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Islamic Extremist Militants in Nigeria Execute Five Men as Warning to Christians, Video Shows

By
Morning Star News
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communicating with the unchurched

JOS, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Islamic extremists have executed five Nigerian men in Borno state, with one executioner saying it was a warning to “all those being used by infidels to convert Muslims to Christianity,” according to a video posted on Wednesday (July 22).

Three of the men shot to death from behind on the video were identified as Christians by a resident of Borno state, where the executions apparently took place.

In the 35-second video posted on YouTube by Eons Intelligence before it was removed, the three Christians kneel blindfolded by red cloth alongside two others believed to be Muslims while five men armed with AK-47 rifles stand behind them.

“This is a message to all those being used by infidels to convert Muslims to Christianity,” one of the executioners says in the Hausa language, translated by Morning Star News. “We want you out there to understand that those of you being used to convert Muslims to Christianity are only being used for selfish purposes.

“And that is the reason whenever we capture you, they don’t care to rescue you or work towards securing your release from us; and this is because they don’t need you or value your lives. We therefore, call on you to return to Allah by becoming Muslims. We shall continue to block all routes [highways] you travel.

“If you don’t heed our warning, the fate of these five individuals will be your fate.”

The speaker then commands, “Bisimilah [Go on],” and the five men are shot dead.

The Borno resident (name withheld for security reasons) identified three of those killed as Christians. He said Ishaku Yakubu, an aid worker from Chibok with Action Against Hunger, was a member of the Church of the Brethren (EYN); Luka Filibus, an aid worker from Monguno with the International Rescue Committee, was an EYN member; and Joseph Prince, a private security firm worker, was a member of the Redeemed Christian Church in Maiduguri.

In a previous video recorded on June 21, Prince and Filibus identified their captors as members of Khalifa, a term used by prior captives for a Boko Haram splinter group, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP).

In the prior video, Prince says: “My name is Joseph Prince, and I’m a staff member of Halogen [a private security firm]. I was traveling from Maiduguri to Monguno on official duty on June 1, 2020, when I was captured by Khalifa soldiers at 11:37 a.m. As of today, June 21, 2020, the date this video is being recorded, I’m still being held captive. I plead with my organization to please secure my release.”

In the prior video, Yakubu says: “My name is Ishaku Yakubu, and I work with Action Against Hunger. I was captured on June 8, 2020, while I was traveling from Monguno to Maiduguri. I plead for my organization, Action Against Hunger, to kindly secure my release.”

Filibus, the third Christian victim, in the prior video says: “My name is Luka Filibus, and I work with the International Rescue Committee in Munguno Local Government Area. I was captured by Khalifa soldiers on June 3, 2020, while I was on my way to Maiduguri. I plead with my organization, International Rescue Committee, to kindly secure my release.”

Action Against Hunger and the International Rescue Committee confirmed the deaths of their workers in press statements condemning the executions.

Buhari Statement

A statement from Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari indicated that the other two men executed worked with Nigeria’s State Emergency Management Agency and a company called Rich International.

Through spokesman Garba Sheu, Buhari sent condolences to the families of those slain and said the government will do all it can to ensure that “every remaining vestige of Boko Haram is wiped out completely from northeastern Nigeria.”

“President Buhari also condoles with the State Emergency Management Agency, Action Against Hunger, Rich International, and International Rescue Committee, whose staff have suffered this gruesome fate,” Sheu said. “He thanks them for their continued dedication and service to the victims of Boko Haram in Northeastern Nigeria.”

In January ISWAP executed Christian university student Ropvil Daciya Dalep, a member of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) who was kidnapped on Jan. 9 on the Damaturu-Maiduguri Highway while returning to studies in Maiduguri, Borno state.

ISWAP in 2016 broke off from the rebel terrorist group Boko Haram, which originated in Maiduguri.

On Jan. 20, Boko Haram terrorists executed the Rev. Lawan Andami, district chairman of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (EYN) in Michika County, Adamawa state, and father of eight children.

Edward Kallon, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, expressed shock and horror at the killings, saying of the victims, “their safety and securing their safe release have been our highest priority since they were captured in June.”

“These checkpoints disrupt the delivery of life-saving assistance and heighten the risks for civilians of being abducted, killed or injured, with aid workers increasingly being singled out,” Kallon said. “I strongly condemn all violence targeting aid workers and the civilians they are assisting. I am also troubled by the number of illegal vehicular checkpoints set up by non-state armed groups along main supply routes.”

The U.N. has repeatedly called for an end to such blatant violations of international humanitarian law, he said.

“I implore all armed parties to step up their responsibilities and stop targeting aid workers and civilians,” Kallon said. “At a time when humanitarian needs have reached unprecedented levels, it is unacceptable that those who are trying to help are being attacked and killed.”

On Jan. 30 Christian Solidarity International (CSI) issued a genocide warning for Nigeria, calling on the Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council to take action. CSI issued the call in response to “a rising tide of violence directed against Nigerian Christians and others classified as ‘infidels’ by Islamist militants in the country’s north and middle belt regions.’”

Nigeria ranked 12th on Open Doors’ 2020 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution but second in the number of Christians killed for their faith, behind Pakistan.

This article originally appeared here. If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit MorningStarNews.org for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.  

Woman Credits God’s Timing for Rescue of Abandoned Baby

By
Stephanie Martin
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communicating with the unchurched

Thanks to what she calls God’s perfect timing, a woman walking her dog last week in Wilmington, North Carolina, helped avert a tragedy. Due to hot pavement, Cynthia Burton took a shortcut behind Christ Community Church. After hearing cries from a trash bin in the church’s parking lot, she discovered a bloody newborn inside a tied garbage bag.

Before paramedics arrived, Burton and a nearby resident removed the umbilical cord from the abandoned baby’s neck and sang “Jesus Loves Me” to him. Police later reported the infant was healthy and doing well. After a brief search for the mother, a 21-year-old woman was arrested and charged with attempted murder.

‘He cried out to live’

Speaking about the discovery, Burton says she knew the infant was alive but that time was of the essence. “I know God put me at that place at that time,” she says. The baby was “very powerful and very strong because he cried out to live, and if I had walked by and not heard a sound, I’d have kept on walking, but he cried, and he kept on crying.” She adds, “When I opened the bag, he stopped crying. That’s when I think he knew he was safe.”

The “overwhelming” experience kept Burton awake that entire night, but she’s grateful for the positive outcome. On Facebook, she’s requesting prayers for the infant, the mother, and that woman’s other small child. “None of us walked in [the mother’s] shoes when she did what she did,” Burton writes. “Mental health is real, and there is help out there for everyone.”

Pastor Prays for Healing & Hope

Days after the news-making event, the church’s pastor addressed it at the beginning of Sunday worship. After reading Psalm 34:17-18, Paul Phillips recapped the abandoned baby’s discovery and said, “We can praise the Lord that he does hear those who are crushed in spirit. Pray for the brokenness of a person and a culture that would allow you to get to that point. Pray for us as a church as we try to intersect broken lives and do what we can to be helpful.” He asked God for “real healing and hope” for both the newborn and the mother.

North Carolina’s Safe Surrender law gives a parent seven days to hand off a newborn to certain officials without legal consequences. But the baby must be left with an adult, not abandoned or set outside a building—partly because of the state’s hot summers.

Though Burton has been contacted by “many people asking for me to help them adopt the little boy,” his future now rests with social workers at Child Protective Services. “He’s special,” Burton says of the abandoned baby. “He was loved from the very beginning that I got him in my arms and…he’s going to live a wonderful life.”

To people who’ve told Burton they couldn’t have done what she did, she assures them that they, too, are “capable of saving a life.” Simply “slow down your actions,” she says, “and know you are brought to that moment if it happens for a reason.”

MacArthur: State Does Not, Should Not Have the Authority to Close Churches

By
Megan Briggs
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Grace Community Church
Screengrab Youtube @Grace to You

While church leaders such as Rick Warren, J.D. Greear, and Andy Stanley announced they will not reopen their churches for in-person services anytime soon, John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California is staying open. This despite California Governor Gavin Newsom’s direction that houses of worship discontinue meeting indoors until the number of cases in California go down. MacArthur believes staying open is a “duty” mandated by Scripture.

“In response to the recent state order requiring churches in California to limit or suspend all meetings indefinitely, we, the pastors and elders of Grace Community Church, respectfully inform our civic leaders that they have exceeded their legitimate jurisdiction, and faithfulness to Christ prohibits us from observing the restrictions they want to impose on our corporate worship services,” MacArthur wrote in an article titled “Christ, not Caesar, Is Head of the Church.”

John MacArthur’s Argument for Staying Open

Grace Community Church is located in Sun Valley, California, in Los Angeles County, which is on the state’s watch list. Los Angeles county is the most populous county in the state (and the country, incidentally) and accounts for nearly half of the state’s COVID-19 cases. 

For MacArthur, staying open is a matter of theology, not necessarily a matter of safety, as other leaders have cited in their reasoning to remain online-only. In fact, MacArthur doesn’t address health or safety in his article, simply what he believes Scripture has to say about congregating.

MacArthur says that Scripture instructs us to obey earthly authorities (Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2) so long as those authorities do not interfere the church’s obedience to God’s law: “Insofar as government authorities do not attempt to assert ecclesiastical authority or issue orders that forbid our obedience to God’s law, their authority is to be obeyed whether we agree with their rulings or not.” However, when those authorities’ commands reach over into the polity of the church, “compliance would be disobedience to our Lord’s clear commands,” MacArthur writes.

MacArthur goes on to say that “God has established three institutions within human society: the family, the state, and the church.” Those three institutions have their own “sphere of authority with jurisdictional limits that must be respected.” MacArthur believes it is the duty of each institution to maintain its own boundaries and ensure that the other institutions aren’t encroaching them:

When any one of the three institutions exceeds the bounds of its jurisdiction it is the duty of the other institutions to curtail that overreach. Therefore, when any government official issues orders regulating worship (such as bans on singing, caps on attendance, or prohibitions against gatherings and services), he steps outside the legitimate bounds of his God-ordained authority as a civic official and arrogates to himself authority that God expressly grants only to the Lord Jesus Christ as sovereign over His Kingdom, which is the church. His rule is mediated to local churches through those pastors and elders who teach His Word (Matthew 16:18–19; 2 Timothy 3:16–4:2).

As far as the church is concerned, Christ is its head, MacArthur states. Therefore, when Jesus said “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17), he was making a delineation between the church and the state. According to MacArthur, since Christ has given pastors and elders the “duty and the right to exercise His spiritual authority in the church,” it is up to pastors and elders to mitigate what he sees as the current state overreach:

As pastors and elders, we cannot hand over to earthly authorities any privilege or power that belongs solely to Christ as head of His church. Pastors and elders are the ones to whom Christ has given the duty and the right to exercise His spiritual authority in the church (1 Peter 5:1–4; Hebrews 13:7, 17)—and Scripture alone defines how and whom they are to serve (1 Corinthians 4:1–4). They have no duty to follow orders from a civil government attempting to regulate the worship or governance of the church. In fact, pastors who cede their Christ-delegated authority in the church to a civil ruler have abdicated their responsibility before their Lord and violated the God-ordained spheres of authority as much as the secular official who illegitimately imposes his authority upon the church.

MacArthur makes it clear that he is not hinging his argument for remaining open on the Constitution of the United States (as some other ministry leaders have done):

Notice that we are not making a constitutional argument, even though the First Amendment of the United States Constitution expressly affirms this principle in its opening words: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The right we are appealing to was not created by the Constitution. It is one of those unalienable rights granted solely by God, who ordained human government and establishes both the extent and the limitations of the state’s authority (Romans 13:1–7). Our argument therefore is purposely not grounded in the First Amendment; it is based on the same biblical principles that the Amendment itself is founded upon. The exercise of true religion is a divine duty given to men and women created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26–27; Acts 4:18–20; 5:29; cf. Matthew 22:16–22). In other words, freedom of worship is a command of God, not a privilege granted by the state.

City Denies Giving Feucht Approval for Worship Gathering

By
Jessica Lea
-
communicating with the unchurched

Bethel Church has distanced itself from Sean Feucht’s July 22 outdoor worship gathering held at the Sundial Bridge in Redding, California. The event has drawn criticism from Shasta County Public Health officials, as well as from the City of Redding, even though Feucht claims city leaders gave their approval ahead of time.

“I want to clarify that I shared our plans with city council (something we have never done before),” said Feucht on Facebook. “They asked me to reach out to the local health department. We did that and we never received a response. I assumed that was sufficient and that we had the green light.” 

Worship at the Sundial Bridge

Wednesday’s event was part of a series of worship events Sean Feucht has been conducting throughout the country as part of his Hold the Line initiative. According to KRCR News, hundreds of people attended the gathering at the Sundial Bridge, but few were wearing masks or social distancing. 

In an Instagram post before the event, Feucht said, “I have been in talks with our mayor, city council & spiritual fathers of the city. We have many local pastors and ministries joining in! We want to honor them and keep our Covid count low by spreading out (there’s lots of room) and wearing masks if you are able. We will bring extras if you don’t have one!” 

On Facebook after the event, Feucht said, “I want to thank our city leaders for honoring our rights to worship outdoors freely (according to state and CDC regulations). I want to reiterate we encouraged social distancing & told people to wear masks (we even brought extras if people needed them). We cannot force this on people.” 

Shasta County Public Health officials and city council member Julie Winter dispute Feucht’s claim that he reached out to them and got approval to hold an outdoor worship service. 

“An outdoor worship event was held at the Sundial Bridge last night and the organizer publicly stated that I gave the green light for the event,” said Winter (who is a member of Bethel Church) in a Facebook post. “I want to clearly state that is untrue. I did not greenlight the event, nor do I (or anyone on the council) have the authority to do so.” 

Winter said she found out about the gathering the day before it took place and that she was the one who reached out to Feucht’s team. The council member was concerned that worshipers would not be willing to socially distance or wear masks, given how hot it was. Winter then recommended contacting County Public Health “to get approval or consider rescheduling the event.”

In a press release issued Thursday, Shasta County Health and Human Services said that the organizers never reached out to them. Instead, public health officials said they heard about the upcoming gathering at the Sundial Bridge and reached out to Feucht’s team, sending them the guidance pertaining to outdoor worship services. According to the press release, “Turtle Bay and the City of Redding reached out to the organizers also and were assured that the event would involve social distancing and a ‘small battery powered amplification for acoustic guitar and mic.’” 

The statement went on to explain how participants failed to follow the guidance. The reasons why include that worshipers did not practice social distancing (and in fact could not because of the size of the venue), and they did not wear masks. 

“We truly empathize with all who have had to change the way they worship in the past few months,” said the statement. “Very sadly, some of our local cases of COVID-19, including hospitalizations, have resulted from faith gatherings, and it’s critical that our faith community leaders continue to offer safe services that follow the state guidelines.”

Even though Feucht is a volunteer worship leader with Bethel Church and there were church members present at the event, Bethel was not involved in any official capacity, which is something that both the church and Feucht emphasized after the event. Church communications director Aaron Tesauro said, “We value people’s freedom to express themselves, but we also really value the safety of our region and that’s why we’ve limited activities at church, social distancing, not having services and that’s what we’ve been doing as a church at this time.” 

Feucht maintains he did everything in his power to be above board in planning the event. He said, “We tried our best to honor the city and navigate the proper channels. We spent more time doing this in Redding than any other city thus far. We love Redding and we love the church in our city deeply.”

What to Do With Your Choir During These Days

By
Kenny Lamm
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communicating with the unchurched

During this season of social distancing and prohibitions on normal choir activity, worship leaders are seeking ways to keep their choirs together and involved in ministry. Technology has become a backbone of continuing many ministries in the church, and the virtual world can be a help to our choirs in these days.

Here are some ways you can use technology to keep your choir rolling.

HAVE A VIRTUAL CHOIR REHEARSAL

Many choirs are finding they can stay connected and rehearse music to a certain extent through the use of Zoom or other video conferencing software. While the experience falls very short of an in-person rehearsal like we had pre-COVID, it does allow for a number of great interactions. You can have a time of fellowship, sharing, discipleship and learn some music. The biggest downfall in this is that all singers have to be muted except one due to latency issues. You can have sectionals to learn parts, and you can play tracks of songs as people sing along (while muted) to expose them to new music and review older music. If you rehearse via Zoom, first of all, you will want to make sure you have your Zoom software in its best audio settings:

You can read an excellent step-by-step tutorial here that corresponds to this video.

In your rehearsal, try to create a sense of community. If your choir is large enough, you can split into breakout rooms for a time to allow for more intimate sharing times. You can have fun together, cry together, pray together, share what God is doing in your lives, etc.

Keep some goals in front of the group of ministry that you all can still do during these days (more later).

Rehearse music. You can either have the music appear on screen with the soundtrack or send PDF versions of the songs to the people (with copyright permission). Have everyone muted except the host that will provide the screen/audio sharing.

Here are some great articles that will give you more to think about with Zoom choir rehearsals:

CREATE A VIRTUAL OR HYBRID CHOIR EXPERIENCE

If your church is still online only, you can produce a virtual choir experience that I outlined in a previous post. This gives explicit details on how to put together such an experience. The virtual choir gives your choir a viable ministry that can reach all corners of our world and be used in our online services. Your choir can also bless other churches by providing some great choir numbers they can use in their online services if you make them available for use. Learn more.

If your church has regathered, you can create a hybrid approach. Create a virtual choir for the screen in the church and have a few live singers that are joined strategically by the virtual choir during a song. It can be a powerful moment for worship. Of course you will have to work on sync issues between the live and recorded.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ABOUT CHOIR

Some choirs have met in their sanctuaries with large-space social distancing taking place. They rehearse the songs and then video the songs while in rehearsal (several cameras shooting at once would be best to be able to show people more close up.) Then the video is edited to present the song in the gathered service or online.

Think of ways to keep your choirs singing even in these times of difficulty. You may find that the reach of your worship ministry is greatly increased as you venture into the virtual world.

[Interested in journeying with several other worship leaders through these times of redefining worship ministries. Consider the fully online Worship Leader Boot Camp BEYOND EXTREME–12 weeks of interaction and learning in community. Space is limited. Check it out here.]

This article originally appeared here.

3 Helpful Factors From Joshua for Leading Your Church Out of Crisis and Into the Future

By
Evan Doyle
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communicating with the unchurched

We’re in the middle of something.

It’s a crisis. A pandemic.

We’re physical distancing (“social distancing”).

We’re in-between life as we knew it and something different.

Things are different after 9/11/2001 than they were on 9/10/2001. I believe “normal” will be different after this passes too.

While we’re in between what if God desires to prepare us for something different. Something He’s about to do?

What if God is about to do something that we could use this time to get ready for?

Check out this passage from the Bible:

Joshua 1:1-3 (NIV) After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Take Note: GET READY & ABOUT TO. Joshua was leading a group of people who were in between two places. They were no longer in Egypt, in captivity. Yet, they were not yet in Canaan, the Promise Land.

They were in-between.

Do you ever feel like you’re living in-between?
We are right now… We’re in-between pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19.

In-Between is the space situated somewhere between two extremes or recognized categories.

What if God uses times of in-between to prepare His people for greater impact and purpose?

Is there anything that would change in your life or leadership right now if you began to view this in-between time as space separating the place God has delivered you from and the place God is developing you for?

God never wastes anything. He doesn’t waste His Words or His Promises.

God is also known for using bad things for the good.

I believe this means staying in between the past and the promise is never God’s final plan for us.

It’s possible to stay in-between.

It’s possible to live as if nothing changes.

What if it’s possible to long for “normal” so badly you overlook that everything is different?

I do not know exactly how things will be different for us a nation or culture.

I do know how God is directing me towards a new normal that will look different from how things used to be?

Is it possible He is doing the same with you?

Is it possible God is drawing people towards Him?

What if it’s possible God will use the Church in ways that only those who are willing to do things differently will experience it?

Before you get a bunch of ideas about what I mean, let me say this: There are some things that do not change, God and His purpose. He is still good and He still loves people. He still is righteous and desires for His righteousness to influence our lives.

What Happens Off the Field Is Just as Important as On It for Christian NFL Players

By
Bryce Pico
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communicating with the unchurched

Often, what sports fans see and hear while watching a game doesn’t reveal the full story. What happens off the field frequently determines the results on the scoreboard.

Unfortunately, it seems the majority of those off-the-field reports focus on the negative actions of a few athletes. Arrests, cheating and generally bad behavior dominate the headlines. Little attention is given to stories about sports figures — especially those who are outspoken believers in Jesus Christ — who are a positive influence on teammates and communities.

Hall of Fame football coach Tony Dungy and James “JB” Brown, a pair of nationally known sportscasters, believe those positive stories should be shared. Over their careers, they met a number of athletes who were strong Christians and at the top of their game. Unfortunately, their testimonies did not make it onto television.

“So much of what we do in our respective jobs at the networks gets left on the cutting room floor,” Brown says. “These guys have some very compelling stories.”

Together, they created Beyond the Game with Tony and JB, a sports interview program that broadcasts weekly on GospelTruth.TV, Andrew Wommack Ministries’ internet television network. The show puts a spotlight on the character, humanitarian work and values that motivate athletes, coaches and other figures in sports.

According to Dungy, the show takes viewers inside the lives of players and coaches, revealing “what is important to these Christian athletes and what makes them tick.”

Guests featured on Beyond the Game with Tony and JB include Heisman Trophy-winner Danny Wuerffel, National Football League Hall of Famer Anthony Muñoz and current Indianapolis Colts coach Frank Reich. All guests share their testimony of faith, along with their successes and challenges as Christians on and off the field.

The first episodes of the series featured an in-depth interview of Dungy, a story Brown called “tender, touching and tough as nails.”

“[Dungy] really epitomizes what these professional athletes and executives would like to be,” Brown says.

Though millions of viewers may recognize Dungy from NBC’s weekly Sunday Night Football studio broadcast, Football Night in America, it’s unlikely most of them know his life story. Dungy’s parents were teachers who raised their son to make good decisions in the face of adversity and make things better.

According to Dungy, when faced with a challenge of what to believe and which action to take, his father’s advice was, “Don’t follow the crowd; make a decision you think is going to be best.”

Before moving to television, Dungy was known to football fans as coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts of the NFL. A pioneer in the coaching field, he learned his craft as an assistant under legendary coach Chuck Noll of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Passed over for numerous opportunities to become a head coach, Dungy studied the book of Nehemiah with his team chaplain for two years to learn about leadership. He finally got his chance at Tampa Bay and quickly turned one of the worst teams in the league into a perennial contender.

He achieved a milestone in 2007 by becoming the first African-American coach to lead a team to victory in the Super Bowl. Though it was a culture-changing moment for racial equality, Dungy used the post-game interview to share his faith with an international television audience. After accepting the Lombardi Trophy on behalf of the Colts, the coach thanked God for his team’s victory.

“I have to let people know my motivation,” Dungy says. “Honoring the Lord first — that was the most important thing to me — and showing the world you could do that and win at the highest level.”

According to Dungy, those values were instilled in him by his mother, who frequently instructed him through her favorite Bible verse, “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).

James Brown, rising from middle-class roots, graduated from Harvard University, where he was a three-time All-Ivy League selection in basketball. He also earned a place in the school’s Hall of Fame. After briefly pursuing a professional career in the National Basketball Association, Brown turned his focus to broadcast journalism, where he found success and quickly rose through the ranks to an anchor position on national television.

For nearly 30 years, Brown has hosted NFL studio shows — for Fox and now CBS. Football play-by-play announcers frequently send viewers to “JB in the studio” for updates and highlights from games around the country. He also hosts Inside the NFL on Showtime and has served as a contributor to a number of news and sports programs on various networks.

As he conducted numerous interviews, Brown learned that those who reached the pinnacle of their careers often humbled themselves before God first. Now, with Beyond the Game with Tony and JB, he is free to share those testimonies with viewers.

According to Brown, “A good story is a good story, and it doesn’t have to involve a ‘big name.’”

The “big names” fans would recognize as successful athletes and outspoken believers started as “nobodies.” They were influenced by everyday people who modeled a Christian life and put those lessons into practice on and off the field.

“God then rewarded them, putting them on that level,” Brown says.

A three-time Emmy Award-winning broadcaster, Brown also has a heart for ministry and has served as a guest on Gospel Truth, Andrew Wommack’s daily television broadcast. In 2009, he authored the inspirational and semi-autobiographical book Role of a Lifetime: Reflections on Faith, Family, and Significant Living.

Along with hosting Beyond the Game with Tony and JB, Dungy and Brown have been featured speakers at Andrew Wommack’s annual Men’s Advance event at Charis Bible College in Woodland Park, CO.

“What impresses me about them is their relationship with the Lord — that is the most important thing,” Andrew Wommack says. “They climbed to the top of the ladder in other areas, but Jesus is what it is all about.”

Beyond the Game with Tony and JB airs Sundays at 9:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. (MT) on GospelTruth.TV. The 24/7 internet television network also features a number of programs, including Andrew Wommack’s daily broadcast, Gospel Truth. It is part of the mission of Andrew Wommack Ministries to take the Gospel as far and as deep into the world as possible.

For more information on Beyond the Game with Tony and JB and other programs, visit GospelTruth.TV. For more information on Andrew Wommack Ministries and Charis Bible College, visit AWMI.net and CharisBibleCollege.org.

Phil Vischer: What Is an Evangelical, Really?

By
Jessica Lea
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communicating with the unchurched

Do you identify as an “evangelical,” or do you struggle with that label? What is an evangelical, exactly? This second question is one that VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer explored the question, what is an evangelical, in his latest Holy Post podcast. 

“A conservative Christian? A conservative, white Christian? A conservative, white Christian who votes Republican? There’s so much confusion about the term ‘evangelical Christian,’” said Vischer, “that we need to take a little trip back in history to figure it out.”  

What Is an Evangelical? A Quick Look at American History

What is an evangelical? Well, first of all, the word “evangelical” comes from the Greek word “euangelion,” which means “good news.” But it was actually not until after the Great Awakening that Americans started to describe themselves as “evangelicals.” The Great Awakening was a movement of revival during which leaders like George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards stressed that true followers of Jesus need to actually make a decision to follow him—that is, be “born again.” A key teaching during this movement was that the Bible was divinely inspired and without error.

However, said Vischer, a new way of reading Scripture developed in Germany and arrived in the U.S. in the mid-1800s around the same time as Darwinism. This new way of interpreting the Bible from the Tübingen school saw Scripture as having errors and did not see the Bible as divinely inspired. American Christians who accepted these views became known as “modernists,” and the modernists began sending pamphlets with these teachings to churches throughout the country. Those who held a high view of Scripture responded with their own series of pamphlets called “The Fundamentals,” thus giving rise to Christians who called themselves “fundamentalists” and the result became known as the Modernist-Fundamentalist Controversy. 

In the early twentieth century, politician and orator William Jennings Bryan emerged as a prominent champion of fundamentalism, defending it against both evolutionists and modernists. Bryan is famous for having participated in the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial in Dayton, Tennessee, in which he prosecuted high school science teacher John Scopes for breaking Tennessee law by teaching evolution. The event was “bigger than the O.J. [Simpson] trial” as far as how widely publicized it was across the nation, said Vischer. 

At one point during the trial, defense attorney Clarence Darrow called Bryan to the stand and cross-examined him, asking him difficult questions about the Bible with the goal of discrediting Bryan’s fundamentalist beliefs. The interchange between Darrow and Bryan ended up being a significant one in the history of American Christianity because the result was it made fundamentalist Christians look foolish on a national level. 

Said Vischer, “In the end while William Jennings Bryan won the trial, fundamentalists lost the war.” Bryan was widely mocked in the media, with one writer calling him a “buffoon” and labeling all fundamentalists “morons.” It did not help matters that Bryan passed away only five days after the trial was over, leaving fundamentalists without a prominent spokesperson and defender. “Mocked and without a champion,” said Vischer, “fundamentalist Christians turned away from the larger culture to focus on building a subculture of their own.”

A year before the Scopes trial, Bryan had what turned out to be a pivotal conversation. He commented to a friend of his that if American schools continued teaching evolution, most people in the U.S. would become atheists. Bryan’s friend happened to be Bob Jones Sr., the founder of Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. The school, Jones, and his son became fundamentalism’s “most visible champions for the next 50 years,” said Vischer. Under their influence, fundamentalism became associated with more than just a high view of Scripture. It came to represent separation from the world, as well as anti-intellectualism and racial segregation. (Notably, Bob Jones University did not lift its policy banning interracial dating until the year 2000.)

What Is an Evangelical? The Rise of the Neo-Evangelicals

But some Christians did not feel comfortable in the modernist camp or the fundamentalist camp, said Vischer. They wanted an alternative that would allow them to have a high view of the Bible without embracing racial segregation or separating from the world. Prominent leaders who promoted this alternative, called “neo-evangelicalism,” included Harold Ockenga, who founded the National Association of Evangelicals in 1942, and Carl Henry who co-founded Fuller Seminary and was the founding editor of Christianity Today. When evangelist Billy Graham held a crusade at Ockenga’s church, the two men became friends, and the neo-evangelicalism gained a prominent spokesperson.

Now, said Vischer, there were now three main streams in American Christianity: modernism, fundamentalism, and neo-evangelicalism. But, he asked, “Have you ever heard anyone introduce themself as a ‘fundamentalist Christian’? No? Where did all the fundamentalists go?” The answer has to do with “the one force in America that might be more powerful than religion: politics.” 

According to Vischer, fundamentalists were content to live in their own subculture until the 1960s and the appearance of Jerry Falwell Sr., a leader who checked “all the southern fundamentalist boxes.” Falwell was against evolution, political involvement, and integration, said Vischer. In fact, he started what was known at the time as “segregation academy,” that is, a school for white students whose parents were concerned about integration. 

The Role of Small Groups in Church History

By
Scott Boren
-
communicating with the unchurched

As a part of the work I do with churches, I often contextualize pieces for the leaders with whom I interact. The following is a letter to one of these leaders that discusses how small groups strategies must be developed to fit the social location of the church based on the role of small groups in church history. 

Dear Pastor Jerry,
As you move forward in the coaching and consulting, there are things that I will want to share with you that take things a bit deeper than we will have time to process in our monthly coaching sessions or during the days that I am with you during the consultation visits. I could just point you to some books on these topics, but I want to contextualize some key principles so that you can process and apply them to your situation more easily. 

In this first letter, I want to talk about church strategy, small groups and the social location of the church. I know that this sounds like a mouthful, but as you develop groups, it’s important to realize a couple things before diving into strategies. First, the role of small groups is to form a natural way of conducting healthy living and they have always been a part of the church in some form or fashion. Anyone who tells you that small groups are new or that their small group strategy is the magic pill for developing groups should be ignored.

My second point relates to the role of small groups that have played in different eras of the church. This quick survey will help you see how the current social location of the church has a direct impact upon how people view the role of the church, the role of small groups, and the strategies that we implement. 

In very broad terms, we can identify four eras, or social locations, of the Western church over the last 2,000 years. While these four eras developed chronologically, you will notice that there is some overlap between them. 

#1—The Church as an Apostolic Movement
During the first three centuries of the church’s life, the people of God developed as an organic, relational, loosely-affiliated, viral movement. There were no church buildings, no seminaries, no publishing houses. They did not even have the New Testament. They just utilized homes like the foundation of the one excavated in the picture below. 

Here are a few reflections about this period:
  • View of Information: The core of the message of the church was what Paul called “foolishness to the Greeks” and a “scandal to the Jews” (1 Cor. 1:23). The Gospel message was radical and life transforming, but far from popular.
  • Influence: Records say that the influence of the church was based on the way they lived, not upon trying to attain clout in order to influence those in power.
  • Role of the clergy: While there are various views on how clergy roles developed in the early church, almost all historians of the church agree that the burgeoning church movement was led by teams of people who rose up out of the life of the church.
  • Authority of the church: The church possessed no official authority in the broader culture. In fact, the early church often grew greatly during times of persecution by those in authority.
  • View of Faith: Faith was expressed through baptism, which was a public display of walking away from their previous religious alliance and stepping into a new one. This often came with great persecution.
  • Ministry Method: The early church depended very little on specific programs of ministry or methods of organization. Their ministry was manifest through their way of love, through their way of loving one another and the world.
  • Role of Small Groups: Small groups were the church as all churches were organic house churches that lived in community and shared the message of the love of Jesus through their relationships.

Many point to the apostolic movement as a model that can be mimicked and repeated in the modern-day church. While this may be true first generation Christians in cultures that have not been exposed to Western society or Western church models, the church in the West cannot revert back to some ideal church model—if one actually exists—and act like we have not been shaped by the church of the last 1,700 years. 

#2—The Church at the Center
I grew up attending the church that my father and mother attended. It was a church typical of the rural South, one that resembled the church in the picture below. Membership averaged around 100 people; weekly attendance was about half that. The church was called Foote Baptist Church because the Foote family had donated the land in 1908. Because the church was the only public building, the neighborhood was called the Foote community.

Across the country, people have similar stories. A church’s steeple was once the tallest man-made point for miles. A church served as the community center, not only for worship, but also for things like town meetings, social gatherings, and school. One summer, my wife and I drove across western Kansas for vacation. As little towns surfaced on the horizon, I saw large grain silos and farmhouses surrounded by wheat fields. The most prominent features, however, were the church steeples that rose above the tree line. That architecture spoke loudly. The buildings were the tallest and most beautiful around, yet none of them were new. They stood as witnesses to the time when the church sat at the center of cultural life.

Such stories are also true in large cities. Look behind the new construction of steel and concrete and you will find cherished places of worship like First Baptist Church in Dallas, People’s United Methodist in Chicago, and Park Street Church in Boston. In fact, when People’s United Methodist Church was erected in 1924, its spire reached 568 feet into the air and was the tallest building in all of Chicago. It sat across from Chicago’s city hall, symbolizing that the church watched over the life of the city. Architecture points to much deeper aspects of the church at the center. The church played a central role in the culture during this period. 

4 Reasons the Local Church Is the Best at Developing Leaders

By
Eric Geiger
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communicating with the unchurched

God uses a multitude of environments to develop leaders, but there is nothing like the church. Because the whole world is His, the Lord can use any environment to develop and mature His people, but the church is the best at developing leaders for at least four reasons

  1. Divinely Designed

The church is divinely designed to endure and develop others. Christ started His church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome her. Nations, organizations and institutions will come and go, but the church will endure. As the church endures, the church will disciple and develop others. God has designed and commanded His church to make disciples. Developing others is in the church’s DNA. We are not reverse-engineering development into who we are. 

  1. Heritage of Development

We are a part of a long and beautiful lineage of God-followers multiplying. Moses developed Joshua, Elijah trained Elisha, Paul invested in Timothy and Jesus focused His ministry on His disciples. The church was birthed in a discipleship paradigm, a culture where rabbis invested in their disciples. God’s people have always multiplied. The faith has always, by God’s grace, been transferred from one generation to the next, from one person to another. Developing others is deeply connected to what it means to be a Christ-follower. We are Christians because others have shared the gospel with us. We have matured because others have helped develop us.

  1. Focused on Character

Research continually shows that character matters. For example, the recent leadership book Return on Character is based on research that reveals better performing companies are led by leaders who are seen as being filled with integrity, compassion and forgiveness. While some business analysts push for ROI (return on investment) metrics, the authors believe that a case can be made for ROC (return on character).

How to Dignify Your Digital Presence

By
Dave Hartwell
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communicating with the unchurched

When I think about the church’s digital presence, my mind returns to the same principles that guided the building committee years ago. I love my church’s building. Perhaps absence is indeed making the heart grow fonder because I’ve found myself thinking a lot about that building lately. In this time of isolation—as I’m stuck more-or-less inside the walls of my own house—I really miss my church and what the building evokes. Let me tell you a little bit about it.

First, I love the architectural design concept. A building facilitates activity, but it also communicates the values and vision of its users. Believing this, the building committee years ago adopted the concept of “dignifying the ordinary.” This concept was expressed in the building’s layout—the worship space evokes a town square, where all people can gather—as well as in its construction—simple, common materials come together with grace and care to glorify God and serve his people.

Second, I love its brightness. Our church’s mission statement includes the phrase that we are “a prism for God’s light.” The building makes tangible this charge to be a prism of God’s light by its many large windows and translucent dome above the worship space. Entering the church indeed feels like walking into the light.

Finally, and most importantly, I love that it points me to the cross. The entire complex follows a circular pattern. At the building’s center is a structural, steel “tree” with a cross at the top. The tree is beautiful, but its presence isn’t merely aesthetic. It’s actually integral to the structure of the building. Remove that cross and the church building would literally fall apart. Even more, because of the circular pattern of the building, the cross remains always at the center. All entrances direct you toward the cross.

Applications in a digital setting

When I think about the church’s digital presence, I think about what it means to dignify the ordinary in a digital setting. What does it mean to be a prism of God’s light on social media? In what ways do our digital “doors” point people to the cross?

The dynamic nature of digital media—and the speed with which change occurs—provide unique challenges to answering these questions. I can rebuild a website far more quickly and cheaply than I can rebuild our church building. That makes my work in digital communications particularly prone to dissatisfaction, envy, perfectionism, and mimicry—what I refer to in another article as “the chase.”

The chase often manifests as a comparison: Why can’t our church’s Instagram feed look like…? It also comes through as wishful thinking: If only we had that church’s budget… But mostly, the chase can lead to foolishness, and I think we’re familiar with what happened to the foolish person who built a house on the sand. With all the challenges brought on by this chase, how should I, and others, approach the work of dignifying the digital ordinary?

Take particular care in choosing building materials

I believe that dignifying the digital ordinary includes choosing the right building materials. This means thoughtfully deciding which digital channels are worth pursuing—and which ones are not. It also means taking particular care in choosing messages that are right and fitting for their medium. This metaphor of building materials is somewhat difficult, given that so much of communication is done in a virtual setting. Digital media offers the opportunity to share words, images, videos, links, profiles, and interactive elements in ways previously unimaginable. Selecting these “materials” with a reverence for what is right and fitting is critical, not only in facilitating how the church interacts online but also in communicating our values and vision.

The “Chicanery of the chic”

I like the way Eugene Peterson’s The Message paraphrases this part of 1 Corinthians 3: “Don’t think that you can be wise merely by being up-to-date with the times.” The passage goes on to say that God “exposes the chicanery of the chic.” I find this passage convicting, particularly in my work in church communications. It is incredibly tempting to buy into the concept that everything has to look and feel a certain way, and that anything “dated” is therefore “wrong.” It is tempting to look at another church’s website, live stream setup, video promos, and landing pages, and think: Why can’t we look like that? Of course, it is not wrong to produce high-quality content, nor is it wrong to be inspired by those who do. I hope, however, that we can let substance reign over style and not become enamored by flash.

A firm foundation

Just as the church building directs each person who enters toward the cross, I think it’s wise to think about how our digital presence can do the same. Similarly, I remember that the church’s cross isn’t merely ornamental; it’s integral. Earlier in 1 Corinthians 3, we hear these words: “Let each carpenter who comes on the job take care to build on the foundation! Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ.” Therefore, I want to view my church’s digital presence not to be an ordinary arena, merely decorated with the trappings of Christianity. I want it to be a place fully dignified and redeemed by the love of Christ. I want it to help provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. This will look and feel different for different churches—and that’s a good thing—but it’s all built, of course, on the same foundation.

 

This article on dignifying your digital presence originally appeared here, and is used by permission.

How to Get Rid of a Bad Youth Ministry Volunteer

By
Rachel Blom
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communicating with the unchurched

No matter how good your screening process for new volunteers for your youth ministry, at some point you may find yourself stuck with a bad youth ministry volunteer. There can be many reasons why a volunteer doesn’t work out (anymore) in your youth ministry:

  • A lack of chemistry with the students, the team, or with you as youth pastor;
  • The volunteer has demonstrated risky behavior that hasn’t changed after several warnings;
  • The volunteer is going through a rough season in his or her life and simply doesn’t have the energy for youth ministry right now;
  • Not everyone is destined to stay in youth ministry forever, even after having successfully served many years it may be simply time to leave;
  • The gifts and character of the volunteer don’t match with the task he or she is doing;
  • The volunteer does a reasonably good job with the students, but is causing problems in your team (no team player) for instance with excessive criticism;
  • Despite best efforts and the necessary youth ministry training, the volunteer simply isn’t ‘performing’ well;
  • You may have made some changes in the youth ministry (for instance in programs) that the volunteer doesn’t feel comfortable with or the volunteer doesn’t support the mission and vision (anymore).

Even the above list is far from exhaustive. There can be many reasons why you need to part ways with a bad volunteer, but how do you do that?

1. Reflect

Before doing anything, spend some time reflecting honestly about the situation. How sure are you that it’s not your fault, your perception? Is it really a bad youth ministry volunteer or is it just someone who rubs you the wrong way?

The simplest way to find out is to check if you are the only one who has a problem with this person. If so, chances are you are the problem, not the volunteer. If more people have a problem, there may be something else going on. When in doubt, confide in someone you can trust to help you discern the situation.

2. Pray

You have got to pray about the situation, and pray for this volunteer. Do not do anything until you feel you are at a place of love and compassion, no matter how hard it may be. God has to soften your heart first, or you will run the risk of saying and doing things you will regret later.

3. Decide

You have to make a decision: what is the best course of action with your bad youth ministry volunteer? This depends on the reason he or she isn’t functioning. When it’s a matter of personal circumstances (tired, burn out, depressed, etc.), it’s completely different than when it’s about skills or gifts. Here are your basic choices:

  • Temporarily quit youth ministry, and come back possibly at any time;
  • Temporarily quit youth ministry, and come back possibly if certain conditions are met, and after period of restoration under pastoral care;
  • Quit youth ministry permanently, but help in finding another ministry or task;
  • Quit youth ministry permanently and no recommendation for serving elsewhere (referral to pastor or pastoral team).

Which is the route to go considering the reason why your volunteer isn’t doing a good job? Be very clear and decisive here, because it’s of crucial importance for the rest of the process. It may be tempting to do nothing in the hopes that the situation will resolve itself, but sadly that’s almost never the case…it will only get worse.

Most of the time, it’s wise to ask others for advice, for instance, your (senior) pastor or someone from the pastoral team. They can check your decision making process, make sure you are doing the right thing, give you advice in follow up, pray for you and with you, and they can even sit in on the conversation you’re about to have.

4. Talk

The next thing to do, and this is going to be the toughest part, is to sit down with your volunteer and talk with him or her about your decision. Here’s how to do that:

Be loving: don’t speak out of anger; and put your genuine love and concern into words. Make sure the other person knows you love him or her and that you’re not doing this out of spite or personal issues.

Be clear: don’t beat around the bush; be very clear in your communication. State the problem you’ve observed, state the warnings you have given, and state your decision.

Be short: in bad news conversations, people’s emotions run high and they won’t hear anything you say. So keep it short, and follow up later.

Be true: when you promise to follow up, do so, and don’t forget it. Follow through on the help you promised; make an appointment for a follow up talk, etc. Be true to your word.

Be compassionate: the process of removing a bad youth ministry volunteer is tough on you, but even more on the volunteer. Be compassionate in the whole process. Offer him or her to bring someone into the talks, for instance, for moral support.

5. Protect

Even when you have removed the bad volunteer from your youth ministry, keep praying for him or her, and make sure your heart stays soft and loving. Don’t talk with others about the situation, and if you need to say something, protect the volunteer, and keep it neutral.

Expect resistance, anger, and high emotions in this whole process. You may even get criticism from other volunteers and leaders that you can’t defend yourself against because you want to protect the volunteer. If that gets tough, find someone trustworthy who isn’t part of the problem to confide in. Leadership sometimes means loneliness, but find someone to share the burden with.

Have you even been in the position where you needed to get rid of a bad youth ministry volunteer? How did that go, and what have you learned from that?

CCP Denies People Welfare Benefits for Worshiping Jesus

By
Jessica Lea
-
communicating with the unchurched

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is forcing people who are dependent on government aid to remove Christian imagery and images of Jesus from their homes. Instead, believers must display pictures of Chairman Mao Zedong and President Xi Jinping; those who refuse are penalized by losing their welfare benefits. This is according to the religious liberty magazine and watchdog group Bitter Winter.

“All impoverished households in the town were told to display Mao Zedong images,” a preacher from a house church in Shanxi province told Bitter Winter. “The government is trying to eliminate our belief and wants to become God instead of Jesus.” 

No Religious Imagery, Images of Jesus

Officials in a town in Shanxi were instructed to “remove crosses, religious symbols and images from the homes of people of faith who receive social welfare payments” and to cancel the subsidies of anyone who resists. One member of a state-approved church in the area told the magazine, “Impoverished religious households can’t receive money from the state for nothing—they must obey the Communist Party for the money they receive.”

Shanxi is not the only province in China where Christians are reporting this type of persecution, and it is not only for religious imagery or images of Jesus that people are being denied financial aid. An 80-year-old woman in Jiangxi province lost her benefits simply because she said, “Thank God,” after she received her subsidy last January. The amount that the woman (who is a member of a state-approved church) received every month was around $28. In April, a disabled Christian in the same province lost a subsidy in the amount of $14.

One believer in the province of Shandong said that in May, an official came to his home to put up portraits of Mao and Xi. As he did so, the official said, “These are the greatest Gods. If you want to worship somebody, they are the ones.”

A Christian woman in her seventies from Henan province lost her government aid when officials found a cross on her front door. She said, “I am being driven to a dead end. I have diabetes and need injections regularly.” Another Christian woman from Henan had been receiving government aid for the past four years. The woman, who is a widow and is raising two sons, lost her benefits when she refused to deny her faith and get rid of the Christian imagery in her home. 

Repeating History

This is not the first time the CCP has used money to pressure people to deny their faith, nor is it the first time the government has coerced citizens to worship party leaders over Jesus. Authorities were removing images of Jesus and replacing them with pictures of President Xi at least as early as 2017 in rural areas of the country. According to the South China Morning Post, one official said, “Many rural people are ignorant. They think God is their saviour…After our cadres’ work, they’ll realise their mistakes and think: we should no longer rely on Jesus, but on the party for help.”

Villagers in Yugan county in Jiangxi were forced to take down 624 posters with Christian words and imagery and replace them with 453 pictures of President Xi. One man from the county said, “Some families put up gospel couplets on their front doors during the Lunar New Year; some also hung paintings of the cross. But they’ve all been torn down. They all have their belief and, of course, they didn’t want to take them down. But there is no way out. If they don’t agree to do so, they won’t be given their quota from the poverty-relief fund.”

China is increasingly threatening religious freedom—not even the state-approved Three-Self Church is safe from the government’s interference. Many have noted that the CCP is building a cult of personality around Xi Jinping similar to that which surrounded Mao Zedong. Lily Tang Williams, a Chinese immigrant to the U.S., described to reporter and commentator John Stossel what it was like to grow up adoring Mao. “I was brainwashed,” she said. “Mao was like a god to me.”

At Open Doors’ press conference for its most recent World Watch List, Jian Zhu, the senior pastor of Chinese Christian Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, shared his perspective on the direction China is heading. The pastor also used to idolize Mao (before he became a Christian) and said the government’s recent restrictions on religious freedoms are the worst he has seen since 1979. 

Open Doors president and CEO David Curry highlighted the danger China is posing to religious rights, saying, “China is creating what I believe is a ‘persecution roadmap’ against religious faith.”

Trusting Jesus Together

By
Jared Olivetti
-
communicating with the unchurched

The Enemy, capital “E,” is afoot.

Seizing opportunities afforded by pandemic and politics, by vicious murders and violent mobs, he prowls like a lion.

He wields the weapons we’ve granted him: the echo chambers of social media, the tribalism of modern America, and the potent mix of hatred and fear which often drives us.

And the church, the bride of the King, is bloodied. Torn by the lion’s teeth.

Old and young seem increasingly distant and hostile toward the other, unable to hear or be heard.

Our communities, ecclesiastical and geographical, take sides with a deeper anger than I’ve ever seen.

Local elders run into impasses, unable to operate with the unity they used to know.

And the masks…those ever-present (or non-present) symbols of our disunity…the masks seem to be his icing on the cake.

What can we do? We can’t not disagree. We can’t pretend we’re okay when we’re not, that we agree when we really don’t. We have to have the big, hard conversations. So what can we do? We can trust Jesus.

And we can trust Jesus together.

We can trust Jesus alongside those we’re debating. We can begin and end our arguments with faith in the righteous King.

We can be sure that Jesus’ is the only “right side of history” and have the humility to be confident that our views often don’t match His.

We can rejoice together that, wherever the current issues lead us, Jesus is the one about whom Isaiah prophesied:

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth:
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
(Isa. 11:2-4)

(Maybe pause and read that again, because we need to hear more Bible than our own words right now.)

The promise of Jesus’ victory means we don’t need to seek our own.

The promise of Jesus’ righteous judgments means we can have hope extending well past the latest letdown from our civil leaders.

The promise of Jesus’ wisdom and faithfulness means we can disagree while leaning on the Spirit of peace and faith.

And that’s what we need. Faith.

Faith that trusts the King and seeks His kingdom first and last.

Faith that trusts the King to do what is right and to change whatever minds and hearts need to be changed–especially mine.

Faith that doesn’t demand uniformity before practicing unity in the body of Christ.

Faith that lets us argue while standing on the same side, because we are.

Faith that believes what the Bible says about faith: “This is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith.” (1 Jn. 5:4)

This article about trust Jesus originally appeared here.

2 Types of Loneliness … And How to Face Each Type

By
Alison Cook
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communicating with the unchurched

No one wants to feel lonely. And yet, every single person does. Loneliness, along with anxiety, is one of the most basic realities of being human. Facing your loneliness takes courage. And, it’s important to understand different types of loneliness, so that you can get on the right path toward meaningful connection.

Even before the pandemic, doctors identified a loneliness epidemic sweeping this country. For example, nearly half of Americans report feeling lonely or a sense of emptiness in their relationships. Loneliness doesn’t just impact emotional health. Social isolation can be as damaging to your physical health as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. (For more on this research, read here.)

The truth is: Loneliness itself is not your enemy. It’s an important signal to notice. It has valuable information for you. You don’t want to let it get too big, but you also don’t want to pretend it’s not there. Instead, learn to understand your loneliness so that you can lead yourself through it wisely.

2 Types of Loneliness

Here are 2 types of loneliness I’ll focus on today: 1.) Situational Loneliness and 2.) Chronic Loneliness. Most of us experience both of these types of loneliness from time to time, but they each need different remedies.

1) Situational Loneliness

As a young adult, I moved from coast to coast, uprooting and replanting in 6 different cities within 10 years. Over time, all of the change took its toll. I struggled with a type of loneliness for years that I didn’t understand. Having grown up with close-knit community, I didn’t yet know that it takes a long time to make an old friend.

Situational loneliness is one of the types of loneliness that strikes you as a result of a unique change in circumstances. For example, it frequently shows up when you move. It also shows up after the loss of a loved one. When someone passes away or a relationship is disrupted, it is normal to feel lonely for that person. Finally, situational loneliness can occur as a result of an illness, a work situation, or our current pandemic. It can show up in any situation when you are forced into a period of isolation for a time.

If you’re lonely because you’re missing a loved one—a friend who lives far away, a parent who passed away, or a loving community you had to leave—you KNOW what authentic connection feels like. That’s part of what hurts. You’re missing something you’ve had.

Take heart. Loneliness is a beautiful aspect of your humanity. It reminds you of the ones you’ve loved. And, it can also signal your need for ongoing connection. You can honor the reality of the good things you’ve had AND take steps toward establishing new and meaningful connections.

Here are a few ways to care for yourself if you are experiencing one of the types of loneliness called situational loneliness:

  • Structure your time.

When loneliness gets big, it can keep you from doing the very thing that is needed—reaching out for connection. The trick is to keep your loneliness contained so that it doesn’t get too big and hijack your best efforts. In this case, structure is your friend. Schedule daily or weekly check-ins with other people or groups. Pay attention to the loneliest days (weekends, evenings, morning?) And, be intentional about planning ahead. Then schedule 1 thing during that day that you *know* will be life giving. It could be a phone call with a long-distance friend, or an appointment with a counselor. But make sure you build in at least 1 activity to give you a boost during those times you’ll need it most.

  • Take a risk.

When you’re lonely, you can’t give in to it. You have to try new things. Try taking a virtual class, or volunteering. Check out a church group. . . or a hiking club. I can’t begin to tell you all the things I tried when I moved to a new city all by myself. Honestly? Some of those things left me feeling Lonelier afterward. And that’s part of the risk. But each week, commit to trying 1 new thing to reach out for connection, knowing they won’t all be a “win.” Then, follow the bread crumbs that start to emerge. You never know when one of those little crumbs will lead you to a new friend or loved one.

  • Resist the urge to compare.

There’s nothing like history to cement two hearts together. But that doesn’t mean you won’t develop that kind of history with the new people you’re getting to know. There’s no hierarchy when it comes to love. Your efforts to forge new community will bear fruit—it’ll just look and taste a little different than what you knew before. Both can be deeply important to you.

  • Communicate on behalf of your loneliness.

Many people don’t want to admit they are lonely. They worry it might make them seem weak or needy. But, communicating on behalf of your loneliness is a key step toward healthy connection. It is important to let the people in your life know what you are going through. Believe it or not, people don’t always get it. They need a gentle reminder that your experience is different. So, communicate about your loneliness wisely.

Notice the difference between two ways of communicating below:

No one cares about me. I’m completely alone on this planet.

I’m going through a season of change. I wanted you to know that it can feel lonely at times.

In the first case, you are speaking from the experience of loneliness. It may represent what you are feeling, but it can also be overwhelming for a loved one to take in.

In the second case, you are speaking on behalf of the loneliness. You are aware of it, and you are advocating for yourself authentically.If they’re worth the time, they’ll appreciate your healthy vulnerability and you’ll have forged a deeper connection.

  • Find ways to stay connected with the past.

Don’t live in the past. But don’t shut it out. Let it take on a new form. Set up regular opportunities to remember the loved one you’ve lost.  If you’ve moved, work to establish new rhythms with old friends and support networks. Different people do “distance relationships” in different ways. Some people who live far away are great at calling or texting every week. Others aren’t, and it doesn’t mean they don’t care. Learn what each of your valued distance relationship needs to survive, and then let it take on that new form.

Who’s Your Hero?

By
Gary Thomas
-
communicating with the unchurched

It’s a cliché now for people to proclaim, “When I was a young boy, my dad was my hero. When I became a teenager, I realized he was an idiot. Now that I’m older, it’s amazing how much smarter he’s become.”

But what if that’s not true for you? What if your family hasn’t reached the conclusion that maybe you know what you’re doing? As a pastor in a time of great political polarization and even moral divide—where even the definition of what’s moral seems up for debate—this notion that eventually our kids will come around isn’t always true.  How do you keep your spiritual bearings then?

Or what do you do if you are (or were) married to a gaslighting spouse? You believe you’ve loved your spouse with supernatural love, forgiveness and forbearance, and still, somehow, in your spouse’s mind, you end up being the villain…

This speaks to the fundamental notion of who our hero is. If I am my own hero and others mistreat or even challenge me, I’m going to be tempted to resent or hate them. How dare they attack me? I’ll be less inclined to respond with grace, empathy, kindness and compassion because I’m going to make it all about me. The danger that so rarely gets talked about is that toxic people tempt us to become toxic when responding to their toxicity. Ambrose, an early church father, warned believers of this over 1600 years ago when he wrote, “He who irritates us and does us an injury is committing sin, and wishes us to become like himself.” If toxic people make us respond in a toxic way, they win.

This notion of “who’s my hero” also protects healthy self-love and combats noxious self-hatred. If I am my own hero and I don’t live up to my own standards, I may start hating myself. This is my constant temptation. Because of what I do as a writer, speaker, and pastor, I take character seriously. Even so, I know there are weak areas in my life and I resent them. I was telling a friend/counselor about a bent in myself that I loathe, and he shocked me when he responded, “What else would you choose?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“If you don’t want this weakness, what weakness or even sin would you replace it with?”

He had me. I was wishing for perfection. And why do I do that? I’m tempted to make myself the hero of my life. How long will it take me to learn the crucial lesson that my radical imperfection points me to Jesus, leading me to make Him the hero of my life? When I do that, I’m primed to be used by Him. But not one second before.

If Jesus is my hero, then when others mistreat me, I don’t have to make it about me, and I can love them in return and walk away without being obsessed with their opinion. Instead of fretting about them, I can meditate on God’s acceptance and affirmation and feel good instead of nasty.

If Jesus is my hero, even when I fail I’m newly grateful for God’s provision in Christ and turn to worship instead of self-loathing. My sin leads me to meditate on the heroic sacrifice of Jesus and the kindness and generosity of God’s forgiveness more than my rottenness. One leads to hope while the other leads to despair.

Because Paul’s hero was Jesus, he spoke with a ferocity and courage that so many of us lack today. Though he was challenged, attacked, and reviled, Paul reminds the Galatians that he is an apostle not because any human declares it so, or that he decided to become one himself. He calls himself an apostle “not from me or by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father” (Galatians 1:1). He testifies that Jesus is his hero when he describes Jesus as the One who gave himself “to rescue us from this present evil age.” And that sets up the courage Paul displays when Jesus is the hero of your life:  “For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or of God?…If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ” (Galatians 1:10).

In the end, it doesn’t matter what your parents, spouse, ex-spouse or your children think about you. Do what God has called you to do. Be who God has called you to be. Leave all evaluation with Him. Paul believed he was called by God to preach the message of God and accordingly was determined not to evaluate himself or his ministry by how he was accepted by women or men or even by himself.

If we don’t get to this place, we’re not of much use to God. Peter is such a powerful example of this. After experiencing so many miracles and hearing so many profound teachings from Jesus, he denied even knowing Him, just when it mattered most. This, after boldly proclaiming that even if the whole world turned against Jesus, Peter would never deny Him! Before the cross, Peter was clearly his own hero.

After he failed so spectacularly, Peter gets a little one-on-one time with Jesus. Jesus restores him, Peter realizes he’s not all that, and bathed in this new humility, just weeks after the greatest sin of his life, Peter preached a sermon at Pentecost that launched Christ’s church for all eternity.

If your spectacular fail leads you to make Jesus your hero, you could be on the brink of the greatest spiritual work of your life, something that will define you for all time.

I get a lot of email and comments on this blog from women and men who want me to give my blessing or agreement to a previous divorce. They want to be cleared, and sometimes go to great lengths to describe why they sought a divorce. It would be spiritual malpractice for me to set myself up as having the authority or knowledge to do that. I offer general principles, but in the end, we are all responsible to God for what we decide. Behind all this, however, is my belief that, regardless of what someone has done, I’m more concerned about what God is calling them to do, right now. Even if they have sinned, God can still use them. A lot of their insecurity may come from their desire to still be a “hero” to others: “Please don’t judge me for what I have done.” In many cases, that’s simply wasted energy.

I have been married for thirty-six years (today, as I write this!) so I’ve never been divorced.  But there are a lot of other things people could judge me for. That’s not the point! The point is that we can’t love others or ourselves or fulfill our mission before God as long as we remain our own heroes. If Jesus is our hero, and if the motive of our heart is to help everyone proclaim Jesus as the one true hero, we are on the launch pad ready to go into spiritual orbit. Buckle up your seat belt and watch as God lights the fire and leads the way.

This article originally appeared here.

Preaching Is More Than Exhortation

By
Bob Hostelter
-
communicating with the unchurched

Many preachers today seem to be reasonably adept at exhortation, telling their listeners what they should do, must do, need to do, etc. That is a key element in the preaching task (in fact, exhortation is a gift of the Spirit, according to Romans 12:8).

But exhortation alone isn’t enough.

Exhortation without identification, inspiration and application is unlikely to produce life change in the listener. And, of course, that is the goal (or should be) of all preaching. Let me explain what I mean by each of those terms.

Identification — Preacher, in the first few minutes of your sermon, your listener needs a compelling reason to pay attention, and there is no more compelling reason than for you to identify with his or her need. What John Watson (pen name: Ian MacLaren) wrote is true of church goers too: “Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” They enter your church with many needs, some of them huge: a faltering marriage, a wayward child, unemployment, a scary diagnosis, etc. The preacher’s earliest task is to identify with a person’s need in such a way that holds out a promise that he or she may just be better off in some way by the time the preacher concludes.

Inspiration — Another often neglected task in contemporary preaching is inspiration. That is, the preacher neglects to touch my emotions. It is good to smile or laugh, but it is better to feel my eyes water, my heart leap, or my soul shout. I’m not talking about emotionalism, but inspiration. The former is empty, the latter is critical for the preacher who wants to see lives changed.

Application — Finally, preacher, please give your listeners a helpful, practical way to put your exhortation into action. If you preached on loving one’s neighbor, challenge me to show that love in some practical way today or this week — perhaps by learning my neighbor’s name or mowing a neighbor’s lawn. If you preached on prayer, invite me to pray for 10 minutes each morning this week. If you preached on baptism, have the baptismal full and ready for a response. Urge an action on me. Give me a tool to live out your message through the coming week. Call it homework. Call it life application. Call it whatever you like, but please don’t let me leave church without having at least one answer to the question, “What am I supposed to do with this information?”

Joshua Harris Rethinks Telling People to Kiss Dating Goodbye

By
Megan Briggs
-
communicating with the unchurched

Do you remember the 1997 Christian book bestseller I Kissed Dating Goodbye? If you were a Christian teenager or young adult in the early years of the 21st century, chances are pretty good your youth group did a study on it. If you’ve been in ministry for a while, chances are equally good you led teens through a study on it.

The author of the book, Joshua Harris, was just 21 years old when he wrote it. Many have used this fact to discredit Harris and question the validity of the advice he gives in the book. After all, what advice could someone give another on relationships when that person hadn’t been in a significant one yet and had lived such a short time on earth?

Many found Harris’ idea to steer clear of dating until they were sure God had sent “the one” absolutely impractical. However, a decent number adhered to his advice, saving dating, pursuing, even kissing until after they had found “the one” they were sure would make good marriage material.

However, a lot of reports have surfaced in the recent years of young people who felt stifled and impaired by the advice given in the book. Many felt the book admonishing them to repress their sexuality and miss out on healthy relationships in their formative years. Some go so far as to say the book caused them to miss their chance at a happy marriage.

What does the author have to say about all this? Well, it looks like he’s starting to change his tune a little. According to Wikipedia, as early as 2005, Harris seemed to augment his stance. Addressing the congregation he was leading at the time (Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Md.), he admonished the young people to remedy the “lack of freeness between men and women in cultivating friendships.” In fact, he goes so far as to say men and women should go to coffee with one another, one on one even (scandalous!).

Harris recently spoke to NPR about his book and his changing views. He tells the interviewer, “I think the problem (laughter) when I wrote I Kissed Dating Goodbye is that I had not walked through that relationship yet myself. And I was—it was very speculative.” Harris claims he’s at a place now where he’d like to hear the feedback of those who feel they have been wronged by the teaching of the book. And while he doesn’t feel responsible for the extremes to which some groups took the message of his book, he is ready to process this feedback. Harris has set up a page on his website where readers can submit such feedback.

While one author “recanting” a book he wrote almost two decades ago may not seem like that big of a deal, it points to a bigger issue plaguing the church right now. A quick search on Google will reveal a lot of people who are disillusioned by the purity culture movement that Harris is partly responsible for creating.

The church is at a crossroads where it needs to step back, evaluate some of the teachings we’ve held about purity, sexuality and relationships, and carefully consider how God would have us revise. In the meantime, there is a lot of ministry to do among those who have been hurt by the overly legalistic purity culture movement. Not only have relationships with other people been impaired by this movement, but our understanding of God and his nature have also been affected.

New Blow to China’s Underground Church: Government Threatens to Bar Minors From College

By
Megan Briggs
-
China
http://barnimages.com/

Education is a big deal in China. Almost unanimously, parents in China believe their child’s only chance of success lies in education. Which is why a recent government notice in China’s central Guizhou province is causing quite the moral dilemma for Christian parents.

China Aid reports that a local government office gave parents attending a house church (another name for the underground, non-government sanctioned gathering of Christians) an ultimatum on June 23. The article states, “If children do not stop attending church, they will be barred from attending college or entering the military. Additionally, violators of the new regulation will be sued.”

The resistance to proselytizing minors by the Chinese government is nothing new. Official Chinese legislation prohibits anyone under the age of 18 from receiving religious education. This is such a staunchly held belief that even the Christians in China are hesitant to evangelize among minors. They are even more hesitant to do anything to disrupt a child’s education path. So the threat of the government denying education is a new low in this unfolding story.

It is unclear, according to China Aid, whether this legislation was ordered by the Beijing-based central government or was simply a power play by the local officials of Guizhou province. Mou, the leader of the Huaqiu Church in Guizhou province, asked a government official to see the regulations from the central government. The official did not produce any written orders, but instead responded, “The higher level leadership ordered us to do this; we are just doing [as they say].”

China Aid reports the church in Huaqiu was also prevented from holding its services June 28 and July 5.

The Chinese church is no stranger to persecution and strong-arming by local officials. However, this new threat is a low blow to parents trying to lead their children to the Lord while also ensuring a stable future for them through education. Furthermore, it will likely cause greater hesitation among Chinese Christians sharing their faith with minors.

Bible Answer Man: No, the COVID-19 Vaccine Is Not the ‘Mark of the Beast’

By
Jessica Lea
-
communicating with the unchurched

Could a COVID-19 vaccine be the “mark of the beast”? This was a question “Bible Answer Man” Hank Hanegraaff ran across recently. When Kanye West said the answer is “Yes” and added that having microchips inserted into our bodies will prevent us from getting into heaven, Hanegraaff thought the topic was worth addressing. 

“For millions of [West’s] followers, this is no small thing,” said Hank Hanegraaff on his July 13 broadcast. “If indeed being vaccinated is tantamount to taking on the mark of the beast, and if this in tandem with having a computer chip inserted into the body will keep someone out of heaven, this decision on the part of a Christian is suddenly one of the most, if not the most, significant decisions that person could possibly make.”

Hank Hanegraaff: This Is Misleading and Dangerous 

In an interview with Forbes about his 2020 presidential bid, Kanye West said, 

When they say the way we’re going to fix Covid is with a vaccine, I’m extremely cautious. That’s the mark of the beast. They want to put chips inside of us, they want to do all kinds of things, to make it where we can’t cross the gates of heaven. I’m sorry when I say they, the humans that have the Devil inside them. 

The term “mark of the beast” comes from Revelation 13, where John describes seeing a beast coming out of the earth to deceive the people of the world. The beast has power to perform signs and to lead people to worship a different beast that had previously arisen from the sea. The end of the passage says,

[The beast] also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.

It is not new for people to debate the meaning of the beast’s mark or of the number 666. The idea that the COVID-19 vaccine could be the “mark of the beast” (and that Bill Gates could be one of the primary people responsible for it) surfaced online even before West made his comments. While some might see people’s speculations on these topics as fringe theories not worth addressing, Hank Hanegraaff clearly believes they are concerning enough to confront on his show. And he finds West’s perspective to be “tenuously tethered to thin air” and “as misleading as it is dangerous.”

If we do not know how to interpret the Bible correctly, then we will interpret it in a way that is nonsensical, and other people will conclude that the Bible is nonsense. Hanegraaff said the reason he knows West is wrong is “by learning to read the Bible in the sense in which it is intended.” The mark of the beast is neither a vaccine, nor is it a microchip. Rather, said Hanegraaff, “The mark of the beast is obviously a parody of the mark of the Lamb.”

Revelation 14:1 says, “Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.”

Hanegraaff believes that just as the former mark symbolizes that people have identified with the beast, the latter mark symbolizes that people have identified with the Lamb. The Bible Answer Man pointed out that the location of the beast’s mark is on the right hand and the forehead, and the location of the Lamb’s mark is also on the forehead. Hanegraaff drew a connection between the areas where people receive their marks and a set of instructions God gave in the Law for the Israelites to commemorate that he set them free from slavery. 

In Exodus 13, God commands Israel to eat unleavened bread for seven days to remember what God has done for them. He tells Moses, “This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that this law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For the LORD brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”

According to Hank Hanegraaff, this is just one example of how foreheads and hands in the Old Testament are symbols of people’s beliefs and behavior. He concludes, therefore, that when it comes to the mark of the beast, “Identifying with Satan’s kingdom is what will keep you out of heaven, not being vaccinated.” 

Instead of fearfully avoiding vaccinations, Hanegraaff encouraged his listeners to “with fear and trembling, resist the temptation to be conformed to the evil systems of this world, systems that play fast and loose with biblical monikers and traffick in selling and sensationalism.” Rather than giving undue attention to the words of social icons, we should love and hunger for the words of God.

“How about loudly accepting the mark of the Lamb?” asked Hanegraaff. “How about offering up your body as a living sacrifice?” We do this by letting God’s word transform us. If we allow Scripture to shape us, those divine words will be a sign to us that God saved us from bondage to “superstitious ideologies” that hurt our witness to the world.

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