Global Family Tree ‘Traced’ to Noah’s Sons Through Y Chromosome

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April 26, 2022

HEBRON, Ky. (BP) — One question puzzled Answers in Genesis researcher and biologist Nathaniel T. Jeanson for decades: What was going on in pre-Columbus America before Europeans arrived?

In finding answers, he traced his ancestry to Joktan, a great-grandson of Noah’s son Shem, introduced in Genesis 10:25. Jeanson points to a global generational family tree anchored in analyses of the Y chromosome.

“We can find a very clear, generation-by-generation echo of Genesis 10 and of Noah at the base of this tree. So that any male who gets a Y chromosome test, any family that has a male relative who gets a Y chromosome test, I can trace their ancestry back to specific sons of Noah,” Jeanson said. “What we discovered was a generation-by-generation family tree for global humanity, and this is based on DNA.

“This is now a tool for every single family line around the globe, in theory.”

In “Traced: Human DNA’s Big Surprise,” his book released in March, Jeanson uses research papers he co-authored, along with previously published data and historical accounts in reaching his conclusions.

The very nature of DNA enabled Jeanson’s work.

“The principle behind this involved two concepts: (1) DNA naturally records a record of our ancestry. (2) Because the Y chromosome changes (mutates) every generation, DNA also records the passage of generations — the passage of time,” he explained in an email to Baptist Press. “Ancestry and time are the two key elements found in traditional family trees; the fact that DNA can also record these two elements of history allows it to be used as a surrogate for a family tree.”

Armed with a Ph.D. in cell and developmental biology from Harvard University, Jeanson augmented science with evidence such as the established history of peoples and regions of the globe, archaeology and linguistics.

“It is my work, but it’s based on a lot of published data that’s out there,” Jeanson said. “I’m taking existing data and reanalyzing it, primarily, as a method, and then lining it up with historical events that we know. I did have a number of reviewers who were checking the work, not authors.”

Jeanson describes Traced as a testament to the Bible’s veracity.

“This book is a very loud, strong confirmation of the biblical anthropology, which, that’s the heart, to me, of the Gospel,” Jeanson said. “That is one ancestor, one couple basically, ancestor for all of us who sins, and now we’re all sinners as a result. And of course, many of my opponents in science would say, ‘There’s no such thing as Adam and Eve, there was never just a single pair, there was always a population.’ Which if that’s true, was there a literal fall. Was there a literal Adam? … If there was never one man in the beginning, can one man save?

Supreme Court Tackles Case About Praying Football Coach

By

Jessica Gresko

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April 26, 2022

Football Coach — Joe Kennedy, a former assistant football coach at Bremerton High School in Bremerton, Wash., poses for a photo March 9, 2022, at the school's football field. After losing his coaching job for refusing to stop kneeling in prayer with players and spectators on the field immediately after football games, Kennedy will take his arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, April 25, 2022, saying the Bremerton School District violated his First Amendment rights by refusing to let him continue praying at midfield after games. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A coach who crosses himself before a game. A teacher who reads the Bible aloud before the bell rings. A coach who hosts an after-school Christian youth group in his home.

Supreme Court justices discussed all those hypothetical scenarios Monday while hearing arguments about a former public high school football coach from Washington state who wanted to kneel and pray on the field after games. The justices were wrestling with how to balance the religious and free speech rights of teachers and coaches with the rights of students not to feel pressured into participating in religious practices.

The court’s conservative majority seemed sympathetic to the coach while its three liberals seemed more skeptical. The outcome could strengthen the acceptability of some religious practices in the public school setting.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who played basketball in high school himself and has coached his daughters’ teams, suggested that there’s a difference between a coach praying in a huddle with students or in the locker room and “when players are disbursing after the game.” “This wasn’t, you know, ‘Huddle up, team,’” Kavauagh said at one point, suggesting the coach’s practice was acceptable.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked what if the coach had instead run an after-school religious youth group at his home, with students free to join or not. Would the school have been able to object to that, she asked.

Arguments at the high court lasted nearly two hours, despite being scheduled for just one. The justices and the lawyers arguing the case at various points discussed teachers and coaches who might wear ashes on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday, oppose racism by kneeling during the national anthem or express a political opinion by putting signs in their home’s yard. Former NFL player Tim Tebow, who was known for kneeling in prayer on the field, and Egyptian soccer star Mohamed Salah, a Muslim who kneels and touches his forehead to the ground after a goal, also came up.

Justice Samuel Alito, borrowing from the news, asked about protesting the Russian invasion of Ukraine and what if the coach had, instead of praying, gone out to the center of the field and “all he did was to wave a Ukranian flag.” Would he have been disciplined? Yes, a lawyer for the school district said, because the district “doesn’t want its event taken over for political speech.”

The Supreme Court previously declined to get involved in the case at an earlier stage in 2019. At that time Alito wrote for himself and three other conservatives — Kavanaugh and Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas — that a lower court decision in favor of the school district was “troubling” for its “understanding of the free speech rights of public school teachers.” But they agreed with the decision not to take the case up at the time.

The case has returned to the court at a time when the court’s conservative majority has been sympathetic to the concerns of religious individuals and groups, such as groups that brought challenges to coronavirus restrictions that applied to houses of worship. But cases involving religion can also unite the court. Already this term in an 8-1 decision the justices ruled for a Texas death row inmate who sought to have his pastor pray aloud and touch him while his execution was carried out.

R.C. Sproul: Jesus, Our Substitute

By

R.C. Sproul

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April 26, 2022

thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

The word vicarious is extremely important to our understanding of the atonement of Christ. The late Swiss theologian Karl Barth once said that, in his judgment, the single most important word in all of the Greek New Testament is the minuscule word huper. This little word is translated by the English phrase “in behalf of.” Barth was clearly engaging in a bit of hyperbole in making this statement, because many words in the New Testament are arguably as important or even more important than huper, but he was simply seeking to call attention to the importance of what is known in theology as the vicarious aspect of the ministry of Jesus.

He made satisfaction for our debt, our enmity with God, and our guilt. He satisfied the ransom demand for our release from captivity to sin. However, there is another significant word that is often used in descriptions of the atonement: substitution. When we look at the biblical depiction of sin as a crime, we see that Jesus acts as the Substitute, taking our place at the bar of God’s justice. For this reason, we sometimes speak of Jesus’ work on the cross as the substitutionary atonement of Christ, which means that when He offered an atonement, it was not to satisfy God’s justice for His own sins, but for the sins of others. He stepped into the role of the Substitute, representing His people. He didn’t lay down His life for Himself; He laid it down for His sheep. He is our ultimate Substitute.

The idea of being the Substitute in offering an atonement to satisfy the demands of God’s law for others was something Christ understood as His mission from the moment He entered this world and took upon Himself a human nature. He came from heaven as the gift of the Father for the express purpose of working out redemption as our Substitute, doing for us what we could not possibly do for ourselves. We see this at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, when He initiated His public work by coming to the Jordan River and meeting John the Baptist.

Imagine the scene at the Jordan that day. John was busy baptizing the people in preparation for the coming of the kingdom. Suddenly he looked up and saw Jesus approaching. He spoke the words that later became the lyrics for that great hymn of the church, the Agnus Dei: “‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29b). He announced that Jesus was the One Who had come to bear the sin of His people. In His person, He would fulfill all of what was symbolized in the Old Testament sacrificial system, by which a lamb was slaughtered and burned on the altar as an offering before God to represent atonement for sin. The lamb was a substitute, so in calling Jesus “the Lamb of God,” John was asserting that He, too, would be a Substitute, but One Who would make real atonement.

Jesus came to John and, to John’s horror, asked to be baptized. Scripture gives us John’s reaction to this request. “John tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?’” (Matt. 3:13). That simple statement must have masked a deep confusion on John’s part. He had just announced that Jesus was the Lamb of God, and in order to serve as the perfect sacrifice to atone for the sins of His people, the Lamb of God had to be without blemish. He had to be completely sinless. But the ritual of baptism that John was calling all of Israel to undergo in preparation for the coming of the Messiah was a rite that symbolized cleansing from sin. So John said, in essence, “It would be absurd for me to baptize You, because You are the sinless Lamb of God.” John then put forth an alternative idea: Jesus should baptize him. This was John’s way of acknowledging that he was a sinner who needed cleansing.

Jesus overrode John’s protest. “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness’” (Matt. 3:15a). Jesus’ choice of words in this statement is interesting. First He said, “Permit it to be so now.” The fact that Jesus gave His command to John in these particular words shows that He understood there was some theological difficulty involved. It was as if Jesus was saying, “John, I know you don’t understand what’s happening here, but you can trust Me. Go ahead and baptize Me.”

However, Jesus went on to give an explanation as to why John should baptize Him. He said, “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” The word fitting here can also be translated as “necessary.” In other words, Jesus said it was necessary for Him to be baptized. How was it necessary? John the Baptist had come as a prophet from God. Jesus would say later, “Among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist” (Luke 7:28a). Through this prophet, God had given His covenant people a new command: they were to be baptized. We should never think that God stopped expressing His will to His people after He spoke the Tenth Commandment. A multitude of laws was added to the basic Ten Commandments after they were given. The command that His people undergo this cleansing rite to prepare for the breakthrough of the divine kingdom was merely the latest edict from God.

In a Cluttered World, Do You Stand Out?

By

Phil Cooke

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April 26, 2022

In a world of interchangeable people, you need to stand out. Unions played a vital role earlier in the 20th century, helping unite workers and speak as one voice to industrial corporations. Unions helped create safer coal mines, drive better regulations in the workplace, and create strong wages and benefits. But today, unions are on the wane, because the flip side of unionization is building interchangeable workers.

In today’s economy there are millions of interchangeable workers, but what we need are people who stand out.

People who get noticed.
People who do remarkable things.

In the book “Ignore Everybody” writer and cartoonist Hugh MacLeod puts it this way:
“A Picasso always looks like Picasso painted it. Hemingway always sounds like Hemingway. A Beethoven symphony always sounds like a Beethoven Symphony. Part of being a master is learning how to sing in nobody else’s voice but your own.”

What’s your voice?

For MacLeod, it was the moment he discovered drawing on the backs of business cards. But it’s not the form or the platform, ultimately it’s the calling, the voice, the purpose.

The question becomes, what’s your unique voice? What’s your purpose for living? What were you put on the earth to accomplish?

This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.

7 Youth Camp Games Kids Will Love

By

Andy McClung

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April 26, 2022

There are plenty of kids at youth camp who don’t know each other, and the best way to break the ice is to have some fun and exciting youth camp games for them to play once they get settled.

Play these 7 youth camp games for excitement and to get acquainted:

1. Capture the Flag

Separate into two or more groups and place a flag for each team a good distance apart. Each team has a territory, and the middle of the playing field is the dividing line.

Each team must try to get the other team’s flag, which is out of their territory. If a player gets tagged out of their territory, they are either frozen, out of the game, or have to go to jail.

The first team to get the other team’s flag back to their own base is the winner. Kids love this game, and it allows them to make friends by working as a team to achieve a common goal.

Want to take it up a notch? Check out our review of a glow-in-the-dark game called Capture the Flag REDUX.

2. Minute to Win It

Based on the hit game show on NBC, these youth camp games are a set of fast-paced mini-challenges that have to be completed within one minute. You can pick from plenty of challenges, as at least 50 are listed for you to choose from on the website.

Be sure to watch an episode so you know how the game works. You can choose as many challenges as you want and have different stations for the kids to visit. Feel free to get creative and make up a few one-minute games that fit your youth camp theme.

Playing close to the holidays? Here are holiday-specific versions:

3. Tug of War

This age-old game will be a hit for your youth camp game arsenal. You can separate according to ages to make the teams fair and let them go at it. For extra fun, create a mud pit in the middle so the losing team will fall into the mud.

No rope? No worries! Try this unique version of Ropeless Tug of War.

4. Mega Duck, Duck, Goose

Few kids really outgrow this game. If you have a lot of kids, you can still play it. Have the kids form a large circle, and when someone gets caught have them go to the middle of the circle.

Once six kids get in the middle, have them start their own mini-game of Duck, Duck, Goose. Then once six more are tagged, have them begin another game just outside the middle game, and so on.

If you have a lot of kids, game after game will get going and the kids will have a blast. This is also a great way to randomly select groups of six and form groups for the rest of the youth camp.

5. Water Balloon Toss

For this youth camp game, fill up plenty of water balloons and split the kids up into pairs facing each other. Let them begin close in proximity and have them play catch with the water balloon.

The object of the game is to keep the water balloon from breaking. After each person catches the balloon, have each person take one big step backward. When only one kid is left from each pair, pair those kids up together and let them play catch.

Repeat this until you have one player left, who’s the winner.

6. Scavenger Hunt

Create teams and send them off on a scavenger hunt. This activity works great because the kids are in smaller groups and get acquainted nicely while looking for items.

Need awesome photos of your event? Try The Photo Scavenger Hunt Game!

7. SPUD

You’ll need one ball for this youth camp game. The person with the ball throws it up very high in the air and calls out someone’s name. That person must catch the ball.

As soon as the ball is in the air, everyone except that person needs to run away from the ball. When the designated person catches the ball, he or she yells, “SPUD!” very loudly.

Everyone must stop immediately. The person with the ball gets to take three large steps toward someone and throw the ball in an attempt to hit him or her. If it does, that person is out.

Repeat until one person is left. If you have a lot of kids, split them up and have multiple games going on at one time.

Youth camp games are exciting for kids at Christian summer camp. Choose one or more to get your kids acquainted in no time!

This article originally appeared here.

Children’s Church Room Ideas: 8 Easy, Affordable Designs

By

Outreach Media Group

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April 25, 2022

Are you looking for children’s church room ideas that delight kids and parents? Are young learners excited to show up every Sunday and spend time learning about Jesus in the space you’ve designed for them?

If you’re looking for fresh new children’s church room ideas, you’ve come to the right place. Best of all, it doesn’t take a huge budget to update your space and make it fresh and exciting.

We’ve put together a few children’s church room ideas that will work on a budget. Choose one, some, or all of the suggestions to give your meeting area a boost. Plus, a new design is sure to put a smile on little ones’ faces!

8 Great Children’s Church Room Ideas

1. Declutter.

This first idea is free! Grab a couple of volunteers and take an hour or two to declutter your children’s ministry space. In kidmin, it’s easy to acquire a lot of supplies, materials and toys, especially if your church has been around for a while.

Think about it: When’s the last time someone took the time to sort through old art supplies, curriculum, toys and books? Get rid of anything dingy, old and broken as you sort. Be ruthless in tossing out everything that doesn’t meet a high (but reasonable) standard. Kids deserve thought and care when it comes to the quality of children’s church room ideas!

This is the perfect time to take inventory of what you have, which will help you figure out what you need. Imagine how good it will feel to step back and look at your newly decluttered space with a clear list of what you can add to make it better. Plus, decluttering prepares you for the next step…

2. Deep Clean.

This idea is free, too. In fact, hold on to those volunteers for a couple more hours and knock your decluttering and cleaning out in one afternoon! You’ve tossed out all the extras you accumulated through the years, which has probably cleared up a lot of surface space. This makes it much easier to clean.

Of course, you should clean the children’s ministry area regularly (we’re sure you already do this). But a deep clean helps it sparkle like new. From the baseboards to the lighting fixtures to the dark corners of cabinets, leave nothing out. Dust, wipe, scrub, mop, vacuum, polish…it’s for the kids!

Bonus tip: Provide volunteers with lunch, snacks and high-fives for taking the time to be awesome and help you out.

3. Paint.

You knew this one was coming, didn’t you? That’s because nothing brightens up a space quite like a fresh coat of paint. This is a chance to have some fun. After all, kids love color.

If your kidmin area doesn’t have a color theme, this is a great time to establish one. Color theme or not, choose something happy and bright that energizes the space.

It’s a good idea to get a few paint samples and try them out next to each other in several spots throughout the room. A color may seem great on that square paper swatch at a local home improvement store, but it can look completely different once it’s on the walls. Try out several small samples to make sure the color you’re choosing looks good in your unique space.

Satin or semi-gloss sheens are good choices for high-traffic areas because they’re easy to clean. A quick wipe with a wet rag erases any little fingerprints that make their way onto the wall. Speak with the experts from Window Replacement DC – Springfield to see how they can help you with your home improvement project.

4. Add Rugs.

Kids spend a lot of time on the floor! Depending on the size of your children’s ministry space, a couple of new rugs can be a great way to make a room feel more inviting and cozy. These don’t have to be expensive; some great budget-friendly options are available. Colorful and soft are the main criteria.

Be sure to give the rugs extra attention during the regular cleaning process. Kids spend a lot of time on them, so clean up those inevitable crumbs and crayon marks before they accumulate.

Another fun option is foam floor tiles, and they’re definitely easier to clean. You can also customize the sizes to fit your unique space.

John MacArthur’s Lawyer Jenna Ellis Offers to Defend Disney Against Florida’s New Bill; Sean Feucht Responds

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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April 25, 2022

Jenna Ellis Sean Feucht — Screenshot via Rumble @The Jenna Ellis Show (L) Screenshot via YouTube via @Sean Feucht (R)

Last week, lawyer Jenna Ellis, known for working on former president Donald Trump’s legal team and for representing Grace Community Church—pastored by John MacArthur—against California’s COVID-19 restrictions in 2020, posted a message offering to help defend Disney’s “right to constitutionally protected speech.”

Her offer came a day after she posted a video explaining how she believes the bill Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed on Friday, which stripped Disney of its self governing status in the state of Florida, was an illegal retaliation against the company.

Disney vocally opposed Florida’s recently passed House Bill 1557, which bans teachers from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity with young children. Those who have opposed the bill have labeled it the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Ellis shared that she also disagrees with Disney’s corporate statement regarding the bill.

“Today is probably the most important episode I have ever done on this show,” Ellis said, explaining that she “staunchly disagrees” with Gov. DeSantis’ actions toward Disney.

Ellis, who is a Christian, said, “Just because the Democrats wield unconstitutional power and try to get away with it, does not in any way justify republicans doing the same.” Ellis shared that conservatives should protect free speech, “especially the right to speak views we disagree with.”

Ellis believes that most conservatives don’t quite understand “the heart of the principle that’s at stake” regarding Florida’s new bill, which will go into effect on June 1, 2023.

“When we allow our partisan, political perspectives to get in the way of our advocacy of the principle of the rule of law, then it becomes a force of whoever’s party is in control,” Ellis explained, “rather than understanding how the law is meant to be equable and fair to everyone’s view points—even if we, as conservatives, disagree with them or if the Left disagrees with us.”

Ellis said that we need to defend Disney’s right to say things even when we don’t agree with them. “Disney isn’t doing anything illegal or immoral in terms of action by their statement” against Florida’s House Bill 1557. The statement may advance an immoral viewpoint, “but in terms of under the law, Disney isn’t doing anything other than exercising constitutionally protected speech,” Ellis said.

“Just because the Democrats wield unconstitutional power and try to get away with it does not in any way justify Republicans doing the same,” Ellis pointed out.

While some may say that Disney isn’t exercising a religious belief, Ellis argued the opposite, saying that everything relating to morality is “inherently religious.”

Having a government that retaliates against a corporation because it doesn’t like a statement that corporation releases would result in “disastrous consequences that would have a chilling effect on speech,” Ellis expressed.

OPINION: When 12,000 Evangelical Leaders Saturated Louisville, Was a Gospel Impression Left?

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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April 25, 2022

T4G — Photo by Jesse Jackson. Louisville Skyline byChris Watson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

On April 19, 2022, an estimated 12,000 evangelical church leaders from multiple denominations attended Together for the Gospel in downtown Louisville, Kentucky.

For three days, pastors, elders, deacons, youth pastors, church planters, seminary professors, and other leaders descended upon 20 to 30 square blocks of downtown Louisville. Meeting at the Kentucky International Convention Center (KICC), Christian leaders heard sermons from John Piper, Mark Dever, David Platt, H.B. Charles Jr., Ligon Duncan, Sinclair Ferguson, Christian Lwanda, Kevin DeYoung, Shai Linne, Afshin Ziafat, Greg Gilbert, Bobby Scott, Juan Sanchez, and Alistair Begg.

In between sessions, conference goers were given the opportunity to explore downtown Louisville and its vast array of restaurants, eateries, and coffee shops.

On the afternoon of the third day, a thought came to my mind while eating at a well-known restaurant chain: “If 12,000 people who love the Lord and have been encouraged by the Word of God over the last 36 hours visited the establishments in downtown Louisville, wouldn’t the scent of the gospel have been left among those working at these places?”

A friend and fellow conference goer and I got on city scooters and set off on a quest to discover the answer.

What we found was somewhat disheartening.

We visited seven establishments that were impacted by large numbers of conference attendees over the three days, which included dine-in restaurants, fast food restaurants, and well-known coffee shops. We asked the workers two questions: “How were you treated by the mass amounts of people trying to purchase food or coffee?”; and “Did you know why the large groups of people were in town?”

The first place we came to was a dine-in restaurant. When we asked the hostess how she had been treated by the large crowds of people, she quickly told us “not well” and used the word “rude” to describe the Christians who had been eating there. She shared that she felt “suffocated” by their presence, so we asked if she knew who they were. She replied that she knew some of them were Southern Baptists and said that “they are the worst.”

She went on to emotionally explain that she was once a devout church goer but was hurt by the church years ago. She said that the last few days triggered past hurt, and she left work with extreme anxiety.

Telling her that we ourselves attended the conference and were Southern Baptists, we expressed that we were truly sorry for the way she was treated, thanking her for her honesty. As we prepared to leave for the next restaurant, she came outside and told us she greatly appreciated our attitudes, expressing that how we treated her was not what she’d experienced over the last few days. She even offered to sit down to tell us her story after she got off work.

Good Deed Lands Woman in Hospital After Attempted Carjacking in Church Parking Lot

By

Stephanie Martin

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April 25, 2022

st. mary's — Photo courtesy of St. Mary's Episcopal Church

What was supposed to be a quick stop to drop off clothing at a church donation bin took a violent turn Saturday in Long Island. When 73-year-old Lorraine Lombardo stepped out of her parked but idling car to donate items outside St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Lake Ronkonkoma, New York, Doreen Dunbar, 50, allegedly tried to steal the vehicle.

Attempted Carjacking: What Happened in a Church Parking Lot

Police say Dunbar, who is reportedly experiencing homelessness, entered the driver’s seat of Lombardo’s 2013 Chevrolet Spark. When Lombardo realized what was happening, she hurried back to her car and grabbed the steering wheel. Dunbar then allegedly shifted into reverse and pressed the gas.

During the tussle, Lombardo fell, and police say the car backed over her legs. She’s now in the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. A spokesperson for St. Mary’s says parishioners are praying for Lombardo’s full recovery and for justice in the case.

According to police, after running over Lombardo, Dunbar crashed into a fence and guardrail. Then she took off on foot. After authorities located her with a K9 unit and a helicopter, she was arrested and taken to a hospital for evaluation.

Now Dunbar faces charges of first-degree assault and second-degree robbery. An arraignment date is still pending.

Such Desperation Is ‘Really Sad,’ Says Neighbor

Kathleen White, who lives next door to the church, describes running outside about 6:45 p.m. Saturday evening to see what all the ruckus was about. She told a local reporter, “There was a woman walking away and the woman on the ground was saying, ‘Stop here. She was trying to steal my car.’”

But while White was still trying to assess the situation, she says the suspect returned to the St. Mary’s parking lot. “She came back, and she was arguing with the woman on the ground saying, ‘It’s my car.’ So the two were arguing whose car it was. So I said well, the police can figure out whose car it is.” After White dialed 911, she says, the suspect took off on foot again.

Speaking to the media, White appeared to be dismayed by the frightening turn of events. “That’s just really sad that you’re that desperate to have to take somebody else’s car as they’re doing a good deed,” she said.

Online, some people say Lombardo is partly to blame because she should not have left her car running. Others are pushing back, saying the victim isn’t at fault. The incident also is sparking online debates about homelessness, crime, and possible solutions. Some people are calling for police to “round up” all people who are living on the streets. Others say communities must prioritize mental illness and addiction issues.

Elon Musk Buys Twitter, Sparking Conversation About Religious Liberty, Hate Speech

By

Dale Chamberlain

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April 25, 2022

Elon Musk Twitter — Left: The Royal Society, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Right: Twitter, Apache License 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In a move that feels like it was ripped from the pages of a Batman comic, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has purchased Twitter.

According to The New York Times, Twitter has reached an agreement with Musk after Musk offered to purchase the social media giant for roughly $44 billion and take the company private less than two weeks ago. Earlier this month, Musk took a 9% stake in Twitter, making him the single largest shareholder. After a failed attempt at joining Twitter’s board, Musk has opted to buy the company outright.

Musk’s express motivation for taking over the social media platform is to promote free speech.

“Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy,” Musk tweeted on March 25 alongside a Twitter poll. “Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?”

“The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully,” Musk added. Of the more than 2 million responses, over 70% said, “No.”

“Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy,” Musk tweeted the next day. “What should be done?”

Many of Musk’s followers responded by encouraging him to simply buy Twitter. It appears that he was listening.

As online hate speech and misinformation have resulted in real life consequences in recent years, social media platforms have been increasingly called upon to regulate speech that may be harmful, hateful, or that could lead to physical violence. The question that has arisen from that call is what kind of speech social media platforms should categorize as dangerous.

To the mind of many on the political right, social media platforms like Twitter have disproportionately policed conservative voices while failing to apply the same level of scrutiny to left-wing speech.

For example, former president Donald Trump was permanently banned from Twitter following the riot at the U.S. Capitol building for incendiary tweets containing false information that many feel were a contributing factor in the violence that took place on January 6, 2021.

‘All War Is Anachronistic’: Pope Francis Struggles to Gain Traction for Peaceful Vision

By

Claire Giangrave

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April 25, 2022

Pope Francis War — Pope Francis shows a flag that was brought to him from Bucha, Ukraine, during his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — The night after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Pope Francis lay awake in bed at the Vatican thinking about what he could do to prevent “one more death in Ukraine. Not one more,” he told the Argentine daily La Nacion in an interview published Thursday (April 21).

The next day he jumped on a papal white utility vehicle to meet with the Russian ambassador to the Holy See to voice his concerns about the war in a last-ditch attempt to preserve the last remnant of peace in Ukraine.

The war, of course, continues today, and the pontiff’s hope for a meeting between the pope and Russian Orthodox leader Patriarch Kirill of Moscow has been shelved. For all his peacemaking efforts, the media’s primary takeaway about Francis regarding the war is that he refuses to call out President Vladimir Putin directly as the aggressor.

In his interview with La Nacion, the pope said: “I am willing to do everything” to prevent further bloodshed, explaining why he believed mentioning Putin was inappropriate. “A pope never names a head of state, much less a country, which is superior to its head of state,” Francis said.

Recent history, at least, bears him out: Popes have avoided pointing a finger at political leaders or nations. The Vatican’s long experience in jostling the ever-bubbling rivalries among European nations dictates that remaining above the fray is essential to brokering peace.

Nonetheless, his take on the war has been dismissed as idealistic and even pro-communist by his detractors.

While Francis may sound idealistic publicly, his public voice is not the only one Russia is hearing. “Pope Francis’ moral judgment of the war is absolutely severe,” said Massimo Borghesi, a professor of philosophy at the University of Perugia and author of “The Mind of Pope Francis: Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s Intellectual Journey.”

The Vatican’s diplomatic corps “never rests” in its effort to promote peace, Francis said in his Nacion interview, adding that this work is typically happening behind the scenes.

“There are backchannels, and they are functioning,” said journalist Victor Gaetan, author of “God’s Diplomats: Pope Francis, Vatican Diplomacy, and America’s Armageddon,” pointing to Vatican diplomacy in the Middle East and Africa that has positioned Francis to be a bridge for peace.

“Publicly the pope appears to be a lonely voice,” Gaetan told RNS, but some countries have been drawn in by his “mantra of diplomacy, of dialogue and encounter, where you can’t bully or insult your interlocutor into a positive outcome.”

What makes Francis’ position difficult for many politicians is that he opposes not just Putin’s war, but a lack of commitment to peace on both sides. “Pope Francis sees this escalation, where the only answer that Europe has undertaken is to send weapons and issue sanctions, but it doesn’t have a shred of negotiation for a political and peaceful solution,” Borghesi said.

Always the Right Time for Baptism, 90 Year-Olds Say

By

Timothy Cockes

-

April 25, 2022

NASHVILLE (BP) – As Baptism Sunday [April 24, is Baptist Sunday in the Southern Baptist Convention] approaches, stories of older Christians being baptized are serving as a reminder that it is never too late to take a step of obedience.

One of those is Bernice Oliver at Glasgow Baptist Church in Glasgow, Ky.

Erdie Carter, senior pastor at Glasgow, said Bernice’s wife Evelyn had been a faithful member and attender at the church all the way up until the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, the couple began watching the church’s services on a local TV broadcast.

Carter said the couple have been married for 67 years, and Evelyn has faithfully prayed for Bernice to receive Christ as his personal savior.

Carter visited Bernice, 93, many times in their home and shared the Gospel with him, but had never seen a responsiveness from him. That all changed a few weeks ago.

Carter said Evelyn told him that her husband had begun faithfully watching the church’s Sunday services with her.

After a few weeks, members of the church visited their home to bring food as part of the church’s community outreach program. While at the home, Bernice said he was ready to make a decision for Christ.

After walking him through this decision, the church members followed up by asking if he would like to be baptized. He said he would.

Carter said Glasgow also observed the Lord’s Supper the day that Bernice was baptized, adding that seeing the transformation in Bernice deeply affected him and his congregation.

“Pastors often talk about that it’s never too late … but to actually see this man at 93 come to this spiritual realization and then want to publicly profess his faith in Christ, it was joy,” Carter said. “It overwhelmed me with emotions. It renewed the strength of my church members’ prayers for their own lost loved ones.”

Ena Campbell-Reid began attending Grace Fellowship: A Church for All Nations in West Palm, Fla., when a friend in her neighborhood invited her.

Campbell-Reid, 92, grew up going to a Methodist church in Jamaica and had never been baptized by immersion.

After being immersed at Grace Fellowship Campbell-Reid told Baptist Press she was glad she made the decision to do it.

“I would encourage anyone else in the church to get baptized because everyone at the church is very nice and they will treat you very well,” Ena said.

She said another factor in her decision to get baptized was the encouragement from pastors at the church such as lead pastor Jeff Robinson.

Robinson, who also serves on the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, said Campbell-Reid provides a great example for his church to reflect on the importance of following through in baptism.

“We routinely remind our church family that in spite of the suffering and brokenness we see around us, in the news, and on social media, to never forget that God is still very much at work in the world,” Robinson said.

“Ms. Ena’s following Jesus in public believer’s baptism by immersion is both an encouragement and a powerful motivation for our entire faith family.”

Carter said seeing Bernice and others be baptized goes right along with celebrating with the SBC is supposed to be about.

“The mission of the SBC is to go and preach the Gospel so that people may know and believe in Christ,” Carter said. “His desire to be saved and baptized just reminded me what Christ will do. When Christ changes our heart, it changes our perspective.”

This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.

Colorado Church Collects $61,000 for Ukrainian Relief on Easter Sunday

By

Scott Barkley

-

April 25, 2022

Ukrainian Relief — Cross Fellowship Church in Colorado Springs hosts a prayer service prior to Easter Sunday. The church had 12 events leading up to April 17, where attendees at its Black Forest campus gave $61,000 toward Ukrainian relief. Photo from Cross Fellowship courtesy of Baptist Press.

COLORADO SPRINGS (BP) – A culture of generosity and missions was on display April 17 at Cross Fellowship Church and shows what is possible through having a heart for those in need of the Gospel and a cup of cold water, said Pastor Bob Bender.

On Easter, church members responded to a request to help Ukrainian refugees in a big way – by giving approximately $61,000. That amount was in addition to, not instead of, members’ regular tithe.

“See the need. Say the need. Seize the day to meet the need,” Bender told Baptist Press on the church’s philosophy toward missions. “Our people saw the need. All they needed was a valid venue to express their concern.”

Sunday was far from the first time Cross Fellowship has expressed such concern.

Currently, the church directly supports 14 missionaries around the world in addition to taking part in local missions. The goal for its annual missions offering is at least $150,000. Send Relief President Bryant Wright spoke at Cross Fellowship’s missions conference last October while North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell is scheduled for this fall. In 2021, the church gave 16.6 percent of its budget toward missions, including 7 percent of undesignated gifts through the Cooperative Program.

The April 17 offering came from the approximately 800 in attendance at Cross Fellowship’s Black Forest campus. Its other campus in Palmer Park continued with a regular offering benefitting a local pregnancy care center.

The church’s “boots on the ground,” as Bender calls them, are Michael and Jan Gott, missionaries in Ukraine and Poland with whom Bender has had a friendship for years.

“Michael preached at First Baptist Church in Warsaw [April 17] to the Ukrainian refugees and saw many come to Jesus,” Bender said.

Leading up to Easter, the goal was to raise $20,000 “to fill one boxcar with food, clothes and Jesus,” he said. “We knew we were in good shape before our first offering when two families offered to give $4,000 each.”

Prior to raising enough for three boxcars’ worth of supplies, Cross Fellowship had already joined Southern Baptist churches that altogether have contributed more than $8 million toward Ukrainian relief thus far.

The physical needs notwithstanding, Bender pointed to the spiritual ones of utmost importance and the lengths those like the Gotts are taking to deliver both.

“He was in the [Kyiv] subways sharing Christ with Ukrainians while the bombs were falling,” Bender said. “He said, ‘Bob, what you see on TV is half the story. It’s heartbreaking.’”

Originally, Gott told Bender that $3,700 would fill a van of clothes, supplies and food for refugees. Bender shared that with Cross Fellowship, as well as how much it would take to fill a boxcar.

“I quoted 1 John 3:17,” he said. “That ‘if anyone has the world’s good and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?’

An upper-middle class existence in a city like Colorado Springs can create some blind spots to the plight of others, not only across the world but down the street. It’s important to have a Christlike perspective of those needs, he said, adding: “We want to see the world through the eyes of the poor.”

See the need. Say the need. Seize the day to meet the need.

Before this year, Cross Fellowship’s Easter offering record was approximately $10,000. The church held a dozen Easter-related events that totaled 2,000 in attendance and led to 10 first-time decisions for Christ. Bender makes no apologies for making such financial appeals in a crowd containing many guests.

“Tell the people and trust the Lord,” he said. “We hit an open nerve. The Lord led us to make this appeal and it struck a responsive chord in people. I think they were waiting for a ministry of integrity that had zero percent overhead [and] the money went to meet human needs – a cup of cold water in Jesus’ name.

“The Gospel is the hope of the world, not just food and medicine by itself. Like Jesus did, when you meet that physical need, it opens them to the Gospel.”

This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.

Pastor-Led Shelters Bring Schooling Options to Migrant Kids

By

Giovanna Dell'Orto

-

April 25, 2022

Mexico Migrants — A student focuses on her lesson at Casa Kolping, an alternative education center where child migrants from two pastor-run shelters take classes every weekday morning, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on Monday, March 28, 2022. Education is a big challenge for children on their migration journey, but opportunities like this give them a chance to catch up on academics and to find emotional support. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — His completed geometry exercise in hand and a smile lighting up his eyes above his face mask, Victor Rodas rushed to the teacher as other students were still drawing.

“I’m winning the race!” the 12-year-old exclaimed. “I’m already done, teacher. I beat everyone.”

Being enrolled in a school program designed for migrant children in Ciudad Juarez, Victor does have a leg up on many others like him who, fleeing poverty and violence, lose months or even years of schooling on their journeys.

Giving them access to education is a daunting and urgent challenge.

Just in this vast desert metropolis next to El Paso, Texas, thousands of migrant families have hunkered in shelters, waiting to cross into the United States. They’re prevented from seeking asylum there by U.S. policies that made some wait in Mexico for their court hearings and banned others under a pandemic-era order set to expire May 23.

Pastor-run shelters have partnered with educators to help — either busing children to an alternative school that teaches everything from math to reading to dealing with emotions, or bringing in specially accredited teachers.

While the curriculum is not religious, faith animates these projects, as it does many other migrant relief efforts at the border. It also informs many of the educators, who recognize schooling as crucial to the youths’ future, including their ability to socialize and eventually find jobs and feel at home wherever they end up.

“They get integrated in the educational system so they can keep gaining confidence,” said Teresa Almada, who runs Casa Kolping, where Victor studies, through a local organization funded three decades ago by lay members of Catholic parishes. “It’s also important … that the families feel they’re not in hostile territory.”

Victor’s oldest sister, Katherine Rodas, 22, fled death threats in Honduras with him and two other siblings she raised after their mother died. While she and her husband are so fearful of gangs that they don’t dare leave their Catholic-run shelter, she leapt at the chance for the children to be bused to Casa Kolping.

“They say the teacher always takes good care of them, plays with them,” Rodas said. “They feel safe there.”

Their shelter, Casa Oscar Romero, is named for a beloved Salvadoran archbishop, known for ministering to the poor, who was assassinated during his country’s civil war and later made a saint by Pope Francis. Many housed at this shelter and elsewhere in Ciudad Juarez fled Central America; growing numbers of Mexican families from areas engulfed in cartel warfare are arriving, too.

For a while after the school program started in October, teachers encouraged parents to join their children in the classrooms to build trust. Among them was Lucia, a single mother of three who fled the Mexican state of Michoacan after a drug cartel “took over the harvest and everything” in their home. She asked to be identified by just her first name for safety.

A Calvin Professor Officiated a Same-Sex Wedding. It Likely Cost Him His Job.

By

Bob Smietana

-

April 25, 2022

Calvin Same-Sex Marriage — Calvin University professor Joe Kuilema, right, officiates the wedding of Nicole Sweda and Annica Steen on Oct. 15, 2021. Photo courtesy of Nicole Sweda

(RNS) — When a former student asked Calvin University professor Joe Kuilema to officiate her wedding last fall, he said yes right away — despite a school policy that views same-sex marriage as sinful.

That decision will likely cost him his job.

Kuilema learned this week that Calvin’s Professional Status Committee decided not to renew his two-year appointment to the Calvin faculty due to his ongoing conflict with Calvin’s leaders over the issue of LGBT inclusion.

“I know this is not the outcome you were hoping for, Joe,” Calvin Provost Noah Toly wrote in a letter dated April 18. The letter and several supporting documents were published online by the Chimes, Calvin’s student newspaper. The university confirmed the letter and documents are authentic.

Kuilema, who plans to appeal the decision, said he was not surprised by the news.

“I was deeply disappointed by the committee’s decision,” he said. “I love Calvin University. I love working here. I love our mission. And I think it’s important to say that I did what I did, because of that mission.”

The social work professor, who was a church elder at the time he officiated the wedding, has long been known for his support of LGBT students at Calvin, which is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He said that even though the wedding was a civil ceremony, he consulted with the pastors at his church ahead of time.

That church, like Calvin, is part of the Christian Reformed Church, a denomination that opposes same-sex marriage and teaches that sex should be limited to within a marriage between a man and a woman. Unlike other churches in the CRC, though, Kuilema said his congregation affirms same-sex marriage.

“I thought I had the personal academic and ecclesial freedom to do what I did,” he said.

In a March memo, Dean Benita Wolters-Fredlund called Kuilema’s decision to officiate the wedding a “serious lapse in judgement,” given that Calvin adheres to the CRC’s teachings forbidding same-sex marriage.

“Thus, despite Prof. Kuilema’s stellar record in the areas of Christian Reformed commitment, teaching, scholarship and service, and in contradiction with the unanimous recommendation of the tenured faculty in the Sociology and Social Work Department, I am unable to recommend that Prof. Kuilema be reappointed,” Wolters-Fredlund wrote.

The memo also detailed that Kuilema, who began teaching at Calvin in 2008, was denied tenure in 2018 due to “concerns around his tone and strategy with regard to controversial theological topics and LGBT+ advocacy.”

Movement To Build Affordable Housing on Church Land Reaches Florida

By

Alejandra Molina

-

April 25, 2022

Affordable Housing — Photo via Unsplahs.com @paralitik

(RNS) — As Miami-Dade County in Florida grapples with a housing affordability crisis, houses of worship are being recruited to build affordable homes on vacant or underutilized church land.

The national nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners on Thursday (April 21) announced $1.3 million in grant funding from the Wells Fargo Foundation that would go toward helping 15 South Florida congregations convert underused church property.

The nonprofit will assist clergy, who may lack the resources or knowledge to cut housing deals, in navigating the development process, negotiating long-term ground lease agreements and vetting development partners, such as architects and designers.

This effort is part of the nonprofit’s Faith-Based Development Initiative that launched in 2006 in the Mid-Atlantic region, where it has helped faith-based organizations create or preserve more than 1,500 affordable homes and one community-based health clinic.

So far, $8.5 million has been committed in a new push to help congregations in Atlanta, New York, Baltimore, Miami and Seattle build affordable housing on their properties.

In South Florida, this money is being made available just as Mayor Daniella Levine Cava in early April declared a state of emergency over housing affordability.

Faith leaders, along with county and housing officials, on Thursday (April 21) gathered at Koinonia Worship Center to talk about the steps congregations could take to build housing on their church land. The gathering was held in partnership with the Collective Empowerment Group of South Florida, a group of local churches that aims to provide homebuyer training and credit counseling services in the area.

David Bowers, vice president at Enterprise Community Partners, said this effort makes “radical common sense,” allowing congregations that are “sitting on a resource” to “be good and faithful stewards.”

“We will share lessons from you with others in cities around the country who are at work as we expand this movement,” Bowers, who is also an ordained minister, said Thursday.

Over the last few years the county has partnered with faith-based organizations to build seven affordable rental developments, said Jorge Damian de la Paz, a representative of the mayor, at the Thursday gathering. These projects stretch across Miami-Dade County, from Miami Gardens down to Richmond Heights.

Citing property records, de la Paz said there are more than 1,220 parcels in Miami-Dade County currently being used exclusively for religious purposes. This includes churches, synagogues and mosques. In total, houses of worship sit on at least 95 million square feet of land in Miami-Dade County, he said.

“Religious organizations, in aggregate, are some of the largest owners of land in Miami-Dade County,” de la Paz said.

“Some of these lots could potentially be used to build affordable housing or … some type of community facility to serve congregants in a new way and generate additional revenue to the organization,” he said.

One example is Second Baptist Church of Richmond Heights. In 2016, the church opened the Reverend John & Anita Ferguson Residence Apartments, which provides 79 units of affordable housing for seniors.

The Rev. Alphonso Jackson, pastor of Second Baptist Church, helped oversee the project, which was a vision of the former pastor, the Rev. John Ferguson, who secured the land adjacent to the church.

“It was our desire to complete the vision he had,” Jackson said on Thursday.

Jackson said they sought to secure the necessary funds to build the project in a way that “wouldn’t be a burden to the church.” They formed a community development corporation and dealt with housing bonds, tax credits and grant funding.

Although it was years in the making, “it ended up being a wonderful project,” Jackson said.

“It adds to the community. It increased the property value of the community. It is not an eye sore. It is something very nice … We are very proud of it,” he said.

This article originally appeared here.

Praying the Psalms: 10 Psalms to Bolster Your Prayer Life

By

Andrew Hess

-

April 25, 2022

It wasn’t too long ago that praying the Psalms was an unfamiliar phrase to many Evangelicals. But now recent books on prayer have begun to open the eyes of many to see the value of praying the Psalms. We believe praying each psalm is a great way to grow in prayer and agree with Robert Murray M’Cheyne who famously encouraged a friend to “Turn the Bible into prayer.” We hope you’ll join us in turning each psalm from the Psalms into prayer in the weeks and months ahead.

Praying the Psalms: 10 Psalms to Bolster Your Prayer Life

Psalm 139:1-18

Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart

O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.

Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

Don’t Change People – Love Them

By

Jarrid Wilson

-

April 25, 2022

I love change. I love helping people. And I love seeing people changed by the love God. But regardless of how much God decides to use me, I alone cannot change people. This is God’s job, not mine. I remember when I first became a believer in Jesus and somehow thought that it was my duty to change people for the sake of advancing The Gospel—which is funny because I myself wasn’t even changed by a man or women, but instead was loved and directed toward the only true source that could bring me change: God.

I would rejoice when people would find hope in Christ, but would feel like a failure when someone would turn away from wanting to know Jesus as Lord. I took it personally. It was a little discouraging, but that’s because my mindset was completely off. I was focusing way too much on what “I” was doing for God, and not enough on the bigger picture: God’s omnipotent power and preeminent role in the business of life change.

I believe many of today’s Christians put too much weight on themselves to bring people to Jesus. It’s our job to love people, not change them. And we must understand the reality that only the Holy Spirit has the power and authority to do such a thing. Our calling is to simply share The Gospel in love and truth, showcasing the character of Jesus through our everyday lives. This alone is the calling of a Christian. This alone is a weighty yet fulfilling purpose for each and every person who chooses to pick up their cross daily.

If we were to scour the Bible, we’d see there is not a single passage that states we are called to change people. Why? Because it’s not our job, and it was never intended to be. We must take a step back and realize that God’s job is to be God, and our job is to lead people toward the door that is hope. Once we’ve done this, we must let go and allow Him who created the world to take care of the rest.

“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” —John 13:34

Don’t waste your time trying to change people. Instead, focus on loving well.

My 7 Worst Pastoring Mistakes – Joe McKeever

By

Joe McKeever

-

April 25, 2022

Way back in the August 5, 2010, edition of the Baptist Message (our Louisiana state weekly), Lifeway (former) President Thom Rainer talked about seven pastoring mistakes he had made in his ministry. Give him credit, he admitted that if he wrote about all the pastoring mistakes he’d made in the Lord’s work, “it would have to be a multi-volume series!”

Before getting into my list, Thom’s deserves a look-see.

He wishes he had spent more time in prayer … given his family more time … spent more time sharing his faith … had loved his community more … had led his church to focus more on the nations … he wishes he had focused on critics less … and last: He wishes he had accepted the reality that he cannot be everywhere and meet every need.

My hunch is that almost everyone who has spent a few years in the Lord’s work can say ‘amen’ to everything on that list. My second hunch is that there is no one among us without regrets we did not do more of this and less of that. In fact, the more years you log in this work, the more scars you accumulate, the more experiences you pile up and the more regrets hound your attempts to sleep.

Pastoring Mistakes – They Come With Job

“A pastor lives in a world of unfinished jobs.” That’s one of my foundational truths. If the preacher cannot learn to turn it off at night, he’ll never get any sleep and not last. There’s always someone else who needed a call, a meeting that needed planning, a sermon going neglected. There’s always something.

“Regrets? I’ve had a few …” I’m hearing Reverend Frank Sinatra’s voice in my head now.

Want my list? Pull up a chair; this may take a while. I have 10 mistakes as a preacher, 10 as a pastor, 10 as a visionary leader for my church, 10 as a leader of the church ministerial staff, 10 as a denominational worker …

Get the idea? Anyone who does anything for the Lord and mankind in this life is going to do a less than perfect job. No one wants to grovel in regrets. I assure you I don’t. (Even though I’m still going to give you my list.)

But there is a huge reason for not going into a litany of our pastoring mistakes: God works even in our mistakes and can make good emerge from them. As a result, even though we look back and see the times we dropped the ball, we give thanks for what He accomplished through it all.

If you plotted on a graph the “advancement of my ministerial career”—as Paul said, “I speak as a fool”—you might conclude that I made a serious boo-boo in moving from Charlotte N.C. in 1990 to suburban New Orleans. Until then I had progressively moved upward. Suddenly, I’m took a nosedive and assumed the leadership of a church one-half the size of my previous congregation. The new church was still smarting from a massive blowup 18 months prior. Money was tight, feelings were raw, leadership was fleeing.

2 Enemy Attacks We Must Recognize

By

Chuck Lawless

-

April 23, 2022

I’m writing today about two particular attacks of Satan and his forces on believers, but I could list others (like false teaching, idolatry, etc). I focus on these two ways today because I increasingly see them in local churches and in pastoral ministries today. One is more corporate, and the other is more individual:

Division. Since the Garden of Eden when Adam blamed Eve for his sin, the enemy has sought to turn the people of God on one another (in fact, Genesis 4—the next story after the fall of Adam and Eve—is about a brother turning against his own brother). Divisions in families, among believing friends, and in corporate church bodies are nothing new—but they can be agonizing and tragic. The enemy knows we will not threaten him as long as we are shooting each other in the back.
Isolation. God created us to be in relationship with Him and with others; thus, it truly is not good to be alone (Gen 2:18). Like the roaring lion who separates its prey from the pack, the enemy seeks to devour us in our aloneness, in our vulnerability as we fight our battles unaided and unsupported (1 Pet 5:8). Temptations increase in the darkness of isolation, and the enemy delights when he finds us unprotected, un-prayed for, and unaware of his wiles.

Thus, here are some questions all of us must consider:

“Do I need to mend any broken relationships?”
“Do I foster unity or promote division and disunity in the body of Christ?”
“Am I intentionally isolating myself from other believers for some reason?”
“What battles am I losing in the darkness?”

If you see yourself in this post, I encourage you to seek intentionally to build relationships with others – and then lean on them in the power of the Spirit. Reject the enemy’s lies by standing on the truth of God’s Word.

This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.

Play these 7 youth camp games for excitement and to get acquainted:

1. Capture the Flag

2. Minute to Win It

3. Tug of War

4. Mega Duck, Duck, Goose

5. Water Balloon Toss

6. Scavenger Hunt

7. SPUD

8 Great Children’s Church Room Ideas

1. Declutter.

2. Deep Clean.

3. Paint.

4. Add Rugs.

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