Grow Youth Ministry by Adding More of These 10 Key Components

October 3, 2022

Need tips on how to grow youth ministry? Want to build up your church’s program to teens? When I wrote about 10 Things Youth Ministry Needs Less Of, that article generated lots of discussion and insightful comments. (Check them out, if you haven’t already.)

My point wasn’t to simply be a critic. Instead, I wanted to make space for things I think are really important. For example, if your youth ministry currently holds a midweek worship service, how much time and energy would you free up for leaders if you canceled it? I would expect quite a lot.

If we’re going to do less of certain things, what do we need more of? To grow youth ministry at your church, I propose these 10 suggestions. Let me know if you agree!

10 Ways to Grow Youth Ministry

1. Adults

Our students don’t need adults to teach them. They need adults who know them. And the only way teens can be truly known is by making sure plenty of adults care about them and listen to them. Unless your adult-to-student ratio is 10:1, you could use more.

2. Intimacy

We need to quit using the word relationships (“It’s all about the relationships”). Instead, let’s start talking about intimacy. We don’t need to do more activities to build relationships. We need to build more intimacy within our relationships.

Intimacy tells what kinds of relationships we’re trying to develop. To truly know the young people in our congregations, we must talk about things that matter, not just what happened at school this week. Having a 20-minute breakout group after a sermon isn’t enough time for students to develop intimacy with adults or other students. You need extended blocks of time over the long-term to truly develop intimacy and to grow youth ministry.

3. Prayer

Prayer is a naturally intimate pattern of speech. So to develop intimacy with our students, we need to be praying with and for them regularly. Again, time is a necessary ingredient for prayers to develop beyond shallowness. (For more thoughts on prayer and intimacy, see Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work by Eugene Peterson.)

4. Scripture

Scripture teaches us how to pray, how to relate to one another, and how to relate to God. Research shows that teens are typically very biblically illiterate. So we need to do our best to weave Scripture in with whatever we’re doing. I would caution against adding and adding Bible studies, because that could have issues of its own.

5. Passion

Are we calling students to something worth giving their life for? Teenagers are naturally passionate (i.e., middle school girls and Justin Bieber) if they find something they think is worth their time. To grow youth ministry, somehow we must recover the passion in our faith. (See Practicing Passion by Kenda Dean for more.)

6. Life Coaching

We seem to assume that every student needs to do well in school and then go to college and then go get a job. What about the kid who is struggling in English, math and science but is a brilliant artist? Or what about the student who always struggles academically but came into his own when you were building houses on a mission trip? Should we harp on kids to get their grades up (and to concentrate less on things they’re actually good at) so they can go to college? Or should we encourage them to develop and express their natural gifts and abilities?

I think we need to pay attention to the uniqueness of each student in our church. We need to help them grow and mature individually, not encourage them to conform to our assumptions about the path everyone needs to take. (I’m not sure if “life coaching” is the best label, but it’s what came to mind. Suggest something better in the comments!)

7. Integration

Youth ministry needs to think of itself less as a separate program of the church. Instead, view it more as a network of relationships helping teenagers grow in faith. As such, youth ministry must better integrate with other areas of the church.

When you encourage a girl to join the adult choir (or praise team) and then go ask a woman to take her under her wing, that is youth ministry. When you send a guy who’s good with his hands with the men’s group to build houses for a week instead of taking him with you to camp, that is youth ministry. And when you cancel your normal youth group activities for a week to allow students to lead VBS, that is youth ministry.

The goal is to see people growing in Christ, not to see them coming to your events and programs. We need to seek out ways to integrate students in ways that fit their unique gifts.

Questions About the Bible: How You Can Be Ready to Answer Kids

Jon Bloom

October 3, 2022

Questions about the Bible come up often with young children. Kids are thinkers. They ask good and sometimes hard questions about Scripture. Between ages 5 and 8, my kids asked me some of the hardest theological questions. They’ve queried me on comparative religion, death, eternity, heaven, hell, Jesus and the cross. What about all those people who have never had a chance to hear the gospel?

Interestingly, these questions about the Bible tend to come at bedtime. But frankly, I don’t care if they are at times bedtime-stalling techniques. Such questions are always worth staying awake to talk about.

One of my children repeatedly pressed me with questions like, “How do you know that Christianity is the right belief?” That naturally led us to talking about the Bible. Who wrote it? How is it God’s word if men wrote it? What makes it different from other religions’ holy books? How do we know it doesn’t have mistakes in it? What does it not tell us?

Christianity stands or falls on the reliability, inspiration and authority of the Bible. Children pick up on that early. We tell them that they should trust the Bible. At some point, they will (and should) ask why (if they feel it’s OK to ask). So here are a few answers (in language I would speak to my 9-year-old twins) that might be helpful for mealtime (or bedtime!) discussions.

6 Questions About the Bible

As a parent or teacher, you’ll likely hear some variation of these questions about the Bible.

1. How Do We Know the Bible is Reliable?

We know that our Bible says the same things as the Bibles people read thousands of years ago because so many ancient Bible manuscripts have survived. We have more than 5,000 full or partial Bible manuscripts. They allow us to compare them with each other and our current versions for accuracy. No other book from the ancient world even comes close to as many surviving manuscripts. Most other ancient classical works have 20 or less.

But far more important than having lots of old manuscripts is the fact that when we read the Bible ourselves, it begins to win our trust. It is no ordinary book! It has an authority all on its own. The Bible contains 66 books written by 40 different authors in three different languages (Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic). It was written over a period of about 1,500 years yet is consistent—it all fits together—and doesn’t contradict itself!

You don’t have to be a scholar to see this. The Bible shows itself to be the word of God to those who read it! Here’s how a children’s catechism (or teaching lesson) from over 360 years ago says it:

Question: How doth it appear that the Scriptures are the word of God?

Answer: The Scriptures manifest themselves to be the word of God, by their majesty and purity; by the consent of all the parts, and the scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God; by their light and power to convince and convert sinners, to comfort and build up believers unto salvation: but the Spirit of God bearing witness by and with the Scriptures in the heart of man, is alone able fully to persuade it that they are the very Word of God. (Westminster Larger Catechism, question 4)

2. Who Decided What Should Be in the Bible (Authority)?

Actually, God did. No individual or group of people or institution decided which writings would be in the Bible. Each book of the Bible has its own story about how it came to be included in the Scriptures, but in each case God caused his people over time to recognize these writings as manifesting the power and authority of the Holy Spirit.

That’s why the Apostle Paul wrote, “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). God has used men, councils and the church to weed out the writings that were not inspired by God (a lot of wrong and even strange teachings have been written!), but God himself determined the Scriptures. And this means that every individual, group of people, church and denomination are under the authority of Holy Scripture as God’s revealed written word and must submit to Scripture as their final authority.

Co-Founder of ‘Dating App for the Right Wing’ Expects To Draw Christians

Jessica Mouser

October 3, 2022

The Right Stuff, a new dating app aimed at political conservatives, launched on Sept. 30, 2022. John McEntee, former Trump administration personnel chief, and Daniel Huff, former Trump appointee in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, co-founded the app, which is billed as “a dating app for the right wing.”

“Right now, conservatives are spread out on all these different dating apps,” writes McEntee in an article for Newsweek. “We’re consolidating that.” He continues:

I believe conservatives exist on mainstream dating apps, but have to hide their political views because the vitriol against them is so strong. We’re trying to be traditional in our values, but keep things light. The biggest difference is that whether you’re looking for marriage, a serious relationship or just fun, it’s almost guaranteed that everyone on the network will support your political views.

The Right Stuff Targets the Right Wing

The website for The Right Stuff says, “The Right Stuff was created for conservatives to connect in authentic and meaningful ways. Other dating apps have gone woke. We bring people together with shared values and similar passions.” One of the selling points for the app is that users will get “back to normal” by not putting their pronouns in their profiles.

Women in an ad for the app say they are looking for partners who are conservative and who value faith and family. They say they want conservative men because these men actually act like men and treat women like women. One woman says she likes men who are “masculine,” while another says she likes “the Alpha male vibe.” One value all of the women in the commercial agree on is that the men they are looking for absolutely cannot be Democrats.

When people sign up for The Right Stuff, the app asks them to list their sex as either male or female and then asks for height, birthday, hometown, and whether or not they want children. People select from the following religious beliefs: Buddhist, Catholic, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Spiritual or Non Practicing. Following that, users add a profile picture and select five additional photos for their profiles. Users also have the option of adding music to their profiles, which viewers will hear as the profile photos appear consecutively.

Prompts users can select include ones that are fairly typical for dating apps, such as ”Fact about me that surprises people” and “Give me travel tips for.” Others that are not as typical include “Favorite fact about America” and “Favorite liberal lie.”

A key feature of The Right Stuff is that it is “invite-only,” meaning that users cannot sign up for it without an invitation. “The platform is invite-only, which means as long as users don’t intentionally mislead someone or promote something harmful they’re allowed on The Right Stuff,” says McEntee. “But, if someone who was disrespectful of conservative views did make their way onto the app, other users could simply un-match them. We’re trusting our initial influencer group to create a high-quality network.”

Once users set up their profiles, the app requires the invitation and requests to access users’ contacts to see if any friend can send that invitation. If users decide to wait for an invitation, the app suggests they invite their “right wing friends” in the meantime. The invite-only nature of the app is the source of much of the frustration expressed in negative reviews left in Apple’s App Store, where The Right Stuff currently has 2.8 out of 5 stars.

McEntee told Religion News Service that he believes Christians will make up the majority of the app’s users. Curiously, while The Right Stuff does not offer options for LGBTQ users, it is funded in part by Peter Thiel, a billionaire who is in a same-sex marriage.

Dominion Dating: For ‘Biblically Faithful Singles’

Another app trying to appeal to a niche audience is Dominion Dating, which gets its name from God’s command to Adam and Eve to rule the earth in Genesis 1:28. Dominion Dating’s website says, “Join a growing network of bold, biblical singles ready to build families, shape culture, and obey the creation mandate by being fruitful, multiplying, and exercising dominion over the world.”

Sean Feucht Calls Out Lecrae for Supporting Pro-Abortion Politicians After Lecrae Claims To Be ‘Kingdom,’ Not Partisan

Jesse T. Jackson

October 3, 2022

Lecrae Sean Feucht — (L) Screengrab via Instagram @seanfeucht (R) Photo courtesy of Sean Feucht.

Grammy award-winning Christian hip-hop artist Lecrae told his followers on Twitter last Thursday (Sept. 29), “I’m not progressive. I’m not liberal. I’m not conservative. I’m Kingdom,” making it clear where he stands when it comes to the topic of politics.

In response, political activist and “Let Us Worship” leader Sean Feucht posted an image of Lecrae with his arm around lawyer and pro-abortion politician, Stacey Abrams (D), with the caption, “Really????”

Feucht continued, “What’s confusing to believers is that you’ve even campaigned with extreme progressive pro-abortion candidates ([Raphael] Warnock (D)/[Jon] Ossoff (D)) and then claim to be apolitical.”

Feucht was referring to a “vote early” rally in Georgia, which was held ahead of Georgia’s Senate runoff elections in 2020. Lecrae shared on Phil Vischer’s “Holy Post” podcast that he was under the impression that the event would be bipartisan—a mistake in information he wasn’t aware of until after his performance.

Lecrae told those at the 2020 rally to support Warnock and Ossoff, saying, “We all have a very unique opportunity to continue making a difference in this city [and] continue making a difference in this country. And that’s exercising our right to vote. So I want to continue to promote that this is a reality of freedom that we get to cherish, especially here in the state of Georgia, in the city of Atlanta—in a city of many great historic figures who laid their lives down for us to take [our] right, take ownership of this opportunity.”

Lecrae continued, “So in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King and in the spirit of Andrew Young, I want to continue to remind us that we’re free. We are free now to vote. So let’s get out there and make sure we do that.”

The rapper then performed the song “Set Me Free” from his album “Restoration,” singing to the small crowd, “You can pick a side if you wanna; you already know who I roll with. You don’t want no problems with me. Get these shackles off of my feet.”

Both Warnock and Ossoff went on to win their campaigns, Ossoff defeating David Perdue (R) and Warnock defeating Kelly Loeffler (R) to become United State Senators.

Feucht told Lecrae, “I would honestly love to know/understand why [you] (along with probably many others)” supported the two politicians. Feucht then asked Lecrae if he’d be open to a dialogue.

Lecrae responded to Feucht, explaining that the image of him and Abrams was taken four years ago, adding, “I’d hate to think people aren’t allowed to change their views. One thing I can say for myself, I live by my views. They may change but when I believe it I’m all in.”

Joyce Meyer Conference Lineup Includes Chris Tomlin, Joel Osteen and Christine Caine

Stephanie Martin

October 3, 2022

Following the recent 40^th anniversary celebration of Joyce Meyer’s LoveLife Women’s Conference, some people are questioning why certain Christian speakers and musicians participated. Meyer, a charismatic preacher and author, previously had ties with the prosperity gospel movement and was one of several televangelists investigated by the U.S. Senate in 2007.

The lineup for the St. Louis conference, held September 22 to 24, included speakers Joel Osteen and Christine Caine, plus contemporary Christian musicians Tauren Wells and Chris Tomlin.

Joyce Meyer Is ‘A Spiritual Mother,’ Says Christine Caine

Christine Caine, co-founder of the Propel Women ministry and the anti-human trafficking A21 Campaign, preached at Meyer’s conference. Afterward, she shared photos on social media and described the “powerful” experience celebrating “40 years of faithfulness.”

Of the 79-year-old Meyer, Caine writes: “Momma J is full of more passion and compassion than ever. I thank God for a spiritual mother and role model who inspires me to run hard after Jesus until my last breath.” Caine adds, “I would not be who I am today” without Meyer.

In response, Meyer expresses her love for Caine, commenting, “I’m very thankful for our friendship.” Meyer adds, “Looking forward to being with you and @shelleygiglio at the @pcc_thegrove conference coming up!” The Grove Conference had been scheduled for the following weekend at Passion City Church in Atlanta but was postponed due to Hurricane Ian.

Although comments on Caine’s Instagram post were mostly supportive, that wasn’t the case for worship leader Chris Tomlin.

Critics Question ‘Credibility’ of Chris Tomlin

Award-winning Christian musician Tomlin shared a photo of the event on Instagram, writing, “Wonderful night at the 40th anniversary of the Joyce Meyer conference…grateful to be a part of the celebration!”

In response, someone comments: “Well there goes your credibility. #heresy I guess you all stick together.” Another writes: “Seriously…why bro? Joyce Meyer? False teacher, you should have not teamed up with her or any other know heretic/prosperity gospel preacher.” Someone else notes: “She is a false teacher, this is a reflection on what you believe about the gospel. Very sad.”

Pastor Josh Buice, whose Georgia church recently left the Southern Baptist Convention, tweeted about Tomlin’s appearance. “The most prolific musician within the contemporary Christian music industry celebrated & promoted one of the most dangerous false teachers of our day,” he writes.

‘Inappropriate’ Photos of Daughter Outside of Church Building Get Father Reprimanded by Facebook Friend

Dale Chamberlain

October 3, 2022

facebook inappropriate — Screengrabs via Reddit @ArtByBriannaJoy

A conversation about modesty in church—even for people standing outside the building—swelled online after a woman posted images of herself wearing an evening gown and posing in front of a Catholic Church alongside the Facebook messages her father received after he shared the pictures.

The woman, named Brianna, took to Reddit and wrote, “I posted these photos on Facebook from a gala I went to last weekend and this is the DM my dad received.”

“I’m sending this private message because I don’t want to post publicly,” the message read. “I’m deeply saddened and disturbed that you and Brianna would pose in front of [redacted] Catholic Church. I suppose I really don’t mind using the church as a backdrop, but several of her pictures, appearing to show her legs, seems inappropriate.”

“Would you pose like that in front of [redacted] Baptist Church? I don’t think so. I attend [redacted] and that’s why I’m sensitive. I suggest you take down those few [pictures in] which she is posing with so much of her leg showing,” the message continued. “She is a beautiful lady!”

After some time passed with no response, the person followed up with another message.

“This is my second message…Brianna is beautiful. But I am offended by the provocative poses in front of [redacted] church. That’s disrespectful to everyone at the Catholic Church and simply not acceptable. Please take down from your posts those provocative poses,” the message read.

Later in the Reddit thread, Brianna clarified, “I am a photographer and I have taken 1,000’s of photos in front of this church, and every time the pastor or elder in the church has seen me and my clients they have been nothing but kind, accepting, and loving. No matter what my or my client’s appearance was.”

“They have even offered for us to use the interior as a backdrop and invited us inside to eat with them,” Brianna added. “I always ask permission to photograph there when I see a leader or elder and they always are happy we are there and using their beautiful church as our backdrop. This is not a representation of the religion or church which I guess is why these messages she sent my father bother me.”

Brianna further expressed that she was in the area for a charity gala and walked over to the church building to take a couple photos, adding, “I’m incredibly insecure and haven’t had my photo taken in years and this was my opportunity to do what I have always wanted to do.”

Eric Geiger: What the ‘Alarming’ State of Theology Report Means for the Church

Jessica Mouser

October 3, 2022

The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast · Eric Geiger: What the ‘Alarming’ State of Theology Report Means for the Church

Eric Geiger is the senior pastor of Mariners Church in Irvine, California. Before moving to Southern California, he served as senior vice president for LifeWay Christian Resources. Eric received his doctorate in leadership and church ministry from Southern Seminary, and he has authored or co-authored several books, including the best-selling church leadership book, Simple Church.

Other Ways to Listen to This Podcast With Eric Geiger

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Key Questions for Eric Geiger

-What was your reaction when you saw the State of Theology report?

-Why is it important for the average person to understand theology?

-How do you try to help people in your church be more deeply connected to theology?

-Are we in a “crisis of discipleship”? How do we have more effective discipleship?

Key Quotes From Eric Geiger

“I wasn’t overly surprised [by the report] just because if you’re not going to sit under the teaching of Scripture consistently, you can develop some unhealthy beliefs about God and about all that he’s done and all that he’s doing in the world.”

“When you have people who claim that they are Christ-followers and believe the Bible and then come to some of the conclusions that people are saying they’ve come to, it is definitely alarming.”

“I remember when I first was pastoring…you’d have people Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. So a lot of opportunities for theological training…it just has dramatically shifted really in a generation.”

“As you know, when you teach expositionally through a text, the weeks build on one another. Well, the challenge I have is there’s very few of the people who will be there consecutively all 10 weeks. So that’s just a reality that we have as pastors.”

“Both can be true at the same time. There’s a deficit in theological thinking and understanding among God’s people. And at the same time, there is this hunger among God’s people to know and to understand the deeper things of God.”

“Think about this: 60% of the people who would be in our churches believe that the Holy Spirit is a force and not the third person of the Trinity who I have a deep and abiding personal relationship with. And so why does that matter? I mean, it matters so much because if the people I pastor think of the Spirit as only a force, then that’s a power that they can use for their own advantages.”

2-Time Emmy Winner First Black SBC State Communications Head

Diana Chandler

October 3, 2022

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) – Lawrence Smith, recruited to lead communications for the Kentucky Baptist Convention (KBC), finds inspiration in the biblical example of Luke.

“I’ve always tried to point to the first four verses of the Gospel of Luke,” Smith told Baptist Press. “I consider Luke to be a great journalist. He’s known as a physician of course, but I think he’s a great journalist.”

Luke 1:1-4 tells of Luke’s desire to write for Theophilus a truthful and orderly account of what eyewitnesses said of Jesus, accounts that Luke himself investigated.

“I take that to heart,” Smith said. “That is kind of my mission, is to do what Luke did, to write orderly accounts of Who Jesus is and what He’s doing. That’s what motivates me to do what I do.”

Smith, a two-time Emmy winner who has worked in journalism and Southern Baptist life for decades, didn’t realize he would be the first African American to direct communications for a Southern Baptist state convention when he began at the KBC in January.

“To be honest, that’s not something I think about. I’m just working with fellow believers and for a common mission,” he said. “It’s a good thing. But I hope that one day that is no longer a story in the SBC. I think we’re getting there.” He believes the SBC will enjoy greater diversity in leadership roles as the roll of Southern Baptists increases in diversity.

Smith was also the first African American vice president at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary when he served as the vice president for communication there from 2001-2009.

“I hope eventually that I stop breaking ground that way,” he said. “It’s a common occurrence.”

In his new role, Smith directors KBC communications, edits Kentucky Today and manages a communications staff he praises for its legacy and award-winning work.

Smith came to the KBC after 10 years as a reporter at WDRB-TV, the Louisville FOX affiliate. He won Emmys for his coverage of the 2020 protests following the shooting death of Breonna Taylor by Louisville police officers, and for team coverage of the December 2021 tornadoes in Eastern Kentucky. Smith is a 2015 winner of the KBC Integrity Award for his news coverage of faith issues.

KBC Executive Director-Treasurer Todd Gray recruited Smith to the post after the departure of Brandon Porter, now associate vice president for convention news at the SBC Executive Committee.

“Lawrence Smith is a gift from God to Kentucky Baptists,” Gray told Baptist Press. “We knew when we started talking to Lawrence Smith about the position of communications director for the Kentucky Baptist Convention that he was highly qualified for the work,” Gray said, citing Smith’s lifelong career in communications. “Lawrence is a godly man, committed husband and father, and an active member and Sunday School teacher in a Kentucky Baptist church.

“He came into a highly demanding job in a challenging time and has performed even better than I could have imagined. Lawrence is a gifted leader and brings to our team an understanding of the industry along with a calm temperament and an excellent work ethic.”

Smith is modernizing Kentucky Today operations with the launch of a Kentucky Today app to make the website more accessible, newly available as the Kentucky Baptist Convention app in app stores. He expresses excitement in leading KBC communications in coming alongside churches to spread the Gospel. With a background in television news, he is adding video stories to Kentucky Today, recently highlighting disaster relief efforts in Eastern Kentucky.

“The thing that surprised me most when I got here was to discover how much the KBC does, and our department is responsible for communicating that and promoting that,” Smith said, “and also telling the stories of what the 2,300-plus churches are doing. When I first got here, I spent a lot of time just learning kind of what we do.”

Smith notes Kentucky Today Managing Editor Mark Maynard and Kentucky Today Content Strategist Chip Hutcheson are both members of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame, and commends the staff for doing great work.

“I enjoy what I’m doing here,” he said. “I enjoy the stories we get to tell.”

Smith began working in Southern Baptist life shortly after his salvation in the mid-1980s when he was a Houston television reporter. He joined First Baptist Church of Houston, then under the pastorate of John Bisagno, and volunteered at the church television ministry. The church hired him fulltime to work in its TV ministry, which he did two years before reentering the Houston television reporting market.

He and his wife Garnetta, now married for more than 43 years, were drawn to their Kentucky roots and returned to the state. They are longtime active members of Highview Baptist Church in Louisville. He is vice chairman of the deacon board, lead deacon for Highview’s East campus, a community group leader and teacher.

Garnetta Smith, also active in Southern Baptist life, is director of the Center for Student Success and women’s support coordinator at SBTS and Boyce College. The Smiths have two adult sons.

He applauds the Southern Baptist Convention and describes it as attractive to a great diversity of ethnicities.

“People know what the SBC stands for,” he said. “We stand on the truth of the Gospel. We stand on evangelism. We stand on missions. The Cooperative Program is one of the greatest programs ever launched for spreading the Gospel throughout the world; that is just a brilliant idea for combining our resources to spread the Gospel throughout the world, from Paduka to Peru. And that story needs to get out.

“I think the more people see that story of what the Cooperative Program is, what it does and how effective it is for spreading the Gospel, the more people of any ethnicity will want to be a part of that.”

This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.

Pastor Retires From Texas Church Where Gunman Killed 26 People in 2017

Diana Chandler

October 3, 2022

sutherland_pastor_retires — Members of First Baptist Church Sutherland Springs, Texas, gather around their pastor Frank Pomeroy and his wife Sherri Sunday, Sept. 25, after Pomeroy preached his last sermon as pastor. Courtesy of Baptist Press.

SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas (BP) – Frank Pomeroy was hunting in the wet and cold Alaskan bush when the Lord gave him his final sermon as senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs.

Considering the grizzlies, black bear, wolves and rain, Pomeroy suspected the message would somehow encompass creation.

“But God kept bringing me back to, this was an opportunity for me to share what’s important for the church to continue on,” Pomeroy told Baptist Press, “and that’s when He … led me to Paul’s letter to Ephesus (Acts 20) and we just went from there.First Baptist Church Sutherland Springs presented a cake to Pastor Frank Pomeroy to mark his 20 years as pastor of the church. The cake celebrated Pomeroy’s consistent messages despite extreme hardship — Love never fails; Evil did not win. Submitted photo

The tragedy First Sutherland Springs weathered when a gunman killed 26 worshipers and wounded 22 others on Nov. 5, 2017, is perhaps the memory the church’s name most readily provokes. But First Sutherland Springs has ministered since 1926 in the small community of less than 1,000 people, 20 years under the leadership of Pomeroy.

“What really brings Sutherland Springs together over these 20 years is that there really is a true sense of relationship and family,” he said. “And therefore, we have always been very inclusive of the community, and that the church would be the center of the community, whether it was during a tragedy or in the good times.

“High on the mountain or low in the valley, there’s always been a true sense of family with those in the community. And that’s the thing I think I cherish the most, is that love never fails, as Paul said, and that love will extend to everyone who will come and listen to the Word.

“I think again, if we can be remembered as promoting and making sure everyone knew that that pulpit was never my pulpit, it’s always God’s pulpit,” he said, “and as being God’s pulpit, He’s reaching out to whomsoever that will listen. And the defining thing would be that that church is not the building, it’s the body, and the body should be out including everyone.”

Pomeroy and his wife Sherri have sold their home to their youngest son Korey and daughter-in-law Ashley, downsized their belongings to a camper trailer and are planning a brief road trip before returning to Texas, perhaps for a campground ministry. But he’s not certain of God’s plan.

Their 14-year-old daughter Annabelle was among those killed when Devin Kelley walked in the church and began shooting indiscriminately in what remains the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history. Kelley fled the scene and shot himself to death.

The church survived the tragedy by choosing victory, Pomeroy said.

“We could have been validated by the world to choose hate and ugliness and play the victim card,” he preached, “or we could choose to say we are not victims, we are victors. We choose to put our faith in something greater than ourselves. … I don’t understand, but I know I can’t go back and change what’s already done, but I choose from this day forward to say, ‘Lord, You are in control.’ And God has taken that, has made Sutherland Springs a lighthouse on a hill.

UN, Abuse Survivor Groups Seek Vatican Investigation of Belo

Nicole Winfield

October 3, 2022

Carlos Ximenes Belo — FILE - Nobel Peace Prize laureate, East Timor bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo displays his certificate and medal during the Nobel ceremony at the Oslo townhall, on Dec. 10, 1996. Belo has been accused in a Dutch magazine article of sexually abusing boys in East Timor in the 1990s, rocking the Catholic Church in the impoverished nation and forcing officials at the Vatican and his religious order to scramble to provide answers. (AP Photo/Bjoern Sigurdsoen, File)

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The United Nations and advocacy groups for survivors of clergy sexual abuse are urging Pope Francis to authorize a full investigation of Catholic Church archives on three continents to ascertain who knew what and when about sexual abuse by Nobel Peace Prize-winning Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, the revered independence hero of East Timor.

The Vatican’s sex abuse office said last week that it had secretly sanctioned Belo in 2020, forbidding him from having contact with minors or with East Timor, based on misconduct allegations that arrived in Rome in 2019. That was the year Francis approved a new church law that required all cases of predator prelates to be reported in-house and established a mechanism to investigate bishops, who had long escaped accountability for abuse or cover-up during the church’s decades-long scandal.

But a brief statement by the Vatican, issued after Dutch magazine De Groen Amsterdammer exposed the Belo scandal by quoting two of his alleged victims, didn’t reveal what church officials might have known before 2019.

Belo won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 with fellow East Timorese independence icon Jose Ramos-Horta for campaigning for a fair and peaceful solution to conflict in their home country as it struggled to gain independence from Indonesia. He is revered in East Timor and was celebrated abroad for his bravery in calling out human rights abuses by Indonesian rulers despite threats against his life.

But six years after winning the prize, in 2002, Belo suddenly retired as the head of the church in East Timor, a former Portuguese colony. At 54, he was two decades shy of the normal retirement age for bishops, and he never held an episcopal appointment after that.

He has said he retired for health reasons and because of stress and to give the newly independent East Timor different church leadership. But within a year of his retirement, Belo had been sent by the Vatican and his Salesian missionary order to another former Portuguese colony, Mozambique, to work as a missionary priest. There, he has said, he spent his time “teaching catechism to children, giving retreats to young people.”

He is currently in Portugal, where the Salesians have said they took him in at the request of their superiors. His whereabouts are unclear, and he didn’t respond when contacted by Portuguese media.

Advocates for survivors cite the in-house investigation that Francis authorized and published in 2020 into defrocked American Cardinal Theodore McCarrick in calling for a similar forensic study of church archives for Belo.

The McCarrick investigation, which began after new allegations surfaced in 2018 that McCarrick sexually abused a teenage altar boy, exposed how a series of bishops, cardinals and even popes over two decades dismissed or downplayed reports that he slept with his seminarians and allowed him to rise through the church hierarchy.

There is no indication yet that Francis is prepared to authorize a similar investigation into Belo. There doesn’t appear to be any groundswell of indignation within East Timor’s Catholic community, as there was among U.S. Catholics over McCarrick. On the contrary, in the impoverished, overwhelmingly Catholic country, where the church holds enormous influence, many rallied behind Belo despite the allegations.

Francis did meet Saturday with his ambassador to Portugal as well as the head of the Portuguese Bishops Conference, who himself is reportedly accused of covering up for other abuser priests. The Vatican provided no details about the private meetings, but Francis is expected to visit Portugal next summer for World Youth Day.

Anne Barrett-Doyle, of the online resource Bishop Accountability, called for Francis to order a “full and sweeping investigation of the Belo case including past and present church officials from all ranks and dicasteries and from every relevant region, from East Timor to Portugal to Rome to Mozambique.”

Pope Warns of Nuclear War Risk; Appeals to Putin on Ukraine

Frances D'Emilio

October 3, 2022

pope_appeal — Pope Francis leaves after the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. Pope Francis has appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, imploring him to "stop this spiral of violence and death" in Ukraine. The pontiff also called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to "be open" to serious peace proposals. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin for a cease-fire, imploring him to “stop this spiral of violence and death” in Ukraine and denouncing the “absurd” risk of the “uncontrollable” consequences of nuclear attack as tensions sharply escalate over the war.

Francis uttered his strongest plea yet about the seventh-month-old conflict, which he denounced as an “error and a horror.”

It was the first time in public that he cited Putin’s role in the war. The pontiff also called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to “be open” to serious peace proposals.

Francis told the public, gathered in St. Peter’s Square, that he was abandoning his usual religious theme for his Sunday noon remarks to concentrate his reflection on Ukraine.

“How the war is going in Ukraine has become so grave, devastating and threatening that it sparks great worry,” Francis said.

“In fact, this terrible, inconceivable wound of humanity, instead of shrinking, continues to bleed even more, threatening to spread,” the pope said.

“I deplore strongly the grave situation created in the last days, with further actions contrary to the principles of international law,” Francis said, in a clear reference to Putin’s illegal annexation of a large swath of eastern Ukraine. ”It, in fact, increases the risk of a nuclear escalation, to the point of fearing uncontrollable and catastrophic consequences on the world level.”

“Rivers of blood and tears spilled these months torment me,” the pope said. ”I am pained by the thousands of victims, in particular among the children, and by so much destruction, that leaves many persons and families homeless and threatens vast territories with cold and hunger,” he said.

“Certain actions can never be justified, never,” the pope said. He didn’t elaborate. But Putin sought to justify launching the invasion saying he needed to protect his country from what he called “Nazi” elements in Ukraine.

“It’s anguishing that the world is learning the geography of Ukraine through names like Bucha, Irpin, Mariupol, Izium, Zaporizhizhia and other places, that have become places of indescribable sufferings and fears,” Francis said.

“And what to say about the fact that humanity finds itself again faced with atomic threat? It’s absurd,” Francis said, who then called for an immediate cease-fire.

“My appeal is directed above all to the president of the Russian Federation, imploring him to stop, also for the love of his people, this spiral of violence and death,” Francis said. ”On the other side, pained by the immense suffering of the Ukrainian people following the aggression undergone, I direct a similarly trusting appeal to the president of Ukraine to be open to serious proposals of peace,” Francis said.

It is rare for the pope to single out leaders in his frequent appeals for an end to violent conflicts. In doing so, Francis signaled his extreme worry over the deteriorating situation.

“May arms cease and conditions be searched for to start negotiations able to lead to solutions not imposed by force but agreed upon, just and stable,” Francis said. ”And they will be thus if they are based on respect for the sacrosanct value of human life, as well as on the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of every country, as well as the rights of minorities and of legitimate concerns.”

Invoking God’s name and the “sense of humanity that lodges in every heart,” he renewed his many pleas for an immediate cease-fire.

Without elaborating, Francis also called for the “recourse to all diplomatic instruments, including those so far possibly not utilized, to end this immense tragedy.”

“The war itself is an error and a horror,” the pontiff lamented.

Throughout the war, Francis has denounced the recourse to arms. But recently, he stressed Ukraine’s right to defend itself from aggression. Logistics complications have frustrated his oft-stated hope to make a pilgrimage to Ukraine to encourage peace efforts.

This article originally appeared here.

Amid Crises, Rural Roots Anchor Southern Baptists’ President

Bobby Ross Jr.

October 3, 2022

FARMERSVILLE, Texas (AP) — On the first Saturday of fall, a sweating Bart Barber trekked across a weedy pasture in search of Bully Graham, the would-be patriarch of the rural Baptist pastor’s fledgling cattle herd.

With the afternoon temperature in the mid-90s, the 52-year-old Texan found the bull — whose nickname reflects his owner’s deep affection for the late Rev. Billy Graham — and 11 heifers cooling under a canopy of trees.

“Hey, baby girl,” Barber said as he patted one of the cows, a favorite he dubbed Lottie Moon after the namesake of his denomination’s international missions offering.

For nearly a quarter-century, Barber enjoyed relative obscurity as a minister in this town of 3,600, about 50 miles northeast of Dallas. That changed in June as delegates to the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Anaheim, California, chose Barber to lead the nation’s largest Protestant denomination at a time of major crisis.

The previous month a scathing, 288-page investigative report hit the denomination’s 13.7 million members. It laid out the findings of an independent probe detailing how Southern Baptist leaders stonewalled and denigrated survivors of clergy sex abuse over two decades while seeking to protect their own reputations.

In August, SBC leaders revealed that the Department of Justice was investigating several of its major entities, giving few details but indicating that the inquiry concerned the sex abuse allegations.

Barber’s background as a trusted, small-town preacher — not to mention his folksy sense of humor and self-deprecating style — helps explain why fellow Baptists picked him.

“In this moment where I think there’s a lot of widespread distrust of these big institutions, I think a lot of people find it refreshing that the one leading us is an everyday pastor,” said Daniel Darling, director of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

A staunch theological conservative, Barber touts biblical inerrancy, opposes women serving as pastors and supports abortion bans. In running for SBC president, he expressed a desire to be a peacemaker and a unifier. Emerging from a field of four candidates, he received 61% of votes in a run-off against Tom Ascol, a Florida pastor who vowed to take the denomination further right.

The SBC faces multiple challenges. Rank-and-file Baptists have demonstrated a strong commitment to implementing sex abuse reforms, but the final outcome remains unclear. The denomination also has a problem with falling membership, which has slid 16% from its 2006 peak. Annual baptisms last year were 154,701, down 63% from their 1999 high, according to SBC affiliate Lifeway Christian Resources.

Nathan Finn, a church historian and provost of North Greenville University in South Carolina, agreed that Barber’s small-town appeal is a big part of why Baptists turned to him to lead the SBC through such troubled times.

“To many Southern Baptists, Bart is an appealing president precisely because he does not pastor a suburban megachurch or lead a seminary,” Finn said via email. “He pastors a ‘normal’ Southern Baptist church and sounds like the pastor down the road. I think many find him to be a breath of fresh air as well as a thoughtful voice to represent Southern Baptists to the outside world.

A Woman on the Plane Asked This Pastor What He Does. His Answer Is Shockingly Awesome.

Brian Orme

October 3, 2022

If you travel you’ve been asked this question a hundred times, but the way you answer it could change after you listen to this.

People often say to me, they say, John, you know, what do you do? It’s always very difficult to know what to say, because if I say to you that I’m a reverend, which I am, that conjures up certain images in people’s minds as to what I might be. So I like to be a little bit creative in telling people what I do.

I sat next to this lady on an airplane at Heathrow Airport and I said, Hello. And she said, Well, hello. And I said, Where are you going? And she says, I’m going to Singapore. Then she said to me, Where are you going? I said, I’m going to Australia. I said, What do you do? So she told me. Then she said, What do you do?

And I said, Well, I work for a global enterprise, she said. Do you? I said, Yes, I do. I said, We’ve got outlets in nearly every country of the world. She said, Have you? I said, Yes, we have. I said, We’ve got hospitals and hospices and homeless shelters. I said, We do marriage work. We’ve got orphanages, we’ve got feeding programs, educational programs. I said, We do all sorts of justice and reconciliation things. I said, basically, we look after people from birth to death and we deal in the area of behavioral alteration.

She went, Wow!

And it was so loud. Her. Wow! Loads of people turned around and looked at us. She says, What’s it called? I said, It’s called the church.

And that’s it.

Really, isn’t it? If we are a follower of Jesus, then we are part of a global enterprise. But not only is it global, it’s intergalactic because it includes everyone that’s gone before us. Wow.

Witnesses in Vatican Mega Trial Paint Bleak Picture of How Secretariat Managed Funds

Claire Giangrave

October 3, 2022

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Over a year into the proceedings, the Vatican mega-trial of 10 individuals accused of defrauding the Catholic institution’s finances through a controversial real estate deal began again this week after a summer recess with an interrogation of the prosecution’s witnesses.

The trial, which resumed Wednesday (Sept. 28) after being on break since July, revolves around a 2018 London real estate purchase by the Vatican’s Secretariat of State that ultimately cost the institution well over $200 million, mainly taken from papal funds destined for charity.

After more than a year of hearing from defendants, including Cardinal Angelo Becciu, judges will now be presented with testimony from the Vatican prosecutor’s submitted list of 27 witnesses.

On Friday, Revisor General Alessandro Cassinis Righini described to judges a culture of mismanagement within the Vatican’s Secretariat of State. Righini was appointed to oversee Vatican budgets and transactions by Pope Francis in March 2021 but had already been fulfilling that role since 2017, when his predecessor, Libero Milone, was accused by Becciu and Vatican gendarmes of spying on Vatican employees.

Righini painted a bleak picture of the Secretariat of State to the Vatican judges, also detailing his experience as an assistant to Milone in 2015. He described a “lack of competence” within the large department, which, he said, failed to implement due diligence and transparency.

In 2018, Pope Francis asked Righini to review the finances of the Secretariat as Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra took over the role of substitute, the Vatican equivalent of chief of staff, from Becciu. Righini told judges that the Secretariat adopted a position of “clear resistance” to any form of financial oversight.

“We are used to controlling, not to being controlled,” Becciu, who managed the Secretariat from 2011 to 2018, told Vatican financial revisors according to Righini.

Pope Francis stripped the Secretariat of its financial portfolio and assets in December 2020.

When the revisor began investigating the department’s portfolio, he said he found 928 million euro deposited in a Credit Suisse account and invested “in highly speculative products.” Righini said that to his knowledge Pope Francis was not aware of the money.

In 2018, the Vatican revisors also found “strange” transactions tied to the London property, which would eventually lead the Institute for Religious Works, also known as the Vatican Bank, to flag the deal to Vatican police.

According to Righini, the funds used in the London real estate deal were “difficult to evaluate,” overrun with fees and commissions, and hard to trace back to the original owners.

“It was obvious that it wasn’t the appropriate way to manage the money derived from Peter’s Pence,” Righini said, referring to the fund comprising of donations made by faithful to the Vatican, which he confirmed was used for the London real estate investment.

Becciu’s legal defense underscored that there were no clear moral and ethical guidelines for investments before Pope Francis’ reforms last July. Becciu, who had been stripped of his cardinal rights following the financial scandal, was partly redeemed over the summer when Pope Francis allowed him to participate at a cardinal summit in Rome in August.

Third-party Report Details ACNA Leaders’ Inaction on Sexual Abuse Allegations

Kathryn Post

October 3, 2022

(RNS) — A long-awaited third-party report on sexual abuse reveals that leaders in an Anglican Church in North America diocese failed to act on tips about sexual misconduct and abuse and defended an alleged abuser as innocent while questioning reported survivors’ credibility.

The probe into events in the Upper Midwest Diocese, conducted by the investigative firm Husch Blackwell, also found that an ACNA priest did not report abuse by a lay pastor to the Department of Child and Family Services, claiming a church lawyer told him he was exempt from mandatory reporting laws, and that Bishop Stewart Ruch III and others allowed a church volunteer to have contact with teenagers after he had lost his teaching job for inappropriate behavior with students.

As serious as the report’s findings are, the investigation went forward without hearing from at least five alleged survivors of abuse who refused to participate over concerns about transparency.

The Upper Midwest Diocese in the ACNA — a small denomination formed by a 2009 split with the Episcopal Church over its LGBTQ-affirming policies — has been roiled since 2019 by allegations that Mark Rivera, a former lay pastor in the diocese known for his charisma and physical affection, had sexually abused young people he had met through Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, Illinois, and Christ Our Light Anglican Church in Big Rock, Illinois.

At least 10 individuals have made sexual abuse or sexual misconduct allegations against Rivera, who is now on trial in Kane County, Illinois, on charges of felony sexual assault and predatory abuse of a victim under 13 years of age. Rivera also faces charges for two felony counts of criminal sexual assault of a separate alleged adult victim.

Ruch is on leave after admitting he made serious mistakes in handling the abuse allegations against Rivera, including failing to initially tell members of the Upper Midwest Diocese about those allegations.

ACNA spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment.

Four years earlier, in 2015, several leaders became aware that a lay leader at Christ Our Light Anglican, Chris Lapeyre, had been fired from a high school teaching position that year over concerns about a relationship with a female student, according to the report.

The Rev. Rand York, a priest at the church, told investigators he knew that Lapeyre had lost his job and why but allowed Lapeyre to stay in leadership, saying that he “was not concerned about Lapeyre interacting with young people at COLA because Lapeyre had three daughters of his own.”

4 Ways to Move Your Church From Inward to Outward Focused

Dan Reiland

October 3, 2022

The natural trajectory of the church is to drift inward, but its design and destiny is to move outward.

An inward focused church is not a bad church, it is merely a church that has become consumed with taking care of its own, solving the problems of the church, and investing its energy to keeping the programs good and going.

An outward focused church also cares for the congregation, works hard to keep ministries meaningful, but directs a substantial amount of thought, energy and resources to those who are outside the church.

Over the last few years, we’ve experienced an elevated level of influences that pull churches inward. For some, it was a sense of what was required, for others it was perceived as a means of survival. For all of us, it was not expected.

Pulling back is a natural response to the punches that life can serve up at times. Like a boxer in a ring, when the opponent is advancing and the hits are hard enough, you can’t help but retreat. The problem with that retreat is that once you are in a corner, it’s easy to get stuck there. Then you’re in trouble.

For the leader, like a boxer, it takes intentionality, willpower, and strength to get out of the corner, away from the ropes and back in the fight.

When a church has drifted inward it’s more difficult to see it than you might expect, and it takes a leader with a strong team to lead the church outward again.

The following are a few common reasons a church can drift inward:

Concerned about safety and security
Safety and security matters to everyone, but if it dilutes the effectiveness of the vision, or pulls the leaders and congregation inward, it may be more about fear than security.

Progress meets with resistance
The book of Acts is quite clear throughout the narrative of the early church that progress and problems are inseparable. Progress for the sake of the gospel will always meet with resistance, yet it remains our responsibility to press forward.

Setbacks and discouragement
We can all relate to the reality of setbacks and discouragement. Over time, that drains a leader’s energy and vision which allows drift toward inward rather than reaching outward.

Disconnect with current culture
The moment we fail to connect with or understand current culture we automatically begin to drift inward. It doesn’t mean we don’t care, but it translates that way to those outside the church because we don’t understand how people think and therefore can’t connect or communicate our compassion well.

Leadership has a comfortable sense of busy
It’s easy for churches in general to become “busy machines,” and to eventually find a kind of comfort in that place. The church operates well, but there is little sense of urgency or energy to reach the community.

4 Ways to Move Your Church From Inward to Outward Focused:

1. Shake off the Past

Whatever reasons may have caused your church to drift inward, you don’t have to remain stuck there. Determine to shake off the past and re-engage the passion and confidence you once had to move intentionally outward.

This is not meant to sound like an annoying platitude. We know it’s not easy. The church wants to drift inward, but the pain of remaining stuck there is greater than the risk of pressing forward.

Let me offer you some starter ideas.

Remember your dreams and vision when you first came to the church.
Simplify your ministry.
Take a few days for a quiet retreat to find spiritual rest and resolve to make some changes.
Ask others to help you. You may have all the gifts and talent you need, and still need a little help to get a breakthrough.

One Prayer That Works Every Time

Matt Chambers

October 3, 2022

I’ve been wrestling a LOT with the practice of prayer and finding prayer that works. There are moments when prayer comes easily, and my heart feels deeply in tune with the divine. Couple that with what appears to be answers to my prayers—I want, and we’ve got a winner.

Other seasons? My prayer life feels more like a shrug or sigh. If it’s a particularly dark time, my prayer may literally be throwing my hands up in wonder, frustration, doubt, or even fear.

But no matter the season, prayer is woven into the fabric of my life and the life of my family. We pray before meals. We pray before bed. There are whispered prayers, light prayers, heavy prayers, grateful prayers, and painful prayers. As our lives go, so go our conversations with Heaven.

The Prayer That Works Every Time

At some point, I’d love to write a more in-depth series on the purpose of prayer—how it works, what it accomplishes, and why it can feel like God is silent. But for now, let me share with you the one prayer that has never failed me.

It’s not eloquent. It’s not ancient. It’s not formulaic. But it’s powerful. Ready?

“God, please show me how I can invest in someone else today.”

That’s it.

Sometimes, before I even rise from that prayer, the answer is already present—in a person who walks into the room, a text message that appears, or an overwhelming nudge in my spirit.

Why This Prayer Works

This prayer works because it’s aligned with the heart of Jesus. When we pray in a way that aligns with His will—His unrelenting love for others, His compassion, His call to action—we step directly into the flow of God’s divine agenda.

Jesus said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…” (Matthew 20:28). So when we say, “Lord, use me to serve,” we are echoing Heaven’s own heartbeat.

There are always opportunities around us:

A mom at the grocery store, silently battling loneliness.
A cashier holding back tears.
A friend who seems “fine” but desperately needs to hear they’re not alone.
A stranger who just needs a smile to remember their humanity.

Becoming the Answer

Far too often, we pray as if Heaven is a distant place we’re trying to reach, when in truth, Heaven is in us. Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)

When we pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven,” Jesus meant for us to become the carriers of that Kingdom. We don’t wait for the miraculous—we participate in it. We are God’s delivery system for answered prayer.

When someone is hungry, you may be their manna.
When someone is burdened, your hug might be their healing.
When someone is lost, your presence may be their lighthouse.

Give Thanks to God – King David Did 5 Different Ways

Dustin Crowe

October 3, 2022

Thanksgiving in the Bible is for both the sun-lit mountaintop and the deep, dark valley. Paul calls us to give thanks to God “in all circumstances” (1 Thess. 5:18). We don’t wait until our faith is so full and strong that thanksgiving bursts at the seams, but we practice thanksgiving even when we’re fearful or worried because it’s part of how we set our eyes on God and cultivate faith in him. Thanksgiving is one of the key ways we push back against the full-court press from worry, fear, and anxiety. And King David is an example of how to give thanks to God.

The Psalms prove especially helpful for seeing thanksgiving as a weapon against worry. Because the Psalms are so beautifully written, I think we sometimes imagine they must have been written from a serene cabin in the woods. But in reality, the psalmists crafted many of their words in the midst of danger, trials, and suffering. David penned a number of psalms when he was in the wilderness, running and hiding from enemies, abandoned, betrayed, hungry, thirsty, and weary. The Psalms in the wilderness were forged in the fire, not on a spiritual retreat.

And while David does cry out to God and asks for help, he pairs his prayers for deliverance with thanksgiving; he give thanks to God. When David’s life is full of things that would cause worry by looking around, he would intentionally give thanks. He gives thanks to set his eyes and heart on God, who is much bigger than his enemies. Rather than being consumed with fear about circumstances, he gives thanks to the God ruling over those circumstances. It would be easy to be discouraged or overwhelmed and give up, or to throw all his energy into seeking control by devising a plan, but David’s response in trials is to practice thanksgiving.

Importance of Thanksgiving to God

David gives thanks to God in a few different ways, and I think we can follow his example by leaning into gratitude when we’re worried. I’ll mention five ways he gives thanks when in the midst of trials that apply to us today.

5 Ways to Give Thanks to God

1. Look Back

Sometimes David gives thanks for how God delivered, protected, and provided in the past (see Psalms 105 through 107). Before walking through Israel’s history of fickleness and God’s faithfulness, David writes, “Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered” (Ps. 105:1-2, 5).

David rehearses God’s works as a means to fill his heart with worship. He looks back and remembers God’s faithfulness and thanks him for it. He recounts God’s deliverance, mercy, or help throughout his life to strengthen and sustain his faith in the present. This helps him know God can and will deliver him again. He can face today and tomorrow because he’s thankful for God’s provision, power, and presence in the past.

How has God been faithful, kind, merciful, or gracious in the past? Give thanks for the times and ways he provided, delivered, sustained, or comforted you through trials in your past. Just like God helped you when you worried in the past, God will help you in whatever worries you today.

2. Consider God

Other times, thanksgiving focuses simply on who God is. David will give thanks to God because of his compassion, power, mercy, faithfulness, and love. “With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good” (Ps. 54:6). David thanks God for his goodness, and he doesn’t wait until the trouble stops or the worry fades but he gives thanks in the midst of the trial. He practices thanksgiving in the wilderness and doesn’t wait until he’s safely back at home.

By giving thanks to God for who he is, our view of God grows. This puts our worries and fears in perspective. They don’t go away, but they start to shrink compared to an all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present God. Even if you don’t see the blessings in your life, you can thank God for who he is. As you consider God’s attributes or character, or see him in Scripture or even in nature, grow in gratitude by giving him thanks. What are some of the attributes, characteristics, or truths about who God is you can thank him for?

What Happens to Us When We Die?

Randy Alcorn

October 2, 2022

Dead people don’t come back and tell us what they’ve experienced. But we can know some things based on the Bible’s explanations. We don’t just disappear after we die. We live on in another location. Followers of Jesus go to live with Him in Heaven. On the cross, Jesus told the thief crucified next to Him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Enter the Kingdom of Heaven

In Christ’s story about the rich man and Lazarus, at the moment of death, Lazarus was ushered into Heaven by angels (Luke 16:22). It seems likely that will be true of all of God’s children when we die. Different angels are assigned to different people (Matthew 18:10), so perhaps our escorts into Heaven will be angels who have served us while we were on Earth (Hebrews 1:14).

Most importantly, Jesus Himself will be with us during our deaths. He has promised to never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Nothing, not even death, can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). God promises that all who know Him will experience acceptance into His holy, loving, and gracious arms. This assurance is why the apostle Paul could say, “We are confident, we would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8, CSB).

As painful as death is, and as right as it is to grieve it (Jesus did), we on this dying earth can also rejoice for our loved ones who are already in the presence of Christ. When they die, those covered by Christ’s blood are experiencing the joy of His presence. (Scripture clearly teaches that there is no such thing as “soul sleep,” or a long period of unconsciousness between life on Earth and life in Heaven. The phrase “fallen asleep” in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 and similar passages describes the body’s outward appearance at death.)

Glorious Reunions

As Paul tells us, though we naturally grieve at losing loved ones, we are not to “grieve like people who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Our parting is not the end of our relationship, only an interruption. We have not “lost” them, because we know where they are. And one day, we’re told, in a magnificent reunion, they and we “will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:17-18).

15 Reasons People Are Disillusioned with the American Evangelical Church

Brandon Cox

October 2, 2022

The Vinedresser often prunes the vine so that the dead branches are cleared to make way for fresh, new growth. I believe that may be happening within the American Evangelical Church. I’m not a prophet, so time will tell, but I do believe that the events of 2020 and 2021 (so far) have thrown back the curtains and shined the light on some of our greatest weaknesses.

People are leaving in unprecedented numbers, both church-goers and pastors, and it’s more than just fear of contracting a virus. There are numerous reasons why people have become disillusioned with the American Evangelical church. Out of my own heart and with my ear to the ground, I’ve listed out at least fifteen reasons why.

15 Reasons People Are Disillusioned With the American Evangelical Church

1. We’ve Rejected Science Unnecessarily

(Discoveries about origins, evolution, environmental issues, etc.) We are needlessly afraid of what scientists discover that might threaten our status quo.

2. We’ve Been Superstitious

We’ve been enamored with anything suspected of being “dark” to the point of seeing tons of things as demonic in a superstitious way.

3. We’ve Embraced Christian Nationalism

We’ve believed that the survival of “our” faith and culture is dependent on the election of a strongman as our protector. The American Evangelical church has married to patriotism and faith in an idolatrous fashion.

4. We’ve Idolized the Bible on the Pedestal of Literalism

Our understanding of the Bible’s authority leaves no room for the human element of scripture’s origins. We’ve told people it’s a house of cards — doubt one part and it all falls apart.

5. We’ve Re-created Secular Celebrity Culture Inside the Church

We make Sundays and whole movements personality-centric and all about how we’re cool and awesome.

6. We’ve Often Mimicked Corporate Culture Inside the Church

We define “success” by numerical output and effective leadership as persuasiveness and salesmanship.

7. We’ve Devalued Women and Defended Patriarchy

We’ve decided that leadership responsibilities are reserved for men only regardless of how competent women might be for the task.

8. We’ve Ignored Systemic Poverty

We’re so addicted to individual freedom that we often turn a blind eye to the suffering and those without healthcare or financial security and have written it off as a lack of personal responsibility.

9. We’ve Ignored Systemic Racism

we’re so fragile and sensitive to any insinuation that we are privileged because of whiteness that we turn a deaf ear to those suffering under unjust and inequitable systems.

10. We’ve made secondary issues primary

doctrinal matters that are outside the scope of the major creeds, we’ve made non-negotiable tests of orthodoxy.

11. We’ve Been Inconsistent in our “Pro-life” Message

We’re pro-birth and anti-abortion, but also okay with the death penalty. We ignore gun violence, and don’t seem to care about the economic conditions of those who often seek abortive measures.

12. We’ve Embraced Conspiracy Theories

a thousand little lies about some supposed satanic agenda behind everything we don’t understand.

13. We’ve Allowed Spiritual and Sexual Abuse to Often Go Unaccounted For

We have handled abuse issues “in house” as “sin problems” rather than calling the police first and believing and supporting victims first.

14. We’ve Singled Out Certain People Groups

For example, LGBTQ+ people, undocumented immigrants, and others have sometimes been singled out for exclusion, judgment, and rejection instead of welcoming and including everyone who wants to follow Jesus.

15. We’ve Become Self-Appointed Judges, to the Neglect of Love

The American Evangelical church sees itself as having the moral high ground and using it as a gavel to sentence those we perceive as morally inferior.

It’s been a year of pain for the American Evangelical church. We need a reformation. Not so much of doctrine but of emphasis, and the emphasis needs to be placed squarely on our calling to love God and all people.

Yes, we need solutions. I want to talk more about the solutions than the problems, but the American Evangelical church is in such denial that it’s hard to get there. If you’ve been disillusioned by these things, I hear you. I understand. I get it. But I still follow Jesus because I believe he was raised from the dead and enthroned as King of an entirely other-worldly heavenly kingdom where love really does reign. His Way is worthy of following.

This article about the American Evangelical church originally appeared here, and is used by permission.

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