Christians to Pray for Roe Reversal Days Before Key SCOTUS Abortion Case

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November 23, 2021

Days before the highly anticipated Supreme Court abortion case that could reverse Roe v. Wade, pro-life Christians throughout America will unite in prayer. On Sunday, November 28, a Pray Together for Life event is planned in Mississippi (where the case originated), in several other U.S. locations, and online.

Family Research Council organized the event ahead of Dec. 1 oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The case addresses the constitutionality of Mississippi’s controversial ban on most abortions after 15 weeks. Fetal viability is a key question, leading some experts to surmise that the landmark 1973 Roe decision hangs in the balance—especially with the high court’s recent conservative leanings.

Christians Unify in Prayer for Supreme Court Abortion Case

Pray Together for Life is scheduled from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. Central Time on November 28. The event’s primary location is New Horizon Church, a historically Black congregation in Jackson. Other gatherings will occur at a West Coast church and at congregations along America’s northern and southern borders. Through video streaming, Christians around the country can hear speakers and join fellow believers in prayer.

Expected speakers include Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (a Republican), state Rep. Ronnie Crudup Jr. (a Democrat and senior pastor of New Horizon Church), Democrats for Life President Monica Sparks, Roman Catholic Bishop Joseph Kopacz, evangelist Alveda King, and former Planned Parenthood employee Mayra Rodriguez. The West Coast event will feature Pastor Jack Hibbs, the northern-border event will feature former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, and the southern-border event will feature GOP official Adrienne Pena-Garza. A full speaker list is available.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council (FRC), says the event’s denominational, ethnic, and political diversity reflects tremendous “unity on the sanctity of life.” The wide range of speakers reminds him of the early Christian church in Acts 2, with everyone gathering in “one accord” to pray about the Supreme Court abortion case.

Supreme Court Abortion Case Is a ‘Defining Moment’ for Life

The entire focus of the prayer event, according to Perkins, will be life—and “praying for the court that America would get [the abortion issue] right after nearly 50 years.” America “is again at a defining moment as the Court considers the future of abortion,” he says, urging all Christians to “join us in praying for the justices, the lawyers, and especially the unborn and their mothers whom this decision will impact.”

Perkins calls abortion “a blight on this nation,” saying, “Every life has value because it is created in the image of God.” If Roe does get overturned, he adds, states, churches, and Christians must be ready to step up and meet people’s needs.

Alabama Worship Pastor Hides His Identity for 10 Years as Fugitive Sex Offender

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Jesse T. Jackson

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November 23, 2021

worship_pastor_fugative — Screengrab WBRC News Evergreen True House of Prayer Missionary Baptist Church pulpit

Larry Albert Flake, who is 75-years-old, has been running from the law for the last 20 years. For 10 of those years, he has been serving as the worship pastor at a church in Alabama. He was arrested on Friday, November 19, 2021 after the FBI and Birmingham, Alabama police located him.

According to a statement released by Richmond, Indiana’s Police Department, “Larry Flake was convicted of Sexual Misconduct with a Minor on August 30, 2001, from an incident reported to the Richmond Police Department in the fall of 1999. Flake failed to appear for the trial and has been a fugitive from justice since August 2001.”

Flake went by the name Larry White, or Reverend White, in an attempt to hide his identity from those at Evergreen True House of Prayer Missionary Baptist Church.

The church’s pastor, Willie Perry, told WBRC News, “I never would have thought that it was to this degree—He’s a good liar.”

“It was heart wrenching. I mean, you couldn’t imagine the horror of waking up and finding out that someone had this kind of checkered past,” Perry said, then admitting that he never really got to know Flake over the past decade. Flake kept to himself, limiting the personal information he shared with others. Now Perry knows why.

Perry took full responsibility, saying, “Trust but verify. I apologize to this body of Christ and this congregation. It should not have happened.” Although the pastor received multiple references from other churches that endorsed Flake, Perry shared he will triple check the background of his next hire.

“No minister should have to deal with that. You had somebody in the midst of your congregation that had no character at all,” Perry said.

20 years ago, Flake was identified out of a photo lineup by his 15-year-old victim, whom he had forced into his car and raped.

“Acting on a new lead received in this case in January of 2021, the Investigative Services Division of the Richmond Police Department, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigations Indianapolis Field Office, worked tirelessly together to bring Flake safely to justice,” Richmond’s Captain Curt Leverton said. “Without the new lead and the collaboration with the FBI Indianapolis and Birmingham field offices, as well as the Birmingham Police Department, Larry Flake would not have been captured, which gives closure to this twenty year old case.”

Alabama authorities will return Flake to Indiana, where he will face justice.

Man Commits to Stand Guard Outside Church Where ‘Church Mother’ Was Murdered Inside

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Jesse T. Jackson

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November 23, 2021

Evelyn Player muder — Screengrab WBFF News (L) Kimkur Lee (R) Evelyn Player

Last week, Evelyn Player (69) was killed inside Southern Baptist Church in East Baltimore, a crime so disturbing that Maryland Governor Larry Hogan directed all state law enforcement agencies to assist Baltimore’s local police department in its investigation, calling it an “all-hands-on-deck effort.”

It happened early Tuesday morning (Nov. 16) around 6:50 A.M., police said. Player was a longtime member of the church, and it wasn’t unusual for her to come early in the morning to pray at the church. She also worked on staff as a church sexton. Player arrived at the church around 6 A.M. A maintenance worker discovered her body around 7:20 A.M.

Player was found inside a bathroom where investigators believes she was attacked, reporting that the trauma to her body resulted in her death.

“Typically, Evelyn would not come as early. We have other male sextons that come to the church. She just beat everybody here. She had been praying all week, praying and crying, and she may have come to the church early to have some time to pray by herself,” Bishop Donte Hickman said. “It’s been unsettling in my spirit and a violation to our home — our home in this community.”

Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott called Player’s killer a “coward” and pleaded with anyone who has information regarding the assailant’s whereabouts to let the authorities know. Scott told the murderer to “man-up” and “turn yourself in.”

Althea Finch, Player’s daughter, spoke with Baltimore’s WBFF News, telling them, “I’m just numb that my mother is gone and that she had to die with someone’s intent to just come into a sacred place and kill her.”

“I don’t even know how to begin to express what it is that I feel. I just know that my heart is shattered into a million pieces, and whoever did this has not only broken my heart [and] my son’s heart, but those who loved her,” Finch continued.

“Her text to me this morning at 6:03 said ‘Good morning. I’m here. Have a great day. I love you.’ I texted back at 6:06 saying, ‘I love you.’ It’s the last message I’ll ever have from my mother,” Finch said. “I have no idea who would want to hurt my mother.”

In light of the crime, Baltimore resident and 53-year-old Kimkur Lee has been devoting his time to ensuring other church members and workers feel safe.

“Church is supposed to be sacred. For somebody to come into a church and take a life, that’s a very evil person. A very evil person,” Lee said.

New Children’s Story Bibles Rethink How Christians Share Old Stories With Young Readers

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Emily McFarlan Miller

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November 23, 2021

children's bibles — A child reads a mockup of "The Book of Belonging." Photo by Daniel Ebersole

“If we want to raise followers of Jesus who wrestle with God and ask important questions and fight for justice and admit when they’re wrong and love their neighbor, we need them to see themselves in these pages mirrored back,” said Clark, a former editor of philosophy and religion books for National Geographic, in the video accompanying her Kickstarter campaign.

Publishers have also answered that need with a string of new and upcoming children’s story Bibles.

“I Wonder: Exploring God’s Grand Story,” an illustrated Bible by Glenys Nellist that was published in September, not only retells 30 stories from both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament for children ages 4 to 8, but also it encourages them to engage with the stories by ending each one with a series of questions beginning “I wonder … .”

“I wonder … which part of creation God enjoyed the most,” ends the story of creation.

“I wonder… if Lydia ever imagined that her story would one day be told to others,” ends a story about the early church featuring Lydia, the first convert to Christianity in Europe.

“God’s Colorful Kingdom Storybook Bible: The Story of God’s Big Diverse Family,” by Esau McCaulley, just announced for release in January 2023, will pull together stories showing God’s desire for a multi-ethnic family that cares about those the author calls the “stepped-on.”

McCaulley, the author of the award-winning book “Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope” who teaches New Testament at Wheaton College, said his book is the one he has wanted to read to his own four children, now ages 5 to 13.

“I found myself often having to reinterpret stories or edit them, or I would say things like, ‘The Bible has this vision for all of the different nations and peoples and colors of the world to be a part of God’s family,’ but then I would open up a gift book and everybody there was white,” he said.

It will be a while before his children are old enough to read “Reading While Black,” he said. In the meantime, he wants them to hear the same stories that formed him growing up in the Black church.

“God’s Colorful Kingdom Storybook Bible” will include the stories of familiar figures like David, but rather than focus on his battle with the giant Goliath, McCaulley said, his book will emphasize how God instructed Israel’s greatest king to care for the poor and needy. It also will include the stories of less-known figures, such as the Hebrew midwives who saved Moses as an infant, Simon the Cyrene and the Ethiopian eunuch.

“The question isn’t, ‘Which stories do you tell?’ it’s, ‘What gets highlighted in the stories that you tell?’ And when I was growing up, these are some of the things that were brought out,” he said.

United Methodist General Conference to Consider Split Is Still on…for Now

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Emily McFarlan Miller

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November 23, 2021

united methodist meeting — Jessica LaGrone, a member of the Commission on a Way Forward, presents the Traditional Plan during the special session of the United Methodist Church General Conference in St. Louis on Feb. 24, 2019. RNS photo by Kit Doyle

(RNS) — Organizers of the United Methodist Church’s General Conference announced last week they are moving forward with plans for the meeting next fall … for now.

But, the Commission on the General Conference said Friday (Nov. 19), it hasn’t ruled out postponing the usually quadrennial meeting of the denomination’s global decision-making body yet again.

That would mark the third time the meeting has been postponed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic since it was originally scheduled for 2020, delaying yet again an expected vote on a proposal to split the denomination over disagreements on the full inclusion of its LGBTQ members.

At its online meeting last week, the commission adopted guidelines to help it decide during the first quarter of 2022 whether to hold the General Conference as currently scheduled or consider postponing it again.

That includes considering the health and safety of delegates, staff, volunteers and guests, as well as the inclusion of the broad diversity of the church amid travel restrictions and differing access to vaccines around the world.

“We wanted to have stated values that we will lift up as we make these important decisions,” Commission on the General Conference Chair Kim Simpson said in a written statement.

“For example, we feel it is important to go beyond the minimum requirement of quorum when thinking about the involvement of as many delegates as possible.”

The General Conference originally had been set for May 5 to May 15, 2020, in Minneapolis. That meeting was rescheduled for Aug. 29 to Sept. 7, 2021, when the Minneapolis Convention Center announced it was restricting events during the pandemic. It was rescheduled then again for Aug. 29 to Sept. 6, 2022, at the same venue.

Delegates to the General Conference are expected to take up a proposal to split the denomination, called “A Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation.” The proposal, negotiated by 16 United Methodist bishops and advocacy group leaders from across theological divides, would allow churches and conferences to leave to form new Methodist denominations, including a conservative “traditionalist” Methodist denomination that would receive $25 million over the next four years.

Calls to split one of the largest denominations in the United States have grown since the 2019 special session of the United Methodist General Conference approved the so-called Traditional Plan strengthening the church’s bans on the ordination and marriage of LGBTQ United Methodists.

This article originally appeared here.

Sing Anew This Christmas

By

WordGo

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November 23, 2021

Tis’ the season to be singing, hymns of joy, hymns of light, hymns of royal beauty bright, hymns of one most Holy Night! Thanks to the hymn writers, Christmas is never without a soundtrack—melodies rich with heritage sung across generations, in sanctuaries, on street corners, and in the quiet of firelit homes.

Christmas hymns have the power to proclaim the season’s arrival… but does their familiarity lull us into missing their notes of truths? This Christmas, can our hearts wake up to the words we sing?

To sing these songs anew together, let’s examine a few verses of this Christmas hymn, then ask three questions to respond…

Let’s Examine…

Let’s Ask…

1. What is this hymn about?

Think:

Who are the key players and what are they doing?
What details of conversation, declaration, or action seem important?

Notice facts from the hymn, then try recapping the verses:

– Angels, messengers from God’s presence, declare Jesus’ arrival.

– Shepherds faithfully at work receive Light’s news, God’s here!

– Believers today worship and wait for the Lord to come again.

– Sinners repent and receive freedom from guilt and death.

– Infant Jesus is King of all.

Witnesses of the Incarnation worship Christ as King and call us to worship!

Foundations of the Cell Church Movement

By

Joel Comiskey

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November 23, 2021

What is the core concept in the cell church? Community? Evangelism? Church growth? Steve Irvin and I debated this idea over dinner one night in my home. We batted around a few commonly held assumptions about the main theme of the cell church. Then I sprang on Steve a growing conviction of my own heart. “I believe that the essence of the cell church is preparing leaders who are sent out to reap the harvest. The cell church is a leadership strategy,” I told him.

As I’ve studied, practiced, and reflected on the cell church over the last few years, I’ve concluded that the cell church is all about developing and releasing leaders to reap the harvest. The perfect environment for leaders to begin and thrive is the cell group.

The Leader-Driven Church

Rick Warren’s best selling book The Purpose Driven Church provides important principles for the church at large. I’d like someone to write a book for the cell church called The Leadership Driven Church. Raising up a continual flow of healthy multiplying cell leaders is the heart of the cell church. Cells are leader breeders. Cells breed new leaders. If you catch the awesome power of raising up an army of leaders through the cell strategy, you’ll succeed.

One cell church will do better than another in producing and sustaining the leadership flow in their churches. Some transitioning cell churches start out well, but as soon as the already prepared saints are taken, their cell church begins to sink. Such churches fail to understand how to develop and supervise new leaders. It’s a leadership strategy.

Biblical principles of leadership in the cell church

Christ’s Choice of the Twelve

It’s surprising that Jesus did not choose key, prominent men to form part of His twelve. None of Christ’s disciples occupied important positions in the synagogue, nor did any of them belong to the Levitical priesthood. Rather, they were common laboring men, having no professional training, no academic degrees, and no source of inherited wealth. Most were raised in the poor part of the country. They were impulsive, temperamental, and easily offended. Jesus broke through the barriers that separated the clean and unclean, the obedient and sinful. He summoned the fisherman as well as the tax collector and zealot. Jesus saw hidden potential in them. He detected a teachable spirit, honesty, and a willingness to learn. They possessed a hunger for God, a sincerity to look beyond the religious hypocrisy of their day, and they were looking for someone to lead them to salvation. In calling the despised to Himself, in sitting down to a meal with publicans, in initiating the restoration of a Samaritan woman, Jesus demonstrated that even these people were welcomed into the kingdom of God.

Look at the Heart

Most of the leadership problems can be solved if you are willing to develop the lay people within your own congregation. True, this will require that you open your heart to a broader spectrum of lay people in your church.

A study of three hundred highly successful people such as Franklin Roosevelt, Helen Keller, Winston Churchill, Albert Schweitzer, Mahatma Gandhi, and Albert Einstein, revealed that one-fourth had handicaps, such as blindness, deafness, or crippled limbs. Three-fourths had either been born in poverty, come from broken homes, or from exceedingly tense or disturbed situations.

Sometimes we fail to see emerging leadership because we are looking for the wrong things. We often look for those who mesh with our personality but pass over those who follow a different drummer.

Samuel misjudged the Lord’s choice for the second king of Israel because he focused on height and stature: “Samuel saw Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.’ But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart’” (1 Samuel 16:6-7).

Two Ways to Know You Are Saved

By

J.D. Greear

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November 22, 2021

This post remains one of our most popular ever, and for good reason. The question of assurance is a troubling one for many people in the church. I myself struggled for years to feel completely sure that I was saved. There’s much more to say about the issue than this, but for those wondering, “Am I really saved?” this is a helpful start.

I get the question from Christians a lot: “How can I know for sure that I’m saved?” So often, in fact, that I wrote a book addressing it: Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart. I struggled with the question a lot myself until someone pointed me to passage from 1 John that helped open my eyes. In 1 John 5:13-18, John identifies two ways that we can be sure of our salvation.

Two Ways to Know You Are Saved

1. We have placed our hopes for heaven entirely on Jesus. (1 John 5:13)

“I write these things to you,” John says, “who believe in the name of the Son of God.” It’s so simple that we’re liable to miss it, but assurance comes from believing in Jesus. This is the gospel: When we trust in his name, we cease striving to earn heaven by drawing upon our own moral bank account; instead, we withdraw on his righteous account in our place.

The gospel, by its very nature, produces assurance. Because the gospel proclaims “Jesus in my place,” my assurance does not depend on how well or how much I have done. It depends on whether or not I rest in his finished work. So the question is not, “Can I remember praying a prayer?” or “Was my conversion experience really emotional?” The important question is, “Are you currently resting on Jesus as the payment for your sin?”

A lot of Christians get caught up looking for assurance to a prayer they prayed two years, five years or 30 years ago. But John does not say, “I write these things to you who prayed the sinner’s prayer.” He writes to those who believe. The point is not the prayer you prayed, but the present posture you are in.

2. You have a new nature. (vv. 16–18)

If you have been born of God you have been given a new nature. And that comes with new desires. So you do not “keep on sinning,” as John writes, because you have new desires. As an earthy way to think about this, you might imagine some vomit on the ground. None of us would require a list of rules keeping us from eating it. Why? Because we find it disgusting. Now, a dog has a totally different nature, with different desires. A dog would find that vomit as appetizing as we find it disgusting.

Michael Flynn Is Wrong. Christians Shouldn’t Mandate One Religion for Everyone in America.

By

Ed Stetzer

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November 22, 2021

Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn caused a firestorm with his recent comments on Nov. 13 at the “ReAwaken America Tour” in San Antonio.

“If we are going to have one nation under God – which we must – we have to have one religion,” said Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and was pardoned by then-President Donald Trump last November.

The tour, organized by Clay Clark, whom The Guardian calls a “media figure and Christian entrepreneur” from Tulsa, Oklahoma, has included stops in Florida, Michigan, California and Texas. Flynn followed the pattern of Christian nationalism by taking a biblical passage aimed at Christ’s disciples and applying it to the United States.

“You have to believe this, that God Almighty is, like, involved in this country, because this is it. …This is the shining city on the hill,” Flynn said.

Hint: It’s not.

‘The Great Sort’ Demonstrated

That the response to Flynn has been both swift and polarized is indicative of what I see as the “Great Sort” in American Christianity. For the past decade, we have begun to see a transition in the rationale for how many self-identifying Christians make decisions about their local church membership, relationships and serving.

While politics and culture have always played a significant role, in recent years we are beginning to see religious identity being primarily driven by broader political debates. Now, instead of Scripture, doctrine or worship providing a central role in church association and participation, political identity is squarely in the driver’s seat.

As I explained in Outreach Magazine, Christians are increasingly sorting themselves into churches that reflect their ideology.

Politics has always played a major role in religious identification, but now Christians are more actively disassociating and associating with churches based upon their political affiliations. This is primarily why once-fringe voices like Flynn, Stella Immanuel, Mike Lindell, Charlie Kirk and Lin Wood have been able to find significant followings in churches around the country.

As opposing or moderate voices leave and new members are attracted by a political alignment, churches are becoming less politically diverse and more vocally partisan.

Critically, this is not a sort between patriotism versus Christianity. Often maligned, patriotism can be good and noble. Rather, this sort pits Christianity against Christian nationalism, a perversion of the faith that subverts its mission.

The rhetoric of the ReAwaken tour reeks of such Christian nationalism. It utilizes Christian ideas, language and spaces but submits these to nationalistic ends. By identifying America as God’s chosen nation and calling for a religious establishment, Flynn and others offer a gospel mission that is a distorted caricature of the one to which Christians are called.

The Genius of Religious Liberty

As we look for ways to respond to the Great Sort, Christians and non-Christians alike should reflect on the genius of our political tradition of religious liberty. Beginning with the Founders and proven consistently throughout our history, providing people with freedom to believe and practice their faith strengthens our democracy, our communities and our institutions.

This is, in part, why the Baptist John Leland is a personal hero. Standing for religious liberty in America’s early years when few others would, Leland argued, “All should be equally free, Jews, Turks, Pagans and Christians.”

Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaway Honors Slain Rapper Young Dolph

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Adrian Sainz

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November 22, 2021

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Friends and associates of slain rapper Young Dolph handed out Thanksgiving turkeys at a neighborhood church Friday in Memphis, Tennessee, two days after he was gunned down in broad daylight inside his favorite bakery.

Known for acts of charity in his hometown, the hip-hop artist and label owner had helped organize the event at St. James Missionary Baptist Church and was going to participate before he was fatally shot Wednesday.

Undaunted, members of his music label, Paper Route Empire, along with church volunteers and community activists, distributed dozens of turkeys, stuffing mix and cranberry sauce — and said “happy Thanksgiving” — to people driving past the church.

It was the type of event Young Dolph, who grew up in the Castalia neighborhood where the church is located, has been organizing for years, often without the reporters and cameras present Friday. Before the event, volunteers spoke quietly among themselves or sat in solemn reflection as his music played outside the church on the sunny afternoon.

Label employee Bee Bee Jones, 38, helped hand out the food, honoring his friend of 30 years.

“When I hear his music, I just break down,” said Jones, who spoke with a reporter while sitting on the rear bumper of a U-Haul truck full of 300 turkeys. “The truth in all of it, and where he came from, that’s what really gets to me sometimes. This is what he would want us to do right here, still keep on giving. He came from nothing, but he wanted to make sure everybody got some.”

Police on Friday kept searching for suspects in the killing, which shook Memphis and shocked the entertainment world. Police have released photos taken from surveillance video that shows two men exiting a white Mercedes and shooting Young Dolph before fleeing.

The killing of Young Dolph, 36, whose real name was Adolph Thornton Jr., intensified cries against violence in the Memphis area, which has seen high-profile shootings at a K-8 school, a post office and a grocery store in the past two months.

This year, 255 killings have been committed in the city of Memphis, already surpassing the 244 slayings last year, the Memphis Police Department reported. That’s in addition to thousands of gun-related incidents reported through this past September.

In a statement about Young Dolph’s killing, Shelby County Health Department Director Dr. Michelle Taylor called gun violence in Memphis an epidemic.

“The key to addressing the endless cycle of shootings and retaliatory shootings in our community is to heal the generational trauma that makes violence appear to be the only solution to conflict,” Taylor said.

Some community leaders have expressed frustration that so many attempts to address gun-related crime — community meetings, efforts to add police officers, increased crime prevention funding, days of remembrance for murder victims, working with former gang members to intervene in disputes — have not worked.

Former SBC EC Member Rod D. Martin Wants to Plant a Church on Mars

By

Dale Chamberlain

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November 22, 2021

Rod D. Martin Mars — Source of Screenshot: Twitter: @BobSmietana

Elon Musk isn’t the only former PayPal employee who has big plans for Mars. Former SBC executive committee member Rod D. Martin expressed over the weekend that he wants to be the first to plant a Baptist church on Mars.

Apart from his involvement with the SBC, Martin is known for being part of the pre-IPO startup team for PayPal and describes himself as “a technology entrepreneur, futurist, hedge fund manager, thought leader and activist.”

Martin’s comments came in the context of a Conservative Baptist Network (CBN) panel discussion hosted by Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary (MABTS) on Friday, November 19. The conversation also included SBC First Vice President Lee Brand, president of Founders Ministries Tom Ascol, Executive Director-Treasurer of Northwest Baptist Convention Randy Adams, former Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) professor Russell Fuller, and SBC pastor Allen Nelson.

“I want to build the first church on Mars. I want to build it. I want it to be a Baptist church. I’m thinking of calling it ‘The Cathedral of Saint Paul Pressler.’ I might get Paige Patterson to be the first bishop,” Martin said with a smile. “We’ll see, you know.”

Paige Patterson is the former president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary who was later fired amid accusations that he mishandled sexual abuse allegations at the school. Paul Pressler is a retired justice of the Texas 14th Circuit Court of Appeals who was accused of sexual misconduct in 2018. Patterson was also accused of helping cover up the abuse in Pressler’s case. Both men were key figures in the SBC’s “conservative resurgence,” which began in the late 1960s.

Despite the allegations against them, both Pressler and Patterson remain highly admired among many within the SBC, including some within the CBN, which was founded in 2020 and sees itself as theologically and ideologically aligned with conservative resurgence values.

MABTS and the CBN became the subject of controversy last week when the CBN promoted the screening of the film “Enemies Within the Church,” which was hosted on the campus of MABTS on Saturday, November 20. Claiming that many influential Christian institutions have been infiltrated by Marxists seeking to bring down Western civilization, the film specifically singled out SBTS (where Fuller formerly worked) and SWBTS (where Patterson formerly served as president).

Martin has been supportive of the film’s screening at MABTS, and the CBN defended its position to promote the film. On Saturday, Martin tweeted a brief review of “Enemies Within the Church,” saying, “I do not endorse the film, but I do think it is a useful analytical tool for understanding what’s happening in the American church.”

Former Church Employee Who Embezzled $450K Gets 5 1/2 Years in Federal Prison

By

Jessica Mouser

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November 22, 2021

Lisa Dawn Stabeno — Image courtesy of Lubbock County Detention Center and Everything Lubbock

A woman who used to be a bookkeeper for a church in Lubbock, Texas, has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in federal prison for embezzling $450,000. Lisa Dawn Stabeno, 52, was sentenced on Thursday, Nov. 18, and has been ordered to pay back that amount in restitution to Church on the Rock (COTR).

“Talk is very cheap at this point,” said U.S. District Court Judge James Wesley Hendrix at Stabeno’s sentencing after she apologized for her crimes, reports Everything Lubbock. Hendrix referred to Stabeno’s fraud as “brazen thefts” and said, “You were trusted with accounts and misappropriated funds. You did it again and again and again.”

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal says that while evidence demonstrates Stabeno stole $450,000, it is possible she concealed the theft of even more funds.

Lisa Dawn Stabeno Steals From Church for Five Years

According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Lisa Dawn Stabeno began working at COTR, which has over 3,400 members, in the summer of 2013. She started using church funds for her own personal expenses in November of that year.

The DOJ says that from 2013 until 2018—when the church discovered Stabeno’s fraud and fired her—Stabeno used church funds for expenses that included a car loan, meals at restaurants, clothing, medical costs, and salon purchases. She also used the church’s money to pay expenses associated with a bakery that she co-owned with her daughters.

Stabeno was arrested in December 2020 after a federal grand jury indicted her on six counts of bank fraud. The indictment listed fraudulent expenses not mentioned by the Justice Department, including rent, trips to places such as Disney World and Las Vegas, and family members’ credit card debt.

During the five years when Stabeno committed fraud, she used credit cards belonging to a pastor and another church employee and later opened two credit cards under her name and one of her daughters. In 2014, she started using Square, a point of sale software, to charge credit cards belonging to COTR.

NFL Coach Frank Reich Preaches During News Conference, Quotes Worship Song

By

Dale Chamberlain

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November 22, 2021

This past Sunday, Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich took the opportunity during a post-game press conference to share words of encouragement from one of his favorite Christian worship songs, as well as the words of Scripture. The conference was held after the Colts’ 41-15 victory over the Buffalo Bills.

“Some people know that our team has been using the metaphor of climbing Mount Everest to parallel our quest to make it to the top,” Reich can be heard saying in a video posted by author and former sports broadcaster Jason Romano. “And it doesn’t take long to figure out that this metaphor doesn’t merely apply to football. Rather, it can be a picture of the many challenges that we all face.”

“And so, I just wanted to offer a word of encouragement, really, to anyone out there who’s in the midst of a struggle,” Reich continued. “In particular, I’m thinking of a few friends who I know are going through some stuff.”

Reich then recalled something that happened while he was a player for the Buffalo Bills in 1993 at the very stadium where he now stood as the head coach of the away team, the Indianapolis Colts.

“I want to give a personal account to where I’ve found my strength for the journey. The reason I’m doing that here and now is because almost 30 years ago, after a really big game, right down the hall in a press conference, I shared the lyrics to a song that meant a lot to me — really spoke to where I get my strength from,” Reich said. “The song is ‘In Christ Alone,’ and it’s written by Shawn Craig.”

“‘In Christ alone I place my trust, and I find my glory in the power of the Cross. In every victory, let it be said of me, that my source of strength and my source of hope is Christ alone,’” Reich recited, going on to quote his favorite line of the song: “‘I seek no greater honor than just to know him more.’”

“Even though it was more than 30 years ago, when I read those words here in this stadium, this week I was reminded — Hebrews 13:8 says, ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.’ It’s crazy, but we’re here some 30 years later, not living in the past, but rather attempting to press on to what is ahead,” Reich went on to say, echoing the words of Philippians 3:13-14.

“So my encouragement is to keep climbing, and to find the strength and power that you need in Jesus Christ,” Reich concluded.

Reich served on the Colts’ coaching team in various roles from 2008 to 2011, later coming back to the team to serve as head coach in 2018. Reich also holds a Master of Divinity degree from the Charlotte, NC campus of Reformed Theological Seminary.

Watch the video of Frank Reich during the press conference below.

“This week I was reminded Hebrews 13:8 says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”

Wow! Awesome post-game message from #Colts head coach Frank Reich pic.twitter.com/1FRH2T0yL5

— Jason Romano (@JasonRomano) November 22, 2021

Violent SUV Incident During Waukesha Christmas Parade Kills 6 and Injures 40; Faith Leaders Respond

By

Jesse T. Jackson

-

November 22, 2021

On Sunday, November 21, 2021, a driver of an SUV plowed through a suburban Milwaukee town’s Christmas parade, killing six people and injuring over 40 others. One of those being an 8-year-old boy.

The Waukesha Christmas parade featured school marching bands, floats, and dance teams that included children. Amateur cell phone videos of the parade captured footage of the driver entering the event, swerving around parade vehicles and running over people in a marching band. Other videos show an SUV speeding passed another marching band, nearly striking a toddler dancing in the street, then proceeding to violently plow over members from a dance team who were cheerfully waving pom-poms in the air.

The dance team had not only children performing in the parade, but also members from the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies. The group posted on Facebook that they are “devastated” by the tragedy that occurred in Waukesha. “Our group was doing what they loved, performing in front of crowds in a parade putting smiles on faces of all ages, filling them with joy and happiness,” their post reads.

“While performing the grannies enjoyed hearing the crowds cheers and applause which certainly brought smiles to their faces and warmed their hearts,” they said. They then shared that some of those in their group were among the casualties. “Those who died were extremely passionate Grannies. Their eyes gleamed…joy of being a Grannie. They were the glue…held us together. Our hearts are heavy at this most difficult time, as more information and updates become available it will be posted. Please keep them, their families, friends, the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies and everyone whose lives have forever changed in your thoughts and prayers.”

Children from the Waukesha Catholic school were injured in the SUV incident, including parishioners and a priest. In a statement released by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Communication Director Sandra Peterson said, “Our prayers are with the people who have been injured and killed during the tragic incident in Waukesha. Among the injured are one of our Catholic priests, as well as multiple parishioners and Waukesha Catholic school children. Please join us in prayer for all those involved, their families, and those who are traumatized from witnessing the horrible scene.”

Waukesha School Board member Corey Montiho told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that his daughter’s dance team was struck by the SUV, saying, “There were pom-poms and shoes and spilled hot chocolate everywhere. I had to go from one crumpled body to the other to find my daughter. My wife and two daughters were almost hit.”

“Please pray for everybody. Please pray. My family is safe but many are not. I held one little girls head in my hand, she was seizing and she was bleeding out of her ears. I held her mother as she collapsed. Please pray,” Montiho said.

Chris Germain, who was in the parade with his 3-year-old daughter, recalled what he saw at the scene, saying, “There were small children laying all over the road. There were police officers and EMTs doing CPR on multiple members of the parade.”

Another parent, Jaymz Touchstone, who was watching his daughter’s band play in the parade, said “[The vehicle] swerved around the big truck right behind the band, and then accelerated through the band and down the street.”

Touchstone indicated that he attempted to pursue the car, saying, “I couldn’t. I turned around and came back and started to render first aid to the people there. The kid that I was rendering first aid to—his feet were crushed. They ran over both of his legs. He hit his legs, got trapped under the tire.”

Pope Francis to Young People: We Need You to Protect Environment

By

AP News

-

November 22, 2021

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday praised young people for their efforts to protect the Earth’s environment and told them to “be the critical conscience of society.”

Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, filled with hundreds of young faithful, to mark a church day focused on youth in dioceses worldwide.

“You have been entrusted with an exciting but also challenging task,” the pontiff said, ”to stand tall while everything around us seems to be collapsing.”

Francis expressed thanks “for all those times when you cultivate the dream of fraternity, work to heal the wounds of God’s creation, fight to ensure respect for the dignity of the vulnerable and spread the spirit of solidarity and sharing.”

He noted that many young people have criticized environmental contamination.

“We need this,” Francis said.

The pontiff said that in a world that “thinks only of present gain, that tends to stifle grand ideals, you have not lost the ability to dream.”

“Be free and authentic, be the critical conscience of society,” Francis exhorted young people.

Social justice and care of the environment have been key messages of his papacy.

The pope is expected to meet with young people from all over the world at the Catholic church’s jamboree in Lisbon, Portugal, in August 2023.

This article originally appeared here.

10 Basic Marriage Truths Every Christian Spouse Should Know

By

Paul Chappell

-

November 22, 2021

A marriage that endures through the decades is the result of God’s grace through two people who are committed to one another. Sometimes as I counsel couples, I’m reminded of how important it is when it comes to marriage to keep the basic marriage truths in mind. If we forget the basic marriage truths about marriage, we easily make assumptions that, over time, undermine the marriage relationship.

My wife, Terrie, and I were blessed to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary last December. Every day—and more—I thank the Lord for Terrie and the gift of being her husband. Proverbs 18:22 is absolutely fulfilled in my life through her: “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.”

Here are 10 basic marriage truths — in no particular order—that every married Christian should remember.

1. We are passionate about the things we work on and think about the most.

Good marriages take effort. It requires real work to understand your spouse and honor and love him or her. A spouse who is passionate about a strong marriage thinks about his or her spouse often and constantly invests in the relationship.

Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. —1 Peter 3:7

2. Focusing on your needs only will ruin a marriage.

Every husband has unique needs, as does every wife. Ephesians 5 speaks to the individual nature of each spouse’s needs as it commands wives to honor their husbands and husbands to love their wives. But don’t miss the obvious—the command to each spouse is to meet the other’s needs, not to focus on his or her own needs.

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord… Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. —Ephesians 5:22, 25

Charity…seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil. —1 Corinthians 13:4–5

3. Most marriages will hit a “wall.”

Sometimes a couple is surprised by a season of difficulty in their marriage. Because they never expected it to happen, they assume their marriage is already as good as gone.

If, when you encounter such a season, you recognize that every difficulty can be worked through with the grace of God, biblical truth (perhaps including wise counsel) and a couple determined to strengthen their relationship, you’ll get through it and often be stronger for it.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. —Ephesians 3:20

4. Refusing godly counsel is to reject God’s plan for safety.

Early in our marriage, Terrie and I made a commitment that if either of us ever felt we needed marriage counsel, we would both get it. During times of extreme pressure in ministry, we have occasionally gone to someone in ministry longer than us with a strong marriage to ask for counsel on keeping our marriage strong even as we invest in the work of the ministry together.

Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety. —Proverbs 11:14

5. Satan is a liar.

And he will do everything he can to convince you that his lies are the truth. Distrust all “certainties” that don’t emphasize the power of God and permanence of marriage.

…He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. —John 8:44

Continue

7 Steps to Avoid Sexual Sin and Stay in Ministry

By

Dustin Neeley

-

November 20, 2021

Avoid Sexual Sin — Adobe Stock #674144754

Some time ago, a good friend of mine disqualified himself from ministry due to an inappropriate relationship with a woman in his church.

I want to try to redeem this tragedy by offering the following seven thoughts in an effort to spare us, our families and our churches from a similar fate.

7 Steps to Avoid Sexual Sin and Stay in Ministry

1. Don’t say it can’t happen to you.

While most of us readily nod our heads in agreement, in our hearts we can still live in functional unbelief of this fact. We need to constantly remind ourselves of Paul’s warning to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 10:12:

Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

That means it can and could happen to us, and we must be vigilant in this area and all others. The world is broken, our enemy is against us and our flesh is weak.

2. Repent of your pride and self-righteousness in this area.

The Bible clearly teaches:

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall (Prov. 16:18).

Every pastor I’ve ever known who has fallen into sexual sin was one who at one point believed he never would.

So often, it is our pride that allows us to “push the envelope” and think we are the exception to the rule. It is also pride that can keep us from getting the help we need so we could have avoided this particular fall in the first place.

Most affairs don’t begin on a whim. The seeds are sown in the soil of an unhappy or tumultuous marriage.

Brothers, if there are currently problems in your marriage, please reach out to someone and deal with them now so you don’t become a statistic later.

3. Put all the needed safeguards in place—and keep them there.

The highway of the upright avoids evil; those who guard their ways preserve their lives (Prov. 16:17).

All of us know this is true, but are we living as if it is true?

We know we shouldn’t be alone with a member of the opposite sex, but do we keep our rule faithfully?

We know we should have working porn filters on our computers, but do we?

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Screen Time for Kids

By

Josh Weidmann

-

November 20, 2021

My son, do not lose sight of these—keep sound wisdom and discretion,
and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck.”
(Proverbs 3:21-22, ESV)

I am a morning person. I love to wake up when the house is still quiet and tip-toe downstairs to brew my pour-over coffee. I then proceed to my leather chair with my Bible and stack of books. My favorite mornings are in the summer when the sun is rising, the birds are chirping, and the family is sleeping in.

Or at least they are supposed to be…

Last summer, I found it extremely difficult to get up before everyone else. I would sneak past the bedrooms and down the creaky stairs, into the kitchen, to start the water for my coffee. Yet, while I stood in the kitchen assuming I had risen before everyone else, I would hear the faint sound of voices. The kind of voices that seemed to be coming through small device speakers, slightly muffled, yet conveying some kind of pitchy energy over a crazy stunt or selfie-video showing off.

My kids (at least one of them, but sometimes two or three) would get up earlier than any kid should in the summer just to grab a cell phone, tablet or laptop. Like some kind of cyberspies, they hacked through our passwords or remembered them from the one time they looked over our shoulder, and voila they were in! I would find them by following the sound only to discover them curled up on the side of the couch, in the basement, or in their closet with the doors closed.

Talk about feeling like I was living with a bunch of addicts! They would sacrifice sweet sleep to take a hit before dawn and then slither into small places to feed their craving in hopes of not getting caught. This is when I decided to get to the bottom of the screen time addiction. Was this just innocent entertainment or had they truly become dependent on devices?

What is the right amount of screen time a kid should have?

The New York Presbyterian Hospital research team reports that nearly half of all children 8 and under have their own tablet device. The Percentage only gets higher at 12 years old, and nearly every 16-year-old and above own their own device. That is millions of personally owned devices in the hands of our kids! The issue isn’t just about kids having these devices in the first place, it is about what they do with them.

With reports that kids nowadays spend an average of about 2.25 hours a day on digital screens, we need to consider what impact this time and devices are having on our kids. Let’s look at the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to screen time.

The Good

Screen time can have many positive benefits for children. In a world saturated by screens, kids need to know how to use and operate the technology that will inevitably become a part of their adult life. The bright spots that screen time offers kids are:

Connectivity: They can connect with parents, teachers, relatives, and friends over a device that used to cost a lot of money or take time. Now, with the press of a button, they can connect with anyone, anywhere.
Technology: Their technology navigation skills and overall tech know-how increased as they work on screens. This is a vital skill to make it in our ever-advancing world .
Exposure: It allows them to see things without traveling or leaving the comfort of home.
Learning: There is a wealth of educational content delivered on screens, but it takes careful curation by us, as parents, to ensure our kids are accessing good content, not negative content. They can learn good or bad things.
Tracking: Healthy behaviors, such as reading, learning, and practicing can be tracked with the use of apps. For instance, kids can track their reading minutes, employ step counters, or encounter daily inspirational messages that support their faith and spirituality.
Reasoning: Parents have to remember that kids aren’t equipped with the skills needed to critically assess different types of screen content. Parents and proper guidelines or safeguards can help children to learn how to make wise decisions.

3 Common Misconceptions of Calvinism

By

David Qaoud

-

November 20, 2021

Calvinism. What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear that term?

If you’re not Reformed, you probably think of predestination or John Calvin. Or maybe you think of close-minded Christians or a cruel God or whatever. As a Reformed Christian myself, I’m always up for hearing what those outside the tribe think of Calvinism.

Some things said are true. A lot of them are not.

What are the misconceptions?

There’s plenty, but three quick ones come to mind:

Misconception #1: John Calvin invented Calvinism.

When did the confusion start?

Wikipedia doesn’t help: “He [John Calvin] was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism.”

I get the confusion. The word Calvinism has Calvin in it, and everyone knows John Calvin, so John Calvin came up with Calvinism, right?

Good thoughts. But let’s dig deeper.

“Calvinism” is, among other things, a misnomer. The label “Calvinist” was coined in 1552 by Lutheran polemicist Joachim Westphal, not by John Calvin. In fact, Calvin didn’t like the term, and did not see it as a term of endearment. As Michael Horton says, “The reformer himself would have been embarrassed to be singled out for a distinctive view of the Christian life.”

While Calvinists respect John Calvin, Calvinism can be seen throughout church history in the lives of Aquinas, Anselm, Augustine and many others. Reformed folks for years have rightly argued that Calvinism sprung from the Bible, not from one man.

Misconception #2: Calvinism undermines personal evangelism.

The argument goes something like this: “Because only predestined people go to heaven, Calvinism teaches Christians to be passive in evangelism.”

Problem with that is, well, it’s not true:

“Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect” (2 Timothy 2:10).

Paul suffered, worked and evangelized so that some might be saved. He did everything he could to win people for Jesus, knowing most would reject his message. There’s nothing passive about his approach.

Also consider Calvinism’s history:

Jonathan Edwards’ tracts enhanced the spiritual revival in Connecticut, the revival we know as “The Great Awakening.”
George Whitfield’s legendary evangelistic sermons sparked the revival.
William Carey—the Calvinistic Christian—led the great missionary movement of the 19th century.
Charles Spurgeon’s favorite doctrine was substitutionary atonement—that Jesus died on the cross, in your place, and for your sins. Evangelistic sermons were his favorite to preach.

You could argue that the driving force behind their work was their Calvinistic convictions.

The idea that Calvinists don’t care about evangelism was never true in the past, isn’t true in the present, and hopefully won’t be true in the future.

Misconception #3: Calvinism puts “God in a box.”

I once asked a pastor if he was Reformed. “No,” he said. “I don’t want to put God in a box.”

I hear this a lot.

It’s no secret Calvinists love to read. The “popular” seminaries are almost always Reformed. In 2009, Time Magazine labeled the New Calvinism as one of the top 10 ideas changing the world. And with the resurgence of Reformed theology in the church over the past five to 10 years, an abundance of gospel-centered, Reformed resources have emerged. Reformed people aim to know their God with their mind well.

Admittedly, Calvinists (especially new ones) can be off-putting and harsh with those with opposing views. There’s a “Cage-stage Calvinist” time that many go through. But the idea that Calvinism puts God in a “box,” or have God all figured out, is ridiculous.

If you pay very close attention to Reformed authors, one verse frequently used is Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong to our Lord our God.” You can know God truly, but not fully. Some things he won’t reveal. Calvinists know you can’t put God in a box.

There are many more misconceptions: that God treats his creatures like puppets, that the idea of election is cold, that prayer is useless, that Calvinists boast in their election. It’s painful to be misunderstood. But Reformed folks (including me) haven’t always done a great job of representing the tribe. Hopefully we can do better in the future. But there should be no compromise of what we believe. As Charles Spurgeon says, “Reformed theology is just a nickname for biblical Christianity.”

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This article originally appeared here.

7 Secrets Your Pastors Wish They Could Tell You (But Probably Won’t)

By

Shane Bishop

-

November 20, 2021

how to encourage your pastor — Adobestock #1060137050

Most pastors I know have clear calls to ministry, work long hours, carry battle scars, sometimes get discouraged, and struggle to balance vocation and family. You might be surprised by some of the advice I’m going to give about how to encourage your pastor.

They really do have servants’ hearts, but they are human and there are a few considerate things the people in the pews can do to support their pastors. If you could be a fly on the wall when pastors talk amongst themselves, you may be quite surprised by what you hear and how often you would hear the same things over and over.

How to Encourage Your Pastor

Here are seven things your pastor would love to tell you (but probably won’t) that will let you know how to encourage your pastor better:

1. Don’t give me another book to read.

Reading a book takes hours, and reading a book about something in which your pastor is not interested will simply never happen. When you ask the next Sunday if they read the book, you put your pastor in a really bad position. “That is simply never going to happen” seems harsh, and “I will get to it this week” is probably not true. If you want your pastor to read a book, recommend it, tell why you think it will be a blessing, and summarize it in a book review of 250 words. They can pick it up themselves if they want to read more.

2. Don’t complain about something just before worship.

This establishes that your need to vent is more important than the people in the sanctuary receiving the best your pastor has to give. Pastors know there is often discontinuity in the church, but right when church is getting ready to start is NEVER the right time to bring something up. Nothing will ruin a sermon before it starts quicker than a complainer.

3. Don’t drop by the office and expect me to drop what I am doing.

Pastors work under deadlines. We have to write articles, fill out reports, and write and rehearse messages. When a funeral or emergency pops up, those deadlines stay in place, often creating highly pressurized afternoons of preparation. Someone stopping by to “chew the fat” simply exacerbates the tension. Your pastor is a professional, please call and make an appointment so they can give you their full attention.

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1. We have placed our hopes for heaven entirely on Jesus. (1 John 5:13)

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Here are 10 basic marriage truths — in no particular order—that every married Christian should remember.

1. We are passionate about the things we work on and think about the most.

2. Focusing on your needs only will ruin a marriage.

3. Most marriages will hit a “wall.”

4. Refusing godly counsel is to reject God’s plan for safety.

5. Satan is a liar.

7 Steps to Avoid Sexual Sin and Stay in Ministry

1. Don’t say it can’t happen to you.

2. Repent of your pride and self-righteousness in this area.

3. Put all the needed safeguards in place—and keep them there.

My son, do not lose sight of these—keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck.” (Proverbs 3:21-22, ESV)

What is the right amount of screen time a kid should have?

The Good

Misconception #1: John Calvin invented Calvinism.

Misconception #2: Calvinism undermines personal evangelism.

Misconception #3: Calvinism puts “God in a box.”

How to Encourage Your Pastor

1. Don’t give me another book to read.

2. Don’t complain about something just before worship.

3. Don’t drop by the office and expect me to drop what I am doing.

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My son, do not lose sight of these—keep sound wisdom and discretion,
and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck.”
(Proverbs 3:21-22, ESV)