Danny Gokey Talks ‘Jesus People,’ Greg Locke, Gavin Newsom, and Living an Authentic Life Off Stage Before Getting on Stage

October 1, 2022

Danny Gokey, three-time Dove Award winning singer and American Idol alum, told a crowded room of fans on Thursday night (Sept. 29) that when Jesus’ people compromise God’s Word, it affects not only them but the next generation.

Gokey’s latest album (2021) and current tour is called Jesus People. Earlier this month, the the 42-year-old singer posted a video on Twitter defining what it means to be Jesus People. Gokey repeated lyrics from his song “Jesus People,” describing them as “misfits and doubters, outcasts and cowards who have been changed by His love.”

Jesus People are “radical and willing to leave everything behind to stand up for what we believe. We’re bold. We’re unstoppable and we’re unashamed. We’re hope givers and gospel sharers,” Gokey continued, encouraging fans to share how God’s love has changed their lives.

ChurchLeaders met with Gokey just moments before he took the stage on the opening night of his “Jesus People” tour in Dayton, Ohio. Joining Gokey every night on tour is Tasha Layton and Jordan Feliz. ChurchLeaders asked Gokey how he’d encourage Christians in today’s broken world and what he hopes God accomplishes throughout the tour.

CL: In the world and nation we live in today where Christians are witnessing many of churches cave to society’s pressure and worldly influence out of fear, whether it be the sexuality movements, the pro-abortion movement, etc…How would you encourage Jesus People to stand strong on God’s Word and not to give into Satan’s lies while it seems more and more churches around them are failing to do so?

Gokey: Right now there is a faux righteousness and a faux morality that it seems like wokeism and the government has created and it plays on people’s fears. Looking at the scriptures, we see that the Pharisees were people who created a faux sense of righteousness, and it was by burdening down the people. As a matter of fact, they had such power that they influenced the government—remember they caused Jesus to be crucified.

The Scripture verse that I’ve been really meditating on today is 1 John 2:6, which says, “Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did (NLT). I think we’ve created our own version of Jesus where we think that Jesus would just all love—anything’s acceptable—because there’s examples in Scriptures for example where they throw the prostitute at Jesus’ feet to be condemned but he didn’t. It’s almost like that verse has become a-sort-of hyper focus on that type of loving grace, but Jesus told the prostitute, “Go and sin no more.” Jesus came with grace and truth. Notice how he gave her grace, but then He told her to “Go and sin no more.”

There’s a lot of trickery going on in our world right now. For instance, the government is trying to push out God and begin to create a form of godliness with no God in it—a form that tricks people. Not only do they start playing on people’s fear, but their ignorance, as they do regarding the abortion issue. They’re saying, “How dare dare you fight against abortion?” Just like Gavin Newsom is doing by putting billboards up and using the ”Love thy neighbor” verse. Newsom is a manipulative scoundrel-trickster. That man is corrupt, and he is tricking people, but he’s using people’s morality. So what he’s telling people is, “If you love your neighbor, you would really care about them, and not let them have the burden of their pregnancy.” He poses questions like, “Well, what about, ‘How are they going to pay for this?’” They ask questions that really can prick the heart a little bit and make someone feel like they’re a bad person for saying a mother should raise that baby because, “I’m not going to be in your life. I just think they should raise the baby.”

A lot of people in the pro-choice movement have sayings like, “Yeah, you just, you want to leave the let the baby live and then you leave.” That’s not not true. That’s such a lie. My wife and I support many pro-life organizations. But even if we didn’t, there’s a God who promises that He supplies all their needs. That type of trickery is is fear based. It’s always fear. You’re not going to have enough. You’re going to miss your dreams. Fear! Fear! Fear is the root of it. Then places like California are twisting people’s fears by telling parents to “let your kids have transition surgeries if they want it or we’re gonna take the kids away from you.” Now there’s that sense of fear.

The Spirit God Gives Us in Difficult Seasons Like These

Matt Brown

October 1, 2022

Everyone is struggling. This has been an extraordinarily difficult time in our world for many in ways financially, physically, mentally and spiritually.

As believers, we can be encouraged that God wants to give us a specific kind of help during difficult seasons like these. We don’t just go with the flow of culture, but we flow with the wind of the Holy Spirit.

What is the spirit, posture or attitude God gives us in difficult times like these that we’ve been in? Scripture is crystal clear.

For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline [sound mind]. (1 Timothy 1:6-7)

This Scripture has three traits plus instruction that are a guide from heaven about where we can turn when we don’t know what else to do:

1. In Difficult Seasons, God Gives Us a Spirit of Power.

Henrietta Mears once said, “Christianity is not adding a burden to your life, it is adding power. The Scripture tells us that “the same power which raised Jesus from the dead now lives in us.” The word used from God’s power at work in the life of a believer is “dynamis” the root word we get the word dynamite from. That is some extreme power.

As my friend Andrew has said, “It is inconceivable to think the same power which raised Jesus from the dead would come into our life and do nothing.”

So when times are dark and difficult, guess what you can count on? God’s power working in you, helping you stand firm in His truth when you don’t know if you have enough power on your own.

When does God give us this power? Ahead of time? Right when we need it. He gives us enough grace for each new day’s challenges and concerns at the time that we need it, as we rely on and stay close to Him.

How do we appropriate God’s power when we need it? Read the Scriptures, pray and ask God for His help and trust that He will carry you when you cannot carry yourself.

2. In Difficult Seasons, God Gives Us a Spirit of Love.

When the world around us is going crazy, what does God call us to do, and who does He call us to be? Scripture is clear. It is not to suddenly become a person who is angry all the time, for “that does not bring about the righteousness God desires.”

In difficult seasons, God calls us to the same thing He always has – to stand firm in His truth and love.

5 Deadly Sins of an Unhealthy Church

Ron Edmondson

October 1, 2022

In working with dozens of churches over the last 20 years, I’ve discovered some deadly sins of an unhealthy church. And I should clarify that and say these are deadly sins of church people. I’m a walking testimony that the people who make up Christ’s church still sin. It is the result of who we are that we need a Savior.

I chose the word “deadly” intentionally. Of course, it’s a strong word, and I have no research behind my claim that if you have any of these your specific church will eventually die. I have been told a church on average will take 30 years to die if it remains in continual decline. (But I can’t confirm that statistic either.)

I know many unhealthy churches that are in decline. There are church buildings that once housed vibrant, growing churches, which have been turned into a unique restaurant, office building or condominium. I’ve seen that. I have enjoyed some the food. Again, I have worked with many churches and pastors in revitalization – as a pastor and a consultant. Those churches needed revitalization for a reason. They were in decline.

In each unhealthy church, I saw some – sometimes all – of these deadly sins. So, that’s my “research.” Simply knowing these sins will not heal an unhealthy church or help it grow again. My hope, however, is that the awareness helps you lead through them.

As pastor, when I encounter these sins in an unhealthy church they become the subject of much of my teaching and leadership, since each of them have biblical implications. I am not afraid to challenge these head-on if needed; either directly with individuals or even with the congregation as a whole. They are too important not to address.

In fact, I’m not sure you will see much progress towards revitalization until there is some repentance or, at least, discontinuance of these deadly sins.

Five Deadly Sins of an Unhealthy Church:

Apathy.

As soon as a church stops caring for the mission of the church more than any other activity it has lost its way. The mission must come first. To be clear, the mission is not programs, systems or buildings. These are means to accomplish the mission. We should care for them and have the best we can offer. But they are secondary to the mission.

An Unhealthy church cares more about the personal comfort of members and protecting the way things have always been done than it does about the broken and lostness of the community around them it has fallen into the deadly sin of apathy.

Pride.

This may be the most often repeated sin I have seen in unhealthy churches. It mostly occurs when a church has had success and then simply became comfortable. When pride takes over anything that is challenged in the church will cause people to become defensive. People will protect what they perceive to have built. “My grandmother donated that furniture. You can’t get rid of it.” (Actual statement I’ve heard and many similar.)

If I have to remind you from Scriptures how offensive pride is to God then we will need another post. There is too much biblical evidence for this short article.

See Page Two for the final three signs of an unhealthy church . . .

‘This Is Not a Dress Rehearsal’—Fox’s Ainsley Earhardt Discusses New Book and How Pastors Have Influenced Her

Jesse T. Jackson

September 30, 2022

ChurchLeaders spoke with Fox & Friends’ Ainsley Earhardt regarding her new children’s book “I’m So Glad You Were Born: Celebrating Who You Are,” which released earlier this week (Sept. 27).

“I’m So Glad You Were Born: Celebrating Who You Are” is Earhardt’s third children’s book (the others were both New York Times bestsellers). The author shared her inspiration behind the book, which explains to children that they were made “spectacular” by God, who creatively crafted and divinely designed them to be one of a kind.

The book tells children they can grow up to be anything they want, listing preaching as one of the professions. Earhardt made the inclusion because of how much pastors have influenced her life and relationship with Jesus Christ.

Earhardt, who dedicated the book to her 6-year-old daughter Hayden, discusses raising a child in today’s culture, navigating her Christian faith at Fox News, why the church is important, and how New York City is her mission field.

CL: What has been your biggest surprise about parenting?

Ainsley: My biggest surprise is probably how much I was going to enjoy it and love it. I always wanted a baby. But I did in my mid 30s. And then I tried to have a baby, and I couldn’t get it. It took me a little while to get pregnant, and then I had a miscarriage. And three months after I had the miscarriage, I was pregnant with Hayden. So even though that was a hard experience to go through, God blessed me, and I wouldn’t have Hayden if it weren’t for that experience. And I know when I go to heaven, I have another little girl in heaven that will be waiting for me.

Hayden is perfect for me. We do everything together—she’s just the greatest joy. We have fun. It’s not a house where we’re yelling or screaming. We laugh, we have dance parties throughout the house, which is part of this book. She’s a lot like me as a child in the fact that she loves dolls and she loves girly things, but she’s much shyer than I was as a child and I love that about her. She observes the room. She wants to be comfortable with everyone before you see who she really is, and she guards herself at first, which is a quality that I didn’t have. I was just friends with everyone and walked in. But I love that quality about her. And at first, it took some getting used to because I thought gosh, she needs to be saying hi to everyone. She needs to be outspoken. She needs to…but no, I realize God made her unique and she’s taught me so much in that regard, because as I’ve gotten older, you realize that that’s a quality that is valued: to be able to just read the room and get to know people before you give them maybe 100% of you.

CL: What effect do you think the current culture war, political strife, widespread anger, and division between adults in this nation is having on children who are witnessing it?

Ainsley: Hayden just finished kindergarten, so we’re going into first grade and we haven’t had to deal with a lot of that. Obviously, in my profession, I’m covering these types of stories and the division—schools and what parents want and what other parents want in our political environment. But the beauty is with a child this age, she just loves everybody and that’s how we will raise her in our home, to have friends of all walks of life and to look at everybody as God’s child, and to listen to other people and appreciate their opinions and just to show them Christ. That’s why we’re here. The ultimate goal is to get more people into heaven, and just telling them about how great Jesus is and to have a relationship with Christ. So that’s our focus in our house, and the rest I will leave up to God to steer her in the right direction. I mean, obviously, I will be a big part of that being her parent, but we are we’re here just to serve others and to love everybody.

CL: What inspired you to write I’m So Glad You Were Born?

Ainsley: When I was growing up, my mom always said “I’m so glad you were born” on our birthdays. So when I got to Fox and Friends, every time someone would come on our show, and we celebrated a birthday, I would say, “I’m so glad you were born.” The first time I said it to my co-anchor, everyone just laughed and he was kind of shocked. And I said, “I know it sounds funny, but think about it. I’m so glad you were born. This is your birthday. This is a day that God brought you into this world and created you to make a difference and to really impact the world for Him.” I told them that you only get one shot at this. This is not a dress rehearsal. You have one life, so use it to your fullest and really go out and make a difference in this world.

Exvangelicals Cite ‘Rapture Anxiety’ as Source of Religious Trauma; Some Evangelicals Fire Back With Criticism

Dale Chamberlain

September 30, 2022

rapture anxiety — Photo by cottonbro (via Pexels)

Earlier this week, CNN raised the ire of some evangelicals by publishing the stories of former evangelicals who discussed one source of religious trauma: rapture anxiety.

Rapture theology, which is one part of Dispensationalism, posits that Christ will take Christians to heaven prior to his full return in glory. Those who hold to the Premillennial stance within Dispensationalism believe that this could happen at any moment, and that non-Christians will be left behind for the Great Tribulation.

While this particular eschatological belief is one of many viewpoints within the larger Christian church, it became extremely prevalent within evangelical circles during the latter decades of the twentieth century, even becoming a central point of emphasis for some prominent Christian leaders and inspiring myriad books and films, such as the “Left Behind” series.

For some who grew up in evangelical churches and homes where the rapture was spoken of constantly, they cite the theology as a source of religious trauma. April Ajoy, who spoke with CNN, said that she experienced fear that she would be left behind when the rapture came, a fear that surfaced once as a teenager when her house was quiet and she found only a pile of clothes on her parents’ bed.

“When I was probably 8 or 9, I remember my brothers and I spending a good 30 minutes looking out into the sky,” Ajoy told CNN. “We took turns counting down from 10, and in that time, we were convinced Jesus would come back.”

Ajoy, who is now an exvangelical but still identifies as Christian, often discusses faith, deconstruction, and religious trauma on her popular TikTok account. She also is one of the hosts of the podcast “Evangelicalish.”

Ajoy’s experience with rapture anxiety is not unique, as others have also described the existential dread that accompanies belief in the possibility of being caught in the middle of a sin when Jesus returns or being left behind entirely, likely later to be beheaded.

Darren Slade, president and CEO of the Global Center for Religious Research, described rapture anxiety as “a chronic problem” for many who struggle with religious trauma.

“This is a new area of study, but in general, our research has revealed that religious trauma leads to an increase of anxiety, depression, paranoia and even some OCD-like behaviors: ‘I need to say this prayer of salvation so many times,’ ‘I need to confess my sins so often,’” Slade told CNN. “Now imagine you are taught that at any minute, you could be left here on Earth. What does that do to the teenager who just had premarital sex, or even simply took the Lord’s name in vain?”

Ajoy said that she regularly receives direct messages on social media from followers who are grateful for her content, which validates and acknowledges their painful religious memories.

Candace Cameron Bure: Marital Sex Shouldn’t Get ‘Such a Bad Rap’

Stephanie Martin

September 30, 2022

During a recent interview, actor and outspoken Christian Candace Cameron Bure spoke about the importance of a healthy sex life within marriage. Bure, star of “Fuller House” and numerous movies, has been married to retired pro hockey player Val Bure for 26 years. She admits she’s disappointed that “sex within marriage gets such a bad rap” because they’re both “happier…when we’ve had sex.”

Bure, who has been frank about this topic in the past, addressed it most recently on the “Bialik Breakdown” podcast. Speaking to fellow former child actor Mayim Bialik, Bure says she wants to emphasize the importance of marital sex without being too graphic or grossing out the couple’s three young-adult children.

Candace Cameron Bure: Sex Is ‘Important Part’ of Marriage

On the podcast, Bure, 46, says although she and Val “don’t have a schedule” for intimacy, they strive to “make time for each other” and “still love each other physically.” She adds, “I’m a happier person and my husband’s a happier person when we’ve had sex.”

It’s “important to share what a healthy sex life within marriage can be,” she says. “It’s an important part of the relationship that we make time for one another, that we still love each other both physically, spiritually, mentally. … It all comes hand in hand.”

Bure adds, “In our culture and society today, it’s always like, ‘Oh, you’re married 10 years, when was the last time you had sex?’ That’s always the joke and it can be funny, and I can roll with it.” But she surmises that when a marriage “goes south,” that might be “all the more reason” to rekindle your sex life.

‘Do Something Unexpected,’ Actor Advises Couples

When Bialik said a couple’s problems might not be related to intimacy, Bure pushed back a bit. “But there are days when it is about the sex,” she says, “and we’ve had those conversations.” Bure admits, “Some days you just need the release, and it’s just about the sex.” To that, Bialik replies, “We’re human beings and we crave connection and especially in a partnership, especially when there’s stress and when you’re dealing with kids and jobs.”

Val Bure, 48, was raised in Russia, so he’s usually “much more reserved” and “more serious about life,” according to his wife. But “when there’s that playfulness,” she notes, “there is nothing that makes me happier and more attracted to him.” Because laughter is one of the actor’s “love languages,” she says she loves when her husband makes her chuckle.

Biden Renews Refugee Cap of 125,000 After Falling Far Short

Tom Strode

September 30, 2022

WASHINGTON (BP) – President Biden again has set a refugee resettlement ceiling of 125,000 for the next year despite an expectation this year’s admissions will fall 100,000 short of that goal.

The White House announced Tuesday (Sept. 27) the admissions cap for refugees in the 2022-23 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. It appears the United States will resettle fewer than 25,000 refugees under the ceiling of 125,000 established for this fiscal year, based on the number of admissions during the first 11 months of 2021-22.

The announcement of Biden’s latest admissions ceiling came four days after the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Commission (ERLC) and seven other organizations in the Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT) wrote the president and congressional leaders with a plea for them to rebuild the country’s refugee resettlement program, which has experienced record lows in recent years. In that Sept. 23 letter, they urged Biden to set a ceiling of 125,000 for the next year as a step in rebuilding the program.

“America has always been known as a refuge for those fleeing religious persecution or for their very lives,” ERLC President Brent Leatherwood said in an EIT release. “But, for too long now, our refugee resettlement program that aids these individuals and families seeking safety has languished.”

The United States has permitted “unrelated crises and political turmoil to hamper” the program’s rebuilding, and this “must not continue,” he said.

Hannah Daniel, the ERLC’s policy manager, welcomed renewal of the 125,000 refugee cap but said “much work remains to be done.” She described resettlement of only about 20 percent of this year’s cap at a “time of historic displacement” in the world as “unacceptable.”

“This action will be largely symbolic unless the United States invests the necessary resources to rebuild its resettlement infrastructure into the robust, nimble program that is needed to meet this moment,” Daniel told Baptist Press in written comments.

More than 27 million people around the world are refugees of a total of 89.3 million people who are forcibly displaced, according to a June report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The number of those forcibly displaced – people who fled their homes because of “conflicts, violence, fear of persecution and human rights violations” – is the most since World War II and more than twice as many as 10 years ago, UNHCR reported.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February and the Taliban takeover after the U.S. departure from Afghanistan in August 2021 have resulted in millions of people leaving their homes in those countries.

Only 11,411 refugees were admitted to the United States in the fiscal year ending September 2021, marking the fewest refugee admissions since the 1980 enactment of a law establishing the Refugee Resettlement Program. The previous low was 11,814 in the year ending in 2020.

President Trump established four years of record lows that saw the refugee admissions ceiling fall from 45,000 in the 2018 fiscal year to 15,000 in 2021. Biden set a revised cap of 62,500 for last year, but the number of admissions fell far short.

In their letter, the EIT organizations said the United States should be the world’s leader in refugee resettlement during a “time of unique global crisis.”

Southern Baptists Prepare for Florida Cleanup, East Coast Response to Ian

Scott Barkley

September 30, 2022

EDISTO ISLAND, S.C. (BP) — Rob Heath had a lot to do today in preparing for Hurricane Ian and a direct knowledge of the unfortunate timing of its arrival to the South Carolina coast.

“We’re hearing that it may get here around midday tomorrow,” he told Baptist Press as another weather alert went off on his phone. “That’s going to coordinate with high tide, which unfortunately, is a little bit higher now because of the moon phase.”

Heath, pastor of Redeemer Fellowship Church, is like many who live on Edisto Island. He’s not technically from there, but lived for 40 years with his wife Vicki in nearby Charleston, serving as a pastor for about 25 years.

Edisto Island is one of South Carolina’s Sea Islands, with a maximum elevation of eight feet. It is accessible by only one bridge, located on its north side.

“We’re checking on everyone today and seeing who needs rides [out],” Heath said. “I’m also keeping in touch with the town to let them know who is staying for any help we can provide afterwards.”

Further up the coast, First Baptist Charleston has canceled activities through Saturday.

“We have secured our campus and are preparing for cleanup once the storm passes,” Pastor Marshall Blalock told Baptist Press. “We continue to pray for our friends in Florida who suffered the worst of the hurricane.”

Blalock was in the process of completing an International Mission Board trustee meeting in Richmond, Va., with plans to arrive home this afternoon.

Ian made landfall Sept. 28 in the Punta Gorda/Cape Coral area as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 145 mph. A “catastrophic” storm surge, winds and flooding came with it, the National Weather Service said.

Losing strength as it passed over land, Ian was eventually downgraded to a tropical storm prior to its emergence over the Atlantic, at which point it will gather strength again. That led to a hurricane warning issued at 10 a.m. Eastern time today for the South Carolina coast.

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) teams from Florida, North Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, Georgia and South Carolina are on stand-by to respond, a Send Relief spokesman said.

Emergency food distribution, flood recovery, temporary roofing and chainsaw projects will commence after the storm passes.

Waiver Sought by SBC Entity Leaders Granted To Help Puerto Rico Recovery

Tom Strode

September 30, 2022

WASHINGTON (BP) – The Biden administration granted a waiver Wednesday (Sept. 28) to aid the recovery by Puerto Rico from the devastation of Hurricane Fiona on the same day Southern Baptist leaders joined others in asking for the action.

Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, announced his approval of a “temporary and targeted” waiver of the Jones Act to enable the delivery of diesel fuel to the United States territory, which suffered a massive power outage when Fiona hit Sept. 18. The 1920 federal law limits the transport of goods between U.S. ports to American-flagged and -built ships unless a waiver is granted in the interest of national defense.

Four presidents of Southern Baptist entities had urged President Biden in a Wednesday letter to provide the waiver immediately: Brent Leatherwood, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC); Bryant Wright, Send Relief; Kevin Ezell, North American Mission Board (NAMB); and Paul Chitwood, International Mission Board (IMB).

In their letter, the Southern Baptist leaders cited the presence of Southern Baptist churches – 51, according to the SBC’s latest Annual Church Profile – and the work of Send Relief on the Caribbean island. Send Relief, the convention’s compassion ministry carried out through the cooperative efforts of NAMB and IMB, is operating seven response sites through local churches around the island. Each location is able to provide as many as 2,000 meals a day.

“I am grateful this has now been resolved in a way that will directly help our churches and relief efforts on the ground in Puerto Rico,” Leatherwood told Baptist Press in written comments. “This is exactly why our cooperative efforts are so vital, because we were able to advocate directly to our nation’s leaders on behalf of Southern Baptist pastors who voiced a very real need in the moment.

“While many voices appealed for this result, I am thankful that Send Relief, IMB, NAMB and the ERLC provided leadership when it was needed most.”

Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi and some members of both political parties in Congress had also asked the president to provide the waiver, according to a Politico report.

The SBC entity heads told Biden in their letter, “The feedback we have received indicates resources like diesel fuel are needed immediately due to the continued outages of large portions of the electrical grid.”

They commended Biden for specific steps his administration has taken to fulfill his promise to aid in Puerto Rico’s recovery. The president’s prompt declaration of the hurricane as a major disaster and pledge to cover the cost of search-and-rescue efforts “proves you are willing to act,” they wrote.

“Granting a temporary waiver of the Jones Act for the purposes of allowing fuel to be brought to Puerto Rico would be consistent with these moves,” according to the letter. “But, in an emergency, time is of the essence.”

The SBC leaders told the president failing to provide the waiver soon “would undermine your own pledge of help and unnecessarily hamper recovery efforts while, at the same time, placing individuals, families, churches, and communities under intense strain.”

A foreign-flagged ship with 300,000 barrels of diesel fuel from Texas had been waiting off Puerto Rico’s coast for permission to unload its cargo before the waiver was granted, according to news reports.

Survey: Confederate Memorials Still Divide Americans and Religion Is a Big Predictor

Yonat Shimron

September 30, 2022

confederate monuments — An 2020 image of the late Georgia congressman and civil rights pioneer U.S. Rep. John Lewis is projected onto the pedestal of the statue of confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, in Richmond, Virginia. The statue was removed in 2021. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

(RNS) — “The past is never dead. It’s not even past,” William Faulkner once famously quipped.

The Mississippi writer had it right — at least when it comes to the Civil War, anyway. A war that split America as it was fought continues to do so in its memory.

When it comes to memorializing the nation’s Civil War legacy, Americans are nearly evenly divided over whether to preserve Confederate symbols, memorials and statues, according to a new Public Religion Research Institute survey.

The new PRRI survey conducted with E Pluribus Unum, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a more equitable and inclusive South, finds that 51% of Americans favor preserving Confederate history, memorials and statues, while 46% are opposed.

That division can be found on a host of issues. Take the Confederate flag: 50% see it primarily as a symbol of Southern pride, while 47% see it mostly as a symbol of racism.

The divisions fall along party, race and religious lines: Republicans and white evangelicals overwhelmingly support preserving memorials to Confederate history, while Black Americans, non-Christians, Jews and unaffiliated Americans see those memorials as a symbol of racism.

“One of the things the report is telling us is that we still have not resolved one of the fundamental conflicts that has haunted us throughout American history,” said Robert P. Jones, president and founder of PRRI. “It’s the question of whether the country is a promised land for European Christians that has white supremacy embedded in that idea, or whether we’re a pluralistic democracy where everybody stands on equal footing before the Constitution.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center’s database shows there are more than 2,000 Confederate symbols in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, disproportionately in 11 Southern states.

But the country’s divisions over the legacy of the Confederacy are bigger than geography. They exist in all parts of the country and can best be predicted by party affiliation, race and religion.

Nearly 9 in 10 white Republicans, or 87%, support efforts to preserve the legacy of the Confederacy, compared with 23% of white Democrats. When examined by race, 57% of white Americans support efforts to preserve Confederate legacy, compared with 23% of Black Americans.

Religion is also a predictor of attitudes toward the Confederacy. Majorities of Protestants, Catholics and Latter-day Saints support such efforts to preserve Confederate monuments and memorials, with white evangelicals besting all others at 76%.

Support falls to 35% among non-Christian Americans, Jewish Americans (33%) and religiously unaffiliated Americans (33%).

Black Church Leaders Say Public Lands Should Better Reflect African American History

Adelle M Banks

September 30, 2022

black history — A memorial at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, where four girls were killed in a bombing on Sept. 15, 1963. RNS photo by Adelle M. Banks

(RNS) — Growing up in Charleston, South Carolina, the Rev. Carey A. Grady heard about the history of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and its connection to a slave revolt planned by Denmark Vesey — long before it was the site of a 2015 massacre.

And Grady knew of the church through his father, the late AME Bishop Zedekiah Grady, who worked with church leaders from Emanuel AME and other congregations to support the 1969 hospital strike in that city. He wishes more people could learn these lesser-known stories of the church, of his father, of the hard work they did on behalf of African Americans in the city.

“Their members were the ones who were the orderlies or the ones who cooked or the ones who cleaned up waste and trash, and they couldn’t get good-paying jobs,” said Grady, now senior pastor of Reid Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Columbia, South Carolina. “They stood up for better wages for their members.”

The Rev. Carey A. Grady. Photo courtesy of Grady

Grady was one of hundreds of Black church leaders who were surveyed earlier this year for a report from the National Religious Partnership for the Environment. The nonprofit has found a significant majority of them say Black history is not told adequately through national and local parks.

“Stories on the Lands: Showcasing Black History on Public Lands” was released this month (September) after interviews, roundtable discussions and follow-up questionnaires were used to learn the views of Black religious leaders.

“You don’t have American history without African American history; they’re mutually connected,” said the Rev. Michael McClain, national outreach director for the Washington-based partnership. “And so often, the younger generations don’t know that because we’re not telling them. Unfortunately, we know more about Confederate monuments than we do about African American events that took place.”

The partnership, an alliance of faith groups including Christians and Jews, asked 600 Black leaders a number of questions, including what Black leaders are underrecognized and what African American stories are missing from public lands. When an open-ended question asked which Black figures should have their stories preserved, Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X was cited most, followed by Rosa Parks, Colin Powell, Frederick Douglass and Trayvon Martin.

In some instances, prominent figures such as Harriet Tubman, Medgar Evers and Booker T. Washington were cited.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., center left, and Malcolm X speak after King's press conference at the U.S. Capitol about the Senate debate on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Photo by Marion S. Trikosko/Library of Congress/Creative Commons

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., center left, and Malcolm X speak after King’s news conference at the U.S. Capitol about the Senate debate on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Photo by Marion S. Trikosko/Library of Congress/Creative Commons

“Since these leaders already have existing monuments named in their honor, this indicates that the awareness and promotion of national monument designations is sorely needed,” the 20-page report states.

The report also notes that only about 180 of the 2,600 historical landmarks in the country are considered African American historical landmarks. And of the 129 national monuments designated by U.S. presidents since 1906, 12 represent the history and stories of Black people.

Leaders of the partnership hope to convince President Joe Biden to further diversify the country’s monuments by highlighting the history of slavery and civil rights, Black schools and cemeteries, lynchings and racially motivated massacres, through designations permitted under the Antiquities Act.

In 2016, the centennial year of the National Park Service, bishops of historically Black denominations topped the list of names on a 609-page petition telling then-President Barack Obama: “Our public lands — the places where we play, pray, and take Sabbath — need to be a full reflection of the faces of our country, should respect different cultures and histories, and should engage all people.”

Following Papal Reforms, Vatican Departments Are Ready to Help Local Bishops

Claire Giangrave

September 30, 2022

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — In another step aimed at flipping the Catholic Church’s traditional top-down hierarchy, the Vatican has invited bishops facing immigrant crises in their dioceses to call directly on the church department in Rome charged with dealing with immigration issues — a section Pope Francis heads up personally.

The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, as it’s officially called, was created in 2016 when Francis combined the work of four pontifical councils. It deals not only with immigration but human rights, health, justice, disarmament and peace, the economy, work, the environment, refugees and migrants, and humanitarian emergencies.

Francis personally heads the migrants and refugee section of the department, signaling the importance of the issue to the pontiff, but also for the “quickness and flexibility needed to respond to situations that may arise,” said Sister Alessandra Smerilli, an economist and secretary to the department.

At a news conference at the Vatican on Thursday (Sept. 29), officials at the dicastery said they hope to “become a bridge” between local churches and dioceses.

Immigration, said Cardinal Michael Czerny, the discastery’s prefect, is “a good example of an issue where, if they bring it to us, we might offer direction on how to respond to it,” adding, “It’s up to them to ask.”

The office, which includes only 50 full-time employees and a rather small cast of project advisers, is assisted by a number of people working on the ground in Latin America, Asia and the United States who, Smerilli said, will help the department keep its finger on the pulse of what is happening around the world. “If we want to listen, not all the listening can happen in Rome,” she said.

“If there is a problem, like a large pollution problem that doesn’t look like a priority for that diocese, we simply reach out and ask for information.” The purpose is to “turn on a lightbulb,” she said, but “without substituting local authority.”

The dicastery will be divided into three sections: The first will focus on dialogue with local churches; the second will further research what comes out of those conversations, examining both the science behind the issues and the relevant doctrine of the church; the third will look for practical measures and issue documents.

In March, Francis released his apostolic constitution “Praedicate Evangelium” (“Preach the Gospel”), which outlined his reforms of the departments and offices that make up the Roman Curia and cemented the changes already underway. Reflecting his focus on service, rather than authority, the pope’s reforms are aimed at promoting synodality — a vision in which Catholicism’s hierarchy attends more closely to local churches and laypeople and their hopes for the church.

In 2020, Francis launched a massive consultation of Catholic parishes and organizations in preparation for a Synod on Synodality, a summit of global bishops at the Vatican in October 2023. Over the past year, Catholics have met in small groups to discuss their views on the church’s challenges. In recent months, those views have been gathered by national bishops’ conferences and forwarded to the Vatican.

Dan Busby, Longest-Serving President of Evangelical Financial Watchdog, Dies at 81

Adelle M Banks

September 30, 2022

(RNS) — Dan Busby, who was president of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability for more than a decade, has died after a monthslong bout with cancer.

The expert on nonprofit finance and tax issues, who served the ECFA for more than three decades in all, died Wednesday (Sept. 28) at his Winchester, Virginia, home, according to the organization. He was 81.

“ECFA was remarkably blessed by Dan Busby’s humble and dedicated service to the ministry for over 30 years, and the continued impact of Dan’s legacy will be felt within the ECFA team and membership far beyond the next three decades,” said Michael Martin, the current president and CEO of ECFA, in a statement.

Taking office in 2008, Busby became the longest-serving president of the organization, which offers a Good Housekeeping-like seal of approval for ministries and churches, aiming to build trust for potential donors and volunteers.

In 2009, after being targeted by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley’s investigation of six prominent religious organizations for questionable use of donations, Joyce Meyer Ministries joined the ECFA. Busby welcomed the move and the senator called it “a positive development.”

Founded in 1979 to be a watchdog on financial and ethical wrongdoing, the ECFA has grown from 150 charter members to more than 2,600 members in the U.S. Busby, who conducted hundreds of on-site compliance reviews of ECFA churches and other ministries, was credited with much of that increase.

Busby helped create a national Commission on Accountability and Policy for Religious Organizations that responded to Grassley’s request to study ways to encourage “self-reform” among religious groups after the Senate probe concluded in 2011. The next year, Busby and other members of the multiyear commission recommended “reasonable” compensation for nonprofit leaders and said such information should be available to donors who request it.

Busby’s organization also announced when some ministries were determined to be no longer in compliance with its standards. During his tenure it also was criticized for waiting too long when it terminated the membership of Harvest Bible Chapel, a Chicago-area megachurch, in 2019.

“We are committed to applying our standards rigorously and consistently,” said Busby at the time.

He retired and was named president emeritus in 2020.

“Dan Busby was a genius at connecting, communicating, leading and innovating as he served the members of ECFA and the Kingdom of God,” said ECFA board Chair Wayne Pederson in a statement. “Dan was not only an esteemed ministry colleague, but a dear friend who cared deeply about the family of God and the people he served.”

Prior to joining ECFA, Busby founded a certified public accounting practice in Kansas City, Kansas, taking on mostly Christian ministries as clients and serving as the financial officer of the Wesleyan Church. His work with the ECFA began in 1989 when he volunteered to be a member of its standards committee, and he served in senior leadership positions for a decade before being named president.

What Does America Need for Its Post-COVID ‘New Normal’?

James Scott Jr.

September 30, 2022

Are you one of those people who watches a movie over and over again? I’m not. In fact, I rarely watch any movie more than once. But there are exceptions.

The greatest exception for me takes me back to when I was a kid in fourth grade. I still remember riding my bike from our house on Willetta Street in Scottsdale, Arizona over to Los Arcos Mall.

I secured my transportation in the rack out front and hurried to the theater inside. The premiere showing of “The Poseidon Adventure” would soon start. I excitedly bought my ticket, purchased a soda and some popcorn, then settled into my seat.

That’s where I would remain transfixed for the next hour and 57 minutes as I watched a gripping story unfold about a luxury ocean liner full of passengers that was capsized by a tidal wave.

One minute the passengers were eating, drinking, and dancing, the next minute their world was upside down. Literally.

How would they survive? Would they survive? If they did, how could life ever be the same again?

___

A scenario similar to that occurred off the screen and all around the world early in 2020.

People were eating, drinking, dancing, and otherwise living their “normal” lives. The next minute, a novel coronavirus broke out and a pandemic, like a towering tsunami, turned the world upside down.

How would we survive? Would we survive? If we did, how could life ever be the same again?

___

Well, congratulations, you have survived a global pandemic. Not everyone made it, but most of us did.

Life, however, will likely not return — at least not fully — to the “old normal” we experienced prior to the onset of the pandemic.

And, truth be told, for most of us it shouldn’t. It certainly shouldn’t for much of Christ’s church.

I understand not everyone will agree.

When the pandemic first hit, we were all shocked and surprised, but initially thought it probably would be little more than a short-lived inconvenience.

As the pandemic lingered on, it was common to hear people (and especially church leaders) talk about how they couldn’t wait for “things to get back to normal again.” Going back to the “old normal” was priority one for many.

Now, more than two years since we first started taking note of the coronavirus, COVID-19 still lingers and many local, state, and national jurisdictions still have not officially declared the pandemic to be over yet.

If it isn’t, one thing that is over is the “old normal.”

Like it or not, we are already more than ankle deep into the “new normal” that has been a matter of great curiosity and speculation for people around the world.

If we can’t, or won’t, or shouldn’t return fully back to life as it was prior to the pandemic, what will the “new normal” look like? How will it be different? What changes that occurred in the pandemic should we keep? What from the “old normal” should we hang onto? How should we attempt to shape life moving forward from here?

___

You can’t make wise decisions about moving forward if you aren’t honest about where you’re coming from. The truth is, the “old normal” wasn’t nearly as “good” for people, or the church, as many like to remember it as.

And it’s all much worse now.

Prior to the pandemic, it was common for people to reduce their interactions with other human beings — including family members and the closest of friends, to text messaging. People commonly asserted, “If It can be sent in a text, don’t call.” That at a time when nations of people were reporting an epidemic of loneliness.

Before the onset of COVID-19, we had a pre-existing mental health crisis in America. Now, according to Dr. Tim Clinton, President of the American Association of Christian Counselors, that mental health crisis has morphed into a mental health disaster.

Before COVID-19 became a household name, not only were we mentally and physically unhealthy, we had significantly spiritually atrophied as well, and it’s getting worse.

In an effort to get a measure of what’s happening to us spiritually, and to Christ’s church, there has been a string of studies, surveys, and other research efforts, and the data collected isn’t good news. Some of the data being reported includes news that is nothing less than shocking. One researcher claims “We’re experiencing another reformation, but not in a good way.” Here’s some of the most recently gathered data garnered from people who self-identify as Christians:

Only six percent hold a biblical worldview.
Only 37 percent of pastors hold a biblical worldview.
One survey, which included more than 3,000 Americans between age 18 and 55, revealed that born-again Protestants experienced the greatest level of decline in Bible-based beliefs from 2010 to 2020. During that decade, the percentage of people who agreed with core Christian doctrines fell from 47 percent to 25 percent.
62 percent say the Holy Spirit isn’t a real, living being.
61 percent say all religious faiths are of equal value.
60 percent believe if a person is good enough, or does enough good works, they can earn their way into heaven.
35 percent believe in karma.
42 percent believe “having faith” matters more than which faith you pursue.
75 percent argue people are basically “good” rather than basically sinful.
43 percent believe Jesus sinned during His time on earth.
52 percent don’t believe in objective moral truth and the authority of the Bible.
44 percent believe Bible teachings on abortion are ambiguous.
34 percent don’t believe marriage is between one man and one woman.
One study found significant minorities of those who identify as “evangelical” don’t confess their sin daily, don’t worship God daily, and don’t pursue God’s will for their lives.

Martyn Lloyd Jones on Sin

Randy Alcorn

September 30, 2022

“What is the matter with the world?” Martyn Lloyd-Jones asked. “Why . . . war and all this unhappiness and turmoil and discord amongst men? . . . There is only one answer to these questions—sin. Nothing else; it is just sin.”

Addiction provides a picture of all sin patterns. At first, the happiness it causes seems to outweigh the misery. But eventually the periods of misery increase while the periods of happiness fade. This is called the law of diminishing returns. Life is promised; death is delivered. Every drug, alcohol, and pornography addict is living proof that the next high is less satisfying than the last.

If insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results, sin not only leads to insanity—it is insanity. Regardless of your drug of choice—materialism, cocaine, pornography, power, anger, slander—the nature of any sin is saying, “This time will be different.” Yet it just keeps killing us—in the name of happiness.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones shares these helpful definitions of sin, and why we must avoid it, in his book Life in Christ in 1 John:

What is sin?

When we disobey God’s holy Law, his revealed will.
Sin is whatever is condemned in Scripture—‘Thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not commit adultery…’ We have sins of ‘commission’ and sins of ‘omission’—in other words, it’s just as bad to do what you shouldn’t do as to not do what you ought to do.
Sin is violating your conscience—going against your conscience (Romans 14). If we are doubtful about a thing, we ought not do it (1 Thessalonians 5:22).
Sin is being governed by our desires and not by truth.

Why must we not sin?

Sin is condemned and hated by God. It goes contrary to the very nature of God.
Sin is ugly and destructive by its very nature. It’s wrong in and of itself. Just look at what sin produces.
Sin is the terrible and foul thing that caused our Savior to die. The problem of sin is what brought the Son of God to earth to die. Why would we desire that which cause the Savior so much pain and grief???
Sin is dishonorable to the gospel and its claims. We claim to believe the gospel and have victory over sin but then don’t walk in patterns of victory. There’s no point in saying you want to walk with God and deliberately sin. In other words, we say we want to fellowship with God and then break that fellowship with deliberate sin. Sin is inconsistent with our profession to hate sin.
Sin leads to an evil conscience. We suffer guilt and condemnation for sin.
Sin robs you of joy. You should avoid sin at all costs because you know what it does to you.
Sin leads to doubts about your salvation.
Sin hinders prayer. It’s impossible to pray as we ought to when we are holding onto sin.
Sin leads to a sense of utter hopelessness.

First John 3:21 says, “If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.” Without the convicting work of the Holy Spirit (see John 16:8), there’s no hope for any of us to turn to God—and without repentance and forgiveness, there’s no restoration to relationship with our joyful God.

Though those of us who have accepted Christ are forgiven of our past sins, including some we don’t remember, we are called upon to confess our sins as we become aware of them: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

It may seem confusing that we must continue to confess recent sins in order to experience new and fresh forgiveness. But while we have a settled once-and-for-all forgiveness in Christ, we also have a current ongoing relationship with Him that is hampered by unconfessed sin.

Scripture says, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). Confession means agreeing with God that we have sinned against him.

Charles Spurgeon said, “It does not spoil your happiness . . . to confess your sin. The unhappiness is in not making the confession.”

While true conversion begins with admitting we’re wrong, it doesn’t end there. It involves repentance. Repentance is more than reciting well-calculated words with a view toward minimizing our losses. Repentance, when it is genuine, is in fact not accompanied by calculation at all. It is utterly vulnerable, and demonstrates this by a radical change in behavior, a new humility, and a willingness to accept God’s discipline.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9). Sin requires a radical solution—salvation in Christ, which transforms our nature and dramatically affects our capacity to embrace greater happiness in God. Our justification by faith in Christ satisfies the demands of God’s holiness by exchanging our sins for Christ’s righteousness (see Romans 3:21-26).

God grants believers new natures that free us from sin’s bondage. Now we can draw upon God’s power to overcome evil. Because our hearts are changed when we become new people in Christ, we want a better way. “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you” (Romans 8:9).

Once believers are born again, we cannot continue to sin as a lifestyle because of our new natures (see 1 John 3:9). Sin is still present in our lives (see Romans 6:11-14; 1 John 1:8–2:2), but we have supernatural power to overcome it since we’ve died to sin (see Romans 6:6-9). God’s Holy Spirit indwells us and helps us obey Him (see 2 Timothy 1:14).

The result? With the Holy Spirit’s help, we’re free to reject sin and its misery, and embrace righteousness, with its true and lasting happiness.

This article originally appeared here.

Pastors: 4 Reasons Not to Homeschool Your Kids

David Walker

September 30, 2022

Before I share reasons not to homeschool, and just to be clear, I am a pastor and we homeschool. This is our first year homeschooling both of our grade school children, and we have a preschooler that we plan to homeschool in kindergarten next year. My wife and I have had a great experience and are excited about the future. It’s hard work, especially for my wife who is the primary teacher, but we have felt peace as we follow God’s leading in this area of our lives.

As many church leaders will have noticed in their communities, the popularity of homeschooling is increasing. One recent statistic showed that over 2 million students are now learning at home. I attended pastor’s conference recently where I learned that the percentage of pastors’ families that are choosing to homeschool is on the rise as well.

The purpose of this article is not to debate whether this is a positive trend or not. The reality is that homeschooling families represent a growing demographic in our communities. Many of them are already connected in our churches, but a significant number have no connection to a church at all. A growing number of parents who homeschool are doing so because of dissatisfaction with the public school system, and not because of personal religious reasons. But there are still some reasons not to homeschool.

The old stereotype of super-conservative families with 10 kids who all dress the same and fall asleep listening to Answers in Genesis every night doesn’t fit reality anymore. The Barna Group reports that, “Half of all homeschool parents said they are ‘somewhere in between’ being politically conservative and liberal.”

There are two major lessons to be drawn from this:

1. Our churches, and pastors specifically, should be sensitive to the perspectives and needs of homeschooling families.

2. Pastors who choose to homeschool should be careful how and why they publicly articulate their own reason to do so.

There are plenty of reasons that school at home is a great educational option, perhaps especially for pastors’ families. Increased family time, different options in curriculum, safety and security, specialized emphasis on your child’s strengths and interest areas are some of the leading pros.

But there are also reasons not to homeschool, especially for pastors. By that I mean that there are motivations for home education that should not be a part of a pastor’s public case for his family’s private choice to homeschool. If your motivation is poor, or poorly communicated, it will harm your ministry.

4 Reasons Not to Homeschool Your Kids

Mistake #1. We had an awful experience in public school, and we want to spare our kids from that pain.

Perhaps you did have an awful experience in public school growing up. Jesus enters our lives and heals all sorts of scars and wounds from our past. There is a difference between gaining wisdom and insight from past experiences, and a life of choices driven by fear.

Among the reasons not to homeschool, we should realie that public school is not the enemy. The world is a broken place and we cannot escape it. We are not meant to. We are meant to participate with Christ in His work to redeem it. That may sound like a rationale to stay in public school. If fear is your reason to leave public school, then perhaps repentance would mean re-enrollment for you.

Samson Bible Story for Kids: 19 Resources to Build Strong Faith

Stephanie Martin

September 29, 2022

Looking for a Samson Bible story for kids? The Old Testament account of the last Israelite judge (found in chapters 13 to 16 of Judges) is a classic. Samson’s long locks, his heroic feats, Delilah’s deception, and Samson’s dramatic finale capture kids’ attention while providing important faith lessons.

As with all intense Scripture accounts, age-appropriateness is key for a Samson Bible story for kids. Be sure to engage young learners with resources such as crafts, games, videos, and coloring sheets.

While teaching about Samson and Delilah, remind children where true strength comes from. Point out ways that God intervened in Samson’s life. And pray with kids that God will build their strength “muscles” throughout their lives.

Check out this wide variety of Samson Bible lesson resources for Sunday school and children’s church. Pro Tip: Adapt these 19 ideas for family devotions too!

19 Ideas for a Samson Bible Story for Kids

Bible Stories and Lessons

1. God’s Strong Man

Use this kid-friendly Bible lesson from Sermons4Kids.

2. Samson & Delilah

This material emphasizes the importance of good friends and the danger of peer pressure.

3. Mighty Warrior

The storybook format at this site brings Samson’s exploits to life.

4. Samson the Strong

Here’s a complete Bible lesson for children about Samson.

5. Samson Bible Lesson

Another free lesson about Samson is available for download here.

Samson Videos for Kids

On YouTube, you’ll find a variety of free, kid-friendly videos about the OT hero Samson.

6. Silly Scriptures

This animated video is aimed at younger kids.

John MacArthur Tells Gavin Newsom His ‘Soul Lies in Grave, Eternal Peril,’ Pleads With Him To Repent in Open Letter

Jesse T. Jackson

September 29, 2022

John MacArthur Gavin Newsom — (L) Gavin Newsom Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (R) John MacArthur https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/John_F._MacArthur_Jr..JPG

On Thursday (Sept. 29), Grace Community Church Senior Pastor John MacArthur shared an open letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom pleading with him to repent and make Jesus Christ his Lord and Savior in light of Newsom’s billboards supporting abortion.

MacArthur’s letter, which was addressed to Newsom’s office in Sacramento, California, tells the governor that he has failed in his responsibility as a civic leader.

“Almighty God says in His Word, ‘Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people’ (Proverbs 14:3). Scripture also teaches that it is the chief duty of any civic leader to reward those who do well and to punish evildoers (Romans 13:1–7),” The 83-year-old pastor wrote. “You have not only failed in that responsibility; you routinely turn it on its head, rewarding evildoers and punishing the righteous.”

“The Word of God pronounces judgment on those who call evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20), and yet many of your policies reflect this unholy, upside-down view of honor and morality,” MacArthur continued. “The diabolical effects of your worldview are evident in the statistics of California’s epidemics of crime, homelessness, sexual perversions (like homosexuality and transgenderism), and other malignant expressions of human misery that stem directly from corrupt public policy.”

“I don’t need to itemize or elaborate on the many immoral decisions you have perpetrated against God and the people of our state, which have only exacerbated these problems. Nevertheless, my goal in writing is not to contend with your politics, but rather to plead with you to hear and heed what the Word of God says to men in your position,” the pastor pleaded, writing out Psalm 72:11, 2 Samuel 23:3–4, and Proverbs 16:12.

MacArthur told Newsom that he should take what God told Cyrus in Isaiah 45 to heart, a passage in which God proclaims there is no other God but Himself.

MacArthur called Newsom’s recent pro-abortion billboards, which Newsom launched in seven pro-life states across the nation earlier this month, a rebellion against God, saying, “You revealed to the entire nation how thoroughly rebellious against God you are when you sponsored billboards across America promoting the slaughter of children, whom He creates in the womb.”

“You further compounded the wickedness of that murderous campaign with a reprehensible act of gross blasphemy, quoting the very words of Jesus from Mark 12:31 as if you could somehow twist His meaning and arrogate His name in favor of butchering unborn infants,” MacArthur said. “You used the name and the words of Christ to promote the credo of Molech (Leviticus 20:1–5). It would be hard to imagine a greater sacrilege.”

Newsom chose to use Jesus’ words while deliberately omitting the first part of the commandment, which Mark 12:30 records: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,” MacArthur explained.

Francis Chan: Communion, Not Preaching, Should Be Central in Corporate Worship

Stephanie Martin

September 29, 2022

On a recent episode of his “Theology in the Raw” podcast, Preston Sprinkle shares a recording of Francis Chan speaking at April’s “Exiles in Babylon” conference. In his message, Chan urges church leaders to keep the Lord’s Supper at the center of worship, saying a shift toward emphasizing sermons has harmed Christian unity.

The podcast also includes a Q&A session between Chan and Sprinkle afterward. During that, Chan describes how he now looks more closely to the early Church for answers on theological issues. And after years of viewing the meal as only a symbol, he now leans toward the Eastern Orthodox view on communion.

Francis Chan: ‘The Body & Blood Were Always Central’

For the first 1,500 years after Jesus’ earthly ministry, notes Chan, “the body and blood were always central” when Christians gathered for worship. They were in awe of the meal and were excited to participate as one body.

But 500 years ago, Ulrich Zwingli “moved communion off to the side,” Chan says, putting a wooden pulpit in the center of worship instead. When other pastors followed suit, the unifying elements of communion faded. Instead, worshipers began comparing pastors and their theologies, “fighting about who’s right.”

Chan describes the first 1,000 years of Christendom by saying, “There was one church!” And for the first 1,500 years, he adds, “Everyone believed in the real presence of Christ in the bread and the cup.” Although that presence was a mystery, it was accepted as truth.

In today’s church, meanwhile, Christians divide ourselves by saying “we can’t break bread with certain people.” Chan asks, “Do you really believe that could be God’s will, that we have like 20 different tables?”

Eucharist Is More Than Remembering, Writes Michael Bird

In a September 28th blog about Chan’s message, Australian priest Michael Bird agrees that “the mere memorialism and marginalization of the Lord’s Supper to elevate the role of preaching” is unfortunate and incorrect. Bird shares an anecdote he heard about a chapel’s ironic layout. Directly above the communion table is a stained-glass window showing the women visiting Jesus’ empty tomb on Easter. Inscribed below are the angel’s words, “He is not here!”

That “sums up how many people feel about the Lord’s Supper,” writes Bird. “Jesus is remembered, but he is not present!” That view is deficient, he says, because “Jesus’ presence is the whole point!”

Porn Accountability Platform Covenant Eyes Responds To Accusations of Violating Privacy, Being ‘Shameware’

Dale Chamberlain

September 29, 2022

Covenant Eyes, an online accountability software, is responding to accusations that its platform is being used by pastors and church leaders to violate users’ privacy and shame them.

Founded in 2000, Covenant Eyes is a platform aimed at helping users “live porn-free through transformative accountability relationships.” To accomplish this goal, the software tracks a user’s online activity, flagging potentially pornographic content and alerting an accountability partner, whom the company refers to as an “ally.”

Covenant Eyes is a leading platform in the accountability software space, which includes other platforms such as Accountable2You, NetNanny, and Bark. The company also organizes conferences and events to educate churches and pastors about the dangers of pornography and how to address it.

However, Covenant Eyes and platforms like it have recently come under scrutiny following an article written by investigative data reporter Dhruv Mehrotra and published on WIRED.

In that article, Mehrotra tells the stories of Covenant Eyes users who expressed that they felt coerced and shamed by church leaders while using the platform, and that their privacy had been violated.

One of those users was Grant Hao-Wei Lin, who was required to install the app after coming out to a leader at Gracepoint Church, a Southern Baptist network of collegiate churches and parachurch ministries headquartered in Alameda, California.

Within a month, Hao-Wei Lin said that the level of detail in the report given to the church leader by Covenant Eyes began to weigh heavily on him. Hao-Wei Lin recounted receiving accusatory emails from the leader over website content that he had hardly even remembered viewing and was not pornographic.

Another former church member referred to the platform as “shameware.”

WIRED reported that Covenant Eyes and Accountable2You monitor far more than pornography usage. In the case of Android devices, WIRED discovered that both companies exploit an accessibility API, which is intended to help developers create features for people living with disabilities, to capture and record essentially everything a user does on their device.

For Hao-Wei Lin, this meant that even his Amazon purchases became subject to the scrutiny of the church leader. A former Accountable2You user also told WIRED that she was confronted by her pastor in a sit down meeting after viewing a Wikipedia article about atheism.

1. In Difficult Seasons, God Gives Us a Spirit of Power.

2. In Difficult Seasons, God Gives Us a Spirit of Love.

Five Deadly Sins of an Unhealthy Church:

Apathy.

Pride.

See Page Two for the final three signs of an unhealthy church . . .

Candace Cameron Bure: Sex Is ‘Important Part’ of Marriage

‘Do Something Unexpected,’ Actor Advises Couples

What is sin?

Why must we not sin?

4 Reasons Not to Homeschool Your Kids

Mistake #1. We had an awful experience in public school, and we want to spare our kids from that pain.

19 Ideas for a Samson Bible Story for Kids

Bible Stories and Lessons

Samson Videos for Kids

Francis Chan: ‘The Body & Blood Were Always Central’

Eucharist Is More Than Remembering, Writes Michael Bird

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New Podcasts