Lysa TerKeurst: After a Year Like 2020, It’s Finally Time to Address Those Relational Issues

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April 2, 2021

(RNS) — The last year has been incredibly difficult for everyone, causing relational tensions to be at an all-time high.

Issues and dysfunctions we were once able to excuse away or cover up with busyness have become painfully obvious. COVID restrictions had us quarantined with some people and isolated from many others. This strange dynamic has forced us to see the state of our hearts and our relationships. We’ve had to reassess how to keep healthy lines of communication open with those we aren’t seeing at all. And with those we’ve been around more this year than ever, there’s no escaping frustrations, aggravations and undealt-with hurt.

Close quarters have given us no option but to face the dysfunctions that exist. Of course, being aware of our dysfunctions doesn’t always equal a willingness to address them.

I’m reminded of a time when my sister came to visit. We had just finished some renovations where some of the wiring in our house had to be reworked, and somehow our hot water heater would no longer work unless the back floodlights of our house were turned on. So, if you were enjoying your hot shower and someone turned off the floodlights — wham! — cold water was very quickly making you cringe, scream and yell downstairs for someone to turn the floodlights back on.

Now, I totally get what you’re probably thinking. “Seriously, Lysa, surely you called your electrician right away to come and check out this very obvious and alarming wiring dysfunction.”

You would think. But no.

I just made a mental note to remind all my guests the back floodlights must be on, both day and night, for them to have a hot shower. I educated my family on our reality. I even considered making a little sign for the bathrooms.

Hello, dysfunction.

My sister tilted her head and said, “Lysa, you know that’s weird, right? You do know an electrician would be able to fix that, right?”

Yes and no.

I guess technically I knew an electrician could fix it. But that wasn’t my automatic response. Calling an electrician would cost money. Money that as a child growing up we didn’t have. So, this thought process got ingrained in me that it’s better to get scrappy and just figure things out than to pay to have a problem fixed. It’s okay if I get hot water in a way that’s different from other people.

Obviously, this isn’t just about hot water.

This is about no longer being aware of just how dysfunctional things have become and reacting as if something is normal when it’s absolutely not. Dysfunction means things aren’t working correctly. The disturbance in function is what determines the magnitude of the problem with dysfunction.

And while the issues with my hot water were a mere inconvenience, the dysfunctions hiding out in my heart and life can be truly detrimental — like how I’ve resisted forgiveness for most of my life.

Simmering resentments from yesterday are often what are threatening our relationships today. They will boil over or blow up when left unattended too long.

I’ve known as a Christian I’m called to forgive. It’s a clear command throughout Scripture. But I’ve been resistant because forgiveness often feels to me like an unfair gift I am being asked to give to someone who hurt me. I still feel frustrated and mad at them. I still want to keep the mental files proving their wrongs were unjustified and cruel. And I secretly still wish they would have to hurt like they’ve hurt me so they’ll learn a lesson and never hurt me this way again.

Confession: This pattern is dysfunctional. Discovery: It’s hurting me, not them.

I think my proof will eventually serve to protect me, but the proof is what’s continually fueling my pain. It’s the script I repeat over and over again, not realizing the longer I hold onto the proof, the longer I’m being victimized.

Every time I revisit my one-sided proof, feeling so right, I start grieving all over again. It doesn’t help me move forward. It just keeps attaching what happened in the past to my present-day feelings, thoughts and words. And so I have to break this dysfunctional cycle by doing what my heart is resistant to do — release all of my proof.

15 Good Friday Leadership Lessons

By

Brian Dodd

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April 2, 2021

There are times when you write a post about a subject that you are completely inadequate to address. Discussing the implications of Good Friday and the price Jesus paid for our sins is one of those times. However timidly, here are 15 Good Friday leadership lessons.

Frankly, all the books ever written (Bible excluded) collectively only scratch the surface of the meaning of the crucifixion. In that light, the following are some leadership thoughts I have heading into this weekend. I would like to thank Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion Of The Christ, and a message from John Maxwell for the inspiration of my thoughts.

When you watch the movie, as Pontius Pilate was washing his hands of the execution of Jesus, Jesus was reflecting on washing His disciple’s feet. The Good Friday leadership lesson is straight forward — Leaders either wash hands or they feet.

Here are some contrasts of their two leadership styles:

One leader served others. One served himself.
One leader led the crowd. One followed it.
One leader made hard decisions. One made expedient ones.
One leader was making an eternal impact. One was interested in being popular.
One leader was confident. One was insecure.
One leader had courage. One had cowardice.
One leader was generous. One was greedy.
One leader stood alone. One leader was alone.
One leader was committed to long-term vision. One was committed to short-term success.
One leader took ownership. One did not want responsibility.
One leader was making it possible for His followers to reach their full potential. One put lids on his.
One leader gave up His position. One protected his.
One leader died for His followers. One cared only for himself.
One leader did it all for you and me. One did it for himself.
One leader is worth following. One is not.

Which leader will you follow this Easter season? And now internalize the question — Are you a leader who washes hands or one who washes feet?

Also, feel free to comment on what Good Friday means to you. And what Good Friday leadership lessons you would add.

Former Episcopal Bishop Disciplined for Banning Gay Marriages Says God Is ‘Releasing’ Him

By

Megan Briggs

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April 1, 2021

(Update 4-1-2021) The Reverend William H. Love, the former Episcopal bishop who was disciplined for banning same-sex marriages in his diocese, has announced that he is leaving the Episcopal Church. In a statement on March 30, Bishop Love wrote:

Following my resignation as Bishop Diocesan on February 1st, I have spent much time in thought and prayer, seeking God’s guidance in how I might best remain faithful to His Holy Word and serve Him and His Church in this next chapter of life. In so doing, I have come to believe that the Lord is now releasing me from any further ordained ministry in The Episcopal Church.

Love said that on March 25, he wrote the Presiding Bishop that he was “resigning from the House of Bishops and requesting to be released and removed from ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church, effective Good Friday, April 2, 2021.” The decision was not easy, said Love, as he is a “cradle Episcopalian” and has served as an ordained minister in the Episcopal Church for 30 years.

“But given all that has transpired these past couple of years,” he said, “and the constraints placed upon me as a theologically conservative and orthodox bishop within TEC, I believe it is the right decision. I know not all of you will agree with this decision and some may be angered or hurt by it, and for that I am very sorry.” Love said he hopes to join the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) “in the very near future.”

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry issued a statement in response to Love, saying he had granted his request. Curry also alluded to the controversy that led to Love’s decision: “It is born of my belief that the outstretched arms of Jesus on the cross are the ultimate sign of the very love of God reaching out to embrace and welcome us all.”

(10-26-2020) The Reverend William H. Love of Albany, New York’s Episcopal Diocese has announced he will resign, effective February 1, 2021. Bishop Love famously banned same-sex marriages in Albany’s diocese in 2018, after the Episcopalian Church moved to allow the unions in their churches earlier that year. The Bishop was recently found to be in violation of canon law and his ordination vows by a hearing panel.

When Bishop Love leaves office in February, his edict banning same-sex marriages in the Albany Diocese will go with him.

According to Anglican Ink, Bishop Love addressed the Diocese of Albany’s annual meeting on Saturday, October 24, 2020. Bishop Love explained a bit about the accord reached between himself and Bishop Michael Curry, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. The accord stipulates that Bishop Love is to leave office in February, after having spent a month on a sabbatical beginning January 1st. The accord also stipulates that Bishop Love will help the diocese as it transitions his replacement into the role of Bishop of Albany. Finally, the restrictions Curry placed on Bishop Love’s ministry will be in effect until his resignation.

The hearing panel which found Love to be in violation of his ordination vows was scheduled to hold another hearing today, October 26th, to determine any further discipline to which Bishop Love should be subject. However, because Bishop Love and Bishop Curry reached an accord, his case is considered resolved and the hearing no longer necessary.

“After much thought and prayer, recognizing that whatever disciplinary action would be offered would not be anything I could in good conscience agree to, I have made the very difficult, but necessary decision to resign as Bishop of Albany,” Bishop Love said in his remarks on Saturday.

The Story Behind Love’s Resignation

As ChurchLeaders reported earlier this year, in 2015, the Episcopal Church voted to bless same-sex marriages while allowing dioceses to prohibit gay weddings. But in July 2018, the church passed Resolution B012, which said that church leaders could no longer ban same-sex unions from taking place. Rather, if priests object to performing gay weddings, their bishops have to find someone else to perform them.

Bishop Love defied that order when in November 2018, shortly before the resolution went into effect, he read an eight-page letter stating he would not allow gay marriages in the Diocese of Albany. Shortly after, Bishop Curry placed the restrictions on Love and warned him of potential disciplinary action.

At a virtual hearing in June 2020, Rev. Chip Strickland, who represented Love, argued that the bishop had not violated canonical law. Resolution B012 is not a revision to the Book of Common Prayer, Strickland argued, and therefore does not have canonical status. Another argument Love and his team put forward was that the resolution contradicts the Book of Common Prayer, which still states that marriage is between one man and one woman.

In their decision, the panel argued that even though resolution B012 is not explicitly designated as a “proposed revision to the Book of Common Prayer,” it does not need these “magic words” to be considered canonical. Rather, “The intent of General Convention must be gleaned from the plain language of the resolution.” Regarding Love’s argument that the resolution’s definition of marriage contradicts that of the Book of Common Prayer, Anglican Ink reports the panel rejected it on the following grounds:

The preface of the marriage rite in the Book of Common Prayer, the panel said, only applies to that particular rite and not the additional rites authorized by General Convention, and the rubrics to the catechism describe it as “an outline for instruction” that is “not meant to be a complete statement of belief and practice.

In his statement, Bishop Love said he did not believe that appealing the panel’s decision would do any good.

For Bishop Love, this is much more than losing a job. In 2018, Bishop Love wrote, “I can’t help but believe that God has removed his blessing from the Church. Unless something changes, the Episcopal Church is going to die.”

Private Christian Camp in New Mexico Will House Migrant Children

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AP News

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April 1, 2021

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A private Christian camp in northern New Mexico is looking for volunteers and donations as it prepares for the potential arrival of immigrant children from the U.S.-Mexico border as federal holding facilities become more crowded.

A page on the Glorieta Camps website states that the organization was asked by the White House and U.S. Health and Human Services Department to house and feed potentially 2,400 unaccompanied children at its property near Santa Fe.

Glorieta Camps executive assistant Josh Nelson said Wednesday that the organization has been talking with federal officials for the last two days and he was unsure when a contract would be finalized. He said the camp is prepared to take children as soon as Thursday but that it could only do so for 60 days to avoid having to cancel its own summer programs.

President Joe Biden is under pressure to address immigration concerns as thousands of children and families have been arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, packing holding facilities. On Tuesday evening, U.S. Border Patrol agents reported that two young girls from Ecuador were abandoned after being dropped by a smuggler over a 14-foot-high border barrier in New Mexico, just west of El Paso, Texas. The 3- and 5-year-old sisters were unhurt and are now at a holding facility, but authorities called the latest incident appalling.

Convention centers in San Diego and Dallas and even a camp for oil field workers in West Texas have been converted into a temporary housing as the administration scrambles to find more space. In Arizona, advocacy groups have been busing families and single adults to temporary shelters in Tucson and Phoenix where they can wait until being placed with family members in the U.S. or other sponsors.

The Border Patrol is apprehending more children daily than Health and Human Services is placing with sponsors, leading to a severe backlog. The Border Patrol generally is not supposed to detain children for more than three days, but Health and Human Services lacks space.

For the first time Tuesday, the Biden administration allowed journalists from The Associated Press and a crew from CBS inside its main border detention facility for migrant children in Texas. The tour revealed a severely overcrowded tent structure where more than 4,000 people, including children and families, were crammed into a space intended for 250.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office said Wednesday that it was aware only that the Biden administration was seeking temporary sites for unaccompanied children but didn’t have any details or information about where or what facilities were being considered.

Brian Sayler with the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management told The Associated Press last week that the state was in regular communication with U.S. Customs and Border Protection as well as federal emergency management and homeland security officials.

“New Mexico is requesting that these federal agencies stand up a coordinated response to address any increase in border activity,” he said at the time, adding that the state also has been talking with local emergency managers and nongovernment groups.

Aaron Morales, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, New Mexico’s senior senator, said it was the office’s understanding that the Health and Human Services Department doesn’t have plans to open a shelter in New Mexico at this time.

Glorieta Camps, operated by a Christian faith-based nonprofit called Glorieta 2.0, sits on a 2,400-acre property that is ordinarily wide open for people to communion with nature. Facilities include more than 100 buildings for sleeping, eating and meeting, but there are questions as to what kind of changes would be needed to ensure security of its no-frills conference halls and bunk-bed dorms.

Camp employees and other groups were calling on the public to help provide supplies and were seeking volunteers to help care for the kids. Social media posts and emails were requesting toiletries, bath towels, water bottles and clothes for 13- to 17-year-old boys.

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Associated Press writers Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Nomaan Merchant in Houston contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared here.

Panel Advances Bills Ending Religious Exemption for Vaccines

By

Susan Haigh

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April 1, 2021

(AP News) A key Connecticut legislative committee on Wednesday advanced retooled legislation that scraps a long-standing state religious exemption that many parents have been using over the past decade to avoid having their children vaccinated, while still enabling them to attend public school.

The latest version includes a new provision requiring health insurance companies to cover the cost of at least a 20-minute consultation between the health care provider and the parent or guardian. There’s also language that proponents said creates a clearer path for medical exemptions, which will remain available, including the creation of a new medical exemption certificate that physicians would fill out.

“It is really left up to the families and the practitioner, ultimately the practitioner, to determine whether a medical exemption is warranted,” said Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, co-chairman of the General Assembly’s Public Health Committee. “But our goal is to enhance that conversation, that rapport, to avoid tense moments in practices between families and practitioners and to lead ideally to more families finding a path to vaccinate their children.”

That conversation, he said, could lead to extending the schedule of childhood vaccinations, such as measles, mumps and rubella, for example.

In an unusual move, the legislative committee, made up of House and Senate members, was voting Wednesday on two identical bills. One now proceeds to the House and the second to the Senate.

While some Republicans questioned whether there were political motivations behind the move, Steinberg said it was done to ensure “flexibility” for scheduling a floor vote on the legislation during the pandemic, which has forced much of the General Assembly’s proceedings to virtual meetings.

Both bills passed 22-11 along partisan lines.

This marks the third year in a row that lawmakers have considered removing the religious exemption. It has become a mostly partisan issue in Connecticut, with Democrats in support and the GOP in opposition.

Some Republicans, however, said Wednesday they support vaccinations and even vaccinated their own children, but disagree with the state essentially forcing parents to get their children inoculated in order for them to attend public school.

“Who are we in the state to say we know better than you?” asked Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield.

The bill also applies to higher education and child care centers.

While last year’s version of the bill grandfathered all unvaccinated children who already had religious exemptions, this year’s legislation only excuses students in the 7th grade and older – a change that bothered both Republicans and some Democrats.

Rep. William Petit, R-Plainville, a physician who voted against both bills on Wednesday, said he has struggled with the legislation because there isn’t a clear plan for how to address the educational needs of unvaccinated students who would no longer be allowed to attend public school as of Sept. 1, 2022.

“From my point of view, the science issues are pretty straight-forward,” Petit said. “But I think the ramifications in terms of the educational impact on kids is really confusing.”

Steinberg said the issue will likely be revisited as the bills proceed through the legislative process. The legislative session ends on June 9.

This article originally appeared here.

What Is Maundy Thursday?—How to Celebrate During Holy Week

By

Elizabeth Spencer

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April 1, 2021

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” (Philippians 2:5-7 NIV)

The week leading up to Easter is sometimes called Passion Week, and no wonder: the fervor of God is on full display.

His fervor against evil and for good.
His fervor against sin and for righteousness.
His fervor against hate and for love.

Three days before Easter, we come to Maundy Thursday. “Maundy” comes from the Latin word “mandatum,” meaning command, order, or commission. (And do you see our English word “mandate” as well?)

What is being commissioned here is the “new commandment” Jesus gave His disciples after He washed their feet:

“Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that the time had come to leave this world to go to the Father. Having loved his dear companions, he continued to love them right to the end. So he got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron. ‘You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do. I’m only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn’t give orders to the employer. Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other’” (from John 13 MSG).

The Latin word “mandatum” that gives us “Maundy Thursday” reminds me of another Latin word: “manus,” meaning “hand.” (Think of our English words manipulate, manual, and manicure.) “Mandatum” and “manus” are not related, but I’m fascinated by the connection I see between them as it pertains to Jesus the Servant: His command (His “mandatum”) was to love as He loved, to do as He did, to serve as He served—and so often, Jesus loved and did and served with His hands.

With His hands, He healed: “Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly” (Mark 8:25 NIV).

With His hands, He blessed: “And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them” (Mark 10:16 NIV).

With His hands, He confirmed: “He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.’ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet” (Luke 24:38-40 NIV).

And with His hands, He holds: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28 NIV).

Today, on this Maundy Thursday, we see the Servant’s hands, washing His disciples’ feet. May we also hear His voice, giving us a new command:

“Be my feet, and go. Be my hands, and serve.”

This post originally appeared at GuiltyChocoholicMama.com, published with permission. Be sure to also check out Elizabeth’s book, Known By His Names: A 365-Day Journey from the Beginning to Amen.

Black Southern Baptists Seek More Action on Racism From Seminary Presidents

By

Adelle M Banks

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April 1, 2021

(RNS) — The African American caucus within the Southern Baptist Convention has asked its denomination’s seminary presidents to do more to address continuing tensions about racism and critical race theory.

The denomination’s Council of Seminary Presidents issued a statement in November declaring the academic theory that examines systemic racism is not compatible with the denomination’s statement of faith. Since that time there have been statements, counterstatements and continuing questions about how Southern Baptists will deal with the ongoing debate.

Several Black pastors have announced plans to leave the predominantly white evangelical denomination.

“The (Council of Seminary Presidents) statement has the effect of delegitimizing and dismissing the lived experiences of African Americans and other ethnic groups,” the National African American Fellowship said in its newest statement last week (March 24). “We strongly believe that any discussions on systemic racism must consider the lived experiences of Blacks and other ethnic groups.”

The fellowship said it was “deeply disappointed” the seminary presidents have “not moved from their original statement of CRT’s incompatibility in all its forms.” It added that “certain limited insights from CRT” could help identify systemic racism and racial bias in institutions.

The African American group listed requests of seminary leaders, including joint forums on “biblical approaches to addressing systemic racism in our institutions, organizations and churches.”

They also asked that seminaries include a required course about “the historical and theological understanding of race and racism in America and its impact on society” in their curricula.

After a joint meeting in early January of the seminary presidents and fellowship leaders, the Rev. Marshal L. Ausberry Sr., president of the African American fellowship, told Baptist Press the presidents “shared the conviction that CRT will not be taught at their seminaries.”

In its new letter, which follows a December statement calling for the joint meeting, the fellowship also sought “safe spaces” on SBC seminary campuses to discuss race and racism.

“We further recommend that in light of the ongoing realities of racism, the CSP should develop biblically-based methodologies designed to identify and address systemic racism,” it said.

The fellowship leaders also asked that the presidents’ council acknowledge it was “speaking for their seminaries and not for the SBC” when it issued its November statement.

Danny Akin, chairman of the seminary council, said in response in Baptist Press the presidents “speak for ourselves and our seminaries alone.”

Akin, who is president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, added: “We do not speak for the Southern Baptist Convention, but we are accountable to it, to teach in accordance with and not contrary to the Baptist Faith and Message.”

In an episode of his “Pastor to Pastor” podcast, former SBC Executive Committee chairman Mike Stone critiqued the NAAF’s latest statement’s call for like-minded believers to unite “around the essentials of our faith and, in the nonessentials, maintain a spirit of charity.”

Stone, who is among the nominees for the next Southern Baptist Convention president, said there cannot be “true biblical unity” when there is disagreement over doctrine or practice.

“In our current context if one group in the Southern Baptist Convention believes critical race theory is a helpful tool but another group believes it is completely incompatible with the Bible and ultimately destructive to our gospel efforts, there can be union but there cannot be true biblical unity,” said Stone, a Georgia pastor who continues to serve on the Executive Committee as well as the steering council of the Conservative Baptist Network.

The network’s website says it opposes racism and “rejects worldly ideologies infiltrating the Southern Baptist Convention, including Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, and other unbiblical agendas deceptively labeled as ‘Social Justice.’”

Asked by a Religion News Service reporter if he thought churches that believe CRT is useful should be disfellowshipped from the SBC, Stone responded, “I do not.”

Bob Smietana contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared here.

Survey: Most Americans Know Biden Is Catholic, Far Fewer Know Harris’ Religion

By

Adelle M Banks

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April 1, 2021

Harris' religion — President-elect Joe Biden speaks at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. Biden has called the violent protests on the U.S. Capitol “an assault on the most sacred of American undertakings: the doing of the people’s business.” (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

(RNS) — Most Americans know President Joe Biden is Roman Catholic but there are stark differences — especially based on political party — in how they believe he should live out his faith, a new study shows.

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults (58%) recognize Biden is Catholic, including 63% of those who are Democrats or lean Democratic and 55% of Republicans or Republican leaners. Most others surveyed said they were unsure of his religious affiliation.

The findings were released Tuesday (March 30) in a Pew Research Center report looking at Americans’ views about the faiths of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

The survey of more than 12,000 U.S. adults revealed a political divide in agreement on just how religious the two top officeholders are.

More than 8 in 10 Democrats (88%) say Biden is at least “somewhat” religious — including 45% who describe him as “very” religious — while almost two-thirds (63%) of Republicans say he is “not too” or “not at all” religious.

Two-thirds of Catholics (66%) and atheists and agnostics (66%) know Biden is Catholic, compared with three-quarters of Jews (75%) and about half or fewer of Black Protestants (46%) and people who describe their faith as “nothing in particular” (43%).

While most respondents were familiar with the president’s faith, they were less so about the religious identity of Harris.

Two-thirds of American adults (65%) said they are not sure of Harris’ religion, while only 12% said she is Protestant. The vice president identifies as a Baptist.

About half of Americans say Harris is “somewhat religious” (38%) or “very religious” (8%), with the other half saying she is “not too religious” (28%) or “not at all religious” (23%).

Equal shares of people in both parties say they do not know her religion (64% each) but, as with Biden, far more Democrats are likely to see her as at least somewhat religious (69%) than Republicans are (19%).

Among religious groups, the view that Harris is a religious person is most common among Black Protestants (78%) and least among white evangelical Protestants (20%). There was a similar finding for Biden: 87% of Black Protestants said he was at least somewhat religious, but just 35% of white evangelicals said so.

The findings line up with previous studies that show Black Protestants tend to vote Democratic while white evangelicals lean Republican.

Doug Emhoff, left, Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden, and first lady Jill Biden, bow their heads in prayer during a virtual Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service, in the State Dinning Room of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Overall, 64% of U.S. adults say Biden is “very” or “somewhat” religious, an increase from 55% who described him that way in February 2020. There has been a notable increase in the share of Americans who now say Biden is “very” religious.

“But virtually all of this increase has happened among Democrats; among members of Biden’s own party, 13% described him very religious early last year, compared with 45% today,” notesGregory A. Smith, Pew’s associate director for research and author of the report on the new findings.

He noted members of the president’s party may have heard him mention his faith both on the campaign trail, such as at the Democratic National Convention, and since his election, including during inaugural ceremonies.

The partisan difference in views about Biden continued when respondents were asked about how much the president discusses his faith. Eight in 10 Democrats (79%) said he mentions his religious faith and prayer “about the right amount,” while fewer than half of Republicans (42%) came to the same conclusion.

Even among Biden’s fellow Catholics, partisanship permeates views of Biden’s religion. Nine in 10 Democratic and Democratic-leaning Catholics say they think Biden is at least somewhat religious, including half who say he is “very” religious. Among Republican and Republican-leaning Catholics, by contrast, a 56% majority say Biden is “not too” or “not at all” religious. And while 8 in 10 Catholic Democrats say they think Biden discusses his faith “about the right amount,” barely half as many Catholic Republicans say the same (42%).

Catholic respondents aligned with the two major political parties show especially stark differences in whether the president should be disqualified from receiving Communion in the Catholic Church.

While 55% of Catholic Republicans think the president’s views on abortion should disqualify him from Communion, 87% of Catholic Democrats disagree. About two-thirds of U.S. Catholics overall (67%) say the president should be allowed to receive Communion.

Biden said during his campaign that he would protect Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. Shortly after Biden’s election, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops expressed concerns about Biden’s abortion views.

The survey of 12,055 U.S. adults, including 2,492 Catholics, was conducted March 1-7 and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 1.5 percentage points. The margin of error for subgroups, such as Black Protestants, Catholics and Jews, ranged from 1.9 percentage points to 9.8 percentage points.

This article originally appeared here.

How to Keep Your Children Safe From Online Predators

By

Kelly McCaughey

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April 1, 2021

The internet: Its given us the ability to know what the weather is like anywhere across the globe, to hitch a ride from a nearby driver, to listen to our favorite music or watch our favorite shows on demand, and even to video chat with loved ones thousands of miles away. Most people can agree that the onset of the digital age has done a lot of wonderful things for our world. But, as with all technology, the internet possesses the potential for danger—for us and for our children.

In other words, the internet is not a bad place, but the trust we put in it might be.

When I was 11 years old, I had the same problem as many kids my age: I was being bullied at school.

It was the dawn of the social media age and being a sneaky tween, I had a secret online profile on a hot new social networking site called Myspace. Although I intended for this platform to be a respite from my troubles, it quickly became a place where the school bullying could continue, even after the last bell rang.

One day after school, I was sitting at the family computer quietly crying about a nasty comment a “mean girl” had left on my profile, when a notification popped up. It was from a cute boy named Hayden and to my surprise, he was defending me!

Hayden told the girl that she didn’t know what she was talking about; that I was beautiful, that I was kind, that I was funny and…

The waterworks instantly shut off and my jaw hit the floor. Who was this knight in shining armor?

I clicked on his profile and to my pleasant surprise, Hayden appeared to be a handsome, charming, 13-year-old surfer boy who went to a middle school in a neighboring city. For all intents and purposes, this was 11-year-old Kelly’s version of the ultimate dreamboat.

I had never been the type to get attention from boys—especially not cute ones like Hayden! And not only was this boy giving me positive attention, he really seemed to care about my wellbeing. He was saving me from my tormentors and I could not be more enchanted.

It took me about five minutes of staring at the screen in disbelief before I mustered the courage to send him a private message, and even then, all I could think of to say was, “Hey! ☺”

In the moments before he replied, my imagination went wild. Who is this guy? How did he find me? When can we meet in person? Was this the beginning of the rest of my life? Was Hayden my soulmate? Would my wedding dress be white or cream?

Although my mind was reeling with thousands of scenarios in those few moments, I could have never imagined the reply I received.

“Hi Sissy!”

It turns out my handsome knight was not a handsome knight at all. “Hayden” was a profile created by my protective older sister who was tired of watching her baby sister get bullied.

Although I was a little disappointed that all of my fantasies about having a handsome older boyfriend were no longer feasible, I was grateful for my sister’s sweet gesture and, as far as the kids at school were concerned, Hayden and I continued dating until his dad’s job got transferred to Colorado. (This conveniently occurred about two weeks after the bullying subsided).

Although this was the first time I was approached online by a stranger, it was certainly not the last. Over the proceeding years, getting messages from strangers became the norm for my friends and I. And although I had learned my lesson about talking to strangers online after my encounter with “Hayden,” I knew that not all of my peers were so lucky.

Today, I serve as the Internet Safety Specialist at Shared Hope International, a nonprofit organization leading the fight to end child sex trafficking in the United States. And day after day, I hear horrendous stories of online child sexual exploitation and abuse that started out just like my interaction with Hayden:

The child is lonely and yearns to be loved and accepted.
They may be experiencing troubles at home or at school—and these troubles are often evident on their social media profiles.
Suddenly, a stranger takes interest, giving them the online attention and love they crave.
This person seems to truly understand them, even liking all the same things the child likes.
They seem like the perfect best friend—or love interest.

In the case of children who are exploited, this is typically when the ongoing chatting begins and the relationship progresses. Eventually, trust is built and secrets are shared. The child feels closer to this predator than anyone else and becomes reliant on the relationship with them. Eventually, the predator uses this trust and reliance to coerce the child into pushing their sexual boundaries. This manifests with the child engaging in sexual conversation or even sharing sexual images of themselves.

From there, the perpetrator uses the trust they’ve built with the child, the secrets the child has shared, and the sexual content the child has entrusted to the predator to manipulate and coerce the child into doing whatever they want—including being sexually exploited (online or in person) for profit.

The hard truth is that technology, including social media, is widely viewed as responsible for the explosion of sex trafficking in the United States. Predators are luring child victims via tablets, phones, even video game consoles and e-sports. In these online venues, our children are being enticed, entrapped, and sold for sex. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (or NCMEC), there are 750,000 predators online worldwide at any given moment.

In fact, as the Internet Safety Specialist at Shared Hope International, I’ve experienced this predatory behavior firsthand. While researching commonly used mobile apps, I was solicited within minutes of creating a profile while posing as a 15-year old girl. I was sent pornographic images, was asked to remove my clothing, and, in one case, to meet up in person. Another predator groomed me with friendship over several days before his messages started to become sexually explicit. The profile picture he used was a photo of a puppy. Worse still, the solicitors were decades older.

For these reasons and so many more, Shared Hope International decided to launch an Internet Safety Initiative, creating free, downloadable resources to guide and empower parents as they protect their children from online predators. Along with an ongoing video series (including a video about my experience posing as a 15-year-old girl online) parents gain access to our Comprehensive Internet Safety Guide on Shared Hope’s Internet Safety Page. These resources cover topics such as parental control options, sexting, gaming safety, dangerous apps and conversation starters

If you think a child in your life might be communicating with an online predator, check out these warning signs:

If they withdraw from family or friends
If someone is sending them pornography
If they are overly obsessed with being online
If they hide their device screens from others
If they receive expensive gifts from a friend you don’t know
If they become upset when they don’t have Wi-Fi access or cell service

If you notice a child in your life exhibiting two or more of these signs, contact the NCMEC Cybertipline at 1-800-THE-LOST and your local law enforcement for help and support.

For more information on how to keep your kids safe from online predators, and to download Shared Hope’s free internet safety resources, visit sharedhope.org/internetsafety.

Exploring God’s Will for Christian Teen Girls

By

Elisabeth Carter

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March 31, 2021

When Christian teen girls who love God want to know what God wants from them, it shows that their faith is maturing. Following Jesus means your life will be affected by God’s will, so let’s take a look at what exactly God wants from Christian teen girls—first as humans and then as women.

What the Bible Reveals for Christian Teen Girls

God Created All Humanity—Including Women

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth—and he created people! Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 2 provides a more detailed account of creation, with God creating distinct male and female people—first Adam and then Eve. Some people make a big deal of the fact that Adam is created first, but there are a few beautiful things to note about the creation of woman:

In Genesis 2:18, God says, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” Without women, God’s creation is not good, in contrast to the refrain from the previous chapter: “God saw that it was good.” It’s incomplete. Also in verse 18, God says he will “make a helper suitable for [Adam].” The Hebrew word for helper (ezer) is actually used to describe God at many points in the Old Testament. Being a helper is by no means a demeaning position; it’s actually a powerful, equal role in creation. Adam can’t fulfill his purpose without Eve!

The man and woman are to work together in the land, and God brings them together in a covenant relationship in which they’re able to bear children to inhabit the earth.

God Wants Certain Things From All People

After God created people, we unfortunately messed everything up. Because sin entered the world, God has one particular thing he wants from all of us—male or female.

As Sean McDowell explains here: “God’s will is that, by believing in his Son, Jesus Christ, people be saved. First Timothy 2:4 says that God ‘desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.’ If you’re stumbling through life trying to know God’s will but have never asked God to forgive your sins, then you aren’t even in the beginning of God’s will. Qualification number one for God’s will is your salvation. If you’ve never committed your life to being a disciple of Jesus, then God has no reason to reveal anything further to you regarding the pattern of your life.”

Asian Woman Brutally Beaten on Her Way to Church

By

Jessica Lea

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March 31, 2021

A Black man who brutally beat an Asian woman in Manhattan while she was on her way to church Monday has been arrested. As they grieve this attack, Christian leaders are pointing out it comes amid many other crimes against Asian Americans.

“Want to know why we do what we do at @aachristcollab?” tweeted Raymond Chang. “In part, our work is deeply motivated by realities like this, which often go unseen or ignored. We organize, rally & protest out of our Christian convictions because we stand against hate & evil & care about our neighbors.”

Chang is the president of the Asian American Christian Collaborative (AACC), an organization that “seeks to encourage, equip, and empower Asian American Christians and friends of our community to follow Christ holistically. We are committed to amplifying the voices, issues, and histories of Asian Americans in the church and society at large.” The AACC organized 14 rallies that took place across the U.S Sunday and at which an estimated 5,000 people marched.

Asian Woman Beaten in Front of Bystanders

Authorities arrested 38-year-old Brandon Elliot at 1 a.m. Wednesday morning for attacking a 65-year-old Filipina woman, identified as Vilma Kari, shortly before 12 p.m. Monday. The footage shows the suspect kicking the woman in the chest, knocking her over, and then repeatedly kicking her while she is on the ground. The NYPD said that the man made “anti-Asian statements” against her as he kicked and punched her.

The assault occurred at 360 West 43rd St. in front of a building managed by a company called the Brodsky Organization. Security footage shows several bystanders watching the beating from inside the building, but taking no action to help the woman. Instead, a security guard reportedly was one of the men who closed the door after the assailant fled the scene. A representative with the employees’ union said staff did make a call for help.

“The staff who witnessed the attack have been suspended pending an investigation in conjunction with their union,” said Brodsky in a statement. “The Brodsky Organization is also working to identify a third-party delivery vendor present during the incident so that appropriate action can be taken.”

Elliot was a local homeless man who had served 17 years in state prison for murdering his mother. In November 2019, he was released on lifetime parole. The NYPD has charged Elliot with felony assault as a hate crime. Kari was hospitalized with serious injuries that included a fractured pelvis and was released Tuesday.

Faith Leaders React to Attack on Asian Woman

Chang called the fact that the bystanders did not intervene “beyond infuriating.” Abraham Cho, pastor of Redeemer East Side called the attack, “Disgusting, Evil, Cowardly, Despicable.” Timothy Isaiah Cho, Associate Editor at Faithfully Magazine, compared the violence perpetrated by the passive onlookers to the violence perpetrated by people who refuse to speak out against Anti-Asian racism [Editor’s Note: Some may find the video in the previous link to be disturbing].

“Solidarity costs something, folks!” said Cho, citing the example of the Good Samaritan. “Be the hands and feet of Jesus.”

Reports indicate that Asian Americans have faced increasing discrimination over the past year. An Asian man was attacked elsewhere in New York City the same day as the assault on Kari. On March 16, a man named Robert Aaron Long perpetrated a mass shooting that left eight people, including six Asian women, dead. That same week, an elderly Asian woman was attacked in San Francisco in what CBS reported was “the latest victim in a wave of attacks on Asians in the Bay Area.” Some attribute the rise in anti-Asian sentiment to the fact that COVID-19 originated in Wuhan, China, and to the rhetoric used by some, including former President Donald Trump, referring to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus.”

In light of the violence, Christian leaders are calling for people to stand against anti-Asian racism, hence the continued work of the AACC. AACC vice president Dr. Michelle Reyes commented on last week’s rallies:

Here’s my recap from the Atlanta prayer rally this past Sunday. We want to work together toward a more just and equitable future for all, and Sunday’s national prayer rallies was a powerful step in that direction.https://t.co/QtpWfbSr1f

#StandForAAPILives @aachristcollab

— Michelle Ami Reyes (@drmichellereyes) March 30, 2021

John MacArthur: It’s Too Late for America, but Not for the Elect

By

Stephanie Martin

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March 31, 2021

In a Palm Sunday sermon titled “Chosen for Him,” California pastor and author John MacArthur warned that America is already experiencing the judgment of God, in part for its sexual sins. Like the Old Testament Israelites and the Jews of Jesus’ day, he said, “It is too late. Judgment is already in motion.” Only for a “remnant,” or “the elect,” is that not the case, MacArthur added.

The controversial preacher, who has repeatedly pushed back against coronavirus-related church closures, spoke Sunday at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley. His main text for the hour-long sermon was the parable of the vineyard owner in Mark 12, a parable MacArthur labeled as one of judgment and destruction. In that story, the tenants kill the landowner’s servants—and even his beloved son, the heir.

The Judgment of God: Destroyed Due to Willing Unbelief

The chapter preceding that parable features Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, as well as his cursing of the barren fig tree and his clearing of the moneychangers’ tables in the temple courts. Those acts of cursing and clearing are the opposite of what people would have expected from Jesus on Palm Sunday, MacArthur said. “The people welcomed Jesus as a king; he came as a judge. The people wanted him to bless them; he cursed them. The people thought they were the people of God; Jesus described them as the children of the devil.”

Although the people of Jesus’ generation received signs, said MacArthur, many still refused to believe (John 12:37). In the final verses of Acts, the Apostle Paul also describes willing unbelief, noted MacArthur, resulting in God’s salvation being sent instead to the Gentiles.

In his sermon, MacArthur also referenced Isaiah chapter 1 and its series of “woes.” God, as the vineyard owner, sent numerous Old Testament prophets to warn his people, but the Israelites rejected them all, and vengeance resulted.

“A generation of people can come too late to Christ,” MacArthur said, adding that it was too late for the Old Testament Israelites, who were taken into captivity in Babylon, and also too late for first-century Jews, who endured the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD and had to scatter. “It can be too late for every nation,” MacArthur said, pointing to Acts 14:16, which says God allows all nations to “go their own way.”

Both Isaiah’s generation and Jesus’ generation “had their opportunities,” MacArthur noted, but for both it became too late. “The temple was never rebuilt, the priesthood was never recovered. No sacrifices, no ceremonies, no Sadducees, no Pharisees, no priests, no chief priests to this day. The whole system ended.” Meanwhile, the rejected “stone”—Jesus Christ—became the cornerstone, which is “marvelous in our eyes” (Mark 12:10-11).

John MacArthur: This Also Applies Today

Next, MacArthur turned to Romans 1:18, which refers to wicked people suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. “How do you know when a nation passes the point where salvation is possible for a people?” asked the pastor. “When any society suppresses the truth continually, it can go past the point where God will hear. It can be too late.”

Citing other verses in Romans 1, MacArthur said, “God gave them over to a reprobate mind, a non-functioning mind. When you see a nation deep in sexual sin, pervasively affirming of homosexuality, and the insanity of a reprobate mind, where they make laws to criminalize righteousness and to legalize gross evil, you know that nation’s under judgment.”

For Christians, said MacArthur, our message to America is this: “It’s too late” because “we’re under judgment” already. “Judgment has been unleashed. You can hear, but not understand. You can see, but not perceive.” But, the pastor added, “It’s not too late for the elect.” Though most Americans’ hearts have been hardened by God, a remnant remains. “God has his people,” MacArthur said. “So we warn, because we don’t know who those people are, and we also offer the grace of the Gospel. That’s our calling.”

Pastor Says Coronavirus Is Not a Sign of Christ’s Return

By

Christine Yount Jones

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March 31, 2021

Dr. William Glover, Senior Pastor of Mt. Hermon Ministries in Fort Myers, Florida, told Rachel Lloyd of Fox4 Southwest Florida, that the Covid-19 vaccine is not a sign of Christ’s return. Even so, Dr. Glover affirms that Christ’s return is a good thing for Christians to be eagerly anticipating.

These are comforting words for Christians to hear from their church leaders because, according to the Washington Post, “White evangelicals, along with Black Americans of different faiths, are some of the groups with the highest levels of vaccine skepticism in the United States. Just under a third of U.S. adults say they will probably or definitely not get the vaccine, compared to 44 percent of those who identify as White evangelicals, according to a January Washington Post-ABC News poll. Other polls have found higher levels of vaccine skepticism among White evangelicals.”

Scripture is very clear that we as believers should have Jesus’ return in our minds as we hope for that day. Titus 2:13 says, “We wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

And there are signs that will usher in that day. Pastor Glover affirms that there “have been plagues in each generation, and the Lord has not yet returned. That does not mean that he is not going to. But, what it does mean is that plagues are not a good gauge to determine whether the Lord is going to return in your generation.”

Not only does Pastor Glover comfort people that taking the Covid-19 vaccine is safe, but he and his church, Mt. Hermon Ministries in Fort Myers, Florida, has led the way in vaccination clinics.

Pastor Glover and his wife, Cheryl, opened up their doors earlier this year to provide 250 vaccinations.

“The rewarding part is to see the smiles and hear the thank yous and expression of appreciation because people’s anxiety levels have been lowered,” Glover said. “We hear the stories that they can’t and that they’re on hold, that they’re filled up when they try to register, the lines are too long.”

For Christians who fear that the Covid-19 vaccine might be a sign of the beast, Dr. Glover has more comforting words. He says, “No man knows the day nor the hour. Not even the angels in heaven,” quoting Mark 13:32.

North Dakota House Approves Ten Commandments School Bill

By

AP News

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March 31, 2021

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota’s Republican-led House overwhelmingly endorsed legislation Tuesday that’s aimed at shielding schools and teachers from lawsuits arising from posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

The 76-16 vote came despite warnings from attorneys and school officials that the legislation would result in costly and unwinnable legal fights.

The GOP-controlled Senate approved the measure 34-13 last month. Hoping to fend off legal challenges, the House amended the bill with a requirement that the Ten Commandments be included in a display with other historical documents.

The bill now goes back to the Senate for concurrence. GOP Gov. Doug Burgum has not signaled whether he would sign the legislation.

Proponents of the legislation say it is intended to promote moral behavior in schools, and that that the United States was founded on Ten Commandments’ principals.

“We need to get back to what we were founded on,” said GOP Rep. Terry Jones, who leads a church congregation in New Town and carried the bill on the House floor. “If we will go back to that foundation, there will be a lot more happiness and civility in our nation.”

Attorneys and education officials told a House committee last week the bill likely violates the clause in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that prohibits the establishment of religion by the government.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which has been tracking the North Dakota legislation, said in a statement Tuesday that passage of the legislation would invite litigation. The organization noted that not a single court has upheld the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools, even if they are displayed with other material.

“As soon as the Ten Commandments goes up, students’ rights will have been violated and they will have a cause of action against the school district,” the ACLU said. “All students, regardless of their faith, should feel safe and welcome in our public schools. Displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms and other school spaces would convey the opposite message.”

Fargo Democratic Rep. Karla Rose Hanson warned the Legislature would be “wasting taxpayer dollars” by passing the measure.

Simply posting the Ten Commandments along with other historical documents isn’t enough to make it pass muster with the courts, she said. The bill was inspired out of “religious intent, not historical intent.”

GOP Rep. Larry Klemin, a Bismarck attorney who headed the House committee that amended the bill, said if the legislation would ever reach the U.S. Supreme Court, it could be looked more favorably by the court because of its shift to the right following the appointment of three conservative justices by President Donald Trump.

“We do have a new Supreme Court and I think they may look more kindly on this than some of those have in the past,” he said.

“Thou shall not kill this bill,” Klemin said, while urging his fellow lawmakers to approve the measure.

This article originally appeared here.

Blinken Ends Trump Rights Plan Promoting Conservative Agenda

By

AP News

-

March 31, 2021

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a sharp rebuke to Trump-era policies, Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday formally scrapped a blueprint championed by his predecessor to limit U.S. promotion of human rights abroad to causes favored by conservatives like religious freedom and property matters while dismissing reproductive and LGBTQ rights.

Blinken said a report prepared for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that sought to pare down the number of freedoms prioritized in U.S. foreign policy was “unbalanced,” did not reflect Biden administration policies and would not guide them. The report from Pompeo’s Commission on Unalienable Rights had been harshly criticized by human rights groups.

“One of the core principles of human rights is that they are universal. All people are entitled to these rights, no matter where they’re born, what they believe, whom they love, or any other characteristic,” Blinken said. “Human rights are also co-equal; there is no hierarchy that makes some rights more important than others.”

“Past unbalanced statements that suggest such a hierarchy, including those offered by a recently disbanded State Department advisory committee, do not represent a guiding document for this administration,” he said. “At my confirmation hearing, I promised that the Biden-Harris Administration would repudiate those unbalanced views. We do so decisively today.”

Blinken also reversed a Trump administration decision to remove sections on reproductive rights from the State Department’s annual human rights reports on foreign countries. “Women’s rights — including sexual and reproductive rights — are human rights,” he said.

Blinken made the announcement repudiating the commission’s report as he rolled out the annual human rights reports. The reports, covering last year, highlighted a declining trend in human rights around the world and the impact that the coronavirus pandemic had on rights practices. It noted that some governments had “used the crisis as a pretext to restrict rights and consolidate authoritarian rule.”

Human rights advocates condemned the report from Pompeo’s Commission on Unalienable Rights when he unveiled it last year to great fanfare from religious and social conservatives. The report was part of a broader Trump administration effort to restore the primacy of what officials considered the values of America’s Founding Fathers.

Pompeo had promoted the report at events from Pennsylvania to Indonesia and in numerous interviews with conservative media in the hope it would serve as a guide for future administrations.

Nearly all references to the commission’s report and Pompeo’s advocacy of it have been removed from the State Department’s website, although they remain available on archived pages.

The Biden administration has already repealed several Trump-era human rights decisions. Those have included reengaging with the U.N. Human Rights Council, abandoning the so-called Geneva Consensus and Mexico City rule that oppose abortion rights and restoring LGBTQ protections as a matter of administration policy.

Pompeo and many conservatives have long decried the expansion of the definition of “human rights” to include matters they believe are not God-given or made specifically sacrosanct in the U.S. Constitution.

The “international human rights project is in crisis,” Pompeo said when he unveiled the commission’s report at an event in Philadelphia. He lamented that “too many human rights advocacy groups have traded proud principles for partisan politics” and that “even many well-intentioned people assert new and novels rights that often conflict.”

Human rights groups lashed out at the findings of the commission, which was chaired by a mentor of Pompeo’s, conservative scholar and former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, Mary Ann Glendon, who has questioned the legitimacy of rights including same-sex marriage.

A two-week public comment period after the draft report was released in July 2020 was punctuated by angry denouncements of a pullback in the U.S. commitment to human rights, but the commission chose to make only minor revisions in response.

In presenting the annual human rights reports, which cover only 2020 and were largely prepared prior to President Joe Biden’s inauguration under Trump administration guidelines, Blinken said he had instructed the State Department to restore sections on reproductive rights to future editions.

He ordered the department to prepare addendums to the 2020 reports that include information about maternal mortality, discrimination against women in accessing sexual and reproductive health care and government policies about access to contraception and skilled health care during pregnancy and childbirth.

The reports highlighted concerns about abuses in China, Iran, Russia, Myanmar, Belarus and other authoritarian nations.

They called out China for committing what both the Trump and Biden administrations have characterized as “genocide” against Uighur Muslims and other minorities in China’s western Xinjiang region. They identified continued atrocities committed against Syrians by President Bashar Assad’s government and the devastating impact that the war in Yemen has had on human rights.

The reports also noted actions by the Russian government against political dissidents, like opposition figure Alexei Navalny, and peaceful protestors, continuing corruption by Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his top aides, and restrictions imposed on political speech by governments in Cuba, Nicaragua, Turkmenistan and Zimbabwe.

This article originally appeared here.

Health Officials: Churches Should Hold Off In-Person Worship

By

AP News

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March 31, 2021

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi health officials are recommending that churches and other religious organizations continue to hold off on hosting indoor worship services during the coronavirus pandemic, even after Gov. Tate Reeves relaxed regulations on other kinds of social gatherings.

“To prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to protect the vulnerable, the safest options continue to be virtual or outdoor services,” the state Health Department said in a news release this week detailing new guidelines for faith-based gatherings and worship.

Earlier this month, Reeves, a Republican, rolled back mask mandates on the state level and all capacity regulations for restaurants.

As for worship services, health officials say they recommend everyone 65 and older or 16 or older with high-risk medical conditions be fully vaccinated against coronavirus before attending indoor services.

All congregants should wear a face mask at all times during in-person services and Sunday school classes and maintain 6 feet of separation from people who don’t live in the same house as them. People should not gather in close groups while entering or exiting the building and should use hand sanitizer.

Singing at services is “a high-risk activity that can quickly spread viral particles,” officials said.

“It is preferable to not have choirs; however, if choirs are performing, they should be small in number, masked, and separated by six feet,” the Health Department said in the release.

Congregations should pursue alternatives to shared cups for communion, according to the department. Hymn and prayer books can be used if congregants sanitize their hands before use.

This article originally appeared here.

Gallup: U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for the First Time

By

Bob Smietana

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March 31, 2021

(RNS) — Ask Americans if they believe in God and most will say yes. But a growing number have lost faith in organized religion.

For the first time since the late 1930s, fewer than half of Americans say they belong to a church, synagogue or mosque, according to a new report from Gallup.

Forty-seven percent of Americans now say they belong to a house of worship, down from 70% in the mid-1990s and 50% in 2019. The decline is part of a continued drop in membership over the past 20 years, according to Gallup data.

The polling giant has been measuring church membership since 1937 when nearly three-quarters of the population (73%) reported membership in a house of worship. For much of that time, membership remained at about 70% but began to decline after 1999. By the late 2000s, membership had dropped to about 62% and has continued to fall.

Pollsters at Gallup looked at survey data from more than 6,000 Americans and compared data from 2018 to 2020 with two other time frames: 2008 to 2020 and 1998 to 2000.

The decline in membership coincides with the rise of the so-called “Nones” — those who claim no religious affiliation. Gallup reports about one in five Americans (21%) is a None — making them as large a group as evangelicals or Catholics. Other polls put the number at closer to 30%.

Few Nones belong to a house of worship, Gallup found.

“As would be expected, Americans without a religious preference are highly unlikely to belong to a church, synagogue or mosque, although a small proportion — 4% in the 2018-2020 (survey) — say they do,” the report from Gallup states. “That figure is down from 10% between 1998 and 2000.”

Gallup also found a decline in membership at churches, synagogues and mosques among religious Americans, who make up about 76% of the population. In the time frame from 1998 to 2000, about three-quarters (73%) of religious Americans were members of a house of worship. That number has fallen to 60%.

Younger Americans are increasingly disconnected from organized religion, according to the report from Gallup. But the number of older Americans who are members of a house of worship has also declined in recent years.

In the time from 2008 to 2010, 73% of “traditionalists” — Gallup’s term for Americans born before 1945, were church members. That number has dropped to 66% in 2018 to 2020. Membership among Baby Boomers dropped from 63% to 58% during that same time frame, as did membership among Generation X (57% to 50%) and millennials (51% to 36%).

The gap between those who believe in a specific religion and those who participate in the life of a specific congregation is likely to prove a challenge for houses of worship. And the decline in church membership is likely to continue, according to Gallup.

“Churches are only as strong as their membership and are dependent on their members for financial support and service to keep operating,” said the report. “Because it is unlikely that people who do not have a religious preference will become church members, the challenge for church leaders is to encourage those who do affiliate with a specific faith to become formal, and active, church members.”

Measuring church membership and religious affiliation remains a challenge for researchers. From 1850 to 1950, the U.S. Census Bureau collected data on religious congregations in the United States and from 1906 to 1936 published a “Census of Religious Bodies.”

“The Census of Religious Bodies was conducted every 10 years until 1946,” Pew Research noted in a 2010 article on religion and the Census. “The 1936 Census of Religious Bodies was the last one published, however, because the U.S. Congress failed to appropriate money either to tabulate or to publish the information collected in the 1946 census. By 1956, Congress had discontinued the funding for this census altogether.”

Statisticians from more than 230 religious denominations and other religious bodies also compiled membership statistics for the 2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study. That study, which includes county by county data, found religious organizations claimed just under half (48.7) of the United States population as adherents. Similar reports have been compiled every 10 years since 1980.

This article originally appeared here.

Eugene Cho: How Could It Be a Good Friday?

By

Eugene Cho

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March 31, 2021

Why is Good Friday “good?” How could it possibly be good?

•In a culture that is ever so quick to get to the product

•In a culture that is ever so quick to avoid suffering and pain and seek ways to medicate ourselves to avoid pain

•In a culture that is ever so quick to jump to the bunnies and eggs

•In a culture that is ever so quick to commercialize, capitalize, and consumerize

•In a culture that is ever so quick to jump to the good news of Easter Sunday and Resurrection

•In a culture that is ever so quick to minimize the extent of Jesus’ suffering and crucifixion

•In a culture that is ever so quick to ‘disneyize’ the events of the brutal death of a man

•In a culture that is ever so quick to grab hold of grace as if we are entitled to it

Today matters.
Good Friday matters.
His death matters.

So let’s not be so quick to bypass this day. There’s a reason that in the Christian tradition Good Friday and its service is considered the longest and darkest day of the year.

Don’t Miss

Let it be long. Let it be dark. Let it be silent.

Let it be uncomfortable. Death is always uncomfortable–especially when we’re complicit in this death.

While the good news of our beauty is clearly exemplified in the glorious news of the Resurrection…the depths of our darkness and depravity are also exposed in the last days of Jesus’ life and crucifixion.

Carrie Underwood to Perform New Gospel Album ‘My Savior’ on Easter Sunday — Here’s How to Watch

By

Bri Lamm

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March 31, 2021

Carrie Underwood is taking fans back to her Christian roots in her first ever gospel album, My Savior, which hit stores and streaming services Friday.

The collection includes classics like “How Great Thou Art,” Amazing Grace,” “Blessed Assurance,” and “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”

The 38-year-old songstress says the album is “legacy stuff” for her, adding that she was inspired by the Christian hymnals she grew up singing in church.

“I went to a very small Free Will Baptist church in my hometown of Checotah, Oklahoma,” Carrie told NPR’s Noel King. “We would file in and sit in the pews and they’d say, ‘Open your hymnals to page…’ or whatever. And off we went.”

Carrie first announced the gospel album in an Instagram post on Christmas day, saying it was a follow-up to her first ever Christmas album, My Gift.

“Last year was a tough year for everybody, and I think just wanting to be positive in this world and sing these songs that bring me so much joy, hopefully, others can be like that as well and these songs can bring others joy,” she told PEOPLE Magazine. “That goes back with everything that I do … I just want to do positive things.”

In celebration of the release of her new album and the resurrection of Jesus, Carrie is performing My Savior in a live-streamed event from the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, on Easter Sunday.

“What better day to perform these songs for you than on Easter Sunday?” she said in a promo for the live stream event. “And what better place than from the mother church of country music,” Carrie added, inviting fans to join her on her official Facebook page on Sunday, April 4th at 11 a.m. central time.

Carrie, who says she’s been “lucky enough” to record songs with Christian themes throughout her career with hits like “Jesus Take the Wheel,” and “Something in the Water,” told PEOPLE that this gospel album was a “bucket list” project for her.

My Savior features guests like gospel legend, CeCe Winans, NEEDTOBREATHE’s Bear Rinehart, southern gospel and harmonica legend Buddy Greene, and 10-time CMA musician of the year Mac McAnally.

For Carrie, singing gospel songs like the ones she intentionally chose for My Savior, carry a much different significance for her than the ones she performs on the country music stage.

“When I made this album, I’m performing for an audience of one,” she told Noel King. “I’m gonna cry talking about it, but… The whole time I was in the studio, any time I get to sing these songs, I close my eyes and I’m the only person in the room. It’s my heart for God. And I love that. It is a different feeling. It’s happy and it’s deep. And I feel like I’m making my relationship better and deeper with God when I’m singing these songs. So they’re just so important for my heart.”

This article originally appeared here.

How to Lead and Motivate Volunteers as They Return

By

Dan Reiland

-

March 30, 2021

Have your volunteers returned? As more of your congregation return to church, your need for quality and committed volunteers increases. However, that might produce a unique kind of tension. It’s good that people are coming back, and new people are coming, but my hunch is that some of your best volunteers haven’t returned yet. Have you considered how to motivate volunteers as they return?

Tension can increase at the thought of people returning to a sub-standard worship and ministry experience if you don’t have your full volunteer teams back.

You feel the pressure.

However, don’t pass that pressure on to your volunteers.

Guilt is not a good motivator; instead, invite them back to a big vision.

If a volunteer isn’t back yet because of heightened health risks, go slow and give them time. Pray for their health and encourage them.

For your volunteers who have returned to most of their “regular” lives but not church, it’s good to engage in an honest and encouraging conversation.

Perhaps something like:

“We’d love to have you back on the team; you carry an important role in reaching people for Christ. Have you thought about when you will return? That helps us prepare for you.”

I’m surprised at how many wonderful volunteers are responding with “I really haven’t thought about that.” I’ve recently suggested, “How about Easter?” Their response, “Yes, Easter!” Special services can motivate volunteers.

I know that’s just my experience, but the principle is to reach out and engage. That communicates care. Being pushy and using guilt expresses desperation.

You are not a desperate leader. You kept church alive through 2020; you can handle this transition back to full volunteer teams for sure!

5 Essentials to Lead and Motivate Volunteers

1) Clear vision with a positive spirit

Recruit to a vision, not a job description; volunteers want to know they are part of something that matters.

Help the people you serve be part of something bigger than they do on their own.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking all your volunteers will come back at a phone call. Think about how long they have been gone. In many ways, you are starting over and re-recruiting.

The vision needs to be clear and always presented with a positive mindset. Vision will motivate volunteers.

Hope and faith always win over pressure.

What is the vision for your ministry?

What’s the why behind the work?

How will life be better for those you serve?

Answer the question about why they should care and why it matters so much.

2020 was difficult, but we have every reason to be positive, full of faith, and hope in a bright future.

Lead in a way that communicates that truth.

2) Excellent training and necessary resources

When it comes to equipping volunteers, you must give them the tools and show them how.

Don’t assume anything.

Your volunteers thrive when you set the example and show the way, then empower and get out of the way.

The effectiveness of your ministry depends heavily on who you select and the quality of the training you provide. Good training will motivate volunteers.

Of course, that assumes great culture, smart strategy, and lots of prayer.

When great training and the needed resources are provided, the result is a quadruple-win.

The volunteers win.

The people you serve win.

Your leadership wins.

The church wins.

Tips on training:

Keep it relevant to the actual tasks and responsibilities.

Keep it brief, no longer than needed.

Make it worth their time, and be prepared!

Don’t get overly philosophical or preachy.

Keep it interesting; change up your approach on occasion.

Make it inspirational and fun

Serve fantastic snacks! (No cheap coffee!)

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