Will the World Council of Churches Expel Kirill? We Talk With Bishop Mary Ann Swenson

May 4, 2022

(RNS) — How should the world’s largest collection of Christian traditions respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?

That’s the question being asked of the World Council of Churches, the interchurch grouping of Christian denominations from across the globe formed in the aftermath of World War II. Long seen as the pinnacle of the ecumenical movement, the nearly 75-year-old group has been roiled by debate lately over whether it should suspend the membership of the Russian Orthodox Church after the ROC’s leader, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, voiced support for the war and arguably laid the spiritual groundwork for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

To better understand this global discussion, Religion News Service spoke with Bishop Mary Ann Swenson, a United Methodist in the U.S. who serves on the WCC’s executive committee and works as a vice moderator for the group’s central committee — the body that could decide whether to expel the ROC when it meets in June.

“It’s delicate with the Moscow Patriarchate. We’re going to try our best to be about reconciliation and unity, ” Swenson said. “These next few months really will be critical,” as the WCC executive committee and then the in-person Central Committee prepare to meet.

There are about 352 member churches of the World Council of Churches and 150 members within the Central Committee, which has at least 25% Orthodox members, according to Swenson.

“The Orthodox community is very, very important in the World Council of Churches,” Swenson emphasized.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

There’s been debate around expelling the Russian Orthodox Church from the World Council of Churches. The effort is primarily rooted in frustration with Patriarch Kirill over his blessing — literally or figuratively — for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. What are your feelings on those calls to expel the ROC?

Father (Ioan) Sauca, in his role as the acting general secretary (of the WCC), wrote to His Holiness Kirill, saying the whole world was looking for a sign of hope, for a peaceful solution. He encouraged His Holiness to address Putin and to end the violence. He said at that time that letters were coming to him from all different parts of the world — from church leaders and from faithful constituents — asking the World Council of Churches to approach His Holiness, to mediate, to help stop the war and all of the great suffering that was happening.

One time (the WCC) put a church on suspension — the Dutch Reformed Church, because that was the time of apartheid. But on all other occasions — and there have been other occasions, with different wars and countries and divisions and issues of oppression, some really difficult times historically — the World Council of Churches has tried to continue dialogue. It has tried to keep from actually expelling anybody, and really staying in dialogue with people on the very different sides of each other.

But the current situation is really about the Orthodox. What’s happening right now is so painful for so many who are the Orthodox faithful. Yet, we really remain committed to reconciliation and to the theme of our (upcoming) assembly: “Christ’s Love Moves the World to Reconciliation and Unity.” At present, the Russian Orthodox Church is a member church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (which broke away from the ROC in 2019) is asking to become a new member church — so we’re beginning to work with that membership. They’re all invited to come to the assembly.

Pope Francis Says NATO, ‘Barking at Russia’s Door,’ Shares Blame for Ukraine

Claire Giangrave

May 4, 2022

Pope Francis NATO — Pope Francis arrives to start his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Francis told an Italian newspaper on Tuesday (May 3) that NATO may be partly to blame for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and he said he hopes to visit Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in hopes of brokering a peace.

Talking to reporters from Il Corriere della Sera, Francis said that “NATO barking at Russia’s doors” may have raised alarms in the Kremlin about the Western European alliance’s intentions in Ukraine. “I can’t say if (Russia’s) anger was provoked,” he continued, “but facilitated, maybe yes.”

In the interview, Francis again recalled his first reaction to the news of the invasion in late February. On the first day of war, he said, he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and then left his apartment on an impromptu visit to Aleksandr Avdeyev, Russia’s ambassador to the Holy See. “I wanted to make a clear gesture for the whole world to see and for this reason I went to the Russian ambassador,” the pope said.

The pope praised Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin for his role in seeking diplomacy options for a resolution to the war. “A great diplomat,” the pope said about his second in command at the Vatican. “He knows how to move in this world, I trust and confide in him a lot.”

Parolin issued a message from the pope to Putin after 20 days of war in Ukraine, Francis said, which stated his intention to visit Moscow. “We have not yet received an answer and we are still pushing,” the pope said, “even if I fear that Putin does not want to have this meeting at this time.”

A gravedigger identified only as Alexander digs a grave at the cemetery of Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Referring to a conflict that has already caused almost 3,000 civilian casualties, according to the United Nations, the pope asked, “How can you stop such brutality?” He seemed to compare the violence in Ukraine to the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.

While expressing his intention to become the first pope to visit Russia, a dream long harbored by his predecessors, Francis said that he will not visit Kyiv for the time being. The pope has sent two representatives, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski and Cardinal Michael Czerny, to the Ukrainian border as a show of closeness with the Ukrainian people.

“But I feel that I mustn’t go,” he said. “I must first go to Moscow, I must first meet with Putin. But I am a priest, what can I do? I do what I can. If only Putin would open the door.”

Francis also addressed Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow Kirill, with whom the Vatican has entertained multiple diplomatic efforts and whom the pope met for the first time in Havana in 2016. Since the beginning of conflict, Kirill has been an outspoken supporter of Putin’s claim for hegemony in Ukraine, raising tensions in Catholic-Orthodox relations.

Kirill spoke to Francis via Zoom conference on March 16 since their meeting, originally scheduled March 16 in Jerusalem, had to be canceled due to the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. “Holding a paper in his hands, (Kirill) read me all the justifications for the war for the first 20 minutes,” Francis said.

The Crisis in American Missions and What You Can Do About It

Hunter Farrell

May 4, 2022

thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

My heart broke as I listened to the mission director of a large, evangelical congregation speak of her role as more closely akin to that of a “cruise ship social director” than that of a leader of Christians committed to sharing the Gospel and addressing poverty and human trafficking:

I spend more time entertaining mission enthusiasts than challenging or teaching them—and I am evaluated [by the congregation’s senior leadership] by how much the members enjoy their mission activities, rather than how effective our mission work is. Since when did mission become “all about us?”

There is a rarely discussed crisis in missions as practiced by U.S. congregations. Due to a subtle, yet profound, shift in missions decision-making, many congregations’ missions projects, activities and funding allocations are less impactful because they are designed to satisfy members’ needs rather than make a difference in the world.

Over the past 60 years, the landscape of mission leadership and decision-making in the U.S. has “flattened” significantly. Throughout most of the 20th century, most mission decisions were made by trained and experienced mission agency or denominational mission leaders. That system brought missiological expertise, strategic coordination and cultural proficiency to the table, thus multiplying the effectiveness of what the U.S. church offered in the missio dei—but it also limited the vast majority of U.S. Christians’ involvement in mission to financial contributions, prayer, and hosting the occasional pot-luck supper for visiting missionaries.

Today, the vast majority of decisions (where to send people and funds, with whom to partner, etc.) is made by congregational mission leaders operating in a highly participatory, decentralized system. On the positive side, this change has opened the floodgates for all of God’s people to see themselves as missionaries and to connect with people near and far in God’s mission. There has been a palpable shift in the breadth of mission participation and every congregation today can understand itself to be a mission agency. This is clearly a movement of the Holy Spirit—the result of what the Spirit began at Pentecost.

But our research also shows an unanticipated shadow side to this powerful shift in mission decision-making. Surveys and interviews with more than 1600 mission pastors, mission directors, youth leaders, mission committee chairs and members responsible for mission leadership revealed that most of them haven’t been trained for their work, feel isolated from each other and don’t coordinate their work with other congregations or with long-term missionaries. Most don’t read what mission scholars– or even mission practitioners– are writing about mission trips, cross-cultural communication, or “best practices” in mission. The tragic result is that much of today’s congregational mission practice is less effective and faithful than it could be: we’re reinventing the wheel and repeating many mistakes of the past.

Congregational mission leaders today face two daunting challenges:

Selfie mission—an emerging, “donor-centric” model where mission is based on congregational preferences, rather than context-sensitive strategies; and,
Colonial mission—a top-down model rooted in the colonizers’ effort to conquer and civilize (sic) new worlds, rather than Jesus’ model of a mission grounded in loving human relationships in the spirit of cultural humility.

Tragically, our narcissistic culture and our colonial past have combined to hobble our participation in the mission of God.

Over the past thirty-five years, first as a missionary (Democratic Republic of Congo and Peru), then as a mission leader and professor, I have worked with hundreds of congregational mission leaders and queried them about their perceptions of their work, role, needs, assumptions, hopes and challenges. With my colleague, Balajiedlang (Bala) Khyllep at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary’s World Mission Initiative, we discovered that congregational mission leaders in evangelical, mainline Protestant and Catholic congregations across the country are seeking tools and strategies to lead their people into more faithful and effective mission. It is for these leaders that we wrote the book, Freeing Congregational Mission: A Practical Vision for Companionship, Cultural Humility & Co-Development (InterVarsity Press). What we present in the book is both troubling and deeply hopeful:

Short-term mission trips: U.S. Christians spend up to $5 billion each year on short-term mission trips. A growing body of evangelical research has raised pointed questions about the effectiveness and faithfulness of such trips. Yet some congregations have found ways to reframe the experience to make short-term mission trips powerfully transformative in both the host community and among those who travel.

Don’t Be an Idiot – Beyond Covid-19, It’s Still Good Advice

Jonathan McKee

May 4, 2022

Dare I write: don’t be an idiot. It’s scriptural.

[Editor’s note: although this article was written a year ago, the principles apply well beyond the current situation]

Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. (I Peter 2: 12)

What does “honorable behavior” mean during these times?

Don’t be an idiot means don’t be the fool who still insists churches keep meeting together during the Coronavirus when thousands of people are dying. This is the wrong hill to die on… and the word “die” might not be too far from the truth.

It’s sad watching the news. The opening news story in my hometown of Sacramento was a church that refused to stop meeting and now congregation members are beginning to get sick. A pastor is sick. If you jump on the church website you can see the choir all sitting directly next to each other.

Beyond Covid-19, Don’t Be an Idiot

Come on brothers, if we practice social distancing in Costco, we can at least practice it at church. And let’s be honest. Pushing a cart around a grocery store and keeping 6 to 10 feet away from people is waaaaaay safer than sitting right next to a person for over an hour singing worship songs.

That’s why this Tampa pastor was actually arrested for holding church in defiance of an order. He cited religious freedom.

Sigh.

This is not the time to claim religious freedom. This is not the time to make the Mayor of New York call you out publicly. This is not the time to demand meeting together.

That’s what Zoom is for. Facetime. WebEx. YouTube your sermon like everyone else. We’re all doing it.

Ask yourself. What should we look like during all of this?

We have an amazing opportunity to shine for Jesus during these times. Shining for Jesus isn’t killing your congregation in the opening news story. It’s doing virtual outreach when we can’t meet in person. It’s Samaritan’s purse setting up an emergency hospital in Central Park (and if you can’t be on the front lines yourself, then you can donate to them).

Let’s be wise my brothers and sisters. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

The advice, don’t be an idiot, originally appeared here, and is used by permission.

Joe McKeever: Worship and the Carnal Mind

Joe McKeever

May 4, 2022

Can we talk about worship? Especially what the carnal mind does not “get” about worship. I’d like to start each section with a fascinating quote. I can’t vouch for the integrity of any of the quotes since they were lifted from the internet. But they are good discussion starters.

Worship and the Carnal Mind

1) From actor Brad Pitt:

“I didn’t understand this idea of a God who says, ‘You have to acknowledge me. You have to say that I’m the best, and then I’ll give you eternal happiness. If you won’t, then you don’t get it!’ It seemed to be about ego. I can’t see God operating from ego, so it made no sense to me.”

There is a reason this makes no sense to you, Mr. Pitt. The Apostle Paul put it this way: “A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. Nor can he understand them, for they are spiritually appraised” (I Corinthians 2:14).

I don’t mean to be harsh in that assessment, but understanding the carnal mind explains why so many on the outside look at Christian worship and shake their heads. They just don’t get it. Let me repeat that: They. Do. Not. Get. It.

2) From a blog in which this guy talks about religion.

Someone asked him why God wants us to worship Him. He answered, “Everyone likes being praised. It’s a huge ego bump, after all. But why does God need it? I mean, what kind of egomaniac needs millions of people all over the world praising his name? Isn’t that a little arrogant?”

Short answer: Yes, it is.

He then proceeded to make a case for God being egotistical. The funny thing is he thought he was being supportive of God. He should spare God the compliment.

Without knowing this fellow, I’d say he’s one more person who just doesn’t get the business of Christian worship.

3) From a Catholic website

“While worshiping God changes us for the better, the primary aim of our worship is not self-improvement. In the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, the liturgy used by many of the Eastern Rite Catholic churches, the priest at one point chants, “For to You is due all glory, honor, and worship, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto ages of ages.”

“While God doesn’t need our worship in order to be complete, our worship is still a duty—something that we owe to God. But it is a duty that we can perform cheerfully, knowing that, in doing so, we are participating briefly in the life of heaven.”

Okay, this is thought-provoking. But it still seems to imply that we might be “adding value” to Heaven in some way, and that God is somehow diminished a tad when we fail to worship.

4) From C. S. Lewis

I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise…. The world rings with praise—lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favourite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game…. I had not noticed either that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: ‘Isn’t she lovely? Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that magnificent?’ The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about. My whole, more general, difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can’t help doing, about everything else we value. I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.

“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.”

By refusing to worship God, we detract nothing from Him. By worshiping Him, we add nothing to Him.

So what is the point of worship? Ah, I’m glad you asked. Read on:

5) From our Lord Jesus

“An hour is coming and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers” (John 4:23). He adds, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

Leaked Draft Opinion Reveals SCOTUS Aiming to Overturn Roe; Christians React

Jesse T. Jackson

May 3, 2022

Roe — (L) Salud Carbajal, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (R) FamilyMan88, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

According to a leaked draft opinion written by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito that was published by Politico on Monday night, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is set to overturn the highly controversial 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which made abortion a constitutional right in America.

Justice Alito’s 67-page first draft was circulated to justices Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett on February 10, 2022 for the Dobbs v. Jackson case.

It is unknown who leaked the draft opinion, which is an outright rejection of Roe v. Wade and the subsequent 1992 decision of Planned Parenthood v. Casey wherein Justice Alito writes that “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” adding, “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled.”

“At the time of Roe, 30 states still prohibited abortion at all stages,” Justice Alito wrote in the draft. “In the years prior to that decision, about a third of the States had liberalized their laws, but Roe abruptly ended that political process. It imposed the same highly restrictive regime on the entire Nation, and it effectively struck down the abortion laws of every single State.”

Justice Alito pointed out that there is no reference to abortion in the United States Constitution, saying, “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely—the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. That provision has been held to guarantee some rights that are not mentioned in the Constitution, but any such right must be ‘deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition’ and ‘implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.’”

“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Justice Alito continued, calling its reasoning “exceptionally weak,” resulting in “damaging consequences.” The draft said it time to “heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

Politico shared that someone familiar with the court told them that justices Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Coney Barrett all voted with Alito in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade back in December during a conference the justices held after oral arguments were given.

Chief Justice John Roberts released a statement on Tuesday reassuring the public that the leaked copy of the draft opinion is not a decision by SCOTUS or a final position by any of its justices.

In his authentication of the draft, Justice Roberts revealed that he has directed the Marshal of the Court to launch an investigation to determine the source of the leak. The justice called the leak a “betrayal of confidences” in an attempt to “undermine the integrity” of the Court’s operations. The attempt “will not succeed,” he said, indicating that the “work of the Court will not be affected in any way.”

President Joe Biden released a statement explaining that he wasn’t sure if the draft was even genuine or reflected the final decision of the Court.

“I believe that a woman’s right to choose is fundamental, Roe has been the law of the land for almost fifty years, and basic fairness and the stability of our law demand that it not be overturned,” President Biden wrote.

“I directed my Gender Policy Council and White House Counsel’s Office to prepare options for an Administration response to the continued attack on abortion and reproductive rights, under a variety of possible outcomes in the cases pending before the Supreme Court,” President Biden said after Texas passed a state law banning abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. The law has saved an estimated 15,000 lives since last September.

3 Realities for Christians to Consider if Roe Is Overturned

Ed Stetzer

May 3, 2022

On May 2, Politico dropped a bombshell, leaking the contents of an initial draft of the majority opinion from Justice Samuel Alito on the challenge to Roe v. Wade, which appears to indicate the impending overturn of the landmark ruling that made abortion legal across the United States.

The article reported that justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett voted with Alito in conference.

While it is important to remember this is a draft, and that the final ruling of the court will not come until the end of term this summer, the content of the draft indicates that the overturn of the historic 1973 ruling is a significant possibility.

In the draft, Alito stated: “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences.”

Alito is right, but this leads us to the question: what are Christians and other pro-life people to do now? How should we respond?

As one who is passionate about justice, for the born and the unborn alike, I’m thankful that we may soon see the fruit of five decades of hard work from the pro-life movement. But there are three realities we should consider if and when such a momentous occasion transpires.

1. Overturning Roe will not be the end of the pro-life movement; it should be the beginning of a more robust, expanded pro-life movement and ministry.

This is an essential moment, especially for those of us in the church, to double down on our commitment to women and their children, both unborn and born. It is a myth, and a myth that is often weaponized, to say that Christians don’t care for children after the baby is born.

Let’s prove the naysayers wrong with our actions.

For example, our Catholic friends have the largest social service work in the country outside of the government. And, like us, they are deeply concerned about the unborn. Should Roe indeed be overturned, rather than packing up and going home, we should intensify our commitment to abortion alternatives that support and come alongside women who find themselves unsure, frightened, and concerned.

Supporting alternatives such as pregnancy care centers like Care Net is crucial. That’s why I’m thankful I’ve had the privilege of partnering with Care Net on more than one occasion to bring awareness to how well they minister to women in crisis. This is an opportunity for us to be engaged.

What’s more, a post-Roe pro-life movement should be passionately supportive of and involved in foster care and adoption. It is, after all, the care of orphans and widows that the brother of Jesus called “pure and undefiled religion” (James 1:27, ESV). If we took our command to look after foster children and adoptive children to heart, evangelicals in America would be able to meet the need of virtually every child waiting for a home in this country.

This is an essential moment.

2. Don’t believe the misleading media coverage that is to come.

You can be sure that pro-choice advocates will be loud and persistent in their efforts to paint the overturn of Roe as a regression of women’s rights or the return of some ill-defined medieval standard of healthcare.

But let’s be honest about this and look at the facts.

For example, if abortion were limited to 15 weeks, U.S. policy concerning abortion would be more aligned with most nations in Europe. Don’t believe otherwise.

The media coverage will be unfair and overwhelming in the next few weeks. We have seen from past coverage that there is a heavy bias within most media outlets to strongly favor unfettered abortion access.

Entire articles will undoubtedly be written without quotes from pro-life advocates, painting fringe views as the norm within the movement, and implying that the only sane and valid viewpoint is the pro-abortion stance. But that is simply not true. You’re going to have to be ready for the onslaught of overwhelmingly negative coverage.

Responses to the potential ruling have already demonstrated the failure of our society. Emblematic of many responses from political leaders who support abortion, Illinois Governor Pritzker tweeted:

For a party that claims to be about freedom, Republicans can’t wait to deprive millions of women the right to choose. As long as I’m governor, Illinois will stay a beacon for reproductive freedom. We won’t go back.

Of course, this line of thinking is conveniently silent on the freedom of unborn children.

Yet worse than ignoring the rights of the unborn is appealing to some unfounded and offensive slippery slope that would put America on the road to a theocracy. The Chicago Tribune offered a perfect example, suggesting that reversing Roe v. Wade “will establish a precedent for gutting the legal underpinnings used to protect against gender-based discrimination overall including women’s rights, trans rights, immigrant rights, and of course, the right to same-sex and interracial marriage.”

For all the accusations that evangelicals are ruled by hyperbolic fear, it’s odd how consistently and pervasively this kind of rhetoric is featured in media reports.

3. The pro-life movement can and should result in changed laws.

Let me be clear: Christians should care about changing both laws and hearts.

Regarding laws, Christians have a responsibility to be advocates for justice in society. At times, this means lobbying for legislation regarding immigration or prison reform, while other times it means standing for broad cultural changes that address systemic racism. Our faith does not allow us to be passive bystanders to injustice but requires us to sacrificially and boldly stand against it.

The pro-life movement has always recognized that at the heart of the issue is a profound unjust law that strips the rights of the unborn. At its best, the movement centers these voices that cannot advocate for themselves as the victims of some of the most profound injustice of our society. As I pointed out in January,

Well, now it’s time to be pro-life, from the womb to the tomb. That includes addressing our unjust laws about abortion, and doing it now.

If you have been lulled into thinking that United States abortion laws are normal, they are not. Abortion laws in America align with a group of only seven nations, all of which are far out of the global mainstream, including North Korea and China. Here’s a Washington Post fact check if you are quick to disbelieve this.

‘We Need To Be Fighting a Spiritual War’: Pastor Robert Morris Recommends 13 Political Candidates During Church

Jessica Lea

May 3, 2022

On Sunday, May 1, Robert Morris, senior pastor of Gateway Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, encouraged his congregation to vote for 13 people running for office in upcoming local elections. Morris emphasized that voting in these elections is crucial to keeping pornographic content out of Texas school districts.

“If someone in your family, a cousin or something, was running, you’d want to know about it,” said Morris. “So we’ve gathered the churches in the Southlake, Colleyville, Keller, Grapevine area, and we’ve been talking with the pastors and all and just saying, is there someone in the family of churches that’s running?”

Robert Morris: We Need to Combat Pornography in Schools

The elections Pastor Robert Morris referred to will take place May 7, although he encouraged people to participate in early voting from April 25 to May 3. Nine of the thirteen people he recommended to Gateway Church are running for positions on local school boards. “These are members of the family of churches in this area,” said Morris. “We’ve met with them, we’ve talked with them.”

“Here’s what I’m asking you to do,” said the pastor. “I’m asking you to pray for the people who are running, who are members of family, but I’m asking you to pray for everyone. Ok? Pray for everyone who is running.”

Before showing the names of the candidates on the screen, Morris spent some time describing the problem of pornographic material in Texas school systems. There are books in school libraries with content “as pornographic as anything you’ve ever read,” he said.

Sexually explicit content in Texas public schools has been a statewide, hot-button issue for some months now. When Morris showed the names of the candidates running for office in the Keller Independent School District (KISD) in the city of Keller, Texas, he commented that KISD is a “very important school district.”

In the fall of 2021, parents confronted KISD over books they deemed to be pornographic, including a graphic novel titled “Gender Queer,” which contains explicit illustrations of oral sex. On Nov. 1, 2021, Texas Gov. Gregg Abott issued a letter directing the Texas Association of School Boards to investigate allegations of pornographic content in Texas school systems and to remove any such content it finds.

That same month, over 1,500 people signed a petition organized by Texas mothers calling for 90 books to be removed from the libraries of KISD. In December 2021, The Texas Tribune reported that the Texas Education Agency is investigating whether or not KISD libraries are carrying pornographic material.

Matt Chandler Will Join Mark Driscoll and Eric Metaxas at Conference Featuring ‘40+ Geniuses’

Stephanie Martin

May 3, 2022

The upcoming 2022 Theos Conference, which promises “No wishy washy woke BS,” features dozens of pastors and speakers, some of whom are controversial.

“Spirit & Truth” is the theme of this year’s conference, which takes place online from May 11 to 13. Free to watch live, it’s billed as “a teaching conference with more PHD’s & grey hair than Air Jordans.” Viewers are promised “the best conference of your life with 40+ geniuses you haven’t even heard of yet, and then a bunch you have.”

The annual conference is sponsored by Theos U, a subscription service that offers Christians “digestible courses” on various theology topics. Theos U co-founder Nathan Finochio previously was on staff at Hillsong New York City with Carl Lentz. In March, a Theos Retreat provided ministry leaders with three days “to receive theological and spiritual impartation from some of the best pastors, teachers, and worship leaders in the world. Literally, the best.”

Matt Chandler One of the Keynote Speakers

Pastor Matt Chandler, a Theos Conference keynote speaker, leads The Village Church in north Texas as well as the church-planting network Acts 29. His May 11 presentation at the Theos Conference is titled “Standing in the Gospel.”

Chandler has authored several books, including “To Live Is Christ to Die Is Gain” and “The Explicit Gospel. His most recent is “Family Discipleship,” co-authored with Adam Griffin, focuses on helping parents pursue gospel-centered discipleship with their children. Chandler appeared on the Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast in August to share his thoughts on how pastors can lead their churches in times when people are extremely divided. One of the points Chandler stressed was the need for pastors to make time alone with Jesus.

“I’m telling you what The Village Church and Acts 29 need from me,” said Chandler. “It is my heart fully satisfied and alive in Jesus Christ, so I can be the courageous man that God has called me to be and lead with courage, knowing that I am going to be put, have been put, and will continue to be put in situations where I simply am not going to be able to win with half the crowd.”

Chandler has dealt with some controversy in the past. In 2019, a woman claimed that a children’s ministry staff member at The Village Church had sexually abused her daughter seven years ago at camp. Chandler and other leaders faced scrutiny for their response to the allegation, and a $1 million lawsuit against the church is still working its way through the legal system.

Mark Driscoll Among Other Theos Conference Speakers

Eric Metaxas, a conservative radio host who’s being sued for making voting-fraud claims, is on the Theos Conference lineup. His presentation, slated for Friday, May 13, is titled “Is Atheism Dead?” Another scheduled speaker is Landon MacDonald, son of James MacDonald, the disgraced former pastor of Chicago-area Harvest Bible Chapel. The title of his May 13 talk is “Gratitude.”

Mark Driscoll, now pastor of The Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, and one of the co-founders of Acts 29, is also presenting at the conference. Back in 2014, Driscoll resigned from Mars Hill, the Seattle megachurch he founded, rather than face an elder-led restoration process.

Lysa TerKeurst’s Husband Spent $118K on Extramarital Affair, According to Divorce Paperwork

Dale Chamberlain

May 3, 2022

Lysa Terkeurst — Instagram @lysaterkeurst

A recent court filing obtained by The Christian Post revealed that Art TerKeurst, estranged husband of author and president of Proverbs 31 Ministries Lysa TerKeurst, allegedly spent over $118,000 on an extramarital affair with a woman whom he met on the website SugarDaddy.com.

In January 2022, it was announced that the couple was pursuing a divorce. TerKeurst had originally filed for divorce in 2017, 18 months after learning of her husband’s infidelity and substance abuse issues. The couple later sought to restore their marriage, renewing their vows in 2018.

However, three years later, TerKeurst announced that her husband had continued to be unfaithful and that she now needed to “accept reality.”

“Over the past several years, I have fought really hard to not just save my marriage, but to survive the devastation of what consistent deception of one spouse does to the other,” TerKeurst wrote in the announcement. “It’s brutal and heart crushing to constantly fear the hurtful choices of someone you love. I’ve had to learn the hard way there’s a big difference between mistakes (which we all make) and chosen patterns of behavior that dishonor God and the biblical covenant of marriage.”

According to The Christian Post, a divorce filing revealed that Art TerKeurst had allegedly spent six figures on his extramarital affair, which included the purchase of a “pre-engagement left-hand ring,” and paying for the expense of the woman to move from Atlanta, GA to a place near his home in Charlotte, NC.

Ministry Watch reported that in February 2022, Art TerKeurst had filed a response to the petition for divorce, asking for alimony, equitable division of property, and damages.

The filing sought to renege a previous post-nuptial agreement, which he argued was made under duress at a time when he was struggling with suicidal thoughts and was about to enter treatment for alcoholism. According to TerKeurst, he was unable to properly consult with legal counsel before signing the agreement at the behest of friends and family.

Art TerKeurst further argued that the previous post-nuptial agreement was invalidated after the couple decided to renew their vows in 2018. He argued that he “has been a faithful and dutiful spouse” since the signing of the original post-nuptial agreement, in contrast to Lysa TerKeurst’s characterization of him, as she alleged in an April motion that he dropped out of the alcohol abuse treatment program and had displayed “narcissistic and sociopathic tendencies” over the years.

In an April Instagram post, Lysa TerKeurst wrote, “I’ll never forget asking my counselor to help me process how I finally got to the place where I said, ‘No more. No more devastation. No more betrayal. No more being lied to. No more.’”

Baptist Press Interviews SBC Presidential Nominee Bart Barber

Jonathan Howe and Brandon Porter

May 3, 2022

EDITOR’S NOTE: Baptist Press will be releasing in-depth interviews with each of the known candidates to be nominated as SBC president at the Annual Meeting in Anaheim. We plan to release our interview with Tom Ascol on May 2, Bart Barber on May 3, and Robin Hadaway on May 4. The interviews have been edited only for clarity, grammar and length.

DALLAS (BP) – Whether it’s from a video posted on social media or a microphone at the SBC Annual Meeting, you don’t have to listen to Bart Barber long before you know he cares about Southern Baptist polity. Barber, senior pastor of FBC Farmersville, Texas, is scheduled to be nominated for SBC president by Matt Henslee at the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim.

“If I left the Southern Baptist Convention, I’d have to try to recreate it because it’s a joyful place to be,” Barber said.

Barber, 52, has served in a number of roles beyond pastor in the SBC. He’s the chairman of the 2022 SBC Resolutions Committee and was a member of the 2021 committee.

He also preached at the SBC Pastors’ Conference in 2017, served as first vice president of the SBC from 2013 through 2014, served on the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention executive board from 2008 through 2014 (including serving as chairman and vice chairman), served as a trustee for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary from 2009 through 2019 and served on the SBC Committee on Committees in 2008. He also previously taught as an adjunct professor at SWBTS from 2006 through 2009.

Baptist Press sat down with Barber to ask him about his walk with Christ, his family, his ministry and pressing issues in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Why are you willing to be nominated to be the president of the Southern Baptist Convention?

I came to the end of my stubbornness. People have asked me to do this before this election cycle. It’s never something I’ve wanted to do at this time. But in prayer, I believed that God was calling me to do this. I believe for a while that God was calling me for some portion of just the rest of my life, however long I’m living here to play some role and I was happy with a small role, a big role or whatever else but to play some role in trying to make our convention healthier. I’m deeply concerned about what I think are some very unhealthy ways of talking with one another and about one another that are damaging our family of churches. There are ways that the broader culture is pushing into the way we’re behaving as believers. And you know, I’ve been trying to make a difference in that without holding any kind of elected office. I’ve believed that you might have more of an impact without holding an elected office than you would have holding it, but circumstances being as they are this year, after saying no for a long time, prayerfully, I came to the point that I said, OK.

Would you tell us about your salvation experience?

I was really young when I was saved. I was not quite 6. I’ll tell you as a pastor when 5-year-olds come to me, I’m pretty skeptical. Even though that was my experience because it would be rare. But I went to a small church, and we didn’t have enough people or enough money to be pulling the kids out into a bunch of different stuff so I sat in big church with everybody from the time that they booted me out of the nursery, and I was expected to be quiet and sit and pay attention.

My mother had this uncanny ability, while singing, “Oh, How I Love Jesus” to shoot a look from the choir loft to me sitting out in the pew that would make ice water run through your veins. I couldn’t fidget too much, I couldn’t chatter away and I couldn’t ignore things. As a result, I heard the Gospel early, a lot. The preaching in that church focused on the Gospel, on Jesus.

My mom also worked really hard, and my dad too, to help us learn early. So, at a young age, I understood the Gospel, understood that I was a sinner, repented of my sins, placed my faith in Jesus as my Savior, followed Him in baptism, confessed Him as Savior and Lord. That has been my testimony since that day. As I said, even I’m skeptical when a 5-year-old comes, but I’m 52 now. I think maybe it was real.

Like That New Church Worship Song? Chances Are, It Will Be Gone Soon.

Bob Smietana

May 3, 2022

(RNS) — The most popular worship song in churches these days is “Build My Life,” from Bethel Music, the megachurch-based worship music hit machine based in Northern California.

Sitting at number one on the top 100 worship song chart from Christian Copyright Licensing International, which licenses worship music, “Build My Life,” first released in 2016, is an outlier in worship music, where hit songs are here today and gone tomorrow.

A new study entitled “Worship at the Speed of Sound,” from Southern Wesleyan University professor Mike Tapper and colleagues, found that the lifespan of a hit worship song has declined dramatically in recent years.

In the mid-1990s, a popular song like “Refiner’s Fire,” or “In Secret” had a lifespan of about a dozen years, rising for 4-5 years before hitting a slow decline. Two decades later, that lifespan has dropped down to 3-4 years, with songs like “Even So Come” or “Here as in Heaven” rising rapidly, then disappearing, according to the study, based on 32 years of CCLI data.

In an interview Tapper said he and his colleagues, including Marc Jolicoeur, a worship pastor from New Brunswick, Canada, had been seeing the increased pace and churn rate of new music and wanted to quantify it. Tapper, chair of the religion division at Southwestern Wesleyan, had already been studying the lyrics of worship songs when he got ahold of the CCLI data.

Tapper said the pace of new music, driven by technology, which allows new songs to be distributed far and wide quickly, has played a role in the declining lifespan of songs. So has the high quality of songs being produced, he said, which gives church leaders an overwhelming number of options.

“It is hard to say no to great songs,” he said.

Tapper and his team are trying to walk a fine line. They’re glad people are writing worship songs and are eager to sing God’s praises. But they worry about the unintended consequences of turning worship music into a disposable commodity — something Tapper says reflects the influence of the broader culture on churches.

While some songs buck the trend — like “In Christ Alone,” which turns 20 this year, or “10,000 Reasons,” which is still going strong after a decade — many songs disappear.

“It really does seem that we are on a rampage in terms of the quest for novelty kind of in our broader culture,” he said. “And evangelical churches are keen on reflecting that culture.”

Chris Walker, pastor of worship and arts at Covenant Life Church in Grand Haven, Michigan, also suspects the churn of worship music reflects the way Americans consume media in general, where “everything is immediate and has a short shelf life.”

“They feed the algorithm because they are part of the cycle,” he said. “I could see that in churches that are always singing new songs and seeing what sticks. That’s not a bad thing.”

Walker’s church, which is part of the Christian Reformed Church, uses mostly contemporary songs during worship, but they mix it up with some hymns. They take what he called a “slower church” approach to worship and are not in a rush to use the newest songs.

A few times a year, Walker will put together a playlist of songs and send them to the team that helps plan worship at Covenant Life. That list will include brand-new songs but could also feature older songs people want to bring back. So it might take six months or more for a new song to make its way into worship, he said.

After Years of Loud Debate, Conservatives Quietly Split From United Methodist Church

Emily McFarlan Miller

May 3, 2022

united methodist church — Logos for the Global Medthodist Church, left, and the United Methodist Church, right. Courtesy images

(RNS) — It was a “very special Sunday,” the Rev. JJ Mannschreck explained to his congregation during the traditional service streamed online from Flushing United Methodist Church in Flushing, Michigan.

The congregation shared prayer requests and celebrated what the pastor called “God’s victories” — namely the church’s community garden, which its youth were planning to ready for spring later that day.

Flushing’s United Women of Faith threw a baby shower between services for Mannschreck’s fourth and youngest son, Asher.

And — what made it special — a member of the church’s preaching team delivered her first sermon, about Moses and forgiveness, as part of the current sermon series titled “There and Back Again,” a reference to J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic novel “The Hobbit.”

What no one mentioned was that Sunday (May 1) was also the launch of the Global Methodist Church, a new theologically conservative denomination splintering from the United Methodist Church that Mannschreck plans to join.

After decades of rancorous debate over the ordination and marriage of LGBTQ United Methodists, a special session of the United Methodist Church’s General Conference and three postponements of a vote to formally split the denomination, the schism finally came “without fanfare, but full of hope, faith, and perseverance.”

That’s how the Rev. Keith Boyette, chairman of the Transitional Leadership Council of the Global Methodist Church, described the launch of the new denomination in a statement published days earlier on its website.

Sunday’s launch, Boyette told Religion News Service last week, “was very definitely driven by practicality and the fact that the postponement of General Conference moved many people to say they were tired of waiting and tired of the conflict not being addressed and resolved by the United Methodist Church.”

Delegates have debated questions about sexuality at every quadrennial meeting of the United Methodist Church General Conference since 1972, when language first was added to the denomination’s Book of Discipline saying that “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.”

Pope Francis Offers to Meet Putin, Still Waiting to Hear Back

AP News

May 3, 2022

Pope Francis Putin — Pope Francis delivers his message from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square during the Regina Coeli prayer at the Vatican, Sunday, May 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis told an Italian newspaper he had offered to travel to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin to try to end Russia’s war in Ukraine and suggested the invasion might have been provoked by NATO’s eastward expansion.

Francis said he made the offer about three weeks into Russia’s invasion, via the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, but has yet to hear back.

Popes for decades have sought to visit Moscow as part of the longstanding effort to heal relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, which split with Rome more than 1,000 years ago. But an invitation has never been forthcoming.

“Of course, it would be necessary for the leader of the Kremlin to make available some window of opportunity. But we still have not had a response and we are still pushing, even if I fear that Putin cannot and does not want to have this meeting at this moment,” Francis was quoted as saying by the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

Francis recalled that he spoke in March with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, for 40 minutes by videoconference and for the first half “with paper in hand, he read all of the justifications for the war.”

“I listened and told him: ‘I don’t understand any of this. Brother, we are not clerics of the state, we cannot use language of politics, but that of Jesus. … For this we need to find the paths of peace, to stop the firing of arms.’”

Francis has frequently denounced the weapons industry and the announced increases in defense spending by the West in recent weeks. But he has also defended the right of Ukrainians to protect their territory from the Russian invasion, in line with Catholic social doctrine. He told Corriere he felt he was too removed to judge the morality of resupplying the Ukrainian armed forces from the West.

But he also said he was trying to understand why Russia had reacted as it had. Maybe “this barking of NATO at Russia’s door” had prompted it, he was quoted as saying, “An anger that I don’t know if you can say was provoked, but maybe facilitated.”

Francis has given a handful of interviews of late to friendly media emphasizing his call for an end to the war and initiatives to provide humanitarian relief to Ukrainians. He has defended his decision to not call out Putin or Russia publicly, saying popes don’t do so. But he freely named Putin in his remarks to Corriere, and seemed to equate the carnage in Ukraine with the genocide in Rwanda a quarter-century ago.

“Such brutality, how can you not try to to stop it? Twenty-five years ago in Rwanda we saw the same thing,” he was quoted as saying.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This article originally appeared here.

Ten Critical Keys for Designing a Creative Culture

Phil Cooke

May 3, 2022

It’s no secret that culture is more important than vision. I’ve worked in creative, vibrant cultures where original thinking is valued, people listen to each other, and wonderful things happen. On the other hand I’ve worked at organizations where you could literally feel the oppression when you walked into the building. Those destructive cultures often have leaders with great vision and potential, but because the culture is so negative, that vision will never be realized.

And right now, during this time of turmoil around the world, creativity will be vital in providing a roadmap out. So right now, as we emerge from the COVID-19 lockdown, this is the time to develop a creative culture inside your organization.

So how to do you build a creative culture? In my book Ideas on a Deadline: How to Be Creative When the Clock is Ticking, I describe 10 principles I’ve used to turn around numerous organizations:

1. Create Stability – Creative people need stability. If they’re worried about losing their job, financial problems, or excessive turnover, they’ll never release their best ideas. I’ve seen terrible leaders think they’re motivating the team by threatening them with being fired – which is the worst thing you could ever do. Even when you’re going through difficult times, create an atmosphere of stability for the team. You’ll be rewarded down the road.

2. Make it Safe from Excessive Criticism – Critics are a dime a dozen, but leaders who can help their team move from bad ideas to legendary ideas are rare. There’s a time to look at what doesn’t work, but that should be done in an atmosphere of trust. Criticism always goes down better when it comes from a trusted and respected source.

3. Make Sure Your Leaders Are On the Same Page – All it takes is one of your leaders to contradict what you’re trying to do to wreck a creative culture. At the beginning of building your culture, make absolutely sure your leadership team is unified and moving with you. One critical or disconnected leader or manager can sow seeds of doubt that will topple the entire project.

4. Be Flexible – Creative people don’t all operate on the same schedule or work the same way. Give your team some flexibility and it will revolutionize their attitude. At one major nonprofit I talked the CEO into allowing the creative team to rip up carpet, repaint, dump the cubicles, and design their own work spaces. There was fear and trembling on the CEO’s part, but within a matter of months, the creative team transformed that organization.

5. Get Them The Tools They Need – Nothing drags a creative team down as much as broken, old, or out-of-date tools. Sure we all have budget challenges, but do whatever you can to get them the right computers, design tools, video equipment – and whatever else they need. Think about it: The less time and energy they spend overcoming technical and equipment problems, the more time and energy they can spend on developing amazing ideas.

6. Push Them Outside Their Comfort Zone – Leaders often think that creative people want to be left alone and operate on their own schedule. Sure they like to create their own timetable, but they also relish a challenge. In fact, while they probably won’t admit it, creative people love deadlines because it gives them perspective on the project. I don’t even like to start working until I can see the deadline approaching. There is just something about a challenge that gets my blood flowing and the ideas coming.

7. Get Out Of Their Way – One of the most important aspects of a creative culture, once it’s in process, is to get out of the way of your creative team. We all know micro-managing is a disaster for anyone – especially creatives. So give them space and let them solve problems on their own.

7 Keys to Create a Culture of Loyalty

Derwin Gray

May 3, 2022

Whether you’re a high school soccer coach, a CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, or a pastor of a 200-member local church, you want to create relationships based on loyalty: a culture of loyalty.

You want your staff to be loyal to the vision of the organization and to one another. How does a culture of loyalty happen?

I’m not really sure, but I am learning as I go. I think the real question is how do we create cultures of loyalty? I developed this loyalty acronym a while back; it’s really helping me:

Culture of Loyalty Acronym:

Love Jesus

Others-centered

Yield to those who lead you

Accept responsibility

Learn always

Trust your teammates

You matter to God

CULTURE OF LOYALTY, EXPLAINED:

Loving Jesus in response to Him first loving us. This is our foundation for unconditional love, acceptance, identity, and security. Everything else flows from God’s loyalty extended to us.

Others-centeredness means to ask yourself, “How can I make my teammates great today?”

Yield to your leaders means you’re a team player that works in the context of the leadership’s vision and structure.

Accept responsibility means that you own what you do and say.

Learn always. Learn how to live from God’s unconditional love. Learn how to love others unconditionally.

Trust your teammates means that you have their backs and they have yours. Assume the best of them until proven otherwise.

You matter to God means that no matter how small you think your role on the team is, it matters to God and so do you.

Where to Find a Great Videography Blog

Duke Taber

May 3, 2022

There are blogs about everything online, making it possible for you to learn more about your passion with just a few clicks. If you are interested in video production and want to make stellar videos for your church, then you will want to bookmark a great videography blog.

Knowing a top-five videography blog online and how it can help you, will ensure that you know exactly where to go when you have questions about how to create and edit your video production.

5 Great Videography Blogs

1. No Film School

This blog is actually formed by a friendly and responsive community of creatives and filmmakers who want to work together to help their peers improve their abilities and gain confidence during filming and post-production. It’s designed to be easy to navigate so that you can easily find any information that you need regarding issues that you have.

With information about editing techniques, using lighting to improve the appearance of actors, and even what equipment is the best bang for your buck, this is a valuable website to visit. It features podcasts, video essays, gear articles, and more, all geared to help you become better behind the camera, as well as in front of the computer when editing.

With tips, hacks, and interviews, there are articles on this site that will appeal to all types of people, making it one of the most inclusive video production blogs on the internet. Because the users on this website are all so active and accommodating, it’s a great place to have your questions answered when you run into problems.

2. Philip Bloom’s Blog

If you have ever studied filmmaking, then you will likely have heard of Philip Bloom, as he is considered one of the best filmmakers to excel in creating a low-budget video. He creates incredible work using only DSLR cameras, which is very inspiring for anyone looking to shoot video without overspending on equipment.

Not only will you feel great about your choice of gear when you check out this website, but it’s an absolute treasure trove of information when you are looking to make an investment in new equipment or gear. It can be very exciting to consider buying new equipment, but everyone knows how expensive this can be.

Teen Shot and Killed While Protecting Friend Hours After Being Saved and Baptized

Jesse T. Jackson

May 2, 2022

De’mari Jackson (16) was shot and killed on Sunday April 24, 2022, around 8:15 pm after protecting a friend from gunfire that erupted after a group of teenage girls started fighting in a nearby field.

Wayne Sloss, Administrative Pastor of The Rock Church of Fort Myers, shared with The Christian Post that hours before Jackson’s tragic death the teenager had attended the church for the first time that Sunday morning and accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior.

Rev. Gerardo Diaz’s message the morning Jackson surrendered his life to Jesus was telling those in the congregation “that if you want something, then you’ve got to go full forward and get it. And when God’s calling you toward salvation, which is the first step toward our walk with God, don’t delay,” Sloss recalled.

“Today is the day of salvation. You don’t know what tomorrow’s going to bring,” Sloss said, “And then to find out that he gets shot and passes away that evening, I mean, it emphasizes that point so incredibly. And you’re just shocked. All these things run through your head.”

Jackson, along his two brothers and a cousin, all went to church Sunday and were baptized. His brother Derek said Jackson rarely attended church and “when he finally did, he got baptized.” His brother explained that before Jackson got baptized, “He came to see me because I’m his big brother. It’s pretty hard. I’m happy he got baptized. But this really is random.”

Just hours after his baptism, Jackson would be pronounced dead after he was allegedly shot by 19-year-old Syncere Trice, a football standout from South Fort Myers High School.

Trice is the brother of one of the girls involved in the fight that took place in the field. Reportedly, he appeared at the scene of the fight after his sister told one girl to get him. Nine rounds were shot toward the group of girls his sister had been fighting.

Jackson was on the porch of a nearby home talking to a girl he had previously dated when she says she witnessed Trice pulling out the gun and firing it at one girl’s father who was approaching the fight. The dad fled back into the house, avoiding the intended gunshots, but Jackson, who wasn’t involved in the altercation, was fatally hit.

According to reports, Jackson placed himself in front of the girl and told her to run. He then started running too, but fell to the ground after one of the bullets hit him. Jackson was still wearing his church clothes.

Paramedics rushed Jackson to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival.

Fort Myers Police Department charged Trice with second-degree murder and is currently in jail without bond.

“He was a first-time guest,” Sloss said of Jackson. “He just came in. You know, and then being told that he was protecting…helping people and ended up getting shot in the process, it’s just so mind-blowing to think. It just brings a level of reality to life.”

‘I Feel a Lot of Joy’—Danica McKellar of ‘The Wonder Years’ Shares About Her New Relationship With Jesus

Jessica Lea

May 2, 2022

Danica McKellar, who is known for playing Kevin Arnold’s love interest, Winnie Cooper, on “The Wonder Years,” recently shared on Instagram that she has a relationship with Jesus. McKellar’s spiritual journey, which is brand new, is bringing her a sense of joy, freedom and love that she has never experienced before.

“Hey everyone!” said McKellar in the caption of an Instagram Live video posted Sunday, April 24. “I went live today to share the journey I’ve recently embarked on…🙏 I’m not here to preach, but I have so much love in my heart I just had to share what I’m experiencing, and to share a little why I believe it’s taken me up to this point to begin this journey.”

Danica McKellar: ‘It Feels So Free and Joyful’

Danica McKellar is an author, mathematician and actress. In addition to appearing alongside Fred Savage in “The Wonder Years,” McKellar has appeared in “The West Wing,” “How I Met Your Mother” and “The Big Bang Theory.”

McKellar told her followers that she is on a spiritual journey, one that was only two weeks old at the time she filmed the video. McKellar was clear she is still learning and that there is much about the Christian faith that she does not know yet. But she is sharing publicly because the process is “filling my heart with so much love, and it’s hard to hold that kind of stuff in.” McKellar said the journey “feels different from anything I’ve ever experienced before.”

“I have been going to church and been finding a lot of amazing love and peace and purpose, and it’s blowing my mind,” said McKellar, explaining that fellow actress Candace Cameron Bure, a good friend of hers, had given her a Bible and invited her to church. Going to church is a significant step for McKellar because for a long time she had a lot of negative, preconceived notions, which prevented her from exploring Christianity.

When she used to think of Christianity, said McKellar, she associated it with how “it has been misused in the world,” such as to start wars or to give people power or a sense of self-righteousness. “But I’ve been discovering the pure part of it, that part that’s actually the core of it,” she said.

McKellar also used to think that Christianity was about following rules, and she did not like that idea because she thought she would not have much freedom. However, she has found the opposite to be true and is experiencing “love and joy and freedom” through her relationship with God.

Now McKellar knows that Christianity is about the heart and that obedience comes out of people’s relationship with God. “It feels so free and joyful,” she said, adding, “This feeling of absolute joy and freedom, what’s so amazing about it is that it’s actually available to everyone.” All people have to do to have this joy is decide to follow Jesus, said McKellar, noting that people do not even have to live perfect lives for God to accept them.

Throughout the video, McKellar was clear that she is not an authority on Christianity, but is merely sharing her experience. When someone told her that the Holy Spirit is in her heart, she said, “Thank you. That’s another question that I have: What is the Holy Spirit? I guess I haven’t read enough of the Bible to really understand.”

McKellar said she knew that God is the creator and Jesus is God’s Son, who is our example of how to live and have a relationship with God. “Is there some female energy in there?” she asked. “I’m still figuring it out.”

‘Broken’ and ‘Blessed’: Daughters Honor Outspoken Christian Naomi Judd, Dead at 76

Stephanie Martin

May 2, 2022

Country music legend and outspoken Christian Naomi Judd died Saturday at age 76. In a statement, her daughters Wynonna Judd and Ashley Judd revealed they had “lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness” and were “shattered.”

Naomi Judd died just one day before she and Wynonna were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The duo, who sang together as The Judds, won five Grammys before ending their act in 1991.

Sunday’s induction went forward in Nashville, based on the family’s wishes. Wynonna and Ashley both spoke in tribute to their mother, who had been open about battling severe depression and anxiety.

Naomi Judd: ‘God Holds My World Together’

The Judds, who had a 10-date final tour planned for this fall, split after Naomi Judd was diagnosed with hepatitis C. After that, she struggled with mental illness, telling CBN in 2018 that she became suicidal.

“I’m certainly not ashamed to say that I was on some anti-depressant medications,” she said. “I believe there are times in life where we have to raise our hand and say I need help.” Judd added, “I believe in God, and I’ve gotten through all this stuff because of those three things: my faith, my hope, and my belief in an eternal God.”

In 2005, when she was hosting a talk show, Naomi Judd was asked about her ideal guest. “It would definitely be Jesus Christ,” she told Belief Net. “God holds my world together. It’s as simple as that.” She called herself a “super believer,” saying, “Everything that I consciously do is imbued with an awareness that there’s an invisible world.”

Naomi Judd’s 2016 book “River of Time: My Descent into Depression and How I Emerged with Hope,” chronicles some of her experiences with mental illness. Her husband of 32 years, Larry Strickland, requested privacy “during this heartbreaking time.”

Daughter Ashley Judd: ‘I’m Sorry That She Couldn’t Hang On’

Sunday’s induction ceremony wasn’t televised, but The Tennessean described the tributes. Through tears, Ashley Judd told the audience, “I’m sorry that she couldn’t hang on until today.” Fans’ affection kept her mom going, she added.

Wynonna Judd, who said she hadn’t planned any remarks “because I knew Mom would probably talk the most,” said, “My heart’s broken, and I feel so blessed. It’s a very strange dynamic, to be this broken and this blessed.” Wynonna added that she’ll “continue to sing, because that’s what we do.”

Beyond Covid-19, Don’t Be an Idiot

Worship and the Carnal Mind

1) From actor Brad Pitt:

2) From a blog in which this guy talks about religion.

3) From a Catholic website

4) From C. S. Lewis

5) From our Lord Jesus

1. Overturning Roe will not be the end of the pro-life movement; it should be the beginning of a more robust, expanded pro-life movement and ministry.

2. Don’t believe the misleading media coverage that is to come.

3. The pro-life movement can and should result in changed laws.

Robert Morris: We Need to Combat Pornography in Schools

Matt Chandler One of the Keynote Speakers

Mark Driscoll Among Other Theos Conference Speakers

Culture of Loyalty Acronym:

Love Jesus

Others-centered

Yield to those who lead you

Accept responsibility

Learn always

Trust your teammates

You matter to God

CULTURE OF LOYALTY, EXPLAINED:

5 Great Videography Blogs

1. No Film School

2. Philip Bloom’s Blog

Danica McKellar: ‘It Feels So Free and Joyful’

Naomi Judd: ‘God Holds My World Together’

Daughter Ashley Judd: ‘I’m Sorry That She Couldn’t Hang On’

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