ELCA Synod Elects Rev. Megan Rohrer as First Trans Bishop

May 13, 2021

Reactions continue pouring in after the May 8 election of the first openly transgender bishop in a major American Christian denomination. In an online vote, the Rev. Megan Rohrer, 41, became bishop-elect of the Sierra Pacific Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Following a September installation, Rohrer will serve a six-year term overseeing 180 congregations in portions of California and Nevada.

Rohrer, who became the ELCA’s first transgender pastor in 2014, serves at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in San Francisco and is community chaplain coordinator for the city’s police department. In 2012, San Francisco’s board of supervisors declared August 12 “Pastor Megan Rohrer Day,” citing Rohrer’s advocacy for homeless people and LGBTQ youth.

What Rev. Megan Rohrer’s Supporters Say

“When we say all are welcome, we mean all are welcome,” said the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, ELCA presiding bishop, after Saturday’s vote. “We believe that the Spirit has given each of us gifts in order to build up the body of Christ.”

Ellen Armour, a professor at Vanderbilt Divinity School, says the move is “groundbreaking” and marks a “new day.” It’s a signal, she adds, that the church won’t just crack open the door but will actively celebrate “the gifts that trans people, LGBTQ people, bring.”

Rohrer, who was once kicked out of a church youth group for being queer, credits college and seminary professors with “affirming that God was with me and for me, and affirming that I had gifts that could make a difference in this world, even if not everyone was able to imagine it yet.” Rohrer, who uses they/them pronouns, says, “I am delighted that my election points to the unending love God has for Their fabulously diverse creation.”

On May 12, Rohrer tweeted, “I promised to focus on evangelism. What a gift to be able to share my faith and stories about Jesus with nearly [every] major media outlet over these past 4 days.”

Al Mohler: “What We See Here Is a New Religion”

Leaders in more conservative denominations, meanwhile, warn about what they call the dangers of theological liberalism. The Rev. Albert Mohler, a Southern Baptist theologian who recently decried the “open apostasy” occurring within the United Methodist Church, says Megan Rohrer’s election constitutes “fundamentally redefining Christianity beyond the bounds of…any theological sanity.”

In his Briefing podcast Monday, Mohler said, “What we see here is a new religion. This is not a new step for Lutheranism. This isn’t even Lutheranism as Martin Luther might recognize it…This is a new religion that maintains the name Lutheran.”

Historic Lutheranism dates back to the 16^th century, Mohler notes, yet the ELCA formed in 1988, and its precursor denominations began ordaining women just 51 years ago. The relatively swift developments leading to Rohrer’s election, he says, confirm that the ELCA “is not by any kind of theological definition evangelical.”

Mohler says, “You’re not looking at anything Martin Luther, the great reformer, would recognize, because it was Luther who said that his conscience was bound not by a moral revolution which he could not even have imagined, rather his conscience is bound by Scripture.”

For further reading on this topic, see the follow articles:

Juli Slattery: This Is How the Church Can Begin the LGBTQ Conversation

Mark Yarhouse: How to Pastor Someone Who Has Gender Dysphoria

Religion Plays a Role in the Renewed Conflict in Israel, But It May Not Be What You Think

Yonat Shimron

May 13, 2021

(RNS) — Violence between Gaza and Israel intensified this week to levels not seen for years, with Hamas shooting hundreds of rockets toward the Tel Aviv metropolitan area and Israel retaliating with heavy strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

The buildup to the current conflagration — some are already calling it a new “intifada” or “uprising” — began several weeks ago in a Jerusalem neighborhood near the Old City, close to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites for more than 1,200 years.

While Muslims pray at Al-Aqsa year-round, the mosque attracts even more worshippers during Ramadan. Wednesday (May 12) marked the end of Ramadan and the start of Eid al-Fitr, a joyous time for millions of Muslims concluding a monthlong fast.

There’s no doubt that the most extreme Jewish nationalists would like Israel to recapture the Al-Aqsa Mosque because they say it sits on top of the ruins of the ancient Jewish Temple, the only remainder of which is the Western Wall.

But except for the setting of the conflict, faith is only tangentially related to the violence. Here’s a quick explainer on the conflict of the past few days, and what, if any, role religion plays.

Why did Israeli police raid the Al-Aqsa Mosque to begin with?

The Israeli government said the police responded after the Palestinians started throwing stones at them. Palestinians say the fighting really began when police entered the mosque compound on Monday and started firing rubber-tipped bullets and stun grenades. More than 330 Palestinians were wounded. Israel said 21 of its officers were, too.

But the underlying tensions may have more to do with a set of clashes in the larger east Jerusalem area, which was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and is home to about 350,000 Palestinians.

For weeks prior to the mosque violence, Palestinians had been protesting the threatened eviction of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem. At night they would clash with police and far-right Jewish settlers.

Those clashes are in turn part of a long legal battle over who owns the property. Some Palestinians were relocated to Sheikh Jarrah by the Jordanian government in the 1950s after fleeing their homes during Israel’s War of Independence in 1948.

On Monday, the Israeli Supreme Court was set to decide whether to uphold the eviction of six families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in favor of Jewish settlers. The court has since postponed the ruling.

So this is a land dispute?

On a large scale, yes. In Sheikh Jarrah, in particular, the dispute originates in the 19th century, when Jews living abroad began returning to what is now Israel and buying properties from Palestinians who lived there. The Jordanians took over the land between 1948 and 1967. Israelis are now claiming it’s theirs again.

The dispute in Sheikh Jarrah takes on political overtones because the neighborhood is part of east Jerusalem, which Palestinians want name as the capital of a future Palestinian state encompassing the West Bank and Gaza. Many Israelis, regardless of their views about a Palestinian state, believe Jerusalem must remain “a Jewish capital for the Jewish people,” and under Israeli control.

What’s Hamas got to do with it?

The clashes between Israel and Palestinians in Jerusalem have united Palestinians far and wide, as have the larger disputes over their displacement and disenfranchisement by Israel. Hamas, the Islamist militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, located about 60 miles south of Jerusalem, sees itself as a defender of Palestinians.

Hamas is at root an Islamic organization born from members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and so it also cares deeply about the Al-Asqa Mosque, which Muslims call the Noble Sanctuary.

On Wednesday, Israel assassinated several Hamas commanders in retaliation for the barrage of rockets on Tel Aviv, Ashkelon and Israel’s main international airport in the city of Lod.

What role does Judaism or Islam play in this?

At heart, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a dispute over land. But religion is often the proxy for those disputes, pitting two different ethnicities and religions. Little wonder those tensions tend to flare around religious holidays, both Jewish and Muslim.

But Hamas’ main goal is not war with Judaism, but rather with Israel, which is occupying land it believes is inherently Palestinian.

As Hamas has become more emboldened over the years, so too, have Jewish nationalists. On Monday, which was Jerusalem Day, a national holiday celebrating the unification of Jerusalem, Jewish nationalists marched through the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Muslim Quarter, in a display that provoked and angered many Palestinians. Last month, nationalist Jews marched through Jerusalem chanting, “Death to Arabs.”

As often happens, the exclusive claims to parts of the holy city often turn deadly.

This article first appeared here.

Christians Kidnapped and Terrorized in Kaduna State, Nigeria

Morning Star News

May 13, 2021

JOS, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Fulani herdsmen in north-central Nigeria kidnapped a pastor’s wife from her home and two nurses from a hospital, while other Islamic extremists may have joined herdsmen in abducting more than 70 people from one village, sources said.

Fulaki Ozigi was kidnapped along with her husband, Mercy Place Ministry Church pastor Ozigi Hassan, and their four children from their home in Kudenda, in Kaduna state’s Chikun County, in the early hours of April 30, police said. Police pursuing the herdsmen into the forest were able to recover the pastor and the children, but the kidnappers escaped with Fulaki Ozigi, police spokesman Mohammed Jalige said.

At a public hospital in Idon, Kajuru County in southern Kaduna state, heavily armed Fulani herdsmen kidnapped two Christian nurses from a public hospital on the night of April 21, leaders of the Fellowship of Christian Nurses said. Cafra Caino, chairman of the Kajuru Local Government Council, identified the two women as Afiniki Bako and Grace Nkut.

A statement from the Fellowship of Christian nurses said they were “were very committed to sharing and living the gospel in their workplace.”

A nurse who escaped the attack, Rifkatu Alfred, said the herdsmen forced their way into the hospital shooting sporadically.

Area resident Donatus Ayuba and Shingyu Shamnom, medical director of the hospital, concurred in separate messages to Morning Star News that the kidnappers were armed Fulani herdsmen.“When they left, they called to say they were the kidnappers who abducted the two nurses, and if they are not given money, they will kill them,” Alfred told Morning Star News by phone, adding that they initially demanded 500 million naira (US$1.3 million) as ransom but later reduced it to 200 million naira (US$522,876).

Ishaku Yakubu, chairman of the National Association of Nurses and Midwives of Nigeria, Kaduna State Chapter, said the two nurses were serving the rural poor.

“We’re not safe, and health facilities in the state are no longer secured,” Yakubu said. “Beside the kidnapping of these two, five others were kidnapped before.”

Under Siege

In Libera Gida village, Kajuru County, militants from the Islamic extremist Boko Haram are suspected alongside herdsmen of kidnapping 72 residents on April 22, sources said.

Villagers counted 72 people missing after the late-night attack, 56 females and 16 males, according to a statement from Luka Binniyat, spokesman of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU). The kidnappers called their families on April 29 saying they had 77 Christians in captivity – with the additional five possibly coming from other raids – and that they would be killed if 350 million naira (US$915,033) were not paid, Binniyat said.

The Kaduna state government failed to make any mention of the mass abduction in its regular updates on security in the state, he said.

“Meanwhile, after unceasing siege on Christian farming communities in Kajuru LGA, more Christian communities have fallen under the control of these armed men, which we now suspect to be a coalition of armed herdsmen and Boko Haram,” Binniyat said.

The number of communities captured by armed herdsmen in Kajuru County is now 31, and throughout southern Kaduna state they have taken no fewer than 100 communities, he said.

The Rev. Solomon Tafida, senior pastor of Salvation Baptist Church, Kaduna, estimated there are 4,000 Christians held captive in Kaduna state by either herdsmen or Boko Haram.

“Most of the Christian victims who escaped from the camps of the herdsmen say there are over 4,000 Christians being held in captive camps in forests along the Kaduna-Abuja highway, near Rijana village,” he said.

The Kaduna state government’s quarterly security report stated that a total of 323 persons were killed and 949 others kidnapped by bandits in three months across the state.

“Deaths linked to banditry, violent attacks, communal clashes and reprisals in the first quarter total 323 across the state,” said Samuel Aruwan, commissioner for internal security and home affairs, who released the report on April 30. “Of these, 20 were women and 11 were minors.”

Nigeria led the world in number of kidnapped Christians last year with 990, according to Open Doors’ 2021 World Watch List report. In the 2021 list of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria broke into the top 10 for the first time, jumping to No. 9 from No. 12 the previous year.

In overall violence, Nigeria was second only to Pakistan, and it trailed only China in the number of churches attacked or closed, 270, according to the list. Nigeria was the country with the most Christians killed for their faith last year (November 2019-October 2020), at 3,530, up from 1,350 in 2019, according to the report.

Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a recent report.

“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP [Islamic State West Africa Province] and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.

Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.

The APPG report noted that tribal loyalties cannot be overlooked.

“In 2015, Muhammadu Buhari, a Fulani, was elected president of Nigeria,” the group reported. “He has done virtually nothing to address the behavior of his fellow tribesmen in the Middle Belt and in the south of the country.”

The U.S. State Department on Dec. 7 added Nigeria to its list of Countries of Particular Concern for engaging in or tolerating “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.” Nigeria joined Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan on the list.

In a more recent category of non-state actors, the State Department also designated ISWAP, Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Houthis, ISIS, ISIS-Greater Sahara, Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, and the Taliban as “Entities of Particular Concern.”

On Dec. 10 the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, issued a statement calling for investigation into crimes against humanity in Nigeria.

This article originally appeared on MorningStarNews.org. If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit MorningStarNews.org for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.

Liz Cheney Leads GOP Colleagues in Prayer Before Being Ousted From Party Leadership

Jack Jenkins

May 13, 2021

WASHINGTON (RNS) — On the eve of her removal from the House Republican leadership for failing to back President Donald Trump’s attacks on the 2020 election, U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney cited principles she insisted were foundational for many conservatives such as herself: the U.S. Constitution, the rule of law and faith.

In a defiant speech to the empty House chamber Tuesday night (May 11), the Wyoming lawmaker cited Pope John Paul II and appealed to “faith and freedom.”

But come Wednesday morning, Cheney was voted out by her House GOP colleagues, who have bristled over her vote to impeach Trump for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and her public rejection of claims that the election was stolen. Before the proceedings began in the Republicans’ meeting room in the Capitol basement, Cheney reportedly championed the importance of being a “party based on truth” and implored her fellow Republicans not to “let the former president drag us backward and make us complicit in his efforts to unravel our democracy.”

Before the vote was taken to oust her as House Republican conference chair, Cheney, a United Methodist, led the group in prayer.

“Dear God, Fill us with a love of freedom and a reverence for all your gifts,” she said, according to CNN. “Help us to understand the gravity of this moment. Help us to remember that democratic systems can fray and suddenly unravel. When they do, they are gone forever.”

She added: “Help us to speak the truth and remember the words of John 8:32 — ‘Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.’ May our world see the power of faith.”

Shortly after the vote, Cheney told reporters she remains committed to a Republican Party “based on truth.”

In her speech Tuesday evening, Cheney recounted a moment in 2004 when she said Pope John Paul II took the hand of her father, then-Vice President Dick Cheney, and declared “God bless America.”

The congresswoman’s appeals to faith included references to what is sometimes referred to as civil religion — mentions of God in public political gatherings such as inauguration ceremonies.

“Our freedom only survives if we protect it — if we honor our oath, taken before God, in this chamber, to support and defend the Constitution,” she said. “Today we face a threat America has never seen before: A former president who provoked a violent attack on this Capitol in an effort to steal an election has resumed his aggressive effort to convince Americans that the election was stolen from him. He risks inciting further violence.”

Her references to the Gospel of John seemed to ask fellow legislators to recall the principles of their own faiths, a charge echoed by Cheney’s defenders who challenged her detractors to back up their publicly touted personal Christianity with a commitment to truth.

In a C-SPAN interview earlier this week, Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois questioned whether Christians in his party who are chastising Cheney — particularly those who are not condemning Trump’s discredited claims about the election — were living up to their religious ideals.

“It’s amazing how many of my colleagues claim to likewise be Christians, but somehow are OK with … accepting and supporting these lies,” said Kinzinger, an evangelical Christian who also voted to impeach Trump earlier this year. “When I went to Sunday school, it was always about telling the truth. I read nothing in the words of New Testament … that you can lie so long as it’s … against abortion or against the left.”

He added: “What (Liz Cheney) is being removed for is making it uncomfortable and being consistent — and God bless her for having the consistency to tell the truth.”

This article originally appeared here.

Celebrate Your Graduates: 15 Sermon and Worship Resources for Graduation

Daniel So

May 13, 2021

Send off your graduates with godly wisdom that will help anyone who is entering a new chapter of their lives.

Graduation Sermons

1. Fight for Your Dream, by Mark Batterson

You have gifts and abilities that you aren’t even aware of, but they are often buried beneath perceived weaknesses. In those disadvantages, dreams are playing hide-and-seek.

2. Winning With People: Offer Your Very Best, by John Maxwell

Epaphroditus would be considered one of the “nobodies” in scripture. He never wrote a book in the Bible, nor is he mentioned anywhere else. He never had a statue erected in his honor or became famous for his accomplishments. However, Paul called Epaphroditus a hero.

3. I Quit Making Excuses, by Herbert Cooper

One thing that I’m convinced of, is that I haven’t arrived yet. I haven’t accomplished all that God has for me; And you haven’t either. The fact that we’re still alive means God has more for us.

4. Discover How to Build Your Life

Instructions from Jesus on how to build your life – used on Sunday we honored our graduates.

5. Beware of Taking Shortcuts

Today we are going to recognize those who have been promoted and those who have graduated and reached a new milestone in their lives. This sermon encourages us to avoid taking shortcuts to get things at the expense of our spiritual lives.

6. Graduation: Don’t Sell Your Birthright

This is a graduations service. Let me ask you a question: Do you treasure your relationship with Christ above all other relationships? Is Jesus more important to you than anything else?

7. A Step to Move Forward

Moving forward involves stepping. We are all familiar in the saying “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”, and I know we all agree with that. Graduating seniors, I’m happy to share to you one of the greatest stories in the Bible that we all can learn from.

8. A Message to the Graduates

A short message for the graduates to remember as they end one season of their lives and begin another.

9. Graduation

A graduation message about remembering, building, and perfecting.

Media for Graduation

10. PowerPoint Package: Congratulations Graduates

Graduation is a major milestone in life. Use this media to show your support for the accomplishments of the students in your youth ministry and to encourage them in their next steps.

11. Video: Graduation Recognition

A video celebrating graduates.

12. PowerPoint Package: A Successful Graduate

Congratulate the graduates in your congregation and instruct them in the way they should go using these celebratory images.

13. PowerPoint Package: Graduation Celebration

Use this media to celebrate the graduates in your community as they complete a major milestone in life and launch into a new season. A font file is included for simplified customization.

14. Video: Dear God (A Graduation Prayer)

They grew up too fast, didn’t they? After years of following in our footsteps, our prayer today is that they would follow in God’s. Yesterday they were just a child, but today they graduate. As they step out into the world, we pray for God to light their path and guard their hearts. Today, we are grateful for the privilege of raising God’s creation!

15. Video: Beacons of Christ (Graduation)

No matter how old you are, God can use you. Based on 1 Timothy 4:12, this mini-movie challenges the youth in your congregation to set an example for all believers in what they say and in the way they live. Perfect for Graduation Sunday!

J.D. Greear Responds to the ‘Intense Conversation’ About Saddleback’s Ordination of Women

Jessica Lea

May 12, 2021

Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) president and The Summit Church pastor J.D. Greear has called Saddleback Church’s support for the ordination of women “disappointing.” On his blog, Greear explained why and shared a paper detailing his own church’s position on the topic.

“The Summit Church is unashamedly and uncompromisingly complementarian,” said J.D. Greear in a post on his blog. “What’s more, we consider the complementarian position not merely a box to be checked, but rather a biblical truth to be celebrated.”

“While I have long respected Saddleback’s ministry impact and heart for getting the gospel to the nations,” said Greear, “I disagree with their decision to take this step, and would even say I find it disappointing.”

J.D. Greear on the Ordination of Women

Last Thursday, Saddleback Church celebrated the ordination of three female pastors, the first time in its history the church has ordained women. As of this writing, senior pastor Rick Warren has not offered a statement on the decision. However, Cynthia Petty, one of the women who was ordained, has shared that when Warren offered her the position in November 2020, he told her “the elders had been discussing for many months the possibility to ordain women as pastors at Saddleback Church.”

Saddleback is part of the SBC, which is resolutely complementarian. “Complementarian” refers to the view that, according to the Bible, men and women are equal in value, but different in their roles and that God intends men to be the primary leaders in the home and the church. There are “harder” an “softer” takes on what it means to be complementarian, but it typically means at the least that only men can be senior pastors and that husbands have final authority in the home.

Complementarianism has come under fire recently for ways in which it has been used to harm or limit women. For example, Beth Moore (who recently left the SBC) has apologized for her part in holding the doctrine of complementarianism too highly. She has not, however, rejected it entirely. “I have not lost my mind. Nor my doctrine,” she said. “Just my naivety.”

Saddleback’s support for the ordination of women has caused extensive debate across social media. “Given the intense conversation over the past few days,” said Greear, “I thought it would be helpful to share how The Summit Church approaches and applies this issue.” He linked to The Summit Church’s position paper on the role of women in ministry. The paper offers an explanation of the biblical basis for complementarianism and goes into detail regarding how The Summit Church applies the doctrine. While the church does not support the ordination of women, it has a fairly moderate take on complementarianism compared to some other ministries.

The Summit Church reserves the roles of “pastor” and “elder” for men, but allows women to hold the following positions:

-Minister
-Manager
-Leader
-Executive
-Deacon (or “Servant Leader”)
-Director
-Coordinator
-Assistant

Something interesting about this list is that many complementarian churches would likely not allow a woman to hold the title “minister,” which is often used as a synonym for “pastor.” One Twitter user took issue with Greear on this exact point. Even the title of “deacon” would be too much for some complementarian churches.

There are churches that take complementarian theology to mean that women should not hold any role of leadership over men in any church context or even ministry context. And some Christians take the doctrine so far as to discourage women from having authority over men at all, even outside of the church. Because of the differences in how people define some of these terms, one question that seems relevant—but is as yet unaddressed—is exactly what the roles of Saddleback’s newly ordained women entail.

Greear concluded his post:

May God multiply the number of women serving and leading in our churches! We need godly, strong women to step up and use the gifts God has given them. We need these women in the home, speaking courage into their family’s lives. We need them in ministry, calling us to give and pray and go and sacrifice. We need them in society, leading with wisdom, courage, and faith. And may we stay faithful to stand on the bedrock of God’s Word—whether the issue is the role of pastor or any other issue.

Urgent Prayer: Four Christians Beheaded in Indonesian Terrorist Attack

Lindy Lowry

May 12, 2021

Christians beheaded — Photo Credit: Open Doors USA

At around 7:30 on the morning of May 11, in Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi province, a normal day turned into a nightmare as terror struck Indonesian Christians once again. Our partners in Indonesia tell us that four believers were beheaded by Islamic extremists—in the same region where four believers were beheaded and burned alive in November 2020.

The four murdered men were part of Kalimago village; they were killed by attackers believed to be the same terrorist group that attacked Sigi village six months ago. The victims were between the ages of 42 and 61.

Open Doors local partner Ari Hartono* says the attack comes as a shock to believers in Central Sulawesi who are still reeling from the November attacks: “Central Sulawesi locals are still traumatized from the terrorist attack in Sigi last November and have not recovered yet,” he says. “They need our prayers now.”

While the terrorist group, believed to be East Indonesia Mujahdin, was the first Indonesian group to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State group in 2014 and the victims were believers, it’s uncertain if the attack was religiously motivated. It could be an act of survival, Ari explained.

“After the Sigi incident, the terrorists in Central Sulawesi have been increasingly pressed by the police and the army. Their logistics are exhausted. The only way to survive is to rob people of foodstuffs. In this area, there are many farmers who live in the forest far from the village, and they were the ones targeted by the terrorists.”

This latest attack is the third one on Indonesia Christians in the last six months, including the November 2020 Sigi village attack and the recent Palm Sunday bomb attack on a church in Makassar. Indonesia is No. 47 on Open Doors’ 2021 World Watch List.

When Open Doors first heard about the violent attacks on four believers in Sigi Village last November, our partners rushed to the area and spent days attending funeral services for the men, praying with villagers, meeting with them and verbally expressing our continued support that would soon come in aid and relief.

Since the attack, our partners have walked with these villagers. Most recently, our team led trauma counseling, persecution awareness seminars, a training for Sunday school teachers and devoted specific time with traumatized children who witnessed the murders of these men. For a believer named Kandi, that attention was invaluable for her two young boys who witnessed the killing of both their father and grandfather.

“The lessons I learned have opened up my paradigm about the real situation believers face who defend their faith in Christ,” said Jenati, a participant in the trainings. “This moves me to carry out God’s call faithfully.”

‘Pray for the Peace of God’

Open Doors local partners are now trying to reach out to the churches and victims of the families in Kalimago village. Our partners have walked with traumatized believers in Sigi village since the day of the attack. In the meantime, Brother Ari asks for our prayers for the Central Sulawesi area and shares his:

Pray for church leaders in the village, pray for the victims’ families and also pray for the police and army, that they can protect all people in that village. Pray for Madago Raya Task Force as they are hunting this terrorist group. Pray for protection over God’s people in Poso and Central Sulawesi. As long as these terrorists are not caught yet, the threat is lingering. People are afraid to go to their field, therefore they cannot work and produce crops. This will affect their economic [situation]. Pray for His angels to encamp surround His people and deliver them from any evil scheme.

Pray also that we can connect with the families of the victims. Pray for the peace of God to cover this area. Fear and intimidation are trying to take over people’s hearts, but God’s power is more powerful. May the heart of His people be reminded of that truth.

This is a developing story. We will post updates as soon as they are available.

This article originally appeared here.

Despite Legalization, Most Pastors Call Marijuana Use Morally Wrong

Stephanie Martin

May 12, 2021

Although almost one-third of American states have fully legalized adult marijuana use, 78% of Protestant pastors say smoking pot to get high is morally wrong. That key takeaway from a new Lifeway Research study could have implications for how pastors view and minister to their churchgoers, say experts.

After last fall’s elections, 15 states now allow both medicinal and recreational marijuana, and 36 states allow medicinal use. But only 18% of Protestant pastors surveyed by Lifeway say pot should be legal nationwide.

“There are about as many opinions on marijuana as there are ways to consume it,” says Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “When asked about legalizing all such uses, the majority of pastors are strongly opposed.”

Opinions Vary by Denomination & Region

According to the survey, 76% of all participating pastors disagree that marijuana use should be legalized throughout the United States. Of those, 59% “disagree strongly.” When categorized by denomination, 10% of evangelical pastors and 43% of mainline pastors favor nationwide legalization.

Regionally, pastoral support for marijuana legalization is greater in the Northeast (24%) than in the South (16%). Last November, Mississippi became the first Southern state to legalize medical marijuana.

Regarding the morality of smoking marijuana to get high, 89% of evangelical pastors and 47% of mainline pastors say it’s immoral. “Cultural stigmas around smoking a joint have diminished,” says McConnell, “but most pastors still say it crosses a moral line. While some may connect this prohibition to state laws that still forbid this use, it is clear from their views on legalization that pastors see moral problems with getting high beyond simply disobeying government authorities.”

Interestingly, in a previous survey, more pastors condemned the immorality of getting drunk. Of the Protestant pastors who responded to a 2007 Lifeway study, 91% said drinking to the point of inebriation is morally wrong.

Regarding distinctions between marijuana and alcohol, McConnell notes that the former isn’t mentioned in Scripture, but “getting drunk to the point of triggering hallucinations is.” As a result, he says, “There is consistent rebuke throughout Scripture for using alcohol to the point of losing control of your words and actions that pastors reflect in their reactions to marijuana today.”

Todd Miles: “Be Ready to Minister”

In his upcoming book Cannabis and the Christian, theology professor Todd Miles warns pastors that they need to be ready to operate in America’s new pro-marijuana culture. “All indications are that public desire for legalization of marijuana is growing rapidly,” he says, so “the church must be ready to minister in that context.”

Lifeway’s finding that just 18% of pastors support marijuana legalization shows that “the influence of the clergy in America is not as strong as it once was,” Miles says. He reports encountering many “pastors who do not think the issue of marijuana use is relevant to the people of their congregation,” but he expects that to change. “If recreational and medical marijuana are not currently legal in your home state,” he tells church leaders, “they soon will be.”

As a result, Miles adds, “Relying on the laws as the basis for your convictions on the wisdom of marijuana use is increasingly becoming less and less of an option.”

Five Takeaways From Pew’s Massive Study of American Jews

Religion News Service

May 12, 2021

Jews — Members of the Orthodox Jewish community walk past shipping containers on Tuesday, March 30, 2021, in the South Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

(RNS) — Who doesn’t love a good demographic study?

Okay, actually most people could probably take them or leave them. But for members of the Jewish community and those who study them — groups that are obsessed with such studies — Pew Research Center’s just-released study, “Jewish Americans in 2020,” will be see thousands of hours spent analyzing it and debating what it means.

Given our culture’s current infatuation with data and statistics, where words like “analytics” and “metrics” have become synonymous with “impact” and “success,” the demographic fascination with Jews is not surprising, but it is ironic given the millennia-long Jewish tradition of not counting Jews, as laid out, among other places, in the Book of Hosea: “And the number of children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which shall neither be measured nor counted.”

More troubling is the gap between counting Jews and making Jews count. Data is never the whole story, nor what we do with survey numbers: What do they tell us that we didn’t know before? What’s worth acting on? More than what it says about who we are, what do we want to be?

How do we honor both demography and biography? How do we navigate between the fixed categories demographers necessarily impose on people’s lives and the softer boundaries and complex meanings that define most of those very same people’s lives.

Here are five takeaways from the Pew report:

Judaism vs. Jewish Culture

The Pew study repeatedly distinguishes between “Judaism” — religious acts — and “Jewish culture” — the many things Jews do that have Jewish meaning and significance but don’t include synagogue, liturgy, or God.

This is a potentially misleading dichotomy. When a self-identified religious Jew says a blessing but has no experience of God or even a conscious sense of obligation, is that religion or culture? When a self-identified cultural Jew participates in a ritual-filled Passover Seder, purposefully and with deep connection to time and space beyond themselves, is that culture or religion?

The very distinction made between culture and religion assumes that there is a Jewish religion that is distinct from Jewish culture and implies that that culture does not accomplish many of the very things that religion accomplishes.

Polarization

Liberal and progressive Jews often decry the fact that Orthodox Jews do not see them as Jewish. The study indeed found that 49% of Orthodox Jews reported feeling little or nothing in common with Reform Jews.

That’s only half the story (maybe less than half). Sixty percent of Reform Jews, a significantly larger group than those identifying as Orthodox, reported feeling little or nothing in common with Orthodox Jews.

But it’s more than possible that this supposed split is based neither in denominational affiliation, theology nor practice but reflects the general siloing of communities that has infected American culture in general, where people find it increasingly difficult to feel common connection to others. The question is not whether we have each other’s approval but whether we can have mutual empathy.

Politics is the new religion

What’s more important: that your grandchildren share your political convictions or that they marry someone of your faith? In the Pew study, more Jews picked option No. 1.

What’s most disturbing in this finding is that it indicates that politics has become the thing that stirs our passions, as religion used to. Our loves and our divides are based not on where we pray but on how we vote. That Jews feel this way, too, only means we are part of America in every sense of the word.

It appears we have learned little from past religious fights — about “what God wanted,” or whether we could remain connected to children and grandchildren who came to different conclusions about religion. Now we have relocated to new battlegrounds, where we fight over what we now consider to be of ultimate importance.

Such ultimacy was rarely as true as people imagined when it came to religion, and it is as rarely true when it comes to politics. We have the same worries about the future, but now we worry about how they will vote, again imagining that we are not successful unless they do it as we do.

Jewish is a growth “industry” in the US

The “net” Jewish adult population is actually growing faster, if only slightly, than the overall population of the country. In 2013, Pew estimated that 5.3 million Jews lived in the U.S. — about 2.2% of the population. We are now estimated at 5.8 million people, or 2.4% of the whole.

Those numbers will do little to assuage the nagging fears about the health and durability of Jews and Judaism in America. Surely, a story of loss can be discerned in this study — loss of many of the ideas, affiliations and practices that some of us hold sacred and dear — that deserves our attention. But we shouldn’t do so at the cost of ignoring that the number of Jews, and Jewish identity itself, are both in growth mode.

It can be hard, especially after so many years of the “no’s” of hatred, deprivation and even murder, to take yes for an answer. It’s also hard when some of the most deadly attacks against Jews in this country occurred quite recently. But this study reminds us to attend equally to our health and the robust interest in Jewishness that this study proclaims. Anything less would be to miss this remarkable chapter in one of the world’s most ancient stories.

The people have spoken. Now we need to listen.

More than seven in 10 U.S. Jews say that remembering the Holocaust (76%) and leading a moral and ethical life (72%) are essential to their Jewish identity. More than half say the same about working for a more just and equitable society (59%), being intellectually curious (56%) and continuing family traditions (51%). These numbers are not meaningfully different than they were in 2013 when Pew asked the same question.

If we really want to be less polarized and to nurture Judaism, “the Jews” have told us how. Agree or disagree, we cannot pretend to not know how Jewish Americans want to be served and supported in their Jewishness. The only real question is whether Jewish officialdom is prepared to make their priorities our priorities, even if doing so does not necessarily preserve the expressions and institutions some of us prize most.

This article originally appeared here.

Pastor Gerry Standley Killed After Plane Crashes Into Home

Jesse T. Jackson

May 12, 2021

On Tuesday May 4, 2021, a small civilian plane crashed into a home in Hattiesburg, Miss., and killed 55-year-old Gerry Standley, an assistant pastor of Wayside Holy Temple church. The pastor and his family were sleeping.

Gerry Standley, a pillar of the community, just celebrated 22 years of marriage with his wife, Melinda. His wife, daughter, and grandson were able to get out of the house when it caught fire; Gerry tragically did not.

“We can’t replace him,” Gerry’s younger brother Corbin Varnado told reporters. “We can’t do what he did, but his young brothers, his sons, his nephews, we can come together and uphold the family like he would. He was a remarkable man. I admire him so much just from his relationship with God, his relationship with his wife, his family. He connected with everyone. Everyone loved him, he loved everyone. It’s going to be tough to be without him.”

Wayside Holy Temple Church’s Marion Huges told WJTV news, “He was just a gentle giant and many of the young people knew him like a ‘fatherly figure’…because he took time with them. He set an example for them.”

Gerry’s Facebook page is flooded with Bible verses he posted almost every day, and one of his last posts a few days before his passing was the verse from Nahum 1:7 that reads, “The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.”

All three aboard the decent sized Mitsubishi M-2B-60 plane were also killed. They were traveling to the University of Southern Mississippi for a commencement ceremony. Louis Provenza (67) a neurosurgeon from Wichita Falls, Texas, Anna Calhoun a junior at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas (23), and her 2-year-old daughter Harper all perished.

How to Help

A GoFundMe Campaign has been set up to help Melinda, the wife of Gerry Standley, cover funeral expenses, bills, and any other items lost from the unspeakable tragedy. Over 12k dollars have been raised at the time this article was released. Hattiesburg Police Department where Melinda works as a dispatch division manager has also set up a fund that you can give to at the station if you live nearby.

Varnado said the support “means a lot. Nowadays, in time we need more community bonding.”

If Tebow Returns to the NFL, He Will Join Outspoken Christian Trevor Lawrence

Jessica Lea

May 12, 2021

Numerous sources report that Tim Tebow is returning to the NFL. The Heisman Trophy winner and former Broncos quarterback will reportedly sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a tight end. If he does, Tebow will reunite with his former coach, Urban Meyer, and join fellow Christian, Trevor Lawrence.

“The #Jaguars are planning to sign QB-turned-TE Tim Tebow to a 1-year deal, per me and @TomPelissero, a deal that could be official in the next week or so,” said NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport. “Nothing done yet. But he’ll have a chance to make the team to reunite with his mentor and college head coach Urban Meyer.”

Is Tebow Joining the Jaguars?

Earlier this year, Tim Tebow retired from professional baseball after five years as a minor league player with the New York Mets. The news that he might sign with the Jaguars has not been without controversy.

Some have taken the reports about the potential signing as a chance to once more compare Tebow, who kneeled before football games in prayer to God, to Colin Kaepernick, who kneeled during the national anthem in protest of racial injustice. Quite a few people have interpreted Tebow potentially being signed and Kaepernick not being signed anywhere as an example of white privilege, but others see no reason for that comparison.

Still others point out that Tebow is now 33, has not played a regular season with the NFL since 2012, and has never played professionally as a tight end. For these reasons, some question what Tebow would bring to the Jaguars. If he does join the team, however, he will reunite with his former coach Urban Meyer, whom Tebow played under while at the University of Florida. Meyer shared on the “Cris Collinsworth PFF Podcast” that Tebow’s athletic prowess and drive are what have led him to consider Tebow for the Jaguars.

“We have not signed Tim,” said Meyer. “There’s a thought going around. He was in the best shape of his life, asked to see if he could work out with a couple of our coaches. I wasn’t even there. They came back to me and said, ‘Wow, this guy’s in incredible shape.’”

After watching Tebow work out again, the coaches told Meyer, “This guy’s ball skills, he’s a great athlete, he looks like he’s 18 years old, not 20, whatever he is, 33.” Meyer responded, “Guys you don’t understand, now this guy is, he’s the most competitive maniac you’re ever gonna talk to and let’s give it a shot.”

Tebow said in a recent Instagram post that his drive to stay in shape comes from his view that he is responsible before God to be a good steward in every area of his life. “I get a lot of questions on how I stay consistent with my diet and workout regiments [sic],” he said. “Typically, a lot of people think that my discipline is from my athletic background. To be honest, that is partially true. But I think for me, I try to stay disciplined because I also want to be the best I can be in every area of life so that I can be a good steward of what God’s given to me.”

If Tebow signs with the Jaguars, he will also join fellow Christian Trevor Lawrence, a former Clemson quarterback and the number one pick in the overall 2021 NFL draft. Lawrence is outspoken about his faith and has said, “Football’s important to me, but it’s not my life. It’s not the biggest thing in my life…I put my identity in what Christ says, who he thinks I am, and who I know that he says I am.”

Tebow has made similar statements. He is well known for his philanthropic work, and last year at a pro-life banquet, he commented on how fighting to save children’s lives far outweighs anything someone could achieve in the realm of football: “One day, when you look back and people are talking about you and they say, ‘Oh my gosh what are you going to be known for?’ Are you going to say Super Bowl, or we saved a lot of babies?”

Dennis Quaid Stars in New Netflix Film ‘Blue Miracle’ Based on Inspiring True Story of Faith

Bri Lamm

May 12, 2021

Dennis Quaid is making a splash back into our television sets later this month in a new Netflix film perfect for the entire family!

The movie, “Blue Miracle,” is based on the true story of Casa Hogar, a Mexican orphanage that is struggling to stay afloat after Hurricane Odile struck Mexico’s southern Baja California peninsula in 2014. Much of the area was destroyed, including parts of the orphanage, leaving the young boys living at Casa Hogar feeling hopeless and alone.

“Maybe God just wanted to get all the unluckiest kids in one building so he can crush us all out,” says one of the orphan in the movie trailer as they await the storm’s arrival.

In order to keep their home, the boys and their caretaker, Omar Venegas (Jimmy Gonzales) enter Bisbee’s Black & Blue Tournament, a fishing competition that pays out millions of dollars in prize money.

The boys and Omar team up with self-professed “two-time champion of Bisbee’s Black & Blue Tournament” Wade Malloy (Dennis Quaid), who’s told he doesn’t qualify for the tournament unless he teams up with a local fisherman.

The unlikely competitors set out to sea in hopes of saving the orphanage and overcoming adversity—even with the odds stacked against them.

Producer Ben Howard calls the film a “remarkable true story of how Omar and his boys managed to pull together and achieve what seemed like the impossible and their incredible story will no doubt win the hearts of audiences around the world.”

Blue Miracle premieres worldwide on Netflix on May 27.

Dennis Quaid famously starred in the blockbuster film “I Can Only Imagine” in 2018. The movie was the true story about the life of Bart Millard, lead singer of the Christian band MercyMe, and his struggles with an abusive father (played by Quaid). The movie brought in $81 million at the box office but it only cost $7 million to create.

This article originally appeared here.

Vatican Cautions Bishops on Denying Communion to Politicians Who Support Abortion Rights

Jack Jenkins

May 12, 2021

(RNS) — A Vatican official urged U.S. bishops to tap the brakes on plans to produce a document concerning Communion and politicians, sending a letter to a top U.S. cleric that could dial-down debate over whether to deny President Joe Biden the Eucharist.

The letter, dated May 7 and first reported by America Magazine, came from Cardinal Luis Ladaria, the prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s watchdog for doctrinal matters. It was a response to a letter from the Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, concerning plans by some in the group to craft a document at their June meeting “to address the situation of Catholics in public office who support legislation allowing abortion, euthanasia or other moral evils.”

The question of whether to bar Communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights legislation has emerged several times in recent American history — especially during the 2004 presidential campaign — and is generally left up to individual bishops to decide.

But fiery debate over the issue reignited following the election of Biden, the second Catholic president in U.S. history, a Democrat who has expressed support for abortion rights and was reportedly denied Communion by a priest in South Carolina during his campaign.

Ladaria urged caution in his letter: “The effective development of a policy in this area requires that dialogue occurs in two stages: first among the bishops themselves, and then between bishops and Catholic pro-choice politicians within their jurisdictions,” he wrote, according to Catholic News Service.

Ladaria also noted any policy produced by the USCCB would require near unanimity and could not upend the right of an individual bishop to decide whether to deny a politician Eucharist in their diocese. In addition, he argued it would be “misleading” to suggest abortion and euthanasia are “the only grave matters of Catholic moral and social teaching that demand the fullest level of accountability on the part of Catholics.”

The prefect expressed concerns about the issue sowing discord among bishops, as the debate has already pitted clerics against one another: Last week the archbishop of San Francisco expressed support for denying Communion to politicians who back abortion rights legislation, only to have another bishop in the same state — Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego — argue the exact opposite days later.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, told Religion News Service in December that he plans to continue to offer Communion to Biden, saying he doesn’t want “to begin a relationship with (Biden) based on a penalty.”

Ladaria said that in lieu of unanimous consent among U.S. bishops, a document outlining a new national policy on the topic is primed to “become a source of discord rather than unity within the episcopate and the larger church in the United States.”

Any discussion on the topic at the USCCB’s June gathering, he wrote, “would best be framed within the broad context of worthiness for the reception of holy Communion on the part of all the faithful, rather than only one category of Catholics, reflecting their obligation to conform their lives to the entire Gospel of Jesus Christ as they prepare to receive the sacrament.”

He concluded by urging U.S. clerics to speak with others.

“Every effort should be made to dialogue with other episcopal conferences as this policy is formulated in order both to learn from one another and to preserve unity in the universal church,” he wrote.

A sweeping statement from U.S. bishops suggesting Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should be denied Communion could have far-reaching implications. There are 158 Catholics currently in Congress, according to Pew Research, but most are Democrats. Kristen Day, head of Democrats for Life, told RNS over the weekend her organization only considers three Catholic Democrats on the Hill — Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Rep. Henry Cuellar of Laredo, Texas — to be “pro-life.” This story has been updated to note that a story published by the National Catholic Reporter was written by Catholic News Service.

This article originally appeared here.

Rachel Gilson: How Jesus Helps Me Say No to My Same-Sex Desires

Jason Daye

May 12, 2021

Rachel Gilson serves on the leadership team for Theological Development and Culture at Cru. She is a graduate of Yale, earned her Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and is currently pursuing her doctorate. Rachel is the author of “Born Again This Way: Coming Out, Coming to Faith, and What Comes Next.” Her writing has been featured in a variety of publications, including Christianity Today and The Gospel Coalition. Rachel has been married to Andrew for 12 years and they have one daughter.

Other Ways to Listen to This Podcast With Rachel Gilson

► Listen on Apple
► Listen on GooglePlay
► Listen on Spotify
► Listen on Stitcher
► Listen on YouTube

Other Podcasts in the LGBTQ and the Church Series

Juli Slattery: This Is How the Church Can Begin the LGBTQ Conversation

Gregory Coles: It’s Possible to Be Same-Sex Attracted and Fully Surrendered to Jesus

Mark Yarhouse: How to Pastor Someone Who Has Gender Dysphoria

Ed Shaw: How God Has Used Same-Sex Attraction to Equip Me As a Pastor

Sean McDowell: Scripture Is Very Clear About God’s Design for Sexuality

Caleb Kaltenbach: Do You See the LGBTQ Community Through God’s Eyes?

Preston Sprinkle: Jesus Left the 99 to Pursue the One—And That Means Trans People

Laurence Koo: A Call for the American Church to Welcome Single (LGBTQ) Believers

Key Questions for Rachel Gilson

-How did Jesus give you the strength to say “no” to your same-sex desires and “yes” to him?

-How do you believe pastors and ministry leaders should and should not be approaching the LGBTQ conversation?

-How did you end up pursuing marriage, despite the fact that you still experience same-sex attraction, and what has God taught you through marriage to Andrew?

-As a follower of Jesus, what do you think about using the terms “gay,” “queer,” or “same-sex attracted”?

Key Quotes from Rachel Gilson

“The Spirit made clear to me at the time that the only way be safe was to run was towards Jesus, not away from him. He had placed himself as a barrier between God’s wrath and me.”

“It’s been 17 years, and my same-sex attraction hasn’t gone anywhere. So part of my path to writing “Born Again This Way” was just my own years of reading the Bible, making mistakes, reading the Bible, being in community, and just trying to figure out not just how can we survive as disciples with same-sex attraction, but how can we actually thrive in Christ?”

Rick Warren: ‘It’s Not a Sin to Be Sick’

Bob Ditmer

May 12, 2021

Saddleback church pastor Rick Warren is praising a pastoral letter on mental health and the church that he worked on alongside California’s Catholic bishops.

The letter, titled “Hope and Healing,” calls for an end to the stigma around mental illness and greater collaboration between science and medical professionals and people of faith.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one in five adults in the U.S. suffered from a mental disorder over the past year and nearly 10 million American adults, one in 25, have a mental illness that is severe enough to cause serious functional impairment. Fully 20 percent of adolescents currently have, or previously had, a seriously debilitating mental disorder. Mental, neurological and substance abuse disorders are the single largest source of disability in the U.S., accounting for nearly 20 percent of all disability.

The result is rising rates of depression and anxiety disproportionately impacting young people. Over the past several years, there also has been an alarming increase in the rates of suicide, among both men and women of nearly every age group.

Pastor Rick Warren on Mental Health Challenges

Pastor Rick Warren has seen the devastating effects of mental illness. In 2013, his son Matthew committed suicide after 10 years of living through a “deep, deep depression.”

Since his son’s death, Warren and his wife Kay have dedicated much of their time and resources calling on Christians not to neglect mental health. One of his closest collaborators has been Bishop Kevin Vann of Orange, California.

After Matthew’s death, Warren and Vann spoke regularly. They hosted two gatherings on mental health and the church between Saddleback and the diocese of Orange, and the new pastoral letter is now another fruit of their joint labors.

Warren is quoted in the letter calling for greater recognition that mental illness is not the result of a lack of faith in God.

“Your chemistry is not your character,” Warren states, and “your illness is not your identity.”

The letter’s message: “It’s not a sin to be sick.”

“If your liver stops working, and you take a pill, there’s no stigma. If your heart stops working, and you take a pill, there’s no stigma. Why is it that if your brain stops working, and you take a pill, then there’s a stigma?” asks Warren.

The letter also quotes from Pope John Paul II who calls on Christians “to stretch out a hand to the sick, to make them perceive the tenderness of God, to integrate them into a community of faith and life in which they can feel accepted, understood, supported, respected; in a word, in which they can love and be loved.”

Warren told Cruxnow.com, “It’s nonsense to think we’re supposed to make it through life on our own. The phrase ‘one another’ is used 58 times in the New Testament of the Bible. We’re told we have to pray for one another, counsel one another, love another and so on. Everyone needs counsel at some point of life. There’s no shame, there’s no stigma, and there’s no sin in that.”

“We just need to blow off the door and let the light come in,” he said.

Warren said the letter serves as a “watershed moment, and a new standard for mental health ministries around the world.”

Voddie Baucham: Why Critical Race Theory Is a ‘Looming Catastrophe’

Stephanie Martin

May 12, 2021

In an interview to discuss his new book about the social justice movement, Voddie Baucham explains why critical race theory (CRT) spells “looming catastrophe” for evangelicalism. The pastor and author, who’s recovering from heart surgery, recently spoke to Dan Andros and Tré Goins-Phillips at CBN’s Faithwire about his just-released book Fault Lines. He describes it as “a plea for the church” to beware of “destructive heresies.”

The Bible is sufficient on its own, emphasizes Voddie Baucham, who says he worries about the backlash that will likely result from adherence to CRT and the liberation theology it promotes. He hopes his new book will help ignite much-needed conversations and encourage people to test their relationships to determine if they’re authentic or not.

Voddie Baucham on the Movement’s Religious Trappings

The social justice movement isn’t just a pseudo-religion, says Voddie Baucham, but rather its own religious movement. “This has all the trappings of religion,” he says, noting that even atheists have made that point. The movement, for example, has its own cosmology, its own saints, its own liturgy, and its own law. Some of those aspects are very subtle, Baucham notes, which makes them attractive to Christians who are rightly concerned about topics such as justice, racism, and equality. Our tendency, as a result, is to then assume that CRT must somehow be aligned with Christianity, which “it’s absolutely not,” he says.

Instead, CRT is a worldview with central tenets that fly in the face of the idea of the sufficiency of Scripture, says Baucham. You can’t pick and choose a few beliefs from it—and you don’t need to, because the Bible is “absolutely a textbook” on key issues such as relationships and the sin of partiality. Christians wouldn’t accept a pick-and-choose approach with any other ideology, Baucham notes, citing Hinduism as an example. “And CRT is at least as foreign to Christianity as Hinduism is,” he adds.

CRT’s Four Main Tenets

The four tenets that make up the worldview of CRT, says Baucham, are:

Racism as normative (it’s normal, it’s everywhere, and it’s unavoidable)
Interest convergence (white people are unable to take righteous action against racism unless it converges with their own individual interests)
Anti-objectivity
The social construction of knowledge

CRT teaches that the only way to know the truth, Baucham says, is to elevate black, marginalized voices and listen to their stories. People and their feelings become arbiters of truth, and anyone who disagrees with those feelings is either a racist or has internalized racism.

Baucham, founder of Voddie Baucham Ministries, is currently dean of theology at African Christian University in Zambia. He grew up in South-Central Los Angeles with a single mom who was Buddhist and calls it “laughable” when critics say he has “internalized racism” or somehow “doesn’t understand blackness.” Baucham says he’s been called all kinds of names, including Uncle Tom, and the reason is because his critics lack an argument. “They’re not coming at me about factual errors,” he says. “They’re attacking my narrative.”

Why Talk of Privilege and Oppression Is Problematic

While discussing the foundations of CRT, Baucham points to terms such as “Christian hegemony,” or Christianity being “normative.” CRT proponents, he says, think in terms of the oppressor and the oppressed. “They’re saying Christianity is a form of imperialism and is oppressive,” he says, and that people need to put both their white privilege and their Christian privilege in check.

CRT advocates, such as Ibram X. Kendi, criticize white Savior theology, which maintains that people need to be saved from their sins, says Baucham. Instead, they tout Black liberation theology, which maintains that people need to be delivered from oppression. But the Bible indeed teaches that we need a Savior, Jesus, which makes CRT “hugely problematic,” says Baucham. The CRT worldview is even more dangerous because “you hear it all the time.” That’s one reason he includes many CRT-related quotes in his new book, he says, in order to show its prevalence throughout our culture.

Voddie Baucham Worries About a Backlash

Although Baucham is confident that the Christian church will survive this latest attack, he says he worries about a backlash from CRT’s growing influence. “I’m worried about a rise in white supremacy and actual racism because of the rise of CRT,” he says. “We have run away from the only solution to racism—the Gospel—in favor of a non-solution. ‘Savior theology’ is the answer.”

Some people say the pastor is being too dramatic by including the words “Looming Catastrophe” in his new book’s subtitle. But Baucham points to real damage and splits that have occurred due to CRT. Families, churches, schools, and denominations are being torn apart, he says, adding that “we’re talking past each other” when it comes to racism and CRT.

50 Good Mental Health Habits

Brad Hambrick

May 12, 2021

Good physical health does not happen by accident. Physically healthy people make small, daily choices that contribute to their physical health.

It should be noted that even those who make healthy choices still get sick and injured. Choices don’t remove the possibility of illness or injury. But even when sick or injured, an individual’s daily choices still make a significant impact on their quality of life.

The same things are true for mental health. Good mental health does not happen by accident. Mentally healthy people make small, daily choices that contribute to their mental health (i.e., ability to regulate emotions, respond proportionally to disappointments, accurately weigh the significance of successes and failures, etc.).

Making the choices below won’t guarantee that you won’t experience seasons of depression, anxiety or other forms of mental unrest. But the kind of choices listed below, if made before-during-after a time period of mental unrest, will still make a significant impact on your quality of life.

Obviously, with 50 habits it would be overwhelming (i.e., mentally unhealthy) to try to implement them all at once. Pick a few that fit you best. Begin with those. When those are embedded in your rhythms of life, come back and see what would be good to implement in that season of life.

My goal in this post is to identify goals for each area of life that influences mental health: cognitive perspective, physical well-being, social context, spiritual vitality, general life management, emotional regulation, etc. Sometimes we need to be reminded that no one area of life can completely account for our mental health.

1. Get Adequate Sleep – The brain plays a dominant role in mental health. Sleep is vital for brain health. Inadequate sleep is the equivalent of not changing the oil in your car. You can get away with it for a while, but it winds up being very costly.

2. Eat Balanced Meals – Where does your body get the raw material to create a balanced neuro-chemistry? From what you eat. Wanting neurochemical balance with an imbalanced diet is like asking your children to draw a color picture with only black and white crayons.

3. Engage With Friends – When we’re isolated, our most destructive thoughts tend to echo in our minds and the healthy ones get muted. Friendship is a context that tends to facilitate many of the other good mental health habits on this list.

4. Worship – Life is overwhelming. It is easy to be awed by all that is required to live for 80 years. Worship is a time when we are awed by the right things; how much God loves us, God’s continual presence, etc.

5. Read a Good Book – Poor mental health hygiene often results from getting stuck in the “same old” thinking ruts. Reading a good book is both a distraction and provides new perspectives. Also, reading is like exercise for the mind.

6. Engage Cardiovascular Exercise – Few things have been shown to be better for mental health than 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise at least three times per week. Go for a jog, take a walk, ride a bike or swim a few laps and anything else you’re doing on this list will be more effective.

7. Avoid Debt – Imbalance does not stay contained to one area of life. If you go into debt, you increase stress, have to work more, which means you sleep less, which contributes to emotional reactivity, and erodes the quality of your relationships. Avoiding debt does a lot for your mental health.

8. Be Wise About Unhealthy Relationships – Relationships, for better or worse, have a significant influence on our lives. Christians can be confused and argumentative about how to think about boundaries. Part of being “salt and light” (Matthew 5:13-16) is knowing how to be a redemptive agent in unhealthy settings.

9. Get Out of Toxic Friendships – Some relationships go from being unhealthy to being toxic, destructive or abusive. When this is the case, then we honor the other person best by limiting the amount of destruction they can do. This means we apply Matthew 7:6 when Matthew 7:1-5 has been ineffective. Here are some red flags to look for.

10. Laugh – “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones,” Proverbs 17:22. Laughter is an important part of mental health. We have a hard time bearing up under the demands of everyday life when everything is serious all of the time.

11. Look for Reasons to Say “Thank You” – There is a direct correlation between how often you say “thank you” and whether you are focused on the good or hard things in your life. Gratitude may be one of the most significant dispositional qualities that influence our mental health.

12. Pray – What do you do with the hard things? Pray. Gratitude doesn’t mean we ignore the hard parts of our life. When we see the good things God has/is doing in our life, we are more prone to bring him the hard things with the confidence that comes from knowing He cares.

13. Meditate on Scripture – The content of our thinking has a significant impact on our mental health. When we meditate on lies and insecurities, it negatively impacts our mental health. When we meditate on the timeless truths and character of God found in the Bible, it positively impacts our mental health.

14. Consider Medication – If you have acutely hard struggles in your life, talk to your physician. Have an idea of how a conversation about medication is a part of your overall life management plan. If medication is a part of pursuing a full and satisfying life, don’t feel any shame about it.

15. Journal – When we fail to reflect on where we’ve been, who we are and where we’re going, life can begin to feel meaningless. Journaling is a good way to cultivate a greater sense of direction and context for your day-to-day life. It is easier to endure hardship when life has meaning.

16. Learn Something New – A growing mind is healthier than a stagnant mind. Learning is like cardio for the brain; new neural connections are forming and existing connections are being strengthened. As you learn, you also give yourself more fruitful things with which to engage your thought life.

17. Confide Your Secrets – Shame is toxic to both our mental and social health. Secrets are the currency of shame. Confiding secrets in trusted friends is a way to break the bonds of shame with the power of eye contact from someone who truly knows us.

18. Serve/Volunteer – An excessive self-focus is not healthy. When we only focus on our struggles, it makes our struggles seem increasingly large in our eyes. Serving others gives us perspective, becomes a source of wholesome joy, and reminds us that we can make a difference with our lives.

19. Avoid Intoxicants – There is a high correlation between substance abuse and mental illness. Whether this correlation is cause or effect can vary from person to person, but if you are concerned about your mental health, it would be wise to avoid recreationally impairing your mental state with alcohol or drugs.

20. Regularly Attend Church – People were created for community. In western culture we have too individualized our mental health. Isolation, or only surface relationships, is a negative influence on our mental health. Church is a place for deep fellowship, reinforcing other spiritual habits on this list, and being reminded that we are all broken and in need of the same Savior.

John MacArthur: Our Culture Has Declared ‘War on Children’ and Is ‘Weaponized to Destroy Children’

Jesse T. Jackson

May 11, 2021

Grace Community Church‘s 81-year-old pastor of over 50 years, John MacArthur, told his congregation this past Sunday that the culture we live in today is systematically declaring war on children as it’s “weaponized to destroy children.”

MacArthur’s sermon title “Providing Shade for Our Children” was inspired by a Chinese proverb. He explained, saying, “One generation plants the trees, the next generation gets the shade.”

As he unpacked the proverb, MacArthur said, “Every generation should understand the responsibility that they have to plant the trees so there is shade for the next generation.” He then boldly said, “What we’re facing today is fierce! I will confess…of all the things that disturb me in this culture…of all the horrific, sinful, wretched, wicked, corrupt influences that go on in this culture. I think the thing that distresses me most is the war on children.”

MacArthur Gave Examples of How Culture Has Declared War on Children

Over 62 million children “have been slaughtered in the womb,” he factually stated since abortion was made legal in the 1970’s.

If a child escapes the death of abortion, they have a 50/50 chance of being born into a family whose parents are married.

If the child’s parents are married, the likelihood of them getting a divorce is high, and both or one of them will be “unfaithful to their marital vows.”

The probability of that child being sent to a public school and being under the influence of an agenda that is “anti-God, anti-Christ, and anti-Scripture” is also high.

Politicians in our country are passing laws that are “devastating to children.”

“Sexual freedom, homosexuality, and transgenderism” is constantly being pressured upon them as normalcy and if not accepted is called “hate speech.”

“The lies of systemic racism and the hustlers dominate the ideologies of universities and even churches,” MacArthur said.

Movie-makers, music producers, big tech, and social media providers “literally pump out things that destroy children.”

Children Are Defenseless Against the Relentless Attacks

All the forces of evil have released a relentless assault upon the children this country, who MacArthur said are “defenseless.” He explained that society offers no restraint to those destroying our children, yet encourages it.

Our culture’s defenseless children look like, “When their parents sell them to a human trafficker, who drops them eight to 10 feet over a wall into Sodom and Gomorrah [referring to America] all by themselves,” he described. Giving a children’s media example, MacArthur pointed out that the Disney Corporation created “characters that are transgender to seduce children into accepting wickedness as normal.”

MacArthur also exemplified the quickly growing trend of parents insanely offering “their children gender identity options,” somberly stating that “children are under assault now.” Referring to President Joe Biden’s recent announcement that the government would like to provide free education from the ages of 3 to 20, MacArthur asserted that this extends the negative influences in our children’s lives.

“The president to the leading politicians and bureaucrats, teachers, race hustlers, pornographers, media people, tech people, and even media people” are attacking those who are most defenseless; children. “There is a war on children!”

Children are already forced to endure a world impacted by the sins of their parents when they are born. MacArthur then referenced Exodus 20:5, Numbers 14:18, Jeremiah 32:17-18, and Ezekiel 18 and showed that generational sins create a culture that has to be endured by those born into it. He called it “default reality.”

“This is a very dangerous place for children,” he said after he told the 2014 story of Planned Parenthood workers admitting to illegally selling aborted baby parts to undercover pro-lifers. Instead of Planned Parenthood getting charged with a crime, the government charged the pro-lifers felony counts of violating the privacy of health-care providers for recording without their consent.

“Satan’s war on children is a war on God because the children belong to him.”

Children Are a Gift From God

Reciting Psalm 127:3, the pastor said, “Children are a gift from the Lord.” He later told parents that when your “little ones arrive, you are stewarding them for God.”

“This generation of leaders, the immoral people that are engaged in this massive assault on children are going to have to answer to God,” said MacArthur. He then reminded his congregation, “We’re gonna have to answer, too, for the little ones he gives us.” They are not ours, they are his so our “life commitment” is to influence them to place their faith in Christ. “That is raising your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

Watch Pastor John MacArthur’s entire sermon below:

Rare Conjoined Twins Born to Alabama Pastor and Wife — ‘We Love Them So Much’

Christine Yount Jones

May 11, 2021

Conjoined twins Susannah and Elizabeth Castle were born at 10:06 a.m. on April 22, 2021, at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to Stephanie and Dwight Castle. Dwight is pastor of missions at Redeemer Community Church in Avondale, Alabama. The twins join two brothers and a sister.

“The girls are here!” the couple posted on Facebook. “Stephanie was an absolute champ and did awesome and is also recovering well. We are so thankful for a smooth delivery without any complications. Thank you, Jesus.”

AL.com reported that the twin girls have separate heads, brains, and limbs. They also have separate hearts and share only the lining around the heart – the pericardium. The girls do share a liver and most likely a portion of their small intestines. This is a gift because the liver is the only human organ that regenerates. In time, the doctors will split the liver in half, leaving one half for each girl.

AP News reports that conjoined twins are extraordinarily rare. According to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which has successfully separated 25 pairs of conjoined twins since 1957, conjoined twins occur once in every 50,000 to 60,000 births. About 70% of conjoined twins are female, and most are stillborn.

In preparation for the girls births, Dwight said, “I think in a lot of ways, God has sort of been preparing us for this for a while. We’ve grown certainly in awareness of how challenging it’s going to be and knowing we probably don’t know the half of it. But we have an increasing faith in the Lord that He is so clearly over this and providing for us.”

The Castles are still leaning on their faith and community. Dwight said, “We’re going to have a lot of help. He gives us new mercies each day and He’s faithful to do that. We just try to take it a day at a time and remember His faithfulness every step of the way and it really does fuel us to trust Him. That doesn’t guarantee they’ll live. It doesn’t guarantee the separation will happen or that it will go really well. There’s a lot of hopeful indications for all of those things, but our hope has to ultimately be in Him.”

Recently, the Castle Conjoined Twins Facebook page posted this:

“Hey dear friends! Thank you all so much for continuing to pray for us and sorry we haven’t done an update on the girls in a hot minute. We have been trying to establish some sort of rhythm of what it will look like for us to visit the NICU each day.

Man we are a week in and this is really hard! Even though we knew it would be, the reality of it is even more challenging. It’s difficult to ever feel like we are there enough, because it’s never going to be what a “normal” newborn situation would be like. If we spend every waking minute with them, we’re still missing out on a lot. And spending every waking minute at the NICU probably isn’t the healthiest thing for us either. In addition, Stephanie and I are different people with different personalities and different approaches to this – surprise, surprise. So, understanding our own thoughts and emotions about it, as well as the other person’s is a process.

Some days we have been doing one long chunk of time at the NICU and going home around dinner time, and some days we split it into two visits with a break in the middle. Please continue to pray for us as we sort through the practicalities, emotions, and healthy balance of this.”

A GoFundMe campaign has been set up for the family.

New Church, Similar Stories: Is Mark Driscoll an Abusive Leader?

Stephanie Martin

May 11, 2021

Familiar accounts of controlling behavior are emerging about Mark Driscoll, the pastor who launched a new megachurch in Arizona after leaving his Seattle congregation amid controversy.

In 2014, Driscoll resigned from Mars Hill, the church he founded, rather than face an elder-proposed restoration process. Two years later, he started The Trinity Church in Scottsdale, which is now under the microscope for having no elders or board, requiring loyalty and nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), and keeping close tabs on members and staff. Some former church members and employees have recently come forward, warning that Driscoll operates in a toxic, even cult-like manner.

At the end of April, blogger David Bonner wrote about a family who was “allegedly driven from” Trinity because their teenage son was in a relationship with Driscoll’s teenage daughter. Warren Throckmorton, who’s been blogging about Driscoll’s “elderless church,” wrote that he’s “been able to confirm the basic elements of this story with several sources.” Then on May 10, investigative journalist Julie Roys published a deep-dive look into Driscoll’s actions at his new church, concluding, “His tactics reportedly have grown more extreme and cult-like.”

A Family Describes Being Shunned and Surveilled

Angelo and Katherine Manuele and their teenage sons, who began attending Trinity last June, say they’re going public with their experiences to protect fellow Christians. When Vince Manuele, 15, and Pastor Driscoll’s 17-year-old daughter became close, he says, Trinity staffers warned him that kissing was off-limits. After Vince admitted to violating that rule, he describes being locked in another pastor’s office, interrogated, and ordered to leave.

Vince and Angelo, his father, were then ordered off Trinity property and added to a watch list. Using his daughter’s email account, Driscoll reportedly warned Vince to cease all communications with her. Soon afterward, church friends started breaking ties with the Manuele family, apparently at the directive of Trinity staff.

On Facebook, Katherine Manuele thanked Roys for her reporting, as well as “everyone that has called, supported, encouraged and prayed with us through all of this.” Vince Manuele wrote, “This is a whole new level of messed up. As a 15 year old MINOR in this all, I am traumatized from the decisions Trinity has made against my family and others.”

In his Facebook posts, Angelo Manuele wrote about his son, “Vince is a modern day David. Proud of your strength, buddy, and God is using you in a mighty way.” He also shared a screenshot thread in which Trinity apparently conducted “Easter weekend” surveillance of the Manuele family.

Trinity and the Manueles have filed charges against one another with Scottsdale Police.

Vince Manuele’s Podcast Explores Cult-Like Traits

Vince Manuele, who describes himself as “an American religion and political activist,” shared in a recent podcast “9 Ways Mark Driscoll’s ‘Church’ Is a Cult.” The list includes characteristics such as the leader having ultimate truth and being above the rules, as well as the group suppressing skepticism, using shame as punishment, being paranoid about the outside world, and delegitimizing former members.

Speaking about Trinity’s lack of financial transparency, Vince describes how the church spent $15,000 of members’ tithes “watching his family,” conducting surveillance as they went shopping and started attending another church. “Congratulations, Mark,” he says. “You found that we’re Bible-believing Christians. Nice job.”

At the end of the podcast, Vince Manuele calls Driscoll “a joke and a cult leader” who’s abusive and a bully. The Manuele teen adds that he’ll keep working to expose the pastor because he’s “not scared” of him.

What Rev. Megan Rohrer’s Supporters Say

Al Mohler: “What We See Here Is a New Religion”

Why did Israeli police raid the Al-Aqsa Mosque to begin with?

So this is a land dispute?

What’s Hamas got to do with it?

What role does Judaism or Islam play in this?

Graduation Sermons

Media for Graduation

J.D. Greear on the Ordination of Women

‘Pray for the Peace of God’

Opinions Vary by Denomination & Region

Todd Miles: “Be Ready to Minister”

Judaism vs. Jewish Culture

Politics is the new religion

Jewish is a growth “industry” in the US

The people have spoken. Now we need to listen.

How to Help

Is Tebow Joining the Jaguars?

Other Ways to Listen to This Podcast With Rachel Gilson

Other Podcasts in the LGBTQ and the Church Series

Key Questions for Rachel Gilson

Key Quotes from Rachel Gilson

Pastor Rick Warren on Mental Health Challenges

Voddie Baucham on the Movement’s Religious Trappings

CRT’s Four Main Tenets

Why Talk of Privilege and Oppression Is Problematic

Voddie Baucham Worries About a Backlash

MacArthur Gave Examples of How Culture Has Declared War on Children

Children Are Defenseless Against the Relentless Attacks

Children Are a Gift From God

A Family Describes Being Shunned and Surveilled

Vince Manuele’s Podcast Explores Cult-Like Traits

New Articles

New Podcasts