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Southern Baptist Publishing Arm, LifeWay, Sues Former President Thom Rainer

By
Yonat Shimron
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(RNS) — LifeWay Christian Resources, the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, has sued its former president and CEO, accusing him of violating a noncompete clause in his contract.

Thom Rainer, who announced his plan to retire as president and CEO in 2018, still serves as chief advisory officer for LifeWay. Under terms of a transition agreement, he was prohibited from working with a competitor for 12 months after his retirement, LifeWay claims in a suit filed in Williamson County, Tennessee, on Monday (Sept. 28).

Rainer, 65, was earning the same salary he received as president, plus a car, which he could keep after his term as chief advisory officer concludes Oct. 31, according to the transition agreement he signed with LifeWay in 2018.

But in April, the suit alleges, Rainer and Tyndale, a publisher of Bibles and other Christian books, reached “a multi-book, multiyear agreement” for publishing Rainer’s books, which LifeWay says violates the transition agreement.

“Tyndale is ecstatic about our long-term partnership with Thom Rainer and Church Answers. Thom is a gifted leader, teacher, and communicator whose personal mission aligns perfectly with Tyndale’s,” Tyndale senior VP and publisher Ron Beers was quoted saying in a news release.

Rainer, a prolific writer, runs a business called Church Answers, which is intended to help church leaders with “resources, experts and community” through the ups and downs of church ministry. A lifelong Southern Baptist and Alabama native, Rainer received his Master of Divinity and a doctorate from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

Rainer said he was sad to hear about the lawsuit and said he received a written and amicable release from publishing with LifeWay on Oct. 1, 2019.

“Before learning of the lawsuit, I heard from a LifeWay representative about this concern only one time on September 8, 2020,” Rainer said in an email response to RNS. “LifeWay’s counsel sent me an email asking for an explanation of my relationship with another publisher. I gave a quick and substantive response that same day. Even more, I requested to meet with the board officers in my response. I assumed all was well until the lawsuit was filed yesterday.”

LifeWay claims Rainer’s agreement with Tyndale gives that publisher “a significant competitive advantage.”

“It is inevitable that he will disclose to Tyndale confidential information about LifeWay’s products, processes and services,” the lawsuit says.

In an email to trustees, LifeWay Board Chairman Todd Fannin said, “Board officers have requested an explanation from Dr. Rainer in writing on several occasions to resolve this issue, but have not received any substantive answer.”

The suit seeks compensatory damages at an amount to be determined at trial and an injunction to prohibit Rainer and Tyndale from continuing the partnership.

But at least some members of the LifeWay board of trustees have asked that the legal action be withdrawn. Jimmy Scroggins, pastor of Family Church in West Palm Beach, Florida, said in an email to the board that he was disappointed the full board was not consulted before the suit was filed and said he thought there were better options available for resolving the dispute with Rainer.

A spokesperson for LifeWay declined to comment further.

This article originally appeared on ReligionNews.com.

Faith Leaders React to Trump-Biden Debate

By
Jesse T. Jackson
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President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden participated in the first of three scheduled debates last night September 29, 2020.

Highlights of the Trump-Biden Debate

The debate which came across more like a reality show pilot was moderated by Fox News’ Chris Wallace, who was seen multiple times trying to control the room due to both candidates constantly interrupting each other.

Comments heard throughout the 90-minute debate were:

“Will You Shut Up Man!”

“The fact is that everything he’s saying here is a lie!”

“It’s hard to get any word in with this clown.”

“You are the worst president America has ever had.”

“He doesn’t want to answer the question.”

“This is so un-Presidential.”

“47 years, you’ve done nothing.”

“Will he just shush for a minute?”

“He’s a fool on this.”

“Show us your tax returns.”

“He’s the racist.”

“He never keeps his word.”

“You make up a lot.”

“This is not going to end well.”

You can watch the entire debate here.

Faith Leaders Respond to Trump-Biden Debate

“After watching the debate last night, we’re reminded that the problems we face as a nation cannot be solved without God.” – Franklin Graham

“Could Chris please exchange their mics for a set of walkie-talkies so they can’t talk at the same time?” – Beth Moore

“This wasn’t a debate, it was a debacle. Senseless obfuscation and grandstanding. This left us with fewer answers and more confusion. What a horrible example of leadership for my boys to witness.” – Tedashii

“I missed the debate, but it sounds like we lost.” – Jen Wilken

“I’m not looking for a president but a King and His name is Jesus!” #Maranatha – Dr. Eric Mason

“I’m going to have to listen to the Psalms and/or Sade before bed tonight because this whole debate is exhausting.” #Debate2020 – Jackie Hill Perry

“I rise grieved today. Time for a run and prayer. Concerned for the future of our country (and my grandkids experience).” – Eric Hogue

“I haven’t been this stressed out since the last 5 minutes of Infinity War when half of everything I loved disappeared.” – John Cooper

“This is just sad and embarrassing.” – Esau McCaulley Ph.D

“Everyone should be able to condemn racism and white supremacy without any “but.” – Trillia Newbell

“I turned it on for 2 minutes and then turned it back off. I can’t imagine it got any better.” – Carlos Whittaker

“Why am I laughing so much at this debate? I can’t decide if it’s funny or sad. Or both. I might start crying as I laugh.” #Debates2020 – Eugene Cho

“The country lost tonight…” – Kirk Franklin

“This debate is emblematic of our inability to listen, graciously debate and stand on convictions, instead we rely on personal insults and petty tirades. Civil discourse has long been dead.” #2020Debates – Brady Boyd

The next presidential debate will take place in Miami on Oct. 15.

 

Pompeo Urges Vatican to Condemn Human Rights Abuses in China

By
Nicole Winfield
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, and U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Callista Gingrich greet Cardinal Raymond Burke, right, as they attend the "Advancing and Defending International Religious Freedom Through Diplomacy" symposium, in Rome, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

ROME (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the Vatican on Wednesday to join the United States in denouncing violations of religious freedom in China, saying the Catholic Church should be at the forefront in the fight to insist on basic human rights there.

Pompeo made the appeal at a conference on religious freedom organized by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, with top Vatican officials in the audience. It took place at the same time the Vatican is entering into delicate negotiations with Beijing on extending their controversial agreement on nominating bishops for China.

Pompeo has strongly criticized the accord, penning an essay earlier this month suggesting that the Vatican had compromised its moral authority by signing it. His article greatly irritated the Vatican, which saw it as interference in the church’s internal affairs for the sake of scoring domestic political points.

The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said the Holy See was “surprised” by Pompeo’s article. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the conference, Parolin said the private meetings Pompeo had scheduled at the Vatican would have been the more appropriate setting to express his concerns, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Neither Parolin nor Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican foreign minister, mentioned China in their official remarks to the conference, which was held in a hotel reception room near the U.S. Embassy. Both focused instead on the Holy See’s longstanding history of promoting religious freedom as a fundamental human right.

“The question of protecting religious freedom so as to allow the local Catholic Church to exercise its mission remains an indispensable part of the scope and activity of the Holy See,” Gallagher said, criticizing “ideological” threats to religious freedom, such as legislation in some Western nations that redefines traditional concepts of gender.

In his remarks, Pompeo echoed the Trump administration’s harsh criticism of Beijing, which increased after the coronavirus was first detected in China, and as the U.S. Nov. 3 presidential election neared.

“Nowhere is religious freedom under assault more than in China,” Pompeo said, accusing the ruling Communist Party of working “day and night to snuff out the lamp of freedom, especially religious freedom, on a horrifying scale.”

Quoting St. John Paul II, retired Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, Pompeo urged a greater commitment from faith leaders to stand up for all religious believers.

“To be a church ‘permanently in a state of mission’ has many meanings. Surely one of them is to be a church permanently in defense of basic human rights,” he said, quoting a phrase Francis commonly uses.

In his essay published in the conservative magazine “First Things,” Pompeo said the Vatican-China accord hadn’t shielded Catholics from China’s religious crackdown and suggested that the Vatican had compromised its moral authority by signing it.

“We want every institution to use their power. I happen to think that churches, and the Catholic Church included, have enormous capacity,” Pompeo said Wednesday in defending the essay. “They have historically stood with oppressed peoples all around the world.”

The Vatican has defended its accord with China, saying it was purely an ecclesial matter about bishop nominations and was not a political or diplomatic agreement. The Vatican has said the agreement had borne “limited” but positive fruit and was worth extending for another determined period of time.

Critics, including the retired Hong Kong archbishop, have said the Vatican sold out China’s underground Catholics, who for decades remained loyal to Rome, often at great personal cost. More sympathetic China watchers say at most the agreement has prevented an irrevocable schism in China by creating a mechanism through which bishops can be named through a process of dialogue.

Asked Wednesday how the Holy See received Pompeo’s essay, Gallagher told reporters: “It was received critically.”

He also said the proximity of Pompeo’s visit to the U.S. election, was “one of the reasons why the Holy Father is not receiving the secretary of state.”

Pompeo, who met with the pope last year when he spoke at a similar conference, instead will meet Thursday with Gallagher and Parolin at the Vatican.

After the conference, Pompeo met with Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte, the first Group of Seven leader to sign onto China’s infrastructure-building Belt and Road initiative. Conte said at the time of Italy’s 2019 signing, which was done over U.S. objections, that it would not put into question Italy’s trans-Atlantic partnerships.

A State Department deputy spokesperson, Cale Brown, said Pompeo raised the issue during his meeting with Conte, and noted the “risks” of doing business with China.

This article originally appeared on APnews.com

Allen White: This Is an Amazing Year for Online Small Groups

By
Jason Daye
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Allen White led his first online small group on CompuServe in 1994 over a dial-up modem and has coached over 1,500 churches on all types of small groups. He is the author of four books, including the recently released Leading Online Small Groups: Embracing the Church’s Digital Future. Allen has led workshops for Willow Creek Association—Canada, the Purpose Driven Church Conference at Saddleback Church, and the upcoming Success with Groups Online Conference with the Dave Ramsey Group. Allen, his wife, Tiffany, and their four children live in Greenville, South Carolina.

Key Questions for Allen White

-What elements really make for an effective small group?

-What are some differences between the dynamics of an online group versus an in-person group?

-What are some different types of groups that you have seen churches use effectively for ministry?

-What are the benefits of a small group creating a group agreement?

Key Quotes from Allen White

“There’s that place you need to go where everybody knows your name, and where they know you, they can help you grow, they help you become what God’s called you to be…so that’s why I’m a big believer in small groups.”

“Some advantages to online small groups—you can immediately say that you’re not limited by any geographical boundaries. You can invite people from anywhere. What we’re seeing is that people who are far from God, people who are far from you, given the invitation, can meet.”

“The more relationship you have in the groups as you begin, the better off the group’s going to be, even in forming the groups.”

“What happens outside of the group greatly impacts what happens inside the group.”

“The leader, in a large part, sets the tone for the group.”

“One of the things that has happened during the pandemic is that the church has put out a ridiculous amount of content…I’m not downplaying content, but in addition to that we need community and we need conversation.”

“If you have a Bible study without getting to that point of, how do I live this out, I really have to ask, what’s the point?”

“We’re seeing people do audio-only groups, as well as asynchronous groups…so you don’t have to be limited to video-based groups.”

“Right now, there’s so much confusion, and people need hope. People need to know that God still is in charge.”

10 Ways the Enemy Infiltrates the Church

By
Chuck Lawless
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In some ways, this post is just a Bible review. As I think about ways the enemy seeks to infiltrate a church, I find many of those ways in Paul’s correspondence to the Corinthians. While this list isn’t exhaustive, here are some ways we should recognize:

  1. Rivalry in the church (1 Cor 1:10-17). When groups compete against each other, and ministries fight for their turf, the enemy is winning.
  2. Immaturity among believers (1 Cor 3:1-4). When leaders are still essentially baby believers, the door is open for Satan’s forces.
  3. Tolerating sin in the congregation (1 Cor 5:1-13). The Corinthians not only knew about open sin in the church, but they also boasted about it. Even if we don’t go that far, ignoring sin is evidence of Satan’s influence.
  4. Believers turning on believers (1 Cor 6:1-8). The Corinthians apparently regularly filed grievances against one another rather than try to work them out in Christian love. Internal strife marked their congregation.
  5. Sexual immorality in the church (1 Cor 5:1-13). There’s a reason Paul so often spoke against sexual sin (e.g., 1 Cor 6:12-20, 1 Cor 10:8) and called believing couples to give themselves to each other physically lest Satan tempt them (1 Cor 7:5). This temptation is real and powerful.
  6. Misuse of Christian liberty (1 Cor 8:1-13, 10:23-30). This issue is often the result of our living in our freedom without regard for others—and the enemy finds working room when we’re self-centered.
  7. Idolatry in the church (1 Cor 10:7, 14). The demons delight when we elevate someone, something, or some action above the true God. Sometimes, our idols aren’t figurines on a shelf, but gods in our heart.
  8. Competition over spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12-14). When we think we’re more gifted than others, or that our gifts are more significant than others, we’re playing into the devil’s hand.
  9. Unwillingness to forgive a repentant believer (2 Cor 2:5-11). When we don’t forgive a returning brother or sister in Christ, we open the door to the enemy’s influence.
  10. False teaching in the church (2 Cor 11:1-15). From debates about the Lord’s Supper to questions of the resurrection to preaching about “another Jesus” (2 Cor 11:4), the enemy seeks to sow falsehood in the church—often through teachers who seem to be angels of light.

Which of these strategies is most evident in your church? What steps are you taking to counter the enemy’s work? What steps are you taking to prepare for his attack?

This article originally appeared here.

How Should the Pre-existence of Christ Shape How We Preach the Old Testament?

By
Greg Lanier
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Numerous strides have been made in homiletical circles over the past several years on how to preach Christ from the Old Testament. Indeed, one of my joys in teaching a second-year preaching lab at a seminary is helping students connect Old Testament law, narratives, poetry, prophecies, and so forth to their “fulfillment” (broadly conceived) in Christ—and through him to us.

There are several ways to do this: typology, redemptive-historical trajectories, prophet-priest-king, and messianic prophecies, to name a few. What unites all of them is a certain directionality, so to speak: from the Old Testament forward to Christ. From shadow to reality; from type to antitype; from promise to fulfillment. From back then to now.

And all that is great and true and, thankfully, is becoming Homiletics 101 in many circles.

But are we missing another tool in the toolbox? I want to reflect briefly on whether and how the preexistence of Christ could impact the preaching of the Old Testament.

A BRIEF PRIMER ON PREEXISTENCE

“Preexistence” refers to the real, personal, pre-incarnate existence of the Second Person of the Triune God, before his taking on flesh. It’s a foundational part of the orthodox Christian confession that the Son is fully God. Christ did not become divine at some point but has always been.

Scriptural evidence for Christ’s preexistence includes the following:

More data could be mustered, but these suffice to prove the point.

A PRE-EXISTENCE PROBLEM?

Given such evidence for the existence of Christ before his coming, it’s surprising that most Christocentric sermons tend to preach the Old Testament only in terms of pointing forward to his coming—making the proverbial “beeline” to the cross by working justification-via-substitutionary-atonement into every Old Testament sermon text.

Oddly, we do not do that with the Holy Spirit, who appears hundreds of times in the Old Testament. If the “Spirit” of God is in an Old Testament sermon text, we do not simply jump to Pentecost—we stay there, articulating how the Spirit was at work in various ways in the Old Testament era.

But why do we so rarely do the same with Christ? Why do we so often preach as if the Son did not exist in Israel’s day when, in fact, he did? To make steps in improving this, I will offer some reflections on preexistence and preaching.

PRE-EXISTENCE & OT PREACHING

Much work would need to be done to frame the boundary lines on preaching a preexistent Christ from the Old Testament. For starters, however, we can follow the lead of the New Testament authors who give us a glimpse of the preincarnate Son at work in the life of ancient Israel. That is, Christ is not only the destination toward which the Old Testament points (though that is true and wonderful), but he was actually involved in the Old Testament era.

(1) Creation. In multiple passages the New Testament declares that the agent of creation is the Son. He is the one “through whom” all things were made (John 1:3; 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2). If so, any Old Testament passage that deals with God’s creative work (e.g. Ps. 19) should, indeed must, feature Christ prominently. The “beeline” points to the beginning!

(2) Exodus. When preaching the exodus story christologically, the most readily available option is to see Christ as the consummate Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7). But Jude 5 offers another angle. Though the text-critical situation is thorny, the most recent critical text affirms that the original likely reads, “Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt” (many English translations like the ESV had already made this judgment). Seeing Christ not only pictured in the Passover blood but also as the preexistent deliverer who defeats Pharaoh and leads Israel out would be a powerful approach to that part of Scripture. (Not only this, but Jude’s assertion may crack open the “angel of the Lord”-as-Christophany question, since, as Exodus plays out, it is often this angel who leads the way.)

(3) Wilderness. The New Testament affirms that the preexistent Son is active in Israel’s wilderness sojourn: sustaining the people (“that Rock was Christ,” 1 Cor. 10:4); being opposed by them (“do not put Christ to the test, as some of them did,” 1 Cor. 10:9); and punishing them (“Jesus . . . afterward destroyed those who did not believe,” Jude 5b). These insights on the work of the pre-incarnate Son could provide fresh wind for preaching of the latter part of Exodus and Numbers.

(4) Kingship. Typically we take kingship material in narrative (1 Samuel–2 Kings) and poetry (kingship psalms) as pointing forward to Jesus as the promised Davidic heir. But Jesus himself gives us another behind-the-scenes glimpse when he exegetes Psalm 110 in Mark 12:35–37 (see further). Jesus reads himself as David’s “my Lord” (adoni) being addressed by “the LORD” (YHWH), pulling back the curtain, apparently, on a heavenly conversation between Father and Son. The psalm is not spoken to or about David himself, but is a psalm of the preexistent Son. Other psalms work in a similar way. Thus, our preaching of the royal psalms could benefit not only from pointing forward to Jesus but also reflecting on how king David was already under the kingship of the Son.

(5) Gospel Mandate. John 12:41 makes a stunning claim about a famous scene in Isaiah 6: “Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.” But who is the “his/him”? In John 12, the referent is undoubtedly Christ. But in Isaiah 6, the referent is the “glory” of the enthroned LORD. Thus, John is revealing what Isaiah really saw: the “glory” of the enthroned God includes, in some way, the Son. Not only does this peek at preexistence raise interesting possibilities for, say, Ezekiel 1 and Daniel 7, but it suggests something important about the “gospel” in the Old Testament. In Isaiah 6:9–10, God directs Isaiah to preach to his countrymen but warns that many will be hardened. It is that particular point that John actually connects to Jesus (12:37–40; cf. Mark 4:10–11; Acts 28:26–28). The New Testament conviction that the gospel both softens and hardens is rooted in the same conviction of the Old Testament, given by the enthroned Lord and Christ. Thus, preaching about Israel’s up-and-down (mostly down!) response to God in the Old Testament not only points forward to Jesus—but also back to his residence in the throne room.

CONCLUSION

My aim is not to provide the definitive answers but to suggest some possibilities for recalibrating our preaching of Christ from the Old Testament in such a way that sees him not only as the one to whom the Old Testament points, but also as one who, in his preexistence, is at work in the Old Testament itself.

Doing so would recover the apostles’ instinct. Time and again they apply Old Testament passages about YHWH directly to Christ himself. If so, preaching the Old Testament faithfully should engage the preexistent Son, for he was God just as much then as he is now (Heb. 13:8).

This article originally appeared here.

Kids Are a Tough Audience

By
Dale Hudson
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Speaking in front of kids can be more challenging than speaking in front of adults.  If you don’t have a creative lesson to engage them, they will create their own lesson. Kids are a tough audience.

I have read that comedians say speaking to children and trying to get them to laugh and respond is more difficult than speaking to adults.  It’s true…kids can be a tough audience to speak to.

Kids don’t hide it when they are bored with a lesson.  They will start looking around, talking to the person beside them, squirming in their seat and distracting those around them.

And some of them don’t want to be there.  But their parents made them come.  I’ve often thought what would happen if you gave kids permission to get up and leave the room when the lesson is boring.  How many kids would get up and walk out?

Here are some tips to help you win over this tough audience.

Tell stories.  If you want to win over the kid crowd, then tell stories.  There is something about a story that will draw in this tough audience.  Jesus knew this and that’s how He taught.  Look what it says about Jesus’ teaching style.

Jesus always used stories and illustrations like these when speaking to the crowds. In fact, He never spoke to them without using such parables.  This fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet: “I will speak to you in parables.  I will explain things hidden since the creation of the world.”  Matthew 13

One of the best ways to teach kids is to use Jesus’ teaching style.  He was the Master Teacher and connected with everyone He shared with.

Honor kids’ attention span.  1 minute per year maxing out at 5 minutes.  Instead of talking and talking and talking, break up your lesson plan to stop every 5 minutes or less and do something different.

It’s hard enough for adults to sit through a long sermon much less children.  I was at a church service recently and got sleepy during the sermon.  It is embarrassing when you start nodding and falling asleep. Your head falls over and it jars you back to consciousnesses for a few minutes and then your eyes start to close again.

Kids don’t normally get sleepy during a lesson, but they do get restless.  Tough audience.

Get them involved.  Instead of having them just sit there, get them up and involved in the lesson.  Have them make sound effects.  Have them be the characters in the story and act it out.  Have them hold props and object lesson items.

Use voice fluctuations.  You don’t want to sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher.  Work on whispering at key times and getting loud at other appropriate places.  Stay away from being monotone.

Use slap stick humor.  It’s not always easy to get kids to laugh.  They may or may not laugh at your jokes.  But there is one thing they will always laugh at – and that is slap stick humor.

Slap stick humor is a style of humor that involves exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy.  It can be from both intentional acts or by mishap.

The name “slapstick” originates from the Italian Batacchio or Bataccio – called the “slap stick” in English – a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in commedia dell’arte.  When struck, the Batacchio produces a loud smacking noise, though it is only a little force that is transferred from the object to the person being struck. Actors may thus hit one another repeatedly with great audible effect while causing no damage and only very minor, if any, pain.

Some examples are someone falling down, someone accidentally hitting someone else (think 3 Stooges) and someone tripping.  Here is a video example of this in one of our curriculum lessons.  Watch what happens at 41 seconds in.

Ask the kids what is boring.  They will tell you.  And usually what they tell you is boring is correct. You just didn’t realize it.

Tough audience.  Yes.  But even the toughest of crowds can be engaged and excited about what is happening if you use these principles.

This article originally appeared here.

Pastors, Devote Yourselves to the Word and Prayer (Part 1)

By
Desiring God
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by Tim Kerr

In his profoundly helpful book Wisdom Words, Pastor Harold Burchett teaches us that praying is a lot like breathing. In order to have the strength to continue breathing, one needs to breathe. So also, the strength to pray comes from praying. Now if personal prayer is breathing for oneself, then intercession is like breathing for others.

In any church, there are several people barely breathing spiritually. Yes, we can teach them “to breathe” through solid exposition of Scripture. That is an essential part of the resuscitation process. But the other (often-missing) part is that they may need someone to breathe for them for a while.

This can easily become the overlooked and missing element of pastoral ministry—the priority of intercession. And like lifeguarding, one needs a working set of lungs before successfully engaging those lungs in the resuscitation of others. A wheezing asthmatic lifeguard is not particularly faith building.

I believe Paul’s prayer life may give us an insight into what the Apostles meant when they declared that their biblical priorities were to: “devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.” (Acts 6:4) and communion with God (his own spiritual breathing). But it also clearly involved breathing for others. This is the life of intercession.

In Ephesians, we see Paul demonstrating the priorities of Acts 6:4).

We might say that if the logs on a fire pit are like the Scriptures being taught, and the fire is like the Spirit’s powerful ministry, then intercession is the means God uses to bring the two together in believers’ lives.

This is absolutely essential — as essential as the ministry of the Word. Why would we ever try to practice one without the other?

Tomorrow night we’ll look at the source of our intercession in Part 2.

Tim Kerr is the pastor of Sovereign Grace Church Toronto and author of Take Words with You (PDF). Tim grew up in India and lived in Japan as a church planter for 12 years with his wife, Joanne. They moved to Canada in 2000 where they currently live with their four children.

The Crack in Your Small-Group Ministry

By
Tony Hill
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Note: This article is excerpted from our resource Connecting Newcomers.

“I guess they couldn’t care less if I was really in a small group or not.”

Michael signed up for a small group at his church several weeks ago and he has yet to hear anything—from anyone.

After two years of wrestling with the idea of joining a small group, Michael finally had the courage to take this step of faith. Now—after no response from his church—he’s either at a point of frustration or he’s simply forgotten all about it and moved on with his life.

What Does The Crack In Your Ministry Look Like?

I’ve encountered this story countless times in my chats with over 100 small-group ministry leaders across America.

I’ve come to refer to these people as the ones that “fall through the cracks.”

The people who fall through the cracks are those who sign up for a small group through weekend services, e-mails, phone calls, the church website, or at group launch events. And then, for one reason or another, they were never followed up with, and never ended up joining a group.

The reality is that while this isn’t going to happen to everybody, it is going to happen to somebody.

It’s even happened to me.

Almost every ministry leader I spoke with admitted that they too have this crack in their ministry.

How about yours?

When talking about this challenge with ministry leaders, I asked what they thought contributed to the cracks. Two main reasons stuck out:

1. My group leaders often forget to follow up.

2. I have limited [staff/resources/time] and a lot of groups and people, and I simply can’t keep up with all them all.

These seem more like excuses, right?

What We Should Remember About Every Small Group

From my perspective, one of the most important things a group ministry leader does is get people successfully connected to small groups, not just lead them to a group.

Like you, I have a passion for small groups. I’ve been a group member, leader, and coach over the last nine years, and here’s one thing I’ve learned: Every small group has the potential to change the course of someone’s entire life.

My first small group changed mine: I met my wife through that group.

As group leaders, pastors, and coaches, the last thing you and I want to see is someone missing out on a life-changing, faith-changing opportunity simply because we never followed up with them.

How to Help Everyone Who Signs Up Connect to a Group

So how can you prevent this crack in your ministry from getting worse, and maybe even help seal it up? I’d like to share with you some ways to solve this problem.

1. Make it easy for people to sign up.
The lower the hurdle you set, the more likely people are to sign up. Try asking for just their name and e-mail up front. It only takes a minute. Once they’re in and have made that small commitment to show their interest, they’ll be more likely to give you more information. This creates momentum for them to join a group.

2. Don’t manage the group placement process alone.
Delegate some of it to other staff if you can. If not, recruit a volunteer to help. Sharing the responsibility will immediately take the pressure off and help you not feel so overwhelmed.

3. Track unconnected people separately.
Keep a separate list of people who are interested in a group, but aren’t connected yet. I like to call them “prospects.” Put them on index cards, in a spreadsheet, Evernote, etc.—whatever works for you. It’s important to keep them in a separate place from your list of groups and people. This way, you can reference them more quickly and treat them differently, like you should.  

Why You Should Leverage the Influence of Grandparents

By
Rachel Blom
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Aside from my parents, my maternal grandparents have been the single most important spiritual influence in my life. They lived next door to us until I was eight years old or so, and then they moved to the street my elementary school was on. I often stayed there for lunch or after school. And in the summer, there were long sleepovers, sometimes for weeks, as my parents visited missionaries for a missionary organization they were a part of.

 

My grandparents didn’t just talk about Jesus with me. Their faith was visible for me in everything they did, even when I was a kid. They prayed for me, prayed with me, read the Bible and constantly shared God’s love.

 

In the last years, there’s been a positive development toward family ministry; a style of doing ministry where we don’t just reach the teens, but encourage parents in their primary role as spiritual examples. But families are more than just parents and siblings. Families include other family members as well, especially grandparents.

 

For many kids, grandparents hold a special place in their hearts. And there are few grandparents who are not proud of their grandkids. There’s power to this special relationship. I know that my grandparents were sometimes able to say things to me I would have never accepted from my parents. Advice on dating, for instance. My grandma often stressed the importance of dating a Christian guy. From her, I took this way more seriously than I did when my mom said the same thing.

 

In youth ministry, we need to leverage the spiritual influence of grandparents. They are in a unique position to reach out to their grandkids about faith. They are also potential supporters of our youth ministry, both in prayer and practically. Here are some questions to help you think about this further:

 

  • What is your youth ministry doing to encourage and equip grandparents to further the spiritual development of their grandkids?
  • If you’re not doing anything right now, what are some small steps you could take to make grandparents aware of the role they could play in their grandkids’ faith?
  • How could you help grandparents whose kids are in the same church?
  • What would grandparents need whose kids are in another church?
  • A big worry (and heartbreak) for grandparents is to see their grandkids lose faith. How can we encourage these folks?
  • Are the grandparents in your church aware of the issues their grandkids are facing? Do they know the signs of possible trouble (depression for instance, or bullying)?
  • Grandparents are often prayer warriors (mine sure are!), or have the potential to be since they have more time. How could you encourage them to pray for their grandkids, or for (your) youth ministry?
  • Do you have roles in your ministry where grandparents would shine? I know that I once had an amazing team of two grandparents who led a small group!  

Pandemic or Not: 7 Ways to Keep Your Church Connected

By
MojoTxt
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

For the past several months (that have actually felt several like years) most of the world has isolated themselves in their homes during the COVID19 pandemic, eliminating some of the traditional forms of communicating and staying connected to the church. But a global medical crisis did not stop people from wanting to connect; the method of communication changed; it became normal to connect through video conferencing, email, and text messaging.

There has been a massive uptick in the number of churches streaming services online (not to mention the number of people attending service in their pajamas!) and small groups gathering in Zoom rooms. Due to the instantaneous nature of text messaging, there’s also been a significant increase in the number of text messages churches are sending in an effort to stay connected. Here are some of the great ways we’ve seen our church partners use texting to keep people connected with their ministry and each other:

Tip #1: Live Service Reminders

Pro tip: sending a quick reminder text an hour before your Sunday morning service will increase your viewership and engagement. Let people know what to expect during the live service and send a link directly to the stream. Receiving a direct reminder is a helpful and practical way for people to stay connected with your church anytime, but especially during a season when life seems a little less organized and structured.

Tip #2: Important Updates & Service Notes

Communicating quickly and effectively is half the battle! Getting information directly to people instantaneously is always helpful and people will find it reassuring to read important updates and see sermon notes before a message.

Tip #3: Daily Bible Readings

Remind people to hit the pause button once a day and spend time with God. Having a daily Bible reading or devotional program sent directly to each person’s phone can help remind them to spend time in God’s Word each day. Reading God’s promises daily will help promote spiritual growth and maturity.

Tip #4: Prayer Requests

Lift them up! Provide a quick and simple way for people to send a prayer request to the church at any time of the day or night. Help your pastors and team stay connected when connection matters most.

Tip #5: Mobile offerings and donations

If you are gathering in-person or virtually, you can receive contactless mobile donations quickly and safely via text messaging to help keep the church budget on track. Donors are able to send money from their phones with a one-time or repeat donation at any time.

Tip #6: Mobilize Volunteers

Since 98% of text messages are opened, sending out messages to mobilize your volunteers when a need arises or to remind them of an upcoming event up is a great way to keep all parties in the communication loop—even in real-time as the situation unfolds.

Tip #7: Provide Support

Stay reachable and offer support when needed. Even if you can’t visit them while in the hospital or in their homes you can still safely stay connected with one-on-one text conversations with your members and visitors while still having accountability and protecting your personal phone number.

If you need a solution for your church’s text messaging needs, MojoTxt – owned and operated by a service production nerd and former church administrator – offers a platform with interactive tools all in one location. With a free 30-day trial you can see for yourself all the benefits text messaging has to offer to churches.

COVID-19 may have changed the way we do a lot of things but it has not changed the need to connect with others. Nor did the global pandemic change the need for the church to stay connected to people. Happy Connecting!

 

 

Church Under Scrutiny After Crowd Size ‘spiraled out of control’ at Event With Sean Feucht

By
Megan Briggs
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

A church in Maine that hosted a worship event over the weekend featuring Sean Feucht is now under scrutiny for potentially ignoring that state’s social distancing guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Pastor Jamie Dickson said attendance “spiraled out of control” at three events held at Kingdom Life Church in Oakland, Maine, this weekend. 

“Obviously, this has the potential of being a superspreader, so we’re trying to figure out exactly what to do and how to move forward,” Town Manager Gary Bowman told reporters. Bowman also expressed his desire to avoid a situation like what happened in Millinocket, Maine, where a wedding reception led to an outbreak and several deaths.

A local news outlet reports Dickson has been communicating with local officials following the events. “Pastor Dickson expressed a desire to work with the Oakland Police Department in the future to keep his congregation and the community safe,” Deputy Chief Rick Stubbert of the Oakland Police Department said in a statement. 

Kingdom Life Church: ‘Pray with us for wisdom’

While it’s unclear how many people were in attendance and whether the Kingdom Life Church staff was able to enforce social distancing protocols, the reaction of the town authorities indicates there is cause for concern. The church implied they had learned from the event. In a statement posted to its Facebook page on Monday, church leaders wrote “we need to go back to the drawing board and look internally to our administrative systems to ensure we can continue to do what we are doing safely.” The full statement is here:

Statement from KLC and Pastor Jamie:

This past weekend KLC hosted two worship nights in replacement of our canceled Tenacious Love conference. People were encouraged to stay home and watch on a broadcast and our local community was invited to take part. We withheld promotion online to avoid a large crowd. We set up multiple locations in the building that people could engage and social distance. We provided personal hand sanitizers and masks at the door. We posted CDC guidelines and reminded people for anyone with any symptoms of sickness at all to stay home. We informed the PD of our plans and sought council from many involved on how to do this safely. Despite our best efforts to limit the gathering size and focus online we were inundated with hungry Christian believers looking for the opportunity to worship and seek God. It was not our intention to break guidelines but to fulfill them while leaving our door open for people to worship as it has been for nearly 20 years. We discovered two things from this weekend. #1- People are hungry for God and God is moving in peoples lives through all that our nation has been through! and #2- That we need to go back to the drawing board and look internally to our administrative systems to ensure we can continue to do what we are doing safely. 

We are asking for believers to pray with us for wisdom. We are asking our local community to trust that we will pivot from this weekend and make powerful decisions to continue to have church safely. As we work with our PD and as a staff we make decisions, we want to invite our local church community to partner with us in these decisions that must be made. We know that many will attempt a narrative that says rebellion, carelessness, and disregard. But this could not be further from the truth. We at KLC pray for our governor, serve our community, and value your safety. No matter the public opinion we will continue to be who we have been and lay our lives down in service for all. Be blessed and keep your eyes on Jesus.

The fact that Kingdom Life Church held the worship services took many by surprise. A previously scheduled event, the Tenacious Love Conference, had been scheduled for September 24th through the 27th. However, on September 11th, the church announced it had decided to cancel due to COVID-19 restrictions and an “abundance of caution”:

The conference was originally planned to feature Sean Feucht, Kim Walker-Smith, Robby Dawkins, Jerame Nelson, Pastor Dickson, and the Kingdom Life Church worship band. This would have been the fifth year the church has held Tenacious Love. 

In a video posted to Facebook on September 1st, Dickson addressed fears some in the community expressed regarding the event. The pastor said he had spoken to the town manager and police chief who apparently had fielded calls from concerned citizens who feared “thousands of people” would be allowed into the building. Dickson dispelled this idea as a myth and went on to explain how the church was preparing to host the event.

Man Who Stopped Church Shooter Not Charged by Grand Jury

By
Jessica Lea
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

The man who took down the shooter who killed two people at a church in Texas last year will not be charged with murder. A Tarrant County grand jury has decided not to indict Jack Wilson for fatally shooting Keith Kinnunen, a decision praised by county prosecutor Tim Rodgers.

“Texas law allows an individual, when they witness somebody placing others at risk of serious bodily injury or death, to act with deadly force to protect the other individuals,” said Rodgers, who is chief prosecutor for the Law Enforcement Incident team in the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office. “Mr. Wilson did just that. He did it responsibly and, as a result, he was justified under the law in his actions.”

Jack Wilson Neutralizes Gunman During Church Service

On Dec. 29, 2019, 43-year-old Keith Thomas Kinnunen entered West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, during a worship service and shot and killed Anton “Tony” Wallace, 64, and Richard White, 67. Jack Wilson, a church elder and head of the church’s security team, then killed Kinnunen with one shot to the head. 

Kinnunen had a criminal record, as well as a history of drug abuse and mental illness. He was known to church members, but that morning was wearing a wig, a fake beard, and a long coat.  According to Pastor Britt Farmer, West Freeway had helped Kinnunen more than once by giving him food, but would not give him cash, which made him “mad.” The security team, of which White was a member, noticed Kinnunen’s suspicious appearance and was on the alert. Both White and Wilson drew their weapons when they saw Kinnunen pull out a shotgun. White fired at Kinnunen and missed, after which the gunman shot White and then Wallace, a church deacon who was serving communion. 

At that point, said Wilson, “The only clear shot I had was his head because I still had people in the pews that were not all the way down.” Wilson has years of experience as a firearms instructor and has trained members of the church’s security team. “When I teach people, I teach them not to shoot the head unless that’s all you have,” he said. 

According to The Dallas Morning News, Texas law at one time restricted guns in houses of worship, but a mass shooting in 2017 in Sutherland Springs, Texas, that left 26 dead and 20 injured led to those restrictions being lifted. Now, houses of worship may have armed volunteer security teams. West Freeway decided to form a church security team 18 months prior to the shooting because of crime in the neighborhood.

In January 2020, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott awarded Wilson the Governor’s Medal of Courage for his bravery. The award is the highest honor the governor can confer on a civilian. After the grand jury’s decision was announced, Abbot tweeted, “Security officer who killed White Settlement church shooter won’t face charges. This is exactly right.”  

While many have labeled Wilson a “hero,” he has said he was only doing his job. When he received the Medal of Courage from Gov. Abbott, he told reporters, “I personally don’t feel like I killed a human being. I took some evil out. That’s how I’m processing this whole situation.”

Justin Bieber is Shocking People for all the Right Reasons

By
Esther Laurie
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Think you can’t learn anything from Justin Bieber? Think again! In a vulnerable interview with Complex, Bieber shares how he’s turning his life around.

We know the Bieber who had a rough few years. He’s been known for hit pop songs, but also for arrests, a DUI, a visit to a brothel in Rio and other scandals.

But do you know the new Bieber who is hopefully here to stay?

Bieber doesn’t mince words. He shared about losing his identity in success, attention, music and relationships and how he is learning to lean on God. He’s been hanging out with Hillsong NYC pastor Carl Lentz and he’s open to sharing this new change with others.

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It must be difficult coming into the music industry at just 13 years old and trusting people who later break your heart. He said, “I forgot what I was about, what my mom raised me to be. I veered off, and I got tainted.”

But Bieber is learning to be himself. A lesson all of us must learn.

“I’m tired of putting on a mask and a show for these people. I’m just gonna be myself and if they don’t like it, they don’t like it. I move on. I can just trust that God got this under control. That’s where I’m at. I’m the type of dude who always wants to figure it out. Science makes a lot of sense. Then I start thinking—wait, the “big bang.” For a “big bang” to create all this is more wild to think about than thinking about there being a God. Imagine putting a bunch of gold into a box, shaking up the box, and out comes a Rolex. It’s so preposterous once people start saying it. At this point, my faith has gotten me to where I am. My faith has brought me to a whole other level. I love talking about my faith. I think that with Christians, they’ve left such a bad taste in people’s mouths. Just like, overly pushy with the subject, overly churchy and religious.”

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Bieber shared about his faith. I think we could take a few notes from him on how we can reach out to others who aren’t so sure about church and a relationship with Jesus.

“Some people are bad communicators. They find something that works so well for them and they wanna share it, but they don’t know how to share it so they’re kind of pushy. There’s a lot of really weird stuff going on at churches. You ever flicked on a channel and a late-night church show is on? Sometimes it’s like, “You better do this or you gon’ die and you gon’ burn in hell!” And you’re like, I don’t want anything to do with this. I’m the same way. I’m not religious. I, personally, love Jesus and that was my salvation. I want to share what I’m going through and what I’m feeling and I think it shouldn’t be ostracized. I think that everybody should get their chance to share what they’re doing or where their journey is headed, whether they’re straight or gay or what they believe in. We’re in a place now in 2015 where people have gotta be open-minded. I actually feel better and more free now that I know what I can do and what I can’t do. My voice, I’m not gonna let it not be heard anymore. I’m gonna use my voice for a reason. I think that people, as soon as they start hearing me saying I’m a Christian, they’re like, “Whoa Justin, back up, take a step back.” Also, I do not want to shove this down anyone’s throat. I just wanna honestly live like Jesus. Not be Jesus—I could never—I don’t want that to come across weird. He created a pretty awesome template of how to love people and how to be gracious and kind. If you believe it, he died for our sins. Sometimes when I don’t feel like doing something, but I know it’s right, I remember, I’m pretty sure Jesus didn’t feel like going to the cross and dying so that we don’t have to feel what we should have to feel. What Jesus did when he came to the cross was basically say, “You don’t have to feel any of that stuff.” We could take out all of our insecurities, we could take away all of the hurt, all the pain, all the fear, all the trauma. That doesn’t need to be there. So all this healing that you’re trying to do, it’s unnecessary. We have the greatest healer of all and his name is Jesus Christ. And he really heals. This is it. It’s time that we all share our voice. Whatever you believe. Share it. I’m at a point where I’m not going to hold this in.”

Justin Bieber & his friends on IO HAWKs sing “Awesome God” by Hillsong United at his LA house

He talked about having a personal relationship with God and how He loved him first.

“If we can understand that we’re all imperfect, let’s come to God and come for his help. You’re not weak by doing that. I think that’s a common misperception of Christians, that you’re being weak because you can’t handle it. None of us can handle this world, dude! It’s eating us alive. But, man, I don’t wanna have to do it on my own. I know for sure my parents can’t give me all that I need. I know that my friends can’t give me all that I need. There’s something missing. That’s why I think Christians do that. I don’t wanna talk bad about anything. Like I said before, Christians leave such a bad taste in people’s mouths, even myself. I was like, I’m not gonna go to church. I had these church friends and I was like, you guys are cool, I like you guys, but I’m not going to church. Then it was the same thing of, just because you went to a weird church before doesn’t mean that this is weird. It doesn’t make you a Christian just by going to church. I think that going to church is fellowship, it’s relationship, it’s what we’re here on the earth to do, to have this connection that you feel there’s no insecurities. I think that’s where we need to be. Like I said, you don’t need to go to church to be a Christian. If you go to Taco Bell, that doesn’t make you a taco.”

Going from feeling invincible and rebellious to a renewed faith is a rocky path for many people. Here’s how Bieber handles stepping into his new faith and a new kind of invincible.

“I feel invincible like, nothing is bigger than God. If God’s for me, who can be against me? That’s helped me in a lot of situations where I feel judged. It gives you confidence and you can carry yourself in a cool way, but it’s not cocky. It’s a confidence that’s a godly confidence. That’s what I always want. I wanna be loved for being a good dude and for being confident in myself because I know who I am and what I carry and what I sacrifice.”

 

Justin Bieber, Carl & Laura Lentz lip sync in car to This Is Living by Hillsong Young & Free

Sex Is Not the Best Part of Life

By
J.D. Greear
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Our culture says sex is an essential part of life. Not just good, but literally essential. As in, you simply cannot be happy without it. In this way, it overvalues sex. Ironically, though, our culture also undervalues sex, not recognizing its power, treating it casually and flippantly. But neither approach—overvaluing or undervaluing—is true.

This is why Jesus talks about eunuchs in his teaching on marriage in Matthew 19, which says, “For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven …” (v. 12 ESV).

Eunuchs are people who, for various reasons, can’t get married. By including them in his teaching, Jesus makes them equal participants in God’s kingdom because marriage is not the ultimate point—the family of God is. Soon enough, in eternity, none of us will be married (cf. Matthew 22:30). What is partial and temporary will have given way to what is permanent and eternal: Christ and the church.

You can find real joy in life without sex. Perhaps that may be for a chapter of your life—whether it’s because you are single or maybe something is not going right in your marriage. Is that painful and difficult? Absolutely. But if what Jesus says is true, that pain is something we can still endure in the context of contentment.

Perhaps you will never know sexual fulfillment on this earth. What Jesus says applies here, too: True joy isn’t found in sexual fulfillment; it’s found in intimacy with him. After all, it is worth remembering that the most joy-filled man ever to walk the face of the earth never had sex.

Eunuchs, who represent single people, can still find full satisfaction in the forever family of God.

“My Identity Is Not Gay or Ex-Gay; It Is a Child of God”

Christoper Yuan tells his story of growing up same-sex attracted. Again and again, he asked God to give him different desires. But God didn’t. For a while, Yuan pursued an openly gay lifestyle, thinking it would satisfy him. It didn’t. Then, through a series of bad decisions, he hit rock bottom and even ended up in prison.

It was there that God confronted him—not with a change of sexual orientation but with the offer of a forever family with his Son. Yuan says:

“My identity is not gay, ex-gay, or even heterosexual for that matter, but my sole identity is as a child of the living God made in the image of Jesus Christ. [In that prison cell, I realized that] a decision had to be made: either abandon God and pursue [sexual freedom]; or abandon [sexual freedom] and live as a follower of Jesus Christ. My decision was obvious. I chose to be a child of God.

“I used to think that to please this Christian God, I had to become straight—I had to make myself feel heterosexual feelings—but even those with heterosexual feelings still struggle with sin and need to be redeemed; so that should not be the ultimate goal. Our goal, as Christians, no matter what feelings we have, must be holiness. And that’s only found in the righteousness of Christ. Our identity must be solely in his righteousness, not in how sexually pure we feel. As I began to live this life of surrender and obedience, God called me to full-time ministry—while I was in prison of all places.”

Yuan is still same-sex attracted and says that sex will never be a part of his life, but he is content with living a life in a posture of waiting.

That kind of bearing only comes from understanding that sex is not ultimate. It just points to what God has for you in his forever family. If sex is not something that is a part of your story, you can still live a happy, joy-filled meaningful life.

This article originally appeared here.

Do You Problem Solve Too Much as a Leader?

By
Charles Stone
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Good leaders help team members solve their own problems with their own insight. Average leaders tend to solve their team members’ problems, thus truncating their opportunity to grow themselves. So, how do we help our team members learn to problem solve on their own? In this post I begin with a story and then suggest ways to problem solve in a balanced way.

Archimedes was a brilliant Greek scientist. He lived 250 years before Christ and is best known for inventing a method to determine an object’s volume. A goldsmith had forged a crown of gold for the Greek king, King Hiero II. The king was concerned, however, that the goldsmith has substituted the cheaper metal silver for some of the gold. He asked Archimedes to find the truth without melting the crown.

This stumped Archimedes until a flash of insight hit him. One day as he took a bath he noticed the water level rise as he stepped into the tub. Suddenly he realized that by making a few mathematical calculations he could use water volume displacement from the crown to determine if it were made of pure gold. In his excitement, so the story goes, he ran into the streets naked crying, “Eureka, Eureka!” which means in Greek, “I have found it.”

Thus, we use the word “eureka”  for personal insight. Through this insight he discovered that the goldsmith had indeed substituted silver for some of the crown’s gold, a not-so-good discovery for the goldsmith.

Leaders tend to be tellers.

  • We cast vision by telling.
  • We communicate goals and strategies by telling.
  • We recruit leaders by telling.
  • We manage staff by telling.
  • We teach by telling.
  • And we tend to solve our team’s problems by telling.

When a team member comes to us with a problem, it’s often expedient to give a quick answer if we see the solution. We tend to be more experienced so it can be easy to see the solution. But when we solve their problems too quickly, we can create other problems.

  1. We can inadvertently foster dependency on us to solve their problems and diminish their motivation to follow through because people are less likely to act on somebody else’s ideas.
  2. We can rob them from learning how to problem solve, an important leadership quality.
  3. We can diminish opportunities for them to experience the joy of those ‘eureka’ moments.

I believe this is the key to helping your team learn to solve their own problems: ask questions.

Jesus often asked questions when he wanted to teach important concepts. The Gospels include 135 questions Jesus asked. He asked questions to create readiness to learn and to get his listeners to think for themselves.

Consider five compelling reasons to ask your team more questions.

  1. Questions help your team see reality more clearly. One more well-placed question may surface an important issue about their problem they are trying to solve that they otherwise might have missed.
  2. They help foster innovation. Questions can spur new ideas and solutions to problems.
  3. They help your team self reflect. Telling someone an answer may stifle her need to thoroughly think through the answer for herself.
  4. They provide perspective. A good question can open up a fresh perspective to a perplexing dilemma.
  5. They help your team focus on the real issue.

Asking good questions can become a potent team development tool to put into your leadership toolbox. 

An interesting brain process occurs when we get a eureka insight.

Several different brain waves course through our brains every day. During sleep, your brain produces delta and theta waves. When we’re awake and our brains are at rest (i.e., during daydreaming), alpha waves occur. When we are awake, alert, and focused on something, the beta wave is most prominent. But the fastest wave is called a gamma wave that sweeps through our entire brains over 40 times per second through a process called synchrony. Similar to what happens to an orchestra when a conductor raises his baton and brings the whole orchestra to attention, the gamma wave sweeps through our brains and brings it to attention when we experience a eureka insight. Several benefits occur from the gamma wave.

  • New brain maps get formed in the eureka moment.
  • The brain’s right hemisphere which processes information intuitively and holistically increases its activity by making subtle connections. This fosters insight by connecting disparate bits of information which otherwise may have seemed inconsequential.
  • The brain produces the feel good neurotransmitter dopamine. As a result, a eureka insight actually feels good which makes us want more insight experiences.
  • The solution to the problem, the eureka insight, gets stamped deeper into our brains creating greater ownership to the solution and more motivation to follow through on it.

So what can you do to ask more and better questions to foster eureka insights in your team. Consider three suggestions.

  1. Practice the art of the W.A.I.T.
    • WAIT is an acronym for this question. “Why Am I Talking?” In meetings and conversations with others when you sense you may be dominating, mentally ask yourself this question. It has helped me listen more carefully and talk less.
  1. Ask the question, “What do you think?”
    • This handy question helps when you sense a team member wants you to solve his problem. You may immediately know the answer, but if you answer it too quickly you may foster unhealthy dependency on you that you want to avoid. So when a team member asks you to solve his problem, first respond with, “What do you think?” Remember, self generated insights create better buy-in than quick answers.
  1. Use the AWE question.
    • Michael Stanier suggests this question in his great book, The Coaching Habit. AWE stands for, “And What Else?” He suggests we use this question 3-5 times in a coaching or problem solving conversation. He calls it the best coaching question in the world. It helps pull out insight from a team member that might be missed if you end the conversation too soon.

Try one or more of these suggestions when a team member wants you to solve his or her problem.

What kinds of questions have helped you develop your team?

This article originally appeared here.

7 Things Worship Leaders Won’t Tell You

By
Manuel Luz
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worship leaders
Adobestock #230213759

I’ve been a worship pastor for a long time, and I know a lot of worship leaders both locally and around the country. Most of them are good-hearted, hard-working, God-loving leaders, charged with the responsibility of leading God’s people in worship.

Even so, there are many misconceptions about a worship leader’s job, and a number of difficult elements that go unnoticed. Here are seven truths a worship leader won’t tell you.

7 Things Worship Leaders Won’t Tell You

1). This is hard work.

I like to tell the story of the mother who asked her little son what he wanted to be when he grew up. The boy answered enthusiastically, “A garbage man!” Puzzled, the mom asked why. The boy replied, “Because they only work on Wednesdays.”

Many people have the misconception that worship leaders strap on a guitar on Sunday morning and starts to sing, and everything merely flows out of his or her God-bathed spirituality. After all, how hard is it to play a Chris Tomlin tune? And while I believe that God is at the center of it all, the reality of worship leading is that it is a considerable amount of work.

The roles of worship leaders are varied and simultaneous: front man, vocalist, instrumentalist, music director, technical manager, spiritual leader, pastor and shepherd and friend, the guy who unlocks the doors in the morning and rolls up the cords after everyone goes home. And Sunday always seems to be right around the corner. In my experience, the typical part-time worship leader is working 20-40 hours a week, and the full-time pastor 50-60 hours per week.

Additionally, there’s the emotional exhaustion that goes along with the job. By nature, worship is spiritually filling but also emotionally draining. (One of the seemingly universal practices of the worship leader is the Sunday afternoon nap.) Adding to that, pastoring people (especially creatives) toward spiritual transformation is messy and imperfect and takes a lot of time, leading to emotional jet lag. Ministry burnout is real.

2. This job can get pretty weird.

In my role as worship pastor, I’ve written funny parody songs, dressed in an animal costume, hung disco balls, washed dishes, consoled the homeless and the well-to-do, written drama scripts and liturgy, pounded nails and dug trenches, produced videos, baptized in a freezing river, danced in tights (not my idea!), and hung from 30-foot rafters to run audio cable. I’ve led worship at children’s classes, prison chapels, worship conferences from Europe to Asia, funerals and weddings, even at street corners and water parks. We once had a “Lord of the Rings” themed wedding at our church where the pastor was supposed to say, “Bring forth the rings!” Then there’s the monotonous side of the job, like managing budgets, upgrading computer memory (in every church, the person who is the least intimidated by computers becomes the IT guy), and replying to the never-ending tide of emails.

Recently, we had the idea to create a 16-foot sandbox at the front of our stage to signify a walk in the desert during the season of Lent. As I was single-handedly delivering 500 pounds of sand into our auditorium and spreading it onto our stage, I thought: I might have the weirdest job in the world.

3. We are (mostly) normal.

Worship leaders are often a little eccentric. After all, we are musicians, with artistic dispositions and complex temperaments and unique ways of expressing ourselves. If there are tattoos in the sanctuary, chances are, the worship leader is the one wearing them.

At the same time, we’re just like anyone else. We have fears and doubts, goals and aspirations, secret dreams and hidden angst. We juggle the need for acceptance and approval with the desire to be humble. We are driven by insecurity and anxiety more than you realize. And ultimately, we want what anyone wants—love and grace and community and significance. We aren’t perfect. Please don’t expect us to be.

Pandemic Challenges Music Ministers, Choir Members

By
Sam Hodges
-
thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Sid Davis never thought he’d be driving all over his sprawling city to have masked, socially distanced curbside visits with choir members.

But Davis, director of music and worship arts at Houston’s St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, has faced an empty choir loft and no in-person rehearsals since early March.

So he and wife Cindy are going ZIP code by ZIP code to check on more than 100 adult choir members. The couple even have a magnetic “Operation Curbside Convos” sign on their Mazda.

Sid Davis, director of music and fine arts at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Houston, and his wife, Cindy, spend time these days driving around visiting choir members. Davis and other music ministers say the pastoral part of their job has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, which has choirs largely sidelined. Photo courtesy of Sid Davis.

Sid Davis, director of music and fine arts at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Houston, and his wife, Cindy, spend time these days driving around visiting choir members. Davis and other music ministers say the pastoral part of their job has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, which has choirs largely sidelined. Photo courtesy of Sid Davis.

“A lot of my work right now is all about people,” said Davis, in his 25th year at St. Luke’s. “If we want to make music again in person, we better have done our homework in keeping the community alive while we can’t gather.”

COVID-19 has disrupted United Methodist life in many ways and it’s done a number on congregational and choir singing, causing music ministers to scramble to keep music going and keep sidelined choir members engaged.

Music ministers are all too familiar with research suggesting that singing ranks with coughing as a coronavirus spreader. The Skagit Valley Chorale in Washington state experienced dozens of infections, three hospitalizations and two deaths after a March 10 rehearsal attended by an unsuspecting COVID-19 carrier.

Scientists called it a superspreader event, and the choral community shuddered.

“None of us thought the thing we love to do would become a lethal activity,” said the Rev. Leigh Anne Taylor, president of the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts.

Some United Methodist conferences that are cautiously letting churches reopen still have a stop sign up for congregational and choir singing. So does an ecumenical guide to church reopening, pulled together by United Methodists. California has instructed all places of worship not to have singing in person.

While fully supportive of safety restrictions, music ministers are candid about how painful it has been not to gather for weekly rehearsal and for worship. Choir members agree.

“It’s a desolate desert,” said Richard Collinsworth, a tenor in the Martha Bowman Memorial United Methodist Church choir in Macon, Georgia. “Our choir is very much like a family.”

Ellen Hanson, director of traditional music worship at Martha Bowman United Methodist Church in Macon, Ga., does an American Sign Language version of the “Gloria Patri” during a June 24 worship service. Hanson has found ways to keep the congregation and her choir engaged while singing is not allowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To watch video click here. Scroll in 13 minutes for the "Gloria Patri." Video image courtesy of Martha Bowman United Methodist Church.

Ellen Hanson, director of traditional music worship at Martha Bowman United Methodist Church in Macon, Ga., does an American Sign Language version of the “Gloria Patri” during a June 24 worship service. Hanson has found ways to keep the congregation and her choir engaged while singing is not allowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To watch video, click here. Scroll down for the June 24 Traditional service; scroll in the video 13 minutes for the “Gloria Patri.” Video image courtesy of Martha Bowman United Methodist Church.

Music ministers are typically having soloists or small, spaced ensembles for weekly worship, while physically distanced praise bands play for contemporary services.

But some music ministers have gone beyond this, creating virtual choir videos — audio-visual mosaics of members singing from home.

That these are labors of love is clear from a summary explanation offered by James Wardlaw-Bailey, who leads the choir program at St. John United Methodist Church in Anchorage, Alaska.

“My wife (Freya Wardlaw-Bailey) records the piano part, and I sing and record all the choir parts,” he said. “I link all those up together and make listening tracks for the choir — sopranos, altos, tenors, basses. They get all the parts, but if you are, say, a bass, then the bass part is more prominent. The choir members all record themselves. They send those back to me and I do my magic.”

Freya Wardlaw-Bailey, accompanist for St. John United Methodist Church in Anchorage, Alaska, plays the piano amid equipment used for making virtual choir videos. Her husband, James Wardlaw-Bailey, leads the church’s choir program and does the video editing, spending three or four hours per anthem. Photo courtesy of James Wardlaw-Bailey.

Freya Wardlaw-Bailey, accompanist for St. John United Methodist Church in Anchorage, Alaska, plays the piano amid equipment used for making virtual choir videos. Her husband, James Wardlaw-Bailey, leads the church’s choir program and does the video editing, spending three or four hours per anthem. Photo courtesy of James Wardlaw-Bailey.

Wardlaw-Bailey — who loves technology and has worked up an instruction sheet for making virtual choir videos — uses various software programs to edit the audio and video into a pleasing whole that can be part of the church’s recorded worship and posted online.

“I’ve gotten a lot faster — maybe three or four hours (of editing) for an anthem,” he said.

St. John is a United Methodist leader in virtual choir performances, having done a handful since the pandemic. So is A&M United Methodist Church in College Station, Texas, where music minister Michael Vaughn has done them with adult, children’s and handbell choirs.

Calvary Korean United Methodist Church in East Brunswick, New Jersey, has been pulling together a virtual choir video nearly every other week. That’s been important to a church full of people who, because of COVID-19, have had to shutter their small businesses.

“They’ve had financial hardship and are down, as you might imagine. We try to give them hope and glorify God,” said choir member Jin Soo Shin.

Three separate monitors used by Michael Vaughn, director of music ministry at A&M United Methodist Church in College Station, Texas, show the complex process of editing individual vocal performances to create a virtual choir video. Photo courtesy of Michael Vaughn.

Three separate monitors used by Michael Vaughn, director of music ministry at A&M United Methodist Church in College Station, Texas, show the complex process of editing individual vocal performances to create a virtual choir video. Photo courtesy of Michael Vaughn.

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, St. John’s United Methodist Church did a virtual choir video of “Creation of Peace,” by Mark Miller, a United Methodist composer. Mathew Greer, the church’s music minister, said he couldn’t have done it without the technical expertise of staff members Jim Ahrend and Shea Perry. (Perry can be seen as a soloist in the video, holding her cat.)

But Greer himself has found other innovations to keep music going, including hiring out-of-work local musicians to record solos for online worship.

“We got maybe 45 of those videos in the can before the lockdown,” said Greer, who has helped administer a relief fund for New Mexico musicians.

At Martha Bowman Memorial United Methodist Church, in-person worship has resumed but without choir or congregational singing. So Ellen Hanson, director of traditional worship music, learned the “Gloria Patria” in American Sign Language and has been teaching it to the church.

Davis, the Houston music minister, had a few members of the St. Luke’s United Methodist choir join him in a parking garage  where they spread out and sang the medieval hymn “Adoro te devote” (“Humbly I adore Thee, Verity unseen”).

A homemade video of the performance, complete with Davis’ dog running around, has drawn a couple of thousand Facebook views.

“It worked beautifully,” Davis said, but added that the next day coronavirus numbers in Houston began to rise again.

A cappella performance

Choir members from St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Houston perform an unaccompanied version of the tune “Adoro te devote” (“Humbly I adore Thee, Verity unseen”) in a parking garage. Watch video. Video image courtesy of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church by UM News.

Video image courtesy of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church by UM News.

Choir members from St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Houston perform an unaccompanied version of the tune “Adoro te devote” (“Humbly I adore Thee, Verity unseen”) in a parking garage. Watch video

Music ministers all say the pandemic has bumped up the pastoral part of their job.When his choir could no longer gather, Dakota Hill, director of music and worship at First United Methodist Church in Dyersburg, Tennessee, began to text each member weekly, asking how he could best pray for them.

“I had the thought one day and did it, and I had five or six people who said, `I really needed this,’” Hill said. “It was an amazing way for the Holy Spirit to move.”

At Manchester United Methodist Church, in Manchester, Missouri, Thursday night has always been what director of music and worship Kevin McBeth calls “sacred time” for choir rehearsal. But now it’s when members gather via Facebook for Choir Time with Kevin.

McBeth, in his 25th year at Manchester, checks in on members. He’s even sung to them. And he’s welcomed composer friends, such as Mark Hayes and Joseph Martin, into the meetings.

McBeth’s chancel choir has 145 members and he’s had the different sections meeting on their own virtually, every other week.

“The altos have the best attendance,” he said. “Go figure what that means, but it’s been wonderful.”

Lots of choirs are having video conference hangouts during their usual rehearsal time, including East End United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee.

That church’s sanctuary was destroyed by a March 3 tornado, then came the pandemic. Joe Lee, music director, has had the choir gathering Sunday nights online, and at the July 12 meeting Carl Zehner was finally able to be with them.

Zehner, 74, contracted COVID-19 while on a cruise in March and spent more than two months in the hospital, including three weeks on a ventilator.

Having a remote reunion with fellow choir members was a big deal.

“A lot of warm fuzzies,” Zehner said. “It was so nice to see everybody again.”

Joe Lee, music director at East End United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn., talks with COVID-19 survivor and choir member Carl Zehner, using ZOOM. Zehner nearly died from the virus and had a happy virtual reunion with Lee and choir members on July 12. Photo by Kathleen Barry, UM News.

If getting back to a pre-pandemic normal seems a long way off for churches, it’s even farther for music ministers and choirs. Not only is singing hazardous, but choir members tend to be older and more at-risk with the disease.

“My personal opinion — and I get choked up talking about this stuff — is it’s going to take a vaccine,” said Greer.

But he and music minister colleagues say they’ve been acquiring pastoral and technological skills that will serve them for the long haul.

For sure, they’ve learned adaptation and perseverance.

“I think everybody spent the first few weeks kind of in shock, trying to figure out, `What do we now?’” Davis said. “About a month in, I said, `I think it’s time we stop bailing and start raising the sails.’”

Shea Perry, choir member of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has feline company as she performs a solo for a virtual choral performance of “Creation of Peace” by Mark Miller. YouTube screengrab by UM News.

Shea Perry, choir member of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has feline company as she performs a solo for a virtual choral performance of “Creation of Peace” by Mark Miller. (Full performance is embedded above.) YouTube screengrab by UM News.

This article originally appeared here on UMNews.org. Used with permission.

50K Pray for Nation ‘in crisis’ to Return to God at DC March

By
Jessica Lea
-
thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

At least 50,000 people from around the United States attended a prayer gathering and walk in Washington D.C. Saturday led by Samaritan’s Purse president Franklin Graham. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and Graham’s daughter, Cissie Graham Lynch, helped to host the event, which was called “The Return: National and Global Day of Prayer and Repentance.” Other speakers included Anne Graham Lotz, Dr. James Dobson, former congresswoman Michele Bachmann, and ‘God’s Not Dead‘ actor Kevin Sorbo, as well as Vice President Mike Pence.

“The Bible tells us to persevere in prayer, that the prayer of the upright pleases him,” said Pence to a crowd gathered at the Lincoln Memorial, where the prayer walk began. “And in these challenging times, we do well, as you do today, to remember that in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, we are to present our requests to God.” 

When the vice president and his wife, second lady Karen Pence, arrived, the crowd began chanting, “Four more years.” Pence said he was “honored” to be there, and he extended the greetings of President Trump, “a leader who has been a champion for people of faith, for life and religious liberty.” President Trump wanted the Pences to be there, said the vice president, in order to thank those gathered for their prayers. During his comments, Pence requested that the crowd pray for law enforcement, the nation’s leaders, and the “remarkable woman” the president was going to nominate later that day to be the next Supreme Court justice. 

The Return: ‘Pray for our nation’  

The stated goal of The Return, as the name indicates, was to lead the U.S. in returning to God. Attendees gathered to confess their sins and the sins of the nation, to repent on behalf of those sins, and to intercede for God’s mercy.  “The purpose of this march today is to pray for our nation,” said Graham. “This is not a political rally.” 

“America has in great measure departed from God and His ways,” says The Return’s website. “We have forgotten the Rock upon which we were founded. And we have removed Him from our public squares, our culture, and our lives….But the Scriptures also set forth that God is love and abounding in mercy and that all who come before Him to seek for His mercy will find it—and that in repentance and return will come forgiveness, salvation, healing, revival, and restoration.”

Graham organized The Return in collaboration with Messianic Jewish pastor Jonathan Cahn and Global Strategic Alliance president Kevin Jessip. The event featured speakers and worship on the Friday evening prior to the walk, as well as all day Saturday. According to The Washington Post, one group of attendees, led by Cahn and Jessip, gathered in front of a stage to listen to different speakers throughout the day Saturday. A separate group took part in the prayer walk, led by Graham, which took place Saturday from 12 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The walk was 1.8 miles long and featured stops at seven different sites around the National Mall. It began at the Lincoln Memorial and progressed to the World War II Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the White House. Attendees then continued to the National Museum of African American History & Culture, the National Archives, and the U.S. Capitol, where the walk concluded. 

Each location had a different prayer focus. At the World War II Memorial, walkers prayed for law enforcement and the military. At the Washington Monument, attendees prayed against abortion and for the salvation of the lost. At the White House, people prayed for the president and the vice president, and at the National Museum of African American History & Culture, those gathered prayed for reconciliation. 

At the National Archives, the prayer focus was pastors, churches, and religious freedom, and at the Capitol, the focus was Congress, the Supreme Court, and other leaders in our nation. 

The Return’s Speakers

There was quite a variety of speakers who took the stage throughout the day Saturday to offer prayers and words of encouragement and exhortation.

“I believe our nation is in crisis,” said Anne Graham Lotz. “We’re in a hard place. And it’s time to look up and see the Lord.” She expounded on Scriptures that teach God has complete authority, no matter what global or personal catastrophes people might be facing. “So I want to ask you something,” she said. “What has caused you to doubt that Jesus is still on the throne?” 

Who Is Amy Coney Barrett? A Closer Look at Trump’s SCOTUS Nominee

By
Stephanie Martin
-
thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

In a Rose Garden ceremony on Saturday, President Trump formally nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the U.S. Supreme Court seat left vacant by the recent death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Trump, who calls Barrett “eminently qualified,” is urging a speedy Senate confirmation, saying he thinks the November 3 election results will end up in the high court.

Support for Barrett is largely split along party lines; she’s being portrayed as a “dream candidate” for conservatives and a “nightmare candidate” for liberals. When the controversial nomination process officially begins October 12, legal experts predict Democrats will label Barrett as an extremist while Republicans tout her promise of impartiality. 

Amy Coney Barrett’s Family Background and Faith 

Barrett, a 48-year-old Catholic, lives in Indiana with her husband, Jesse, and seven children, two of whom are adopted from Haiti. The couple’s youngest biological son has Down syndrome, a diagnosis made while Barrett was pregnant. “While I am a judge, I’m better known back home as a room parent, car pool driver, and birthday party planner,” Barrett said in her nomination speech Saturday. “Our children are my greatest joy, even though they deprive me of any reasonable amount of sleep.”

Barrett is a member of People of Praise, a charismatic movement within Catholicism. The Indiana-based group, formed in 1971, has about 1,700 members who make a “covenant,” or “lifelong promise of love and service to fellow community members.” According to the group’s website, members include “Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Methodists, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, and other denominational and nondenominational Christians.” It adds, “Despite our differences, we are bound together by our Christian baptism.”

Sean Connolly, communications director for People of Praise, says the community has “male leadership at the highest level,” based on New Testament teachings, but that women “take on a variety of leadership roles.” Until recently, the group’s female leaders were called handmaids, based on the Bible’s description of Jesus’ mother, Mary (Luke 1:38, KJV).

If Barrett is confirmed, SCOTUS would have six Catholic members, a fact that some people suggest might stem from the strength of Catholic education.

Judge Barrett’s Legal Background and Experience

Barrett, who’s served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit since late 2017, graduated first in her class at Notre Dame Law School and teaches there. Fellow professors voiced support when she was nominated for the Seventh Circuit, calling Barrett “a brilliant teacher and scholar, and a warm and generous colleague.” In an op-ed this weekend, six of Barrett’s former students call her “the paragon of a professor,” despite their “variety of views regarding how best to interpret statutes and the Constitution.”

While critics cite Barrett’s lack of experience, supporters point out that Chief Justice John Roberts had fewer years on a federal bench, and Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee, had none.

More than 20 years ago, Barrett clerked for the late conservative icon Justice Antonin Scalia, who became a mentor. On Saturday, Barrett referenced Scalia’s influence, saying, “His judicial philosophy is mine, too.” Constitutional originalists, as Barrett explained Saturday, believe that “A judge must apply the law as written. Judges are not policymakers, and they must be resolute in setting aside any policy views they might hold.”

Barrett acknowledged Scalia’s unlikely friendship with Ginsburg, despite staunch ideological differences. She also pledged to be “mindful” of Ginsburg, whose “life of public service serves as an example to us all.”

During the 2017 Senate confirmation hearings, California Senator Dianne Feinstein told Barrett, “The dogma lives loudly within you”—raising questions about a religious litmus test. Barrett responded, “I see no conflict between having a sincerely held faith and duties as a judge. I would never impose my own personal convictions upon the law.”

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