Sadie Robertson and Christian Huff on Sex, Singleness and How Farting Helps Prepare You for Marriage

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October 28, 2022

On the latest episode of the WHOA That’s Good podcast, Sadie Robertson Huff and her husband, Christian Huff, compiled their best relationship advice touching on a range of topics, including singleness, boundaries in dating, and how farting in front of a significant other can help prepare someone for marriage.

Sadie Robertson and Christian Huff on Relationships

Sadie Robertson Huff is an author, speaker, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. In addition to starring in “Duck Dynasty,” Huff appeared on Season 19 of “Dancing with the Stars,” where she was a runner-up. She married her husband, Christian Huff, in November 2019, and on May 11, 2021, the couple welcomed their daughter, Honey James Huff, into the world.

At the beginning and end of the podcast episode, Sadie emphasized that viewers should feel free to disregard any advice she and Christian give if it is not helpful. “Throw it out the window,” she said.

The Huffs addressed a number of questions covering singleness, dating, engagement and marriage. Regarding how people can be intentional while they are single, Christian said, “For me it was really just prayer and just building a community of good guys around me.” He was intentional about spending time in community and with God and believes these priorities helped prepare him for a relationship. “You were becoming the man that you wanted to be,” Sadie agreed.

For her part, Sadie said she wished she had focused on enjoying being single while she was in that season. When asked what she would say to her younger self who felt she would never find the right person, she responded, “I would tell my younger self to chillllll, girl. Just chill.” Sadie believes she was too obsessed with who her husband would be and wishes she would have trusted that God had someone for her who would come at the right time, as her husband eventually did. “I just wish I would have enjoyed the season I was in a little bit more,” she said.

The Huffs addressed several questions related to dating, such as how to respond when someone ghosts another person. The couple clarified that it is not ghosting if someone has a good reason not to be able to respond. Rather, they defined “ghosting” as a person being unresponsive for long periods of time, such as weeks or months.

“Move on, girl,” said Christian. “Most ghostings I’ve seen, it’s manipulation.” Sadie concurred, telling women that they deserve guys who respond to them and do not play games with them. “You are worth more than that,” she said.

Greg Locke Warns Christians To ‘Wake Up’ After YouTube Permanently Deletes Church’s Channel

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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October 28, 2022

greg_locke_warning_censorship — (L) Greg Locke screengrab via YouTube @Pastor Greg Locke (R) Screengrab via Facebook @Pastor Greg Locke

Controversial pastor Greg Locke (Global Vision Bible Church) announced late Thursday night (Oct. 27) that YouTube had permanently deleted his church’s channel, erasing years of sermons from Locke and his church.
YouTube explained that it removed the church’s channel because their content violated the platform’s Community Guidelines. Content moderators labeled the violations as “severe,” adding that it is their job to make sure “YouTube is a safe place for all.”

YouTube Message to Global Vision Bible Church

Locke uploaded an image of the message YouTube sent the church to Facebook, which read:

Hi Global Vision Bible Church,
We have reviewed your content and found severe or repeated violations of our Community Guidelines. Because of this, we have removed your channel from YouTube. We know this is probably very upsetting news, but it’s our job to make sure that YouTube is a safe place for all. If we think a channel severely violates our policies, we take it down to protect other users on the platform – but if you believe we’ve made the wrong call, you can appeal this decision. You’ll find more information about the policy in question and how to submit an appeal below.

The Mount Juliet, Tennessee, pastor warned Christians that they “better start waking up,” calling YouTube’s actions “absolutely sickening.”

“Ridiculous,” Locke wrote in the post alongside YouTube’s message to his church. “YouTube just permanently deleted our church channel and wiped out many years worth of sermons. People better start waking up. Absolutely sickening.”

Locke told ChurchLeaders that he wants to warn others that “Christian censorship is going to continue to increase and we need to prepare to be bullied into silence. We must not give in to the narrative, and we cannot in anyway compromise the truth. Churches need to quit playing games and get serious about standing up.”

YouTube’s decision comes after it removed one of Locke’s sermons, titled “Why I Told Halloween To Go To Hell,” stating that it had violated their Community Guidelines. Locke called that removal a “joke” and argued that the sermon, which had been up for a year, was deleted due to a “Satanic agenda.”

Masons and Roman Catholic Diocese of Nashville Plan to Protest Halloween Burn Event

Locke also shared a email he received from Arch Stanton Sr., Worshipful Master of the Free and Accepted Masons of Tennessee and member of St. Lawrence Catholic Church, warning the pastor that if Global Vision Bible Church holds their Oct. 31 burning event, it would be considered unlawful without a burn permit.

Locke previously told his Facebook followers the church doesn’t need a permit, because the event is being held on private church property.

Stanton urged Locke to cancel the Halloween burning event or schedule an alternative event like a costume Bible character party where they pass out candy—which Stanton volunteered to help with. Stanton said that this “type of activity would not promote the cause of Christian unity in the community in any possible way.” The Masonic Worship Master asked Locke, “Should that not be everyone’s goal?”

700 SBC Pastors Urge Amendment to Statement of Faith Barring Women From Holding Title of ‘Pastor’

By

Dale Chamberlain

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October 28, 2022

SBC — Stacie Wood preaches her first message as teaching pastor of Saddleback Church (screengrab via YouTube @Saddleback Church)

Debate about the role of women in pastoral leadership continues to swirl in the Southern Baptist Convention, as the denomination’s largest church has newly installed a woman as a teaching pastor.

This controversy has increased the vigor of many SBC pastors to make institutional changes that would combat such a trend, more than 700 of whom have signed an open letter to the denomination’s Executive Committee asking for a resolution that would disallow women from holding the title of pastor, even for positions overseeing youth or children, in any SBC church.

Saddleback Church, located in Orange County, California, has been the subject of denominational conversation with regard to this issue for some time, starting when the church ordained three female members of its staff to the title of pastor in May 2021.

While the Baptist Faith & Message, which serves as the statement of faith for the SBC, states that “the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture,” considerable disagreement exists within the denomination as to whether “the office of pastor” is meant to describe only a lead pastor, or if women are disallowed from holding the title of “pastor” while serving in other various pastoral roles on a church staff.

As a result, Saddleback’s status as an SBC church was placed before the denomination’s Credentials Committee at the SBC annual meeting in June 2021.

At the following annual meeting this past June, the committee reported that it had “found little information evidencing the Convention’s beliefs regarding the use of the ‘title of pastor’ for staff positions with different responsibility and authority than that of the lead pastor,” and recommended that a study committee be formed to gain clarity on the matter.

After some spirited debate and a personal address given on the convention floor by Rick Warren, then still lead pastor of Saddleback, the committee rescinded their recommendation to form a study committee, and discussion about Saddleback’s status as an SBC church was tabled.

In the months following this year’s annual meeting, Rick Warren retired as lead pastor of Saddleback Church, and his successor, Andy Wood, was installed. Wood’s wife, Stacie, has also come onto the Saddleback staff, serving as a teaching pastor.

Stacie delivered her first sermon at Saddleback, titled “The Courage to Slow Down” on the weekend of Oct. 8-9.

Earlier this week, Wood expressed to the Associated Press that he did not see a conflict between SBC values and beliefs and a woman holding a teaching role as pastor on Saddleback’s staff.

Wood has also clarified that Stacie is not his co-pastor, but one of the many pastors who serves on staff under his leadership as lead pastor of the megachurch.

“The church should be a place where both men and women can exercise those spiritual gifts,” Wood said. “My wife has the spiritual gift of teaching and she is really good. People often tell me she’s better than me when it comes to preaching, and I’m really glad to hear that.”

Rev. Calvin Butts, Influential Pillar of Harlem, Dies at 73

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AP News

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October 28, 2022

NEW YORK (AP) — The Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, who welcomed generations of worshippers as well as political leaders from across the nation and around the world at Harlem’s landmark Abyssinian Baptist Church, died Friday at age 73, the church announced.

“The Butts Family and entire Abyssinian Baptist Church membership solicit your prayers for us in our bereavement,” the church said on its website. No cause of death was given.

Butts began serving as a youth minister at Abyssinian in 1972 and was senior pastor there for more than 30 years. He also served as president of the State University of New York at Old Westbury, on Long Island, from 1999 to 2020.

He worked with political leaders across the ideological spectrum.

In 1995, Republican Gov. George Pataki appointed Butts to two state boards that controlled economic development grants to businesses. That same year, Butts hosted then-Cuban leader Fidel Castro at Abyssinian, where the fatigues-wearing communist received a hero’s welcome.

Tyler Perry and Bill and Hillary Clinton were among the mourners at a memorial service for actor Cicely Tyson that Butts presided over at Abyssinian last year. Butts praised Tyson as an example of “an example of how we all might live.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton called Butts a a major pillar in the Harlem community. “He was a dominant faith and academic leader for decades,” Sharpton said in a statement. “We knew each other for more than 40 years, and while we did not always agree we always came back together.”

This article originally appeared here.

Seminary Training ‘Key Distinctive’ of Cooperative Program’s Founding

By

Diana Chandler

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October 28, 2022

WEYMOUTH, Mass. (BP) – Noah and Tarin Madden were newlyweds when they sought a seminary that would prepare them to spread the Gospel in the church and in the community.

“We wanted to serve and to grow and to learn in a place where there was a need for the Gospel, where we could learn things about ministry and be challenged and encouraged,” Noah told Baptist Press, “and at the same time, be able to put those things into practice. And not only learn in the classroom, but learn in the church and in the city.”

They found their place at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

As 2019 Master level graduates, Noah is equipped for his current mission as a Weymouth, Mass., North American Mission Board Send Network church planter, and Tarin is able to practice from a Christian worldview as a state-licensed counselor.

Noah wouldn’t have been able to afford seminary training without the church-generated financial support of the Southern Baptist Cooperative Program, he said. Coupled with academic scholarships, the CP allowed Noah to graduate debt free.

“Honestly, I haven’t lived much of my life not impacted by the Cooperative Program,” Noah said. His parents served 15 years as NAMB church planters In Canada. Noah planted the third campus of the Life Community Church network in New England, launching the Weymouth church this past Easter and joining a network of two other Life Community churches led by NAMB church planters in Quincy and Braintree, Mass.

Noah views his seminary training as a ready toolbelt of abilities, and appreciates the network of more than 50,000 Southern Baptist churches and missions that work together to spread the Gospel globally.

“I would say it allowed me to lead from a place of some wisdom and experience that I didn’t have from my own personal ministry practice,” he said. “It gave me tools that would have taken me years to cultivate and develop on my own.

“But even beyond the theological side of things, it really helped me to take ownership of my own calling and to recognize that it’s more than information and it’s more than a title or a role. My time in seminary helped me realize what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus who leads and who loves the church and who’s on mission.”

David S. Dockery, interim president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, describes theological education as “a key rationale for the establishment of the CP.”

The Cooperative Program greatly funds the work of the six Southern Baptist seminaries in the U.S. that together train thousands of pastors, missionaries and other ministers annually.

Southwestern Seminary Announces Layoffs

By

Scott Barkley

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October 28, 2022

SWBTS — Photo courtesy of Baptist Press.

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) — Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary confirmed with Baptist Press today (Oct. 27) that the entity has initiated layoffs a week after announcing steps to rectify a financial environment that could “quickly escalate to a crisis.”

“As part of the previously announced intention to implement organizational restructuring, including budget reductions, at the direction of the board of trustees, the interim administration has informed certain staff their employment has been ended,” a statement read. “These have been extremely difficult decisions as we seek to address our current challenges.”

When asked by BP if information on the number of affected staff could be released, a seminary spokesman responded, “Not at this time.” BP was unable to confirm whether more layoffs are forthcoming.

“We recognize the disruption that this causes for these staff members and their families,” the statement continued. “There is certainly no joy in having to make these decisions at this time. Appropriate severance is being offered to affected employees.”

Interim President David S. Dockery presented the aforementioned “organization restructuring” to trustees on the second day of their Oct. 17-18 gathering on Seminary Hill. It was the group’s first gathering since the resignation of former president Adam W. Greenway.

“The [SWBTS] community is praying not only for the Lord’s provision and favor but for genuine renewal to come to the Southwestern campus,” Dockery told trustees on Oct. 18.

The restructuring includes a reduction of the operational and personnel budget by at least 10 percent, representing approximately $3.6 million. Those cuts will come primarily from the area of institutional support, beginning with programming over personnel, Dockery said.

A yearslong evaluation of the seminary’s 200-acre “campus footprint and its optimal use” has led to placing the B.H. Carroll Park Apartments on the market. Other parcels surrounding the main campus may follow suit, said Dockery.

Trustees spent Oct. 17 in closed session reviewing seminary financials and, said Chairman Danny Roberts, “had access to any and all information they requested.”

“As a result, we are requesting the auditors to do some additional work to carefully examine all expenditures, especially those which raised concerns,” he said in the group’s open session Oct. 18.

O.S. Hawkins, serving as senior advisor and ambassador-at-large since retiring as Guidestone president, commended trustees as “the most engaged group of men and women I have ever seen.”

On Oct. 24, Baptist Press sent a list of follow-up questions to SWBTS that requested clarity on the new financial guardrails and “multi-faceted matters” mentioned by Dockery that led to the current financial position as well as if details from the audits would be provided.

BP received the following statement:

“Southwestern Seminary trustees continue to work with the interim administration in executing the actions taken by the board during its meeting. As it is appropriate to share new developments, we will provide that information. We were delighted to host the largest recent fall Preview Day in some years on Oct. 21, welcoming more than 300 prospective students and their families, and culminating with more than 650 participants in our fall festival. Our Admissions team is aggressively recruiting students to study with our first-class faculty of scholar-ministers who not only teach their subjects with excellence, but help our students live their calling as Gospel ministers during their studies. Our campus community has been infused with multiple prayer gatherings as students, faculty, and staff humbly seek God’s blessings under the theme verse of Psalm 90:17.”

This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.

Faith Groups Focus Midterms Mobilization on Multiracial, Multifaith Voter Protection

By

Adelle M Banks

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October 28, 2022

Faiths United to Save Democracy, — The Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, center right, works as a poll chaplain during election day on Nov. 3, 2020, in Philadelphia. Photo by Danielle Hall/Sojourners

(RNS) — Two years ago on Election Day, Pastor Lee May, leader of Transforming Faith Church, a predominantly Black congregation in Stonecrest, Georgia, served as a poll chaplain, posted at a local voting site to promote calm at a time of intense political divisions. Most of the difficulties that day, he said, involved people who weren’t sure they were at their correct polling place.

Things could be different this year, May said. To prepare, he and other clergy have added more de-escalation training to their preparations.

May got his training from Faiths United to Save Democracy, a multifaith and multiracial coalition that has enlisted more than 700 chaplains so far and is seeking to train more in the last week before Election Day.

“Because many states have changed the law to further empower partisan poll watchers,” said the Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, president of Sojourners and a member of the coalition’s core team, “we’re anxious that that is going to create a lot more problems at polling sites and, potentially, further intimidate and deter voters, Black and brown voters in particular, from voting.”

A graphic by Faiths United to Save Democracy. Graphic by Walida Smith, Faiths United to Save Democracy

Two years of disinformation and agitation over the 2020 election results have heightened fears of violence and mischief at voting sites this year. Poll watchers from both ends of the political spectrum have vowed to be out in force. Several states, furthermore, have made it more difficult to vote by mail, created new voter ID requirements and reduced registration options, raising the possibility of more disagreements and chaos on Nov. 8.

The rising tension has prompted clergy groups to mobilize for the midterms with new approaches and broader coalitions. They are supplementing long-standing initiatives for voter registration, education and mobilization with voter protection and expanding efforts such as Sojourners’ “Lawyers and Collars” program, which teamed poll chaplains with lawyers and advisers who could be called to answer questions and defuse tempers.

The Rev. Lee May. Courtesy photo

May, who once was the CEO of DeKalb County and now partners with Faith Works, another clergy coalition that mobilizes voters through his state’s churches, thinks the initiatives of religious leaders are contributing to the record turnouts for early voting. Data from the Georgia secretary of state show turnout as of Tuesday was already up 38% from the 2018 midterms.

This year, many clergy worked long before Election Day to make sure all voters have a voice. In Wisconsin, the Rev. Ari Douglas, pastor of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Janesville, helped organize a candidate forum for city council and state senator candidates where they learned about the issues on the minds of low-income voters.

The nonpartisan Faith in Florida has also put together listening sessions to address concerns about the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade; Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, which limits teachers from talking about sexual orientation to young students; and new “election police” who have charged formerly incarcerated people who had received voter registration cards.

“All of these things have brought people together in a way that has never happened before, because we see something wrong morally,” said the Rev. Rhonda Thomas, executive director of Faith in Florida and a leader of New Generation Missionary Baptist Church, an independent congregation in Opa-locka.

The Rev. Rhonda Thomas at the White House. Photo courtesy of Faith in Florida

Christian clergy who have long worked to get their congregants to polling places are also expanding their reach by including more non-Christian clergy in get-out-the-vote efforts.

Vatican Synod Document Acknowledges Calls To Welcome Women, LGBTQ Catholics

By

Claire Giangrave

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October 28, 2022

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Launching the next phase of the Synod on Synodality, a global consultation with Catholics on the future of the church, Vatican prelates on Thursday (Oct. 27) acknowledged the clear call in the first round of reports from the faithful for inclusion of women, LGBTQ individuals and the poor.

“Let us just look to each person as a person loved by God and called into being by God,” said Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, relator generator of the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, on Thursday. “Christ died for this person on the cross. If I am not able to give the space to the table to this person than I am against Christ.”

The cardinal’s remarks were made remotely at a news conference presenting the “Document for the Continental Phase,” which contains summaries of the discussions from dioceses and parishes all over the world that made up the synod’s first phase, which began in 2018.

The “synthesis of syntheses” presented at the event has the Bible-inspired title “Grow your tent.”

“Who is invited to the tent? All the people, created and loved by God,” Hollerich said. “Our behavior is sometimes a bit more fragmented, and our love is not as big as the love of God,” he continued, before adding that the church must “establish new balances, otherwise the tent will collapse.”

The talk of inclusion echoes a remark Hollerich made in a recent interview with Vatican media outlets in which he said blessings of same-sex couples by priests are still under study. In March 2021, the Vatican’s doctrinal office shut down proposals for the blessing of same-sex couples, stating that the church “cannot bless sin”, but the cardinal questioned in the interview whether “God could ever curse two people who love each other.”

In a statement, the Catholic LGBTQ advocacy network New Ways Ministry praised the openness of the “Document for the Continental Phase,” lauding it as “evidence that we are in a new moment of conversation about LGBTQ issues in the Catholic Church.”

Conservative factions in the church, however, fear that the document may be stretching the Catholic tent too far. In early October, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, a czar of Catholic doctrine at the Vatican, described the synod in an interview with EWTN as part of a “hostile takeover of the church” more intent on transforming it into a political party than about spreading the gospel.

But Cardinal Mario Grech, general secretary of the Vatican’s Synod office, said the “Document for the Continental Phase” does not represent any decisions made by church leaders, but a channel for the many points of view that emerged at the parish level as they were summarized by national bishops’ conferences.

“I hope that this first phase will help everyone in the church, without exclusions, because the Holy Spirit can communicate something to the church through anyone,” said Grech at the news conference, adding: “There are some resistances, but it’s OK. Come forward! Let us walk together.”

More than 40 lay and religious experts gathered in Frascati, southeast of Rome, in September to draft the final document. Participants said they took care to preserve the diversity of opinions and backgrounds in the bishops’ conferences’ summaries. Their document’s first chapter offers an overview of the main findings, the second provides a spiritual background, the third focuses on the principal themes that emerged, and the fourth and final chapter addressed the next steps in the synodal journey.

The experts who appeared at the news conference said they were struck by recurring themes of welcoming and inclusion, ecumenism and interreligious dialogue. Participants in the local discussions see a need to reform church structures in a “synodal spirit,” they said, and focus on priest formation and liturgy.

Judge Dismisses SPU Lawsuit Aimed at Halting Probe Into University’s Hiring Practices

By

Alejandra Molina

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October 28, 2022

(RNS) — A federal judge on Wednesday (Oct. 26) dismissed Seattle Pacific University’s lawsuit that sought to stop Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s investigation into the school’s hiring practices.

Ferguson in late July confirmed his office was investigating the university for potential illegal discrimination against LGBTQ people due to the school’s employment policies. His announcement came after SPU — a private school associated with the Free Methodist Church — sued Ferguson, claiming his probe aims to influence the university “in its application and understanding of church teaching.” In late August, Ferguson filed to dismiss the lawsuit.

According to a news release from the attorney general’s office, the federal judge ruled SPU’s arguments — which claim Ferguson’s probe infringes on the university’s First Amendment right “to govern itself according to religious principles” — should be raised in state court. The judge said SPU asked for a change in state law the federal court cannot grant.

The attorney general is continuing with its investigation.

Ferguson, in a statement, said his office “respects the religious views of all Washingtonians and the constitutional rights afforded to religious institutions.”

However, he added, SPU “is not above the law.”

“Instead of answering questions about its hiring process, the university filed a federal lawsuit arguing that it is above the law to such an extraordinary degree that my office cannot even send it a letter asking for information about its employment policies,” Ferguson said.

SPU’s interim president, Pete Menjares, said in a statement that he was disappointed by the ruling, but he added that the court “did not decide whether the state can investigate our university’s internal affairs.”

“We will continue to defend ourselves from unlawful interference with our Christian mission,” Menjares said.

Ferguson’s filing in August revealed that, in May, hundreds of Washington state residents wrote to his office to complain about the school’s employment practices “and to express concern that the University discriminates against faculty and staff on the basis of sexual orientation.”

During that time, students staged a more than monthlong sit-in beginning in late May to protest the board of trustees’ decision to retain a policy barring the hiring of LGBTQ people.

People participate in the third day of a sit-in at Seattle Pacific University, May 26, 2022, after the board of trustees decided to retain a policy that prohibits the hiring of LGBTQ people. Photo via Twitter/@SPUisGay

People participate in the third day of a sit-in at Seattle Pacific University, May 26, 2022, after the board of trustees decided to retain a policy that prohibits the hiring of LGBTQ people. Photo courtesy of @SPUisGay

At issue is the school’s employee lifestyle expectation policy that states, in part, “employees are expected to refrain from sexual behavior that is inconsistent with the University’s understanding of Biblical standards, including cohabitation, extramarital sexual activity, and same-sex sexual activity.”

The nonprofit law firm Becket is representing SPU.

Lori Windham, Becket’s vice president and senior counsel, said the “court did not rule on the attorney general’s unlawful investigation.”

“We will continue to defend SPU’s right to express its faith in all aspects of university life,” Windham said in a statement.

This article originally appeared here.

God Is as Just and Holy as He Is Loving

By

Randy Alcorn

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October 28, 2022

In order to understand God’s love in our current culture, it’s necessary to distinguish what love doesn’t mean and to see it in relationship to God’s other attributes. Yes, God is love, but it is not His only attribute, nor is it always His defining attribute. More and more we hear that God’s love overshadows all His other attributes, as if the rest have only secondary importance.

Gregory Boyd writes, “God is unsurpassable love. The foundational difference between the true image of God and every version of the serpent’s lie is that Jesus Christ first and foremost reveals God as unsurpassable love: ‘God is love.’… The most fundamental distinguishing characteristic of every false picture of God is that it qualifies and compromises the truth about God’s love.”

Unfortunately, this viewpoint guarantees that affirmations of God’s holiness or justice, which also should never be qualified or compromised, will appear to qualify and compromise God’s love.

God is loving, but He is not only loving. Isaiah says, “I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted…. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings…. And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty’” (6:1–3). Notice that the angels before his face day and night do not cry, “Love, Love, Love is the LORD Almighty.”

Lest we believe that God’s love in the New Testament eclipses His holiness in the Old Testament, the final book of the Bible reveals the present and future in a picture similar to Isaiah’s vision: “Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come’” (Revelation 4:8).

God did not cease to be uncompromisingly holy when Jesus came into the world. God’s eternal character does not change (see Malachi 3:6; James 1:17). That means the following Old Testament declarations remain just as true now as when they first appeared in Scripture:

Who is like you—
majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory,
working wonders? (Exodus 15:11)

Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God?
(1 Samuel 6:20)

Your ways, O God, are holy. (Psalm 77:13)

Exalt the LORD our God
and worship at his footstool;
he is holy….
You were to Israel a forgiving God,
though you punished their misdeeds.
Exalt the LORD our God
and worship at his holy mountain,
for the LORD our God is holy. (Psalm 99:5, 8–9)

Of course, holiness is not God’s only other attribute, which makes it all the more important that we refuse to reduce Him only to love. But we can distinguish holiness from love, so it serves as a good example. Notice how Joshua appealed to God’s holiness, not His love:

You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you. (Joshua 24:19–20)

The Greatest Enemy of Momentum: Time

By

Ron Edmondson

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October 28, 2022

thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

What’s the greatest enemy of momentum? We often think it is a lack of vision. But you can have the greatest vision ever and still see motivation dwindle and momentum die. The fact is we have an amazing ability to get bored with good things over time.

Some say it’s a lack of appreciation. And that’s true, but it’s not the greatest. Others have said fear. Or a lack of resources. Or even success. And those can all kill momentum, but they aren’t the greatest.

TIME is the Greatest Enemy of Momentum

It doesn’t matter how much we love something, time can cause us to lose interest. And that happens faster than ever these days. Ask a new leader how fast the “honeymoon” period ended for them. It seems to disappear faster than ever in my experience.

All of us can think of something we once loved, but now it’s old news. We have a the sad ability of tiring of wonderful things.

Buy a child a toy at Christmas and they love it – it’s the best Christmas ever – but a few weeks later; perhaps only a few hours – they probably aren’t as excited about it anymore. They are ready for some new toys.

Marketers know they have to keep changing things to keep us buying. We get bored easily. That’s why Apple’s stock has grown through the roof. They keep introducing new products because we get bored with the old ones.

If we aren’t careful we’ll do it in our relationships, too.

One of the biggest obstacles in many marriages is boredom. We quit dating – we quit courting – we quit surprising each other. Over time, we get bored in the relationship. Time kills the momentum the couple once had for each other.

That feeling of boredom comes into the church also.

Greeting at the front door was great at first. We met lots of new people and genuinely felt we were making a difference. Now we know everyone and the job has become old. I’m bored.

Time killed my momentum.

Going to small group? Working with students? Playing in the band? Fun at first, but time has made me bored.

Perhaps you understand by now. Maybe you’re bored with this post. It was great when it started, but time has taken away your enthusiasm. Let me get to some help. It’s time.

If time is the enemy of momentum, what’s the solution?

1. Keep retelling the vision. Tell more stories.

Remind yourself and others of why you are doing what you are doing. If your mission is to reach people for Christ, then get excited about it again. Renew your passion for others – for lost, hurting people. Restore your first love.

2. Keep practicing the vision. Live more stories.

Sometimes we get so busy with doing “stuff” we don’t really do what we were called to do. We are notorious at this in churches. Meetings to talk about doing missions take more of our time than doing missions. If you want to restore your motivation – do the things you’re motivated to do. If reaching broken, hurting people for Christ was the original passion God called you to do, then step away from the routines and busyness of life to start winning a few broken, hurting people for Christ again. Drop the mundane and follow the heart. Renew your personal passion by doing living the vision.

3. Keep sharing the impact of the vision with others. Encourage other’s stories.

Most likely there are still some people motivated for the vision. Surround yourself with them. Let them share their stories. Let their enthusiasm rub off on you and others. Live out the vision with others who believe in it as much as you do. It will motivate you – or re-motivate you – as you share the vision with others again. You’ll gain momentum again.

This article on the enemy of momentum originally appeared here, and is used by permission.

Thanksgiving Craft for Elementary Kids: Praise Pennants

By

ChildrensMinistry.com

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October 27, 2022

With this Thanksgiving craft, elementary kids raise a victory banner to thank and praise God. Have fun making this with your children, whether in Sunday school classes or at home.

You’ll need:

Bible (Exodus 17:8-15)
felt pennants (assorted colors)
hole punch
wooden beads with large holes
yarn
felt shapes
tacky glue
paper
pencils

Thanksgiving Craft: Pennant Pockets

Say: The Bible tells about a battle that Moses and the Israelites won—but only as long as Moses kept his hands in the air. This was Moses’ symbol that he was giving credit to God for the good things God was doing. When the battle was over, listen to what Moses did. Read Exodus 17:8-15. Let’s make pennants we can use to lift our praises to God.

Let kids choose two different colored pennants. Help them align the pennants on top of each other and punch holes along the sides about 1 inch apart. Do not hole punch the top. (It will be used as a pocket.)
Give two 4-foot pieces of yarn to the kids.
Keeping the pennants stacked on top of each other, kids can lace one piece of yarn through the holes on one side, looping the yarn around the outside edge of the pennants. Make sure kids leave at least 6 inches of extra yarn on both ends.
Repeat on the opposite edge with the second piece of yarn.
Have kids create a hanger for their Thanksgiving crafts by tying together the excess of the yarn at the top. Have kids string the bottom pieces of yarn through several beads and then tie a large knot so that the beads won’t slip off
Let kids decorate the pennants with felt shapes.

Christmas Play Program: A Practical Planning Timeline for Churches

By

ChildrensMinistry.com

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October 27, 2022

Need help with a Christmas play program timeline? October isn’t too early to start the planning process. In fact, your church’s Christmas plans should now be officially underway!

What type of Christmas play program or pageant is your youth ministry or children’s ministry planning? If you’re just starting to map out how to put on the best Christmas pageant ever, we want to help!

Here is a sample timeline for any Christmas play program. Feel free to follow or adapt this plan. Let it guide you to seasonal success!

Start Planning Your Christmas Play Program Now

Decide which program to use.
Work with your church leadership team to select a date for the performance. Also nail down a budget.

6 Weeks Before the Event

Put information about the program in your church newsletter and bulletin.
Send an email or personalized invitation to families in your church. Invite them to participate in this family event and to invite others.
Hang posters around your church and community.
Send flyers home with kids.
Add information on your church’s website.
Have families spread the word.
Reserve rooms in your church for scene rehearsals. Get one large room for the performance (if not doing it during a normal service). Also get one snack-friendly area for the cast party.
Enlist your team: Cast Party Caterer, Registration Team Members (if your program needs these), Assistant Directors (to help with different scenes and other duties), Sound Tech, Photographer (you’ll want to get parents’ approval first), Costume Designer, Set Designers, and Actors!

5 Weeks Before the Event

Hold an introductory meeting to cast your vision for the program.
Meet with your team to discuss duties.
Read through the entire script with your team.

4 Weeks Before the Event

Give the script to the Sound Tech, the Assistant Directors, and the Actors.
Set rehearsal dates.

3 Weeks Before the Event

Continue to hold rehearsals.
Make a press release to send to local media.
Have the Costume Director come in with costumes to try on.
Check in with the Set Designers.

Mark Driscoll Posts Picture With Steven Furtick; Mixed Reactions Follow

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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October 27, 2022

Mark Driscoll Steven Furtick — Screengrab via Facebook @Mark Driscoll

On Thursday (Oct. 27), Trinity Church senior pastor Mark Driscoll posted a photo of himself with Elevation Church lead pastor Steven Furtick to Facebook, drawing mixed reactions in the post’s comment section.

The photo showed the former Elephant Room alumni with their wives while the Steven and Holly Furtick were in Scottsdale, Arizona, for an Elevation Worship Tour stop.

“Really fun to see an old friend. Thanks for preaching Jesus and leading AZ in worship on the Elevation tour. Praying for you and your family along with many others who love and appreciate you,” Driscoll wrote.

Driscoll’s post soon received numerous comments, both for each pastor and against them as well.

Some commenters were glad to see Driscoll with Furtick, indicating that the Driscoll is a good influence on the Elevation Church pastor, because Driscoll would hopefully help him teach “all the scripture.”

“Oh man you’re friends with Steven Furtick,” one of Driscoll’s social media followers wrote. “Like you ACTUALLY think he is a preacher who preaches God’s truth…smh..hopefully God can use you to show Furtick the right path.”

Nevertheless, not every comment was critical. One person said that the photo made them happy, writing, “I love to see unity in the church. Not one where we beat each other over the head over open handed issues. The discernment bloggers are in full force on this comment thread. You can pretty much pick any pastor out there and you’ll find discernment bloggers calling them heretics.”

Another wrote, “I love Driscoll and Furtick! Furtick and Driscoll don’t even believe the same on every topic but they understand what love is to a brother. Come on guys. Furtick loves and serves the same Jesus to his best knowledge. Don’t try to be superior to him because you believe differently. And then, none of will mention where he’s wrong in scripture.”

The two pastors, who both receive their fair share of criticism, debated each other during now-disgraced pastor James MacDonald‘s Elephant Room in 2011 and 2012—an event described as a forum for influential pastors from different denominations to discuss theological differences in a healthy way.

Disgraced Pastor Perry Noble on Repentance: ‘Jesus Changed Me, in His Time’

By

Stephanie Martin

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October 27, 2022

On Facebook this week, Perry Noble, senior pastor of Second Chance Church in Anderson, South Carolina, shares some lengthy “Thoughts on Repentance.” In an 1,100-word post on October 25, Noble refers to his “colossal screw up in 2016” and describes how God’s grace transformed his heart, mind, and actions.

As Church Leaders reported, in 2016 Noble was removed as senior pastor of NewSpring Church, also based in Anderson, for alcohol abuse and other unbiblical behaviors. The megachurch, which Noble founded in 2000, had 17 locations and 30,000+ weekly attendees when he was ousted.

In 2017, Noble founded Second Chance Church as “a place where all people can experience the grace of God.”

Perry Noble: God Empowered My Change

Perry Noble, 51, begins by describing a childhood playground scuffle. After that incident, he blurted “I’m sorry” to avoid a spanking, “NOT because in my heart I knew it was the right thing to do.” That can be labeled as compliance, behavior modification, and control, he says, but not repentance.

“Repentance is not when a person changes their behavior,” writes Noble, “but rather when we allow Jesus to show us life through His eyes rather than our own…when we realize (because of our connection to Him) what we did was wrong…when we feel deep conviction over what we did.” Compared to guilt from being caught, “conviction is something that is brought about over time by the Holy Spirit…and is ALWAYS meant to correct us, not condemn us,” he adds.

Although Noble notes that other people “can absolutely speak into the process,” it must be Spirit-led to result in sorrow, change, and a desire to “make things right.” Key to his recovery in 2016, the pastor writes, was 2 Corinthians 7:10 (NIV): “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”

After rehab and outpatient therapy, Noble says, “Jesus allowed me to see things the way He saw them—to feel the way He felt about them… And because of that I was able to reach out to those who I knew had been hurt/offended the most and apologize for the part I had played in all that had taken place.”

By God’s grace, Noble was able to extend heartfelt apologies “for the hurt, pain and confusion I had caused for making poor, selfish and sinful decisions.” He adds. “Jesus changed me, in His time, because I asked Him to let me see and feel the way He saw and felt about me and my situation.”

The broader lesson for the church, Noble writes, is that people can’t be “guilted into” or judged into repentance. “Jesus didn’t die on a cross so the church could establish a behavior modification program by which church leaders lead through control and manipulation and label it ‘discipleship!’ He died so that He could come into our lives, change the way we think—so His ways could become our ways.”

Adult Content Among Fastest Growing Topics of Interest on Twitter; Advertisers Concerned

By

Dale Chamberlain

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October 27, 2022

On Wednesday (Oct. 26), billionaire Elon Musk made a visit to Twitter headquarters in San Francisco as his deal to purchase the social media giant, which was initially announced back in April, draws closer to its conclusion. As Musk entered the lobby of the building, he indicated that the reality of the purchase was beginning to sink in—by literally carrying a bathroom sink with him.

While Musk toured the headquarters and mingled with Twitter employees, 75% of which were at one point rumored to be scheduled for termination by Musk, executives of the company continue to grapple with troubling trends on the social media platform, which include decreased engagement and the reticence of some companies to place ads on Twitter in light of the increasing proportion of adult content on the platform, some of which is even alleged to be sexually exploitative.

According to an internal report seen by Reuters, “not safe for work” (NSFW) content, which includes nudity and pornography, is among one of two fastest growing topics of interest on the platform among regular users. (The other fastest growing topic is cryptocurrency.)

Pornographic material comprises 13% of all content on Twitter.

This trend is leading some organizations to stop placing ads on Twitter, which is the only one of the major social media platforms to allow nudity, over concerns that their ads could appear next to pornographic material, or even material from accounts soliciting child pornography.

Among the brands rethinking how they will spend their advertising budget are Disney, NBCUniversal, Coca-Cola Co., Dyson, Mazda, Forbes, DIRECTV, and PBS Kids.

Reuters even reported finding that an ad for a children’s hospital appeared alongside accounts posting links to exploitative material. They also discovered that tweets including key words like “rape” and “teens” appeared alongside corporate ads.

“We’re horrified,” David Maddocks, brand president at Cole Haan, told Reuters. “Either Twitter is going to fix this, or we’ll fix it by any means we can, which includes not buying Twitter ads.”

Twitter said that the company “has zero tolerance for child sexual exploitation” and is investing in the prevention of such material appearing on the platform, which includes hiring new position to focus on creating and implementing solutions.

While Twitter has a policy against child pornography and reports that it suspended more than 1 million accounts last year for sexual content involving minors, a significant amount of exploitative content is still appearing on the site.

Calvin University Inaugurates New President Amid Growing LGBTQ Tensions

By

Yonat Shimron

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October 27, 2022

(RNS) — As the son of lifelong missionaries, Calvin University’s new president, whose inauguration is Wednesday (Oct. 26), continues a proud Christian Reformed Church tradition of Dutch Calvinism.

Wiebe Boer, who arrived on the Grand Rapids, Michigan, campus, the last week in June, is the university’s 12th president, succeeding Michael Le Roy, who stepped down after a 10-year term.

A Calvin graduate himself, Boer has lived 30 of his 48 years in Nigeria, where his parents — both born in the Netherlands — served as missionaries.

He will lead the 146-year-old liberal arts university at a difficult point. Over the past decade, the university’s faculty roster and undergraduate admissions have fallen sharply. Its total enrollment of 3,256 students is down from 4,008 in 2012. Last year it eliminated five majors and seven minors, including Chinese, Dutch and German.

In addition, evangelical colleges across the country have seen a widening rift on social and political issues; Calvin is no exception.

The university, which is solely owned by the Christian Reformed Church, is walking a tightrope on sexual orientation.

This summer the Christian Reformed Church in North America voted at its annual synod to codify its opposition to homosexual sex by elevating it to the status of confession, or declaration of faith. That put its faculty, who must sign a statement of faith saying their beliefs align with the church’s historic creeds and confessions, into a difficult spot.

Some faculty have since asked for a “gravamen,” which entitles them to formally declare they struggle with a confessional claim. It’s not yet clear whether the university will approve those individual disagreements with the church’s confession.

Calvin occupies a more center-left position among evangelical colleges. While it forbids premarital sex and defines marriage as between a man and a woman, it allows a support group for LGBTQ students on campus. In the 2020-21 academic year, the school allowed a bisexual student to be elected as student body president.

Still, earlier this year it severed ties to a campus-based research center after one of its employees married a same-sex partner.

‘Spurgeon the Pastor’ Shows Overlooked Aspect of Baptist Preacher’s Ministry

By

Timothy Cockes

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October 27, 2022

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP) – Famously known as the “Prince of Preachers,” legendary Baptist pastor Charles Spurgeon is most notable for his sermons which have been endlessly quoted by evangelical Christians for years.

Yet, according to Geoff Chang, assistant professor of historical theology and curator of the Spurgeon Library at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, an overlooked aspect of Spurgeon’s ministry is actually his work as a local church pastor and his Baptistic ecclesiology.

Spurgeon was the pastor of New Park Street Chapel (now the Metropolitan Tabernacle) in London from the early 1850s until 1891, shortly before his death.

During his tenure, the congregation grew from a few dozen upon his arrival to the largest evangelical church of the 19^th century with more than 5,000 people, long before the modern concept of the “megachurch.”

Chang began exploring the topic of Spurgeon’s pastoral ministry during his doctoral studies at MBTS and while serving as an associate pastor in Portland, Ore.

This study eventually led to his new book, “Spurgeon the Pastor: Recovering a Biblical & Theological Vision for Ministry,” which released earlier this year.

“As I looked at Spurgeon, one overlooked aspect in so much of the writing surrounding him, is just the fact that he was a pastor,” Chang said.

“I wanted to be encouraged in my own pastoral ministry by studying somebody who was also a pastor, so I began closely studying his pastoral ecclesiology. How did he think about things like church membership, church discipline, raising up elders and deacons, practicing the Lord’s Supper and baptism and promoting discipleship?”

Chang traveled all over the world, including London, for his research. The answers he found to these questions encouraged him.

“What was so fascinating to find out was he was really careful about his pastoral work,” Chang said. “He took his pastoral responsibility really seriously even in this ‘megachurch’ context where it was a lot of work. As far as I could tell, he never took any shortcuts.

“This is a model of somebody who didn’t just do the easy way to do things, but actually had convictions about what the Bible says the church should be, what a pastor should be and he was committed to these things as you see them practiced in his ministry.”

Some of the ecclesiological commitments Spurgeon practiced, which Chang explores in the book, include being involved in membership interviews, desiring elders and deacons who would give pastoral care to the church and having a system to follow up with members who were not attending.

It’s More Important Than Ever for Pastor Appreciation To Extend Beyond October

By

Scott Barkley

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October 27, 2022

American Church — Photo via Unsplash.com @Bayu Syaits

NASHVILLE (BP) – In his career in the ministry and now head of a nationally recognized search firm that has helped some 3,000 churches find pastors, William Vanderbloemen notices patterns. He also joins those saying the American Church is undergoing a historical shift in pastoral leadership.

Churches contact Vanderbloemen in the search for a pastor, but pastors also reach out to his company. This typically happens when they arrive at a “What’s next?” phase of life, something Vanderbloemen had noticed occurred a lot in January after a pastor gets extended time with family during the holidays.

“When people get out of their routines they ask, ‘Why am I doing this?’” he said.

Two years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic shattered routines worldwide, including those of pastors. The time off combined with an incredibly stressful time to lead a church – negotiating COVID recommendations, social unrest and a white-hot political season.

“Back in October 2020 we started getting a lot of those calls [normally received in January],” Vanderbloemen said. “And we started thinking, ‘Something’s about to happen. So we did a fairly large research project and came to feel that there’s going to be a big shift in the job market.”

That shift came to be known as The Great Resignation. The “quit rate” of those leaving their established professions grew to a level not seen since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics started keeping track in 2000.

The wave was seen among every market. “Everybody has been rethinking ‘Why am I doing what I’m doing?’” Vanderbloemen said.

Pastors were among them – perhaps not in rethinking their calling, but their current ministry context as it related to their vocation and family.

Numerous factors led to those decisions. Pastors considered their proximity to elderly parents or, on the other end of the age spectrum, grandchildren. Those close to retirement age were thrust into a ministry world that suddenly demanded they become technology experts.

“It was probably one of hardest times to be a pastor in our lifetime,” Vanderbloemen said. “It was a difficult season, combined with mental health issues not just for them but for those in their congregations.”

In March, Barna Research released a study showing 42 percent of pastors said they had considered quitting full-time ministry. Respondents cited stress, isolation and political division as contributing factors.

All of it, Vanderbloemen said, composes a “a pretty massive recipe for driving pastors to a breaking point.”

Of those who leave the pulpit, will they stay gone?

“Some will; some won’t,” he said. “Will [resignations] keep happening? Absolutely. Many pastors will resign in the next year or so.”

That would continue a pattern going back to the fall of 2020. On Sept. 27 of that year there were 343 listings at jobs.sbc.net. As of 4:30 p.m. Eastern today (Oct. 26) that number had nearly doubled to 661.

October is recognized as Pastor Appreciation Month. More than ever, Vanderbloemen urges churches to make sure their pastor feels that sentiment well beyond the flip of a calendar.

“Take clear, concrete steps,” he said. “Provide more encouragement, a tangible note or email that specifies ways their pastor helps them. Buy him and his wife dinner. Give him a raise or a paid vacation.”

An overall takeaway for churches is that it is far better – not to mention financially viable – to take care of and encourage their current pastor rather than search for a new one.

“I’ve never seen the pool of potential pastors harder to find nor churches more fickle,” Vanderbloemen said.

The search for student pastors, he added, was “far and away” the most difficult.

“The pandemic hurt student ministry perhaps more than any other part of the church,” he said. “When I came out of seminary, everyone became a student pastor. It’s just what you did. Now you can start off planting a church, be a campus pastor or go into other options that didn’t exist back then.”

Despite the challenges, Vanderbloemen said churches must remain faithful and remember Who is in charge.

“It may seem hopeless, but Jesus started this church, and He’s going to perfect it.”

This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.

‘Tell What Happened’: Pastor and Last Surviving Eyewitness Urges Christians to Remember Emmett Till

By

Emily McFarlan Miller

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October 27, 2022

emmett till — Dave Tell, from left, the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr. and Theon Hill participate in the “Remembering Emmett Till: A Conversation on Race, Nation and Faith" event at Wheaton College, Oct. 25, 2022, in Wheaton, Illinois. RNS photo by Emily McFarlan Miller

WHEATON, Ill. (RNS) — The Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr. still remembers clearly the moment as a teenager he thought he was going to die.

Parker was 16 years old, visiting family in Mississippi, when he woke in the early morning hours to the sound of voices in the house. Moments later, the door to his bedroom opened and a man pointed a flashlight and a pistol in his face.

He shut his eyes tight, but the shot never came.

The man moved on to the next bedroom and the next before finding and kidnapping his cousin — Emmett Till.

It was the last time he saw his best friend alive, Parker, now in his 80s, told a packed concert hall Tuesday night (Oct. 25) at Wheaton College, the evangelical flagship school in the Chicago suburbs.

What happened next — Till’s brutal murder, his mother’s decision to allow an open casket at the 14-year-old victim’s funeral, so the country could see what had been done to her son — shone a light on racial violence in the United States and became a catalyst for the civil rights movement.

Mamie Till-Mobley weeps at her son’s funeral on Sept. 6, 1955, in Chicago. (Chicago Sun-Times/AP Photo)

“A picture’s worth a thousand words. That picture made a statement. It went throughout the world, all over the world, and it still speaks,” Parker said of the photographs of Till in his casket, taken by David Jackson and first published in Jet magazine.

The story of Till continues to resonate because it “provides us with a lens to understand racial conflict in our own moment,” said Theon Hill, associate professor of communications at Wheaton College and primary organizer and moderator of Tuesday’s event, “Remembering Emmett Till: A Conversation on Race, Nation and Faith.”

“When we see George Floyd killed right in front of us due to the officer’s knee,” said Hill, “when we see Breonna Taylor’s death, when we see Ahmaud Arbery, we’re trying to make sense of what’s happening, and Till’s death, as tragic as it will always be, provides us with a grammar to understand this is what’s happening and this is how you might respond in your moment.”

The enduring relevance of Till’s death is apparent in the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, making lynching a federal hate crime and signed in March by President Joe Biden, nearly 70 years after Till’s murder.

“A Few Days Full of Trouble: Revelations on the Journey to Justice for My Cousin and Best Friend, Emmett Till" by Reverend Wheeler Parker, Jr. and Christopher Benson. Courtesy image

“A Few Days Full of Trouble: Revelations on the Journey to Justice for My Cousin and Best Friend, Emmett Till” by the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr. and Christopher Benson. Courtesy image

It’s also borne out in the critical acclaim for a new film, “Till,” centering on Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, and her fight for justice for her son, which appears in theaters nationwide this week. In January, Parker will publish his recollections of his cousin, “A Few Days Full of Trouble: Revelations on the Journey to Justice for My Cousin and Best Friend, Emmett Till.”

It was 30 years before anybody asked Parker his account of what had happened over the handful of days in 1955 he and his cousin, who lived in Chicago, spent in Mississippi visiting family, according to Parker, the last surviving witness to Till’s abduction.

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TIME is the Greatest Enemy of Momentum

If we aren’t careful we’ll do it in our relationships, too.

That feeling of boredom comes into the church also.

Time killed my momentum.

If time is the enemy of momentum, what’s the solution?

1. Keep retelling the vision. Tell more stories.

You’ll need:

Thanksgiving Craft: Pennant Pockets

Start Planning Your Christmas Play Program Now

6 Weeks Before the Event

5 Weeks Before the Event

4 Weeks Before the Event

3 Weeks Before the Event

Perry Noble: God Empowered My Change

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