5 Emotional Intelligence Hacks That Can Immediately Improve Your Leadership

October 26, 2020

thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

How would you rate your emotional intelligence lately?

It’s a relevant question for a few reasons. First, as the research Daniel Goleman brought forward two decades ago demonstrated, EQ (emotional intelligence) is a far greater predictor of leadership effectiveness than IQ.

Second—and this is the fun part—emotional intelligence can be learned. It’s not genetic, and pretty much anyone can get better at it.

Your emotional intelligence (or lack thereof) is already affecting far more than you think at work and at home. It explains:

-Why you have conflict and when you have conflict.

-Why people like working with you or don’t.

-Why you never seem to get the promotion you’re hoping for—or why you do.

-Why there’s so much drama in your life, or why things actually go quite smoothly.

So how emotionally savvy are you?

I personally had a lot of growing to do in emotional intelligence over the years in leadership, and I’m still working on it.

Here are five EI hacks that can immediately improve your leadership. They’ve certainly helped improve mine.

1. Become a student of how you impact others

Ever wonder what happens when you walk into a room?

It’s a strange question in some respects because you’ve never been in a room that you’re not in.

You impact the climate of every room you’re in. In fact, as a leader, you almost always change the climate. But is it for the better or worse?

Do people tense up when you walk in? Do they clam up? Are they glad to see you? Afraid of you? Thrilled that you’re there?

Is your spouse glad to see you, or does he or she worry you’ll just have one more thing to complain about when you get home?

Many people have no idea how to honestly answer that question.

What makes it even more complicated is the fact that insecure leaders are usually too afraid to get answers to that question. And if you’re an angry or defensive leader, I promise you your team is afraid to give you an answer to that question.

7 Ways Mobile Apps Help Churches Thrive

Jeff Harvey

October 26, 2020

How do you feel when you leave home without your phone? We love our smartphones, and most of us spend an average of five hours using them every day. This is why pastors and ministry leaders are turning to apps for churches to nurture engagement and increase a sense of belonging within their communities.

Mobile apps allow your community to interact with your ministry’s content anywhere, anytime. People can easily listen to your latest sermon on their phones while commuting to work, open up your Bible reading plan during a break, get a friendly reminder that your church’s live stream is about to start, and so much more.

With the right app features in place, your church can thrive! Let’s take a look at seven of these features—all of which are included with the Subsplash app platform—and discover how they can help you engage and grow your audience.

7 Ways Mobile Apps Help Churches Thrive

Push notifications are automated messages that show up on your users’ phone home screens. They are an efficient way to send reminders (like for event registration or live stream start times) or provide updates (such as a new worship service time, or the latest church bulletin). Push notifications are also one of the most effective digital communication tools available to church leaders as they are opened 50% more than emails.
Audio and video players allow your community to consume your gospel-centered content on the go. Whether a church sermon, daily devotional, or small group lesson, your audience will love watching and listening to your content on their mobile devices. The best church app platforms offer an audio player that remembers where you left off, along with an audio download option for listening offline!
Event calendars increase attendance at your Bible studies, small groups, and other activities by putting all of your events in one place. These can usually be integrated with your other calendars (like Google Calendar and iCal) and links to signup forms. Adding maps and directions will help people easily find your events, along with contact info, and links to easily share with friends.
In-app messaging facilitates communication in a secure and centralized location. Asking for prayer, chatting in a public channel, and sending direct messages between members of your congregation are just a few examples of how this instant two-way communication helps build authentic relationships. In-app messaging can increase efficiency by allowing your members to share files, create polls for feedback, and by sending push notifications.
Live streaming allows your church to connect with your members in real-time, regardless of their physical location. With today’s streaming technology, it is simple to set up live streaming for your church with just a webcam or a mobile device.
In-app giving enables your members to make donations on their smartphones from anywhere. Most donors prefer the convenience of giving online with a credit card rather than donating with cash or checks. Giving solution features like recurring gifts encourage people to give more frequently. Your church staff will appreciate time-saving features such as automated bookkeeping, integrations with your church management software (ChMS), donor reports, and website giving integrations. On average, churches that add digital giving options see a 32% increase in overall donations.
Notes and digital bulletins help congregants stay engaged during services and help your church save on printing costs. Pre-built fill-in-the-blank notes can be saved on your church’s app for congregants to use, and free-form notes let them record their own notes.

These features keep your audience engaged with your church’s content, feel connected to your ministry, and encouraged to come back to your app over and over again.

About Subsplash: Subsplash created the very first church app in 2009 out of their small office in Seattle. Today they serve over 14,000 churches and organizations from offices located around the United States. Learn more about how having a Subsplash custom mobile app can help your church reach more people and create deeper connections.

IHOP Commits to Cover YWAM Missionaries in Prayer Through 1 Million Intercessors

Megan Briggs

October 26, 2020

If you’ve heard of International House of Prayer (IHOP), you know their mission is to keep the fires of intercessory prayer burning 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And if you know anything about Youth With a Mission (YWAM), you know they are committed to crossing the globe until everyone has heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. So what would it look like if one of the most widely-known prayer ministries covered one of the most widely-known missions organizations in prayer? The answer is this very well could have Great-Commission-fulfilling ramifications.

Although the two ministries have crossed paths in the past, September 11, 2016, marks the launch of this more focused initiative on IHOP’s part to hold YWAM up in intercessory prayer. Loren Cunningham, who founded YWAM with his wife, Darlene, challenged Mike Bickle, the leader of IHOP, to raise up 1 million intercessors to pray on behalf of YWAM. Leaders and staff of IHOP and YWAM had been gathered for the week-long Together conference in Kansas City September 5-10, 2016, when the challenge came.

Bickle didn’t miss a beat, taking pleasure in accepting the challenge. Bickle told Jennifer LeClaire of Charisma News, “We love what the Lord has done through Loren and Darlene Cunningham and the whole YWAM family for over 50 years, and we are committing to cover them in intercession for the great cause of advancing the kingdom in the nations and to call other prayer ministries throughout the world to join us.”

The focus of the Together conference was on fulfilling the Great Commission. Among the topics discussed were “ending Bible poverty (providing Scripture in every language) and a commitment to seeing every sphere of society impacted with the gospel,” according to Charisma News. The call to intercession is one that is very near to the Cunningham’s hearts. Darlene Cunningham says, “The practice of intercession—hearing from God and praying His prayers—is part of the core DNA of YWAM from the beginning… We need it, and I am so thankful that IHOP is joining us in the great endeavor.”

If anyone could handle such a commission, it’s IHOP. As John Dawson, president emeritus of YWAM, said, “The 17-year commitment to 24/7 prayer maintained faithfully by IHOP Kansas City is no small thing in our eyes. Out at the ends of the Earth, our missionaries can feel the power of this loving shield; in the hard places, in the dangerous places, we know we are not alone because intercessors are travailing, even through the night watches.”

With more than 1,100 ministry locations in over 180 countries, YWAM has a lot going on on any given day. And the fact that they train over 25,000 short-term missions volunteers each year (this doesn’t even include their full-time staff or long-term missionaries) translates to a lot of prayer requests.

Let’s pray this unique alliance between the two ministries produces good fruit for God’s kingdom.

What Makes Business Christian? ~ Part 4

J.D. Greear

October 26, 2020

Today we’re looking at the 4th characteristic that makes business “Christian.” Below are the links for the previous characteristics that I posted.

Christian work is:

– 1. Creation-Fulfilling

– 2. Excellence-Pursuing

– 3. Holiness-Reflecting

4. Todays topic – Redemption-Displaying:

If Christians were to act in their jobs with equity and fairness, that alone would set them apart. But those who have been touched by the gospel do not merely attempt to hold to high ethical standards: They live lives with a radically altered perspective of gratitude. What Christ has done by redeeming us to the Father produces a natural response of grace towards others.

A great example of this is a story I recently heard about a Madison Avenue advertising executive. A young woman working as an intern for this executive made a mistake that cost the company $25,000. Madison Avenue is a world defined by grace, so she knew she had ruined her one chance at making it in the advertising world. But this executive went before his board of directors, convincing them to allow the blame for her mistake to fall on him instead. When this young woman heard what he had done, she came to him crying. In tears, she asked him why in an atmosphere as cutthroat as that of Madison Avenue advertising, he would choose to cut his own throat for her. He answered by sharing how 15 years earlier, Jesus had done the same thing for him, stepping in the way of the wrath that he deserved. Because of the great grace that Jesus had shown him, his heart went out to her.

When we work to display redemption, we no longer angle for position, shrewdly networking so that every relationship we have and every activity of our day serves our bottom line. In fact, Christ’s grace changes our desires so that we seek new bottom lines. If truly touched by grace, Christians in business begin to leverage their resources to bless those in need. If truly touched by grace, Christians in business consider ways to use their work in taking the gospel to places where it is not known.

Many Christians will object to a perspective like this. “I worked for what I have—I earned it” they might say. Or perhaps, “I just don’t feel like that’s my call.” Both objections reveal a heart that knows little of grace or of obedience. A person may certainly feel like she has earned everything that she has, but where did she get her tough-minded work ethic? Her intelligence? These were the grace of God. By whose decree did she grow up in the United States instead of in a Brazilian favela? Certainly not by her own—this also was the grace of God. The very air she breathed and food she ate were provided to her as gifts of grace.

A person who hides behind the language of “calling” reveals a similar ignorance, one of obedience. He protests that giving away his money or using his skills for missions is simply not God’s will for his life. He argues that such sacrifice, so very commendable, is certainly the call for a more mature Christian than himself. “Perhaps one day,” he muses, “but not today.” He forgets, of course, that the call to leverage every aspect of his life for God’s purposes is not an advanced lesson for an elite Christian force—it is the call to follow Jesus.

Hillsong Purchases Melbourne’s Iconic Festival Hall for $23M

Stephanie Martin

October 26, 2020

kingdom-hall — In this February 23, 2019 photo, Hillsong pastors cut a ribbon at an event dedicating their Hillsong Melbourne East campus.

On its YouTube channel yesterday, Hillsong Church announced its purchase of Festival Hall, an iconic music venue in West Melbourne, Australia. The 105-year-old building, which seats more than 5,000, will be renovated and then used for church services and community events. According to Hillsong, the beloved venue also will, to some degree, “continue to be Festival Hall.”

Hillsong: ‘God’s grace’ Made Purchase Possible

During Sunday’s online worship, senior pastor Brian Houston called Festival Hall an “amazing venue” that will “become the city location for Hillsong Melbourne.” The property, on the market for three years, had almost been converted into apartment buildings. After another party withdrew a bid, Hillsong was able to finalize the purchase on October 16 “by God’s grace,” Houston says.

Tim and Nicola Douglass, pastors at Hillsong Melbourne, say they’re excited to finally “have a home” after seven years of seeking a permanent site. Landing Festival Hall “was a long shot,” says Tim Douglass. “Now, we’re sitting in a miracle. God can make a way even through impossible circumstances.”

Festival Hall, in the heart of Melbourne and with easy transportation access, will continue to serve city residents, adds Douglass. “We just get to be the church that purchases it and continues to serve, but also gets to see it be the house of God on Sundays.”

For the renovation, Houston says, they’ll likely build an addition for children’s ministry and more. Although Hillsong will become the “anchor tenant” of Festival Hall, he adds, “We’re going to continue running it as a community venue.”

Hillsong, a worship-music powerhouse, bought the property as part of its new Community Venues commercial entity. Much planning was involved, Houston says, adding that funds were set aside before COVID-19 struck. Buying the hall is “something that has been planned and that was prepared for,” he says.

Criticism Is Expected, Says Pastor Brian Houston

The purchase price of $23.3 million raised some eyebrows, with critics saying the church shouldn’t be tax-exempt if it can afford such a big purchase. “Not everyone’s going to like [the move], I’ll tell you now,” says Houston. “But I believe the Lord loves it, and I sure love it, and you love it, so thank God.”

Some Melbourne musicians aren’t happy with the new ownership. “I don’t want any Amity shows giving any money to Hillsong, so see ya later then Festival Hall,” tweets singer Joel Birch.

Another commenter writes, “Same way you don’t see musicians crashing religious buildings, do you mind keeping one of the few (and getting fewer) music venues we have in Melbourne open for us?”

Festival Hall, which had to be rebuilt after a 1955 fire, has hosted Olympic events and big-name musical acts from The Beatles and Bob Dylan to Midnight Oil and Rage Against the Machine.

“Hillsong, the ultra-conservative megachurch that includes Chris Pratt and Justin Bieber among its followers, has bought Melbourne’s Festival Hall,” tweets self-described “pop-culture addict” Albert Santos. “Hasn’t Melbourne suffered enough?” He adds, “I can think of literally nothing less rock and roll than one of the most iconic rock venues in Melbourne being bought by the [Prime Minister’s] super-Christian mates from the Hills District.”

Chinese Textbook Rewrites Bible Story to Make Jesus Sinful

Jessica Lea

October 26, 2020

woman caught in adultery — Photo of Xi Jinping courtesy of Prime Minister's Office, Government of India, GODL-India, via Wikimedia Commons

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been implementing its plans for the “sinicization” of the Bible and Christianity for some time now, but only recently has it become apparent what the party believes a more “Chinese” version of Scripture would look like. According to a Sept. 22 report from the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN), a Chinese ethics textbook tells the famous account in John 8 of the woman caught in adultery, but with a significant change to the ending: After the religious leaders leave, Jesus stones the woman himself.

“I want everyone to know that the Chinese Communist Party has always tried to distort the history of the Church, to slander our Church, and to make people hate our Church,” said a parishioner who posted the CCP’s version of the story on social media. According to ChinaAid, which has published a picture of the text in question, the story about the woman caught in adultery is in a textbook called “Chinese Professional Ethics and Law” that was edited by Zhongmei Pan, Gang Li, and Baoyu Xu. The book was published by University of Electronic Science and Technology Press, and according to the National Review’s Cameron Hilditch, is aimed at high school students.

UCAN says that a Christian teacher named Mathew Wang noted that the content of the textbook is not consistent throughout China, but did confirm the existence of the revised biblical account. According to Wang, the Textbook Review Committee for Moral Education in Secondary Vocational Education reviewed the textbook.

CCP: No Mercy for the Woman Caught in Adultery

In John 8:1-11, the Jewish religious leaders try to trap Jesus by bringing a woman caught in adultery to him. They tell him she was caught in the middle of the act and that the law commands them to stone her. Then they ask Jesus, “Now what do you say?”

Instead of responding to the question, Jesus bends down and starts writing on the ground. When the Pharisees and teachers of the law continue to question him, Jesus says, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” He then goes back to writing on the ground. Gradually, all of the woman’s accusers start to leave. When all of them are gone, Jesus asks her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She says, “No one, sir.” He responds, “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”

The CCP’s version of the account totally subverts the character and divine nature of Jesus, not to mention his application of Old Testament Law. The revised story reads:

The crowd wanted to stone the woman to death as per their law. But Jesus said, “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone.” Hearing this, they slipped away one by one. When the crowd disappeared, Jesus stoned the sinner to death saying, “I too am a sinner. But if the law could only be executed by men without blemish, the law would be dead.”

A Catholic priest who wished to remain anonymous told UCAN that the revisions to the account of the woman caught in adultery are part of “a sad social phenomenon in mainland China” and that the changes are “against morality and the law, so how can we still teach professional ethics with this book?”

Apart from the slanderous way the textbook portrays the nature and teachings of Jesus, ChinaAid says the changes reflect the CCP’s desire to bolster people’s view of the law in China. The textbook explains that the law (i.e., Chinese law) will die if it can only be enforced by people who are sinless—implying that people must accept the actions, sinful or not, of Chinese leaders. The CCP has been suppressing and attempting to reinvent Christianity for some time, but “Until now,” says ChinaAid, “Chinese officials rarely, so openly presented an altered biblical passage in an official textbook.”

The Federalist’s Arielle Del Turco believes that the purpose of these changes is to show “that forgiveness, an important Christian value, is rejected and the law must be obeyed without question. In China, the law is whatever the CCP says.”

According to Matthew Taylor King with the Wall Street Journal, at the end of last year the CCP convened a group of “scholars” and “religious people from the grassroots level” to make “accurate and authoritative interpretations of classical doctrines to keep pace with the times.” The Daily Mail says that these “experts” were charged with the task of reinventing religious texts in order to prevent the cultivation of “extreme thoughts” and “heretical ideas.”

A full government-approved translation of the Bible is not yet available. In fact, what the CCP is attempting is an enormous undertaking, says King, requiring “literary achievement and deep religious knowledge, both of which are lacking in the party’s handpicked experts.”

Hilditch thinks these efforts show that the Chinese government has taken some lessons from the former Soviet Union. He says,

The CCP has learned that the long-term survival of a Communist super-state is better served by managing domestic elements hostile to Communist ideology rather than attempting to abolish them outright…The new Chinese Communism is one of social control, not social revolution. And so its architects allow for just enough capitalism to keep themselves in power, and for just enough Jesus to keep out Christ.

Why Pandemics Are Dangerous for Jews

Susan Michael

October 26, 2020

Abundant conspiracy theories and misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic have elevated fear and anxiety levels for many. We have had to sift through benign misinformation and intentional disinformation to understand the potential dangers of this virus and the best practices to avoid it. Even the US government’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has become controversial and many question whether it is the place to go for information one can trust.

Government Misinformation

Other countries have even less trustworthy and helpful governments. They are at the mercy of corrupt leaders attempting to hide their own mishandling of the crisis and place blame elsewhere through their state-controlled media.

Case in point: a Chinese government spokesman set off a disinformation frenzy in China when he tweeted the self-serving lie that it was the US army that brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Russian media then chimed in accusing both the United States and the United Kingdom of developing the virus to harm Russian ally China.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard generals claimed the virus was an American biological weapon aimed at both China and Iran, while Iranian state media also blamed the “Zionists.” Throughout the Muslim world, rumors abound that the Jews developed the coronavirus to gain power, kill a large number of people, and make a fortune selling the antidote.

Conspiracy Theories

These lies have infiltrated the internet in the United States and are used by conspiracy theorists to advance their anti-Semitic theories. The Anti-Defamation League is tracking and documenting the proliferation of these lies on both fringe internet platforms as well as mainstream platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Reddit.

Conspiracies abound about the origin of the virus that blame everyone from the US government to Bill Gates to Israel. Some are using the virus as proof in their case for—or against—vaccination, immigration, or imposition of martial law. Racists are denigrating all things Chinese, while anti-Semites blame Jews for the virus as a means to manipulate the stock market with the services of obchodovani s akciemi to their financial advantage, bring down President Trump, or profit from a vaccine they developed beforehand.

Why the Jews?

Why the Jews? They are suffering from the virus like everyone else and trying to develop a vaccine just as fast as the rest of the world. Their religious leaders called for prayer at the Western Wall for the entire world to be spared this pandemic. Yet, they are blamed for creating it, using it to kill masses of people and then profit off of its treatment.

As wrong as it is, the proliferation of false accusations against the Chinese people is because the virus started in China. But what do the Jews have to do with this virus? Why the lies about Israel and the Jews? Because age-old anti-Semitism will use every opportunity to spew hatred on the Jewish people.

The danger for Jews during pandemics is not just the disease but also the conspiracy theories it spawns. One of the greatest catastrophes to afflict the human race was the fourteenth-century bubonic plague—known as the “Black Death”—that swept through Europe. Historians estimate that up to 50 percent of Europe’s population died in the pandemic, with rates of death as high as 75 percent in Italy, Spain, and France.

The Jewish minority had already been demonized by church and state, so they were an easy scapegoat. They also fared better than the general population, possibly due to their dietary and religious practices or the fact many were confined in walled ghettos. Their lower death rates, however, fueled suspicions they were behind the pandemic, and many Jews who survived the plague were then massacred in pogroms.

We should not dismiss conspiracy theories as mere craziness. Conspiracy theories produce anger, and anger moves quickly from words into actions; verbal insults often result in physical attacks. It is, therefore, our responsibility to speak up against these lies and point people to reliable sources of information.

Flattening the Curve

While seeking to flatten the curve of the coronavirus, we must do the same with the pandemic of anti-Semitism. It is a deadly virus that poisons hearts and minds, eventually destroying those it infects along with those they hate.

We must take the necessary steps to identify and isolate it, protect others from becoming infected, and develop educational “vaccines” against it in our churches, schools, and society.

To find out more about Anti-Semitism and how you can equip and educate your congregation, download the free ebook today.

Jen Hatmaker Says “I Do” to Same-Sex Marriages

Megan Briggs

October 26, 2020

Jen Hatmaker recently shared her views, and how they’ve changed, on same-sex marriage, pro-life, race and equality, and even Donald Trump, in an interview with Jonathan Merritt for Religion News Service.

When asked by Merritt if she believed a same-sex union could be holy, Hatmaker said, “I do.” She went on to say, “And my views here are tender. This is a very nuanced conversation, and it’s hard to nail down in one sitting.”

The majority of mainline evangelical leaders are still conservative on the issue of same-sex marriage, but Hatmaker’s statement reflects a wider shift in culture. Over the last decade, we’ve seen prominent voices depart from traditional biblical views on same-sex marriage (Tony Campolo, Rob Bell, Rachel Held-Evans, to name just a few)—as well as a steady increase among Christians who’ve shifted their support in favor.

According to a Pew Research, the acceptance of same-sex marriage has been on the rise since 2001, both in the general public and within the church.

*Roughly 6 in 10 Catholics (58 percent) now support same-sex marriage, as do nearly two-thirds of white mainline Protestants (64 percent).

*Support for same-sex marriage among black Protestants and white evangelical Protestants remains lower than it is among other religious groups. Both groups, however, have become somewhat more accepting of same-sex marriage over the last decade. (Read more)

In fact, we’ve seen a 13 percent increase in same-sex marriage approval within the evangelical community since 2005.

What’s changing the conversation? Why are evangelical leaders shifting their support?

You could list many of issues—some theological, some cultural—but if we can learn something from the Hatmaker interview, it seems like the pain between the LGBT community and the church has been the harbinger of change. “I’ve seen too much pain and rejection at the intersection of the gay community and the church. Every believer that witnesses that much overwhelming sorrow should be tender enough to do some hard work here,” Hatmaker said.

That pain point drove her to soften her views on the LGBT community to the point of acceptance—with a focus on relationships over biblical truth.

Will she lose her influence in the Christian community for this stance?

Likely not. Jen’s platform of influence has been expanding over the last five years—with new books like For the Love and her HGTV special—and it’s likely most of her fans will take her views with a grain of salt and focus more on areas they agree.

In other words, no one is saying, “Farewell, Jen,” like they did to Rob Bell.

However, the discussion surrounding same-sex unions is not going away anytime soon, and the increasing acceptance—both in the general society and within the church—means we can’t afford to ignore the issue.

Will the church continue to hurdle over biblical truth toward cultural acceptance, in one giant leap, or will it find ways to increase the relevance of love and Gospel witness without affirming homosexuality as something…holy?

One thing is certain—our witness is on the line, but the needle is moving.

Trump, Confirmed a Presbyterian, Now Identifies as ‘Non-Denominational Christian’

Religion News Service

October 26, 2020

WASHINGTON (RNS) — In an exclusive interview with Religion News Service, President Trump said in a written statement that he no longer identifies as a Presbyterian and now sees himself as a non-denominational Christian.

“Though I was confirmed at a Presbyterian church as a child, I now consider myself to be a non-denominational Christian,” Trump, who has repeatedly identified as a Presbyterian in the past, said in a written response to RNS.

Saying that his parents “taught me the importance of faith and prayer from a young age,” Trump went on to say that “Melania and I have gotten to visit some amazing churches and meet with great faith leaders from around the world. During the unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak, I tuned into several virtual church services and know that millions of Americans did the same.”

The revelation about Trump’s religious identity appeared in an interview that was conducted in writing and covered a variety of faith topics, ranging from the president’s own spiritual life to his plans for the White House office tasked with engaging faith groups.

Questions for the interview, which were first negotiated with the White House press office, were presented to the president by Paula White, a Florida pastor and the head of the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative, according to the White House.

White House staffers said that the answers are attributable to the president.

Despite the unusual context, the result is a rare exchange about religion-related matters with a president who, while allying closely with evangelical Christian leaders, has said relatively little about his own faith.

Asked whether he learned anything spiritually from his experience of contracting COVID-19, Trump responded that he and Melania “felt the prayers of Americans from all across the country — and even around the world” when he was recovering at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

“I said, ‘There were miracles coming down from heaven.’ I meant it — Melania and I are very thankful to God for looking out for our family and re-turning us to good health,” he wrote.

Though the president didn’t directly answer a question about particular spiritual lessons he had learned from his influential evangelical supporters, Trump praised their faith and said Franklin Graham, president and CEO of his father Billy’s evangelistic organization and of the relief organization Samaritan’s Purse, had visited the Oval Office to pray for him earlier this month.

10 Thoughts on Christians and Halloween

Chuck Lawless

October 26, 2020

10 Thoughts on Christians and Halloween

I have studied spiritual warfare for many years, so you might assume that I strongly encourage believers to avoid anything related to Halloween. That’s not exactly the position I take, as seen below:

Believers who participate in Halloween may do so, but with caution. My primary concern is that we sometimes numb ourselves to evil when we dress like demons, ghosts, death, etc. There’s nothing inherently wrong, though, with wearing a costume. We simply must be wise in these decisions.
Handing out candy is not a poor choice. Greeting neighbors on the porch can, in fact, be an open door to developing relationships. People are coming to you, so take advantage of the opportunity. Just don’t be stingy with the candy…
If you give out candy, consider also providing something else (like hot chocolate) to promote conversations. Engage parents and grandparents who stop for something to drink while their kids get candy. Those conversations can lead to long-term opportunities for evangelism.
If you give out tracts, be sure to give out candy, too. I’d probably say something like, “Here’s some candy, and here’s a great story to read as well.” Then trust the kids to enjoy the candy and the Holy Spirit to do something with the Word.
Churches that offer alternatives need to do it really well. Whether it’s a Harvest Celebration or a Fall Festival, do it up big. Make the community want to come to your event. Budget and plan appropriately.
Believers might open their homes to have a party on the same day. If you’re worried about not participating in Halloween night, plan another party in your home. Invite a few families. Have fun. Eat candy. Encourage your friends to join you at church.
Parents might consider teaching their kids generosity on Halloween. Instead of roaming the neighborhood collecting candy, maybe you and your family can take fruit and candy to a children’s home or a homeless shelter. Your kids can still have candy later on, and they’ll learn about giving.
When you give candy, whisper a prayer for each taker. My guess is that you will pray for some kids for whom nobody else has been praying. Only God knows how much each child needs a prayer covering.
If your Christian conscience tells you “no” about Halloween, trust your heart. You have to be able to rest at night knowing you followed the Lord’s direction as you understood it.
Be respectful of those who differ with your position. There is likely room to disagree on this issue and still be brothers and sisters in Christ.

I know this topic is a controversial one. Let me know your thoughts.

This article originally appeared here.

What Our Family Is Learning From Our Girls With Special Needs

Mary Bales

October 26, 2020

Anytime I am asked to share our family story, I am equal parts excited and nervous. Our story is not a typical one, thought it started out very charmed. We easily could have been the stock photo for a new picture frame. I married my college sweetheart, a camp friend from high school. We both graduated from college, began our careers, got married, and moved to Dallas. We had a plan, and we were confident that our plan was surely God’s plan.

When “typical” no longer defined our family

After a few years of marriage, we started our family. We had a beautiful, healthy, strong-willed daughter. A couple of years after that, we had a handsome, healthy, and athletic boy. We continued moving forward with our plans and working hard at worldly success. In the fall of 2008, everything changed. I was pregnant with our third child. My pregnancy was normal, and there was nothing to be concerned about—until I went into labor five weeks early. From that moment on, our family has been anything but “typical.”

Libby was born, and we instantly knew that something was not right. Multiple doctors and nurses came in and out, having very hushed conversations. They took her out and did not bring her back. She was taken to the NICU with a number of concerns, the most significant being respiratory and cardiac. We were told that she had a very serious heart defect and would require surgery. She was struggling to transition from the womb to the world and was requiring assistance to breathe, eat, and rest. She had open heart surgery at 10 weeks old, and it was shortly after that surgery that we were told that Libby had a very rare chromosomal abnormality called Trisomy 16P.

We were told that the chances of her celebrating a second birthday were highly unlikely. We heard many things from doctors in the days following the diagnosis. We were told to “take her home and love her while you have her.” We were told “if you had not already repaired her heart, we would tell you not to bother—she won’t live long enough for the surgery to be worth it.” We were told to carefully consider our future family planning. Our heads and hearts were spinning.

One of the most encouraging things we heard was, “Who knows?” It was a comfort and relief when a very knowledgeable physician would admit that maybe he or she did not know what Libby’s future looked like. It was in these moments that I could feel the Lord nudging me and saying, “I know.”

Libby is now 12 years old. She is healthy and happy and truly a miracle from God. Life with Libby has been anything but easy. We have felt very much like navigators of a foreign territory. We have not found another family or even medical professional that has experience with Trisomy 16P. When Libby was diagnosed, there were 30 reported cases. Libby does not walk or talk; she has the cognitive ability of a nine-month-old baby.

Despite the difficulty and stress, we decided to continue to grow our family. We met with doctors and specialists. We were told that it was a scientific impossibility that we would have another child with Trisomy 16P. In October of 2011, after a very typical pregnancy, we welcomed Hannah Jane into our family. Hannah’s heart was healthy, she was not premature, she was breathing on her own; however, we both knew that something was atypical. We were told that she also has Trisomy 16P. We were shocked and devastated all over again. How could this be?

How our family experiences God’s faithfulness

Although the diagnosis was the same and the girls are technically genetic twins on paper, our feelings were different the second time. I never want to sugarcoat it—it was hard. We cried many tears. We questioned God’s plan. We felt angry. At the same time, we felt a peace and a calling. We have had hundreds of doctor appointments, surgeries, and hospitalizations. We have had such extreme mountain-top experiences, like when Hannah walked over 700 steps in her gait trainer a few weeks ago at school. We have also had dark, scary experiences in the valley. We have walked through nights in the ICU where we didn’t know if our girl would live. We have sat through surgeries that were long and life-threatening. We have flown in care flight helicopters and been transported by ambulances more times than I can count.

Here is what I have learned: God is God over the peaks and valleys. God was and is faithful every moment in between. He has been faithful to provide through his Word, his presence, and his people. I am grateful that God’s Word addresses fears and pain, anger and sadness. I am thankful that God does not turn away from our emotions. And I am grateful he continually speaks through his Word and his people.

For anyone walking a similar path, I encourage you to find a Bible-believing, Gospel-preaching church that will minister to you and your family. We have been been a part of three different churches—all who have loved us well and cared for our girls.

I would also encourage you to find parachurch ministries that minister to you and your entire family. Our very favorite event every year is attending Family Camp with Joni and Friends Texas. Joni Earekson Tada is a hero of ours and has established an unbelievably life-giving ministry that cares for families with disabilities.

And most importantly, I would encourage you to press in to God’s Word and discover what he says about suffering. John 16:33 has become my life verse, “I have said these things to you that, in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (ESV).

I fought the reality that our life is anything but typical for a while, but now I embrace the calling and blessing that we have been given. Our girls have taught us so much about God—his faithfulness, provision, and love for us. Our girls do not speak, but they communicate the gospel every single day. Our plan did not look like God’s plan. In 2013, his plan surprised us with welcoming our fifth child into our family. Campbell Grace is a healthy, active, extremely talkative seven-year-old now. His grace abounds, and his plan is always better—for his glory and our good.

This article originally appeared here.

Free Minibook Printable: The Lord’s Prayer

Daniel So

October 26, 2020

Free Minibook Printable

Teach your kids the Lord’s Prayer using this printable minibook.

Each page of the minibook emphasizes a specific portion of the Lord’s Prayer.

Get Download Now

Resource provided by BibleStoryPrintables.com

The Media’s Illiteracy Is Not Our Biggest Problem

Russell Moore

October 26, 2020

This is an excerpt from my weekly newsletter, Moore to the Point. You can subscribe for free here.

—

Much attention is focused right now on the Supreme Court nomination of Amy Coney Barrett. People—including readers of this newsletter—will have widely divergent opinions about whether a seat like this should happen this way, before an election. And the country will debate—probably tumultuously—over the next few weeks around these confirmation hearings. What interests me right now is not the debate itself as much as one of the subplots—an argument about the word “handmaid.”

At issue, of course, is Judge Barrett’s membership in a mostly Catholic charismatic group “People of Praise.” Much of this has focused on the group’s use of the word “handmaid” for women. This is usually related to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, about a theocratic dystopia in which women—called “handmaids” are subordinated breeders in a hyper-patriarchal society.

As many have rightly pointed out, the problem is that those pursuing this line of argument don’t seem to recognize that Margaret Atwood did not come up with the word “handmaid.” This is a reference, instead, to the Virgin Mary who said, in the King James Version translation, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Lk. 1:38). I would add that, whatever the perception of those whose knowledge of Mary is limited to Nativity scenes on Christmas cards, this woman was no mousy subject. Right after this encounter with Gabriel, she sang—using the language of “handmaiden” again for herself—even as she sang about the mighty pulled down from their thrones (Lk. 1:48-52).

Is it true that some in journalism are unaware of basic biblical content, content needed to understand a great deal of cultural phenomena over the past many centuries? Yes. That’s no new phenomenon. One journalist famously asked in 1976 whether Jimmy Carter’s description of himself as “born again” meant that he believed he would receive direct messages from God. The media—and much of the country—were flummoxed when Carter said that he had “lusted in his heart”—as though Carter were disclosing some secret perversion rather than language found in the Sermon on the Mount and in every evangelical men’s accountability group, probably since first-century Antioch. And it’s not just in media, one White House staff member in a previous administration expressed exasperation that a reference to “the least of these” referring to the poor and the orphaned was interpreted as a slur against the vulnerable rather than a defense of them, echoing Jesus’ words in Matthew 25.

That said, this should hardly surprise us in a much more secularizing American culture. Our response should not be some sort of smug superiority—“How can you not know this?” Would journalists be better informed if they understood more biblical references and metaphors? Yes. Someone saying that the point of life and career is “the kingdom of God” is just quoting an obvious biblical teaching, not (necessarily) calling for the second coming of Constantine. Is that our biggest problem? No.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?” (1 Cor. 5:12). What we should worry more about is biblical illiteracy within the church—and it’s everywhere.

Note that I am not saying theological illiteracy but biblical illiteracy. There are many who have down pat their systematic theological debating points as they relate to controversies differentiating them from others, but who don’t know the actual words and narratives of Scripture except as they relate to their preferred controversies. I have heard a very well-educated Christian outraged by a pastor praying “Jesus, who is the propitiation for our sins and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.” This hearer said to those around him, “What was that Arminian prayer?” Wherever you are—if you are at all—on the Calvinist-Arminian skirmishes—the point is not whether there’s anything wrong with Arminianism, but that this is a direct quotation of 1 John 2:2. I have likewise heard Christians call virtually word for word citations of the prophets on justice as “Marxist” or citations from Ephesians 3 as “critical theory.” I have heard passing references to the direct wording of Ephesians 5 evoking outrage in Christians calling them “patriarchal” or the direct wording of Galatians 3:28 or similar passages as “feminist.”

What’s the answer to this? Well, this sounds like a pat Sunday School answer, but I think the answer is more pat Sunday School experiences. We need to be, both individually and congregationally, immersed in the Bible. That requires time both in the broad sweeps of the biblical stories and in the small details. And that means not simply focusing on the Scriptures that we believe are applicable to our current situation—or to a “worldview” response to some current controversy—but to all of Scripture, even—maybe especially—the parts we don’t yet see how they are relevant to us. That’s how a people are shaped by a Word. The outside world will still misunderstand us. That shouldn’t offend us, but should instead give us an exciting opportunity to bear witness to a Scripture we are to carry as news and as good news.

—

I’d love to send more content like this to your inbox every Monday. Subscribe to Moore to the Point here.

This article originally appeared here.

Welcome to the New Face of Sex Trafficking

Beth Bruno

October 25, 2020

We are sipping coffee near the courthouse. I’ve just witnessed a man plead guilty to a felony charge: trafficking a minor. Everything fits the televised version—the orange jumpsuits, bailiff-guarded doors, hands cuffed to waist. What does not fit is the dull, monotonous tone of the judge, attorneys and defendant. Another day in court, except a man’s life is set to change today. I expected a bit more emotion.

My friend is explaining the terminology over our shared muffin. She’s an investigator and thrilled he pled guilty. New laws are making cases stick, and our community is starting to get convictions. At least she is emotional. The minors she works with keep her heart tuned. They break it, daily.

I ask if she sees trends that match the national ones: early sexual abuse, family chaos, child welfare system, substance abuse. Yes, yes, yes, she says, and she adds more. She lists the previous few cases, and they all fit into the profile in some way or another.

But I’m unsettled. In the last few weeks, I’ve fielded two phone calls that confuse me. The calls are from middle class parents. Educated parents. Church-going parents. Parents who took family vacations, enrolled their kids in sports, encouraged summer reading and had dinner around a table every night. And yet, the worst thing imaginable has happened, and they are worried.

They call me when they fear the worst. When the red flags they’ve heard about are flapping in their face. They call when they want confirmation, even though what they really want is for me to assure them that it’s going to be fine and that this looks nothing like sex trafficking. The parents call when they need a bit of parenting themselves.

Red Flags

Each case involved a girl over 18, which makes it dicey. These girls are legally adults. Each one was in risky relationships with a guy who quickly talked her into moving in with him or leaving the state with him. There were other men in and out of the house as well. Drugs were involved, suddenly and out of the blue. Contact with her had been difficult, if not severed. It would not be a huge leap for the guy to ask her to sell sex to make money for them in the short term.

I’m explaining all of this to my friend outside of the courthouse. We’re not counselors, but it’s easy to see a pattern: A young woman from a stable family quickly abandons friends, common sense, and her self-worth has been triggered. There has been an inciting incident, and the most common culprit is sexual assault. Something has jarred her reality, and she is now in an alternate one that is dangerous and self-destructive.

Parents view her behavior as disobedience and selfishness. I think it is self-protection. Woundedness takes on all shapes, does it not?

“Welcome to the new face of sex trafficking,” says my friend. Suburban sex trafficking.

While we don’t know for sure what is going on in my two examples, we have concerns. There are indeed red flags. On the surface the “profiles” look very different than what the trends show and the minors who come through court, but are they all that different? Brokenness has led to exploitation. For some, it began at a young age when mom stopped caring. For my two, it began later, despite how much mom cares.

What, then, are we to do?

We need to learn the red flags! Dating an older guy, particularly if met online, distancing long-term friendships and suddenly changing behavior are a few examples.
We need to educate youth that traffickers are not always gold chain-clad gangsters, but often “boyfriend” types or older girls promising things without backing it up: “If you can just earn some money for us, we can leave here and start that new life you want!”
Area sex assault centers need to be trained to understand and recognize the connection between assault, high-risk behavior and potential trafficking. Is yours?
Let’s look beneath behavior to discover the origin of the wound and seek healing.

Like it or not, aware of it or not, sex trafficking can easily happen in all of our communities.

Let us cultivate hearts that stay tuned, and let us not abandon emotion. May we have eyes to see differently, and may we have ears that hear pain.

This article originally appeared here.

Pastor: Use Your Digital Platforms to Take a Stand

Rachel Syens

October 25, 2020

Scripture reminds us in verse after verse that we are called to justice. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught his disciples: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6). As followers of Christ, we are taught not to ignore injustice but to meet it head-on. We ought to love one another and to use the church as a place of healing. Church communicators can do all of the above—we can make a space for honest conversation, healing, and love by using our digital platforms. What are the best ways to do this, and how can we share God’s kingdom and providence for justice with others?

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you” (Genesis 26:24)

The first step for churches wanting to take a stand is to let go of fear. In his book How to Be an Antiracist, author Ibram X. Kendi writes: “The only way to undo racism is to consistently identify and describe it—and then dismantle it.” As individuals and as a church body, we need to identify how we may have unknowingly perpetuated injustice. We need to start with honesty and be ready for difficult conversations. We need to let go of fear—the fear of disappointment in ourselves or others and the fear of losing physical members and digital followers to these realizations. Without understanding and dismantling our own biases, how can we hope to truly stand up for justice?

“Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12)

Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, writes that “authentic antiracism is rarely comfortable. Discomfort is key to my growth and thus desirable.” As a church communicator, you likely have seen the phrase “cancel culture” floating around social media. While it may be tempting to take the leap and join in, cancel culture is ultimately ineffective for a church trying to stand on injustice. Just as we are extended grace through Jesus, we must also extend grace to others. Jesus’ ministry included people of all backgrounds. By admitting our need and desire to move forward, we can encourage others to leap with us. The adage of “progress, not perfection” applies here. The church can model the idea of normalizing growth and learning as it applies to social justice.

“Carry each other’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2)

God calls us to live together as a community, as the body of Christ. We fulfill this call by carrying our brothers’ and sisters’ burdens and standing up against injustices. How can church communicators effectively use our digital platforms to do this?

We need to recognize when to let others speak. In early June, the #BlackOutTuesday campaign took place on Instagram, a day dedicated to amplifying Black people, organizations, and businesses on social media. As allies, we can share our thoughts, beliefs, and support, but we must also remember not to place ourselves at the center of the narrative. Use your platforms to share community organizations supporting justice. Compile a list of local resources supporting minorities in your community. Engage with your followers by asking them to share the ways they support justice.

2. Incorporate diverse voices

Reach out to the Black men and women in your church. Ask them to do a social media takeover for a day, or write a guest blog post for your website. Form a social media committee made up of diverse voices to provide feedback on your digital content. Show your support for justice by allowing those facing injustices to lead the charge.

3. Make your support vocal

Don’t be silent. Use your platforms to lift the voices of the Black community. Use your platforms to bring light to injustices. Use your platforms to invite those who are broken and hurt into your church as a place of healing. Silence is so often unintentional complicity. Don’t let your church be complicit in injustice.

In her book I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness, Austin Channing Brown writes: “In too many churches and organizations, listening to the hurt and pain of people of color is the end of the road, rather than the beginning.” Take the sometimes painful steps to recognize your faults, and let the healing process begin. Use your digital platforms to share and lift voices seeking justice, and become a place where conversations start, not where they end.

This article originally appeared here, and is using by permission.

One Meaning of Biblical Inspiration

Toni Ridgaway

October 25, 2020

Practical idea: Have you ever tried to articulate what you mean when you say the Bible is God’s inspired Word?

Barna Study Finds Most Americans Still Believe in Miracles

Joshua Pease

October 25, 2020

“Do you believe in miracles?” That’s the famous question sports broadcaster Al Michaels famously asked during the 1980 U.S./U.S.S.R. Olympic hockey game.

A recent Barna survey says 66 percent of Americans would answer “Yes.”

When poll respondents were asked if people can be physically healed supernaturally by God, 33 percent strongly agreed, 33 percent somewhat agreed, 15 percent somewhat disagreed and 19 percent strongly disagreed. Here’s a quick look at these survey results, how they break down across several demographics and what it means for those of us who are leaders in the church.

IT’S MORE THAN A FEELING

For over a quarter of those surveyed, the belief in miraculous healing isn’t just something they say might be true, it’s something they say they’ve experienced.

Twenty seven percent of poll respondents say they’ve witnessed “a physical healing that could only be explained as a miraculous healing.” Among those surveyed, women were more likely to say they’ve experienced healing than men, Protestants more than Catholics, and people with a high school education or less more than college graduates.

People who live in the South are almost twice as likely to say they’ve experienced healing than those in the Midwest, and black respondents answered “yes” far more than Hispanic or white respondents.

MILLENNIALS ARE MORE POLARIZED

Respondents across all age groups reported a similar belief that miracles do happen; however, millennials are more inclined to state adamantly they don’t exist. Twenty six percent of millennials strongly disagreed that God heals people, as opposed to 21 percent of Gen-Xers, 14 percent of Boomers and 13 percent of the Elder generation.

This goes along with the trend most of the research on spirituality points to: There’s a growing drift away from a culturally absorbed Christianity for millennials. That being said, the vast majority of millennials do still believe miracles happen.

Why Your Worship Service is More Than a Pep Rally

Joe McKeever

October 24, 2020

“Pastor, the minute you decide church must always be exciting is the moment you begin turning the worship services into pep rallies. After that, it all goes downhill.”

I said that on Facebook the other day and enraged a few people.

“Worshiping the Lord should always be exciting,” one person insisted. I replied, “I’m doing the funeral of a 53-year-old man today. It will be comforting, but not exciting.”

I understand where the guy is coming from.

Truth be known, my post probably ticked off the young me, the person I was some 40 years ago.

At the age of 33, I moved to the pastorate of the First Baptist Church of Columbus, Miss., a great old church in a historic town, but a congregation that had declined somewhat during the last years of the previous pastor. So, the young, energetic visionary that I was (I’m bending over backward to avoid saying “whippersnapper”), I asked the church to erect some billboards around town urging people to visit “The exciting First Baptist Church of Columbus.”

I admitted to our staff that, mostly, I was hoping to convince our own people.

These days, when I see churches announcing that they are exciting or friendly or dynamic or whatever, I figure that, for the most part, they are trying to convince themselves.

Shouldn’t a church be exciting?

You are involved in the greatest work in the world, serving the Lord of the Universe, the Savior of the world, the King of Kings, in a ministry that changes lives and results in a blissful eternity for those who believe. What could be more exciting than that?

It is exciting. But not always.

The Lord did not liken serving Him in ministry to field-work on the farm without thinking. Ask any farmer. Life on a farm can be exhilarating and mind-boggling with the glorious sunrises, the “feel” of the springtime, the joy of seeing crops come up and crops gathered in, and the delights of eating things from your own garden. But, more often, it’s something far less than exciting and looks a lot like hard work.

Eventually, in any kind of lifework, we settle into a routine with regular highs and lows. Serving the Lord can be the greatest honor of our lives, and it can be downright painful.

That’s real life. It’s a lot like marriage. Anyone who goes into marriage thinking every day with this incredible man/woman is going to be heavenly, an honor just to breathe the enchanted air of this beloved one, will soon meet reality head on. There will be those special times, but not every day. Furthermore, anyone who says that every day of their 40 or 50 years of marriage has been exciting and magical would lie about other things also.

Please smile.

Trying to make a point here.

Even Millennials Are Laughing at John Crist’s Hilarious Spoof on Millennials

Megan Briggs

October 24, 2020

John Crist is at is again—this time taking on the millennial generation in his newest spoof video.

The video’s main thrust is a spoof on other, highly credible and necessary ministries like Compassion International. “Millennials International” is the nonprofit seeking to help lazy, entitled millennials who have “no work ethic; no job; no discernible skills” continue to live a life of comfort and ease.

Crist seems to have nailed the problem many people feel surrounds the millennial generation in his closing line: “Help us live the lives we portray on Instagram.”

Like all good satire, though, points of this spoof are grounded in truth. In particular, Crist seeks to point out the following characteristics many feel accurately describe this generation:

– Millennials are lazy and accustomed to free rides
– Millennials only care about themselves
– Millennials are so far removed from previous generations and the real world

The subject of engaging this complex generation is nothing new, but what perhaps is unique about this video is the subtle message that the church isn’t taking the right approach to help millennials address these issues.

The following articles are geared toward those ministering to millennials:

The Washington Post Story on Attracting Millennials to Church Is More Complicated Than It Sounds

Christianity Is Not Dying and Millennials Are Not the Problem

4 Ways to Engage Millennials in Your Family Ministry

A Different Take on Reaching Millennials

Some Great Church Experiments in 2020

Allen White

October 24, 2020

If you’ve been waiting to start something new, 2020 is a great year for some church experiments. Some might say that 2020 is an experiment gone wrong, but with life so some completely disrupted, you should embrace this as an opportunity to launch new things or end things that need to go away. Blame it on the pandemic! As difficult as this year has been, the healthy crisis, economic crisis, racial crisis, and political crisis are breaking up some very hard ground in the world, in the church, and in the hearts of individuals. There couldn’t be a better time to innovate. What needs to change in your church? Here are a few things that I’m seeing right now.

Start eGroups.

In my recent Small Group Network huddle, Bill Cleminson from the Church at the Mill (a.k.a. The Mill) in Moore, SC shared an experiment their senior pastor, Dr. D.J. Horton, launched this fall – they launched egroups. An egroup is five people or fewer who commit to meet together for 13 weeks. The group views a 15-minute teaching video from the pastor, then uses a sermon discussion guide for their meetings. In addition, the egroups journal daily based on a reading plan provided by the church or something else they choose. For accountability, the egroup members are asked to share a picture of their journal with their group with the words blurred out. This increases participation.

The Mill intentionally chose a new name for these groups to avoid confusion with their other small groups and discipleship groups. eGroups are a short-term trial run at groups, but more importantly, they give their members an opportunity to connect and process life together. It’s a great combination of both communication and content. After the first 13 weeks, eGroups may have served their purpose at The Mill, but depending on how 2021 looks, they could certainly serve an extended purpose. As with most churches, planning is in pencil and prayer.

Find Your Loopholes.

Some churches have rather rigid leadership requirements for small groups. While the bar for leadership should be high, the issue comes down to two things: (1) How many years will it take for you to connect people into groups? and (2) Do you really need a “leader” to make disciples?

Recently I talked to a pastor whose church leadership was leery of inviting people they didn’t know into small group leadership. I understand that feeling. That’s how my church got stuck at 30% in groups years ago. I understand that every church has an acceptable level of risk. There is a line they are reluctant to cross for a variety of reasons. I can’t force anyone to cross that line, but I can work to convince them.

I asked this pastor, “What’s too small to be a group in your church?” He said that three people was too small to be a group. Then, I challenged him to form some non-groups of three people. He just needed to ask people to invite two friends to discuss the weekly sermon questions. These non-groups won’t be advertised or acknowledged anywhere, but they will do two things for the church: (1) It will prove to the pastor there isn’t as much to worry about as he once thought, and (2) the non-groups will give people confidence to expand their group and eventually become a recognized group in this church.

Level Up Your Online Services.

Most churches did better with online services before anyone regathered in the building for worship. When the house was empty, pastors looked directly at the camera. Pastors got up close and personal with the online audience. Some even created interactive experiences to field questions during the message. But, then people started coming back into the building, things got weird.

When people are in the room, most pastors want to talk to the people in the room. I do! But, there are more people “out there” than there are “in here.” Yet, you can’t look over people’s heads and only look at the cameras. The churches who understand this are producing separate online services and in-person services to meet both needs. It’s more work, but it’s certainly worthwhile since so many unchurched people are looking in on online services. After all, streaming video is NOT church online.

Put Everything Online.

Some aspects of life have permanently changed amid the pandemic. I don’t know that I’m ever going to pile items into a grocery cart again, when we can order everything online for pickup or delivery. Going to the bank has been replaced by an app. I’m reconsidering whether I still need two cars in my driveway. Online group leader training has gone so well, I’m not sure I need to fly to you to train your leaders (but after the pandemic I might consider it).

In a world where people can do a doctor’s appointment online, they could take your membership class online. They could go through your Growth Track online. You no longer have to limit these to a Sunday afternoon. People can participate anytime over 168 hours per week. Potentially, they could become a member of your church at 2 am!

Concluding Thoughts

Practice these phrases with me:

We stopped doing [Insert Ministry Name] because of COVID.

We started doing [Insert Ministry Name] because of the pandemic.

Allen White gave us that idea, but now we realize it’s really stupid. LOL

This is a great year for church experiments. Don’t waste your time waiting for things to get back to normal. Normal is gone. To quote Jason Caston, “The church was moving slow because they thought the world would stay the same.” Nothing is the same. Get moving!

This article originally appeared here.

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When “typical” no longer defined our family

How our family experiences God’s faithfulness

Free Minibook Printable

Red Flags

“Welcome to the new face of sex trafficking,” says my friend. Suburban sex trafficking.

What, then, are we to do?

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you” (Genesis 26:24)

“Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12)

“Carry each other’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2)

1. Share, share, share

2. Incorporate diverse voices

3. Make your support vocal

IT’S MORE THAN A FEELING

MILLENNIALS ARE MORE POLARIZED

Shouldn’t a church be exciting?

Start eGroups.

Find Your Loopholes.

Level Up Your Online Services.

Put Everything Online.

Concluding Thoughts

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