Waiving Attorney-Client Privilege Among Several Topics Discussed by Baptist21 Panelists

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June 24, 2022

ANAHEIM, Calif. (BP) – The Baptist21 (B21) panel at the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting provided a last-minute opportunity to hear from key leaders hours before crucial decisions were made in the Tuesday, June 15, business session.

A panel hosted by B21 board member Jed Coppenger featured Danny Akin, Tom Ascol, Bart Barber, Dana Hall McCain, Albert Mohler and Juan Sanchez.

The discussion ranged from the recommendations of the Sexual Abuse Task Force, the waiving of attorney-client privilege by the SBC Executive Committee to how Southern Baptist churches and entities should respond to companies that hold a view of sexuality that is in contradiction to the Baptist Faith and Message.

Texas pastor Bart Barber said the work of the Sexual Abuse Task Force and the waiving of attorney-client privilege should be viewed as a reminder that SBC messengers hold the right to ask questions of any of their SBC entities.

Florida pastor Tom Ascol urged those who attended the meeting to be willing to slow down in their consideration of the next actions needed to eliminate sexual abuse, while agreeing that every Southern Baptist wants to see it driven out of Southern Baptist churches.

Later that day, Barber and Ascol would both run for SBC president against two other candidates. Barber was elected in a runoff.

Texas pastor Juan Sanchez talked about how a recent pro-PRIDE month tweet by Guidepost Solutions affected the company’s credibility. Guidepost was contracted in October 2021 to carry out the investigation into the alleged mishandling of the sexual abuse claims by the SBC Executive Committee.

Sanchez said “at the time”, it appeared Guidepost was the best company for the job.

“We somehow think we’re in Jerusalem. We’re in the Promised Land,” Sanchez said. “We’re in Babylon. We’re serving with Nebuchadnezzar.” He pointed to the fact that every person and every church is forced to do business with companies that take positions on human sexuality that are in opposition to what Southern Baptists believe the Bible teaches.

Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, agreed: “It casts a cloud, but does not negate the facts they uncovered.”

“We live in a fallen world and we have to realize that fallen corporations make fallen decisions,” said Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Audio of the panel discussion is available here

This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.

After $2 Million Brooklyn Church Robbery, Houses of Worship Evaluate Theft Risk

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Riley Farrell

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June 24, 2022

Brooklyn church robbery — The tabernacle, left, before thieves removed it with power tools from St. Augustine Catholic Church in Brooklyn, New York. The solid 18-karat gold tabernacle is valued at around $2 million. Photos courtesy DeSales Media Group

(RNS) — When the Rev. Frank Tumino, pastor of St. Augustine, walked into his Catholic church in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn on the last Saturday in May, he found physical and spiritual wreckage: Angels that had decorated the front of the building were decapitated, Communion wafers were scattered across the altar and, most shocking, an 18-karat gold tabernacle, where the sanctified Eucharist was stored, had been stolen.

According to a press release from the Diocese of Brooklyn, the tabernacle was worth more than $2 million but is “irreplaceable due to its historical and artistic value.”

This description could apply to the fixtures in many houses of worship, and the theft in Brooklyn has many assessing their security and insurance.

Leiza McKenna, a senior fine arts consultant at Church Mutual Insurance Co., a nationwide insurer of religious organizations, said her company is checking in with clients and updating their policies.

“We’re hoping that there are no copycats out there, but if there are, we feel confident that we’ve got the measures in place to protect with insurance as much as possible,” she said.

Washington National Cathedral, one of the country’s largest and most-visited houses of worship, makes constant security a priority, said Kevin Eckstrom, chief communications officer of the cathedral. “We have rare items that are always being watched because of their value and heritage,” he said, citing statues of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa as among its most precious furnishings (along with its 10-bell peal and carillon, though, at more than 2 tons, these would be difficult to make off with).

But not all religious organizations have the resources to protect their possessions, said Eric Spacek, the assistant vice president of risk control at Church Mutual Insurance Co. Nor do houses of worship typically take the same approach to security other public places and businesses do.

“Houses of worship tend to be trusting places,” Spacek said. “Plus, there are budgetary restrictions in many churches. Their security could be seen as a volunteer effort.”

After a man entered the San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio, believed to be the nation’s oldest, and toppled century-old statues, the cathedral reassessed its security. Today, said its business and finance manager, Elizabeth Cardenas, its coverage is “extensive.”

Insurance, of course, can only cover material goods, as members of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Hydes, Maryland, realized recently. Just two months before the Brooklyn break-in, the 200-year-old church was similarly violated when its tabernacle was stolen.

The theft felt baffling, said Megan Malkus, St. John the Evangelist’s communications coordinator and a lifetime member of the church. “That kind of stuff just doesn’t happen here,” said Malkus. “It opened our eyes to the fact that bad things happen to good people.”

In the weeks since the robbery, a donor supplied St. John the Evangelist with a new tabernacle, which is now bolted into place. The church also installed a new security system.

Malkus said the church community’s most valuable response was to unite in the face of adversity, and she advised St. Augustine’s congregation do the same.

“Sure, the tabernacle can be replaced because of its monetary value, blah, blah, blah,” said Malkus. “But, in our minds, someone came in and stole Jesus from the church. Still, through Christ, we can all come together and support each other.”

This article originally appeared here.

Columbia Theological Seminary Students Object To Firing of Black Administrator

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Kathryn Post

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June 24, 2022

(RNS) — Black students at Columbia Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) seminary in Decatur, Georgia, are protesting the surprise firing of a beloved admissions director, saying it’s the latest in a series of firings of faculty and administration of color since 2019.

On Tuesday (June 21), as most faculty, staff and students had left campus for the summer, the Columbia community received an email from President Leanne Van Dyk informing them that it was the Rev. Samuel White’s last day. The following day, the seminary’s African Heritage Student Association published a letter addressed to the president’s council and board of trustees expressing “deep sadness and tremendous frustration” over the incident and asserting that Van Dyk’s tenure “has been defined by racial injustice.”

The letter demands that the president, who is scheduled to leave her post in six weeks, resign immediately, that the board president resign, that White be reinstated and that a new advisory board be appointed to oversee personnel changes at the seminary.

White’s time as director of admissions, the students wrote, “resulted in the recruitment of one of the largest incoming classes in recent history, and the most diverse incoming class in the school’s history. Without fail, Rev. White is committed to ensuring that the seminary upholds the values and ethics it professes around justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

White did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

In an email to Religion News Service, Jennifer Cuthbertson, the seminary’s director of marketing and communications, declined to say why White had been let go.

“Columbia Theological Seminary is sensitive to students concerns over the departure of Rev. Samuel White,” Cuthbertson wrote. “However, it was a carefully considered decision and out of respect for the privacy of all current and former employees and consistent with our policies, we do not comment on personnel matters.”

The students also claim that the Rev. Brandon Maxwell, another Black administrator, was forced to resign as vice president for enrollment and student affairs and cited the 2019 firing of the Rev. Ruth-Aimée Belonni-Rosario Govens as the seminary’s chief enrollment officer, prompting outrage from the school’s Hispanic and Latinx association, as well as a lawsuit.

That same year, the school did not renew the contract of Kevin Park, dean for advanced professional studies who oversaw Korean American ministries, and John Azumah, a Ghanaian professor of world Christianity and Islam and director of international programs, left sooner than expected, according to the Presbyterian Mission, after the seminary announced that its office of international programs would be realigned.

“This is not an isolated incident, but it’s more of something that is systemic with Columbia,” the Rev. John DeLoney, president of the African Heritage Student Association, said in a virtual news conference Thursday morning, noting that 60% of the students at CTS are of color. “With that majority of people of color coming to the university, you should be adding more administration of color, but they seem to be ushering the people of color in the administration out.”

DeLoney added that the lack of transparency about the terminations only makes the matter more concerning.

‘We’ll Be Back’: CBN Vows To Keep Fighting ‘Wokeism’ and Women Preachers in SBC

By

Bob Smietana

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June 24, 2022

(RNS) — In the moments after the final gavel sounded to close the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting last week, Rod Martin was surprisingly cheerful.

Things had not gone well during the meeting for Martin, co-founder of the Conservative Baptist Network, which believes the nation’s largest Protestant denomination has been invaded by “woke” ideas like critical race theory.

The CBN’s candidate for SBC president, Florida pastor Tom Ascol, lost. As did the group’s candidates for recording secretary, president of the annual pastors’ convention and officer candidates for the SBC’s Executive Board. And most of the motions made on the floor by CBN members were voted down by an overwhelming margin.

None of that discouraged Martin, a tech entrepreneur from Florida and longtime Southern Baptist.

“We’ll be back,” he said.

In recent years, the CBN and its allies, including Ascol’s Florida-based Founders Ministries, a Calvinist group, and Sovereign Nations, a Christian nationalist group, have made national headlines for their claims about liberal drift in the SBC. They’ve rallied support on social media and through conferences, urging followers to change the SBC’s direction and “take the ship” of the denomination. One CBN supporter went so far as to unfurl a skull-and-crossbones flag at his church — leading the group and its allies to be labeled as pirates.

Yet their efforts to reshape the denomination have largely failed. Last year in Nashville, Georgia pastor Mike Stone, the CBN-backed candidate for SBC president, lost in a close election. And a group of CBN members quit the SBC’s Executive Committee in the fall, after an unsuccessful attempt to limit an investigation into how SBC leaders handled sexual abuse.

The week of the 2022 annual meeting began optimistically for the CBN and its allies. The group drew packed crowds for an evening with California pastor John MacArthur and Voddie Baucham, a bestselling author and anti-woke preacher, and a breakfast that featured Ascol, Martin and activist Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA.

“I think we’re going to win today,” Martin told the crowd at the breakfast, a few hours ahead of the presidential election.

But even if they did not win, he said, the stakes were too high to give up.

After the annual meeting wrapped up, Martin and other leaders blamed the group’s losses mostly on location. Anaheim, California, he said, was “tough ground” for the CBN’s attempts at reforming the SBC. Next year’s meeting will be in New Orleans, much closer to the SBC’s Bible Belt core.

“I expect the turnout to be more like Nashville,” he said.

In Nashville, their candidate lost by a few hundred votes, at a gathering that drew more than 15,000 local church representatives known as messengers. By contrast, just over 8,100 messengers made it to Anaheim.

What Matters Most in Parenting

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James Emery White

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June 24, 2022

thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

One of the most extensive investments I have made with my life has been parenting. My wife and I raised four children and now pour ourselves anew into 14 grandchildren. I also consider my role as a pastor to be largely a fatherly investment.

You can imagine my interest in an article in the Atlantic titled, “The One Parenting Decision That Really Matters.” According to one study, it would seem that where you raise your child is what matters most. In other words, certain geographic areas provide more opportunity and a better environment for a child and their future success.

I did not walk away convinced.

To be sure, there were some interesting parallels with the opportunities and context of certain environments. As the person who wrote the article confessed, “I’m no parenting expert; I’m merely an uncle.”

Well, I may not be an expert either, but I’ve been way more than an uncle. And as a parent and grandparent and pastor, I will say that what matters most in parenting is not geography.

It’s the parents and the community they provide for their children.

Particularly when you define “success” not by whether they get into Harvard or become a millionaire by 30, but rather by whether the baton of faith was successfully handed down.

You may find this surprising, but until very recently, there were no significant studies from the social sciences on how parents can best pass on their faith to the next generation. We knew that parents mattered. We knew that the Church mattered. But what exactly was it about parents and churches that mattered? That wasn’t as clear. Now it is, thanks to a national study of religious parents in the United States conducted under the leadership of sociologist Christian Smith, a professor of sociology at Notre Dame.

Drawing from new empirical evidence from more than 230 in-depth interviews as well as data from three nationally representative surveys, there was one significant headline: The single, most powerful causal influence on the religious lives of American teenagers and young adults is the religious lives of their parents.

Not their peers,
not the media,
not their youth group leaders or clergy,
not their religious school teachers,
not Sunday School,
not mission trips,
not service projects,
not summer camp….

It’s parents.

Parents define for their children the role that religious faith and practice ought to play in life, whether important or not, which most children roughly adopt. In other words, speed of the parent, speed of the child. Smith writes about the dynamic as akin to parents setting a “glass ceiling” of religious commitment above which their children rarely rise.

The parents continue to play the leading role in shaping the character of their religious and spiritual lives even well after they leave home and often for their rest of their lives. Simply put, the influence of parents on children while they still live at home – including their influence on their religious identities, beliefs and practices – is paramount, lasting for years, decades and often lifetimes.

Now, we all know that parents do not control or determine the religious lives of their children. Many homes with similar values and practices produce children whose religious lives vary wildly. But a large body of accumulated research consistently shows that, when viewing Americans as a whole, the influence of parents in religiousness trumps every other influence, however much parents and children may assume otherwise.

The dynamics of how this influence plays out should not be surprising. The research of Smith found that there are nine marks present with the effective, positive passing on of faith by parents:

1. Warm, affirming relations with the child

2. Quality conversations and interactions about religion

Joe McKeever: Worship is a Verb

By

Joe McKeever

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June 24, 2022

I once was asked to preach at a church in Southwest Mississippi. A few weeks ago when the pastor asked for my subject, I quickly said worship is a verb for a title of the message. Hardly without a thought. This is a big deal with me, I thought. God is working on this in me. I’ve preached and written on it before. I know some basic texts and have one huge burden on the subject, namely, that most Christians I know have it backward and think worship is all about “me.” Then, as often happens, when I began preparing and praying for the message, I realized just how little I actually know on the subject. God help me.

Worship Is a Verb

1) God wants His children to worship.

In fact, He wants “everything, everywhere” to worship Him. In Revelation, at the climax of all history, the praise chorus will include “every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, on the sea and everything in them” (Revelation 5:13). No wonder Scripture says, “Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord” (Psalm 150:6).

2) Why God wants us to worship Him nags at a lot of people.

Not me personally, but it clearly does some people. C.S. Lewis used to struggle with the idea of an infinite God almost begging for worship from His subjects, like a puny potentate who needed the constant reinforcing of his subjects’ loyalty.

Eventually, Lewis came to see that God does not “need” anything from us, and our failure to worship Him takes nothing from Him. He would write, “A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.”

3) Worship is a verb, but God does not need anything from me.

Poor God. Sitting up there in Heaven, wanting so desperately to have the adoration of puny earthlings and not getting it.

That is laughable. No wonder people reject that image; it is so skewed as to be ridiculous. God needs nothing from me.

“If I were hungry, I would not ask you. The cattle on a thousand hills is mine” (Psalm 50:10-12).

4) Worship is “unto the Lord.”

It’s not all about me.

“Give unto the Lord the glory due His name,” says the Word in I Chronicles 16:29 and Psalm 29:2.

And yet, listen to the average church-goer entering and exiting the house of worship.

10 Characteristics of Healthy Relationships

By

Josh Laxton

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June 23, 2022

healthy relationships — Source: Lightstock

Part of the essence of being human involves relating to other human beings. We relate to our parents, spouse, extended family, friends, church community, colleagues, acquaintances, neighbors, and those we encounter during our ordinary rhythms of life. Depending on the week, we all encounter or engage at least dozens, if not hundreds of people—and for some thousands. That’s a lot of relating going on!

I think we all know that our relationships—regardless of the kind—should be healthy. In fact, part of the creation mandate includes human beings being “fruitful and multiplying” (Genesis 1:28). Sure, part of being fruitful and multiplying involves procreation, but at the core, fruitful and multiply speaks of human beings having healthy relationships with one another.

What constitutes a healthy relationship?

In the first three chapters of Genesis, based on the way God relates to mankind, I observe at least ten characteristics of a healthy relationship. And I believe that, if embraced and enacted, these characteristics will lead to healthier marriages, families, staffs, small groups, churches, and communities.

1. Work towards the good of others.

Before fashioning man from the dust of the ground, God had spent the early days of creation building out the framework and the environment that would house the humans. Before they were even brought into existence, God was working for their good. By creating a functioning environment, Adam and Eve would have everything they needed for flourishing.

Are your actions and activities working to bring about a healthy and functionable environment for others to flourish?

2. Breathe life into others.

After being fashioned from the dust of the ground, man lay there lifeless—devoid of breath. Yet, in his most intimate act of creation, God personally and intimately breathes into Adam the breath of life and instantly Adam became a living being. In addition, the Bible says that God “blessed” both man and woman. God’s blessing precedes his missional statement for humanity. Thus, the act of blessing is God’s way of breathing his presence, power, and purpose into man so that they might become who they were made to be and do what they were made to do.

Are you breathing life into others? In the way you engage others, are they becoming more of who they were made to be and what they were made to do? How well do you give words of affirmation and encouragement to those you are in relationship with?

3. Be present with others.

God creates a dwelling place, the garden of Eden, where he will dwell with humanity. Thus God will be in close proximity to his prized creation.

How present are you with those you are in relationship with? Are you physically, emotionally, and mentally present? Do others feel as though you have time for them? When you engage, are you distracted?

Mark Driscoll Advises Singles: ‘It’s Not About How Old or Wise You Are, It’s About How Prepared You Are for Marriage’

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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June 23, 2022

mark_driscoll_singles — Screengrab via YouTube @Real Faith by Mark Driscoll

Mark Driscoll, controversial senior pastor of the Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, posted a clip from his latest Genesis sermon series titled “Why is Your Spouse the Second Most Important Decision of Your Life?”

In the clip, Driscoll shares what he believes to be a myth about marriage: that it is better to wait until your late twenties or early thirties to get married so that you’ll be better equipped and therefore less likely to divorce.

Driscoll wrote on Facebook that instead of preparing for marriage, society encourages young people to spend their twenties “wasting time, dating, fornicating, drinking, and wasting time, and causing trauma in our own lives. It’s not about how old or wise you are, it’s about how prepared you are for marriage.”

While discussing Issac and Rebekah’s marriage in the book of Genesis, Driscoll pointed out that we don’t know how old Rebekah was, but Issac was nearing his forties.

“So how many of you have been talking,” Driscoll asked the congregation, “and you’re like, well, you shouldn’t get married young. It’s better if you get married older, because then you can mature. How many of you have seen people in their twenties and they’re not mature?”

All one has to do is go on social media and look at someone who is in their twenties for evidence, he explained.

The former Mars Hill Church pastor said, “You can grow in wisdom, but just because you’re getting older doesn’t mean you’re getting wiser. One of the dumbest things we say is, ‘Well as you get older you get wiser.’ That’s not automatic.”

Driscoll used the analogy of a cul-de-sac, pointing out that some people’s lives look like they just keep driving around in the same circle, making the same “dumb decisions, same bad pattern, and ridiculous nonsense over and over and over.”

“It’s not progress. It’s wasted time,” Driscoll said. “The point is this. It’s not how old you are but how prepared you are for marriage.” Young singles can spend their single years growing in their faith or they can waste those years “dating, relating, and fornicating.”

Driscoll argued that time doesn’t make things better, calling the statement “time heals all wounds” stupid, going on to argue that it takes more than just time to fix things and grow in maturity.

Kirk Franklin, Maverick City Music Take ‘The View’ to Church for Juneteenth

By

Jessica Lea

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June 23, 2022

Gospel artist Kirk Franklin joined Maverick City Music on ABC’s “The View” for a June 20 performance of their song “Kingdom” in honor of Juneteenth. The song is from a collaborative album Franklin and Maverick City Music have released with the purpose of raising awareness about mass incarceration.

“Lord, let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” said Franklin as he started the segment. “Until everyone’s free, no one is free. Talk to us.”

Maverick City Music, Kirk Franklin Lead Worship on ‘The View’

Maverick City’s Chandler Moore, Naomi Raine and Brandon Lake joined Franklin and a gospel choir to perform “Kingdom,” a single from their album, “Kingdom Book One.” Maverick City Music and Kirk Franklin recorded the album, which was released June 17, at Everglades Correctional Institution in Miami, Florida. The facility is a state prison for men and houses inmates of all security levels. The voices of 13,000 inmates were featured on the album.

@laurenjae_ FULL VIDEO! #JordanHollins #SamCooke #ChangeGoneCome @Carez ♬ original sound – laurenjae_

Also joining the artists was Jordan Hollis, a 10-year-old boy who went viral after performing Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” at a talent show in Louisiana. He could be seen on stage singing with Maverick City near the end of the performance.

The lyrics of “Kingdom” read in part:

Beautiful each color that he made, yeah
Your love’s the only remedy for hate
You’ll return to set the prisoners free
Till then your will on Earth be done in me
My eyes on the son
Lord your will be done (hey, come on!)

Thine is the Kingdom
The power the glory
Forever and ever
He finished our story
We’re singing freedom
Our testimony
We’ll be singing forever, amen

If you ever wondered
What heaven looks like
It’s looking like me and you
And if you ever questioned
What Heaven sounds like
Just let it fill the room

Former Youth Pastor Dies While Being Restrained by Police During Domestic Disturbance Call

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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June 23, 2022

Former youth pastor Christopher Hensley (35) died on June 15 while being restrained by North Carolina’s Fletcher Police Department after he allegedly struggled with officers following a domestic disturbance call.

Hensley served as North Carolina’s Rapha House Church’s youth pastor for a little over a year in 2017-2018. Rapha House’s senior pastor Greg Lewis described Hensley as someone who was “always volunteering for anything we needed done.”

Lewis explained that after the church was unable to pay Hensley, who is a father and husband, he had to quit as their full-time youth pastor. “It’s just a tragedy,” Lewis said. “I loved Chris. As a pastor, with a pastor’s heart, you love people. I’m just grieving like everyone who knew Chris…He had the unique gift to bridge social, economic, and cultural diversity.”

The Fletcher Police Department responded to the Seasons at Cane Creek apartment complex regarding a woman’s 911 call saying that Hensley wouldn’t let her leave the house and that he might possibly be on drugs.

Witnesses saw police use a stun gun on Hensley then restrain him on the ground. In a video that was captured by a one of the residents at the apartment complex, as many as seven people, most of which appear to be officers, can be seen pinning Hensley face down to the ground.

While on the ground, Hensley was attempting to move his legs until he stopped moving entirely a few minutes into the video. “I just witnessed this right in front of my house. My neighbor, I believe, is dead,” the resident said.

In a statement, the Fletcher Police Department shared that an investigation is underway regarding the “in-custody death” of Hensley.

“After responding to a 911 call for help, officers encountered thirty-five-year-old Christopher Robert Hensley,” the statement said. “A fight ensued between officers and Hensley. After being handcuffed, Hensley became unresponsive. Hensley later died at the hospital.”

The video shows officers performing CPR on Hensley after they realized he was unresponsive. Two of the officers involved have been placed on administrative leave while the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation conducts their investigation.

Hensley’s mother, Cathrine, has flooded Facebook with images and stories of her son. “As a mother I am broken. As a strong Christian, my faith remains solid, strong, and unshakeable,” she wrote. “Christopher was my first born, my right hand my helper, gave me support and always strength in my weak moments. He was a great son. No human life should ever be taken down that way. He did not commit a crime or [have] any weapons on him.”

Former Christian Jon Steingard Challenges Dave Ramsey’s Idea of What People ‘Deserve’

By

Stephanie Martin

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June 23, 2022

Jon Steingard, former lead singer of the Christian band Hawk Nelson, continues to be vocal about faith issues despite his deconstruction. In 2020, the musician announced he no longer believes in God, though he later said he still prays.

Earlier this year, Steingard challenged some statements by John Cooper, frontman of the Christian band Skillet. Cooper is a vocal critic of the deconstruction trend, in which public figures question and often leave the Christian faith.

In a Twitter thread Thursday, Steingard questions the implications of a common evangelical phrase.

Jon Steingard: ‘Better Than I Deserve’ Is ‘An Unhealthy Mantra’

On June 23, Jon Steingard tweets: “When people ask Dave Ramsey how he’s doing, he responds ‘Better than I deserve.’ I used to think this was admirable and healthy humility. I don’t anymore. … Aside from the fact that it’s kind of a weird humblebrag, I think this phrase is actually an unhealthy mantra. It’s rooted in the evangelical idea that each of us is born a sinner, falls short of perfection, and therefore deserves to DIE. Yes this is really taught. To kids.”

The phrase “better than I deserve,” Steingard adds, “teaches people that they do indeed deserve to suffer,” which “has a bunch of really negative effects. For many it teaches them to expect bad things to happen, and that anticipation often becomes manifest in reality. It also opens people up to abuse, manipulation, and harm, because… hey… they’re alive so they deserve even worse.”

For Christians, the fix is to “accept Jesus into your heart” so he’ll take your punishment and experience the pain that’s “literally *your fault,*” Steingard continues. As a result, “It’s easy for this to lead a young believer to think that non-Christians are in some way the enemy, and also that your own body and mind are also in some way the enemy – since they were so sinful that they were deserving of death until Jesus died in their place.”

This leads to “pathological shame” that can take a long time to unlearn, “even after leaving Christianity,” Steingard says. But the alternative, thinking we deserve bad things, feels “both unhealthy to believe and untrue.”

Jon Steingard: ‘We Each Deserve Good Things’

In his thread, Steingard shares, “I think we each deserve good things. Not in some entitled snotty bratty kind of way – but in a very reasonable practical one. … I think you deserve to be loved. You deserve to be safe. You deserve to be heard. You deserve to be connected to other people. You deserve to live a life free of oppression and malice.”

He continues: “I’m not saying you deserve to be rich like Dave Ramsey – you’ll find no prosperity gospel here. I’m not talking about wealth. I’m just talking about the idea Dave models when he says ‘better than I deserve’. I think he’s perpetuating an unhealthy idea without realizing it. It’s my hope that when good things come your way, you’ll let yourself unlearn the knee-jerk reaction of ‘I don’t deserve this’ because maybe – you do. You deserve good things.”

One Lawsuit Against CBN Spokesman Brad Jurkovich, Bossier First Baptist Dismissed; Litigation Ongoing

By

Dale Chamberlain

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June 23, 2022

Pictured: Brad Jurkovich leading a panel discussion at a Conservative Baptist Network event in Anaheim, California (photo courtesy of Baptist Press)

Bossier District Court has ruled in favor of the First Baptist Church of Bossier, Louisiana, which is being sued by former members over issues with the church’s decision making and financial transparency.

Though one of the lawsuits has now been dropped, the legal dispute is ongoing.

In one lawsuit, former church members claimed that Brad Jurkovich, the lead pastor of the church, had improperly diverted church funds meant for supporting missionaries to the Conservative Baptist Network (CBN), a group of Southern Baptists whose mission is to combat the “liberal drift” in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Jurkovich is a member of the group’s steering council and serves as their spokesperson. The CBN was formed in 2020 and has been vocal about issues such as Critical Race Theory and the role of women in church leadership, advocating for a course-correcting plan of action and backing candidates for denominational offices who share their convictions.

In May, Judge Charles Smith ruled that First Bossier would be required to turn over financial records dating back to 2013 to the former church members. This included bank statements, W-2 statements, paid invoices, purchase orders, bank deposits and transfers, staff housing allowances, and loan documents.

The former church members further claimed in another suit that in 2014, Jurkovich had illegally changed the church’s bylaws to grant himself unilateral authority to revoke the membership status (and thus voting privileges) of any church member on the roster.

Smith has now ruled to dismiss this lawsuit on the grounds that the claim was not filed in a timely manner in accordance with state law.

Further, First Bossier said that the changes to the church’s bylaws were adopted at a church member meeting, which was attended by about 1,600 members who were previously informed regarding the meeting.

“It is First Baptist Bossier’s position that all of the plaintiffs’ claims are without merit and represent an improper attempt by former members to litigate an internal church dispute,” the church said in a statement. “We intend to continue our vigorous defense against all remaining claims with the ultimate goal of moving past any efforts to damage and divide our ministry.”

2 Priests Killed in Mexico Devoted Decades to Remote Region

By

María Verza

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June 23, 2022

A priest blesses the photos of Jesuit priests Javier Campos Morales, left, and Joaquin Cesar Mora Salazar during a Mass to mourn them, at a church in Mexico City, Tuesday, June 21, 2022. The two elderly priests were killed inside a church where a man pursued by gunmen apparently sought refuge in a remote mountainous area of northern Mexico, the religious order’s Mexican branch announced Tuesday. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Well before many roads were paved in Mexico’s remote Tarahumara mountains, Jesuit priest Javier Campos crisscrossed the area on a motorcycle. During five decades ministering to its impoverished communities, his familiar imitation of a rooster and love of singing earned him the nickname “Gallo.”

His colleague Joaquín Mora was often at his side during the past 20 of those years, during which drug cartels tightened their grip on the region, filling the mountains with opium poppy and marijuana. Together they brought a moral authority to balance the outsized influence of drug traffickers, their fellow priests said.

The two priests, age 79 and 80, respectively, were shot to death in the small church on Cerocahui’s town square Monday, along with a tourist guide they tried to protect from a local criminal boss. The killer, who President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Wednesday had been identified, took their bodies.

Chihuahua Gov. Maria Eugenia Campos announced later Wednesday that all three bodies had been recovered without providing details.

“They were respected. Their word was taken into account,” said Jorge Atilano, another Jesuit priest, during a Mass Tuesday night in Mexico City.

But the priests had noted changes that made it increasingly difficult to navigate the ever-expanding criminal world.

The Rev. Pedro Humberto Arriaga, a Jesuit superior at a mission in southern Mexico and friend of Campos since their student days, said that when they last spoke in May, Campos told him of “the seriousness of the situation, of how the drug gangs had advanced in the region, how they were taking control of the communities.” Things were spinning out of control with more and more armed criminals moving throughout the area, he said.

Arriaga was not aware of threats against either priest, but everyone was conscious of the risks — there and across the country.

The church’s Catholic Multimedia Center said seven priests, including Campos and Mora, have been murdered during the current administration, which took office in December 2018, and at least two dozen under the former president, who took office in 2012.

The mountains have been the scene of other recent killings of Indigenous leaders, environmentalists, human rights defenders and a journalist who covered the area.

Mexico’s persistently high murder rate has been a problem for López Obrador, who entered office making clear he had no interest in pursuing the drug war waged by his predecessors, which he blamed for the increased violence. His government has managed to slow the rise in killings, but not reduce them.

Juneteenth Celebrations Teach History, Praise God for Freedom

By

Diana Chandler

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June 23, 2022

juneteenth — Texas African American History Memorial, Texas State Capitol, Austin Photo by Nick Amoscato, via Flickr

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. (BP) – Campus pastor Chris Ogden grew up in a “very white evangelical tradition,” but he shepherded multiethnic Horizon West Church to celebrate Juneteenth, the national holiday marking when Blacks enslaved in Galveston, Texas, were freed two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

His life experiences led him to appreciate the day. Through a youth ministry internship in Southern California, he was introduced to the writings of Martin Luther King Jr., Frederick Douglass and Ralph Abernathy.

“The last piece of that for me, my dad remarried in 2008 and the woman that he remarried had adopted several children and four of those children were African American.”

Suddenly, the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Philando Castile, Eric Gardener and Trayvon Martin were personal.

“I started thinking if my brother Micah, who has intellectual disabilities and is a 6-foot-2, now a Black man,” Ogden said, “if he were walking the streets late at night like he sometimes does, that could be him. And the stereotypes that often go into policing and different things, and so all of that just kind of made those things seem a little bit personal.”

In Houston, Texas, about an hour from Juneteenth’s foundational event of June 19, 1865, senior pastor Steve Hall Sr. believes all churches have an opportunity to educate youth about racial injustices.

“One of the things that we try to do is to be an outlet for our congregation, our members, as well as the young folk especially, because they really don’t have the background that many of our older saints have, and that’s really my impetus for it,” said Hall, longtime pastor of Bethany Baptist Church SBC, a congregation of African Americans. “The 40 acres and a mule story, all of the history that goes along with some of our older saints, some of our babies they just don’t understand.

“They don’t understand the background with regards to reparations or even why that even came about. But for the most part, our efforts are to celebrate while we educate, and that’s probably my greatest theme to go along with it.”

Both churches held Juneteenth musical celebrations and on a limited scale, incorporated the message of Juneteenth into their Father’s Day sermons and celebrations. Bethany Baptist held a Gospel concert June 18. Horizon included a set of music by African American Gospel artists in its Sunday worship time and posted a Juneteenth message on the church’s Facebook page.

Horizon West, a campus of First Baptist Church of Orlando, is the result of the Easter 2021 merger of Horizon West and Oasis Community Church. The blended congregation is about 60 percent white, 20-25 percent Brazilian and Spanish-speaking groups, 5-10 percent Islanders from Trinidad and Jamaica and about 5 percent African American. The church leadership is ethnically mixed, with an African American campus director.

Ogden believes fellow Southern Baptists should also mark Juneteenth, especially in today’s cultural climate.

“There’s a very unfortunate, kind of reactionary sense in a large chunk of the white evangelical community as if the culture is forcing us to do racial equity work,” Ogden said. “And my argument is that unfortunately the white evangelical church has so failed to do that, that the Lord is almost rebuking us through culture. We shouldn’t be lagging behind.

Governing Body Regulates Competition of Transgendered Swimmers

By

Brandon Porter

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June 23, 2022

transgender — Photo via Unsplash.com @marcelouva

BUDAPEST, Hungary (BP) – The organization that governs competitive swimming events around the world has ruled that swimmers who identify as transgender women and who began transitioning after the age of 11 cannot compete in women’s swimming events. FINA made the announcement June 19.

The rationale for the rule is the inherent physical advantages afforded to males who undergo puberty as males, such as increased muscle mass and lung capacity, that give them an edge over biological females.

“This is not saying that people are encouraged to transition by the age of 12. It’s what the scientists are saying, that if you transition after the start of puberty, you have an advantage, which is unfair,” James Pearce, who is the spokesperson for FINA president Husain Al-Musallam, told The Associated Press.

“We appreciate this recent decision by FINA as it reaffirms the basic biological realities of both sexes and aims to elevate fair competition for all who compete,” said Jason Thacker, director of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission’s Research Institute.

In March, Lia Thomas became the first athlete identifying as a transgender woman to win an NCAA championship in the 500-yard freestyle competition.

“This decision highlights God’s design of both men and women as distinct but equal in terms of worth and value. Hormone treatments and gender therapies cannot alter the unchanging fact of being created male or female in the image of God,” Thacker said in written comments to Baptist Press.

Anne Lieberman, a representative of Athlete Ally, called the move discriminatory, harmful and unscientific.

“The eligibility criteria for the women’s category as it is laid out in the policy (will) police the bodies of all women, and will not be enforceable without seriously violating the privacy and human rights of any athlete looking to compete in the women’s category,” Lieberman told The Associated Press.

Thacker disagrees and hopes this is the first step to ensure fairness in women’s sports.

RELATED: What Is Transgenderism?

“While this decision is a step in the right direction, there is much more work to be done to ensure that we protect the integrity of women’s sports, especially as the International Olympics Committee, NCAA, and other governing bodies in sports are still debating or have recently updated their policies related to transgender athletes,” he said.

This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.

200 Witnesses to Testify in ‘Vatican Trial of a Century’ on Financial Scandals

By

Claire Giangrave

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June 23, 2022

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Earlier this month, Giuseppe Pignatone, one of the judges overseeing the Vatican’s “trial of a century,” concerning corruption and money laundering by Catholic Church officials, joked that he hoped the proceedings would end by 2050.

At least, it was thought to be a joke: At Wednesday’s session, the judges announced that the prosecution and defendants plan to call more than 200 witnesses in a trial that has already taken nearly a year to get through 10 defendants.

The trial started in July of 2021 with defendants facing interrogation by Vatican prosecutors, judges and the lawyers of other defendants.

At the heart of the case is the controversial purchase by the Vatican’s Secretariat of State of a property at 60 Sloane Ave. in London, which according to Vatican prosecutors cost the church 350 million euros (about $370 million), drawn in part from donations to a papal charity called Peter’s Pence.

So far the trial has put a spotlight on turf wars and rivalries among members of the Vatican departments and offices that make up the Roman Curia. The hearing on Wednesday (June 22) focused on the role played by the fund managers and consultants who oversaw the Vatican’s investment portfolio.

Enrico Crasso, a former employee of the bank Credit Suisse who served the Holy See as an investment manager for 26 years, answered questions for the second time at the trial on Wednesday, and declared his innocence. He is charged with embezzlement, corruption, extortion, money laundering, fraud, abuse of office and varying types of forgery.

“Eleven indictments are not few,” Crasso said. “I hope that this court wants to judge my activity as a manager and does not put me in a position to pay for the activities of other (defendants).”

In his previous hearing, May 30, Crasso had said he was sidelined by the Vatican in 2014 when it chose to invest in Raffaele Mincione’s fund, Athena, which owned the London property. Mincione is also charged with fraud and embezzlement for allegedly draining profits from the investment through fees and commissions.

Crasso questioned Mincione’s management of the fund, maintaining that the financier used the Vatican’s money to pay for his takeover of the troubled Italian bank Carige. Crasso said he told the secretariat that the costs of Mincione’s fund were excessively high.

Crasso said he broke with Mincione officially in 2016, more than two years after he first introduced him to Vatican staffers to pitch an investment in an oil operation in Angola, an idea that was scrapped in favor of the London property deal.

Crasso told the judges that his role was to act as a “bulwark in defending the Secretariat of State’s liquidity, and not a tool to fraud anyone.”

Crasso said he was present at some of the principal meetings that laid out the London property deal; he said he was “always summoned by Fabrizio Tirabassi,” who handled the finances of the Secretariat of State and is another defendant at the trial.

Lifeway’s ‘Spark Studios’ VBS Album Reaches No. 1 on Apple Music Album Chart

By

Timothy Cockes

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June 23, 2022

NASHVILLE (BP) – Lifeway’s 2022 Vacation Bible School soundtrack “Spark Studios,” reached the No. 1 spot on Apple Music’s Top 100 Children’s Music Albums chart last week.

The album reached the top spot on the chart during the week of the SBC annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif. In addition to reaching the top spot on the children’s chart, the record also reached the 63^rd spot on the overall Apple Music Top 100 chart for all genres.

Released Dec. 3, 2021, the album features six tracks, including this year’s VBS theme song also titled “Spark Studios.” It remains in the top 20 on the Children’s Music Top 100 chart.

The theme song is based out of this year’s VBS theme verse of Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do” (CSB).

Melita Thomas, Lifeway’s VBS and kids ministry specialist, said the success of the album is a welcome and encouraging sign for kids ministry in the SBC.

“With the pandemic negatively impacting many churches’ ability to do VBS the past two years, I think this is evidence that VBS is returning in full force across the country,” Thomas said.

“We’re very proud of the role music plays in Lifeway’s VBS as it’s an intentional part of our strategy. You’ll find the daily Bible verses embedded in the daily songs and the theme song often includes the theme verse in its entirety, which makes it easy for kids to memorize.

“More than just memorization, we want kids to internalize those truths as they listen to and sing the words over and over again. Music is such a powerful teaching tool and it has a way of sticking with you long after VBS is over. We want the truths of Scripture to be cemented deep in a child’s mind and heart so that they carry it with them for life. Music at VBS is not about learning and performing motions – it’s about getting the truth of God’s Word into the hearts and minds of children and their families.”

This is not the first time Lifeway’s VBS album has achieved chart-topping success. Previous VBS albums have frequently ranked in the top 20 in the Kids category on Billboard charts.

Paul Marino and Jeremy Johnson helped write and produce this year’s album for Lifeway. They work as independent contractors with Lifeway to help create VBS music in partnership with Lifeway Kids.

Marino told Baptist Press the goal of music at VBS is to get the biblical principles taught throughout the week to stick in kids’ hearts and minds.

“It’s a real honor to write this and to use if for God’s kingdom,” Marino said. “Music helps people memorize things, and melodies can stick in your head, sometimes for your whole life.

“Our challenge is to take the overall theme and what they want to say with the theme, and put music to it with lyrics that rhyme and work with the Scripture verses. We try to put it all together so it’s one cohesive album, and from the beginning to end it takes you on a journey through the week of the VBS. This year’s theme is different from many other years of our theme songs, but it gives it a new freshness and the kids really grabbed onto it.”

Marino said a highlight for him is seeing the music performed by kids in various live settings.

Necessary Conversations: The Church, Suicide, and Mental Health

By

Ed Stetzer

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June 23, 2022

This article is an attempt at a pastoral discussion of mental illness and suicidal ideation within the church. There are no graphic details, but readers who are sensitive to this topic should use discretion before reading.

The church is for the broken. A church without the broken is a broken church.

For many of us, mental illness is not a theoretical issue. Instead, it manifests in many ways and, at times, can impact nearly every moment of every day. For some, the struggle is manageable, although disruptive, and they are able to lead relatively normal lives.

However, others have a very different experience: sometimes, mental illness can be too heavy a burden to bear. I had an aunt who tragically took her own life for this reason. Unfortunately, knowing someone who takes his or her own life as a result of mental illness is not so uncommon.

Lifeway Research conducted two studies. The first focuses on the average churchgoer’s view of suicide and the second focuses on pastors’ views. These studies were sponsored by the American Association of Christian Counselors, the Liberty University Graduate Counseling program, the Liberty University School of Medicine, and the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. These studies were conducted to understand the rising prevalence of suicide and to determine how the church can best help.

The studies found that 55% of churchgoers say they hear about a suicide in their local community nearly once per year, and 32% have had a close family member or acquaintance take his or her own life. Clearly, this is not something the church can ignore.

Churches Have a Role

According to these studies, 76% of churchgoers agree that suicide is a problem that needs to be proactively addressed in their local communities. Further, 84% agree that churches have a responsibility to provide resources and support to individuals with mental illness and their families. Churchgoers overwhelmingly agree that suicide and mental health need to be addressed and that the church has a responsibility to be a leading voice in the conversation.

Among Protestant churchgoers who have had a family member or close acquaintance die by suicide, only 4% said that church leaders were aware of the person’s struggles or risk of suicide in the months prior to death; and another 4% said that church members were aware.

This is antithetical to how the church should function relationally—our churches should always be places of safety and community for those wrestling with any issue, especially those involving mental health. The church should be a community of support for individuals and families facing all kinds of situations, including mental health struggles.

Sadly, very few people at risk of suicide are talking to their church communities about their personal struggles. Additionally, only 14% of churchgoers reported that their church provided training and resources for ministry leaders to identify signs of someone experiencing suicidal ideation in the last year.

There could be a multitude of reasons for these findings, but we as the church and Christians must be more intentional and proactive in prevention and care. Let me share a few more stats before we look at how we can improve.

Churches are much more likely to respond after a suicide has already occurred. At the time of their loved one’s death, churchgoers said their local churches responded to their families by praying with them (49%), attending the visitation or funeral (43%), visiting their families (41%), sending cards (32%), providing meals (31%), and staying in touch after the funeral (30%).

Same Sex Kiss in a Disney Movie: My Thoughts

By

Dale Hudson

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June 23, 2022

I love Disney. I even wrote a book entitled “If Disney Ran Your Children’s Ministry.”

If you look back at the history of Disney, you will see that Walt’s goal was to create experiences that were family friendly. In fact, the idea of Disney Land came to him while he was watching his two daughters ride the carousel in L.A.’s Griffith Park. There, he began to imagine a clean, safe, friendly place where parents and children could have fun together!

After Walt’s death, we have seen the company gradually move toward being a proponent for the LGBTQ community. Today’s definition of “family” is far different than what it was when Walt was living.

And it’s not just the Disney company that is giving a thumbs up to same-sex relationships. Our society as a whole is moving quickly toward not just accepting same sex relationships, but promoting them and celebrating that lifestyle.

There is a lot of controversy stirring right now as Disney has brought same-sex content into a movie that is being branded as “family-friendly.” The upcoming feature film “Lightyear” stars Chris Evans as the real-life inspiration for the “Toy Story” character Buzz Lightyear.

The film incorporates a significant female character who is in a meaningful relationship with another woman. While the fact of that relationship was never in question at Pixar studio, a kiss between the characters had been cut from the film. Following the uproar surrounding the Pixar employees’ statement and Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s handling of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, however, the kiss was reinstated into the movie last week.

So how should we, who are ministering to children and their families, respond to this situation? Here are my thoughts about how to navigate this.

Remember that Disney is not a Christian company. I think we often expect companies that are not Christian to have Christian values. There are a lot of Christians that work for Disney, but they are not a Christian company. Should we expect them to uphold all of our Christian values?

It is the parents’ job to mold and shape their children’s world views. Parents must be prepared to talk with their children about these matters and guide them to a Christian world view.

We must influence the biggest influencers. For ministers, it is not appropriate for us to have these conversations with children in their elementary years. That is the job of their parents. Our role is to equip parents to have these conversations.

Parents of younger children must decide if they want to completely avoid the controversy or expose their children to it. If they choose to expose their children to it, they should be prepared to talk with their children about it and share why it goes against God’s plan for love and marriage.

Should I Throw out My Books and Teaching Resources From Fallen Pastors?

By

Phil Cooke

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June 23, 2022

In helping organizations navigate the challenge of moving on after the moral failure of fallen pastors or leaders, one of the big questions I hear is “What do we do with the decades of books the pastor published, the sermons he preached, or the TV programs, social media, or video resources that he or she created?

There’s two answers – one is for the organization, and the other is for private individuals.

For the organization – I strongly recommend taking everything offline immediately if not sooner. Very often critics (especially online trolls) will use those books or video messages to criticize or make fun of the church or nonprofit. Take that material out of your bookstore, get them off your online store, and delete social media accounts, YouTube channels, and anything else.

If the organization is going to move past a fallen leader, having resources around that constantly remind people of that leader isn’t going to help. So no matter how much effort it takes, focus on the future, not the past.

However, for individual believers or followers of that person, I’m more flexible. In some cases, the sin, mistakes, and violations of fallen pastors and leaders can be so serious that no matter how excellent their books, teaching, or other resources, I would get rid of it all in my own personal library. There are plenty of other reputable leaders and teachers to follow. So if any book or other resource in your home or office is distasteful because of the sin of the writer or teacher, then by all means toss it.

On the other hand, in many cases before they fell, the man or woman was indeed called by God, and was truly insightful, and sometimes brilliant. In those cases, keeping some or all of those resources may be personally desirable – particularly if you’re a writer, pastor, or other content creator and use that material for research.

In the case of Ravi Zacharias for instance, most would agree that he was one of the most gifted apologists of our generation. Therefore his books and teaching materials can be a great benefit for Christians long into the future. However for others, the revelations of his behavior are simply too much to overcome – and that’s completely understandable as well.

So from a personal perspective in your own home or office, the decision is yours.

What about you? What recommendations would you make on this issue?

This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.

Worship Is a Verb

1) God wants His children to worship.

2) Why God wants us to worship Him nags at a lot of people.

3) Worship is a verb, but God does not need anything from me.

4) Worship is “unto the Lord.”

What constitutes a healthy relationship?

1. Work towards the good of others.

2. Breathe life into others.

3. Be present with others.

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