A woman holds a rosary and a picture of the Virgin Mary during a 2019 hearing in Albany, N.Y., challenging the constitutionality of the state's repeal of the religious exemption to vaccination. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)
WASHINGTON (RNS) — A new poll reveals most Americans are in favor of offering religious exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccines, yet express concern that too many people are seeking such exemptions. In the same survey, more than half of those who refuse to get vaccinated say getting the shot goes against their personal faith.
The poll, conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute and Interfaith Youth Core and released Thursday (Dec. 9), investigated ongoing debates about COVID-19 vaccines as well as emerging divisions over whether religious exemptions to the shots should even exist.
According to the survey, a small majority (51%) of Americans favor allowing individuals who would otherwise be required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine to opt out if it violates their religious beliefs, compared with 47% who oppose such religious exemptions.
The divide, which researchers noted has remained roughly the same since they began surveying on the question earlier this year, yawns wider when respondents are broken out by party: Only 33% of Democrats support religious exemptions to vaccines, whereas most independents (53%) and a broad majority of Republicans (73%) are in favor of them.
Even so, majorities of almost every religious group believe there are no valid religious reasons to refuse a COVID-19 vaccine, including Hispanic Catholics (68%), other Christians (68%), Jewish Americans (67%), Hispanic Protestants (64%), white Catholics (62%), members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (60%), Black Protestants (59%), white mainline Protestants (56%) and other Protestants of color (51%).
Religiously unaffiliated Americans were the most likely to say there are no valid religious reasons to refuse the vaccine, at 69%, whereas white evangelical Protestants were the only faith group among whom fewer than half (41%) said the same.
Two groups — white evangelical Protestants and “other Protestants of color,” a category that includes Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders and Native Americans, among others — were the only major faith groups among whom less than a majority (38% each) agreed that “too many people are using religion as an excuse to avoid COVID-19 vaccination requirements.” Jewish Americans, on the other hand, were the most likely to agree with the statement (72%), followed by Latter-day Saints (68%) and religiously unaffiliated Americans (67%). Hispanic Catholics, Black Protestants, white mainline Protestants and Hispanic Protestants all hovered between 63% and 58%.
Pope Francis greets the journalists onboard the papal plane on the occasion of his five-day pastoral visit to Cyprus and Greece, Monday, Dec. 6, 2021. Francis' five-day trip to Cyprus and Greece has been dominated by the migrant issue and Francis' call for European countries to stop building walls, stoking fears and shutting out "those in greater need who knock at our door." (Alessandro Di Meo/Pool photo via AP)
Yesterday, it was reported that a Catholic diocese in Michigan has instructed its clergy to deny sacraments such as baptism and communion to anyone who identifies as transgender unless they “repent.”
This guidance to the Marquette clergy, which was signed by Marquette Bishop John F. Doerfler on July 29, is significant, as the diocese may be the first to make such a sweeping policy regarding gender identity, drawing a hard line against those who identify with a gender different from their biological sex.
The report of this guidance comes on the heels of comments made earlier this week by Pope Francis, which seemed to indicate a softened approach to what Francis referred to as “sins of the flesh,” saying that they “are not the most serious.”
Pope Francis: There Are Worse Sins Than Lust
According to New York Post, the Pope does not consider sex outside of marriage to be a greater offense than transgressions such as pride and hatred. Francis’ comments came in response to the resignation of the Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit for having an “ambiguous” relationship with a woman.
“It was a failing against the sixth commandment (You shall not commit adultery) but not a total one, one of small caresses, a massage given to his secretary—that is what the accusation is,” Francis said. “There is a sin there but not the worst kind.”
Ultimately, Francis said that he accepted the archbishop’s resignation due to “gossip.”
“We’re all sinners. When the gossip grows and grows and removes someone’s good name, he cannot govern,” Francis said to the Associated Press. “This is an injustice.”
The Pope added that he accepted Aupetit’s resignation “not on the altar of truth but on the altar of hypocrisy.”
Aupetit has denied being sexually intimate with the woman in question. “If we do not know, we cannot condemn,” said Francis, according to National Catholic Reporter.
Diocese of Marquette, MI: No Sacraments for Transgender People
In contrast to the Pope’s words—which seemed to indicate that he accepted Aupetit’s resignation on the basis of his inability to effectively lead, rather than a sexual offense against his vow of celibacy—the recent guidance given by the Diocese of Marquette, MI conveys clear and stern language against LGBTQ inclusion.
The document focuses specifically on those it identifies as having “same-sex attraction” and “gender dysphoria.”
UPDATED Dec. 9, 2021: Josh Duggar, 33, has been found guilty on one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. Duggar was taken into custody Thursday, Dec. 9, in Fayetteville, Ark., after the verdict was announced, reports the The Associated Press.
Judge Timothy Brooks said Duggar’s sentencing would take place in four months. Duggar faces up to 40 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. During the six-day trial, Duggar family friend Bobye Holt testified that Josh had admitted to her he had molested four young girls. News station KNWA reports that closing arguments for the trial took place Wednesday and that the jury reached a verdict Thursday after deliberating for seven hours.
Josh Duggar and his family formerly starred on TLC’s “19 Kids & Counting,” which was discontinued in 2015. Josh’s father, Jim Bob, is currently running for office in the state of Arkansas.
ChurchLeaders original article written on Dec. 1, 2021, below.
Editor’s note: This article about Josh Duggar contains accounts of sexual violence that some may find disturbing.
The judge presiding over the child pornography trial of Josh Duggar, which began in Fayetteville, Ark., on Tuesday, Nov. 30, has decided to allow testimony that Duggar molested four girls when he was a teenager.
At an evidentiary hearing that took place Monday, Nov. 29, Josh Duggar’s father, Jim Bob Duggar, and family friend Bobye Holt gave testimony that in 2002, 2003, and 2005 Josh had confessed to inappropriately touching young girls.
The 2003 confession took place at a meeting with Josh, Jim Bob, Jim Bob’s wife Michelle, Bobye, and Bobye’s husband Jim. Bobye Holt testified that at that time, Josh confessed to molesting four girls, including one during “Bible time.” Holt said that later in 2005 Josh described that encounter to her again, but in more graphic detail.
While Bobye Holt and Jim Bob Duggar disagreed on the specifics of what Josh did, they did not disagree that he had confessed to molestation.
A satirical website is poking fun at the fear of critical race theory (CRT) among evangelicals by offering the fictional Anti-Critical Theory (ACT) Bible. Created by Dallas Theological Seminary professor John Dyer, the ACT Bible “is a new translation that seeks to demonstrate God’s desire that Christians be colorblind, class blind, and blind to many, many things.”
The debate over CRT has loomed large in evangelical circles and was even a major topic of controversy at the most recent annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). As the largest protestant denomination in America, the disagreement within the SBC over whether CRT can be employed without compromising a Christian worldview is emblematic of a broader debate within American evangelicalism about how to address issues of racism.
“Critical Theory, especially Critical Race Theory®, is a major threat to Christianity’s success. Critical Theories argue that oppression takes place not just between individuals, but through societal structures like law, education, and media, and that those systems reinforce hierarchies of race, ethnicity, and gender,” the website says. “The ACT Bible gently alters all references to race and ethnicity, allowing a truly colorblind approach to the Bible.”
“This radical new translation allows readers to see people simply as people, devoid of characteristics that might lead one to have Marxist thoughts,” the website continues.
Below this description, the ACT Bible website offers sample alterations of key biblical texts. In the selected passages, the ACT alters the text to remove words like “nations,” as well as references to identifiable groups such as “Cushite,” “Samaritan,” or “Levite.”
The new translation also removes phrases that could imply a need for systemic justice. For example, the words “a false balance” in Proverbs 11:1 are changed to “a false action.”
The instructions in Deuteronomy 15 for how to treat someone who was formerly enslaved are also abbreviated, with the editorial note saying, “Our editors decided that we prefer the Exodus version of this law better than the Deuteronomy. Both passages allow the slave to go free after seven years, but the Deuteronomy implies the need for blessing the person who was bought and even uses the word ‘liberally.’”
Beneath a “Buy Now” button, which links to a music video of Amy Grant’s “Baby, Baby,” the website says that the full text will be available in early 2022, “hopefully before the next boogyman makes this product obsolete!”
Dyer Confirms: Yes, This is Satire
At the bottom of the ACT Bible website, Dyer confirms that the translation is not real but, in fact, satire.
“It began when a Christian leader concerned with Critical Race Theory stated that the Bible demands all Christians be colorblind. This made us wonder what the Bible would look like if it truly removed all references to the dimensions of human personhood and interaction,” Dyer writes.
“Our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” — Augustine
The first snowfall of the year is an exciting time for those of us living in northern regions of the United States and throughout Canada. Sure, it’s cold. But it really is pretty.
White clouds cover the horizon from highway to hilltop and from them fall millions of frozen flakes. What was once dingy, brown colored ground is purified by a blanket of white snow.
For many of us, though, snow is most exciting in context—particularly, the context of the Christmas season. Winter is a wonderful time full of sledding, skiing, and snowman construction.
But what gets me most excited is the idea that Christmas, a time I wait for all year, is finally on its way.
Anticipation
C.S. Lewis, in one of his most well-known works, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, touches on this very theme. You see, as the story goes, the four Pevensie children somehow find their way through an old wardrobe and into a place called Narnia.
Sadly, this magical land full of fauns, minotaurs, and talking beavers is under the dominion of the White Witch. Among other more serious penalties, she vows to keep the countryside in an icy prison: “always winter, but never Christmas” as Lewis puts it.
Can you imagine that—a world where it’s always bitterly cold and blustery, yet without the one holiday celebration that makes it all worth it? The Narnians were waiting, always waiting, for something that never seemed to come.
Christmas Eve is a night of anticipation. We live in a dark world where, like Narnia, it almost feels like we live in a perpetual state of winter. In our hearts, we sense a certain longing but know that it’s not just for the presents or peppermint cookies this holiday season brings.
We Long for Freedom from Our Own Insufficiency
Most in our cultural context seem to be focused on the bigger and the better—‘good enough’ simply isn’t good enough. Everything from the house to the car to the backyard needs improvement. Looking at ourselves, we can’t help but long for more successful careers, fashion forward wardrobes, and thinner waistlines.
We’re so used to being lied to that we’re suspicious of the gospel—like it’s too good to be true. You know: “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”
“What’s the catch?”
There is none!
“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16, emphasis added). To a devout Jew, the notion of unhindered access to God is scandalous. Yet that access is ours, freely. Because of Christ’s work, God’s door is always open to us.
True grace undercuts not only self-righteousness, but also self-sufficiency. God often brings us to a point where we have no place to turn but to Him. As with manna, He always gives us enough but not too much. He doesn’t let us store up grace. We have to go back for it, fresh, every day, every hour.
Whenever I ask, “How are you doing?” my friend C. J. responds, “Better than I deserve.”
It’s not just a cute remark. He means it. And he’s right. We don’t deserve God’s daily graces, big or small.
The Roman centurion sent word to Jesus: “I do not deserve to have you come under my roof…. I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you” (Luke 7:6–7).
Living by grace means affirming daily our unworthiness. We are never thankful for what we think we deserve. We are deeply thankful for what we know we don’t deserve.
When you know you deserve eternal hell, it puts a “bad day” in perspective! If you realize you’re undeserving, suddenly the world comes alive—you’re surprised and grateful at God’s many kindnesses that were invisible when you thought you deserved better. Instead of drowning in self-pity, you’re floating on a sea of gratitude.
When I sense that I’m unworthy—and I often do—I’m sensing the truth. I don’t need you to talk me out of my unworthiness. I need you to talk me into humbly setting it before Christ and asking Him to empower me. Yes, I cling to the reality that I’m a new person, covered in Christ’s righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:17–21). But the same Paul who told us that also said, “I am less than the least of all God’s people” (Ephesians 3:8).
Pride is a heavy burden. There is nothing like that feeling of lightness when God graciously lifts our self-illusions from our shoulders. Even refusing to forgive ourselves is an act of pride—it’s making ourselves and our sins bigger than God and His grace.
Are we trying to atone for our sins? We can’t. Only Jesus can, and He already did.
Don’t try to repeat the atonement—just accept it! Embrace God’s forgiveness.
Relax. Rejoice.
This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.
Do you ever wonder how to unleash the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in your life? In Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, he writes, “… be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18, NIV). The original Greek phrase “be filled” is grammatically a present imperative—we don’t have a smooth English translation for this except “be filled.” To really get at the idea of the original Greek, you would need to read this verse as “be being filled” or “keep on being filled.” Further, it’s in the passive voice, meaning it’s not “fill yourself up with the Spirit,” but rather “let yourself be filled” or “let the Holy Spirit fill you.”
The Bible teaches that an individual is filled with the Holy Spirit by involving himself or herself in the process that leads to an ongoing, day-in, day-out filling. It’s not a once-for-all experience, but rather an ongoing process. It’s a way of doing life. Whenever we talk of something being filled, we usually have an image of something like a glass being filled with water. Whenever the Bible talks about being filled with the Holy Spirit, that’s not what is means. We are not vessels into which God pours a certain amount of Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a Person, so being filled is a relational issue.
So how do we experience “being filled with the Spirit”? Well, it’s not about levitating or foaming at the mouth. To be filled with the Holy Spirit means that we allow Him to occupy, guide and control ever-increasing areas of our life. It’s a simple idea, but a profound one. The more you follow the Holy Spirit, the more you are filled. And the more you are filled, the more you are led. And the more you follow that lead, the more you are filled again. The entire dynamic is that you live in and by and through the Spirit, being led by the Spirit, keeping in step with the Spirit, surrendering daily to His leadership and promptings.
When we listen to the words of the Bible and the inner promptings of our own spirit as it is nudged and guided by the Holy Spirit, we are being led to become that which we naturally aren’t—increasingly like Christ. We are led to make choices; to say yes to things or no to things; to do this, but not do that. To feel certain ways, think certain ways, act certain ways.
How does this work in day-in, day-out life?
I was taking an international flight out of the airport, and it was delayed late into the night. People were irritable and tired, and I was especially frustrated because I was going to be missing a connecting flight that I had to make that was going to throw my whole itinerary in to disarray. Then it was announced that the flight was overbooked and they had to try to bring in another plane, and everyone began jockeying for position to try to get a seat and get on the first plane.
My own mood and spirit were no different than anyone else’s. Maybe worse. It didn’t help that, as I was trying to maneuver my way through the group to ensure I had a seat on the first plane, there was this one guy who was just in my space. He was bumping against me, trying to get ahead and elbow his way to get in front of me. Feeling Jesusy, I was bumping him right back, holding my ground and place in the makeshift line. He glared at me, and I glared right back.
In truth, there was nowhere for any of us to go.
Then he said, “Look, you keep bumping into me.”
I said: “Well I don’t have anywhere to move! People are bumping me!”
Then I glared again, almost daring him to say anything else. It was a very pastoral moment.
We both eventually made it on the plane, with the guy I had been jostling with just two seats back from where I was seated. After I took my seat, I felt the Holy Spirit just sweep over my conscience, as if saying: “Well Jim, that was mature. I raised you better than this! You were rude and aggressive with that man and reflected nothing of Jesus to him or to anyone else.”
I invite you to read this opening to my journal dated October 1980 to shed light on my biggest regret.
I was 40 years old and Margaret was 38. We were in our 19th year of marriage, and pastoring the First Baptist Church of Columbus, Miss. Our children were 17, 14 and 11.
The first entry in the book is dated October 9. However, the paragraph above that reads:
The month of October got off to a poor start around the McKeever household. I announced to Margaret that until October 27, there were no open days or nights. The month was filled with church meetings, committees, banquets, associational meetings, speaking engagements at three colleges, a weekend retreat in Alabama,and a few football games. She cried. Once again, I had let others plan my schedule in the sense that I’d failed to mark out days reserved for family time.
I ran across that book today, read that paragraph, and wept.
The irony of this is that a year or two earlier, we had come through months of marital counseling and felt that we finally had a healthy marriage. In fact, one Sunday night six months after this journal entry, Margaret and I would take the entire worship service to tell the congregation of our marital woes, of our attempts to make this relationship work, of our extraordinary efforts to get counseling, which involved driving 180 miles round trip twice monthly for two-hour sessions with a professional therapist, and of the Lord healing our marriage.
We were supposed to have a healthy marriage, and here I am putting everyone and every thing ahead of my own family.
What’s wrong with this picture?
That is my greatest regret from over half a century of ministry: I failed to take care of my family.
Now, I am not groveling in self-pity. I tell this in the hope that younger ministers will see themselves in this and not make the mistakes I did.
As young marrieds, when we were living in the vacant parsonage of Central Baptist Church, Tarrant, Ala., Margaret said, “You might as well move your bed to the church.” I was holding down a 40-hour-a-week job in a cast iron pipe plant nearby, and in the evenings and weekends serving Central as assistant pastor.
Margaret’s father had been a Greyhound bus driver almost all his adult life. His schedule varied from time to time, but when he was home, he was all there. There were no calls for him to drop everything and report to the station.
From the invention of cassette tapes to the digital teaching revolution, R.C. Sproul was always at the edge of the tech wedge. R.C. Sproul was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a young man, God saved him and helped him to understand the truths revealed in scripture. By the time he turned 30, he was a successful seminary professor, but it was when he started teaching Sunday school in his local church that he found his true calling. It wasn’t the seminary student, but the everyday man and woman, hungry for the meat of God’s Word, that Sproul was called to teach. In 1971, Dora Hillman, the widow of a Pittsburgh industrialist, invested in this ministry. She bought a 52 acre property near her home in the Ligonier Valley, an hour east of Pittsburgh. She had a home built for R.C. and his wife Vesta, and that home became the Ligonier Valley Study Center. Sproul prepared and gave talks on various theological topics and hosted “Gabfests” every Monday evening — open Q&A sessions. People hungry for biblical teaching drove from near and far to learn from this gifted teacher.
Digital Teaching Revolution – Ligonier Ministries
Even before the digital teaching revolution, Ligonier began using new technologies to expand the richness and reach of its teaching. The cassette tape had been invented in 1963, and in 1968 cassette tape players started being installed in cars. The Ligonier Valley Study Center recorded all the talks and Gabfests and started mailing them to students of the Word across the country and around the world.
Although home video cassette players wouldn’t start to become mainstream until the late 1970s, Ligonier started video taping Sproul’s teaching in 1975. The ministry’s website describes it this way: “Wearing his aviator sunglasses and a distinctly 1970s outfit, R.C. recorded The Holiness of God. There was nothing like it at the time. He had a chalkboard, a lectern, a passion, a message, and an audience.” Between 1971 and 1984, tens of thousands travelled the backroads through the Allegheny Mountains to sit at Sproul’s feet, while many more learned from God’s Word through his teaching via video, often played in adult Sunday School classes across the country.
From those early beginnings, Ligonier has continued to be a leader in using technology in achieving its mission of “proclaiming, teaching, and defending the holiness of God in all its fullness to as many people as possible.”
Wave 1: The PC/Microprocessor Revolution
The first wave of the Digital Revolution is often called the PC Revolution, but the real impact of these technology advances was the digitization of all kinds of information. Paper record systems became computer databases, and audio and video content became digital audio and video files that could easily be edited, duplicated, and distributed in a growing number of ways.
In 1984, the ministry moved to Orlando, Florida and was renamed to Ligonier Ministries. The new headquarters was designed specifically as a place from which teaching could be sent out. It included facilities for live teaching that could easily be recorded and sent out as audio and video, as well as publishing support for written materials. As new digital formats of CDs and DVDs were invented and gained in popularity, the ministry switched from mailing out analog tapes to sending digital disks.
Sproul had been writing and publishing books since 1973, and in 1977 the ministry had started producing a monthly newsletter called Tabletalk. In 1989, Tabletalk was restructured as a monthly publication focused on daily Bible studies. Today, Tabletalk has more than 260,000 readers in more than 75 countries worldwide. Today, subscribers can also access more than 15,000 articles and Bible studies at TabletalkMagazine.com.
Edify Leaders, a pastoral care and ministry coaching organization headquartered in Oklahoma, has gone on high alert in response to an alarming report by Barna Research that 51% of mainline pastors are considering quitting the ministry.
“The Barna report supports exactly what we are hearing every day from our clients,” says Ray Sanders, founder of Edify Leaders. “For more than a decade we have walked alongside pastors helping them navigate and process the challenges they face in life and ministry, but, like the report indicates, we have never seen it this bad. We have served more than 125 ministers and spouses from multiple ministry backgrounds. Hearing the crisis report, we knew we had to respond fast. That is why we launched our full-scale online consultation services in addition to our in-person private meetings.”
With more than 100 years of combined ministry experience, Edify Leaders has assembled a team of seasoned and experienced ministry leaders who stand with pastors by providing encouraging and inspiring private, confidential, one-on-one, pastoral care and ministry coaching at no cost to ministers or their churches. Over the years, Edify Leaders has developed and refined a proven spirit-led ministry approach that is seeing incredible results as pastors are refreshed, recharged, and renewed.
“We do a lot of listening. Pastors talk and we listen. Ministers need a sounding board and confidante. Every leader, whether within or outside the church, knows that it gets very lonely at the top. Pastors aren’t superheroes. Even Tiger Woods has a coach. Many executives recognize the benefits of leadership coaching. Pastors face challenges and opportunities like everyone else,” Sanders explained. “We are seeing incredible success as ministers open up and we help lighten their load. We recently added online consultation as an option to our in-person meetings in an effort to help and reach as many ministers as we can. Everything is personal, convenient, and confidential. We go to where ministers are. Now, with the advantage of services like Zoom, we are able to meet with anyone, anywhere.”
Pastors are sharing the impact Edify Leaders has had on their lives at the ministry’s website.
“Thank you for your investment in my life. I am a better Christ follower, husband, father, friend, and pastor because of you. I appreciate you so very much!”
“I believe there is so much value in what you and your team are doing, your ministry outreach is to be highly commended.”
“Thank you again for today! It’s crazy how you don’t see things that are right in front of your face until you talk it out with someone else.” “I’ve just never had someone I’ve felt like I could be this open with. I’ve never felt safeto talk about the truth of it all to anyone.”
In response to the recent crisis report, that more and more pastors are considering leaving the ministry, Joe Jensen, Barna’s vice president of church engagement, recently said, “Quite frankly, we are alarmed and are concerned about the overall well-being of pastors. We’re concerned with how this is impacting the overall health of the Church. I really believe that at the heart of every healthy church is a healthy pastor.”
“Ministers don’t have to go it alone. We are here for them. We are just a click or a call away and because of the generosity of donors, who love and support ministers, there is absolutely no cost to ministers or their churches. Zero,” Sanders shared. “People love their pastors and are often surprised to hear of the burdens they carry. Studies have shown that many pastors are feeling alone, burned out, overwhelmed, depressed and exhausted as they face the added challenges of ministry brought on by the pandemic.”
The facts regarding the dangers of ministry speak for themselves:
51% of mainline pastors are considering quitting the ministry.
90% of the pastors report working between 55 to 75 hours per week.
80% of ministers believe pastoral ministry has negatively affected their families.
83% of clergy spouses want their spouse to leave pastoral ministry.
4,500 churches closed in 2019
SOURCES INCLUDE: The Fuller Institute, Barna Research, and Lifeway Research.
According to Sanders, not everything is doom and gloom when it comes to ministers. In fact, he believes most pastors are doing just fine and continue to have incredible influence and impact in their communities. Since founding Edify Leaders, Sanders indicates that not one pastor they serve has left the ministry.
Not only does Edify Leaders come alongside ministers with the encouragement and the power of a listening ear, but the ministry also assists ministers with leadership development, church growth strategies, team development, community engagement and healthy church cultures.
The purpose of Edify Leaders was inspired by Galatians 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” To this end, Edify Leaders encourages ministers to not grow weary but to keep up the good work.
For as long as funding holds and their team’s capacity isn’t reached, Edify Leaders is extending an open invitation to any minister of the gospel desiring to enjoy the benefits of becoming part of the Edify Leaders family. In most cases, ministers meet confidentially for an hour or less, either in person or online, once or twice a month with a member of the Edify Leaders ministry leadership team. As always, there is no cost to ministers or their churches due to the generosity of donors. Ministers are urged to reach out to Edify Leaders at info@EdifyLeaders.org.
“The need is huge and as most everyone knows, a ministry with this level of impact, requires funding. We encourage anyone with a heart for ministers or desiring to help end the pastors’ crisis to give as generously as they can to Edify Leaders. We are excited that all new donations are being matched up to $100,000!” Sanders explained. “There is simply too much at stake. We can’t afford to see more churches close or to see our churches lose more pastors. Healthy pastors lead healthy churches. Healthy churches have eternal impact in every community where they reside. We would love for our fellow believers to visit EdifyLeaders.org/joinus to sponsor and encourage a pastor today.”
NOTE: KTOK Radio recently interviewed Ray Sanders regarding the pastors’ crisis. To hear the entire interview, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaFqfAYkX8g or visit AnInsideLook.com and select Episode #6. Or, watch the video below.
That call led to the resurfacing of a 2014 crime reported by Lakewood Church that had gone unsolved. Back then, Crime Stoppers of Houston was offering a reward, which led some to question whether these events were linked and if the plumber would receive any reward.
On Tuesday, those questions was answered when Cauley received a $20,000 reward from Crime Stoppers of Houston.
“My heart stopped,” Cauley said to KPRC Click2Houston News. “Needless to say I have really had no clue that would come about.”
When Crime Stoppers called Cauley, he thought he was in trouble for something. Instead, he was told he would receive $20,000 for alerting the proper authorities after finding an estimated 500 envelopes of cash, checks, and money orders.
“Bills are stacking up and work [is getting] slow,” Cauley said. “I’m just trying to make the best of it, and today a light shined through…This money is going to help tremendously.”
Cauley thanked the Osteen family for donating the money to Crime Stoppers of Houston and called it a blessing. Earlier this week, the plumber said he was upset that he hadn’t heard from the megachurch pastor.
In a statement released by Crime Stoppers of Houston, the organization known for helping law enforcement agencies solve criminal activity explained that in 2014, Lakewood Church reported that approximately $600,000 was stolen from a church safe.
A few days ago, a 35-second clip from a sermon Matt Chandler gave in August, wherein he described Christian deconstruction as something today’s culture views as “sexy,” stirred controversy among deconstructionists. On Tuesday, Chandler briefly responded to that controversy.
During the clip, Chandler said, “You and I are in a day and age where deconstruction and the turning away from and leaving the faith has become some sort of sexy thing to do. I contend that if you ever experience the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, actually—that that’s really impossible to deconstruct from. But if all you ever understand Christianity to be is a moral code, then I totally get it.”
The clip was cut right before Chandler told the congregation, “And if you find yourself in that spot, I’m telling you, I love you right now, and we’ll sit down with you and you don’t have to punt on this thing. You might not have ever tried it.”
Matt Chandler Responds
While Chandler isn’t an avid social media user, he chose to post a short message on Instagram to clarify his deconstruction comment.
“A few close friends have reached out to ask me to clarify a few points on the sermon clips where I mention deconstruction that are going around,” Chandler wrote. “Their concern was that some are thinking I am saying things I don’t actually believe.”
Chandler explained what he meant when he used the term deconstruction in his sermon, saying, “It seems there are as many definitions of deconstruction as there are people going through what John of the Cross called ‘the dark night of the soul’ or even wrestling through significant and real church hurt. When I use the term I am using it in the vein of its father, French philosopher Derrida who believed that the meaning of a text was unknowable and therefore truth was not really knowable.”
“Deconstruction doesn’t mean doubt or theological wrestle or struggling through church hurt,” Chandler continued. “I have the deepest empathy and compassion for those who find themselves wading in those waters. I certainly don’t want to make things harder for anyone in those seasons and struggles. I’ve journeyed through all three of those spaces in my 30 years of following after Jesus. If that’s where you are I think you’re going to get to the other side and see Jesus as more beautiful than you previously imagined…that’s the way I’m praying.”
Who would have thought that one Christmas carol could get people so riled up? Yet many seem unable to stop debating whether “Mary, Did You Know?” is theologically accurate or even a good song.
“It’s just that time of year where half the population gets mad that ‘Mary Did You Know?’ is mansplaining and the other half rolls their eyes and insists its [sic] a poetic rhetorical question,” said Twitter user LydenTree63.
The text of “Mary, Did You Know?” was written in 1984 by singer and songwriter Mark Lowry. Musician Buddy Greene wrote the music to the song in 1991 while he and Lowry were touring with the Gaither Vocal Band. Below are the full lyrics:
Mary, did you know that your baby boy Would one day walk on water? Mary, did you know that your baby boy Would save our sons and daughters? Did you know that your baby boy Has come to make you new; This Child that you delivered Will soon deliver you?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy Will give sight to a blind man? Mary, did you know that your baby boy Would calm a storm with His hand? Did you know that your baby boy Has walked where angels trod, And when you kiss your little baby You’ve kissed the face of God? Mary, did you know?
The blind will see, the deaf will hear, The dead will live again, The lame will leap, the dumb will speak The praises of the Lamb!
Mary, did you know that your baby boy Is Lord all creation? Mary, did you know that your baby boy Will one day rule the nations? Did you know that your baby boy Was Heaven’s perfect Lamb, And the sleeping Child you’re holding Is the great, the Great I AM? Oh, Mary, Mary, did you know?
‘Mary, Did You Know?’—Mansplaining or Rhetorical Device?
Critics of “Mary, Did You Know” accuse it of “mansplaining” and being generally condescending, particularly given the truths Mary proclaims about God in the Magnificat.
FILE - Tony Spell, pastor of the Life Tabernacle Church of Central City, La., greets supporters outside the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Monday, June 7, 2021. Louisiana’s Supreme Court announced Tuesday, Dec. 7 that it will hear arguments in the pastor’s fight against criminal charges he faces for violations of pandemic gathering limits that were in effect last year. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana’s Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it will hear arguments in a pastor’s fight against criminal charges he faces for violations of pandemic gathering limits that were in effect last year.
Tony Spell got national attention when he began to flout the state’s public health order in March 2020 at a time when much of the country was in lockdown due to the emergence of COVID-19. Louisiana was being hit especially hard at the time, but hundreds showed up to hear Spell claim that the virus, which has now killed more than 780,000 Americans, is nothing to be concerned about.
A state judge earlier this year had refused to throw out the charges against Spell, whose Life Tabernacle Church is in the Baton Rouge area.
An appeal court agreed. But the state Supreme Court accepted the case for arguments Tuesday. A hearing date hasn’t been set.
Gov. John Bel Edwards in March 2020 had issued a public health ban on gatherings of more than 50 people to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Spell has long argued that Edwards’ virus restrictions violated First Amendment guarantees of religious freedom. While fighting the criminal charges, Spell is also seeking damages over the restrictions in federal court.
Many people don’t know the stories behind their favorite Christmas carols, it turns out.
That’s where “Hark! The Stories Behind Our Favorite Christmas Carols” comes in. The new podcast produced by Jesuit-owned America Media and hosted by Maggi Van Dorn explores the meaning and making of some of the best-known and most-loved Christmas carols.
Van Dorn, the audio producer at America Media, describes herself as a “big consumer of podcasts” and said the idea for “Hark!” was inspired by another one of her favorites: “Song Exploder,” a podcast in which musicians take apart their songs and explain how they were made.
She thought it would be interesting to apply the same idea to hymns and other church music. The only problem: Many of those songs were written decades or even centuries ago and their composers have since passed away.
So she turned to the musicians, composers, musicologists, biblical scholars, theologians and cultural commentators studying and performing their music today.
Maggi Van Dorn. Courtesy photo
And, as the holiday season approached, she realized Christmas carols were “almost a slam dunk” for a podcast.
“Of all the church songs and hymns, these are the most popular, and if you don’t go to church, even if you’re not a religious person, you probably still grew up singing Christmas carols and might enjoy a few today,” Van Dorn said.
They also are packed with theology and history that even the most regular churchgoers may not know.
Take “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” for instance.
The tune and lyrics to what is now the most published Christmas carol actually developed independently of each other, Van Dorn said she learned in making the podcast. It began as a poem written by Charles Wesley, the brother of John Wesley, who founded Methodism. Later, the poem was paired with a tune written by German composer Felix Mendelssohn to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the invention of the Gutenberg printing press.
Rachael Denhollander. Photo by Shanna Simpson Photography
(RNS) — Activist and abuse survivor Rachael Denhollander will be awarded the 2021 Abraham Kuyper Prize for Excellence in Reformed Theology and Public Life, Calvin University announced Tuesday (Dec. 7). Denhollander will receive the prize, which includes a $10,000 award, and deliver a lecture at a Dec. 15 event hosted by Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The annual Kuyper Prize, named after Dutch theologian and politician Abraham Kuyper, was founded in 1996 to honor a leader who has made outstanding contributions in his or her “chosen sphere” of society, reflecting “the Neo-Calvinist vision of religious engagement in matters of social, political, and cultural significance,” according to a press release from Calvin University.
Denhollander is a lawyer and former gymnast and the first woman to publicly accuse USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar of sexual assault in 2016.
“We so often confine theology to the four walls of church and home. We don’t look at how theology shapes issues we face every day,” said Denhollander in a press release. “To marry Kuyper’s work to what’s taking place in the public square right now on many levels is incredibly challenging, but Calvin has long had a history of making place and priority for these conversations. It’s a place with a rich understanding of faith and application of theology. So, to be part of that tradition in some small way is deeply humbling.”
Denhollander is author of the 2019 book “What Is a Girl Worth?” and recipient of numerous awards, including Sports Illustrated’s Inspiration of the Year award in 2018. She is also a vocal opponent of sexual abuse in the church, most notably in the Southern Baptist Convention and other evangelical circles. Last month, she made headlines for supporting Liberty University students who reported sexual abuse.
“At Calvin, we equip students to act justly, it’s one of the central components of our mission statement, and we do this work so that students learn how to represent Christ as agents of renewal in the world,” said Michael Le Roy, president of Calvin University, in a press release. “Rachael has and continues to model what living this out looks like by boldly engaging challenging conversations in the public square, seeking justice, and empowering others to do the same.”
The Kuyper Prize is funded by a grant from the late Rimmer and Ruth de Vries. Previous recipients include civil rights leader John Perkins in 2019 and conservative political commentator David Brooks in 2020.
Academy Award winning actor Denzel Washington was the subject of a recent New York Times profile, which featured a wide ranging conversation about his life, faith, and portrayal of Macbeth in the upcoming film “The Tragedy of Macbeth.”
Washington, who is well known for being vocal about his Christian faith, shared with Maureen Dowd that he made a promise to his 97 year-old mother that he’d “attempt to honor her and God by living the rest of my days in a way that would make her proud. So that’s what I’m trying to do.” Washington’s mother, Lennis, passed away in June.
“What I do, what I make, what I made—all of that—is that going to help me on the last day of my life? It’s about, Who have you lifted up? Who have we made better,” Washington went on to say. “This is spiritual warfare. So, I’m not looking at it from an earthly perspective. If you don’t have a spiritual anchor you’ll be easily blown by the wind and you’ll be led to depression.”
Washington, whose father was a Pentecostal preacher, then asked Dowd, “Have you read the Bible? Start with the New Testament, because the Old Testament is harder. You get caught up in the who-begot-who-begot-who thing.”
Washington also encouraged Dowd to read The Daily Word, an app that offers daily inspirational messages.
“You have to fill up that bucket every morning,” Washington told Dowd. “It’s rough out there. You leave the house in the morning. Here they come, chipping away. By the end of the day, you’ve got to refill that bucket. We know right from wrong.”
Washington continued to speak about his faith by discussing matters of eternity with Dowd.
“The enemy is the inner me,” Washington said. “The Bible says in the last days—I don’t know if it’s the last days, it’s not my place to know—but it says we’ll be lovers of ourselves. The No. 1 photograph today is a selfie, ‘Oh, me at the protest.’ ‘Me with the fire.’ ‘Follow me.’ ‘Listen to me.’”
“We’re living in a time where people are willing to do anything to get followed. What is the long or short-term effect of too much information? It’s going fast and it can be manipulated obviously in a myriad of ways. And people are led like sheep to slaughter,” Washington continued.
Washington said that in heaven, “there are going to be two lines, the long line and the short line, and I’m interested in being in the short line.”
Patrick Marsh, the designer behind the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum, died Thursday afternoon, November 2, 2021 at the age of 77.
Marsh had been the vice president of attractions design for Answers in Genesis (AiG) since 2001. Marsh was the creative genius behind designs relating to the Noah’s Ark Christian theme parks Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum, both of which are located in Kentucky and operated by AiG.
The Ark Encounter was voted the #1 Best Religious Museum in USA Today’s 2020 Readers’ Choice poll, and the Creation Museum was voted #2.
The widely popular theme park, which welcomes an average of 1 million visitors every year, opened in 2016 and features one of the most precise replicas of Noah’s ark in the world. Guests experience what it might of looked liked inside the the Old Testament animal preserve as they walk through its hundreds of bays that span over three decks.
In addition to the biblically proportioned ark, the park also has a zoo, restaurants, zip lines, a playground, and is planning to build a replica of the Tower of Babel.
AiG founder and CEO, Ken Ham, said, “Patrick’s fingerprints are all over the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter. I have never worked with a more creative person. Calling him a ‘genius’ is not an overstatement. I will miss him dearly, not only as a colleague but as a friend.”
“Patrick was able to attract, build, and mentor a phenomenal team of talented younger-generation designers,” Ham said. “Although Patrick can never be replaced, the team that was built under his leadership is ready to carry on his legacy.”
According to a statement released by AiG, Marsh and Ham have been working on additional phases for both parks. “The fruits of his work will be seen by millions of guests over the coming years as these additions are built at both attractions,” AiG said.
Marsh accomplishments ranged from building various concept designs for theme parks in Japan and Universal Studios in Florida to helping refurbish the Statue of Liberty in 1986.
The brilliant designer leaves behind his wife, Sakae.
Dr. Kara Powell is the chief of leadership formation and executive director of the Fuller Youth Institute at Fuller Theological Seminary. Named by Christianity Todayas one of “50 Women to Watch,” Kara serves as a youth and family strategist for Orange and speaks regularly at parenting and leadership conferences.
Brad Griffin is the senior director of content for the Fuller Youth Institute, where he develops research-based training for youth workers and parents. A speaker, writer, and volunteer youth pastor, Brad is the coauthor of over a dozen books.
Key Questions for Brad Griffin and Dr. Kara Powell
-What are the three big questions that all teenagers ask? Are these new, or have teens always been asking them?
-How can parents go about having ongoing conversations about these big questions with their teenagers not just once, but over the years?
-Is there anything that’s concerning or encouraging about the current state of youth ministry?
-What percentage of kids drop out of church and what percent return?
-With so many people publicly deconstructing, what you would say to our listeners about how to help teens face current and future challenges to their faith?
Key Quotes From Brad Griffin
“Part of what surprised us was just how much young people enjoy the opportunity to be listened to. And I mean, we had students say to us at the end, ‘Gosh, I’m going to miss these times to just talk.’ And we had students say to us, ‘You know, nobody’s really asked me questions like this before.’”
“One of the things we encourage adults to do, whether a parent or a leader…is to listen to what’s on the surface and then listen for maybe the question that’s behind the question.”
“I find wondering out loud helps to not communicate judgment, you know, because often young people feel judgment in our first responses to them.”
To be an effective public speaker, teacher, or preacher, it’s important to understand how memory works. That’s the theme of today’s post, a continuation of my prior post.
Scientists classify memory storage into three stages: stage 1– sensory memory, stage 2 — working (short-term) memory, and stage 3 — long-term memory. Memory processing begins with sensory memory, some of it makes it to short-term-memory, and even less makes it to long term memory. What gets moved to the long-term memory depends on what learners pay attention to, its emotional content, and how important, interesting, relevant, or useful that information is to them (called salience). And although working memory’s storage is limited and long-term memory is functionally unlimited, information can’t bypass working memory on its way to long-term memory. Working memory can become a bottleneck, like road construction can slow traffic when a four-lane highway narrows to one lane. I my book If Jesus Gave a TED Talk, I devote a whole chapter on how to minimize this bottleneck effect.
Working memory and short-term memory sometimes get confused with each other. Short-term memory is a part of working memory. It stores information whereas working memory both stores and manipulates it. Think of working memory as a mental sketch pad where you briefly hold information from both your environment and from existing memories while at the same time you manipulate that information.
Sensory Memory
Sensory memory holds information for a fraction of a second up to a few seconds. A good example is the brief light trail a sparkler leaves when you move it around at night. Sensory memory processes information through our five senses, the way something looks, feels, sounds, etc. Sensory memory for visual stimuli is called iconic memory (the sparkler trail you soon forget), for auditory, echoic memory (the sound of the doorbell you soon forget), and for touch, haptic memory (the itch you just had that you forgot). Visual sensory memory lasts about one second while auditory memory can last up to four or five seconds. This stage 1 memory gives the brain time to process incoming information, yet it’s not consciously controlled. And, 99% of sensory memory is forgotten because it was not salient or important.
In next week’s post we’ll look at working memory.
Remember, the more you understand and apply insight about memory, the better communicator you will become. You can get in touch with Sports Speakers 360 to assist you in choosing the right motivational Christian speakers.
This article about why understanding memory is important for public speakers originally appeared here and is used by permission.
Joby Martin joins “The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast” to discuss what happens when a church leader has truly been run over by the “grace train" and understands the profound love and grace of God.
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