In ministry, what are we supposed to do when we feel the bottom has fallen out of our lives? In this conversation on FrontStage BackStage, host Jason Daye is joined by Juanita Campbell Rasmus as she shares from her own experience of what she calls “the Crash” and what her counselor calls a major depressive episode. Juanita is a pastor, a spiritual director, a nonprofit founder and a writer. Together, Jason and Juanita look at some of the warning signs that we, as pastors and ministry leaders, need to be on the lookout for to make sure we don’t spread ourselves too thin. Juanita also shares some important practices that can help center us in Christ and help us avoid burnout, or maybe tapping out of ministry altogether.
Looking to dig more deeply into this topic and conversation? Every week we create a free toolkit so you and your ministry team can dive deeper into the topic that is discussed. Find your Weekly Toolkit here… Love well, Live well, Lead well!
Since Hurricane Ian's landfall Sept. 28 and Wednesday (Oct. 5), Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers volunteers had served more than 46,500 meals. Florida Baptist DR photo
Editor’s note: October is Cooperative Program Emphasis Month in the Southern Baptist Convention.
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (BP) – When Hurricane Ianattacked Florida, Florida Baptist Disaster Relief (FBDR) was ready to offer restoration at a moment’s notice. State director David Coggins mobilized Florida volunteers as many states mobilized disaster relief teams to respond.
Numbers quickly ascended within days of the storm to include 180 volunteers serving at nine feeding stations and 10 cleanup sites in Florida, deployed from across Florida and eight other states. Through Oct. 5, volunteers had served more than 46,500 meals, completed 32 of the 232 cleanup and rebuild jobs initially requested and led three new believers to Christ.
The work, only a microcosm of the annual scale of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR), is funded by the Southern Baptist Cooperative Program and the direct gifts from Southern Baptists and other supporters nationally. Florida has already received two truckloads of food and cleanup and recovery supplies from Send Relief Appalachia Ministry Center in Ashland, Ky.
“So those resources come as a result of people’s giving, and our churches that are a part of the Cooperative Program or involved in what we do are making those donations and supplying those resources,” Coggins told Baptist Press. “And of course in Florida we are getting donations, but our ministry is part of the Cooperative Program budget of the Florida Baptist Convention. So we have the resources of our state convention and our state Executive Director Dr. Tommy Green is very generous and supportive of that with the resources we need.
“Our equipment is purchased and maintained and operationally ready when there’s an event like this because we have those churches that are giving through the Cooperative Program and enable us to do that and have those resources available.”
With more than 4,000 credentialed volunteers, FBDR is included in the SBDR network of ministry that in 2021 alone served at least 845,000 meals, logged at least 355,000 volunteer hours, shared the Gospel more than 6,000 times and saw at least 603 professions of faith during emergency responses nationally, according to sendrelief.org. The numbers are not fully inclusive of all disaster relief work in the states, but include a great portion of outreaches, according to the North American Mission Board.
Florida volunteers participated in 500 cleanup and recovery jobs in 2021 across the nation, with no major disaster incident within the state, according to the Florida Baptist Convention 2021 Annual Report. In chaplaincy outreach, 912 chaplains participated in disaster relief and other outreaches, including health care, public safety and hospitality.
Included in the SBDR network and also responding in the current Florida recovery is Texas Baptist Men. Although the group has a masculine name, 42 percent of TBM disaster relief volunteers are women, according to the group’s 2021 Annual Report. In that year, and included in the national SBDR numbers, TBM logged 63,336 volunteer hours, provided 19,651 meals and recorded 303 professions of faith in what the TBM called its busiest hurricane season on record.
TBM also responded internationally, digging 17 wells to serve 7,000 people in five countries, the group said in its annual report.
The Louisiana Baptist Convention (LBC), in a state that has suffered devastating hurricane seasons, is also responding in Florida. When Hurricane Ida struck Louisiana in 2021, disaster relief ministries from 29 state conventions responded within a three-week period, according to the LBC 2021 Annual Report, serving at 25 sites in southeast Louisiana. From Aug. 29-Sept. 20 of last year, those volunteers prepared 638,660 meals, assessed 3,163 damaged properties, completed 494 chainsaw jobs, provided 7,558 showers and laundered 5,243 loads of laundry.
Among the 513 people with whom LBDR volunteers shared the Gospel, 87 made professions of faith.
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
(RNS) — These days, politics can influence everything from the dairy products you consume (Ben & Jerry’s? Chick-fil-A milkshake?) to whether you drink Pepsi or Coke. For some Christian families, politics are also revamping the college decision process, swaying them away from colleges marked “too liberal” or “too conservative.”
Though there are Protestant colleges that welcome political labels, others strive to remain as apolitical as possible. For the latter, it’s an increasing challenge to preserve their religious identity — which invariably has political implications in today’s supercharged environment — while welcoming students of all political backgrounds.
“I think Christians are discipled by political debates sometimes more than they are really discipled by Christ or Christianity,” said Ruth Curran Neild, whose son recently withdrew from Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania, over concerns about the school’s politics.
Last year, the college was mired in a culture war debate over whether the conservative school had promoted critical race theory. A highly contentious board-approved report ruled it had.
“I saw the report come back from sub-committee, and I was gob smacked” said Neild, whose son had committed to the college in early November 2021. In her view, the board had taken the bait and engaged what she saw as a manufactured crisis over an ultra-conservative boogeyman.
“I thought they failed to want to listen to genuine cries of pain from marginalized communities,” said Neild. “It wasn’t grounded in shared Christian beliefs — it was at the level of politics.”
Neild, who lives in New Jersey and belongs to a Presbyterian Church in America congregation, told RNS that initially Grove City’s location, Christian identity and strong computer science program made it seem like an easy fit. But the board’s decision led to a family conversation in May, and, after much thought, Neild said her son opted for Messiah College, a school in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, the family perceived as more politically neutral.
While several parents who spoke to RNS for this story said they’d tried to steer students away from Christian schools that “embrace MAGA,” as one mother put it, other parents voiced an opposing concern: They worried about what they saw as an encroachment of liberal values on traditional religious beliefs.
Amy Miller, who lives near Philadelphia and also attends a PCA church, told RNS her son transferred to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, this year from Muhlenberg College, a liberal arts college in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Miller said the switch was related to Liberty’s reserve officers’ training corps program and its “conservative, Bible believing” Christian culture. She described Liberty as “refreshing” and as an “oasis,” where students can be bolstered in their Christ-centered beliefs before being daily bombarded by opposing worldviews.
“That’s why I would definitely push all the rest of my kids to Christian colleges,” said Miller, who expressed concern for how the broader culture approached questions related to gender and sexuality. Miller also noted not all Christian colleges would be a good fit for her family. “I think Wheaton College, my husband would say our kids cannot go there because he thinks that they’re a little bit more liberal.”
NASHVILLE (BP) – Accountability software including Covenant Eyes and Accountable2You, recently dropped from the Googleapp store, are still useful tools in helping addicts recover from their sin, abuse prevention advocates told Baptist Press.
Churches can also use such apps with ethical diligence, said Jason Thacker, chair of research in technology ethics for the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC).
“I believe that churches and religious employers can use these tools but must do their due diligence to understand how they work, what is being collected, and who has access to it. Some churches and organizations may choose not to use them though, depending on their situation and context,” said Thacker, who leads the ERLC’s Digital Public Square outreach.
“Many organizations filter the internet using hardware or software-based tools that block access to certain sites and apps rather than employing personal accountability software. We must remember that the use of pornographyis inherently a deeply intimate and isolating temptation,” he said, “so these tools must be accompanied by trusted friends and transparent relationships, rather than simply being seen as a one-sided fix for a much deeper problem.”
Google dropped the apps amid accusations that they violate the company’s malware policy, which Covenant Eyes and Accountable2You both dispute.
Dawn Hawkins, CEO of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) fighting sexual exploitation enabled by several mechanisms including the internet, said NCOSE is aware of people who’ve successfully used accountability software to fight personal addictions.
“We’ve heard from hundreds of people who have struggled with pornography addiction and dependencies that the best way most of them have found to help is through an accountability model, similar to AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and many successful gambling recovery programs,” Hawkins told Baptist Press. “Pornography can be highly addictive, and research (has) objectively identified a wide array of harms from pornography use.”
Ron DeHaas, president and co-founder of Covenant Eyes, is NCOSE board chairman. Covenant Eyes is not spyware, Hawkins said, emphasizing that anyone using Covenant Eyes has to give permission for the app to work. Covenant Eyes provides details in its usage policy.
“We hope Google will change its decision to remove Covenant Eyes from its app store,” Hawkins said. “Those using Covenant Eyes or similar products want to use them because they find them helpful in managing their behaviors or addictions.
“Confronting a pornography addiction can often be a lonely and discouraging process; these sites help to focus on accountability as a way to fight this personal battle. In doing so, these sites help confront the demand for sexually exploitative material.”
Transparency is critical in using such services, Thacker said.
“First and foremost, these services need to be used with transparency. Some businesses and churches will require the use of these tools but it must be communicated exactly what they do and how they do it,” he said. “This type of openness creates trust and unity.
Milagros Orengo, second from left, her daughter Emily Orengo and Maria Santos, right, all from Egg Harbor, N.J., pray behind a barricade at Independence Mall in Philadelphia, as a Mass with Pope Francis at the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul is projected on a large screen, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
(RNS) — A new NBC News/Telemundo poll focusing on the Latino electorate found that 41% of Latinos who do not currently claim Catholicism as their religion said they had previously been Catholic.
Jonathan Calvillo, an assistant professor of Latinx studies at Emory’s Candler School of Theology, said the flip side of that statistic is just as important: the growing number of non-Catholic Latinos who were never Catholic to begin with (58%).
Some were raised Protestant, of course, but increasingly, he said, many are raised nonreligious.
While Calvillo said there are some who go from being Protestant to being Catholic, it’s a smaller percentage than the larger number of those who leave the Catholic Church. “But it does exist,” he said.
The poll, which consisted of interviews with 1,000 Latino registered voters, found that 48% identified as Catholic, 25% as Protestant, 1% as Muslim, 1% as Jewish and 18% said they didn’t identify with a religion.
The nationwide survey, conducted Sept. 17–26 in English and Spanish, queried respondents on a number of political issues in the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections. Overall, the survey found that while Democrats lead Republicans by more than 20 points among Latino voters, that number is down from past NBC/Telemundo over-samples of Latino voters. The lead, for example, was by 26 points in October 2020 and by 42 points eight years prior to that in October 2012, according to NBC News.
Jonathan Calvillo. Courtesy Emory University
Those who stand outside of the Catholic Church, by birth on one hand or by choice on the other, likely move toward opposite poles on the political spectrum, said Calvillo, whose research has focused on how religious affiliation influences ethnic identities among Latinos.
“As aggregate populations, religious nones will likely support more progressive political positions, while evangelicals will lean more conservatively,” Calvillo said.
That leaves Catholics as more of a centrist demographic, said Calvillo, though he noted there can also be overlap, such as with ultraconservative Catholics and ultraconservative Protestants.
The poll found that 67% of those who identified with a religion said their religious beliefs only played a minor role or did not impact how they vote in elections, while 33% said it was a major or single most important factor.
However, a 2020 analysis from the Public Religion Research Institute argued that religion is the “largest demographic divider” among U.S. Latinos and found that Latino Protestants were more conservative, Republican and supportive of Trump than Latinos who are Catholic or religiously unaffiliated.
Latino voters in the NBC News/Telemundo poll were found to largely side with Democrats over Republicans on the issues of abortion (by a 50% to 23% margin), climate change (46%–13%) and health care (46%–21%). They lean more toward Republicans on the economy (38%–34%) and on border security (36%–33%).
TIGERVILLE, S.C. (BP) – A North Greenville University baseball player’s death in his off-campus apartment came about from natural causes, according to the initial indications of an ongoing investigation.
Davis Heller, a 6’8” first baseman, died Oct. 5.
“Our baseball program is heartbroken over the loss of an amazing human being and brother in Christ,” NGU coach Landon Powell said in a statement. “Davis was a positive force everywhere he went. A gentle giant who greeted everyone with a smile and constantly uplifted those around him. An example of what a great teammate should be, Davis has left a lasting legacy on this program. A great competitor, but even better friend to those who got to know him.”
The 22-year-old Heller, a native of Gilbert, Ariz., joined the defending Division II national champion Crusaders after spending the 2021 and 2022 seasons with the University of Alabama.
His 2021 season was cut short with an injury. In 2022 he played in eight games, starting two, while accumulating 10 plate appearances that brought a .200 batting average, one run and one RBI. Heller was named to the SEC spring academic honor roll both seasons.
Alabama’s baseball team offered its condolences on Twitter.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Heller family,” the post read. “Davis was loved by everyone and a friend to all. He will be missed.”
Heller was majoring in Strategic Communication. An announcement from NGU asked for prayer for his parents, three sisters, extended family and friends. Funeral arrangements are still pending.
I know, I know…the title of the blog is an oxymoron. How can you be polyamorous and be in a committed relationship? But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. First, what does it mean to be polyamorous? It’s not exactly an old or established term.
To be polyamorous means to be “open to romantic relationships with more than one person at a time.” Consider Sarah Brylinsky who is legally married to Brandon Brylinsky. Two years ago, they met Matte Namer. All three of them fell in love. “Now, the three plan to have a child, and they want to make their relationship official so that they can be recognized by their community as a family.”
As a kind of consensual non-monogamy, polyamory is on the rise. A 2021 study found that one in nine single American adults had engaged in it. Currently in the United States it is illegal to be married to more than one person at a time. Only the city of Somerville, MA, legally recognizes polyamorous domestic relationships (started in 2020).
Yet what is growing in frequency is a “commitment ceremony,” symbolically but not legally binding the involved. They are often very similar to a wedding, including such things as vows. Processionals can also be involved. For example, a couple who is already married might wait at the end of the aisle while the third person walks down to symbolically join them.
As one wedding planner in New York noted, “You can do whatever you want.”
And that is the issue.
And even the reason for having a “commitment” ceremony.
Jessica Fern, a Boulder-based psychotherapist who works with polyamorous people, touted the potential benefits of ceremonies like this. She said,
“When someone experiences legal marginalization for their relationship structure or style, commitment ceremonies can go a long way to deepen a relationship, publicly acknowledge its significance, and even assuage some of the pain and injustice that being a minority can create.”
In other words, these ceremonies culturally and publicly seek to validate the choice.
Let’s be clear. It can only be deemed the deepest of ironies that a polyamorous relationship would want to be governed by commitment, much less vows, much less marriage. The very idea of a polyamorous relationship is a disavowal of commitment.
I know that the world is veering steeply away from a biblical perspective. But that does not mean that biblical truth is not… well, biblical truth.
My spirit sprung to prayer with catlike reflexes as I watched my 2-year-old daughter tumble down the 15-step staircase. I stood helpless as her little body hurled toward the hardwood floor.
She stood up without a scratch . . . but my soul didn’t.
In that moment, I was never more aware of the wound that had been festering for months.
The wound was doubt.
Experiencing Doubt
I had been experiencing doubt about God’s existence and the Christianity I had believed to be true my whole life. But until that moment, I didn’t realize how deeply that doubt had wrapped itself around my mind. To the casual observer, my daughter fell, I prayed, and she was okay. But for the first time in my life, I wasn’t so sure it was divine intervention. For the first time I felt foolish . . . for praying.
I felt silly for crying out to God in that desperate moment. It was terrifying to realize the faith that had once been my identity now seemed more like a child’s fairy tale than the explanation of reality.
For me, doubt was an entirely new concept. Growing up, I watched God’s power at work in people’s lives, in my life. I knew God was real. I knew Jesus died for my sins, was resurrected, and was coming again. I knew the Bible was his Word, and I couldn’t be convinced otherwise. I was active in youth group, went on mission trips, and emerged as a trusted leader among my peers. I was the kid who no one would have dreamed would doubt her faith. I was the kid no one worried about, the one who would be just fine.
But now, in my early 30s, I wasn’t fine. I had just spent four months enduring the skepticism and intellectual attack of an agnostic “pastor” who invited me to be a part of a study group at church. A pastor who won my respect and trust had dismantled my faith, one belief at a time.
Doubt Isn’t the Opposite of Faith
By God’s grace and unfathomable mercy to me, my faith was rebuilt. But during my time of doubt, I suffered from an all-too-common misunderstanding about what biblical faith is. I thought doubt and faith were opposites—that if I questioned what I believed, I’d somehow be a failure in God’s eyes. But this definition of faith has more in common with how atheists understand faith than how the Bible defines it. Atheist Richard Dawkins defines religious faith as “blind.” In a debate with John Lennox, he said, “We only need to use the word ‘faith’ when there isn’t any evidence at all.”
But in the Bible, “faith” means trust, not blind belief. We all put our trust in various things every single day. Every time we drive our car across a bridge, we trust it will hold up like it has many times before. We trust, not because we have 100 percent proof, but because we have good evidence to believe the bridge won’t collapse.
Doubt isn’t the opposite of faith. Unbelief is the opposite of faith.
A faith without some doubts is like a human body without any antibodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic. A person’s faith can collapse almost overnight if she has failed over the years to listen patiently to her own doubts, which should only be discarded after long reflection.
According to Keller, the strongest form of faith is one that has wrestled through doubt. The Bible is full of great examples. Here are three doubters Jesus responded to with mercy.
1. The Desperate Father
Mark 9 tells the story of a man desperately trying to find healing for his son who was demon-possessed. This particular demon caused the boy to become mute and would often seize him, throwing him into fire or water to kill him. The man asked Jesus to have pity on him and heal his son. Jesus responded, “All things are possible for one who believes.” Without hesitation, the man cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9: 24).
Help my unbelief.
It’s a simple, heartfelt prayer that Jesus readily answered by healing his son. He commanded the demon to come out and restored the boy to health and wholeness.
The man asked for help with his doubt, and Jesus came to his aid.
2. John the Baptist
If there’s any biblical figure who should have no reason to doubt, it’s John the Baptist. This is the man who was filled with the Holy Spirit before he was even born. This is the the man who came out of the wilderness proclaiming the coming Messiah. This is the man who baptized the Son of God, witnessed the Holy Spirit descending like a dove, and heard the audible voice of God. Yet at the end of his life, while rotting in Herod’s prison cell, he doubted. “Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another?” (Matt. 11:3).
This is the question he sent his disciples to ask Jesus—and Jesus didn’t scold him for asking. He didn’t reply, “John, you shouldn’t doubt!” or “We don’t ask those types of questions here!” No. Jesus performed miracles in front of John’s disciples and sent them back to testify, even referencing a prophecy about himself that John would understand.
John asked for reassurance, and Jesus was happy to oblige.
3. Thomas
Thomas is often referred to as “Doubting Thomas,” but I don’t think that’s accurate. Thomas was more of a skeptic than a doubter—which is quite reasonable considering the situation. The resurrected Jesus had appeared to the other disciples. When they told Thomas about it, he replied, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe” (John 20:25).
Like today, resurrections weren’t everyday occurrences in the ancient world. If they were, they wouldn’t be considered miracles. It was perfectly rational and intelligent for Thomas to ask for evidence to back up the claim of his fellow disciples. When Jesus finally appeared to Thomas, he didn’t shame him for his skepticism. Instead, Jesus said, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe” (John 20:27). It was only after offering evidence that Jesus instructed Thomas to believe.
Thomas asked for evidence, and Jesus delivered it.
Doubt toward God
In his book Doubting Toward Faith, Bobby Conway writes that doubt is directional. We can doubt toward God, or we can doubt away from him. If you’re struggling with doubt, I encourage you to doubt toward God. If you can’t think of what to pray, pray like the great men of faith who came before you:
Ask for help
Ask for reassurance
Ask for evidence
God is waiting to help and reassure you. The evidence for his existence and the truth of Christianity is plentiful. We don’t need to be afraid of doubt—the gospel can stand up to skepticism and questioning.
Jesus could handle the doubts and questions of the desperate father, John, and Thomas. He can handle yours too.
The concept of love transcends time, culture and geographical location. Love can calm the greatest storms in life, bring joy to those in mourning, and not to mention cover a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). I believe love is oxygen for the soul.
Love Is Oxygen for the Soul
The concept that love is oxygen is something that I’ve been processing for awhile now, so much so that it is the focus of one of my books. Why? Because I believe love is one of the greatest forces the world has ever seen. The greatest example of it? Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for the sake of those who didn’t deserve an ounce of it.
Love is powerful. Love is contagious. Love is Jesus.
“But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” 1 John 4:8
Jesus is by far the truest definition of love itself. And while many people choose to withhold this vibrant force from others, our calling as Christ followers is to showcase it regardless of the circumstances. All throughout scripture we find Jesus and his disciples showcasing love to people whom others saw as unworthy. This truth paints such a beautiful picture of who Jesus really is and what his mission was throughout his years of earthly ministry. We’re called to reflect this image on a daily basis. A life without love is a life without Jesus himself.
God created us in his image, which means the force of love lives within us, fuels our souls and continuously transforms us from the inside out. We are image-bearers of God. We are called to be image-bearers of love.
I truly believe that the more people would choose to showcase love to one another, the better a place this world would truly become. The Gospel of Jesus is found within the interlinings of love. Why? Because Jesus himself is love in action. It’s the fabric of his being.
I’ve been blessed with many a great worship leader and the pastors with whom to work. I’ve worked with enough now to form some opinions of what makes a great one.
7 Attributes of a Great Worship Leader
1. Humble
They love Jesus and attempt to walk with Him daily. They are willing to let others help lead, because it’s not about them—it’s about Jesus. And, they don’t have to always be center stage.
2. Strategic
They think through the planning of a service from start to finish. They are conscious of the need to remove distractions and give people the best opportunity to potentially engage in worship.
3. Cooperative
I once worked with a worship leader who could not handle a change. I believe in planning. I also believe the Spirit of God can work in our planning process. But it’s very difficult to allow God’s Spirit to reign when we are the ones in control of the service. The bond between the teaching pastor and the worship pastor is so important. In fact, the ability to form chemistry with them may be my most important quality when seeking a worship leader.
4. Faithful
In this one, I really mean a willingness to walk by faith—even when it’s uncomfortable. A good worship pastor can lead people to respond, but it is one position in the church where there are multiple opinions of their “performance. ” The worship pastor is subject to receiving criticism as much or more than the pastor. It can be a challenging position for anyone who thrives on popularity. A great worship leader focuses more on the call of God in their work than in the comfort of the position or the response of the people.
This article will summarizes and expands upon a book written by Jim Wilder and Michael Hendricks: The Other Half of Church. Here are a few points to help grow your small group ministry. Based on the guidance provided within the book The Other Half, let us explore three vital concepts that can be extracted from their text and why they are important.
Tending Small Group Ministry – the Soil of the Church
1. Small Group Ministry: Staying Small While Growing Big
To create a relational environment that fosters transformation, Wilder and Hendricks encourage pastors and other leaders to be laser-focused and to stay small. Yet they also say in their text that a “Full-brained church must become more decentralized” with distributed responsibilities. They say that when this occurs, “the community functions like an interdependent network of equals—like a family.” But how do we reconcile the concept of “staying small” with a concept that aims to spread involvement and leadership among a wider population of individuals? Perhaps another way of asking would be, what does it mean for a small group ministry to stay small while it also has growth among its leaders?
A small group ministry focused on transformation succeeds in this. First, Wilder and Hendricks recommend for pastors to be a bit vulnerable and to openly share some of their own weaknesses in areas where they feel underqualified. When congregants hear that their pastor isn’t “the guy”/”the gal” who has all of the answers (and that it’s okay that they don’t), it can spark more opportunities for the Holy Spirit to encourage and motivate an individual to step forward and to contribute to the church’s mission and vision. Next, rather than being left to figure out ministry on their own, newer leaders are given “on-the-job training” by the church so that they remain properly equipped. In such a model, leadership becomes comfortable with messiness. Rather than expecting newer group leaders to have their own perfected knowledge and doctrine, more trust is handed to these up-and-coming lay leaders of the congregation as Pauline-like training is given to them while they continue to serve. Finally, an increase of leaders brings with it more groups. As churchgoers have more options to choose from, larger class-like sizes of groups need not be used as often, and the smaller, more intimate groups slowly become more favored.
2. Small Group Ministry: Nurture the Soil of the Church
While we previously spoke on the importance of joy within the small group ministry, one unexplored element on the topic is the ability of “joy” to act as a healing agent. For those who possess what Wilder and Hendricks refer to as good “relational brain skills,” building joy can help an individual work more easily through trauma recovery. They elaborate, explaining that “joy does not remove our pain, but it gives us the strength to endure…‘joy in suffering’ means that God and our community are glad to be with us in our distress. They do not allow us to suffer alone.” Oftentimes at convenience stores there is a “Give-a-Penny / Take-A-Penny” dish next to the cash register. When a deduction is made from our wallets that is slightly more than what we have, the cashier is able to take a small amount of change from the dish to reconcile their register so that it remains balanced. Similarly, when events occur in our lives that cause stress and/or our joy to become imbalanced, we can tap into the relational joy that is overflowing from the others who are around us. Keeping such a communal perspective prevents the relational soil of the church from becoming dangerously depleted (a state of “half-brained Christianity” where spiritual formation is prevented from thriving and where the influence of narcissistic individuals are allowed to grow).
Sermon closings can be challenging, even for veteran youth preachers. You may have managed to keep teenagers’ attention all through the message, but you need to devote a little extra effort to the final words. The beautiful thing is that with a strong ending, you’ll not only maintain the listeners’ focus but also bring home your key message in a powerful way. Here are some effective ways to do that.
6 Suggestions for Strong Sermon Closings
1. Close with a story.
Ending with a story that sums up your key point is a great way to come full circle. You also can return to a story (or quote) you used in the intro.
Example: Last Easter I spoke on 1 Corinthians 15:51-57. My sermon was titled “The Lord is risen indeed,” and my key point was that we don’t fear death anymore because Christ has conquered death. I ended with an illustration about a Russian priest who had his entire congregation stand up and state, “The Lord is risen indeed” to defy a government official who’d just claimed Jesus to be a fabrication. The story perfectly symbolized my message.
2. Close with an action.
Think of a symbolic action listeners can take that will reinforce your key message. It can be anything from lighting a candle to writing something down, shaking a neighbor’s hand or standing up. When prepared and executed well, this can become a special moment in which people truly encounter God.
Example: During a youth Christmas service, I preached the gospel and shared how Christ’s birth brought light into the darkness. I invited everyone who believed that Jesus is the light of the world to light a candle up front. It was an intimate moment when youth came forward to light candles and confirm their belief in Christ.
3. Close with an appeal.
Depending on the topic, try ending with an appeal for listeners to make a certain decision. The best-known appeal is, of course, the decision to follow Jesus, for the first time or again. No matter how “routine” this may seem, it’s one appeal you should never skip if it fits the key message. If you’ve just preached the gospel, invite people to respond to God’s call. If you do an “altar call” of any kind, make it simple.
But an appeal also can be for something else, such as forgiving someone for how they’ve hurt you, inviting a friend to the next worship service, or deciding to start thanking God for his blessings every day. Whatever the appeal is, make sure it fits your key message and is both easy and practical. People need to know exactly what you want them to know, feel or do.
Example: After a message about the gospel, we invited teenagers who had never accepted Christ to come to a large wooden cross in the corner of the church, while others could worship with the band. Leaders were standing there to pray with kids.
4. Close with prayer.
Sermon closings that include prayer can be beautiful, as long as the prayer goes somewhere, so to speak, and fits the central theme. Just don’t make it a routine, because then it will lose its impact. And can I be so bold as to suggest you also prepare the prayer in some way? It’s rather disappointing if you’re eloquent and powerful all through the message, only to stumble over the words of a prayer. I’m not saying a prayer needs to be perfect for God to hear it; you just should think about it in advance.
You also can combine prayer with an appeal, such as asking youth who want to commit to Christ to raise their hands during the prayer. Again: Make it simple so everyone understands what they need to do.
5. Close with a refrain.
This is one of my favorite techniques for sermon closings. In my messages, I often use certain refrains, or short statements I return to a few times. “The Lord has risen indeed” is one example. I’ve used that phrase about 10 times in one sermon, making it a powerful refrain.
When you have such a refrain, try to find a way to end with it; literally make it the last sentence. It will linger in listeners’ minds and have a powerful impact on them.
Example: In a youth service, I preached on John 21:15-22. The main point was that we shouldn’t look at what others do or how God uses them; we just need to follow Jesus. The refrain I used was “Stay out of it; you just follow Jesus.” This is how I ended: “God wants to use you, just as you are. And what he does with others, how he uses them? Stay out of it; you just follow Jesus.”
6. Close with Scripture.
The last sentence you say in a sermon has authority; by ending with Scripture, that’s even more true. If a short Bible verse perfectly sums up the message or makes an appeal, use it. Resist the temptation to explain Scripture; just read it and let that be the end.
Example: During a message for a praise service with the theme “He reigns,” I made a point about being a subject in God’s kingdom and honoring Christ as King. I ended with these words from Revelation 19:6,7a: “Then I heard what sounded like a crowd, like the sound of a roaring waterfall, like loud peals of thunder. I heard them say, “Praise God! For the Lord, our Almighty God, is King! Let us rejoice and be glad; let us praise his greatness!” (Good News Bible)
What other sermon closings do you recommend? Do you have a favorite way to end youth talks?
God can and does work through all different types of people in church administration. But (He has appointed some to be leaders, some teachers, etc.) I know this from my experience working with and hearing from dozens of pastors each month. There are some great pastors who admit they aren’t skilled at leading the church. I hear it at least weekly—“I know how to teach and care for the people, but I’m simply not always sure how to lead.” And yet they recognize the value in and the need for leadership and church administration.
I believe there are some helpful skills for those who want to lead in church administration to not only care for and disciple the people in the church now, but actually grow and be healthy at the same time—where there is momentum and unity and excitement around the vision of the Great Commission.
7 Skills for Effective Church Administration:
1. Networking
For definition purposes, this is “the cultivation of productive relationships.” It is the ability to bring the right people to the table to accomplish the mission, and it is invaluable for any position of leadership. This is true inside and outside the church. One place where good relationships are proving helpful in the community, for example, is within school systems. With the right people, churches can make significant missional differences in their community with school relationships. Those relationships are formed through networking. And the possibilities here are endless.
2. Connecting
If the church is large or small, the best leaders bring people together. When a new person comes into the church, it’s important that they be able to connect quickly to others. First, the pastor needs to meet them, but that isn’t enough to really make people feel connected to a church. Good leaders connect them to people within the church, or help create systems of connection. They value connectivity—creating healthy, life-changing relationships in the church—and see that it is a natural, but intentional, part of the church’s overall mission.
3. Visioneering
Good leaders are able to cast a picture beyond today worthy of taking a risk to seek. They may not always have all the ideas of what’s next—they should have some—but they can rally people behind the vision.
4. Pioneering
To lead a church by faith, a leader has to be willing to lead into an unknown, and take the first step in that direction. People won’t follow until they know the leader is willing to go first. Momentum and change almost always start with new—doing things differently—creating new groups, new opportunities—trying things you’ve not tried before. Pioneering leaders watch to see where God may be stirring hearts and are willing to boldly lead into the unknown.
5. Delegating
No one person can or should attempt to do it all. It’s not healthy, nor is it biblical. This may, however, be the number one reason I see for pastoral burnout, frustration and lack of church growth. Good leaders learn to raise up armies of people who believe in the mission and are willing to take ownership and provide leadership to complete a specific aspect of attaining that vision.
6. Confronting
If you lead anything, you will face opposition. Period. Church administration involves change, and change in church involves change in people. And most people have some opposition to change. After a pastor is certain of God’s leadership, has sought input from others, cast a vision and organized people around a plan, there will be opposition. Perhaps even organized opposition. Good leaders learn to confront in love.
7. Following
Ultimately, it’s all about Christ. I can’t lead people closer to Him—certainly not be more like Him—unless I’m personally growing closer to Christ. But following also involves allowing others to speak into my life. It means I have mentors, people who hold me accountable and healthy family relationships. Good church administration leaders have systems in place that personally keep them on track. Self-leadership—and following others who are healthy—keeps a leader in it for the duration.
Secularism is a religion. Make no mistake about it. Though many seek to advance it as a neutralizing alternative to a religiously structured society, it is, in its own right, a religion. A secular worldview is not content until it has permeated every fabric of society–civics, ethics, media, and education. Just as the Christian worldview is meant to permeate all human activity, so secularism seeks to stand in the gap and block a truly consistent application of Christianity to every aspect of life. There is a bewitching element of secularism to which many–even many Christians–are blind.
Prior to considering one important measure to counter the permeating influence of secularism, a brief history of secularism as an ideological movement is in order. In the chapter, “Atheism and Secularism,” in the Ligonier Field Guide on False Teaching, we read,
The Enlightenment in France particularly fueled atheism and secularism in the Western world. Baron Paul-Henri Thiry d’Holbach—an atheist intellectual—taught a form of mechanistic metaphysics that served as a catalyst for the modern atheism movement. D’Holbach devoted two works to the defense and propagation of atheism: Système de la Nature and Le Bon Sens. His contemporary Denis Diderot is believed to have assisted him in the production of the strongly atheistic and materialistic book Système de la Nature. Diderot was the first to give a modern definition of atheism, including it in his Encyclopédie.
With the rise of the scientific revolution, materialistic understandings of the origins of the universe became more widely accepted in the West. Accordingly, the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of the Species in 1859 was seized upon by atheists as providing a scientific justification for their view. Darwin’s work fostered secularist agendas in Western countries, primarily through Karl Marx’s application of Darwin’s principles to his economic and political theories. In Das Kapital, Marx appealed to Darwin’s contributions. Although Darwin was not supportive of Marx’s use of his philosophy for the propagation of political and economic socialism, the rise of secularsm can be directly tied to the influence of Darwin on Marx.
After Marx, the nineteenth-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche further advanced anti-theistic philosophy throughout the Western world. On numerous occasions, Nietzsche used the phrase ‘God is dead’ to explain the effects of the Enlightenment in producing an increasing disbelief in God and subsequent secularization in Western society.
In 1927, the British philosopher Bertrand Russell gave a talk at the National Secular Society in London that was later published in 1969 under the title Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects. This book had a significant effect on readers in Britain and America, further popularizing atheism and secularism. Russell helped pave the way for the “new atheist” movement—a contemporary form of atheist apologetics popularized by Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens. Dawkins’ The God Delusion, released in 2006, was a New York Times best seller and the second-best-selling book on Amazon that year. New atheism distinguishes itself from older forms of atheism in that it does not simply reject belief in God but also is hostile to those who hold religious views.
The term “secularism” was first coined by George Holyoake in the mid-nineteenth century in his work Principles of Secularism. Holyoake defined secularism in this way:
Secularism is a series of principles intended for the guidance of those who find theology indefinite, or inadequate, or deem it unreliable. It replaces theology, which mainly regards life as a sinful necessity, as a scene of tribulation through which we pass to a better world.
While secularism spread through Europe in the eighteenth century, it took longer to take root in the United States, arriving in force in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled in Abington School District v. Schempp that school-sponsored Bible reading and prayer were unconstitutional. Madalyn Murray O’Hair, founder of American Atheists and the woman who brought a companion case, Murray v. Curlett, was an infamous leader in the push for the secularization of public schools in America.
A leader’s most effective tool may be prayer. For the Christian leader, especially, prayer should be critical to how we lead. I’m in my 50’s and I’ve not mastered this yet—even though I know how powerful these prayers for pastors are. Our leader, Jesus, was always walking in prayer with the Father.
Jesus said, “I do nothing except what the Father tells me to do.” So, when Jesus needed to feed the multitudes, he lifted up the bread and fish and prayed. Just before Jesus was about to be crucified—at the weakest point in His life—we find Him praying.
Why? Because prayer taps into that relationship with God. The power in prayer is not in the process of prayer, but the person of prayer. Prayer takes us into the very Throne Room of God. Talk about power!
So, as Christian leaders, we need to pray. I thought with this post I might spur that in each of us by offering some good prayers for pastors to pray.
10 Powerful Prayers for Pastors
Dear Lord, grow my love for you so I will trust in You when I can’t see the path ahead clearly. Help me to trust in You, more than I trust in my abilities.
Dear Lord, help me not to say yes when no is the right answer. Help me balance my time to be most effective and to accomplish Your will more than the will of others.
Dear Lord, never allow my plan to get ahead of—or in the place of—Your plan. Remind me frequently that Your way is best and I will always be most successful when I wait for You.
Dear Lord, allow me to forgive easily, hold no grudges or bitterness, and live in and extend to others the grace You have provided to me. Never let me get so proud or arrogant that I forget I am nothing apart from Your hand upon my life.
Dear Lord, provide me with courage and conviction to face my fears and critics and lead people to bigger realities of Your will than today. Give me the courage of Gideon, the steadfastness of Nehemiah, and the boldness of Daniel.
Dear Lord, grant me wisdom to make decisions big and small and conviction to follow You when it contradicts my desires or the demands of others. Give me discernment and surround me with wise people who follow You and can speak into my life.
Dear Lord, help me guard my heart, overcome temptation, and keep my character and reputation above reproach. Build around me people who believe in me, know me and are willing to speak hard truths into my life.
Dear Lord, give me patience with people, the pace of progress and with things I can’t understand. Assure me continually that Your plan is always worth waiting for and will be better than anything I can produce on my own.
Dear Lord, help me communicate with clarity, consistency and competence. Guard my tongue and keep me from reckless words. Make me an encourager and a builder of people with the things I say.
Dear Lord, help me to love people and use my influence for the good of others. Allow me to see my life’s mission as bigger than today. Help me leave a legacy, which brings glory to You.
L: Screenshot from Facebook / @Kamri Mclendon. R: Stock photo from Adobe Stock
A couple in Sumrall, Mississippi, is looking for another church after their pastor refused to baptize their baby on the grounds that the couple is “living together in sin.” Kamri McLendon, the baby’s mother, says the pastor knew of the couple’s living situation when he agreed to the request and that what she and her boyfriend wanted was a baby dedication.
“Instances like this are why young people are scared to go to church,” said McLendon in a Facebook post with a photo of the pastor’s refusal letter. “I will be the first to admit that yes I have sinned and have done wrong in my life. But how did me trying to dedicate my daughter to Jesus turn into us being shamed for being young parents and unmarried?”
Baby Dedication Refused by Pastor
According to WLBT, McLendon, 18, grew up in Hickory Grove United Methodist Church in Sumrall and says her family attended the church for “generations.” WLBT reports that she wanted her daughter baptized in the church where she was baptized. In her Facebook post, however, McLendon said that she and her boyfriend, Tristan McPhail, wanted a baby dedication. ChurchLeaders has reached out to McLendon for comment and clarification.
“We asked for a baby dedication for Presleigh,” said McLendon, “and after being told yes, being sent the materials, as well as it being announced at this church, we received this letter.”
The letter, from Rev. DeWayne Warren, is dated Sept. 15, 2022, and says that the pastor is unable to perform a “baby dedication” on Sept. 25, 2022. It continues in part:
I am informed that you and the baby’s father are living together in sin; the baby was conceived before the parents were married. The grandmother is living with a man in sin. You and the father have not been in regular, faithful attendance at our church.
The ceremony that you want performed is a Christian ceremony. It is a covenant between the parents and God. You promise to raise your child in the Christian faith with all that entails. That means that you attend church on a regular basis with your child. It means that your life shows that you are living the Christian faith. I do not see that in your life at this time…Also in the United Methodist Church we don’t do “baby dedications.” We do infant baptisms.
Warren says that he believes performing the baptism would set a bad example for the young people of the church and also says McLendon should not have given him the date for the ceremony since it is the pastor’s job to set the date. The letter concludes, “I say all of this in Christian love. I know that it is harsh, but it is the truth. I was trying to wait for the Holy Spirit of God to convict you on this, but we were running out of time. I cannot in all good conscience perform this ceremony at this time.”
On Thursday (Oct. 6), Ye, better known as Kanye West, appeared on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” for a candid, uncensored interview, in which he discussed why he wore a “White Lives Matter” shirt earlier this week, former President Donald Trump, why he feels Black babies are the main target of abortion providers, and his faith, among other things.
Sitting in his office located in Los Angeles, California, Ye recently returned from the Paris Fashion Week. The successful fashion designer, billion-dollar entrepreneur, and iconic rapper and producer was still wearing a lanyard around his neck from his Paris trip, which he designed and that displays a photograph of a prenatal ultrasound.
Carlson asked Ye what it meant.
“It just represents life and pro life,” the 24-time Grammy Award winner replied.
“What kind of responses to you get,” Carlson wondered. Ye told him, “I don’t care about people’s responses. I care about the fact that there’s more Black babies being aborted than born in New York City at this point; that 50% of Black death in America is abortion. So I really don’t care about people’s response to that. I perform for [an] audience of one, and that’s God.”
The Fox News host laughed and said, “I’m starting to see why they want to make you be quiet.”
Ye shared that he felt the need to really express himself starting in 2016—even more boldly than he’d done before—when people, especially those close to him, told him that his career would be over if he supported Trump.
Giving an example, Ye said some told him that people get killed for wearing a hat that says “Make America Great Again.” Ye further expressed that some of those people threatened his life for wearing slogans that supported Trump.
Ye Discusses Wearing ‘White Lives Matter’ Shirt
“I had someone call me last night and said anybody wearing a ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt is going to be green lit,” a term that describes someone marked for getting a physical beatdown. Ye was referring to a shirt that he and Candace Owens wore at the Paris fashion show, which was quickly met with strong disapproval.
“God builds warriors in a different way,” Ye told Carlson. “I don’t know if it’s because of me being born in Atlanta and growing up on the Southside of Chicago that, you know, [God] made me for such a time like this. It’s like with David, you know, he tended to the sheep. But while he was out there, he had to fight all kinds of animals. So when it was time for Goliath to come, he thought because he was a sheep herder that he didn’t have the skill set to take down Goliath. The thing that I have is the position I have [and] my heart, but the number one thing is we have God on our side. For the people, even if you don’t believe in God, God believes in you.”
Ye explained that he used his gut instinct, his connection with God, and his brilliance to create his “White Live Matter” t-shirt at the Paris Fashion Week, comparing what he did to former Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding unconsciously being able to pull off a triple flip because of how much she practiced.
“That’s what’s happening. God is, like, preparing us for the real battles. We are in a battle with the media. The majority of the media has a godless agenda,” Ye said, citing that media outlets like to call him crazy and make jokes about what he says yet stay quiet about real travesties, many of which he is attempting to bring to people’s attention.
Elaborating more on the shirt, Ye shared that his well educated father, a former Black Panther, texted him laughing after seeing his “White Lives Matter” design. Ye responded, “I thought it was funny. What did you like about it?” His father replied, “That a Black Man was declaring the obvious.”
Composite image. Screenshots from Facebook / @Coleman Boyd. Counterclockwise from left to right: Cal Zastrow, one of those indicted; protesters try to dissuade a woman at CaraFem from getting an abortion; law enforcement outside of CaraFem on March 5, 2021.
Following an investigation, 11 people face federal charges for allegedly interfering with access to a Mount Juliet, Tennessee, abortion clinic called CaraFem in March 2021. On October 5, a federal grand jury in Nashville indicted the individuals with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. The 1994 act, signed by President Bill Clinton, prohibits even temporary interference with reproductive health care services.
Seven people face conspiracy charges and face up to 11 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. The other four, charged with misdemeanors, face up to one year in prison and up to $10,000 in fines. All defendants will appear in U.S. district court in Nashville; dates are to be determined.
CaraFem: Anti-Abortion Protesters Charged With Blocking Access
According to a Department of Justice press release, the “co-conspirators” used social media to promote and coordinate a “blockade” of CaraFem, a Nashville-area abortion clinic. Protesters, the indictment says, “used force and physical obstruction to injure, intimidate, and interfere with employees of the clinic and a patient who was seeking reproductive health services.” The DOJ says protesters described their actions as a “rescue.”
Participant Coleman Boyd, a pro-life doctor from Mississippi, streamed the event on Facebook Live. While filming protesters’ arrests, he quoted Scripture and requested prayers that “people’s hearts would be stirred up and convicted” and that their eyes would be opened “to the reality that babies are being murdered here.”
The doctor, who has been arrested for pro-life activities in other states, added that “God’s judgment is on us, and his wrath is coming.” He urged listeners to “act as the church of Jesus Christ” before God gets “tired of relenting” and closes the window giving us a chance to repent. Boyd is one of the seven protesters now facing conspiracy charges related to the March 2021 incident.
CaraFem sought a temporary restraining order against 10 protesters in early August 2022. Later that month, after Tennessee’s “heartbeat bill” banned abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, CaraFem stopped performing the procedures.
Charges Against Protesters Spark Reactions
Since Wednesday, abortion opponents have been sharing news of the charges. Pro-life advocate Lila Rosetweets that “the home of pro-life activist Chet Gallagher was raided by the FBI, guns drawn, over his peaceful activism to save preborn children.”
While retweeting Rose, the Reproductive Rights Coalition writes: “Breaking: lifetime clinic harasser and terrorist has finally gotten a small consequence. Blocking clinics and harassing patients and staff is not and has never been ‘peaceful activism.’ The federal government is finally enforcing the FACE act and [it’s] freaking them out.”
Rose’s organization Live Action spoke to a pro-life activist who describes a “new tactic the DOJ has been throwing at pro-lifers to see if the charges stick.” A.J. Hurley says, “The FBI isn’t even performing the investigations. The DOJ is doing their own investigations and…sending local branches of the FBI with arrest warrants to be their strong arm.”
Liquid Church, a multi-site megachurch located in New Jersey, opened a coffee shop at their Parsippany County campus on Monday (Oct. 3), which will be staffed by people with special needs and forward proceeds to the church’s global clean water initiative.
Called the Clean Water Cafe, the goal of the coffee shop is to provide “delicious coffee, breakfast and lunch with a cause.” The cafe will serve the local need of “supportive employment for all adults, including those with Special Needs,” as well as the global need of clean water, which Liquid Church has already been a part of supporting through Clean Water Cause, a ministry run by the church.
“At Liquid Church, Clean Water is our global cause – and we envision a day when every person on the planet has access to safe drinking water! That’s why we’re committed to sending financial support and manpower to countries around the world,” their website says. “With the help of our global partners, we support clean water, sanitation, and hygiene projects in Africa and Central America.”
To date, Liquid Church reports having drilled more than 360 clean water wells in nine nations, which has brought clean water to over 130,000 people—the result of more than $3 million in donations.
“At the Clean Water Cafe, we believe that people with Special Needs can change the world for good,” said Brooke Stempert, communications manager for Liquid Church. “We hope that our customers and supporters realize that as they enjoy their favorite coffee, they are changing the world with every sip.”
Plans to open Clean Water Cafe were originally announced to the church and surrounding community in 2020, but the opening was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to their ongoing efforts to provide clean water to under-resourced communities around the globe, Liquid Church is also well known for their ministry to those with special needs.
Liquid Church hosts a special needs “Night to Shine” prom every year, turning their entire worship space into a party celebrating the special needs community.
“It’s a little taste of heaven on earth,” founding and lead pastor Tim Lucas recently told Charisma.
Recounting the story of a family that commutes 90 minutes from New York to attend Liquid Church because of their ministry to those with special needs, Lucas recalled the family telling him, “Not only is our child being loved on, we get respite for an hour and 15 minutes. We actually get to sit in a service, hold hands…and we get to have our souls restored.”
A man holds up a shofar as the audience prays inside a tent during the ReAwaken America Tour at Cornerstone Church in Batavia, N.Y., Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. The instrument, used in some Jewish worship services, has been adopted by the far right, and several people blew the horns to open the conference. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
BATAVIA, N.Y. (AP) — By the time the red, white and blue-colored microphone had been switched off, the crowd of 3,000 had listened to hours of invective and grievance.
“We’re under warfare,” one speaker told them. Another said she would “take a bullet for my nation,” while a third insisted, “They hate you because they hate Jesus.” Attendees were told now is the time to “put on the whole armor of God.” Then retired three-star Army general Michael Flynn, the tour’s biggest draw, invited people to be baptized.
Scores of people walked out of the speakers’ tent to three large metal tubs filled with water. While praise musicplayed in the background, one conference-goer after another stepped in. Pastors then lowered them under the surface, welcoming them into their movement in the name of Jesus Christ. One woman wore a T-shirt that read “Army of God.”
ReAwaken America was launched by Flynn, a former White House national security adviser, and Oklahoma entrepreneur Clay Clark a few months after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol failed to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Attendees and speakers still insist — against all evidence and dozens of court rulings — that Donald Trump rightfully won.
Since early last year, the ReAwaken America Tour has carried its message of a country under siege to tens of thousands of people in 15 cities and towns. The tour serves as a traveling roadshow and recruiting tool for an ascendant Christian nationalist movement that’s wrapped itself in God, patriotism and politics and has grown in power and influence inside the Republican Party.
In the version of America laid out at the ReAwaken tour, Christianity should be at the center of American life and institutions. Instead, it’s under attack, and attendees need to fight to restore the nation’s Christian roots. It’s a message repeated over and over at ReAwaken — one that upends the constitutional ideal of a pluralist democracy. But it’s a message that is taking hold.
A poll by the University of Maryland conducted in May found that 61% of Republicans support declaring the U.S. to be a Christian nation.
“Christian nationalism, really undermines and attacks foundational values in American democracy. And that is a promise of religious freedoms for all,” said Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee, which advocates for religious freedom.
She said the ReAwaken cause is “a partisan political cause, and the cause here is to spread misinformation, to perpetuate the big lie and to have a different result next time in the next election.”
Joby Martin joins “The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast” to discuss what happens when a church leader has truly been run over by the “grace train" and understands the profound love and grace of God.
