At Dove Awards TobyMac Talks Son’s Death, Collaborating With Sheryl Crow, and How a Youth Pastor Changed His Life

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October 21, 2022

Nominated for two awards this year, Toby McKeehan, better known to most as TobyMac, was accompanied by his sons, Leo and Judah, on the red carpet at the 53rd GMA Dove Awards Tuesday night (Oct. 18).

The 57-year-old “Jesus Freak” has collected over 20 Dove Awards throughout his accomplished solo career, which started in 2002 after DC Talk decided to mutually part ways.

ChurchLeaders caught up with TobyMac on the red carpet, where he shared with us that he wouldn’t be a Christian today if it wasn’t for a youth pastor inviting him to a summer camp.

“I just want to say to all the church leaders out there that I would not be a Christian if a youth pastor did not reach out to me and love on me and invite me to a camp one summer,” He said. “He invited me, and it’s why I’m a Christian, and it’s why I make music that talks about the King.”

TobyMac’s music takes inspiration from the events and relationships in his life, he shared. “The good, the bad and the ugly. The hard things in life. The times we fail. The times that we feel God picks us up and the times we feel like He wants us to go through something hard, so He lets us sit there sometimes.”

TobyMac On His Son’s Death

McKeehan, who lost his first born son Truett to an accidental drug overdose in October 2019, said, “[God] never leaves us. That’s the most important thing. It might be hard. He might not change it to what we want it to be, but He’s there with us in it, and that’s what I’ve learned to count on.”

The “Life After Death” musician reminded the church in America that God is still at work, saying, “I know it might not feel that way sometimes and we feel very divided. But I can tell you this, I’ve walked through the hardest valley of my life in losing my firstborn son, but I’ve never felt more surrounded by love through the body of Christ. So I think it seems divided, but when we need each other, we come back together.”

“So be encouraged by that and be encouraged that God is Lord of all this,” McKeehan said. “He’s Lord of all of it. He knows the chaos that’s going on on earth. He knows the chaos that sometimes goes on in our own churches, but He’s the Lord of it, and to recognize Him and just keep recognizing Him. He’s there in the deepest of valleys.”

TobyMac With Sheryl Crow

ChurchLeaders asked TobyMac to share how the collaboration with 9-time Grammy Award winning artist Sheryl Crow came about. The two appeared together on the song “Promise Land,” which is up for a Dove Award in the “Short Form Music Video of the Year” category.

‘The Chosen’ Under Fire for Apparent Reference to The Book of Mormon

By

Dale Chamberlain

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October 21, 2022

Earlier this week, “The Chosen,” a series that dramatizes the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, released a trailer for its upcoming third season. Lauded among many evangelicals, production of “The Chosen” is entirely crowdfunded, and the show’s creators hope that it eventually reaches 1 billion viewers in every country of the world.

Nevertheless, the show has come under fire following the release of its Season 3 trailer, wherein Jesus can be seen delivering a line that appears to be a paraphrase of a verse from the Book of Mormon.

In the trailer, Jesus can be seen in a confrontation with a Jewish religious official.

“Jesus, if you do not renounce your words, we will have no choice but to follow the law of Moses,” the man says, implying that the Sanhedrin would pursue Jesus’ execution.

Jesus steps toward the man and replies, “I am the law of Moses.”

Following the release of the trailer, the show posted a GIF of the moment to Facebook, captioning the post, “Mic drop.”

However, a number of social media users were quick to point out that the line delivered by Jonathan Roumie, who portrays Jesus in the series, sounded similar not to a verse from the New Testament but 3 Nephi 15:9 in the Book of Mormon.

Reference to The Book of Mormon

“Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life,” the verse reads.

Pointing out the similarity, one Twitter user said, “I never took a hard position against the Chosen until now. It is compromised and in heresy.”

“This isn’t one of those ‘Jesus could’ve said/done this’ types of things, this is a direct bowing to Mormon theology (Mormons put a lot into the series) which is against Biblical Christianity. Jesus fulfills the law and as God gave it, but He is not the law,” he went on to say. “Beware this.”

Another said, “It would be disingenuous to assume that Mormon theology has no impact” on the series.

“Stop watching The Chosen,” someone else urged. “Read your Bible instead.”

Concerns about the show’s connections to LDS theology have been ongoing, as “The Chosen” is distributed by Angel Studios, which was co-founded by brothers Neal and Jeffrey Harmon, both of whom belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS).

Earlier this year, Dallas Jenkins, who created and directs the show, also serving as one of its writers and executive producers, addressed speculation that the show was influenced by LDS teachings.

‘We Don’t Need a Political Revolution,’ Says Greg Laurie Ahead of SoCal Harvest 2022

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Jessica Mouser

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October 21, 2022

Pastor Greg Laurie’s SoCal Harvest Crusade is returning to Anaheim, California, this year and will take place in Angel Stadium on Nov. 5-6. The theme of the event is the Jesus People Movement of the 1970s, a cultural phenomenon that Laurie lived through and which personally impacted him.

“We don’t need a political revolution. We don’t need a moral revolution. We need a JESUS REVOLUTION,” says Laurie on the website for the event.

Greg Laurie: We Need To Pray God Will Do It Again

Greg Laurie is the senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship and the founder of Harvest Crusades, which began in 1990 and which nearly 10 million people have attended either in person or online. The purpose of Harvest Crusades, according to Harvest’s website, is to “create a welcoming environment to share the life-changing message of the gospel.” SoCal Harvest events are known for giving a simple gospel message and inviting people to make a profession of faith.

SoCal Harvest 2022 is free. Musical guests include Phil Wickham, Crowder, Andy Mineo, Newsboys, and Jeremy Camp. Laurie will deliver a message, and the event will feature never before seen footage of the upcoming film, “Jesus Revolution,” which tells the story of the Jesus People Movement and of Greg Laurie coming to faith in the midst of it.

Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in the popular series “The Chosen,” plays Lonnie Frisbee, a hippie evangelist and preacher who, with Chuck Smith, had a significant impact on the growth of the Calvary Chapel church movement. The film stars Kelsey Grammer as Chuck Smith, a pastor whose church is stagnating until Frisbee shows up.

The movie is based on the book, “Jesus Revolution: How God Transformed an Unlikely Generation and How He Can Do It Again Today,” which Greg Laurie co-authored. He also served as a consultant on the film.

In the caption of a photo of himself with Roumie on Instagram, Laurie said, “Lonnie was the face and a catalyzing force of the Jesus Movement that rippled through the late 1960s and early 1970s. During that time Lonnie had a profound impact on my life, and for a short time, he was a spiritual mentor to me as well.”

World Council of Churches Head Meets With Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill

By

Jack Jenkins

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October 21, 2022

world council of churches-min — World Council of Churches acting General Secretary Fr. Ioan Sauca, left, meets with Patriarch Kirill, right, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, at the Patriarchal Residence in St. Daniel’s Monastery, in Moscow, Russia, on Oct. 17, 2022. Photo by Moscow Patriarchate

(RNS) — The acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches met this week with Patriarch Kirill, the Russian Orthodox Church head who has drawn global criticism for lending spiritual support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

According to a WCC readout of the meeting, acting General Secretary Fr. Ioan Sauca, a Romanian Orthodox priest, met with Kirill at the Patriarchal Residence in Moscow on Oct. 17 to discuss “how churches are called to be peacemakers.” The two reportedly engaged in a public discussion as well as a separate, private conversation.

The meeting followed months of controversy surrounding the Russian Orthodox Church’s membership in the WCC. After Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, Sauca sent a letter to the Orthodox leader urging him to help facilitate a cease-fire. But Kirill instead repeatedly voiced support for the invasion, sparking calls to expel the Russian Orthodox Church from WCC membership. Sauca and other WCC leaders eventually rejected the idea, keeping the ROC in its fold. WCC members published a statement at its assembly in September denouncing the war, but Ukrainian observers at the gathering criticized it as weak.

Sauca reportedly referenced such concerns during his meeting with Kirill, making mention of “statements that condemn the war and violence which we made in our governing bodies — the statements which were elaborated with the participation of delegates from the Russian Orthodox Church.”

“The reason for coming here is to see what we can do together to build bridges of peace and reconciliation and stop the bloodshed and the danger of nuclear conflagration,” Sauca said, according to the readout. “I think it would be very helpful now to make the same statement, saying clearly to the world what you told us, here, today: stop the bloodshed, stop the killing, stop the destruction of infrastructure, look for peace and reconciliation.”

World Council of Churches acting General Secretary Fr. Ioan Sauca, left, meets with Patriarch Kirill at the Patriarchal Residence in St. Daniel’s Monastery, in Moscow, Russia, on Oct. 17, 2022. Photo by Moscow Patriarchate

A separate report of the discussion posted to the patriarch’s website on Thursday said Kirill also acknowledged the debate.

“There were challenges and critical issues, one of them pertaining to the Russian Orthodox Church. Demands were heard that the Russian Church should be expelled from the World Council of Churches. However, nothing of the sort occurred during the Assembly,” Kirill said, per the report.

According to the WCC’s account, Kirill agreed that churches should be peacemakers, Christians should not “support wars and killings” and that “war cannot be holy.” He reportedly also insisted churches “must not add fuel to the fire,” referring to political rancor and violence.

Yet Kirill has repeatedly been accused of doing just that, particularly amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

In addition to laying the spiritual groundwork for the war — Kirill spent years promoting a concept of a “Russian world” or “Holy Rus’” that insists Ukraine is part of Russia’s spiritual space — the patriarch has described Russia’s enemies in Ukraine as “evil forces” and suggested the conflict amounts to a “metaphysical” battle with the West and “gay parades.”

Cooperative Program-Fueled Send Network Targets Rural, Urban U.S.

By

Diana Chandler

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October 21, 2022

Send Network — Southern Baptists have planted 9,400 churches in the U.S. since 2010. NAMB graphic

Editor’s note: October is Cooperative Program Emphasis Month in the Southern Baptist Convention.

PORT AUSTIN, Mich. (BP) – It’s the only Baptist church in town. Church planter Michael Goforth considers it purely a work of the Lord that Mercy Hill Church is thriving where three previous congregations shut down.

When he and his bride Shannon sought a network to undergird their work in rural Michigan, the North American Mission Board’s Send Network caught their eye.

“We’re kind of up in the middle of nowhere, and so it just seems like we’re on an island sometimes and we can be forgotten,” Goforth told Baptist Press. “But through connecting with Send Network and Cooperative Program-supported churches, it has just been a blessing to really have a network that’s behind us, encourages us and helps us, specifically financially.”

Will Browning’s path to Send Network was born of a calling away from his life’s work as a pastor and prolific church planter in the greater Charleston, N.C., area. There, he planted Journey Church in 2007 and birthed nine others from the mother church by 2021. That’s when he was called to the greater Los Angeles, Calif., area to serve as the Send Network’s local chief strategist.

“What caused us to come out here was this constant confirmation from the Lord that He wanted us to lay down what probably was our ‘Isaac,’” Browning said, a reference to the biblical call of Abraham to sacrifice his son. “We really only wanted to be the leaders of the church. And I had actually given my elders a 25-year vision, basically saying, ‘I’m going to give you my life. I have no desire to do anything else.’

“Unfortunately when we put Isaac on the altar, we didn’t get a ram. (God) said, ‘No, I really want you to go.’”

Browning has served one-and-a-half years as the Send City missionary for a multi-county greater Los Angeles area of nearly 18 million residents. In 2022, he shepherded church planters to plant 19 new churches and has assessed 30 church planters to start new works in 2023.

In the territory including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and a small portion of Ventura counties, 73 church planters are currently enrolled in Send Network’s church-planting system that provides varying levels of financial support over a five-year period.

The wide range of the Cooperative Program’s impact has become clear to Browning since he joined Send Network.

“As a pastor, I feel like I didn’t quite understand how far the Cooperative Program was going,” he said, “when it came to helping church planters, doing overseas missions. I think I had a good view of what it did for seminarians, because I benefitted from that, attending two of our Southern Baptist schools.

“Now that I’ve been doing this, I’m very impressed with what is happening. And here’s the statistic that I don’t think most people know. We perceive that by 2030, one third of the Southern Baptist Convention’s churches will be church plants that have been planted since 2011.”

Brazil’s Lula Issues Letter to Evangelicals To Allay Concern

By

Mauricio Savarese

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October 21, 2022

Letter-to-Evangelicals-To-Allay-Concern — Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is running for president again, meets with leaders of evangelical churches in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022. Brazil's presidential runoff election is on Oct. 30. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva published an open letter to evangelicals on Wednesday aimed at countering claims he would persecute their faith and at winning votes among a large and growing part of the population.

The letter, read at a gathering with evangelical leaders at a Sao Paulo hotel, promised he would respect religious freedoms if elected — as he did during his 2003-2010 presidency.

“We are living at a time in which lies are used intensively with the objective of stoking fear in people of good faith, pushing them away from a candidacy that is defending them more,” the letter said. “That is why I felt a need to reaffirm my commitment to freedom of religion in our country.”

Polls have shown da Silva losing support from evangelicals this year as incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and his allies have warned that the former president supports leftist authoritiarians elsewhere who have persecuted Christians.

They have sometimes literally demonized da Silva and his Workers’ Party, prompting him to issue a bizarre statement this month denying he has ever conversed or dealt with the devil.

Da Silva topped the first round of presidential voting, falling less than two percentage points shy of an outright victory. Most polls show da Silva retaining a lead ahead of the Oct. 30 runoff, but with Bolsonaro gaining some ground in recent weeks.

Da Silva’s letter to evangelicals is reminiscent of one he published as candidate in 2002 to assuage financial markets that he posed no threat. That calmed anxiety at the time and helped the leftist former union leader win the presidency.

In his first year in office, he signed into law a bill that allows the establishment of private religious organizations, with broad support from evangelicals. He has characterized that act as having enshrined the right to religious freedom.

Self-declared evangelicals make up almost a third of Brazil’s population, more than double their share two decades ago. Demographer José Eustáquio Diniz Alves, a former researcher at the National School of Statistical Sciences, projects they will approach 40% by 2032, surpassing Catholics.

Bolsonaro is a Catholic, but his wife Michelle is a devout evangelical. After avoiding the spotlight during most of her husband’s presidency, she emerged during the campaign as the leading evangelical voice from Bolsonaro’s camp. She has said that, before his presidency, the presidential palace had been consecrated to demons.

Bolsonaro’s campaign has insisted da Silva will promote gender-based politics and loosen abortion restrictions rejected by many evangelicals. Da Silva in April said women should have access to abortion, then backtracked somewhat to say he is personally opposed.

Some of Brazil’s most popular evangelical pastors have also campaigned for Bolsonaro, as they did four years ago when they help carry him to victory. Polls indicate that Catholics, meanwhile, largely support da Silva, who is Catholic himself.

Da Silva said in his letter that many evangelicals are confronted with what he calls Bolsonaro’s “use of faith for electoral ends.”

“My administration will never use symbols of your faith for partisan political ends, respecting the laws and traditions that separate State and Church, so there’s no political interference in the practice of faith,” the former president said. “The attempt to use faith politically to divide Brazilians doesn’t help anyone.”

Former Environment Minister Marina Silva, an evangelical who recently reestablished support for da Silva after a public falling out years ago, said at the event that she would rather “belong to a church that is persecuted than one that persecutes.”

John P. Meier, Priest, Scholar and Author of ‘a Marginal Jew’ Has Died at 80

By

Renée Roden

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October 21, 2022

(RNS) — John P. Meier, a theologian and biblical commentator whose multi-volume “A Marginal Jew” transformed the Catholic approach to critical historical research into the life of Jesus and religious faith, died Tuesday (Oct. 18) in South Bend, Indiana.

He was 80 years old.

Meier was born in the Bronx, New York, on Aug. 8, 1942. He entered New York City’s archdiocesan seminary for college and studied for the priesthood at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie, New York, just outside of Yonkers. After graduating in 1964 with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, Meier studied at the historic Jesuit university in Rome, the Gregorian.

A priest in the Archdiocese of New York, he was ordained in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on December 21, 1967. He received a doctorate in sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in 1976.

After a stint at a parish church in Bronxville, Meier returned to Dunwoodie Seminary in 1972 to teach and eventually served as the chair of the seminary’s Scripture studies department before transferring to the pontifical university in the United States, the Catholic University of America, in 1984. He taught for almost 15 years at the Catholic University of America before taking up a post at the University of Notre Dame in 1998. He retired after 20 years in Notre Dame’s theology department, in June 2018.

Meier’s fame derived primarily from his “A Marginal Jew,” first published in 1991, which presented a new perspective on “historical Jesus studies.”

“A Marginal Jew” opens with the thought experiment of an “un-papal conclave” in which a Catholic, Protestant Christian, Jewish, Muslim and agnostic scholar are locked in the basement of the Harvard Divinity School until they come to a conclusion: a collective white paper on what they can each agree on about Jesus of Nazareth purely on historical grounds and reasoning based on the texts and records available.

The book, which was expanded to five volumes, attempted to trace the outlines of the conclusions that could result from an interreligious “conclave.”

During the European enlightenment, in the 17th to 19th centuries, scholars applied the burgeoning fields of historiography and the scientific method to the texts of Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. Beginning with the German philosopher Hermann Reimarus in the 18th century, these scholars began to distinguish between the “Jesus of history” and the “Christ of faith.”

The first systematic quest for a historical Jesus began with German theologian Albert Schweitzer in 1906. Schweitzer published a book “The Quest of the Historical Jesus: A Critical Study of its Progress from Reimarus to Wrede,” which attempted to evaluate and synthesize portraits of the historical Jesus then in existence.

The “historical Jesus” that emerged from these works generally took the shape of a Jewish prophet and preacher who had lived, worked, preached, gained a sizable following and died at the hands of the Romans. According to this approach to biblical studies, the subsequent deification of this Jesus into God had taken place after his death and was a product of his disciples and could not be traced back to the historical figure.

"A Marginal Jew" volumes. Courtesy image

“A Marginal Jew” volumes. Courtesy image

Meier’s work started a new wave of historical Jesus scholarship.

Suicide and the Church

By

James Emery White

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October 21, 2022

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from 1999 to 2018 the suicide rate in the United States surged by 35%. As a result, it became the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S.

These rates have risen across almost every age group and for both males and females, with males remaining the most likely to die by suicide. In 2018, the suicide rate was 22.8 per 100,000 males. This is nearly four times the rate of women. But the rise of suicide among women is greater. Between 1999 and 2018, the rate among men grew by 28%, but among women, it grew by 55%.

But then, thankfully, for two straight years – 2019 and 2020 – the suicide rate declined.

It was a short reprieve.

After two consecutive years of declines, the U.S. suicide rate rose in 2021 by 4%, driven largely by suicides among men. Males ages 15-24 experienced the sharpest increase (8%). Sally Curtin, a health statistician at the National Center for Health Statistics said, “The declines have almost been totally wiped out by this increase.”

Suicide has been historically condemned by the Christian faith, and rightfully so. The Bible is clear: “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13, NIV). And the reason is simple: life is sacred. The fact that each and every one of us was created in the image of God gives each and every one of us infinite worth and value. Taking it upon ourselves to end a life is the ultimate act of defiance against God, for life is His and His alone to give and take. The taking of a life is showing contempt for God and His image; it is not ours to do with as we please.

This includes murdering ourselves.

But it is not the unforgivable sin, nor something that automatically commits you to hell. It is clearly the wrongful taking of a life and a violation of the sixth commandment. It is never God’s dream or desire. This is why the stunning increase in suicide rates should be alarming to all Christians.

But not just alarming.

It should be a clarion call for change.

These are people who need our compassion and our help.

Yet within the Christian community, where openness and grace should flow the richest and deepest, where the masks are meant to come off and safety offered to all, owning depression is virtually taboo. There is an unwritten rule that people of faith shouldn’t be depressed. The prevailing idea is that the Christian faith is to be a faith of joy, making depression a sin, which means there is no excuse for a depressed spirit. As a result, depressed people have been riddled with guilt, have hidden in shame, and have been afraid to surface in order to get the help they need.

5 Snares of the Enemy

By

Chuck Lawless

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October 21, 2022

Every one of us is responsible for his or her sin, but we still wrestle against an enemy who seeks to devour us (1 Pet 5:8). In fact, we could list multiple snares of the enemy, where he tries to trap us in sin. Here, though, are some reminders we likely all need:

5 Snares of the Enemy

1. He magnifies the temporary and minimizes the long-term.

Sin does bring pleasure at times—but the enemy doesn’t want us to see that it’s only fleeting. Nor does he want us to recognize that temporary pleasure leads to bondages and judgment.

2. He elevates the fear of missing out over the joy of obedience.

“Look at what you’re missing if you follow God,” is a refrain the enemy has used on us since the Garden of Eden. He dangles the bait in front of us, makes it look inviting, and wants us to forget the joy that obedience can bring.

3. He promotes the secrecy of sin over submission to God.

Just like Adam and Eve hid in the Garden, so the enemy wants us to hide. In fact, he wants us to remain in the darkness, never submitting to God and never confessing our sin.

4. He encourages listening to the world’s voice over the Word of God.

Like a commercial designed to convince you in 30 seconds to buy something, the enemy capitalizes on the world’s offers of pleasure, power, and possessions. And, he often wins because we don’t know the Word well enough to counter him.

5. He pushes independence and isolation over fellowship with the people of God.

Many of us find ourselves most vulnerable to temptation when we’re alone—when we foolishly try to fight the enemy on our own. Genuine Christian fellowship is a counter to this tendency.

In which of these five snares of the enemy do you find yourself most vulnerable? How do you live in victory in your life?

This article about the snares of the enemy originally appeared here, and is used by permission.

10 Disappointing Misconceptions About Pastors

By

Chuck Lawless

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October 21, 2022

I started this blog to help pastors and church leaders because I love the local church. Leaders and laypeople alike are some of God’s greatest gifts to us, and I love being in the dozens of churches where I speak each year. At the same time, though, laypersons sometimes have misconceptions about pastors that I think hurt their leaders.

10 Misconceptions About Pastors

1. We never struggle with spiritual disciplines.

Even those of us called to lead God’s church wrestle with finding the time and discipline to spend private time with God. We live in the tension of studying for a sermon and studying for personal growth.

2. We’re all certain about our calling.

The stress of leading a church sometimes causes some of us to wonder if this is what God has called us to do. We want to be 100 percent confident, but that’s not always the situation.

3. We don’t have to pay taxes.

I’ve heard this wrong idea for decades. Some churches, I’m afraid, use these misconceptions about pastors to pay them less than they should.

4. We never get nervous preaching the Word.

I’ve preached for almost 40 years, and my heart still pounds a bit when walking to the pulpit. Frankly, I hope that reaction never goes away—proclaiming the Word ought to weigh heavy on us.

5. Our faith keeps us from getting wounded.

In fact, it’s often just the opposite. Because of our faith in God and His church, we assume that God’s people will treat each other with love and grace. Sometimes that doesn’t happen.

Brooklyn Pastor Robbed During Livestream Sends a Message to Churches at Dove Awards Red Carpet

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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October 20, 2022

On Tuesday (Oct. 18), Bishop Lamor Whitehead made a surprise appearance on the red carpet of the 53rd GMA Dove Awards. Whitehead made headlines this past summer after he and his wife were robbed at gunpoint during his church’s Sunday service livestream.

On July 24, three men who were dressed in all black clothing and face masks rushed into Whitehead’s church, Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries (Brooklyn, NY), and took an estimated $1 million worth of jewelry.

Whitehead again made the news on September 18, after he forcefully grabbed a woman by the back of the neck for disrupting his sermon by shouting and pointing her finger while walking around the room. After authorities arrived, Whitehead was arrested and informed he would be charged with assault. A couple of hours later, the bishop was released and all charges were dropped.

ChurchLeaders asked Whitehead how his family was doing after the incidents of this year. The bishop told us that the “smoke” is starting to clear, adding, “I think the biggest part of the restoration was the misconception of me having anything to do with this robbery.”

Since the robbery, two of the three men have been arrested and charged.

“The world turned me from a victim to a villain,” Whitehead said, explaining that he is focused on rehabilitation and restoration, ”understanding the trauma that my church had to go through, that my family had to go through, and last that I have to go through.”

Whitehead shared that, as a leader, he carries much on his shoulders and it can be difficult to express the pain he experiences in the same way that others are able to.

“That’s actually why I’m here today [at the Dove Awards], because it’s how I release my pain and release my prayers is through worship,” the bishop shared. “These artists have no idea what they do for us.”

Whitehead said that some of his times of worship come in the early hours of the morning or when he is in the car by himself.

“It’s a certain sound that just takes you to the element where you need to be, of restoration,” Whitehead said. “You know what I mean?”

Whitehead shared that although his family and church have recently endured unforeseen turmoil, God has used it to bring attention to the protection of houses of worship.

Topless Woman Who Simulated Aborting Jesus in Paris Church Protected Under ‘Freedom of Expression,’ Says Court

By

Jessica Mouser

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October 20, 2022

Composite image. Top: Screenshot from Facebook / @femenmovement. Bottom: European Court of Human Rights (Strasbourg), March 3, 2012. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

A woman who simulated aborting Jesus while topless in a Catholic church in Paris has been cleared of penalties by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The court ruled that Eloïse Bouton, who represented the feminist group, Femen, must be paid €9,800 (just under $9,600) in damages.

“This decision of the ECHR cannot leave anyone indifferent,” writes columnist Blanche Streb, who calls the verdict “as stunning as it was distressing.” [Editor’s note: Some links in this article show graphic images. Quotes in French have been translated into English via Google Translate.] Says Streb, “To attack the symbols of Christianity…is above all to forget what human rights and modern democracy owe to Christianity: the inalienable dignity of the human being.”

Femen Activist Posing as Mary Simulates Aborting Jesus

On Dec. 20, 2013, Eloïse Bouton entered La Madeleine church in Paris and walked up to the altar topless, wearing a blue veil and a crown of flowers on her head. Bouton had “Christmas is canceled” written on the back of her torso and a phrase with an obscene word written on the front. The phrase alluded to a pro-abortion 1971 manifesto authored by activist Simone de Beauvoir and signed by 343 women who had had abortions. Bouton used beef liver to simulate the abortion and stood in the pose of the crucifixion. Some reports say she also urinated in front of the altar.

According to Femen’s website, the group “is an international women’s movement of brave topless female activists painted with slogans and crowned with flowers.” Femen’s goal is “complete victory over patriarchy,” which the group fights with “sextremism,” described in part as “a non-violent but highly aggressive form of provocation.” The crown of flowers represents “femininity and proud insubmission.”

In a January 2014 Facebook post about Bouton’s arrest, Femen said, “Eloise spent 8 hours in custody for exhibitionism and was informed about a process against her. FEMEN will be charged for exhibitionism.” According to the post, at the time Bouton faced one year in jail and a fine of up to €15,000. “Shame to French authorities for such sexism and for giving up human rights principles in support of religion,” said Femen.

According to LifeSiteNews, two days after the incident, Bouton published an article stating that the pieces of meat she held were “symbols of the aborted infant Jesus,” and that she had “left the bloody holy fetus at the foot of the altar.”

French news agency RFI reported on Dec. 17, 2014, that Bouton, who was then no longer with Femen, had been found guilty of “sexual exhibition.” She was given a one-month suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay the church’s priest €2,000 in damages and €1,500 in legal fees.

Bouton argued in court that she was making a political statement and that her actions should not be seen as sexual in nature. Her initial appeals against her one-month suspended sentence and fines were not successful.

SBC Seminary Affirms ‘Men Alone’ May Take Pastoral Office, Function and Title

By

Stephanie Martin

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October 20, 2022

Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, speaks at the For The Church Conference sponsored by Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo. The conference was held Tuesday, June 14, the first day of the two-day 2022 SBC Annual Meeting at Anaheim, Calif. Photo by Adam Covington

As the Southern Baptist Convention faces some internal challenges about who can be a pastor, one of its seminaries is clarifying the definition. At last week’s fall board meeting, trustees of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) in Louisville, Kentucky, resolved that although staff should keep teaching and graduating both men and women, “men alone [are] reserved for the office and function, and thereby title of pastor.”

In the resolution, trustees praise the stance taken by SBTS President Dr. Albert Mohler, who was on the team that drafted the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 faith statement. In return, Mohler tweeted thanks to seminary trustees for “passing a unanimous resolution defining pastor as both function and office and limited to men by Scripture as confessed by Southern Baptists in the Baptist Faith & Message.”

Comments online range from “It’s been encouraging to see @albertmohler’s leadership on this at the convention and afterward” to “I’m actually happy with this decision, every time the Southern Baptist make the decision like this. It just makes your march to irrelevance happen even quicker. [K]eep it up you will cease to be a denomination hopefully, within the next 10 to 15 years.”

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Clarification Targets Saddleback

Although Southern Baptist Theological Seminary’s resolution doesn’t mention any churches by name, it comes in response to recent ordinations of women by Saddleback Church. The California SBC megachurch, formerly led by Rick Warren, ordained three females in May 2021, leading to intense debate and calls for its disfellowship.

At the SBC annual meeting in June 2022, the denomination’s Credentials Committee said it wasn’t yet prepared to decide Saddleback’s status. The committee also proposed that a separate “study committee” form to explore the issue for a year. But Mohler shot down that idea, saying, “If we eventually have to form a study committee over every word of our confession of faith, then we are doomed and we are no longer a confessional people.”

When Saddleback’s ordinations of women were announced, Mohler called them “contrary to Scripture” and “an attempt to redefine and reformulate the convictional foundation of Southern Baptist faith and cooperative ministry.” He wrote, “The theological issues have not changed since the year 2000 when Southern Baptists spoke clearly and precisely in the Baptist Faith & Message. More importantly, the Holy Scriptures have not changed and cannot change.”

Pastoral ‘Office and Function Are Inseparable’

This July, Mohler issued a joint statement about defining the word “pastor.” With fellow seminary president Chuck Kelley and former Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission president Richard Land, he wrote that it’s “important to understand that the word pastor was chosen precisely because of its clarity among Southern Baptists.

Brian ‘Head’ Welch: God Used My Daughter to Save Me From Drug Addiction

By

Megan Briggs

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October 20, 2022

Brian “Head” Welch is best known to the world as guitarist and co-founder of the heavy metal band, Korn. However, after a crippling battle with meth addiction, Welch has since become a Christian. In a video interview with I Am Second, Welch retells the harrowing experience of how he came to faith and how God used his daughter, Jennea, to help save him.

Welch describes two positive feelings he experienced before he came to Christ: the high of performing in front of thousands of people who loved his music and the “euphoric feeling” he had when his daughter was born.

When he was performing for Korn and seeing all those people respond to the music, he says it puffs you up inside and makes you feel like “I’m important.” He describes the experience as people worshipping him. It’s apparent the birth of his daughter had a huge impact on him, but even this experience in and of itself didn’t have the power to change him. “I just felt so much love just fill my emotions and I thought I was going to be happy, but I couldn’t stay sober. I just didn’t know how,” Welch recalls.

Brian Welch Ex-Wife: Rebekah

Welch explains he never wanted to dabble with meth in the first place, after witnessing how it stole his ex-wife’s life. He says he despised his ex-wife and the mother of his child for choosing drugs over her kid, but then eventually ended up stumbling down the same path she did. The drug rehab near Orlando can help overcome drug addiction.

One day his real estate broker told Welch, “I felt this Scripture jump out at me. I’ve never done this before…but I felt like this would mean something to you.” The Scripture his real estate broker share was Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” For some reason, this word from his broker prompted Welch to accept an invitation to go to church.

Brian Welch Accepting Jesus

Welch recalls accepting Jesus at the church service, yet going home to do drugs. This time, though, when he looked at his daughter, he knew something was different. He remembers the prayer he prayed to Jesus that day: “You know I want to quit. You know I want to be a good Dad for this kid. She lost her mother to drugs and she’s going to lose me if I don’t quit.” He asked Jesus to take the drugs away from him.

After praying, Welch says “I felt so much fatherly love from heaven, and it was like ‘I don’t condemn you. I love you. I love you.’”

“God used her to save me”

“Instantly, that love from God came into me. It was so powerful that the next day I threw away all my drugs and I quit Korn,” Welch recalls. He experienced the love of God coming into him and then out to his daughter. All of a sudden, he had the desire to raise her properly. Later, Welch would come to realize “God used her to save me to save her later on.”

Besides the overwhelming love of God the Father Welch so candidly expresses, he also has shares a significant revelation about fulfillment. His explains that through becoming famous with Korn, his dreams came true more than he could ever imagine—money, houses, cars, sex, drugs, anything he wanted to try to find pleasure. But when Christ came in, Welch says he was given the gift of understanding life, which he now understands as, “everything was created for Christ, and by him, and we’re created to be with him. And it’s the most incredible feeling because you’re where you belong.”

Welch says, “The question about life is answered.”

Georgia Pastor Dies by Suicide While on Trial for Multiple Sex Offense Charges

By

Dale Chamberlain

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October 20, 2022

Christopher Daron Smith, a Georgia pastor who had been charged with multiple sex offenses involving the abuse of a minor, was found dead from a single gunshot wound to the head on Wednesday (October 19). Smith died by suicide during a recess of the court proceedings in his trial.

Smith was arrested in 2019 following a five-hour standoff with police, wherein he barricaded himself inside a home with a firearm, threatening to shoot himself. He eventually surrendered peacefully.

Following his arrest, Smith, who served as pastor of Word of Truth Outreach Ministries in Columbus, GA, was charged with two counts of sodomy, four counts of child molestation, two misdemeanor charges for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, one count of felony possession of a firearm in commission of a crime, one count of obstruction of justice, and one count of felony theft by receiving a firearm.

The latter charges involving a firearm stemmed from Smith’s standoff with police.

Smith entered a plea of not guilty, and trial began earlier this week.

“I done came to support him. He had to go to court,” said Robert Jones, Smith’s friend. “And that’s all I know.”

Shevon Thomas II, who served as Smith’s defense attorney, told WTVM that the judge called a five-minute recess before the last witness was set to be heard. Thomas said that during that time, Smith died behind Thomas’ office.

Smith’s legal team had sought a mistrial based on a witness sequestration issue. When the judge denied the motion, Smith’s attorneys requested a short break so that Smith could walk to his car to retrieve his glasses.

After Smith did not return, his body was discovered. Following the discovery of Smith’s body, the judge dismissed the jury to end the trial.

Karen Swallow Prior: We Can Be an Army of Wounded Warriors — Or a Collective of Wounded Healers

By

Karen Swallow Prior

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October 20, 2022

wounded healers — Photo by Rosie Fraser/Unsplash/Creative Commons

(RNS) — This summer, I learned — quite accidentally — that I’m a Highly Sensitive Person. I had never heard of such a thing. I was reading a book about another subject altogether, and the book mentioned this trait in passing.

Now, it’s not a big deal. Lots of people, I learned, are HSPs. Even so, upon reading more about it and taking the test, a great deal of my life suddenly made sense, even parts that I didn’t know could make more sense.

The people in my life have long made peace with my aversion to bright lights, synthetic material, and long trips away from home, for example. But what I now better understand is my constant feeling of being overwhelmed, especially over the past few years as my life has grown increasingly public in the midst of, and in part as a result of, ongoing controversies within my denominational and professional life.

I’m not in any of this alone, of course. The church at large and my denomination specifically are going through a reckoning unlike any that has taken place for generations, so it makes sense that many of us are distressed, disoriented or deconstructing.

Everywhere we turn — on social media, in the news, in our own families, among friends and in the church (especially in the church) — wounded people are crying out, voicing hurts and revealing pains that often have been carried and hidden for years.

This airing of wounds breaks longstanding, often unspoken, rules of an American culture characterized by a stoic stick-to-itiveness, one often translated by the church into a façade of happy-clappy, shiny people.

But, while I’m glad to see this new and brave vulnerability, bearing witness to these walking wounded brings wounds of its own — in the way a stone cast into the waters ripples out into eternity.

It hurts to see others hurt. It hurts to feel helpless, or worse, unwittingly complicit in another’s pain.

It hurts to see the long effects of abuse, of racism, of misogyny. It is painful to witness brothers and sisters fighting one another instead of serving, helping and loving one another. The polarization and division both in the church and out of it that we see played out in the news and on social media deliver fresh pain daily as the demonization of and by each side seems to ever intensify.

It’s hard at times not to despair.

My deepest desire on most days is simply to retreat. Yet, I can’t make myself not care. (Empathy is also linked to Highly Sensitive Persons.)

A close friend recently urged me to read Henri Nouwen’s “The Wounded Healer,” which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and is now a classic work of Christian literature.

Study: Religion and Spirituality Can Aid Youth Mental Health Crisis

By

Kathryn Post

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October 20, 2022

mental health — Photo by Ümit Bulut (via Unpslash)

(RNS) — It’s no secret America’s youth are in crisis.

Born into a tech-saturated world shaken by domestic terrorism, ecological devastation and economic instability, Gen-Zers are more likely to report mental health concerns like anxiety and depression than older generations. In many ways, the pandemic has forced mental health discourse into the limelight, prompting the U.S. surgeon general to issue an advisory last December on COVID-19’s “devastating” impact on youth mental health.

A new study of 13–25-year-olds, from Springtide Research Institute, suggests spirituality could be part of the remedy — though for some young people, it also contributes to the problem.

“I think religion … is a place to find belonging. It’s a place to connect with a higher purpose, which is a calling from God in my understanding,” said Mark, 22, an interviewee cited in the report. “I think it’s also, for many people, a restriction of freedom and sort of obligation, which creates a lot of shame in people’s lives.”

In general, the report — which is based on qualitative interviews as well as fielded surveys — finds that having religious/spiritual beliefs, identities, practices and communities are all correlated with better mental wellness among youth.

A majority of all young people (57%) and nearly three-quarters of religious young people (73%) surveyed agree their religious or spiritual practices positively impact their mental health. Many participants cite prayer as playing a role in their spiritual practice — 51% said they started praying regularly during the pandemic — and 74% of participants who pray daily say they are flourishing, compared to 57% who never pray.

"how often do you engage in the following as religious or spiritual practices?" Graphic courtesy of Springtide Research

“How often do you engage in the following as religious or spiritual practices?” Graphic courtesy of Springtide Research

Spiritual beliefs and community identity also correlate with positive mental health. Seventy-four percent of young people who identify as “very religious” say they agree or strongly agree that they are “in good physical and emotional condition,” compared to 42% of non-religious young people. Seven in 10 young people (70%) currently connected to a spiritual or religious community report having “discovered a satisfying life purpose,” as compared to 55% of those who used to be connected to such a community.

Forty-two percent of those who feel highly connected to a higher power report they are “flourishing a lot” in their emotional and mental health, compared to 16% of those who say they do not feel at all connected to a higher power.

Still, findings are complex — 27% of religiously affiliated youth say they are “flourishing a lot,” but 28% also say they are “not flourishing,” a finding that suggests simply being affiliated with a religion is not a mental health cure-all.

In interviews, participants also spoke about how religion can negatively impact their mental health.

“(Y)oung people make it clear that religion feels toxic when it is primarily presented as a pressure to live up to difficult expectations, rather than a vehicle for helping them navigate their current difficulties,” the report says.

In Branson, God and Country Serve as Red, White and Blue Comfort Food

By

Bob Smietana

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October 20, 2022

BRANSON, Mo. (RNS) — A night at the Dolly Parton Stampede is a microcosm of life in these polarized United States.

For nearly two hours, on a hot August night, a capacity crowd divided by North and South, Red and Blue, tried to outshout the other side, egged on by leaders who referred to the other side by creative, G-rated terms of derision.

The tension ramped up as two teams of riders dressed as cowboys and pioneers of the Old West competed to show which side could ride fastest, dodging obstacles and the occasional ring of fire — then breaking into songs or corn-pone jokes, while the audience cheered and devoured Cornish hens, biscuits and corn on the cob by the truckload.

At the end of the night, out came the American flag for a parade with a Dolly Parton soundtrack, designed to remind everyone that no matter where they came from, they all bleed red, white and blue.

“There really is no North or South, no East or West — because we are the United States of America” said the show’s emcee, decked out in a star-spangled outfit. “United under one flag.”

Then he asked the crowd, “Are you proud to be an American?” as Dolly Parton’s voice rose in “America the Beautiful.”

“America, America, God shed his grace on thee. And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.”

Welcome to Branson, Missouri, where the holy trinity of faith, flag and family reign supreme and where an inspirational, God-and-country style of Christian nationalism serves as comfort food for the American soul. For more than a century, weary pilgrims have sought spiritual renewal and rest from the troubles of modern life here in the heart of the Ozarks — hoping to find a nostalgic vision of a beautiful America.

St. Louis tourists were first drawn to Branson as a refuge where they could hunt and fish in its pristine wilderness. The area became filled with spiritual meaning after the 1917 publication of “The Shepherd of the Hills,” a bestselling novel by Disciples of Christ minister Harold Bell Wright, a tale of romance and redemption set in the hills of the Ozarks.

The popularity of “Shepherd of the Hills” eventually inspired an outdoor dinner-theater version of the story, which remains a popular tourist attraction in Branson, though the site of the show has been updated with zip lines and the mammoth Inspiration Tower, the highest point in the city.

Wright was a proponent of a conservative version of the social gospel, where a person’s loving actions on behalf of those in need matter more than their doctrine or prayers, said Aaron Ketchell, author of “Holy Hills of the Ozarks,” a history of religious tourism in Branson.

Wright’s dream of a nostalgic, nondenominational, inspirational holy space remains part of the soul of Branson, said Ketchell. While the message is Christian, he said, it’s not doctrinaire or evangelistic. Instead, the message is aspirational, focused on hope and love rather than conversion.

After Horrific Brain Injury, Running to a Reaffirmed Faith

By

Scott Barkley

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October 20, 2022

After-horrific-brain-injury-running-to-a-reaffirmed-faith — Erica Baggett holds the medal as the first woman to finish the Shepherd Center 5K held Oct. 4. Courtesy of Baptist Press.

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (BP) – Four years ago Erica Baggett nearly lost her life. She also marks it as the day she received a great gift.

An avid runner, Erica completed the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in Nashville last April. She had already finished her first half-marathon the year before in Kentucky and wanted to accept a greater challenge. With a goal of one day participating in the Boston Marathon, she is signed up for the upcoming Thanksgiving Turkey Burn, a half-marathon in Spring Hill, Tenn.

That would make you wonder why she was so emotional after finishing a fairly nondescript 5K earlier this month.

It’s because that race was hosted at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, which treats those with traumatic brain injuries. It’s the place where not that long ago Erica’s family was told to be ready; she likely would need help for the rest of her life with simple tasks like showering and brushing her teeth.

In the same way she has exceeded that prognosis, Erica not only finished the 5K that day. She was the first woman to cross the finish line.

An unforgettable day

“I remember nothing,” Erica said.Erica Baggett makes the final turn in April 2021 to finish the Kentucky Derby Festival Half-Marathon, held in Louisville. It was her first half-marathon.

She doesn’t recall the drive with her husband, Josh, and little boy, Hall, to Oxford, Miss., to watch their Ole Miss Rebels play Auburn on Oct. 19, 2018. She doesn’t remember unbuckling her seat belt and turning around to try and calm Hall, fussy like toddlers get on a road trip.

She doesn’t remember the semi-truck striking their Nissan Rogue on the passenger side nor getting thrown through the window and landing about 40 feet away. The next two months were spent at the Memphis ICU trauma center before being transferred to Shepherd, where she began to emerge from a two-month coma.

“Bits and pieces,” she said. “I remember some things from that time.”

Josh and Hall were injury-free from the wreck. Erica, however, had experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI), occurring when a sudden, external, physical assault damages the brain. She also suffered from a level 3 diffuse axonal injury (DAI).

A level 3 DAI happens when the brain shifts or rotates inside the skull. It includes focal lesions to the brainstem as well as the corpus callosum, a bundle of some 200 million nerve fibers that allows the left and right sides of the brain to communicate. It is the connector for physical coordination and the taking in of complex information that requires both hemispheres to work in harmony.

Also, it must be noted, corpus callosum is Latin for “tough body.”

The old Erica

“Help yourself to a navy outfit.”

It goes without saying that brain injuries are different than those requiring a bandage or cast. They affect a myriad of motor and cognitive functions. One of the big worries was even if Erica were to heal, would she still be Erica?

That answer came the day her father walked into her room at the Shepherd Center wearing a polo shirt and shorts of the same navy blue hue. It demanded commentary.

“I hated it and have always been sarcastic,” Erica told Baptist Press.

Josh was there as a witness.

“He had been coming in and asking how she was, but she wouldn’t reply with anything that really made sense,” he said.

But that day, “never has a daughter roasted her dad so good. He recognized it was the old Erica.”

Progress came, but was measured differently. She learned how to talk and swallow. Eventually the danger of her falling subsided. But confusion remained.

Biden Pledges To Make Abortion Rights No. 1 Priority in Congress

By

Tom Strode

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October 20, 2022

WASHINGTON (BP) – Pro-life leaders expressed their strong objection to President Biden’s promise Tuesday (Oct. 18) to make enshrining Roe v. Wade in law his legislative priority if Democrats control Congress in January.

If voters elect more Democrats to the U.S. Senate and keep his party in the majority in the House of Representatives, the “first bill” he will send to Congress will be “to codify Roe v. Wade,” Biden said in a speech dedicated to the abortion issue. If Congress approves the legislation, the president said he will sign it into law in January, 50 years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe ruling legalized abortion nationwide.

Biden’s pledge is the latest evidence of the devotion of his administration and party to protect expansive abortion rights, especially in the wake of the high court’s June opinion that overruled Roe and returned abortion regulation to the states.

“The ability to take innocent life should not be part of anyone’s governing agenda,” said Brent Leatherwood, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). “Despite the prevailing narrative, Americans do not support the abortion regime and its abortion-on-demand vision.

“Instead of catering to those extremes, the president and whichever party controls Congress should work together to prioritize saving defenseless lives, serving mothers and helping ensure that families can be formed and flourish,” he told Baptist Press in written comments.

“Not only is that fertile ground for solutions that would speak to the vast majority of Americans, it would advance a vision consistent with our nation’s founding promise, namely that each person is guaranteed the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

The Nov. 8 elections in the middle of his first term as president will determine whether Biden once again will have a Democratic Congress or whether he will face a Republican or divided legislature. Democrats have a 220-212 advantage in the House currently and control the Senate despite a 50-50 split between the parties.

In races for control of the Senate, some Democratic candidates have refused to name any limitation they would place on abortion, while some Republican candidates have been hesitant to offer a robust defense of abortion bans.

Biden has endorsed the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), an abortion rights bill that supporters of the proposal have described as a codification of the Roe opinion. The WHPA, however, would eclipse the 1973 ruling by prohibiting federal and state regulations of the procedure that were permitted by the Supreme Court under Roe.

Pro-life advocates have pointed out the WHPA would eliminate such pro-life protections as state bans on abortions based on the sex of the preborn baby and those after 20 weeks because of evidence the child feels pain by that point. It also would annul parental involvement laws, as well as longstanding bans on taxpayer funding of abortion and conscience protections for pro-life health care workers, they say.

Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life of America, said the president’s “disingenuous and dangerous pledge to prioritize abortion over all the other issues facing this nation shows desperation about the mid-terms and a grave misunderstanding of mainstream America’s views on the issue of abortion.”

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5 Snares of the Enemy

1. He magnifies the temporary and minimizes the long-term.

2. He elevates the fear of missing out over the joy of obedience.

3. He promotes the secrecy of sin over submission to God.

4. He encourages listening to the world’s voice over the Word of God.

5. He pushes independence and isolation over fellowship with the people of God.

10 Misconceptions About Pastors

1. We never struggle with spiritual disciplines.

2. We’re all certain about our calling.

3. We don’t have to pay taxes.

4. We never get nervous preaching the Word.

5. Our faith keeps us from getting wounded.

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Brian Welch Ex-Wife: Rebekah

Brian Welch Accepting Jesus

“God used her to save me”

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