7 Practices for Inclusion of Young Leaders

By

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July 25, 2022

Leadership has never been a spectator sport; we must get in the game from day one.

When you’ve invited a young leader onto your team, it’s important that you’re prepared to develop them, willing to hand them the ball and let them run.

How fast and far you let a young leader run depends on their skill level, experience, and growth rate as they are developed.

However, my experience is that most young leaders are more capable and ready to run than their coaches perceive them to be.

Young leaders are our future; let’s help them lead!

How can you know when a young leader is ready?

One way to discern a young leader’s readiness is through the process of inclusion.

In short . . . Include them in the game!

If we allow fear that a young leader might make a mistake, not do it as well as we can, or just flat drop the ball to be reasons not to include them, they’ll never learn to lead.

I can’t tell you how many times I made a mistake as a young leader, but my coaches kept putting me back in the game.

Leaving a young leader on the sidelines does not help them become the leader they were meant to be.

My mentors did have standards. While there were no penalties for mistakes, there were consequences for making the same mistake twice because that indicated I wasn’t learning.

Those consequences, however, were not imposed by those who led me; they were delivered by everyday life. My mentors were trying to help me grow!

7 Practices for Inclusion of Young Leaders

1. Inclusion Starts With Your Beliefs, Convictions, and Security as a Leader.

I’ve never worked with a church that couldn’t use a few more good leaders.

If your programming outpaces your ability to lead it well, you can back yourself into a difficult corner, yet there is often very little attention given to a pathway to raise up more and better leaders.

We agree on the need.

So, where does this break down?

Sometimes it’s no more complicated than there is no process to find and develop leaders. But it often starts with things like:

The connection between vision and leadership isn’t clear
Inability to trust and let go
Failure to see the potential in young leaders
Lack of empowering
Protecting your emotional and organizational territory
Perfectionistic tendencies

Key questions:

Do you believe that without more and better leaders, you will not realize your vision?
Are you willing to empower and let go?
Can you personally identify one potential leader?
Do you have a simple process for developing leaders?

2. Inclusion Involves the Combination of Opportunities and Training.

If we give a young leader opportunity without training, that isn’t delegating; it’s dumping. And training without opportunity is discouraging. Opportunity and training work best in partnership together. That’s how a leader grows.

Recovering the Lost Art of Encouragement

By

Scott Sauls

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July 25, 2022

thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

In their book, unChristian, my friends Gabe Lyons and Dave Kinnaman wrote a sobering commentary on Christianity’s decline in the West due to departure from the biblical vision to engage a secular world with grace and love. Similarly, Philip Yancey wrote in What’s So Amazing about Grace:

“When I ask people, ‘What is a Christian?’ they don’t usually respond with words like love, compassion, grace; usually they describe a person who’s anti-something. Jesus was not primarily known for what he was against. He was known for serving people who had needs, feeding people who were hungry, and giving water to the thirsty. If we [Christians] were known primarily for that, then we could cut through so many divisions…Christians often have a bad reputation. People think of Christians as uptight and judgmental. Odd, I thought, that [our version of Christianity] has come to convey the opposite of God’s intent, as it’s lived out through us.”

Somehow, in a sincere effort to “speak the truth,” we can lose our way. How easy it is to forget that truth, in order to be true in the truest sense, must be spoken in love.

Jesus affirmed some and critiqued others. But it might surprise us to see who Jesus affirmed and who He critiqued.

Consider Peter. Even though Peter was hot-headed, fell asleep when Jesus asked him to pray, and betrayed Jesus at His darkest hour, Jesus called Him “the Rock” because Peter’s confession of Jesus as Messiah was the rock on which He would build His church.

Jesus reached out to the morally compromised Samaritan woman at the well (John 4). He invited a crook to be one of His disciples (Matthew 9). He praised the promiscuous woman who anointed him at Simon’s house with extravagant—and very unorthodox—expressions of love (Luke 7). He regularly ate with sinners, prostitutes, and tax collectors. He hung out with lepers and women and little children, all of whom were at the bottom of the social pecking order. Jesus, the author of all truth, beauty, and goodness, was quick to affirm, embrace, and keep company with the most unlikely people.

The only people Jesus seemed to chastise were pious religious people who were quite sure of themselves—priests, Levites, Bible scholars, as well as committed pray-ers, money givers, and churchgoers. Wherever there was self-congratulating and superiority, Jesus was unimpressed. He gave no applause to those known for bravado. He critiqued them sharply and often; told them they were not children of Abraham but children of the devil; called them blind guides who don’t practice what they preach, narcissists who honor themselves instead of God, hypocrites who neglect justice and mercy and shed innocent blood, and whose devotion was a self-indulgent show.

And yet, their self-praise reflected not only a prideful root but a needy one. Their posture of needing praise so deeply that they felt compelled to muster up praise for themselves wasn’t just off-putting and offensive. It was also very sad.

Comedian Tom Arnold once confessed in an interview about his book, How I Lost Five Pounds in Six Years, that most entertainers are in show business because they are broken people, looking for affirmation:

“The reason I wrote this book is because I wanted something out there so people would tell me they liked me. It’s the reason behind almost everything I do.”

Tom Arnold is not alone. Who can’t identify with a craving for affirmation?

Some call this neediness. Others call it the image of a God whose nature invites not only people, but rocks and trees and skies and seas, to praise Him. The chief end of everyone and everything, we are told, is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We have been designed to be a reflection of Him. This means that receptivity to and desire for praise is deeply ingrained in us. In other words, it is natural.

Demanding recognition and praise is neither good nor healthy.

Desiring it is both good and healthy.

This is why the gospel, the truth that we have been given all the affirmation we will ever need in Christ, is such good news.

This longing for affirmation makes sense. Both existentially real and biblically true, it is the reason we Christians should be the most affirming people in the world. Rather than rushing to find fault, we should proactively seek opportunities to, as Tim Keller calls it, “catch others doing good” and to encourage (literally, put courage into) others.

Jesus certainly understood this, and so must we.

“But,” a Christian may ask, “Doesn’t critique play some sort of role in the life of a believer?” Shouldn’t Christians speak truth and warn people about sin and judgment? Shouldn’t Christians shine as light in dark places, call people to repent and believe, and go into the world and teach people to obey everything that Jesus commanded? Shouldn’t we expect that as we do these things, there will be people who oppose us and who say, like Gandhi once did, “I do not like your Christians?”

Yes, in some instances we should. Even when done in love, speaking the truth, shining as light in darkness, and taking up a cross to follow Jesus will draw certain forms of opposition. But if people are going to resist and reject us, let’s at least make sure that they are the same kinds of people who resisted and rejected Jesus.

Smug religious people wanted to throw him off a cliff.

People with special needs, little children, women, as well as sexually damaged people, crooks, charlatans, prodigals and addicts couldn’t get enough of him.

I remember watching an interview with Mariah Carey, who at the time was in her late twenties and had accumulated more #1 hits than anyone in music except for Elvis Presley and the Beatles. The interviewer asked Carey if there was anything left for her to accomplish. She sat quietly for a moment, then replied, “Happiness.” The interviewer, thrown off by the answer, asked how this could be true. Carey didn’t even have to think about it. Right away, she said that she could hear a thousand praises and then just one criticism, and the one criticism would cancel out the thousand praises.

What does criticism accomplish? Really?

How many people do you know who started following Jesus because someone scolded them, disapproved of them because of their substandard ethics, or made it clear how appalling their “lifestyle” is? I have been a Christian for more than thirty years and a minister for seventeen. I have never met one.

So, does that mean we just “live and let live” when we see friends and family exhibiting destructive behaviors? Of course not. When a friend is caught in addiction or destructive behavior, the loving thing to do is to help them out of it through intervention.

But intervention is not damning criticism, it’s redeeming critique. Critique is motivated by restoring and building up. Criticism aims to harm and shame. Critique, in the end, will leave a person feeling cared for and built up. Criticism will leave a person feeling belittled and beaten down. Paul says, “If anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.”

Restore…in a spirit of gentleness.

Sometimes love calls us to be courageous, because it takes courage to offer a redemptive critique. Similarly, it takes courage to receive critique, even when it is redemptive. Yet this is what we are called into – like iron sharpening iron, we can help one another grow into the likeness of Jesus. We speak the truth in love to another, to build up the body of Christ, but leave judging those outside the body to God (1 Corinthians 5:12-13).

If we want to really reflect Jesus to the world and also amongst ourselves, let’s not be known for what we’re against, but for loving as we have been loved.

Yes?

So, critique where you must.

And, for God’s sake, affirm and encourage – that is, put courage into a soul – wherever you can.

This article originally appeared here.

Our Destiny Is Not About How to Go to Heaven

By

Stephen Altrogge

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July 25, 2022

I’ve gotta confess, I feel a little uncomfortable saying this. Am I allowed to say this in a public forum? Is this going to be bleeped out, or am I going to be fined by the FTC or something? Maybe I should post this anonymously: Oh what the heck, here I go: everyone says they want to go to heaven, but a lot of times heaven sounds really boring to me.

There, I said it. Phew. Glad that’s off my chest. No more secrets. No more hiding.

I’m not that excited about when talk about “go to heaven.” When I think about heaven it all seems so abstract. I know that we’ll be in God’s presence for eternity, I know that we’ll worship Jesus for eternity, I know that there will be hordes of angels, and I know that there will be no more pain, sorrow or tears.

And don’t get me wrong, all that stuff sounds great. But when I picture it in my head, it just sounds like one really long Sunday morning worship service.

I’m a worship leader, and even I can only sing Chris Tomlin for so long before I need to do something else.

I’m a preacher, and even I could only listen to myself preach for so long before I had to do something else.

I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that heaven sounds boring. I think lots of Christians feel that way. And, as Randy Alcorn has said, not being excited about heaven is one of the main ways Satan keeps us comfortable here. So how do we become more excited?

Why Should I Want to Go to Heaven?

I think we need to remember that heaven is not our final destination.

So often we talk about heaven as if it is the final resting place for a Christian. When someone dies, we talk about them finally “going home,” and “being in a better place.” And they really are in a much, much better place. As Paul said, he longed to die and be with Christ, which was better by far.

But the reality is, heaven is simply the waiting room for the rest of eternity. When a person dies, they leave their body and go to heaven to be with Christ.

Go to heaven. but that’s not the end.

Our final, glorious, exciting hope is not an abstract, bodiless existence. When we “go to heaven” our great end is not to float about the universe as bodiless souls. The end comes when Jesus returns, makes a new, physical heaven and earth, and gives us new, physical resurrection bodies.

I can’t relate to simply being a soul. I have no concept of that form of existence.

But I can imagine having a new resurrection body, and the prospect of that excites me! Our resurrection bodies will feast at the table of the Lamb! We will eat glorious meals! What sorts of flavors will our new bodies be able to sense and savor?

Our new bodies will sing to the king. How many different shades and shimmers of harmony will we be capable of producing?

What sorts of things will we do with our friends in heaven? Will we explore? Will we swim in heavenly lakes? Will we have heavenly competitions?

I don’t know all that we’ll do in the new heaven and the new earth, but I can imagine. I can think of all the God-given joys I experience in this life, and then amplify them by a million. I can think of the many gifts of God I experience in this life, then blow those up. It’s going to be wonderful. Astonishing. Breath taking.

Will heaven be good? Yes, it will be great.

But I can’t wait until I’m not in heaven. Heaven is just the waiting room.

I can’t wait until I’m in the new heaven and new earth, with my new resurrection body. That’s what I’m truly looking forward to.

How Earthly Worship Differs From Heavenly Worship

By

Matthew Westerholm

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July 25, 2022

Heavenly Worship — Adobestock #496514005

Worship voices often celebrate the theme that we worship on earth like they worship in heaven. This emphasis has roots in Scripture and many clear benefits. Heavenly worship will be passionate, whole-hearted and multi-ethnic—and the church is, in some sense, already seated with Christ in heaven through faith (Ephesians 1:3; Hebrews 12:22 –24). No one should disagree with exhortations to worship God like that.

The great complication with worshiping now as if we were already fully in heaven is this: We are not actually there yet. We are here on earth, called by God to worship him in ways we cannot escape in our current location and circumstances. As Mike Wittmer writes, “We are earthlings, for heaven’s sake.”

Three aspects (at least) of our worship during this earthly age should differ from the heavenly worship of the age to come: confession of sin, mission to the lost and lament over brokenness. If we diminish or remove any of these aspects, our worship will suffer in the here and now.

How Earthly Worship Differs From Heavenly Worship

1. Confession of sin

This current age has sinfully rebelled against God, while the age to come will feature the unhindered reign of Christ. His redemptive reign has begun where Jesus already rules—in his church. All believers, though, mourns the ongoing remnants of sin’s effects in their hearts.

At Christ’s second coming, our worship will celebrate the final victory over sin. At his first coming, Jesus purchased safety for us from the coming judgment; at his second coming, he will provide that purchased safety to us from judgment (Hebrews 9:28).

Worshiping as an earthling at this moment in redemptive history means confessing our remaining sin and the effects that sin has on our lives. As Cornelius Plantinga writes, “Recalling and confessing our sin is like taking out the garbage: Once is not enough.” Our current worship celebrates the decisive victory over sin’s penalty that Christ accomplished on the cross. And on the last day, we will worship with the final freedom from sin’s presence that Christ will apply to our lives.

2. Mission to the lost

While the age to come will be exclusively populated by those whose names are written in the book of life, this world is now populated with many who do not recognize the supremacy of God and give him the worship he deserves (Revelation 20:12 –15). Christ calls believers to cross cultures, learn languages and plant evangelizing churches among all people groups.

After Christ’s second coming, no one will be pursuing missions to lost people. As John Piper says).

Worship as an earthling at this moment in redemptive history means calling on God to reveal his salvation to the nations (Isaiah 52:10). And on the last day, our worship will finally celebrate the culmination of Christ’s redemptive work in drawing his church to himself.

3. Lament over brokenness

This current world suffers from the brokenness and futility of sin’s curse, while the age to come will feature the glorious redemption of the entire cosmos (Romans 8:20 –23). If the only way we describe our current world is by referring to its created beauty, we understate the horrific toll that sin has taken. As believers, we recognize that we are not exempt from suffering, but we are called to carry crosses and follow our Savior through difficult trials.

At Christ’s second coming, our worship will celebrate the end of all futility. At his first coming, Jesus began to make the sad things in our world come untrue. His followers are born again and become “new creations” in a world that he is remaking.

Worshiping as an earthling means lamenting over brokenness by joining the mourning and groanings of childbirth that our world experiences. Lament is a form of praise because it declares that only God is great enough to help our broken world and broken hearts. Our current worship celebrates the new kingdom that has begun with the death and resurrection of Christ and its inevitable march toward an uncontested reign. And on the last day, our worship finally will celebrate the moment that “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).

As we look to that day, we remember that “for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

This article on Heavenly worship originally appeared here.

The Art of Arguing Well: Six Strategies for Winning the Abortion Debate Without Losing Your Opponent

By

Mike Spencer

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July 23, 2022

I met Reagan on a flight home from a speaking engagement. After a few friendly questions, I discovered that he had married two years earlier, worked for the United States Air Force, and was returning from a business trip.

Our conversation lapsed, but about twenty minutes before our plane landed, I noticed Reagan had closed his book, so I asked another question. Eventually, he asked about my work. I explained that I advocate for the unborn threatened by abortion, as well as for their mothers facing unplanned pregnancies. Without skipping a beat, he responded, “I lean toward the pro-choice position. Tell me why I should be pro-life.” I answered, “Well, actually, you shouldn’t be pro-life if the science of human embryology is wrong.” Reagan’s curiosity was piqued, and we launched into a meaningful dialogue by focusing our discussion on the question at the heart of the abortion debate, “What are the unborn?” Before long, we had an audience as the passengers in the two rows in front of us didn’t even pretend not to be listening.

As the plane landed, Reagan surprised me with another direct question: “Thirty years of marriage? What’s your secret?” I answered, “Reagan, there’s no secret. My wife and I are convinced Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be. We’ve built our lives on this truth, and it has made all the difference in our marriage.” I have no idea what lasting impact, if any, my words had on him or our extended audience. But God knows, and I trust Him to use my words for His purposes.

I confess this was a conversation I could not have had 20 years ago. At that time, I lacked both the knowledge and the skill to navigate through thorny subjects like abortion without my passions getting the better of me. In my earlier years I meant well, but it is possible to have the right answers and the right motivation but the wrong approach. The apostle Paul must have had this in mind when he wrote, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Colossians 3:5-6).

Here are six simple strategies that will help you win the abortion debate without losing, or alienating, your audience.

Strategy #1: Take an Honest Interest in Others.

With the noteworthy exception of public pro-life events and displays designed to create public dialogue, generally the most effective way to start one-on-one conversations about abortion is to talk about other things and simply look for natural openings. With Reagan, I did not set out to have a conversation about abortion. However, by expressing an honest interest in his life, a door of opportunity opened.

I’ve found that people are very interested in discussing abortion but are more inclined to do so when they know our care for them is genuine and not a sneaky sales tactic. If we are not careful, our burden for the unborn (or any theological, political, social, or moral topic) can blind us relationally, causing us to view family, friends, and strangers as targets rather than as people. (As my conversation with Reagan demonstrated, defending the unborn and sharing the gospel are not competing interests. Doing the first often presents the opportunity to do the second.)

Strategy #2: Attack Arguments, Not People.

Preaching the gospel repeatedly brought Jesus’ disciples face-to-face with hostile opponents. They undoubtedly felt the urge to lash out, to respond sarcastically, and to portray their antagonists unfairly. But they didn’t. Paul wrote, “Christ’s love compels us” (2 Corinthians 5:14). What a powerful example. Clever tactics and good apologetic arguments are vitally important, but arguing well on behalf of the unborn has to begin with love. We must resist the temptation to attack or demonize those with whom we disagree.

However, loving and respecting people does not mean loving and respecting their opinions. Some ideas are so bad and so dangerous that we are duty-bound to expose them: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 10:5). When an idea or argument justifies killing innocent human beings, defeating it becomes our calling.

This isn’t an easy balance. If we are motivated by anything less than Christ’s love, the worst in them will bring out the worst in us.

Strategy #3: Define “Winning” the Abortion Debate From a Biblical Perspective.

Winning does not necessarily mean having your pro-choice friend on his knees renouncing his pro-abortion position. There is freedom in recognizing that our part is simply to “make the most of every opportunity,” to be sure our conversations are “always full of grace and seasoned with salt,” and then to trust God for the results. Understanding this helps take the pressure off. Treat your opponents in such a way that if they visit your church and sit in the pew next to you, you will have nothing for which to apologize.

Thoughts on Preventing Church Crises

By

Scot McKnight

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July 23, 2022

Church crises are happening so often they have become customary, and that reflects the state of church in the mode of leadership. From Harvest Bible Church in Chicagoland to Hillsong in New York to the abominable news about the previous popes, and Pope Francis gets no pass with me (more tomorrow), to small churches whose stories are not front page news in major cities. Church Crises are happening.

What is the solution? It is not simple and it can’t be “fixed” by doing something or instituting some program or a set of protocols. It is a character-forming-culture issue and we need to rethink a dozen practices and habits that form our cultures, but one common solution is to ask Public Relations people to “fix” the problem and help it go away.

In a recent CT Article, by Heather Cirmo, “a public relations professional based in Washington, DC, with 25 years of experience,” we encounter a five-dimension approach to avoiding crises. What she has to say is worthy of our attention, but I will suggest below she misses the two most important elements.

When PR firms are called in to churches I get suspicious so, to counter my suspicions, I have both read her article several times and passed some ideas on to some folks who actually work in this field. I want to recommend a splendid complex approach by Lisa Oakley and Justin Humphreys, who have focused on spiritual abuse, but the crises and abuses go hand in glove. Their book is called Escaping the Maze of Spiritual Abuse: Creating Healthy Christian Cultures. (More on their work at another date.)

Now to Heather Cirmo in the CT article:

Working as a public relations professional in the Christian world, I’ve had an up-close and personal view of how quickly crises can develop and how easily they can engulf an organization in controversy and confusion. I have been called on to help numerous ministries in crisis, many of which were struggling to come to terms with revelations of sexual impropriety or abusive leadership. My role is to try to minimize the public damage. But in many situations, it becomes clear that organizational problems existed far before the sin was ever made public.

Exposing the truth is necessary and helpful. We have a duty to name and call out sin in our communities, churches, and ministries. Open and honest media coverage can be a part of that process. But we can and must do more than expose sin within leadership when it happens. We must fight to prevent it from taking root in the first place….

More often than not, organizations are catapulted into crises almost solely because they had little to no accountability procedures in place to prevent abuses of power. When it comes to protecting against sexual misconduct or preventing abusive and controlling leadership, prayer and regular meditation on God’s Word are key. However, there are also some simple, practical measures Christian organizations should take to build accountability and keep leaders in check.

She then discusses five of these “simple, practical measures” and her concern is as much “organizations” as churches but I don’t think the two are the same. The leader of a missions organization is not the same as a pastor in a church.

All leaders should be faithfully attending a local church.

2. All leaders within the organization should be in relationships in which they are accountable.

3. Prohibit the board from being stacked with family members and friends.

4. Question whether a Christian organization should be named after an individual.

5. Be thoughtful about the organization’s travel policy.

You can’t prevent a church crisis like these from happening. There is nothing that can eradicate the power of sin as pride and power and fear-mongering in this world. It can be minimized, but “prevent” is not a word we should be using.

Yes, I agree that we “must fight to prevent” this stuff “from taking root in the first place” but the issue is how to do that. Yes, prayer and meditating in the scriptures are vital, and these two can be indicators of deeper issues. Many pastors spend time reading the Bible only in preparation for a sermon so that the Bible becomes a book to be used rather than a Word that addresses the person before it can be turned into a sermon.

Yes, for sure, going to church is important but going to church is not the same as being part of the church in an integral manner. By the way, I have known, and known about, pastors who don’t go to church if they aren’t preaching, and I have known seminary professors and graduates who are so critical of the church they can’t attend church. Shame on both sorts.

OK, I’m for accountability but such structures are sometimes as abusive as they are shaping. I know a pastor who went through such a process and proceeded then to say, “Now it’s my turn to evaluate you.”

Yes, too, on board stacking but family and friends is only part of the issue: sycophants and yes-men and yes-women are a very very serious problem. The deeper issue here is pastor-centrism: seeing the pastor as the center of the church and his (usually a his) authority being too much.

I am doubtful about thinking the problem was either “organizational problems” or “accountability” structures. Notice this movement in logic:

Each of us is prone to sinful temptations in different ways. [Yes] To deny this about ourselves is in itself a prideful flaw. [Yes, and now to a solution] This is exactly why evangelical ministries must do more to create systems and structures to prevent and protect our leadership from moral failure.

Systems and structures are not the solution for they are only an embodiment of a culture and character. I am a NT professor and the emphasis in God’s Word is not systems and structures, or programs and protocols, but God’s Spirit, God’s grace, the transforming work of God from the inside out.

We need people who are tov.

The crisis in the church today is that there are not enough tov people pastoring and being pastored.

A narcissist isn’t less abusive because of some system or structure. Narcissists, who most of the time are as hard as granite to mold, have to be converted from the inside out to change.

Accountability can be dodged by anyone who wants to dodge it.

The most important attribute, the one that is the game-changer, is character of the pastor (in a pastor-centric a church), of the elders, of the deacons, of the “leaders” – of everyone. Character – what Laura Barringer and I wrote about in A Church called Tov – shapes the whole. A pastor and elders and others who are tov (good, goodness) don’t abuse sexually or in power. Systems and structures might constrain some abuse but they will not prevent it.

God prevents it, and God’s prevention is called transformation by grace.

Systems and structures are eaten alive by character and culture. So the second most important issue is culture emerging from character working together with other people marked by a tov character. Never forget how powerful a church culture can be to make us fit into its culture, and if that culture is tov – great. If it is ra (evil) – look out!

In a “ra” culture systems and structures will shape from bottom to top and top to bottom to be abusive in all sorts of ways.

PR firms are not the path to go for churches. When this author admits that her role is “to try to minimize the public damage,” we are in trouble. Truth-telling is what is needed.

However, because PR firms do go behind closed doors with churches in crisis, they may well help us all see the problems more clearly. The most important issues are character and culture and what we need for that are spiritual sages who are themselves tov, such sages who shape the character and life of those who are being “wisened” into tov by such sages.

This article originally appeared here.

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism: Not Just a Problem with Youth Ministry

By

Brian Cosby

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July 22, 2022

Worried about moralistic therapeutic deism? You’re not alone! Read this informative article from Brian Cosby about MTD, its widespread reach, and how to combat it.

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism: Dangerous & Widespread

That a youth ministry “teaches the Bible” does not necessarily mean it teaches the gospel. Many mistake the gospel with moralism—being a good person, reading your Bible, or opening the door for the elderly in order to earn God’s favor. But the gospel is altogether different.

This is a problem across the youth ministry landscape. It’s not because teenagers and youth leaders have misunderstood the church’s teaching of historical-confessional, gospel-infused Christianity. It’s a problem in youth ministry wherever the American church has not preached Christ crucified and has catered to a pragmatic, entertainment-driven, and numbers-oriented model of church growth.

According to sociologists Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton, most American teenagers believe in something dubbed “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” (MTD). [1] Within this MTD “religion,” God is a cosmic therapist and divine butler, ready to help out when needed. He exists but really isn’t a part of our lives. We are supposed to be “good people,” but each person must find what’s right for him or her. Good people will go to heaven, and we shouldn’t be stifled by organized religion where somebody tells us what we should do or what we should believe. [2]

MTD isn’t a religion like Islam or Buddhism, but rather a melting-pot belief among American teenagers. Historic distinctions between denominations like Baptists, Presbyterians, and Methodists are not as important to teens because they see their Christian faith as just one aspect of their lives like anything else—be it sports, friends, school, or family. Its preacher is American entitlement and its sermon is a me-centered message about a distant, therapeutic god who wants teens to be good and happy.

Alternative to Entertainment

I sat in a Waffle House one early morning, talking with a dad who had caught his son looking at pornography. His family had just transferred from a nearby church that spent through the roof creating the most spectacular show in church—complete with fog machines, strobe lights, and professional musicians writing Christian lyrics to Lady Gaga songs. In between the dueling DJs, this family was starved for the Bread of Life. But despite their burnout over endless entertainment, they didn’t know an alternative.

Ethan Hawke Says This ‘Great Christian Thinker’ Could Help Pope Stop War in Ukraine

By

Jessica Lea

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July 22, 2022

Actor, director and screenwriter Ethan Hawke suggested in a recent interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that Pope Francis should follow the example of his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, to help put an end to the war in Ukraine.

“When you read about the great Christian thinkers throughout time, you know, St. Francis of Assisi is really staggering,” Hawke told Colbert, “and I had this idea that I wanted to write the pope.”

Ethan Hawke on St. Francis of Assisi

Ethan Hawke is Episcopalian, which host Stephen Colbert, who is Catholic, joked was “one pope away from being right.”

“We’re wannabe Catholics,” Hawke agreed, “My mother always said we’re wannabe Catholics. We just didn’t want to do the hard work and we want to be able to get divorced.”

In a 2018 interview with Terry Gross on “Fresh Air,” Hawke said that growing up, he was “baptized and confirmed an Episcopal” and that the priest who confirmed him had a significant impact on his life. Attending church was a “big part” of Hawke’s life growing up. In summers he even did “missionary work,” which involved serving others through manual labor, but no proselytizing. Hawke told Gross during the interview that he did not “really go” to church.

Despite religious practices not being central to his adult life, Hawke shared with Colbert that he was “raised on the great Catholic writers and thinkers,” and that he had been “impressed” when Pope Francis took the name of Francis of Assisi.

Francis of Assisi was a mystic and monk who founded the Fransciscan Order and whose devotion to Jesus had a significant impact on medieval Christianity. He lived a life of poverty and instructed his followers “to follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and to walk in his footsteps.”

Hawke said he had thought of writing the pope because Francis of Assisi had “marched across the desert to a battlefield in the Fifth Crusade to try to have audience with the sultan.” The Fifth Crusade was part of a series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims as the groups battled for control of holy sites. The objective of the Fifth Crusade was to take Jerusalem back from Muslim control.

Gospel Singer Kim Burrell Sorry for Comments About ‘Broke,’ ‘Ugly’ People—And for ‘Offensive’ First Apology

By

Stephanie Martin

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July 22, 2022

When she spoke last weekend at Kingdom City Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, gospel singer Kim Burrell shocked some listeners by talking about “broke” and “ugly” people. After her remarks went viral, the musician posted a written apology on Twitter, which seemed to add to the offense.

Now Burrell has removed the written statement and posted a video apology, saying, “I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart” and “I did not want to hurt you.”

Kim Burrell: Financial Woes Are ‘Just About Choices’

During her July 17 remarks from the pulpit, Kim Burrell chided churchgoers for their money problems and even their appearances. “Sometimes before we get friends we have to do an interview: How long you been broke? How many times have you changed your name on your light bill? How many of your bills are in your little cousin’s name? Do you live in a trailer home or a house?” she said while chuckling. “You understand. It’s not about status or material things. It’s just about choices.”

Burrell, 49, also said no one likes to be told they are ugly, “especially when they have realized it.” To churchgoers, she said, “All of you are beautiful, I haven’t chosen anyone to be ugly yet… You all look great. Most of you have on hats to cover that anyway.”

The Grammy-nominated musician also referred to “walking by faith without a mask and no vaccine.” She mentioned being available to speak at other churches, saying, “I’m not as expensive as I seem! I don’t know, maybe you got a little left from your PPP loan. Prayer, Praise and Power, you understand. Amen.”

One Twitter user who reposted Burrell’s comments writes, “And THIS is why people don’t go to Church. There was no Jesus in this.” Another writes, “Kim Burrell has always been a bad look for Christians. She doesn’t use her platform well or in an uplifting matter. But she is not God… your relationship with him is personal. It’s not about the church people… Don’t allow people to rob you of that experience.”

Kim Burrell Apologizes—Twice

As criticism mounted online, Burrell posted a written apology to Instagram, but that wording also sparked backlash. “As a kingdom citizen, and a woman of integrity, I acknowledge that some of my words, even if said in jest, can be offensive,” she wrote. “My intention is never to hurt anyone, but to spread love, laughter, and more importantly, the gift which God has given me in song. If anyone was offended, I can sincerely say I apologize.”

However, the statement concluded with threats of legal action if anyone misuses her image or slanders or defames her. That led one Twitter user to write: “An apology that starts with ‘if’ and includes threats to sue for slander that came from thine own lips…is an empty apology.”

After removing the written apology, Burrell posted a video to Instagram on July 20. “I’m sorry. I mean it. … Not from the letter, from my heart,” she says. Noting that the written statement was “from an attorney,” Burrell acknowledges “it did not convey right at all” and “the latter part…I know, it was offensive.”

Former Las Vegas Pastor Sentenced to Life in Prison for Brutal Shotgun Murders of Elderly Neighbor and Her Friend

By

Dale Chamberlain

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July 22, 2022

Former Las Vegas pastor Andrew Cote has been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of the murders of his elderly neighbor and her friend. Cote had been engaged in an ongoing feud with the two victims for more than a decade.

According to Oxygen, Cote had been a pastor at Iglesia Bautista de Fe y Amor, which shares a facility with Mountain View Baptist Church in Las Vegas.

The victims were 71-year-old Mildred Olivo and her 54-year-old friend Timothy Hanson.

The murders, which happened in 2020, came after an altercation between the neighbors earlier in the day, wherein Olivo allegedly sprayed Cote and his 9-year-old daughter with a garden hose. Cote called the police and filed a report. The two had reportedly called the police on each other on multiple occasions during their time as next-door neighbors.

Olivo subsequently called Hanson to come over as a means of protection from Cote later in the day. Hanson then began yelling at him over a brick wall dividing the two properties in the backyard.

According to police, Cote came to the backyard armed with a shotgun, where he found his daughter. During trial, Cote testified that Hanson was yelling at the girl to “go get your daddy.”

While the two were unarmed, Cote testified that he believed they were a threat to the life of his daughter and shot them both in the head.

“That was my reality on that night when I had to protect my 9-year-old firstborn daughter from a potential loss of life,” Cote said.

Cote shot Hanson in the head a second time after he noticed he was “still moving,” according to 8NewsNow. He then took his daughter inside and called the police.

Cote would later testify that he had no intention of speaking to Hanson or Olivo before fatally shooting them. Cote had reportedly filed a restraining order against Olivo roughly two months prior.

In Leaving Ukraine, Refugees Find a Home and Sense of God’s Family

By

Scott Barkley

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July 22, 2022

In-leaving-Ukraine-refugees — Large family gatherings were common at Olha Soroka's home on the edge of Mariupol. Photo courtesy of Baptist Press.

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (BP) – Olha Soroka, 85, walks through the rooms of her home. She smells the roses from her garden and can hear the laughter from family dinners. She touches and kisses the walls, the ones that witnessed the years of raising children with her husband.

Then she wakes up, and the tears return.

Soroka and her daughter, Svitlana, arrived in Atlanta on June 15 and have since found community at The Lighthouse Church, a Russian-speaking Southern Baptist congregation in Lawrenceville, Ga. The road to get there, though, required much prayer and help from others to escape the siege of their hometown, the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, after it was besieged by occupying Russian forces.

“Half of our church is Ukrainian and the other half from other areas of the former Soviet Union,” said Pastor Max Lisovskiy, whose family’s Baptist beliefs had placed them under the eye of authorities going back decades. Lisovskiy says it led to his grandfather’s murder in 1937 by the KGB and, ultimately, to his family’s leaving Russia in 2006 as President Vladimir Putin’s power continued to grow.

“We began receiving refugees in April,” he said. “We hear their stories, pray for them and support them however we can.”

While other headlines may have pushed the war in Ukraine away from many Americans’ attention, it’s an inescapable daily discussion point in Lisovskiy’s church.

Soroka and her husband, Volodymyr, moved to Mariupol in 1959, where he found work as a steel worker. They raised two children, a boy and a girl, in the home they built on the edge of the city.

“It was a simple city,” said Soroka, whose husband died many years ago. “Over the last 10-15 years, it grew into a wonderful, modern European city. It was beautiful and people wanted to live here.”

“I remember the happiness,” said her daughter, Svitlana Kuznetsova, 55. “It was my hometown and our house was the center of it. Leaving there was like leaving my heart and soul.”

Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, it became apparent that Mariupol was one of its prime targets.

As the bombing drew closer and neighborhoods with no apparent military significance nevertheless became targets, Svitlana insisted her mother and other relatives move to her eighth-floor apartment in the middle of the city. The original plan was to wait three days until things got safer, but that grew into weeks.

The decision to leave saved their lives. Word came that a bomb had destroyed their neighborhood, including the house. Soroka wouldn’t believe it until seeing for herself.

Human Trafficking Report Highlights Inequity, War’s Impact

By

Diana Chandler

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July 22, 2022

Trafficking in Persons Report — Source: Adobe Stock

WASHINGTON (BP) – Incorporating the leadership of survivors and programs to address societal inequities are two essentials in the fight against human trafficking, the U.S. State Department said in its 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report.

Russia’s war on Ukraine has greatly increased the number of people vulnerable to traffickers’ snares, the U.S. said in releasing the report Tuesday (July 19). The 634-page report highlights global human trafficking in forced sex and labor, including government-sponsored trafficking, in nearly 200 countries ranked by their progress in fighting the crime.

The United States is one of 30 Tier 1 countries, signaling conformance to minimum anti-trafficking standards under the Trafficking Victim Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA). Tier rankings do not indicate the extent of human trafficking in any particular country named, but ranks the level of engagement of TVPA standards, the report stipulates.

The report signals that the U.S. must do more to fight human trafficking at home and abroad, the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission said.

“Human trafficking – modern day slavery – is a horrific reality of our time,” Hannah Daniel, policy manager of the ERLC’s Washington office, told Baptist Press. “This report exposes the ways that the Chinese Communist Party is using forced labor in its Uyghur internment camps and rightly urges the United States to prioritize these concerns, particularly as it engages with China on climate change. The report also demonstrates the significant danger and trauma that many around the world face when they are displaced from their homes.

“As we face an unprecedented scale of displacement around the world, the United States must do more to combat human trafficking and address the root causes that create such vulnerabilities where it can thrive.”

Joining the U.S. in the Tier 1 ranking of countries doing the most to fight human trafficking are Argentina, Australia, Austria, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Guyana, Iceland and Lithuania.

Countries ranked in Tier 3, those furthest from meeting minimum TVPA standards, are Afghanistan, Belarus, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Curacao, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Russia, Sint Maarten, South Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Vietnam.

Nearly 100 countries are ranked Tier 2, and another 34 are on the Tier 2 Watch List of countries making significant efforts to meet compliance standards.

The 2022 report comes in the midst of a humanitarian crisis, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote in the report’s introduction.

“Russia’s senseless continued invasion of Ukraine and its devastating attacks across that country have inflicted unfathomable pain and suffering and forced millions of Ukrainian citizens and others to flee seeking safety. We are deeply concerned about the risks of human trafficking faced by individuals internally displaced by the war, as well as those fleeing Ukraine, an estimated 90 percent of whom are women and children,” Blinken wrote. “The food insecurity and other broader effects of Russia’s war exacerbate trafficking risks around the globe.

Pope Francis, Vatican Call for International Cooperation for the Environment

By

Claire Giangrave

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July 22, 2022

pope francis environment — People shelter from the sun with an umbrella as Pope Francis recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, July 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Francis made an impassioned appeal for the environment on Thursday (July 21), urging countries to divest from fossil fuels as temperatures rise all over the globe and put vulnerable communities at risk.

“If we learn how to listen, we can hear in the voice of creation a kind of dissonance. On the one hand, we can hear a sweet song in praise of our beloved Creator; on the other, an anguished plea, lamenting our mistreatment of this, our common home,” the pope said in a video message presented at a Vatican news conference.

“It is necessary for all of us to act decisively,” he said, “for we are reaching a breaking point.”

Francis urged nations to cooperate on four principles that combine the need to “combat the loss of biodiversity” while giving “priority to people in vulnerable situations.”

Francis praised the “demanding” goals set out by the Paris Agreement to limit Earth’s temperature increase to1.5 degrees Celsius and said that the COP27 summit of world leaders in Egypt in November as well as the COP15 meeting on biodiversity in Canada in December represent opportunities for nations to come together in combating climate change and the extinction of species.

On July 8, the Vatican joined the United Nations Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.

Francis urged Catholics to listen to the cry of the Earth, “prey to our consumerist excesses,” and all creatures “at the mercy of our tyrannical anthropocentricism.” The pope remembered the many poor and Indigenous peoples in the world who most directly feel the impact of drought, flooding, hurricanes and heat waves.

“Finally, there is the plea of our children,” Francis said. “Feeling menaced by shortsighted and selfish actions, today’s young people are crying out, anxiously asking us adults to do everything possible to prevent, or at least limit, the collapse of our planet’s ecosystems.”

He underlined the fact that richer countries have an “ecological debt” to the world, as they have polluted the air and water more than their poorer neighbors in the last two centuries. They must therefore shoulder the costs not only within their borders, but for those nations “which are already experiencing most of the burden of the climate crisis.”

At the same time, he added, poorer countries still have a responsibility since “delay on the part of others can never justify our own failure to act.”

Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, July 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, July 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Since 2015, the Catholic Church has participated in an ecumenical event called the Season of Creation, which starts this year on Sept. 1 with the World Day for the Care of Creation and ends on Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of the environment. The ecumenical effort, whose slogan is “Listen to the environment,” urges people to pray and reflect on the environment with an emphasis on the concerns of Indigenous peoples and the communities suffering the most due to climate change.

Cardinal Michael Czerny, who heads the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, presented the pope’s message for this year’s Season of Creation at Thursday’s news conference, saying: “Enough is enough. All new exploration and production of coal, oil and gas must immediately end, and existing production of fossil fuels must be urgently phased out.”

House Passes Same-Sex Marriage Bill With GOP Help

By

Tom Strode

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July 22, 2022

WASHINGTON (BP) – The U.S. House of Representatives voted July 19 to codify same-sex marriage into law with the help of one-fifth of its Republican members and to the chagrin of Southern Baptist leaders.

With all the Democrats and 47 Republicans voting in favor, the House approved the Respect for Marriage Act in a 267-157 roll call. The proposal would repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and require federal and state recognition of same-sex marriages considered legal in the jurisdiction where they took place.

If enacted, the measure would essentially place into federal law the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized gay marriage.

The legislation still needs to receive approval in the Senate, where it faces the challenge of a 60-vote requirement to gain action on the floor.

Democrats promoted the Respect for Marriage Act in the wake of the Supreme Court’s June 24 overruling of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 opinion that legalized abortion nationwide. Supporters of same-sex marriage expressed concerns a future high court might also reverse the Obergefell ruling and called for a legislative remedy for that possibility.

The roll call demonstrated the difference between the House GOP’s status on abortion and gay marriage. No Republicans voted July 15 for the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would go beyond the Roe decision by prohibiting federal and state regulations of the procedure that were permitted under the 1973 opinion. On Tuesday, 22 percent of all Republican members in the House supported the same-sex marriage bill.

The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission “stands firmly opposed to this legislation, and it should not make any more advances in the legislative process,” said Brent Leatherwood, the ERLC’s acting president. “Its passage by the House is yet another reminder of how far our culture has moved away from the biblical understanding of marriage as being between one man and one woman for life and why God’s design for that union is meant for our flourishing.

“Marriage is bound up in the Gospel itself and so, regardless of any act of Congress, it is imperative that we, as Christians, continue to show how it is a picture of Christ joining with His bride, the church,” Leatherwood told Baptist Press in written comments.

Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said the vote shows the country’s “political class has decided to vote for same-sex marriage, and 47 House Republicans decided to get aboard the train.”

“Yesterday, those of us who know that marriage is and can only be the union of a man and a woman found ourselves facing the undeniable reality that our political class will not rise to defend society’s most fundamental institution,” Mohler wrote in a column Wednesday (July 20) for WORLD Opinions.

Bart Barber Wants the Southern Baptist Convention to Regain Its Rural Soul

By

Riley Farrell

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July 22, 2022

FARMERSVILLE, Texas (RNS) — Fighting summer sunlight tinged mauve by stained glass windows, a screen at the front of the sanctuary flashed the week’s birthdays as members of the First Baptist Church of Farmersville filed in for the 11 a.m. service — business as usual at the tiny rural church an hour from Dallas.

Except for one thing: A month before, the church’s pastor, Bart Barber, had been elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Barber succeeds Ed Litton, an Alabama pastor who declined to run for a customary second term as president, adding more drama to the denomination’s 2022 annual meeting, where Southern Baptists approved a series of reforms to address sexual abuse. Those reforms had been drawn up after a report, released days before, found SBC leaders had mistreated survivors of abuse by pastors and church staff for years and sought to downplay its severity.

While he has been involved with SBC polity for years — he was the head of the resolutions committee that selected and shaped many of the proposed reforms — Barber is the first SBC president in nearly two decades not to emerge from an urban or suburban megachurch. During an interview in Farmersville, he said that the jump from leading a small-town church to representing the nation’s largest Protestant denomination is “tons of pressure every day, starting at 4 in the morning.”

At the 11 o’clock service, Barber looked none the worse, delivering a sermon on grace and forgiveness based on a passage from the Book of Leviticus. He excoriated social media cancel culture as the modern equivalent of a bloodthirsty mob, before reviewing Farmersville’s recent Bible youth retreat. Some campers, he jested, “met Jesus for the first time. Others met COVID BA.5.” The hundred or so predominantly white congregants in the pews laughed appreciatively.

Barber’s win at the June meeting in Anaheim, California, represented progress in the SBC’s long battle over sex abuse reform. He supports the appointment of a task force in charge of creating a long-sought database of abusers for use in background checks and urging greater accountability.

Members of Bart Barber’s congregation gather outside the First Baptist Church in Farmersville, Texas. Barber hopes to bring decision-making power back to the congregation members in rural churches like his own. RNS photo by Riley Farrell

But Barber also talks about shifting the balance “to the people” of the SBC, arguing that decentralization — preserving the historical autonomy of the denomination’s churches — will mean more transparency and vigilance in preventing further sexual abuse.

“The SBC is decentralized in terms of polity for the same reasons that the (U.S.) Constitution, if it were being followed, is decentralized in terms of polity,” Barber said. “We are decentralized because of a suspicion of power.”

Critics argue the SBC’s decentralized structure makes it more difficult to discover abuse and hold its perpetrators accountable. SBC leaders long emphasized that churches’ independence meant the SBC had no ability to force specific action against abuse, and insisted SBC leaders could not keep a database because they had insufficient oversight.

The SBC’s adherence to decentralization was an “excuse,” said Grant Gaines, senior pastor of Belle Aire Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

The SBC’s lack of oversight, but mostly its mismanagement, allowed abusers to slip through the cracks, Gaines said, adding that most SBC leaders and churches now want to collaborate to address the abuse.

But Barber’s vision of the SBC is small-d democratic, and nonhierarchical. He wants to champion the unheard voices of Southern Baptists in the far-flung, often isolated rural churches like his. Barber said he hopes to use social media to give a voice to SBC members who’ve previously been ignored. “Social media democratizes the ability to be heard,” said Barber, who has more than 20,000 followers on Twitter and has tweeted just shy of 50,000 times.

Amy Grant Named Kennedy Center Honoree in First for Contemporary Christian Music

By

Adelle M Banks

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July 22, 2022

(RNS) — Contemporary Christian musician Amy Grant has been named one of the Kennedy Center’s five honorees for 2022.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine ever receiving this prestigious Kennedy Center Honors,” Grant said in a statement. “I cannot wait to celebrate with my fellow honorees, friends, and family. Thank you for widening the circle to include all of us.”

The center plans to fete Grant in its 45th class of honorees that also includes actor George Clooney, singer Gladys Knight, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Tania León and the rock band U2.

Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein lauded Grant, saying in a statement that she “became the first artist to bring contemporary Christian music to the forefront of American culture, then equally thrived after crossing over into mainstream pop with hit after hit, and today is revered as the ‘Queen of Christian Pop.’”

Over more than four decades, Grant has had album sales exceeding 30 million and more than a billion global streams, earning three multiplatinum albums, six platinum albums and four gold albums. She was the first contemporary Christian musician to have a No. 1 hit on the pop charts with “Next Time I Fall,” a 1986 duet with Peter Cetera of the band Chicago, and the first to perform at the Grammy Awards, eventually becoming a six-time Grammy winner.

“Baby, Baby,” a hit from her 1991 platinum album “Heart in Motion,” helped spread her fame. As she marked its 30th anniversary last year, she told Religion News Service it was both an overwhelming and joyful experience.

“It’s like the jumping through the ring of fire,” Grant recalled in the RNS interview. “Pretty hot when you’re in the middle of it, but it doesn’t last that long.”

Center director Deborah F. Rutter told The Associated Press that Grant’s inclusion broke new ground for the Kennedy Honors.

“We’ve had gospel before,” she told AP. “We’ve had plenty of R&B and soul. … We’ve had country music, but we haven’t necessarily had Amy Grant and Christian pop in the same way.”

Other gospel music winners have been Marion Williams, star of the Ward Singers and later a soloist, in 1993; and Mavis Staples, a member of the Staples Singers, who also moved onto a solo career, in 2016.

Other 2022 honorees have been known for their faith connections. Gladys Knight, a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has sung at the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s Christmas concerts. U2, with lead singer Bono, has been known for its Bible-related lyrics in songs such as “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”

Eileen Andrews, vice president of public relations for the Kennedy Center, told RNS that while Grant is the first contemporary Christian artist to be honored, others have had gospel music connections, most prominently Aretha Franklin, who recorded gospel albums and was celebrated at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1994.

Grant and the other honorees will be saluted in a celebrity-filled gala at the center’s Opera House on Dec. 4. It will be broadcast at a later date on CBS.

This article originally appeared here.

How Children Can Help Make Your Children’s Ministry Better

By

Dale Hudson

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July 22, 2022

Did you know that children can make your children’s ministry better when you include them in your planning, evaluations, brainstorming and creating?

Successful toy companies and entertainment groups know this and actively pursue children to help them improve their products.

It just makes a lot of sense. Why would you not include the people that the products are being made for?

Who better to look at kid content than through the eyes of a child?

Here are a few examples of how companies are including children to make their products better.

The LEGO company recently hosted a group of 8 children to give them input and ideas on the products they are developing. They believe getting children’s perspectives on designing products and marketing them is very valuable. They also believe that there is great value in having children help create products and content from the ground up.

According to the report, the LEGO company has created a four-step process to involve kids in its product and content development.

1. Focus first on seeing how kids play with current content and products.

2. Invite kids to help design, test and evaluate new products.

3. Have discussions about what they are helping design.

4. Share children’s thoughts and feelings on topics that are important to them.

How does this translate into children’s ministry? How can we include children in making the ministry better and creating new content?

Bring together a diverse group of 8 to 10 children.

Ask for their input with questions like…

What is boring? If they tell you, don’t take offense. What they are telling you is correct 99% of the time.

What keeps your attention?

How can we improve the content we are giving you?

What would you change and why?

What are some ideas you have for a new teaching series?

What are some ideas you have for making an event or program even better?

What is fun during the service, event, program, etc.?

I recommend doing this at least twice a year. I guarantee you that children can make your children’s ministry better. Meaningful conversation with children makes a difference.

p.s. Children naturally seek the approval of adults and this can lead to tension when asking them these type of questions. Let them know you want them to be totally honest. If they say anything “negative,” they will not be in trouble. All feedback, good or bad, is helpful and welcomed. If needed, you can let them respond anonymously.

Another way you can involve children is by observing them during a service or event. When kids get bored or you lose their attention, they will start looking around and squirming a little. The creators of Blue’s Clues did this. They would bring in a group of kids and play an episode before it was aired on TV. They watched the kids and when they got restless or started to disengage, the producers would make a note of it. They would then tweak or adjust those parts of the show before airing it on TV. Because of this, the show has been called one of the most engaging shows for children ever made.

You can do this as well. Start watching the children during your service, event, class, etc. Make a note when they get restless and start looking around. This means they are disengaging. Then adjust those parts before the next week or event.

Here’s another simple idea that can get kids excited about helping make the ministry better. Let the kids vote on which songs they would like to sing in an upcoming service or event. You can easily do this online. List several songs (and an “other” choice). The song(s) that get the most votes will be the songs you sing in the next service.

Children want to help us make the ministry better. It’s time we sit up, pay attention, listen and learn.

This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.

What Is the Correct View of Heaven?

By

Megan Briggs

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July 22, 2022

In this ten-minute roundtable, John Piper, Scott Swain, and Randy Alcorn take up the thorny topic of heaven in the hopes defining a correct view of heaven, providing a more biblically-informed picture of our future home.

Scott Swain is encouraged as Christianity is currently embracing a more correct view of heaven than in years past. Specifically, Swain would like to see more of an emphasis on the joy of being with God. “The best part of the future,” he says quietly, “is that God will dwell in our midst.”

This video originally appeared here. In order to discover other useful videos, check (and subscribe) out the Gospel Coalition’s YouTube channel. The Gospel Coalition is “a fellowship of evangelical churches in the Reformed tradition deeply committed to renewing our faith in the gospel of Christ and to reforming our ministry practices to conform fully to the Scriptures.” The Gospel Coalition supports the church by providing resources that are trusted and timely, winsome and wise, and centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In another article on Heaven, Randy Alcorn says, “Will we be with the Lord forever? Absolutely. Will we always be with God in the same place Heaven is now? No. In the present Heaven, God’s people are in Christ’s presence, free of sin and suffering and enjoying great happiness: “in your presence there is fullness of joy” (Ps. 16:11). But they’re still looking forward to their bodily resurrection and permanent relocation to the New Earth. So, yes, after death we’ll always be in Heaven, but not in the same place or the same condition.

To illustrate, imagine you lived in a homeless shelter in Miami. One day you inherit a beautiful house overlooking Santa Barbara, California, and are given a wonderful job doing something you’ve always wanted to do. Many friends and family will live nearby.

As you fly toward Santa Barbara, you stop at the Dallas airport for a layover. Other family members you haven’t seen in years meet you. They will board the plane with you to Santa Barbara. Naturally you look forward to seeing them in Dallas, your first stop.

But if someone asks where you’re going, would you say “Dallas”? No. You would say Santa Barbara, because that’s your final destination. Dallas is just a temporary stop. At most you might say “I’m going to Santa Barbara, with a brief stop in Dallas.”

Similarly, the present Heaven is a temporary dwelling place, a stop along the way to our final destination: the New Earth. (Granted, the Dallas analogy isn’t perfect—being with Jesus and reunited with loved ones will be immeasurably better than a layover in Dallas!)”

Praise and Worship Leadership – 18 Traps to Avoid

By

Mark Cole

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July 22, 2022

What makes for strong praise and worship leadership? Strong worship leaders develop good attitudes and habits. They keep their heart, mind and spirit right before God and man. All these attributes can learned. Check out these things that strong praise and worship leadership doesn’t do, so you can grow and improve.

Praise and Worship Leadership Traps

1. They don’t miss out on a daily time with God

God is the reason for worship. He is the source of your success. Spending daily time with God, reading the word and in prayer, is the main key to being a strong praise and worship leader.

2. They don’t pick songs that the congregation can’t sing

If your congregation is not singing, you are not doing what you are called to do. Are you picking songs the congregation can learn quickly? Are you repeating the songs enough for your congregation to learn them? Are you picking great songs? Is your congregation just singing or are they worshiping with the songs? Are you putting them in singable keys?

3. They don’t choose a worship list without praying about it

The Holy Spirit will bring songs to your mind that you might ordinarily miss. How does God want to be worshiped this Sunday? What does He want to say to His church?

4. They don’t think that success comes from anywhere but God

Humility is a main ingredient to God moving in your life and ministry. Humility proceeds honor. God is the one who promotes or demotes you. Make sure all the honor goes to Him. God resists the proud.

5. They don’t alienate the sound person or tech team

Sound people and tech team members can make you or break you. They are usually some of the first people to arrive and the last to leave. A great tech team is worth their weight in gold. Make sure you treat them that way!

6. They don’t allow themselves to sing songs without also worshiping God with their whole heart

It’s too easy to get caught up in making good music and forget the main thing. Worshiping God is the main thing. Make sure you practice enough so you can play and sing the music well and focus on worshiping God at the same time.

7. They don’t allow the band to be at the same level this year as last year

Developing and growing your team and yourself as a praise and worship leader is one of the main responsibilities of a good leader. Learn to lead great rehearsals. Challenge yourself and the worship band to grow, learn and improve.

8. They don’t allow a rift to develop with the pastoral staff

Having a good relationship with your church leadership is paramount to a worship leader’s success. Go out of your way to spend the time to have good relationships.

9. They don’t let the week go by without a personal private time of worship

If you honor God in private, He will honor you in public by showing up in special ways. Never allow your praise and worship leadership to be just a public thing. Your private worship is one of the most important ways for you to grow in your walk with the Lord.

‘The Ship Is Sinking’: Alaska Pastor Pens Open Letter to SBC, Announces His Church’s Disaffiliation

By

Dale Chamberlain

-

July 21, 2022

On Thursday (July 21), Alaska pastor Nathaniel Jolly tweeted an open letter titled “Leaving the SBC,” tagging the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, SBC president Bart Barber, and the North American Mission Board (the denomination’s domestic missions agency).

In that letter, Jolly announced that Homer Reformed Baptist Church, of which he is pastor, would be dissociating from the SBC, citing that the SBC “has simply gone in a direction with which our church is unwilling to be associated, now or in the foreseeable future.”

“Our leaving is not to suggest that there are no longer any biblical churches or faithful pastors left within the SBC. In fact, I still have several dear brothers, fighting the good fight and shepherding biblical churches,” Jolly wrote. “I would recommend them as a church home to anyone. But we feel the ship is sinking, unrepairable, and it’s time for us to get off.”

Jolly’s words mirror the phrase “take the ship,” which was something of a rallying cry for the conservative wing of the SBC at the 2021 annual meeting. Spearheaded by the Conservative Baptist Network, right leaning Southern Baptist have been seeking to correct “liberal drift” in the denomination for the past few years.

Jolly planted the now former SBC church he pastors in Homer, Alaska, in 2020 after relocating from North Carolina, according to the church’s website.

In 2021, Jolly publicly documented his dispute with the Send Network, which is part of the North American Mission Board and provides resources and training to church planters. Following a church planting assessment, Send Network declined to partner with Jolly’s church, citing issues of contextualization. Jolly would have been able to apply for reassessment after a period of one year, but he decided not to continue with the process.

In his open letter, Jolly expressed his belief that the SBC “seems to value the applause of men over that of God” and is “beholden to the world rather than the Word.”

Jolly went on to explain that his issues with the SBC came to a head after the 2022 annual meeting of the Convention, which took place in June.

“What I witnessed was not merely appalling but, I’d argue, unchristian,” Jolly wrote. “Certain SBC presidential candidates were treated with unwarranted suspicion. Conservative survivors were shut off from the mic while a megachurch pastor who ordains women as pastors was given free reign (sic) on the floor.”

Leading up to the annual meeting, then SBC presidential candidate Tom Ascol was the subject of criticism in part for his reticence toward implementing recommended reforms with regard to the denomination’s response to sexual abuse allegations.

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Praise and Worship Leadership Traps

1. They don’t miss out on a daily time with God

2. They don’t pick songs that the congregation can’t sing

3. They don’t choose a worship list without praying about it

4. They don’t think that success comes from anywhere but God

5. They don’t alienate the sound person or tech team

6. They don’t allow themselves to sing songs without also worshiping God with their whole heart

7. They don’t allow the band to be at the same level this year as last year

8. They don’t allow a rift to develop with the pastoral staff

9. They don’t let the week go by without a personal private time of worship

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