30 Prayers for Bible Study Leaders

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October 21, 2021

Use this 30-day prayer guide with your small group leadership today. It contains prayers for Bible study leaders for each day of the month.

Leadership Pastor Jim Egli endeavored to discover what makes the difference between thriving and stagnant small groups. His research involving over 4,000 group leaders came to the conclusion that praying leaders have faster growing groups. To that end, here is a tool that small group leaders can use repeatedly each month to help them build healthy group life and ultimately impact more people with Jesus’ love and message.

30 Prayers for Bible Study Leaders

Pray the Lord’s Prayer. Matthew 6:9-13
Pray that every person would become spiritually healthier as a result of participating in your discipleship experience. Ephesians 1:17
Pray that every person in your group finds a really good friend in our church family. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Pray that God gives you vision and direction for your group. Proverbs 29:18
Pray that your group members will “love on” each other. John 13:34-35
Pray that the fruit of the Holy Spirit would increasingly manifest itself in the lives of every person in your group. Galatians 5:22-23
Pray that each one in your group would be led by the Spirit of God in their everyday lives. Romans 8:14
Pray that every member of your group would have a meaningful time with God in prayer and Bible study every day. Isaiah 26:9
Pray that you and each of your group members would be suited up in the full armor of God. Ephesians 6:10-17
Pray that God would fill you and each person in your group with His Spirit. Ephesians 5:18
Pray that each of your group members will grow in their delight and dependence on the Word of God in their daily life. Psalm 1:2-3
Pray for our church’s local outreach efforts and ministry partnerships. Matthew 5:6; Luke 10:27
Pray that God would help you know how to cultivate more of a hunger for God’s Word in the hearts of your group members. John 21:16
Pray that each of your group members continually grows in their understanding of the Bible.2 Peter 3:18
Pray that each member is empowered to submit to God, resist the devil, and draw near to God. James 4:7-8
Pray that every person in your group embraces the Bible for what it really is: The fully-inspired Word of God! 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Pray that each of you would be spiritually alert and strengthened to stand firm against the devil. 1 Peter 5:8-9
Pray that every person would come to a deeper knowledge and stronger conviction about who they are in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17
Pray that each person discovers their unique set of God-given gifts and is inspired to use them to strengthen our church family. 1 Corinthians 12:7
Pray that every person would be inspired to take one more step in their relationship with Jesus Christ. Colossians 2:6-7
Pray that God will open the hearts of family and friends to hear the message of hope. Romans 10:17
Pray that every person would be open to the move of the Holy Spirit in your midst. 1 Thessalonians 5:19
Pray for God to move powerfully in your ministry. Acts 4:31-35
Pray that each one feels like they fit and connect with others in your group. Hebrews 10:25
Pray that God would equip you to help everyone in your group live out the Great Commandment and Great Commission on a daily basis. Ephesians 4:11-13; Matthew 22:37-40
Pray that people would trust the Lord with their finances and tithe so they can receive the blessings God wants to bring to their lives. Malachi 3:10
Pray that each person grows in their confidence and ability to share their faith. 1 Peter 3:15
Pray for strength for each of your group members to turn away from sin and pursue godliness. 1 Timothy 6:11-12
Pray for our church’s leadership and for even greater Kingdom impact in the days ahead! Acts 2:42-47
Pray that each person would be bold in inviting a friend to join you in your discipleship experience. 2 Timothy 4:5

Copy and give this Prayer Guide to your leaders or create your own so that your groups can grow in strength and influence for the Kingdom of God!

This article of prayers for bible study leaders originally appeared here.

Mike Stone Seeking $750k in Defamation Lawsuit Against Russell Moore

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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October 20, 2021

Mike Stone, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, GA, filed a defamation lawsuit against Russell Moore on Monday October 18, 2021. Moore is the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC).

In the suit, which was shared with ChurchLeaders by an SBC pastor, Stone accuses the now Public Theologian for Christianity Today of defamation, false light invasion of privacy, and emotional distress.

Stone, who served as chairman of the SBC Executive Committee (EC) from 2018 to 2019, also chaired the Executive Committee’s ERLC Study Task Force in 2020. The task force was formed in response to “ongoing concerns” about the ERLC expressed “both publicly and privately” to members of the EC and other SBC leaders.

Stone Led a Task Force Examining the ERLC

In 2021, the Stone-led task force released a report claiming that the ERLC’s actions had resulted in hundreds of SBC-affiliated churches leaving the denomination and many more withholding funds, suggesting that millions of giving dollars were at risk.

In the report, the task force recommended that the ERLC refrain from commenting on political candidates and to only speak about issues the SBC has already made decisions on. Moore was an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump, specifically when it came to immigration and race relations.

Although the report did not call for Moore’s resignation, Moore announced he was leaving to take a position at Christianity Today three months after it was released. Moore had served as president of the ERLC for eight years.

Stone Claims Moore Retaliated

According to the suit, it is Stone’s belief that Moore’s “malicious campaign” against him was motivated by the investigation into the ERLC.

“Defendant’s [Moore’s] malicious campaign against Plaintiff [Stone] was motivated in part by Defendant’s desire to retaliate against Plaintiff for his service on the aforementioned task force of the Executive Committee and to compromise its investigation into the ERLC by obfuscating pertinent facts,” the suit reads (line 13).

Stone was one of the candidates running for 2021’s SBC presidency. In the election meeting that was attended by over 15,000 registered SBC messengers this past June, Stone lost to Ed Litton in a run-off vote. Litton won by only a few hundred votes.

In the weeks leading up to the election, two private letters written by Moore were leaked. One of those letters claimed that Stone and SBC EC president Ronnie Floyd suppressed investigations into sexual abuse within the denomination.

Mohler Warns the Dave Chappelle Controversy Is ‘A Religious Liberty Matter’

By

Jessica Mouser

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October 20, 2021

The uproar over Dave Chappelle’s latest comedy special has ramifications for Christian institutions in the U.S., argues Dr. Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Chappelle targets multiple people groups with his special, but is making headlines mainly for his crude jokes about trans individuals, jokes many see as harmful.

“This will affect what is taught in our schools, Christian schools, Christian colleges, Christian academies, and what is preached in our churches,” said Mohler. “The argument of language and message as harm is not just going to be directed against prominent comedians, or for that matter, non-prominent comedians. It’s going to be directed at every single Christian, particularly at the Christian church and the pulpit of that church. And that means that oddly enough, this isn’t just a controversy about comedy or even just a controversy about free speech. You can understand this is a religious liberty matter as well.”

Dave Chappelle’s ‘The Closer’

Dave Chappelle is a stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He starred in “Chappelle’s Show” (2003-2006) and has appeared in the films, “Robin Hood: Men in Tights, “You’ve Got Mail,” and “A Star Is Born.” His new comedy special “The Closer” was released on Netflix Oct. 5.

Mohler addressed the controversy over Dave Chappelle’s special in the Oct. 18 edition of The Briefing. Mohler wanted to be clear that he was not endorsing Chappelle’s stand-up.

“I am not commending this comedian,” he said. “I am not commending his comedy. I am not commending his very rough language. I am not commending even his understanding of comedy as an art. This is no moral commendation of Dave Chappelle, but it is, to point to Dave Chappelle in this controversy, as a matter that is extremely illuminating in terms of some of the most debated and controversial issues of our time.”

The controversial issues Mohler was referring to specifically relate to the LGBTQ community. These topics, which included gender identity, pronouns, and the use of public restrooms, did take up quite a bit of Chappelle’s time, although they were certainly not the only part of society he addressed.

Chappelle repeatedly contrasted situations involving gay and trans people with situations involving African Americans, his point being that American society is inconsistent in how it treats the LGBTQ community compared to the Black community. “In our country, you can shoot and kill a n***** but you can’t hurt a gay person’s feelings,” said Chappelle, explaining he wanted to “discuss that disparity.”

It is common for stand-up comedians to be vulgar, but there is little that seems off-limits for Chapelle, who joked about child molestation and the suicide of someone he knew. He repeatedly joked that he is “transphobic,” justifying his comments about gender by saying that anyone who really knows him will not take his words as hate speech against trans people. His real problem is with white people—another frequent target of his routine, which also included jokes at the expense of feminists and the broader gay community.

Voting Rights Demonstration Leads to Faith Leaders’ Arrests Outside White House

By

Jack Jenkins

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October 20, 2021

Voting Rights — Rabbi David Saperstein, center right with microphone, speaks during a voting rights rally outside the White House on Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021, in Washington. RNS photo by Jack Jenkins

WASHINGTON (RNS) — An interfaith assortment of faith leaders and actors were arrested outside the White House on Tuesday (Oct. 19) as they demanded in prayers and speeches that President Joe Biden and lawmakers in Congress do more to advocate for voting rights legislation.

The Rev. Jamal Bryant, a prominent Georgia pastor who had asked God in his opening prayer to “dispatch every available angel to be assigned to every representative who is the disrupter of democracy,” was led away along with Rabbi David Saperstein, a former U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, and Alyssa Milano, the former “Who’s the Boss?” and “Melrose Place” actress who has dedicated herself to activism in recent years.

Immediately prior to their arrest, demonstrators at the hourlong protest were warned three times by police they were in violation of D.C. law by “obstructing or incommoding.”

Criticism for inaction on the legislation, particularly the John Lewis Act and the For the People Act, was aimed equally at the president and at the Republican lawmakers who have opposed the two bills.

The Rev. Ferrell Malone of Waycross, Georgia — one of the plaintiffs in a case challenging a state elections law that activists decry as restrictive — noted his state “delivered for the White House” in the 2020 election by electing Biden and helping Democrats secure a majority in the U.S. Senate.

“It’s time for President Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris, and the Senate and the House of Representatives to pay up,” he said.

“I’ve known Joe Biden for 40 years,” Saperstein told the crowd before his arrest. “All his life he has fought for voting rights. … Which is why we expect him, above all, to stand up and to make this a priority even among other enormously important priorities. This is the bedrock foundational right.”

The Freedom to Vote Act, a compromise bill aimed at wooing those who disagree with key portions of the John Lewis Act, reportedly has support from all 50 Democratic U.S. senators but does not have enough Republican support to break the 60-vote supermajority required to override the Senate filibuster.

“In the face of injustice, we hear God’s call to us,” Saperstein said.

The 1 p.m. protest, organized by the liberal advocacy group People for the American Way, was the second such protest outside the White House in recent weeks; the same groups convened a similar demonstration in early October.

Efforts Drag on to Free 17 Missionaries Kidnapped in Haiti

By

Dánica Coto and Pierre-Richard Luxama

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October 20, 2021

Missionaries Haiti — People protest for the release of kidnapped missionaries near the missionaries' headquarters in Titanyen, north of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. A group of 17 U.S. missionaries including children was kidnapped by a gang in Haiti on Saturday, Oct. 16, according to a voice message sent to various religious missions by an organization with direct knowledge of the incident. (AP Photo/Joseph Odelyn)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Efforts to win the return of 17 members of a U.S. based missionary group and a local driver stretched into a fourth day Wednesday, with a violent gang demanding $1 million ransom per person.

The group seized includes five children aged from 8 months to 15 years, although authorities were not clear whether the ransom demand included them, a top Haitian official said Tuesday. Sixteen of the abductees are Americans and one Canadian.

The FBI and other U.S. agencies were “part of a coordinated U.S. government effort” to free the missionaries, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday, though officials from Haiti, the U.S. and the church group involved were silent about sensitive details.

A wave of kidnappings has added to the other miseries besetting the Caribbean nation. At least 119 people were kidnapped in Haiti for the first half of October, according to the Center of Analysis and Research of Human Rights, a local nonprofit group.

It said that in addition to the 17 members of the missionary group, a Haitian driver was abducted along with them, bringing the total to 18.

The Haitian official, who was not authorized to speak to the press, told The Associated Press that someone from the 400 Mawozo gang made the ransom demand Saturday in a call to a leader of the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries shortly after the abduction.

“This group of workers has been committed to minister throughout poverty-stricken Haiti,” the Ohio group said Tuesday, adding that the missionaries worked most recently on a project to help rebuild homes lost in a magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck southwestern Haiti on Aug. 14.

The group was returning from visiting an orphanage when it was abducted, the organization said.

The rash of kidnappings led to a strike Monday that shuttered businesses, schools and public transportation — a new blow to Haiti’s anemic economy.

Life was largely back to normal on Wednesday, but unions and other groups vowed to organize another strike next week, and sporadic protests erupted Wednesday in Port-au-Prince over the lack of fuel, with gangs blamed for blocking gas distribution terminals.

‘Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?’ Lecrae Explains

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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October 20, 2021

This week, Grammy Award-winning Christian hip-hop artist Lecrae posted a video entitled “Watch This Before You Celebrate Halloween” on his YouTube channel.

Though he admitted that he doesn’t consider himself an expert on the subject, Lecrae weighed in on whether Christians should celebrate Halloween.

Lecrae began by saying, “When I think about Halloween, I think about all the people who say, ‘Man, there’s so many demonic elements to it — ghouls and ghosts and killing and scary stuff. Why would you even want to entertain that?’ ”

The “Coming in Hot” rapper agreed celebrating demonic activity is wrong, but says he decided to investigate the origins of Halloween to see whether Christians should stay away from the popular holiday.

What Is Halloween?

“Often times, things start off as something and end up becoming something completely different,” Lecrae said. He explained that the origin of Halloween is rooted in a Celtic holiday “where people would dress up to ward off evil spirits.”

Lecrae went on to share that in some Jewish cultures, they pray for those who have passed away on Halloween. Further, a Catholic Pope declared it a national holiday.

There are some religious aspects to Halloween, Lecrae explained, but “over the years I think that’s just been kind of mixed up and meshed up with different ideologies.” The artist compared it to a game of telephone, arguing that the meaning and significance of the holiday has morphed over time.

Lecrae said, “I don’t think, in its origins, it was meant to be some demon worshiping type of situation.”

Lecrae’s Halloween Perspective

“There’s the good, there’s the bad, and there’s the redeemable,” Lecrae said. “The Bible says all things on earth are good. The earth is the Lord’s and He’s there in it. So everything on earth belongs to God.”

Is the Term ‘Evangelical’ More Political Than Christian? Russell Moore Weighs In

By

Dale Chamberlain

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October 20, 2021

In a recent interview on NBC’s Meet the Press Reports with Chuck Todd, Russell Moore discussed the “secularization of evangelicalism” and whether the term “evangelical” has lost its meaning altogether. Moore is the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and current director of the Public Theology Project at Christianity Today.

In the interview, Moore said, “The use of religion as a means to an end…for an end of politics, for various sorts of ends that really can transform and change the nature of Christianity itself. So if you look at, for instance, some of the tactics often used by people who are claiming to be evangelical Christians, they’re often quite short of the Sermon on the Mount.”

Using Evangelicalism to ‘Own the Libs’

Todd noted that recent surveys indicate that more Americans are self-identifying as white evangelicals but fewer are regularly attending church, asking Moore what he thinks is causing such a trend.

“Well, that’s what concerns me. I’m talking every day to churchgoing evangelical Christians who don’t want to use the word ‘evangelical’ because it’s become merely a political word. And then those who don’t go to church but who are using ‘evangelical’ in a political sense as a way to ‘own the libs’ — that’s not…a good development in my view,” Moore said.

Moore continued, “Once evangelical Christianity is defined not by the Gospel but by some sort of cultural or political movement, we’re in a really dangerous place. Evangelical Christianity is meant to be the good news of Jesus Christ, and handing that over to a political agenda, no matter what the political agenda, is a bad idea.”

“That’s especially true when we’re in this crisis moment where the moral credibility of virtually every institution is being challenged, and the church is certainly no exception,” Moore added.

Evangelicalism as ‘God-and-Country’ Lifestyle Brand

Todd then asked Moore about the trend within the evangelical movement to cultivate what David French called a “God-and-country lifestyle brand,” rather than a values-driven lifestyle.

In response, Moore said, “I think that’s the end result of having so many evangelical leaders say, ‘Character doesn’t matter; winning matters.’ Diminishing the role of theology and moral formation, and highlighting the role of evangelicalism as a voting bloc.”

“I think when people see that, they start to emulate the characteristics of their leaders. And we have seen evangelical leaders speaking in terms that would have been incomprehensible in the Bill Clinton era. And I think that’s having an effect,” Moore continued.

We Are All Drunk on Something

By

Scott Sauls

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October 20, 2021

I love how Jesus related to damaged and demoralized people. Don’t you?

A woman is caught in the act of adultery. In committing the act, she wrecks a home. She brings shame upon herself and her community. Then, pious men decide to publicize her shame to make an example of her. The man with whom she committed the act is not exposed, but that’s another issue for another time.

Concerning the woman, “Lawbreakers must not be tolerated,” they think. “She must be condemned for her behavior, cast out for her infidelities, shamed for her shameful act. She must be made into an example.”

This is what happens in a group of people who pride themselves on things like Sabbath keeping, personal piety, sound doctrine, but are lacking in love. A coliseum culture develops. Everyone rallies around a common enemy – the sinner. Robbers, evildoers, tax collectors, adulterers and adulteresses. And then the pouncing and the piling on and the mobbing. The shaming and the scolding and the disapproving. The calling out and the canceling.

What’s wrong with the world?

“Other people,” says the mob surrounding the adulteress. “What’s wrong with the world is other people…those who aren’t one of us.”

But Jesus does not participate in this. Instead, left alone with the adulterous woman, he simply says to her two things:

1. I do not condemn you.
2. Now leave your life of sin.

The sequence of these two sentences is everything.

Reverse the sequence and you’ll lose Christianity.

Reverse the sequence and you’ll also lose Jesus.

With Jesus, preemptive declarations of grace and love and no-condemnation establish the environment for conversations about truth, morality, and ethics. According to Jesus, there is no other way than this.

16 (Nearly Free) Ways to Increase Community Awareness of Your Church

By

Rich Birch

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October 20, 2021

If the people in your community don’t have an awareness of your church, they won’t ever join your church.

If nobody in your city is aware of your church’s services or Sunday gatherings, you’ve lost a chance to connect those people to your discipleship process. A frequently overlooked step in connecting with a community is simply building baseline awareness of a church in that broader community. The first step in connecting with new guests at your church is making them aware of your church in the first place.

When was the last time your church reached out to the community to make your presence known?

How are you actively ensuring that people in your town know about your church and the services you offer?

Here are five categories that outline different ways you can build community awareness of your church. (Granted, I know that some of these things cost money, but I presume you either have budget money allocated or could reallocate resources toward this area.) We’re passionate about reaching people in our communities because the local church is the only organization in the world that doesn’t exist for its own people. We exist for people outside our walls, and reaching out to them starts with them knowing us.

Community Outreach

Getting your people out of their seats and into the streets is the most effective way to build community awareness. In my book Church Growth Flywheel, there is a whole chapter dedicated to leveraging community outreach for church growth.

Good old-fashioned community service is great, not only for building your community’s awareness of your church but also for paving a path toward trust. The reality is that people drive by our churches and aren’t always sure what goes on inside. Rather than waiting for people to come in, what if we motivated our people to go outside our walls and make a difference? You’d be amazed at the doors that this will open as your church is seen and perceived as an active participant in the community. Here are a few examples of some community outreach events you could run:

Community clean-up day // Contact your local parks and rec department and ask them if people from your church could clean up the park next spring. Get everyone a volunteer t-shirt and have some fun in the outdoors!
Free market // As opposed to flea markets where people try to sell their junky stuff, a free market is where we bring our best stuff and give it away to people in need. Work with local community service organizations to spread the word to families in need who live in your town.
Winter carnival for families with special needs // You’re already planning fun Christmas activities, so why not turn those activities into something special for the children with special needs in your community? Again, partnering with local organizations that can provide resources and information on what families in your area require will be a big help when organizing these types of events.

Sunday Signage

If all your church has is a single small sign at the road indicating you exist, you are missing an opportunity to create awareness with some temporary signage you can put up on Sundays. The truth is that people drive by and are unaware of what’s happening inside your building—even on Sunday mornings! What if you invested some time and a few resources in signage for the outside of your church so that people could know what’s happening inside? Here are some examples of signage you could add:

Flags on the corners of your property // Giant tear-drop flags are always fun in the wind, and you’d be surprised how economical they are. If you placed one at each entrance to your parking lot and a few along the most visible part of your property, they will draw attention and make your facility pop!
A-frame signs // Some A-frame signs are a quick and easy way to build visual awareness. These are great to place at the entrance to your property to invite people to come on in!
Pop signs // You’ve seen folks holding small 2×2 signs at events as you enter that say things like, “We’re glad you’re here,” and, “You’re looking good today.” Those are a fun way to add both people and fun messages out on the street.
Police presence // Finally, you could pay your local police department to direct traffic at the entrance to your church parking lot. This is not only a service to your community, but it also helps draw awareness to the church. (I know this isn’t really a “sign,” but it serves a similar purpose.)

To Worship on Sunday, You Gotta Serve Somebody on Monday

By

David Manner

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October 19, 2021

Sunday worship is both the culmination and commencement of the worship week. Commencement means a beginning or a start and culmination means an end or an arrival at a final stage. When considering these definitions with regard to Sunday worship, what seems mutually exclusive is actually collectively exhaustive. Is the Sunday worship service the commencement of the worship week? Yes! Is the Sunday worship service the culmination of the worship week? Yes! As a commencement, the Sunday service sings our congregations out. The worship when we gather may be great, but until it impacts those we come into contact with when we disperse, it’s incomplete. As a culmination, the Sunday service sings our congregations in. Gathered worship is then a continuation and celebration of the worship that has already been occurring during the week through sacrificial acts of service. So, Sunday is the day we both gather people for worship and disperse them to worship — and serve somebody as an act of worship.

How I Learned to Serve Somebody

A couple of decades ago I was conducting the last Saturday morning rehearsal before our choir and orchestra presented their Christmas music the next day in our services. We needed six hours of rehearsal but only had three, so the stress was high and levity low. Right in the middle of rehearsing one of the songs, a man entered the worship center behind me, distracting the players and singers. I stopped the song to address the interruption and regain control of rehearsal.

It was obvious from his appearance that this man’s needs were benevolent ones. He was there to request help with food for his family, fuel for their car, and firewood to heat their home. Since he had recently lost his job, he was also hoping our church could help with Christmas gifts for his children. I responded to his request by saying, “We’re in the middle of preparing for a special Christmas worship service tomorrow at church, so we won’t have time to help you right now. But if you’ll come by our offices on Monday, we’ll see if we can get you some assistance.” He never returned.

Mark Labberton wrote, “Worship can name a Sunday gathering of God’s people, but it also includes how we treat those around us, how we spend our money, and how we care for the lost and the oppressed. Worship can encompass every dimension of our lives.”[1] I often wonder how much more impactful our Christmas worship services on that Sunday evening might have been if I had taken a few moments to serve as an act of worship on that Saturday morning.

We sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs as an expression of our desire to know Jesus, but the Jesus we want to know is the sanitized Jesus who looks a lot like us. Despite God’s word to the contrary, we think that we can say we love God yet hate our neighbor, neglect the widow, forget the orphan, fail to visit the prisoner, ignore the oppressed. When we do this, our worship becomes a lie to God.[2]

Serving others reminds us that the sermons we have prepared and songs we have selected may not be the most important act of worship this week. To serve somebody is one of those actions we take to ensure that worship continues when we leave our services. We spend so much time leading church services as an act of worship that we often neglect to lead the church in service as an act of worship too. Worship as service will never be completely realized until we can say every Sunday, “Worship has left the building.” God is looking for a worship lifestyle that rights wrongs, cares for the poor, rejects injustice, and embraces generosity. Worship that comes from a community that doesn’t model those characteristics turns the beautiful melodies we’ve just sung into something discordant.[3]

TEAM DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

What could occur as we lead gathered worship on Sunday if we serve somebody together as a team during the week?
How can we better balance our time between our worship services and to serve somebody as worship?
In what ways can we ensure the songs we sing on Sunday are also evident in the lives we lead the rest of the week?
What service ministry might we adopt together as a team?

[1] Mark Labberton, The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God’s Call to Justice (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2007), 13.

[2] Labberton, The Dangerous Act of Worship, 71.

[3] David Ruis, The Justice God Is Seeking: Responding to the Heart of God through Compassionate Worship (Ventura, CA: Regal, 2006), 29.

This article about the for worshippers to to serve somebody originally appeared here, and is used by permission.

Youth Pastor Charged With Raping a Student Receives Probation, No Jail Time

By

Dale Chamberlain

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October 19, 2021

Jason Greathouse, former Alabama youth pastor who was charged with raping a 14-year-old student, will not face jail time after reaching a plea deal with Coffee County prosecutors. Greathouse will serve two years of unsupervised probation and will not have to register as a sex offender.

Greathouse’s charges were downgraded from felony second-degree rape, which could carry a jail sentence of 20 years, to contributing to the delinquency of a minor, which is a misdemeanor.

Greathouse had married his victim at the urging of her parents after it was discovered that she was pregnant. (ChurchLeaders has chosen not to identify her by name in order to protect her privacy.) At the time of the rape in 2008, Greathouse was 24 years old.

In 2008, Greathouse was the youth pastor of a church in Enterprise, Alabama, where he was living with the abuse survivor’s family. She was a student in Greathouse’s youth group. The victim shared with the Tennessee Holler that she was struggling with an eating disorder and that, at the time, she saw Greathouse as a mentor.

While Greathouse contends that their sexual relationship was consensual, it is a felony offense to have sex with a minor under 16. Further, the abuse survivor contends that Greathouse “took advantage of her innocence.”

The survivor reported that her parents did not take Greathouse’s sexual abuse seriously, saying that when she told her mother about her first sexual encounter with Greathouse, her mother simply asked, “How was it?” Citing her Christian upbringing, she felt the obligation to “make it right” by marrying Greathouse after losing her virginity to him.

The abuse survivor reported that she and Greathouse had a sexual relationship for a year and a half, which eventually led to her pregnancy and subsequently their marriage. The survivor reports that Greathouse left his youth pastor job after her pregnancy became obvious to others.

Greathouse and the abuse survivor are now divorced. She recently told WTVY, “I should have never had to pay for a divorce at 16.” After the divorce, which was met with disapproval from her parents, she moved out of state to pursue an acting and musical career.

SBC’s NAMB Clarifies ‘Only Qualified Men’ Can Preach at Their Church Plants

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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October 19, 2021

The Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) North American Mission Board (NAMB) released a statement last Thursday, October 14, 2021, clarifying its stance on women in church leadership.

NAMB is the SBC’s domestic church-planting and revitalization organization. In 2020, NAMB planted over 550 new churches and reported 3,057 domestic missionaries under its care.

SBC’s Baptist Faith and Message

The SBC’s Baptist Faith and Message 2000 is a statement of “faith and message to set forth certain teachings which we believe” and details the SBC’s stance on women in church leadership.

Article VI of the statement says, “[The church’s] scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”

NAMB Issues Statement

In the statement released last Thursday, NAMB said that it serves the SBC churches and “seeks to fulfill its mission in fidelity to the statement of faith adopted by the Convention, The Baptist Faith and Message.” Therefore, NAMB is committed to “endorse” and “fund church planters” who align with that faith and message.

“We recognize there are differing views on how best to interpret and apply Article VI of The Baptist Faith and Message, which affirms the truth that ‘both men and women are gifted for service in the church’ and that ‘the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture,'” the statement says. “We will continue to partner with and assist any cooperating churches.”

Clarifying its position, NAMB explained, “We believe it best, however, to reserve endorsement and funding for planters who are willing to reflect the practice of most Southern Baptists in this issue.”

“The challenge of church planting is as tough as it has ever been. The divisiveness we see in the media every day, the lingering impacts of the global pandemic and an increasing secularized world are all reminders of why taking the Gospel to every city and town is so important.” – Kevin Ezell, NAMB PRESIDENT

Defining what “the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture” means, the statement said, “NAMB also requires that endorsed planters align with the practice of the majority of Southern Baptist churches—that only qualified men will hold the office or title of ‘pastor/elder/bishop/overseer’ and, as such, serve as the communicator for teaching and preaching in their main gatherings or worship services.”

NAMB president Kevin Ezell told Baptist Press last week, “We are always walking with planters through the challenges of their missionary work and clarifying our guidance as they seek to serve God as He has called them. NAMB reaffirmed again this week that we always have and always will only endorse biblically qualified men as pastors, fulfilling those responsibilities unique to that of a pastor.”

Daughter of Ravi Zacharias Leaves Her Father’s Ministry to Start Her Own

By

Stephanie Martin

-

October 19, 2021

Amid news that Sarah Davis has stepped down as CEO of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) to launch another apologetics ministry, observers and critics are speculating whether the new organization will simply be a reboot of RZIM.

Davis, 46, has filed incorporation papers in Georgia for Encounter Inc., a nonprofit ministry. Its purpose statement is similar to that of RZIM, the apologetics ministry that Davis’ late father, Ravi Zacharias, founded in Atlanta in 1986. After Zacharias died in May 2020, a report uncovered “significant, credible evidence” that he had engaged in sexual misconduct. One year later, via a video posted online, Davis acknowledged her father’s abuse and apologized for leadership missteps.

In March, RZIM announced it would rebrand as a grant-making organization. Reports have surfaced of internal division among the ministry’s board members (who are anonymous). One hot spot is a “culture review” by Guidepost Solutions, which has been completed but not yet made public.

Encounter’s Goal: Spur Gospel Invitations, Conversations

As Christianity Today reports, Encounter’s incorporation papers describe its mission as “carrying the Gospel invitation to individuals and engaging in their questions so that they may encounter the love of Christ and enter relationship with Him.” The ministry also will aim to encourage “thoughtful…Gospel conversations” and to train and disciple “messengers of Christ’s love for their spheres of influence.”

Encounter, according to CT, will share an office building with RZIM, will be staffed by some former RZIM employees, and may even receive funds (in the form of grants) from RZIM.

Sarah Davis, who worked at Pepperdine University and CNN before becoming CEO of RZIM in 2019, said in her May 2021 video that working at an apologetics ministry was “really the last thing I wanted to do.” She added, “In many ways, my life as the daughter of an evangelist hasn’t been what I would have hoped.”

In a statement emailed to ChurchLeaders, Davis said:

Encounter is a “holding” name for a new Christian evangelism and apologetics ministry we have formed with a talented team of speakers, writers, media specialists, and professional staff. We exist to give people an imaginative experience of Jesus Christ and to help answer deeply held questions, sharing the gospel through spoken, written, and digital word. We seek to thoughtfully engage people in gospel conversations and to train and disciple Christians to be messengers of Christ’s love in their spheres of influence.

We believe we can reach a hurting and searching world from our base in Atlanta, GA, and we look forward to sharing more information about our team, vision, and plans—and our name—in the months ahead. We look forward to answering further questions in the near future.

RZIM Critics: ‘If It Walks Like a Duck…’

In response to news about Sarah Davis’ Encounter, some former RZIM staffers question whether it’s actually a new ministry. Former RZIM public relations manager Ruth Malhotra, who says RZIM leadership “maligned” her for asking questions about the abuse scandal, tweeted on Monday: “I’m disappointed to read that Sarah Zacharias Davis is launching a ‘new’ ministry… [She] fostered a toxic org. culture” and “continually drove key aspects of RZIM’s destructive actions which enabled leaders to operate without accountability, silenced victims, maligned internal dissenters, & allowed ministry resources to be severely misused—all actions which significantly harmed many people.”

Missions in Haiti More Precarious After Kidnapping of Americans

By

Diana Chandler

-

October 19, 2021

Haiti Missionaries — A man and a child walk by burning tires on a street in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021. A group of 17 U.S. missionaries including children was kidnapped by a gang in Haiti on Saturday, Oct. 16, according to a voice message sent to various religious missions by an organization with direct knowledge of the incident. (AP Photo / Joseph Odelyn)

PORT-AU-PRINCE (BP) – Even the 2019 kidnapping and torture of two team members, the 2015 kidnapping and brutal beating of his wife Laurie and the 2018 murder of a base manager did not sway medical missionary David Vanderpool to close shop in Haiti.

But the escalating violence, including the weekend kidnapping of 17 Christian missionaries east of Port-au-Prince by a gang identified as the 400 Mawozo, threatens to end Vanderpool’s work there as the cofounder of LiveBeyond, a Gospel, medical and humanitarian group on the island since 2013.

“This episode is just the most recent in many, many, many hundreds of episodes that have been going on since the United Nations left in 2017. We’ve taken pretty stringent security precautions because we’ve been attacked ourselves many times,” Vanderpool said today (Oct. 18). “The problem is, this really represents an escalation. Kidnapping this many Americans at one time is a departure from what they’ve done in the past.”

Southern Baptist missionary Roland Norris, who partners with the Georgia Baptist Convention, keeps a small staff of Haitian ministry workers on the island, but hasn’t led stateside mission groups there since 2019 as a Look to the Nations missionary with his wife Mary.

While Norris is stateside, a small staff of seven Haitians in Haiti provides supplies to families displaced by the August earthquake, works with a group of nine pastors to minister at an orphanage, and leads Vacation Bible Schools and similar ministry outreaches.

“The whole time that we were there, I’d always told our staff … there may be one day that we may not be able to come back,” Norris said. “And I said but now you have been trained for the same mission that we’ve been doing together all this time. Through that, praise the Lord, we’ve been able to train disciples to continue carrying on what we were doing by bringing in short-term teams.”

Keny Felix, a Haitian American pastor who has helped mobilize Christians, humanitarian and government groups to minister to Haitian migrants in the U.S., said the escalating violence underscores the plight of Haitian migrants.

“Unfortunately, the abduction of our brothers and sisters definitely shows the great instability that exists in Haiti as we speak, and the complete disregard for human life, including religious workers who are in the country trying to aide those in need,” said Felix, senior pastor of Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church in Miami Gardens, Fla. “We’ve seen this over the past few weeks with the killing of a deacon in Port-au-Prince and the abduction of another minister a few Sundays ago. The situation in Haiti is quite dire.”

The 17 missionaries kidnapped included 16 U.S. nationals and a Canadian working for Christian Aid Ministries, among them five children, who were taken while visiting an orphanage. The Ohio-based group provides a worldwide ministry outreach for Amish, Mennonite, and other conservative Anabaptist groups, according to its website.

Conditions have deteriorated since the UN pulled peacekeeping forces out of Haiti in 2017, with violence escalating since the July murder of Haitian President Jovenel Moise and the August earthquake, both of which further shredded the economy.

Pope Francis Emphasizes Social Justice in a String of Tweets

By

Thomas Reese

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October 19, 2021

Pope Francis tweets — Pope Francis gives his blessing to a baby as he meets the faithful at the end of his weekly general audience in the Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

(RNS) — Over the weekend, Pope Francis issued a string of passionate tweets on social justice, a topic that has marked his papacy.

The normal papal output under Francis has generally been one to three Tweets a day. Some days have gone by with no Tweets.

This past weekend, he posted 17 Tweets, 13 on Saturday alone.

What is going on? Did the pope have too many espressos?

When the papal Twitter account (@Pontifex) was inaugurated by Pope Benedict in 2012, it was an innovation seen as the Vatican’s attempt to keep up with the times.

Today, with almost 19 million followers, it has become a normal channel for the Vatican to get out the pope’s message. Tweets are done by the Vatican communications office, which pulls text from papal prayers, sermons, audiences and speeches. Sometimes videos are embedded in the Tweets.

This weekend’s posts were vintage Francis — they would not surprise anyone who has been paying attention to his message. What was unusual was that 11 of the Tweets on Saturday were a unit.

The pope began by writing, “We must adapt our socio-economic models so they have a human face, because many models have lost it.”

He continued with 10 requests: “Thinking about these situations, in God’s name I want to ask:

“The big laboratories to liberalise patents and to carry out a gesture of humanity and allow every human being access to the vaccine.
“Financial groups and international credit institutions to guarantee poor countries the basic needs of their people and to waive those debts so often contracted against the interests of those same peoples.

Calvin University to Add School of Health With $15 Million Gift

By

Yonat Shimron

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October 19, 2021

(RNS) — Calvin University, the prominent Christian school in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has received a $15 million gift to establish a school of health.

The anonymous alumni donor gift, the second largest in the school’s history, will enable Calvin to fund new faculty positions and develop state-of-the-art laboratories. The gift comes amid the sustained public health crisis brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Everywhere we see growing demand for quality health sciences education,” said Michael Le Roy, president of Calvin University, in a press release. “We are deeply grateful for the vision that prompts this outstanding gift. Not only will it allow us to significantly expand our programs, but it will also create additional pathways for students who feel called to serve in one of the health professions.”

The university said in its press release that it would repurpose the West Michigan Regional Lab to support a new cadaver lab for teaching human anatomy.

Calvin is affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church, a small denomination with headquarters in Grand Rapids. It is named after John Calvin, the 16th-century Protestant reformer.

The 145-year-old school already offers a nursing degree as well as degrees in public health, health and physical education, exercise science, kinesiology and health communications, among others. Its graduate offerings include degrees in exercise science, public health and speech pathology.

A steering committee has been created for the new school. It will bring recommendations for new degree offerings, as well as opportunities for students who are not seeking a degree. By fall 2022, the university will have launched three new master’s programs in health-related fields. It is also searching for a new dean for the school of health.

Calvin rebranded to become a university in 2019; it has 10 graduate programs. It enrolls about 3,300 students and is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.

The announcement comes at a time of transition for the university, which is currently facilitating a search for its 11th president. President Michael Le Roy, who has served as the university’s president since 2012, announced in June that he would be departing at the conclusion of the 2022 academic year.

Kathryn Post contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared here.

Digital Ministry: The Shift from Gathering to Connecting

By

James Emery White

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October 19, 2021

It used to be that whatever churches did digitally was designed to serve the physical, meaning in-person, physical events and activities. The digital ministry was used to market, give information about, or offer registration for the physical.

But going forward, the church will need to turn that upside down and have the physical serve the digital. As my friend Carey Nieuwhof has written, churches will need to become digital organizations with physical locations. In other words, churches will be digital organizations with physical expressions, not physical organizations with a digital presence.

Think about companies like Sears, JCPenney or Toys “R” Us. They were the older, more traditional models that placed an emphasis on big, physical footprints and in-person shopping. All three had to recently file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Why?

They were physical retailers that slowly adopted an online presence, behaving as if most people still wanted an in-person experience. But people didn’t. They wanted to shop on Amazon. And Amazon read this perfectly. They started out online and then, only after that was established, did they start developing physical stores—but those are designed to enhance and serve the digital footprint.

The Church will need to see its online presence and online community as its primary medium for growth, development, discipleship, worship, ministry, community… everything. Not to solely become an online entity (there is an extremely strategic and important role for a physical campus), but to make the shift to the physical serving the digital.

Right now, Meck’s growth is meteoric. We’ve never seen anything like it:

January – May 2021 was +45% to January – May 2020

June – August 2021 was +69% to June – August 2020

When you are running at an average size of 100 and increase to 150, you see those kinds of percentages. But when you are running in the thousands, you don’t. We did. But where was the growth? It wasn’t in person.

It was online.

What John 3:16 Says About a Wonderful World Worth Saving

By

Brandon Cox

-

October 19, 2021

At our wedding, we played Louis Armstrong’s famous song, What a Wonderful World.

That song would later become pretty problematic for me because of some poorly formed theology, some of which you may be familiar with.

The world is bad and evil, as are all the people living in it.
The world is temporary and disposable and will burn up someday.
The world is the plan God scrapped when he created heaven.
Don’t get too attached to this world. Focus on the next one.

So while I’ve always had an affection for certain things about the world in which I live, I’ve also reminded myself repeatedly of these more cynical ideas concerning the world as a whole.

And then there is perhaps the most famous verse in the New Testament, John 3:16, which says,

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. (NRSV)

I’ve preached probably a dozen sermons on this verse over two and a half decades of ministry, and as I read it more closely, I realize that I’ve read far more into the text than the writer ever intended.

In fact, tradition, intertwined with sentimentalism, has caused most modern Christians to misunderstand the verse and its context.

What John 3:16 DOESN’T Really Say

First, We’ve said, “For God SO loved the world…” means that he loved the world very, very much. He loved it SOOOO much.

But a better translation is, “For this is how God loved the world…,” or “For God loved the world in this way….”

Second, We assume “He GAVE his only begotten Son…” to be a reference to the cross – the sacrificial death of Jesus. But the text simply tells us that God gave his Son to the world – the person and work of Christ – not necessarily in reference to his death at all.

Perhaps we’ve taken John’s reference to the exodus story of the serpent lifted up on the pole as a symbol for the cross, but when John quotes Jesus as saying, “so must the Son of man be lifted up,” he could just as well be referencing Jesus’ exaltation and public recognition as King and Redeemer.

Third, We assume that to “perish” means to spend eternity being consciously tormented in hell and “everlasting life” means to go to a blissful heaven. But again, the text doesn’t refer to heaven or to hell. It’s about life and death.

When the predecessor is insecure or unhealthy.

When the successor is insecure or unhealthy.

When the successor and predecessor are philosophically opposed.

When the context is going to require decisive, turn-around leadership.

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