Human Trafficking Report Highlights Inequity, War’s Impact

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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

thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

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

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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.

UK Christian Minister, Former Mayoral Candidate Fired for Saying Marriage Is ‘Between a Man and a Woman’

By

Stephanie Martin

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July 21, 2022

After she lost her job for supporting biblical, heterosexual marriage, a London-area woman is fighting back. Maureen Martin is suing the housing association that employed her for 13 years, saying it essentially cancelled her because of her faith.

Martin, 56, is also an ordained Christian minister and president of the Christian People’s Alliance, a U.K. political party based on biblical values. This spring, she ran as a mayoral candidate in Lewisham, near London.

When Martin posted a campaign leaflet that was deemed politically incorrect, complaints rolled in. After an investigation, her longtime employer, LONDON & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q), terminated her for views that are “perceived to be discriminatory” and that tarnish the company’s reputation.

Martin’s case, believed to be the first of its kind, “sends a crushing message to anyone who believes in Christian marriage and wishes to express those beliefs at work or in public office,” according to her legal team.

Maureen Martin’s Campaign Leaflet Touts ‘Natural Marriage’

In April, Maureen Martin shared an image of her campaign leaflet on social media. Among her six-point plan is this statement on marriage: “I pledge to cut through political correctness and simply state the truth that natural marriage between a man and a woman is the fundamental building block for a successfully society, and the safest environment for raising children.”

Gay-rights advocates weren’t happy with the leaflet—or with Martin. Some social media commenters said she was “breaking laws on hate speech & equality” and “actively promoting prejudice and discrimination” against gay people.

Two days after posting her leaflet, Martin was called into an “investigation meeting” at L&Q. HR officials said three complaints had been lodged against her. They also raised concerns about Martin’s previous tweets regarding topics such as transgender athletes and the rainbow pride flag.

After a brief suspension, Martin was fired for gross misconduct. L&Q says she expressed her viewpoints in “an inappropriate manner,” brought the company into “disrepute,” violated its social media policy, and failed to provide notice about a political candidacy.

‘Soviet-Style’ Interrogation Shocked Maureen Martin

Maureen Martin, who reportedly had an exemplary employment history at L&Q, describes being “shocked” by the “brutal” and “Soviet-style” interrogation. “I thought to myself, ‘There’s no way they could fire me over this, surely?” she says. “I had determined already that I was not going to back down from my Christian values. I will defend them.”

Teen Pledges Portion of $1,000 Winnings to Church If He Places 1st in USA Mullet Championships

By

Jessica Lea

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July 21, 2022

Who would have guessed that growing a mullet could help the church do the Lord’s work? Josh Scott, a 16-year-old from Frankfort, Kentucky, has made the finals in the USA Mullet Championships, and if he wins the $1,000 prize, he plans to give some of it to his church.

“They’ve done so much for me, why not do something for them?” Scott told WKYT News. “I never thought that a mullet would help me help my church. The Lord works in mysterious ways.”

Josh Scott Makes It to Mullet Championship Finals

The mullet is a hairstyle where the hair is cut short in the front and grown long in the back. While there is evidence that people wore the hairstyle hundreds or even thousands of years ago, the mullet tends to be associated with the 1980s, particularly with actors and rock stars. History.com credits the Beastie Boys with coining the term “mullet” in their 1994 song, “Mullet Head,” although the phrase, “mullet head,” appears years prior in the 1967 movie, “Cool Hand Luke” and in the 80s sitcom, “Cheers.”

The style fell out of fashion after the 80s, with many seeing it as a joke and a serious fashion error. However, Mike Stanley, the owner of Hair Deposit where Josh Scott gets his hair cut, says he has a lot of clients who wear mullets. “It’s coming back,” said Stanley. “That was a lower class hair cut back in the day, but now…I get businessmen that wear them.”

The USA Mullet Championships website offers mullet competitions for kids, teens and men and also has a “Femullet” category for women. The site lists 10 ways to style a mullet. Scott’s is the “Kentucky waterfall,” a style where a distinguishing characteristic is longer sideburns.

Josh Scott began growing his mullet in 2019. His mom was not thrilled, but Scott pointed out that his dad had a mullet in 1989, and “then she couldn’t say much.”

The teen says that his hairstyle gets mixed reviews from people. Some advise him to cut it and some to keep it, but he is determined to be true to himself. “A lot of people say you get more girls if you cut it,” he said. “This way, I say, ‘I’m going to be myself.’ I like it, so I’m not going to get rid of it.”

‘God Created You To Have a Life of Abundance’: Steve Harvey Tweets Advice About Gratitude

By

Dale Chamberlain

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July 21, 2022

This week, comedian and television personality Steve Harvey took to Twitter to share his advice on how people can live up to their God-given potential in their lives and careers.

Harvey, who began his career as a stand-up comedian, is well known for hosting a daytime talk show that bore his name, as well as the “Family Feud” gameshow, the Miss Universe competition, and a new show titled “Judge Steve Harvey,” which is a “People’s Court” style courtroom show wherein Harvey presides over arbitration disputes.

Harvey has spoken about being a Christian publicly on a number of occasions, and his advice to people often includes an element of faith and his belief in God.

During an episode of his talk show, Harvey said, “Listen to me: talk to God often, even if you’re not perfect. Just talk to Him every day.”

“It’s not going to make your life easy. I made a t-shirt one time that said, ‘Faith don’t make it easy; faith makes it possible,’” he went on to say.

On Wednesday evening (July 20), Harvey shared his advice for people who are finding it difficult to remain motivated at work.

“If you are waking up in the morning and you can’t stand waking up ’cause you don’t want to go to your job, it’s because you are not living in your God given gift,” Harvey said. “God created you to have a life of abundance to wake up in a joyous spirit.”

A few hours later, Harvey followed up with a tweet that highlighted the importance of gratitude.

“The reason some people aren’t getting what they want in life is ’cause they ain’t even grateful for what they have,” Harvey said. “If God gives you something, and you’re not grateful for it, why would he give you some more stuff to not be grateful for?”

Vatican Says They’re Gifts; Indigenous Groups Want Them Back

By

Nicole Winfield

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July 21, 2022

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican Museums are home to some of the most magnificent artworks in the world, from Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel to ancient Egyptian antiquities and a pavilion full of papal chariots. But one of the museum’s least-visited collections is becoming its most contested before Pope Francis’ trip to Canada.

The Vatican’s Anima Mundi Ethnological Museum, located near the food court and right before the main exit, houses tens of thousands of artifacts and art made by Indigenous peoples from around the world, much of it sent to Rome by Catholic missionaries for a 1925 exhibition in the Vatican gardens.

The Vatican says the feathered headdresses, carved walrus tusks, masks and embroidered animal skins were gifts to Pope Pius XI, who wanted to celebrate the Church’s global reach, its missionaries and the lives of the Indigenous peoples they evangelized.

But Indigenous groups from Canada, who were shown a few items in the collection when they traveled to the Vatican last spring to meet with Francis, question how some of the works were actually acquired and wonder what else may be in storage after decades of not being on public display.

Some say they want them back.

“These pieces that belong to us should come home,” said Cassidy Caron, president of the Metis National Council, who headed the Metis delegation that asked Francis to return the items.

Restitution of Indigenous and colonial-era artifacts, a pressing debate for museums and national collections across Europe, is one of the many agenda items awaiting Francis on his trip to Canada, which begins Sunday.

The trip is aimed primarily at allowing the pope to apologize in person, on Canadian soil, for abuses Indigenous people and their ancestors suffered at the hands of Catholic missionaries in notorious residential schools.

More than 150,000 Native children in Canada were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools from the 19th century until the 1970s in an effort to isolate them from the influence of their homes and culture. The aim was to Christianize and assimilate them into mainstream society.

Official Canadian policy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries also aimed to suppress Indigenous spiritual and cultural traditions at home, including the 1885 Potlatch Ban that prohibited the integral First Nations ceremony.

Government agents confiscated items used in the ceremony and other rituals, and some of them ended up in museums in Canada, the U.S. and Europe, as well as private collections.

GOP AGs Ask Google Not to Limit Anti-Abortion Clinic Results

By

Sarah Rankin

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July 21, 2022

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A month after some members of Congress urged Google to limit the appearance of anti-abortion pregnancy clinics in certain abortion-related search results, 17 Republican attorneys general are warning the company that doing so could invite investigations and possible legal action.

“Suppressing pro-life and pro-mother voices at the urging of government officials would violate the most fundamental tenet of the American marketplace of ideas,” the attorneys general wrote in a letter Thursday to Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and its parent company.

The effort was led by Republican Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, and the letter was shared with The Associated Press ahead of its public release.

The Republicans took issue with a June 17 letter to the company from U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, and Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Michigan, which was co-signed by 19 other members of Congress.

That letter cites research by the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate, which found that Google searches for “abortion clinic near me” and “abortion pill” turned up results for clinics that counsel clients against having an abortion.

Some of these places, known as crisis pregnancy centers, also have been accused of providing misleading information about abortion and contraception. Many are religiously affiliated.

“Directing women towards fake clinics that traffic in misinformation and don’t provide comprehensive health services is dangerous to women’s health and undermines the integrity of Google’s search results,” says the June letter, which was authored after the leak of a draft opinion indicating the U.S. Supreme Court would overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. The court took that step June 24.

The Democrat-led group asked Google to address what steps it would take to limit the appearance of “crisis pregnancy centers” in its search results, ads and maps results for users who search for “abortion clinic,” “abortion pill” or other similar terms.

The group also asked the company if it would add disclaimers to address whether or not a clinic provides abortions. New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office also raised similar concerns in a June letter to Google.

The letter from the Republican AGs defends the work of crisis pregnancy centers. It notes that such centers often provide services such as free ultrasounds, pregnancy tests, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, and parenting and prenatal education classes. It also argues that “at least some” Google users who search for information about abortion expect to find information about alternatives.

They wrote that if the company complies with “this inappropriate demand” to “bias” its search results, their offices would respond by investigating whether there had been any violation of antitrust or religious discrimination laws. They also pledged to consider whether new legislation would help “protect consumers and markets.”

“We trust that you will treat this letter with the seriousness these issues require, and hope you will decide that Google’s search results must not be subject to left-wing political pressure, which would actively harm women seeking essential assistance. If you do not, we must avail ourselves of all lawful and appropriate means of protecting the rights of our constituents, of upholding viewpoint diversity, free expression, and the freedom of religion for all Americans, and of making sure that our markets are free in fact, not merely in theory,” the letter said.

Crowd Protests Relocation of Abortion Clinic to New Mexico

By

AP News

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July 21, 2022

Crowd-protests-relocation-of-abortion-clinic-to-New-Mexico — Anti-abortion advocates listen to various speakers during the Emergency Pro-Life Rally for New Mexico in Las Cruces, N.M., on Tuesday, July 19, 2022. Anti-abortion activists from across the country converged in southern New Mexico on Tuesday to protest relocation plans by the Mississippi clinic at the center of the court battle that overturned Roe v. Wade, but New Mexico's governor vowed not to back down from her support for access to abortions. (Meg Potter/The Las Cruces Sun News via AP)

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — Anti-abortion activists from across the U.S. converged in southern New Mexico on Tuesday to protest relocation plans by the Mississippi clinic at the center of the court battle that overturned the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, but New Mexico’s governor vowed not to back down from her support for access to abortions.

Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is running for reelection, tweeted hours before the protest that access remains legal and safe in her state.

“New Mexicans understand the right to make personal decisions about one’s own reproductive health care — and we won’t go back,” she wrote.

The crowd gathered in triple-digit temperatures in the southern city of Las Cruces, near the location where Jackson Women’s Health Organization plans to open its new clinic next week.

Some held signs that read “Pray to End Abortion” and “Vote Your Values.” They heard from the leader of a local Catholic parish, a university student group and activists from Texas and Mississippi who talked about their experiences shutting down abortion clinics elsewhere.

Terri Herring, president of Mississippi-based group Choose Life, told the crowd about more than two dozen pregnancy centers in her state that have helped mothers who were considering abortion but opted to have their babies instead.

“We need to make this a refuge for women and their children,” she said of New Mexico, before organizers of the rally announced they would open a Guiding Star Project clinic next door to the planned abortion clinic. The facility will provide fertility care, pregnancy and childbirth support services as alternatives to the abortions planned for the former Mississippi clinic next door.

Leah Jacobson, founder and CEO of The Guiding Star Project, told the crowd that the root causes of what is driving women to abortion need to be addressed and that a culture shift is needed to counter what she described as a loss of “bodily autonomy through devices, pills, drugs and surgeries.”

“If we love life, if we want to protect women and children, we need to understand that there is something fundamentally broken about how we are treating motherhood in our culture,” she said, pointing to the lack of maternity leave or breastfeeding spaces, among other challenges. “How about we actually take the needs of women into consideration?”

New Mexico’s Democratic-controlled Legislature supports access, and state lawmakers last year repealed a dormant 1969 law that outlawed most abortion procedures as felonies, ensuring access to abortion even after the Supreme Court rolled back the national guarantee.

Preparations are well underway for the new abortion clinic, with furniture and equipment from Jackson Women’s Health Organization moved from Mississippi, and it is due to open soon.

“We’re just trying to tie up loose ends,” Diane Derzis, owner of Las Cruces Women’s Health Organization, told The Associated Press on Monday.

Derzis said Tuesday’s demonstration against the abortion clinic didn’t bother her since protests have gone for years at other clinics she has owned in Mississippi and elsewhere.

“It’s not a big deal,” she said. “That’s life at an abortion clinic.”

___

Associated Press writers Susan Montoya Bryan, in Albuquerque, and Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi, contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared here.

Pastor’s ‘Two Minute Doctrine’ Video Series Reflects a Lifetime of Discipleship

By

Scott Barkley

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July 21, 2022

discipleship_pastor — Stephen Peppers, left, and Sean Wegener stand in a classroom at First Baptist Church in Summerville, Ga., that has been modified for video production. Courtesy of Baptist Press.

SUMMERVILLE, Ga. (BP) – The videos cover a lot of ground. In one, Sean Wegener goes over the basics of reading the Bible. In another, he explains the background of the Cooperative Program. In yet one more, he’s running alongside Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi on the lava planet Mustafar in a heated lightsaber duel.

All can be found in the Two Minute Doctrine videos Wegener, pastor of First Baptist Church, and video producer Stephen Peppers have been producing for about two years. The videos are actually two minutes-ish, but serve effectively in addressing matters of doctrine and informing church members about the Southern Baptist Convention.

As many churches shut down in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wegener became determined to maintain contact with church members, students in particular, through video. Peppers had proven his skill level as a videographer and, together, they thought of producing something for the church along the lines of “Some Good News,” a video series at that time by actor John Krasinski.

“It failed miserably,” Wegener said, laughing.

“Nobody watched it because it was way too long,” Peppers said of the 30-minute run time.

They sought an audience with students and the feedback was clear. The videos needed to be funny. They needed to be short and to the point.

“We decided succinct and entertaining at the same time was key,” said Wegener.

Peppers, a student at Chattooga High School whose father, Barry, directs the Chattooga Baptist Association, already knew that was important. But it crystallized the direction the two should take.

They eviscerated videos to a run time of two minutes. (Typically, they now go a little longer to include elements like outtakes.) Each begins with Scripture and a doctrinal principle explained by Wegener and includes a quote by a theologian. A similar sense of humor and shared knowledge of pop culture references between the two have helped in writing and inserting jokes.

The results can be found on the Summerville First Baptist Instagram account (@summervillefirst), YouTube and Facebook pages. Two seasons of up to 46 episodes of Two Minute Doctrine are also available on the ACTS2 platform.

In addition to Two Minute Doctrine, videos have updated First Baptist members on mission teams and VBS. The church sent six messengers to the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim, where Wegener and others spoke on daily updates created by Peppers.

Videos from annual meetings have also included appearances by Southern Baptist leaders after an impromptu invitation from Wegener.

In Anaheim, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Adam Greenway and others from the school took part in one video titled “What is the Purpose of Seminary?” Last year in Nashville, Wegener caught Southern Seminary President Al Mohler in the hall for a similar set of questions.

Black Churches More Important to SBC Than Ever Before

By

Diana Chandler

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July 21, 2022

Black-Churches-More-Important-to-SBC-Than-Ever-Before — New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary President Jamie Dew (center) attends a reception hosted by the reception hosted by the National African American Fellowship of the Southern Baptist Convention in Ridgecrest, N.C. Lifeway photo courtesy of Baptist Press.

RIDGECREST, N.C. (BP) – African American churches are more important to the Southern Baptist Convention than ever before, Jamie Dew told Baptist Press Monday (July 18) at the Black Church Leadership and Family Conference at Ridgecrest Conference Center.

Dew, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, said he’s primarily focused on building relationships and trust among friends at the conference and letting pastors know NOBTS is available to help.

“These are my friends. I believe in what they’re doing. African American churches are important to the SBC, more so now than ever before,” Dew said in the interview during the pastors and wives reception hosted by the National African American Fellowship of the Southern Baptist Convention. “There’s more work that’s got to be done. There’s more help that’s got to be given. There’s more conversations that need to be had, and you don’t get to do any of that by sitting it out.”

Dew is among several denominational leaders attending the event, including Baptist State Convention of North Carolina Executive Director Todd Unzicker and SBC Executive Committee Interim President and CEO Willie McLaurin.

Dew, who has led NOBTS since 2019, said he has been building deeper relationships with NAAF leaders during his tenure as president.

“I started I guess about a year and a half ago, having really just important and fruitful conversations with a lot of the NAAF leaders,” Dew said. “This was right after all of the George Floyd, the riots, all the national debate about CRT, and ended up in some really helpful, fruitful conversations, really from both sides, and I think in that, just a friendship was formed between several of us.

“I think that Southern Baptists are in a much healthier place than most people would think they are on racial issues” he said. “… I am confident that if we can have the conversations we need to have, I think that’s going to do a lot of good for a lot of people. … [T]here’s still more work that has to be done to be where we need to be.”

Dew, whose family is also attending the conference, is teaching one of dozens of small-group classes available to attendees. His two-part class, offered July 19 and 20, is God and the Problem of Evil. NOBTS is also hosting a luncheon for conference attendees.

Unzicker and McLaurin greeted conference attendees on the opening night of the event from the stage of Spilman Auditorium.

“Brothers and sisters, welcome to the great state of North Carolina. We are glad that you are here,” Unzicker said. He described the work of North Carolina Baptists as a movement of churches, “because God is on the move.

“Ever since Genesis 3 and all the way to Revelation, when someone from every nation, every tribe, every tongue, every people is around the throne saying, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and honor and riches and might and glory forever and ever, Amen,’” Unzicker said, “God is on the move to rescue His people.”

3 Questions Every Man Should Ask Every Day

By

Andrew Linder

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July 21, 2022

As a man, you are a leader. You don’t get the choice not to be one. Whether you are a husband, father, friend, or all of the above, God has called you to lead the people closest to you, starting with your family.

One of the key ways that I’m personally learning to become a better leader is to ask better questions. In a recent leader training with my friend, Bill Allison, I learned the following three self-awareness questions that I am striving to implement into my daily life as a leader (and maybe you should too if applicable).

How Can I Pursue my Wife Today?

One of the biggest mistakes men make within a marriage is that we quit pursuing our wives. God does not command us to have a perfect marriage, but he does expect us to have a growing one. This requires pursuit. And more than just a pursuit for sex. This requires that we see our marriage as our greatest disciple-making friendship.

Because marriage is discipleship—two people growing together spiritually as one flesh.

Everyday, find a practical way to pursue your relationship with your wife. This may be starting off the day in prayer together, helping with household chores without being asked, or praising her in front of the kids for one of her many strengths. Daily find a way to prioritize your pursuit of her.

How Can I Invest Into my Kids Today?

A daily goal I strive to achieve as a dad is to have a personal daily touch (or sometimes many) in each of my kids’ lives. This might be a big squeeze, a game of basketball in the driveway, dropping into their bedroom unexpectedly for a “what’s up” conversation, or just joining them in whatever they’re doing in the moment.

The days go by slow, but the years go by fast. Intentional dads make the time to make daily investments into their children’s hearts and lives. Dad’s who don’t make the consistent deposits can’t expect to enjoy the longterm returns.

How can I Influence a Jesus-Like Disciple-Making Friendship Today?

This is a question that has challenged me and continues to do so. Jesus regularly spent time with his closest disciples through consistently rubbing off on them (John 3:22… no time… no discipleship). His method was not to primarily disciple them through a lecture, but through a lifestyle. Jesus understood that you can’t make disciples from a stage.

As my friend Bill says, “If the only time you influence people is when you’re on a stage, you’re a performer, not a disciple-maker.”

Spiritual leaders need to ask the question, who is God calling me to pull close for disciple-making friendships? In addition to my family, who can I be doing life with as we strive to know and love Jesus better? Who can I call today, text today, do lunch with today for the sake of pulling each other closer to Jesus? This is not just a Me + You friendship (transactional), but a Me + You + Jesus friendship (transformational). This daily question is continually challenging and shaping me.

This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.

Satan Has Vested Interests in Making Unbelievers Think They Are Going to Heaven

By

Randy Alcorn

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July 21, 2022

I’ve read many accounts of experiences in which people who do not know Christ claim to have gone to Heaven, or its outskirts, and were reassured by a “being of light” that all is well with them. I’m convinced that though some have had real supernatural experiences, the one who reassured them was not Jesus. Obviously, Satan has great vested interests in deceiving unbelievers into thinking that what awaits them after death is a place of serenity rather than of eternal punishment. Scripture says, “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:15).

Years ago, one of my friends, a trustworthy and credible doctor, recounted an experience that really disturbed him. He observed a patient who appeared very close to dying have terrifying and inconsolable visions of where he was about to go upon his death. He actually recovered, but when the doctor attempted to share the gospel with him, the man remembered his dreadful experience as a wonderful dream of Heaven. This incident wound up as a story thread in my novel Dominion:

Clarence called Ollie from the hospital to update him on his father.

“You won’t believe this,” Ollie said. “Norcoast is in the hospital. He attempted suicide.”

“What? Which hospital?”

“Right where you’re calling from—Emanuel.”

Clarence went to the front desk to get Norcoast’s room number. He’d just been moved off critical condition and out of ICU but was still under close monitoring. Clarence went to his room on the fourth floor and stood over him. The councilman was drained of color, pale and pasty. Unconscious, he lay very still. Clarence stood over him for ten minutes before Norcoast started to move. He shuddered and trembled. He started mumbling, appearing to be seeing things and hearing voices.

“O God, they’re trying to get me.” Clarence backed away from the tortured voice. “Monsters, demons attacking me.” His arms flailed. “It’s so hot. Hurts so bad. No. Stay away. Don’t hurt me.” After a few minutes of incoherence, he calmed down a little, then spoke again, eyes closed. “Gone now. Where is everybody? I’m so alone. I’m burning up! Help me!” He screamed out, writhing, soaking himself in sweat, casting the sheets to his side and bumping against the bedrails. Two nurses ran into the room.

Clarence backed out of the room, shaken. He went directly to the hospital chapel and prayed fervently for his father, but even more fervently for Reggie Norcoast.

The next morning Clarence came early to the hospital, first visiting his father, who was unconscious. Then he went up two floors to visit Norcoast. The door was closed. A nurse told him the councilman had had terrible hallucinations all night, but he was now awake and out of trouble.

Clarence peeked in the door. Norcoast, usually vibrant and healthy, looked pale and peaked, like a man who’d been through a wringer. Clarence knocked lightly on the doorframe.

“Hello, Reg, can I come in?”

5 Ways to Bring a Good Man Down

By

J.D. Greear

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July 21, 2022

What brings a good man down? Let’s consider King Solomon as an example.

We tend to think of Solomon as the man who, though he was the wisest man in the world, fell because he was some kind of a sex addict. I mean, if you have 1,000 wives, that is some serious libido. How do you even keep up with the anniversaries and birthdays?

But there is a lot more going on in Solomon’s demise than just a lust for exotic women. In ancient times kings would marry daughters of other kings as a way of guaranteeing peace between the two countries. If you marry the daughter of a king, he is much less likely to attack you. In many monarchies, similar marriage arrangements are still practiced today.

What Brings a Good Man Down?

In 1 Kings 11:3, the writer clarifies that 700 of Solomon’s 1,000 wives were “princesses,” meaning those unions were probably more about security than sex.

Making political alliances isn’t inherently evil. The problem for Solomon was that God had explicitly told Israel in Deuteronomy 17 not to do this. They didn’t need treaties with other nations for security, because God was their security.

But Solomon wasn’t satisfied with just the promises of God. He needed a little extra insurance—and that desire for security apart from God would turn out to be his downfall.

Solomon gradually grew attached to these women, and they turned his heart away from God. For most of his wives, Solomon built them their own palace, where they would build an altar to whatever god they had worshipped in their home country. Over time Solomon went from merely tolerating the existence of these idols to actively participating in the worship of them.

One of my favorite country music groups, Alabama, used to have a song that said, “You can’t bring a good man down.” Solomon’s life begs to differ, highlighting five ways you can bring a good man—even the world’s wisest man—down.

(By the way: Don’t let my phrasing throw you. These points are as applicable to women as they are to men.)

1. Disbelief in God’s promises brings a good man down.

Like I said, Solomon’s first problem was not out-of-control sexual lust. His problem was that he didn’t trust God enough to fully rely on him. His core problem was unbelief.

That’s almost always the case with our sin. Peel back the layers of any sin, and you will find the seed of unbelief.

Whatever area of your life in which you are not fully obeying God is an area in which you are afraid of being let down and do not really trust him.

2. Disregard of God’s Word brings a good man down.

Solomon disobeyed God’s command not to multiply wives, but there are a number of other biblical commands that Solomon ignored, too.

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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How Can I Pursue my Wife Today?

How Can I Invest Into my Kids Today?

How can I Influence a Jesus-Like Disciple-Making Friendship Today?

What Brings a Good Man Down?

1. Disbelief in God’s promises brings a good man down.

2. Disregard of God’s Word brings a good man down.

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