Vatican Minister Visits Ukraine As Pope Toes Delicate Line

May 17, 2022

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican’s foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, is heading to Kyiv this week as the Holy See seeks to balance its concern for Ukrainians amid Russia’s war with its efforts to keep open a channel of dialogue with Moscow.

Gallagher is due to arrive Wednesday and meet Friday with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, a visit that was originally scheduled for before Easter but was postponed after Gallagher came down with COVID-19.

The Vatican said that Gallagher would stop first in Lviv to meet with refugees and regional officials, and then move onto Kyiv for the meeting with Kuleba and to tour the destruction nearby.

The secretariat of state tweeted Tuesday that the visit would mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Ukraine and show the closeness of the pope and Holy See to Ukraine, “reaffirming the importance of dialogue to reestablish peace.”

The trip comes as the Holy See toes a delicate line in trying to keep alive newly improved ties with the Russian Orthodox Church while offering support to the “martyred” Ukrainian faithful. At the same time, the Holy See is reconciling Pope Francis’ frequent denunciation of the weapons industry and “crazy” recourse to rearming Ukraine with Catholic teaching that says states have a right and duty to repel an “unjust aggressor.”

“It has to be proportional,” Gallagher told RAI state television in announcing his trip. “Yes, Ukraine has the right to defend itself and it needs weapons to do it, but it has to be prudent in the way it’s done.”

Gallagher, a 68-year-old career Vatican diplomat from Liverpool, becomes the third papal envoy dispatched to the region by Francis, after two trusted cardinals went to Ukraine and bordering countries to assess the humanitarian needs of Ukrainian refugees and bring them the pope’s solidarity.

Francis has drawn criticism from some for refusing to condemn Russia or President Vladimir Putin by name, though he has stepped up his criticism of the “barbaric” war and recently met with the wives of two Ukrainian soldiers holding out at the besieged steel mill in Mariupol, a gesture of “our concern and participation in the suffering of these families,” Gallagher said.

Francis’ down-the-middle line is evidence of the Holy See’s diplomatic tradition of not calling out aggressors by name and its efforts to keep open paths of dialogue with both sides in a conflict. This so-called “Ostpolitik” dictated the Vatican’s Cold War policy of maintaining relations with the same Communist regimes that were persecuting the Catholic faithful on the ground.

In the case of Ukraine, the Holy See is keen not to sever newly improved relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, which took a big step forward in 2016 when Francis met in Havana with the Russian Patriarch, Kirill.

Francis has so far declined an invitation from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to visit Ukraine, recently saying he wants to go to Moscow first. Francis has said he asked early on to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but that the Russian leader hasn’t yet replied.

Faith on the Ground in Buffalo: Voice Buffalo Executive Director Denise Walden

Adelle M Banks

May 17, 2022

(RNS) — Soon after a white 18-year-old shooter targeted Black customers of a community grocery store in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday (May 14), the Rev. Denise Walden, executive director of Voice Buffalo, a social justice and equity organization, was coordinating clergy to offer grief counseling and help families immediately and, she hopes, for the foreseeable future.

She was also grieving personally: She knows the families of most of the 10 people killed in the massacre.

“This is going to take more than a week, more than a month, more than six months,” said Walden, a member of the clergy team at First Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, a predominantly Black congregation in Buffalo. “We need long-term solutions and support.”

Walden’s 25-year-old organization is a local chapter of Live Free, a Christian organization that has in recent years focused on preventing community violence, which now has new questions to answer, Walden said, about “the hate that caused this person to come into this community and create such a horrible, violent violation to our community.”

She said more resources are needed to counter hate in general and to cope with the reaction from Buffalo’s Black community. “When tragedy strikes and those things are not in place,” Walden said, “we create an environment that can become even more dangerous because people don’t know what to do to process their grief and their trauma.”

Walden, 42, spoke with Religion News Service about her connections to the people who died on Buffalo’s East Side, who the community has lost and what it needs now.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Pastor Mike McBride, clockwise from top left, executive director of Live Free, the Rev. Julian Cook, of Macedonia Baptist Church in Buffalo, and the Rev. Denise Walden were among dozens taking part in a virtual Live Free “Buffalo Healing Space” event on Monday, May 16, 2022. Video screen grab

Pastor Mike McBride, clockwise from top left, executive director of Live Free, the Rev. Julian Cook, of Macedonia Baptist Church in Buffalo, and the Rev. Denise Walden, executive director of Voice Buffalo, were among dozens taking part in a virtual Live Free “Buffalo Healing Space” event on Monday, May 16, 2022. Video screen grab

The massacre on Saturday occurred at a grocery store in your neighborhood. How did you react to the violence that happened there?

I’m a seven-minute walk away from the grocery store. It’s our community store. We’re there regularly. As far as how I reacted, I think I’m still trying to figure that out. For me it was, how do I show up with and in my community, just being a resource and, hopefully, a person to bring some peace and love that are all much needed in this time. And just being as comforting to those who are closest to the pain from this as possible.

You were one of the officiants of a vigil on Sunday outside the Tops grocery store. What words did you find to say?

It was hard. I think we know that there’s a need for comfort. There’s a need for love in our community. And that was the word, reminding people that we are still a strong community; reminding those of us that live here that in spite of this heinous act that we’ve seen, this is still home. This is our home.

You helped notify family members of those who were killed. Was that an unexpected responsibility or have you done that in the past?

That is definitely an unexpected responsibility. I’ve done little bits of it in my clergy capacity. For our organization it’s completely different and completely new. And I’ve never had to show up that way in something so tragic, and also something that is so closely impacting me as well.

‘I Cried All Day’: Buffalo Church, Community Grieve Supermarket Massacre

Diana Chandler

May 17, 2022

Supermarket Massacre — Buffalo TV station WGRZ honors the victims of a shooting at a Tops market Saturday (May 14). Screen capture courtesy of Baptist Press.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (BP) – Four miles from the Tops Friendly Markets mass shooting May 14, North Buffalo Community Church Pastor William Smith is comforting a crying community.

Church member Cashell Durham lost her baby brother Aaron Salter in the massacre – a 55-year-old retired Buffalo police officer and Tops security guard, who was among four employees killed. Smith’s daughter Lauren Smith is employed in Tops administration, but wasn’t at the 1275 Jefferson St. location.

“She said, ‘Daddy I cried all day yesterday (May 14),’” Smith told Baptist Press. “The impact rippled through all the city. … The church itself, we spent good time yesterday talking about violence and talking about pain.”

Durham is the widow of North Buffalo Baptist associate pastor Arriet J. Durham, who died in 2018.

“Cashell has been grieving now for quite a while. She’s had some help, but she’s still grieving from the loss of her husband,” Smith said. “And right now, she’s been bombarded with requests from different press agencies. … But she’s not really in any position to be able to speak with people. She’s just hurting so bad.”

The alleged shooter arrested at the scene of the crime, 18-year-old Payton S. Gendron, is accused of having driven 200 miles strategically to find a public location full of African Americans in what police are calling a racially motivated hate crime. Eleven victims were Black; two were white.

“We’re just trying to deal with the pain. So many of us Saturday were just crying. The pain was so hard,” Smith said. “And the Lord is the One who’s going to be near the brokenhearted. And when He’s near the brokenhearted, I really believe that that’s going to be what we need.

“We need the Lord’s guidance and we need prayer. Which was very encouraging, we got prayer from all over the country from people.” Many offered to help in any way needed.

Beverly Flannery, wife of Frontier Baptist Association Associational Missionary Mike Flannery, emailed 900 contacts predominantly in northeast New York asking for prayer for Buffalo. Hundreds responded. The Frontier association is mobilizing ministry to those impacted by the shooting.

“I am currently trying to organize churches to deliver food in this geographical area that is a food desert,” Mike Flannery said May 16. “The Tops store will be shut down probably several weeks because of federal investigations. I’m working with another organization, Saving Grace Ministries, that wants us to work with them to deliver food.”

Smith appreciates Southern Baptists’ compassionate response. He wants Southern Baptists to understand the pain.

“This shooting has added to the negative mental health of African Americans wondering who’s going to shoot next,” he said. “We have our own crime in the city. We have our own shooters in the city. And then to add this to that, it’s a painful thing for us, for little kids, because you never know when this is going to happen again. That’s why we need the Body of Christ.”

He mentioned widespread support from Southern Baptists across New York, including the Frontier association and the Baptist Convention of New York.

Pope’s Recipe to Heal His Painful Knee? A Shot of Tequila

Nicole Winfield

May 17, 2022

ROME (AP) — Doctors have prescribed a wheelchair, cane and physical therapy to help heal Pope Francis’ bad knee. He has other ideas.

According to a viral video of the pope at the end of a recent audience, Francis quipped that what he really needs for the pain is a shot of tequila.

Francis was riding in the popemobile in St. Peter’s Square when he stopped near a group of Mexican seminarians from the Legion of Christ who asked him in his native Spanish how his knee was doing. After he replied that it was “capricious,” they told Francis that they admired his ability to smile despite the pain, and that he was an example for future priests like themselves.

“Do you know what I need for my knee?” Francis asked them from the popemobile. “Some tequila.” The seminarians laughed and promised to deliver a bottle to the Santa Marta hotel where Francis lives.

The 85-year-old Argentine pope has been suffering from strained ligaments in his right knee for months, and on doctors’ orders, recently has been using a wheelchair and a cane to get around so he can let it heal.

The limits on his mobility have spurred a predictable round of media speculation about his health and a future conclave, but a close collaborator recently said the pope is “better than ever” and is undergoing two hours of physiotherapy a day.

“He’s in very good health and the same lucid reflection as always,” La Plata, Argentina Bishop Victor Manuel Fernandez tweeted May 14 after seeing the pope. “(There’s) a problem in one of his knees, but every day he has more than two hours of rehabilitation, which is producing results. For everything else, he’s better than ever.”

Francis recently pulled out of a planned two-day trip to Lebanon next month, citing the knee problem, but the Vatican has confirmed he will travel to Congo and South Sudan, as well as Canada, in July.

This article originally appeared here.

24 Mistakes and Misplaced Missional Energy

James Emery White

May 17, 2022

thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

When the movie Skyfall released in 2012, it was the 23rd installment in the James Bond series that began 60 years ago in 1962 with Dr. No.

Skyfall was heralded as the best Bond film in years and Daniel Craig the best Bond since Sean Connery. It is, without a doubt, a Bond-lover’s feast. From the revival of Q to Miss Moneypenny, throwback villains to Aston Martins, it deserved its critical acclaim and box office success.

However, there are 24 mistakes in the film.

I know this because somebody poured over the film multiple times and counted them.

For example, when Bond drinks Macallan in M’s apartment and puts the bottle down, the label is facing away from the audience. A few scenes later, the label is facing toward the audience.

Gasp!

During the scenes on the London Underground, Bond gets on at Temple Station and gets off at Westminster, but Embankment, the station between these two stops on the District Line, is nowhere to be seen.

Oh, my!

Bond is seen driving down Whitehall in London. Behind him, the #38 bus is visible. However, the #38 bus does not travel down, nor is it particularly near, Whitehall.

Scandal!

When Bond is fighting on top of the train at the beginning of the film, his footwear changes from black lace up shoes to black slip-on ankle boots.

How dare they!

Of course, the 24 mistakes in Skyfall are nothing compared to the 395 found in Apocalypse Now nor the 310 found in The Wizard of Oz.

When I ran across the article on the 24 mistakes, I sat back and thought: Really? Who has the time to count such minuscule mistakes? Who has the kind of “life” or spirit that would want to?

Who looks at the larger-than-life story told through skillful acting, writing and cinematography in such a film – much less Academy Award winners such as Apocalypse Now and The Wizard of Oz – and walks away with bottle labels, Tube lines and bus schedules? Who wants to major on the minors?

Actually, I know. Most leaders do. They are the same kind of people who analyze any number of other people, places or things for mistakes. And I know at least one of the reasons why they do it, too. (We’ll bracket off personality for the moment.)

They have misplaced missional energy.

R.C. Sproul: A Snare in Your Midst

R.C. Sproul

May 17, 2022

When is a church not a church? This question has received various answers throughout history, depending on one’s perspective and evaluation of certain groups. There exists no monolithic interpretation of what constitutes a true church. However, in classic Christian orthodoxy certain standards have emerged that define what we call “catholic,” or universal, Christianity. This universal Christianity points to the essential truths that have been set forth historically in the ecumenical creeds of the first millennium and are part of the confession of virtually every Christian denomination historically. However, there are at least two ways in which a religious group fails to meet the standards of being a church.

The first is when they lapse into a state of apostasy. Apostasy occurs when a church leaves its historic moorings, abandons its historic confessional position, and degenerates into a state where either essential Christian truths are blatantly denied or the denial of such truths is widely tolerated.

Another test of apostasy is at the moral level. A church becomes apostate de facto when it sanctions and encourages gross and heinous sins. Such practices may be found today in the controversial systems of denominations, such as mainline Episcopalianism and mainline Presbyterianism, both of which have moved away from their historic confessional moorings as well their confessional stands on basic ethical issues.

The decline of a church into apostasy must be differentiated from those communions that never actually achieved the status of a viable church in the first place. It is with respect to this phenomenon that the consideration of cults and heretical sects is usually delineated. Here again we find no universal monolithic definition for what it is that constitutes a cult or a sect. Both terms are capable of more than one meaning or denotation. For example, all churches that practice rites and rituals have at their core a concern for their “cultus.” The cultus is the organized body of worship that is found in any church. However, this cultic dimension of legitimate churches can be distorted to such a degree that the use of the term cult is applied in its pejorative sense. For example, the dictionary may define the term “cult” as a religion that is considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist. When we talk about cults in this regard, what comes to mind are the radical distortions in fringe groups, such as the Jonestown phenomenon. There, a group of devotees attached themselves to their megalomaniacal leader, Jim Jones, and illustrated their devotion to such a degree that they willingly submitted to Jones’ direction to take their Kool-aid laced with cyanide. This is cultic behavior with a vengeance. The same kind of thing could be seen among the Branch Davidians, the followers of Father Divine in Philadelphia, and other lesser groups that have come and gone over the course of church history.

It is noteworthy that almost any compendium that treats the history of cults will include within its studies large bodies of religion such as Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Nevertheless, the sheer size and endurance of such groups tend to give them more credibility as time passes and as more people associate with their beliefs. When we look at groups, such as the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, we find elements of truth within their confessions. Yet at the same time, they express clear denials of what historically may be considered essential truths of the Christian faith. This certainly includes their unabashed denial of the deity of Christ. Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons have this denial in common. Though both place Jesus in some type of exalted position within their respective creeds, He does not attain the level of deity. Both groups consider Christ an exalted creature. Following the thinking of the ancient heretic Arius, Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses argue that the New Testament does not teach the deity of Christ; rather, they argue it teaches He is the exalted firstborn of all creation. They say He is the first creature made by God, who then is given superior power and authority over the rest of creation. Though Jesus is lifted up in such Christology, it still falls far short of Christian orthodoxy, which confesses the deity of Christ. Passages in the New Testament such as Jesus being “begotten” and His being the “firstborn of creation” are incorrectly used to justify this creaturely definition of Christ.

How God REALLY Sees You

Scott Sauls

May 17, 2022

Last I checked, there were 861,000 self-help books available on Amazon. The sheer popularity of self-help books points to the reality that humans live with an insatiable longing for something more, something better. This is why we keep making resolutions every New Year even though we will almost certainly not follow through with them. How are your resolutions from this January going so far? Mine, not so great! But I think that’s okay, and I hope here to convince you of the same.

Most of us are plagued with an inevitable frustration toward ourselves. We were made for more, we are made to be more, and we know it. As we are reminded in Paul’s letter to the Romans, we groan under the weight of this longing (Romans 8:22-24). When the light of God is active within us, this frustration can be a hopeful sign of what’s to come but has not yet been realized. Call it a holy dissatisfaction, a frustrated anticipation of what we know will one day come true: that we will be like Jesus Christ, for we will see him as he is (1 John 3:2-3).

Our innate, unshakable longing to be better suggests that deep down, we don’t really believe that to err is human after all. If we are governed by Scripture, filled with the Holy Spirit, and aware of our calling to become perfect, as our Heavenly Father is perfect, we will always feel a tension with this popular sentiment. The very fact that we confess our sins betrays the idea. As those who are created in the image of God, it is in our hardwiring to long for more for ourselves and from ourselves. As Blaise Pascal has written in Pensees:

“The greatness of man is so evident, that it is even proved by his wretchedness. For what in animals is nature we call in man wretchedness; by which we recognize that, his nature being like that of animals, he has fallen from a better nature which once was his. Who is unhappy at not being a king, except a deposed king?”

Put more simply, we are meant to grow.

We are meant to improve.

We are meant to become unstuck.

But the question remains, “How?”

When the Apostle Paul taught about how Christians grow in the fruit of the Spirit, he chose a botanical metaphor to help us understand what growth actually looks like and how it progresses. He begins with the hopeful words, “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law” (Galatians 5:16-18).

You are not under law. Wonderfully and profoundly, this statement declares that we are no longer under the ominous threat of God’s judgment. On the cross, Jesus took the punishment that our sins deserve, thereby moving our judgment day from the future to the past. In Jesus, we are already completely forgiven, so we have nothing left to fear.

Did you know that the most repeated command in the Bible is, “Do not fear?”

Scripture also tells us the reason why we no longer have anything to fear: God is with us, and God is for us. And if God is with and for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31)?

Being “in Christ” and not under law also means we are considered perfect in God’s eyes. We have nothing left to prove. The impeccable, perfectly virtuous life of Jesus Christ—his love, his joy, his peace, his patience, his kindness, his faithfulness, his gentleness, and his self-control—were forever credited to us at the cross. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

No pedigrees or pedestals necessary.

Through faith, we are blameless in God’s eyes, positionally perfect, not because of our goodness but because of his.

And it keeps getting better. In Jesus, we are also loved by God in the longest, widest, highest, and deepest ways, such that nothing can ever separate us from that love—not even ourselves (Romans 8:31-39). Therefore, we have nothing left to hide. We can strip off our religious masks, forsake the imposter, and start living our lives freely again, “naked and unashamed” before the eyes of our Judge who has now become our Savior.

With our lives bound up in the finished work of Jesus, we are the recipients of God’s blessing pronounced over him at his baptism: beloved daughters and sons with whom the Father is well pleased. In Jesus, the Father has no punitive anger left for us. In Jesus, the Father takes great delight in us, will quiet us with his love, and rejoices over us with love songs (Zephaniah 3:17). In Jesus, the Father invites us to address him intimately. He is our Abba, meaning “Daddy” or “Papa.”

This is how God sees us.

And this is how God wants us to see him.

In Christ, we are safe with God.

In Christ, we are treasured by God. And deeply so.

We are now, through the finished work of Jesus, invited to assume the identity that God has given us. As Brennan Manning put it in a way that only Brennan Manning can, “Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is an illusion.”

We are simultaneously sinners and saints, but defined in Christ solely by the latter. Fully known and fully loved. Found out and never rejected.

The cross, to every Christian struggling with the gap between who they are and who they wish they could be, represents God’s final pronouncement made centuries ago, before any of us drew our first breath: The last words of Jesus’ life, “It is finished,” are now the very first words of your life in Christ.

Hey Christian! The work is finished. As a child of God in Christ, you are no longer a slave to a wearying religion or a hollow philosophy that says you must earn God’s approval through willpower and moral resolve. The burden is not on you to become your own savior. The pressure is off! Instead, you are set free by the assurance that God’s heart is already in your hands, even as he is eager for you to put your heart entirely into his. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden,” Jesus said, “and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28-30).

What could possibly be better than this?

This article originally appeared here.

Helping Small Groups Learning to Pray Out Loud

Mark Howell

May 17, 2022

We have all been there. You come to the end of the meeting. You ask, “How can we pray for you this week?” Most of your group members share a prayer request. You say, “Let’s pray.” And no one else prays. At least, no one else prays out loud. What can you do? How can you help group members learning to pray out loud?

Learning to Pray Out Loud

It was the end of our second meeting. I said, “Prayer is just talking with God. That’s all it is. And if you think about it, we would definitely do some things differently if Jesus was physically here with us tonight. Wouldn’t we? If He was sitting right here (I patted the empty chair next to me), we probably wouldn’t close our eyes to talk with Him. Right?”

(It was a fun moment. No one knew where this was going.)

I continued, “If Jesus was sitting right here, if He was physically part of our group, we probably wouldn’t use any kind of special language…like refer to Him as ‘Thee’ or ‘Thou.’ Right?”

(Everyone was nodding. They still didn’t know where it was going.)

“Well, the Bible says, ‘Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them.’ (Matthew 18:20 NIV) So really, He is here right now.”

“Here’s what I want you to do. I want you to imagine that Jesus is sitting right here, right now. And I want you to think of one thing you’re thankful for, one thing, not a lot of things. I want you to keep your eyes open and tell Jesus the one thing. It can’t be a long thing. Just one, simple thing.”

And my group, all 12 of them (9 from backgrounds where they’d never prayed out loud), went around the circle and said one thing, eyes open, to the empty chair.

Very cool.

Learning to Pray Out Loud: the Next Week

The next week (our 3rd meeting), we came to the end of the meeting, and I split the group into four groups and sent them to their own rooms or areas with this assignment. I said, “Imagine that you each have Jesus with you in your little group. I want you to share with Jesus one need that you personally have. Eyes open. Look at a spot in the circle if you need to. Just take a few minutes to do that and then we’re done.”

The Week After That

The next week, I sent them back to their little groups of 3 and said, “This week, I want you to imagine that Jesus is with you again. Right in your little circle. I want each of you to share a need that you have with Jesus and your group. After you’ve done that, I want each of you to pray for the person on your right, eyes open, and just ask Jesus to meet their need.”

6 Months Later

Does everyone pray out loud when our meetings end? Not all the time. But many more do. And if we subgroup, it’s very common for everyone to pray. Even better? Last week when we ran out of time, I asked everyone to connect with one other group member (from their little group) and share a personal prayer request. As the meeting broke up, I noticed several little prayer meetings going on. Pretty cool, I have to say.

This article about learning to pray out loud originally appeared here, and is used by permission.

The #1 Quality of Good Video Editing is . . . Storytelling

Phil Cooke

May 17, 2022

When editors talk about good video editing, generally speaking, they want to talk about:

1. What editing software they use. (Final Cut, Avid, Adobe Premier—whatever)
2. What effects software they use. (After-Effects, Photoshop, Maya—whatever)
3. What cameras they like to edit footage from. (RED, DSLR, Canon C300—whatever)

Good Video Editing is . . . Storytelling

But I rarely talk to a video editor who wants to talk about storytelling. It seems really low on the food-chain for most editors. But the truth is, being able to tell a story is the single most important skill you need. That’s one reason I hate to see directors or editors sending demo reels that are “compilation” reels. You know the kind—they pick some hot tune and then cut single shots together from the last 50 projects they worked on. I’ve written before on why I hate to see those kinds of demo reels. You can read that here.

So—if you want good video editing here’s what I’d do:

**1. Read the book Story, by Robert McKee.**

Most people think it’s just for screenwriters, but it’s a fascinating analysis of how to put a story together.

2. Start reading novels.

Put down the video magazines and pick up Moby Dick. Novels will help you understand the flow, pacing and style of great stories.

3. Watch story driven films and videos.

I say “story driven” because sadly, a remarkable number of videos, TV programs and even movies today are driven by something other than a great story. Learn to tell the difference and recognize good video editor.

4. Start exploring stories on a regular basis.

There are plenty of books, conferences and seminars on the subject.

The bottom line is that with commercials, short films, TV or movies, unless you can look at a file folder full of shots and craft a great story out of those images, you’ll never make much of a mark in the industry.

Experienced editor: What’s your best recommendation for improving storytelling skills?

This article about good video editing originally appeared here, and is used by permission.

Spanish Christian Songs for Kids: 9 Musical Praise Resources

Kayla Alonso

May 16, 2022

Spanish Christian songs for kids are a great way to be inclusive with worship. Plus, church songs in Spanish encourage English-speaking children to become bilingual.

These musical resources certainly have helped our family. And I hope they’re a “hit” in your home too. They also work great in Sunday school classes and children’s church services.

Singing is a great way for children to begin a bilingual journey. So enjoy praising God with these church songs in Spanish!

9 Awesome Spanish Christian Songs for Kids

1. Generacion 12 Kids

By far, this is our family’s favorite kids band. We have a dance party with them daily. Plus, a lot of the songs are actually Bible stories. So as kiddos listen and learn the song, they’re actually learning the important stories of faith heroes.

2. Xtreme Kids

This is another favorite in our home. It has a similar sound and feel as Generacion 12 Kids: generally upbeat and fun to listen to for the whole family.

3. Yancy Pequeña Fiesta de Alabanza

You may have heard of Yancy. This worship pastor saw a disconnect between kids worship and adult worship. So she started writing music that the whole family could worship with together. This is her “Little Praise Party” album in Spanish.

4. Biper y Sus Amigos

I first heard of these singers when I was on a mission trip to Nicaragua. We were working with a children’s ministry who used their songs. They sound a little like “Alvin and the Chipmunks” and are generally a fun pick for young kids.

5. Hillsong Jr. Español

This is exactly what it sounds like: Hillsong Kids in Spanish.

‘We Are Still Here,’ Says Bobbie Houston, Despite ‘Current Narratives Running Havoc’

Jessica Lea

May 16, 2022

In an Instagram post over the weekend, Bobbie Houston told her followers that she and her husband, Brian Houston, are “pressing on” and trusting the “righteous courts of heaven.” Brian and Bobbie Houston are former co-pastors of Hillsong, a global megachurch that has seen considerable controversy over the past few years.

“For those interested we are still here,” wrote Bobbie Houston. “Pressing on with trust in the Living God & the righteous Courts of Heaven. Enemies of the Cross (& maybe others who should know better) forget that everything that concerns His Son & His Bride plays out ultimately before the Courts of Heaven.” She continued:

I don’t speak of these things often or lightly —but there IS a holy Heavenly Father who is very engaged & watchful of our every move, thought, word, intent, action. Ultimately because He loves us & is redemptive. If the Word says He counts the sands on the seashore; the hairs on our head; that He knows when a sparrow falls to the ground; & is mindful of the flowers of the field (here one day and gone the next) — then trust me, He is more present & watchful of those human hearts than we realize.

Brian and Bobbie Houston at Hillsong

Brian and Bobbie Houston founded Hillsong in Sydney, Australia, in 1983. The church has since grown into a worldwide megachurch with congregations in 30 countries. Hillsong has experienced several scandals in recent years, including those involving former Hillsong NYC pastor Carl Lentz and former Hillsong Dallas pastors, Reed and Jess Bogard.

In August 2021, the New South Wales Police Force charged Brian Houston with allegedly concealing child sex offenses committed by his father, Frank Houston. In September 2021, Brian Houston announced he was stepping aside from his roles on Hillsong Church’s boards “so that these boards can function to their fullest capacity during this season.”

On Jan. 30, 2022, Houston announced during a church service that he would be stepping away from his role as Hillsong’s pastor for all of 2022 to focus on the charges against him. On March 18, 2022, Hillsong’s board revealed that the pastor’s sabbatical was also the result of disciplinary action taken due to Houston’s inappropriate behavior toward two women.

Less than a week later on March 21, Brian Houston resigned from all of his roles and responsibilities at Hillsong Church. Since then, several of Hillsong’s U.S. congregations, including Hillsong Boston, Hillsong Atlanta and Hillsong Phoenix, have disassociated from the global megachurch.

Brian Houston’s resignation impacted his wife’s position at Hillsong, although he and the church have differing accounts of how events transpired. On April 8, Brian Houston criticized Hillsong on Instagram for a text that was sent to his wife that Houston said made her “redundant (effective immediately) through no choice of her own.” Houston said the church was disparaging Bobbie’s four decades of faithful work, adding, “Our beautiful church is losing its soul.”

Hillsong responded with a statement on April 9 explaining the context for Bobbie “departing from her role at Hillsong Church” and denying Brian Houston’s version of events. Said the church, “We are saddened by Brian’s public response and hope that he and Bobbie will understand the heart behind the decisions that are being made. The goal was to work together with them and keep the church safe in the process, not to hurt anyone.”

Buffalo Mass Shooting Victims Include Licensed Missionary, Church Deacon

Stephanie Martin

May 16, 2022

After Saturday’s mass shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, community members are grieving 10 victims of the Buffalo shooting while authorities investigate possible racial motives behind the attack.

An 18-year-old white man is in custody after allegedly opening fire inside a Tops Friendly Market, located in a predominantly Black neighborhood. The heavily armed suspect, who traveled 200 miles to Buffalo, posted a lengthy diatribe about targeting Black people, according to officials. On Monday, they revealed that he planned to carry out more attacks.

Buffalo Shooting: Alleged Shooter Is ‘Pure Evil,’ Says Sheriff

FBI spokesman Stephen Belongia says Saturday’s shooting is being investigated “both as a hate crime and racially motivated violent extremism.” Erie County Sheriff John Garcia calls the alleged shooter “pure evil,” saying, “It was straight up a racially motivated hate crime.”

Of the 10 people killed and three injured, 11 were Black. All but one was age 50 or older. Victims include a retired police officer, the mother of a former Buffalo fire commissioner, and several people known for their strong faith in God.

Buffalo Shooting Victims: Pearl Young Was ‘Full of Giving’

Pearl Young, who was killed while shopping, is being remembered as a beloved teacher, missionary, and “true pillar in the community.” Young, 77, served as a substitute teacher in Buffalo’s public school system and as a Sunday school teacher who showed up to church at 6:45 a.m.

On Sunday, congregants at Good Samaritan Church of God in Christ told reporter Madison Carter about Young’s constant smile and her “love of God and people.” One tearful woman said the church family wouldn’t “be the same without her.”

Over the weekend, a tweet by Carter went viral, with a description of Young’s dedicated service to the community: “… For 25 years she ran a pantry where every Saturday she fed people in Central Park [Plaza]. Every. Saturday. She loved singing, dancing, & being with family. She was mother, grandma, & missionary. Gone too soon.”

Bishop Glenwood Young describes his sister-in-law’s dedication to a local soup kitchen. “Even if it was nothing but soup and bread, whatever she could do, she would just always avail herself to help the people,” he says of Pearl. “Her life was full of giving.”

He adds, “In all aspects, she was a missionary. She was a licensed missionary in the denomination, so she not only did speaking engagements, she was just involved in so many different things to help humanity. That was her goal in life, seemingly, whatever she could do to help someone.”

Christian School Criticized for Assignment Involving Letter to Friend ‘Struggling With Homosexuality’

Dale Chamberlain

May 16, 2022

Christian Academy of Louisville, a private Christian school in Kentucky, has come under fire for a controversial assignment wherein students are asked to write a letter to a hypothetical friend “struggling with homosexuality” to “persuade them of the goodness of God’s design.”

The assignment was leaked to Facebook by JP Davis, a Louisville resident and openly gay man whose friend has a child attending the school. The friend shared the assignment with Davis after feeling troubled by it.

“This is deplorable,” Davis wrote on Facebook. “Christian Academy of Louisville teaching kids to write letters to their homosexual friends explaining it’s wrong. Middle school. It’s not about me anymore but the trauma is real. My heart breaks for this age of kids. This is not my Christianity. The time is now to stop this type of abuse.”

In the essay prompt, seventh grade students are asked to “write a letter to a friend of your same gender who is struggling with homosexuality. Assume that you have known this friend since Kindergarten, that you go to the same church, and that you have been pretty good friends over the years until now. This friend is your same age.”

“The aim of your letter should be to lovingly and compassionately speak truth to the person you’re talking to in a way that does not approve of any sin,” the prompt continues. “Instead, TRY TO PERSUADE THEM OF THE GOODNESS OF GOD’S DESIGN for them.”

In an essay of at least eight sentences, students are asked to show their friend from the Bible, reason, and their personal relationship with them “that God’s design for them is good,” “that homosexuality will not bring them satisfaction,” and “that you love them even though you don’t approve of their lifestyle.”

Davis told Courier Journal, “The statistics speak for themselves on suicide among LGBTQ+ people, and these are seventh-graders that are being subjected to hate and division, and it’s not necessary. I know it’s a Christian school, but that’s not my Christianity.”

In a statement responding to backlash regarding the assignment, Christian Academy superintendent Darin Long said, “We have been made aware that a student assignment from one of our middle school bible elective classes has been posted on social media. The assignment is part of a unit of study which discusses ‘What are humans and where is their identity.’”

Heroic Pastor, Churchgoers Tackle Gunman Who Killed One and Wounded Five Others

Jesse T. Jackson

May 16, 2022

On Sunday (May 15), a man walked into Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, California, where a Taiwanese congregation has met for 10 years, and opened fire. The gunman killed one person and injured five others, all of whom were senior citizens.

More lives could had been lost if it weren’t for the church’s former pastor Zhang Xuanxin (Billy Chang) who reportedly took a chair and hit the gunman from behind while he was attempting to reload his gun. According to reports, churchgoers then jumped on the gunman, disarmed him, and hogtied him with an extension cord to subdue him until authorities could arrive.

Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Jeff Hallock told the media, “It’s safe to say that if people had not intervened, it could have been much worse.”

Chang, who is now pastoring in Taiwan, had returned to the church he previously pastored for 21-years in Southern California to visit the congregation for a worship service and luncheon. The church was holding its first after-service meal since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to honor Chang.

The fatal shooting took place around 1:26 p.m. during the meal, not far from a community known for its elderly population, especially those from Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong.

Reports shared that the gunman, an Asian man who has been identified as a 68-year-old from Las Vegas, used two handguns to carry out the deadly assault. Authorities report they also found a knife on the suspect.

The gunman, whom no one in the congregation recognized, opened fire while church members were taking pictures with their former pastor.

Church congregant Jerry Chen shared that shortly after he stepped into the church’s kitchen, he heard gunshots and screaming.

“I knew someone was shooting,” Chen said. “I was very, very scared. I ran out the kitchen door to call 9-1-1.”

Chen explained that he was in such shock that he had to “ask someone else for the address” when he called 9-1-1. “It was amazing how brave [the pastor] and the others were. This is just so sad. I never, ever thought something like this would happen in my church, in my community,” Chen said.

The church, called The Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church, has around 100 members, mostly senior citizens, who worship in their native Taiwanese language.

The victims were between the ages of 66 and 92.

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office tweeted about the shooting, saying that they are monitoring the investigation and working closely with local authorities.

“No one should have to fear going to their place of worship,” the statement said. “Our thoughts are with the victims, community, and all those impacted by this tragic event.”

A day after the shooting, pastor and author Duke Kwon said, “Everything about the scene prior to the shooting—seniors gathered for a teriyaki lunch to honor a former sr. pastor now planting a church overseas, with a 40yo son in attendance with his mom—is something I can 100% picture taking place at my parents’ church only a few miles away.”

Grove City Board Accepts Full CRT Report, Says College Promoted CRT

Kathryn Post

May 16, 2022

(RNS) — In the latest development in Grove City College’s critical race theory saga, the board of trustees at the Pennsylvania school accepted the report from an ad hoc committee Friday (May 13) that acknowledged instances of “CRT advocacy” at the school.

In accepting the report, the board also agreed to restore the word “conservative” to the school’s mission statement and adopted a list of “remedial actions” to curb CRT going forward, all while denying allegations of “going woke.”

“Today, Board chair Ed Breen announced that the Grove City College Board of Trustees voted to accept and adopt the ad hoc committee report on CRT. The Board thanked the committee for its service,” Warren Throckmorton, a professor of psychology at Grove City, tweeted Friday afternoon. Another faculty member independently confirmed that news of the vote had been shared at a faculty-trustee luncheon.

Some Grove City stakeholders have condemned the report and authored additional petitions calling for the board to reject it and apologize to Jemar Tisby, who had once spoken at the college and was named in an earlier parent petition.

Others celebrated the report, including the original petitioners — who said the report vindicated them — and some professors.

Grove City and Breen did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.

The conservative Christian college has been at the center of a politicized clash over critical race theory since November. At issue is whether the school promoted CRT — an academic and legal framework that examines how systemic racism has shaped society — in school-sponsored classes, chapels and trainings.

The report, which the board-appointed committee published April 20, contradicts the claims of several professors that they have never promoted CRT ideas. At least two of the professors have criticized the committee’s investigation, saying they were “interrogated” by committee members and subjected to biased questioning.

The April report was spurred by a torrent of follow-up petitions, counter-petitions and news articles after parents of Grove City students objected to a 2020 chapel presentation by historian Jemar Tisby, among other things. The parents’ petition included the chapel in a list of alleged instances of CRT infiltration. The report found that a majority of school leaders said inviting Tisby to speak in chapel was a “mistake.”

Tisby, who earlier told RNS the allegations that his sermon promoted CRT are “ludicrous,” said on Friday that the board’s acceptance of the report makes the situation more concerning.

“They’re not going to be able to get Black students and students of color. The student body is already over 90% white,” Tisby told Religion News Service. “I would suspect that other Christian colleges and universities are watching this unfold, and my inclination is that it will further imperil racial justice efforts. Even if college personnel want to see change, they see just how much controversy it entails.”

Tisby added that Christian colleges may now shy away from inviting speakers to discuss racism.

Pope Rallies From Knee Pain to Proclaim 10 New Saints

Nicole Winfield

May 16, 2022

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis created 10 new saints on Sunday, rallying from knee pain that has forced him to use a wheelchair to preside over the first canonization ceremony at the Vatican in over two years.

Francis stood for a long period at the start to greet priests concelebrating the Mass, presided over the nearly two-hour ceremony and then stood and walked for a good 15 minutes after it ended to greet dozens of cardinals and bishops. Vatican cameras lingered on the scene as if to showcase the pope’s mobility and refute speculation about his health and the future of his pontificate.

Francis, 85, then took a lengthy, seated popemobile ride around St. Peter’s Square and the boulevard leading to it to greet some of the tens of thousands of people who came out to celebrate the Catholic Church’s newest saints. They include a Dutch priest-journalist who was killed by the Nazis, a lay Indian convert who was killed for his faith and a half-dozen French and Italian priests and nuns who founded religious orders.

Francis told the crowd of more than 45,000 that the 10 embodied holiness in everyday life, and said the church needs to embrace this idea rather than an unattainable ideal of personal achievement.

“Holiness does not consist of a few heroic gestures, but of many small acts of daily love,” he said from his chair on the altar.

Francis has been complaining of strained ligaments in his right knee for months, and has recently been seen using a wheelchair at public audiences. Sunday’s ceremony was evidence that Francis is still able to still walk, but appears to be taking it as easy as possible to let the ligaments heal before an intense period of travel starting in July: The Vatican has confirmed two trips that month, one to Congo and South Sudan and one to Canada.

It was the first canonization Mass at the Vatican since before the coronavirus pandemic and, aside from Easter celebrations last month, drew one of the biggest crowds in recent times.

The Italian president, Dutch foreign minister, French interior minister and the minister for minorities of India, as well as tens of thousands of faithful packed the sunny piazza, which was adorned with Dutch flowers in honor of the Rev. Titus Brandsma, a martyr saint who was killed at the Dachau concentration camp in 1942.

In the runup to the canonization, a group of Dutch and German journalists formally proposed that Brandsma become a co-patron saint of journalists, alongside St. Francis de Sales, given his work to combat propaganda and fake news during the rise of Fascism and Nazism in Europe. According to an open letter sent to Francis this month, the journalists noted that Brandsma successfully argued for a ban on printing Nazi propaganda in Catholic newspapers. There has been no immediate response from the pope.

In addition to Brandsma, the new saints include the 18th-century Indian convert Lazarus, known also as Devashayam, who mixed with India’s lower castes and was considered treasonous by India’s royal palace, which ordered him arrested and executed in 1752.

“He is for the poor people,” said Arachi Syril, an Indian pilgrim from Kanyakumari who was in the square for the Mass. “He hated the caste system, still it is going on, but he is the martyr for that,” Syril said.

Honest Faith Can Cry out to God

Randy Alcorn

May 16, 2022

As I shared recently with a friend, it’s a new world I’m living in without Nanci. I miss the old one. The house is profoundly changed by Nanci’s absence. Not hearing her laugh is maybe the hardest part. But I’m sure looking forward to the great reunion, and eternal life with Jesus in a far better world. And to hear her laugh, louder and more vibrant than ever! Here’s a tiny sample of that laugh:

One of the many quotes that Nanci included in her journals was this one from our precious friend Joni Eareckson Tada:

It is when your soul has been blasted bare, when you feel raw and undone, that you can be bonded to the Savior. And then you not only meet suffering on God’s terms, but you meet joy on God’s terms. You cry out to God and He gets your heart pumping for heaven. He injects his peace, power, and perspective into your spiritual being. He imparts a new way of looking at your hardships. He puts a song in your heart.

Scripture models this crying out to God:

My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.
O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer;
And by night, but I have no rest.
Yet You are holy,
O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
In You our fathers trusted;
They trusted and You delivered them.
To You they cried out and were delivered;
In You they trusted and were not disappointed.

(Psalm 22:1–5, NASB)

Here’s what I wrote in my book 90 Days of God’s Goodness:

What an honest cry to God for help: “Why, God? Why does it seem like you’re not answering my prayers?” As he wrestles with this, David turns to Scripture, where God’s deliverance of His people is documented. David reflects on their trust in God. In the end, God’s faithfulness to Israel inspires David to believe that God will prove faithful to him as well.

God’s Word contains countless expressions of concern and anguish about the hard times people experience and the fact that they sometimes don’t feel God’s closeness. In this fallen world, “Why?” is a common question.

Randy Butler, a pastor, told me about his teenage son’s death. “For twenty years, God gave me a perfect life, family, and ministry. Then Kevin died, and nearly every morning, for three or four months, I screamed questions at God. I asked, ‘What were you thinking?’ And, ‘Is this the best you can do for me?’ And finally, ‘Do you really expect me to show up every Sunday and tell everyone how great you are?’ In the silence I began to hear the voice of God…then, without any announcement, when I became silent, God spoke to my soul. He had an answer for each of my three questions.”

Had Randy not been unreservedly honest with God, he couldn’t have completely grasped how the God he spoke to had watched His own Son die long before Randy had. God the Father had endured the horrible death of Jesus, His only Son. So, better than anyone in the universe, God empathized with Randy’s pain.

4 Ways Churches Can Build a Culture of Radical Hospitality

Brian Dodd

May 16, 2022

People find community in many places—at work, in a book club, in a neighborhood group, or by joining a gym—all fantastic ways to connect and build relationships with others. Our church lobbies play a critical role in building true community by giving people a space to encounter God together. Engaging in a church experience is about developing a deep relationship with God and fostering meaningful relationships with others.

Designing for Radical Hospitality

These days, relationships aren’t necessarily being built in spaces people have to seek out, like Fellowship Halls. They’re happening when a person first walks through the front door of your church. Because connecting with others is a vital part of the discipleship journey, hospitality needs to be one of every church’s highest priorities. We’re serving a broken and hurting world—people want to sense immediately that they’re welcome and that they belong. It’s not just about staff and volunteers greeting people, but more of a complete shift to the entire congregation modeling hospitality.

“A lobby’s number one job is to make people feel welcome and to build relationships. It goes beyond greeters. It’s about building a culture of radical hospitality that permeates the entire congregation.” –Greg Snider, Ministry Space Strategist, Aspen Group

Four Zones for Hospitality and Generosity

1. The Welcome Desk

Churches that have a welcome desk smack-dab in the entry way, are unintentionally creating a barrier to people when they walk in the door. It might seem like a logical idea—giving people a place to stop to get information or ask a question—but it actually works against the natural flow of the space and doesn’t offer people a place to stop and connect first.

Moving the welcome desk back and creating casual groupings of furniture, like the above example from Chapelstreet Church‘s North Aurora, Illinois campus, lets people know they’re welcome and that there’s a space for them. It also allows them to navigate the space at their pace, and invites them to relax and build relationships.

Chapel Pointe, in Hudsonville, Michigan (above) added a two-story focal point fireplace, giving the space warmth and expressing their unique DNA. Soft seating surrounding it, encourages people to linger in the space.

2. The Café

Church cafés aren’t necessarily drawing people in from the community like we had hoped—they’ve become a space for the people in the church, so it’s an important tool to build hospitality. Relationships are built around food and drink, so we need to do whatever we can do to lower those barriers so people can authentically connect. Consider reinventing your café to not just serve food and drink, but good food and drink—and not just serve good food and drink, but be served by people who have been trained to love people well and draw them into relationship.

Waypoint Church, in St. Charles, Missouri (above), installed overhead garage doors between their cafe and their patio, to fully take advantage of their outdoor space. On nice days the doors can remain open and people can connect indoors and outdoors.

“We need to reinvent our cafes to not just serve food and drink . . . but be served by people who have been trained to love people well and draw them into relationship.” –Greg Snider, Ministry Space Strategist, Aspen Group

3. The Family Room

Family Rooms have become a unique way to add relational space with a more subdued atmosphere. These rooms, which are typically located right off the lobby, can offer a variety of seating, be outfitted with technology, and serve many purposes. They can be encased in glass, include a warming fireplace, or a connection to an outdoor patio. These spaces are perfect for a quiet chat, or as worship overflow or for those who feel less at ease in a larger worship venue. They can even be used for small group meetings and gatherings.

Why Our Childrens Ministries Should Be More Like Mr. Rogers and Less Like Disney

Sam Luce

May 16, 2022

One of the pressures that kids pastors face from parents, leaders, or themselves, and sometimes it’s all three, is to be like Disney. I have often looked at how Disney engages kids as inspiration in engaging the kids I lead. I have had people suggest kindly to me that we take a look at how Disney does things. I even went to Disney and have sent staff members to Disney for inspiration for ministry. The older I get and the longer I do kids ministry, the more I realize that Walt’s idea of child formation was wrong, and Mr. Rogers was right. (Editorial note I am not a Disney hater, I have taken the required pilgrimage to Orlando with my family.)

When you look at the aesthetics of the two kingdoms they both built, they reflect how each saw the world. Walt’s world was a perfect version of what our world should look like. His world is shiny songs playing everywhere. Every restaurant serves chicken strips and hotdogs. Never any dust, never chipped paint. Excellence and creativity abound. Fred’s world was simple, even plain. His puppets showed wear, and his set grew old along with Fred. Two worlds trying to reach the same kids.

The two kingdoms they built were the result of two visions of the world. Walt created a world that was an escape from the real world. Fred lived in a neighborhood and showed kids how to navigate through the real world.

Walt built a fantasy world. Fred lived in a neighborhood.

There is nothing wrong with fantasy. Kids need fairy stories. Tolkien and Lewis were both shaped by fairy stories. They have different takes as to the ontological value of stories. Tolkien believed that fairy stories were reflective of God in that they were an example of sub-creation. Lewis thought that you could smuggle truth in fairy stories and steal past the watchful dragons that would not give faith a hearing. In this debate, I side more with Lewis. Fairy tales are more valuable in helping us escape this world, not for the escape alone but to show us what is broken and how to fix our world. Fairy stores should not be only an escape but should contain truth that entertains our minds but be filled with truth that changes our hearts.

Walt’s world, on the whole, is an escape from reality, sustained by entertainment. You enter the park, and you enter the world as it should be – no trash on the ground, no gum on the sidewalk, and no tears in any eye. It’s perfect. It plays to our right desire for a better world. It reminds us in miniature form that our world, the real world is a shadow, and our heart longs for a perfect world free of sin and pain.

Fred’s world had fantasy elements in it. But Fred never lied. He said we are going to the land of makebelieve. His fiction was grounded in reality and founded in faith. Fred lived in a neighborhood like you and me. His set was old, his puppets were tired, but he connected with kids in a way few others have. Mr. Rogers had friends come by who struggled with difficult issues like divorce, physical disability, and even race. He didn’t create an alternate universe by which he could escape reality. He lived in a house and told kids when makebelieve was happening. He used fairy stories to smuggle truth.

Walt Entertained Kids. Fred Empowered Kids.

Walt’s world is all about connecting kids to fun to entertain them. This is a trap I fell into early in my years of children’s ministry. For years I would ask kids if they had fun at the end of the service. I wanted the church to be an escape for kids from the difficulties of home and school. The problem with entertaining kids is you have to out create yourself every week. Kids go to Disney once to a few times a year max. They come to church once to a few times a month. Entertainment may bring them, but we don’t have the budget, creativity, and time to create programs for kids that rival or compete with Disney’s magic.

What Fred did was different. He didn’t distract kids from the pain and questions that were making them sad or scared. He looked in the camera and spoke from his heart to theirs. He did this because he remembered what it was like to be a child once. He wasn’t trying to force kids to grow up and act older than who they were. He was interested in helping kids understand that we grow, learn, and love in families, communities, and neighborhoods. It isn’t castles and clouds that make us forget our problems for a day. It’s the embodiment of being in a particular time and a particular place.

Kids don’t need to be entertained as much as they need to be loved and listened to. Anyone can put on a video and walk away. Anyone can create an event that is non stop excitement, and I think the church has gotten really good at production values and excellence. What we need to get better at is remembering that we were kids once. At telling kids the truth. At listening to kids and looking at them in the face when they are speaking to us. Kids like Disney, but they live in neighborhoods.

Walt was more concerned about your experience. Fred was more concerned with who you are becoming.

Walt was concerned with how his park made you feel. There is close attention to sights, sounds, and smells. Fred was more concerned with who you are becoming. In his now-famous interview with Mr. Rogers in Esquire Magazine, Tom Junod said of Fred that “There was an energy to him, however, a fearlessness, an unashamed insistence on intimacy.” This is the problem with entertainment; it leads to a consumer-driven faith where we show up and get our money’s worth. The production values are high, and we expect nothing less—excellence matters. God is a God of creativity and excellence we tell our selves. Yet when God sent his son into the world, he did so in such an ordinary way. He sent him in a way that most people missed Him because they were looking for a conquering King, not a helpless baby.

Fred’s idea was different. He was not driven by flash but by substance. He was not about entertainment. He was about incarnation. He showed us that loving your neighbor well matters. We must be more obsessed with who our kids are becoming, not just how we can get more kids coming. Who our kids are becoming will force us to lead different to love different to focus on things that don’t just take their mind off their pain. But instead, point them to the one who can destroy their pain with the power of his love.

Mr. Rogers was not against big things; he just knew that they came from small beginnings. “He wanted to tell children that what starts out little can sometimes become big, and so that could devote themselves to little dreams without feeling bad about them.” Mr. Rogers reminds us as kids ministry workers as parents of kids that presence trumps production value. To show up. Listen. Insist on intimacy. Tell your kids the truth; they like to be told. Remember that you were a kid once. Most of all, remember that God was a kid once.

This article originally appeared here.

Does Same Sex Attraction Disqualify Someone From Ministry?

Dave Zuleger

May 16, 2022

We’ve all seen the ever-increasing barrage of Christian posts, comments and opinions about the LGBT movement in America. Many have responded with angry rebuttals and a fearful cowering to a culture that so openly celebrates and affirms same sex sexual activity and marriage. Others, even whole denominations, are joining the culture in celebrating and affirming same sex sexual activity and marriage. Then there’s the question of same sex attraction but not same sex activity. So, who holds the right perspective?

Does Same Sex Attraction Disqualify Someone From Ministry?

The Bible states that the only place for God-honoring sexual activity is within the confines of a marriage between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:23–25). God never changes his mind on marriage and sexuality because there are such beautiful realities about him on display in it. Therefore, we cannot afford to change our minds about it, either. But does the Bible speak about same sex attraction as something different?

A response of angry fist-shaking and fearful finger-pointing does not reveal that we are standing humbly and confidently in an unshakable gospel. Instead, it shows the world that our hope was ultimately in a system of government and a shrouded sense of prioritized American citizenship. Joining the cultural celebration of homosexual activity and marriage does not prove that we are more advanced or loving; it shows we have abandoned the biblical teaching and regressed from the love embodied and called for in the gospel. We must be courageous enough to stand on the Bible and advance sacrificial gospel love without fear, and without anger.

Back to the Bible

If we could overcome our natural responses of fear and anger, we could again stand on the sure foundation of what Scripture actually says. The problem is that too often we do not appeal to the Bible for answers, but rather to our emotions. Many of us miss the fact that same sex sexual activity was a reality 2,000 years ago, and are surprised when it occurs now (1 Corinthians 6:9–11).

This is not an us versus them issue, because there are people—God-fearing, Christ-exalting people—living with same sex attraction in many of our churches. Is there a place for people with same sex attraction in the church? How about in your church? Could there even be a place for same sex attracted people to serve and lead in ministry?

The massacre on Saturday occurred at a grocery store in your neighborhood. How did you react to the violence that happened there?

You were one of the officiants of a vigil on Sunday outside the Tops grocery store. What words did you find to say?

You helped notify family members of those who were killed. Was that an unexpected responsibility or have you done that in the past?

Learning to Pray Out Loud

Learning to Pray Out Loud: the Next Week

The Week After That

6 Months Later

Good Video Editing is . . . Storytelling

So—if you want good video editing here’s what I’d do:

1. Read the book Story, by Robert McKee.

2. Start reading novels.

3. Watch story driven films and videos.

4. Start exploring stories on a regular basis.

9 Awesome Spanish Christian Songs for Kids

1. Generacion 12 Kids

2. Xtreme Kids

3. Yancy Pequeña Fiesta de Alabanza

4. Biper y Sus Amigos

5. Hillsong Jr. Español

Brian and Bobbie Houston at Hillsong

Buffalo Shooting: Alleged Shooter Is ‘Pure Evil,’ Says Sheriff

Buffalo Shooting Victims: Pearl Young Was ‘Full of Giving’

Designing for Radical Hospitality

Four Zones for Hospitality and Generosity

1. The Welcome Desk

2. The Café

3. The Family Room

Does Same Sex Attraction Disqualify Someone From Ministry?

Back to the Bible

New Articles

New Podcasts

**1. Read the book Story, by Robert McKee.**