements. Just in the past 13 months, he and his former wife Kim Kardashian finalized their divorce. He and far-right influencer and talk show host Candace Owens appeared together at a Paris fashion show wearing shirts emblazoned with the phrase “White Lives Matter.” He went on an antisemitic rant on social media claiming he was going to go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” resulting in cascading repercussions that ended with Adidas ultimately ending its highly profitable partnership with West. The fallout cost West his billionaire status, according to Forbes. Most recently, reports are that West and his current wife Bianca Censori have separated. These reports come three months after authorities in Venice said the two were being investigated for indecent exposure following a compromising incident that was widely photographed, recorded and witnessed by Italian tourists.

On the Road to Recovery, Vikings QB Kirk Cousins Keeps Surrendering to Jesus

By

Stephanie Martin

-

November 22, 2023

Kirk Cousins — Screengrab via Instagram @kirkcousins

One of the NFL’s most outspoken Christian players continues to glorify God despite being sidelined with a season-ending injury. Addressing the media last week, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins said he has been grateful for people’s prayers and continues to trust God with his life and career.

Cousins, 35, suffered a torn Achilles tendon during an October 29 game and has been rehabbing from surgery. In the meantime, Cousins has been advising and rooting for his replacement, Josh Dobbs, another outspoken Christian.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kirk Cousins (@kirkcousins)

QB Kirk Cousins: ‘It’s His Career That I Steward’

To open his Nov. 17 press conference, Cousins expressed appreciation for all the well wishes and prayers. “You don’t quite know how many people are in your corner and how many people are praying for you and cheering you on until something like this happens,” he said.

The NFL veteran, who becomes a free agent after this season, also said his future is in God’s hands. “I’m excited to write the next chapter and see what God wants to do with it, whatever it may be,” Cousins told reporters.

“I’ve just kind of been reminded again that my career, it’s not my career. It’s [God’s] career that I steward, and I’ve just gotta surrender myself and let Him lead where He wants to go,” the QB continued. “And when that’s a torn Achilles, I have to accept it just as much as if it’s a win on ‘Monday Night Football.’”

Cousins emphasized that God’s plan is perfect, even when we can’t see what’s unfolding. “I’m learning to play this sport holding my hands open and say, ‘You know, God, whatever you want to do—if that means a torn Achilles—I’ve got to accept that,’” he added. “Ultimately I’ll look back and say, ‘God allowed that to happen, and I am where I am someday because of [getting hurt], not in spite of [it].’”

Kirk Cousins Serves While Sidelined

During his 12-year career, this is the first time Cousins has been out due to injury. But he isn’t letting the torn Achilles prevent him from serving. Last week, the QB, along with his wife and oldest son, served Thanksgiving meals with other Vikings players at a Salvation Army center in St. Paul.

Andrew DePaola, the team’s long snapper, was asked if he was shocked to see Cousins there, on crutches, interacting with young fans. “Knowing Kirk as well as I do, no, it doesn’t shock me,” he said. “That’s just the type of guy he is.” DePaola added that Cousins is “a huge part of the culture we have here” on the Vikings.

Comedian John Crist’s Facebook Page Hacked and Flooded With Pornographic Material

By

Jesse T. Jackson

-

November 22, 2023

Last Wednesday (Nov. 15), controversial Christian comedian John Crist’s Facebook page was hacked and flooded with pornographic images.

“Hi everybody, look [sic] like we finally got control back of our Facebook,” a statement on Crist’s page said. “We got hacked on Wednesday night and have been working around the clock with the team at Meta to regain control. So sorry for all the weird FB stories that were posted over the weekend!”

One fan commented, “The amount of those stories that Facebook chose to put in my feed was absurd. I never see that many posts by any single person I follow yet every time I opened my phone there was some giant naked hind-end. And no matter how many times I reported it and told Facebook I didn’t want to see it, they kept showing it.”

Another wrote, “So glad! If it lasted much longer I would have had to unfollow you!”

“I have to admit…I thought that boy had done gone ‘backslidin.’ JUST KIDDING,” one fan said.

In Nov. 2019, Crist was accused of sexual misconduct and harassment by five young women with whom Crist allegedly had manipulative sexual relationships. The allegations were first reported by Charisma News after months of investigative journalism.

The allegations forced Crist to cancel an upcoming tour and resulted in Netflix postponing his special “I Ain’t Prayin’ for That.”

Crist, who had been very active on multiple social media platforms, ceased to post for eight months. He publicly shared that he spent time in a treatment facility for four months with no phone.

The comedian confessed to making a lot of poor decisions in his personal life and said, “I point the fingers at no one else but myself,” acknowledging he “had a problem and needed to get some help.”

In the summer of 2020, Crist shared that he was suicidal during that time. “About 16 months ago, I really was going to end my life…I remember specifically this story. I was in rehab, out in the desert in Arizona, and I was so sad and I was full of so much shame.” He told his listeners, “I didn’t want to participate in the recovery process or try to get better or anything.”

Today, Crist has returned to selling out tour dates and is one of the most popular Christian comedians in America.

Natasha Smith: How To Make the Church Safe for People Who Are Grieving

By

Jessica Lea

-

November 22, 2023

The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast · Natasha Smith: How To Make the Church Safe for People Who Are Grieving

Natasha Smith is a wife, mother, author, speaker, and podcaster from North Carolina whose work has appeared at Her View from Home, Focus on the Family, and TODAY Parents. She has a podcast called, “Can You Just Sit With Me? With Natasha Smith,” and her new book is, “Can You Just Sit with Me?: Healthy Grieving for the Losses of Life.”

Other Ways To Listen to This Podcast With Natasha Smith

► Listen on Amazon
► Listen on Apple
► Listen on Google
► Listen on Spotify
► Listen on YouTube

Key Questions for Natasha Smith

-Why do you think Christians struggle with acknowledging and helping people walk through grief?

-Why is healthy grieving so important?

-What are wrong ways of thinking about grief?

-What advice would you give to pastors and church leaders about how to help people walk through grief?

Key Quotes From Natasha Smith

“I’ve learned over the years that grief needs a place to go. And at [one period in] time, I just didn’t feel like I had a safe place, even in the church.”

“I think we tend to steer towards the joy that we feel in Christ and the overcoming and the victory we have in Christ…instead of the things that are not so happy and joyous to talk about.”

“When we think about Jesus, we talk a lot about resurrection, but not a lot about the leading up to the resurrection.”

“Some grievers are open about expressing their grief. And then some people are stoic. Some people are not criers…but internally there could be chaos.”

“Being aware that we may not all grieve the same is just another way, I think, that we can show others grace.”

“We really have to be discerning; we really need to be prayerful when we talk to grievers.”

“Sometimes grievers don’t even feel like people care to know how they’re really feeling.”

5 Simple Steps To Share the Gospel

By

Greg Stier

-

November 22, 2023

As Jesus’s followers, we’re all called to share the Gospel and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). Unfortunately, that call intimidates many Christians, even those who’ve followed Jesus for many years.

It doesn’t have to be that way. In Acts 8:26-40, we see an account that outlines five simple steps we can follow to share the Gospel with the people we encounter in our everyday lives. They are:

1. Obey the Prompt.

The story opens with Philip, a Jewish Christ-follower who had left Jerusalem after Pentecost and was preaching in nearby Samaria. One day, an angel of the Lord tells him to head south to a road that went from Jerusalem to Gaza. As he’s walking along the road, he sees a chariot carrying an Ethiopian eunuch—an important government official who had traveled to Jerusalem to worship. At that point, the Holy Spirit gives Philip his next direction:

The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” (Acts 8:29)

Philip didn’t hem and haw or wonder if he’d heard God right. Instead, he obeyed immediately. The very next verse says:

Then Philip ran up to the chariot… (Acts 8:30a)

To ensure you hear the prompting to begin with, I encourage you to start every day by asking God to give you an opportunity to tell someone about Jesus that day. Then listen for the prompting—and obey right away when you hear it!

2. Ask the Question.

Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. (Acts 8:30)

Often, the best way to engage is to ask a question. Maybe the question you begin with is as simple as: “How are you today?” Then, after conversing for a while, you could move to a spiritually focused question, such as:

Do you go to church around here?
What’s your spiritual background?
Is there anything I could pray for you about? (I often use this one with servers at restaurants.)

If you already know someone well, stay attentive to opportunities to ask questions that turn the conversation toward the Gospel. You’ll likely be surprised by how often topics arise that touch on spiritual things.

Whether you already know the person or not, the goal is to spark a Gospel conversation—which leads to the next point.

3. Accept the Invite.

“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?”So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. (Acts 8:31)

Why Cool Church Doesn’t Work Anymore

By

Carey Nieuwhof

-

November 22, 2023

Everything has its season.

And the season of the cool church is, in many ways, coming to an end.

Recently, I wrote a post that generated a lot of discussion online and offline about why charismatic churches are growing and attractional churches are past peak. You can read that post here.

To drill down further, here’s more on what’s been happening as the culture changes around us.

So flip back a few decades… There was an era when simply being a cooler, more relevant church than the church down the road helped churches reach unchurched people.

There was a day when all you had to do was improve the church you led to gain traction.

Trade in the choir for a band. Turn the chancel into a platform. Add some lights, some sound, some haze. Get some great teaching in the room. And voila, you had a growing church.

But we’re quickly moving into a season where having a cool church is like having the best choir in town: It’s wonderful for the handful of people who still listen to choral music.

Something’s changing. And hundreds of thousands of dollars in lights and great sound gear are probably not going to impact your community like they used to.

So what’s changing? Plenty.

COOL ISN’T ENOUGH (ANYMORE)

You might think I’m against churches have bands, lights and creating a great environment. Not at all. In fact, our church and many growing churches have full production.

If you are going to gather people, gather well.

My point is not that you shouldn’t. My point is that it’s no longer enough.

And maybe it never was.

The megachurches many of us watch today didn’t get to be as effective as they are simply by being cool.

If you really study how most large churches have become effective in leading people to Jesus (and yes—haters step aside—many large churches are effective in leading people into a real relationship with Jesus Christ), they have always been about more than just lights, sound and show. There’s substance. More substance than critics would ever give them credit for.

Are megachurches universally healthy? No.

But neither are many small churches. In fact, often the dysfunction in small churches eclipses that of medium-sized or large churches.

So why would cool church be fading into the sunset?

Do Contemporary Churches Make Disciples?

By

Ray Hollenbach

-

November 22, 2023

If you want to make a really offensive statement it’s always better to quote someone else. You should pick someone who is widely respected and is recognized as an authority: the kind of person that would make others think twice before they disagree. I think I have a quote like that. Here goes: “Most problems in contemporary churches can be explained by the fact that members have never decided to follow Christ.” ~ Dallas Willard.

Do Contemporary Churches Make Disciples?

Dallas Willard was an ordained Southern Baptist minister, PhD., and professor at the University of Southern California’s School of Philosophy. He was the author of numerous books on spiritual formation. His work, The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God won Christianity Today’s book of the year award in 1999. He would win every year he writes a book, except the people at C.T. feel the need to share with others.

Christians in the United States are more charitable than any other demographic group. That’s the good news. The bad news is that we divorce, go bankrupt, cheat on our taxes, engage in extra-martial sex, and generally live life at the same level as everyone else in society. Christians—those who take the name of Jesus Christ as their prime identity—do not follow him in any significant way. We have taken his name, but we have not taken his yoke.

Worse still, a large section of contemporary churches have presented the gospel message as exclusively a matter of going to heaven when you die. While this is a wonderful benefit of following Jesus the fact remains that the gospel message proclaimed by John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Apostles was the “gospel of the Kingdom of God.” In most churches this phrase is altogether foreign even though there are more than a hundred New Testament references to the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is hard to miss in the New Testament, but we have somehow found a way. It’s right out in the open: for example, the first request of the Lord’s Prayer is, “Let your Kingdom come, let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Closely related to the message of the Kingdom of God is the need for Christians to heed the call to be Christ-followers. The Biblical word for this is discipleship, an idea that is nearly always omitted in evangelistic presentations. Our outreach efforts highlight the promise of heaven to exclusion of following Jesus. In his book, The Great Omission, Willard points out that following Jesus and teaching others to do the same is the mission of the church. This is accomplished through discipleship:

Eternal life is the Kingdom Walk, where in seamless unity, we “Do justice, love kindness, and walk carefully with our God.” (Micah 6: 8) We learn to walk this way through apprenticeship to Jesus. His school is always in session. We need to emphasize that the Great Omission from the Great Commission is not obedience to Christ, but discipleship, apprenticeship to him. (The Great Omission, p. xiv)

Is it any surprise that contemporary churches are filled with people who do not demonstrate a significant difference from the rest of society? Is it possible that by concentrating exclusively on “eternal life,” the American church has largely gotten the message wrong? We are a church that has made following Jesus optional, while the words, “follow me” were the very ones Jesus used to call the disciples.

Of course, Dallas Willard didn’t make this stuff up. Willard knows that if you want to make a really offensive statement it’s always better to quote someone else:

A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'”

“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”

Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”

Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.” (Luke 18: 18 – 30)

Jesus connected eternal life with the call to “come and follow.” Do we dare to do the same? I’m just glad that I didn’t say it. He did.

This article on the lack of discipleship in contemporary churches originally appeared here, and is used by permission.

Small Group Purposes During the Holidays

By

Jackie Van Hook

-

November 22, 2023

We all know that with the holidays approaching, our schedules get very busy – for everyone. However, we shouldn’t let the busy-ness stop our Small Groups from fulfilling our purposes. If we’re intentional, December can be a month full of meaningful celebrations, worship, service, learning, and outreach. Below are 5 ways fulfill your small group purposes together during the holiday months, despite busy schedules.

Small Group Purposes During the Holidays

1. Celebrate together

Whether you have a Christmas potluck, cookie exchange, or white elephant party – make sure your group gathers together for a time of fellowship and celebration. Celebrate the relationships that have grown throughout the year. As a group, reflect back and thank God for all that He did within this past year. You could also combine this celebration with the next idea, have a Small Group pot luck before you go to Worship together!

2. Worship together

Does your Church have a Christmas concert or Worship night? If so, plan for your Small Group to attend together. This way, you can enjoy the fellowship and worship together. Here’s another idea: invite another group to join you! Wouldn’t it be great to see ALL the small groups represented, together?

Children’s Ministry Christmas Lesson: A Very Special Gift

By

Dale Hudson

-

November 21, 2023

Do you need a stand-alone children’s ministry Christmas lesson or Sunday school message? Christmas is fast approaching. So keep reading to discover “The Christmas Gift” — and then share it with kids.

This children’s ministry Christmas lesson follows the heartwarming story of a boy named Andrew. He discovers the true meaning of Christmas and receives the greatest Christmas gift ever … Jesus!

Because Jesus came to earth to die for us, our sins can be forgiven. And we can have eternal life when we ask Jesus to be our Forgiver, Leader and Friend.

Children’s Ministry Christmas Lesson

Watch this kidmin Christmas message below. Children of all ages will find joy and meaning in this short video lesson.

This Christmas gift originally appeared here and is used by permission. Visit relevantchildrensministry.com for more kidmin resources. They can help your children’s ministry have a wonderful holiday season that draws children closer to Jesus.

Lecrae Shares How He Healed From Church Trauma, Including Finding the Bible, Prayer ‘Triggering’

By

Stephanie Martin

-

November 21, 2023

In the second episode of his new podcast, Christian hip-hop artist Lecrae dives into his deconstruction and what that process means for him. The Nov. 14 episode, titled “I Deconstructed—This Is What Happened,” addresses the musician’s past struggles and the journey he’s been taking to overcome them. Lecrae’s conclusion is that “Jesus is worth it”—even though some infrastructure surrounding institutional Christianity “should be burned to the ground.”

Lecrae, 44, is a Grammy and Dove Award-winning artist and author. Earlier this month, he launched the “Deep End With Lecrae” podcast, promising to “tell it all” and share his newfound freedom with others.

Lecrae: Some Spiritual Practices Are Co-Opted and Triggering

The artist’s deconstruction in 2016 was healthy, he said, because he kept Christ as the cornerstone while tearing down traditionalism. In a soundbite posted to social media, Lecrae described how church-related terms such as prayer, fellowship, disciples, and Bible “can be triggering.” But these “ancient spiritual practices…are beneficial,” he said, even though they “may have been co-opted by people and structures that you have a distaste for.”

Lecrae used a cooking analogy, talking about his mother-in-law’s delicious collard greens. They’re good, he said, because she follows the original recipe handed down for generations. If she tried to get creative by adding raisins, that would ruin the taste. For Lecrae, deconstruction involved “getting rid of excess ingredients,” he said, and the process isn’t negative “as long as you’re not getting rid of Jesus.”

Lecrae sounded off about the theatrical nature of modern-day American worship and the often forced, awkward efforts of building community. What happens in many U.S. churches on Sundays is “Broadway-esque,” he said, and most fellowship groups force people to connect in inauthentic ways.

From Trauma and Chaos to Healing and Restoration

After a rough upbringing, Lecrae became a Christian in college. But his churched peers drifted toward conservative evangelicalism just as America’s social and cultural issues needed to be addressed, he said. When Lecrae posted on social media about the killing of young Black men by police, he was “rejected by the people I looked up to.”

The trauma and grief from events of the past few years led to substance abuse, Lecrae admitted. “Satan had a field day with me,” he said on the podcast, describing a pill-pushing doctor who supplied the musician with opiates “just to deal with regular life.”

‘Satan, You’re Not Going To Stop Us,’ Declares Pastor of Street Preacher Who Was Shot in the Head

By

Jesse T. Jackson

-

November 21, 2023

(L) Screengrab via Twitch / @vccf1phx (R) Zulya and Hans Schmidt screengrab via Facebook / @Zulya Schmidt

During the Sunday night worship service, Pastor Gary Marsh of Victory Chapel First Phoenix (VCFP), whose 26-year-old outreach director, Hans Schmidt, was shot in the head last week (Nov. 15) while he was street preaching near the church, told the congregation that the church is “never going to stop preaching on the streets.”

Schmidt was street preaching through a megaphone on the corner of 51st Avenue and Peoria in Glendale, Arizona, around 6 p.m. last Wednesday before the VCFP church service started when he was shot in the head.

The young outreach director remains in critical condition as law enforcement continue to search for who pulled the trigger.

“We are not wishing evil things upon the perpetrator, but pray that he would at least be brought to light and let the law system handle him,” Marsh said. “We’re not going to go hunt his head but let the law take care of him. Let it come to light, and let it be found out who he, she—whatever it is—become known.”

“We’re never going to stop doing God’s work. We’re never going to stop preaching on the streets,” Marsh said later in the service. “We’re never going to stop outreaching and sharing the gospel. We’re never going to stop proclaiming the name of Jesus to a lost world. That’s never going to end in this congregation.”

“I give you my word and even if I’m not around, the guy that follows me, he’s going to be more radical than I am, just plan on that,” he added. “That’s what we are. That’s who we are as a fellowship.”

Earlier that day in the morning worship service, the church leader giving the announcements shared that two days after Schmidt had been shot, over 100 people gathered on the street corner to preach, including other churches who heard what had happened.

Liam Neeson To Read Selections From C.S. Lewis for Advent Prayer Challenge

By

Jessica Lea

-

November 21, 2023

Acclaimed actor Liam Neeson will be reading selections from the works of C.S. Lewis for an Advent prayer challenge that will begin on Dec. 4 on the Hallow app. Joining Neeson are Jonathan Roumie of “The Chosen” and Sr. Miriam James Heidland, SOLT.

“This is something I’m really excited to share with people. I’ll be going through meditations largely from C.S. Lewis (from Belfast originally) in partnership with the Hallow app, which is this great prayer and meditation app,” said Neeson, pointing out that, like him, Lewis was from Ireland. “The content is pretty incredible.”

“It’ll all be part of a Christmas and Advent challenge to help us to really grow deeper in our faith in this holiday season,” Neeson added.

Liam Neeson: Prayer ‘Focuses You’

Liam Neeson, whose acting career spans more than four decades, is known for films including “Schindler’s List” (for which he received an Academy Award nomination), “The Phantom Menace,” “Batman Begins,” “Les Misérables,” “Taken,” and “The Chronicles of Narnia” trilogy. The “Narnia” movies were based on C.S. Lewis’ popular children’s series, and in them, Neeson voiced the character of Aslan, a Christ figure.

Neeson was raised in the Catholic church. In a 2017 interview about his movie, “Silence,” he spoke about his spiritual beliefs, saying, “If God were a stern master, I would have given up the faith long ago. God is love, love is God. I have had personal experiences of God’s love, beautiful and calming, all the things the Psalms talk about. If he was a stern master, well, I don’t know.”

Hallow is a Catholic app that facilitates prayer and meditation. Its website says this year’s Advent prayer challenge will feature “reflections based on different works of Lewis, including ‘The Four Loves,’ ‘Mere Christianity,’ ‘The Great Divorce,’ and more.”

“Advent Pray 25 will focus on the three comings of Christ: personally into each of our hearts, His Second Coming at the end of time, and as an infant in Bethlehem,” says the description. “The daily prayer challenge will help you slow down and find quiet this Advent. In this quiet, Advent Pray 25 will help you see how the desires of your heart point to far more and greater than what the world offers.”

Jonathan Roumie plays the role of Jesus in the TV series, “The Chosen,” and is a partner with Hallow. Last year, Roumie joined “The Chosen” creator, Dallas Jenkins, and fellow cast members George Harrison Xanthis (John the Evangelist), Elizabeth Tabish (Mary Magdalene), Paras Patel (Matthew), David Amito (John the Baptist), and Vanessa Benavente (Mary, the Mother of Jesus) for Hallow’s 2022 Advent prayer challenge.

In an interview with Roumie promoting the prayer challenge, Liam Neeson said, “It’ll all be part of a Christmas and Advent challenge to help us to really grow deeper in our faith in this holiday season.” Neeson described Hallow as a “wonderful prayer and meditation app that helps people to build their daily habits of prayer and find real peace in their lives.”

Franklin Graham Tours Devastation in Israel, Commits To Helping Rebuild

By

Yonat Shimron

-

November 21, 2023

(RNS) — Franklin Graham, who leads the Christian humanitarian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse, has seen war zones from Iraq to Ukraine. On his way to Israel last week to assess the damage from the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack, he was prepared to offer the country 14 ambulances to replace ambulances compromised or destroyed in the fighting.

But as he surveyed the destruction during his four days in Israel he decided that Magen David Adom, Israel’s equivalent to the Red Cross’ first responders, also needed a small fleet of armored ambulances. “They’ve got to have something that’s better protected,” Graham said in an interview on his return on Friday (Nov. 17).

Israel has been the beneficiary of millions of dollars from Christian charities and a flood of volunteers who are helping thousands of Israelis who have been evacuated from their homes, both near the Gaza border and at its northern border, where Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group backed by Iran, has fired rockets. Many of the approximately 250,000 Israelis displaced by the attack are living in hotels.

Other Christian humanitarian groups such as the Southern Baptist Convention’s Send Relief are providing temporary housing, bomb shelters, medical supplies, food and trauma counseling to more than 20,400 of the most vulnerable survivors, said Scott Knuteson, a spokesperson for Send Relief.

Like Samaritan’s Purse, these humanitarian organizations that work in multiple countries around the globe, are now joining a crowded field that includes many evangelical groups focused only on aid to Israel.

They include Christians United for Israel, which calls itself the largest pro-Israel organization in the U.S. It has raised nearly $3 million to fund first responders and other Israeli charities since Oct. 7. CUFI was founded by San Antonio megachurch pastor John Hagee, a prominent Christian Zionist who spoke at the recent March for Israel on the National Mall.

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, which provides a host of social services to residents of Israel on an annual basis, has also ramped up its relief response, as have the Isaiah Project, the Joshua Fund and the Philos Project, all of which operate mostly to benefit Israel.

One of Israel’s biggest philanthropies, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, founded by the late Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, an American Israeli, has been cultivating relationships with evangelicals for years.

Israeli governments have supported such ties and pursued connections with Christian philanthropies. As evidence, Graham secured a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv last week.

Graham said Netanyahu looked tired. “I told him, Mr. Prime Minister, I’ve come to pray for you,” Graham said. “We talked for maybe 30 minutes and I prayed for him that God would strengthen him, give him wisdom, give him a clear mind and give him victory over his enemies.”

Aid from Christian humanitarian groups has also flowed into Gaza. Catholic Relief Services, for one, has provided cash assistance to more than 16,000 families, or about 100,000 individuals, in Gaza, a spokesperson said. Since Israel has restricted humanitarian relief as it lays siege to the strip, most of the aid comes in the form of cash.

Bishop Carlton Pearson, Tulsa Pastor Declared Heretic for Views on Hell, Dies at 70

By

Adelle M Banks

-

November 21, 2023

(RNS) — Bishop Carlton D. Pearson, a preacher, singer and author who moved from Pentecostalism to what he called “The Gospel of Inclusion,” has died at age 70.

Pearson died in hospice care Sunday night (Nov. 19), after a brief battle with a returning cancer, according to a post on his Facebook page.

Raised and later ordained in the Church of God in Christ, a predominantly Black denomination, and the onetime leader of a prominent Oklahoma megachurch, Pearson began facing health issues more than two decades ago but suffered a recurrence of cancer in recent months.

His family had announced in an Oct. 30 post on his Facebook page that he was receiving “comfort care.”

“Our dear Carlton was diagnosed with cancer in 2001 and was declared cancer free shortly thereafter,” the family wrote. “Just recently the cancer has returned and has been a significant challenge, especially in the last 120 days.”

As they sought prayers and support, they wrote: “May we all do as he has taught us… We must make the change, manage the change, and ultimately master the change.”

Pearson, a San Diego native and a “fourth-generation fundamentalist,” wrote the 2006 book, “The Gospel of Inclusion: Reaching Beyond Religious Fundamentalism to the True Love of God and Self.”

In it, he stated a defense similar to one he presented from an 18-page position paper in 2003 to the Joint College of African-American Pentecostal Bishops.

“The blasphemy I stand accused of is the simple message of the Gospel of Inclusion: the whole world is saved, but they just don’t know it,” he wrote in the book’s introduction. “Saved not only from hell and eternal damnation, but saved from itself — saved from its erroneous perceptions of God and good.”

The year after Pearson’s presentation, the bishops declared his views were “heresy.”

“Because of our concern for the many people that could be influenced to adopt this heresy and in so doing put at risk the eternal destiny of their souls, we are compelled to declare Bishop Carlton Pearson a heretic,” wrote Bishop Clifford Leon Frazier, chairman of the joint college’s doctrinal commission at the time.

Pearson stood his ground in a formal response to Religion News Service on that occasion.

“If I am judged for perceiving Christ or Christianity in error, I’d rather be wrong for overestimating the love of God than underestimating it,” he said. “I’d rather err on the goodness, greatness and graciousness of God than the opposite.”

Who Was Jesus’ Best Friend on Earth?

Jesus as a Hero Maker

Undistracted Holidays

The First Christmas

Count the “Nobodies” God Uses:

Mary

Joseph

Shepherds

The Magi

Elizabeth & Zechariah

Anna & Simeon

Don’t Be a Lone Youth Leader

Why Cooperative Leadership Matters in Youth Ministry

1. They follow Jesus.

2. They help other people follow Jesus.

QB Kirk Cousins: ‘It’s His Career That I Steward’

Kirk Cousins Serves While Sidelined

Other Ways To Listen to This Podcast With Natasha Smith

Key Questions for Natasha Smith

Key Quotes From Natasha Smith

1. Obey the Prompt.

2. Ask the Question.

3. Accept the Invite.

COOL ISN’T ENOUGH (ANYMORE)

Do Contemporary Churches Make Disciples?

Small Group Purposes During the Holidays

1. Celebrate together

2. Worship together

Children’s Ministry Christmas Lesson

Lecrae: Some Spiritual Practices Are Co-Opted and Triggering

From Trauma and Chaos to Healing and Restoration

Liam Neeson: Prayer ‘Focuses You’

New Articles

New Podcasts