How 5G Caused a Feud Between a Small Christian School and T-Mobile

April 14, 2022

(RNS) — The best decision Bob Harris, president of Christian College of Georgia, ever made for his school was to apply for an obscure Federal Communications Commission license.

In the 1990s, Harris learned that schools like his could apply for Educational Broadband Service licenses to allow them to broadcast educational programs. Such a license, he thought, would allow the school, which provides remote education for part-term clergy in the Disciples of Christ denomination, to expand its ministry.

The school could also lease some of its excess bandwidth to a cellphone provider to make a few extra bucks to support the mission. Since the license was free, Harris thought there was nothing to lose.

“I just applied for it and got it,” he said. “Anyone else could have done the same thing.”

His decision paid off.

Harris said his school, which was founded in the 1940s, currently gets $55,000 a year — or half of its annual income — from a lease of its EBS license, which the FCC identifies as WND620, to T-Mobile. Thanks to 2019 changes in FCC regulations that allow schools to sell their licenses off to commercial companies, Christian College of Georgia now finds itself with a license that is worth millions.

Last year, a company called WCO Spectrum offered Christian College more than $5.5 million for the license — an offer that could transform the future of the college. As the number of small churches rises — half the churches in the U.S. draw 65 people or fewer to services, according to the Faith Communities Today study — the need for part-time pastors will continue to grow. With a windfall from the sale of its license, the school could help provide training for many of them in its denomination.

Bob Harris. Courtesy photo

“If I had $5 million, I could really widen our net in terms of how we serve the church,” Harris said.

But a Goliath-sized obstacle stands in the school’s way.

T-Mobile has no intention of allowing Christian College to sell its license. When the school approached T-Mobile about the potential, the telecom giant replied with an offer to buy the license for $1 million and a warning: T-Mobile would try to block any other sale of the lease, according to a letter from T-Mobile’s lawyer in the summer of 2021.

“In short, the Lease does not permit the College to sell or assign the License to WCO,” the letter reads.

At issue is T-Mobile’s vast 5G network, which it claims is the largest in the country. That network is built largely on leases like the one with Christian College, which covers much of the area near Athens, Georgia. When the FCC changed its rules to allow the sale of those licenses, that network was put at risk.

National Association of Evangelicals Launches Racial Justice Collaborative

Adelle M Banks

April 14, 2022

racial justice collaborative — Mekdes Haddis, director of the National Association of Evangelicals’ new Racial Justice & Reconciliation Collaborative. Photo courtesy of NAE

(RNS) — The National Association of Evangelicals has hired a director of its new Racial Justice & Reconciliation Collaborative, an initiative aimed at providing resources and training for churches in its 40 member denominations.

Mekdes Haddis, the new initiative’s director, was hired for the full-time role a month ago after serving in church and nonprofit circles for more than a decade. She is working remotely from South Carolina for the Washington-based evangelical organization.

“I’ve talked with many NAE member organization leaders and have been excited to discover a great deal of self-awareness and earnest desire for reconciliation,” she told Religion News Service in a statement. “There is a lot of synergy and commitment to the task.”

In 2020, the NAE inaugurated Walter Kim, a Korean American theologian, as its new president. At the same Washington ceremony, John K. Jenkins Sr., the African American senior pastor of Maryland’s First Baptist Church of Glenarden, was installed as chair of the NAE and former Wesleyan Church General Superintendent Jo Anne Lyon as vice chair.

Kim has made recent appearances at the Ethics and Public Policy’s Faith Angle Forum and the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities International Forum at which he has spoken about the racial diversity of evangelicals.

In an interview after his remarks at the CCCU meeting, Kim said he hopes the collaborative will help religious institutions within and beyond the NAE “that want to take a next step from ‘I’ve read this book’ or ‘I’ve seen this webinar.’”

Kim also said he hopes the collaborative will offer a place of respite for the “exhaustion” and
“a spiritual oasis of encouragement for people of color working in predominantly white institutions.”

In an article for Faithfully magazine four years ago, Haddis, an Ethiopian immigrant, addressed that exhausting experience, writing of her desire to “bring healing” to evangelical Christianity as she sought to preserve her cultural identity.

“For those interacting with me in the United States, especially those in the church, I represented a group of people from which they isolate themselves,” she wrote in the article, titled “Embracing My Otherness in the US Evangelical Church.”

“I discovered that I was first Black, second a female, third an immigrant, and lastly (if we got there) a Christian.”

Haddis is author of the forthcoming book “A Just Mission: Laying Down Power and Embracing Mutuality.”

The Lilly Endowment is providing $1 million to support the NAE’s collaborative, which comes at a time when other evangelical organizations have also attempted to work on race relations in long-term initiatives.

Last year, World Vision U.S., an evangelical Christian humanitarian organization, completed what an executive there called “a one-year mutual learning journey towards a Biblical understanding of what it means to pursue racial justice.”

In November, hundreds of evangelical Christians gathered at the Museum of the Bible to kick off the “Let’s Talk” initiative to listen to stories of racism and make plans to build racial unity. It has continued through monthly Zoom meetings with leaders, including Jenkins, gathering in small group discussions.

“I do think that there is a constituency of people whose hearts are open to recognizing the need to address the tension and the division that’s greatly in our country,” said Jenkins, who credited Kim with creating the NAE’s collaborative.

Kim, who also is a pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, said in a statement that he expects NAE’s new three-year commitment will last much longer.

“Of course, the NAE’s commitment to racial justice and reconciliation expresses a belief that the Church should be deeply engaged in this work as a reflection of our beliefs,” he said. “As such, it will be an ongoing aspect of our work.”

This article originally appeared here.

Southern Baptists Applaud Oklahoma Abortion Ban

Tom Strode

April 14, 2022

thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

OKLAHOMA CITY (BP) – Oklahoma’s enactment of a prohibition on abortion except to save the life of the mother received a grateful welcome from Southern Baptists at state and national levels.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed into law Tuesday (April 12) the ban, which criminalizes the performance of an abortion or attempt to perform an abortion as a felony. If convicted, a person may receive a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and/or a fine of as much as $100,000.

Enactment of the Oklahoma measure is the latest state action on the issue in efforts by both pro-life and abortion-rights advocates to prepare for a pending decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. That ruling, expected by this summer in a case out of Mississippi, could reverse the justices’ nearly 50-year-old opinion that legalized abortion throughout the country.

“Oklahoma Baptists have worked and prayed to see an end to legalized abortion, and we are greatly encouraged to see efforts come together aimed at ending abortion in this state, so that every life is protected and valued,” said Todd Fisher, executive director-treasurer of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma (BGCO).

“We will continue to seek to minister to women who find themselves in an unintended or crisis pregnancy by offering tangible help and pointing them to the hope found in Jesus,” Fisher told The Baptist Messenger, the BGCO’s news journal.

Hannah Daniel, a policy associate for the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), said, “More and more states are working through what it looks like to save lives and end abortion, and that is what Oklahoma is doing here.”

With the Supreme Court set to issue a decision “in the near future, we are hopeful that a favorable ruling will ensure more states can implement a culture of life in their respective legal frameworks,” Daniel said in written comments for Baptist Press. “The ERLC, in partnership with our convention of churches, will continue to tirelessly advocate for laws that protect preborn lives, support vulnerable mothers and work towards a day when abortion is both unnecessary and unthinkable.”

During a signing ceremony, Stitt said, “I promised Oklahomans that I would sign every pro-life bill that hit my desk.”

Oklahomans “overwhelmingly support protecting life in the state of Oklahoma,” he said. “We want Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state in the country.”

The law, approved 38-9 in the Senate and 70-14 in the House of Representatives, does not authorize charging a woman in the case of the death of her unborn child. It also does not ban the sale or use of a contraceptive if administered before a woman is determined to be pregnant.

Abortion-rights supporters decried the law. Emily Wales, interim president of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, called it “a very dark day in Oklahoma. We will fight back against these cruel bans in court because people shouldn’t have to cross state lines in secret to access care that should be available in their communities.”

While Oklahoma and other states have approved various bans on abortion this year, Maryland recently joined the states that have enacted abortion rights legislation.

On April 8, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed the Abortion Care Access Act, which mandates $3.5 million in the yearly budget to provide training for the performance of abortions in an effort to make certain there are enough abortion practitioners in the state. The House of Delegates overrode Hogan’s veto in a 90-46 vote April 9, and the Senate followed suit by 29-15 the same day.

Texas Youth Pastor Arrested on Sexual Abuse Charges

Brandon Porter

April 14, 2022

MESQUITE, Texas (BP) – A Texas youth pastor is being held on a $2.5 million bond after being arrested on three counts of sexual abuse related to a minor. Conner Jesse Penny, 32, was arrested April 5 and charged with one count of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child, one count of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child, and one count of Indecency with a Child.

The police report alleges Penny, “had sexual contact with a female under the age of 17 years of age on multiple occasions between 2015 and 2018.”

Police say he was “employed as the youth pastor at the Inspiration Church, formerly known as Mimosa Lane Baptist Church, in Mesquite,” at the time of his arrest. He had previously worked for the Mesquite Independent School District and the City of Mesquite, according to the report.

Since the arrest, there have been allegations of other instances of abuse, according to police.

In a statement released to Baptist Press, Rocky Pope, longtime senior pastor of Inspiration Church, wrote, “We are shocked and deeply saddened by the events of the last few days. It breaks our hearts for any and all who are related to the allegations of sexual abuse. We take the safety of everyone, but especially children very seriously in all that we do.”

Pope, now a teaching pastor at the church, said, “… we have policies and procedures in place which includes background checks on a regular basis for people involved with our ministry, both staff and volunteers. Since learning of these allegations, Conner Jesse Penny has been terminated from our church staff.”

Pope said the church is cooperating with local authorities as the investigation continues and is encouraging people to contact the local police if they have more information.

“We are fully cooperating with the investigation as we are trusting God through the legal process that justice will prevail and that any and all victims will find healing and help in the days ahead,” Pope told Baptist Press.

David Hardage, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, responded to the news, “We are heartbroken to learn of these allegations, and we have reached out to the church to offer the full support of our Texas Baptists Counseling Services to all who have been impacted.”

He said the convention urges “affiliated congregations to be proactive in their efforts to protect against, report, and care well following instances of sexual abuse, and we continue to make available a host of trainings and additional resources to aid in these efforts.”

Pope asked people to pray for all those involved in the case.

“I would ask you to please pray for the hurting families involved, our church, community/city, and schools as we seek God’s wisdom and will during these difficult times,” he said.

Mesquite Police request that if anyone has further information about the case they call them at 972-285-6336.

Editor’s Note: In support of the sixth strategic action of Vision 2025 adopted by messengers to the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting, Baptist Press will continue to report every instance of sexual abuse related to Southern Baptist churches or leaders of which we are made aware.

This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.

R.C. Sproul: Principle vs. Pragmatism

R.C. Sproul

April 14, 2022

Some years ago, I drove along the Pennsylvania Turnpike about two o’clock in the morning with a friend after having spent all day at a steel corporation in eastern Pennsylvania dealing with labor management issues. My companion was a man who had lost his job as a highly paid executive in the industry for being too concerned about the welfare and dignity of the laborers in his plant. As we were making this drive in the wee hours of the morning, I noticed my friend was at the point of exhaustion, and so I asked him the question: “Why are you doing this?” He looked over at me as if to indicate that my question was a foolish one, and he replied simply: “Because it’s the right thing to do.”

In stark contrast to that, in this past year I have witnessed the worst type of corruption within the church that I have seen in my lifetime. I was chairing the board of a Christian institution of learning as we dealt with a question of the propriety of the teaching of one of the professors. The task of the board was to guard the purity of the doctrine of the institution. The motion was made to suspend the professor for a brief period of time in order to give him an opportunity to amend his views. As chairman, I did not vote, but the motion carried by a vote of eight to two.

During the discussion, one of the men who voted against the resolution asked this question: “Can’t we deal with this question in a more pragmatic way?” Another board member responded by saying, “No, it is our responsibility to act not according to pragmatism but according to principle.” The motion to suspend was passed by a margin of eight-to-two. The pragmatist who was outvoted, instead of submitting to the vote or bringing in a minority report, went around the board and did everything in his power to have the board’s decision overthrown. Accomplishing this, his next move was to see to it that board members with whom he disagreed were ousted from the board. Through Machiavellian machinations of corruption, this pragmatist was able to succeed. In his wake, he left the demolition of a strategically important institution of Christian learning.

What is pragmatism? Pragmatism is the only philosophy native to America. Pragmatism eschews any hope of discovering ultimate truth. It is skeptical with respect to objective principles of righteousness and defines truth as “that which works.” In this philosophy, the end always justifies the means. The driving force behind decisions within the scope of pragmatism is the force of expediency.

We remember in the days of the trial of Jesus of Nazareth, two of the important players were Caiaphas and Pontius Pilate. Both men made their decisions to have Jesus executed on the basis of expediency (Mark 15:15; John 11:45–53). Caiaphas and Pontius Pilate were pragmatists with a vengeance.

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to have lunch with a ranking senator of the United States Congress. During our discussion, I raised an ethical issue that the Senate faced at that time and asked him why the Senate didn’t act on that particular issue. He replied that he agreed with me that the Senate certainly should act on it, but he added that they could not do it that year because it was an election year. I moved to my second question and asked about another issue that needed the Senate’s attention. Again he agreed that it should be addressed, but not that particular year because it was an election year.

After we got to the sixth or seventh question where the mantra was repeated again (“not this year because it’s an election year”), I looked at the senator and asked, “Is there anybody up here on Capitol Hill who thinks about the next generation instead of the next election?” I guess it was too idealistic of me to think that our nation’s leaders would be a bit more concerned for the welfare of the nation than for their own political war chest. No nation (or Christian institution, for that matter) can survive when its leaders are driven by a spirit of pragmatism or make their decisions according to political expediency.

Trial & Denial: Are You Ashamed of Christ?

Clint Archer

April 14, 2022

Queen “Bloody” Mary came to the throne of England in 1553. As a Catholic, she opposed the Protestant Reformers that were turning England upside down. Most of all, she detested Thomas Cranmer.

Cranmer was the Archbishop of Canterbury, the highest office in the Anglican church. Cranmer had been the personal counselor to kings Henry VIII and Edward VI. Although Cranmer was frequently embroiled in political affairs, he was somehow always able to maintain an above-reproach reputation of godliness. JC Ryle said of him that “No man passed through so much dirt, and yet came out of it so thoroughly undefiled.”

But under Mary his luck ran out. Mary was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Argon. Mary blamed Cranmer for her parents’ divorce. When she came to power, she arrested Cranmer and tried him for heresy. He was instructed to recant his teachings about the doctrines of the Reformation, or face execution. Cranmer boldly refused to recant, as Mary knew he would, and so he was condemned to be burned at the stake.

He was a hero of the English Reformation, a picture of the true saint, one who would rather die than deny Christ’s gospel. But then something happened. A month before his execution, Cranmer’s courage failed him. He was so afraid of the prospect of being burned alive that he signed an official recantation of his beliefs and teachings.

The Christian world was deeply disappointed in their once-heroic martyr for the faith, now denying the faith to save his skin. But no one was more disappointed in Cranmer’s decision than Queen Mary. She wanted to execute him. She never imagined he’d actually recant. Enraged that her plan to kill him had been thwarted by his cowardice, Mary decreed that Cranmer be burned anyway!

But in so doing, she gave Cranmer something no one else could have: a second chance to prove himself. On the day of his execution, he addressed the crowd and expressed the heartfelt repentance of his recantation. He declared anew his belief in the teachings of the Reformation.

JC Ryle writes of his last moments: “With a light heart and a clear conscience, he cheerfully allowed himself to be hurried to the stake…Boldly and undauntedly he stood up at the stake while the flames curled around him…” Then, he took his right hand, with which had signed the recantation, and he reached down, thrusting it into the flames, shouting ‘This unworthy right hand!’ And he held it there steadily as it burned to a stump.

The man who was so afraid of fire was given a chance to show as much courage as any of the English Martyrs … thanks to a second chance. Today we see another man dealing with the fires of denial.

In John 18:15-18 and 25-27 we read the story of Peter’s denial of Jesus after his arrest, and from this we get …

3 Probing Questions to Test Our Commitment to Christ

1. How Are You Ashamed of Being a Christian?

The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” (John 18:17)

Eric Geiger: Church, Mission, and 4 Challenges of Technology

Eric Geiger

April 14, 2022

Every new technology provides an opportunity for gospel advancement. With the Gutenberg press, the Scripture became more accessible. With the advent of the microphone and sound system, regular preachers without booming George Whitefield voices were able to speak the good news of Jesus to more people. With radio, Christians such as C.S. Lewis were able to place important messages about Christ into the culture of the day. With social media, messages are able to be quickly shared and spread. But with these changes come the challenges of technology.

Sean Parker, who was president of Facebook for a season, admitted that Facebook (and assuming other social media): “literally changes your relationship with society, with each other. It probably interferes with productivity in weird ways. God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains. It’s a social-validation feedback loop, exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you’re exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology.”

Clearly those who have introduced new technology to our world know there are some really damaging and destructive results in the technology they introduced. People learn, without realizing it, to live for likes and hearts. And phrases such as FOMO (fear of missing out) have been invented because teenagers see a continual highlight reel of places where they were not invited.

So, is technology good or bad? It depends who is using it and for what motivation. In Titus 1:15 the apostle Paul writes, “To the pure, everything is pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure…” Yes, I want to use technology in ministry but I also want to recognize the challenges of technology that wise men and women have articulated. Here are four thoughts that summarize where I am today on the issue:

4 Challenges of Technology

1. We must use the tools of the day and the language of the day.

Technology can and should be used for noble purposes, for spreading the good news of Jesus, and for encouraging believers. We are grateful that God had the New Testament written in Koine Greek (everyday language) instead of Classical Greek because God wants His message heard by people He created and loves.

2. We must place the message where people are.

Pay attention the next time you are in a line or at a red-light. People are on their phones. Both believers and non-believers are connected continually. Should we caution against technology changing us? We should. But we also should place the message where people are.

**3. We must not equate consumption with development.**

People who are in a group where there is discussion, study, and interaction have a very different experience then those who simply press play and consume. Someone who passively watches is much less likely to be developed. Ministry leaders must not stop at consumption and we must not equate it with development.

**4. We must not confuse mission and church.**

Do I want people to be able to hear the gospel online? Absolutely! Do I like that people in our church can stay connected to a teaching series when they are traveling or sick? For certain! But do I want them to equate watching a service on their couch with being in community? I do not. Sean Parker admitted Facebook is changing the brains of children. While we should use tools to reach people, we must resist the biblical picture of the church being altered. To place in in theological terms: My missiology gets me to using technology to spread the message but my ecclesiology forces me to keep reminding people that they must be in community. Church is plural and worship gatherings are communal.

For some this reads conflicting. Eric is advocating for “new school” in terms of technology and mission and “old school” in terms of technology and the gathering of the church? I don’t see it as a conflict, but as a paradox. We must place the message in the context of culture and we must invite God’s people to gather together. Both are true. And actually, both are old school.

This article on the challenges of technology originally appeared here, and is used by permission.

Church Visitor Follow Up Strategy: Maximize KidMin Outreach Events

ChildrensMinistry.com

April 13, 2022

Outreach events can be a lot of work, but they’re worth it when done right. Children’s ministers agree that it’s great when lots of people attend. But is it worth the time if new children and families don’t return? That why it’s essential to have a church visitor follow up strategy in place.

People returning to your church after a kidmin outreach event isn’t a given. At Christian Life Center in Portland, Oregon, Pastor Werner Rienas says, “Twenty percent of those who visit a church visit again. Another 20 percent will never return, no matter what follow up is done. However, 60 percent of guests need nurture and follow up if they are to return.”

We want your children’s ministry outreach events to be wildly successful. And we want your church to grow! So we discovered five key steps to a fantastic church visitor follow up strategy. Follow our step-by-step guide with proven ideas to get first-time guests to return to your church.

5 Elements of a Church Visitor Follow Up Strategy

1. Visitor-Friendly Events

Great follow-up isn’t just the actions you take after an event. A successful church visitor follow up strategy includes taking care of visitor-friendly details that ensure your event is well attended and welcoming from start to finish.

Experience of a Lifetime

Consider these critical things that will get your guests wanting more.

• Great Beginnings — From the moment families enter your parking lot, welcoming faces and clear signage must direct them to your entryway. Have volunteers direct traffic for easy parking—even if you think your church is too small for this. Then have uniformed attendants direct people to the event entrance (a uniform can be a simple vest or fun hat). Also, post greeters at the entryway who can smile and answer guests’ questions.

• First-Class Event — Put on an event that your community can’t wait to attend. Use welcoming publicity that invites the whole community, not just church members. Train volunteers to be friendly and attentive to children and families. Recruit floaters to ensure restrooms are cleaned and stocked and garbage cans are regularly emptied. Make sure all elements are fun, welcoming and worthy of buzz as families leave.

• Exit Strategies — Stage volunteers at exits to ensure people feel just as welcomed when they leave as when they came. Train volunteers to thank them for coming and ask a question about what their favorite part was. Hang posters with information about your service times or next event. Display large photos of kids with quotes about why they love your children’s ministry.

Be My Guest

More than 40 percent of the unchurched said they’d return if a friend or acquaintance invited them. What a simple yet overlooked church visitor follow up strategy! Encourage people to make a personal invitation and keep in touch afterward.

• Kid-to-Kid — Encourage kids to invite friends, classmates and neighbors. Give them a fun way to invite kids. For example, give them two rubber wristbands with the information about your event. They keep one and give one away.

• Adult-to-Kid — Encourage adults to invite kids they already know with a fun, customizable invitation. Simply cut the opening and place a sucker in it. Encourage adults to offer to pick up children (with permission) if they need a ride.

• Family-to-Family — Create a polished “ticket” to the event that church members can give out. Encourage families to share with others the one thing they’re looking forward to most at the event. Then they can tell prospective guests how much they’d enjoy going with them.

Disney to Run PSA From GLAAD Featuring Family With Trans Teen

Jessica Lea

April 13, 2022

Disney is planning to air a public service announcement titled “Protect Our Families” that was created by media monitoring organization GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). Comcast, WarnerMedia and Paramount will also air the PSA, which focuses on a family with a trans teen.

“Do you want to meet a family with a transgender kid?” asks Amber Briggle at the beginning of the PSA, which was posted to YouTube on April 3. “Here we are.”

‘Protect Our Families’ PSA Emphasizes Love

GLAAD posted an article about the new “Protect Our Families” PSA on April 6, saying GLAAD is “working to secure donated airtime” and that Disney and the other three companies will run 60-second, 30-second and 10-second versions of the PSA across the country. Amber Briggle narrates the video, which shows her and her husband, Adam Briggle, living life with their children, Max and Lulu, focusing particularly on the love they have for Max, who is transgender.

“When I found out I was pregnant, all I really wanted was a happy, healthy, whole child,” says Briggle. “And that’s what I got. If you’ve never met a transgender child before, what I want you to know is that that child is no different than yours.”

Briggle says, “There are some politicians who are trying to tear my family apart simply because my son is transgender. Trans kids don’t have a political agenda. They are just kids. They just want to be left alone.” The video concludes with a call to protect families with trans kids by going to the newly created site Equality-Now.org, where people can sign up to receive more information and show public support.

Disney has been in the news quite a bit recently in connection with Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which prohibits teachers from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity with children in kindergarten through 3rd grade. Disney faced criticism for initially remaining silent about the bill, although executives later condemned it. The company has since taken steps to show active support for the LGTBQ community.

Despite the national attention Florida’s bill has received, it seems likely that Briggle’s statement in “Protect Our Families” about “politicians who are trying to tear my family apart” refers to the actions of political leaders in her home state of Texas. In August 2021, the state of Texas declared it child abuse to conduct surgery to change the sex of a minor. On Feb. 22, 2022, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a letter stating:

Consistent with our correspondence in August 2021, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has now confirmed in the enclosed opinion that a number of so-called “sex change” procedures constitute child abuse under existing Texas law. Because the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) is responsible for protecting children from abuse, I hereby direct your agency to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation of any reported instances of these abusive procedures in the State of Texas.

The Babylon Bee Criticized for Anti-Asian Racism

Dale Chamberlain

April 13, 2022

The Babylon Bee is again at the center of controversy with a satirical news article that some Christian leaders are denouncing for anti-Asian racism.

The headline, placed above an image of Dr. Anthony Fauci with a “Fu Manchu” style goatee, wearing a conical hat, and standing in a rice field, reads, “China Introduces New Head Of COVID Policy Dr. Anthon-Yong Fauching.”

“In a televised address to 1.4 billion beloved citizens caged in their own homes in the name of health, Chairman Xi Jinping introduced the Chinese Communist Party’s new Head of COVID Policy, Dr. Anthon-Yong Fauching,” the article said.

The article then joked that the new Head of China’s COVID policy demanded the execution of a journalist who questioned his methods, touting the success of the new measures while “wiping fresh blood from his hands and humming a happy tune.”

The satirical article was written in light of the outbreak of COVID-19 cases in Shanghai, China, and the Chinese government’s response to it. According to Fortune, over 26,000 new cases have been reported, and strict lockdown measures have been implemented, resulting in a food shortage.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, who serves as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and is the Chief Medical Advisor to the President, has been repeatedly criticized by conservatives throughout the COVID-19 pandemic for his health safety recommendations. Many conservatives have characterized pandemic related restrictions as an infringement on civil liberties.

“I guess the @babylonbee’s (sic) normal casual racism wasn’t enough, they had to go full tilt with this one,” one person replied to a tweet by The Babylon Bee managing editor Joel Berry that included a link to the satirical article.

“Just a reminder that the Babylon Bee is racist trash,” said Oklahoma church planter Bryan Padgett. “These clowns claim Jesus, and then folks wonder why more and more want nothing to do with Christianity and/or are deconstructing. I’m so sick of how acceptable & commonplace racism is in white, evangelical Christianity.”

“There is a circulating Babylon Bee post (I won’t share the image) that hits a new level in their racism, [especially] anti-Asian hate,” tweeted theologian Sam Won. “The Bee is a mirror. What should trouble all of us is that there is an American Christianity that encourages & affirms their racism. I’m at a loss.”

“And I cannot take seriously anyone’s claims about wanting racial reconciliation or unity in Christ if they find the Bee’s kind of toxic racist content funny or see it as harmless,” Won went on to say.

‘The Chosen’ Billboards Appearing To Be Defaced Actually a Marketing Tactic, Misleading Fans

Jesse T. Jackson

April 13, 2022

A billboard in San Antonio, Texas, promoting the critically acclaimed multi-season series about the life of Jesus Christ titled “The Chosen” appeared to have been defaced with a message of hate towards the show. However, it is a marketing scheme by its distributor, Angel Studios.

The billboard in San Antonio shows an image of the actor Jonathan Roumie, who portrays Jesus in the series, next to the words “ChosenSux.com. Binge Salad (eww).” The URL directs users to a website called “The Chosen Is Not Good.”

The website features a satirical video titled “Stop watching the Chosen…It’s not good.” The video depicts an actor playing Satan teaching a classroom of demons and saying, “Hello class. Wellcome to hell,” in front of the words “Intro to Damnation” written on the chalk board.

The video shows Satan teaching the class how to shut down what he calls the “high quality TV series about Jesus” by discrediting it. Satan admits that this is a challenge, given the how well-done the show is.

Showing clips from “The Chosen,” Angel Studios promotes its free app where viewers can binge the first two seasons at no charge.

“This Jesus with an actual personality,” Satan says, “is a real pain in my Satanic butt. Here’s the plan. Convince the public that watching ‘The Chosen’ will feel more like a Sunday school video and less like the high-end epic it actually is.”

The demons can’t help but admit that “The Chosen” is good. While viewing a clip of Jesus interacting with the woman at the well, Satan starts to cry, and another demon says that the show makes her want to be more like Jesus. She then ascends from hell into what appears to be heaven.

The main purpose of the video appears to be promoting the Angel Studios app, so viewers will watch the first two seasons of the show before the third season releases later this year.

“The Chosen” tweeted images of other billboards that appeared to be defaced with the hashtag #ChosenFeedback. One billboard read, “ChosenSux.com; Come and see Poopy butts,” and another said “ChosenSux.com; The Chosen is boring.”

The next day, the show tweeted, “As you may have heard, these billboards are one part of a larger marketing campaign that launched yesterday. At the beginning of our livestream tonight at 8:30 ET, Dallas will give you the scoop on what’s behind it (the devil, really???).”

Texas Supreme Court Ruling on Former SBC Leader Paul Pressler Opens Doors for Sexual Abuse Lawsuits

Stephanie Martin

April 13, 2022

Thanks to a ruling last week by the Texas Supreme Court, a high-profile sexual abuse lawsuit involving a prominent Southern Baptist figure will be permitted to continue. The court determined that Duane Rollins’ civil case against Paul Pressler may proceed, even though the five-year statute of limitations has passed.

Paul Pressler Faces Abuse Lawsuit

Rollins is suing Paul Pressler, a former youth leader and Texas Appeals Court judge, who denies the charges and argues they are coming too late. Pressler, 91, helped lead the conservative resurgence within the Southern Baptist Convention and publicly endorsed Ted Cruz for president in 2015.

Rollins, a former assistant to Pressler, claims Pressler sexually abused him for years. Rollins says he turned to alcohol and drugs to deal with the trauma, which led to crime and a prison sentence. While incarcerated, he received counseling and realized he had been victimized. Rollins’ attorney has argued that the statute of limitations should begin when the assault is realized, not when it occurred.

According to court documents, Rollins and Pressler had “an altercation in a Dallas hotel room” in 2003 that led to an assault lawsuit, which was settled. As part of that $450,000 settlement, Pressler agreed to pay Rollins $1,500 per month for 25 years.

Pressler attended First Baptist Church in Houston from 1978 to 2007, and church attorney Barry Flynn tells WORLD Magazine the congregation learned of alleged “inappropriate behavior” by Pressler in 2004. “At that time, there was nothing for us to do,” says Flynn. “There were no claims against First Baptist Church. The claims were against Paul Pressler, not against us.” Pressler wasn’t a church employee or deacon.

In 1989, Pressler declined a presidential appointment from President George H.W. Bush. Pressler’s critics said “ethics problems” allegedly emerged during his FBI background check. Former SBC president Paige Patterson, a friend of Pressler’s, was reportedly aware of an allegation of “homosexual behavior” against the judge but denied its veracity. Patterson was fired as a Baptist seminary president, in part for mishandling sexual abuse claims.

A Win for Sexual Abuse Survivors

According to the Houston Chronicle, which reported in 2019 about widespread sexual abuse within the SBC, last week’s ruling “opens the door in Texas for people who were sexually abused as children to sue both attackers and institutions that mishandled or concealed the abuses years or decades later.”

SBC Leader’s Holy Week Plagued by Leaked Story of Wife’s Abuse

Dale Chamberlain

April 13, 2022

sbc abuse — Left: photo taken at 2021 meeting of SBC (courtesy of Baptist Press); Right: screengrab from Twitter.

While the western church celebrates Holy Week, which will culminate in Easter on Sunday, leaders within the Southern Baptist Convention are continuing to grapple with stories of abuse and a forthcoming Guidepost Solutions report about whether their Executive Committee mishandled allegations of sexual misconduct.

As the SBC looks ahead to the release of that report at its annual meeting in June, where it will also elect a new president, stories of victimization have themselves been politicized.

On April 7, G3 Ministries published an article written by Jennifer Buck, wife of outspoken Texas SBC pastor Tom Buck, wherein she described struggles from the early days of their nearly 35-year marriage, as well as how the couple experienced restoration and healing.

In the article, Buck described conflicts in the marriage that stemmed from her husband’s “anger and controlling nature.” She described his behavior in those days as “quick to voice his disapproval in ways that were certainly abusive.” Buck explained that the couple’s relationship worsened after suffering a miscarriage, and she wasn’t sure the marriage would last.

Buck said that a mentor expressed concern for her and made sure that she was not feeling “physically threatened in any way” but never presented divorce as an option.

Things “came to a head” one day when Buck rested a cold can of soda on her husband’s neck as a joke and he responded in anger by slapping her wrist. Buck said that this was a defining moment that frightened them both. Following the incident, the couple sought the wisdom of mentors, and Tom sought to repent of his anger.

“Tom and I are amazed at the reconciliation and restoration God worked in us,” Buck said. “Our marriage is certainly not perfect, but none of those ugly days have been repeated.”

After the article was published, other leaders were quick to laud Buck’s courage in sharing such a personal and vulnerable story in the hopes of encouraging others.

“A wonderful story of God’s powerful grace,” said Florida pastor and Founders Ministries president Tom Ascol. “Every real Christian will rejoice in this story & the hope it gives to each of us!”

“A courageous article,” tweeted Texas pastor Bart Barber. “Thank you.”

On April 11, Baptist News Global (BNG) published a report that painted Buck’s article in a different light.

In that report, David Bumgardner revealed that BNG had come into possession of an earlier draft of Buck’s article, which had originally been authored in 2018 in the wake of Paige Patterson’s firing from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for mishandling sexual abuse allegations. It was intended to be published pseudonymously.

The anonymous source leaked the draft via an “untraceable email” account to BNG and other publications, a document that Bumgardner described as vastly different “in content, detail, scope and length” than the finalized article published by G3. An anonymous Twitter account, presumably run by the same source, also harassed Tom Buck online regarding the contents of the draft.

The email and Twitter accounts have since been deactivated.

Reportedly, the source was seeking to leak the draft in an attempt to discredit Tom Buck, who is an influential if not controversial SBC leader and vocal supporter of Tom Ascol in the SBC presidential election.

Later in the article, Bumgardner also raised the issues of pastoral qualifications and the permissibility of divorce in light of abuse allegations, saying, “One thing that remains unclear is what exactly the majority of churches and messengers in the SBC believe about pastoral qualifications, divorce and their relationship to physical and emotional forms of abuse — beyond sexual abuse.”

Kristen Padilla: What the Church Is Missing When It Comes to Women in Ministry

Jessica Lea

April 13, 2022

The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast · Kristen Padilla: What the Church Is Missing When It Comes to Women in Ministry

Kristen Padilla has an M.Div. from Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Ala., and serves as Beeson’s marketing and communications director. In early 2021, Kristen launched The Center for Women in Ministry at Beeson, and she is the author of “Now That I’m Called: A Guide for Women Discerning a Call to Ministry.”

Other Ways to Listen to This Podcast With Kristen Padilla

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Key Questions for Kristen Padilla

-What is your spiritual and denominational background and how were you raised to think about women in ministry?

-How do you personally deal with complementarian and egalitarian questions and how would you encourage church leaders to to deal with some of those issues?

-What needs and challenges do you see women who are called to ministry facing? Why is there a need for The Center for Women in Ministry?

-What can churches do to support women in ministry?

Key Quotes From Kristen Padilla

“I was raised in ministry, raised in the church. And so nothing was necessarily said about what women could or could not do. But my lived experience showed no women in ministry on a church staff.”

“I was trying to figure out to navigate, what do I do with my gender as it relates to serving the Lord? And especially as I grew in discipleship, I just had a love for God’s Word in the church.”

“If I had not had [supportive parents], I don’t know that I would have pursued any kind of formal ministry leadership role.”

“If I was going to be in ministry, I felt a very strong conviction that I needed to be theologically trained…I need to be an astute teacher. I need to do the same training that men are doing in preparation for ministry.”

“I think the first thing that we have to do is to see each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. And what does it mean to love one another? And I don’t find labels helpful more often than not.”

Ukraine Upset by Vatican Inviting Russian to Carry Cross

Frances D'Emilio

April 13, 2022

Good Friday procession — Pope Francis arrives to attend his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall at The Vatican, Wednesday, April 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

ROME (AP) — A close associate of Pope Francis on Wednesday defended the Vatican’s decision to have a Russian woman and a Ukrainian woman carry the cross together during a Good Friday procession that will be presided over by the pontiff.

On Tuesday, both the Ukrainian ambassador to the Holy See and the archbishop of Kyiv blasted the choice given Russia’s invasion and war in Ukraine. The women are both nurses who work together at a Rome hospital.

Ukrainian Ambassador Andrii Yurash tweeted that he “understands and shares general concern in Ukraine and many other communities about idea to bring together Ukrainian and Russian women” to carry the cross during part of the procession on Friday.

“Now we are working on the issue trying to explain difficulties of its realization and possible consequences,” the ambassador said.

The torchlit procession at at Rome’s Colosseum is a traditional part of the Vatican’s Holy Week observances.

The Vatican didn’t immediately comment.

Responding to the criticism, the Rev. Antonio Spadaro, a Jesuit priest in Rome who is close to Francis, defended the pairing of the Russian and Ukrainian women for the solemn procession.

“You have to understand one thing” about the pope, Spadaro told Italian state radio network RAI on Wednesday. “He’s a pastor, not a politician.”

Spadaro ventured that the image of the two women carrying the cross together was upsetting “because they represent something that can’t be obtained” now — “peace.”

Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, who is based in Kyiv and heads the Greek-Catholic church in Ukraine, also denounced the pairing.

“I consider this idea inopportune and ambiguous,” Shevchuk said, adding that it “doesn’t take into consideration the context of the Russian military aggression against Ukraine.”

Good Drama: Wisconsin Church Celebrates 50 Years of Outdoor Easter Witness

Scott Barkley

April 13, 2022

MILWAUKEE (BP) – For Easter weekend 1972 Pastor Paul Becker decided to take advantage of Northwest Baptist Church’s location, adjacent to a main thoroughfare in the suburb of Wauwatosa. The result became a long-running witness to the community now spanning generations.

“The observance of Holy Week prior to Easter is particularly significant in Milwaukee, where liturgical churches predominate,” says an excerpt of “From a Small Stream: A Forty Year History of Minnesota-Wisconsin Southern Baptists 1953-1993.” Published by that state convention, it goes on to describe the tomb replica as consisting of plywood, paper mâché and canvas. A small campfire officially sanctioned by city leaders as a “barbecue pit” provided warmth for early spring nights that typically include chilly temperatures and even snow.

“It was the only sacred cow I was told the church had when I came here,” said the church’s current pastor, Paul Springer, Jr., on his arrival three weeks before Easter in 2017.

As the drama celebrates 50 years this weekend, Springer’s reasons for not changing it have nothing to do with keeping feathers unruffled.

“We’re known for it in the community,” he said. “I met folks last year who brought their grandkids to it and told me how they had attended when they were children.”

During the weekend the church also hosts an Eggstravaganza for children, where members in biblical dress tell the Easter account. Another outdoor drama Sunday morning depicting the Resurrection serves as the completion of the one that began on Good Friday. Afterward, a community pancake breakfast is held in the fellowship hall followed by another Easter service, this one indoors.

The staging and two Roman guards standing sentry draw attention throughout the weekend. Church members sign up for three-hour shifts in teams of three for breaks from the cold. A fire pit provides some warmth, but overnight temperatures this weekend are forecast to go below freezing, with wind gusts up to 20 mph.

“We might make it a group of four in each shift,” said Springer, which would allow more breaks.

Stream SBC 2022 on Smart TVs, Other Devices With New ACTS2 App

Diana Chandler

April 13, 2022

ANAHEIM, Calif. (BP) – For the first time, viewers may stream the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting and pastors’ conference on smart TVs and other app-based platforms.

The new app, provided through a partnership of the SBC Executive Committee and the Acts 2 Network, makes the programs more accessible for those not attending the 2022 events June 12-15 in Anaheim, said Jonathan Howe, SBC EC vice president for communications.

“Streaming devices have become commonplace in homes and businesses across the world over the past few years,” Howe said. “While we will continue to provide a livestream of the 2022 Annual Meeting and Pastors’ Conference at SBC.net, this partnership allows viewers to stream from basically any app-based platform. Whether you have a smartphone, Apple TV, Roku, or Amazon Fire TV device or television, you will be able to follow along with what’s going on in Anaheim in real time from the comfort of home.”

Jon Graham, a research and development video producer with the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, developed the ACTS2 app.

“We are excited to carry the livestream of the 2022 Annual Meeting and Pastors’ Conference,” Graham said. “We believe this partnership will take us leaps forward in being a trusted provider and curator of content for Southern Baptists.”

The platform is available free of charge at ACTS2TV.com and in app stores. Previous SBC annual meetings dating back to 2012 will also soon be available to stream in the app.

“Ever since the original ACTS network was sold, Southern Baptists haven’t had a single source for Baptist-friendly entertainment and inspiration,” Graham said. “We want to make sure we provide a blend of great preaching, great teaching, great conversations and great entertainment for all ages.”

Additional faith-based films will be offered “for a nominal monthly charge down the road,” Graham said, with the hope of using revenue to develop original content.

“We’re looking for more well-produced weekly programs from Southern Baptist churches,” Graham said. “We’d love to carry live events from other conferences around the country. We’re excited about future partnership opportunities with other SBC entities, and hope to truly make ACTS2 the place where Baptists binge-watch.”

In addition to the annual meeting sessions June 12-15, Graham has plans to produce “SBC Coast-To-Coast,” an original program featuring stories of Southern Baptist work in the U.S. and globally. The show will air between the morning and afternoon sessions each day. Anyone interested in sponsoring the show can contact Graham at jongraham@gabaptist.org.

ACTS2TV.com is promoted as “Great Commission television that’s authentically Christian and theologically sound.”

The 2022 livestreams of the annual meeting and pastors’ conference are sponsored by Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and The Voice of the Martyrs.

This article originally appeared here.

What Is Transgenderism?

Rosaria Butterfield

April 13, 2022

Transgenderism is such a new concept that the 1973 Oxford English Dictionary that sits open on my desk has no entry. According to etymonline.com, the word came into existence in 1974 as an adjective referring to “persons whose sense of personal identity does not correspond with their anatomical sex.” This word combines two older words. The first is “trans,” which is derived from part of a Latin verb that means to bring across or over, to transfer, to cause to cross, to extend across, or to convert. The second is “gender,” which derives from the French word for genre and the Latin word for genus, meaning kind, sort, or class. “Transgendered” became “transgender” after 2015 to indicate the new idea: that transgenderism is ontological, or something that is true of a person’s very essence. Today, the psychological condition where a person feels like their personal identity does not match their anatomical sex is called gender dysphoria. And there is a strong push in our culture to agree with the transgendered movement that when one’s gender, defined as their feelings of being male or female, conflicts with the biological markers of maleness or femaleness, the feelings are determinative.

Throughout most of human history, however, gender meant being male or female. There was no distinction made between one’s biological sex and one’s gender. It wasn’t until 1963 that gender began to refer to social attributes that differed from biological sex. This new definition was used by Second Wave Feminists, such as Kate Millet and Simone de Beauvoir, to miscategorize gender as the cultural manifestation of biology. Second-wave feminists argued that patriarchal society contrived gender roles merely to degrade women, thereby rejecting the biblical understanding that God created man and woman from a godly pattern for a creational purpose. Transgenderism emerged from this feminist political rejection of the creation ordinance that says God made human beings male and female, so their biological sex and not their internal feelings determines their maleness or femaleness. Transgenderism, instead, argues that our internal sense of self is what makes us men or women.

Ultimately, that feeling of disconnect between one’s body and one’s sense of gender are a consequence of the fall and its effect on our hearts, minds, and bodies. In some cases, the feeling is driven chiefly by a biological problem related to genetics or hormones. From a biblical perspective, someone with a severe hormonal imbalance or chromosomal abnormality has a physical health problem, not an identity problem. Godly help for the gender dysphoric person includes biblical counseling and potentially medical treatments that restore normative hormonal balance. Godly support for the gender dysphoric individual understands medical problems as part of the fall of man. Such trials can be serious, difficult, and lifelong.

Not all who claim to be transgendered, however, are suffering from a biological defect, and even some who are cannot reduce their feelings to a biological cause. Personal sin is still a reality. How does that come into play? Transgenderism, from the perspective of Scripture, is related to the sin of envy. Specifically, transgenderism is, at root, sinful envy of the sexual anatomy of another. Proverbs 27:3–4 paints an ugly picture of envy: “A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool’s wrath is heavier than them both. Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?” (KJV). Envy, biblically speaking, is an obsession, a driving passion that insatiably drives a person to desire another’s gifts, possessions, achievement—or sexual anatomy. About these verses, Matthew Henry says: “Those who have no command of their passions sink under the load.”¹ Proverbs 14:30 says it bluntly: “Envy makes the bones rot.” In other words, if we do not deal with the sin of envy in its infantile stage, it will devour us. Envy will eat us from the inside out.

A “transgender identity” makes a mockery of both the Word of God and Jesus Christ our Savior. In the book of Romans, Paul situates the sin of envy as one consequence of exchanging God for idolatry. After having been given up to a “debased mind” (Rom. 1:28), Paul lists the consequences: “They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness” (Rom. 1:29). To be full of envy is to be blinded by the desire to have what belongs to someone else. Because our hearts are deceitful, some persons who claim a transgendered identity may not recognize their envy and will need help in seeing the envious root of their feelings that their gender and biological sex are different.

Follow Jesus, Expect Suffering

J.D. Greear

April 13, 2022

There’s a reason prosperity gospel preachers don’t spend much time preaching from 1 Peter. In talking about experiencing hardship and suffering injustice, Peter says, “[Y]ou were called for this, so that you may inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3:9 CSB).

Suffering is an expected part of the Christian life. This truth in itself will never attract anyone to the Christian faith—until they understand that because suffering is the way of Jesus, it also brings life.

Jen Wilkin says you can summarize 1 Peter this way: “We should be willing to suffer unjustly because Christ was willing to suffer unjustly to bring us to God.”

I’ve often found it helpful to think of suffering in three basic categories:

First, you can suffer because you did evil. Think of Jonah, who suffered in the belly of the fish because he ran from God. There’s no real joy in that kind of suffering, and you should avoid it.

Second, you can suffer for doing right. Think of Joseph, who was sold into slavery and put into prison for doing the right thing. God used his suffering to bring salvation to others. Joseph said at the end of his life to the brothers that had enslaved him, “[Y]ou meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20 ESV). This is Christ-like suffering, and it still happens today.

Third, sometimes God has you suffer for no perceivable reason. Think of Job, who was faithful to God and still lost everything. God changes you in the suffering, but you don’t quite know what he’s doing in the world through it. From our perspective, it’s just a mystery.

In all of these kinds of suffering, God is at work. And the benefit of knowing there are different types of suffering is that you don’t have to assume that your suffering is a result of some terrible thing you’ve done. “For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil” (1 Peter 3:17 CSB).

You Were Called To This

Sometimes it’s God’s will for you to suffer. You can do everything good and still suffer. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. It means you’re alive.

We need to get rid of this idea of a “smooth-sailing God,” who, when you please him, makes everything peachy keen for you. That’s not what Jesus’ life was like. He did everything right and suffered.

And if you follow Jesus, you are called to this.

If we don’t teach our kids to expect suffering in life, then we set them up for a crisis of faith: You can teach them that if they do their part, everything will go smoothly. But when something inevitably goes wrong in their lives—they get denied the job, they get taken advantage of, their marriage falls apart, a dear friend dies—they will think, “But I did everything right. God, what’s wrong with you? Are you even there?”

They need to understand in that moment—because you have believed it in your own life and taught them the same—that they were called to this. Not only that, but they can have the presence of Jesus now and the promise of Jesus’ work in the future. In suffering with Christ, we have strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.

This article originally appeared here.

Are you a Thinking Leader? Take this Quiz to Find Out

Charles Stone

April 13, 2022

One of the greatest leaders who ever lived was the Old Testament character Nehemiah. He was what I call a thinking leader. God gave him a burden to rebuild the walls surrounding Jerusalem in around 400 B.C. Even though he faced incredible odds, criticism, discouragement within the people, the haves exploiting the have nots, hunger among the people, and threats of violence from his enemies, he prevailed. A deciding factor, apart from his faith in God, was his ability to think clearly in the midst of crisis and difficulty. I believe a deciding factor in a leader’s ability to lead is clear thinking as well. Nehemiah’s responses point to 6 statements every leader should consider about about how his or her thinking affects leadership.

From a brain standpoint, two parts of our brain often vie for attention and energy: our thinking part (the pre-frontal cortex, located right behind our forehead) and our emotional center (the limbic system, located deep in then brain). When our emotional centers control, clear thinking degrades. When our thinking centers control, we can dampen the emotional center’s power and lead more effectively. Here’s what we learn about Nehemiah’s thinking.

Lesson From Jeremiah, A Thinking Leader:

Before he left for Jerusalem, four months passed (Neh. 2.1). During that time he was thinking about the problem (Jerusalem was in shambles) and waiting for the right time to approach the king.
When he finally arrived, he waited three days before he surveyed the situation (Neh. 2.11). He was probably thinking about how to fine tune his immediate plan before he inspected the walls.
When his critics criticized him, he refused to get drawn into arguments with them. Rather, he immediately prayed and then kept moving forward with the task at hand, rebuilding the wall (Neh. 4.4)
When he discovered that some wealthy Jews were exploiting the poor Jews, he didn’t emotionally react although he was very angry. Rather, Nehemiah 5.7 said he, “pondered.”

Nehemiah had learned to submit the thinking part of his brain to God, which helped him lead most effectively.

Thinking Leader Quiz

Answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to these statements in the THINKING LEADER QUIZ.

I often shoot from the hip without thinking, especially when I feel threatened by another’s actions or comments.
I easily let my emotions control my response (internal or verbal) when someone criticizes me.
Sometimes I can’t concentrate because I’m so angry about something that happened.
I tend to be a fire-aim rather than a ready-aim-fire leader.
I seldom pause long enough to think about what I am thinking about.
I seldom carve out time simply to think.

How did you do? If you answered yes to two or more statements, you’re probably not thinking as effectively as you should. As a result, you may not be leading at your best.

So, how can we become better thinkers? Consider this post on how to handle reactivity and this one on how our hormones can sometimes hijack our leadership.

This thinking leader quiz originally appeared here, and is used by permission.

3 Probing Questions to Test Our Commitment to Christ

1. How Are You Ashamed of Being a Christian?

4 Challenges of Technology

1. We must use the tools of the day and the language of the day.

2. We must place the message where people are.

3. We must not equate consumption with development.

4. We must not confuse mission and church.

5 Elements of a Church Visitor Follow Up Strategy

1. Visitor-Friendly Events

Be My Guest

‘Protect Our Families’ PSA Emphasizes Love

Paul Pressler Faces Abuse Lawsuit

A Win for Sexual Abuse Survivors

Other Ways to Listen to This Podcast With Kristen Padilla

Key Questions for Kristen Padilla

You Were Called To This

Lesson From Jeremiah, A Thinking Leader:

Thinking Leader Quiz

New Articles

New Podcasts

**3. We must not equate consumption with development.**

**4. We must not confuse mission and church.**