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Kill Anger Before It Kills You or Your Marriage

By
John Piper
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Anger in marriage rivals lust as a killer. My guess is that anger is a worse enemy than lust. It also destroys other kinds of camaraderie. Some people have more anger than they think because it has disguises. When willpower hinders rage, anger smolders beneath the surface, and the teeth of the soul grind with frustration. It can come out in tears that look more like hurt.

But the heart has learned that this may be the only way to hurt back. It may come out as silence because we have resolved not to fight. It may show up in picky criticism and relentless correction. It may strike out at persons that have nothing to do with its origin. It will often feel warranted by the wrongness of the cause. After all, Jesus got angry (Mark 3:5).

However, good anger among fallen people is rare. That’s why James says, “Be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20).

Therefore, one of the greatest battles of life is the battle to “put away anger,” not just control its expressions. To help you fight this battle against anger in marriage and the rest of your life, here are nine biblical weapons.

8 Ways To Stop Anger In Marriage

1. Ponder the rights of Christ to be angry, but how he endured the cross, as an example of long-suffering.

For to this, you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. (1 Peter 2:21)

2. Ponder how much you have been forgiven, and how much mercy you have been shown.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32)

3. Ponder your own sinfulness and take the beam out of your own eye.

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:3-5)

4. Think about how you do not want to give place to the devil because harbored anger is the one thing the Bible explicitly says opens a door and invites him in.

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. (Ephesians 4:26-27)

5. Ponder the folly of your own self-immolation, that is, the numerous detrimental effects of anger to the one who is angry—some spiritual, some mental, some physical, and some relational.

Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:7-8)

6. Confess your sin of anger in marriage to some trusted friend as well and as possible with the offender. This is a great healing act.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. (James 5:16)

7. Let your anger be the key to unlock the dungeons of pride and self-pity in your heart and replace them with love.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

After 38 Years of Work, the Whole Bible Is Now in a Sign Language for the First Time

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

After 38 years of work, the Bible has been translated into a sign language in its entirety for the first time. Deaf Missions has finally completed its translation of the Bible into American Sign Language (ASL), and the completion of the ASL Bible translation is in part thanks to the groups who helped support the project.

“Thanks to God’s provision through the generosity of Deaf Missions donors and funding partners,” said Deaf Missions president Chad Entinger, “we were able to overcome funding challenges and onboard more translators to accelerate completion of the Bible, thereby finishing in 2020 instead of our original projection of 2033!” 

Four years ago, Wycliffe USA, American Bible Society, Deaf Bible Society, Deaf Harbor, DOOR International, Pioneer Bible Translators, and Seed Company collaborated with Deaf Missions with the goal of completing the American Sign Language Version (ASLV) of the Bible 13 years earlier than projected. The result was the ASLV was finished earlier this summer, after which it was edited and reviewed before its release. The final version is the work of 53 translators, the majority of whom are deaf themselves.

Deaf Missions Completes ASL Bible Translation

There are an estimated 70 million Deaf people in the world and over 350 different sign languages. Fewer than 50 sign languages have any of the Bible, much less all of it, published in them.

Contrary to what some assume, sign languages are unique languages, not simply “different versions” of spoken languages. Therefore, if ASL is a Deaf or hard of hearing person’s first language, then for that person to read the Bible in English means he or she is reading a foreign language.

Renca Dunn, who is a communication specialist and a graduate of Gallaudet University, says, 

What I wish more people understood is that for many Deaf people in the U.S., English is our second language. It can be a challenge for Deaf individuals to connect with printed text. It’s hard to wrap your head around the fact that, for thousands of years, Deaf people have faced communication barriers and lack of access to fully understanding one of the oldest and most cherished texts of all time—the Bible. Now, translators have the framework to keep translating the Bible into other sign languages. It’s incredible, the amount of impact it may have.

One woman who uses the Deaf Bible app described what it was like for her when she did not have access to God’s Word in her “heart” language. “I remember how it used to be reading the Bible,” said Tanya, “having to go through word by word in English. Trying to make sense of it all, I’d try to paint a picture in my mind of what was being said. I remember thinking, God, I want to be able to communicate with you. I want to understand who you are.”

Having the Bible in her own language has totally changed how she relates to God. She says, “Before I felt so disconnected, but now I have a relationship with God. I feel so close to Him…I’m so thankful for the gift of God’s word in sign language.”

Duane King founded Deaf Missions in 1970, and the ministry began pursuing an ASL Bible translation in 1981. Why has it taken so long to translate the Bible into ASL? Both Entinger and Wycliffe USA’s Andy Keener say that translating the Bible into a sign language is a longer and more complex process than translating it into a written language. Said Keener, “The amount of technical skill needed is so much more than what we need for written translation, so it is a bigger task.”

Barna: This Is the Largest Generation Gap We’ve Seen in 7 Decades

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

According to a new study about generational beliefs, America “is at war with itself.” That’s how study author George Barna sums up what he calls “deeply troubling” results of the “American Worldview Inventory 2020,” released this week from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University.

The biggest takeaways from the results? Millennials and their predecessors differ more now than they have during the past seven decades. Based on this new research, young adults have “radically different” beliefs and values than their parents and grandparents in three categories: respect for others, interest in faith, and enthusiasm for America.

Study Reveals Widening Faith Gap

The inventory, which measured feedback from 2,000 U.S. adults back in January, shows significant differences in the beliefs of Millennials (ages 18 to 36) and Baby Boomers (ages 56-74) in almost every variable studied.

Although 61 percent of Millennials identify as Christians, their other responses don’t mesh with that label. Compared to Boomers, Millennials are 28 percentage points less likely to say they follow the Golden Rule, twice as likely to say they respect only people who hold similar beliefs as them, less than half as likely to say life is sacred, and 28 percentage points more likely to cling to revenge.

In what Barna calls a “robust rejection of the Christian faith,” research shows that Millennials are disengaging from traditional Christianity. They’re less likely to believe in absolute moral truth, view the Bible as a reliable moral guide, be committed to practicing their faith, pray and worship during a typical week, confess their sins, believe that God created humans in his image, and believe that God loves them unconditionally.

By contrast, Millennials are more likely to wonder if God is really involved in their life and more likely to believe that having faith matters more than which faith they have. 

George Barna: ‘America is losing its spiritual unity’

“The significantly divergent worldview perspectives and applications of the four generations—especially how different the Millennials are from their predecessors—suggests a nation that is at war with itself to adopt new values, lifestyles, and a new identity,” says Barna. “There is a war for worldview dominance taking place in America. But, as the Scriptures remind us, a nation at war with itself cannot persist.”

This research underscores that “America is losing its spiritual unity at a rapid pace,” says Barna. “Even a rudimentary understanding of the foundations of the American republic reminds us that unless the United States maintains spiritual unity under the hand of God, we will not be able to sustain the freedoms that have made this nation unique and desirable. The heart and soul of the nation will pursue other gods and beliefs to our demise as a nation.”

When a country’s largest—and most influential—generation is indifferent toward that country’s well-being, Barna warns, we’re “flirting with cultural decline.”

Len Munsil, president of Arizona Christian University, says the results confirm deep concerns about today’s young adults. “We’ve always sensed that the culture has been pulling the next generation away from biblical values and truths many were raised with,” he says. “This study is more confirmation and illustrates the necessity of preparing young Christians with a heart to transform their generation with biblical truth.”

Esau McCaulley: Why Do We Treat Racism Differently Than Other Sins?

By
Jason Daye
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Rev. Dr. Esau McCaulley is assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He is a priest in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), where he serves as Canon Theologian in his diocese. Esau also serves the ACNA as director of the Next Generation Leadership Initiative. He is a contributing writer for the New York Times and has written for numerous outlets, such as Christianity Today, the Witness and The Washington Post. His most recent book is entitled, Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope, and is available now from InterVarsity Press.

Key Questions for Esau McCaulley

-Can you explain the alienation Black theologians and writers feel toward both white progressives and white evangelicals? 

-What does Paul teach us about submission to authority, and how does that relate to modern-day policing?

-What do you mean when you say, “Many Black Christians have never had the luxury of separating our faith from political action?”

-What would you say to those who argue that it is not biblical to apologize or to pay reparations for the sins of previous generations?

Key Quotes from Esau McCaulley

“When I start talking about the Bible, I am really well-loved in evangelical spaces. When I start talking about social justice, I am loved in mainline spaces, and very few want both.”

“God doesn’t just judge the nation of Israel for unjust practices. He also judges the pagan nations.” 

“Isaiah 58 is the paradigmatic example in the Old Testament of criticizing false religiosity.”

“Jesus in his own ministry is evoking a passage in Isaiah that criticizes a false religiosity. It doesn’t care about what’s actually happening to the people. Then the question is, how did we actually ever screen this out?” 

“We’ve turned the Great Commission into Jesus saying, ‘Go into the world and simply present the gospel to get them converted. But Jesus says, ‘Teach them everything that I taught you.’” 

“Preach the whole counsel of God. And if you preach the whole counsel of God, then all of the things that are pressing on our society will have a word for it.”

“We do know, if we are Christians who believe in the sovereignty of God, that God is in the process of raising up nations and judging nations for their sinfulness. So what then do you make of Romans 13 in light of these wider biblical principles?”

“Submission [to governing authorities] and acquiescence are not the same thing.”

“I don’t think the Christian pastor is in most cases equipped to articulate detailed policy changes, but we’re not unintelligent. We know injustice when we see it, and we can speak against it and ask the state to do its duty and do it well.”

“It’s hard for us to get out of the American [political] binary and not see things through that lens, instead of seeing it through the Kingdom lens…I really think the problem is that we’re not biblical enough.”

What Pastors Should Look for in Safe People

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

In a previous blog post I wrote about how many pastors suffer with relational anorexia. Pastors can find a cure for this devastating issue when we seek out and find people with whom we can process the pain ministry inevitably brings. As you consider the traits you’d look for in a safe person, consider these Scriptures and the guidelines they infer, because these people are often difficult to spot.

When Samuel went to look for Saul’s replacement, God told him, Looks aren’t everything. Don’t be impressed with his looks and stature. I’ve already eliminated him. GOD judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face; GOD looks into the heart.[1]

Outward impressions may belie the heart of a potential safe person, so don’t let a poor first impression turn you off. When David looked for those with whom he’d surround himself, he wrote,  I have my eye on salt-of-the-earth people—they’re the ones I want working with me; Men and women on the straight and narrow—these are the ones I want at my side.[2]

Character and integrity took front and center when he chose his advisors and leaders. He also said, Let the godly strike me! It will be a kindness! If they reprove me, it is soothing medicine. Don’t let me refuse it.[3]

David looked for those with the courage to tell him what he needed to hear, not what he wanted to hear. Daniel Goleman (most known for writing on emotional intelligence) wisely notes,

People deprive their co-workers—whether bosses or subordinates—of honest performance feedback for several reasons, chief of which is that it can be uncomfortable to give such feedback. We’re afraid of hurting others’ feelings or otherwise upsetting them. Yet, while we tend to keep the truth about how others are actually doing to ourselves (oddly, not just the negatives, but also the positives), all of us generally crave that kind of appraisal. Candid evaluations matter deeply, in a way that other information does not.[4]

When Paul taught about rights and privileges he said “knowledge makes us proud of ourselves, while love makes us helpful to others.”[5] Someone with all the right replies may not be who you need. Actually, we need those who will ask us the right questions more than those who want to give us answers.

Below I’ve listed several qualities to look for in a safe person. Only perfection, however, will embody them all, so don’t expect to find someone who meets all the criteria. A safe person, however, should evidence many of these.

  • Not a cliché giver, doesn’t over-spiritualize
  • Asks good questions, effectively reflects back what he hears you say, and seeks to understand
  • Believes in you
  • Consistent, a promise keeper
  • Trustworthy, can keep secrets
  • Not afraid of your anger, tears, or other emotions
  • Has his own scars yet doesn’t wallow in his pain; empathetic
  • Around him you don’t feel like a child with a parent but feel you are equals
  • Not critical or judgmental
  • Approachable, vulnerable, humble
  • Wise and discerning
  • Can and will challenge you to get outside your comfort zone
  • Around him (or her if you are a women) you feel comfortable; he’ll let you be on the outside who you are on the inside
  • Won’t try to make you someone you’re not; appreciates the real you
  • Likable to be around (I can’t overemphasize this)
  • Strong commitment to Christ, helps your commitment to Christ deepen
  • Willing to confront with love and grace, doesn’t flatter
  • Helps you become a better person
  • Doesn’t have a lot of expectations of you

To boil it down, a safe person is one who truly will listen, occasionally offer advice, and consistently will support and strengthen you.

Pastor, I encourage you to find a safe person in your life, sooner than later.

Related posts:

[1] 1 Samuel 16:7, The Message

[2] Psalm 101:6, The Message

[3] Psalm 141:5, NLT

[4] Daniel Goleman, 94. Primal Leadership

[5] 1 Corinthians 8:1, CEV

This article originally appeared here.

When Are You Too Old to Be a Children’s Minister?

By
Dale Hudson
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

When Are You Too Old to be a Children’s Minister?

Is there an age when you are to old to serve and lead in children’s ministry?

50’s?

60’s?

70’s?

80’s?

I used to think people in their 50’s were old.  Now that I am in my 50’s, it doesn’t seems that old after all.  Some of you reading this can identify with that.

I think back to when I was in my 20’s in children’s ministry.  I would have all night events with the pre-teens.  I was right there with them.  I had plenty of energy and kept up with the pre-teens with no problem.

When I got into my 30’s, the all-nighters shifted to ending at midnight.

Once I hit my 40’s, we ended at 9 pm (ha).

Can you identify?  Does that remark resemble you?

If you are in your 20’s or 30’s, this will be helpful to you one day when the gray hair starts showing up and you have to color it or leave it gray.

Now that we have that on the table, let’s talk about the big question in the title of this article.

When Are You Too Old to be a Children’s Minister?

I don’t think this is something you can put an exact time frame on.  I think it varies from person-to-person.

We know the Bible says the gifts and callings of God are without repentance.  Once you are called, you are called for life.  Now how you live out that calling as you get older will depend on your health and relevance.

Here are a few tips that can help you continue serving as a children’s minister for a long time.

Gather younger people around you.  The older you get, the more you need to surround yourself with younger staff and volunteers.  When you bring the zeal of youth and combine it with the wisdom that comes from many years in ministry, you have a great combination that can really make a difference.  This leads right into the next point.

Listen and learn from the next generation of leaders.  Be open to new ideas and methods of doing ministry.  Don’t get stuck in your ways of doing things.  What got you to where you are now probably won’t take you where you need to be in the future.  Be proactive in seeking out input and ideas from younger leaders.

Stay in good shape.  It will be challenging to continue serving as a children’s minister if you are not in good health.  Be proactive in staying healthy.  Exercise regularly.  Watch what you eat and how much you eat.  Get a good night of sleep.  When you are in good health, it makes it significantly easier to continue serving as a children’s minister.

Shift your role even more toward mentoring the next generation of leaders.  One positive thing about getting older in ministry is the opportunity it gives you to mentor and invest in younger leaders.  You have much to offer the next generation of children’s ministers.  Be intentional about mentoring and coaching them.

Stay relevant with what is happening in kid culture and with families.  Keep track of the culture of today’s kids and families.  Today’s families and kids are a lot different than the families and kids of the 1980’s and 90’s.  Know what movies, video games, music, toys and social media apps they are currently engaging with. 

Continue to grow in your leadership skills and new roles in children’s ministry.  Learning opportunities don’t stop when you hit your 40’s or even 50’s.  Be a lifelong learner.  Read new books on leadership and ministry.  Subscribe to some cutting-edge podcasts.  Go to conferences and find out what is fresh and relevant in ministry.

Stay on top of new technology.  Nothing will cause you to be outdated more quickly than technology.  Stay on top of what is new.  Be proactive in finding apps and programs that will help you take the ministry to the next level.  Don’t be the guy or gal who is still using Myspace.  Believe it or not, it is still available.  If you are reading this and you are in your 20’s, you probably don’t know what Myspace is.  Point made.

Embrace new ministry methods.  Don’t be the person who hangs onto old programs and methods of doing ministry even when they are on a downhill slide.  Do you have any programs that you’ve been doing for a long time that now only has a handful of kids attending?  Are you using curriculum just because it’s what you’ve always used?  Are you still doing a program just because it was started by Sister Jennie Anne 30 years ago?

Be willing to hold the ministry with open hands.  What worked in the past may not be working today.  Each year sit down with your key leaders and talk through everything you are doing.  Is it still relevant?  Are there a good number of children still participating?

If you are like me, I have no problem changing programs I didn’t start.  It’s the programs I have started that I hate to see stop.  Many times those type of programs are tied to a portion of our self-esteem and confidence. It’s my baby… and so we hate giving them up.

We have to get over ourselves and put the ministry before our personal preferences.  If we don’t, we will become outdated and will be a major hindrance for moving the ministry forward.

More than ever, children’s ministry needs you.  No matter where you are in your journey of life, stay faithful, stay relevant and keep growing and learning.

You have a lot to bring to the table.  Children’s ministry needs you now and for many years in the future.

Wherever God places your finish line, stay in the race and cross it with a smile on your face.

This article originally appeared here.

Our Spiritual Pandemic of Narcissism

By
James Emery White
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Now that we’ve been going through this mess for almost six months, certain areas have surfaced where – if this is all a big life test – we aren’t exactly getting an “A”. For those who follow Christ, there is one area in particular that deserves attention. It is giving into the temptation to turn inward, to give ourselves over to our emotions and felt needs in ways that aren’t spiritually healthy – our spiritual pandemic of narcissism.

The apostle Paul is a helpful corrective here. If anyone knew what it meant to endure hardship, it was Paul. This is how he once described his life circumstances:

“I have… been in prison… been flogged… been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received… the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen… in danger in the country, in danger at sea… I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.” (II Cor. 11:23-27, NIV)

Yet when, once again, Paul was suffering – this time imprisoned in chains in Rome – he wrote these words:

“And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.” (Philippians 1:12-14, NLT)

Paul was under military guard, which meant he was not simply imprisoned, but actually chained to a soldier. The guards selected to be chained to prisoners were the worst of the worst. Ignatius, a Christian of the 2nd century who wrote of his own imprisonment while on the way to execution, said he was chained night and day to men he could only call “wild beasts… [who] become worse [even] when treated well.”

So what did Paul post on his 1st-century Facebook page? How good what was happening to him was because it was helping advance the cause of Christ.

That was what he was thinking about.

You won’t find a single word about how awful prison was, how heavy and painful the chains were, whether he was cold, hungry or had been mistreated. He wrote nothing to elicit personal sympathy; nothing that would reflect a preoccupation with self.

This raises something few people ever think about. That maybe instead of asking, “Why is this happening to me? Why aren’t things going the way I want them to go? Why am I stuck with kids working from home, having to wear a face mask, can’t go to the movies?”, maybe the real question should be, “What can all of this hold for my love for others, and my love for God?”

Rather than focusing on all that isn’t going our way, all that we don’t like, all that we wish was different – which is letting ourselves turn inward – maybe we should focus on all that this could allow God to do in us, all that God wants to do through us. In other words, what if we were determined to turn outward?

For most of us, our default position is almost always the same when it comes to pain and sadness, difficulty and challenge: self-pity, self-preoccupation and self-concern. We don’t think about the good that could come of it, much less how it might positively affect other people. Our goal is for people to feel sorry for us, sympathize with us and feel our pain. And then, for us to wallow in it. To focus on all we don’t have, can’t do, isn’t going our way. How we’re inconvenienced or put out.

In other words, we make it all about us. Paul’s attitude was, “It’s not about me.” He felt that what was happening was more about what God wanted to do through him than what was happening to him.

During this pandemic, all of us have lost something. We’ve all lost a certain amount of our personal freedom and had our lifestyles impacted in ways that frustrate and debilitate. Some of us have lost income or even a job. Some of us have even lost a loved one to death itself.

Our chains are real. But no matter how real our chains are – and they were real for Paul – our choice to turn inward or turn outward is just as real. And it was impossible to be with Paul for five minutes and not know which choice he had made.

What would five minutes with you reflect?

If someone were to go on your Facebook page, read your thread of tweets, scroll through your Instagram posts, would they find an inward or outward focus? If they spent time with you in a Zoom meeting or a Facetime call, what would they say about your mindset and spirit? Would they walk away being confronted in new and fresh ways with the power and presence of Christ? After seeing you and listening to you, would they want to lead bolder lives for Christ? Or would they be encouraged to whine and complain and critique more? Do they find joy where they couldn’t find joy, see the good where they couldn’t see the good, see Christ where they didn’t see Christ, because of time with you?

If such a spirit seems almost incomprehensible, perhaps it is because we have a distorted view of the nature of our life in, and with, Christ. As Paul tried to explain to the Philippians:

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.” (Philippians 1:21-26, NIV)

“To live is Christ and to die is gain.” Is that our life motto? Not usually. Left unchecked, a more accurate rendering would be “To live is me and to die just sucks.” And right now, that “living for me,” turned inward engagement of life is the spiritual pandemic we’ve allowed the virus pandemic to spread.

We’re not thinking about how God might want to use this, or use us, during this time. We’re just consumed with what we want, what we need; how we want to be served, ministered to and fed.

Right now, many of you want to worship corporately and publicly and you can’t. You want to have interaction with others and you can’t. But instead of accepting that and turning outward and asking God how He wants to use us during this time, how He wants us to contribute and invest in this time, I’ve heard of people saying or posting things like:

“I won’t watch church online.”

“I just can’t worship that way.”

“I tried it and it wasn’t for me.”

“I can’t get anything out of it that way.”

Do you hear how turned inward that is? How that makes it all about us? What if instead we said:

“I know people who would never darken the doorstep of a church, but they might check it out online. Since everybody and everything is online, this is my chance to be an invitational machine!”

Or

“I can’t be a public worshiper right now, but that just means I can work at being a private worshiper. And if I read the Bible right, that’s the heart of my relationship with Jesus!”

Or

“I can’t engage others the way I would like, but I can take it upon myself to be someone who reaches out in every way I can!”

If all we can do during this time is complain about our spiritual needs not being met, we have given ourselves over to… ourselves. It’s called spiritual pandemic of narcissism. In Greek mythology, Narcissus is the character who, upon passing his reflection in the water, becomes so enamored with himself that he devotes the rest of his life to his own reflection. From this we get our term narcissism, the preoccupation with self. The value of narcissism is the classic “I, me, mine” mentality that places personal pleasure and fulfillment at the forefront of concerns.

In so many places and in so many ways, a spiritual pandemic of narcissism has invaded the Christian community. Eavesdrop, for a moment, on how some Christians talk or the kinds of things they post:

“I want to go where I’m fed” – not where we can learn to feed ourselves, much less feed others.

“I need to be ministered to” – as if ministry in the life of the Christ follower is something that happens to us, instead of something we make happen through us for others.

We walk out of a worship service and say, “I didn’t get anything out of it” – as if the purpose is what we got out of it, instead of what God got out of it.

Where did that come from? It wasn’t from our Leader. He didn’t talk that way. Jesus said: “I did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many”; “Whoever wants to be first must become last”; “Whoever wants to be great among you must become the slave of all”; “Not my will, but thine” (See Matthew 20:25-28; Luke 22:42).

Yet a spiritual narcissism has invaded our thinking where the individual needs and desires of the Believer have become the center of attention. This is why when someone says, “I don’t want worship online, it’s not for me, I just don’t get anything out of it,” I want to say: “Friend, it’s not about whether you get anything out of it. It’s about whether God got anything out of it from you.”

And the truth we should all celebrate is that the church going online has meant the message of Christ reaching millions more than at any other time history.

In other words, I thank God for the chains.

Sources

Adapted from a message given through the online campus of Mecklenburg Community Church as part of the series “Spiritual Survival in a Pandemic World.”

On military arrest during Paul’s time, see Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary.

This article originally appeared here.

Tim Keller Sparks Twitter Debate Over Political Comments

By
Jesse T. Jackson
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Tim Keller ignited a Twitter storm after he posted his thoughts on how Christians should vote. Keller’s Twitter posts were an introduction to his article “How Do Christians Fit Into the Two-Party System? They Don’t” in The New York Times. Tim Keller is the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, a best-selling author, and a world renowned apologist.

Keller Tweets About Christians and the Freedom of Conscience in Politics:

“The Bible binds my conscience to care for the poor, but it does not tell me the best practical way to do it. Any particular strategy (high taxes and government services vs low taxes and private charity) may be good and wise and may even be somewhat inferred from other things the Bible teaches, but they are not directly commanded and therefore we cannot insist that all Christians, as a matter of conscience, follow one or the other. The Bible binds my conscience to love the immigrant–but it doesn’t tell me how many legal immigrants to admit to the U.S. every year. It does not exactly prescribe immigration policy. The current political parties offer a potpourri of different positions on these and many other topics, most of which, as just noted, the Bible does not speak to directly. This means when it comes to taking political positions, voting, determining alliances and political involvement, the Christian has liberty of conscience. Christians cannot say to other Christians ‘no Christian can vote for…’ or ‘every Christian must vote for…unless you can find a Biblical command to that effect.‘ “

After many comments that ranged all over the spectrum, Keller posted one last comment to his series of Tweets that read, “Some folks are missing the point of this thread. The Bible tells me that abortion is a sin and great evil, but it doesn’t tell me the best way to decrease or end abortion in this country, nor which policies are most effective.”

In his “How Do Christians Fit Into the Two-Party System? They Don’t,” Keller wrote, loving our neighbors is the reason a Christian should be involved politically. He gave examples of helping better public schools, improving the justice system, and ending racial segregation as some of the things Christians should continue to be involved with. Keller said that although a Christian can register under a specific party and participate under that party, one should “not identify the Christian church or faith with a political party as the only Christian one.”

Keller Gives Reasons Not to Affiliate the Christian Church With a Political Party

Identifying the church with a particular party may impress upon a non-believer that to be converted “they need not only to believe in Jesus but also to become members of the (fill in the blank) Party.” The other reason Keller gave was “most political positions are not matters of biblical command but of practical wisdom.”

Keller elaborated, “This does not mean that the church can never speak on social, economic and political realities, because the Bible often does.” Quoting Matthew 22:39, he wrote that as a Christian it isn’t an option to not speak out against moral requirements: “Racism is a sin, violating the second of the two great commandments of Jesus, to ‘love your neighbor.’ The biblical commands to lift up the poor and to defend the rights of the oppressed are moral imperatives for believers.”

He asked questions about how one should help the poor, “Should we shrink government and let private capital markets allocate resources,” or is it better that “we expand the government and give the state more of the power to redistribute wealth?” Keller proposed the question, “Is the right path one of the many possibilities in between?” The point he expressed is that the Bible doesn’t give the exact answer to these questions in every situation.

Despite Judge’s Order, Church at Planned Parenthood Will Continue

By
Megan Briggs
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A church in Washington that meets outside a Planned Parenthood facility once a month has lost a court battle with Planned Parenthood. A Washington Superior Court judge ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood by granting a preliminary injunction against The Church at Planned Parenthood on Monday. The injunction stipulates the church group must move its services across the street from the facility and push back its service times so that they don’t coincide with the facility’s hours of operation. Pastor Ken Peters says the court order won’t stop them from meeting.

“Planned Parenthood, they might be able to, because of some leftist judge…they can push us over to the other side [of the street], but they’re not getting rid of us, we’re not going away,” Pastor Ken Peters said in a video to supporters following the judge’s decision.

Prior to the order, The Church at Planned Parenthood had been holding its services on the sidewalk and lawn adjacent to Spokane’s Planned Parenthood building.  Peters is the pastor of Covenant Church, which has two campuses, one in Spokane and one in Moses Lake. In October 2018, he started the Church at Planned Parenthood, which Peters sees as an additional campus, just one that meets outside on the Planned Parenthood premises. Hundreds of people have attended what the church’s website calls “a worship service at the gates of Hell.” Peters says, “We care about what’s going on in our nation, that we’re murdering children, and we’re just fighting it with worship and prayer and giving and taking church from the four walls right out to the gates of hell and expecting that God will prevail.”

Planned Parenthood Takes Legal Action

In June, Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and Northern Idaho filed a suit against The Church at Planned Parenthood. On a fundraising page allowing sympathizers to contribute toward their legal fees, the church says “Planned Parenthood of Washington is suing our Church, School, and 5 of our pastors and leaders including Ken Peters, Matt Shea, Gabe Blomgren, Seth Haberman and Clay Roy. Help us fight back against Planned Parenthood.”

Planned Parenthood was represented by Legal Voice. In a press release about the suit, Legal Voice maintains the church is interfering with patients’ rights to receive medical care and the staff’s rights to provide care through their gatherings:

The group, which includes hundreds of participants, shouts and blasts music through enormous loudspeakers just feet away from where patients are receiving care, with the goal of harassing and intimidate [sic] patients and staff. In so doing, the group has repeatedly violated Spokane City municipal code and a Washington state law that prohibits willfully or recklessly disrupting the normal functioning of a health care facility by “making noise that unreasonably disturbs the peace within the facility.” 

In its suit, Legal Voice says the group started with around 100 participants, but that number has grown to several hundred since they started meeting outside the facility in 2018. They believe as many as 700 people have shown up at one time. In fact, the suit says the group is so large that police involvement is necessary: “TCAPP [The Church at Planned Parenthood] protests are so massive and pose such risk that the police arrive early in the morning on protest days to set up a large, bright orange police barricade along East Indiana Avenue where TCAPP gathers.”

Additionally, the suit alleges that The Church at Planned Parenthood’s leader, Ken Peters, has indicated some in the group are carrying firearms:

Ken Peters pays lip service during his “sermons” to the idea that his followers should be peaceful. Outside of the presence of the press and the police, however, he warns that the group is well-armed. On January 10, 2020, Mr. Peters told the crowd at an event hosted by the Covenant Church entitled “Exposing Leftism . . . Push Back Rally,” “[the police] mentioned that they came and talked to me and said that at The Church at Planned Parenthood, they complained to me, they said did you know that four or five of your guys have guns? I said, trust me when I say this, way more than four or five, way more, way more, and thank god.” The remark drew thunderous applause. 

The suit also expresses concern over Matt Shea’s involvement with the church. Shea, a Representative in the Washington State legislature, was involved in the 2016 armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, according to an independent report commissioned by the Washington State House of Representatives. Legal Voice’s suit claims the staff at Planned Parenthood are particularly concerned Shea’s involvement could lead to violent actions on the part of those gathered for the church services.

Only White Pastor to Support Montgomery Bus Boycott Dies at 92

By
Jessica Lea
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Pastor and civil rights activist Rev. Robert S. Graetz died at the age of 92 on Sept. 20 at his home in Montgomery, Alabama. Graetz, who was a neighbor and friend of Rosa Parks, was the only white minister to support the Montgomery Bus Boycott, despite his pleas to his white colleagues. 

“Today we honor the life and legacy of Rev. Robert Graetz. Thank you for your selfless acts of support and for fighting for a better future,” said a statement from the Rosa Parks Museum at Troy University. “A friend and neighbor to Rosa Parks, Rev. Graetz regularly provided transportation to boycott participants and was questioned numerous times by police. The family faced harassment, tire slashings, and bombings because of their involvement in the boycott.”

Graetz was also the only white board member of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). The MIA, whose president was Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was founded in 1955 and coordinated the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which ran from Dec. 5, 1955, to Dec. 20, 1956.

Rev. Robert S. Graetz Fought for His Congregation’s Civil Rights

Robert S. Graetz was born on May 16, 1928, in Clarksburg, West Virginia. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Capital University near Columbus, Ohio, and it was during that time that he first became aware of discrimination against African Americans. After he earned his B.D. from Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary, Lutheran church leaders sent Graetz to pastor Trinity Lutheran Church, an all-Black congregation in Montgomery, and instructed him not to “start any trouble.”

Graetz and his wife, Jean, moved to Montgomery in 1955, where they met two people who were to become key figures in the civil rights movement. One was Martin Luther King, Jr., and the other was Rosa Parks. “When we got into town, she was one of the first people outside of the congregation that we met,” Graetz told PBS correspondent Kim Lawton in a 2011 interview. “She was the adult advisor to the NAACP youth council, which met in our church, so we saw her regularly.” 

As Graetz got to know the members of his church, he became familiar with the hardships they were experiencing because of institutional racism. “If you wanted to find one aspect of life here in Montgomery, and probably many other cities in the South, where people were really troubled about the way they were treated,” said Graetz, “it would be the buses. Everybody either experienced bad treatment on the buses or knew people who had been treated badly.”

Black activists, including the Women’s Political Council, had already been considering a boycott for some time, and at least two other women had been arrested for resisting bus segregation before Rosa Parks was. However, it was Parks’ refusal to give up her seat to a white passenger on Dec. 1, 1955, that ignited the 13-month boycott that led to the desegregation of Montgomery’s bus system. 

Graetz told Lawton that he and his wife initially wrestled with whether or not to support the boycott: 

The church officials knew that I had been involved in things like this, and they said, “We want you to go to Montgomery, but you have to promise not to start trouble,” and so the question was, would my taking part in the bus boycott be starting trouble? Jeannie and I prayed about that a lot and finally decided the only way that I could continue to be the pastor here was to take part in the activities that our members were taking part in, and from that point on we were totally a part of what was happening.

Once Graetz and his wife decided to give the movement their full support, they announced their decision to the members of their church. Said Graetz, “And I said, ‘I want you all to stay off the buses. I’ll be out in my car all day long. If you need a ride, I’ll be glad to come and take you wherever you need to go.’ So I spent the whole day just driving people around, picking people up on the street, whatever.”

An estimated 40,000 Black people ended up participating in the boycott, but still needed a way to get to work and to run errands, so one of the functions of the MIA was organizing a carpool service. Graetz helped with fundraising and by giving people rides to work or to the grocery store. In addition to serving as secretary for the MIA, the pastor exhorted other white ministers to join the boycott. He sent a letter asking them to “consider this matter prayerfully and carefully, with Christian love.” None responded. 

How to Keep Cherishing Your Spouse

By
Gary Thomas
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I heard a man talk about his 9-year-old’s son passion to ride hoverboards. The dad wanted to be cool and impress his son but he just couldn’t master riding one without falling off, even though he’s a pretty athletic guy. His young son kept telling him, “Dad, just think about where you want to go and it’ll go there.” The dad thought that was absurd so he kept “oversteering” and falling off. When he finally took his young son’s advice, it worked. Thinking about the direction created subtle changes in his feet, and that was all that was needed to steer the hoverboard. So what does this have to do with cherishing your spouse?

This notion of “thinking about where you want to go and you’ll go there” is thoroughly biblical. We’re told to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds” (Romans 12:2). In Philippians 4:8, Paul essentially tells us to “think about what you think about.” That is, direct our minds into spiritually profitable places.

We’re wrapping up our summer long “Cherish Challenge” and in a sincere desire to give this challenge legs, we’re ending with how God continually pours out his power so that we can keep cherishing an imperfect person. Just like riding a hoverboard, it’s all in our head.

Near the end of my Cherish seminars I make the case that those who are able to sustain a cherishing marriage with an imperfect spouse (and of course there are no perfect spouses) meditate often on the kindness and grace of God; those who give up cherishing their spouse meditate often on the faults and failures of their spouse. A high-functioning marriage depends entirely on what direction our minds are pointed.

What I love about this is that, once again, the key to what we need to succeed in marriage is the key to what we need to fulfill God’s purpose for life in general. Marriage can train us to become the kind of people we should be in all respects and in all relationships.

Because I spend entirely too much time obsessed with myself, my standing before God, my obedience or lack thereof, etc., reading J.I. Packer’s reflections on the life of Nehemiah (A Passion for Faithfulness) was one of the most refreshing “spiritual showers” I’ve ever taken. Like the wise sage that he was, Packer calls us to redirect our thinking back to where it should be: the beauty, the power, the glory and the might of our God. Thinking about God, adoring God, reminding ourselves of His unparalleled beauty and perfect nature, gives us motivation, hope, encouragement and direction like nothing else can.

Packer points out how the strength, motivation and empowering presence that fueled Nehemiah’s incredible accomplishment (rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem in the face of much opposition) grew out of his obsessive focus on the qualities and excellencies of God: “The God of Nehemiah is the transcendent Creator, the God ‘of heaven’ (1:4-5; 2:4, 20), self-sustaining, self-energizing, and eternal (‘from everlasting to everlasting,’ 9:5). He is ‘great’ (8:6), ‘great and awesome’ (1:5, 4:14), ‘great, mighty and awesome’ (9:32), and the angels (‘the multitudes of heaven’) worship him (9:6). Lord of history, God of judgment and mercy, ‘a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love’ (9:17; see Exodus 34:6-7). God was to Nehemiah the sublimest, most permanent, most pervasive, most intimate, most humbling, exalting, and commanding of all realities. The basis on which…Nehemiah attempted great things for God and expected great things from God was that…he had grasped the greatness of God himself.”

So, let me restate this for marriage: “God is to a cherishing husband and wife the sublimest, most permanent, most pervasive, most intimate, most humbling, exalting, and commanding of all realities. The basis on which they attempted great things for God and expected great things from God—including building a cherishing marriage—was that they had grasped the greatness of God himself.”

As we seek to build the “wall” of a cherishing marriage, we can apply the very same lesson: to believe great things for your marriage, your children, your friends, and your service you need to first grasp the greatness of God. Don’t focus on how weak you or your family are or how desperate the situation may be. Focus on the greatness of your God. Be willing to “try out” the supernatural power of God which can shepherd you and your marriage to green pastures you never dreamed existed.

It’s not foolish to hope when you root your hope in the power and presence of God. Just look at his track record! Throughout history God has saved the radically rebellious; he has emboldened the cowardly; he has healed the sick, given wisdom to the foolish and even made this amazing world out of…nothing. A God who can do that is a God who can do whatever needs to be done in your life, family or ministry.

Think less of the problem, and more of God’s intelligence; less of the challenge, and more of God’s provision; less of your sin and more of God’s grace; less of the need and more of God’s promised provision. Begin your prayers by adoring God, end your prayers thanking God, and never let a significant point of time go by without celebrating the wonders of God.

The theme of this website and blog is “Closer to Christ, Closer to Others.” As we draw nearer to God, we are able to draw nearer to our loved ones. And, in turn, the things we learn in drawing closer to each other can also be used to help us draw closer to God. It’s a glorious circle as we seek to live a wondrous God-centered life.

This is the last week of the Cherish Challenge. We’d love to hear your testimony about how God has used this summer to draw you closer to each other. You can write on our web page Cherish Challenge 2020.

Cherish Challenge Week 11

  • Read chapter 13 of Cherish, “Biblical Power to Keep on Cherishing.”
  • Share with each other your three favorite characteristics of God.
  • Talk about how each of these characteristics of God can offer hope to you in your life, marriage, and family.
  • Discuss ways that you can keep these qualities of God in the forefront of your mind.
  • We’d love to hear how doing the Cherish Challenge this summer has helped the two of you grow closer together. Please share any testimonies with us so that we can in turn share them with others on our web page Cherish Challenge 2020.
  • And a final favor: if you’ve read Cherish and enjoyed it, would you please leave a review on Amazon and/or Christianbook.com? We’d be so very grateful.

This article originally appeared here.

Coronavirus Has Unveiled the Liturgical Poverty of Evangelicals

By
Mike Frost
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If I have to go to another church service and turn to the people around me to discuss something-or-other, I think I’ll cry. Seriously, is that all we’ve got in this period of lockdown? Zoom breakouts and socially distanced groupwork? Without the singing or the preaching, evangelical church services just resemble a staff development day. Why are evangelicals so impoverished when it comes to Christian liturgy?

To answer that, we need to define that highly contested (and notoriously slippery) term, evangelical.

One historian once quipped that an evangelical Christian was “anyone who likes Billy Graham.” But when Billy Graham was asked to define the term in the late 1980s, he replied, “Actually, that’s a question I’d like to ask somebody too.”

It turned out that the world’s most famous evangelical couldn’t describe the term either.

One thing we can say about the term evangelical is it’s got a lot to do with the love of words.

 

The term itself derives from the Greek, euangelion meaning “gospel” or “good news.” So technically evangelical refers to a person, church, or organization that believes and is devoted to the message that Jesus Christ is the king and savior of humanity. In other words, a believer of God’s word.

But things evolved over time. The Reformers used the Latinized form of the word evangelium to describe the non-Catholic churches birthed by the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s. These were Christians who read the Word for themselves and believed in justification based on the individual’s faith, not the church’s imprimatur.

Later, during the Great Awakening, evangelicalism became synonymous with revivalism, thanks to the hellfire and brimstone preaching of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield, which led to the movement being marked by an emphasis on preaching the Word and converting outsiders.

Then, in the 1970s, evangelicals took to referring to themselves as “born again Christians,” signified that an evangelical wasn’t just someone who believed the right words, but in whose heart the Word lived and reigned.

 

One thing that has consistently defined evangelicals throughout their history is their distrust of liturgy.

 

While liturgies can be word-based (prayers, recitations, benedictions, chants), for the most part, the term is used to describe religious rituals. The term itself is a combination of “laos” (people) and “ergon” (work) and refers to the public work or practices of the people, or done on behalf of the people, to appease the gods.

Christians in general believe that God doesn’t need to be appeased so much as pleased. Christian liturgies are practices and ritualized behaviors designed to honor God, and the lift up the name of Jesus.

And when it comes to it, evangelicals are definitely in what the Anglicans call the “low church“ camp. That is, a church that emphasizes preaching and puts a low priority on the sacraments, church rituals, and church authority. Evangelicals don’t want anything that has to be dispensed by a religious practitioner getting in the way of the individual believer hearing the Word and responding to it. 

This means, understandably, their preferred worship style involves word-heavy practices like singing hymns and spiritual songs and listening to preaching.

Even the central Christian practice of the Lord’s Supper or Eucharist gets short shrift in a lot of evangelical denominations. Where it is practised, it is occasional and slipped quickly in between singing and preaching. It also often involves a mini-sermon explaining the practice. More words!

Nevertheless, evangelicals have definitely played to their strengths. They have turned singing and preaching into art-forms. Evangelical singing has conquered the world through the publishing and recording juggernauts, Hillsong and Bethel. Although, interestingly, where evangelicals disagree over the quality of a newly released song it’s always about the words!

And as for preaching, well, it’s what evangelicals are known for.

All of which brings me back to life in coronavirus lockdown.

Depending on the intensity of the restrictions in your community, churches are either entirely livestreaming their services or offering a hybrid experience with some face-to-face participation and some online. But even where evangelicals are meeting in person, they are required to limit their numbers, and public singing has been banned.

What’s more, it’s not possible to preach long sermons via Zoom or a streaming platform. Recently, I wrote about how churchgoers are quite enjoying the shortened teaching happening during lockdown.

No singing and shorter preaching? What is an evangelical left with? How are we expected to fill up the 60 to 90 minutes our services usually take? No wonder some evangelical churches are defying the authorities!

This crisis has shown how bereft evangelicals are when it comes to liturgy.

 

What many evangelical churches resort to are discussion groups, either in Zoom breakout rooms or socially distanced and masked. I attended one such church service recently where we were asked to break into groups three or four times to discuss the ideas raised by short bursts of preaching. It felt like a work seminar to me. Words are great. I make my living out of them. But whoever came up with the idea that talking, talking, talking was the only way to worship God?

I saw this church sign online recently. At first I thought it was just your standard cutesy topical church sign, but I got thinking about it.

No, social distancing does not apply to God. We can draw near to Christ.  In fact, that’s what I’m yearning to do when I attend a church service. I don’t really want to discuss good ideas. I want to meet God. And, at its best, that’s what Christian liturgy is designed to do.

I understand the evangelical anxiety about practices or symbols becoming objects of worship in themselves. I share that anxiety. I also don’t want rituals performed by rote long after they’ve lost their initial power and meaning. But could it be that this global pandemic will force evangelicals to face up to their limited views of worship and recover such ancient Christian practices as the use of religious symbols and imagery, the recitation of prayers and congregational responses, the use of candles and incense, and fasting and feast days.

If you’re an evangelical you might not think your church is up for adopting the yearly liturgical calendar just yet. Most evangelicals would blanch at the use of antiphons, kontakia or troparia (look them up). But instead of having congregants simply sitting, listening, and observing, why not incorporate active worship practices like reciting, responding, sitting, standing, kneeling, etc.?

Is it un-evangelical to kneel in contrition? Am I in danger of losing my dissenting credentials if I recite written prayers, or confess my sins, or light a candle, or walk a labyrinth?

And, of course, please let us linger over the communion meal. Don’t cover it up with blankets of explanatory words.

Let us taste God’s grace in Christ, our friend and king who is never far from us, even if we’re being kept far from each other for a time.

This article originally appeared here.

Don’t Fear Satan, But Don’t Ignore Him, Either

By
J.D. Greear
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When the famous Maasai warriors in Kenya notice the sheep they are tending are suddenly skittish and that a patch of grass isn’t swaying with the wind, they know there’s a lion close by.

So what do they do? They know not to run—either at or away from a lion. Instead, the warriors form a group and start making noise to agitate the lion. Then, when the lion attacks, they band together. After sharing about this strategy, one warrior showed one of our Summit missionaries some scars on his chest from where a lion had attacked him. The warrior said, “When the lion fell on me, my fellow warriors fell on the lion.” The lion was killed; the brothers were not.

The Apostle Peter told the early church of another lion that is on the hunt for our souls and not our bodies: “Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour” (1 Peter 5:8 CSB).

The word “sober” meant in Peter’s day what it means today: Don’t be drunk. Peter issues this warning three times throughout his letter, and that’s not accidental. Many people under stress and in hard times drown their problems in alcohol—but you cannot afford to do that when there is an enemy always at work trying to destroy you.

“Sober” also means to see the world clearly. In his book The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis said that Christians make two primary mistakes in regard to Satan: Some people give Satan too much credit, where they blame him for any sin in their life. On the other side—and perhaps even more problematic—are those who don’t recognize Satan at all.

You may think your child just made some bad choices and got in with the wrong friends. You may think you’re just having a tough time in your arguments with your spouse or friends. You may think you just need a little more discipline to spend time reading your Bible.

All of that may be true. But don’t neglect how Satan could be at work there, too. He’s roaring everywhere.

Lions have two modes: stealth when they are hunting their prey and roar when they have them. Lions only roar when they feel like they have won. Peter says we can hear Satan roaring in every part of the world. If you can’t hear him roaring in your life, it’s because he’s in stealth mode.

Many Christians are totally unaware of Satan’s active role in their lives. They don’t pray much or stay close to God. They compromise with sin and give Satan a foothold. To which Peter says, Be alert!

Satan Is Strong, Jesus Is Stronger

The odds of being attacked by a shark are one in 3.7 million, and people still don’t get in the water for fear of a shark attack. The odds of a grizzly bear attack are one in 2.1 million, and people still don’t go in the woods. Your chances of being attacked by a supernatural lion? One out of one—and yet you still don’t live aware of that? Satan is either roaring or in stealth mode, but he’s always active.

That may seem pretty overwhelming, but Peter says you can overcome Satan—not because you are stronger than him but because Jesus has defeated him. On the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished.” Revelation 20:9 tells us about the final battle between Satan and Jesus and—spoiler alert—it’s not a big fight. In fact, it’s a little anticlimactic. It takes about a second for Jesus to speak and for the fight to be over.

You can bring that confidence into the fight you are facing today.

You don’t need to fear Satan, but you should also not ignore him. You have to fight him, and not with the weapons of the flesh, like your personality, your wisdom, or your resolve. That’s like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

You need the weapons of the Spirit: Pray frequently. Walk in step with God. Be in community and share your burdens. Repent and confess your sin often. Memorize God’s Word. Don’t just give in and go along with culture. Keep doing the right thing. Fight to stay faithful.

The Christian life is hard. It’s far better than the alternatives, but it’s not necessarily easier. In fact, following Jesus sometimes intensifies the hardship you live with. But there is more to this life than just surviving a cruel, chaotic world.

There is full life in Jesus. Only when we are mindful of the ongoing fight against Satan can we be fully aware of the victory we have in the cross. Then, we can band together to defeat sin in our lives and thrive in the hard days.

This article originally appeared here.

25 Ways to Show Your Staff You Really Care About Them

By
Dale Hudson
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers
  1. Brag on them in front of others.
  2. Celebrate their birthday.
  3. Have them over to your house for dinner.
  4. Tell them you appreciate them with your words.
  5. Honor them for their years of service.
  6. Love on their children and grandchildren.
  7. Give them cost of living raises.
  8. Demand that they put their family first.
  9. Ask them for advice.
  10. Say “I’m sorry” when you blow it.
  11. Show by your actions that you are there to serve them instead of them serving you.
  12. Ask them to speak into your life and help you grow.
  13. Follow through when you tell them you are going to do something.
  14. Tell them you appreciate them with a handwritten note.
  15. Don’t always be looking over their shoulder.
  16. Look for opportunities to put them in the spotlight instead of yourself.
  17. As the leader, take the ultimate responsibility when something goes wrong…even if it was their fault.
  18. If they have a late night at church, tell them to come in late the next day.
  19. Show you care more about them than about what they do.
  20. Correct and give feedback face-to-face instead of by phone, email, or text.
  21. Tell them you believe in them.
  22. Go to the hospital when they or their family are sick.
  23. Pray with and for them.
  24. Cry with them.
  25. Help them see their blind spots so they can grow past them.

94 Servant Evangelism Ideas for Your Church

By
Steve Sjogren
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Servant Evangelism (SE) connects people to people in a natural, easy, low-risk, high grace way.

Who doesn’t like to be given a cold soda on a hot day? Especially by someone who is smiling, happy, and having fun. SE wins the heart before it confronts the mind. A small act of kindness nudges a person closer to God, often in a profound way as it bypasses one’s mental defenses. The average Christ-follower is willing to hand a stranger a can of soda (low-risk). The high grace is seen in the typical reaction. “Oh, thank you!” “This is so nice!” “I can’t believe this is free!” And “Why are you doing this?”

Kindness builds the bridge for the person to receive a touch of love from God. Add an invitation to church or other method of connection—even a simple card with your church’s name, phone number, and times of services—and you’ve reached someone with the love of Christ! It’s simple, practical, effective, inexpensive, and fun! We get reports from pastors, lay leaders, and ordinary Christ-followers all over the world who have discovered the power and impact of “showing God’s love in practical ways,” and again and again, we’ve seen relationships with God born from these simple acts of kindness in Christ’s name.

Here are some great ideas to get your church started in servant evangelism.

EASY, LOW-COST SERVANT EVANGELISM GIVEAWAYS

  1. Coffee Giveaways

Use either Igloo containers or air pump Thermoses. Offer three options: regular, decaf, and hot chocolate. On a cool day, you will have folks swarming for a cup of something hot. You will need three or four people to help give away coffee for each big canister. With each drink, we give out a connection card. Consider having paper cups with your church’s name and logo printed.

2. Newspapers

Some convenience stores will allow you to purchase an entire stack of newspapers. Place a sign on the top of the stack that reads, “Free Newspapers – Courtesy of (Church Name)” and attach a connection card to each paper with removable adhesive.

3. Donut Giveaway During Morning Traffic Times

This giveaway is especially effective when performed by senior citizens—who can say no to a sweet grandma-type? These gals set up on a traffic island at a stoplight (make sure they’re safe out there). When the light turns red, they step up to cars and ask, “Would you like chocolate, maple, or glazed?” They then give them a connection card with the snack.

4. Soft Drink Giveaways

“Hi, would you like regular or diet?” This is our standard opening to bless folks with a small act of kindness on a hot day. And it works! We set up at grocery store entrances with large coolers filled with ice and drinks. Buy name-brand drinks instead of the cheaper stuff, and place a connection card under the opener. A courtesy note: Sometimes, a location will conflict with vendors selling what you are giving away. Some of the most irate critics we’ve run into have been vendors who conclude we are trying to put them out of business. The answer: Set up in a location away from vendors. In extreme cases, consider asking the vendor how much money he/she anticipates losing by our presence, then give them that amount in cash.

5. Bottled Water Giveaway

Many people prefer water to soft drinks. Ice down bottles of water in large coolers for an alternative to a soft drink giveaway. Use the same connection cards. We don’t recommend combining this with a soda giveaway because it offers too many options and gets complicated.

6. LifeSavers

If you are looking for an affordable entry point for a large number of people, consider this one.

We purchase the candy at a warehouse store for about five cents per roll. We attach a connection card and give out hundreds of these candies to passersby. Everyone will take a roll of these candies. Consider printing the message of the connection card onto mailing labels and sticking them over the top of the LifeSavers wrapper.

7. Lollipops/Blowpops

These are great giveaway items for parks, festivals, and college campuses. Purchase at a warehouse store for around six cents apiece and fold a mailing label with connection information around the stick.

8. Popcorn

You can either make bags of popcorn before you arrive at your outreach site or consider renting/purchasing your own carnival style popping machine and do it on the spot. You will draw more of a crowd with the machine on hand.

9. Sunglasses (cheap ones!)

Have you ever left home for a sporting event only to forget your sunglasses? Many sporting events attendees experience this every weekend. We have purchased large quantities of sunglasses for as little as a quarter a pair.

10. Ice Cream Coupons

Approach a local ice cream store and explain your desire to give away thousands of ice cream coupons. Chances are the owner/manager will be willing to give you a good deal on ice cream coupons. Attach a connection card to each coupon, and you’ll have a project that will elicit a response from just about everyone in town.

SERVANT EVANGELISM SERVICES

11. Umbrella Escorts

Moms with kids and the elderly find it tough to make it from stores to their cars in the rain. We use huge golf umbrellas to help get them and their purchases to their cars with as little wetness as possible.

12. Grocery Bag Loading Assistance

Moms with lots of kids hanging on them like koalas often need assistance getting their bags loaded into the car from the shopping cart. The elderly need the same sort of help. Volunteers on this project need to appear particularly safe and friendly; nametags or coordinating T-shirts identifying connection to your organization makes the servants look more “official.” Note: On this project, almost everyone will try to give a tip, but as with all kindness projects, to receive money would taint what you are trying to communicate: “God’s love in a practical package with no strings attached.” This project may require permission from the store manager on the day of the event.

13. Bag Packing at Self-Service Grocers

Increasing numbers of grocery stores are cutting out services such as bag packing. Place volunteers at these stores to pack bags for customers. Again, nametags or coordinating T-shirts or aprons helps the baggers look more official and identifies the connection with your organization. The first time we volunteered to do this, the manager was skeptical, but the feeling quickly melted. We’ve received reports from all over the U.S. that this project is very effective.

14. Trash Pick-Up

There is lots of trash to pick up at festivals and sports events. Buy garbage bags, wear matching T-shirts and plastic gloves, and bring a sign to put up that says, “Kindness in Progress” while you pick up trash. People will notice.

15. Shoe Shines

Small investment + some elbow grease = big return. Set up in front of a grocery store on a Saturday or perhaps in front of a barbershop. This is a great project to get talking with people; you have a captive audience while you serve!

16. Restroom Cleaning at Public Places

This is Steve Sjogren’s favorite project. There’s nothing like walking into a gas station, restaurant, or retail store and saying to the manager, “We’d like to clean your toilet for free!” Put a little cleaning kit together containing a toilet brush, air freshener, window cleaner, paper towels, toilet bowl cleaner, rubber gloves, and a doorstop. There’s nothing magical about the technique here. Steve has cleaned commodes all over the world and says they are all pretty much the same as the ones in your home. Note: This is probably one of the most frequently rejected projects we do, probably because the offer to clean a toilet is a bit overwhelming. No matter—give them your connection card, smile, and say, “OK! We’ll come back some other time and clean when you need it. We’re just trying to show you God’s love in a practical way.”

17.Business Blasts

Surprise employees of local businesses with a small gift, such as a basket of candy. Bring in one package to be shared by store employees and leave a connection card that reads something like, “We appreciate how you serve the community with your business, and we wanted to share God’s love in a practical way.” Make sure you only give items to employees so they don’t think you are “soliciting” their customers.

18. Soft Drink Giveaway to Employees

What can you do when denied permission to give away soft drinks in front of a prime retail location? Offer to give soft drinks to the employees. As usual, place the connection card on top.

19. Stamps in Front of the Post Office

One church holds a major stamp outreach on April 15th for late tax-filers. Not only do they give out stamps, but they also offer coffee and donuts—stress recovery food. Volunteers stand by the mail drop-off boxes with a card table filled with food and stamps.

20.Gatorade at Biking Trails

Some health-conscious folks like runners, bikers, and other people don’t drink soda at all. Set up at along a bike trail, athletic field, or hiking trail and offer Gatorade or bottled water to exercisers.

21. Pay Library Fines

Leave $20.00 at the front desk in the local library, and instruct the clerk to use it for the next person who has fines. Leave a connection card in an envelope for the person, so they can see why the fine was paid.

22. Surf Wax

Who says non-surfers can’t relate to surfers? Buy the current popular brand of wax and hit the beach, dude! It’s a definite door-, or rather board-, opener.

23. Pictionary in the Park

This was a popular game in the late 1980’s similar to Charades. Set up in a local park and play the game using with a white board to draw hints. Complete strangers will start to join in, especially if your group is friendly and animated. When onlookers correctly guess the answer, allow them to play the next round. After 15-20 minutes, take a break, serve soft drinks, and talk to the visitors one-to-one.

24. Golf Balls

The average golfer loses three or four balls per outing, so give away imprinted golf balls on the local golf course. Imprinting your church’s name and message on golf balls is surprisingly affordable, and if it’s lost on the course, another golfer will pick it up later and get your message.

25. Golf Tees

Golfers can never get enough of these. Imprinted golf tees cost just a couple of cents apiece. Some golf courses will even give them away for you at their counter.

26.Golf Ball Cleaning

Sure, there are ball-cleaning machines spread throughout most golf courses, but most players don’t take the time. With permission of the course, set up a simple clean up station and clean golf balls before golfers begin a round. Most golfers carry dozens of balls in their bag.

27. Cleaning Up at Food Courts

If you can get your foot in the door at your local mall, ask if you can do clean up in the food court area. Along with a connection card, consider distributing handy-wipes with your logo imprinted on them.

28. Upsizing Food Orders in Fast Food Drive-Thru Lanes

Set-up near the drive-thru order station. As customers drive up, offer to pay the difference between their order and the bigger size—which is usually about 39 cents. Your offer will get the entire restaurant talking.

Get all 94 ideas to share with your team – Download full list now   

Originally published on SermonCentral.com. Used by permission.

The Stakes of the U.S. Election Are Even Higher Now

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

With just six weeks until Americans choose a president, a SCOTUS vacancy has made the stakes of the election higher than ever. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to sit on the country’s highest court, died Friday at age 87.

A liberal icon who supported equal rights and abortion rights, Ginsburg reportedly said her dying wish was to not be replaced until the next president was selected. But a battle is now underway to fill Ginsburg’s seat before the November 3 election.

“This is an explosive political moment,” writes Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. “This has set up an epic and historic battle in what was already a contentious election.” Ginsburg’s death, he says, has “fundamentally shifted the entire narrative around the 2020 election.” America is engaged not just in “a battle for the White House,” Mohler says, but “a battle for the balance of power in all branches of government.”

President Trump Wants to Move Quickly on Filling SCOTUS Vacancy

President Trump, a Republican who in his first term has already named two Supreme Court justices, is urging the Republican-controlled Senate to quickly confirm his next nominee. “We have this obligation, without delay!” the president tweeted on Saturday.

Trump says he expects to announce his next pick by Friday or Saturday, allowing time to “pay respect” to Ginsburg. And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says Republicans will “keep our promise” by giving Trump’s nominee “a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”

On “Fox & Friends” Monday, Trump said it’s his constitutional duty to fill the vacant seat, and he downplayed talk that Democrats might try to impeach him to block the confirmation. The president also cast doubt on Ginsburg’s dying wish, saying, “I don’t know that she said that, or was that written out by Adam Schiff and [Chuck] Schumer and [Nancy] Pelosi?”

During the past four decades, confirmation of Supreme Court justices has taken an average of 70 days. But Trump expressed confidence that moving quickly is possible—and is the correct thing to do. “The bottom line is we won the [2016] election,” he said. “We have an obligation to do what’s right and act as quickly as possible.”

At a rally in North Carolina Saturday, Trump called Ginsburg “a legal giant” and promised to replace her with a female justice. Rally attendees, meanwhile, cheered, “Fill that seat!”

Democrats Cry Foul

In February 2016, Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative icon who’d served on the Supreme Court for 30 years, died more than 10 months before the presidential election. Although President Obama nominated Merrick Garland to replace him, Senate Republicans blocked the vote. In April 2017, Trump nominee Neil Gorsuch filled Scalia’s seat.

McConnell said back in 2016, “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.” Also in 2016, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, now chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said, “I want you to use my words against me: If there’s a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey O. Graham said, ‘Let’s let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination.’”

Hawk Nelson’s Jon Steingard Shares That He Still Prays to God

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

Last week, Hawk Nelson frontman Jon Steingard appeared on two episodes of The Matthew West Podcast, where he discussed what his spiritual journey has been like during the past few months. In May of this year, Steingard published a post on Instagram announcing that he no longer believes in God and explaining why. During his conversation with Christian singer and songwriter Matthew West, the frontman shared that one of the most surprising consequences of having renounced his faith is how much he still feels compelled to live as though it were true.

“I have publicly said that I don’t believe in God,”  said Steingard, “but more than ever, I find myself motivated to live in such a way that sort of indicates that I do.” For example, he said, “I still pray. When I pray now, it sounds something like, ‘God, I don’t know if you’re there. If you’re not there, then what I’m doing right now isn’t harming anything. But if you are there, then, if you can hear what I’m doing right now and talking to you, can you show up in my life?’” 

Jon Steingard’s Unexpected Spiritual Journey

With his May announcement, Steingard has followed in the footsteps of other high-profile influencers, such as Josh Harris and Marty Sampson, who also recently said they no longer believe in Christianity. The lead singer shared with West that when he published that post, “I sort of expected it to be I guess maybe a minor shake-up in the Christian music world for like a day or two.” He did not expect it to “rock the boat that much.” 

The post was widely reported on, however, with major outlets like Fox News and CNN picking it up. One positive outcome of that publicity, said Steingard, is “it’s enabled me to connect with so many people, mostly through Instagram, that are in the same boat as me.”

After he put the post on Instagram, Steingard thought he would be able to say, “Great, I’m done with God, and I can just live my life free of that stuff now. But what I discovered was as soon as I did that, I did have freedom…But then very quickly, I was like, ‘Okay, so what do you believe?’ And the last two months has been a crash course in trying to figure that out.” While he can no longer call himself a Christian, Steingard said he is not an atheist either because he finds Naturalism to be ultimately “dissatisfying.” 

“Agnostic is probably the closest term to where I’m at,” he told West. “I even have a hard time saying I don’t believe in God because I’m sort of like, ‘Well, maybe.’” Steingard said that in many ways his pursuit of God has only increased as he has felt the freedom to express his doubts: “I’ve never had more conversations about God than I’m having right now. I’ve never read the Bible more than I am right now.” 

Certain aspects of the world make it difficult for Steingard to trust in God, but other experiences and observations make him want to believe in him. For example, the lead singer finds the intelligent design argument for God’s existence to be compelling. Steingard also mentioned that when his son was born, he remembers thinking, “I don’t see how someone could have a child and not believe in God.”

“That still sort of haunts me,” he said. “I have days where I’m like, ‘Maybe I do believe in God.’ And then I have days where I’m like, ‘No, I don’t think I do.’ It’s really, really strange.”

Some have asked Steingard why he felt the need to share his doubts publicly and potentially hurt the faith of others. The frontman said he had shared publicly about his faith in God for so long that he felt it would have been hypocritical to continue letting people think that he was still a Christian. He also strongly disagrees with any mindset that says people should not share their doubts because it will hurt others’ faith. 

“I actually think that’s really harmful,” he said, “and I think all the healthiest Christian communities I know are communities where questions are welcomed and where doubts can be processed openly, and there’s no shame associated with it.” Steingard said that if he had remained silent, “I would be participating in a culture of shame, and I didn’t want to do that.” And if God is really there, he is strong enough to withstand our questions. 

West expressed his respect for Steingard’s courage and willingness to ask challenging questions about his deepest beliefs. “No letter that you could publish or put out could fully describe the complexity of the journey that you are walking,” he said. “My prayer is that we’ll all be challenged by this conversation…to not settle for a surface level of faith, but to dare to believe that God can take us to deeper depths.”

Real Talk on Teen Issues: Insights for Youth Leaders

By
Chad Swanzy
-

As a youth leader, it’s essential to stay informed about the challenges teens face—both visible and hidden. A great resource for this is Radical Parenting, a website dedicated to offering real, heartfelt advice on how to love and support kids well. The topics discussed there provide valuable insights into common struggles teens encounter, regardless of their social or economic backgrounds.

Below is a list of some of these issues, along with added insights. These topics aren’t listed in order of importance, nor are they exhaustive. Feel free to share additional thoughts in the comments to expand the conversation.

1. Smoking

For many teens, smoking symbolizes maturity and independence. It’s also a coping mechanism, helping them suppress feelings, reduce hunger, and relieve stress. Beyond these factors, smoking often garners attention, giving teens a fleeting sense of control or connection.

2. Bullying

Bullying today isn’t about stealing lunch money—it’s far more damaging. Teens endure deep emotional wounds caused by labels, rumors, and relentless verbal abuse. This aggression often comes not only from peers at school but even from those they consider friends.

3. Shoplifting

Shoplifting may seem like a minor issue, but it can signify deeper struggles. Some teens steal to gain acceptance among peers or because they’ve experienced poverty. This act often leaves them battling guilt, shame, and the long-term consequences of their choices.

4. Depression

Teens face intense pressures from abandonment, stress, and trying to compartmentalize their lives. When life becomes overwhelming, many disengage. This leads to a loss of motivation, hope, and relationships—a slow and painful “secret form of death” that they struggle to express or address.

5. Pregnancy

Teen pregnancy remains a significant issue, despite increased media attention. For many girls, the desire for affection, attention, and companionship leads them to take extreme risks, sometimes with life-altering consequences. Often, pregnancy becomes a desperate attempt to avoid loneliness, turning into emotional Russian roulette.

6. Obesity

Obesity is a difficult but necessary topic to address. Teens, like adults, may use food as an emotional crutch—eating to escape reality, mask feelings, or suppress pain. Over time, this can lead to cycles of self-hate and inner turmoil that are hard to break.

These challenges are just a starting point for understanding the struggles teens face. By recognizing and addressing these issues, youth leaders can better support and guide their students through tough times. Let’s keep the conversation going—share your insights in the comments to broaden the discussion and help create a positive impact for the next generation.

Engaging the Whole Family 1

By
Paul Sheneman
-

Reality TV is often an amusing form of entertainment. We sit back and are entertained by the shock factor of Wife Swap, where contradictory family value systems collide in quite amusing ways. Then there was the Osbourne family, who for a short period, appeased the guilt of many families with their previously unimaginable level of dysfunction. Finally there is the hard nosed quasi-Mary Poppins from Great Britain, Jo Frost (a.k.a. Supernanny), that will put little kids on the “naughty step” in order to right the wrongs of poor parenting in the United States. And though laughter is what usually flows from these shows, there is an eery feeling that these “reality” programs feel more like a mirror of the North American family then a sensationalized depiction.

In the midst of such depictions of family in the entertainment media,youth and family ministers are left wondering, “What is the family? What happened to it? How can we engage the whole family in Christ-like ways?”

I want to suggest three resources that can help you wrestle through these questions.
David Elkind, Ties That Stress: The New Family Imbalance
Diana Garland, Sacred Stories of Ordinary Families
Marjorie J. Thompson, Family the Forming Center: A Vision of the Role of Family in Spiritual Formation

Every Tuesday over the next four weeks we will engage some of the insights of each of these works as we continue to seek meaningful ways to engage the whole family as youth workers.

Questions to Consider:
How do you define the family?
What are the central challenges facing families today?
What resources have helped shape your engagement with families?

Cru Who? Lessons to Learn from the Name Change at Campus Crusade

By
Ed Stetzer
-

Suddenly, name changes are in the news– everywhere. Name changes are a big deal and I have been thinking about how to weigh in on the Campus Crusade controversy. So, I wrote this post a week ago to reflect on the Campus Crusade name change. Since many people are now discussing a potential name change for Southern Baptists, I have also posted about that at the Between the Times blog, where I blog about denomination-specific issues, on that issue. Yet, this blog is about Cru and Campus Crusade.

In July, the organization formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ, founded over half a century ago by Bill Bright, announced the changing of its name to “Cru.” And, in less time than it takes a seraph to say “holy, holy, holy” the condemnation began. Some accused the leaders of kowtowing to political correctness while others saw it as part of a continuing trend to remove Christ from the public discourse.

How exactly a thoroughly evangelistic, solidly biblical organization removes Christ from public discourse is well beyond my powers of reason, but this was exactly the interpretation that came from none other than Fox News. With the headline “Prominent Christian ministry drops ‘Christ'” and in an interview with Cru’s U.S. Vice-president (Steve Sellar); Fox made the charge that the decision was specifically about dropping Christ from the name.

It really is frustrating that so many wholeheartedly buy into the media when it supports their preconceptions and that so many seem unable or unwilling to think for themselves on the issues. It may be accurate that Fox is more conservative than CNN or MSNBC, but they, too, fall into the trap of producing entertainment and calling it news. In other times they try to make a story when none exists.

The reality is that Cru has an entire page of its website dedicated to the decision process there revealing, among other things, that more than 1,600 names had been considered and that the old name “Campus Crusade for Christ” no longer represented their mission since they were larger than a campus ministry. It was also enlightening– and heartening– to see them considering the negative effects the name had in Muslim countries. From the Cru website:

Our name presented obstacles to our mission. The word “campus” does not adequately represent all our ministries in the United States and confuses our constituency as well as potential partners. The word “crusade”-while common and acceptable in 1951 when we were founded-now carries negative associations. It acts as a barrier to the very people that we want to connect with. It’s also a hindrance to many Christians who would like to partner with us but find the word Crusade offensive.

Our surveys show that, in the U.S., twenty percent of the people willing to consider the gospel are less interested in talking with us after they hear the name. We are changing the name for the sake of more effective ministry.

When your name is a hindrance to your mission you have three options: Change the mission, change the name, or suffer the consequences. I’m glad they chose to change the organization’s name, as the other two choices were certainly less than optimal for the Kingdom.

Another bandwagon hanger-on was the now ex-Fox News personality, Glenn Beck. Apparently with little research being done, or with that little research being ignored, Beck launched into a foundationless tirade against the name change that would make…well…Glenn Beck proud. He said, at the beginning of his mocking rant, “They decided Christ might be offensive.” The problem here is this: Beck’s challenge is demonstrably false. Both the website and the interview with Steve Sellars make it plain that the name change was not to deny anything, but rather to increase the impact of their ministry. Why do so many evangelicals believe someone like Glenn Beck rather than the trusted leadership of Campus Crusade?

Even more out of touch were some of the comments on Beck’s website. After wading through that garbage for a few minutes one might get the idea that Cru had been taken over by a group of atheists who were steering it away from Bright’s original vision for proclaiming the gospel of Jesus. In fact, as Sellars and Vonette Bright (Bill’s widow) both point out; Bill Bright himself had been promoting the idea of a name change for decades. It is true that Christians can be suspicious because of institutions and organizations that experience theological drift: the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA, now “The Y”), Harvard and Yale universities come to mind. However, regardless of how finely tuned a person considers their own news radar to be, Christians do not need to be like blue whales indiscriminately swallowing all the plankton around them. Gullibility is not a fruit of the Spirit. Just because it is on Fox News doesn’t mean it’s true and just because Glenn Beck says it does not make it worth repeating. We must use a biblical filter of truth and error, of foolishness and wisdom. This is far too often lacking. Perhaps those who claim the name of Christ should trust their brothers and sisters who also claim the name of Christ. I think we’re on the same team, after all.

So ill-aimed were the criticisms leveled at Cru that John Piper felt obliged to weigh in:

Glenn Beck ridiculed the change as he wadded up the report and threw it away. His entire focus was to attack the wimpy people who avoid using the name Christ for fear of giving offense. The problem with Beck is that he cared nothing about dealing with the real problems created by the name “Campus Crusade for Christ.”

The problem was not “Christ.” The problem was the limiting word “campus” (when CCC ministers to millions that have nothing to do with any “campus”) and “crusade” (which for millions of people has one main connotation: Medieval crusades against Muslims). Beck’s approach is not responsible journalism but careless hype for the religious right.

This is not to say that Cru didn’t make a mistake by failing to anticipate such a negative response– I think they did. Ultimately, though, the names of organizations matter less than their fidelity. I was amused at people who expressed disapproval, emphatically stating the need for “Christ” to remain in the name, likening the change to being ashamed of Christ. I guess the Wesley Center, Reformed University Fellowship, InterVarsity, The Navigators and Baptist Campus Ministries have been denying Jesus for a long, long time.

Thankfully, a broad representation of Christian leaders rose up in defense of Cru’s leadership. For what it is worth, I think Cru is a great name, because it describes a great organization filled with people who seek to make the name of Christ more widely known.

Feel free to weigh in and discuss in the comments below (be sure to review the comment policy). If you would like to talk about the potential name change for the Southern Baptist Convention, please join the conversation at my Between the Times post.

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