Texas Abortion Ban Is Saving 100 Unborn Lives per Day, According to New Data

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February 10, 2022

texas abortion ban — FamilyMan88, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

According to new state data, the controversial “heartbeat ban” that went into effect in Texas last September resulted in a 60 percent drop in abortions during the first month. The new report from Texas Health and Human Services matches up with figures from Texas Right to Life, which has estimated the Texas abortion ban is saving 100 unborn lives every day.

The law, which the Supreme Court declined to block, has “likely saved 15,000 children since taking effect” Sept. 1, says the pro-life group. The law bans abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, usually at about six weeks, often before a woman knows she’s pregnant. Citizen whistleblowers have enforcement powers, making court challenges of the law difficult.

Texas Abortion Ban a ‘Success,’ Says Pro-Life Group

Speaking about the new data, Kimberlyn Schwartz of Texas Right to Life says, “The success of the Texas Heartbeat Act is embodied by every child saved. For over 150 days, our work has saved an estimated 100 babies per day. Our impact is only just beginning as more states seek to replicate our success and as we look to the Mississippi case that could overturn Roe this summer.” A ruling in that highly anticipated case, Dobbs v. Jackson, is expected around June.

Figures from Texas reveal that abortion procedures in that state decreased from 5,404 last August to 2,197 last September. The 60% drop is a move in the right direction, but “the fight is far from over,” writes Peter Pinedo of Texas Right to Life. “Until abortion is unthinkable, we still have work to do.”

Pinedo says the “culture war” surrounding abortion continues, pointing to TikTok videos of abortion-clinic volunteers mocking pro-lifers and college students thanking abortion workers during “Sex Week.” He warns, “The public conscience has been lulled to sleep by 49 years of legal abortion and aggressive messaging from the media.”

Could State Bans Backfire?

According to pro-abortion sources, since the Texas abortion ban some women in Texas now travel out of state to seek abortions. Other reports claim that women, whether or not they’re financially able to travel, are exhibiting a new “level of despair” and “trauma.”

Based on recent polls, about 58 percent of Americans oppose overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that legalized most abortions in the country. Because of that, some people speculate that states such as Texas are “alienating abortion moderates.”

‘They Tried to Cancel Jesus’: Rep. Lauren Boebert Ties Controversies About Her to Her Faith

By

Dale Chamberlain

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February 10, 2022

United States Congressional Representative for Colorado Lauren Boebert was a recent guest on Trinity Broadcasting Network’s “Huckabee,” an appearance wherein she compared her public persona to that of Jesus Christ.

“It is exciting to be in the most MAGA part of Tennessee, apparently,” said Boebert to crowd applause after being welcomed to the show by host and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.

“Absolutely,” Hucakbee agreed. “You know, I have felt for you, because it’s like there’s a target on your back. There’s just a lot of people in Washington that don’t seem to like you very much.”

Boebert has been the center of a number of controversies since taking office in 2021. Late last year, Boebert came under fire for anti-muslim remarks aimed at fellow congresswoman Ilhan Omar and has often referred to Omar and her progressive allies in Congress as “the Jihad Squad.” Some called upon Congress to censure Boebert, but no official action was taken.

Boebert has also expressed sympathy with the QAnon movement, which centers on unsubstantiated far-right political conspiracy theories.

“Well, Governor, I am radically me. And authenticity is something that is completely foreign in Washington, D.C.,” Boebert said. “So I understand the attacks, because they don’t always get people to Washington, D.C. who do what they said they were going to do.”

“I don’t let these attacks bother me. I sleep well at night, because I know they aren’t after me, personally. They are after everything that we love as a country. They are after our Constitution. They are after the people in your audience,” Boebert continued as the crowd applauded. “And I am there to get in their way.”

When asked why she chose to run for Congress, Boebert said, “Frustration is what led me here. I was very frustrated at all of these people who would say something to get elected, and then as soon as we sent them to where they asked us to serve, they would turn. And they would lose their principles. And they would overtax and overspend and over-regulate and destroy everything that we were working so hard to build at home.”

“And so, I believe that as a Christian, that frustration that we feel on the inside of us sometimes is really just God’s motivation to send us to where we need to be a part of the solution,” Boebert went on to say. “And it led me here.”

Portugal: Church Sex Abuse Panel Unearths Over 200 Cases

By

Barry Hatton

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February 10, 2022

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — A lay committee looking into historic child sex abuse in the Portuguese Catholic Church said Thursday that during its first month of work it received allegations from 214 people.

The allegations are from people born between 1933 and 2006 and tell of psychological torment kept secret for decades, the Independent Committee for the Study of Child Abuse in the Church said.

“This suffering is associated with feelings of shame, fear, guilt and self-exclusion, reinforcing the idea of lives where the sensation of ‘standing on the sidelines’ was always present,” the committee said in a statement.

Portuguese church officials said two years ago that authorities had investigated only about a dozen allegations of sexual abuse involving Portuguese priests since 2001. More than half of those cases were dropped because church investigators decided there wasn’t enough evidence to pursue them.

The six-person committee, which includes psychiatrists, a former Supreme Court judge and a social worker, promises anonymity for anyone who comes forward. It officially began its work on Jan. 1.

The committee, which will report to the Portuguese Bishops’ Conference at the end of the year, says its task is to study what child sex abuse has occurred, not launch formal investigations.

Many of the allegations suggest a strong possibility that other children may have been victims of the same abuser, the statement said.

The witness statements were received online, with alleged victims filling in a form on the committee’s website, or by phone or in face-to-face interviews.

Allegations came in from across the country, the committee said, as well as from Portuguese now living in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland, where there are large Portuguese immigrant communities.

Because most statements were received online, the committee is stepping up its efforts to reach people in less developed areas of the country who may not be used to using technology.

It is recruiting the help of charities, civic associations and parish councils, among others, to hep get the word out.

This article originally appeared here.

At Least 48 Christians Killed in Extremist Attacks in Nigeria

By

Diana Chandler

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February 10, 2022

nigerian christians — Community matriarch Mama File died at her home in a fire set by terrorists in a Christian village in Nigeria. Morning Star News photo

KADUNA, Nigeria (BP) – She was a community matriarch and grandmother to many. But Mama File died in a fire set by militant Islamic extremists in a series of attacks killing at least 48 Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt.

Her grandson Danjuma Enoch told the story to Morning Star News, recounting the 3 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 30, attack that killed 11 in Kurmin Masara village where File lived.

“Grandma was unable to escape when the attack took place because she was very old and blind,” Morning Star News quoted Enoch. “While other people scampered to escape, Grandma stayed back in her room which served as her last (safe) haven.

“Grandma was our surviving grandmother and a great-grandmother to many of our younger ones. We can only imagine how horrible it was for her to breathe her last this way after living long into her old age. Painful and sad.”

An unknown number of people were wounded and displaced in the attack on Kurmin Masara village, more than 30 homes were burned and farm produce destroyed, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reported. Several eye witnesses and survivors described the attackers as Fulani herdsmen, but government officials who previously described such attackers as “armed bandits” said they were “terrorists” and “non-state actors.”

The Jan. 30 attack in southern Kaduna was among a series of attacks in the past month in Kaduna and Plateau states that together killed at least 48 people, kidnapped some, displaced others and destroyed homes, according to reports from CSW and Morning Star.

Most recently, CSW reported a series of attacks spanning Feb. 1-3 that killed at least 14 people in southern Kaduna, including an attack Feb. 3 in the Kaura local government area that killed 11, an attack Feb. 3 that killed one and kidnapped others in the Igabi local government area, and attacks Feb. 1 that killed two people and injured others elsewhere in Kaura. The Feb. 1 attacks occurred when local leaders and Fulani representatives were attending a peace meeting, CSW said, referencing local reports.

“Our villages are being sacked one after the other,” CSW quoted a source who was not named in the report. “There is a mobilization against us … and the nation is at ease. Anytime we raise our voices, we also become targets.”

In Plateau, suspected Fulani herdsmen killed 18 Christians Jan. 22 after killing four on Jan. 11, Morning Star reported. Ten other Christians were wounded in Plateau.

Davidson Malison, whom Morning Star identified as a representative of the mostly Christian Irigwe ethnic group, said at least six of those killed in Plateau were children.

“The (Irigwe) ethnic nationality has been visited by yet another deadly and lethal attack by Fulani terrorists … in the early hours of 12 midnight of Jan. 11 in Ancha village,” Morning Star quoted Malison. “The attack, which lasted for over two hours undistracted and unchecked, led to the killing of 18 Christians, with six other Christians injured, while over 24 households with over 100 residential rooms were razed down.”

ERLC Grateful for House Vote to Grant Citizenship to Adoptees

By

Tom Strode

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February 10, 2022

Capitol — Photo via Unsplash.com @haroldrmendoza

WASHINGTON (BP) – The Southern Baptist Convention’s ethics entity is grateful for the passage by the U.S. House of Representatives of legislation to grant citizenship to an overlooked category of international children adopted by American citizens.

The Adoptee Citizenship Act gained approval Feb. 4 as part of the America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-eminence in Technology and Economic Strength (COMPETES) Act. In a nearly party-line roll call, the House voted 222-210 for the overall bill, which is intended to strengthen the United States’ competitiveness with China.

The adoption proposal, which has yet to achieve Senate passage, would plug a loophole in a law enacted more than two decades ago to streamline the process for Americans adopting children from another country. The Child Citizenship Act, which became law in 2000, granted U.S. citizenship to any child born overseas and adopted by at least one American citizen.

The law, however, covered only children less than 18 years of age when the bill was enacted and future adoptees, thereby failing to include adopted children who were older at the time. The Adoptee Citizenship Act grants full citizenship immediately to the adoptees overlooked in the earlier law.

Chelsea Sobolik, director of public policy for the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), said House approval of the Adoptee Citizenship Act “is good news because it provides a permanent legal remedy for the thousands of sons and daughters of U.S. citizens who were adopted as children but left out of the original Child Citizenship Act.

“Too often, legal hurdles and past challenges stand in the way of families who have a heart for adoption. This legislation will correct a wrong against thousands of adoptees that should have been corrected long ago.

“Because of that, we would plead with elected leaders from both parties to make this solution a stand-alone priority for final passage so that it doesn’t get bogged down by partisanship or pettiness.”

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., sponsor of the Adoptee Citizenship Act, described House passage of his proposal as “a major step forward for many international adoptees who currently do not have U.S. citizenship.”

“These individuals grew up here and started careers and families, but through no fault of their own they never received citizenship and are living in uncertainty about their future,” he said in a written statement.

The lead Republican sponsor of the Adoptee Citizenship Act in the House is Rep. John Curtis of Utah. In the Senate, the lead sponsors are Sens. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Roy Blunt, R-Mo.

Promotion of pro-adoption and pro-foster care policies and protection of faith-based, child-welfare agencies from government discrimination are among the ERLC’s public policy priorities.

This includes international adoptions by U.S. citizens. The number of children adopted from other countries by Americans has fallen by more than 90 percent from a peak of 22,989 in 2004 to 1,622 in the fiscal year that ended in September 2020, according to the U.S. State Department. The ERLC is working with the State Department and other advocates “to ensure that intercountry adoption remains a viable option for families and vulnerable children around the world,” according to the entity’s 2022 Public Policy Agenda.

In June, the Senate approved legislation supported by nearly 20 Republicans that sought to address some of the same matters targeted by the America COMPETES Act. The U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, which gained passage in a 68-32 vote in the Senate, did not include the Adoptee Citizenship Act.

The approaches in the separate, overall bills to supporting research and technology, as well as other issues, vary markedly and present multiple challenges to members of the House and Senate seeking to achieve reconciliation.

This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.

Pope Francis Decries ‘Madness’ of War in Ukraine but Doesn’t Condemn Russia

By

Claire Giangrave

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February 10, 2022

Ukraine Pope Francis — A convoy of Russian armored vehicles moves along a highway in Crimea, Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022. Russia has concentrated more than 100,000 troops with tanks and other heavy weapons near Ukraine in what the West fears could be a prelude to an invasion. (AP Photo)

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Francis on Wednesday decried the “madness” of war as tensions escalate in Ukraine as the leader of Ukraine’s Eastern-rite Catholics suggested a visit by Pope Francis could tip the balance toward peace.

“We continue to beseech the Lord of peace so that the tensions and the threat of war will be overcome in favor of a serious dialogue,” Francis said at his weekly general audience on Wednesday (Jan. 9).

The pope voiced his hope that the “Normandy Format,” periodic talks among Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia, would continue and head off a wider conflict.

“Let us not forget: war is madness!” the pope said.

Ukraine has lived under the shadow of war for eight years, since its powerful neighbor stoked fighting in the Eastern Ukrainian region of Dunbas and invaded, then annexed, Crimea in 2014. Official estimates place the death toll at 14,000 people, with many more internally displaced.

Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church loyal to the pope in Rome, described his country’s situation to Vatican reporters by video link from his home in Kyiv on Tuesday (Jan. 8), saying, “We are basically surrounded by the Russian army.

“We are under attack,” he added, stating that Ukraine is “under an eminent and imminent danger.

“Ukraine is now in the geographical, historic, economic and social center of this confrontation between the collective West and Russia,” Shevchuk said.

According to the prelate, Ukrainians view Francis as the highest moral authority, no matter their denominational loyalties, in Ukraine, and he believes that a visit by the pope could promote peace far more than any public condemnation. “The people say that if the pope comes to Ukraine the war will end,” Shevchuk said, adding that Ukrainians believe that the pontiff would visit as “a messenger of peace” in the war-plagued country.

Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, left, and Cardinal Pietro Parolin meet during a synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Vatican City in 2019. Photo courtesy of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

Francis and the Vatican have avoided singling out Russia as the aggressor in Ukraine. During a general audience in 2015, the pope called for an end of the “horrible, violent fratricide” in the country, dismaying many Ukrainians who view Russia as the main culprit in the conflict.

5 Signs You’re a Slave to Leadership Chaos

By

Carey Nieuwhof

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February 10, 2022

thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Like anyone who has led for more than a few years, you’ve probably sensed that things feel a little more chaotic today than they did a few years ago.

You may wonder why, but think about the change you’ve witnessed in the last decade.

Your parents had one inbox. It was paper, and the letter carrier came once a day.

Mom and dad also had one phone at work and one at home. It rang from time to time, and when they weren’t around, there was voicemail.

So…think about it. How many inboxes do you have?

I counted. I have 11 inboxes. Eleven. (And I’m sure I’ve missed some…)

For the record, that includes text messages, a public and private email inbox, two Facebook inboxes, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Skype (yeah…I use it for podcasting), Asana and even my bank has a private secure message inbox (horribly clunky, but still, if they want to talk to me…).

This doesn’t account for hundreds of ‘message requests’ that come in from people I don’t follow or friend on Insta or Facebook.

And we haven’t even talked about people knocking on your door, swinging by your house, or sending you good old fashioned snail mail or stuff via courier.

Every time you look at your phone or watch there are eleventy billion people who want a slice of you.

Ever wonder why anxiety is on the rise?

Welcome to 2019.

And you know what this leads to? Chaos.

YOU’RE A SLAVE TO…SOMETHING

In an interview I did with my friend Frank Bealer on how to boost your productivity in high demand seasons, Frank so rightly pointed out if you’re not a slave to your calendar (scheduling your priorities), then you’re a slave to chaos.

Exactly.

I understand what it’s like to be a slave to chaos. As a leader in my 30s, as our church grew and the demands at home rose with two growing kids, I didn’t know how to respond or even weigh the growing number of demands on my leadership.

My terrible formula was that more demands equal more hours, and it was a recipe for failure. It eventually led me to burnout.

On the other side of burnout, I took some time to rethink everything and adopted some new patterns and strategies.

To my surprise, my productivity didn’t just improve, it soared.

As our church kept growing, I organized my life around a fixed calendar and started managing my time energy and priorities in new ways. Those changes led me to not only get ahead on growth, but to go on to write four books, launch a weekly podcast, spend more time speaking at conferences and events, and have more time at home with my family. It even helped me move exercise into my regular rhythm.

You don’t have to fall victim to the constant demands on you, but so many leaders do.

11 Faith Skills Kids Need in Sunday School Before They Move to Youth Group

By

Mark Harper

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February 10, 2022

Think about the kids in your Sunday school class. Get their faces in your mind. Now
imagine it is 10 years in the future, and those same kids have graduated
from high school.

How many kids in your current Sunday school class will still be in your church when they turn 18?

How many will stay in church when they become adults?

Statistics show that 20 percent of the kids that grow up in church will stay in church when they become adults. Eighty percent leave the church they grew up in.

I don’t think that 80 percent of our kids backslide. Many of them are attending other churches or have moved to other cities, but we can be more effective in keeping the kids that grow up in church.

When I first started in ministry, I could not think past the next service.

I would make it through Sunday morning, and I would think, Whew, I made it. But then I would wake up on Monday morning in a panic: Oh, no! It’s almost Wednesday! I could never think past the next three days.

One Saturday night I was desperate. I was not ready for Sunday morning, so I was begging God for a new sermon idea, and I heard these words, “All you have is five years to prepare the kids for their teen years.”

Young children are created with a nature to believe, but during their teen years, their faith will be challenged.

They will start to ask questions like:

“Is God real?”
“Is the Bible really the Word of God?”
“Do I believe in God just because my parents do?” Eventually, I began to think more long term. For me “the end” is that the kids in children’s church grow up in church and stay in church when they become adults. I like what Dr. Phil says, “We are not raising kids. We are raising adults.”

R.C. Sproul: What Is Saving Faith?

By

R.C. Sproul

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February 10, 2022

Faith is central to Christianity. The New Testament repeatedly calls people to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a definite body of content to be believed, which is part and parcel of our religious activity. At the time of the Reformation, the debate involved the nature of saving faith. What is saving faith? The idea of justification by faith alone suggests to many people a thinly veiled antinomianism that claims people can live any way they like so long as they believe the right things. Yet James wrote in his epistle: “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?…Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (2:14, 17). Luther said that the sort of faith that justifies is fides viva, a “living faith,” one that inevitably, necessarily, and immediately yields the fruit of righteousness. Justification is by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone. A faith without any yield of righteousness is not true faith.

For the Roman Catholic Church, faith plus works equals justification; for antinomians, faith minus works equals justification; for the Protestant Reformers, faith equals justification plus works. In other words, works are the necessary fruit of true faith. Works are not factored into God’s declaration that we are just in His sight; they are not part of the grounds for God’s decision to declare us righteous.

What are the constituent elements of saving faith? The Protestant Reformers recognized that biblical faith has three essential aspects: notitia, assensus, and fiducia.

Notitia refers to the content of faith, the things we believe. There are certain things we are required to believe about Christ, namely, that He is the Son of God, that He is our Savior, that He has provided an atonement, and so on.

Assensus is the conviction that the content of our faith is true. One can know about the Christian faith and yet believe that it is not true. We might have a doubt or two mixed with our faith, but there has to be a certain level of intellectual affirmation and conviction if we are to be saved. Before anyone can really trust in Jesus Christ, he has to believe that Christ indeed is the Savior, that He is who He claimed to be. Genuine faith says that the content, the notitia, is true.

Fiducia refers to personal trust and reliance. Knowing and believing the content of the Christian faith is not enough, for even demons can do that (James 2:19). Faith is effectual only if one personally trusts in Christ alone for salvation. It is one thing to give an intellectual assent to a proposition but quite another to place personal trust in it. We can say that we believe in justification by faith alone and yet still think that we are going to get to heaven by our achievements, our works, or our striving. It is easy to get the doctrine of justification by faith into our heads, but it is hard to get it into the bloodstream such that we cling to Christ alone for salvation.

There is another element to fiducia besides trust, and that is affection. An unregenerate person will never come to Jesus, because he does not want Jesus. In his mind and heart, he is fundamentally at enmity with the things of God. As long as someone is hostile to Christ, he has no affection for Him. Satan is a case in point. Satan knows the truth, but he hates the truth. He is utterly disinclined to worship God because he has no love for God. We are like that by nature. We are dead in our sin. We walk according to the powers of this world and indulge the lusts of the flesh. Until the Holy Spirit changes us, we have hearts of stone. An unregenerate heart is without affection for Christ; it is both lifeless and loveless. The Holy Spirit changes the disposition of our hearts so that we see the sweetness of Christ and embrace Him. None of us loves Christ perfectly, but we cannot love Him at all unless the Holy Spirit changes the heart of stone and makes it a heart of flesh.

This article about saving faith originally appeared here and is used by permission.

How to Make Your Own Community Calendar

By

Small Group Network

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February 10, 2022

A calendar shapes your culture of community in many ways because it helps to set priorities, puts communications in motion, and lets your people know what to expect. Forecasting how people can connect reveals that biblical community is an actual value of your church, projects your leadership expectations, and helps people to prepare. Start by designing a community calendar that includes no less than three church-wide opportunities per year for people to get plugged in. Feature existing groups and new group start-ups in your weekend announcements, website, social media platforms, slides, etc. Ask yourself: Are there recurring opportunities available to help different kinds of people to connect in different ways?

How to Make Your Own Community Calendar

10-Step Scheduling Process:

Use www.wincalendar.com (or www.timeanddate.com/calendar) to design and ultimately print out your own custom community calendar.
Highlight holidays in one color and your area’s public school calendar in another color (Google “public school calendar” and you should be able to easily find yours in the search results).
Be aware of weekends before and after anything highlighted prior to adding events to the community calendar.
Determine what you want to have happen monthly or every other month for leadership, members, newcomers.
Insert rhythm #1: Select at least two consecutive weekends per season when you will begin to place more emphasis on groups, e.g. January, May/June, September.
Offer groups in shorter-duration “semesters” (6-8 weeks) so people feel free to start and stop as desired.
Insert rhythm #2: Add another layer of leadership development activities that occur at least 1x/semester, but no more than 1x/mo. Be sure these occur a couple weeks before the weekends when there will be more emphasis placed on groups.
Insert rhythm #3: Add a third rhythm into your community calendar that reflects the leadership investment rhythms between coaches and small group leaders. Be mindful of what’s already highlighted as well as the other two rhythms and check to see if there are any huddles that meet nearby your church at smallgroupnetwork.com/my-huddles.
Support each month with various forms of communication using the table below (you can have more than one occurrence per type). Fill-in the “90-day Communication Strategy Template” below.
Finally, discuss with your leadership team before communicating anything more widely on your community calendar to make sure you’re not missing anything and to ensure everyone is on the same page.

90-day Communication Strategy Template

TYPE

WHAT

WHO

WHEN

HOW

Social

Media

Slide

Platform

Print

Website

Invitation (print or digital)

Plan what you want to say based on what you’ve scheduled.

Who will ‘own’ the responsibility of designing and delivering the communication.

Select specific dates when you plan to go ‘live’ with each type of communication.

This is a combo of the previous three columns, but focuses on implementation.

MONTH #1:
TYPE	WHAT	WHO	WHEN	HOW
Social Media
Slide
Platform
Print
Website
Invitation

MONTH #2:
TYPE	WHAT	WHO	WHEN	HOW
Social Media
Slide
Platform
Print
Website
Invitation

MONTH #3:
TYPE	WHAT	WHO	WHEN	HOW
Social Media
Slide
Platform
Print
Website
Invitation

This article on developing a community calendar originally appeared here, and is used by permission.

Personal Christian Retreat: An Outline for Spiritual Renewal

By

Alvin Reid

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February 9, 2022

For years, I’ve taken a regular personal Christian retreat. The getaway is a staple for renewing my mind and heart. Taking this time out has become an essential ministry practice, and I recommend it to my students as well.

Here’s an updated format for taking a personal Christian retreat. This is a collection of a variety of resources. If you’re constantly talking about how busy or rushed you are, then you need to stop and spend a day alone with Jesus.

Why a Personal Christian Retreat?

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. Mark 1:35

Charles Spurgeon: “Of course the preacher is above all distinguished as a man of prayer. He prays as an ordinary Christian, else he were a hypocrite. He prays more than ordinary Christians, else he were disqualified for the office he has undertaken.”

One discipline I challenge students to practice involves spending an extended time in prayer and spiritual focus. In other words, take a personal Christian retreat. In my personal life, I am returning to the practice of regular two to three hours of extended prayer and Bible study, and occasional, four- to eight-hour retreats. I do this not because I am strong spiritually. Rather, it’s because I know I’m weak and not yet as close to Christ as I desire.

If our Lord regularly set aside other things to spend time with His Father, how much more must I? So the following guide offers suggestions for spending three to eight hours with Jesus.

I highly recommend every believer do this periodically. A personal Christian retreat means just what it says: a personal, alone time to get away with your Creator, Redeemer and Lord. We live in a hectic world that sometimes makes us think being busy is a mark of being godly. But Jesus often went away to spend time alone (Mark 1:35). We too need times to get off the Ferris wheel of life and have a season with our Lord.

Think about where you like to go when you simply want to have a refreshing time with God. Most people envision mountains or the beach or some form of outdoor location, away from civilization. Sometimes we just need to get away.

In fact, I once had a class of church planters take a personal Christian retreat. One person wrote later to tell me that day saved his ministry. Why? He had become so discouraged he wanted to walk away.

I require a doctoral seminar on spiritual formation to take a personal Christian retreat day before the seminar. Almost all the participants committed to doing this once a quarter or so after the seminar. Regardless of your ministry role, we all need time to get away.

Before You Head Out

Read the following before you go on a personal Christian retreat. You may want to use all this material or none of it. It’s your time with God. But I’ve learned that many people need some sort of guideline. The following is an attempt to help you take a personal Christian retreat. But it’s not a formula to follow slavishly.

If you’ve never done this, I’d start with no agenda other than to grow in your knowledge, love and affection for Jesus. Other times, you may do a study retreat to prepare upcoming sermons, or to pray for a specific issue. But I’m talking about a personal Christian retreat with unfettered focus on God himself.

Before you embark, establish the time and place. Make sure it’s a secure place but also a place where you can have solitude. Numerous retreat centers will, for a nominal fee, allow you to use their grounds. Or go to a park, or wherever you can have uninterrupted time with God.

Cut off your cell phone. No social media. No email! If you want to be accessible to your family, keep it on airplane mode. Turn it on once an hour for a quick family check. Nothing else. Man does not live by cell phones alone!

Holy Spirit Object Lesson to Use With Your Preteens

By

David Jennings

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February 9, 2022

If you say the words “Holy Spirit” to kids, you may conjure images of something straight out of a Harry Potter movie. Kids, especially younger ones, don’t necessarily grasp the difference between the Spirit of the Lord and a ghost from television. But the Holy Spirit is one of God’s greatest blessings. That’s why a Holy Spirit object lesson is essential for older children and preteens.

The Holy Spirit is present, both inside us and on earth with us. The Holy Spirit’s identity and how the Holy Spirit can be in more than one place at a time is confusing. Yet understanding the presence of the Holy Spirit is essential to children’s spiritual growth.

When kids learn that something doesn’t have to be visible to be real and they grasp why God gave us the Holy Spirit, they see how he fits into their lives. That’s where a Holy Spirit object lesson is so helpful. So try this one in your preteen Sunday school class!

Use This Holy Spirit Object Lesson With Preteens at Your Church

Silly Dough Trio

Kids will make putty dough using three ingredients. Each will become unrecognizable, though each is still present.

What You’ll Need:

• Bibles

• 1 cup of Elmer’s white glue per group of 4 kids

• ¾ cup of warm water per group

• ½ tsp of Borax per group

• food coloring (optional)

• 1 bowl per group

• 1 large spoon per group

SAY:

One of the coolest things about God is that God knew we’d need help but forget to ask sometimes. The Holy Spirit is everywhere, both in us and on earth. But you can’t look in the mirror and see the Holy Spirit. It may be easy to forget the Holy Spirit is even there because we don’t see him.

Ask for willing children to read aloud Romans 8:11 and John 14:16-17.

SAY:

These words from the Bible promise that the Holy Spirit will live in us. But how is it possible to have something inside you that you can’t see? You can see every other part of your body, right? Let’s try an experiment to help us understand a little better. We’re going to make silly dough right now.

Have kids form groups of four or fewer. Give each group a set of ingredients and a bowl.

SAY:

Let’s start by mixing all our ingredients together. First, pour in the glue. Have one person in each group pour the glue into the bowl. Then add the other ingredients, one at a time.

Instruct kids to mix the ingredients. Then show them how to knead the mixture well. Once the mixture is pliable, let kids each have a piece to play with for a few minutes. Tell them to try to create something that looks like their version of the Holy Spirit.

Debrief the Lesson

ASK:

• Where is the glue now? the water? the Borax powder?

• Why do you think you can’t see the individual ingredients?

• How are the ingredients in the dough like or unlike how the Holy Spirit lives in each of us?

SAY:

Even though the separate ingredients aren’t visible, we know they’re still in your silly dough. It’s the same for us. Once we get with Jesus, choosing to believe in and follow him, the Holy Spirit is within us. We’ll never be the same, just as the individual ingredients won’t be the same. But we’ll be much, much more.

***

This activity is from the book 13 Most Important Bible Lessons for Kids About God. The #1 cry of children’s ministry leaders is the desire to teach kids the foundational truths of the Christian faith. The lessons in this book contain solid, Bible-packed experiences that draw children closer to Jesus and prepare them for a lifetime of spiritual maturity. Give your kids a firm hold of God’s truth!

How do you help your kids understand the Holy Spirit? What Holy Spirit object lesson do you recommend? Let us know using the comment section below!

Pastor Trends on Twitter After Modesty Post Causes a Total Meltdown

By

Jessica Lea

-

February 9, 2022

Pastor Brian Sauvé’s tweet on modesty on Monday, Feb. 7, caused the phrase “Dear Brian” to trend on Twitter and drew strong criticism from both Christians and non-Christians—as well as praise from some.

“Dear Ladies,” wrote Sauvé, “There is no reason whatsoever for you to post pictures of yourself in low cut shirts, bikinis, bra and underwear, or anything similar—ever. Not to show your weight loss journey. Not to show your newborn baby. Not to document your birth story. -Your Brothers.”

Sauvé is a pastor at Refuge Church in Ogden, Utah. His original tweet has over 5,500 likes and 19,000 quote tweets as of this writing. Readers should be advised that one of the comments responding to Sauvé’s tweet contains nudity.

‘Dear Brian’ Trends on Twitter

Because the tweet went viral, it drew attention from a broad audience on Twitter. A number of people, particularly women, told the pastor to “f*** off,” said they had the right to do what they wanted with their bodies, and posted revealing pictures in the comments. As might be expected, many of the responses to Sauvé’s tweet were sarcastic.

So, it’s totally ok for me to start telling men to never post pictures of themselves in suits because it’s just too tempting for me?

— Rebekah is doing her best (@BeknJ) February 9, 2022

Dear Brian,

There is no reason whatsoever for you to try and control how women express themselves. You also don’t speak on behalf of men. If hot women on your feed is too much for you to handle, delete your account and put parental controls on your browser kiddo.

-A Sane Person

— Ahmed Baba (@AhmedBaba_) February 8, 2022

The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women Who Take Sensual Childbirth Photos and Post Them on Instagram

— Sassiterian (@sassiterian) February 9, 2022

Quite a few people from Christian circles took issue with the implication that women posting pictures of themselves with their newborn babies was sexual.

“Oh my gosh I didn’t realize me lying on a hospital bed…holding [my] baby with a makeup + tear streaked face and frizzy hair from the sweat of 2+ hours of pushing, all while marveling at the miracle of new life was so sexy,” responded one woman.

Some responded by telling Sauvé that his tweet revealed a problem with lust and that he and other men need to “pluck out their own eyes” per Jesus’ instructions in Matthew 5.

“Dear Brian, Learn self-control,” said user Paul Chambers. “Seek help if you can’t see a woman without sexualizing her into some tawdry self-fulfilling scenario. Your Brother Twice Removed.”

Asian American Christian Collaborative president Raymond Chang tweeted, “Dear ladies, There is no reason whatsoever for you to take responsibility for the sin issues of men who have no self control. It is not your fault that we objectify you and treat you with less dignity than you deserve. We will take responsibility for our sin. – Your brothers.”

“Dear Ladies,” tweeted Christian theologian and preacher Kyle J. Howard, “if you post pictures of yourself in a low cut shirt, bikini, bra, underwear, or something similar; if I happen to come across it on my feed I’m committed to not sexualizing you as I scroll past but to see you as a human being whose body is not mine. -A brother.”

In a later comment on that tweet, Howard said, “We are talking about a man choosing to get up on twitter & in self-righteousness dictate to women what they can and cannot wear as if he Pope…It is not inconsistent to believe this dude is acting like a jerk AND to believe in modesty.”

Students Forced to Attend Christian Assembly at School Stage Walkout

By

Jesse T. Jackson

-

February 9, 2022

A student-led Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) assembly at Huntington High School in Huntington, West Virginia during school hours last week has some students protesting.

Huntington High School has over 1,000 students and is being accused of violating the constitutional rights of some students who were accidentally forced to attend the Christian event.

The event was organized by the student’s FCA chapter and featured Nik Walker from Nik Walker Ministries. Walker is a traveling evangelist who says that he is “dedicated to bringing the fullness of God’s spirit to the body of Christ.”

“My vision as a minister, whether in a church or a school, is to bring hope to a generation. So many things have been taken from our young people and the people of West Virginia, and it creates hopelessness,” Walker told WCHS Eyewitness News. “In our meetings, people are given hope that can only be found in Jesus Christ. To see the profound changes that take place in the hearts of so many young people who attend the meetings is worth it all.”

That same week, Walker preached at a voluntary Spring Valley High School assembly and rejoiced on Facebook that 55 students put their trust in Jesus.

“This was an amazing finish to a week of revival in the Huntington area. 202 students were saved this week in voluntary club meetings between 4 area schools! At Christ Temple, a total of 396 baptisms have taken place in 8 services! A Jesus revival is here for this generation,” Walker wrote.

Some Students Said They Were Forced to Attend

Huntington High School’s assembly was student-led and took place during a class break period, a time set aside for students to study for tests, work on college preparation, or attend assemblies.

Jedd Flowers, a Cabell County School’s spokesman, said that the FCA event was voluntary and required students to sign up to attend. Two teachers didn’t realize it was voluntary and took their entire homeroom classes to hear Walker speak.

Walker backed up Flowers’ statement, sharing that he never reaches out to schools to speak and is always contacted by the students.

One of those students was 16-year-old Cameron Mays, who was confused when those in the room were instructed to bow their heads and close their eyes while Walker asked if any of them would like to give their lives over to Jesus.

Walker told the students if they didn’t follow the Bible that they’d go to hell when they died. That is when Mays texted his father, “Is this legal?”

Bible Gateway Removes The Passion Translation From Site

By

Dale Chamberlain

-

February 9, 2022

Bible Gateway, a website that hosts Bible translations, reading plans, devotionals, and study tools, has removed The Passion Translation (TPT) from its site. TPT has been a subject of controversy since its edition of the New Testament was first published in 2017.

In a statement to Christianity Today, Bible Gateway parent company HarperCollins said, “We periodically review our content, making changes as necessary, to align with our business goals.” They declined to give any further detail.

TPT has been the subject of ongoing criticism on a number of fronts, most of which revolve around its lead translator, Brian Simmons. Simmons describes TPT as a “heart-level translation using Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic manuscripts,” which “expresses God’s fiery heart of love, merging emotion and life-changing truth, and unfolds the deep mysteries of the Scriptures in the love language of God.”

Some have called into question whether TPT should actually be considered a translation, rather than a paraphrase (something akin to the late Eugene Peterson’s “The Message”), given how much theological interpretation is present in the rendering of the text. Nevertheless, Simmons insists that his work in the original languages makes TPT more than merely a paraphrase.

Others have pointed out that Eugene Peterson likewise consulted original languages for “The Message,” but it is still not designated as a translation. TPT also fails to meet rigorous standards of adhering to sentence structure and syntax that other translations are held to.

“The Message” has likewise been the subject of criticism through the years, but Peterson never claimed it was a strict translation and did not advocate for it to be used from church pulpits.

Further, while TPT’s website describes Simmons as “lead translator,” no other translators are named. It appears that Simmons did most of the translation work himself, whereas other Bible translations are typically rendered by teams or committees of scholars.

When asked to respond to the criticism that his translation was not the product of a joint effort with a team of scholars, Simmons has said, “We need to tell that to William Tyndale and John Wycliffe! And I’m not comparing myself to them, but even today in the jungle villages, Bible translators often work alone because they’re the only ones with expertise in the language.”

Before translating TPT, Simmons had served as a missionary in Central America, where he had worked to translate the Bible into an indigenous language.

7 Christian NFL Players Set to Take the Field in Bengals vs Rams Super Bowl

By

Stephanie Martin

-

February 9, 2022

After the confetti falls Sunday at the close of Super Bowl LVI, the victors will accept the coveted Lombardi Trophy. But for some Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams players, pursuing a deeper relationship with Jesus takes priority over football.

The big game kicks off February 13 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., the Rams’ home field. Here’s a look at a few notable Christian athletes who will represent their teams—and their Savior—on football’s biggest stage.

Super Bowl LVI’s Christian Players

Super Bowl LVI: Cincinnati Bengals

As ChurchLeaders has reported, Bengals kicker Evan McPherson glorifies God through his words and apparel. The athlete, 22, frequently references Bible verses or his faith in his social media posts. The only kicker selected in last year’s NFL draft, McPherson has been key to the Bengals’ playoff run, helping the team break a 33-year Super Bowl drought.

Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson, whose career-high season included 14 sacks, expressed “thanks to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ” upon being named to his first Pro Bowl. Hendrickson, 27, lists Galatians 6:9 in his Instagram bio and shares a link to Matthew 25:Ministries, a local faith-based group.

Defensive back Michael Thomas had a whirlwind year, from being unsigned in September to joining the Bengals’ practice squad a few weeks later. On a new episode of the Sports Spectrum podcast, Thomas, 31, says, “God’s plans are far greater than ours,” adding that he “wasn’t stressing” when he was unsigned. “I wouldn’t want to be a part of any other group,” he adds about the Bengals. “I’m so glad God graced me with this experience.”

Another Bengals player who’s open about his Christian faith is Akeem Davis-Gaither. Last summer, the linebacker was baptized by pastor and former NFL player Derwin Gray. On an Instagram post about his baptism, Davis-Gaither writes: “After 23 years I am so proud to have given my life to Christ and Received the gift of new life! God has done wonderful things in my life, picked me up from my lows and humbled me at my highs. Every step of my life, God has blessed me in so many ways. I’m blessed that i’m able to share his love and let my life be a testimony of his unwavering love for us all.”

Joy Qualls: How Pastors Can Be Effective Communicators

By

Jessica Lea

-

February 9, 2022

The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast · Joy Qualls: How Pastors Can Be Effective Communicators

Dr. Joy Qualls is a nationally recognized writer and speaker who currently serves as Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Biola University. Joy writes and speaks on effective communication, leadership and who we are as images bearers of Christ.

Other Ways to Listen to This Podcast With Joy Qualls

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Key Questions for Joy Qualls

-How can pastors use the communication principles you’re talking about to become better preachers?

-Do you have a rule of thumb for the amount of prep time people should take when preparing a talk or a sermon?

-What are good principles for church leaders communicating on social media?

-Some pastors are great communicators, but have had moral and leadership failures. How can church members and other church leaders see through really great communication to some of the problems?

Key Quotes From Joy Qualls

“An effective communicator is somebody who understands the five elements of the communication process: who they are as the speaker; who their audience is, which is what most of us miss; what their message is; the channel they’re delivering the message on; and the occasion that has called forth that message.”

“Most of us don’t take the time to learn who our audience is and part of the challenge for somebody like me is understanding how to tailor my message for that audience.”

“Here’s the thing that most people miss. You can have the most perfect message. It can be constructed in exactly the way it’s supposed to be constructed, and your audience can even receive it the way they’re supposed to receive it. But God gave us all free will, and they get to choose to reject it, even if it’s exactly the way it’s supposed to be.”

“The way to become a more effective public communicator is to learn to become an effective interpersonal and group communicator. Because when you’re standing in front of an audience, it’s really just you and one other person.”

“Rhetoric is the human use of symbols to induce a response in other human beings. So our communication is inherently human.”

“Communication is not information transfer. It’s not a one-way directional thing. It’s a process.”

“The truth is, it’s a miracle that any communication actually happens at all.”

When Worship Online No Longer Felt Like a Community, a Wine Club Became ‘Wine Church’

By

Bob Smietana

-

February 9, 2022

wine church — Jon Sullivan, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

(RNS) — Steve Inrig has great faith in the gifts of the Spirit.

Especially those found in a bottle of good wine.

For the past two years, Inrig, a pastor-turned-college professor and amateur winemaker has been hosting “Wine Church,” an online meet-up with friends that mixes the laughter, joy and tears you’d expect from any drinking circle with the occasional prayer request.

When the group started, Inrig was looking for a way to stay connected with friends during the COVID-19 pandemic, figuring his love of wine and luxury wine coolers for collectors made for a good starting point. Along the way, the group became something deeper — a kind of pandemic support group and spiritual community.

The Saturday Zoom calls, which at their height drew about 20 people, were weekly for much of the pandemic. (They’ve recently slowed to every other week.) It was after one of the couples admitted they’d stopped going to church and found spiritual community in the group calls that they began to pray together.

“We joked about it,” said Inrig, who is the director of a graduate program in health care policy and management at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Los Angeles. “But over the next few weeks we found ourselves praying for one another.”

For Jim and Wendy McKinney of Yucaipa, California, the wine club helped fill a need for community after their church shut its doors and moved online during the pandemic. All of a sudden, the friendship and social interaction with fellow church members was gone, said Jim, replaced with sitting on the couch and absorbing streamed spiritual content.

“It just became this fire hose that came at you and you never got to talk back,” he said. “You never got to be on the other side of the conversation. For me, this wine club was actually an opportunity to be able to talk back and have a conversation with some like-minded Christians.”

McKinney, who describes himself as a fairly private person, said he has been surprised by how close he has gotten with other group members, most of whom he did not know before the pandemic. Now they are dear friends.

“I have at times opened up about some things in my life that I never would have opened up about, especially with people I had never met before in person,” he said. “And that’s stunning.”

Wendy McKinney agreed. She knew several group members before the Zoom calls started — she had been a volunteer leader for a youth group at Trinity Church in Redlands, California, when Inrig was a youth pastor there decades earlier, and several people on the Zoom call had been part of that youth group.

But she had not spent time with them in years.

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Before You Head Out

Use This Holy Spirit Object Lesson With Preteens at Your Church

Silly Dough Trio

Debrief the Lesson

‘Dear Brian’ Trends on Twitter

Some Students Said They Were Forced to Attend

Super Bowl LVI’s Christian Players

Super Bowl LVI: Cincinnati Bengals

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Key Quotes From Joy Qualls

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