Christian Finance Expert Dave Ramsey Sued By Former Employee For Religious Discrimination

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December 14, 2021

Christian finance expert Dave Ramsey is being sued by a former employee for religious discrimination. In the suit, Brad Amos is claiming that employees of Ramsey Solutions have been forced to abide by Ramsey’s religious beliefs about COVID-19, which is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

Amos was reportedly fired for not reporting to work in person, due to his concerns about the spread of COVID-19.

Ramsey Solutions produces a wide array of resources and content offering financial advice, including books, articles, videos, and audio content.

Dave Ramsey became widely known as the creator of “Financial Peace University,” a curriculum about paying off debt and making wise financial decisions. The curriculum is used by churches all over the country, and many people who have followed Ramsey’s advice have gone on to pay off large debts, even into the hundreds of thousands.

Ramsey is also known for his gruff public persona and unwavering commitment to applying his beliefs to the work culture of his company. For example, he has often spoken about the “no gossip” policy at Ramsey Solutions. He has even recounted a story of how he let one employee go for coming to him with a repeated complaint about a supervisor, citing that while he agreed with her complaint, her disapproval of the supervisor was disrespectful to Ramsey as the one who hired him.

During the pandemic, Ramsey has applied that passion to fighting against what he believes to be government overreach with regard to public health mandates to slow the spread of COVID-19.

In March of 2020, Ramsey closed down the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions in Franklin, Tennessee for a period of five weeks. After that time, Ramsey reopened the office, requiring employees to report in person throughout the course of the pandemic, even despite an outbreak of over 50 cases of COVID-19 at the company in November 2020.

Ramsey has not required employees to wear masks while in the offices of Ramsey Solution and has remarked that wearing face coverings is a sign of fear and weakness. Ramsey also campaigned for the Medical Non-Discrimination Business and Consumer Act in Tennessee, which would amend the state’s non-discrimination laws to include the unvaccinated and those who refuse to wear face masks as protected groups when patronizing businesses.

Ramsey has indicated that his company would not comply with COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and he has encouraged his listeners to resign from workplaces that would require them to be vaccinated, saying to one hospital nurse, “Quit the bad job with the bad people.”

Ramsey’s campaign against COVID-19 safety guidelines has caused internal division within Ramsey Solutions, but Ramsey has reportedly applied his “no gossip” rule to his handling of the pandemic. According to Religion News Service, Ramsey has threatened to fire employees who complained to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) about how the company has handled COVID-19.

TikToker Claims Joel Osteen Got Him Fired After Harassing Osteen in a TikTok Video

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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December 14, 2021

A week ago, Joel Osteen made headlines when it was revealed that a plumber discovered thousands of dollars stashed inside a bathroom wall at Lakewood Church. This week, the pastor is being blamed for a restaurant employee being fired.

TikTok user Nick Stanley, who goes by the username nickandsoph, claims he was fired from his restaurant job in Southern California after he posted a selfie video with Osteen, wherein he blindsided the pastor by asking him, “You know you’re a piece of s––t, right?”

The video went viral and now has over 9 million views. After Stanley insulted Osteen, Osteen can be seen walking away, smiling and chuckling. After Osteen is out of view, Stanley looks back into the camera and says, “He knows.”

In a follow-up video explaining how he got the video with Osteen, Stanley is wearing a hat that says “be kind,” while again calling Osteen a “piece of s––t,” as well as a “monster.”

Stanley shared that he took the video with the famous pastor after he recognized Osteen in the restaurant he worked in. Stanley’s attention was drawn toward Osteen after he noticed people taking pictures and asking for autographs. In between working a double shift, Stanley walked up to Osteen outside the restaurant and said that Osteen was nice and happy to see him.

“I think that he thought that I was one of his fans,” Stanley explained. It didn’t take Osteen long to realize that Stanley wasn’t a fan after being called an unpleasant word. “I made the video the way I made it. It was kind of in the moment, so there wasn’t a whole lot of thought behind it. I just wanted to tell him what was personally on my mind, and that was exactly how I was feeling at the time,” Stanley said.

Stanley posted the video to TikTok a couple of weeks after it was taken, and it went viral within hours of being uploaded to the social media platform.

“The next day, I went to work after I posted the video,” Stanley said. “I got fired, because Joel Osteen and his team harassed the restaurant and made sure that I was terminated.”

The former restaurant employee expressed that he doesn’t blame his employer for firing him, saying, “I have no personal quarrel with them. I loved [where I l worked]. It’s not their fault that I got fired. If you have any person or thing to be upset with, it’s Joel Osteen and his team—he was the one behind it.”

Many of Stanley’s followers initially responded by wanting to cancel the restaurant for firing him, but Stanley asked them to direct their “cancelling power” toward Osteen instead, thanking them for their support.

Sharing Christ at Christmas: What the Stats Say

By

Ed Stetzer

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December 14, 2021

Note: This article is taken from one I wrote for the Christian Post where I encouraged believers to celebrate and share Christ rather than argue about how unbelievers approach the holidays.

Research has borne out the fact that Christmas is a great time to share Christ. In 2008 Lifeway Research did a study for the North American Mission Board. The results showed that among the top five times of life when American adults are open for considering matters of faith, Christmas tops the list. In fact, 47 percent of respondents indicated openness during the time of yuletide cheer.

Additionally, those in this same demographic indicated they were somewhat or very willing to receive information about a local church from a family member (63 percent) or a friend or neighbor from the church (56 percent). When we combine these ideas, it becomes clear that people are very open to hearing about Christ at Christmas, especially from people they know.

Christmas marketing campaigns and advertising are good support, but the most effective approach remains a personal relationship. Let’s not miss it by being distracted by Christmas trappings ourselves.

Another study at the Center for Missional Research found that 41 percent of Americans indicated they are likely to be open to an invitation during the Christmas season.

And it is not simply detached believers who are open. Our study found:

Nearly 34 percent of respondents who registered “Other/None” for their religion indicated that they’d attend when invited to a Christian worship service during the Christmas season.
Of the respondents who were not churchgoers, 12 percent of those who never go to church and 34 percent of those who rarely attend indicated they were more likely to attend a Christmas service if invited.
And an astounding 42 percent of those who said they were not born again would come to a Christian worship service during the Christmas season if asked.

Christmas provides us an outreach opportunity if we will take it!

Why Christians Should Care About Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB)

By

Arthur Satterwhite

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December 14, 2021

Critical Race Theory. Wokeness. Gender-affirming. Implicit bias. Christians today are coming face-to-face with a tidal wave of terms and changing cultural norms that have left many feeling like exiles, foreigners in a distant land. Wanting to hold to both biblical truth (conviction) and God’s never-ending grace (compassion), many find themselves not knowing how to move forward in the wake of so much change.

Questions swirl: How do Christians embrace the goodness of diversity without feeling as though they are caving to the winds of cultural change? What does it really mean to follow Jesus into the hard relationships and conversations? What role can Christians play in bridging divides (e.g., cultural, partisan, etc.) in a world that seems intent on driving wedges between different sides?

The winds of change are in the air, and they aren’t all bad. In the deep unrest we are all feeling, I sense God is doing something new in our midst (Isaiah 43) — he is whispering to our hardened and fearful hearts the reality that there is a grace and love that knows no limits.

Truth be told, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) aren’t four-letter words. In fact, they may be just what we need to find our way back to a discipleship that models Jesus’, and that sees those in our world come to true faith.

Popping Our Homogenous Bubbles

The U.S. is going through a significant demographic change, and this change is reshaping the American religious identity. According to one survey, more than one-quarter of Americans are religiously unaffiliated and non-Christian communities are growing. At the same time, a Barna study showed that practicing Christians (those who identify as Christian, agree strongly that faith is very important in their lives, and have attended church within the past month) are a much smaller segment of the population today—dropping in half since 2000 (45 percent in 2000 vs. 25 percent today).

Another Barna study found that the percentage of teens who identify as “atheist” is double that of the general population (13 percent vs. 6 percent of all adults).

The world is changing are all around us. And yet, it seems that we aren’t wanting to venture into those waters—in fact, our pattern has been to further entrench in our shelters with those similar to us. One study showed that 80 percent of white evangelical Protestants tended to hang out with other white evangelical Protestants. Black Protestants are even more homogenous when it comes to social religious networks, with 82 percent sticking with like-minded believers.

Rewind a couple thousand years and you will find a markedly different story as the founder of our faith intersected with his world. On mission to “reconcile the world to himself,” Jesus was not tripped up by those with a different worldview or with different life circumstances. There was no one he wouldn’t engage with for the sake of reconciliation—lepers, the blind, the outcast, the rich, the powerful, the adulterer, and the sinner. Although his inner circle was small, his social circle was wide and seemed to know no limits.

If this is how Christ chose to live out his life and ministry, it certainly should mean something for how we live out ours. Namely, we were not called to spend our lives primarily with those who look, think, and believe like us. We were called to a world full of people of all shapes, sizes, colors, and cultures—to be salt and light in the dark and hurting places. When we miss this point, we miss the gospel’s power.

Cognitive Laziness in Our Approach to DEIB

According to recent research, businesses today are investing an enormous amount of time and resources into DEIB. In fact, more than 48,000 jobs are open in U.S. companies for directors and vice presidents of DEIB. My own job title at Young Life, where I have the privilege of serving as our Vice President of Diversity, Belonging, and Strategy, demonstrates that even we sense the gravity and opportunity of the moment.

Unfortunately, the responses from 804 HR professionals in the study I referenced showed that about 80 percent of companies “are just going through the motions and not holding themselves accountable.” The report concludes that too many “resort to legacy tactics of bias training, diversity recruiting, and programs that sometimes backfire and contribute to more division than unity.”

The Real Christmas Story Is a Subversive Tale About a New Start for a Corrupt World

By

Daniel Darling

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December 14, 2021

The calendar has turned its final page, ushering in the Christmas season. But for some, the world looking a lot like Christmas does not evoke joy but triggers deep sadness.

Some dread this time of year because it serves as an annual reminder of lost love and broken friendship in an increasingly lonely world. Others, living a meager existence, wonder how they’ll feed their families, much less give gifts to their children. And still, there are many with an empty space at the table where a loved one once sat. I think of families in Newtown for whom December is still a bleak midwinter, seven years after evil stole 20 young lives. I think of refugee families, huddled in tents in foreign countries, fleeing terror and unwanted by the world. I think of political prisoners in dark places like North Korea, living barely human lives, robbed of freedom and dignity.

Violence, suffering, loss — these realities seem so incongruent with our modern notion of Christmas, when we are expected to summon up false expressions of happiness and pretend the world is okay. For many, for most, it’s just too hard. This is why our songs leak out with the raw emotion of darkness. Even Santa Claus, one songwriter reminds us, has the blues.

A Subversive First Advent

But as much as sorrow seems out of place in our sanitized, sentimental holiday, it is not at odds with the original Christmas story. In the biblical narrative, we hear the anguished cries of a suffering people, the longing for God to intervene and make all things new.

Jesus entered a world as deeply broken as ours, born not into power or privilege, but as a vulnerable baby to peasant parents in a forgotten town on the backside of the Roman Empire. If we were writing this story, we would not have placed the Savior of the world in Bethlehem with two poor kids from Nazareth. We would not have announced the birth to lowly shepherds and we would not have given this couple so little agency that his family is forced to escape a mad, insecure, despotic Herod. But this is the way God chose to initiate his plan to save the planet from corruption and save humanity from sin.

Then, as now, political corruption flourished at the highest levels, accompanied by deep distrust of religious institutions. Grinding injustice and inequality enriched the powerful and marginalized the poor. God sent Jesus among these forgotten, inaugurating a new kingdom among the lowly and the outsiders.

This is why the message of Christmas is not the sweet, sentimental tale we retell every year. The first advent was subversive, a reordering of the broken systems of the world, the dawning of a new kingdom, a radical mission to save souls and bodies from sin.Just listen to the prayer of Mary, the mother of Jesus:

He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty
(Luke 1:51-53)

Redeeming Humankind, Crushing Evil

This baby, born in a cave, represents a new order in the world. This is why King Herod felt threatened and resorted to infanticide. Jesus, who breathed the world into existence and fashioned humans with his hands, was coming as a human to redeem humankind from the grip of sin and crush the evil whose war against God has brought sorrow to human hearts since Eden. Jesus’ death and resurrection were the final blow in this long, cosmic battle.

Mary’s prayer puts the powerful of this world on notice and announces to the weak that in God’s kingdom, the first shall be last and the last first. Jesus has come to both make individual hearts new and to renew and restore the world. His is a kingdom that both invites all who believe in him and threatens those who use power to crush the powerless.

Where a First-Time Bible Reader Should Start

By

Dennis Beckner

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December 14, 2021

A youth ministry friend of mine sent this text message to me today about where a first-time Bible reader should start:

Hi Dennis
I have a teen that’s asking me if there is a better order to read the Bible cover to cover and I wondered if you had a suggestion?

This is one of my favorite questions to get as a youth worker. It shows that a student genuinely wants to digest God’s love letter to us.

Here’s How I Always Answer Where First-Time Bible Readers Should Start

I love that question about how to read the Bible other than in the order it’s written. I’ve answered it several times for others over the years. Here’s what I always tell students:

To know what to read in the Bible, it helps to know what’s in it and how it’s organized. It also helps to use your own interests and curiosities.

The Bible has some basic sections:

I intentionally do not reference every book. Typically, a first-time Bible reader who asks this question is just looking for a place to start. What I share, then, is enough information to pique their curiosity and give them some places to consider starting and enough information to help them decide what comes next.

I suggest listening to the Bible, rather than reading it. They may want to follow along. The reason I suggest listening to it is their minds can imagine what they are hearing and picture it, rather than focusing on reading the words only. For me, this is a better way. For others, they may prefer to read or read along as they listen to it.

I also recommend using the New Living Translation because it’s easier to understand for a first-time Bible reader. That’s not a knock against any other translation or an endorsement of the NLT, it’s just my personal preference.

History of how everything got started: Genesis–Deuteronomy
– How the world began
– Where many of our basic beliefs as Christians (Jews) originated
– Where many of the instructions God gives us for living originate

Wisdom
– If you really want some solid wisdom for life, check out Proverbs

How God guides us back to himself to be used for his purposes
– Jonah

Worshipping God through good times and bad
– Psalms (you’re not alone)

Women in God’s plan
– Ruth, Esther

What’s the real story about Jesus
– Look at the prophesy about him—Isaiah
– Read his life story from four different perspectives—Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and the very beginning of Acts

How did the church begin? Why do we have it? What role does it serve?
– Acts

How do I live out the Christian life?
– Romans (Chapters 1-3 go together—read all three together, then go at your own pace for the rest of the book)
– James

Being a young leader in the church, letting the Bible be a mentor
– 1 & 2 Timothy

5 Benefits of Technology in Church

By

Michael Beil

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December 14, 2021

One of the coolest things about living in the digital age as we know it is having the ability to connect with people that you have never met in real life. This is just one of the benefits of technology in church.

In my organization we have an internal chat, a reference board, and an ideation group set up so that we can be in constant communication with one another. Frankly, none of us have met face to face, at least to my awareness, and that to me is quite amazing. With the rise of such relationships, and the widespread usage of technology, I want to hit on a few benefits of having these technologies in our hands. Along with that, there is of course a word of caution: moderation. Alright, let’s examine these five benefits of technology in church.

5 Benefits of Technology in Church

Benefit #1: Communication

Communication is possible from anywhere in the world (well, almost). Whether you are in India, Australia, Germany or Madagascar, you can communicate with others. I will put a disclaimer here: You most likely will need the Internet for access. In the end, we can help missionaries around the world.

Benefit #2: Productivity

Increase in productivity. Truth be told, there are a lot of distractions that come with this technological advancement, but productivity has increased in my life and the lives of many. It’d be fun to dive into some statistics right about now, but alas, that could be for another time. What I can say, though, is that if I didn’t have any technology, it would be difficult to do what I do every day. Being in a wheelchair, technology has given me a lot of advantages to living life to the fullest and has helped me to work on projects for the world wide web that I hadn’t even dreamed of doing.

Benefit #3: Accessibility

Greater accessibility for all. From those who don’t have a huge library full of resources, to those who have never had a solid education, technology has opened up new realms of knowledge to many. To add to the wealth of education that has been made accessible, technology gives those who are hearing impaired, have sight problems or are confined to a wheelchair the ability to connect with the world and make a difference. We can get the message of Jesus into so many people’s hands.

Benefit #4: Archive

Journaling our lives is simple with a smartphone that has a camera and note-taking app. The smartphone right next to our computer is a powerful device. It can help us capture moments of our lives that we determine to be significant, no matter how big. These are those times that we can return to and remember what God has done for us.

Benefit #5: Music!

New music is being created. Thanks to the amazing software engineers of our day, digital audio workstations (DAW) have been pushed to a new level of sonic architecture. I have been hearing sounds that I’ve never heard before thanks to Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Reason and the wide variety of extensions available for these applications. These sounds that are made can draw others to the love of God.

So, there you have it: five benefits of technology in church. If you can’t tell, I’m a technological and digital enthusiast. I still love analog, but technology is truly a life-giving arena of the world. If you find yourself distracted by technology issues, it is a clear indicator to hire a merced it support service provider.

Enough about my thoughts on the benefits of technology in church, is there any benefit that I left unlisted?

Responsibilities of Church Leaders: 10 Ways to Champion Others

By

Josh Griffin

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December 13, 2021

I’ve been thinking lately about the challenge of leading great people. After all, youth leaders aren’t just leaders of students. We’re also the leader of leaders! So what are the various roles and responsibilities of church leaders? And how can fulfilling them build your team?

Here are 10 important responsibilities of church leaders for you to consider. As a youth worker, which other duties and traits would you add? Please share your mentoring thoughts in the comments.

Responsibilities of Church Leaders: 10 Roles We Play

1. Cheer

Your team is doing a great job, so cheer them on! Many church leaders understand the vacuum of gratitude for what we do. Largely, this is from firsthand experience of loneliness at the top. Invisible leaders will soon be invisible altogether. Don’t let this be the case for your people!

2. Care

Simply put, when you care for people, they’ll be better leaders. They will last longer and endure more under your leadership. The opposite is also true. If people aren’t cared for, they’ll disappear when hard times come (and they will). Care for your people and they’ll care for your people.

3. Coach

Coaching is the gentle nudge of your leadership to get people back on track. For example, it’s the side conversation that helps people see a better way or a different perspective. Coaching is helping people get better every day, rather than just when they mess up. Being a leader of leaders means thinking about your people and coaching them daily.

4. Correct

Leaders are going to lead. And occasionally leaders in your care will need to be corrected. Correction goes beyond the earlier concept of coaching. This is the firm conversation or confrontation to make a change. Correction is part of your job description, too.

5. Challenge

Challenging people is one of the main responsibilities of church leaders of leaders. Give volunteers a big piece of the youth ministry. Otherwise, they’ll find a place that trusts them with more. A great leader surrounds themselves with great leaders—and then gives them a chance to demonstrate it. If you’re intimidated by good leadership around you, you’ll continually limit them to pacify your own insecurities. Set them free, challenge them even, and everyone wins.

‘Our Building Is Not the Church. We Are’—The Faith Stories Coming Out of Friday’s Devastating Tornado Damage

By

Stephanie Martin

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December 13, 2021

tornado damage — Volunteers help Martha Thomas, second left, salvage possessions from her destroyed home, in the aftermath of tornadoes that tore through the region, in Mayfield, Ky., Monday, Dec. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

After an unprecedented swarm of tornadoes caused widespread devastation Friday, residents of hard-hit areas gathered Sunday to worship God, offer encouragement, and help meet needs. More than 50 twisters—including one with a 200-mile path—caused significant tornado damage in eight states.

As of Monday, the death toll in Kentucky alone stands at 74, with at least 14 more casualties in neighboring states. More than 1,000 homes were wiped out in Kentucky, says Gov. Andy Beshear. Rescuers can’t go door to door in many areas, he adds, because “there are no doors.”

Tornado Damage: Mayfield, Kentucky, Takes a Direct Hit

Rescuers spent the weekend searching for survivors, and officials are still assessing the tornado damage. Utilities are out in many communities, leaving residents without heat and electricity during one of the year’s coldest months.

“We have nothing to rely on here,” says Kathy Stewart O’Nan, mayor of Mayfield, Kentucky. “So that is purely survival at this point for so many of our people.” The town of about 10,000 suffered catastrophic losses in its downtown area, which includes several churches. A local candle factory, filled with employees, was flattened.

On the Today Show Sunday, O’Nan described the devastation as “the most heartbreaking thing I’ve seen.” But she says, “There’s always hope,” and “We hope for miracles in the days to come.” O’Nan says her reasons for hope include “the volunteerism that sprang up” as well as all the prayers.

Resident Laura McClendon tells an AP reporter, “Our little town will never be the same, but we’re resilient. We’ll get there, but it’s going to take a long time.”

Signs of Hope Amid the Debris

On social media, residents shared other signs of miracles, hope, and praise. Wes Fowler, pastor of First Baptist Church in Mayfield, posted a photo of a lyric sheet that remained on the facility’s floor. “All Praise to Him” is the song’s title—as well as “the goal,” he writes, “despite our circumstances.”

On the floor in our gym after the tornado – despite our circumstances, this is the goal. All praise to Him. pic.twitter.com/qrMzW8K1XH

— Wes Fowler (@jwfowler128) December 11, 2021

Pope Francis to Meet With French Sex Abuse Commission

By

Nicole Winfield

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December 13, 2021

Pope Francis Sex Abuse Commission — From left, Mons. Olivier Leborgne, Bishop of Arras and Vice-President of the French bishops' conference, Mons. Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, archbishop of Reims and President of the French conference of bishops, and Monsignor Dominique Blanchet, bishop of Creteil, talk to reporters at the end of a press conference, in Rome, Monday, Dec. 13, 2021. Pope Francis agreed Monday to meet with the commission that published a ground-breaking report into clergy sexual abuse in the French Catholic Church and expressed "sadness" over the sudden downfall of the archbishop of Paris, accused of inappropriate relations with a woman and of governance problems. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis agreed Monday to meet with the commission that published a ground-breaking report into clergy sexual abuse in the French Catholic Church and, separately, expressed “sadness” over the sudden downfall of the archbishop of Paris, according to French bishops who met with him.

Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the French Bishops Conference, told reporters that Francis had agreed “in principle” to meet with the independent commission members but that a date had to be found.

The head of the commission, Jean-Marc Sauvé, had said the members would be received by the pope. But the reported Dec. 9 date came and went without an audience.

The French report estimated that some 330,000 children were victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, scout leaders or other Catholic-affiliated lay employees from 1950-2020.

The estimate is based on broader research by France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research into sexual abuse of children in the country,. Yet the methodology of the report has been criticized since the estimates are far higher than other similar national reports into the problem in the Catholic Church.

French bishops, however, have accepted the report and vowed to try to repair the damage, announcing they will compensate victims even by selling off assets given the church’s “institutional responsibility.”

Francis has said he hadn’t read the 500-page report, which so far is available in its entirety only in French. But Moulins-Beaufort said Francis appreciated “the dignity of our attitude” by making victims “the focal point” of the church’s response.

“He encouraged us and thanked us,” the archbishop said.

He said he and his fellow bishops also asked Francis if he had anything to add about the sudden resignation of the archbishop of Paris, Monsignor Michel Aupetit.

Francis on Dec. 2 removed Aupetit from the influential post after the 70-year-old Aupetit offered to step down over media reports that he had a sexual relationship with a woman in 2012. Aupetit agreed he had an “ambiguous” relationship but denied it was sexual. French media also said there were governance problems in the archdiocese.

Francis on Dec. 6 said he had accepted the resignation because the “gossip” about Aupetit had made it impossible for him to govern the archdiocese. He said he had accepted the resignation “not on the altar of truth but on the altar of hypocrisy.”

Witches and CRT Critics Alike Nix ‘Hex’ Prompt in Teacher Equity Guide

By

Heather Greene

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December 13, 2021

Hoodoo — Campbell Union High School District Office in San Jose, CA. The district has recently come under criticism for conversations regarding "hexing" as a tool for conversation about racial justice. Screenshot from Google Maps

(RNS) — Campbell Union High School District in San Jose, California, has come under fire for offering teachers an equity resource guide that includes the Hoodoo practice of “hexing” as a way of expressing their thoughts about racial justice.

The majority of the links on the district’s resource site lead to external news articles, historical content, book suggestions and non-profit support groups working in the fields of social justice and civil rights.

“We want to engage with our community and take the necessary steps to address systemic racism and injustice in our schools,” the district’s Equity Resources webpage reads. “We hope to have open conversations and communication with our parent, student, and staff community to reinforce the importance of this work and the ongoing efforts it will take.”

One of the links on the page points to a public Google drive, created in 2018, whose contents focus on confronting police brutality. The document causing the controversy is buried in the drive’s main collection of 45 documents.

Titled “Writing Prompts on Police Brutality and Racist Violence,” the offending document was written by The Dark Noise Collective, a “multiracial, multi-genre (art) collective,” according to its Facebook page. Members of the collective included poets Fatimah Asghar, Franny Choi, Nate Marshall, Aaron Samuels, Danez Smith and Jamila Woods.

Among the prompts, which include writing a poem and making lists of “interactions with systems of violence/opposition” and “people who are no longer with us who you wish you could talk to,” is the recommendation that, “Hexing people is an important way to get out anger and frustration.”

It goes on to suggest making “a list of specific people who have been agents of police terror or global brutality. This list can be wide-ranging, from small micro-aggressions to larger perpetrators (i.e., people who say ‘all lives matter’ to the police officers who arrest nonviolent protestors to George Zimmerman).”

The prompt ends asking the reader to write their own hex poem to “curse that person.”

On Monday (Dec. 6), Spencer Lindquist, an intern at the conservative magazine The Federalist, published an article criticizing the district’s entire equity program, including the hex prompt, and warned of the educational system’s “descent into leftwing radicalism.”

Lindquist accused the district of teaching students “how to put a curse on those who say, ‘all lives matter.’”

Since the publication of Lindquist’s essay, the link to the Google drive, along with the collective’s document, has been taken off the school district’s main equity resources page. But the Google drive and all its contents, including the writing prompt document, are still available to the public by direct link.

Daughter of Slain Police Officer Does Not Hate Shooter, but Wants ‘Simply to Tell Him About Jesus’

By

Jessica Lea

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December 13, 2021

The oldest daughter of police officer Richard Houston, who was killed Friday, Dec. 3, in the line of duty, said she harbors no resentment toward her father’s murderer. Rather, she only wants the suspect to know Jesus.

“My prayer is that someday down the road,” said 18-year-old Shelby Houston, speaking at her father’s funeral, “I get to spend some time with the man who shot my father. Not to scream at him, not to yell at him, not to scold him. Simply to tell him about Jesus.”

Richard Houston: A Faithful Christian and Family Man

Sgt. Richard Houston, 46, served with the Mesquite Police Department in Mesquite, Texas, for 21 years before being shot and killed while responding to a domestic disturbance call at a supermarket. The suspect’s name is Jamie Jaramillo, and the disturbance involved an altercation between Jaramillo’s alleged mistress and his wife and daughter. Officers say the information Houston had was that he was responding to a fight between two women, and he did not know that a man would be there, nor that anyone had a weapon.

Jaramillo engaged Houston in gunfire for an unknown reason, shooting Houston twice and himself once. Both men were taken to a hospital, where Houston succumbed to his wounds. Jaramillo survived and has since been discharged from the hospital, booked in jail, and charged with capital murder.

Richard Houston is survived by his wife, Shelley, and his children, Shelby, Hannah, and Lucas. His funeral took place on Thursday, Dec. 9, at Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall, Texas. Friends, family, and colleagues described Houston as a highly decorated, skilled officer who was known for his deep love for Jesus and his family.

Mesquite Police Chief David Gill, who said he and Houston had taught a Bible study together, noted there was “no doubt” that Houston was a “follower of Jesus.” Houston saw being a police officer as a profession that gave him “daily opportunities to share his faith.” Said Gill, “Richard loved to tell people about Jesus.”

Houston knew he was risking his life by being a police officer, but he was confident about where he was going after death. “Richard was courageous because of his faith,” said Gill, who told those gathered that Houston took comfort from Romans 8:28, which gave him confidence that God would provide for his family if he were gone.

Assistant Police Chief Doug Yates said that anyone who was friends with Houston knew about his relationship with Jesus. “Richard didn’t just go to church,” said Yates. “Richard walked with God each day in everything he did.”

In New Book, Mark Meadows Confirms Donald Trump Bible Photo-Op Was Ivanka’s Idea

By

Jack Jenkins

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December 13, 2021

WASHINGTON (RNS) — A new book by former President Donald Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows offers a detailed account of the then-commander in chief’s infamous Bible photo-op at St. John’s Church in June 2020, during the height of the summer’s racial justice protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer.

Meadows said it was Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, who came up with the idea to “send a message to people of faith.”

But the book chapter essentially avoids mention of religious outcry at the stunt, nor does it note the forced removal of a priest and a seminarian from the patio of the church during the clearing of racial justice demonstrators from Lafayette Square outside the White House, which occurred right before the event.

Meadows, a onetime North Carolina congressman who describes himself as a committed Christian, details the lead-up to the photo-op in his new book “The Chief’s Chief,” published on Tuesday (Dec 7). Meadows notes his concern upon observing the growing crowd of demonstrators outside the White House in late May 2020, writing he “noticed that the crowds were getting a little too close to (St. John’s Church) for my liking.”

“I knew that these protesters had done massive amounts of damage to buildings over the past few nights, and I shuddered at the thought of the same thing happening to a sacred place like St. John’s,” he writes. “In the Oval Office, President Trump expressed similar concerns.”

The church was, in fact, damaged roughly 48 hours later on the evening of May 31, when a window was smashed and a fire was set in the basement nursery of the historic Episcopal church. St. John’s is often referred to as the “church of the presidents” because of its close proximity to the White House and because every president since James Madison has attended a service there.

The Right Rev. Mariann Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington that oversees the church, expressed dismay at the destruction of property at the time, telling The Washington Post, “obviously we wanted the church to be a place of haven and safety.”

But Budde did not condemn the larger goal of the racial justice protests, noting she had been outside the church earlier in the day to participate in the demonstrations, standing alongside those handing out water to protesters.

“It’s a building. No one’s life is gone, but we have work to do and we’ll do it,” she told the Post. “Cleaning up, rebuild and focus on the rebuilding of our country which is more important.”

Meadows, however, framed the church burning in his book as an inevitable consequence of the protests.

Amid Tension, Southern Baptist Women Lead Where They Can

By

Bob Smietana and Holly Meyer

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December 13, 2021

Southern Baptist Women — In this photo provided by the Second Baptist Church, Jacki King speaks at a Ministry to Women event called "The Gathering" at Second Baptist Church in Conway, Ark., on Feb. 20, 2020. King, an author as well as a Bible teacher, worries that too much of the conversation about women’s roles in the church is focused on what they cannot do — namely, serve as senior pastor in a Southern Baptist church — rather than what they can do. (Second Baptist Church via AP)

(RNS/AP) — Jacki King, the women’s minister at Second Baptist Church in Conway, Arkansas, first felt a call to ministry as a college student.

She decided to follow it, giving up her pre-med major and her spot on a college softball team for ministry training at a small Bible school with a mostly male student body. She picked Criswell College because it was where her pastor was a dean. She wanted to teach the Bible the way he did.

King thought at the time she only had two options for ministry — marrying a pastor or serving as an overseas missionary.

“I really didn’t want to be married to a lead pastor,” she said.

But God, as the saying goes, had other plans.

She met Josh King, an aspiring preacher at Criswell, fell in love and married him. They went into ministry together with his pastor role opening doors for her. Today, King is an author as well as a Bible teacher, and worries that too much of the conversation about women’s roles in the church is focused on what they cannot do — namely, serve as senior pastor in a Southern Baptist church — rather than what they can do.

The Bible shows women and men as partners and portrays women leading in the early church, King said, pointing to Phoebe, who is mentioned in the New Testament book of Romans, along with other women leaders.

“Women are part of the Great Commission,” she said, a reference to Jesus’ command to spread his teaching around the world.

Few congregations could function without the work of female members. Still, there is tension in the Southern Baptist Convention over the role of women, mainly over how to put a section of the denomination’s statement of faith, known as the Baptist Faith and Message, into practice. That section, based on the SBC’s interpretation of Bible verses like 1 Timothy 2:12 and Titus 1:5-9, deals with leadership in churches.

“While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture,” the statement reads. But local Southern Baptist churches, because they are governed autonomously, are free to decide how to implement that teaching.

For some in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, the statement of faith means the senior pastor must be a man, but staff and other pastoral roles can be filled by women, including teaching the Bible to both men and women. For others, pastoral duties, especially preaching, are limited to men, and women are only allowed to teach the Bible to other women and children.

These two views clashed in spring 2019, when Beth Moore, then a beloved Southern Baptist women’s Bible teacher, tweeted about speaking at a Mother’s Day church service. It led to a social media firestorm and renewed criticism of women preachers and teachers from more conservative Southern Baptists. In the spring of 2021, Moore left the SBC, citing a number of concerns, including how the denomination has handled sexual abuse allegations, as well as sexism and racism within its ranks.

Mike Stone Withdraws $750K Defamation Lawsuit Against Russell Moore

By

Dale Chamberlain

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December 13, 2021

Mike Stone Russell Moore — Pictured: (left) Russell Moore, courtesy of Theology147, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; (right) Mike Stone, courtesy of Baptist Press.

Mike Stone has withdrawn his defamation lawsuit against Russell Moore, in which he was seeking $750,000.

Stone is the pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, GA and serves on the steering committee of the Conservative Baptist Network (CBN). He had brought a defamation complaint against Moore for actions Moore allegedly took while serving as president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC).

Stone claims that Moore’s actions tarnished Stone’s “reputation within the religious community” and jeopardized his “future earning capacity.” Notably, Stone narrowly lost the 2021 race for SBC president to Ed Litton.

Stone’s SBC presidential bid had been backed by the Conservative Baptist Network and Founder’s Ministries, two SBC entities that have expressed concern that the SBC has been experiencing an liberal drift under the influence of leaders like Moore and former SBC president J.D. Greear. The CBN has also been highly critical of Litton’s SBC presidency so far.

In the suit, Stone had claimed that Moore engaged in a “malicious campaign” to defame him, casting Stone “in a false light before the Southern Baptist community and the public at large,” which Stone alleged was intended to “inflict mental anguish and severe emotional distress” upon him.

The feud between Stone and Moore has been ongoing since Stone led an investigation into the ERLC in 2020, which was a response to “growing concerns” about the SBC entity. As the president of the ERLC, Moore had come under fire for his criticism of Donald Trump.

The results of the investigation stated that Moore’s words and actions at ERLC constituted a “significant distraction from the Great Commission work of Southern Baptists,” claiming that the ERLC had failed to sufficiently represent the values of politically conservative Southern Baptists.

In response to this, Stone claims that Moore launched a defamation campaign against him. In the weeks leading up to the SBC presidential election in June, two private letters written by Moore were leaked. In one of those letters, Moore named Stone and SBC then Executive Committee president Ronnie Floyd among those within the SBC who had actively suppressed investigations regarding sexual abuse.

Jesus: The Destroyer of All Darkness

By

Nicholas Batzig

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December 13, 2021

Anyone who has read the book of Genesis and the gospel of John will immediately notice the similarity of the opening words of each book. Genesis opens with those astonishing first words, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth;” while John opens in this way: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” As a boy, I remember seeing that parallel but not understanding what it meant.

I only came to understand it when the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, at the creation of the universe, shone into the darkness of my heart to give me the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6). Significantly, that is the point of the parallel. In redemptive history, we are meant to understand that the coming of the Son into this world was the breaking in of the light of God’s grace and truth to bring about the re-creation of a world that lay in darkness. B.B. Warfield captured this in a profound way, when he wrote,

The obvious resemblance between the prologue to John’s Gospel and the proem of Genesis is not a matter of mere phraseology and external form. As the one, in the brief compass of a few verses, paints the whole history of the creation of a universe with a vividness which makes the quickened imagination a witness of the process, so the other in still briefer compass traces the whole history of the re-creation of a dead world into newness of life. In both, we are first pointed back into the depths of eternity, when only God was. In both we are bidden to look upon the chaotic darkness of lawless matter or of lawless souls, over which the brooding Spirit was yet to move. In both, as the tremendous pageants are unrolled before our eyes, we are made to see the Living God; and to see him as the Light and the Life of the world, the Destroyer of all darkness, the Author of all good. Here too, however, the Old Testament revelation is the preparation for the better to come. In it we see God as the God of power and of wisdom, the Author and Orderer of all; in this we see him as the God of goodness and mercy, the Restorer and Redeemer of the lost. Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

In Christ, the triune God becomes “the Destroyer of all darkness.” What God does in the creation of the universe stands as a model of what He would do in “the re-creation of a dead world.” Even the first act of creation teaches us about the work of God in this respect. The first act of creation was light breaking into darkness. R. A. Finlayson highlighted the significance of this in the work of redemption, when he wrote,

It was God’s pattern of workmanship. He is always facing the light, his back is on the evening, his face is towards the waxing light, and the rising sun. And if that was true in the natural creation, it is blessedly true in the spiritual creation. When God shines in our hearts with spiritual illumination, it is twilight with our souls; we see, though we see but dimly. Yet God comes with waxing light, and as God’s work develops, the light progresses until, eventually, it reaches noonday splendor. Our face is towards the sunrising, and our souls are looking towards the meridian splendor of God’s fully developed work, and of God’s self-revelation to our souls. . .It was a harbinger of every blessing; every growth and every development in our being came because the light of the knowledge of Jesus shone into our hearts. Is it not true then, that we, who have been saved by grace, have felt the creative power of God? Is it not true that the God who laid the foundations of that first creation, and brought light out of primeval darkness, is the God who has shone into our hearts, and laid the foundations of a new creation which sin will not mar, and the flesh and the Devil cannot destroy? Yes, our dealings have been with the Creator-God who made himself known savingly and redeemingly to us in Jesus Christ his Son.

There is another indicator of the parallel between creation and re-creation in the opening of the Old Testament and the opening of the New Testament. In Genesis there are a series of nine teledots (generations) beginning with the “generations of the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 2:4). These teledots are either narratival in nature or they are genealogical. For instance, “the generations of the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 2:4) is a narratival teledot. By way of contrast, “the generations of Noah” (Gen. 6:9; 10:1, 32) is genealogical. All the teledots in Genesis deal with individuals, their stories and their descendents except for the teledot of the heavens and the earth. It is the teledot of teledots. This is significant because of the opening of Matthew’s gospel. In Matthew 1:1, we read these words: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” G.K. Beale has pointed out that Matthew picks up on the language of Genesis 2:4 in Matthew 1:1, to make a theological point, namely, that Jesus is the new creation, Last Adam. He writes,

Matthew’s genealogy begins in 1:1 with biblos geneseōs, which can be translated as the “book of the genealogy” or the “book of beginning” or the “book of genesis.” Genesis 2:4 LXX has biblos geneseōs: “This is the book of the generation [or ‘the book of the genesis’] of heaven and earth, when they came about, in the day in which God made the heaven and the earth.” Likewise Gen. 5:1–2 LXX has “This is the book of generation [biblos geneseōs] [some render it as ‘genealogy’] of man [i.e., Adam] in the day in which God made Adam, according to the image of God he made him. Male and female he made them, and blessed them; and he called their name Adam in the day in which he made them.” Then follows the first genealogy in the Bible, beginning with Adam and ending with Noah at the end of Gen. 5.

Covering “In Christ Alone” Lauren Daigle Soars

By

Megan Briggs

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December 13, 2021

In 2001, Stuart Townend and Keith Getty wrote the song In Christ Alone that beautifully declares the supremacy of Jesus over all things. Covering In Christ Alone Lauren Daigle applies her own unique vocals to this beautiful song. If you have spent any amount of time in the church, you have likely heard this song before. But in covering In Christ Alone Lauren Daigle provides a simple rendition (employing only two elements: Her voice and a guitar) breathes new life into the song. As you listen, think about the theological truths declared by the lyrics.

Through In Christ Alone Lauren Daigle brings us back to the center of our faith!

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! – who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied –
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine –
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand:
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.

Stuart Townend & Keith Getty

In Christ Alone Lauren Daigle. Copyright © 2001 Thankyou Music (Adm. by CapitolCMGPublishing.com excl. UK & Europe, adm. by Integrity Music, part of the David C Cook family, songs@integritymusic.com)

10 Things God Asks of a Biblical Husband

By

Gary Thomas

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December 13, 2021

My love for Scripture is matched only by my love for Jesus, and the love of one is the expression of my love for the other. Everything I aspire to be as a husband is because of what the Bible calls me to be. And since Jesus was never married, I have to take the bulk of my instruction as a biblical husband from the other words of Scripture, which I take to be as authoritative as the “red letters” of Jesus.

What I’ve found is that when I rightfully understand and seek to submit to all that God’s Word calls me to be and do as a husband, I don’t have any time left over to wonder if my wife is holding up “her” verses.

A Biblical Husband

1. Never makes his wife’s life bitter

Colossians 3:19 says, “Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly.” The word “love” is in present tense, meaning unceasing and ongoing action, while the language for “treating your wife harshly” is in the aorist tense, meaning a one-time occurrence. In this context that means when it comes to a husband being harsh with his wife, Paul’s policy is Not. Even. Once. You don’t get to treat your wife harshly when you’re tired, frustrated, or it’s at the end of a long day and you’re not getting what you want out of life or marriage. A paraphrase for Paul’s advice to husbands would be, “always love, never be harsh.”

Another translation for harsh, by the way, is anything that “makes her life bitter.” If I believe the Bible, I should never do anything that makes my wife’s life bitter. If leaving my socks on the floor bothers her, I should pick them up. If a tone of voice makes her feel talked down to, I must stop using that tone of voice. And of course, this verse absolutely rejects any notion of physical harm, verbal abuse, or even threats.

A biblical husband always loves and is never harsh.

2. Provides for his family

1 Timothy 5:8 says, “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” Those husbands who play video games at home while their wives work two jobs? They’re not “biblical husbands.”

I understand the desire men have to pursue their dreams vocationally. I don’t think this verse objects to a wife working full-time while her husband is in school—that’s preparing to provide and it’s work (even though you may not be getting paid for it). This admonition also doesn’t negate the wife also working, especially since Proverbs 31 refers to an income earning wife. It does negate the thought of a husband who is able to work not working out of selfishness or laziness.

This verse challenged me when I was a young husband desperate to become a writer and married a woman who was desperate to be a full-time stay-at-home mom. I had to work a full-time job (and for a spell another part-time job added on) for fifteen years and write on the side before I could write full-time, which is partly what turned me into an early morning person (it was the only time I could pursue my dream). So men, I get wanting to pursue a dream. It’s the story of my life. I don’t get making your wife and children suffer so you can pursue your dream. Wanting to be a “biblical” husband, I didn’t see that as an option.

A biblical husband works hard to provide for his family.

3. Treats his wife with respect

1 Peter 3:7 tells me that if I don’t respect my wife, God won’t hear my prayers: “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect…so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” It’s therefore impossible for me to imagine that I could be a Christian in good standing if I fail to respect my wife. Respect begins with my language—I’m never to be condescending, nor hurtful, nor threatening. Respect includes making life choices with my wife’s welfare at the top of my concern. Respect means I also listen to her, value her opinion, and don’t talk her down to others. Respect doesn’t mean I always agree with her or always do what she wants me to do but it also means I don’t expect her to always agree with me or always do what I want her to do.

A biblical husband respects his wife.

4. Takes initiative

Male chauvinism and domineering control have been a problem for all of human history, but in society’s attempt to dismantle this sin the opposite sin—male passivity—often gets overlooked. That’s the devil’s trap: if he knows he’s losing his grip on tempting the church with one sin, he’ll try to get the church to fall head-first into the opposite sin. Truth isn’t found by reacting to evil; it’s found by responding to Christ and His Word.

If you take the Bible seriously, a husband’s love is an initiating love. When the Bible tells men to love their wives like Christ loves the church (Eph. 5:22ff), it’s calling us to an initiating, reaching-out love. Christ adopted the breathtaking plan of becoming flesh to get His message across to us—a bold, audacious and one-sided move. He willingly laid down His life to deal with our sin when we didn’t deserve it. He is the most active figure in history, and He continues to be so when He says, “I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18). He hasn’t built but is building His church. A biblical husband is an active husband, expending much energy and thought over how to build up his wife. He’s not primarily thinking about how or whether she is serving Him; he’s focused on what He can do for her.

A biblical husband is an initiating husband.

5. Speaks life to his wife

Proverbs 18:21 warns us, “The tongue has the power of life and death.” We husbands are therefore called to choose every word—every single one—carefully: “I tell you, on the Day of Judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matt. 12:36-37)

This includes words when we’re tired, angry, frustrated, hurt or disappointed. The Bible moves us to make every word breathe life into our wives and marriages.

A biblical husband uses his tongue to nurture, never to hurt.

4 Great Preaching Themes Through the Christmas Season

By

Ray Hollenbach

-

December 13, 2021

What we know of the birth of Jesus comes to us as divine revelation in the inspired words of the gospels. The Christmas story comes from the scriptures. These passages are some of the most well-known Bible verses in history. When I prepare Christmas sermons I will read these passages again and again. They are familiar and comforting, and perhaps that’s the problem: because I have come to these passages so often, I am tempted to think that there is nothing new for the Holy Spirit to reveal through these words.

That would be a mistake, because the biblical narrative of the birth of Christ is not only inspired storytelling, but also useful for training in right relationship with God. What better way themes for Christmas sermons than to encourage our congregation to go deeper in Christ?

The birth narratives—like all scripture—are fuel for preaching Christmas sermons. These passages are filled with challenges to our faith and the encouragement we need to grow in God. Here are four themes for Christmas sermons from the first chapter of Matthew.

4 Ideas for Christmas Sermons

1. God’s Sovereignty: Poor Joseph

God didn’t get his approval before acting. Can you imagine the real-life shock of these words: “Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1: 18). Mary received an angelic visitation and the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. Joseph received the worst news of his life.

God “drafted” Joseph into a difficult position—would the Almighty ever do the same to us? Have we ever considered the implications of God’s sovereignty? If we affirm that we belong to him, are we willing to be drafted as Joseph was?

2. Right Relationships

The narrative reveals the actions of a righteous man. In his confusion and pain, Joseph’s first concern was for Mary; he “did not want to expose her to public disgrace” (1: 19). How many of us would have this priority? Perhaps this is why the scripture labels Joseph a “righteous man.” Scripture is demonstrating what true righteousness looks like in action.

It’s revealing as well that the scripture describes Joseph’s righteousness not in terms of his relationship to God, but in terms of his relationship to Mary. True righteousness extends two directions—toward God and man.

3. How to Respond in a Family Crisis

Joseph resisted the urge to act rashly. Even in his concern for Mary and her reputation, he was still determined to divorce her (in modern terms, “break the engagement”). Yet verse 20 reveals that he took time to consider his actions. When Joseph was faced with the impossible, he did not rush to judgment. The scriptures do not indicate how long he waited, but he took time to consider his actions. And in that period of time, Joseph positioned himself to hear from God in a most unusual manner …

4. God Speaks Through Dreams

“An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife.’” God gave Joseph a dream, a dream that would change his life forever. This must’ve been some dream, or Joseph must’ve been some righteous man, or both. Engagement, unexpected pregnancy and an out-of-this-world explanation would be enough to give anyone dreams. But God chose a dream as the means to provide divine direction, and Joseph recognized the dream as God’s personal leading.

In fact, dreams are mentioned no fewer than four times in Matthew 1 and 2. I believe scripture is teaching us that God can and does guide his children through dreams. Imagine: In an emotionally charged situation, just when we would be tempted to ignore our dreams as a product of our subconscious, God is present: leading, directing and guiding—through dreams. By the way, there is no indication that Joseph heard anything else from God until after the baby was born. He remained faithful to God’s instructions for months, all based on one dream!

The Christmas season offers an opportunity to preach the truths found in God’s word. Some people think the Christmas sermons are the stuff of Christmas pageants and cheesy dramas. They are also the stuff of God’s instruction to his disciples.

This article on Christmas sermons originally appeared here, and is used by permission.

Getting Over the Post-COVID Bump for Small Groups

By

Allen White

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December 11, 2021

At the beginning of 2021, I started talking about the Small Group Boom. As COVID numbers were descending, a pattern began to emerge in several disciplines reminiscent of the aftermath of the Spanish Influenza in 1918-1919. After that period, people began to travel extensively both domestically and internationally. Then, of course, came the Roaring 20’s. The Spanish Influenza was never mentioned again even though it didn’t entirely disappear until the 1950s when it was overcome by Bird Flu (see this 1997 New Yorker article by Malcolm Gladwell). Sorry for that bit of bad news.

The churches I coached anticipated a great reduction in COVID cases and prepared for the Small Group Boom, then the Delta variant appeared. No one was prepared for that. The Small Group Boom of 2021 ended up being more of a Small Group Bump, but it was a significant bump. These churches ended up with more small groups than they ever had and more people in groups than ever. And, more of their groups continued. In places where we might have launched hundreds of new groups in more normal times, we launched dozens of new groups instead. They were “COVID successful.”

The church I am serving as Life Group Pastor in Lansing, Michigan saw a group increase of 176% in 2021. The senior pastor led the church in two alignment series which we self-produced. We started the year with 20% of their 1,500 adults in small groups and ended the year with 60% in groups. We are launching a third alignment series in February to reach our goal of 80% of adults in groups. This is both the in-person worship attendance (1,000) and the online worship attendance (500).

While everyone has been forced to adapt to the changing culture produced by the pandemic, many of the best practices taught in Exponential Groups are working very well. Inviting people to start their own groups is working. Gathering a group of friends is working. Coaching every new leader is working. Offering a next step series for groups to continue is working. And the Holy Spirit is working to transform lives and make disciples in groups. With a dose of flexibility regarding when, where, and how a group meets, these strategies have proven successful.

Here’s what’s different:

1. People have re-evaluated their priorities.

During the pandemic, most people divested themselves of everything – social activities, church activities, commuting to work, hobbies, and pretty much everything else. Once people had a “blank slate” on their calendar, they’ve been choosier about what to bring back. For many people, their calendars are not nearly as full now as they were at the beginning of 2020. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

2. Uncertainty produces a lack of commitment.

Preach what is certain. With so much uncertainty in politics, economics, supply chain (when have you ever worried about the supply chain), race relations, local schools, and many other things, you can give them what is certain. As Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35, NIV).

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A Biblical Husband

1. Never makes his wife’s life bitter

2. Provides for his family

3. Treats his wife with respect

4. Takes initiative

5. Speaks life to his wife

4 Ideas for Christmas Sermons

1. God’s Sovereignty: Poor Joseph

2. Right Relationships

3. How to Respond in a Family Crisis

4. God Speaks Through Dreams

1. People have re-evaluated their priorities.

2. Uncertainty produces a lack of commitment.

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