10 Ways to Really Be More Like Jesus

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February 3, 2021

I recently came across a post from someone who is a bit of a protagonist when it comes to the Christian faith. It was titled something along the lines of “My New Year’s Resolution Is to Be Like Jesus,” and then on the list were things that were true of Jesus, but not often true of Jesus followers. It stung, but well, it should have.

We do not get to pick and choose what we want from the life and teaching of Jesus. We do not stand over it; it stands over us. So, I began to think of my own list: What 10 things are involved in following Jesus that perhaps Jesus followers need to be reminded are part of the package?

You might come up with a different 10, but here’s my first shot. And yes, very much meant to appropriately provoke all Jesus followers, including myself.

1. Hang out with sinners.

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” (Luke 15:1, NIV)

2. Afflict the comfortable.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence…. You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.” (Matthew 23:25, 27, NIV)

3. Comfort the afflicted.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-30, The Message)

4. Promote the dignity and worth of women.

“Jesus said, ‘… go find my brothers and tell them’ …. Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, ‘I have seen the Lord!’ Then she gave them his message.” (John 20:17-18, NLT)

5. Protect children.

“And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Matthew 18:5-6, NIV)

6. Care more about reaching the lost than catering to the found.

“Who needs a doctor, the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting outsiders, not insiders—an invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out.” (Luke 5:31-32, The Message)

7. Care nothing about power, prominence, position or prestige.

“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, taking the very nature of a servant.” (Philippians 2:5-7, NIV)

8. Live simply.

“Don’t take any money in your money belts—no gold, silver, or even copper coins. Don’t carry a traveler’s bag with a change of clothes and sandals or even a walking stick.” (Matthew 10:9-10, NLT)

9. Be anti-racist.

“When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)” (John 4:7-9, NIV)

10. Make sure it’s never about you.

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45, NLT)

This article originally appeared here.

Should Missionaries Be Looking for ‘ Persons of Peace ‘?

By

Alex Kocman

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February 3, 2021

Should Missionaries Be Looking for ‘Persons of Peace’?

“Everyone we meet is on a spiritual journey.”

I recently came across this statement printed on a brochure for an evangelistic Bible study. When I see language like this used in church and ministry contexts, I have two responses. On one hand, it’s true that we must start with the unbeliever on his own turf. This means engaging in conversation, learning what he believes, and contextualizing our gospel presentation appropriately.

It’s also true that everyone we meet is on a “spiritual journey.” Everyone, eternally speaking, is going somewhere. We are either plodding onward toward eternal life or careening toward hell (cf. Heb. 9:27).

But on the other hand, I fear such statements reveal a less-than-biblical theology. What’s more, statements like “everyone is on a spiritual journey” raise challenging missiological questions. In what sense can someone be a “seeker”? Do unbelievers engage in honest inquiry in search of spiritual truth—or, better yet, can they?

In North America, these questions are complicated by the seeker-sensitive, church growth, and attractional movements. There are certainly truths contained inside of each of the ministry philosophies represented by these movements: churches should be hospitable to unbelievers who visit their gatherings (1 Cor. 14:24), healthy churches should pursue evangelistic growth (Acts 2:41), and a Christ-exalting church is the most attractive gathering in the cosmos (Eph. 3:10).

The implications extend beyond North America as well when we discuss the concept and strategy related to “persons of peace” (cf. Luke 10:6). You might not be familiar, but this “person of peace” strategy is quite popular overseas. What—or who—are these persons of peace? According to David and Paul Watson, “[They] have three primary characteristics: They are open to a relationship with you. They hunger for spiritual answers for their deepest questions. And they will share whatever they learn with others.” These are the people missionaries should seek out, for they make evangelism and church planting both quicker and easier.

All of this sounds so promising, but it’s worth asking the question: When we go out on the mission field, should we expect to engage honest inquiry, hostile unbelief, or both?

Before we can rush out to preach the gospel, win souls, and make disciples, we must know something of the Bible’s doctrine of man. Scripturally, man is not morally neutral, and neither are his beliefs nor his affections with regard to spiritual realities.

BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

The biblical witness regarding man’s responsibility to seek God is multi-layered.People are commanded to seek God, who offers himself as the great object of all our searching and longing:

“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jer. 29:13)
“…that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us…” (Acts 17:27)
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Heb. 11:6)
“I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.” (Prov. 8:17)
“And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.” (Psa. 9:10)

It’s undeniable that Scripture commands all image-bearers to seek God. But it requires a logical leap to assume that God thereby grants fallen human beings the ability to do so in themselves. In terms of sinful human nature, there are no God-seekers, on the mission field or elsewhere. “No one understands; no one seeks for God” (Rom. 3:11; cf. Psa. 14:1–3, 53:1–3). No one who is “in the flesh” can do anything pleasing to God (Rom. 8:8), which certainly includes seeking him in faith. No one is a spiritual “seeker” in a morally-neutral sense of the term.

God thus works to draw unbelievers to Christ (John 12:32) in at least two ways, employing both natural and supernatural means, only one of which is truly determinative. God ordains secondary means by which unbelievers are exposed to gospel witness such as human conversations, relationships, circumstances, and suffering. These means are not effectual in themselves. We have all experienced conversations with unbelievers in which, providentially, they were driven to wander into a church service, email a Christian friend, or call a believer at midnight with spiritual questions, yet these circumstances often don’t result in conversion.

For conversion to occur, the Holy Spirit must intervene in regeneration, changing the heart (Ez. 36:26) and making the individual capable of apprehending and inclining toward God (2 Cor. 4:3–6). God, in Christ, seeks us (Luke 19:10). No one can come to Christ unless the Father sovereignly draws him (John 6:44). When we seek God, it is only because he has first sought us—as only regenerated persons can rightly be described as seeking God at all (cf. John 3:3, Heb. 11:6)!

When we seek God, it’s only because he has first sought us.

What does this mean for terms we employ in our missionary endeavors, like “seeker” or “person of peace”?

THEOLOGY IN PRACTICE

We must not regard unbelievers as impartial, denying the noetic effects of sin. The gospel carries necessary offense; it’s a jarring call to repent and embrace the Lord whose bloody death dismisses the charges of our cosmic crimes. If we regard unbelievers as impartial, we’ll inevitably avoid the scandalous nature of this message in an attempt to appeal to human sensibilities (cf. 1 Cor. 1:18).

The application of a biblical theology of sin and man’s spiritual deadness of heart is not that we cease to call unbelievers to “seek God while he may be found” (Isa. 55:6). Rather, recognizing that their ability to seek is entirely dependent upon God’s power, we do not trust in merely human means of persuasion in our evangelism.

Like Paul, we renounce “disgraceful, underhanded ways” and refuse to “practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word”; rather, “by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Cor. 4:1–2). And, to the degree that we are unapologetic about the offense of the cross, our hearers’ newfound faith will “not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:5).

This doesn’t mean we cease to show hospitality, host evangelistic Bible studies, or engage in meaningful question-and-answer with unbelievers. It does mean, however, that we trust the Spirit of God to grant regeneration, faith, and repentance to our hearers through the sole means of the simple, unadorned content of the gospel, which is Christ himself.

As we seek to rely upon the ordinary means of proclamation in our ministry, it is my contention that the lesson applies far beyond the confines of our pulpits or even the walls of our churches. Our anthropology must make it all the way across land and sea to our missiology.

FROM “SEEKER” TO “PERSON OF PEACE”

Whereas the term “seeker” has been associated with the church growth movement in North America in particular, “person of peace” has lodged itself into the lexicon of modern missions.

In modern missionary parlance, a person of peace is one whom God is providentially positioning and preparing to hear the gospel and spread it to others. Its practitioners get this idea from the ministry of Jesus.When Jesus sends out his 72 disciples in Luke 10 to announce the gospel of the kingdom to the Jewish people, he adds these instructions: “Whatever house you enter, begin by saying, ‘Peace to this house.’ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. Stay at the same house, eating and drinking whatever you are offered. For the worker is worthy of his wages. Do not move around from house to house” (vv. 5–7).

The strategy of prayerfully seeking the conversion of a key individual in hopes of influencing a social unit, while not always possible or fitting, is certainly valid. We should pray and labor for group conversions, not just individual ones: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31). But it’s also possible to overzealously apply this strategy. Did Jesus intend to establish a timeless paradigm that all missionaries must follow in allsituations? Are modern Christians to “carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road” (v. 4)? Since Jesus said, “Do not go from house to house,” should we impose a moratorium on door-to-door evangelism? Certainly, Jesus’ words apply to modern missions, but to import all of his instructions into our context creates problems.

It’s also possible to misconstrue the person of peace concept and smuggle in the same faulty anthropological assumptions we make with the contemporary “seeker” concept. Are persons of peace to be understood as regenerate without hearing the gospel? Do pagan religions contain the content of saving faith?

The answer to all of these questions is found in biblical context.

CONTEXT MATTERS

Tragically missing from this “Person of Peace” conversation is an understanding of the unique redemptive-historical context of Luke 10. Immediately after Jesus sends out the 72 (vv. 1–12), he pronounces woe on unbelieving cities in Israel (vv. 13–16) and explains God’s sovereignty in evangelism and salvation (vv. 17–24). This is followed by a conversation in which he exposes the self-righteousness of a Jewish lawyer (vv. 25–37). We shouldn’t miss Luke’s point here: he’s contrasting the spread of the kingdom with the spiritual hardening of ethnic Israel against the Messiah.

Simply put, Luke 10 records the 72 disciples being sent on a unique, one-time mission throughout unbelieving Israel to announce the offer of the kingdom. This is a central plot point of all four Gospels. The ethnic Jews are under a hardening (Matt. 13:13–15, Mark 4:12, John 12:40, Rom. 11:25, Acts 28:25–28; cf. Isa. 6:9–11), which becomes the eventual catalyst of the Gentile mission. Judgment on Jerusalem is imminent (Matt. 24:1–2, 34). This judgment fell in A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed the Temple and massacred more than a million Jews. Hence, Jesus’ mission to his 72 disciples in Luke 10 and parallel passages has significant first-century consequences. The old covenant was coming to a convulsive end. This was a final opportunity for that generation of ethnic Israelites to embrace their true King.

Clearly, our Lord’s emphasis in these highly contextual instructions to his disciples was the urgency and immediacy of their mission to Israel. Interestingly, we’re never expressly told about any instances in which the disciples actually found a “person of peace” or if any village-wide conversions happened afterward. In a parallel text, Jesus remarks that his disciples “will not have gone through all the towns of Israel” before the Son of Man comes in temporal judgment against Israel (Matt. 10:23). For the Jews, it was now or never. And for the disciples, this was the mother of all short-term missions trips.

Another contextual factor missing from the missiological discussion is a biblical-theological definition of the actual Greek phrase υἱὸς εἰρήνης; it’s better translated “son of peace.” Within Luke 10, it’s an outright assumption and imposition on the text to read the phrase as referring to preparation prior to evangelism. Chad Vegas convincingly argues that the phrase a “son of peace” can only rightly refer to someone who visibly responds to the gospel in faith, noting that in the context of the Gospels, to “receive” Jesus or his disciples is to embrace the good news of the kingdom and to thereby join that kingdom (Matthew 10:14, 40–41).

MOVING FORWARD

Where does this lead us in regard to the contemporary missional application of the person of peace concept? I would like to suggest four crucial considerations.

1. We should prayerfully expect God to draw people to himself.

Let us ask God to put his elect people in our path. In Corinth, the Lord Jesus encouraged Paul: “I have many in this city who are my people.” Paul continued preaching because God’s chosen were still to be drawn in. Paul later wrote, “I endure everything for the sake of the elect” (2 Tim. 2:10). So ought we. It’s our privilege to be the human means by which God accomplishes his supernatural plan to draw his treasured people to himself (cf. Eph. 1:5, 11–13). If we understand persons of peace simply to be those being effectually drawn by God to believe the gospel, we agree with Scripture. But if we add to this definition, we step outside the context of Luke 10. Unfortunately, the modern use of the phrase—and the strategy it’s unwittingly inspired—frequently goes beyond this definition and beyond the context of Luke 10.

2. We must derive our methodologies from clearer texts.

As noted above, Luke doesn’t return to the person of peace concept in his Gospel—at least not explicitly. Neither do the other synoptics use this phrase. When the disciples debrief their mission with Jesus (vv. 17–20), no explicit mention of persons of peace is made.

This is not to dismiss Luke 10:6 as uninspired or unauthoritative. It is to say, however, that as a rule, ministry methodologies should be based on prescriptive, didactic passages that speak clearly to the relevant issues. When descriptive, narrative texts are used to inform our methodologies, they should be employed within the context of the clearer instruction. In Acts, Luke documents multiple persons who might be adequately described as “persons of peace,” including Lydia, the Philippian jailer, and the Ethiopian eunuch. But equally as prevalent throughout the narrative are the recurring apostolic speeches in which the gospel is proclaimed indiscriminately to an entire group. We shouldn’t be overly selective as to which parts of the apostolic model we choose to imitate.

3. We must not conflate persons of peace with so-called “seekers.”

This is the crux of the issue. If we import a faulty anthropology into our missiology, we will in effect saw off the branch on which we sit—the branch of preaching. Unbelieving, pagan man in his depravity isn’t on a morally neutral truth quest. Only Christ can open spiritually blind eyes, and he does so through the proclamation of the Word.

A related issue that cannot be explored here in depth is the New Testament concept of “God-fearers” like Cornelius (cf. Acts 10:2). While the case of Cornelius is certainly unique, what texts such as Acts 10 do not provide is authorization to suppose that modern unreached, unengaged people groups can be saved apart from hearing and believing the gospel (cf. Rom. 10:9–17).

4. We dare not presume to know the secret will of God.

How can we identify the elect? We cannot. Only once we witness a credible response of faith to the gospel do we have reason to identify a person as “elect.” Problems therefore arise when we start to guess about who is “peaceful” prior to presenting the gospel.

Charles Spurgeon is alleged to have once quipped that he preached the gospel to everyone indiscriminately because, unfortunately, the elect are not marked with chalk on their back. Whether or not Spurgeon uttered these words is less relevant than the idea conveyed. The Great Commission commands us to take the gospel to everyone without discrimination or distinction. We cannot be so concerned with finding special, set-apart persons. If we are, then we’ll fail to be evangelistically forthright with everyone.

Problems arise when we start guessing about who is “peaceful” prior to presenting the gospel.

We also shouldn’t expect God to draw someone to himself merely on the basis of their social status within a community. An assumption often follows that that a person of peace is an influencer in his social unit, such that his decision to follow Christ might sway a whole family or village to do likewise.

While we can pray for potential converts to serve as influencers within their social units, as was likely the case with Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26–40), Luke 10 doesn’t unconditionally promise us such gatekeepers. Contrary to contemporary theories, we cannot sociologically hot-wire church multiplication. We don’t have the right to discriminate. In fact, it’s often not the rich, influential, or respected—the cheerleaders and the football players, we might say—whom God calls. Instead, “God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Cor. 1:28–29). We’re responsible to obey God’s mission, but the results are at the mercy of God’s sovereign will—thanks be to God.

God may certainly prepare encounters for us, like that with the Ethiopian eunuch, but we must learn to give thanks to God for his extraordinary providences while resting content in his ordinary ways.

CONCLUSION

Let us pray that God would providentially arrange the right gospel encounters with the right people. Let us petition the Lord of the harvest to save not just individuals but groups. But let us also preach the gospel indiscriminately to all—not just carefully to some.

This article originally appeared here.

SBC Report Calls ERLC’s Trajectory ‘Distraction’ from Great Commission

By

Bob Smietana

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February 2, 2021

(RNS) — In a long-awaited report released Monday (Feb. 1), a task force commissioned to study the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission calls the convention’s public policy arm a “significant distraction from the Great Commission work of Southern Baptists.”

Blaming the ERLC for the loss of more than a million dollars in constituent church donations to the denomination, the task force, led by Georgia pastor Mike Stone, quotes the leader of a state Baptist convention as saying, “The ERLC has been a stumbling block not worth the mission dollar investment.”

But there seems to be as much politics as economics in the report’s conclusions. It notes that in recent years, the fear of a “liberal” drift in the denomination has led some churches to leave the SBC or to withhold giving. Part of that dissatisfaction is aimed at the ERLC, and particularly at the Rev. Russell Moore, who has led the ERLC since 2013.

Though a staunch opponent of abortion and same-sex marriage, two of the issues most important to politically conservative evangelicals, Moore’s views on other issues over the course of the Trump administration — most significantly on immigration, race and Donald Trump himself — have landed Moore in hot water.

The report does not call for Moore’s ouster, but it does recommend that the ERLC no longer make public comments about any political candidate and only address issues that the SBC has already issued resolutions on.

A spokeswoman for the ERLC told RNS that Moore would not comment on the report, saying that the agency’s board of trustees has instructed him not to speak publicly about it.

But David Prince, chair of the agency’s trustees, said in a statement that “Southern Baptists can see this report for exactly what it is,” and claimed that the ERLC “has served Southern Baptists faithfully during a time of political, cultural and, in some cases, denominational chaos.”

Prince added, “Much of this chaos remains with us, including widespread news of many of our Black and brown brothers and sisters leaving the SBC. That should be alarming to all of us. Regardless, all this and more is why I am grateful the ERLC serves our churches with a vibrant and bold gospel witness day in and day out.”

The inquiry into the ERLC was set up in February 2020, after members of the SBC’s executive committee raised concerns about giving to the denomination’s cooperative program, which funds statewide and denominational ministries.

The new report claims that hundreds of churches have either left the denomination or withheld funds. It cites one state where $1,147,000 has been “withheld due to the ERLC.” In another state, the report suggests that “$2,448,000” in giving is at risk because of “serious concerns with the ERLC.” Committee members did not identify the states or specific churches.

The report also lists a series of direct complaints, among them Moore’s opposition to Trump, claims that the ERLC receives funding linked to progressive philanthropist George Soros, the ERLC’s stance on cooperating with COVID-19 restrictions, and the agency’s support for immigration reforms.

Man in China Fined More Than $24K for Christmas Gathering

By

Jessica Lea

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February 2, 2021

Chinese authorities have fined a man over $24,000 for holding a Christmas celebration where around 40 people prayed and sang hymns. Niu Guobao received the fine, as well as a summons to a hearing, on Jan. 19, one month after he had organized the gathering.

“Little did Niu realize that he was committing a number of crimes at the same time, and the penalty will be huge,” reported religious liberty magazine Bitter Winter. The Christmas gathering, at which approximately 20 children were present, was held in Huang Zhang Liang village in Lushan County, Henan province. The fine was 160,000 yuan, or $24,760 USD—an “astronomical sum for a villager.”

Niu Guobao Accused of Violating Regulation of Religious Affairs

While the Christmas event was taking place on Dec. 19, authorities with the Lushan County Religious Bureau raided the gathering, took the information of the attendees, and told them they had to stop celebrating Christmas. Officials also confiscated Christian materials, including books, calendars, and couplets. International Christian Concern reports, “More than 20 minors at the scene were frightened by the government’s actions.”

Officials accused Niu Guobao of violating Article 71 of the Regulation of Religious Affairs, which says,

Where anyone aids illegal religious activities, the religious affairs department shall give it or him a warning; the illegal gains or belongings, if any, shall be confiscated, and if the circumstances are serious, a fine of not less than 20,000 yuan and not more than 200,000 yuan shall be imposed concurrently.

In addition to that violation, authorities held Niu liable for including children in religious activities and for possessing religious literature. Officials also questioned whether the gathering was affiliated with the state-approved Three-Self Church, although not even the Three-Self Church is protected from the Chinese government’s interference.

It is illegal in China to convert minors to a particular religion. The government has banned churches from holding Sunday school, and in certain situations, Chinese authorities have even threatened to remove children from their Christian parents.

According to Bitter Winter, the Religious Affairs Bureau imposes draconian fines not only to “terrorize religious dissidents” but also because it is “often in need of cash.” In August of last year, Chinese authorities fined a man in Yunnan province nearly $3,000 for holding an online Bible study.

China’s leaders use money in other ways to suppress religious freedom. For example, authorities have threatened to deny people their welfare benefits if they refuse to replace the Christian imagery in their homes with images of President Xi Jinping and Chairman Mao Zedong. Officials have also used financial rewards to incentivize citizens to turn in neighbors who participate in “illegal religious activities.”

For further reading on the suppression of religious liberty in China, see these articles from ChurchLeaders:

China’s New School Textbooks Get Rid of ‘God’ and ‘Bible’

The ‘Future of Oppression’: A Sobering Look at China’s Treatment of the Uyghur People

‘Leaders are scared’ of How Fast the Church in China Is Growing

Pastor in China Is Now Free After Being Under House Arrest for 9 Years

World Watch List 2020: China Is Greatest Threat to Global Religious Freedom

Royal Purple Cloth From King David’s Era Found in Israel

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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February 2, 2021

journal.pone.0245897.g002 — Wool fibers dyed pink-purple hue (photo by Dafna Gazit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority).

The Times of Israel reports that researchers have found three purple textile scraps that date back to 1,000 BCE (Before the Common Era). Researchers estimate the scraps came from King David‘s era. The recent cloth findings are the earliest ever found in the region, and the find gives credibility and context to the period of time described in the Bible when King David conquered the Edomites.

Researchers use radiocarbon testing that allows them to determine how old the fabric is. The fabric was excavated in the Timna Valley near Eilat in southern Israel. The dry climate in the region allows for the preservation of organic materials.

The vibrant long-lasting color called “true” or “Tyrian Purple” comes from dye glands found in murex sea snails that are located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Producing the dye takes several days, and so fabrics of this color would have only been worn by royalty, priests, and nobles.

Shells of the three species of murex snails.
left to right: S. haemastoma, H. trunculus and B. brandaris (Photo by Shahar Cohen). Image credit: Sukenik N, Iluz D, Amar Z, Varvak A, Shamir O, Ben-Yosef E (2021) Early evidence of royal purple dyed textile from Timna Valley (Israel). PLoS ONE 16(1): e0245897. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245897

Tel Aviv University Professor Erez Ben-Yosef, who has been excavating the Timna Valley region since 2013, said, “It is a very early period to find ‘true purple’ in use and it’s a very strange location. It’s deep in the desert, where we didn’t [traditionally] think these prestigious materials were in use. The discovery offers additional evidence for our new understanding of nomadic people at that time period, at the time of the emergence of these ancient kingdoms of Israel, Edom, Moab, Amon, the local kingdoms of the biblical time.”

Israel Antiquities Authority’s curator of organic finds, Naama Sukenik said, “I’m so happy that Erez [Ben-Yosef] gave us the opportunity to peek into the clothes closet from the period of David and Solomon and see the wardrobe of the elite that lived in the period at the copper mines. I suppose that if we were to peek into David and Solomon’s closet we’d see similar clothing — and perhaps even more true purple.”

Rick Warren Apologizes for Racially Insensitive Children’s Video That Was ‘Unchristlike’

By

Alejandra Molina

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February 2, 2021

(RNS) — Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren has apologized for a children’s Sunday school curriculum video that used Asian culture stereotypes to teach kids about the Bible.

The video has been removed, but Michelle Ami Reyes, vice president for the Asian American Christian Collaborative, on Twitter described it as using Asian culture “as a prop for slapstick humor.” The video, she said, blurs and dishonors “distinctions and categories of Asian culture.”

In it, she said, a pastor wears a Chinese shirt, makes Kung Fu sounds and pretends to make sushi that he then spits out.

“There are layers to the problematic appropriation and use of Asian culture elements for slapstick humor here. This kind of humor only works because it’s deprecating. But you cannot appropriate and deprecate on someone else’s culture for your own personal comedy,” she tweeted.

Warren, in a statement issued Sunday (Jan. 31), apologized and said he was upset and embarrassed by the racially offensive content of the video. It was immediately taken down, he said.

“My instant fear was that the thousands of Asian American children who are a part of our church family would feel made fun of and that their families and so many others would rightfully be offended,” Warren said in the statement.

Warren said the video showed a former Saddleback Church kids’ pastor dressed as an Asian martial arts sensei “in an attempt to teach Bible truth.”

Although the video was posted this weekend, Warren said it was created four years ago.

“This is the very kind of cultural and racial insensitivity that we’re trying to eradicate in our church family,” he said. “It’s unchristlike, demeaning, and it’s never appropriate to use a stereotype to teach.”

Some have responded well to Warren’s apology on Twitter, saying his words were genuine and thoughtful. Others were reminded of a photo he posted on Facebook in 2013 that depicted a Red Guard during China’s Cultural Revolution.

“The typical attitude of Saddleback Staff as they start work each day,” the caption read. Several Asian American Christians found that post distasteful, including writer Sam Tsang who took the issue to his blog.

Warren initially said people missed the irony, saying in a Facebook comment: “It’s a joke people! If you take this seriously, you really shouldn’t be following me!” He later took the photo down and apologized on the comments section of Tsang’s blog.

This also isn’t the first time children’s ministry material has been called out for its use of cultural stereotypes.

Vacation Bible school curriculum has often used themes based in foreign countries, but these programs have been facing heavier scrutiny as awareness and sensitivity around cultural appropriation increases.

In 2013, former president of Lifeway Christian Resources Thom Rainer apologized for a 10-year-old Asian-themed vacation Bible school curriculum, dubbed “Far Out Rickshaw Rally — Racing Towards the Son,” that was criticized for promoting racial stereotypes, according to the Baptist Standard.

The curriculum package, the Baptist Standard detailed, “came in a tin shaped like a Chinese-food take-out box, and the chorus to its theme song alluded to a scene in the 1984 movie The Karate Kid.”

In 2019, Christian publisher Group Publishing faced pushback for its Africa-themed children’s Bible school curriculum that, according to Faithfully Magazine, had children pretending to be Israelite slaves and mimicking an African dialect with “clicking” sounds. Group Publishing revised and apologized for the curriculum.

Warren, in his statement, said the church has put a process in place “to ensure that any curriculum that might be insensitive, hurtful, or demeaning never sees the light of day.”

Meanwhile, Reyes advised churches to hire sensitivity readers and consultants for church resources.

“Better yet, don’t include segments that make fun of other people’s cultures at all in your teaching materials. It’s disrespectful and dishonoring,” she said.

This article originally appeared on ReligionNews.com.

4 New Realities of the Changing Church

By

Dan Reiland

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February 2, 2021

4 New Realities of the Changing Church

Change is healthy.

Change is needed.

Change is good… but not all change is good.

It’s up to you to lead with wisdom and discernment in order to know the right changes at the right times.

It’s not easy, I know.

One pastor said, “If I object to nothing, I have no courage. If I object to everything, I have no credibility.”

I get what he’s saying.

If you object to everything, the message is one of little vision, lack of ability to adapt to culture shifts, and no hope. If you object to nothing, it might appear like you’ve lost touch with your values and convictions.

It is a new day, a new era for the church. It’s not an easy one, but it truly is filled with new possibilities and opportunities.

I’ve recently been on several zoom calls with different groups of pastors, and in each case, one clear trend is evident. New people, lots of new people, are beginning to attend church.

There is a growing hunger for spiritual truth, a life that makes sense, and peace of mind over worry and fear. We have that truth and life to offer in Christ.

The landscape is changing, the church is adapting, but our core message and promise remains the same.

Our responsibility is to learn to adapt to the new realities.

4 new realities:

1) Size and strength are no longer automatically synonymous.

2020 taught us that practically overnight, it’s possible to go from having a strong relational sense of who attends your church and probably accurate attendance trends to having virtually no idea about who or how many people are still part of your church.

That’s a new reality.

The good news is we are all doing our best to reach people, serve them well and build again!

The fascinating thing is that during this prolonged pandemic, when “crowds” are no longer an elevated measure of success, some churches have flourished, and others floundered.

The size of a church alone is no longer a sure sign of its strength.

Significant impact can be accomplished by a church of any size that is focused outward and desires to make a difference in its community.

Churches, regardless of size, that were more inward focused will struggle.

I’m a huge champion of churches of all sizes; we need them all.

And while we all want to reach more people, the value of spiritual depth and eternal impact are in greater focus now. Over the long run, that will make the church stronger.

2) The message you intend to communicate may not be the message that is heard.

Communication misfires are a common frustration and even a point of pain.

Leaders have worked diligently with great care and zealous prayer over what they communicate from the stage, but it has not always landed as they hoped.

One group or another in the congregation seems to end up offended.

Social media is another platform of communication that requires surgeon-like precision and is still often misunderstood.

This can be experienced even among your staff. For example, you give a leadership talk, and it encouraged many and discouraged others. Same talk – same staff.

Attempting to speak to multiple agendas is very complicated, and any attempt to make everyone happy is a no-win scenario.

Even speaking with grace and love can seem to be misunderstood.

So, what can you do?

a) Work on all your communication in teams.
As much as you can, build teams to test your communication. Include people different than yourself. Ask the question, “When I say this, what do you hear?”

The point isn’t to change your message; it is to allow people to hear what you mean.

b) Base everything you communicate on your values and convictions. Don’t allow your pressures to define what you communicate; let your values and convictions shape your communication.

If you do inadvertently step on someone’s toes, it’s important to remind yourself that you are being true to yourself, your church, and your beliefs.

c) Listen to the complaints, but don’t be consumed by the attacks.
You can usually learn from complaints and criticisms, so listen, but if it’s a personal attack from an unreasonable person, walk away. You don’t have to absorb that.

3) Church may look the same, but it won’t feel the same.

I’m confident that physical church buildings will one day be fully open again. Candidly, worship services will probably be similar to what existed before the coronavirus, but they won’t feel the same.

Why?

Because we have all changed, and the change isn’t done yet.

The virus has created a degree of distrust and uncertainty.

Masks have introduced a degree of faceless intimacy. Next to only the eyes, the smile (or frowns) communicate so much. Our eyes and smiles were never intended to be separated in our connection with others.

COVID-19 has taken our loved ones. And the list goes on.

With the pandemic, there is good that comes from what is terrible. We learn to adapt and innovate. We learn that there are solutions and there is hope.

But as a leader, the point is this, whenever you perceive your church to be in its new normal (in-person and digital,) it won’t feel the same because people are not the same.

That will require of you greater discernment, intentionality in listening and monitoring what causes people to get stuck and what triggers life change. That’s what you are good at! Lean into it.

Millions of people have fallen out of the habit of attending church in any form, and as they return, they will experience it differently, be ready for that.

New people attending, those who are unchurched, is another subject. The big question is, who do you want to “cater” to? Those who are churched and returning or the unchurched?

4) Character is in the spotlight over competence.

Competence will always be important. No one wants to be part of a church that is sloppy and poorly led.

Character like competence has always been vital, but at times where great skill was admired from a distance, now great character is required first and close up.

There will be grace for honest mistakes, humanity, and humble leaders who are learning to lead better. When it comes to character, however, there is no room for broken trust.

Perhaps this isn’t completely “new,” but I include this because the reality has changed. The new reality is what people are looking for; first, it’s character. When competence is paired with it, it’s a powerful combination.

What does this mean on a practical level?

As you continue to improve in your skill as a leader, give equal time to cultivate your character.

The inference here is not that your character is suspect; in fact, that is not at all the assumption.

However, we can all crack under pressure, and I hope to encourage you, and all of us, to stay true to God’s standards.

When you assess your improvement as a leader, also ask yourself the hard questions about your character. That’s difficult to do on your own; you will likely need an honest friend, spiritual advisor, or coach.

Here’s a challenging question:

Are you the same person by candlelight as you are in the limelight?

This article originally appeared here.

Intergenerational Valentine’s Day Ideas for Church and Home

By

Christina Embree

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February 2, 2021

Valentines’ Day is just around the corner. For some, this is cause for great rejoicing because the day brings lots of love and chocolate. For others, not so much. I remember as a single girl in college not liking Valentine’s Day a whole lot. Regardless of our personal feelings about it, each year it rolls around and each year we have the opportunity to ignore it or use it to grow our faith.

Let’s Use It!

Seriously, let’s use this day as a space to remind one another of the greatest Love of all, personified by Jesus, and lived out by us through the Holy Spirit. Let’s remember that “love covers a multitude of sins” and that this is “no greater love than this” than to lay down our lives for one another. In a world where there is much competition for the virtue of true Love, let’s make this Valentine’s Day one where our homes and churches truly celebrate Love.

Here are some ways we can do just that!

Love Your Neighbor

Since much of the country is still under some form of virus restriction, many of us are home and spending more time in our neighborhood. Valentine’s Day is a perfect opportunity for us to bless those who live around us, whether it be in creating some fun Valentine’s from the kids or baking them a favorite treat. Use this holiday as a chance to share with your household how we can give and show love to those around us in simple ways that bring a little bit of light into the world. Want ideas?

Baking your game? Check out these super fun cookies you can make as a family.
More of a crafty family? I just love some of the creative and fun ideas on this website.
Considering the larger community? Reach out to your local homeless shelter, prison ministry, rehabilitation services and refugee ministries and ask how your family can bless your neighbors in need. Many are looking for ways to especially bless those they serve on these days.

Love One Another

Valentine’s Day is a fantastic opportunity for your church to connect with one another. Now is the time to begin reaching out across generational lines and connecting people to each other even if we are still technically apart. Here are some ideas of where to start and Valentine’s Day could be the perfect kick-off date!

- Intercessory prayer using the Pray for Me campaign.
- Intergenerational Zoom prayer meetings.
- Multigenerational committees set up to talk about the return to in-person services.
- Cultivating of resources to help congregants engage with generational discipleship in their homes, faith community and workplaces. Check out GenOn Ministries and Lifelong Faith for some incredible resources.
- Webinars for parents/grandparents/caregivers to help give them ideas for discipleship at home.
- Plans to introduce Messy Church or Faith Inkubators/Faith 5 or WE Gatherings.

Turn household space into holy space by finding ways to serve one another in the home. There are myriads of ideas online for this (just search Valentine’s and Family). But I’d love to share what we did one year. A family who lived near us and had three daughters joined us and our two daughters and we celebrated Valentine’s Day by blessing our girls with their favorite foods and then taking time after the meal to talk to them about the greatest Love of all sent to us in Jesus. As parents, we washed their feet and spoke a blessing over each of them and demonstrated what Love really looks like so as they grew they would have something to compare all other “loves” to.

Love Your God

Take home communion kits for your faith community that include juice, crackers, and a special Valentine’s Day liturgy are a special way to invite households to experience communion in their homes while celebrating the greatest Love that was even given in the gift of Jesus. If you’d like to celebrate together as a whole church, just included a Zoom link for an online event.

Included below is a brief reading and devotional for the family to follow together.

Taste and See Communion:
A Celebration of God’s Great Love

Prepare: Communion is a celebration! While it is a sacrament and should be treated as holy, it is intended for us to remember and celebrate God’s goodness to us. Set the tone with your family by discussing some ways God has shown His love to your family. Have a conversation beforehand explaining what communion means. Remind your family that Jesus showed the Greatest Love of all when He died on the cross for us and rose from the dead and that this meal helps us to remember that great love. As with any time of worship, Christ is with us in communion. This is a special way to that we can invite Christ into our home.

Confession: Before we take the Lord’s Supper, we examine our hearts and silently confess anything we need to before God. It might help if you offer your children some guiding questions like, “What do you want to tell Jesus ‘thank you’ for?” and “Is there anything you want to tell Jesus you are sorry for?”

Choose one of these Scriptures to read as a family: Matthew 26:17-30, Mark 14:12-16, Luke 22:7-38, I Corinthians 11:23-26

Partake: During communion, show your kids what to do. Even if it is very obvious to you, it may not be to them. Take some time to pray as a family some prayers of thankfulness. If you would like, you can follow this suggest format for communion time: Take the bread, thank the Lord for it and for his gift of love and offer it to one another saying, “This is the body of Christ, broken for us.” Then hold the juice, offer another prayer of thanks, and then give it to each other saying, “This is the blood of Christ, poured out of us.”

Process: Take some time afterward to discussion what it means to them to remember Jesus in this way. Ask question ensure understanding and to offer clarity, like, “What do we take communion?” and “What are we celebrating?” and “What are we remembering?” Then move on to more personal questions like, “How did you feel when you remembered Jesus’ gift to us?”

Conclusion: Finish your time together by reciting the Lord’s prayer (Mt. 6:9-13). Let your children know that this is the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray when they asked him how to pray.

NOTE: If your faith tradition requires that the elements be blessed by an ordained individual, just ask your pastor to pray over the elements before you hand them out (much like you would for delivering communion to homebound church members).

February 14 just happens to fall on a Sunday this year. It presents the perfect opportunity for us to explore practical discipleship as we gather around the Love of Jesus.

I’d love to hear what you are doing in your churches and homes! Feel free to reach out using the contact form below. May God’s Love meet you wherever you are today!

This article originally appeared here.

Beware the Spell of Emotional Manipulation

By

Michael Ives

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February 2, 2021

Beware the Spell of Emotional Manipulation

Pastors should be servants. In the spirit of their Lord who “came not to be served, but to serve” (Matt. 20:28), they should be the transparent ministers of the Savior. They should be the selfless hands, the beautiful feet, and above all the trustworthy mouth of the Good Shepherd. To be faithful, they must remain self-consciously aware that they themselves never graduate from ‘sheep-hood.’ They must love, because they have first been loved. They must freely give, because they have first ever so freely received! “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? …. Feed my lambs” (Jn. 21:15).

But alas, it is not always so. Good men can go wrong, some slowly and imperceptibly, some fast and furious. Some men are good men at their core and have (as Cotton Mather later charitably said of Roger Williams) “the root of the matter,” notwithstanding their erratic and schismatic behavior. They think they’re doing the Lord’s work, but are blind to their obvious faults and to the real harm they cause the Lord’s precious sheep. Some, I would argue, have deep, unresolved insecurities and need some deep pastoral (if not clinical) counseling. Tragically, others are nothing other than wolves in sheeps’ clothing, not sparing the flock. Time only will tell. “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God” (1 Cor. 4:5).

The danger and damage remain just as real, whatever is going on under the hood. Over the years of my ministry, I’ve encountered types like the above, especially those who have engaged in emotional abuse. In the circles where I move—conservative, confessional Presbyterianism—the old, grotesque misrepresentations of Puritanism take actual modern shape. Hyper-scrupulous, zealous, and fearless leaders become master puppeteers of people’s minds and hearts. Some I’ve seen from afar and some up close—and in one case, too close for comfort!

I’d like to help God’s people (especially those more sensitive souls in conservative Presbyterian and Reformed circles) identify emotional abusers. I want to help them to see some of the telltale signs that their pastor or elder or whatever the spiritual leader is in fact manipulating them to achieve questionable ends. In a subsequent post, I’d like to offer some advice for how to free oneself from the tendrils. Like a friend who used to teach my children how to hit a baseball, advising, “See the ball, hit the ball,” I want to help you to “Beware the spell, break the spell.”

I believe there are a few telltale signs that someone, perhaps even a godly pastor, is actually manipulating you. Now, keep in mind that one sign is just one sign. But if you start noticing three, four, or five of the following, and something doesn’t feel right, that may very well be your gut telling you that you are in danger! And remember, no matter how humble, how uneducated you are, and no matter how gifted, smart, and holy any man is, if you are a Christian, you have the Spirit of Christ in you. “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” (1 John 2:20). Don’t underestimate what Jesus has wrought in you. “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

Here are six telltale signs that you may be on the receiving end of emotional manipulation:

1. Excessive self-talk. Speaking in the first person is unavoidable. But speaking too much in the first person eventually betrays a self-preoccupation. The Christian is called to self-denial. How much more the pastor? While some self-talk is inevitable, there will always be a tendency in the true, spiritually health man of God to try to avoid it when it’s not necessary. There is a studied attempt to suppress, even an ongoing mortification of that nasty, hellish “ego” yet in his bosom, that noxious weed that would ruin both him, his ministry, and countless souls. The motto of the minister is the motto of the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn. 3:30).

A good barometer is to compare a man’s self-talk with some other Christian, pastor or not, whom you love and respect. Could you imagine hearing that frequency of self-talk coming from her mouth? Or, compare the social media footprint of two or three pastors or elders whom you love and respect. Do they post as much? And even if they do, compare the content. How many “I’s” and “me’s” are there, put side by side? If all else fails ask your gut. Your Christian gut. Do you feel funny? It may not be reliable … but then again, it just may be.

2. Early, excessive, or inappropriate confiding. We all confide. We need to share hard and challenging things to sympathetic friends. Sometimes, you just need a shoulder to cry on. But we don’t just do that with anyone, because we don’t trust everyone; nor do we trust everyone equally. And coming to the point where we can be vulnerable enough to confide just takes time. You can’t rush that.

Manipulators rush it. They begin to share things privately with you in hushed tones. Or they reach out to you, just you, by phone. And they tell you things, personal things, about themselves. Perhaps they are personal sufferings they have experienced. Or how someone hurt them, or broke their trust, or just disappointed and discouraged them.

They also cross the line of inappropriate confiding. Confiding to my wife about some personal temptation? That’s appropriate. Sharing it with my eleven year old daughter? Probably not. Confiding about my deep hurts and sufferings to a pastoral colleague? Appropriate. Confiding these things to a church member whom I discern seems impressionable and trusting? Definitely not!

3. Playing on sympathies. Dovetailing with the above is playing on sympathies. The “I” talk and “me” talk always puts its best foot forward and portrays the “other side” in terms that are rarely positive on the whole. Even if there are compliments of the other side, there are periodic swipes. The case is being made, your emotions are the jurors, and the defense gets no heads-up that there was ever a hearing to begin with. Manipulator 1, Bad Guys 0. A fair hearing of both sides is rarely possible, because the more aggressive (and unscrupulous) side wins.

4. Doing odd favors. Doing odd, unexpected favors, giving gifts, offering unsolicited help of some time may be innocent … but then again, maybe not. A manipulator will not hesitate to ingratiate himself into the sympathies of someone by doing favors that he intends to cash-in for repayment at a later point. And if he later invokes a favor, or something he’s selflessly done for you, take a breath. Stand back. Ask yourself, “Do I really before God owe him this returned ‘favor?'” And especially beware at that point of the guilt trip. (More on that in a moment.)

5. Playing up loyalty. Conditional loyalty belongs to those who have a special relationship to us. Absolute loyalty, however, belongs only to Jesus. The two must never be confused. But if someone simply disagrees with the manipulator, or even appropriately critiques him (never mind full-on, Galatians 2 confrontation!) then he may be charged with outright “betrayal.” Or, if the manipulator doesn’t want to totally crush the spirits, he may administer the lesser sting of his expressed “hurt,” “disappointment,” or “discouragement.” But loyalty is king. Personal loyalty.

6. Guilt-tripping. This is one of the most painful, and frankly the most wicked of all the tactics a manipulator will resort to. If a Christian has a particularly sensitive conscience, the manipulator will finger-wag the poor Christian, piously shaming or flatly rebuking. They are not holy. They are carnal. But … is this guilt in the eyes of God or just of a mere man? Is this the conviction of the Holy Spirit, or is it the tactic of a man of God on a power trip? (Or at best, a soul who needs serious pastoring himself!) In any case, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29; cf. WCF 20.2).

Note, these things can stand with having a meek and mild manner. The man may not have a furrowed brow, a clenched jaw, or bulging eyes. He may seem like the most innocent and gentle spirit you could imagine. He could appear to be profoundly sincere and authentic. Just remember that appearances can often be misleading. One can be sincerely wrong. One can be gentle in the extreme, if it is serving an ulterior motive.

We certainly don’t want to think the worst of people. Love “believeth all things, hopeth all things.” This is true. Our default should be to assume the best of everyone, not judging motives, not suspecting what may or may not be the case. However, this ethic also stands with the ethic, “be not deceived” (Luke 21:8, 1 Cor. 15:33, Gal. 6:7). Note the ethical harmony of seemingly contrary principles in the wisdom of our Lord: “Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matt. 10:16). It is a virtue to suffer for righteousness’ sake. But it is not a virtue to suffer needlessly, much less for the sake of a spiritual predator. “For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face” (2 Cor. 11:20).

We’ve considered six warning signs that someone might be trying to abuse you emotionally. But what can be done about it? Check back next week for a follow-up post, where I will offer a few principals to help those abused to break the spell.

This article originally appeared here.

Is the GameStop Wall Street Saga a Modern-Day Parable?

By

Stephanie Martin

-

February 1, 2021

Even if you don’t follow the stock market, it’s been hard to ignore the frenzy surrounding GameStop, a brick-and-mortar retailer that had been rumored to be on its last legs. Through the coordinated efforts of investors who connected on Reddit, the struggling company’s stock surged more than 1,700 percent since December, causing large hedge funds to take a major hit.

Now some church leaders are using the financial drama to share faith-based lessons about stewardship and wealth inequality.

Modern-Day Parable? David vs. Goliath Comparisons

Secular reporters are labeling the complex “short squeeze” scenario a case of David vs. Goliath. The Goliaths in this modern-day parable are sophisticated Wall Street professionals who use short-selling to essentially bet against flailing companies. The Davids, meanwhile, are amateur investors, many homebound and bored during the pandemic, who rally to make quick cash while teaching the experts a lesson.

Reporter Christine Romans describes it as “a populist uprising armed with no-fee brokerage accounts instead of pitchforks,” adding, “The irony is delicious. An online flash mob beats Wall Street insiders at their own game.”

Among the amateur investors interviewed by the New York Times is Justin Speak, a 27-year-old youth pastor in California. He says he used his $1,700 windfall from GameStop trading to buy a new bed. “There a sense of catharsis to actually making money off their pain a little bit,” he says, referring to Wall Street giants. His wife, Riane, succinctly stated, “Eat the rich.”

In just days, the market value of GameStop surged from $2 billion to $24 billion. A share that cost about $4 a year ago had skyrocketed to $150. Amateur investors communicating on the often-crude Reddit thread WallStreetBets orchestrated similar increases with past-their-prime companies such as AMC, BlackBerry, and Bed Bath & Beyond.

The Goliaths cried foul, accusing amateurs of manipulating markets. Robinhood, a popular free trading app, suspended and then limited trading of certain stocks. That, in turn, according to a recent Motley Fool review, led to accusations from the Davids that Robinhood was caving—and was actively involved in market manipulation itself.

At New Republic, an anonymous investor describes his “sordid, life-affirming” involvement with WallStreetBets. “Every business day, institutional traders have shorted small companies straight into bankruptcy, and nobody said a thing,” he writes. “Yet today, when small investors squeeze a few hedge funds, the talking heads are quick to preach fiscal responsibility and apocalyptic economic collapse.” The lesson, he adds, is that when the little guys join forces, they “can be a market mover.”

Another amateur investor, in an open letter to a hedge fund, writes, “You stand for everything that I hated” during the 2008 financial crisis. “This is personal for me, and millions of others,” the letter continues. “I’m making this as painful as I can for you.”

Pastor Points to Jesus’ Parable

Speak, the California pastor, also was interviewed on MSNBC, where he pointed to Jesus’ parable about the rich fool who built a bigger barn for his abundant harvests—not knowing that his death was imminent (Luke 12:13-21). “Since 2008,” Speak says, “it feels like Wall Street has had an overabundant harvest, financed by public money, and rather than share the billions with the less fortunate, they’ve built bigger and bigger barns for themselves.”

Gallup: Only 39% of Americans Think Pastors Have High Ethical Standards

By

Jessica Lea

-

February 1, 2021

Americans who see pastors as highly ethical and honest people are in the minority. Only 39 percent of the respondents to Gallup’s latest Honesty and Ethics list ranked clergy members as having “very high”/“high” standards, bringing the category close to its all-time low of 37 percent.

“This marks the second time since Gallup began surveying Americans about their trust of various occupations that fewer than 2 in 5 gave clergy the highest ratings,” said Lifeway Research’s Aaron Earls.

In contrast, nurses set a record high score with 89 percent in the “very high”/”high” categories. Medical doctors came in second at 77 percent, grade-school teachers were third at 75 percent, and pharmacists were fourth at 71 percent. Police officers made the top five rankings at 52 percent and were therefore among the only five professions in which a majority of Americans expressed confidence. Congress members and car salespeople received the lowest ratings in the “very high”/”high” categories at eight percent.

Key Findings on American Perceptions of Clergy Ethics

Gallup first introduced its Honesty and Ethics list in 1976 and has conducted this survey annually since 1990. The company changes which professions it asks people about from year to year, but always keeps a few of the same occupations on every list. The most recent Honesty and Ethics list, released December 2020, asked people to assess 15 different occupations by answering the following question: “Please tell me how you would rate the honesty and ethical standards of people in these different fields—very high, high, average, low or very low?”

The majority of respondents (41 percent) said that the ethical standards of pastors and clergy members were “average.” Only 10 percent said those standards were “very high,” while 29 percent said they were “high.” Eleven percent said the ethical standards of clergy were “low,” four percent said they were “very low,” and four percent said they had “no opinion.” More people responded “no opinion” regarding the ethics of clergy members than they did for any other profession.

The report showed that confidence in the trustworthiness of clergy members has been declining since the early 2000s. In 2004, 56 percent of respondents ranked clergy members as having “very high”/“high” ethical standards. The percentage of people who gave this answer fluctuated in the following years, but stayed below 60 percent. In 2013, the percentage of people who rated the ethical standards of clergy as “very high”/“high” dropped to 47 percent, and respondents’ answers remained below 50 percent until 2018. That year, confidence in the clergy hit an all-time low with only 37 percent of Americans saying they thought the ethical standards of clergy members were “very high”/“high.” Confidence rose slightly in 2019 to 40 percent, but this year’s results show it is down again.

Among the notable findings on American views of clergy ethics is that more women than men said clergy members had “very high” ethical standards. White people expressed more confidence in the clergy than people of color, older people expressed greater confidence than younger people, and Republicans expressed more confidence than Independents and Democrats.

Speculations on the Results

Nurses have been the consistent winners on Gallup’s Honesty and Ethics list since the profession was added in 1999. The only time nurses have not been rated the most trustworthy profession was in 2001 (the year of the 9/11 terrorist attacks) when firefighters were rated the highest. This year, American confidence in nurses increased by four percentage points compared to 2019, the previous record high for the profession.

Gallup observed that survey respondents rated pharmacists, medical doctors, nurses, and grade-school teachers highly—and with partisan support—in a year that proved to have particular challenges for people in those occupations. The response regarding public confidence in the police did not change significantly compared to 2019’s results. This is an interesting finding given the racial tensions that have been at the forefront of 2020 and the fact that shortly after the death of George Floyd, public opinion about the police was at 48 percent. “Whether this means the public opinion effects of the Floyd event have faded,” said Gallup, “or that police officers as individuals are held less responsible for police violence than the police as an institution, is not clear.”

Gallup did not offer a view as to why public opinion of the clergy has been declining over the past two decades. However, Earls notes that the timing of the decline corresponds to the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic church and pointed out that sexual abuse scandals in other denominations have also come to light during this timeframe.

After Doctors Told His Mom to Abort, Tim Tebow’s Life Is a Miracle

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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February 1, 2021

Tim Tebow joined the virtual portion of the National March for Life on Friday (Jan. 29) and told the story of how doctors encouraged his mother to abort him due to medical complications during her pregnancy.

Tebow said she disregarded the doctors’ recommendation and instead decided to trust God, despite the chance the pregnancy could have taken her own life.

The pregnancy came with a lot of setbacks and heartaches, Tebow explained. When Tim’s mother finally delivered him, a doctor with 35 years of experience said, “This is the greatest miracle that I have ever seen, because I have no idea how he (Tim) survived.”

The doctor explained that the placenta, which brings nourishment to a baby in the womb, wasn’t even attached.

“I am so grateful that my mom gave me a chance at life. Because of her pro-life story, I now get to share my story, but it’s only because my mom gave me a chance,” Tim said.

“I believe that every single life matters to God,” the ESPN commentator boldly said. “You know who else I believe stood and stands for life…Is our Savior Jesus. He said in John, I came to give life and life abundantly…He had a mission that was a rescue mission for us. That mission was to come down to this earth and go to the cross and defeat death and overcome the world. That was His mission. But He also had a motivation…Hebrews 12:2 tells us fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Tebow then asked those watching, “What was His motivation?” He then pointed out that it tells us in Hebrews 12:2, “The joy set before Him….Was you! It was me! It was us being made right with His death. It was us having life abundantly and eternal life in heaven, that was the joy set before Him. He had a mission, and he accomplished it. He had a motivation, that’s why He could endure. It’s why He could despise the shame. It’s why He could go to the cross…because He loved you and me so much!

“If you are passionate about something you are going to do it anyways, even if you suffer,” he said then asked, “What are you passionate about?” Tebow exclaimed, “Jesus was passionate about you, and He was passionate about me.” Tebow went on to explain that he has given so much of his life to sports so people think he is passionate about the games he plays, “but that’s for trophies that will rust, and praise from people that are going to forget your name…does that really matter?” The multi-athletic star said, “I don’t think so.”

“Being passionate about Jesus, and being passionate about life, and passionate about people, and passionate about those that have been thrown away and neglected and forgotten…that is worthy…that is meaningful…that is real significance.”

Tebow closed his segment with the question, “Are you willing to suffer for and are you willing to suffer with?” He them adamantly explained that being pro-life means, “being pro-life in every area…for the unborn, for the hurting, for the orphan, for the thrown away, for the special needs, for the trafficked…for all of humanity.”

You can watch the National March for Life 2021 below. Tebow’s comments start at 55:45:

When It Comes to Building Trust, Belonging Beats Belief, Study Finds

By

Bob Smietana

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February 1, 2021

general social survey — A woman wears a protective mask during a Mass in the Chinatown area of Manila, Philippines, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines said communions must be placed on the hands instead of putting it in the mouth of churchgoers as a precautionary measure in masses to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in this predominantly Roman Catholic country. Health Secretary Francisco Duque confirmed the Philippines' first case of a new virus that has infected thousands in China. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

(RNS) — The Bible and other sacred texts are filled with warnings about the importance of putting your trust in the right place.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,” the Book of Proverbs advises.

“Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal man who cannot save,” warns another Proverbs verse.

But does faith in God affect your ability to trust other people? And can religion help build trust? Those are the questions a pair of sociologists had in mind while working on a new study exploring the connection between religion and trust, especially at a time when trust, at least in the United States, is on the decline.

Many people think religion can build trust, the study’s authors wrote. But that may not always be the case.

Using data from the General Social Survey, Rubia Valente, assistant professor at Baruch College, and Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn of Rutgers University isolated two aspects of religion: individual religiosity, with a focus on prayer and belief in God, versus social religiosity, measured by attendance at services or membership in a religious group.

They found higher levels of belief predicted less trust, while higher levels of belonging predicted more trust. They also found that those who belong to religious groups or attend services have a lower level of misanthropy, or dislike of other people.

“People that are socially religious — what we classify as belonging — they’re more likely to like people and have a lower misanthropy level,” said Valente.

Valente said the study’s findings reminded her of some of the messages she heard in church while growing up in Brazil, especially about putting your trust in God and not in other people.

Often, she said, religious people are seen as trustworthy by others in the broader culture. But that trust doesn’t always extend the other way.

“That doesn’t seem to be the case, at least when it comes to individual religion,” she said.

Valente and Okulicz-Kozaryn used a series of questions from the General Social Survey to measure levels of both trust and misanthropy.

To measure, they looked at results for a question that asked, “Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you can’t be too careful in dealing with people?”

To measure misanthropy, the researchers looked at results for the trust question from the GSS along with two others: one that asked if people, in general, are helpful or looking out for themselves and a second that asked whether people, in general, treat others fairly or look out for themselves.

As part of their study, the researchers controlled for factors like race, economic status or marital status, all of which are known to show different levels of trust. For example, white respondents, those with higher income and people who are married often have higher levels of trust, said Valente.

They also looked for the “net effect” of each of the two kinds of religiosity — social and individual.

To help explain their results, the researchers used a social theory about “ingroup favoritism” and “outgroup derogation/prejudice.” A circle of trust based on individual religiosity can reduce trust in general because “there is only an adherent and her God in the circle.”

“Social religiosity, on the other hand, explicitly adds other adherents in the circle,” they wrote.

The study is important, said Okulicz-Kozaryn, because trust has been on the decline in American culture. Understanding what factors affect levels of trust is important, he said, and religion seems to play a role in developing or inhibiting trust.

“We’re not saying you should be less religious and that’s going to boost trust,” said Valente. “That’s not it.”

At the same time, she said, religious people should be aware that high levels of belief could lead to a lack of trust, something that seems incongruent with religious teachings about loving your neighbors.

A 2019 Pew Research study found two-thirds (66 percent) of Americans believe religious and nonreligious people are equally trustworthy. Evangelical Protestants were most likely (40 percent) to say religious people are more trustworthy than nonreligious people. Atheists (35 percent) were most likely to say nonreligious people are more trustworthy than religious people.

The 2019 Pew survey also included questions about trust, fairness and helpfulness, similar to those in the General Social Survey. According to previously unpublished data from Pew, those whose religious identity was “nothing in particular” were less likely to say people can be trusted (44 percent), that people would try to be fair (35 percent) or that others would help others (31 percent). Those who identified as part of a historically Black tradition were also less likely to say people can be trusted, are helpful or fair. Jews and Mainline Protestants were more likely to say people can be trusted, are helpful or fair.

Similar to Valente and Okulicz-Kozaryn’s work, the Pew study showed that those who attended worship services weekly or more also were more likely to say people can be trusted, are helpful or fair. Those who seldom or never attend services were less likely.

This article originally appeared on ReligionNews.com. Ahead of the Trend is a collaborative effort between Religion News Service and the Association of Religion Data Archives made possible through the support of the John Templeton Foundation. See other Ahead of the Trend articles here.

Twitter Locks Out Focus on the Family Magazine for Calling a Transgender Woman a Man

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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February 1, 2021

Focus on the Family‘s Christian magazine The Daily Citizen was locked out of its Twitter account for a post that the social media giant accused of violating the platform’s rules.

The alleged violation involved a quote from one of The Daily Citizen’s articles that reported on Dr. Rachel Levine, President Biden’s nominee for the Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary, who is transgender. Zachary Mettler, a staff writer for The Daily Citizen, wrote that “Dr. Levine is a transgender woman, that is, a man who believes he is a woman” in the lead paragraph of the article. A paraphrase of the paragraph was posted on Twitter and used to promote a link back to the full article.

The Daily Citizen was sent an email from Twitter indicating their account had been locked because they violated Twitter’s rules, which resulted in the magazine having to delete the tweet.

According to The Daily Citizen’s article regarding the incident, the email from Twitter read as follows:

Hi The Daily Citizen, your account, @FocusCitizen has been locked for violating the Twitter Rules. Specifically for: Violating our rules against hateful conduct. You may not promote violence against, threaten, or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease. Please note that repeated violations may lead to a permanent suspension of your account. Proceed to Twitter now to fix the issue with your account.

The Daily Citizen appealed the violation sending Twitter an email that said:

We are writing to appeal Twitter’s decision and contend we have operated within your organization’s regulations. We did nothing of the sort…The tweet pointed to an article at our news outlet, The Daily Citizen, explaining the appointment and Dr. Levine’s controversial history in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic as Pennsylvania’s Health Secretary.

Numerous outlets reported on Levine’ appointment – including President Biden’s White House – noting Dr. Levin’s transgender identification. Many of the articles and tweets explained that Dr. Levin was born male, believed he is really a woman, had surgery and opposite-sex hormones, and now identifies as a woman.

Our tweet does not ‘promote violence against, threaten, or harass’ Dr. Levin.

Yet, we are deeply puzzled about how it was misconstrued to do so. Nowhere in our tweet or article did we encourage such action. As a Christian organization, we would never do so. We simply explained to our readers the appointment and defined what transgender women are – those born male who believe they are a woman, regardless of whether they have had opposite-sex hormones or surgeries.

We believe Twitter’s blocking of this tweet and lockdown of our account discriminates against Focus on the Family’s The Daily Citizen on the basis of our religious affiliation.

The Daily Citizen contests Twitter’s characterization of our message and appeals this decision.

Twitter responded to the appeal concluding that “Our support team has determined that a violation did take place, and therefore we will not overturn our decision…” The social media giant gave instructions of how to restore their account after they delete the tweet calling transgender Dr. Rachel Levine a man which they claim violates their ‘hateful conduct policy‘.

The policy, which was implemented in 2018, says, “We prohibit targeting individuals with repeated slurs, tropes or other content that intends to dehumanize, degrade or reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes about a protected category. This includes targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals.”

The Daily Citizen reported this wasn’t the first time they had been censored for posting on social media platforms. Facebook censored them in October of last year for posting an article about masks. YouTube also censored them by removing a video they posted earlier this month that included President Donald Trump’s remarks claiming voter fraud.

Planning a Worship Service for Ash Wednesday

By

Bobby Gilles

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February 1, 2021

Ash Wednesday will be upon us soon. Like all elements of the Christian Church liturgical calendar, Ash Wednesday is an effective way to preach the gospel and “walk through” the gospel story. At our church, Sojourn, we always observe Ash Wednesday with an early morning service.

Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent. The Church set this date in the fourth century by counting back 40 days from Easter (excluding Sundays). This brings us to the Wednesday seven weeks before Easter. Each of the 40 days represents one of the 40 days when Christ fasted in the wilderness, before Satan tempted Him (Mark 4:2).

On this day, we:

Contemplate the death that reigns in us because of sin, and our need for Jesus to save us.
Commit to daily repentance—to “die daily,” as Paul said (1 Corinthians 15:31).
Celebrate that Christ conquered Satan, sin and the grave.

So Where Do the Ashes Come In?

In the Bible, ashes help us remember our mortality and frailty resulting from the Fall (Genesis 3:19; 18:27). When we put ashes on our foreheads in the sign of the cross, we participate in a visible reminder of our condition—and the power of the cross to change that condition forever.

The Worship Sourcebook lists these scriptures for planning Ash Wednesday readings:

Songs for Ash Wednesday:

Kristen and I created a Lenten Worship Songs playlist—40 songs and hymns to walk from Ash Wednesday through the season of Lent, Passion Sunday, Holy Week, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Songs from that list that would be suited for Ash Wednesday services include:

Kyrie Eleison—Bifrost Arts (Dave Crowder Band does this one Give Us Rest, too)
In Adam All Die—Shai Linne
Lead Us Back—Sojourn
Abiding City—Sandra McCracken
Economy—John Mark McMillan

Other good songs for Ash Wednesday include “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us” by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty, “Be Merciful to Me” by Randall Goodgame (recorded by Caedmon’s Call) and the classic hymn “Come Ye Sinners” by Joseph Hart.

For much more, check out the mp3s and other resources for the season of Lent at Cardiphonia, here.

7 Ways to Deal With Stress and Anxiety as a Christian

By

Aaron Loy

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January 30, 2021

I’ve learned to deal with stress and anxiety the hard way. I’ve always handled stress well. I like to be busy. I enjoy taking risks. I tend to have my hands in numerous endeavors at any given time. I never thought anxiety was my problem. If you’re on the verge of giving up on life because of such, you can rejuvenate yourself with products like CBD UK.

Then a little less than a year ago I hit a wall. The previous several years of starting and growing the church I now pastor had caught up with me. I could never seem to get enough sleep. Small tasks became very difficult. Things I had normally done with little thought or stress were suddenly accompanied with an almost crippling anxiety.

It all came to a head one day as I was driving between meetings when all of a sudden it felt as though my heart was malfunctioning. I pulled the car over to the side of the road convinced I was having a heart attack. I remember thinking this might be the way I go out and I began praying for my family. That was my first panic attack. It was that moment that I realized I could no longer ignore the stress and anxiety that was slowly taking over my life.

Something had to change.

That began a long journey back to health. After that day I began seeking counsel. I saw a doctor. I bought delta 8 gummies for sale online to help alleviate symptoms of stress and anxiety. I began making changes to the way I was living. By God’s grace, a year later I can say I am no longer on any medication, the panic attacks are gone and my anxiety is at an all-time low; all of this despite having more on my plate than ever. Of course I still have days that are harder than others, but those days are increasingly few and far between. If you’re unsure about the process of applying for your medical marijuana recommendations, see DocMJ’s site.

I continue to meet many people who find themselves in a similar place to where I was just a year ago. Those conversations have only confirmed my suspicion that we the church have a long way to go when it comes to addressing issues of mental health. Like me just a year ago, many aren’t sure how to understand or respond to their struggle as a Christian.

So to those who find themselves in that place right now, allow me to suggest seven ways to deal with anxiety and stress as a Christian.

7 Ways to Deal With Stress and Anxiety as a Christian

1. Deal with stress and anxiety by admitting there is a problem.

Just as walking with God begins with acknowledging our need for him, dealing with our anxiety requires acknowledging our need to deal with our anxiety. Those familiar with recovery programs like AA will tell you the first step to recovery is owning up to the fact that a problem exists. And they are right. Doing so requires a lot of humility, and that is the primary reason many do not get the help they need. Anxiety in particular can be hard to own up to because it makes us feel weak in an area where so many others appear to be strong. “Why is this so hard for me? Why can’t I seem to get it together?” we wonder. The temptation is to keep pushing and hope the anxiety goes away on its own. As I learned the hard way, however, pushing through without addressing the problem can lead to an inevitable and ugly crash. I was dealing with anxiety for a very long time before I would acknowledge the effect it was having on me and my family. It wasn’t until I started having debilitating panic attacks that I finally resolved to admit there was a problem. By then, however, my health had been seriously affected, which made the recovery time significantly longer. Had I owned up to the problem sooner I could have spared both myself and my family a lot of pain.

5 Reasons Why Pastors Lack Close Friends

By

Charles Stone

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January 30, 2021

Barna Research discovered that 61% of pastors are lonely and have few close friends. The loneliest people in churches are often pastors. Why is this so?

The experts say that five key factors inhibit pastors from developing close friendships.

lack of formative modeling: in families of origin some weren’t close to their parents and/or their parents never modeling for them how to create intimate relationships.
some pastors developed a loner tendency: they’d rather be alone.
personality: some personalities can unintentionally push people away.
wounds from the past can compel some to put up walls with others.
fear of sharing loneliness with others: some pastors think that if people knew they struggled, hurt, or had problems, it might lessen the respect they would give and therefore hinder that pastor’s leadership effectiveness.

Number five can be very powerful. Certainly we shouldn’t publicly display all our dirty laundry, or we would diminish our influence. But actually I’ve found that when I have appropriately shared my struggles with others, most people endear themselves to me and respect me even more.

I’ll never forget a story I heard a well-known pastor share years ago in a conference. The specific details are hazy, but the impact on me remains.

On one of his study breaks he told about a Sunday night visit to a small church. After the sermon, the pastor stood before his flock and in tears shared a heartbreak he had experienced from his son. He said he felt like a failure and wasn’t sure what to do. He then closed the service. Spontaneously the people rushed to the front and surrounded him, hugged him, and wept with him. The pastor sharing the story then used a term to describe the scene: “the circle of brokenness.” As he drew thousands of us into this story, with misty eyes I realized that every pastor yearns for that kind of acceptance.

If fear of rejection, looking less like a pastor, or worry that you might diminish your influence keeps you from inviting safe people in, realize the danger in which you can put yourself. Without safe people, ministry can overwhelm us.

A psychologist friend of mine once explained that isolation can set up a pastor on a slippery slope toward sexual compromise. In isolation, Satan can exploit his vulnerability. He can then begin to compromise and live a secret sexual life that may ultimately lead to ministry and/or marriage failure. My friend reminded me that sin grows easiest in the darkness.

So, if you are a pastor, don’t minimize the importance of friends in the ministry and in your church. Push through your loneliness and find some friends.

What other factors have you seen that can create loneliness in pastors?

This article originally appeared here.

Creating an Unforgettable Résumé for Lead Pastor Openings

By

Gene Roncone

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January 30, 2021

A résumé is one of the most important things God will use to bridge your present with your future. It is a bridge of creditability to those who do not know you. But it is more than that. It is also a bridge between you and your future partners in ministry, namely your future board and congregation. That bridge must be built with the timbers of credibility, endorsement, and a history of effectiveness. Let’s start by answering some important questions about résumés.

Are Résumés Scriptural?

I have heard some take a hyper-spiritual approach to résumés and dismiss them as carnal, unscriptural, or even unspiritual. However, the Bible records several occasions where Spirit-directed assignments were brokered though letters of recommendation (Nehemiah 2:7-9; Ezra 7:21; Acts 15:22-31; Philippians 2:29). Scripture also records instances where men of God presented a summary of their qualifications and ministry experience in order to gain credibility (Acts 26:1-29; 2 Corinthians 3:1-2; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Galatians 1:1; Philippians 3:4-8). What we know today as a résumé seems to be a combination of these two, a bridge to give you credibility with those who may not know you. Although the Bible does not clearly mandate how one presents their qualifications, the fact that we must is firmly established.

What Is the Purpose of a Résumé?

You must understand and have a laser-purposed résumé. There are five basic purposes of a résumé:

1. First impression. To establish an impressive and memorable first impression.

2. Snapshot. A quick presentation of your qualifications, leadership distinctives, and ministry experiences (no more than two pages).

3. Stir interest. To create greater interest in you as a candidate that results in a personal interview.

4. Bridge. To provide easy access to additional information about you on the Internet or your social media presence.

5. Distinguish. To enable you to stand out from the crowd as an immediate front-runner. Three things make a stand-out résumé: graphic design, brief but colorful language, and a memorable personal/family photo.

What are the Common Obstacles to an Unforgettable Résumé?

If you are going to create an unforgettable résumé, you will need to overcome obstacles. Following are the most common:

1. Honesty. Your résumé needs to be an honest reflection of your pastoral ministry experiences, numerical size, and contributions; and your references need to be people who actually served as your supervisors.

2. Lack of focus. One résumé will not work for several different ministry opportunities (campus pastor, lead pastor, or associate pastor). Your résumé should be tailor-made for the specific church with whom you are seeking an interview.

3. Wordiness. A résumé is not an exhaustive encyclopedia of your history but a concise and specific snapshot of your ministry experience. In the words of William Vanderbloemen, “Every good résumé should be brief, bright, and gone.” Keep yours between one and two pages.

4. Philosophical clutter. Contrary to popular belief, pastoral search committees are not interested in résumés that are weighed down with wordy vision, philosophical declarations, or objective statements. That comes later. Right now, they just want to know about your accomplishments, ministry preparedness, and qualifications.

Eight Ingredients of an Unforgettable Résumé

1. Stand out. Your résumé must distinguish you from other applicants and possess “stand-out” qualities.

• Visual appeal. Create a résumé that is colorful, clean, and uncluttered. The formatting should be clear, simple, and easy to read. The font should be consistent, elegant, readable, and between 10-12 points. The absence of margin and “white space” makes your résumé look cluttered, verbose, and unappealing. Following are a few helpful online résumé creators/templates that can help you do this:

o https://zety.com/resume-builder

o https://resumegenius.com

o https://www.kickresume.com/en/

o https://www.cakeresume.com

o https://novoresume.com

• Splash page. Consider creating a résumé in the form of a blog or splash Internet page. This will enable you to create a “one-stop” location for information about you and your ministry. It will also allow you to make it more personal with a video greeting, links to your digital résumé, bio, and pictures plus links or embeds to your preaching, social media channels, and “samples” of past articles, visioning, and other resources you created. Personality assessments or mission statements, letters of recommendations, and professional memberships can also be included.

• Pictures. Be sure to connect a face to your name by including a quality color photo of you and your family on the résumé. If you do not have one, invest the time in taking a memorable one.

• Electronic PDF. It is imperative that you save your cover letter and résumé as one (1) PDF document that can be easily emailed and forwarded with one easy step. Word, Pages, pictures, and other document forms shift things around depending on the font and software version of the reader’s computer. The best way to preserve the appearance of your résumé is to save it as a PDF in order for everyone to see it the same way with the same pagination.

• Provide Internet links. It is becoming more common for search committees to require Internet links to your preaching, writing, and social media BEFORE they distribute your résumé to other members of their team. Be sure to provide these on your résumé so they do not have to ask for them. Creating a personal blog or splash page that acts as your online interactive résumé is a sure way to make a good impression as a prepared and forward-thinking leader.

• Cover letter. Résumés tend to reflect a candidate’s qualifications more than their spirit. Use your cover letter as a way to show your heart and soul. It should be modified each time you apply for a different opening to ensure that it appeals directly to the position you are seeking. The letter itself should be no more than four paragraphs.

o First paragraph. Explain why you are excited for this new chapter in your life or why you are a cultural fit for this church. Tell them about your family and be sure to mention things about the church and community for which you are applying. This communicates your interest in them and the community in which they live.

o Second paragraph. Give a quick summary of your résumé and how your experience aligns with the qualifications of the position. You can also think of it like you are answering the question, “Why would you be a great fit for this job?”

o Third paragraph. Add a quick personal bio of you and your family.

o Fourth paragraph. Close with a “thank you” for the search committee’s time and consideration. Also include how you can best be reached even if you have already included your contact information in the resume’.

• Lead pastorish. A resume’ that highlights skills and experiences that are simar to those of a lead pastor.

o Vision implementation. Articulating and sustainign an inspiring vision and showing people how to make it happen.

o Content creation. The primary role of a lead pastor is to create content, write sermons, Bible studies and visionary story telling.

o People mobilization. Recruiting, mobilizing, training and inspiring volunteers.

o Finance savvy. Able to raise funds, make budgets and mobilize financial resources to achieve vision.

o Executive perspective. Ability to see the big picture and how the pieces fit together.

2. Personal and contact information. Be sure to include your current contact information at the very top of your résumé in a clear and obvious placement. Include your full name, email address, home mailing address, and personal cell phone number. Be sure your email address is an armed hyperlink so someone reading your résumé from a computer need only click it to send you an email. Be sure to put your name, age, and level of credential (certified, licensed, or ordained).

3. Tell your ministry story. Your résumé should briefly list your recent and relevant history with a summary of accomplishments. When it comes to presenting your ministry experience, there are generally two ways to do this. A chronological list presents your past employment in reverse chronological order starting with the most recent and working back. A functional format is more suited for a significant career transition because it highlights skills and qualifications in the order of importance regardless of the time of occurrence. Because pastoral search committees want to see history, progression, and skill development in your ministry, the reverse chronological format is most effective.

• Employment. Where you have been employed (church name, city, state) and what you have done (portfolio or job description at each assignment) in the last seven (7) years. Keep your list of responsibilities under each job entry under six bullet points and remember to be concise and use specific adjectives to help a search committee understand the depth of your role. For example, a statement like “spent 20 hours a week preparing sermon series” is much clearer than “preached youth service each week.”

• Enrichment experiences. Relevant experiences in the last ten (10) years that uniquely qualify you to serve as a lead pastor. These might include internships, mentoring experiences, specialized training, or significant denominational assignments.

• Accomplishments. List the spiritual, numerical, or financial accomplishments the Lord has helped you achieve at each ministry assignment. Numbers stand out; vague adjectives do not. Instead of writing that you have helped “significantly increase spiritual maturity,” state exactly how much. Avoid spiritualized generalities and give specific numbers or percentages when referring to growth. It has been said that “the best predictor of future performance is past performance.” Showing your prior successes will encourage pastoral search committees to believe in your future successes.

o Show ways you have met or exceeded the expectations of your job.

o Show an initiative you started or helped lead.

o Tell the results of your leadership.

o Show something you did that you were not asked to do.

o Show the ultimate profit margin in your church work.

The most important thing to remember is to share what you have done, not what you “would do.”

4. Highlight qualifications. Your résumé should list developmental experiences that further qualify you as a lead pastor. This would include the following items which should be listed in reverse chronological order (most recent first):

• Educational accomplishments. Diplomas, degrees, majors, and the names and addresses of the institutions you earned them from. Do not include grades or GPAs unless 4.0.

• Ecclesiastical preparation. Level of credential (certified, licensed, or ordained).

• Training. Completion of additional or advanced training in the form of internships, certifications, seminars, cohorts, or specialized training.

• Acknowledgements. Official honors or awards, community service acknowledgements, or recognition associated with ministry.

• Peer or ministry involvements. Participating on outside but related teams, committees, or boards associated with ministry.

• Associations. Partnerships, memberships, or participation in peer-related groups.

• Proprietary software. Proficiency in church-based software such as Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, Premier, After Effects, ProPresenter, Aplos, QuickBooks, etc.

5. Summarize skills. Provide a brief list of skills and competencies you have mastered and become known for. The listing should be brief and could include:

• Competencies that seem to follow you no matter where you are or what you do.

• Natural talents that come easily and naturally for you but harder for others.

• Spiritual gifts that have been confirmed though years of service.

• Attributes or characteristics that embody your personality or leadership style.

• True value and ways you have consistently benefited ministers and ministries you have worked for in the past.

Be careful not to use phrases that have become antiquated, overused, or have lost their meanings. Employing words other than hardworking, responsible for, proactive, participated in, and detail-oriented will help your résumé stand out and be unique.

6. Build a bridge. Remember that the purpose of your résumé is to build a bridge for others to quickly and easily learn more about you. Following are some ways to do that:

• Write a cover page. The cover page is NOT your résumé but a warm letter introducing yourself and your interest in exploring God’s will as their new pastor.

• Include links on your résumé to your sermons, writings, and additional information about you. It is becoming more common for search committees to require Internet links to your current ministry, preaching, writing, and social media BEFORE they distribute your résumé to other members of their team. Be sure to provide these on your résumé so they do not have to ask for them.

• Build a digital page. Creating a personal blog page that acts as your online résumé is a sure way to make a good impression as a prepared and forward-thinking leader. It is also a super smart way to make sure ALL members of the search committee have access to more about you. Gmail allows you to create a free blog and YouTube account which would be a really easy way to do this.

• Customize. Customize your résumé for each particular church or position you are applying for. This helps your résumé connect with them, be relevant, and show an interest in them, their church, and their community. For example, if a church is in a rural community, be sure to mention experiences you have had in that same context. If a large part of their city works for the medical industry, be sure to include any relevant experiences you have had ministering to that demographic. Résumés that are too general can give the impression you are looking for anything and everything under the sun.

7. Provide references. Your résumé must connect the search committee with those who can legitimize your qualifications, character, and achievements. Stating that “references are available upon request” creates an unnecessary step for search committees and communicates that you may have something to hide.

• List references. List your references, an honest description of their relationships to you, and their contact information (email, cell number, current title, and place of work).

• Inform references. Keep your references informed of the fact that you have listed them and where you have applied. This will help them know what calls are a priority when they are returning calls. Be sure to let your references know what particular skill or experience you are wanting them to legitimize. It will help them be more prepared for the contact. If you have solid references and show a willingness to share them, that will go a long, long way. Not listing them or making it difficult for busy deacons to get them creates more questions than answers.

8. Edit for excellence. Before you send your résumé, take a day’s break from it and then go back and do an edit screening. Following are some practical tips to get that done:

• Proofread. Get your résumé spell-checked by one or two others. Proofread every word, fact, and date. Catch spelling errors, typos, misaligned bullet points, and margins. You want your résumé to stand out for the right reasons. Do not forget to check any URLs that you used to make sure they are live and working properly.

• Fact-check. Do a “fact-check” on your information. Make sure dates, places, names, contact info, and any numbers quoted are accurate.

• Content check. Do a quick content check to make sure you have included only the most necessary, relevant, and valuable information related to the lead pastorate at this church. Ask yourself the following questions:

o Did I include assignments or positions so far back in my past that the résumé presents me as a novice with experience unrelated to a lead pastorate?

o Could I read this résumé from the pulpit in my present ministry without being embarrassed?

• Relevance. Use terms that most accurately reflect the context of your past experiences. For example, student pastors with a youth ministry of 30 might be amazing with students while a student pastor with a ministry of 300 might be amazing with volunteers and parents. Context matters much more than position titles.

• Humility. Instead of taking personal credit for ministry success, speak of it with humility and gratitude.

• File format. When saving your résumé as a PDF file, be sure to save it using a file name that makes your résumé stand out. File names such as “Résumé_Jones_Bill_2021.pdf” will stand out much more and be easier to find on a computer than a name that only has meaning to you.

• Email address. It is important to use a professional email address. An unprofessional or overly casual email address such as golflover666@mail.com is not going to help you.

• Church requests. Most churches will advertise a job opening with specific instructions for interested applicants. Be sure to follow every one of them. Not following directions that were important enough for the search committee to list is the quickest way to get your résumé placed in the “hold” pile. This is perhaps my greatest frustration with résumés.

• Update. Update your résumé once a year—not because that is how often you should look for a job but because that is how often you should evaluate your commitment to personal and ministry growth and be able to list meaningful accomplishments.

You can download a PDF version of this article at http://www.agspe.org/Unforgettable_Resume.pdf

This article originally appeared here.

Walking Away From a Child

By

Gary Thomas

-

January 30, 2021

Brandon has two daughters and a son, all grown. His son lives a destructive life, which hurts Brandon deeply. He admits that wanting his son to succeed may be a bit of “male pride,” and he has exhausted himself trying to force his son into making better choices.

His counselor has worked with Brandon for years and understands the overall family dynamics. “Brandon,” he told him, “You have two amazing daughters going to great places, but you spend the majority of your time thinking about and talking to your son. In fact, I think you spend more time fretting over your son than you do affirming and relating to your two daughters combined. Not only do your daughters feel left out, but all this extra attention stolen from your daughters isn’t even helping your son. In fact, it seems to be making things worse. Isn’t it time to make a change?”

Brandon thought that perhaps the counselor was being too “psychological,” so he wanted a pastor’s opinion. “After all, Gary,” Brandon pointed out, “Didn’t the prodigal’s dad give the prodigal half of all he earned?”

“Yes,” I said (though technically, it wouldn’t have been half—the elder son would have received a larger share), “But that’s not the point of the parable or its purpose. Besides, even looking at it that way, the father didn’t chase after the prodigal when he first left, did he? He let him walk away and experience the bitterness of poor choices. And during that season, the elder son got his father all to himself. The father embraced the prodigal son when he walked back, not when he walked away.”

Responding To A Difficult Child

Whenever you have a “difficult” child the natural temptation is to pour most of your energies into “saving” that child as you (perhaps unwittingly) spend less time and thought on the “faithful” ones. Yet the Bible specifically directs God’s people to focus on finding and investing in the most faithful: “And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).

When talking about ministry strategy, Jesus tells you that when someone resists, you’re to “shake the dust off your feet” (Matthew 10:14) and find other willing hearts who are open to correction and truth. Jesus modeled this by walking away from people when they asked Him to leave (Matthew 8:34-9:1).

With His last words to His disciples, Jesus told us to take the time to thoroughly train disciples, “teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). This implies focused attention, spiritual care, and patient counsel. It takes time, effort, energy, and teachableness on the part of the disciple. If someone isn’t willing to follow the commandments of Jesus, they’re not good candidates to be trained as disciples.

Leave the Door Open

When a child strays we should always leave the door open, continue to pray (and even fast), and of course we would run to them if they merely started walking back toward us. But both Jesus and Paul, in passages already cited, stress the need to make wise investments in people through the grid of making the most effective use of our time. Just as it is foolish to keep pouring money into a bad investment, so it’s unwise to spend the bulk of our time speaking truth to people who resent and ignore it. This warns parents to make sure we don’t neglect the faithful children for the unfaithful and unreliable, which may be our natural bent.

Before you’re a parent, you’re a Christian. Before you’re your kids’ mom or dad, you’re your Heavenly Father’s child and servant. And Jesus tells His followers that the church needs more workers, desperately so. “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38). Whether these workers end up operating a Chick Fil A, serving as judges or police officers or running an auto body shop, we need women and men seeking first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33), creatively and passionately. Such women and men need to be trained and discipled. Don’t neglect training reliable people in hopes that you can rescue an unreliable, stubborn, or toxic relative, even if that relative is one of your own children.

If you have a faithful child, qualified to teach others, one of the greatest gifts you can give to the church is to invest deeply in that child’s mind and soul and imbue that child with earnest passion to seek first the kingdom of God. Don’t make the faithful children pay for the unfaithfulness of their sibling(s).

“Walking away” from an adult child in this sense by no means implies that you should shut off communication. It doesn’t mean you don’t welcome them over to dinner or stop calling them on the phone. Rather, it means you focus the bulk of your ministry time on reliable people who are qualified to teach others and that you zealously guard your efforts so that you don’t neglect a willing disciple for the sake of wooing a toxic prodigal.

If this seems like a difficult word, know that it’s part of a larger discussion about following in the example of Jesus and learning when to walk away from toxic people—even, at times, grown family members. Good spiritual offense requires sometimes applying wise spiritual defense.

This post is adapted from Gary’s book, When to Walk Away: Finding Freedom from Toxic People. This book also addresses how this concept applies to work colleagues, spouses, in-laws, and parents.

This article originally appeared here.

In Days of Trouble, The Church Matters

By

J.K. Wall

-

January 30, 2021

Psalm 20 is an anthem for the pandemic.

It begins, “May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!” And certainly, we’ve been living in trouble for the past 365 days—ever since we first heard about the novel coronavirus.

But Psalm 20 goes on to say, “May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion! May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices.” Which is to say, may God send you help from the place of worship, from the church.

And, indeed, he has sent help from the church during the COVID-19 pandemic. We even have a Gallup survey to prove it. Gallup announced in December that the only group of Americans who didn’t report a decline in their mental health during 2020 were those whose attend religious services weekly. Separate research has shown an increase in suicides, drug overdoses and other “deaths of despair.” But weekly churchgoers saw their mental health scores go up in 2020—the only group that did—scoring just slightly above those making more than $100,000 a year.

As you can see below, Gallup broke out responses by a lot of the other categories we think matter in life—income, age, race, marriage status, political party and even political ideology (not shown below, but available here). But none of that mattered for how well people coped with the anxiety brought on by the pandemic.

So what does matter? The Gallup survey provides suggests four key things.

Church matters. As Christians we memorize Matt. 18:20, which tells us Christ is present whenever two or three—or three hundred—Christians gather. We cite 1 Cor. 10:16 that the bread and the wine of communion connects us to the body and blood of Christ, with all the power they contain. But how much do we really believe that there is true power at work whenever the church meets for worship? The Gallup survey suggests we should.

Relationships matter. In addition to spiritual power, church attendance also has the benefit of regular interaction with others—something that’s been hard to come by during the pandemic. Hebrews 10:24-25 calls for Christians to meet together in order “to stir up love and good works” and to be “encouraging to one another.” That seems to have actually happened in 2020.

Habits matter. We tend to define ourselves by what we think, which groups we identify with, or how well we’re doing professionally and financially. But when those things are shaken up, habitual behaviors show the things that truly define us. The Bible teaches this principle over and over, but perhaps the most compelling verse on it is Jeremiah 13:23: “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.”

Trust matters. People go to church for lots of reasons, not all of them good. But at its core, going to church is an act of trusting God. It’s a recognition that we can’t control everything about our lives, and we need help from a greater power. When the “powers” we usually rely on fail—as nearly all of them did in 2020—it would certainly help to be reminded week by week that there is a God who we can trust to carry us through the days the of trouble.

Psalm 20 includes one of the strongest declarations of trust in all of scripture: “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.”

As the pandemic continues to rage, killing thousands of people every day, one of the best things we can do is to go to church and sing Psalm 20.

This article originally appeared here.

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1) Size and strength are no longer automatically synonymous.

2) The message you intend to communicate may not be the message that is heard.

3) Church may look the same, but it won’t feel the same.

4) Character is in the spotlight over competence.

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