Sam Rainer: The Number One Rule of Church Revitalization

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January 5, 2022

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The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast · Sam Rainer: The Number One Rule of Church Revitalization

Sam Rainer serves as president of Church Answers and is a cofounder of Rainer Publishing. He is lead pastor at West Bradenton Baptist Church in Bradenton, Fla., and writes, teaches, speaks, and consults on a variety of church health issues. Sam also cohosts the popular podcasts Rainer on Leadership and EST.church. His new book is “The Church Revitalization Checklist: A Hopeful and Practical Guide for Leading Your Congregation to a Brighter Tomorrow.”

Other Ways to Listen to This Podcast With Sam Rainer

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Key Questions for Sam Rainer

-What are some of the common mistakes that leaders make when church attendance is declining?

-What is the difference between somebody who is a longstanding pastor of a church that needs revitalization versus somebody who’s coming in to do revitalization?

-How did the “black swan” event of COVID-19 impact your revitalization plans? What advice would you give about revitalization in light of what we’ve gone through the last two years?

-What will be the greatest challenge to church growth in the coming years?

Key Quotes From Sam Rainer

“Most of the churches that are out there need revitalization.”

“If you’re talking about this phenomenon that we’re all experiencing of just being a smaller church, I think the answer is not to look so much at attendance as just a lag metric, but more to think about your lead metrics: What can you do in order to increase your attendance?”

“How many phone calls do you make in a week? How many times have you shared your faith this week? How many times have you challenged people in your church to get involved in a group so that they’re better connected? So it’s more about the things that lead to the attendance that are more important than the attendance itself.”

“A lot of churches are hanging on by their fingernails, but there are very strong fingernails. So, you know, every week can feel for a lot of churches like, is this going to be the last week? And yet year after year, decade after decade, it’s like every week we felt like it was the last week. And yet here we are 10 years later.”

“One of my favorite questions to ask people in churches is, ‘What gets you most excited about your church?’”

“The more that you can be unified about pushing outward in some way, the better your church is going to be.”

Bible Engagement Augments SBC January Discipleship Emphasis

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Diana Chandler

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January 5, 2022

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (BP) – When COVID-19 gathering restrictions hampered Sunday worship, Long Hollow Baptist Church Pastor Robby Gallaty already had an answer: offsite small discipleship groups immersed in Bible reading.

“With COVID now, in an environment where the church building is unable to be used in the same manner that it was pre-COVID, discipleship (groups) which used to be an option is now a necessity,” he said. “Because now you can’t come and gather in large groups in a building in a room. You have to gather in small groups in a home or in a coffee shop.”

Long Hollow’s gender-specific discipleship or D-Groups of three-to-five people allowed members to continue in discipleship until and after mass onsite meetings resumed.

“Just the fact that we can still gather in a COVID world in discipling relationships,” he said, “this is not an option to the church. This is the future of the church.”

As the Southern Baptist Convention emphasizes Christian discipleship this January on its official 2022 calendar, Gallaty encourages fellow pastors to capitalize on the emphasis on goals inherent with the New Year by building discipleship through Bible engagement.

“Particularly in January,” Gallaty encourages leaders, “capitalize on this season of time, because people are more likely to make resolutions and commitments in January than they would be other times of the year.”

Bible engagement strengthens discipleship by fueling Christian living, studies show.

Gallaty pointed to Lifeway Research on Bible engagement’s impact on a Christian’s ability to make life changes encouraged through discipleship.

“Those who engaged in the Bible, it actually affected every other spiritual discipline in a positive way,” he said, “meaning that Bible engagement was the tide that raised all the ships at port.

“People who read the Bible are more likely to give. People who read the Bible are more likely to serve. People who read the Bible are more likely to fast. People who read the Bible are more likely to … worship. You just think of the spiritual disciplines.”

The American Bible Society’s 2021 State of the Bible report supports the findings that Bible engagement births fruit of the Spirit in daily living.

“We realized that if that’s the case,” Gallaty said, “then we need to create tools and resources to help people get into the Word.”

Virginia Church Continues Revitalization a Year After Pastor’s Death

By

Timothy Cockes

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January 5, 2022

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (BP) – Members of Pinecrest Baptist Church continue to trust God during their church’s revitalization, despite enduring the tragic loss of their senior pastor Reggie Hester a little more than a year ago.

Hester was working as a regional catalyst for the SBC of Virginia when he began serving as the transitional pastor at Pinecrest in 2015. He became full-time pastor in 2016, while still working part-time with the SBCV, specifically in church revitalization.

Tragedy struck when Hester died unexpectedly from a heart attack Dec. 19, 2020, at age 54.

Stephen Day, associate/next generation pastor at Pinecrest, joined the staff shortly after Hester became the full-time pastor. Day grew up in the youth group of the church Hester was pastoring at the time, and said he now wants to help carry on the vision of his spiritual mentor at Pinecrest.

“You can’t revitalize a church unless God is the foundation,” Day said. “It’s hard work, but it’s simple work of getting people focused back on what the mission of the church is.”

Day said Hester was moving the church forward both practically and spiritually, and those practical and spiritual methods came together in the form of quarterly worship nights which Pinecrest began holding in early 2021.

Hester and Day had been working on practical changes to the church since early 2020 while the church was not meeting in person due to COVID-19.

The two renovated the church’s sanctuary by improving the facility’s lighting capabilities and adding other tools used during worship services.

The new facility was first used for the quarterly prayer and worship nights the church began to host to promote unity after Hester’s passing.

Praying and seeking a vision for the church is one of the main spiritual practices Hester emphasized that the church wants to carry on.

“Prayer has been huge for us, and we needed to make sure we stayed united in prayer,” Day said. “You can have the best strategy and plan but if you don’t have the power of God, then good luck.”

Day said Pinecrest’s growth over the past year has not been so much numerical as it has been in gaining a deeper understanding of the promises of God.

“Whenever your senior pastor dies, you have a lot of unknown questions and the future is still unknown for us, but I think the Lord calls you into a deeper abiding relationship with Him and His promises and character no matter the circumstance,” he said.

Rusty Small is a revitalization strategist for the SBC of Virginia. He believes Hester’s legacy extends far beyond Pinecrest.

“Reggie had become an encourager to pastors all over the state, but especially in the eastern part of the state in regards to revitalization,” Small said. “He was a great encouragement to discouraged pastors to help move them from discouragement to vitality so they could be the appropriate minister in their context.”

Small worked with Hester to create a state revitalization cohort project, where pastors of revitalizing churches met together for training and development.

The program began as a 12-church cohort meeting together for one year, and is now expanding to become a 20-church cohort meeting for two years.

A goal for Small is to be able to offer revitalization resources and training to any SBCV church that desires it. Small hopes Hester’s ministry legacy can be carried on through the cohort.

“Due to the pandemic, I think the churches in Virginia are as in need of revitalization now as they’ve ever been,” Small said. “I certainly deeply miss that Reggie’s not a part of the present efforts, but I’m thankful I was able to spend a season of my life with him.”

University of Florida President Says He Will Resign in 2023

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AP News

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January 5, 2022

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — University of Florida President Kent Fuchs announced Wednesday that 2022 will be his final year in office and that he plans to return to the classroom.

Fuchs, 67, said in a video address that he informed Board of Trustees Chairman Mori Hosseini of his decision last August, and they agreed to make it public this month. He said he will stay on until a replacement is chosen, which he expects will be in early 2023. He then plans to teach electrical and computer engineering.

“I am so grateful for the privilege I have had to serve UF,” Fuch said in the video.

Since taking office in 2015, Fuchs has raised UF’s profile as one of the nation’s top public universities, added 600 members to the faculty and raised over $4 billion from donors. But the last few months have been marked by controversy as his administration barred three professors from testifying in a lawsuit on behalf of civic groups challenging the state’s new election laws, which they say would restrict voting rights.

Fuchs’ administration said such testimony would put the school in conflict with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who pushed the election law. More than half of the university’s trustees are appointed by the governor.

The professors sued and Fuchs reversed the position in November, saying the professors could testify if they did it on their own time and didn’t use school resources. The professors have continued their lawsuit, saying they want assurances against imposing further restrictions on faculty members doing work as outside experts.

Before coming to UF, Fuch served as provost at Cornell University after teaching electrical and computer engineering there, at Purdue University and the University of Illinois. He has a bachelor’s degree from Duke University, a master’s and doctorate from Illinois and a masters of divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

This article originally appeared here.

Six Actions to Become a More Vulnerable Leader

By

Gavin Adams

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January 5, 2022

Honesty and vulnerability can increase your leadership influence. Who decided that leaders must have all the answers, always be right, and never be vulnerable?

I’d like to know who created this paradigm that has driven far too many leaders out of leadership.

Leadership is exhausting. Pretending is significantly more exhausting.

My Leadership Journey

I grew up watching leaders who always appeared supremely confident. It didn’t take me long to assign a connection between confident leadership and competent leadership. Granted, as a young leader just entering the marketplace, I didn’t see these confident leaders behind the scenes. Mostly I saw the public leadership moments — the ones where leaders made speeches and pronounced bold new agendas.

It was easy to associate leadership with boldness, unwavering direction, and complete comprehension.

This perspective on leadership is problematic, mainly because we can only see external confidence in others while inwardly seeing our shortcomings. I saw leaders seemingly with all the answers, but I knew I didn’t have all the answers. I saw leaders who were so externally confident, but internally, I didn’t feel confident. I saw leaders appearing strong while internally knowing I felt weak.

Over time, seeing only the public side of others while knowing the internal struggles in me created a leadership identity crisis.

The psychological term is imposter syndrome. I am a natural-born leader. As a leader, I assumed from what I saw from other leaders that I must always have an answer, be ever bold, and project confidence no matter what. That’s what leaders do … until they emotionally can no longer.

I’ll save all the details for another article another day, but all this pretending, faux confidence, and needing to be correct eventually caught up to me. Emotionally, I was finished. The burnout I experienced wasn’t from overwork but from over pretending. Wondering if you belong or have what it takes to lead well is emotionally crushing.

Years of pretending forced me to take a month off to do some hard, internal, heart work. That month taught me so much about my past, present, and what I hoped to be true in my future. My month off led to a year of learning and, more importantly, unlearning. I had to learn myself – my true self. I was a natural leader for sure, but I had to learn some deeper leadership lessons.

Great Leaders Don’t:

Have all the answers.
Always know what to do.
Refuse to acknowledge fear.
Pretend to be in command of every situation.

You can be real or really pretend, but you can’t do both.

7 Lies Christians Believe About Sex

By

Frank Powell

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January 5, 2022

There are seven lies Christians believe about sex. Things aren’t always as they seem. Take Prince Hans in the movie Frozen, for example. That fool pretends to be a charming, stand-up guy. And when Anna needs him most, Prince Hans pulls an Okie-Doke on her, leaving her for dead. What a jerk.

I seriously think I threw my couch pillow at the TV the first time I saw it. My wife then stared at me with a look like, “Did you really just throw a pillow at the TV over a cartoon movie?”

I was slightly embarrassed. But I don’t regret my actions.

Hollywood has built an industry on the “Prince Hans Principle” (yeah, I just made that up). Movies will paint a character one way, then drop the bombshell. But let’s be honest. Hollywood doesn’t hold the rights to this principle. Unfortunately, things aren’t always as they seem in the real world either. This is true of people, political and social ideas, and everything in between.

If you grew up in Christian culture, the “Prince Hans Principle” applies to many things, but it especially applies to sex. I remember the first time someone told me sex was a gift from God. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to slap them for insulting God or cry because they might actually be right. In the days and weeks that followed, I started to realize sex was a gift from God.

And it changed everything.

You see, I always thought sex was from Satan. Christians just borrowed it for procreation or something. But the more I talked to other people and studied Scripture, the more I realized things weren’t as they seem.

Today, I see sex as a beautiful, powerful gift from God. But getting to this point wasn’t easy. And I still have baggage from the years of lies I had to destroy. Some (or maybe most) of these lies I acquired from my Christian culture. Others I picked up from Hollywood, friends, etc.

Regardless, here are seven lies Christians believe about sex.

Lies Christians believe about sex #1.) Sex is dirty, nasty and only useful for procreation.

So, what if I told you sex is a gift from God? I know. That destroys the foundation of your understanding of sex. But it’s true. Sex isn’t dirty and nasty. And its purpose isn’t solely to keep the world populated.

But, for most Christians, sex is like that annoying family member. You know the one. God didn’t bless him (or her) with qualities like self-awareness. But he has a double portion of obnoxiousness. You dread family gatherings because the annoying family member will be there. But it’s your family. So, what choice do you have?

Familiarity Blindness in your Church: 7 Ways to Cure It

By

Charles Stone

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January 5, 2022

Familiarity blindness is a malady that infects us all. It happens when we become so familiar with something that we no longer consciously see it. In fact, the brain does this all the time so it doesn’t have to work as hard. If you drive to church or work the same route each time, you no longer pay attention to familiar buildings, signs, and other landmarks along the way. Although our eyes still see them, they’ve become so familiar that the brain doesn’t pay conscious attention to them. However, when something is out of place on your drive, a detour, for example, you immediately pay attention. Familiarity blindness is common in many churches today. In this post I give 7 ways to cure it.

Familiarity blindness afflicts many church ministries. We get accustomed to doing things a certain way, become so familiar with our surroundings, or slip into a ministry rut that we become oblivious to their staleness or their need for change. It happens in marriage as well. We can become so familiar with our spouses that we can take then for granted and not treat them as kindly as we once did.

Jesus described this phenomenon in his response to people who knew Mary and Joseph and couldn’t believe that He was a carpenter’s son. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.” (Luke 4.24, NIV) Those from His hometown had become so familiar with Him that they missed seeing Him as the Messiah.

Since this problem easily carries into our ministries, how can we cure it? Consider these ideas.

7 Ways to Cure Familiarity Blindness in your Church

1. Invite

Invite someone with fresh eyes to visit your church service. Perhaps a fellow pastor, a consultant, or a neighbor. Afterwards ask them to give you honest feedback about their experience, both good and bad.

2. Re-Evaluate

Evaluate the order in which you present the various parts of your worship service. Do you do the same thing in the same order each week? Could someone who has gone to your church for a while tell you the order without even thinking about it? If so, you may want to consider changing up the order. Surprise and novelty helps people pay better attention.

3. Visit

Go and visit another church. What do you experience that feels disconcerting, unclear, or unnecessary? Do you see similar barriers in your own church? Go back to your church with the same evaluative eyes and make necessary changes.

4. New People

Spend time with new people in your church. Ask them what they liked. Ask them what they would change. Ask them to be honest. Pay attention to what you learn. Build on the good. Modify the not-so-good.

5. Re-evaluate

Evaluate your annual church calendar. Does your church or its ministries do the exact same events and ministries year after year? Certainly repeating events that work is good. But, do you do some events just because you’ve always done them? Do they have the same spiritual impact they once did? Do you need to drop or modify them?

6. Listen

Does your leadership culture invite honest feedback and evaluation about your ministry? Do you regularly evaluate ministry initiatives and events? Or, is the planning process over when the event is over? Learning cultures will ruthlessly evaluate what they do so they can do better next time.

7. Pray

Pray. Though last in this list it is not least. Ask the Lord to show you what you’ve become blind to.

What would you add to this list to help cure familiarity blindness in a church?

This article on familiarity blindness originally appeared here, and is used by permission.

Founding Pastor of Maranatha Chapel Ray Bentley Has Died From COVID-19 Complications

By

Dale Chamberlain

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January 4, 2022

Ray Bentley, founding and senior pastor of Maranatha Chapel in San Diego, California, has died from complications related to COVID-19.

A statement was released on Bentley’s website, which read, “With grieving hearts, we need to let you know that our dear Pastor Ray went home to be with the Lord this afternoon due to complications of COVID.”

“We are all in shock and heartbroken. We find comfort in knowing that he is rejoicing in heaven with his beloved Jesus. Certainly, he was welcomed with those beautiful words, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant,’” the statement continued. “Please pray for Vicki and their family and for our church.”

The statement added that more information would follow.

Ray Bentley founded Maranatha Chapel in 1984. At its beginning, a group of about 30 met for a midweek Bible study in a local recreation center. Today, Maranatha serves roughly 7,000 weekly attenders across four services. Bentley is also the host of the daily Maranatha Radio show, which has aired on stations across the United States and internationally.

Bentley had just released a book in November called “As the Days of Noah,” an end times thriller novel that is part of “The Elijah Chronicles” series. All the proceeds for the book are being given to the Nehemiah Fund, which “is an outreach ministry of Ray Bentley Ministries that supports and endorses a group of non-profit organizations dedicated to helping and blessing Israel and her neighbors.”

“We were just with Pastor Ray Bentley on Dec 20. He became ill Dec 23, I am told,” said Jim Garlow, former senior pastor of Skyline Church in the San Diego suburb of La Mesa. “He was a very special friend to all of us. He was one of San Diego’s most outstanding pastors. A severe loss. Much shock and grief in San Diego tonight. And across America where he was known, and especially in Israel where he went continually, and where his heart was. Grieving.”

Bentley could be seen actively ministering up until the final weeks of his life, regularly releasing online devotionals and preaching at Maranatha Chapel on December 19. In that sermon, Bentley spoke about his plans for the coming weeks and his excitement for the Word he said God had given him for the year 2022.

“Our God, He invites you into an adventure. That’s been my whole story,” Bentley said.

Preemptive Love Board Cuts Ties With Founders Jeremy and Jessica Courtney

By

Bob Smietana

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January 4, 2022

(RNS) — Preemptive Love, a nonprofit long championed by Christian influencers and celebrities for its work in Iraq and elsewhere, plans to cut ties with its founders after former employees complained of an abusive work environment and misleading fundraising practices.

Jeremy and Jessica Courtney, former missionaries who founded the Preemptive Love Coalition in 2007, were placed on leave in the summer of 2021 to allow the charity’s board of directors to address concerns raised in a letter from more than two dozen former employees.

After reviewing the preliminary findings of an investigation by Guidepost Solutions, a consulting firm hired to review the former employees’ allegations, the board resolved that the Courtneys would not return from their leave of absence and no longer have a role with the organization, a representative of Preemptive Love confirmed to Religion News Service.

In mid-December, Ben Irwin, a former director of communications for Preemptive Love, posted a long article on Medium.com detailing his concerns about the Courtneys, presenting a starkly contrasting picture than the mission outlined by Preemptive Love’s leadership. According to the its website, the organization does relief work in the Middle East and Latin America as part of a broader goal of “working together to unmake violence and create the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.”

In speeches and conversations with donors, Jeremy Courtney has for years said that Preemptive Love began with a cup of chai and the story of a girl with a broken heart. Courtney, who had moved to the Middle East intending to be a missionary after 9/11, had relocated to Iraq in 2007 to work on humanitarian relief.

As Courtney sat in a hotel, a man approached and told Courtney that his cousin’s daughter had a heart defect and no local doctor could treat her.

“You are an American. Is there something you can do?” Courtney recalled the man saying in a 2011 TED Talk given in Baghdad. “Ultimately, I decided to help this little girl,” he told the TED audience. “I decided to suspend my questions and to jump in and love first.”

That meeting led the Courtneys and some friends to form a nonprofit that would raise money to provide heart surgeries for Iraqi children. The group’s name was the Preemptive Love Coalition. “Now, unlike a preemptive strike, where I seek to get you before you get me,” Courtney explained in his TED Talk, “preemptive love is where I jump forward to love you before you love me.”

Preemptive love also meant trying to help people even if you lacked the expertise to solve their problems. That can-do attitude worked, and by March 2009, Preemptive Love had raised more than $220,000 to provide 26 heart surgeries for Iraqi children.

The following year, the organization raised about $300,000 to provide surgery for 23 more children, along with follow-up care. Preemptive Love would eventually pay for surgeries for hundreds of children and set up a program to train local doctors to perform lifesaving surgery.

After the rise of the Islamic State group, Preemptive Love shifted to providing relief for refugees in Iraq and other war-torn countries such as Syria. In 2020, Preemptive Love had its best year ever — raising more than $13 million to support a team of “global peacemakers” who provide food and water and other assistance while spreading the gospel of loving first.

The Courtneys’ work proved particularly attractive to Christian influencers and young Christians such as Dane Barnett, who were disillusioned with politics and wanted to change the world. A secular organization, Preemptive seemed to be infused with faith.

Barnett began raising funds for Preemptive Love in 2011, while a student at Cedarville University, a Christian school in Ohio. Barnett, who said he’d been born with a congenital heart defect, was drawn by the organization’s aid to heart patients.

“If I had been born in Iraq, I’d need a place like Preemptive Love to save my life,” he said.

Barnett had also grown concerned about the evangelical subculture he had grown up in, feeling it was too focused on power and not enough on living like Jesus. Preemptive Love, he said, offered a way to find meaning by helping others.

Christian Band Big Daddy Weave’s Bassist Jay Weaver Dies After Contracting COVID-19

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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January 4, 2022

Dove Award winning contemporary Christian artist Big Daddy Weave’s co-founding member, vocalist, and bassist, Jay Weaver, died Sunday, January 2, 2022 at the age of 42 of complications resulting from COVID-19.

Mike Weaver, Jay’s brother and Big Daddy Weave’s lead vocalist, posted on the band’s Instagram page sharing the news of his brother’s passing.

“Thank you so much for all your prayers for my brother,” an emotional Mike told everyone. “You have walked with him through a huge fight. I’m so sorry to bring this news, but I’m also excited to celebrate where he is right now—my brother Jay went to be with Jesus just a couple hours ago due to complications with COVID-19 on top of everything else that he already had going on.”

Jay was admitted to the hospital in late December due to complications stemming from the COVID-19 virus. A day before his passing, the band posted a message on their Instagram page asking for people to pray for Jay and his family. “Jay has been in the hospital for five days fighting a tough battle against COVID,” the message said. “Would you pray with us for complete healing for Jay and for peace for his family? We pray in the name of Jesus that it be so.”

In that same post, the band included a message from Jay’s wife, Emily, which said, “I am asking you all to pray for Jay. He has been in the hospital since Tuesday. He is fighting so hard. I can see it on him as I look through the window of his door. Yes, he has the awful virus. I just want my best friend/everything to get better.”

Jay had struggled with diabetes for 20 years, and according to Curb | Word Entertainment, Big Daddy Weave’s record label, Jay’s health got so bad in 2016 that his “survival was in question.” Both of his feet had to be amputated in order to save his life, which led to a painful and difficult recovery.

“Jay battled the idea of whether he should even continue living,” Big Daddy Weave’s Curb biography reads.

In August of 2020, the band announced that Jay needed to leave the band’s tour to receive dialysis to help with kidney function. Jay later received a port, so he could receive treatment at home or while on the road.

The band asked for prayers for Jay and his family this past August, saying he made the “difficult decision” to return home from touring to focus on his health, because side effects from his dialysis treatments had caused him to be admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit. After spending a few days in the ICU, Emily shared that Jay was released and thanked everyone for their prayers, saying that they were trusting completely in God’s plan.

“You’ve seen him walk the uphill battle and you’ve guys helped carry him through so much,” Mike told the band’s followers. “Man I’m telling you the Lord used him in such a mighty way out on the road for so many years and anybody who’s come into contact with him just knows how real his faith in Jesus was.”

Megachurch Pastored by T.D. Jakes’ Daughter, Son-in-Law Going Fully Online After Decline in Giving

By

Jessica Lea

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January 4, 2022

The Potter’s House of Denver, a megachurch in Denver, Colo., led by pastors Touré Roberts and his wife, Sarah Jakes Roberts, is selling its property and going fully remote. Touré Roberts says the decrease in giving the church has experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic is a key reason behind the decision.

“Due to the inability to gather and the economic instability of the pandemic, our church, like many other churches in the nation, experienced declining donations,” Pastor Touré Roberts told The Denver Post. “We decided that the best way forward would be to sell the property, continue our online offering that had proven a successful alternative and maintain our hands-on community outreach operations, which includes our food bank that feeds thousands of families per year.”

Touré Roberts: COVID-19 Forced Us to Rethink Ministry

Touré Roberts is the son-in-law of The Potter’s House founder Bishop T.D. Jakes. Jakes, who is also a best-selling author, is a controversial figure due to being associated with the prosperity gospel and his views on the Trinity.

T.D. Jakes’ daughter, Sarah Jakes Roberts, co-pastors The Potter’s House of Denver and The Potter’s House at OneLA in Los Angeles with her husband. When the COVID-19 pandemic took off in the U.S. in March 2020, lockdowns compelled church leaders to take services at The Potter’s House Denver entirely online. In a Facebook post on March 14, 2020, the church said:

In light of our government officials suggestion to postpone or cancel large gatherings due to COVID-19, we’re doing our part to help #FlattenTheCurve by moving forward with ONLINE services. We are beyond grateful for the opportunity technology affords us to STILL be able to gather in the name of Jesus!!!

On March 25 of that year, Sarah Jakes Roberts told Spectrum News 1 that meeting virtually was a positive experience for Potter’s House members: “I think this has created a unique opportunity for people to recognize they have the ability to turn their homes, their spaces, their cars into actual sanctuaries.”

The 137,000-square-foot church building served as the home of a different megachurch, Heritage Christian Center, before The Potter’s House of Denver took it over 11 years ago. Touré Roberts told the Post that with church giving declining, it did not make sense to retain and maintain the building, which “needed significant repairs.”

‘The Good Lord Has Blessed Me’—Steelers QB, Likely Retiring, Thanks God After Win

By

Stephanie Martin

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January 4, 2022

Ben Roethlisberger, who has spent his entire 18-year NFL career with Pittsburgh, thanked God, teammates and fans Monday after what was likely his final game at Heinz Field. “The good Lord has blessed me in so many ways,” the Steelers quarterback told an ESPN reporter following a 26-14 win over division rival Cleveland. “I’m so thankful and blessed to be able to call this place home for almost half my life,” he added.

All season, retirement rumors have swirled around the 39-year-old QB, nicknamed Big Ben. Last week he told a reporter, “I think I’ve been here long enough.”

With an 8-7-1 record this season, the Steelers are still in the AFC playoff hunt. Last year ended with a disappointing wildcard playoff loss, and before that, an elbow injury sidelined Roethlisberger for most of the 2019 season.

Ben Roethlisberger Honored by Fans

Despite frigid temps, grateful fans filled the stands Monday night to honor the longtime quarterback. Roethlisberger received a loud pregame ovation, and fellow team captains let him handle the coin-toss duties alone at midfield.

Thanks to a Steelers interception near the end of the fourth quarter, Roethlisberger was able to end the game with a kneel-down—later calling it “the best play in football when you’re an offensive player.” Then the QB walked around his home field, signaling gratitude to cheering, sign-waving fans.

In the postgame interview, Roethlisberger noted that Monday’s game was far from perfect. “It’s probably not the way you wanted it, other than the win,” he said. “That’s all that really matters. That’s kind of been the story of my career. It’s not always pretty, but we find a way.”

During his lengthy career, Roethlisberger won two Super Bowls and was named to the Pro Bowl six times. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin expressed gratitude for “the last 15 years with him,” saying, “We’ve been through a lot. We’ve seen a lot. It’s been a heck of a ride.”

QB Strives for a ‘Closer Walk’ With Jesus

At last year’s ManUp Pittsburgh conference, Ben Roethlisberger described how Jesus has restored his faith and renewed his life’s purpose. “Jesus is the One who brought me back to him, and I’m so thankful for it, because I feel I’m a better Christian, a better husband, and a better father today because of his forgiveness of me,” he said.

Navy Blocked From Acting Against 35 COVID Vaccine Refusers

By

Robert Burns

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January 4, 2022

vaccine — FILE - Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during a media briefing at the Pentagon, Nov. 17, 2021, in Washington. A federal judge in Texas has granted a preliminary injunction stopping the Navy from acting against 35 sailors for refusing on religious grounds to comply with an order to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The injunction is a new challenge to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's decision to make vaccinations mandatory for all members of the military. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge in Texas has granted a preliminary injunction stopping the Navy from acting against 35 sailors for refusing on religious grounds to comply with an order to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The injunction is a new challenge to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s decision to make vaccinations mandatory for all members of the military. The vaccination requirement allows for exemptions on religious and other grounds, but none of the thousands of requests for religious waivers so far have been granted.

There was no indication that the order would affect service members beyond the 35 sailors who sued Austin and the Navy. The Pentagon had no immediate response to a request for comment.

Well over 90% of the military has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including at least 98.5% of active and reserve members of the Navy. Austin asserts that vaccines are a valid and necessary medical requirement to protect service members and their families and ensure the combat readiness of the force.

In his decision Monday, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor wrote that the Navy’s process for considering a sailor’s request for a religious exemption is flawed and amounts to “theater.”

O’Connor, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, wrote that the group of 35 sailors who sued the government in November and sought a preliminary injunction against the Navy have a right on religious and First Amendment grounds to refuse the vaccination order.

“The Navy servicemembers in this case seek to vindicate the very freedoms they have sacrificed so much to protect,” O’Connor wrote. “The COVID-19 pandemic provides the government no license to abrogate those freedoms. There is no COVID-19 exception to the First Amendment. There is no military exclusion from our Constitution.”

The O’Connor injunction was first reported by The Washington Post.

Without commenting on the case in Texas, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby last month defended the validity of the military service’s processes for considering religious exemptions.

“Each exemption asked for on religious grounds is evaluated by a chaplain, by a chain of command, by medical experts and is given quite a lot of thought, and they’re all decided case by case individually,” he said Dec. 21.

Suspect in Murder of Alabama Pastor’s Wife Turns Herself in, Apologizes

By

Dale Chamberlain

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January 4, 2022

Kaillyn Harris Grace Carter — Pictured: Kaillyn Harris apologizing while being taken into custody. Screengrab via WKRG.

Kaillyn Harris is in police custody after turning herself in for a shooting that resulted in the death of Prichard, Alabama pastor’s wife Grace Carter on December 28.

During an evening Bible study, the group at Everlasting Life Holiness Church heard a loud pop that they initially thought was the crackle of a speaker. After Carter collapsed and emergency medical personnel arrived on the scene, an investigator noticed a bullet hole in the church’s door, and it was discovered that Carter had been killed by a stray bullet. She was 65 years old.

Carter’s killing was the third murder to occur in Prichard between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day.

Harris turned herself in on Thursday, December 30. As she was being taken into custody, Harris tearfully told reporters, “I’m sorry and I didn’t intend to do this. Anybody who knows me, know I got a good heart. And I ain’t intend to do this. Can y’all please forgive me?”

Harris, who was on probation for insurance fraud, has been charged with murder and shooting into an occupied building. She has not been granted bond. Further details regarding the incident on the night of December 28 have not been revealed.

“[Grace] would do anything she could for anyone. She’s a kind woman, and I believe she’s gone home to live with the Lord. I miss her. I love her,” said Carter’s husband, Cecil Carter Sr., following the incident. Cecil and Grace had been longtime members of Everlasting Life Holiness Church, and Cecil is set to begin his own pastorate at another church later this month. The couple had been married for 35 years.

Ramona Carter, daughter-in-law to Grace Carter, told WKRG, “The fact that [Harris] turned herself in, and that [her apology] did sound sincere, we did appreciate that. The family appreciates that.”

“I just want to say that she was very cooperative; very remorseful of the situation,” said Prichard Police Chief Walter Knight. “It’s just such a tragic event that happened that altered the lives of two families.”

Ramona Carter also said that the family feels “a little bit better that there was no bond given” to Harris.

3 Years After Renewing Wedding Vows, Lysa TerKeurst Reveals Her Marriage Has Ended

By

Bri Lamm

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January 4, 2022

Lysa TerKeurst has decided to end her marriage of 29 years.

The Proverbs 31 Ministries founder took time Saturday to reflect on the past year, which she says “looked very different” than she thought it would.

“It’s been a year of waiting, listening to God, grieving, and taking some time off to process and heal,” the mother of five wrote in an Instagram post on New Year’s Day.

Despite renewing their wedding vows three years ago after a “painful separation,” TerKeurst revealed that her husband Art has continued to be unfaithful.

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A post shared by Lysa TerKeurst (@lysaterkeurst)

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

TerKeurst goes on to say that she has made the wise and difficult decision to “stop fighting” to save her marriage of 29 years, and instead, “accept reality.”

“While there is clear biblical justification for my decision to end this marriage, I am choosing to hold most of the details private out of respect for our children and grandchildren, and to give space and privacy for my family and me to continue to heal,” she said.

“It’s hard to face a future that looks nothing like what I desperately and constantly prayed it would look like.”

TerKeurst says that while relationship restoration doesn’t always work, “forgiveness always does.”

“I’ve never been more grateful for the healing redemption God has done in my heart through the power of forgiveness,” she says. “Bitterness and resentment could be eating me alive. But, miraculously, that’s not where I’m at. With time, prayer, and lots of counseling, my heart is healing.”

Lebanese Christian Leader: Alliance With Hezbollah Imperiled

By

Sarah El Deeb

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January 4, 2022

BEIRUT (AP) — The head of Lebanon’s largest Christian party said on Sunday that a 15-year-old alliance with the country’s powerful Shiite group Hezbollah was no longer working and must evolve.

The televised speech by Gebran Bassil, who heads the Free Patriotic Movement, signaled an unprecedented level of frustration with Hezbollah and suggested the 2006 alliance credited with helping maintain peace in the small country was in jeopardy.

Bassil’s comments come amid a devastating economic crisis and also ahead of critical parliamentary elections in which his party is expecting tough competition. Undoing the alliance with Hezbollah would cost him more votes in the May elections.

But Bassil, a former foreign minister, said the alliance is costing him credibility with supporters. Bassil is also the son-in-law of Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun. He has positioned himself as a reformer and is believed to have ambitions to run for president himself.

Bassil pinned his frustration on Hezbollah’s other ally, the powerful Shiite Amal Movement, led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. He said in recent months Hezbollah has backed Berri’s Amal at the expense of their own alliance.

“We reached an understanding with Hezbollah (in 2006) not with Amal,” Bassil said in an hour-long speech. “When we discover that the one making decisions in (this alliance) is Amal, it is our right to reconsider.”

Hezbollah and its allies control most seats in parliament and are the main backers of the government that took office in September. But the government and parliament have been paralyzed as political disagreements deepened and as Lebanon faces an unprecedented economic crisis unraveling since 2019.

Berri is an old-time rival of Bassil, who accused him of using his power in parliament to block several of his draft bills.

Recently, Hezbollah and Amal have been widely critical of the investigation into last year’s Beirut Port investigation, accusing the judge of being biased against their allies— a position at odds with Bassil’s party.

Hezbollah has asked for the judge to be removed, leading to a paralysis within the government. Deadly clashes in October that pitted Amal and Hezbollah supporters against Christian gunmen were triggered by the investigation dispute and further strained relations with Bassil’s party, which accused Amal of the violence.

Bassil criticized Hezbollah for not backing his party on reform laws that he says aim to weed out corruption and ensure decentralized financial policies, or in efforts to protect constitutional powers of the president. Such choices have left Bassil unable to justify to his supporters Hezbollah’s decisions, he added, openly blaming Berri for the rift.

A Surge of Evangelicals in Spain, Fueled by Latin Americans

By

Alberto Arce

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January 4, 2022

Evangelicals in Spain — Kent Albright, a Baptist pastor from the United States, stands for a portrait in his evangelical church in Santa Marta de Tormes, on the outskirts of Salamanca, Spain, on Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021. When he arrived as a missionary to Spain in 1996, he couldn't have imagined that 25 years later he would be pastoring an evangelical congregation of 120 and count about two-dozen other thriving Protestant churches in the northwestern city. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)

SALAMANCA, Spain (AP) — When Kent Albright, a Baptist pastor from the United States, arrived as a missionary to Spain in 1996, he was unprepared for the insults and threats, or the fines from the police for handing out Protestant leaflets on the streets of Salamanca.

“Social animosity was big — they had never seen a Protestant in their life,” said Albright, recalling one woman who whispered, “Be thankful we don’t throw stones at you.”

He couldn’t have imagined that 25 years later, he would be pastoring an evangelical congregation of 120 and count about two dozen other thriving Protestant churches in the northwestern city. And there’s a distinctive feature to the worshippers: Most of them are not Spanish-born — they’re immigrants from Latin America, including about 80% of Albright’s congregation.

The numbers reflect huge surges in Spain’s migrant population and evangelical population in recent decades, producing profound changes in how faith is practiced in a country long dominated by the Catholic church.

“The Bible says there are no ethnicities, there are no races. I don’t go down the street asking, nor do I ask for passports at the church door.” Albright said. He marvels that in a course he teaches for deacons, his six students include one each from Peru, Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador.

One of the newest members of his congregation is Luis Perozo, 31, a former police officer from Maracaibo, Venezuela who arrived in Spain in February 2020 and applied for asylum with his wife, Narbic Escalante, 35.

While the couple wait for their status to be resolved, Perozo works in the laundry of a hotel. His wife does nursing in a retirement home.

“I was a lifelong Catholic,” says Escalante. “When I arrived in Salamanca, I entered the church, looked everywhere, said hello, and they ignored me. I went to several churches — I felt absolutely nothing.”

Perozo and Escalante soon visited Albright´s church — one of Perozo´s uncles had emigrated earlier and was already a member.

“The next day, Pastor Albright was helping us find a house, appliances and kitchenware. He moved us with his van,” Escalante said.

She commended Albright’s approach to pastoring, including services with lively music and less emphasis on repetitive prayer.

“I definitely feel better here than in the Catholic Church,” she says. “It allows me to live more freely, with less inhibitions.”

Before she and her husband were baptized at Albright’s church, she visited a Catholic priest. She recalls him responding, “If it makes you feel at peace with yourself, go. You’re not committing any sin.”

Albright sees similar reactions among other Latin American immigrants.

When they go to a Catholic church, he says, “they don’t feel that their problems are understood.”

“Latinos generally have a desire to participate in worship,” he added. “They need to have an active part in the celebration. The Catholic church feels static to them.”

___

With the arrival of the euro currency two decades ago, Spain experienced an economic boom that fueled migration. In 2000, there were 471,465 legally registered migrants in Spain; there are now about 7.2 million.

Cross Conference Reaches Young Adults at Pivotal Time in Life

By

Timothy Cockes

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January 4, 2022

Cross Conference — Students listen to a speaker at the CROSS Conference in Louisville, Ky. on Dec. 31. (CROSS Conference Facebook page)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) — Thousands of young adults ages 18-25 heard about the importance of missions and the local church this week during the 2021 CROSS Conference.

The conference, held Dec. 31-Jan. 2 at the Kentucky International Convention Center, discussed topics such as reaching the world with the Gospel and the importance of the local church in missions.

David Platt, lead pastor at McLean Bible Church in Vienna, Va., and former president of the International Mission Board exhorted the young adults during his final address at the conference to prioritize missions and share the Gospel in the short time we are given.

“The Bible says each of us is here for a little while,” Platt said. “Life is a vapor; it’s a mist. It’s here one second and gone the next. Life is short, so don’t waste it.

“Students, leaders, your life is a mist so make the mist count. Your death is coming … and others’ deaths are coming. The people we’re talking about reaching are dying.”

Tanner Keen, an intern with Huntington Community Church in Huntington, W.Va., attended the event with the church’s collegiate ministry.

The 22-year-old Keen is set to graduate from Marshall University this spring and subsequently be married to his fiancé. This year’s CROSS Conference was his second, and each has served as a great reminder of the importance of the Great Commission, he said.

“It’s been a really good reminder of the urgency of getting the Gospel to the nations,” Keen said. “It’s really easy to get excited about global missions and this idea of unreached people groups on your mind when you’re here, but the busyness of life unfortunately sometimes makes you forget that, and so I think this came at a really good time for me.”

All of the sermons at this year’s conference came out of 1 Corinthians as Platt and others preached about the centrality of the cross in the Gospel message.

CROSS Conference was founded by Platt in 2013, and conferences have been held in 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020 (virtual only).

In addition to Platt, the 2021 conference featured a strong Southern Baptist presence.

J.D. Greear, senior pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, N.C., and immediate past SBC president opened the conference by preaching from 1 Corinthians 1.

Matt Boswell, pastor of Trails Church in Prosper, Texas, and assistant professor of church music and worship at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, led worship during the conference. He performed many of his own modern hymns and also taught an afternoon breakout session about how worship is more than just singing.

Other notable Southern Baptist speakers and panelists included Jeremy Pierre, associate professor of biblical counseling at Southern Seminary, Cyndi Logsdon, central director of church groups at McLean Bible Church and Ben Lacey, assistant pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.

Several SBC seminaries set up booths to talk to prospective students, and SBC ancillary groups 9Marks and The Pillar Network hosted late-night panel discussions.

Other notable evangelical guests included pastors Kevin DeYoung and John Piper, and a New Year’s Eve concert from Dove Award-winning Christian artist KB.

The conference comes in the midst of an ongoing pandemic, and a New Year that will have many young adults thinking about future decisions they will have to make.

Keen said the conference can be particularly encouraging for young Southern Baptists, as a reminder that missions work is the most important thing we do as a convention.

Last Parent of a Child Killed in 1963 Church Bombing Dies

By

AP News

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January 4, 2022

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Maxine McNair, the last living parent of any of the four Black girls killed in a 1963 Alabama church bombing, died Sunday. She was 93.

McNair’s family announced her death in a press release. A cause of death was not given.

McNair’s daughter, 11-year-old Denise McNair, was the youngest girl killed in the bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church, the deadliest single attack of the civil rights movement. Also killed were three 14-year-olds: Addie Mae Collins, Carole Rosamond Robertson and Cynthia Dionne Wesley.

Three members of the Ku Klux Klan were eventually convicted in the case, the first in 1977 and two more in the early 2000s.

Maxine McNair worked as a teacher for over three decades in Birmingham public schools. Her daughter, Lisa McNair, said she changed many lives through education and left a lasting legacy through the students she touched.

“Mrs. McNair was an amazing wife and mother and as a teacher of 33 years in the Birmingham public school system imparted knowledge in the lives of hundreds. We are going to miss her laughter and her humor. The family would appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers,” the family’s statement said.

Maxine McNair’s husband, Chris McNair, died in 2019 at the age of 93. He was one of the first Black members of the Alabama legislature since Reconstruction, and a Jefferson County commissioner.

In 2013, Maxine McNair attended an Oval Office ceremony in which President Barack Obama awarded the four girls the Congressional Gold Medal, one of the country’s highest civilian honors.

Funeral arrangements for a celebration of Maxine McNair’s life are pending.

Denise McNair was one of five girls who had gathered in a downstairs bathroom at the 16th Street Baptist Church on Sept. 15, 1963, when a timed bomb planted by KKK members went off outside under a set of stairs.

The fifth girl and sister of Addie Mae Collins, Sarah Collins Rudolph, was blinded in one eye by the blast. She later provided testimony that helped lead to the convictions of the men accused of planting the bomb.

The church bombing came during the height of the fight for Civil Rights in America, and as Birmingham’s public schools were being desegregated. The four girls became emblems of the racist hatred that emanated from much of the opposition to equal rights.

This article originally appeared here.

Colorado Baptists Respond to Wind-Driven Fire Destruction

By

Scott Barkley

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January 4, 2022

Colorado Baptists — Photo courtesy of Baptist Press. Colorado Baptist Disaster Relief personnel are helping care for evacuees of a fire that raged through neighborhoods west of Denver last week, one day before heavy snowfall blanketed the area. (Submitted photo)

LAFAYETTE, Colo. (BP) – Colorado Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are continuing feeding efforts for those displaced by a fast-moving fire last week, a spokesman told Baptist Press.

“We’ve been feeding three meals a day for evacuees from the two fires since last Thursday,” Dennis Belz, CBDR state director, said Jan. 2. He estimated that 250 evacuees have been fed so far.

“Things are changing daily as those who did not lose their homes are finally getting to go back in since the gas lines are turned on,” he said.

A combination of a dry conditions and winds up to 115 mph whipped the Dec. 30 Marshall and Middle Fork fires into neighborhoods and unincorporated areas in Boulder County. More than 1,000 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed across 6,219 acres, the Denver Post reported. Officials have narrowed the fire’s point of origin, but have nothing conclusive at this time.

No deaths have been reported, according to the Associated Press, though two remain missing.

Heavy snowfall Dec. 31 helped put out the fires, but the accompanying cold came as many were without heat due to damaged gas lines.

“Our temperatures have been below zero and in the teens, but the people keep moving on to minister,” Belz said. “Two of our CBDR volunteers lost their home and are without jobs now as their workplace sustained damage.”

Those CBDR volunteers, Dale and Linda Hinkle, have served in the feeding unit. They lost their Louisville home of 30 years, barely having enough time to escape with a few items out of the house. Their jobs have also been interrupted as the Safeway grocery store where Dale and their son worked has been closed temporarily due to smoke damage, and Linda has paused her work as a home health care worker.

“All I have right now is my faith in God, family and friends,” she said. “But as tragic as it is, it makes you realize what’s important. All of these possessions that we cling to … you can’t take them with you anyway. You realize how many people care about you [from the] love of our church, our friends and our family.”

A Disaster Assistance Center in Lafayette, east of the impacted area, has been established for the response and joined by a semi-truck feeding unit, Belz said. The next step is cleaning up ash and other damage as well as finding housing for volunteers, something complicated by COVID.

Sam Porter, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief national director, is slated to be in Boulder Tuesday (Jan. 4), provided flight plans aren’t impacted by winter storms and the rise of cases related to the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Coy Webb, Send Relief Crisis Response director for the North American Mission Board, expects the weather to contribute to the response’s longevity.

“Much of the work may not be able to begin until the spring or summer, as typical Colorado winter weather will prohibit this type of work,” Webb said. “We also anticipate requests from church planting/church leaders for ministry grants to provide relief and recovery help in the affected areas.”

The most direct way others can help right now, he added, is through prayer and giving financially to Send Relief.

This article originally appeared here.

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