Pope Makes Historic Indigenous Apology for Canada Abuses

By

-

April 4, 2022

Pope indigenous peoples — Members of the Assembly of First Nations perform in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Thursday, March 31, 2022. Pope Francis has welcomed First Nations delegations to the Vatican. They are seeking an apology for the Catholic Church's role in running Canada's notorious residential schools for Indigenous children. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Friday made a historic apology to Indigenous peoples for the “deplorable” abuses they suffered in Canada’s Catholic-run residential schools and said he hoped to visit Canada in late July to deliver the apology in person to survivors of the church’s misguided missionary zeal.

Francis begged forgiveness during an audience with dozens of members of the Metis, Inuit and First Nations communities who came to Rome seeking a papal apology and a commitment from the Catholic Church to repair the damage. The first pope from the Americas said he hoped to visit Canada around the Feast of St. Anna, which falls on July 26.

More than 150,000 native children in Canada were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools from the 19th century until the 1970s in an effort to isolate them from the influence of their homes and culture. The aim was to Christianize and assimilate them into mainstream society, which previous Canadian governments considered superior.

The Canadian government has admitted that physical and sexual abuse was rampant at the schools, with students beaten for speaking their native languages. That legacy of that abuse and isolation from family has been cited by Indigenous leaders as a root cause of the epidemic rates of alcohol and drug addiction now on Canadian reservations.

After hearing their stories all week, Francis told the Indigenous groups that the colonial project ripped children from their families, cutting off their roots, traditions and culture and provoking inter-generational trauma that is still being felt today. He said it was a “counter-witness” to the same Gospel that the residential school system purported to uphold.

“For the deplorable conduct of those members of the Catholic Church, I ask forgiveness of the Lord,” Francis said. “And I want to tell you from my heart, that I am greatly pained. And I unite myself with the Canadian bishops in apologizing.”

The trip to Rome by the Indigenous leaders, elders and survivors was years in the making but gained momentum last year after the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves outside some of the residential schools in Canada. The three groups met separately with Francis over several hours this week, telling him their stories, culminating with Friday’s audience.

The president of the Metis National Council, Cassidy Caron, said the Metis elder sitting next her burst into tears upon hearing what she said was a long-overdue apology.

“The pope’s words today were historic, to be sure. They were necessary, and I appreciate them deeply,” Caron told reporters in St. Peter’s Square. “And I now look forward to the pope’s visit to Canada, where he can offer those sincere words of apology directly to our survivors and their families, whose acceptance and healing ultimately matters most.”

First Nations’ Chief Gerald Antoine echoed the sentiment, saying Francis recognized the cultural “genocide” that had been inflicted on Indigenous peoples.

“Today is a day that we’ve been waiting for. And certainly one that will be uplifted in our history,” he said. “It’s a historical first step, however, only a first step.”

He and other delegates said there was far more for the church to do on the path of reconciliation, but that for now Indigenous leaders insisted on being involved in organizing the papal visit to make sure Francis stops in places that hold spiritual importance to their people.

Newberry College Holds Forum on Charleston Church Shootings

By

AP News

-

April 4, 2022

NEWBERRY, S.C. (AP) — Newberry College is holding a forum on the aftermath of the 2015 racist massacre at a Charleston church, from the perspectives of the church and of the officers who responded and investigated the shooting.

Five Charleston police officers will be at the college for the event at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The officers will talk about what they experienced in the hours and days after a gunman killed nine Black people worshiping at Emanuel AME church in Charleston in June 2015.

A pastor of a local AME church will talk about what the shootings did to the denomination as a whole and a psychology professor will also be on the panel, the college said.

The forum will be held at Newberry College’s Center for Teacher Education.

This article originally appeared here.

5 Reasons Why You Should Get Away with Your Spouse Every Year

By

Eric Geiger

-

April 4, 2022

thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

This November Kaye and I will celebrate our 23^rd wedding anniversary. We took our honeymoon to a family friend’s condo in Missouri (we were college students with very little money). The next year we went to Cancun, which was our wedding gift from my parents. After those two trips, we decided we would not stop taking a trip away every year. For the last 22 years, in the midst of graduate degree programs and toddlers, Kaye and I have taken a trip together every year. We regularly encourage other couples to do the same for the following five reasons.

1. Reconnection

Time away with your spouse is not the only way to reconnect in your marriage, but it is a great way. We spend focused time together every week, but spending a week together alone provides a deeper level of reconnection. Pressing pause on the hustle of life back home allows us to focus on each other and our marriage with significantly less distractions.

2. Reprioritization

Kaye and I have dreams and goals for our marriage, our lives, and our family. The struggles and challenges of life can beat vision out of you, so it is important to find ways to bring yourself back to the goals you have set. Time alone and time away gives us lots of time to remember what we are committed to and reprioritize. After every trip, we make adjustments, sometimes small and sometimes large, to our schedules and rhythms when we return home.

3. Deeper Discussion

The biggest life decisions Kaye and I have made, including the last two times we have transitioned to new roles and moved, have happened on our annual getaway. Some decisions take lots of time and processing, and time away provides the time for that wrestling.

4. Fun together

During a normal week, it is possible to not have much fun together. A couple can make decisions together, raise kids together, and grow together without having much fun together. But we want to have fun together. Time away has given us many opportunities to do so. Exploring new places, new restaurants, and trying some new adventures is a ton of fun for us.

5. Memories

Spending time away together has given us a large cache of memories, of times we can look back on and tell our kid about, of times we can remind each other about. Having those times have provided great discussions with each other and our kids.

Is it easy to get away together? No! With kids it takes even more planning and coordination. This year Kaye flew our kids to my folks house and then flew back home before our getaway.

Is it costly? Yes. It does not have to be expensive, but it does cost money to get away. But an investment in your marriage is a wise investment. A healthy marriage gives a beautiful picture of God’s gracious love to His people. A healthy marriage is a gift to your kids. A healthy marriage provides encouragement for you.

This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.

Seven Practical Ways to Welcome Kids to Worship

By

Christina Embree

-

April 2, 2022

Recently, I’ve had several questions sent my way on the practicality of having all ages in communal worship together with adults. While some of the questions pertained to older generations participating in church, most of them were focused on the challenge of having children in the church service.

But after conversing for a bit, it was evident that no one needed to be convinced that children should be there at some point (that reconciled fairly quickly after some theological, developmental, and sociological evidences of the benefits of intergenerational worship); the bigger felt need was just for some practical and simple ways to make it possible for children to be integrated into the service.

Our traditional service structures often make it difficult to extend the hand of welcome to the next generation and it can be difficult to maneuver within those confines and find ways of incorporating all generations.

With that in mind, here are some practical tips and tools for Intergenerational Worship Services that might be useful for your faith community. I’ve shared these in the past and have had a lot of great feedback from multiple churches and denominations. I’d love to hear what your church is doing to make room for all ages to find a space to worship together.

1. Kid’s Worship Team – Let’s redefine worship as more than singing before the sermon. Worship seeks to put the attention on God and give Him the honor that is due. And kids are amazing at doing this. A Kid’s Worship Team doesn’t necessary lead “singing” but they worship through hospitality (holding doors, handing out bulletins, etc), prayer (they go forward during prayer time and pray for themselves and others) and generosity (they take up the communion and pray over it).

For our team, the kids followed a weekly schedule, just like the adult worship team, and if they missed their Sunday, they had to get someone to take their spot. They also had to go through a training on worship with me before they could serve.

2. Sermon Notes – There are a lot of great templates out there for sermon notes and for older kids, it’s a great way to keep them involved with the service. In one church, if a child completed their sermon notes, they could get something out of a treasure box and the completed form was given back to their parents so the parents could have a follow-up conversation with their kids at home.

3. Call Out the Kids – Kids love to get attention and they love when they get to be drawn into “adult” things like the sermon. We often asked whoever was speaking to at some point in the sermon just say something like, “Hey kids, have you ever seen this?” or something else that would be appropriate to the text to help draw the kids into the story. It’s amazing how just that little comment really drew them in and helped redirect their attention to the service.

4. Interactive Teaching and Learning – Anything interactive is great! One of the ways our current church engages the kids is if there is a topic that involves a story from the Bible, the pastor will have the kids help act out the story. Everyone loves it—it’s spontaneous so things definitely go wrong, but the whole congregation gets involved and no one forgets the Scripture we studied that week.

5. Busy Bags – Busy bags get a bad rap, mostly because people don’t understand the developmental science behind them. Have “busy bags” but explain to parents and other church members that these activities aren’t intended to distract the kids but rather to help the kids use all of their developing senses; studies show if their hands and eyes are busy, their ears will be listening.

Quiet activities like lacing cards, stickers scenes, foam craft kits, beads and pipe cleaners, small puzzles and coloring are all great ways to engage your kinesthetic and visual learners.

SBC Presidential Candidate Willy Rice Reveals Deacon at His Church Previously Committed Sexual Abuse

By

Dale Chamberlain

-

April 1, 2022

In a video statement released on Friday (April 1), Willy Rice disclosed that, many years ago, a member of the deacon body at Calvary Church in Clearwater, FL “committed a sexual sin that could also be described as abusive.”

Rice, who is the pastor of Calvary Church, is expected to accept a nomination for SBC president at the denomination’s annual meeting this summer in Anaheim, CA.

Rice further disclosed that he and other leaders at Calvary Church knew about the incident but said that after coming to the church, the man had displayed the “genuine fruits of a repentant life.” After several years of being a member of the church, the unnamed man was ordained to the office of deacon.

Rice said that after being contacted by a fellow pastor last week regarding the man’s previous abusive behavior, the leadership of Calvary Church “realized the need to reevaluate his role as a deacon.”

“We were challenged to think more accurately about our leadership structure, and allowing him to serve as a deacon was inconsistent with our desire to stand against all forms of sexual abuse,” Rice said. “We have all agreed that our brother should not continue to serve as a deacon at Calvary.”

Rice emphasized that the incident in question happened before the now-former deacon became a member of Calvary Church, and he had never received criminal charges.

“Nevertheless, it was a terrible sin, and it devastated people’s lives,” Rice said.

Rice explained that after the abusive incident, the former deacon experienced “a genuine conversion” to faith in Jesus. Several years later, he began attending Calvary Church and was open about his story. Rice further clarified that the deacon was never allowed to serve in ministries involving children or students, but became involved in other areas of the church before eventually becoming a deacon several years after that.

Rice now admits that the deacon never should have been ordained to the role.

“Over the last three to four years, we have grown in our understanding of the dynamics of sexual abuse and predatory behavior. If we were making the same decision today, after all we have learned, we would have obviously chosen differently,” Rice said. “But we’re all in agreement of that. Moreover, we’re in full agreement that going forward, we will strengthen the nominated process for our deacon body.”

Canadian Pastor Artur Pawlowski Released From Jail After 51 Days

By

Jessica Lea

-

April 1, 2022

Canadian pastor Artur Pawlowski, who says he has lost count of the criminal charges against him, was released from his most recent bout in prison on March 30 after spending 51 days in confinement.

“I will continue, continue to stand up for rights and do what’s right and will continue to fight against tyranny,” said Pawlowski, in a Facebook video posted Wednesday showing him arriving home after being released.

Pawlowski, who is pastor of Street Church in Calgary, Alberta, was arrested on Feb. 7 on charges of inciting mischief over $5,000 and interrupting the operation of essential infrastructure in a manner that renders it inoperative. Both Pawlowski and his lawyer allege he was kept in solitary confinement during his stay in prison.

Artur Pawlowski: ‘What God Told Us To Do’

Artur Pawlowski’s most recent arrest and charges relate to a rally he joined outside Milk River, Alberta, and a speech he gave in Coutts, Alberta, on Feb. 3. Beginning Jan. 29, protesters had put up a blockade in Coutts, which borders the U.S. north of Montana.

The Coutts blockade was one of several other similar protests taking place across Canada in response to federal mandates requiring all truckers traveling across borders to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The protests became a way of seeking to end all pandemic restrictions in the country, and they disrupted trade for weeks, particularly in Ottawa, Canada’s capital.

Prosecutor Steven Johnston said Pawlowski incited violence in his February speech at Coutts and that the truckers had agreed to end the blockade before the pastor encouraged them to stay.

There were multiple times during his speech when Pastor Artur Pawlowski emphasized that the protests should be peaceful, not violent, and should not involve guns or swords. However, he also made statements such as, “it’s about time for Canadians to rise up and start roaring” and it’s “time to take what’s rightfully ours.”

The pastor repeatedly urged his listeners not to give in, but to take a stand against the government, saying that they will far outnumber the members of the army or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who could stand against them.

Pawlowski also called civil authorities “Kenney’s mafia,” referring to Alberta’s premier, Jason Kenney. It was time for citizens to give Kenney an ultimatum to end pandemic restrictions, said Pawlowski, adding if the premier does not, he should “be very careful because you have never seen an angry Albertan yet.” Pawlowski immediately then said, “And again I’m not talking about violence, I’m not talking about swords and guns and all that stuff.” It was not clear, however, what Pawlowski was talking about beyond taking a “stand.”

News Headlines You Might Wish Were April Fools’ Jokes

By

Jesse T. Jackson

-

April 1, 2022

Today is April 1, or as many know it, April Fools’ Day—a day were people often plan practical jokes, harmless pranks, or hoaxes on each other for laughs.

Even ChurchLeaders got in on the action some years ago with some The Babylon Bee type stories before their was a Bee, regarding well-known pastors. The titles “Rick Warren Challenges Mark Driscoll to Celebrity Boxing Match” and “John MacArthur Selfie Goes Viral” genuinely shocked some readers, until staff reminded them that it’s important to laugh at times.

The Babylon Bee is a popular Christian satire site and was founded a month before April Fools’ Day in 2016. The site currently boasts over 20 million page views per month and writes satirical articles relating to religion, current events, public figures, and, politics.

No one is safe from The Babylon Bee’s satirical sniper lens. The largest church in America, Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas pastored by Joel Osteen, has been the brunt of many headlines produced by The Babylon Bee, including its most recent take on the Will Smith/Chris Rock Oscars debacle.

The headline reads “John MacArthur Charges Lakewood Church Stage To Slap Joel Osteen,” as the article joked that pastor MacArthur, who was visiting Lakewood Church, walked up on stage and slapped pastor Osteen after he said, “God wants you to be happy, healthy, and wealthy.”

The Babylon Bee has been flagged by social media sites multiple times for “misleading news,” although they are forthright in describing themselves as the “world’s best satire site.”

Recently The Babylon Bee was locked out of their Twitter account which has over 1.3 million followers by Twitter administration for “hateful content” after releasing an article joking about U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine who is transgender.

The headline read “The Babylon Bee’s Man of the Year Is Rachel Levine” and the tweet linked to a satirical article calling Levine a “boss” while repeatedly referring to Levine as a man and using the pronoun “he” multiple times. The article even calls Levine a “dude.”

Soon after, The Babylon Bee’s founder, Adam Ford, who currently runs Not The Bee, was also locked out of his personal account for reposting the article that got The Babylon Bee flagged. Twitter asked them to delete their posts regarding Levine to regain access to their accounts. Both refused to do so.

Unfortunately These Headlines ARE REAL

The phrase “we need Jesus” is an understatement in so many different ways as we take a look around the world today. Wars, famine, human trafficking, sexual abuse, child endangerment, murders, senseless shootings, churches collapsing due to moral failures, political corruption—unfortunately one could go on and on.

Caitlyn Jenner Hired by Fox News, Drawing Criticism From Some Christians

By

Dale Chamberlain

-

April 1, 2022

Earlier this week, Fox News announced that it had signed a deal with former Olympic athlete and reality star Caitlyn Jenner. Jenner will serve as a contributor and appeared on “Hannity” Thursday evening.

Appearing in a segment about the ongoing feud between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Disney regarding the controversial Parental Rights in Education bill, which DeSantis recently signed into law, Jenner said, “We have to stand up. America has to have a ‘stand up’ mentality.”

“As you might know, I am trans,” Jenner went on to jokingly say in reference to being brought on to the Fox News team. “But I’m not a trans activist. That’s just one part of my life. There’s so much more to me.” If you are looking for the latest news, start by checking this post about Jimmy John Shark.

“I think in the midterms coming up, LGBT issues are going to be big issues. And I’m looking forward to covering those,” Jenner said. “But there’s so much more to me than that.”

When Sean Hannity asked Jenner to weigh in on the Florida law that has been referred to by its opponents as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, Jenner said, “I’m a common sense person,” adding, “I’m all for parental rights.”

Jenner has become known for conservative politics in recent years, having run in a 2021 gubernatorial recall election in California as a Republican. Jenner also vocally supported the Texas Heartbeat Law and has publicly expressed that trans college athlete Lia Thomas should not have been declared the winner of the NCAA 500-yard women’s freestyle swimming championship.

As someone who is trans, Jenner’s political views have been somewhat confusing to some. For example, in an appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” Jenner expressed reticence to affirm same-sex marriage, comments that left DeGeneres and others grappling to gain a coherent picture of Jenner’s worldview.

In response to the announcement that Jenner would join Fox News as a contributor, some fellow Republicans expressed their support.

“Proud to welcome @Caitlyn_Jenner to the FoxNews family. She is a kind and wonderful human who fights harder for freedom and American values than most,” said “No Interruption” host Tomi Lahren. “Anyone who says any different likely hasn’t met her or given her a chance. I am proud to call her a friend and now a colleague!”

‘God Is Not Finished With Me Yet’: Brian Houston Sends Apology Email to Hillsong Church Members

By

Dale Chamberlain

-

April 1, 2022

Following his resignation as global senior pastor of Hillsong Church, Brian Houston sent an email to Hillsong Church members, apologizing for the scandals that precipitated his departure and expressing that he still believes “the best is yet to come,” a refrain he has often used when speaking to the church.

In the email, which was obtained in its entirety by Eternity News, Houston said he believes he is still “the person and pastor you believed me to be. Imperfect and flawed, but genuinely passionate about God, people, calling and life.” Houston went on to write, “I am determined that my mistakes will not define me.”

In January, Houston announced that he would be stepping aside from church leadership for the entire year of 2022, in order to focus on defending himself against legal charges that he covered up the child sex abuses perpetrated by his late father, Frank Houston.

Brian Houston Resigns

It was later revealed in March that Houston’s year-long sabbatical was also the result of disciplinary action taken against him by the Hillsong Global Board for two instances of misconduct against women that had occurred over the span of 10 years. While the board reiterated that Houston was telling the truth in his announcement of his sabbatical, they admitted that there was more to the story. Houston resigned less than a week later.

“This is not the way I imagined it to end,” Houston said in the email to Hillsong members. “I believe the future is still bright for Hillsong Church, as you remain knit to Jesus, His Holy Spirit, His Word. Better days are coming as you continue to lean into His Kingdom on the earth.”

Since the announcement of Houston’s resignation, Hillsong’s American footprint has already been significantly reduced. Within a day, Hillsong Atlanta pastor Sam Collier announced his resignation, later announcing that Hillsong Atlanta would dissolve entirely and that the existing team would launch Story Church in its place.

On the same weekend that Collier announced the end of Hillsong Atlanta, Hillsong Phoenix lead pastor Terry Crist announced that Hillsong Phoenix would separate itself from the global Hillsong Church, citing the leaders’ “loss of confidence in the global board to continue leading us as a congregation.”

Last week, Discovery+ made their new docuseries “Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed” available for streaming on their platform, which painted Houston as a man bent on using the church to achieve wealth and fame. Prior to its release, interim global senior pastor of Hillsong Phil Dooley accused the series’ producers of attempting to hurt Hillsong Church.

In his email, Houston acknowledged his failure of leadership, saying, “To every single wonderful person who has called Hillsong Church home, I have let you down so badly and sorry will never be enough to express my sorrow.” Houston went on to express that he is thankful that God’s “mercy triumphs over judgment,” a quote from James 2:13.

Women and Girls Are More Likely to Go Hungry. We Can Change That.

By

Seven Saves

-

April 1, 2022

IWD 2 - Aspiring Female Truck Drivers c — Photo of aspiring female truckers enrolled in transportation school in Honduras as part of a scholarship program for the Puerto Cortes Transportation School supported by generous Food For The Poor donors.

Women are disproportionately affected by poverty, according to the United Nations, which reported that the pandemic was expected to increase the poverty rate for women and widen the gap between men and women who live in poverty. Since 1982, Food For The Poor has been working tirelessly to lift the poor out of poverty, giving the tools to make sustainable changes that will benefit their families and communities. This includes reducing inequality and not just providing food and clean water, but also providing education to empower the poor and help them break the cycle of poverty.

Well-Paying Jobs Are Out Of Reach For Many Honduran Women

Honduras has a huge commercial driver shortage. In fact, The Honduran National Institute of Statistics estimates that Honduras experiences a shortage of more than 5,000 certified truck drivers per year. As a result, trucking companies are unable to operate at full capacity. The demand for certified drivers for buses and trucks is growing in Honduras, as roads have been improved.

In 2021, to celebrate International Women’s Day, Food For The Poor donors blessed 25 women with scholarships to the Puerto Cortes Transportation School, a school established by donors to help combat the commercial driver shortage in Honduras. Prior to scholarships from FFTP, many women who were enrolled were forced to drop out to obtain a temporary job to make ends meet for their families. Women were losing economic opportunities because they just couldn’t make ends meet while they obtained the training for a well-paying job.

Providing A Scholarship and Stipend Made All The Difference

As part of the scholarship, in addition to the four-month certification, participants also received a $125 monthly stipend and a monthly food basket, allowing them to stay enrolled while still providing the basics for their families.

The certification requires completion of more than 700 hours of coursework, including time and training on the road with a certified driver, and classes in computer skills, first aid and CPR, and human development. Upon graduation, certified drivers in Honduras can earn about $700 a month, well above the minimum wage of $375 per month.

FFTP donors fund scholarships through two programs – the Women’s Empowerment Scholarship and another one provided to men and women. The school has certified 35 women, and 13 more are in the process of certification. Of the 35 women who have already completed their schooling, 21 are already working.

Women In El Salvador Were Given the Means to Cultivate Vegetables

Food For The Poor’s work in Honduras with the Puerto Cortes Transportation School is just one example of how the charity is empowering women on a global scale to lift their families from poverty and provide greater economic opportunities for them.

This March, on International Women’s Day, the charity spotlighted women in El Salvador who are growing food in macrotunnels thanks to the generosity of FFTP donors. Fifteen women were provided with the tools, education and training necessary to cultivate vegetables. The crops are grown in greenhouse-like structures called macrotunnels engineered by in-country partner New Horizons For The Poor Foundation and are made from materials that create the ideal growing conditions.

Despite setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and threats to the crops from Tropical Storm Amanda in May 2020 and back-to-back Hurricanes Eta and Iota several months later, the women continued to work diligently to make sure their crops stayed healthy.

The women made more than $5,400 for all three harvests of tomatoes and peppers from April 2020 to January 2021. They are using the profits to reinvest and expand the project to grow even more vegetables.

How Can You Help?

Helping women and their families rise from poverty isn’t just a once-per-year endeavor. Food For The Poor has worked for 40 years to do more than feed millions of hungry children and families living in poverty primarily in 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. They’ve worked to provide emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicine, educational materials, homes, support for vulnerable children, care for the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance.

This spring, Food For The Poor announced a new program, Seven Saves. It’s a grassroots program for church communities that puts faith into action among your congregation, helping individuals engage with the problem of extreme poverty. Seven Saves is good for the poor, but also makes good things happen in your church like the shared goals that build community and keep your congregation working together and actively invested in outcomes.

This new initiative is a robust “plug-and-play” initiative that provides you with planning, resources, and church-wide elements with no commitment of church budget.

Learn more about how your church can get involved at SevenSaves.org.

Creators of Logos Bible Software Release Data Revealing Top Worship Song for 2021

By

Jesse T. Jackson

-

April 1, 2022

Faithlife Corporation released its 2021 Year-End Song and Sermon Report showing that Pat Barrett’s “Build My Life” has regained the number one spot as the most popular worship song, a title it also held in 2019.

Last year’s most popular worship song, Sinach’s “Way Maker,” dropped to the number two spot.

Data for Faithlife’s report was collected from more than 7,600 songs that were sung over 3 million times in approximately 750,000 worship services using Faithlife’s presentation software, Faithlife Proclaim.

The top ten songs have all been written within the last nine years, the youngest being Elevation Worship/Brandon Lake’s song “Graves Into Gardens,” which was new to 2021’s list.

Founded in 1992 and known for their popular Logos Bible Software, the Faithlife report’s oldest song in the top 20 is “How Great Thou Art,” which was written in 1949.

Rounding out the top ten were the songs “Great Are You Lord” (All Sons & Daughters – 2012), “Goodness of God” (Bethel Music/Jenn Johnson – 2018), “10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)” (Matt Redman – 2011), “How Great Is Our God” (Chris Tomlin – 2004), “This Is Amazing Grace” (Phil Wickham – 2012), “What a Beautiful Name” (Hillsong Worship – 2016), “Grave Into Gardens” (Elevation Worship/Brandon Lake – 2019), and “In Christ Alone” (Stuart Townsend, Keith Getty – 2001).

Faithlife’s report also shared the most popular sermon topics and scriptures preached in 2021: God, Jesus, love, power, faith, and glory were most popular.

Sermons relating to the end times (Eschatology) and the resurrection grew the most in popularity during 2021. Other topics that showed and increase in the pulpit were grace, family and children, creation, philosophy, revival, cults, compromise, persecution, and hospitality.

“These topics demonstrate the internal and external tensions many churches are facing,” the report reads. “Torn between fear, hope, and simply surviving, preachers dedicated many of their sermons to helping their congregations understand how scripture applied to their struggles.”

Ephesians 3:14–21 was the most trending passage Faithlife mentioned and stated that the top ten most used scriptures in sermons all came from the New Testament. John 3:16 and Matthew 28:18-20 were the two most popular passages, while Isaiah 9:6 was the most popular Old Testament passage used.

The New Testament book of Matthew had the most sermons preached from it. The most popular Old Testament book was Psalms.

Nathan Finn, Provost at North Greenville, To Be Nominated for SBC Recording Secretary

By

Jonathan Howe

-

April 1, 2022

FARMERSVILLE, Texas (BP) – Texas pastor Bart Barber announced Wednesday (Mar. 30) he will nominate Nathan Finn, current provost at North Greenville University, for the position of SBC recording secretary at the upcoming 2022 SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim, Calif.

Finn is the second announced candidate, along with Javier Chavez, for the opening created last month when John Yeats announced he would not seek the office again this year. Yeats has served in the position since 1997.

“Nathan is highly qualified to serve Southern Baptists. He has worked to achieve expertise in the history of our convention,” Barber said in a statement sent to Baptist Press. “Nathan is not merely a chronicler and student of our convention; he is also engaged in the present work of our family of churches. Last year he was the vice chairman of the Committee on Resolutions. While holding teaching positions at Union University, SEBTS, and presently at North Greenville University, he has preached and taught in churches throughout our convention.”

In addition to his service on the 2021 Committee on Resolutions, Finn has served as on the Historical Committee for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, as a member of the board of directors of the Biblical Recorder for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, and is presently serving as an adviser to the SBC Executive Committee Resolutions Task Force.

While he has served in the denomination in numerous ways, much of Finn’s service to Southern Baptists has come in the academy and through his writing. He currently serves as provost and dean of the university faculty at North Greenville University – a position he has held since 2018.

Prior to that, Finn served as dean of the School of Theology and Missions and professor of theological studies at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., from 2015-2018 and taught church history at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary from 2007-2015. He has contributed to and authored several books and academic works including The Baptist Story and Historical Theology for the Church.

Finn and his wife, Leah, are members of Mountain Creek Baptist Church in Greenville, S.C. According to Annual Church Profile data, the church averages 182 in worship and gave $56,034 (9.2 percent) of its undesignated receipts of $606,270 through the Cooperative Program last year. The church also reported three baptisms in 2021.

Finn holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Brewton-Parker College and both an M.Div. and Ph.D. from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and Leah have four children.

This article originally appeared here.

Inside-Out: When College Students and a Country Church Defy the Odds

By

Scott Barkley

-

April 1, 2022

ATHENS, Ga. (BP) – Try to make a judgement on Cleveland Road Baptist Church from its exterior. Look at its brick façade from 30-plus years ago and tall, classic steeple. Drive around from the road that bears its name and see the parsonage in back, all of it surrounded by a forest of pine, magnolia, cedar and birch.

A pre-COVID men’s Bible study in the freshman dorm at the University of Georgia moved to Cleveland Road Baptist Church that fall, growing to more than 20 in attendance. Photo from Facebook.

Make the call on what it’s like inside. Most people, if not all, would be wrong.

In many ways it’s what you would think. The church has a little more than 80 members. Pews adorn the sanctuary. Pastor Parker Moore preaches in a shirt and tie.

But it sticks out that around three-quarters of the people are college students. You’re part of the older crowd if you remember when iPods were a thing.

The young people are leading the way, and they’re loving it.

When Moore, 30, accepted the call to Cleveland Road it was a homecoming. He and his wife, Audrey, had met nearby at the University of Georgia and attended the church as students. In 2019 he received a call from its remaining handful of members. If there was a church on life support, it was Cleveland Road.

The plight of those who had invested in him as a college student touched Moore.

“I thought about the hospital stays where they wouldn’t have a pastor to visit them. I wondered who would preach their funerals. And, I wondered who would be there to help them close the church’s doors if it came to that.

“All of those things weighed on me,” he said.

Moore has always been a southerner at heart even though he grew up in Queens, N.Y., where his father, Ed, has been pastor of North Shore Baptist Church for 30 years.

Cleveland Road Baptist Church consisted of 16 members, including new pastor Parker Moore, his wife Audrey and their three kids, on Moore’s first Sunday in 2019.

“I had an affinity for the South and the University of Georgia,” Moore said.

That affinity came naturally. His mother is from northwest Georgia and his parents met at UGA, where Ed was a walk-on defensive end who became a letterman for the Bulldogs in the Herschel era. Moore moved in with his grandparents his senior year of high school for the in-state tuition rate to attend UGA.

His love for the South notwithstanding, Moore is thankful for his childhood of being a pastor’s kid in Queens.

“It was a little piece of heaven,” he said. “There were 35 countries represented in our church and our people were united in the Gospel. Our church had around 300 in attendance and it was an outpost for us.”

The realities of real estate in New York City bring a different game plan for churches outgrowing their space. There are no discussions on adding another wing. Over the years Moore watched as North Shore planted multiple Southern Baptist congregations throughout the metro area.

Still, he had no intention of going into full-time vocational ministry. That changed when he was 19. At UGA he earned a double major in Communication Studies and Religion. Currently he’s pursuing a Master of Divinity through Southern Baptist Theological Seminary online.

In 2015 Moore and his wife, Audrey, moved to Savannah when he became youth director at Bull Street Baptist Church. Just as important, he entered an intentional mentoring relationship with Pastor Calvin Fowler.

“My official title was ‘youth director and pastoral apprentice,’” Moore said. “We’d meet weekly and I’d sit in on elders’ meetings even though I wasn’t an elder, marriage counseling and other things. I watched and learned, getting a taste of everything that went with senior pastoral ministry.”

Communities in US Prepare to Support Ukrainian Refugees

By

Kathleen Ronayne

-

April 1, 2022

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — As the United States prepares to accept up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees following Russia’s invasion of their country, existing communities in cities like Sacramento and Seattle are already mobilizing to provide food, shelter and support to those fleeing the war.

The federal government hasn’t said when the formal resettlement process will begin, but Ukrainian groups in the U.S. are already providing support to people entering the country through other channels, including on visas that will eventually expire or by flying to Mexico and crossing over the border.

“No refugee is waiting for you to be ready for them,” said Eduard Kislyanka, senior pastor at the House of Bread church near Sacramento, which has been sending teams of people to Poland and preparing dozens of its member families to house people arriving in California.

Since the war began in late February over 4 million people are estimated to have fled Ukraine and millions more have been displaced within the country. President Joe Biden said last week that the U.S. would admit up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees and provide $1 billion in humanitarian assistance to countries affected by the exodus.

The federal government has yet to provide a timeline for refugee resettlement — often a lengthy process — or details on where refugees will be resettled. It’s unlikely the United States will see a massive influx of Ukrainians on charter and military flights like happened with Afghan refugees last year.

Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, said the White House commitment of accepting up to 100,000 Ukrainians does not come with a minimum. Aside from the refugee resettlement program, their main avenues will be seeking humanitarian parole and appearing at the border with Mexico, she said.

Many who reach the United States will likely go to cities that already have strong Ukrainian communities.

The Sacramento region is home to the highest concentration of Ukrainian immigrants in the country, with about 18,000 people, according to census data analyzed by the Migration Policy Institute. The Seattle, Chicago and New York City areas are also hubs.

Word is spreading about the resources available in Sacramento, where churches like House of Bread are connecting Ukrainians who have already arrived with host families who can offer shelter and help access government resources and transportation. Kislyanka called the church’s actions a “stop gap” measure designed to help as people await more clarity about the formal government resettlement process.

“Most of these people do not have any relations, like they don’t know anybody here,” said Kislyanka, who came to the U.S. as a child in the early 1990s. “Having somebody who can help them navigate the cultural shock and navigate the system. . . it just makes things a lot easier and smoother.”

Sacramento has been a destination for Ukrainians since the late 1980s and early 1990s, when many of those arriving were Christians taking advantage of a U.S. law offering entrance to anyone escaping religious persecution in the former Soviet Union.

Another wave of refugees began arriving after Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014. Of the 8,000 Ukrainians resettled by the organization World Relief since then, 3,000 have come to Sacramento, said Vanassa Hamra, the group’s community engagement manager in Sacramento.

Ukrainian Archbishop: Minority Faiths at Risk if Russia Wins

By

Peter Smith

-

April 1, 2022

The top-ranking Ukrainian Catholic cleric in the United States warned Thursday that religious minorities in the Eastern European country stand to be “crushed” if Moscow gains control, as fighting raged on more than a month after the Russian invasion began.

Groups at risk include Catholics, Muslims and Orthodox who have broken away from the patriarch of Moscow, Archbishop Borys Gudziak said. He also cited reports that Russian forces have damaged two Holocaust memorials and Moscow’s false portrayal of Ukraine, which overwhelmingly elected a Jewish president in Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as a “Nazi” state.

“What is at stake for the people of faith is their freedom to practice their faith,” Gudziak said during an online panel discussion on the war, hosted by the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University.

“Ukrainian Catholics, over the last 250 years, every time there’s been a Russian occupation where they live and minister, they’ve been strangled,” he continued.

Gudziak is head of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia and president of Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine. He also oversees external relations for the Kyiv-based Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The name of the church, whose members account for an estimated 10% of Ukraine’s population, refers to its loyalty to the pope and its use of Greek or Byzantine liturgy, which is similar to that of Ukraine’s majority Orthodox population.

The archbishop predicted that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine — which broke from the Moscow Patriarchate and was recognized in 2019 by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople over fierce opposition from Moscow — “will undoubtedly be crushed if there’s a Russian occupation.”

Guziak did not specifically mention the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is separate from the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and has remained loyal to Moscow Patriarch Kirill, a strong supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Despite that historic fealty, Ukrainian Orthodox Church leaders have fiercely denounced the Russian invasion and in some cases are refusing to mention Kirill’s name in public prayers, a ritually potent snub.

Kirill has backed Putin’s justifications for the war, saying both countries are part of a “Russian world” and alleging that the U.S. and other foreign forces have sought to foster enmity between them.

Gudziak also cited the plight of Muslim Tatars who “have been persecuted for these last eight years” since Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in southern Ukraine in 2014.

The U.S. State Department has similarly denounced intimidation and harassment of Tatars and other religious groups in Crimea and areas of eastern Ukraine under control of Russia-backed separatists. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said this month that Moscow’s “aggression toward religious freedom (in those territories) is an indicator that much worse will follow … as Russia expands into Ukraine.”

In Malta, Pope Francis Models Mercy for Migrants While Condemning Corruption

By

Claire Giangrave

-

April 1, 2022

Pope Francis Malta — FILE - Pope Francis arrives to attend his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, on Jan. 26, 2022. Pope Francis' first foreign trip of the year is to the Mediterranean island nation of Malta, the Vatican said Tuesday in announcing an April 2-3 trip that had originally been scheduled for 2020 but was postponed because of the pandemic. Francis, 85, will visit the main island cities of Valletta, Rabat and Floriana as well as the island of Gozo. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Local organizers of Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to the small Mediterranean island of Malta expect him to bring a welcome to migrants and refugees who have taken refuge there, while urging the citizens of the ancient Christian nation to fight back against the rampant corruption in the country.

Christianity in Malta can be traced back to A.D. 60, when the Apostle Paul was shipwrecked off the island’s coast. His success in converting the locals led the authorities to imprison him for three months in a cave not far from the city of Rabat.

Francis will visit Rabat on Sunday (April 3), the second day of his two-day visit, and make his way to the grotto, where Maltese Catholics believe Paul administered the first Eucharist on the island. Both St. John Paul II and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI visited this holy site when they came to Malta in 1990 and 2010 respectively.

Given Malta’s proximity to Rome — less than 500 miles as the crow flies — and its history — the island was the longtime base of the powerful lay Order of St. John, commonly known as the Knights of Malta — some are surprised that Francis, who looks to boost Catholics at the margins of the church, would follow his predecessors.

“I find it quite interesting that this visit is happening,” Nadia Delicata, a theologian at the University of Malta and a local organizer for the pope’s visit, told reporters at the Vatican last week. “Malta isn’t exactly the place that I consider to be the peripheries of Catholicism,” she added, using the pope’s phrase for those outside the church’s power centers.

But Malta is an apt site for Francis to address two issues he has made central to his papacy: welcoming people displaced from their countries by war or famine, and the effects of government corruption on the poor.

Malta ranks 54th of 100 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index. Joseph Muscat, who served as prime minister of Malta from 2013 to 2020, has been embroiled in scandal since the release of the Panama Papers in 2016, leaked documents that unveiled Maltese officials’ alleged cooperation, among many others’, in money laundering schemes perpetrated by the world’s wealthiest.

Muscat has also faced controversy connected to the October 2017 car bombing that killed journalist Caruana Galizia as she investigated Maltese government ties to offshore shell companies.

“Corruption is a reality that is poisoning Maltese society,” said the Rev. Marc André Camilleri, a parish priest at the basilica of Christ King in Malta, speaking to Vatican reporters online last week.

When Francis meets with political and religious representatives on Saturday, he is expected to bring a message of transparency and ethics in public life. “Let’s hope he makes it clear that corruption is unacceptable in a civil society,” Camilleri said.

On Sunday, after paying homage at Paul’s grotto, Francis will tour the John XXIII Peace Lab, a center where migrants and refugees, mostly Africans, are offered asylum and integration services.

In this picture made available March 30, 2022, by Sea-Eye, rescued migrants are transferred on a Sea-Eye 4 humanitarian ship dinghy from the German merchant vessel Karina in the central Mediterranean Sea, March 29, 2022. (Joe Rabe/Sea-Eye via AP)

Paul’s experience in the perilous Mediterranean waters presaged the challenges faced by many migrants from the Middle East and Africa sailing much the same route today, and the pope will likely draw a parallel between the presence of today’s migrants and refugees and Paul’s conversion of Malta.

Long After the Headlines Fade, What Will a Pursuit of Generosity Look Like for Christ’s Church?

By

Myal Greene

-

April 1, 2022

Last August, we all watched with concern as Kabul fell to the Taliban, and hundreds of thousands of Afghans fled their homes. Front page headlines translated into an unprecedented response. A historic evacuation effort led by the American military created the opportunity to resettle a record number of Afghans in this country, and communities across the country responded with an outpouring of support.

As one of nine official resettlement agencies that works with the State Department, my colleagues and I at World Relief have helped to resettle 2,300 Afghans to date. As that story fades from the headlines, the needs in the Afghan community continue on. The day-to-day work of helping people find jobs, secure homes during a housing shortage, and recover from the trauma caused by last year’s events is hard work that requires persistence and long-term commitment. The needs will continue long after the headlines have faded.

Now, war rages in Ukraine.

Again, we see human suffering brought on by the evils of armed conflict. The dramatic images of the moment are again motivating people to act. People are giving generously, praying for peace, and making a profound statement of solidarity and support. Again, the government is considering ways to fast-track the process to welcome Ukrainian refugees.

These moments of great suffering draw on many of our emotions. We are simultaneously heartbroken by the suffering we see in the world yet encouraged by the many acts of love and support being extended. John Helliwell, a founding editor of the World Happiness Report, notes that while people are often skeptical of society’s goodwill, when “actual disaster happens, and they see other people responding positively to help others, it raises their opinion both of themselves and of their fellow citizens.”

Any of us who have seen the news recently have felt the tension — there is evil and pain mixed with compassion and response. There are risks if we give but don’t do so with the right heart. It is essential to reflect on the question of whether our generosity is motivated by our own happiness or out of a deep sense of compassion for others.

Jesus warned us of giving to be seen by others (Matthew 6:4), and called us to give out of poverty and sacrifice rather than out of our abundance (Mark 12:43-44). Christ’s teachings and example draw us a model of generosity where awareness becomes compassion coupled with action. Henri Nouwen once wrote,

Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into the places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears … Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.

The people of Ukraine are suffering, and our eyes should rightly be on them. However, we should allow our feelings of empathy to grow into a continued practice of compassion rather than resting in the momentary happiness we find when we have taken the first step toward generosity.

Six months ago, the generous support of millions of Americans was unprecedented, and we have reason to have hope that our new neighbors will find welcoming communities.

But I have also been inspired by the many volunteers who showed up day after day long after the headlines faded. I think of a furniture store owner in Wisconsin who for months has donated a mattress to every Afghan child arriving in his community. Or a volunteer in North Carolina who has made dozens of airport runs to pick up his new neighbors. Or the countless others setting up apartments, driving people to doctors’ appointments, or helping kids get enrolled in school.

What our World Needs Now

There is great need for the Church to put our beliefs into action and for Christ-followers to pursue a dual worldview of belief and action. It might sound like hyperbole, but in reality, the world is experiencing some of the most dramatic disasters and declines in development in recorded history.

Sermon Prep for the Non-Vocational Preacher

By

Aaron Armstrong

-

April 1, 2022

It’s one of my favorite times of the year—I’m getting ready to preach for the first time in ages. With moving, settling into my new job, traveling for work and a host of other things, it’s been hard to even start looking for opportunities. So, God graciously provided one for me this coming weekend when I head down to Texas to work on a Gospel Project-related video.

Sermon prep methodology fascinates me. I love learning how pastors manage their time to prioritize prayer, study, writing and practice. Through the years, my own habits have changed pretty drastically. I used to joke that my prep was like “Forrest Gump”-ing my way into a good sermon. It was basically a happy coincidence. I don’t joke like that anymore (and not just because it annoys my wife). Actually, I work really hard to prepare any sermon or presentation. I’ve never considered myself a natural public speaker, so I don’t wing anything.

So what do I do? Today, I thought I’d share a bit about what my current process looks like:

How much time do I spend?

Around eight to 10 hours. This is the formal part of preparation: outlining the passage, checking sources and writing my manuscript. (Yes, I work from a manuscript.) Stewing on the passage, praying, letting it roll around in the back of my head…no idea.

How do I break up my time?

Once I’ve settled on a text (unless it’s been assigned), it looks sort of like this:

Day one: Read the passage three or more times in at least two translations. Get a feel for its rhythm and look for the natural breaks. Start working out the main point. (1 hour)
Day two: Once I’ve got my main point (the one thing the message is about), I start working on my outline and supporting points. Commentaries start coming into play toward the end of this time. (1-2 hours)
Days three and four: Write the manuscript and check commentaries. (2+ hours each day)
Day five: Read through and revise. My read-throughs are a little more elaborate. It’s more like dry-run preaching to myself (and sometimes my wife). (1-2 hours)

That’s typically what my process looks like. It’s not perfect, obviously, and doesn’t always line up to this. For example, sometimes there’s an additional day is needed because I need more time to make my manuscript shine. Other times, I find that what I’m saying doesn’t actually make sense, so I have to scrap it and start over. But despite these minor variances, this process works pretty well.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to start reading Jeremiah 31.

This article originally appeared here.

6 High-Impact Mother’s Day Outreach Ideas

By

Yvon Prehn

-

April 1, 2022

Have you ever wondered why Mother’s Day has the third highest church attendance of the year?

The reason that churches are so full on Mother’s Day is not because it is the only time of year mothers come to church. Most of the moms are always there. It’s the husbands and kids who rarely come who show up with Mom that one day to make her happy.

The reason so many people come to church on Mother’s Day is the unchurched people in the lives of many mothers rarely, if ever, come to church, but they will come on this day to make mom happy. Mother’s Day outreach is a great evangelistic opportunity for your church! Here are high-impact Mother’s Day outreach ideas.

6 High-Impact Mother’s Day Outreach Ideas

1. Focus your planning on reaching the unchurched spouses and kids.

Flowers are nice, but far better than a rose for Mom would be a Sunday designed to speak to those she loves but who do not know Jesus.

Prepare your people by encouraging them to pray specifically for the unsaved, unchurched and straying family members who will come to church with Mom on this Sunday. Pray for sensitivity to their needs. Create attractive invitations for your members to give family members.

People Praising Jesus – Does God Really “Inhabit the Praises of His People?”

By

Daniel Henderson

-

April 1, 2022

If you are like me, you are sometimes confused by obscure, out-of-context verses that are used to encourage our singing in a worship service. One very often-quoted verse utilized by worship leaders comes from the King James translation of Psalm 22:3: “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” By “claiming” this verse, these leaders are likely sincere in a desire to experience the Holy Spirit in the context of the corporate gathering. Yet, people praising Jesus have an obsession with this vague verse, as they are interpreting it, even though is not actually supported by New Testament teaching and, sadly, breeds significant confusion and false expectations. More importantly, it ultimately undermines the truths that are very clear in the New Testament about the person and work of the Spirit in the context of our corporate worship.

People Praising Jesus – Does God Really “Inhabit the Praises of His People?”

1. People Praising Jesus: a Needed Clarification

Commenting on the frequent use of this verse, worship pastor Zach Hicks confesses, “In an effort to elevate singing to nearly ‘sacramental’ status, (many have observed that evangelicals . . . have made congregational singing the ‘third sacrament’ of Protestantism because of how much weight we give to experiencing God’s presence in the midst of singing), this verse would be a slam dunk argument in less than ten words.”[i]

After a very careful examination of the original Hebrew translation, Hicks confesses, “Ultimately, it comes down to integrity. Will I approach the Scriptures as honestly as possible, and will I model that honesty thoroughly before the people I lead, even when it eliminates what I considered a major tool in my ‘worship theology shorthand’ arsenal? Sometimes (and I am guilty of this, too), we allow a little mis-exegesis to slide because ‘it’s just too good.’”[ii] (You can read Hick’s blog and certainly do your own study.)

2. Language and Context

Most scholars agree, and I am convinced, that the correct translation reads: “Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises” (NIV). “But you are enthroned as the Holy One, the one whom Israel praises” (GNB). Young’s Literal Translation reads, “And Thou art holy, Sitting—the Praise of Israel.” Hebrew scholar, John Goldingay states, “The idea of Yhwh’s being enthroned on or inhabiting Israel’s praise is unparalleled, and if either of these is the Psalm’s point, one might have expected it to be expressed more clearly.”[iii] His conclusion is that the idea of God “inhabiting” our praises is not a normal translation and not emphasized elsewhere in the Old Testament.

Worship pastor and blogger, Jonathan Aigner notes,

There’s another huge context clue we’ve got to look at. Read the whole of Psalm 22, especially the first half. It’s written out of the unpleasant and uncomfortable reality that God seems to be absent. It’s a powerful lamentation, crying out for an invisible God. It’s similar in tone to Jesus’ anguished cry on the cross (Psalm 22 is the lectionary Psalm reading for Good Friday). While this Psalm is certainly valuable for those of us who have felt God’s absence, the glib way we use verse 3, either as manipulation or justification, simply does not fit here. It is not a description of God reveling in human celebration.[iv]

Aigner continues,

The bottom line is this: the verse doesn’t give us carte blanche to sing (or preach, or pray) whatever we feel. Worship is not simply about singing and feeling nice things to God so that God will be able to take his rightful place. We cannot possibly add anything else to God’s glory by what we do in worship. God is Most High no matter what we think or feel. In worship, God is the subject, the great Mover and Shaper, and we are the ones being moved and shaped by God’s story. I know it sounds and feels sooo good to say that God inhabits our praises, but I don’t think we can get there from this text. I certainly don’t say it anymore, and if you share any part of my doubt, I’d encourage you to do the same.” [v]

I would simply reiterate that there is no New Testament verse teaching that music is a means of making God more than He already is — or in any way mediating the presence of the Holy Spirit. In some gatherings it seems that the worship leaders are trying to improve God’s status or even “channel” the Holy Spirit through the music, which is far more akin to mysticism than to biblical Christianity.

3. Bible Interpretation 101

Beyond the exact language and context of a particular verse, there are other essential principles for properly understanding the Bible. We must compare Scripture with other Scripture. We must interpret what is infrequent and unclear by what is paramount and very clear in the Bible. Further, we must understand all of Scripture through the filter of the gospel of Christ and the reality of the new covenant.

First, the Bible is abundantly clear that the finished work of Christ made it possible for God to now permanently inhabit the human soul through the saving grace of the cross. As redeemed souls we are now the temple of the Holy Spirit. There is no teaching in the New Testament that Jesus died in order to sanctify buildings, atmospheres, or the notes of our congregational singing. We cannot allow ourselves to diminish the power and teaching of the new covenant with pithy phrases or popular worship ideas about people praising Jesus.

One author, representative of this view, explains an aberrant idea: “It stands to reason that Presence is released. Atmosphere is changed… This is an amazing result from a dove being released… The atmosphere changes as the Presence is given His rightful place.”^[vi] Note the third person reference to the Holy Spirit. “Presence” is capitalized (seemingly as a “force” rather than as the indwelling PERSON of the Holy Spirit) and it appears that the goal is to give this “Presence” preeminence through the singing. Again, this contradicts all the New Testament teachings regarding the person and purpose of the Holy Spirit.

4. People Praising Jesus – The Power of Music in the New Testament

As Christians we must understand that music is an expression, or overflow, of the indwelling Holy Spirit controlling us (Ephesians 5:18-19). It is also the “word of Christ” at work in our hearts that gives us cause to sing (Colossians 3:16). Writer Bob Kaufflin makes an insightful observation at this point: “For those of us who think of worship primarily in terms of musically driven emotional experiences, Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman would be eye-opening. Jesus is talking about ‘true worshipers’ and he doesn’t reference music once. Not a whisper of bands, organs, keyboards, choirs, drum sets, guitars, or even lutes, lyres, and timbrels. Period. Music is part of worshiping God, but it was never meant to be the heart of it.”^[vii]

Speaking about music, Vaughan Roberts clarifies, “It is not the means by which we enter the presence of God, but it is one of the ways in which we can express our joy at the wonderful truth that we are already there, in his presence, in Christ.” [viii] The lyrics of clear biblical truth in music can certainly deepen our worship and positively affect our emotions. Yet, the Bible is clear that it is the work of Christ alone that has mediated the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives – not songs, smoke machines, lighting effects, or the energy of a gathered crowd. Any diversion from the truth of what really mediates God’s presence (other than Christ) dilutes the glory of the gospel and diminishes the power and truth of all His cross has accomplished for us.

5. Clarity About the Spirit and our Worship When There Are People Praising Jesus.

We do not sing in order to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We are filled with the Holy Spirit so that we might sing. The New Testament nowhere teaches that the Holy Spirit works through the medium of notes, sound systems, and tunes to deliver God’s presence or enabling the Holy Spirit to take control of our lives. Rather, the Holy Spirit’s control in us will produce heartfelt worship expressed in song for the glory of Christ. The truth in the songs can certainly inform and inspire our worship but the song is not the key to the “Presence.”

Michael Horton notes, “Vagueness about the object of our praise inevitably leads to making our own praise the object. Praise therefore becomes an end in itself, and we are caught up in our own ‘worship experience’ rather than in the God whose character and acts are the only proper focus.”^[ix]

6. People Praising Jesus – Our Response

The goal of all I have said is not to stimulate criticism toward your worship pastor. I hope you will pray for those who lead your worship and gently suggest biblical clarity when you have the opportunity. I simply want to help us all embrace paramount New Testament truth so that the Holy Spirit’s purpose of glorifying Christ and His finished work for us might be clear and compelling in our worship. Let’s set our hearts to worship “from the inside out” as the Holy Spirit and word of Christ compel us to make much of the cross – whether through hymns or new praise choruses – whether gathered in a simple chapel or a high-tech worship facility. The indwelling Spirit will produce people praising Jesus in our hearts as we are fully submitted to Him.

This article about people praising Jesus originally appeared here, and is used by permission.

(This article is adapted from Daniel Henderson’s book Transforming Presence: How the Holy Spirit Changes Everything from the Inside Out, presenting ten truths for a new experience of the Holy Spirit. You can learn more at www.transformingpresencebook.com.)

1. Reconnection

2. Reprioritization

3. Deeper Discussion

4. Fun together

5. Memories

Artur Pawlowski: ‘What God Told Us To Do’

Unfortunately These Headlines ARE REAL

Brian Houston Resigns

Well-Paying Jobs Are Out Of Reach For Many Honduran Women

Providing A Scholarship and Stipend Made All The Difference

Women In El Salvador Were Given the Means to Cultivate Vegetables

How Can You Help?

What our World Needs Now

How much time do I spend?

How do I break up my time?

6 High-Impact Mother’s Day Outreach Ideas

1. Focus your planning on reaching the unchurched spouses and kids.

People Praising Jesus – Does God Really “Inhabit the Praises of His People?”

1. People Praising Jesus: a Needed Clarification

2. Language and Context

3. Bible Interpretation 101

4. People Praising Jesus – The Power of Music in the New Testament

5. Clarity About the Spirit and our Worship When There Are People Praising Jesus.

6. People Praising Jesus – Our Response

New Articles

New Podcasts