NFL Player Harrison Butker Dons Pro-Life Attire for White House Ceremony

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June 7, 2023

Kansas City Chiefs place kicker Harrison Butker (7) runs off the field during the NFL Super Bowl 57 football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023, in Glendale, Ariz. The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35. (AP Photo/Steve Luciano)

As the world-champion Kansas City Chiefs posed with President Biden at the White House on June 5, one outspoken Christian boldly declared his faith without words. For Monday’s Super Bowl LVII celebration, Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker sported a gold pin of baby feet. They are the approximate size of the feet of a 10-week-old fetus.

He also wore a tie featuring the Latin phrase Vulnerari Praesidio, which means “protect the most vulnerable.” The pro-life organization Live Action, which designed the tie for Butker, called it a “one-of-a-kind original.”

Although the mainstream media largely ignored Butker’s message, it didn’t go unnoticed. Pro-life activist Anna Lulis tweeted: “This is what real masculinity looks like, courageously standing up for the most vulnerable, the preborn.”

NFL Player Harrison Butker: ‘Every Life Is Precious’

Butker, a devout Catholic, said he wanted to draw attention to “the forgotten of our society.” The 27-year-old said in a statement, “I want to give the most vulnerable, the unborn, a voice at a place where every effort has been made to allow and normalize the tragic termination of their lives.”

“As a father who has experienced three miscarriages, my wife and I understand the hardships that come with losing a child,” Butker said. “Every life is precious and should be valued whether outside or inside the womb.”

Live Action founder and president Lila Rose said her group was proud to partner with Butker. “President Biden is a professing Catholic who, as the most powerful man in the world, is responsible for leading the most pro-abortion administration in our history that has overseen a horrific death toll of 2,548 children every day lost to abortion,” she said.

Rose called on Biden to “reject the extremism of the abortion lobby.” The president’s pro-abortion stance has led to debates about whether he should be denied communion in the Catholic church.

Athlete Tells Graduates To Prioritize Marriage, Family

Butker was also on the Chiefs team that won Super Bowl LIV in 2020, but players didn’t visit the White House due to the pandemic. Last year, the kicker appeared in an ad for an amendment that would restrict abortion in Kansas; voters rejected the referendum.

For Butker, sports isn’t his top priority. “I’m making kicks because God wants me to have a platform, at least for right now, to share this message of faith, of growing in virtue, of growing closer to the sacraments, and of being a saint,” he said.

In May, Butker spoke at the commencement ceremony at Georgia Tech, his alma mater. He advised graduates to “get married and start a family,” saying his most important ring is his wedding ring, not his Super Bowl rings.

‘That’s the Thing With Down Syndrome. It’s a Joy’—Christian Artist Rachael Lampa Opens Up About Son With Special Needs

By

Janna Firestone

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June 7, 2023

Known especially for her songs “Blessed” and the now award-winning, “Perfectly Loved,” Rachael Lampa recently opened up about her roles as a mom, Christian artist, and advocate for those with Down syndrome. Her infant son, Leo, has Down syndrome and has ignited a love and passion in the recording artist.

“I was at a writing retreat recently. And I was writing about Leo, and he was staring up at the trees,” Lampa shared with Christian Headlines. “He always looks up. And so in my head, I was just thinking, ‘There’s nothing down about you.’ He’s always making us look up. That’s the thing with Down syndrome. It’s joy. It’s ‘right here-ness’ all the time.”

Rachael Lampa Shared Son Has ‘A Whole World Inside of Him’

Lampa and her husband, Brendan McCarthy, have two boys: Jackson (age 6) and Leo (age 8 months).

“Happy World Down Syndrome Day! It’s 3.21, which stands for Trisomy 21, which means 3 copies of the 21st chromosome, which means, Down Syndrome,” Lampa recently posted.

“My little Leo has a whole wide world inside of him, and it is my prayer that the whole wide world will take the chance to see HIM for all he is,” Lampa continued.

The award-winning artist opened up about her experience as a mom. “I have spent the past few months becoming part of a beautiful community of people who love, advocate for, and celebrate individuals with Down syndrome,” she said.

Lampa shared her hope for the future, saying, “And I will spend a lifetime learning how to better advocate for, love and celebrate them. Leo, I can’t believe I get a front row seat to YOU… happy day, little love, and to all of the families and communities blessed with an amazing extra chromosome-carrier!”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rachael Lampa (@rachaellampa)

With nearly 4,000 views, Lampa’s post is reaching fans and parents around the world. One mom shared her own experience. “My little son Matthew is 26 and has Down syndrome,” she said. “He has always been such a blessing (even in middle and high school when I had to pick him up from school for being naughty lol).”

Another shared, “Absolutely precious baby!! So cute!! One of my favorites is Psalm 139:13-18. Baby Leo is fearfully and wonderfully made and is ‘perfectly loved’ not only by his family and friends but by God❤️.”

Healing Inspired Lampa’s Award-Winning Comeback Song ‘Perfectly Loved’

At the recent K-LOVE Fan Awards, Lampa won the Breakout Single award for her song, “Perfectly Loved,” which features TobyMac. The emotional lyrics capture her own healing journey after a 10-year break from recording her own music. The song was also inspired by women at a local prison where Lampa serves. The lyrics read in part:

Who said that you weren’t beautiful
And that you didn’t belong in your own skin?
Who said that you were all alone
And that you’re never gonna find love again?

So many little words, so many little lies
That have followed you all of your life
Looking for the truth, look into your eyes
And you’ll see it’s been there the whole time

Ooh, even when you were running
Even when you were hiding
Never been a moment that you were not perfectly loved

“Being able to share who God is to me and for it to resonate with others is so redeeming of the past 10-plus years of not doing music. And being able to do this all while spending sweet time with my babies and family and community, what a gift,” Lampa shared after receiving her award.

Profit Plus Purpose: Using Business Know-How To Change Lives in Rwanda

By

Stephanie Martin

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June 7, 2023

Jon Porter Rwanda — Photo courtesy of Jon Porter

Can business, investing, entrepreneurship, and sustainability mesh with Christian faith, missions, ministry, and stewardship? For a new generation of innovative business leaders, the answer is a resounding yes.

In the move toward combining profit with purpose, Jon Porter serves as a worthy role model. By listening to and following God’s direction, the 33-year-old from Orange, California, is making a profit thanks to his business acumen. But he’s also making an impact for Christ—and making life-changing impacts for a community of people in need.

Stay in the Business Field, God Told Jon Porter

As an undergrad at the University of Southern California, Porter took a short-term mission trip to Haiti, where he volunteered in an orphanage. That experience rocked his world, leaving such an impression that suddenly it seemed impossible to pursue anything else.

“I was tempted to forget about the whole business major,” Porter told Outreach Magazine. “I didn’t give up on my degree; it just didn’t seem like a priority anymore.” He feared achieving the American dream and landing a high-paying career yet making no significant, lasting difference in the world.

That’s when God stepped in—at an unusual venue—to guide Porter’s decision-making process. He had an encounter with the Holy Spirit in a parking garage, of all places, where God directed him back onto a business path. To Porter, that was startling because the corporate world seemed less sacrificial and less spiritual than going into missions.

To compound that confusion, his next career step steered him into an ironically materialistic setting. As an intern with the executive-compensation division of a large HR consulting firm, Porter was essentially “helping Fortune 500 CEOs get paid more money.” Before he accepted a full-time post-graduation job offer from that firm, though, God stepped in yet again.

Porter finished college a semester early, so he had six months of free time before entering the working world. That’s when he decided to head to Africa, in 2011.

Rwanda: ‘God’s Master Plan’ for Jon Porter

While in Rwanda, Porter volunteered with Karisimbi Business Partners, a “socially motivated” firm specializing in enterprise development. He learned about helping international investors productively deploy their capital throughout East Africa. Most importantly, Porter obtained hands-on experience while combining his passion for serving with his calling for business. The takeaway? “This was God’s master plan all along,” he explained.

Based on those positive experiences, Porter declined the lucrative corporate job waiting for him back in America. Instead, he stayed in Rwanda and began consulting with U.K. investors who wanted to make lasting, sustainable contributions in the continent.

In 2015, Porter had the opportunity to purchase the assets of a defunct creamery in the city of Kigali. After successfully applying for a grant from the Dutch government, he completed the purchase, rebuilt the operation, and rebranded the business as Maska Creamery.

Next, the new business owner needed employees. That’s when God opened more doors, providing dozens of qualified workers whom society regularly overlooked.

‘God Was Nudging My Heart’

In Rwanda, Porter was connected to a deaf woman who had struggled for decades. Because she lacked the means to communicate, the woman had been taken advantage of and abused. Porter wanted to assist her but knew that handouts alone wouldn’t be effective for the long term.

Former SBC President J.D. Greear Weighs in on Removal of Saddleback From Denomination

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Dale Chamberlain

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June 7, 2023

Former Southern Baptist Convention president J.D. Greear has weighed in on the controversial disfellowshipping of Saddleback Church from the SBC, a decision that Rick Warren, the church’s founding pastor, will challenge at the denomination’s annual meeting next week.

Deemed by the SBC Executive Committee to no longer be “in friendly cooperation” with the denomination for awarding women the title of pastor and allowing them to preach at weekend services, Saddleback is one of three churches appealing their removal from the SBC.

The other churches are Freedom Church in Vero Beach, Florida, which was disfellowshipped for failing to resolve concerns pertaining to an abuse allegation, and Fern Creek Baptist Church in Kentucky, the senior pastor of which is a woman.

As the SBC annual meeting draws closer, online conversations about the various issues on the docket have ramped up. For his part, Warren has been tweeting daily about what he sees as hypocrisy in the SBC regarding Saddleback’s disfellowshipping. He has also launched a video series outlining why he believes the SBC is in decline and what he sees as the solution moving forward.

Greear, who served as SBC president from 2018 to 2021, has now offered his thoughts.

In an article published to his website, Greear indicated that he would be one of the “more than 12,000 Great Commission Baptists” representing their churches in New Orleans at the Convention.

While Greear did not explicitly reveal how he intends to vote when the issue of Saddleback’s reinstatement is brought to the floor, he did explain what he sees as the key issues at play in the discussion.

“Over the last several years, particularly when considering concerns about churches’ alleged mishandling of abuse, it became apparent that the SBC needed a clearer process for dealing with questions about the cooperating status of churches,” Greear, who served as SBC president at a time when abuse survivor advocates were at long last beginning to make inroads in the denomination, explained. “The standing Credentials Committee, approved in 2019, was a step in that direction. And I supported the establishment and work of that committee.”

Greear continued, “I believe it is important for any organization—including the SBC—to have the right to determine its own boundaries of cooperation…The Convention needs a process by which it can assess who is within the organization and who is not.”

Expressing the need for wisdom in maintaining unifying essentials while allowing local church autonomy, Greear said that the SBC believes “complementarianism is an essential element of church belief and practice…What that looks like in actual application among our churches, however, is slightly fluid.”

“Some churches have chosen to appoint women as lead pastors, which appears to be a clear denial of complementarianism. For churches like this, perhaps we should recognize that they are not closely identified with us,” Greear argued. “In other churches, however, the issue is not one of complementarianism, so much as it is one of nomenclature.”

With Keller’s Death, ‘Young, Restless, and Reformed’ New Calvinists Are at a Crossroads

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Bob Smietana and Kathryn Post

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June 7, 2023

Tim Keller Young, Restless, and Reformed — Tim Keller. Courtesy photo

(RNS) — Wyatt Reynolds spent years trying to save his soul. As a 7-year-old, he prayed nightly before bed. He went to church faithfully in his south Georgia community but was never convinced that he had truly given his heart to Jesus.

Then, barely a teen, Reynolds began listening on his iPod Nano to a daily radio show run by Albert Mohler, the president of Southern Baptist Seminary, and went on to read the works of John Piper, R.C. Sproul and other contemporary Reformed Christian theologians and pastors. Through them, he found and embraced the Calvinist doctrines of grace.

“That was super liberating for me as an incredibly angsty middle schooler,” said Reynolds, now a Ph.D. candidate at Columbia University in New York.

Reynolds had joined the ranks of the “Young, Restless, and Reformed” — a renewal movement born in the early 2000s and fueled by scores of his evangelical Christian peers who had grown up with largely theology-free, self-help-y sermons and fundamentalist shibboleths of evangelical churches. Instead, these young Christians drank deeply of a theology named for the 16^th-century French Protestant John Calvin that was brought to America by the Puritans.

At the time Reynolds joined, the Calvinist renewal movement was a juggernaut that generated a seemingly endless stream of conferences, books, videos and social media posts. As charismatic and intellectual as they were conservative, its leaders touted countercultural ideas such as complementarianism — the belief that, while the sexes are equal, God put men in charge of the church and the home. Reformed renewal became a powerful lifestyle brand that united Christians across denominations and generations.

Mark Driscoll was an influential but edgy pastor within conservative evangelical circles for several years. Photo courtesy of Mars Hill Church

Mark Driscoll speaks at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Photo courtesy of Mars Hill Church

With that success came spectacular failures. In the 2010s, many of the movement’s leaders would eventually fall from grace. Among them: Mark Driscoll, founder of the now-shuttered Seattle megachurch Mars Hill; prominent pastor Tullian Tchividjian admitted to sexual misconduct; C.J. Mahaney was accused of covering up abuses in his church network; James MacDonald was terminated for a “substantial pattern of sinful behavior.”

Joshua Harris, whose bestselling 1997 book “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” was a bible of the purity culture, has left the Christian faith altogether.

This spring, the movement suffered another blow with the death of Tim Keller, a retired New York megachurch pastor, bestselling author and co-founder of The Gospel Coalition, one of the flagship institutions of the Reformed resurgence. Known for his intellectual curiosity and personal kindness, Keller was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2020 and died in late May.

While the movement remains influential, the controversies and losses raise questions about its future.

“What happens when you wake one morning and realize that if something’s going to be reformed,” said author and speaker Hannah Anderson, who was heavily influenced by the Reformed resurgence, “you’re the target of the reforming?”

Anderson said she first encountered Calvinist theology as a college student through Minnesota pastor Piper’s 1986 book “Desiring God.” She’d come from a fundamentalist background where the overwhelming message was that a person could never be good enough to earn God’s love.

In Calvinism, she found a doctrine of salvation — or “soteriology,” as theologians put it — that said it was God whose act of bestowing grace saved people, not human effort. “Anything that spoke of grace was revelatory,” she said. “The grace part of reformed soteriology felt like water to thirsty people.”

Pope Francis Undergoes Hernia Surgery, Will Stay at Hospital Several Days

By

Claire Giangrave

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June 7, 2023

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Francis had abdominal surgery on Wednesday (June 7) to repair a hernia in his abdomen that had been causing him recurring pain, according to a Vatican statement.

The procedure is related to the surgery Francis underwent in early July 2021 to remove diverticular stenosis in his colon. He stayed at the hospital for 10 days that time.

“The operation, arranged in recent days by the medical team assisting the Holy Father, became necessary due to an incarcerated incisional hernia that is causing recurring, painful and worsening sub-occlusive syndromes,” the Vatican statement read.

The 86-year-old Francis had gone to the hospital on Tuesday for a routine checkup, where it was determined that the operation was necessary. In late May, the pope had canceled all his meetings, citing poor health.

After his usual Wednesday audience in St. Peter’s Square, Francis was taken to the Il Gemelli Hospital in Rome to undergo surgery under general anesthesia.

News of the pope’s operation was first broken by the Italian media and later confirmed by Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni.

Francis will stay at the health facility for “several days,” the Vatican said, “to allow for the normal post-operative course and full functional recovery.”

Francis has seen his health decline in recent years. Sciatica in his lower back and leg has forced the pope to use a cane or wheelchair and limited his foreign travel.

Last March, the pope was taken once again to Il Gemelli to treat bronchitis that had caused him to struggle to breathe.

The Vatican did not say whether the pope’s surgery would affect his plans to go to Portugal in August for World Youth Day.

This is a developing story.

This article originally appeared here.

Tom Nelson: What the ‘Lost Shepherds’ of the Church Need To Flourish

By

Jessica Lea

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June 7, 2023

The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast · Tom Nelson: What the ‘Lost Shepherds’ of the Church Need To Flourish

Tom Nelson is president of Made to Flourish, a network that seeks to empower pastors to lead churches that produce human flourishing for the common good. He has served as senior pastor of Christ Community Church in Kansas City for over 30 years. Tom is the author of several books, including “Work Matters” and “The Economics of Neighborly Love.” His latest is, “The Flourishing Pastor: Recovering the Lost Art of Shepherd Leadership.”

Other Ways To Listen to This Podcast With Tom Nelson

► Listen on Amazon
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► Listen on YouTube

Key Questions for Tom Nelson

-What are some common ways that pastors get lost when following their callings?

-What is the “secret sauce” to pastoral wholeness and effectiveness?

-What are the hallmarks of a pastor who is flourishing?

-What does it look like to be apprenticed to Jesus?

Key Quotes From Tom Nelson

“I do think these last three years have been really, really hard and we’ve had a free fall of uncertainty. It’s hard to lead in that.”

“We deal with lost sheep. But I think the inconvenient truth is there’s a lot of lost shepherds and we lose our way in many different ways.”

“I think many people lose their way in a visionary paradigm. Another one is the celebrity…when the camera kind of overtakes your reach.”

“I do see that in many pastors, their compass setting gets off, they get lost. It’s slow, incremental, and they end up in a really dark place.”

“God sovereignly chooses us. I think that’s really, really important…we don’t necessarily choose to be a leader. We don’t choose. We believe in God’s sovereign calling.”

“We need to embrace obscurity.”

Why Did the Spirit Drive Jesus out Into the Wilderness?

By

Mike Leake

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June 7, 2023

thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

I will tell of the decree:The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. (Psalm 2:7-9)

At Jesus’ baptism the Spirit descends upon Him and the Father proclaims, “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.” It’s obvious that in this declaration there is a call back to Psalm 2.

So what happens immediately following this inauguration? Psalm 2 would seem to indicate that the Son of God will take up sword and begin his quest of kicking tail. But it’s not. The shift in Mark is jarring, sadly broken up by our section divisions.

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. (Mark 1:12)

The word for “drove him out” is ekballo. It’s a word that is most typically used by Mark of Jesus driving out a demon. When you’re a bouncer and you need to remove some cat who doesn’t belong, you’d use ekballo to say you bounced him out on his head. Matthew and Luke use a different word (anago). It’s less jarring. It has the Spirit leading—or guiding by the hand—into the wilderness. Mark uses a word that would bring to mind a whip instead of wooing word.

At this point commentaries and sermons tend to get caught up on the dynamic between the Spirit and the Son. Did the Son not want to go and so had to be driven? Of course not, but that’s getting sidetracked from what Mark is actually telling us.

Jesus’ baptism is a moment of glory. Then the Spirit enters in, like a bouncer, and throws Jesus out into the wilderness. It’s almost as if the Spirit is saying, “The Son doesn’t belong in this locale (pointing to glorious things) but in that (pointing to the place of the jackals and all things barren).”

That is what Mark is doing here. But why? Why is he doing something a little different than both Matthew and Luke. I would propose that part of the reason is because Mark’s audience is largely Roman and they have a certain glory-bent that would grab ahold of this beloved Son and make him a warrior king instead of a Suffering Servant.

Mark’s whole gospel is driving to one beautiful declaration, “truly this man was the Son of God!” But what kind of Son of God is he? Mark labors for sixteen chapters to show us that he is the kind of Son of God who will choose a cross over a crown, spittle over splendor, pain over pomp.

Don’t mistake Mark’s message, though. Jesus does belong in glory. But the Spirit drives him out into the wilderness (fully in accordance with His own pleasure) because this is where humanity has placed themselves. We are “where the wild things are”. Therefore he must conquer our enemy in the wilderness.

Husbands Love Your Wives by Affirming Them Publicly

By

Josh Weidmann

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June 7, 2023

So on Sunday, I took a pause from preaching to love my wife publicly.

In front of our whole church, I chose to publicly affirm my wife. I rarely use the pulpit to make personal announcements. I believe that when I am on stage to preach God’s Word, I need to do just that and make it as little about me as possible. However, there are those moments in my life and ministry where I chose to make a statement about my family, ministry or circumstances that I want everyone to hear.

This weekend we celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. Molly and I dated for nine years and now have been married for 10. We have five kids. Needless to say, it has been a full decade. I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for the love that my wife gave me through the trials and joys of life.

How Can I Honor My Wife?

To model what it means to have admiration for your wife, and as a way of publicly affirming her, I told the congregation how grateful I was for Molly. I gave her flowers, hugged her and told her that I loved her in front of everyone. I believe God allows the preacher to use his life in the pulpit to preach, but not just with His words. At times it is good to step outside the text to model gratefulness for the richness of God’s blessings in life. This too can preach loudly. Here is what I think it allowed for and why this was worth the moment of declaring my love for my wife publicly:

First off, my heart was not for the praise of man—not for me, and not for Molly. My intention was to let the congregation know that she is in this ministry with me and I could not do it without her. I wanted them to praise God for His work through her.

Second, it lets other women in the congregation know that I have eyes only for her. I am proud she is my wife and I work hard to protect our covenant.

Third, it modeled for other men the necessity to give praise to our wives for all they endure for us, with us and of us.

Finally, marriage is a picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The fact that a sinner like me can be loved as I am by Molly portrays the Gospel fact that Christ loves us too and accepts us regardless of our faults.

So while it may have been a pause from the preaching to do this on the stage in front of everyone, I believe it honored God as I honored my wife. I was able to affirm my marriage covenant, use my life to preach, love on my wife, and let the world know that God’s goodness in my life is tangibly seen in a person I call, “Babe.” I love you, Molly, with all my heart.

Here is a clip of what I said today:

This article originally appeared here.

5 Words for an Overwhelmed Leader

By

Ron Edmondson

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June 7, 2023

overwhelmed leader — Adobestock #79363797

As a leader, there have been times I was overwhelmed with the challenges and opportunities facing me. God seems to call me to huge tasks. I suspect if you’re a overwhelmed leader, you understand. I think He does that to many people! It keeps us humble. And dependent on Him!

Regardless of how comfortable a leader may be in his or her position:

- There are times when the leader has no answers.
- He or she has exhausted every bit of knowledge gained.
- The current strategies don’t seem to work anymore.
- The situation is beyond the current plans and systems.
- People are complaining.
- Expectations upon you are greater than you feel you have capacity to deliver.
- It seems you’re on a treadmill — getting no where.
- Some days you leave thinking you accomplished nothing — maybe even most days.
- You are so overwhelmed you don’t know what to attempt first.

Ever been there? Did you think someone was talking to me about you?

When the leader doesn’t know what to do and/or doesn’t have a clue what to do next, here are some suggestions for any overwhelmed leader:

5 Words for an Overwhelmed Leader

Admit

The first step is to be honest with where you are currently as a leader. Pretending to know the answers when you don’t know them will not solve the problem. Most of the time, the people you are leading already know your inadequacies. Come clean. You’re overwhelmed. No shame. All of us have been there at times.

Your Guide to Some of the Best Men’s Bible Studies

By

Duke Taber

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June 7, 2023

best men's Bible studies — Lightstock #31979

The Bible is a powerful source of guidance and inspiration for many people. Men, in particular, can benefit from studying the Bible with others who share their faith and values. The best men’s Bible studies provide a supportive environment for men to learn and grow spiritually, to connect with other men, and to deepen their understanding of God’s word.

When choosing a men’s Bible study, it’s important to consider factors like the study’s content, format, and level of difficulty. Some studies are designed for beginners, while others are geared toward more experienced Bible scholars. The format of the study can also vary, with some studies focused on group discussion and others incorporating lectures or multimedia presentations. The study’s content is perhaps the most important factor to consider, as it will determine what topics and themes the group will explore together.

One critical thing to consider when choosing the best men’s Bible studies is its compatibility with your personal beliefs and values. It’s important to choose a study that aligns with your denomination or theological perspective, as well as your personal beliefs about the Bible and its teachings. Additionally, you may want to consider factors like the study’s cost, location, and schedule when making your decision.

We spent countless hours researching and testing the best men’s Bible studies to identify the ones that provide the most meaningful and enriching experience for men seeking to deepen their faith and understanding of the Bible.

The Best Men’s Bible Studies

As men, we understand the importance of studying the Bible and growing in our faith. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the best men’s Bible studies available on Amazon. These studies are designed to help men deepen their understanding of Scripture, build community with other believers, and grow closer to God. Whether you’re a seasoned Bible scholar or just starting out, this list of the best men’s Bible studies will provide you with the tools and resources you need to take your faith to the next level.

The Bible in 52 Weeks for Men: A Yearlong Bible Study

We highly recommend The Bible in 52 Weeks for Men: A Yearlong Bible Study for those looking to deepen their faith and understanding of the Bible over the course of a year.

Pros

The weekly reflections are thought-provoking and provide helpful commentary and devotionals.
The graphics and layout make the book visually appealing and engaging.
The study guide questions help readers to examine their hearts and apply the lessons to their daily lives.

Cons

Some of the weekly review sections may feel a bit trite or repetitive.
The book may not be ideal for those who prefer a more in-depth or scholarly study of the Bible.
The commitment to a year-long study may feel daunting for some readers.

The Bible in 52 Weeks for Men: A Yearlong Bible Study is a great resource for men who want to grow in their faith and understanding of the Bible. The weekly reflections are thought-provoking and provide helpful commentary and devotionals that are applicable to everyday life. The graphics and layout of the book make it visually appealing and engaging, and the study guide questions help readers to examine their hearts and apply the lessons to their daily lives. However, some of the weekly review sections may feel a bit trite or repetitive, and the book may not be ideal for those who prefer a more in-depth or scholarly study of the Bible. Additionally, the commitment to a year-long study may feel daunting for some readers. Overall, we highly recommend The Bible in 52 Weeks for Men: A Yearlong Bible Study for those looking to deepen their faith and understanding of the Bible over the course of a year.

Willy Rice To Nominate Mike Stone for SBC President To Combat ‘Left Wing, Feminist Critical Theory, Cancel Culture, Politics’

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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June 6, 2023

Willy Rice Mike Stone — (L) Willy Rice (R) Mike Stone—Photos courtesy of Baptist Press.

In a somewhat surprising announcement yesterday (June 5), Willy Rice, senior pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater, Florida, said that he would nominate Mike Stone, senior pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, Georgia, for president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) at the denomination’s annual meeting in New Orleans next week.

Stone is set to run against incumbent Bart Barber.

Rice was slated to run for SBC president himself in 2022 before withdrawing his name two months prior to the meeting after disclosing that a member of his deacon body had, many years ago, “committed a sexual sin that could also be described as abusive.” Days after Rice’s withdrawal, Barber was announced as a 2022 nominee, going on to beat Tom Ascol of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Florida.

In 2021, Rice backed Ed Litton, senior pastor of Redemption Church in Saraland, Alabama, who went on to beat Stone in a close run-off to become the SBC’s 63rd president.

Stone previously served as the chairman of the SBC’s Executive Committee and has been on the SBC’s Resolutions Committee.

Rice said that while his announcement to nominate Stone “would have been unthinkable” even just a short time ago, he recently experienced a change of heart about Barber and “the status quo.”

Rice’s announcement means he will stand before the SBC voting delegates, called messengers, to give a speech on Stone’s behalf prior to the vote.

“Two years ago, when Mike ran for SBC president and lost a narrow election, I enthusiastically supported my friend Ed Litton,” Rice said. “I rejoiced when Ed won. I didn’t know Mike but disagreed with him on several issues and especially felt concern over the Conservative Baptist Network (CBN). I found some of their voices to be overly divisive and unnecessarily caustic.”

Rice shared that he “strongly supports” the North American Mission Board (NAMB) and the International Mission Board (IMB), the SBC’s two mission boards. He also said he loves the leadership and believes that “the overwhelming consensus of Baptist leaders are rock solid in their biblical convictions.”

Rice clarified that he is not part of the CBN and does not endorse everything they “have said or written.” Nevertheless, he does not believe that the concerns raised by the CBN should be ignored or dismissed.

Rice argued that if elected, Stone, who is on the CBN’s steering council, would not be representing and acting on behalf of the CBN, but rather “serving us all” as the SBC president.

Pastor Tom Ascol, Sen. Ted Cruz Debate the Bible and Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Law

By

Stephanie Martin

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June 6, 2023

ted cruz — L: Screenshot from YouTube / @Founders Ministries. R: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Uganda’s strict new Anti-Homosexuality Law, which reportedly stipulates life imprisonment and the death penalty in “aggravated” cases, continues to spark heated debates. Among those sparring about the issue are Florida Pastor Tom Ascol and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

On May 29, Cruz tweeted that the new law was “horrific & wrong,” “grotesque & an abomination,” and a “human rights abuse.” That led to a callout from Ascol, the Founders Ministries president, who champions a return to conservatism in the Southern Baptist Convention. He tweeted, “Tell it to God, Ted” and quoted Leviticus 20:13, an Old Testament verse that condemns homosexuality and calls for the death penalty.

Ascol asked Cruz, “Was this law God gave to His old covenant people ‘horrific and wrong’?”

Sen. Ted Cruz to Tom Ascol: ‘Your Biblical Analysis Is in Error’

On June 5, Cruz replied to Ascol. “Pastor, I don’t know you, but I honor your ministry,” the senator began. “Your biblical analysis is in error. Jesus told us to ‘render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ We are talking the laws of man, not the Old Testament laws of God. Do you really believe that the US govt should execute every person who is gay??”

The senator continued:

Leviticus also tells us: “For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.” Should the govt execute every child who’s disrespectful to his parents? That ignores Grace & the New Testament. As our Savior taught us, “Let he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

In a response to Cruz, Ascol tweeted:

Senator, Thank you for responding. I asked a question that reveals my point. GOD gave Israel Lev. 20:13. Do you think GOD is guilty of giving a law that is “wrong,” “horrific,” “grotesque,” & “an abomination”? That is my concern. I will answer your questions. No. I do not think the US should execute everyone who is gay. No. I do not believe the govt should execute every child who’s disrespectful to his parents. But not for the reasons that you give. The principles by which you make your argument lead to great confusion & harm if followed consistently. This is an important conversation for both church & state.

Ascol invited the senator to appear on his podcast to further discuss the issue.

Tom Ascol: It’s Problematic If Bible Verses Embarrass You

On the May 31 episode of his podcast “The Sword and the Trowel,” Ascol emphasized that he’s “not advocating the death penalty for homosexuality.” Instead, he said, he’s pointing out that “Ted Cruz’s judgment is a judgment of God.”

“He’s calling what God gave as a statute to his old covenant people Israel…an abomination,” Ascol said of the senator. “He says that this is grotesque, that this is horrific and wrong. So the problem I have, here is Ted Cruz, a professed Christian, saying that what God did was an abomination, horrific and wrong. It can’t be those things if God proscribed it for his old covenant people.”

Over 4,000 People Baptized on Pentecost Sunday at SoCal Event; There Was ‘Lots of Rejoicing,’ Said Brian Houston

By

Jessica Lea

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June 6, 2023

Over 4,000 people were baptized at Pirates Cove Beach in California on May 28, Pentecost Sunday. Brian Houston and his son, Ben, attended the event, which took place at the same site where baptisms of the Jesus People Movement of the 1960s and 1970s occurred, as depicted in the recent movie, “Jesus Revolution.”

“Still in awe of what God did Pentecost Sunday 5-28-23 at Pirates Cove, in Newport Beach California,” said Pastor Mark Francey, who hosted the event, on Instagram. “4166 people baptized. It lasted almost 5 hours with Over 280 Churches unified. We believe another great spiritual awakening has begun. God we ask you to Revive and heal our land. In Jesus Name.”

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A post shared by mark francey (@markfrancey)

Pirates Cove Beach Site of Historic Baptisms

According to a press release from Baptize SoCal, 10,000 to 12,000 people attended the “collaborative baptism event” at which 250 churches were represented. The purpose of Baptize SoCal was to allow people to publicly declare their faith in Jesus through baptism.

Francey, who pastors Oceans Church with his wife, Rachelle, said, “We believed that if we stepped out in obedience, God’s people would rally, and it would become one of the largest water baptisms in American History. Little did we know that a film would come out just a few months after our receiving the vision that celebrated water baptisms at Pirates Cove.”

“Jesus Revolution” (starring Kelsey Grammer, Jonathan Roumie, Joel Courtney, Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Anna Grace Barlow) released in February and dramatizes the events of the historic Jesus People Movement.

The film is based on the book, “Jesus Revolution: How God Transformed an Unlikely Generation and How He Can Do It Again Today” by Greg Laurie and Ellen Vaughn. The movie focuses on the lives of Calvary Chapel pastor Chuck Smith, hippie evangelist Lonnie Frisbee and Pastor Greg Laurie, who now leads Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California.

Laurie and his wife, Cathe came to faith during the Jesus People Movement and were baptized at Pirates Cove Beach. Laurie has also hosted other baptism events in that location.

Former Hillsong Church pastor Brian Houston attended the event with his granddaughters and his son, Ben Houston. Brian’s wife, Bobbie Houston, posted a video on her Instagram account in which her husband’s voice can be heard. “Kids, 50 years after the Jesus Revolution, here we are at Pirates Cove,” said Brian Houston, panning the scene while observing there was “lots of cheering, lots of rejoicing. Thank God.”

‘Shiny Happy People’ Depicts Duggar Family as Part of a Fundamentalist Movement With a Culture of Abuse

By

Dale Chamberlain

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June 6, 2023

Docuseries “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets” released on Amazon Prime Video on Friday (June 2), giving viewers a closer look at the life and theology of reality stars Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, as well as some of their 19 children.

Divided into four episodes, the series follows the Duggar family’s rise to fame, their involvement with the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), IBLP founder Bill Gothard’s teachings, and the experiences of others whose upbringings were shaped by those teachings.

The series paints a picture of authoritarian patriarchy, rife with spiritual and sexual abuse.

Featured interviewees include extended Duggar family members, former family friends, former members of the movement of which the Duggars are a part, as well as Jill Duggar Dillard and her husband Derick Dillard, who gave an insider’s view on the events that have unfolded within the Duggar family.

Episode 1: Meet the Duggars

The first episode of the limited series focused on how the Duggar family was shaped by Bill Gothard’s teachings, as well as their rise to fame.

“Doing an interview like this isn’t easy,” admitted Jill Duggar Dillard in the opening shots of the episode. “Like, I didn’t want to do it.”

“There are a lot of families that are in a similar situation,” Jill went on to say. “But it was very different in the sense that my family was on television.”

The first season of “17 Kids and Counting” came to TLC in 2008, with the show eventually being renamed “18 Kids and Counting” and “19 Kids and Counting,” and giving way to spin-off show “Counting On.”

The success of the reality program propelled the Duggar family into national fame. Archival footage of a meet-and-greet event showed one man who told a film crew that he wanted to name his child after Duggar patriarch, Jim Bob, because “Jim Bob is the man.”

Amy Duggar King, niece to Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, told interviewers that she once asked her uncle why he agreed to have his family star in the show, since he didn’t “believe in TV.”

“Well, this is ministry,” he reportedly replied.

The documentary characterized the Duggar family as the “poster children” for IBLP, a “quiverfull” Christian resourcing ministry founded by Bill Gothard, whose vision for family life emphasized submission for wives, obedience for children, and personal separation from broader American culture.

Jill said that the Duggar family had been involved with IBLP, which also places a central focus on homeschooling, for as long as she could remember. As the family grew in popularity, the Duggars became something of a recruiting tool for the organization, its theology, and its seminars and curriculums.

Both IBLP as an organization and the broader culture it created have long been the subject of abuse accusations. Such accusations hit home for the Duggars. The family’s eldest son, Josh, is serving a 12-year prison sentence for child pornography.

While Josh was a teenager, he admitted to molesting four of his sisters, along with a family babysitter. No legal action was taken against him. Instead, Josh spent time at a IBLP camp in an effort to rehabilitate him.

“In this community, the word ‘abuse’ doesn’t really exist,” said abuse survivor advocate Emily Elizabeth Anderson.

Married at ages 19 and 17 respectively, Jim Bob and Michelle are portrayed as initially only wanting a few children. However, after Michelle became pregnant while on birth control and subsequently miscarried, the couple came to believe that Christians “should have as many kids as you’re capable of having, until your body tells you to stop.”

After becoming involved with conservative causes such as the pro-life movement, Jim Bob was elected and served two terms in the Arkansas House of Representatives. He later ran for the U.S. Senate, but lost.

However, the national attention Jim Bob received gave way to a magazine profile, a series of documentary television specials, and eventually the family’s reality show.

Seattle’s Quest Church Leaves Evangelical Covenant Church as Church Affirms LGBTQ Christians

By

Emily McFarlan Miller

-

June 6, 2023

rainbow_walk — Photo credit: Dmitri Zotov / Unsplash.com

(RNS) — Quest Church, an influential Seattle megachurch, is leaving its denomination, the Evangelical Covenant Church, over its differences with the ECC over acceptance of LGBTQ Christians.

Quest’s move to voluntarily disaffiliate from the denomination comes as the ECC was prepared to vote this summer on expelling Quest and another LGBTQ-affirming congregation, Awaken Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.

“We have discerned that, to be the body of Christ, we must embrace the fullness of God’s life in all of our members, including our LGBTQIA+ siblings,” said the Rev. Gail Song Bantum, lead pastor of Quest, in a written statement shared Monday (June 5) on Facebook.

“This belief emerges from our identity and values as an ECC church, not despite this identity and these values. We leave the denomination grieved that the ECC refuses to recognize God’s work in our midst, and yet hopeful for the ways the Spirit is moving in our community.”

Song Bantum wrote on Facebook that Quest sent a formal letter to the ECC that morning informing officials of its withdrawal from the denomination.

The ECC did not immediately respond to a request for comment by RNS.

The Rev. Eugene Cho — who left the church in 2018 and now leads Bread for the World, a prominent Christian advocacy group dedicated to ending hunger — planted Quest Church in 2001, initially holding weekly services at Interbay Covenant Church.

The Rev. Gail Song Bantum. Photo by Brandon Hill, courtesy Baker Publishing

In 2007, Interbay gave Quest its building, as well as “everything the church owned and who they were,” Song Bantum wrote, describing the church’s history of “generosity and radical inclusion in response to the call of the Spirit.” That continued in 2021 when Quest became “fully affirming of our LGBTQIA+ siblings (in theology and practice),” she said.

Quest’s social media pages include rainbow-colored logos with wishes for a happy Pride Month, which the LGBTQ community celebrates each June, and its website describes it as “fully affirming.” Membership and leadership, including the role of pastor, is open to anybody who “calls Quest home,” the website says, “including, but not limited to, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Asexual, and Queer folks.”

That created tension with the ECC, which has asked its ministers to refrain from participating in same-sex weddings since 2015, although LGBTQ inclusion is not among its essential doctrines, according to reports by Christianity Today.

In October 2022, the Covenant Executive Board voted to remove Quest from its roster of churches after one of its pastors participated in a same-sex wedding, the report said. Delegates to the denomination’s annual meeting were set to vote whether to formally expel the church from the denomination during this summer’s meeting, it added.

The meeting, called Gather 2023, is scheduled for June 28 to July 1 in Garden Grove, California. Quest’s removal did not appear on its agenda Monday, although Awaken’s does.

Pope Francis Sends Cardinal Zuppi to Ukraine To Promote a ‘Just Peace’

By

Claire Giangrave

-

June 6, 2023

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, the head of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, traveled to Kyiv on Monday as a representative of Pope Francis, the Vatican announced in a statement.

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said in an interview that Zuppi’s mission is aimed especially at “favoring an environment that can lead to paths toward peace.”

Francis named Zuppi in late May to head the Vatican’s peace mission in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, citing the Italian cardinal’s experience in mediating conflict in other countries; how he handled the conflict in Mozambique in the 1990s likely contributed to his appointment.

Zuppi works closely with the Italian lay Catholic movement of Sant’Egidio, which focuses diplomacy efforts with an eye for migrants and refugee issues. Francis has relied on the movement to address the war in South Sudan and to help with the creation of humanitarian corridors to safely and legally bring migrants across borders.

Francis has sought to position the Vatican as a mediator for peace in Ukraine ever since Russian troops invaded the country in February 2022. Upon hearing news of the invasion, the pope dismissed protocol and rushed to the Russian embassy in Rome to promote peace. The urgency of his response was consistent with the Vatican’s longtime efforts to improve relations with Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church, which has become increasingly influential under President Vladimir Putin.

Francis had secured a win in 2015 by becoming the first pontiff to meet with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in recent history, and he had made motions before the war began toward becoming the first pope to visit Moscow.

Since Russia invaded, the pope has avoided openly condemning Russia and Putin in public pronouncements and voiced his willingness to visit both Kyiv and Moscow. Despite these efforts, the relationship between the Kremlin and the Vatican has chilled, while Ukrainians have questioned why Francis has not taken a stronger position on the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has distanced himself from the Vatican’s peacemaking attempts. After a meeting with Francis at the Vatican May 13, he told journalists that his country is currently not open to any mediation with Russia and Putin. “With all due respect for His Holiness, we don’t need mediators, we need a just peace.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has told journalists that there is no currently scheduled meeting between Zuppi and Putin.

Both sides’ indifference toward any peace proposals may be strategic and likely have as much to do with the preparations for rejoined fighting, as Ukraine shows signs of launching a long-expected major counteroffensive. The success of peacemaking efforts in the coming weeks may depend on the success of the two armies on the ground.

During his Sunday Angelus prayer, Francis expressed his closeness once again to the “dear and battered Ukraine” and all other countries that suffer the plight of war.

This article originally appeared here.

Who Is the Former Ambassador Who Bought a $38.1 Million Bible From Sotheby’s?

By

Kathryn Post

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June 6, 2023

Alfred H. Moses, the former U.S. ambassador to Romania, speaks during the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy in 2017. Video screen grab

(RNS) — When an 1,100-year-old Hebrew Bible was sold at a Sotheby’s auction for a record-setting $38.1 million two weeks ago, most news articles noted few details about the person behind the purchase: Alfred H. Moses.

The former U.S. ambassador to Romania donated the amount to the American fundraising group for ANU, Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, Israel, ensuring the rare codex would be on display to the public rather than locked away as a collector’s item.

In a conversation with Religion News Service, Moses, 93, whose storied career involved being president of the American Jewish Committee and special counsel to President Carter, revealed he only learned about the codex a few months back. What drew this longtime corporate lawyer and Baltimore native to invest millions toward a Hebrew Bible he’d never seen in person?

Moses spoke to RNS about being an “observant, non-believing Jewish universalist,” his journey to becoming ambassador to Romania and how he came to fund the purchase of one of the most expensive documents ever sold at auction. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What was it like growing up in Baltimore in the 1930s and 1940s?

Baltimore was a segregated city. I lived in the Jewish part, and my friends were primarily Jewish. I lived in a very secure, comfortable environment. My great-grandfather started a hat factory in the 1860s, which became the largest manufacturer of men’s straw hats in the world. In my father’s lifetime it went bankrupt. My parents were reasonably prosperous until the business failed.

Alfred H. Moses during his visit to see the Codex Sassoon in person for the first time at Sotheby’s on May 31, 2023. Photo by Perry Bindelglass

We were very much part of the Jewish community in Baltimore. Religiously, we remained orthodox. We had a kosher home. I went to Seder. I became a bar mitzvah. My father did not speak Hebrew, but we read the prayers in Hebrew.

I was 12 years old when World War II broke out. We knew tons of people who were in the service. Of course as Jews, we felt particularly vulnerable because we had a sense, without knowing the details, that the Jews in Europe would be massacred by the Germans.

Is it true that years later, while president of the American Jewish Committee, you began helping thousands of Jewish people leave Romania?

I first went through Romania in 1976 as part of a delegation with the American Jewish Committee. As I was leaving my hotel, two or three young fellows came up to my wife and me and told us that life in Romania was dreadful for Jews. They were blamed for everything that went wrong. And they had to get out, can I help them? So I shook their hands and said, I’ll do what I can. I went back to the United States and I started to get Jews out of Romania. And we were quite successful. We were able to persuade Congress to grant the most favored nation status for Romania every year. In return, our request was that Jews be free to emigrate to Israel. And I worked that out with Nicolae Ceaușescu, who was then the communist dictator. I met with him in Romania on three occasions. We got the Jews out.

Then Ceaușescu was shot on Christmas Day, in 1989. I thought my work was over, but the chief rabbi requested I come back to help the community, which I did, at least once a year. And lo and behold, in 1994, the State Department asked me if I would consider being the American ambassador to Romania. I thought they were out of their minds, but they sent my nomination to the White House, and President Clinton signed it, and I became the American ambassador to Romania for three years.

3 Reminders for Pastors During the Summer Slump

By

Dale Chamberlain

-

June 6, 2023

Pastors Summer Slump — Source: Lightstock

As a song that has for decades been blasted through car stereos this time of year has said, “School’s out for summer.” For students, this is great news. Parents tend to have mixed feelings. But for pastors, it often portends the dreaded summer slump.

Every summer, churches around the nation struggle to keep their people engaged, as attendance—sometimes alongside giving—takes a temporary hit.

Families go on vacation. College students go back to their hometowns. Volunteers are difficult to come by. Energy is down. The beach, the pool, or the cookout seem to take precedence.

While most wise pastors take advantage of the slow season to catch up on various administrative tasks and use a week or more of their vacation time to connect with their families, they often spend the other 10 to 12 weeks of summer wondering where everybody went.

That can be discouraging. No ministry leader enjoys the summer slump—particularly not the pastor who is preaching to a half-full room.

Be that as it may, no pastor wants to spend the summer months with a storm cloud above his head. And the thing is that you don’t have to, nor should you.

Here are three reminders for pastors as you navigate the summer slump of church attendance and engagement.

1. Remember That Numbers Don’t Define Success.

It has been said many times and in many ways—and, somewhat ironically, perhaps most often at conferences by preachers whose churches are exponentially larger than yours—your numbers do not constitute the sum total of ministry success for you or your church.

And, of course, every pastor and church leader believes that ministry effectiveness isn’t defined by last week’s attendance numbers. That is, until the numbers are down. Then we seem to quickly forget that fact and fly into a fit of anxiety.

The truth of the matter is that when attendance numbers are high, it makes us feel good. And when the numbers are down, it makes us feel poorly. And that’s okay. There’s no shame in that. Pastors, we just need to ensure that we are not attaching those feelings to our identities or being motivated by them in an unhealthy way.

2. Don’t Take It Personally That Your People Went on Vacation.

Sometimes, when attendance numbers are down and volunteers are difficult to come by, pastors and ministry leaders can begin to grow resentful toward their own people. We tend to wonder, and sometimes unfortunately even verbalize, “Don’t they understand that what we’re doing is important?”

Sanity in Ministry: 5 Ways Church Leaders Can Stay Mentally Healthy

By

Terrace Crawford

-

June 5, 2023

Maintaining your sanity in ministry can be tough. If you’ve been serving in the church long enough, you know that dealing with pressure is difficult. Sometimes you might feel out of balance and wonder if you’ll make it.

Over the years, I’ve found several things that work well for me. I even joke that they maintain my sanity. But the truth is, they do!

These five things keep me healthy and help me stay the course. If you do these things, they’ll help you maintain sanity in church and youth ministry too.

5 Tips for Maintaining Sanity in Youth Ministry

1. Develop friendships outside your work.

Sure, you should be friends with the people you live and serve with. But also find some friends you can talk to about anything and everything. You don’t need many; even two or three are plenty. But they can be invaluable.

If you only have friends inside the church, there’s always a dual relationship. So develop some friendships in which you can talk honestly. It’s healthy. An easy choice is to find a peer (a pastor or key volunteer) in another church or community.

2. Stay physically active.

I have a hard time motivating myself to go to the gym or doing any sort of recreation. I find it easier to work. And binge-watch Netflix or Hulu (if I’m being honest). But the reality is that I’m better and healthier when I do engage in recreation.

Physical activity actually makes me sharper and more disciplined. It helps me be so much more effective in my work. Plus, it can prevent burnout too.

3. See a Christian counselor.

There’s no shame in good therapy. I have a couple of close friends in ministry that I do life with. But I’ve also sought out a Christian counselor several times and have no regrets about it. It’s healthy to share your struggles with someone who can help, and doing so will keep you in ministry longer!

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Episode 1: Meet the Duggars

1. Remember That Numbers Don’t Define Success.

2. Don’t Take It Personally That Your People Went on Vacation.

5 Tips for Maintaining Sanity in Youth Ministry

1. Develop friendships outside your work.

2. Stay physically active.

3. See a Christian counselor.

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