Jesus and Children: How to Cultivate & Guard Kids’ Love for Jesus

September 14, 2023

Jesus and children have always had a special relationship. Why do children love Jesus so much? In the Gospels, it’s clear that kids loved Jesus because He first loved them. Jesus wasn’t posing for future artists when He invited children to gather around him. Actually, He didn’t have to do any coaxing. Children loved Jesus. So did their parents, who were eager for Jesus to bless their children.

Jesus and Children

Like a beloved grandfather, Jesus puts His hands on their heads and prays for them. I can imagine parents reminding their children, “Do you remember when Jesus prayed for you?” What a treasured memory.

It’s said that adults who love children are really kids at heart themselves. That is, they’ve retained the best qualities of childhood.

Although some grownups love to be around kids, some apparently don’t. There’s no question about how Jesus felt.

Jesus Loved to Be With Children

During three years of official ministry, Jesus prioritizes ministry to children. Jesus talks with kids, something only parents and grandparents usually did in that culture. Jesus commends the faith of little children who, in that culture, were sometimes considered incapable and unable to truly embrace religious faith until they were almost teenagers.

Not only that, but Jesus blesses children. He feeds them. He even uses a little boy’s sack lunch to feed the multitudes. Then Jesus sends 12 hefty baskets full of leftovers to help feed others.

Jesus also heals boys and girls who are sick, dying, or demon-possessed. He even resurrects a 12-year-old girl who has just died and an older boy who had died a few hours earlier.

In His preaching and teaching, Jesus says children are a strategic, essential part of His kingdom in heaven and on earth. In so many words, Jesus tells His disciples, “Listen, my kingdom belongs to kids.” Not only that, but Jesus adds, “Unless you become like a little kid, you can’t even get into my kingdom.”

The Bond Between Jesus and Children

What is Jesus talking about? Well, what are kids good at doing? They’re good at receiving. When you’re a young child, your mom and dad give you food. What do you do? You receive it. Your beloved grandparents send you a birthday satchel with five shekels in it. You receive it. God gives you a warm sunny day to go outside and play. You receive it.

The same thing applies to God’s kingdom. Can you work really hard to be part of God’s kingdom? No. Can you be good enough, for long enough, to earn God’s kingdom? Again, no. Can you pay lots of money to be part of God’s kingdom? No. That’s what grownups would try to do. Jesus says, That’s not the way to get into my kingdom. My kingdom isn’t like that at all. To get into my kingdom you have to get down lower—humble yourself—and trust me.

What do you have to do to be part of God’s kingdom? That’s right. You have to receive something. Or, specifically, someone.

Deion Sanders’ Pastor Says, ‘God Is Raising You…To Be a Nehemiah’

Stephanie Martin

September 14, 2023

Deion Sanders, aka Coach Prime, has the sports world buzzing following his 2-0 start as head football coach for the University of Colorado (CU). The Buffaloes, who were 1-11 last season, upset heavily favored Texas Christian University on Sept. 2 and then beat longtime rival Nebraska the following weekend. Amid all the hype and attention, Sanders continues to praise God and talk openly about his faith.

Sanders, the 1990s sports icon known as “Prime Time,” sounds like a preacher while rallying his players. But when it’s time for the coach to be spiritually nurtured, he turns to Dr. E. Dewey Smith, pastor of House of Hope Atlanta. Smith stepped into that role after Sanders’ former spiritual adviser, Bishop Omar Jahwar, died of complications from COVID-19 in March 2021.

“He wants somebody to sharpen him the way he’s been sharpened athletically, with coaches and trainers,” Smith said of Sanders. “He desires the same thing even more spiritually.”

Pastor Says God Called Deion Sanders To ‘Rebuild’ and ‘Fortify’

Smith, who’s been in ministry for 33 years, flew to a Mississippi hospital in fall 2021 when Sanders had surgery for blood clots and almost lost his leg. “His life was on the line,” said Smith. “Fast-forward two years, and here he is now, following his dreams…It warms my heart, man, showing how good God is.” Sanders has had additional surgeries for blood clots, and amputation is still a possibility.

Speaking to an Atlanta TV station, Smith said he told Sanders a couple of years ago, “God is raising you, I believe, to be a Nehemiah. God is calling you to places that seemingly are in ruins to rebuild the city, fortify areas that have been torn down.” At his introductory press conference at CU, Sanders echoed that idea, saying, “When God sends me to a place, he sends me to a place to be a conduit of change.”

Coach Prime has overhauled CU’s football program, bringing in big-name players and attracting recruits. The Buffs are now ranked 18th in the nation.

Sanders received some flak for leaving Jackson State, a historically Black university, to head to the mostly white, wealthy community of Boulder. But he said, “God always calls me to the need. God always calls me somewhere to satisfy needs.”

The next challenge for Sanders, according to Smith, is to be the first Black head coach of a Power 5 team to win a national championship. “People have always loved and respected him for years athletically, and he has a magnetic personality,” the pastor said of Sanders. “He literally believes that all things are possible.” That’s why Smith said he knows “without a shadow of a doubt” that Sanders will “be successful wherever he goes.”

Pastor Under Fire for Claiming Children With Autism Are Demon Oppressed: ‘If It’s Not Demonic, Then We Have To Say God Made Them That Way’

Dale Chamberlain

September 14, 2023

A Missouri pastor is under fire for claiming that children living with autism are demon-afflicted. Rick Morrow of Beulah Church in Richland was forced to resign his position as a member of the Stoutland School Board as a result of the comments.

Morrow’s remarks came in the context of a Wednesday evening service on Sept. 6 that focused on deliverance ministry.

“If someone has a physical infirmity and you cast that demon out, you might have to pray for some things to be fixed,” Morrow said. “Let’s talk about one. Let’s talk about autism.”

“I know a minister who has seen lots of kids that are autistic that he cast that demon out and they were healed, and then he had to pray. And their brain was rewired and they were fixed,” Morrow claimed.

Morrow then declared, “If it’s not demonic, then we have to say God made them that way,” referring to children on the spectrum.

“Why [does] my kid have autism? Well, either the Devil’s attacked them, he’s brought this infirmity upon them, he’s got them where he wants them, and/or God just doesn’t like them very much and he made them that way,” Morrow said. “Well, my God doesn’t make junk.”

“So let’s quit being nice and putting a bandaid on stuff and giving it medicine,” Morrow went on to say. “How about you just cast the demon out and then treat all the problems?”

In an interview with KY3 following an outcry from community members, particularly those whose own children live with autism, Morrow argued that his comments were misunderstood. However, he still maintains that autism is the result of demonic oppression.

“Yes, either in, around, or on—somehow, it’s affecting [them],” Morrow said. “And when I say a demon, people want to say, like I said, they want to get that Hollywood description of what a demon is, that it’s this nasty, so ugly—and that’s not the case. It’s just an evil presence. It’s just the presence of evil.”

Morrow also clarified what he meant when he apparently referred to children with autism as “junk.”

The Voice of the Martyrs Responds to Muslim Mob Attacks on Christian Colony

VOM Staff

September 14, 2023

Voice of the Martyrs — Image courtesy of VOM Sources

(BARTLESVILLE, Okla.) – After thousands of angry Muslims destroyed 25 churches, looted homes and desecrated a Christian cemetery, The Voice of the Martyrs’ contacts immediately began helping Christians in Pakistan find food and safe shelter.

In an attack that continued for more than 10 hours, large mobs armed with batons and sticks rampaged through Christian areas of Jaranwala, Pakistan, after torn and defaced pages of a copy of the Quran were allegedly found. Local mosques put out a call for revenge—a call amplified on mosque loudspeakers and through social media.

Two Christian brothers accused of blasphemy were taken into custody. And more than 140 people have been arrested for this violent attack.

Multiple reports say police watched the ongoing violence rather than intervening to protect Christians or their property. Having been warned ahead of time, many Christian families fled the area, seeking shelter with friends or relatives to avoid the violence.

According to Pakistan’s blasphemy law, the two Christian men could face the death penalty, although no one has ever been executed. Since 1990, at least 65 people have reportedly been killed extrajudicially in Pakistan over claims of blasphemy.

VOM contacts in Pakistan immediately went to Jaranwala to encourage Christians affected by this violent attack and assess the best ways VOM could provide help and assistance. They helped Christians and pastors who had lost their homes find food and shelter.

“Pray for front-line workers ministering to families who have lost everything in this attack,” said Todd Nettleton, VOM’s spokesperson. “Pray God will meet the needs of Christians affected by the violence. Pray that government leaders will intervene to protect Christians and that the attackers will be held accountable.”

Pakistan carries the “restricted nation” designation in the VOM’s Global Prayer Guide. This designation describes countries where government-sanctioned circumstances or anti-Christian laws lead to Christians being harassed, imprisoned, killed or deprived of possessions or liberties because of their witness.

According to the VOM Global Prayer Guide, about 98% of Pakistanis are Sunni and Sufi Muslims. The two percent of Pakistani Christians mainly live together in closed neighborhoods known as colonies, which have historically provided a measure of security amid the widespread oppression. Still, several large-scale attacks have occurred in these areas in recent years, including some during Christmas.

The Eastern Orthodox Bishop Who Loves Animated Movies

Clément Girardot

September 14, 2023

(RNS) — Early in the afternoon on the first day of September, adults and children strolled along the streets of Nikozi, a historic village in central Georgia that is home to some of the country’s oldest Christian churches. The pedestrians converged on a courtyard where a band was playing Georgian folk music, followed nearby by a hand shadow puppet show and a demonstration of Georgian folk dance.

After the obligatory speeches from local officials, the crowd quieted to listen to Bishop Isaiah, the spiritual leader of the Eparchy — akin to a diocese — of Nikozi and Tskhinvali.

The occasion was not a church service or even particularly religious. The bishop’s address was the official kickoff for the Nikozi International Animation Film Festival.

The bishop, a fan of animated film, came up with the idea of the festival in 2011. “I thought, every similar festival is either in a big city or a seaside resort. Why can’t we make it in a village like ours?” Isaiah told Religion News Service.

After the screening of his documentary movie, Bishop Isaiah introduces upcoming activities during the Nikozi International Animation Film Festival on Sept. 1, 2023, in Nikozi, Georgia. On the right, Eter Glurjidze translates his words from Georgian to English. Photo by Clément Girardot

After the screening of his documentary movie, Bishop Isaiah introduces upcoming activities during the Nikozi International Animation Film Festival on Sept. 1, 2023, in Nikozi, Georgia. On the right, Eter Glurjidze translates from Georgian to English. Photo by Clément Girardot

The truth is, there are not many villages like Nikozi. It is situated close to Tskhinvali, the capital of the de facto Republic of South Ossetia, the erstwhile autonomous region of Georgia that broke away in 1991 after Tbilisi declared its independence from the U.S.S.R.

When war broke out between Russia and Georgia in 2008, the bishop’s jurisdiction was cut in half. Travel between Nikozi and Tskhinvali became impossible as Russian soldiers stationed in Tskhinvali erected barbed wire fences marking a new effective “border” between South Ossetia and the independent state of Georgia. Walls in Nikozi are still pockmarked with bullet holes.

Besides his fondness for film, Bishop Isaiah started the film festival to give Nikozi new life. A free art school he founded in 2009, as an uneasy peace had been established, convinced some parents not to move away. The films in the festival literally appear against the backdrop of the complex geopolitical situation in the Caucasus: The building hosting the screenings was bombed and partly destroyed during the 2008 war.

Young Georgian folk dancers from the Nikozi art school perform in front of the Episcopal Palace of the Nikozi Monastery on Sept. 1, 2023, in Nikozi, Georgia. Photo by Clément Girardot

But the festival, though small — several hundred people attended this year — is more than a symbol of peace. The largest animated film event in Georgia, it saw more than 100 animation films screened in the first days of September, including work from several European countries, as well as Japan, the USA and Iran, thanks to partnerships with foreign embassies, animation film institutions and festivals around the world.

“The love and dedication to animation keep living in me. I think it is the field where you can build bridges between people and cultures,” said Bishop Isaiah, who is 62. He was inclined toward the arts from a very young age. In the 1980s he studied animation and worked with renowned director Gela Kandelaki.

But in the early 1990s, Isaiah’s plans to pursue film studies abroad were complicated by Georgia’s declaration of independence from the former U.S.S.R, which began a series of political upheaval, armed conflicts and a profound economic recession.

“If events in our country had unfolded differently, it’s quite likely I would have remained in my favorite field,” said Bishop Isaiah. But after seven decades of repression under communist rule, the Georgian Orthodox Church faced a shortage of priests and higher-ranking clerics. Isaiah felt the pull and he took his ordination vows in 1993, officially became a monk in 1994 and assumed the position of an eparch in 1995.

4 Reasons Fitness Matters for Your Ministry

Greg Stier

September 14, 2023

I don’t run triathlons or marathons. Nor am I a fitness freak. But, as a 58-year-old preacher, I’ve become increasingly aware of my mortality and the ever-sagging effects of gravity.

It was early on in my ministry experience that I began to realize I’d better start working out or bad stuff was going to happen to me. Heart attacks, diabetes, and strokes happen to pastors too.

It was easy for me to dismiss my out-of-shapeness in ministry, because for years I was in excellent shape. In my late teens and early 20s, I was a roofer by trade. Consistently putting in 10- to 12-hour days of manual labor made me slim, tan, and quasi-ripped. In college, I had 8% body fat and could hang with the best of them when it came to push-ups, sit-ups, and the like.

Face Your Excuses

But then something strange happened. I stopped roofing and planted a church.

I exchanged my roofing hammer for a commentary, my ladder for a desk, and my once-rigorous manual-labor job for a sedentary calling. To add injury to insult, I tore my ACL while dancing to a Michael Jackson video (don’t ask). And I let my injury give me an excuse to be even less active.

I ballooned from 155 to 223. The closest I came to working out was sprinting to the kitchen and curling a fork full of food to my face. Consequently, my blood pressure spiked and my energy dropped. In the middle of the day, I began scheduling what I affectionately nicknamed “fat naps” to try to compensate for my lack of energy.

I felt guilty every time I preached on self-control, because it was obvious I wasn’t controlling my own appetites. I coped with stress by eating. I coped with ministry frustrations by eating. I coped with the guilt I felt from eating by eating.

Although I came from a very health-conscious family full of bodybuilders and powerlifters, I had kind of dismissed all of that as a bit “unspiritual.” My body, I reasoned, was temporal anyway. Why would I spend time going through the pain and strain of working out when I was going to get a new body in Heaven someday?

But what I came to realize was that if I didn’t do something soon my body was going to be really temporal. If I didn’t do something drastic, I was going to be in Heaven sooner than I had planned.

1 Timothy 4:8 reminds us:

…physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

As church leaders, we rightfully focus on the importance of eternal values. But if we don’t stay in decent shape, our time on Earth to live out those values may be cut short due to a stroke or heart attack.

Jesus Has a Radical Model of Ministry Training

Ray Hollenbach

September 14, 2023

I’ve heard and read this so often: Christian leaders must be thoroughly prepared for their task. Ministry training is essential: study, testing, study, training, study, mentoring and study. It would be a terrible mistake to turn leaders loose into their calling before they are fully equipped. Makes sense, right? Except, apparently, Jesus thought otherwise.

Jesus demonstrated a radical model of ministry training. Friendship, relationship and a deep soul-agreement are the ultimate preparations for ministry: first with Jesus, then with those we serve. Listen to the language—the images and metaphor—Jesus used when he finished his ministry with the disciples: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;” and: “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you,” and: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

A Radical Model of Ministry Training

We place so much emphasis on preparation, but Jesus seemed to favor another method. From the very beginning of his work he talked about flowers of the field, birds of the air, and even in times of trouble he affirmed, “it will be given you in that hour what you are to say.”

Of course, who could be against study and preparation? We are called to exercise mature judgment. No one would affirm that church leaders should teach error, or manage God’s church badly, but the subtle temptation of study and preparation is the urge to lean on your own understanding rather than hearing from the Spirit.

In the work of making ministry training, success is difficult to measure: The best disciple-Maker in history invested three years in a group that looked like failures on the very same night he celebrated a “graduation dinner” with them. Three days later the resurrected Lord spent an additional 40 days teaching them and finally turned them loose even when it was obvious this crew of disciples was far from perfect. Fast-forward to our modern churches: Leaders are criticized because they do not have their act together, but perhaps, as leaders, we have invited this criticism by suggesting that we do.

It’s so much easier to measure ministry success by cold hard numbers, such as counting “decisions for Christ.” But the Father is all about transformation, not math. Even more surprising, the objects of transformation may be the ones doing the ministry, not just those receiving it. Perhaps this is why Jesus told Kingdom stories about the yeast silently working its way through a lump of dough, or of crops that grow while the farmer goes about his daily chores. What if the work of leadership involves making room for the mystery of what we do not know, as well as what we do?

The deep work of leadership is to find the harmony between sharing what we have learned from God, while remaining fellow travelers with those we lead. It is a work of service and grace—two qualities the world desperately needs.

10 First-timer Tips for New Small Group Leaders

Small Group Network

September 14, 2023

If you had 2-minutes to share a handful of tips to help a brand new group host / leader get started in building community, what would you say? Here are some great tips for new small group leaders:

10 Tips for New Small Group Leaders

Include fellowship time on the front and tail-end of your meeting time, and when possible have food. Start and end on time. All of these elements encourage conversation and build relationships.
Open your time in a brief word of prayer and help make participants aware of Jesus’ Presence in your midst (Matthew 18:20).
Share 1-2 brief insights of your own to jump-start the conversation.
Relate what you’re discussing to Jesus by asking two questions:
- What does this teach us about Jesus?
- How does God want me to respond to what I’ve just learned?
Be prepared to ask “open-ended” questions that will stimulate reflection and help move people toward action. These are questions that cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no” and often start with the words “what” or “how.” For example:
- What do the rest of you think? How do others feel?
- What did you find noteworthy about this passage?
- How can we move forward?
- What led you to that conclusion?

Teambuilding Games for Youth: 10 Top Activities for Teen Bonding

Joel from YouthGroupGames

September 13, 2023

Teambuilding games for youth help teens learn to work together. With these activities, kids can discover one another’s strengths and weaknesses. Plus, they can just generally get to know each other better…while having fun.

These 10 teambuilding games for youth are great for bonding and growing. Try them with a youth group, small group, sports team, staff training event, and more.

Many factors make up good teambuilding games for youth. Using a variety of ideas works best to help your group learn to work together. Here are the main factors I’ve considered for the 10 games below:

If the activity brings out kids’ strengths and weaknesses
If it allows the group to form and discover roles
How easy it is to run
Whether it helps group members bond

10 Teambuilding Games for Youth

Enjoy these fun activities with teens!

10. Creeping Closer

If one player makes a mistake and gets caught, it impacts the whole team. This provides an interesting challenge for a team to work together without talking out loud.

9. Spot The Difference

This will test a team’s observation and memory skills. How will kids work together to achieve the best result?

8. Actionary

This team-building activity gives each team member a short time in the spotlight. They have a chance to act, sculpt, or draw. Bonus: This activity reveals hidden talents to the rest of the team. Recommended!

7. Cup Stack Relay

In this skills-based relay game, one player stacks the cups. Then the next player collapses them. Individuals receive a “time to shine,” and the rest of the team can cheer them on and encourage them.

6. Table Topics

Another quick and simple idea, this doesn’t involve much preparation. It might be a good lunchtime activity for your small group or corporate team. Provide some cards with questions, and away they go…

Danica McKellar on Reading Through the Bible, the Lord’s Prayer and Where She Expects To Find Her Favorite Verse

Jessica Mouser

September 13, 2023

Danica McKellar talked about her faith journey, reading through the Bible, and what she finds intriguing about the Lord’s Prayer in a recent livestream on Instagram. “The Wonder Years” actor took questions from her followers and emphasized to them the importance of forgiveness.

“Whether or not you are Christian or whatever your faith is or isn’t, I find something very interesting about the Lord’s Prayer,” said McKellar during the livestream. “There’s praise, there’s asking for things, and there’s one thing that we are going to do in return, and that one thing is that we have to forgive people who’ve done bad things to us.”

“It’s funny because in the entire prayer (and in the Bible it says that Jesus taught his disciples to pray this way),” McKellar continued, “one thing that we have to do to get all the things that we could possibly want from God is we have to forgive people who’ve been bad to us. And that’s like, one of the hardest things to do, right?”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Danica McKellar (@danicamckellar)

Danica McKellar Hangs Out With Her Followers

Danica McKellar is an author, mathematician and actor. In addition to appearing alongside Fred Savage in “The Wonder Years,” she has appeared in “The West Wing,” “How I Met Your Mother” and “The Big Bang Theory.”

In April 2022, McKellar revealed that she had come to trust in Jesus, and a turning point in her faith journey came when her “good friend,” Candace Cameron Bure, gave her a Bible and invited her to church. Bure is known for playing D.J. Tanner in “Full House,” and both Bure and McKellar recently left the Hallmark Channel for Great American Family.

McKellar filmed her livestream from Pittsburgh, where she had been participating in Comic Con. She told viewers she would be attending 90s Con in Tampa, Florida, an event that is scheduled for Sept. 15-17. Other stars in attendance will include Candace Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin, and Dave Coulier.

When one viewer asked McKellar for an update on her Bible reading, she said, “I’m reading the Bible all the way through this year. That is my goal and it’s happening.”

“I also listen to the Bible on my phone. It’s so great. I do it when I’m putting my makeup on or folding laundry or whatever,” McKellar said. “So it happens. My life can’t get too busy to do it because I get to listen to it while I’m doing things that I would be doing anyway. And it’s just wonderful.”

MercyMe Has the ‘Most No. 1s’—By Quite a Margin—On Billboard’s Christian Charts

Janna Firestone

September 13, 2023

Award-winning Christian band MercyMe is at the top of Christian music charts, again. According to Billboard, “MercyMe extends its records for the most No. 1s on Billboard’s Christian Airplay and Christian AC Airplay charts.” The music charts show “To Not Worship You” rising to the top—and staying at the top—of the two tallies.

MercyMe Continues To Extend Its Records of No. 1 Hits With ‘To Not Worship You’

As part of MercyMe’s latest album, “Always Only Jesus,” the song “To Not Worship You” authentically captures the distractions Christians experience along the journey of faith. The song repeatedly brings listeners back to God as the one who deserves focus and worship.

The song became MercyMe’s “19th No. 1 on Christian Airplay and its 20th on Christian AC Airplay,” reported Billboard. MercyMe has a commanding lead of No. 1 hits on both lists over second place’s For KING & COUNTRY, which has 13 hits.

“The song follows MercyMe’s ‘Then Christ Came,’ which in February also led both lists.” Billboard continued, “The act, which formed in 1994, earned its first Christian Airplay and Christian AC Airplay No. 1 in 2003 when ‘Word of God Speak’ dominated for 23 and 21 weeks, respectively.”

All five band members—Nathan Cochran, Barry Graul, Bart Millard, Mike Scheuchzer, and Robby Shaffer—collaborated to write the song. Brown Bannister, Jordan Mohilowski, and Tedd Tjornhom also contributed.

Fans have listened to and embraced the song’s inviting melodies along with its soulful lyrics, which read in part:

I’m losing sight of all that mattersBlinded by questions I can’t answerI’m paralyzed by what I don’t knowThat holds me hostage and won’t let go

Breathe out, breathe inRaise my hands and remember

You’re the one, You’re the oneWho makes mountains moveStars will not shineUnless You tell them to, tell them toConquered the graveTo make all things newSo, who am I, who am ITo not worship You

The band is touring throughout several states, including Florida, North Carolina, and Texas. Crowder and Andrew Ripp have joined the Together Again Tour with 12 locations this October.

In November, MercyMe will share the stage with Toby Mac and Zach Williams for 12 concerts in locations including Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, and South Dakota.

Brian Houston’s Daughter and Son-in-Law Announce Plans To Start a New Church; Dad Says, ‘I’m In. SEE YOU THERE!!’

Jesse T. Jackson

September 13, 2023

Peter and Laura Toggs Brian Houston — Screengrab via Instagram @lauratoggs

Peter and Laura Toganivalu, who are the son-in-law and daughter, respectively, of Brian and Bobbie Houston, have announced they are in the beginning stages of starting a new church in Sydney, Australia.

The couple shared a video of their announcement on Instagram. Brian commented, “I’M IN. SEE YOU THERE!!”

Brian, the founder and former global senior pastor of Hillsong Church, was recently found not guilty of covering up his father’s sexual abuse. Brian resigned from his position at Hillsong Church in March 2022 after he was placed on a disciplinary sabbatical for substance abuse issues and inappropriate behavior toward women.

Bobbie also commented, saying, “Watched again. So so proud of you! Cheers, cheers and more cheers!!! 🎉🎉🎉.” She then left a follow up comment: “Thrilled and excited.”

The Toganivalus served as Hillsong Church’s global pastors of Hillsong Young & Free. They announced their resignations from Hillsong earlier this year.

Peter said that he and Laura “feel on our heart that we want to pioneer a church in Sydney, Australia.”

“I want to stand on the shoulders of the giants that have gone before us and step into this new way of pioneering whatever that’s going to look like,” Peter said, adding that God is speaking to them through many books and booklets “about the type of community and the sort of place and environment we want to create for people.”

Laura described herself as having “roots and wings,” a phrase she said was conveyed to her and Peter by a Hillsong Church “key staff” person when they resigned. “We have these roots that run deep and they run wide, but we also have wings that are launching us into the future. And I think that’s just the most beautiful picture of where we’re at.”

“We’re excited to create a church that is a loving community to grow together in the face of Christ,” Laura said, because “there are so many people who are yet to hear, who are yet to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior…Our assignment here on earth is to tell the world about Jesus, and I’m so looking forward to doing that.”

SoCal Church Considers Moving Following Break-In, Vandalism

Dale Chamberlain

September 13, 2023

A Van Nuys, California, church is considering a move after several of its rooms were broken into and ransacked. Calvary Chapel Mid Valley Church currently rents its meeting spaces from Van Nuys Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The break-in occurred at around 2:30 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 11. The windows of several rooms were broken, including a kindergarten classroom and an office space, and the rooms were left in disarray.

The church is not yet sure what, if anything, was stolen.

A neighbor to the church heard a disturbance and called police. However, the suspect was able to escape on foot as officers arrived on the scene, according to CBS Los Angeles.

No description of the suspect has been released.

All told, 10 windows were broken. In the classroom, Bible and classroom supplies were found strewn about the floor.

Robert Shank, Calvary Chapel Mid Valley Church’s senior pastor, told The Los Angeles Times that the burglary is not the first time the church has been victimized.

Shank’s car was stolen from the church’s parking lot last year, and he said that thieves have broken into or vandalized vehicles parked in the lot at least three times this year alone.

Despite having held church at the location for 11 years, Shank said that the congregation of roughly 60 members is ready to find somewhere else to meet.

“This is causing us to move out,” Shank said. “We have decided that we are no longer safe at this facility. To me, this is just proof or an indicator that we need to go. This is just a sign for us. We need to get out of here.”

Henry Cloud: Trust Is More Complex Than You Might Realize

Jessica Mouser

September 13, 2023

The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast · Henry Cloud: Trust Is More Complex Than You Might Realize

Dr. Henry Cloud is an acclaimed leadership expert, psychologist, and best-selling author who has an extensive executive coaching background and experience as a leadership consultant. His 45 books, including the iconic “Boundaries,” have sold nearly 20 million copies worldwide. Henry’s latest book is, “Trust: Knowing When to Give It, When to Withhold It, How to Earn It, and How to Fix It When It Gets Broken.”

Other Ways To Listen to This Podcast With Henry Cloud

► Listen on Amazon
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► Listen on Spotify
► Listen on YouTube

Key Questions for Henry Cloud

-Why is it impossible to live without trust?

-How do pastors and church leaders extend trust well, and when should they withdraw it?

-If church leaders have experienced betrayal, how do they avoid projecting fear on to new people and learn to trust again?

-What are some common mistakes pastors and church leaders make when it comes to trust?

Key Quotes From Henry Cloud

“God is the creator and the rest of us are created beings, and so we derive all of life from outside of ourselves…And God has wired every human in the deepest neurological level…to know when it is safe to take something in from the outside.”

“A lot of people, when they think of trust, they think, ‘Yeah, I trust him. You know, he wouldn’t lie to me.’ And they kind of reduce it to only the moral and ethical foundations of trust. But…there’s a lot of people who wouldn’t lie to us, but we can’t trust them to run the small group ministry.”

“Trust comes from understanding. In other words, we trust somebody, not when they persuade us, but first of all, do they understand me?…If you feel understood, the whole system begins to open up.”

“You can’t convince somebody until you’ve connected with them.”

“This gets really sticky for Christians because we’re called to forgive, right? And we want to forgive failures and we want to forgive mistakes. We want to have a learning culture where people can make mistakes, but making mistakes and having a problem, that’s normal and we solve those. But if somebody does the same thing over and over, that’s not a problem. That’s a pattern.”

In New Bob Jones University Podcast, Former Students and Faculty Blast ‘Insular’ Culture

Kathryn Post

September 13, 2023

Bob Jones podcast — An entrance sign at Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C. Photo by John Foxe/Wikimedia/Creative Commons

(RNS) — Even when Steve Pettit resigned as president of Bob Jones University in April after citing a dysfunctional board, he had only glowing things to say about the historically fundamentalist South Carolina school.

“There’s no question to me that God brought Bob Jones into existence and it’s his school and God’s going to accomplish his will through it,” Pettit told a Greenville, South Carolina, news outlet in June. “I think the future of the school is bright.”

But some former faculty and students have a less flattering perspective to share.

There’s the student who said she was interrogated and disciplined after her boyfriend gave her a side hug.

There’s the faculty member who claims she was given an ultimatum and eventually resigned after refusing to let teachers at the school-sponsored day care spank her 2-year-old.

There’s the student who reported hiding in his closet on Sunday mornings to avoid being punished for skipping church.

And there’s the student who, after coming forward with allegations of being repeatedly assaulted by a graduate student at the school, said she was questioned by administration about what she had been wearing at the time.

A new podcast based on 19 interviews, “Surviving Bob Jones University: A Christian Cult,” aims to bring these and other stories to light, showing how alleged patterns of conformity, isolation, information control and surveillance impacted members of the Bob Jones ecosystem. Found on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, the series has already gained over 20,000 listens. Though the use of the word “cult” is provocative — and many religious scholars argue against using the word at all — Andrew Pledger, a former Bob Jones student and the host of the podcast, contends that the university, known for banning interracial dating into the 21^st century, has long been steeped in controversy. The university did not respond to requests for comment.

As a closeted gay student, Pledger was wary when he arrived at Bob Jones’ pointed iron gates in 2018. But as a child of the Independent Fundamental Baptist church — where women wore skirts, the end times were a looming threat and students learned that evolution was a myth — his parents would only help pay for a college that aligned with their values.

While Pledger was no stranger to rules, he quickly realized the Bob Jones handbook goes beyond the bans on alcohol and nonmarital sex typical of other Christian universities. According to the 2023-2024 student handbook:

Students are barred from any physical contact between unmarried men and women, though “Side hugs are permitted for photographs.”
Students are instructed to avoid rock, pop, jazz, country and rap music, which have “the markers of our current corrupt culture.”
Dance with “expressions of worldliness or sexually provocative nature” is prohibited.
Students are not permitted to view movies with higher than a PG rating.
Students must wear “conservative business casual” attire to class.
Student rooms are checked three times a week.
BJU reserves the right to monitor all network activity on student computers.
Students are expected to attend a church approved by the school and record their weekly church attendance online.
“Same-sex dating” or advocating for such dating is banned.

Pledger found the rules stifling, especially as someone wrestling with faith and sexuality. He recalls hiding in his closet each Sunday to avoid attending a BJU-approved church, crouching behind his hamper until his room had been checked. He’d also disconnect his devices from the internet because, he explained, “if I’m on the internet during the time I’m supposed to be in church, I’m gonna get in trouble.”

Reports of Forced Retirement Prompt Defiance From Embattled Bishop Strickland

Jack Jenkins

September 13, 2023

(RNS) — As rumors swirl that Pope Francis may ask for the resignation of Catholic Bishop Joseph Strickland, the firebrand conservative who oversees the Diocese of Tyler in Texas said he has heard nothing from the Vatican but signaled he would not give up his post voluntarily.

According to public Vatican records, Pope Francis met on Saturday with Archbishop Robert Prevost, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops, and Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio, or ambassador, to the United States, among others. What the three discussed in the meeting was not made public, but a conservative-leaning website, The Pillar, has claimed the meeting touched on whether to ask for the resignation of Strickland, who has stoked controversy in recent years for everything from resistance to COVID-19 vaccines to criticizing the pope.

The Vatican did not immediately respond to requests to confirm The Pillar’s account of the confab.

Rumors of Strickland being asked to resign, amplified by LifeSiteNews and other right-wing Catholic websites, come after an apostolic visitation to Strickland’s diocese in June, a rare disciplinary investigation by the Holy See. The visitation, in turn, followed a November 2021 incident in which Strickland was privately chastised by Pierre during a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Reached by email on Tuesday, Strickland told Religion News Service he was unaware of any resignation request from the Vatican, saying, “I have received no information on this from Rome.”

Asked whether he would resign if the pope asked, Strickland suggested he would resist, possibly forcing the Vatican to remove him.

“As a basic principle I cannot resign the mandate given to me by Pope Benedict the XVI,” he wrote. “Of course that mandate can be rescinded by Pope Francis, but I cannot voluntarily abandon the flock that I have been given charge of as a successor of the apostles.”

John Beal, a canon lawyer and professor at the Catholic University of America, said via email that a pope can remove a bishop against the bishop’s wishes, adding that “there is no procedure that is laid down for such an action.”

Beal said a bishop “could be ‘deprived’ (privatio) of his office as a penalty following a penal trial for some canonical offense,” although the scholar expressed doubts as to whether Strickland has done anything that rises to such a “punishable offense.”

More often, the scholar noted, bishops who stoke the ire of a pope have their power reduced in creative ways. He pointed to the case in the 1980s of Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen in Seattle, who was given an auxiliary bishop who “essentially stripped” him of authority. In 1995, Pope John Paul II removed then-Bishop Jacques Gaillot from his post in France after the cleric voiced liberal views deemed out of sync with Catholic orthodoxy. Gaillot was named bishop of Partenia, a so-called titular see in modern-day Algeria that has not functioned as a physical Catholic diocese since around the fifth century.

At Sing! Global, a Faithful Pushback To the Spread of Megachurch Praise Music

Grace Beckner

September 13, 2023

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) — The crowds seen buzzing last week outside the Bridgestone Arena, a regular host to the NCAA basketball tournament and a hometown venue for country music acts, were coming not to take in a game or a concert, but to sing, write and bond over Christian hymns.

The annual Sing! Global conference, held Sept. 4-6, drew some 8,500 Christian worship music leaders and other church musicians, pastors, vendors and hymn composers from as many as 35 countries. (An estimated 80,000 others in 120 countries participate online.) They attend breakout sessions on congregational singing, songwriting and children’s and family ministry. Others address themes such as “Hymns in Hard Places,” evangelism and singing at home. They listen to speakers, live recording sessions and late-night performances.

Most of all they come to sing together — tunes from historic hymnals, from Celtic traditions and new creations — and to share a common love and culture of sacred music.

“I like seeing all different denominations represented, kind of breaking down the walls and seeing the church at large,” said Amy Bauman, from Appleton, Wisconsin. Over the hum of strangers getting acquainted in the lunch line, Bauman said she and her fellow singers had come to be reenergized and have their “flames reignited.”

But there is another story about a battle for American hymnody that has been on display since the Sing! Global conference was founded in 2017 by Keith and Kristyn Getty, a husband-and-wife hymn writing team.

For more than a decade, American worship services have started to leave traditional hymns behind. Instead of historic chestnuts such as “Be Thou My Vision,” whose words date to the sixth century with music from the early 1900s, or “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” adapted in the mid-1700s by the Methodist Charles Wesley from a popular opera number of the time, the most popular church music now originates in bands associated with megachurches such as the Bethel Church network in California, Elevation Church in North Carolina, Atlanta’s Passion City Church (“How Great Is Our God”) and the global megachurch Hillsong (“Oceans”).

One recent study found that of the 38 most played songs, 22 were released by one of the four most prominent megachurches. An additional eight songs were released by artists with ties to those churches, and six more were collaborations with megachurch artists or cover songs.

Those who gather in Nashville are in part a bulwark against the takeover by megachurch music, known as “praise and worship” songs. Such hymns are palatably positive, easy for a large crowd to sing along to and focus on a personal, emotional closeness to God. But these features, critics say, come with a theological vagueness and a musical blandness.

“Unfortunately some of the modern music of contemporary Christian music has become almost secularized, or has become popular tunes, but pretty shallow gospel,” said Mark Hosny, assistant professor of music and worship arts at Trevecca Nazarene University. “As believers, there is nothing wrong with upbeat songs. We’ve just got to be sure that what drives that narrative is talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Hosny.

The Gettys answer this call, according to people who attended their conference.

“I think what sets these types of hymns apart from some of the current trends is that there are very specific, concrete things being said. It is not vague, it is not general,” said Cliff Johnson, a pastor from Hope, Arkansas, who attended the conference last week. “There is a very concrete truth being proclaimed, understood, and felt that you can build your life upon.”

The Dead Sea Will Live Again

Clint Archer

September 13, 2023

The Dead Sea is a must-see for obvious reasons. It is a very trippy sensation to sit in water, and then not sink. The Dead Sea is nearly ten times saltier than the oceans. One drop in your eye will or on an open blister will make the experience even more memorable. This spot is 1,412 ft (430m) below sea level, making it the lowest (and therefore hottest) place on Earth.

I entered barefoot, which was not the wisest choice. There are shelves of sharp salt crystals before you get to the loamy, therapeutic mud, which sells for $15 a bag in the gift store.

The Dead Sea is employed as a landmark in the Bible several times. For example, Deuteronomy 3:17: “the Arabah also, with the Jordan [River] as the border, from Chinnereth [Sea of Galilee] as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah on the east.”

The sea is fed by the rainfall in the Sea of Galilee (which is not a sea, but a lake, as it is a freshwater body), which then feeds the Jordan River, which then dumps all that fresh water into the Dead Sea, at which point it becomes useless. Because of that perceived wastage of potable water in a region where people frequently suffer from drought conditions, much of the water of Galilee via the Jordan is now used to irrigate crops and supply water to populated areas.

This has resulted in an unprecedented shrinkage of the size of the Dead Sea. The water level is dropping at a rate of three feet per year, and the surface area has dropped by 33% since the 1960s when water from the Jordan River started to be diverted. The shores are retracting at a rate of a few feet per year, leaving salty swamps and dangerous sinkholes. There is no telling what effect the death of the Dead Sea will have on the ecology of the region. But for those who take a literal, futurist interpretation of eschatological texts, there is hope for the Dead Sea.

Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar…And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah [yup, that’s the Dead Sea], and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.” (Ezekiel 47:1, 8-12)

According to Ezekiel’s prophecy, in the end times, a river will spring up on the Temple Mount, and will eventually replenish the Dead Sea so that life can thrive there. But fresh, living water already flows into the Dead Sea. That water does nothing to dilute the salinity. It just becomes salty and lifeless itself. So, it may be that the current draining of the Dead Sea will eventually result in an empty sea, that can then be filled up by fresh water, never to be dead again. Interestingly, verse 11 says, “But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt.” So the current proliferation of salty swampland will be a permanent feature, sustaining the ecology that already exists there.

The novelty of the experience in the water is unrivaled, and the sense of proximity to the oasis of Ein Gedi is striking when experienced firsthand. Also, the mud is great for your skin!

This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.

Death Leads to the Good Life

Paul David Tripp

September 13, 2023

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” – Jesus Christ, Luke 9:23-25 (ESV)

It is one of the foundational paradoxes of grace. You cannot understand God’s work of redemption if you don’t pursue this theological paradox: Death leads to life.

How would you define “the good life”? What do you feel you can’t live without? What has the ability to make or break your day?

What do others have that causes you to envy? If you could acquire just one thing, what would it be? What does your use of money tell you about what’s important to you?

What would the video of your last six weeks reveal about what has you in its hold?

Is there a place where you’re asking the creation to do what only the Creator can?

Because creation is so obvious—you can see it, taste it, feel it, and smell it—it’s tempting to look to it to deliver “the good life.”

But creation was made to point us to the Creator, who alone has the power to satisfy our longing hearts. He is the bread that will satisfy our hunger. He is the living water that makes us thirst no longer.

Looking to creation to do what it was not meant to do will not only disappoint us, it will enslave us. Idols never just disappoint us, they addict us as well.

Because the buzz of joy that creation gives us is so short, we have to go back again and again, and soon we’re convinced we cannot live without the next hit. What we tightly hold onto takes hold of us, now commanding of us what only God should ever control: our hearts.

And what holds our hearts will dictate our words and behavior.

During this Lenten season, we are called to remember that sin reduces us all to idolaters of creation somehow. Lent gives us a time in the calendar year to pause and reflect on created things that have taken too strong a hold on us, things that we have come to crave too intensely and love too dearly.

If someone doesn’t rescue us from our idolatrous and worldly pursuit of “the good life,” we will lose our lives. We must die if we are ever going to live.

Death leads to life. Coming to Jesus is not a negotiation, an agreement, or a contract. Coming to Jesus is a death—your death.

Christ died so that you may live. Now he asks you to lose your life so that you may find life in him—real, abundant, and eternal life.

Don’t fight the death of your old life; instead, celebrate the new life that is yours by grace and grace alone. And remember that your Savior will continue to call you to die; it is the way of life.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1. What has the power to make you very sad?

2. What can produce almost instant happiness?

3. What physical idols tempt you most?

4. What relational idols attract you the most?

5. Review your answers to the questions throughout this devotional again. What might you need to give up, for this season of Lent or more permanently, to root the idols out of your heart?

This content was originally posted by Paul Tripp on www.paultripp.com.

Developing a Strategic Plan for Your Church

Gavin Adams

September 13, 2023

Church Consultant Gavin Adams has a series of articles on strategic planning at his site Transformation Solutions. This is the second in a series of four artciles on developing a strategic plan for your church.

Developing a Strategic Plan for Your Church

The second portion of our strategic planning process follows a similar plan as our first segment. The steps to developing a strategic plan for your church proceed in this fashion through a series of questions:

1. How will we succeed?

Our first step in the strategic planning process defined success (mission and vision). This segment answered the “what” of success. Now we turn our planning to the “hows” of success. How will we succeed?

As you already know, church success is defined by life change through the love and power of Jesus. To simplify our strategy to the irrefutable minimum, we are trying to Great Commission our community.

How can we do that best? I believe the answer is through steps, not programs. We must build ministry models of movement, not moments. Just as the “renewing of our mind” is a process, we should build ministry models to facilitate movement. That’s what spiritual formation and discipleship pathways attempt to do.

How will we succeed? By creating a model that moves people through a discipleship process.

2. What specific areas need addressing? How should they be prioritized?

After redefining the “how” of success, we focus on the specific areas that are working and not working on our discipleship pathway. After evaluating everything we do in light of success, we can decide:

1. What should we keep doing in its current form?
2. What should be retained, but needs some revitalization to work within our model?
3. What should we add along the continuum to help people move through the process?
4. What should we quit doing altogether?

3. What is our specific plan of action?

With the how’s of success defined and our current reality evaluated against our “how,” we can make specific plans to move our organization from where we are to where we hope to be. These particular plans are the building materials for our bridge to the other side.

Perhaps you’ve heard of S.M.A.R.T. goals. Our plans of action follow a similar path:

S) Make the plan Specific and Sequential.
M) Decide how you’ll Measure the plan as it’s placed in action.
A) Ensure the plan is Attainable.
R) Consider how your plans align to your values as to keep your steps Relevant, and finally
T) While the timeline may shift during the process, it’s essential to begin with an agreed-upon Timeline for accountability and expectations.

4. What are our departmental plans?

The final piece of this strategy development section is to include everyone by outlining departmental plans. Excellent strategic planning touches almost every person and process in an organization. Therefore, it’s essential to include everyone in the process.

Developing a strategic plan for your church

From this point, all that is left is a more granular look at tactics and actions and measurement considerations.

This article on developing a strategic plan for your church originally appeared here, and is used by permission. Gavin created Transformation Solutions to help ministry and marketplace leaders progress from innovation through implementation. He dedicates his time to helping leaders discover potential problems, design strategic solutions, and deliver the preferable future.

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Developing a Strategic Plan for Your Church

1. How will we succeed?

2. What specific areas need addressing? How should they be prioritized?

3. What is our specific plan of action?

4. What are our departmental plans?

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