Theocratic Author Argues That Stoning Adulterers to Death Is ‘Sound Doctrine’

July 31, 2023

Luke Saint, a self-described theocrat, recently argued that public executions by stoning for capital offenses, among which he includes adultery, are an essential part of a society ruled by God’s law. Saint described such a practice as “appropriately barbaric.”

Saint is set to present at “The Future of Christendom” conference, which will be held in September and is sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Reformation Society. Also to be featured at the event is James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries, who will debate Gregory Coles, author of “Single, Gay, Christian: A Personal Journey of Faith and Sexual Identity,” about issues relating to sexual identity.

Saint’s comments about public stonings came in the context of his appearance on “The Lancaster Patriot” podcast to discuss his self-published book, “The Sound Doctrine of Theocracy OR Statism and the Christian Mind: A Treatise Addressing the Need for a Recognition of a Theocratic Government and an Explanation of Its Application in Society.”

Describing his vision for a Christian America, Saint defined theocracy as “a system of government with only one legislator, which would be the Lord God, revealed in Scripture,” adding that Christians are too often “embarrassed” by God’s law.

“If you’re embarrassed by one law, you’re probably embarrassed by the whole thing,” he said.

Arguing that structuring society under the authority of the Old Testament law would give more freedom to Christians, Saint said, “I would say, the sinner, the homosexual, the atheist, the transexual person actually have more liberty…than you do under man’s law.”

“Because under man’s law, what you do have is liberty to sin, but you don’t have liberty for freedom,” Saint continued. “You don’t have liberty to serve God. You don’t have liberty to drive your car the way you want to. I mean, there’s laws all over the place. But you do get to be a pervert. You do get to be a horrible person.”

Differentiating his views from those held by Christian nationalists, Saint said, “Christian nationalism, unfortunately, has revealed itself to not really take into account the divine purpose of man,” which he sees as having dominion in the world.

“When someone talks about Christian nationalism, all I hear is immigration laws,” he said. “And they’re like, ‘What do we do with immigration laws?’”

“Every time I hear ‘Christian nationalism’—I don’t want to throw it under the bus too much, but unfortunately, it keeps coming back to like, ‘Wow, we just need to have the right people in this country,” Saint went on to say. “And I reject that completely.”

While advocating for the abolition of the legislative branch of government, Saint went on to argue, despite the long record of religious liberty being upheld and bolstered by the United States Supreme Court, that “it’s just a matter of time until the gospel is ultimately legislated out of here.”

Saint further suggested that laws such as tax codes and speed limits are the work of corrupt politicians, whom he characterized as modern day Pharisees, who are “legislating outside of God’s law.”

Also arguing that the executive branch ought not to be composed of elected officials but rather the citizenry as a whole, Saint lamented that most Americans “don’t want the responsibility of justice. We don’t want the responsibility of having to enforce God’s law.”

“When I see someone doing wickedness, it is my responsibility to do something about it. I don’t call 911 and get a cop down here and he does something about it,” Saint continued. “It’s my responsibility to do something about it. God has equipped us with the laws and the system that enable the common person to be able to carry out the executive function.”

20 Truths From ‘The Power of One: Reaching Every Person on Earth’

Ed Stetzer

July 31, 2023

I recently wrote a series on why Pentecostals are growing. I published those articles after speaking to a large Pentecostal gathering in Amsterdam focused on finishing the Great Commission by 2033—the symbolic 2,000th anniversary of the giving of that commission. The event was sponsored by Empowered21, which is focused on the future of the Spirit-filled movement.

Billy Wilson, president of Oral Roberts University, leads Empower21 with a great team. And, Billy’s new book was out in time for the conference. I asked the team there if we could publish a “20 Truths” article here, and they agreed.

As such, here are 20 quotes from the book, “The Power of One: Reaching Every Person on Earth’ of One“:

Introduction

“Empowered21 is a relational network that God birthed in 2010 to help shape the future of the Spirit-empowered movement. It has given leaders around the world a platform to unite and flow together as we focus on the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in the twenty-first century, new generations, greater unity, and world evangelization.” (8)

Chapter 1

“’Lord, help me get one more.’

These six words embody the burden of God’s heart for individuals. They echo the heart cry of the first apostles as they carried the gospel to Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.” (17)

Every person is some mother’s child:

“Always err on the side of attempting to obey the Great Commission. When you wonder, ‘Should I share the gospel with them or not?’ ‘Should I spend the extra money for that outreach?’ ‘Should I make the extra effort to reach and serve them?’ ‘Should I go to these people or not?’ Go! Go as far as you can, as fast you can, while you can. Jesus has already given the command for us to go.” (31-32)

Chapter 2

“[The] parable [of the lost coin] reminds us that you don’t have to be in a faraway place to be lost. You may attend church every week, be engaged in ministry, be right in the house, and yet still be lost. God is searching; He is sweeping, and He is fully engaged in finding every single one, far and near.” (39)

A Heart for the Lost

“William Booth, the great founder of the salvation army, was invited by King Edward VII to Buckingham Palace in 1904…. When the king asked Booth, who was 75 years old, to sign the autograph book that every guest signed, Booth wrote: ‘Your Majesty, some men’s ambition is art, Some men’s ambition is fame, Some men’s ambition is gold, My ambition is the souls of men.’” (45)

Chapter 3

All that for one man?

“Jesus preached to multitudes of people in His ministry…. Yet, Jesus consistently chose to focus on individuals amid the multitude. Time and time again, in Jesus’ earthly ministry, He would concentrate His complete attention on one person, engaging with that individual as if they were the only person in the world.” (39)

Chapter 4

“If you were to walk into any crowded public space today, what would you see? Years ago, before the release of the first iPhone in 2007, you may have seen total strangers chatting among themselves with a variety of conversations taking place…. [Now] you’ll find people silently staring down at their devices instead of engaging with one another.” (77-78)

The most individualistic generation ever

“In this world of growing individualism, Generation Z wants to be noticed, understood, and known. This social phenomenon is marked by high self-expression, self-reliance, and personal autonomy. They are in the business of trading traditional norms and societal expectations for their uniqueness.” (80)

“Generation Z is crying out to be noticed, and if we are going to reach this generation, we must focus on them as individuals. The pandemic incubated this individualism transforming them into the most introverted generation ever. At Oral Roberts University, where I serve, we have noticed this significant shift.” (81)

The greatest injustice

“I contend that the greatest injustice in the world is that we have the means, the money, the mechanisms, the technology, and the power to share the good news of Jesus with every person on Earth, yet many still have never heard about Him and are on their wat to an eternity separated from God.” (82)

“I believe that God is calling today’s church to re-personalize the Great Commission and once again focus on individual people. Generation Z is positioned with the worldview, self-understanding, and technological skills to lead the way in this new era of evangelism. They will be the greatest contemporary force in bringing the Good News of Jesus to everyone on earth.” (83)

Chapter 5

“The 21st century will be the most volatile in history. If we are going to reach everyone on earth with the gospel of Jesus Christ, we will do so amid the drama and trauma of this age.” (111)

E.K. Strawser: Fruitful Discipleship in the Local Church

Jason Daye

July 31, 2023

As pastors and ministry leaders, how can we truly know that we are effectively developing mature disciples? In this week’s conversation on FrontStage BackStage, host Jason Daye is joined by the Rev. Dr. Eun Strawser, co-vocational lead pastor of Ma Ke Alo o non-denominational missional communities, which are multiplying across the island of O‘ahu in Hawaii. Eun is also the author of the recently released book, titled “Centering Discipleship.” Together, Eun and Jason look at the importance of ministry leaders taking an honest assessment of our own discipleship. Eun also shares from her experience as a church planter about how we can take discipleship from the periphery and move it to the center of our local church ministries.

FrontStage BackStage Podcast With E.K. Strawser

View the entire podcast here.

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Arthur Gay, NAE Leader Who Introduced Reagan’s ‘Evil Empire’ Speech, Dead at 86

Adelle M Banks

July 31, 2023

(RNS) — Arthur Gay, an evangelical leader who oversaw the National Association of Evangelicals when President Reagan gave his historic “evil empire” speech, has died at the age of 86.

Gay was president of the association from 1982 to 1984 and held the same role at World Relief, its humanitarian arm, from 1991 to 1996.

Though his leadership began decades ago, Gay’s influence endured through the present day, leaders of the organizations said in announcing his death.

“Art Gay was one of the most gracious leaders I have ever known. He was a great encourager, always curious and wanting to learn more,” said Galen Carey, the NAE’s vice president of government relations, in a statement. “Art was an example of generous orthodoxy, speaking the truth in love.”

Gay led the NAE during a time when Reagan was seeking the continuing support of U.S. evangelicals. The late president first spoke at the association’s 1983 convention.

“The National Association of Evangelicals community, from coast to coast in our great land, deeply appreciates and values his love for the truth of the Bible and his commitment to its great moral values,” Gay said in his introduction.

In the speech, Reagan criticized leaders of the then-Soviet Union and the “so-called nuclear freeze solutions proposed by some.” He opposed such proposals as counter to American “principles and standards,” including a belief in God.

“(I)n your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride — the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil,” the 40th U.S. president told the NAE after Gay’s introduction.

When Reagan died in 2004, the Rev. Richard Cizik, then NAE’s vice president of governmental affairs, told Religion News Service in an interview: “Obviously, not everybody agreed then or now about Ronald Reagan’s agenda, but there’s no disputing that the ‘evil empire’ speech he gave to the evangelical leaders in 1983 helped inspire a chain reaction for liberty that ended the Soviet Union.”

As Churches Shrink and Pastors Retire, Creative Workarounds Are Redefining Ministry

Elizabeth E. Evans

July 31, 2023

pastors — Image by Drew Beamer/Unsplash/Creative Commons

(RNS) — If you are on a search committee in a mainline Protestant church looking for a new pastor, or a denominational administrator trying to find Sunday pulpit-supply clergy, you probably already know this:

The clergy job market is a train wreck.

A wave of older clergy will retire in the coming decades, with fewer seminary students in the pipeline to replace them. Those students are likely to find few churches that can afford a full-time pastor of any kind.

Add that the religious landscape is changing and facing serious challenges — where young Americans are increasingly losing interest in organized religion and the majority of believers of all ages, if they go to church at all, are drawn to large congregations; the fallout from polarized politics and a world-wide pandemic — and these are complicated times for aspiring clergy and the people who train them.

“I don’t think any of us understands what’s going on,” said Sarah Drummond, a United Church of Christ minister and founding dean of Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School.

“So, it’s a stressful time. But I honestly think one of the reasons it feels so stressful is that we’re really starting to wake up. We’ve been asleep.”

To meet the needs of churches, often ones that cannot afford to pay full-time clergy, mainline denominations are adjusting their strategies for recruiting and training leaders. They include providing lay leaders with more training and authority, encouraging more clergy to have day jobs that support themselves — a trend known as bivocational ministry — or revisiting the way they view ministry itself.

Among those helping train new leaders is Nandra Perry, director of the Iona Collaborative, a mostly online training program based out of the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest. The Iona Collaborative relies chiefly on virtual instruction and videos to give clergy and lay leaders the skills they need to lead and staff local congregations. That can take place in a diocesan school or through courses geared specifically to support bivocational clergy and the parishes themselves.

Perry herself represents a new breed of leader. A former English professor at Texas A&M University, she left academia to direct the Collaborative and become the vicar of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Hearne, Texas, a parish with an average Sunday attendance of 18.

She said Iona’s program can help leaders at small churches in small communities get the training they need to have an effective ministry.

“There are people in small towns all over this country that need to know that they are welcome in God’s Church,” she said. “I wanted to be a part of helping one small church in one small town keep its doors open.”

Leaving academia for the pastorate was a decision she made out of gratitude for the way the church had helped shape her life. She wants to ensure that others have access to that same experience.

“When I lost my faith as a young woman, the Episcopal Church welcomed me in, just as I was, and then loved me back to wholeness over a period of several years,” she said. “I don’t believe that kind of healing power should be limited to the East Coast or to major cities.”

Programs like the Iona Collaborative have sprung up in part because traditional residential programs built around a three-year credential aren’t drawing the candidates they once did.

Data collected by the Association of Theological Schools shows that the number of students enrolled in Master of Divinity degrees — required for ordination in many mainline denominations — is down 9% since 2018.

Over the past few decades, he said, mainline schools have experienced an almost 50% enrollment decline, according to Chris Meinzer, ATS senior director and COO.

Vivek Ramaswamy and the Christian Language of Hinduism

Richa Karmarkar

July 31, 2023

(RNS) — Like many Republican presidential candidates, Vivek Ramaswamy has been outspoken about the role of faith and society. An enthusiastic second-generation Indian American, Ramaswamy also isn’t shy about talking about his own faith.

“I’m a person of faith. Evangelical Christians across the state are also people of faith,” he said in a July interview with NBC News. “We found commonality in our need to defend religious liberty, to stand for faith and patriotism and stand unapologetically for the fact that we are one nation under God.”

To reach evangelical Christians, the largest religious group skewing Republican, Ramaswamy has affirmed both his Hindu identity and the Judeo-Christian civic religion in which he was raised. Ramaswamy attended Catholic School where he studied the Bible, uniquely positioning him to use both faiths in his messaging.

Not everyone is happy with that message. Earlier this week, a conservative pastor went viral for his condemnation of Ramaswamy’s faith.

“If he does not serve the Lord Jesus Christ and stand primarily for Judeo-Christian principles, you will have a fight with God,” said Hank Kunneman, of One Voice Ministries, in a video tweeted by Right Wing Watch on July 24. “You are going to let him put all of his strange gods up in the White House and are we just supposed to blink because he understands policies? No.”

Hindu Americans across the country condemned the pastor’s remarks, including Democratic Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi and Ro Khanna. The United States-India Relationship Council, a political action committee dedicated to supporting political candidates who are pro-India, released a public statement.

“We need to expose and condemn this bigotry,” said Amit Desai, founder of the PAC. “By doing so, people will get educated.”

The ancient tradition of Sanatana Dharma — more commonly known as Hinduism — has long been misunderstood by unfamiliar audiences, especially in places like the United States, where Christianity predominates.

A tradition that has more than a billion adherents worldwide, Hinduism does not always fit neatly into categories understood by those more familiar with Abrahamic faiths like Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Hindus hold a pluralistic worldview in which many paths exist to experiencing the supreme, eternal spirit of reality known as Brahman.

Brahman, sometimes referred to as God, is a genderless and metaphysical concept, but Hindus believe it manifests itself in the sometimes human-like forms of gods and goddesses. Many Hindus can see the divine revealing itself in the holy people of other religious traditions.

Hindus worship at temples and within their homes to as many murtis as they wish, or embodied forms of God. Families and communities within Hinduism can also have a patron deity, known as an Ishta Devata, that they especially venerate.

To help people from other backgrounds better understand their faith, Ramaswamy, like other American Hindus, has emphasized the elements of Hinduism that relate closely to Christianity — such as a focus on one God that all of humanity shares.

The Hindu American Foundation, the largest nonprofit representing the religious community, has started shifting away from using the word “idol,” instead using “deity,” so as to eliminate the chance of misunderstanding by Christians.

Suhag Shukla, the president of HAF, says that even though God might not necessarily be the appropriate word to equate to Brahman, saying God is the fastest way to communicate with other faith traditions.

God’s Masterpiece is Less Like a Painting and More Like a Mosaic

Michael Kelley

July 31, 2023

God's masterpiece — Adobestock #32658513

Dead or alive. These are the only two categories of human beings Paul laid out for us in one of the most clear and concise presentations of the gospel found in the Bible. In Ephesians 2:1-10, the apostle starts with the devastating news that all of humanity is dead. Not wandering; not in need; not even in danger—but spiritually lifeless. And just as a corpse cannot resuscitate itself, so the spiritually dead are unable to change their condition. But then we come to verse 4:

But God…

But God had mercy. But God loved us. But God intervened, and just as He brought order from the chaos in Genesis 1, He breathed life into the deadness of humanity one by one as He awakened us to the truth of the gospel. This message is not how bad people can be good people; it’s how dead people can be living people. According to Paul, the equation of salvation is pretty simple:

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Salvation is by grace, through faith, and unto good works. All three components are necessary and work in tandem with each other. In that equation, there is a wonderful word that reminds us of the great artistry of God. In Christ, we are “His creation.” Other translations say we are His workmanship, or even more descriptively, His masterpiece. Like an artist who crafts his seminal and defining work, so does God re-create us in Christ, bringing us to spiritual life, so that we might walk in the good He has carefully planned out for us before we were even knitted together in our mother’s wombs.

When we think about this, that we are the masterpiece of God, our minds drift to the picture of a painter who one stroke at a time, intentionally paints line after line the perfect beauty that comes out on canvas. It’s a great mental picture, but not, I believe, one that truly captures the creativity and redemption of what God does in His children. That’s because this picture is too clean.

Maybe God’s masterpiece is less like a painting and more like a mosaic.

A mosaic is the process of taking shards of material—glass, stone, or most anything else—and assembling them in a recognizable pattern. It takes seemingly unrelated and in many cases useless things and puts them together to reveal something only in the mind and the heart of the artist. That’s starting to feel a bit more right, isn’t it?

All of us have those shards in our lives. They’re broken pieces of experiences, relationships, and patterns of living. They’re the leftovers of sinful choices, painful circumstances, and seasons of suffering. They’re the remnants of what seems like has fallen apart, and perhaps they would remain that way, “but God…”

But God is in the habit of putting broken pieces back together. And when He does, He makes something completely new and different with the old. He doesn’t put life back the way it was; in fact, no one could guess entirely what He’s making as He puts those pieces together, but when He’s done, you begin to see how it all comes together to form something beautiful. Mysteriously, painfully, beautiful.

How To Be Creative Even When It’s Risky

Phil Cooke

July 31, 2023

We often think that creativity is something that’s inspired, beautiful, and only happens when the spark strikes or the muse speaks. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. I’m a proponent of what I call “practical” creativity – which means creativity on a deadline. I’ve spent my career working for clients – studios, networks, nonprofits, major churches and ministries. In those cases, I don’t have time to wait for inspiration, I have to deliver creative ideas and projects on a schedule. Worse – sometimes I have to deliver when there’s enormous pressure, risk, and a great deal on the line.

Chances are, you work in a similar situation. While we’d all like to experience the comfort of waiting for wonderful ideas to come from the heavens, with most projects, we have to conjure up something right now. Certainly we can’t totally control creativity, and can’t just hit an on and off switch, but there are techniques we can use to draw from when we have to deliver creativity under fire.

1. Be a raging consumer of media yourself. Read books, watch movies, TV, and online video. Go to museums. Subscribe to popular magazines. Know what’s popular in the culture. To know what creative ideas will work, you need to know what’s working now, what’s failing, and what’s already been done.

2. Have confidence in your talent. This comes from years of work, practice, and failure. (Rinse and repeat.) The more experience you have, the more options will come to your mind under pressure, and the more confidence you have, the more likely you are to step up. Plus, experience and confidence tends to quiet that voice in your head that’s telling you that you have no talent and your work is trash. However, they key is that you should be mastering your craft when the pressure is not happening, so that when it does hit, you’re ready to be amazing.

3. Develop creative connections. Creative professionals are rarely the lone wolf types who sit alone in a studio thinking brilliant thoughts. For instance, read about Pixar’s “Brain Trust” and how it works in Ed Catmull’s terrific book “Creativity, Inc.”. Always have creative friends and mentors you can reach out to when you’re coming up blank because building on each other’s ideas is a key to creating brilliant work. Who would you call right now if you needed some help? Create a list so you’ll have it when things get tough.

4. Be the voice of calm in the middle of the storm. When deadlines approach, or the $%#@ hits the fan, people tend to freak out. You need to be the calm creative creative leader in the middle of the madness. Even in desperate situations, I’ve seen stressed out film crews and other creative teams completely relax in the presence of a leader who is calm and in control. You’ll never produce compelling creative work if you don’t know how to experience calm within yourself – especially when it matters most.

Want to go deeper? Get my book “Ideas on a Deadline: How to Be Creative When the Clock is Ticking.” It’s the definitive book for anyone who has to deliver ideas, projects, or products under pressure.

Unless you have all the money you need, decide to create only for yourself, or only work when the muse speaks, then chances are, you need to deliver creative projects on time and on budget. You can master practical creativity, but it takes preparation and discipline.

There’s no better time to start than right now….

This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.

Bono on the Psalms and Human Experience

Joshua Pease

July 31, 2023

A while back, in a Rolling Stone magazine interview, U2 frontman and global celebrity Bono talked at length about his faith, referring to the Apostle Paul as a tough [expletive] and comparing King David to Elvis and calling him “the first bluesman.” Because of Bono’s occasionally profane language and the perception that he represents the “trendifying” of the Christian faith, it’s easy to dismiss his message as irrelevant. However, specifically, in his thoughts on the Psalms, hearing Bono on the Psalms provides a point that’s worth consideration for leaders in the church.

Bono on the Psalms

When asked how his faith informs his music, Bono gives a lengthy (and accurate!) summation of the early days of David, culminating with him being invited to play for King Saul, then being chased out into the desert and hiding in a cave.

In a Cave of Despair

“And in the darkness of that cave,” Bono says, “in the silence and the fear and probably the stink, he writes the first psalm. And I wish that weren’t true. I wish I didn’t know enough about art to know that that is true. That sometimes you just have to be in that cave of despair.”

Later Bono would say that cave was “the birthplace of blues,” referencing the psalms David wrote in those moments crying out in despair, anger, sadness and hope for God to intervene. Bono’s reflection on the psalms echo a 20-minute video of Bono and Eugene Peterson discussing the same topic over a year ago. In the video—which is worth watching in its entirety—Bono claims this full scope of human emotions are largely absent in the American Christianity he sees.

“I find a lot of dishonesty in Christian art,” Bono said. “[Christians] are vulnerable to God – porous, open – and I would love if the people who write Christian songs would write about their bad marriage, why they’re p***ed off at the government, because that’s what God wants from you. Honesty. Why I’m suspicious of Christians is the lack of realism and I’d like to see more of that in art, life, and music.”

Why Would Jesus Warn Us That ‘The Love of Many Will Grow Cold?’

John Bevere

July 31, 2023

When asked about what it would be like before His return, Jesus made this stunning statement to His disciples: “And many will turn away from Me and betray and hate each other… Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold.” (Matthew 24:1–12 NLT)

As we look around at the world, it’s not hard to see that sin is running rampant and that it’s not just that the love of many will grow cold, but the love of many is growing cold. The world sins. This should not come as a shock to believers. What is shocking is that Jesus isn’t talking about the world in this passage, but about Christians. The Greek word for “love” used in this passage refers to agape love, which is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts. It is this selfless, sacrificial love, developed in us through the work of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus tells us will grow cold.

The Love of Many Will Grow Cold – But Why?

What could possibly make this love grow cold? Jesus gives us the answer earlier in this passage. He says, “And many will turn away from Me and betray and hate each other.” Why would people do that? Offense. If we are not intentional in dealing with offense and living out God’s love for others by forgiving them as He forgave us, our love will grow cold.

When I was getting my start in ministry, God called me to serve as the youth pastor at one of the most influential churches in the nation. During my time there, I was repeatedly treated very unfairly by a staff member above me. It was obvious he wanted me fired and was doing everything he could to get me removed from my position. This was a man I had respected, and it hurt deeply.

Over time, I let his offense take root in my heart. Because he had treated me so unfairly, I felt justified. Little did I know the bitterness I was holding against him was desensitizing me to the love of God. I wasn’t experiencing His intimate presence like I was used to.

Meet the Resurrected You

Randy Alcorn

July 30, 2023

Resurrection—Christ’s and ours—is a cornerstone of the Christian faith. Yet how many of us ponder what our resurrected selves will be like? You might think Scripture doesn’t say much. In fact, it tells us a lot, and gives us solid reasons to deduce much more.

For instance, Paul wrote, “The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. . . . It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:42–44). The term “spiritual body” doesn’t mean an incorporeal body made of spirit—there is no such thing. Body means corporeal: flesh and bones. A spiritual body will still be a body. But it will be spiritual, under the holy control of a redeemed and righteous spirit.

God made Adam from the earth to live on it, not float on the air. He joined spirit and body to make us completely human. He did not design us to be disembodied spirits as Plato taught, yet sadly, many Christians believe just that. To be with Christ in the present Heaven is better by far than living on earth under the curse. But Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 15 that we will not be eternally complete until our resurrection.

Was Jesus Only a Ghost?

“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him” (1 John 3:2). Christ’s post-resurrection actions offer us a preview of what resurrected people will do—including preparing and eating meals, conversing, and traveling. If Jesus had been a ghost, we would become ghosts. More importantly, if Jesus had only been a ghost, redemption wouldn’t have been accomplished.

The risen Jesus told His disciples,

“Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence. (Luke 24:39–43, NIV)

Jesus didn’t just say He wasn’t a ghost; He proved it. Likewise, He “will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21). Whatever else a glorified body is, it is first and foremost a resurrected body.

In Acts 1:11, an angel explained, “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way. . .” The resurrected Jesus who lived among them forty days before ascending is the same Jesus in soul and body who will return to raise His people’s bodies from the grave. Why didn’t Jesus immediately ascend to Heaven? Perhaps partly to show His design for resurrected people to live on a physical earth.

You Will Still Be You

Bible-believing Christians often ask me, “Will we become angels when we die?” Somewhere they have gotten the idea that whatever we may be after death, we won’t really be human. No wonder so few Christians look forward to Heaven. Humans are not drawn to the idea of becoming inhuman.

Jesus clearly taught that resurrection does not happen one at a time when we die (see John 5:28–29). Scripture portrays resurrection as a matter of continuity from our present into our future lives. The Westminster Confession says, “All the dead shall be raised up with the selfsame bodies, and none other . . . united again to their souls forever.” Selfsame and none other unequivocally mean we will still be us.

When I became a Christian in high school, my mother saw many changes, but she still recognized me. She said, “Good morning, Randy,” not “Who are you?” My dog never growled at me—he knew exactly who I was even though I was a new person in Jesus. Likewise, this same Randy will undergo another significant change at death, and yet another at the resurrection. But I will still be who I was and who I am—just a far better version.

R.C. Sproul: Do You Care About the Widows?

R.C. Sproul

July 30, 2023

In biblical terms, to be religious does not necessarily mean you are godly. To be religious can mean simply that you’re involved in the trappings of religion, that you may be a member of a false religion. Yet, the Scriptures sometimes speak of religion in a positive sense, in the sense of practice that is the fruit of true faith in Christ and commitment to His Word.

The Apostle James focuses on religion as the practice of those who have true faith in Jesus, and he says that true religion demonstrates the presence of saving trust in the Lord (James 2:14–26). What true godliness looks like, he tells us, is not a matter of merely holding to right doctrine with our minds, though that is essential. No, true godliness means that doctrine shapes our lives to such a degree that we manifest the kind of life God wants us to live. And James gives us a succinct definition of true religion, of true godliness: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: To visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” James elevates the activity of caring for widows and orphans as the very essence of pure and undefiled religion. That strikes me as being very significant, and it’s an idea that is neglected in the church today.

In this article, I want to focus particularly on widows. Widows and their care figure prominently in the agenda that God has set for His church. One of the earliest problems that arose in the Apostolic church was that the widows were being neglected. And if that was a problem in the first-century church, how much more likely is it that we, twenty centuries later, would be guilty of neglecting the widows in our midst?

After my grandfather died, my grandmother moved into our home and lived with us for many years as I was growing up. On several occasions, she would talk to me late at night and weep, telling me of the burden of pain she had in feeling like she had not only lost her husband but that she had also lost her place in the community. Once her husband passed, she suddenly felt excluded from the things she was intimately involved with alongside him while he was alive. When a person loses her lifelong mate, it’s like losing an integral, intimate part of one’s self because husband and wife, we are told, in the mystery of marriage are one flesh. So, the pain of widowhood brings a unique dimension of loneliness. It’s jarring to suddenly be alone when one has been accustomed to the constant companionship with one’s spouse over a long period of time. Since God is the great Comforter of His people, it makes sense that He would have such concern for widows given the pain they experience.

Now, why does James not mention the widowers? After all, the widower also experiences that same pang of suffering that goes with losing a lifelong mate. Well, every man that I’ve ever talked to always says they want to go first because they can’t imagine living life without their wives. I can’t prove it, but I think that’s one of the reasons why the normal life expectancy of the man is shorter than the life expectancy of the woman, because God is gracious to us men, and He knows that we’re not as strong as women. But what I do know for sure is that widows have always experienced particular difficulties in every age and culture. They faced particular problems in the ancient world. There weren’t insurance programs, annuities, or other sorts of things, and without a husband, the widow was usually the most vulnerable and helpless person in the community. Widows had little or no means of support in ancient societies. Thus, the care of the widows was given to the church both in the Old Testament and in the New.

Jesus frequently pays attention to widows in His teaching. Just consider the story of the widow’s mite in Mark 12:41–45. Who is it that normally gets the attention in the church? The people who are the big donors, the ones whose donations are so important to the ongoing funding of the church’s budget. Few pay attention to the poverty-stricken person who makes a tiny donation that’s insignificant to the budget’s bottom line. But Jesus noticed what everyone else overlooked. He told His hearers to look at the poor widow. Even though the woman gave only the equivalent of two pennies to the temple, she put in more than all the rest of the people who donated heavily to the treasury because in giving out of her own poverty, she gave out of her devotion to God.

Evidence of the Holy Spirit at Work Through Your Leadership

Dan Reiland

July 29, 2023

There are two great dangers in the life of a church leader. Leading from your own power and assuming it’s all up to God’s power. One leader tends to over-do and under pray. The other tends to over-think and under-do.

We all have a natural bent or bias toward one side or the other. For some the emphasis is slight for others it’s significant. The farther toward an extreme the greater the danger.

The great caution is that they are both exhausting and can be very stressful.

Doing too much (usually in over-drive, overachieving)
Doing too little (often behind, under accomplishing)

Eugene Peterson in his book The Contemplative Pastor quotes John Orman who named the twin perils of ministry, “Flurry and Worry,” because flurry dissipates energy and worry constipates it.

Flurry – always on the go, little time for thought, strategy, or deep conversation
Worry – Overthinking, procrastination, and hesitancy in decision-making

Which one is more you? (even a little)

Either way, your soul becomes stressed and even weary.

The evidence of leading in sustained weariness and stress is clear – here are several common examples:

Overwhelmed
Under-planned
Indecisive
Irritable in relationships
Fatigued
Lack of clarity in thought

When you lead out of balance, the Holy Spirit’s influence within you decreases because you’re focused on trying to find your way rather than allowing the Holy Spirit lead the way.

It is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit that helps us experience a balance of the work God wants us to do and the part we can’t do on our own.

Jesus made it clear: “I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

Strong words indeed.

And Jesus also said: “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:21-22)

What I Saw at Church

Ray Hollenbach

July 29, 2023

Yesterday at church I saw heaven breaking into earth here and now.

What I Saw at Church

I saw signs and wonders: children in sparkling tennis shoes that flashed multicolored lights as they danced in worship. I saw a four year-old offensive lineman soaking in the Spirit of Christ, unaware of how strong his body will grow or how he will use it to glorify God. I saw the Woodstock generation worshipping next to generations unborn. I saw the unlovely, enraptured by the bridegroom and made beautiful by the sight of of him. They became beautiful in my sight as well. I saw a rage-oholic find peace as he stood in the back of the room. He drank it in–the only peace he knows each week–in the Father’s presence.

I heard voices normally used in the everyday business of life blended together in the unison of praise. Voices which sang without words, making new paths of melody, expressing what their hearts knew but their minds did not. I heard songs so new that no one had ever heard them but the singer herself, followed by the songs of saints dead a hundred years or more. I heard the sound of heaven surge through tongues, lungs, and throats of flesh and blood, like fountains made pure by the very water they released.

I tasted bad coffee. It was somehow made better because it was shared in common. I savored the sacred elements of donuts and fruit, muffins and juice, sanctified by people receiving the sacrament of family. I tasted and saw that the Lord is good.

Evangelism Revisited: Rethinking Our Approach to Youth Ministry Outreach

Youth Ministrycom

July 28, 2023

Evangelism. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that I have a lot to learn about evangelism. But not really. That sounds arrogant, so let me clarify.

I participated in an intriguing peer panel on that subject at the Simply Youth Ministry Conference. Terrace Crawford led the discussion that Greg Stier, Brent Lacy, and I helped speak into. All the attendees added observations to help recognize the way things are versus how we hope they’ll be.

Insights About Teen Evangelism

First, church itself isn’t full of consistent Christians. Some people who regularly attend church haven’t yet encountered Jesus.
Homeschooling is on the rise. This confuses the dynamics of those students reaching other students.
Not every church or student ministry values evangelism at a public level. It’s rare to find a weekly cadence where church leaders regularly pray for the lost and where everyday people tell their stories of reaching others.
Most program-level evangelism strategies turn the professionals into the quarterback. We essentially communicate, “You bring your friends, and I’ll throw the pass.”
Some people have created a good life for themselves without following God. When life isn’t “hellish,” it isn’t easy for them to have a fire about hell.
Finally, we’ve abandoned the luxury of awkwardness. Traditional approaches to evangelism require awkward conversations. But this generation has learned to avoid awkwardness with the “blocking/unfriending” concept. Parents likewise rescue kids left-and-right from tough situations. So we’re getting even further away from requiring kids to feel awkward at all.

Possible Solutions for Better Evangelism

We engaged in some what-ifs toward a solution:

What if even a core group of Christians was committed to something proactive. Research shows if you can get 10% truly committed to something noble, they will flip the rest. Jesus invested His time this way. It’s okay to tell others, “Yes, I play favorites with my time, and you can be one of them.”
What if we clarified what’s at stake in a simple statement. We could talk about eternity, like “I don’t want anyone to go to hell. I want everyone I know to go to heaven.” We might also simply explain the difference Jesus makes, like “I want everyone to have the same opportunity for a new life through Jesus. I’m going to start with the people around me, whether I know them or not.”
What if we modeled failure as much as success. Is it more important to have a fairy-tale ending to every story or for us to show what it means to be faithful as the means to join into what God is doing?
What if we took a core group into a strange place to share Jesus with strangers. This may feel safer than just telling kids to win their community for Jesus. Give them success stories to draw from and share. At the end of this experience, build a day that’s all about their community and friends.
What if we redeemed the concept of a formula. We’d all love to be incredibly organic and artistic in how we share our faith. But you don’t pick up a guitar to riff out a song without knowing how to play at least a few chords.

PRAISING God Through Youth Ministry Evangelism

Speaking of formulas, I developed one after noticing that Christians often complain they’re not being “fed” by their churches.

Questions for Emotionally Healthy Supervision

Full Strength Network

July 28, 2023

Every year at our Emotionally Healthy Leadership Conference I [Pete Scazzero] am asked: “How is supervision in an emotionally healthy church different? What makes it distinct?”

In emotionally healthy teams, role expectations are openly talked about and agreed upon. We evaluate how we are doing.

But that is not enough.

How people care for their inner lives is also important. The question is, “How important?” The answer is: “Very important.”

Minimally transformed leaders will always result in minimally transformed teams doing minimally transforming ministry. How could we expect it to be any other way?

As a result, there are four areas that we ask about on a regular basis:

1. How is your walk with Jesus? In other words, tell me about your rhythms of being with God and doing for God. How are you living out of your Rule of Life in this season? How has God been coming to you? I was so blessed recently when our New Life Treasurer told me how excited she was to meet with her new assistant about her job description and her Rule of Life. (Yes, the treasurer.)

2. How is your singleness or marriage? We are called to be a living sign and wonder of God’s love for the world in our marriages or singleness. So we might ask a single staff person: “How are you creating delight in your life and setting healthy boundaries with the ministry? How are you cultivating your close relationships? We ask marrieds: “How is your spouse? Your marriage? What are you doing to proactively invest in and lead out of your marriage?”

3. Tell me about your top 1-3 goals and the challenges you are facing? Like other churches, we have job descriptions, agree on goals and, do semi-annual reviews with people. These are sometimes difficult conversations. A unique part of EHS [Emotionally Healthy Supervision] is our ability to do these well. Our commitment to emotionally healthy skills gives us a shared language (e.g. I’m puzzled, I notice… and I prefer), an ability to negotiate understandings of power and boundaries, skills to clarify expectations, and tools to speak clearly and respectfully. This has served us well and transformed our staff culture.

4. What is your next step for your development and growth—both personally and in your area? The expectation is that staff will take initiative in looking for opportunities to grow both personally and in their area of ministry. The word initiative is key. While we as supervisors do think about team members next steps for growth, and often make suggestions, we want a culture of intentionality. As a rule of thumb, we encourage people to engage in at least one activity for development per year outside of New Life Fellowship.

Let me encourage you to read the chapter entitled, “Culture and Team Building” in “The Emotionally Healthy Leader.” This blog expands on the broad framework laid out there.

This article originally appeared here.

John MacArthur Made ‘The Essential Church’ To Make Some Pastors ‘Feel Guilty’

Jesse T. Jackson

July 28, 2023

The Essential Church John MacArthur — Image courtesy of Grace Productions

“The Essential Church,” a documentary about Grace Community Church’s (GCC) fight against California’s government to remain open during the pandemic, released today (July 28) across the nation in approximately 1,000 theaters.

The documentary was produced by GCC’s Grace Productions, a ministry within the church that “produces God-honoring, media content for our church and the Church worldwide.” Grace Productions states that its mission is to “spread the gospel and honor our Lord, Jesus Christ through engaging video content and storytelling.”

GCC is led by 36 elders, most notably among them the church’s pastor-teacher, John MacArthur.

The synopsis of “The Essential Church” reads, “When governments use Covid edicts to restrict the gathering and worship of the Church, three pastors facing the risk of imprisonment re-open their churches in the face of a world that has chosen to comply.”

The three pastors mentioned are MacArthur, James Coates, and Tim Stephens.

Coates and Stephens are both pastors in Canada who defied government orders to close their churches during the pandemic, which resulted in jail time for both. Coates was imprisoned in a maximum security prison for 35 days, while Stephens was arrested twice and placed in a maximum security prison for a total of 21 days.

The documentary “explores the struggle between Church and government throughout history. It takes us to multiple countries and parallels today’s conflict with those from the past who sacrificed their lives for their beliefs.”

During a screening of the film, MacArthur told attendees that he wanted to produce something that “would show how the Lord blesses those who are faithful for the purpose of the future.” He also “wanted some pastors and leaders to see this and feel guilty,” referring to pastors who adhered to government orders that caused some churches to suspend in-person worship services for a period of months or even up to a year.

“I want some pastors to see [@Theessentialchu] and feel guilty” 😂
– Pastor @johnmacarthur pic.twitter.com/zXtABpdlzJ

— Jon Root (@JonnyRoot_) July 24, 2023

ChurchLeaders asked the film’s director, Shannon Paul Halliday, why pastors need to see “The Essential Church.”

Halliday said that it is important for churches to remember what happened to churches during the COVID-19 pandemic because it will likely happen again.

Rep. Nancy Mace Slammed for Comment About Premarital Sex at Sen. Tim Scott’s Prayer Breakfast

Jessica Mouser

July 28, 2023

Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-SC) has made national headlines for implying that she passed on having sex with her fiancé on the morning of Wednesday, July 26, so that she could make it to Sen. Tim Scott’s prayer breakfast.

Mace, who is a professing Christian and attends Seacoast Church (based in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina), made her remarks while speaking at the prayer breakfast and subsequently drew criticism from conservatives and church leaders.

“When I woke up this morning at 7:00—I was getting picked up at 7:45—Patrick, my fiancé, tried to pull me by my waist over this morning in bed, and I was like, ‘No, baby, we don’t got time for that this morning,’” said Mace at the beginning of her speech. “‘I got to get to the prayer breakfast, and I got to be on time.’” The crowd laughed as she said it was a “little TMI,” adding, “He can wait…I’ll see him later tonight.”

Here is the full speech (PG-rated jokes and all) from Wednesday’s prayer breakfast. My speech was actually about a very vulnerable time in my life and I shed a few tears telling the story about how the church changed my life.🧵1/4 pic.twitter.com/ECp8QUFphJ

— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) July 28, 2023

Nancy Mace Shares Faith Testimony

Nancy Mace has represented South Carolina’s 1st congressional district since January 2021. Wednesday, she spoke at the 13th Annual South Carolina Prayer Breakfast, hosted by South Carolina’s Sen. Tim Scott. Scott is a candidate in the 2024 presidential campaign.

The point of Mace’s anecdote about her fiancé was that she arrived at the prayer breakfast early for Scott’s sake, as did other attendees, which was a “true testament to your leadership, to your faith, and your ability to bring people together and unify our country,” Mace told the senator.

Mace noted that Seacoast’s founding pastor, Greg Surratt, was present at the event. Joking that Scott often gives her good advice that she does not take, Mace said that years ago he told her, “You got to go to Seacoast. You have got to go there, you’ve got to go to church.” She was “not a church-going woman at the time, and I’d lost a lot of faith in church and what I thought it stood for.”

People would often ask her about her spiritual “walk,” but she wasn’t on one. “I didn’t have it at the time,” Mace said. It was not until she went through her second divorce that she took Scott’s advice and went to Seacoast, but sat in the back because she did not want to be seen attending church. “I was horrified I was there,” she said. “I was shocked I didn’t spontaneously combust.”

That day, Greg’s son, Josh Surratt, was preaching on Jeremiah 6:16, which is “about standing at a crossroads in life.” It was, said Mace, “the most beautiful sermon I think I’ve ever been in, and I just started crying, I mean I was bawling my eyes out.” Since then, she has hardly missed a Seacoast sermon, either watching online or attending in person.

“Seacoast changed my life,” said Mace, with emotion, “and Seacoast changed the life of my family.” She said she would not be where she is now, with the purpose she has, “had I not had that moment.”

Drag Queen ‘Flamy Grant,’ a Former Worship Leader, Tops Christian Charts

Stephanie Martin

July 28, 2023

On July 28, the drag performer known as “Flamy Grant” celebrated reaching the top of the iTunes Christian albums chart with the debut album, “Bible Belt Baby.” Flamy Grant, aka Matthew Blake, tweeted, “I’m a puddle,” with a crying face emoji.

The musician’s song, “Good Day,” also briefly topped the iTunes Christian singles chart. Among all genres, that single has broken into the top #100.

Derek Webb, formerly with Christian band Caedmon’s Call, congratulated his friend. “Today, for the very first time, a drag queen has both the #1 single AND #1 album on the itunes christian charts,” tweeted Webb, who deconstructed from the faith. “Of all the accomplishments in my career, being part of this is probably the thing i’m the most proud of. my dear friend @FlamyGrant deserves every bit of this.”

On Webb’s new album “The Jesus Hypothesis,” he and Flamy Grant collaborate on the single “Boys Will Be Girls.”

Drag Queen’s Evangelical Upbringing Led to ‘Spiritual Trauma’

Flamy Grant describes “Bible Belt Baby” as “the world’s first contemporary Christian music record by a drag performer. With influences from gospel and blues to folk and rock, this Americana showcase shines a spotlight on queerness, faith, and overcoming the spiritual trauma so often endured by LGBTQ+ people and others who grow up in conservative religious spaces.”

Blake, who “grew up super evangelical, fundamental in the Bile Belt,” served as a worship leader for 22 years, “the last decade in more progressive churches.” In a recent interview, Blake described being interested in dressing up in women’s clothing since childhood. But that urge “got pushed out of me,” the artist said. “I realized that if I’m going to belong in that [Christian] community, I’d have to suppress it.”

After dressing in drag for Halloween 2019, Blake spent the pandemic watching makeup tutorials. When Blake’s pastor asked the worship leader to give an online sermon in drag, Blake made a Tik Tok video as Flamy Grant, and it went viral. “That’s when I realized, from all the comments…that my drag wasn’t just for me, but for people who felt trapped like I did.”

Of Blake’s faith journey, the musician said, “I have a lot of personal spiritual practices, but it’s really hard to identify with the Christian church in America right now.” As Flamy Grant, Blake wants to provide safe spaces for the next generation. “They’ll call it indoctrination on the right, but I just want those kids to see options available to them. To see that they’re not alone.”

As Flamy Grant, the San Diego-based Blake performs a cabaret show titled “Godless Sheathen.” In the video for the single, “What Did You Drag Me Into?,” a drag show breaks out in the middle of a church service.

‘Flamy Grant’ Thanks Sean Feucht for the Publicity

On July 26, Christian worship leader and former congressional candidate Sean Feucht tweeted: “If you’re wondering the end goal of the deconstruction movement in the church, then look no further than former worship leader @derekwebb’s new collab with a drag queen. These are truly the last days.”

In response, Flamy Grant tweeted, “End goal? Baby, we’re just getting started.”

Fox News Removes The Satanic Temple From Donation Matching Program Following Controversy

Dale Chamberlain

July 28, 2023

Fox News has reportedly removed The Satanic Temple (TST) from “Fox Giving,” an employee donation matching program, following the public revelation that the conservative news organization had been offering contributions to left-leaning causes.

TheBlaze reported that Fox News had been offering to match employee contributions to organizations that promote values contrary to its own earlier this week. Through the program, Fox News matches employee donations of up to $1,000 to an organization of the employee’s choice.

While it is unknown if or how much Fox News has actually donated, Planned Parenthood, the Trevor Project, and The Satanic Temple, were all made eligible for the program.

Planned Parenthood is one of the nation’s foremost abortion providers and regularly promotes and celebrates abortion access through public appeals and political lobbying.

The Trevor Project exists to provide mental health resources to the LGBTQ+ community by encouraging exploration of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Satanic Temple is a secular humanist organization that employs religious imagery to challenge what it describes as Christian supremacy in America.

TST is known for stoking controversy, holding its annual SatanCon event in locations where government officials have denied TST representatives the opportunity to perform the invocation at city council meetings, including Boston and Scottsdale, Arizona.

In the past couple years, TST has also been causing a stir in school districts around the country with its “After School Satan Club” program, which has been presented as an alternative to after school Christian clubs and Bible studies.

TST founder Lucien Greaves has appeared on Fox News several times to spar with Fox News hosts.

After controversy regarding Fox News’ donations swelled, Greaves responded to TheBlaze’s report, tweeting, “A more accurate headline would be that Fox simply employed an app that allows people to give to any charity of their choice, but selling fear to the ignorant at least shows an understanding of your market.”

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

FrontStage BackStage Podcast With E.K. Strawser

Keep Learning

Podcast Links

Bono on the Psalms

In a Cave of Despair

The Love of Many Will Grow Cold – But Why?

Was Jesus Only a Ghost?

You Will Still Be You

What I Saw at Church

Insights About Teen Evangelism

Possible Solutions for Better Evangelism

PRAISING God Through Youth Ministry Evangelism

Nancy Mace Shares Faith Testimony

Drag Queen’s Evangelical Upbringing Led to ‘Spiritual Trauma’

‘Flamy Grant’ Thanks Sean Feucht for the Publicity

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