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What This Pastor Observed at the Atlanta Riot

By
Maina Mwaura
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Atlanta riot
Image courtesy of Maina Mwaura

One of the characteristics that journalists and ministers have in common is that we’re called not to make the story about us, which is why, as a Black man, writing about the riots and racial injustice in America is difficult. I have the privilege of wearing two hats in my career calling as a minister and journalist. There is a specific subject matter that needs to be shared when I wear my journalist hat, and there is a specific story of a Savior that needs to be shared when I wear my minister hat.

But the protests across our nation moved me to leave my house in Kennesaw, Georgia, and venture into the heart of Atlanta where riots were occurring. I wanted to learn why people, mainly those belonging to Generation Z, decided to riot and loot after what began as a peaceful protest about justice for George Floyd, a Black man who died after a White Minneapolis police officer pinned him down by his neck for several minutes. To be clear, I don’t think we should ever put ourselves in jeopardy, but I was compelled to better understand and connect with a hurting generation.

What I Learned About Gen Z From the Atlanta Riot

As a result of my experience that evening, I have uncovered seven distinct characteristics of this younger generation and how we should engage with them: 

  1. A Collective “I Can’t Breathe”: The book of Genesis ends on a high note for God’s people. Yet when we turn the page to the book of Exodus, it is clear that things have changed. Exodus 1:8 makes it known that a new generation knew nothing of Joseph and the God he served. Generational shift doesn’t always bring along the knowledge of past generations, nor the understanding of a new generation. 
Atlanta riot
Image courtesy of Maina Mwaura.

In speaking with some of the people during the Atlanta riot, it became obvious to me that they were hurting and wanted to be heard. I in no way condone violence, but we have to realize that in order to minister to this generation, we have to acknowledge and empathize with their hurt. This past week we all witnessed another life being brutally taken on social media and national TV. That is a lot to take in for a lot of people, and when a group of people is wounded, they may act out in hurtful ways. 

We must give them room to react.

  1. Unheard: When I left my house late that Friday night with my friend and security guard Reggie Fields, I asked the Lord to allow me to hear what people were saying. I’ve never been a part of a riot before. I will always remember the screaming, yelling, gunfire, and the sirens which are now forever etched in my mind.

When I asked why they were doing what they were doing, for many, it was to be heard. Although the protest began as an effort to seek justice after the tragic in-custody death of George Floyd, protestors are also working to fight for overarching racial justice and equality.

We must listen first—and listen a lot. 

  1. Anger: You don’t go from a peaceful protest to a full-blown riot without present anger. New mental health concerns, suicides, unknown futures, and myriad voices telling them what to believe is seemingly awakening a generation that is already angry. When I asked a young woman why she was acting out she yelled back, “I’m just angry.” I could see it in her eyes and demeanor. 

As politics bleeds into our calling as believers, and our posture on positions can cause the best of us to be frustrated or lash out, peace bridges barriers and communication gaps.

We must remain calm. 

  1. Entitlement: If anger is the mixture that breeds rioting, then entitlement is the mixture that spawns looting. As Cassandra ran toward me with a few boxes of stolen Jimmy Choo shoes in her hands, I asked her why she was stealing the shoes. She yelled back, “These are my shoes.” 

It hit me that some of the looters thought that what they were stealing was actually theirs. Somewhere their perspective of life allows them to believe that looting was the answer and okay to do because there was some debt to be repaid to them.

She Left Her Job to Help Sex Trafficking Survivors. This Is What She Learned.

By
Jessica Lea
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

The plight of women and children trapped in prostitution was not on Jeanne Allert’s radar until, about 13 years ago, when a group of people from a nearby church invited her to their street outreach in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. The experience of meeting women who were being sexually exploited and were in need of shelter care had a dramatic impact on Allert.

“It just struck me so profoundly,” she says. “It didn’t make sense that this would happen in America.”

One of the people Allert met was Heather. Heather had not come from a stereotypically rough background. She had grown up in a small town, the daughter of a single mother. Her mom’s boyfriend took a lot of interest in Heather, and he continued keeping in touch with her after he broke up with her mom. Eventually, he convinced Heather to run away with him. She was 14 years old. 

After Heather agreed to go with her mom’s ex-boyfriend, he trafficked her up and down the I-95 corridor for four years, during which time she became addicted to drugs. He left her on the streets of Baltimore once she was no longer of use to him. “That was around the time that I met her,” says Allert, “and that wrecked me.” 

So in 2007, Allert left her lucrative D.C. consulting company and used her savings to buy an abandoned 23-acre estate in Baltimore where she established The Samaritan Women (TSW), an organization that provides holistic, restorative care to women who have been trapped in domestic sex trafficking. Over the next decade, TSW would serve over 100 young women referred from across the country. Allert and her team developed their unique Care Model and began mentoring other agencies in this form of ministry.

The ‘tremendous gap’ in Shelter Care

“For the last 12 to 13 years,” says Allert, “we have been providing direct service to survivors of domestic sex trafficking who are referred to us from all over the country. About 22 different states have sent us young women.” 

What TSW does is commonly called “shelter care.” “Restorative care” is a term Allert’s organization coined for their particular model, one they are now teaching to others around the U.S. When TSW first started, people in the States were barely aware that domestic sex trafficking was occurring, much less how widespread the problem is. Even though there is greater awareness now, it is still difficult to find exact numbers of how many people are being exploited.

The University of Texas at Austin did a study in 2017 that reported 79,000 child victims in Texas alone. The same study found there has been “an estimated 846 percent increase in reports of child sex trafficking in the U.S. from 2010 to 2015, making it the fastest growing crime in the world.”

The University of Louisville in Kentucky released a study in 2019 that reviewed 698 cases of child sex trafficking in the state of Kentucky, and those were only cases that had been documented. Furthermore, the city of Atlanta is “one of the biggest hubs of sex trafficking nationwide.” One study found that 7,200 children are exploited every month just in that city.

So what does care look like for those who are being trafficked? As of March 2020, TSW has identified 136 shelters across the U.S. that serve those who have been sexually exploited. Sixteen states in the country have no shelter program at all, and 12 have only one. The shelters that do exist account for fewer than 1,100 beds. “So you look at those few studies that are starting to bubble up,” says Allert, “and the sheer number of victims, and those are just child victims, not even accounting for adults, and you can see there is a tremendous gap in shelter care.”

shelter care

A Four-Step Action Plan for Churches and Non-Profits to Restore Finances Following the Pandemic

By
John Madison
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

The coronavirus has created many challenges for families and businesses across our nation. The financial devastation caused by COVID-19 has been rapid and unprecedented. The sudden job losses for millions of American families have left many struggling with buying even the bare necessities.

Churches and non-profits are not immune to the downturn. Charitable donations are often the first spending to be cut and the last to return during a financial crisis. However, the monetary needs of churches not only continue during economic downturns but often increase as they help meet the needs of their community. As with families across America, non-profits need an action plan to pro-actively address their financial challenges and continue their vital work.  As C.S. Lewis once said, “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”

Serving as Treasurer and Board member for two non-profits, I know how difficult these times are for many charities.  So, here are some important steps for churches and other non-profits to consider as they deal with the pandemic.

Assess the situation.

Proverbs 27:23 instructs believers to, “Be diligent to know the state of your flocks and attend to your herds.”  This sage advice applies to the church as well.  No effective action plan can be created without an honest assessment of the current financial situation, so don’t forgo this important initial step.

First, pray for guidance and wisdom, and continue to do so. It’s important to act quickly, but also thoughtfully. Understand your situation by undertaking a genuine self-assessment. Where have spending needs increased? Are contributions down and if so, by how much? What unmet needs exist in your community?

Pull together the management team and Board of Directors to help prioritize the various church programs to cover critical ministries first, then proactively seek out options to help meet those key programs.

Improve cash flow.

Once the initial assessment is complete, steps can be undertaken to improve the cash flow for the church. Here are several strategies to consider:

  • Speed up the collection of donor pledges. Some families may be able to accelerate their promised donations if they are made aware of the need.
  • Speak to the donors of restricted funds about converting the restricted dollars to unrestricted. Perhaps a donor gave funds for a building project, scholarship fund, or upcoming mission trip. Ask if they would consider releasing the restriction so the funds could be used for any pressing need of the church.
  • For ticketed events that have been canceled, ask ticket purchasers if they would donate the ticket price instead of receiving a refund.
  • Contact key funders about increasing or accelerating their giving in this time of need.
  • Teach giving strategies that many not impact the donor’s immediate cash flow. Such strategies include donating appreciated securities, giving via a donor-advised fund, and Qualified Charitable Contributions.
  • Create and publicize multiple ways for donors to give. These would include mailing checks or dropping them off at the church, encouraging the use of bank bill-pay services, and offering on-line giving options that donors can use from their smartphone or computer. Put instructions and links for giving on your church web site.
  • Reduce or eliminate non-mission-critical expenses. For instance, many Sunday school classes are not meeting. Can subscriptions for class materials be temporarily halted to save money or to redeploy to more pressing needs?
  • Collaborate with nearby churches to share non-financial resources. For example, combining purchasing may reduce the overall cost, while technology resources (such as those used for the recording or broadcasting of services) may be shared to eliminate duplicate expenditures.
  • Many lenders are allowing skip payments on mortgages and other loans, often with no fees. Check with your lenders to discuss options.

Utilize recent stimulus programs.

Congress and many states have passed legislation recently to help deal with the financial crisis. For example, churches and other non-profits are eligible for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to help with expenses. Some or all of the loan may be forgiven for expenditures on eligible expenses (payroll, rent, mortgage interest, and utility costs). If staff layoffs are necessary, enhanced unemployment benefits are available to support affected employees. Research the options available in your state and locality.

Commit to better preparation.

The United States had not been affected by a widely-spread pandemic in over 100 years, so, understandably, many families, businesses, and non-profits were less than fully prepared for COVID-19.  Eventually, our nation’s health and the economy will recover.  It’s important, however, that we don’t lose sight of the lessons learned.  Winston Churchill once stated, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”  Let it not be said of us that we failed to learn from the impact of the coronavirus.  Every family, business, and non-profit should commit to stronger budgeting, building larger financial reserves, and eliminating debt once this crisis passes.

Your Conscience Is a Gift From God. But It’s Not God.

By
J.D. Greear
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

When Paul talks about wisdom in areas where Scripture is not clear, he makes it clear that unity is more important than uniformity. Many Christians would agree. But this is easier said than done. And this emphasizes the importance of our conscience.

For instance, when asked if it’s OK for Christians to read or watch Harry Potter, some in the church would say, “It’s clearly witchcraft. In fact, some of the terms come straight from the occult. So no, we should avoid any hint at Satanism.” Others say, “It’s just fantasy, like The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. The characters in Harry Potter even celebrate Christmas, so they are clearly not Satanists.”

Or if the topic of yoga comes up, some quickly point out that’s it’s a Buddhist practice that in its original formulations is about clearing your mind and finding oneness with the things around you, and that’s not Christian. Others contend that yoga is just good stretching, and there’s nothing anti-Christian about letting your mind rest, attempting to eliminate distractions and be more present to the moment. (For others, of course, the more contentious issue is over yoga pants … a topic for another day.)

I could go on and on. Public school vs. homeschool. Alcohol vs. teetotalling. We may not argue about eating meat sacrificed to idols (like people did in Paul’s day), but there are hundreds of secondary issues we fight over.

Paul’s instructions on how to handle these conflicts in the church would be to first obey your conscience:

“Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind. Whoever observes the day, observes it for the honor of the Lord. Whoever eats, eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; and whoever does not eat, it is for the Lord that he does not eat it, and he gives thanks to God.”

– Romans 14:5–6 CSB

Whatever you do, you should be able to do it as an offering to God. Can you listen to this kind of music, watch this popular movie series, participate in this activity as an offering to God?

Be fully convinced you can, because, here’s the thing: If you feel like something is wrong (even if it’s not wrong in itself), and you do it anyway, it’s wrong to you: “But whoever doubts stands condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith, and everything that is not from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23).

For example, if I give someone a thumbs-up gesture, that’s not likely to be offensive. Most people in the U.S. see that as a symbol meaning, “Good job.” But if, for whatever reason, I thought giving a thumbs-up was an insult, and then I went around showing everyone my thumb, I’d be sinning. Even though a thumbs-up isn’t inherently immoral, it’s damaging to my soul to act against the urging of my conscience.

We don’t talk about conscience much anymore, and that’s a tragedy because your conscience is a gift from God. It’s a type of moral intuition where you know something before you can articulate it—a kind of “sixth sense.” It goes beyond head knowledge. In other words, before your head knows something, your heart feels it.

If your conscience is a gift of God, then numbing it is dangerous. When you get used to doing what your heart feels is wrong, you’ll gradually tear it apart until doing wrong doesn’t even feel wrong anymore.

But your conscience, while a gift from God, is not God.

Paul tells the Romans that while they should obey their conscience, they should also be open to having it reformed. Your conscience is from God, but it can still go wrong. Sometimes God needs to challenge what we consider right and wrong in an attempt to reform our conscience.

I’ve experienced this a few times in my life (and probably will more in years to come). For instance, the Christian school I grew up in taught me that any kind of rock beat in music was sinful. Syncopation was of the devil. Putting Christian words to it didn’t help; it was like serving a T-bone steak on a plate of manure.

Later, even after I knew in my head that wasn’t true, my heart would still feel guilty when we’d sing a song in church with a drumbeat in it.

My conscience had to grow in the truth.

It bothered Peter’s conscience to eat with Gentiles. He’d grown up thinking that was impure. Paul told him in Galatians 2 that his conscience was wrong and needed to get more in line with the gospel.

If we really want unity in the church, we have to be humble enough to learn from another Christian that does not see something the way we do. And that means listening. Really listening, not for flaws in the argument, but for understanding.

What kind of great witness could the church be if its people were willing to listen to each other and change their minds? When we are humble enough to listen and secure enough in our identity in Christ to be wrong, we are modeling a law of love that pursues the kingdom of God through “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).

This article originally appeared here.

5 Expectations of the Post-Pandemic Church

By
James Emery White
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

There will be no going back to a pre-pandemic church. This is because those who were reached during the pandemic and those we hope to reach when it’s over will demand something different. In fact, the nature of the divide between a pre-pandemic church and a post-pandemic church will be about what people will expect from a church.

Here are five expectations that people will have of your post-pandemic church:

1. The post-pandemic church will put safety first. 

People will expect churches, along with all other retail, sports and entertainment venues, to implement any and every “safe” practice. Whether it’s disinfecting or sanitizing, distancing or taking temperatures, there will be the expectation that all that can be done, should be done.

2. The post-pandemic church will have an ongoing online presence.

People will expect an ongoing, robust online presence for churches. Countless numbers of churches were forced online in recent months; the expectation is that churches will stay there. Not solely there, of course, but the expectation that you will continue to be available online will be assumed. As one woman recently said to me regarding the online book discussion group she had joined through The Grounds (our bookstore and café), “You are going to keep those after this is over, aren’t you?” Before the pandemic, all of our book discussion groups met in person. After the pandemic, we most certainly will continue to offer them online.

3. The post-pandemic church will continue to allow their “attending” to include the virtual.

People will naturally vacillate between online and in-person offerings (i.e., virtual and physical), feeling that either of the two options are not only acceptable, but equal in terms of counting as having… well, attended. Churches will want to lift high the value of physical presence in community with others while simultaneously understanding that a digital revolution has taken place. Attending an event will increasingly be seen as either: a) attending in person or, b) attending online. People will choose based on the desired experience, readiness to surface physically and, even among your core, that week’s life circumstances.

4. The post-pandemic church will make their interaction with you “phygital.”

Let’s camp out on this one. The word phygital has grown out of the necessity for the seamless flow between the physical and the digital. As an article on Bizcommunity put it in relation to the retail world:

Innovative phygital business models, where bricks and mortar and digital seamlessly integrate, are popping up across the globe. But the best phygital experiences still remain aligned with old-school sales strategies: customer attraction, retention, engagement, experiences, loyalty and the brand itself. The factors that keep shifting are shopping behaviour and new technology. The upshot is: to keep in the retail game, phygital is the way to go and it’s currently an adapt or die situation. 

I really like how that was worded. In the phygital model for the church, working to have a seamless integration between the physical and the digital, the “old-school” best practices we must retain (using church terms) are church growth, assimilation, discipleship and serving.

Think of someone being introduced to your church through an online service. Could some of that online experience be seamlessly integrated into their (hopeful) physical attendance? For example, think of having children’s ministry check-in handled online and an app that offers additional content or learning in light of that weekend’s message. Or maybe opportunities for people to attend a service in person, but then be a part of a virtual small group to dive deeper into the content of the series.

5. The post-pandemic church will make sure their physical experience matches the virtual experience.

Actually, I should have rephrased that. The expectation will be that the physical experience at least matches the virtual experience. I’ve noticed that many churches are “importing” their online service, using videos and even worship/music from outside sources that did not originate with them. I get it. Everyone is scrambling. But be careful… this could prove to be a “bait and switch” turn-off of epic proportions when the pandemic is over.

There are obviously more post-pandemic expectations than these, but let these five at least start your thinking. Why? Because all of the growth you’ve had over the last three months has been online. When you reopen, the bulk of your “first-time” guests (read first-time physical guests) will be those reached online.

And the only church they’ve known has been a virtual one.

Sources

Eben Esterhuizen, “Phygital: 6 Ways to Adapt, or Die,” Bizcommunity, April 30, 2019, read online.

This article about the post-pandemic church originally appeared here.

How to Have an Online Game Night

By
Steve Cullum
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

I love games! I love people. And I love bringing them together, which is why I absolutely love game nights! But sometimes you can’t come together like you want. If only there was a way to have a game night another way…like an online game night.

Video games have been a huge hobby of mine ever since I was around 4 years old and trying to figure out is bingo clash legit. I love playing them with friends, either in person or online. Sometimes, I even like watching others play video games online (something I never thought I’d find myself saying, but it’s true). That idea actually brings us to the solution for an online game night. You can stream party-games and people can play along from their own homes.

I wanted to share my setup with you, but know there are a number of ways to pull it off with different equipment. This is just what I happen to have, and it works really well. (Check the very end of this post for other ideas to save money.)

Important note: If you’re going to do this, you need high speed internet. If you’re trying to stream a game using DSL or something fairly slow, you and those playing will not have a good experience. If you want a good stream, you need to have at least a 3 Mbps upload speed.

Choose Your Game
The first thing you need to do is figure out what game or games you will play. I highly recommend ones that can involve more people. The Jackbox Party Packs are great for something like this. Everyone can follow along on their own phone or tablet from wherever they are, and each pack has a variety of different games and settings for family-friendly filters (starting with pack 3) and the ability to lengthen the game timer for online play like this. Players will not need their own copy of the game. They will just go to jackbox.tv their internet browser and type in the on-screen code given in the game. Each game has a limited number of players (usually 6-10 people), but almost all of their games allow extra players to join the audience and still play along, even affecting the outcome of the game, without competing. So you could actually have around 10,000 people playing together!

Game System or Computer
After you decide on the game, you need to decide what system you are going to use to play it. This will also determine some of your other equipment. If we continue with the suggestion of Jackbox, you could play it on the major video game consoles (Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Xbox One, and Sony PlayStation 4) or even your computer. Once you purchase and download the game, you are ready to setup your stream.

NOTE: If you plan to play on a game system, move to the next step. If you are playing from a computer, you can skip to the following step, Streaming Software.

Capture Card
This is where it kind of gets tricky for those who are not computer savvy. In order to get your game onto your computer, you need something called a capture card. There are a number of them on the market. I use a GameCapture HD60 S+ from Elgato. This one is easy to use, because it connects to your computer via USB. You’ll need to connect the output from your game system to capture card, and then connect the output from that to your computer. You can also have another output to a second monitor if you want, but the HD60 S+ allows for fast pass-through and no lag, so the second monitor isn’t needed.

Streaming Software
Once you have your hardware setup, you need to move on to the software. There are a number of options available. Some are free, and some will set you back a bit. If you get an Elgato GameCapture card, you can use their software called Game Capture HD, which works on both Mac and Windows PCs. If you’re using a game system, once you start up the software and turn on your game system, it will see your game screen on your computer. If you are using your computer for the game, just make sure the game is running, and it will also pop up within the streaming software. At this point, you will enter your login information within the software. If using Game Capture HD, it is on the right side of the screen. You can also add multiple overlays to your stream if you want to put your webcam or an image on there, but this is not necessary. You can also stream your voice if you want, but this is also not necessary.

You can also stream other ways using screen-sharing (see the cost-saving options at the bottom of this post).

Streaming Location
Today, you are able to stream to a number of platforms. YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, and others all give you the ability to livestream. Pick whatever platform works best for your audience. Twitch was made for streaming games. YouTube is really good too. Facebook isn’t the best, as it has a longer delay, but it still works. You just need to let the people know what they see on their Facebook account could be 15-20 seconds behind the actual game, so plan accordingly. YouTube and Twitch’s delay is usually much less. If you don’t have an account, of course, you will need to create one first.

Time to Stream
Once you have everything setup, and you’ve tested it a few times, it’s time to plan the event. Let people know where to go to find the stream. If you choose Facebook, it will be easy to keep your stream limited to friends only. If you choose YouTube, maybe you want to keep the video “unlisted” to keep random people from jumping in your game. Twitch doesn’t allow you to make your stream private, though, so take that into account when planning. If you are playing a game like Jackbox, make sure everyone has two devices in front of them: one to watch the stream and one to play. I recommend a computer or tablet for the stream and a phone or iPod to play.

Chatting
When everyone is logged on, encourage them to connect with each other throughout the game. Each streaming service has a chat room attached to your stream. You can also choose to use something like Discord, Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, Skype, or Zoom to initiate a conference call if you would rather hear each other’s voices.

Cost-Saving Suggestions
Like I said, the above setup is what I have, and I regularly stream games. But I know that it will cost you some money. Maybe you’re not ready to spend that kind of cash on something you will not use all the time. Below are a few ideas to consider if you’re on a tighter budget:

  • If you don’t have a game system, consider using your computer, rather than buying an entirely new system. Most basic computers today are fast enough to run games like the Jackbox Party Packs.
  • Use a streaming software like OBS (Open Broadcaster Software). It is a bit more difficult to learn, but it is free.
  • Game systems like Xbox and PlayStation do allow you to stream your game directly from the system, itself. So this might be a good option for you if you want to avoid the capture card. You just won’t be able to stream to Facebook from those systems.
  • If you want to avoid streaming software altogether, consider getting everyone on a video conference app like Skype. Then use the screen-share function to share the game window with everyone on the call.
  • If you are okay with limiting it to just 10 people, Discord just added screen-sharing abilities to its app, so you could share your computer screen there too.

I have had several fun online game nights, and I hope these instructions help you have them too. If you need further clarification on anything I’ve mentioned in this article, please feel free to contact me or leave me a comment down below. I would love to help you in any way I can.

Oh, and be sure to invite me to your next online game night!!!!

NOTE: All Amazon links found in this article are my affiliate links.

This article about online game night originally appeared here.

What Does a Healthy Christian Look Like?

By
Matt Brown
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

Just because someone calls himself a Christian doesn’t mean they are a good representation of Jesus…that they are a healthy Christian. In fact, all of us who call ourselves Christians fail in different ways to represent the amazing love, grace and purity of Jesus.

There are so many misrepresentations and misunderstandings of Christianity in the world. This is to be expected, because there are a lot of us who call ourselves Christians around the world. But it should be the goal of every Christian to walk true to the characteristics that Christ would call out of our lives.

D.L. Moody stated, “Out of 100 men, one will read the Bible, the other 99 will read the Christian.” We are walking representations of Jesus to the world around us, and even to our own families.

It should be our highest aim to be a healthy Christian and represent Jesus well. 

So what does a healthy Christian look like? When I say healthy, I’m referring not to physical health, but to someone who represents Jesus well—in a healthy and true way.

Here are nine characteristics of a healthy Christian—of someone who represents Jesus well:

1. Peaceful & full of mercy

You might get the hint from some Christians that God is pleased when we tirade and rant about everything in culture. But the Bible tells us that “the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17). A healthy Christian may speak out at times to culture, but they don’t spend all their time doing this—they are most focused on being people of peace and mercy.

2. Lives in community with other Christians

A healthy Christian loves to do life and grow together with other Christians. If a Christian can’t seem to get along with others, then they are immature in their faith in Christ. (The Bible speaks multiple times about spiritual maturity, and how some Christians are immature, and others are mature.) (see 1 John 4:20)

How to Shut Down Gossip in Your Church

By
Erik Raymond
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

It seems that sometimes we deal with sin in the church with the same approach that the government deals with terrorism: It is impossible to remove it completely so we just kind of have to accept it and do our best to keep people safe.

Buttressed up against this common practice is the biblical teaching that sin is devastating. Let’s not forget that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), the price paid for redemption from sin is death (Rom. 5:6), the reality for the a believer is that they are dead to sin (Rom. 6:11), and the ongoing priority for Christians is to put sin to death (Rom. 8:13; Col. 3:5; Heb. 12:1-2). This includes all sin. Every. Single. One.

GOSSIP IS SPIRITUAL NO MAN’S LAND

Gossip is one sin that seems to fall in the spiritual “No-Man’s Land” between passivity and vigilance. But this should not be. Gossip is the RPG that blasts holes in the fabric of the church. The way I see it, every time someone gossips they injure at least three people: the one speaking, the one hearing and the one being gossiped about. Add to this that gossip is usually not a one-time deal but rather involves multiple conversations, and we can quickly see how this is the Devil’s Ponzi scheme for getting rich on disunity and providing quick returns to those seeking to gratify the flesh.

GOSSIP IS BAD, AND DEEP DOWN WE KNOW IT

Let’s be honest; we know what gossip is. It is speaking about someone in a way that defames, dishonors or otherwise hurts their character. Sometimes it is subtle, like grumbling about someone, and other times it is loud, like ranting about someone. Further, sometimes the content of what is said is true, other times it is not. Either way, the person hearing does not need to know the information, they don’t benefit from it. And, most times it is not actionable; they are are not going to go and help the person, instead they are just going to tuck away the information for selfish use.

Gossip and its cousins—slander, divisive speech and deceitful speech—are roundly rebuked in the Scriptures (Ps. 101:5). Instead of cutting people down with verbal assassinations, we are to give words of life and grace (Eph. 4:29).

I don’t think we need to convince people of what it is, but we can bring an awareness of how God feels about it and how destructive it is in the life of the church. We need to know what to do about it. We need to know how to shut it down.

HOW TO SHUT DOWN GOSSIP

(1) Refuse it.

The obvious first step to shutting down gossip would have to be to convince people of how God views gossip. We can do this by intentionally putting it before people. We can remind people in sermons, conversations and prayer of the destructiveness of gossip. This is simply calling attention to it. Instead of being passive (not talking about it), we need to be active, without becoming preoccupied by it.

A Few Thoughts on Gospel Tracts

By
Alvin Reid
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Father’s Day program ideas for church
Gospel Tracts.
I like them. Some hate them. Many use them, while others avoid them.
I read once where Spurgeon said more had been won to Christ with gospel tracts than through any other tool. From John Wesley, who with Whitefield and others printed all sorts of evangelistic literature, to online evangelistic sites utilized today, gospel tracts have been used by many for good.
I have certainly led more people to faith in Christ with tracts than any other approach outside preaching the gospel from a pulpit. I am a big fan.
Now I am not a fan of tract bombs where you go into an area and engage very little with actual people, choosing to leave literature in the place of investment into lives. I tell my students to give tracts to actual people not to windshields of cars!
Let’s face it, there are also some really lousy tracts out there.  In my Evangelism Handbook I note these reminders about tracts (and note it is TRACT not TRACK like a railroad track):

1.         Never use a tract you haven’t read. (Some are weak theologically.)

2.         Brevity is desirable. There is a difference between a tract and a book.

3.         Use tracts that are attractive.

4.         Be enthusiastic about the contents.

5.         Be sure the tract sets forth the facts of the gospel.

6.         The tract should explain the process by which a person becomes a Christian.

My favorite now is The Story tract. Check it out online at www.viewthestory.com. I will be saying a lot more about this as the materials for training in a local church are available and I cannot wait to begin training more believers to share the greatness of God’s story of redemption with the lost and with each other!  I also wrote a little booklet for SEBTS called “Life’s Biggest Question.”

Tracts are a great tool when you genuinely do not have much time to share your faith like at a busy restaurant when you seek to talk to the server (and while you are leaving a great tip!).  They should never be the only way we share Christ, but they are effective in certain settings and are especially useful in teaching others how to share Christ.

The following story comes from an email sent by a student in my evangelism class just this semester. I get these all the time but asked permission to share this one to illustrate an effective use of a gospel tract.  Note both the explanation of the gospel and the demonstration of the gospel, both of which matter:

Dr. Reid:
When I started this semester in Evangelism I got 2 packets of your “Life’s Biggest Question” tract. I had two of them left in my purse this weekend as I headed home from the airport from taking my son, daughter-in-law and husband.
I saw a family stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire ( they were headed in the opposite direction as I was headed away from the airport on 540).
I saw children and a wife and a man trying to flag someone down to help them.
I got off at next exit, prompted by the Holy Spirit, and flipped back around and pulled over. It was a muslim family from Pakistan,
I saw luggage and knew they were trying to catch a flight….it was the mother headed to Pakistan, in an hour and half. I asked if I could take her to airport, and the father reluctantly agreed. He asked if the 14 year old son could go with his mother while they waited for the patrolman they had called to arrive. He asked me to just take them and the son could stay at the airport and he would come get him.
(the son was A VERY respectful and mature 14 year old young man).
I took the mom and the son and she kept thanking me….she was very difficult to understand (broken English, but the son ” MOE” understood and interpreted for her.) She hugged me at the terminal and thanked me over and over…I told her that it was because of JESUS that I had turned around and handed her your tract to read on the plane.
Then I headed back home and passed the dad still stranded with a patrolman there and I stopped again, knowing that he had no way to get the 14 year old from airport because the car had to be towed. I asked him if he would like me to go back and get his son, and he reluctantly but very thankfully said yes. I went back to airport and picked up “MOE”. I headed back with him to meet his dad and the tow truck had come and taken the man and the little girl with the tow truck. The patrolman waited for me to return with the little boy. In route I asked him a few spiritual questions.  I asked him if they read the Bible or the Koran…he said the Koran. He told me they had a prayer place in their home.
He had a bag that his mom had given him at the airport and he put it on the seat next to him.When I pulled over the patrolman told me he would take Moe to his dad where they had towed the car to repair the tire. Moe got out and left the bag. Before he got out i gave him my cell because he said that they had no family here. He left the bag in the car. I got almost back to Wake Forest when the dad called and told me he was sorry his son had left the bag. I told him that was OK and that  I would bring it to them as they had no transportation.
They were waiting at the MCDonald’s across from the tire repair place. He asked me come in and eat with them but I told him I had to get home, but I wanted to tell him that he had VERY respectful children, and what a blessing it had been to meet them. He kept thanking me. I said it’s not me that Jesus had prompted my heart to pull over and handed him the last tract! He said I know–you are different, he said. He asked me if the children could call me. I said certainly!
So, there on the side of the road God ordained a divine appointment with a Muslim family to see Christ in love and now they are reading the tracts….please pray…I have the  opportunity to share more with them.
Thought you would love that story! God is so good…and the gospel such good news!
Yes, the gospel is good news. Good news worth sharing. Let’s be doing that.

Free Memory Game: Noah’s Ark

By
Daniel So
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

Free Memory Game

Play this fun matching game with your preschool kids as you teach them the story of Noah.

From Christian Preschool Printables, “Children can match the male and female animals to make a pair. Mount one set to the file folder and cut out the matching animals as playing pieces.”

Get Download Now

Resource provided by Christian Preschool Printables 

Download Instructions: To download this resource, right-click on the appropriate link (e.g., “Noah’s Ark Memory Pocket” or “Noah’s Ark File Folder Game Page 1”) and choose “Save As.”

Spiritual Authority … To Appeal or Command?

By
Jared Olivetti
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

On either side of the equation, spiritual authority is not an easy thing. Submitting to authority requires humility alien to our prideful hearts. And using authority well requires a selflessness equally alien. For parents and and husbands and elders, for people given spiritual authority over others, what do we do with that authority?

…though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you…
Philemon 8-9

Rehoboam may be the best example of the worst use of authority in Scripture (see 1 Kings 12). Ascending to the throne after his father Solomon, he had to ponder (like all leaders) what type of leader he was going to be. Authoritarian? Gentle and winsome? He had two sets of counselors pulling him in two directions. The first set – those who had served Solomon’s great building projects with their blood, sweat and tears – urged him toward gentleness and kindness. The second set – Rehoboam’s hotheaded peers – urged him toward greater control, reigning through authority and fear. He chose the second and the nation of Israel was immediately split in two. There are times for kings and leaders to command; but there are also times to not command.

Next to Jesus, Paul may be the Bible’s best example of how to handle spiritual authority with wisdom and care. No one could accuse Paul of being weak, timid or unwilling to say hard things. But rather than writing letters filled with orders and commands (which his apostolic authority gave him the right to do), he wrote letters filled with sound arguments, passionate care, and a Jesus-centered winsomeness. The verse quoted above is a perfect example. In writing to his friend Philemon, Paul had the apostolic authority to order the release of Onesimus from slavery. But for “love’s sake,” he chose the path of appeal.

The cost of appealing rather than commanding is real. When leaders choose appeal over command, we are allowing for various outcomes and acknowledging we might not get our way. There’s an uncertainty in appeal, which is one way godly leaders show their trust in God. Another cost of appealing is holding our ideas with a loose grip, being willing to actually engage in conversation with some willingness to be moved from our position. Finally, appealing is simply much harder than commanding. A command takes one or two sentences. An appeal takes several paragraphs.

There is a time and place for commands rather than appeals. But there are many more times when appealing is the best way to use authority. When children are young, parents are wise to use their authority to command often, especially to guard children against danger and foolishness. But as those children grow, there ought to be a conscientious switch to winning their hearts toward wisdom rather than commanding blind obedience. Likewise in a congregation. In the RPCNA, our constitution makes it clear that elders have authority over all parts of a church’s life and ministry. So elders could simply say, “This is the way it’s going to be,” without allowing any questions or conversation. But wise elders will save their “command authority” for when it’s absolutely necessary and choose instead to lead by example, by kindness, by genuine pastoral care, and by winsomeness. This will take a lot more effort, humility and faith. But it will be worth it.

This article about spiritual authority originally appeared here.

How Senior Adults Can Love the Church During COVID-19

By
Melissa Edgington
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

One thing that I’ve noticed amid all of the craziness of this pandemic is that senior adults are some of the least concerned about it. I think it has to do with a certain perspective that seniors get as they grow older, especially when they believe in the Lord and have hope for their eternal future. I have always maintained that we give senior adults too little credit when we should be learning from their long faith journey, listening more and following their example. In this case, many senior adults have no fear about this virus because they have been proven by the Lord through the years that when it’s their time to go, it’s their time, and they truly don’t worry about it. I admire their trust in God. I don’t begrudge them in any way the freedom that they feel to go where they please and do what they please. They are, in fact, free in this country to make choices and to do what they will when it comes to this strange time in history. But I would like to submit to you that senior adults can specifically show love to their church by generously deferring to the preferences of those who are concerned about them.

As our churches start to take baby steps toward normalcy, pastors and other leaders are trying their hardest to establish and follow guidelines that will help the church be a safer place for all who choose to attend inside the building. These guidelines are for everyone’s benefit, but as we have seen again and again as this virus has progressed, the senior adult population is by far the most vulnerable. Most seniors I know don’t like to be qualified as seniors. But the truth is that if you’re over 65 we’re implementing a lot of these guidelines specifically to try to keep you from becoming a sad statistic. This has nothing to do with politics or fear-mongering. It’s simply about love and care for you and for our church as a whole.

With that in mind, seniors, we need you to take the lead in carefully following the guidelines that your church prescribes. We need you to be the examples to all of us in laying aside your freedom to hug or to sit in your usual spot, to defer to the concerns that some others may have that you don’t.

Imagine that you come to church and a younger friend there is unknowingly infected. (This has happened in churches all over the U.S.) Your friend is concerned about keeping distance just in case, but you hug him anyway because you aren’t worried about it. Now consider how your friend will feel when he realizes he was actually sick when you two hugged. When you give up, just for a little while, your preference for hugging and handshaking, you are loving your church in a special way, and you’re making things so much easier on your poor pastor and other leaders who are carrying the burden of trying to make the church safe and comfortable as we return to our buildings.

I feel and hear the frustrations that many senior adults have as they see the ways that churches are taking extra precautions. Many feel like it’s all unnecessary at best, and politically motivated at worst. But please know that in churches all over this country, pastors and other leadership are agonizing over the responsibilities that they have to do this in the proper way, to listen to the experts, to follow recommendations, and ultimately to do what is best for ALL of their people, all the while knowing that no one will be perfectly satisfied with their plans and solutions.

Our senior adults can make the entire process easier, with less contention and with more preference for one another, if you will lead us in love. Cheerfully submit to the guidelines that your church lays out, even if it’s extremely frustrating. We need your leadership in this area. One of the main ways you can love the church right now is by letting the church love you.

This article originally appeared here.

Is Your Church Lying About Making Evangelism a Priority?

By
Greg Stier
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

“You shall not bear false witness.” — The 9th Commandment

I’ve always been interested in church mission statements. They can range from typical (“to know him and make him known”) to transformational (“We strive to proclaim the Good News of Christ through worship, ministry and outreach missions.”) As I think about it, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a church’s mission statement that doesn’t make evangelism a central priority in one way or another.

But when it comes to evangelism, a mission statement can turn from big black letters on a church marquee to a little, white lie that the church is telling the community. Strike that … it’s a big lie. If a church claims to be making evangelism a central priority and the people in that church are not actively sharing their faith, then the mission statement of that church is not just a joke, it’s a lie.

I know. I know. These are bold words. But they are not meant to make you angry but to get you thinking. Think about it. If we are proclaiming to the members of our congregation and community that evangelism is a primary purpose via our church’s mission statement, and we are not making it a central priority of our church’s programs and budgets, then that mission statement is a lie.

If evangelism is a central priority in a church, then it would seem to me that evangelism training should be central, as well. The people in that congregation should be consistently challenged and equipped to proclaim the good news of Jesus. If it were a priority, then wouldn’t ministry leaders be lovingly and consistently held accountable to share their faith just like they are held accountable for personal holiness or to show up for meetings they are leading?

In a church truly aligned with their evangelistic mission statement, wouldn’t that priority into the Sunday morning program, just like worship, fellowship, teaching, communion and offering does? The average church would never consider missing taking the offering as part of their Sunday morning services, but how many miss giving the gospel and/or challenging their people to do the same during the week?

To gauge whether or not your church is lying about its priority of evangelism when it comes to their mission statement, here are some questions to ask:

1. Have you been equipped by your church to effectively share your faith, and is someone in your church holding you accountable to do it? As a result, how often are you evangelizing in your own neighborhood, workplace, school and circle of friends?

2. How often is your pastor and church leadership personally sharing their faith with others (not counting the times they share the gospel from the pulpit or in a Sunday school class) and sharing the stories with the church congregation to inspire them to faithfully share the gospel as well?

3. How many resources (time, talent and treasure) are being deployed by your church to mobilize God’s people for personal evangelism?

4. Have sporadic outreach meetings (Easter, Christmas, etc.) replaced the push for relational evangelism in your church?

5. How much of your church’s numeric growth is due to newly converted people versus just Christian people trying to find a new church?

6. How much effort is being put into training teenagers and children to share their faith since they are most open to the gospel demographically?

7. On a scale from 1 to 10, how much is evangelism a true priority as opposed to a stated priority in your church, in your opinion?

These tough questions deserve honest answers.

To the Bride of Christ

By
Andrew Hess
-

Nurturing Spiritual Development and Prayer in a Child

By
Jody Capehart
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

Children have a natural sense of wonder about God. It is through relationships and experiences that we nurture this tender heart towards God and the things of God. Love, consistency, and trust form the fertile soil for their image of God to grow into a healthy relationship and a firm foundation for faith.

My God Is So Big!

Children respond best to understanding about God by the relationship they have in those early years, especially with their parents. Their image of God is formed by experiences.

Children are concrete learners. They can see, hear, touch, and feel Mommy and Daddy. Mommy and Daddy are big. Mommy and Daddy love them, care for them, provide for them, and protect them. Then they learn that God is bigger still, so God must really love, care for, and protect them.

Their image of God continues to be formed by their experiences, and as they grow, and their experiences change, their image of God is reshaped and redefined.

God Is About Relationships

God is about relationships—that is why He gave us Jesus. God is love. Children learn about God’s love by the way parents cherish them in these early years.

Young children have a natural sense of wonder about God. Children are born with a readiness for faith but need an environment of love and care for that faith to grow with them as their developmental understanding grows. Children who receive consistent, loving care see God as the one who loves them.

Are You Qualified to Teach Your Child Spiritual Truths?

Studies show that parents often feel they are not qualified to teach their children spiritual truths. The good news is that it is here where parents have the home court advantage. What children need most is what parents do best, and that is to simply love their children. This provides the soil for spiritual development and maturity to take root.

When parents love and genuinely cherish their child and show that they are trustworthy, children attribute these qualities to God as well. Deuteronomy 6 encourages parents to be teaching God’s Word to their children as they go about all of the normal activities of family life.

Parents Are the Mirror

As parents, you are the mirror that reflects God to your child. You don’t have to be a theologian; just be who you are, the one who loves your child the most. God is love and loves relationships, and that is what you are to your child.

A Tip for Single Parents:

Establishing consistent patterns with prayer is important. Children learn about trust by having relationships and traditions they can trust in. However, many children go back and forth between the homes of two parents who may have different schedules and priorities. You might pray with your child each night, but the alternate spouse does not.

So for example, you may want to try to pray at 8:00 each night as often as possible. Then say to your child, “I will be praying for you each night at 8:00 even when you are at your other home. We can still pray together at the same time if you want to join me.” It increases a child’s sense of trust to know that a parent is praying for him or her at a predictable time each day and that you don’t have to be physically together to join hearts in prayer with one another.

A Final ‘Take-Away’: LAL

Love your children deeply and sincerely because this is what forms the spiritual foundation for their faith as well as their prayer life.

Answer their questions. We know children ask lots of questions. Some simply reflect their developmental curiously like, “What does God look like?” Or here’s a good one, “Does God go to the bathroom?” But children can throw us a curve ball with some pretty deep questions that would stump even the best of theologians. As a parent, be willing to be transparent and say, “Good question. I don’t know. I wonder about that as well.” Or ask them, “What do you think?” Encourage dialogue with your child about his or her questions.

The main thing to remember is to not put down the questions from children or they will stop asking, and the WONDER of God will begin to go away.

Listen to your children; that is, truly listen. Show them how to listen so they will recognize the still small voice of God when He speaks. Don’t be quick to react if your child says something that may at first seem inappropriate. Children are close to the heart of God, and if you listen closely, you will hear their heart. For example, one child said, “I think I would rather go to hell than heaven.” Rather than trying to ‘fix’ her child’s theology, this wise mother gently asked, “Tell me why” to which the child responded, “So I could tell all of them about Jesus.”

Here’s another. “Jesus isn’t in my heart anymore.” The mother responded, “Why don’t you think so?” “Well, He had to leave my heart and go to my knee to fix it because I fell down.” Listen to your child, and you will be amazed at what you can learn!

Try some LAL with your child on this National Day of Prayer: Love, Answer, and Listen.

May you continue to be amazed as your child grows in the wisdom and stature of the Lord.

How to Communicate Your Reopening Strategy to the Community

By
Megan Briggs
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

As stay-at-home orders continue lifting across the United States, many churches are reopening. One of the ways church leaders can mitigate the fear some may have about returning to a public gathering like a church service is to communicate all the things your church is doing to provide the safest (and healthiest) experience possible. Not only should churches communicate their reopening strategy to their members, but they also need to communicate to the community at large. 

One church in Colorado serves as a case-study in communicating their plans with the community. New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado is the largest church in the city and has multiple locations. This weekend, the church will open the doors of its main building again for the first time in several weeks. 

New Life’s Reopening Strategy

New Life invited a local news station to take a tour of its facility and show the community all the measures they have taken to get ready for visitors. The church’s main building, on the north side of the city, is quite large, and out of all its locations, has the greatest seating capacity. For this reason, it will be the first location to open as it has the best capacity for social distancing protocols. 

Brady Boyd, the church’s senior pastor, says church leaders met with the mayor of the city and local health officials to determine the best course of action for their church. Despite the county guidelines stipulating churches may operate at 25 percent of their seating capacity, New Life decided to be extra-cautious and only allow for 10 percent of their sanctuary’s seating capacity. In addition to sanitizing the building, they also moved chairs out of the sanctuary and arranged the remaining chairs in clusters spaced six feet apart. Some clusters of chairs have up to six seats, allowing for members of the same household to sit together. 

Additionally, visitors are encouraged to wear face masks and all the staff will be wearing masks, except those who happen to be on the stage at the time. All visitors must reserve a spot online and present their “ticket” on their mobile phone when entering the church. As Boyd communicated in an email sent to members of the church, this practice serves two purposes: to ensure the church is only filled to 10 percent capacity and also to allow for contact tracing if, heaven forbid, a case of COVID-19 occurs among visitors.

All of these preparations, the cleaning, the rearranging of furniture, setting up the reservation system, the planning involved would all be pointless if no one actually felt safe enough to show up. The church could also find itself in a PR nightmare if the community wasn’t aware of all the precautions they are taking and consequently accused the leaders of negligence. Which is why New Life made sure to communicate. Some would call it over-communicate.

How New Life Church Communicated to the Community

While inviting the local news was a big part of their communication strategy and likely did a lot to communicate to the broader community, New Life took several other steps to show what they were doing to prepare for visitors.

Church leaders posted a video to their social media accounts in which volunteers and staff are shown cleaning chairs while wearing masks and gloves. The video also shows the new layout in the sanctuary with the clusters of chairs and volunteers measuring six feet between clusters.

In this video, church leaders also expressed what they will NOT be doing during this time:

No communion
No separate children’s ministry (all services will be family services)
No passing of offering plates
No hugs, handshakes, or high fives
No shame (if you don’t feel comfortable coming or are in the high risk category—no shame! Continue to watch online)

The church made compelling graphics to post on their Facebook and Instagram pages explaining all the new procedures and have been sharing these as Sunday approaches.

In our fast-paced world of social media, these graphics likely do a lot more to communicate than anything else! They are easy to read and compelling.

Of course email is really important, too, for those who prefer reading instructions or who aren’t on social media. As mentioned earlier, Boyd sent an email to members outlining their strategy. After a brief introductory paragraph, Boyd included bullet points of the most pertinent information and put in bold the text he wanted people to pay attention to most.

reopening strategy

Last but not least, the church is also having its Sunday services broadcast on the local news station, which is a great idea for many reasons. As the purpose of this article is about communicating to the community, though, the reason I’d like to highlight here is, again, for public relations. If people can see for themselves how the service is being conducted and see the care the leadership has taken to provide for people’s safety, they are going to be much less likely to criticize. And, more importantly, they might even be inclined to check out your church (or Christianity in general) if they understand that care to be an act of love.

Service for Ravi Zacharias Commemorates ‘The Man Who Loved Us’

By
Jessica Lea
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

Editor’s Note: After the publishing of this article, an independent investigation found allegations implicating Ravi Zacharias of sexual abuse to be credible. Prior to this report, ChurchLeaders had published multiple articles about Ravi Zacharias and his ministry. Although our editorial team believes his work still has value since it involved articulating the truths of God’s Word, we would be remiss not to disclose the painful truth of Mr. Zacharias’ personal actions that have come to light following his death. For further reading, please see:

Sexting, Spiritual Abuse, Rape: Devastating Full Report on Ravi Zacharias Released
The Story Behind the Ravi Zacharias Allegations (Part 1): Lawsuits, NDAs, and Email Threads
The Story Behind the Ravi Zacharias Allegations (Part 2): ‘Cursory’ Investigations and More Accusations

This morning at Passion City Church in Atlanta, Georgia, friends and family gathered to celebrate and remember Ravi Zacharias, who passed away from cancer on May 19 at age 74. Zacharias was a Christian speaker and apologist known for communicating with compassion and grace, yet his legacy among those closest to him was perhaps put best by his daughter, Naomi Zacharias. 

“For me, he was the man who loved me,” she said. “He was the man who always loved me.” 

Ravi Zacharias: The Man Who Loved People

Zacharias’s memorial service lasted two hours and featured performances by Shane & Shane, Lecrae, and Matt Redman, as well as videos highlighting the apologist’s legacy of defending the faith. Among those who shared tributes to Zacharias were Vice President Mike Pence and former football quarterback Tim Tebow, in addition to other members of the apologist’s family. There were also several scripture readings, including a reading of Psalm 37:1-9 by Zacharias’s daughter, Sarah Davis. 

Time and again, those who stood up to share their memories of Ravi Zacharias described their deep respect for him and the way he cared for everyone around him, whether they were his family members, his colleagues, or complete strangers. 

Naomi Zacharias said she was inhibited by the “limits of language” to describe everything her father meant to her, but she focused on his devotion to her mother, Margie, and to his children and grandchildren. He deeply loved his wife, but he also admired her, and she supported him in his calling. When his children, Sarah, Naomi, and Nathan were growing up, instead of telling them they could be whatever they wanted to be, Zacharias identified and championed their strengths. He was also a “doting grandfather” to his grandchildren and would often look at them and say, “I love you little boy. I love you little girl.” 

Zacharias had the ability to make anyone he encountered feel valued. “If you were in front of him, he saw you,” said Naomi. A friend wrote that the apologist could dine with kings, and he could make a taxi driver feel like a king. “And he was funny,” said Naomi. “Like, really funny.” But more than anything else, “He was the man who loved us.”

Zacharias’s grandson, Jude McNeil, agreed: “We just lost the best grandfather in the world…there’s not even a word for how amazing he was.”

“I am a witness to Ravi’s life and to his character,” said Zacharias’s sister-in-law, Barbara Reynolds. “You can’t spend that much time together without seeing the character of a person. And I want you to know that the way Ravi lived out his faith is the greatest reflection of Jesus that I have ever known.” 

The speaker’s brother, Ramesh, described Zacharias as “an amazing brother,” his “hero,” and “incredibly committed to God.” One time, Zacharias preached for several hours, and then after he got home, got down on his knees and prayed for the people he had just preached to before he went to bed. “He told them he was going to pray for them,” said Ramesh, “and he did.” 

Vince Vitale, Director of the Zacharias Institute, said Zacharias “had this tenacious, Christ-like desire for the one.” One time when the apologist was speaking, a man in the audience got angry and stormed out. Instead of being glad that the man was leaving or responding in anger as well, Zacharias pleaded with the man not to go, saying he wanted to answer his questions. Michael Ramsden, president of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM), described the personal care Zacharias took with the people on his team and said that he was more a father of the faith than he was a theologian.

RZIM speaker, Sanj Kalra, said speaking at the memorial service was “the greatest honor of my life.” Kalra discovered Zacharias’s lectures shortly after becoming a Christian, and listening to them gave him the courage to tell his parents about his new-found faith. Kalra convinced his parents to come with him to hear apologist speak live, and the three were later invited back to meet him. As a result of that meeting, Zacharias led Kalra’s mother to trust in Jesus that very night. 

Kalra and Zacharias started speaking together, and the apologist eventually asked Kalra to join him in full-time ministry. The two ended up becoming close friends. Zacharias said that Kalra was “like a Jonathan to him,” something Kalra said was his “deepest honor.” 

Vice President Mike Pence offered his sympathies on behalf of the administration and his own family, saying that Zacharias was a “godly man” and a “friend” and that his legacy paralleled those of Billy Graham and C.S. Lewis. The vice president and Zacharias had their last conversation from the apologist’s hospital bed and Pence observed that “Ravi was more concerned for the people who are struggling in the midst of this pandemic than he was for himself.”

“Well done, good and faithful servant,” said the vice president. “Thank you, Ravi. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.”

Others described how Zacharias helped them wrestle with challenging worldview questions. Tim Tebow explained the apologist made it easier for him to express his faith in his own words and said he was “so starstruck” when he first met Zacharias. The former quarterback saw the speaker as his brother, mentor, teacher, pastor, friend, and even hero. There is no one else he has called his hero, said Tebow, apart from his own father. 

Before performing his song, “Tell the World,” Lecrae pointed out how strange it is that a kid from hip hop culture would befriend a scholar from Delhi, India. The rapper was an atheist before he converted to Christianity as an adult, and he discovered the apologist while trying to answer his friends’ questions about faith. “Because of him, I now have these answers to hard questions,” said Lecrae. “I just want to honor this man for the legacy that he’s left in communities from all over the world.”

Others who shared at the memorial service included Jim Cymbala, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, and Louie Giglio, the pastor of Passion City Church, who ended his comments with an invitation for those watching to trust in and follow Jesus. It is Jesus who gives us life beyond death, and he is the reason why those mourning Zacharias’s passing can look forward to being reunited with their loved one again. 

“Ravi is not dead,” said Giglio. “Ravi is very much alive today. Ravi is home. Ravi is healed. Ravi has finished his race. And Ravi is free.”

Governor of Illinois Capitulates After Churches Appeal to SCOTUS

By
Stephanie Martin
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

Amid legal challenges that swiftly escalated to the Supreme Court, the Governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzker, has issued new recommendations for religious services. The revised guidelines, which coincide with the state’s move into phase three of a five-phase reopening plan, suggest limiting attendance to 25 percent of building capacity, with a maximum of 100 people.

In the governor’s May 1 stay-at-home order, churches were deemed essential but gatherings were limited to 10 people. That limit is still recommended but not mandated in the revised guidelines, which also urge caution and list steps to reduce disease transmission. Previously, Pritzker indicated it might be more than a year before Illinois churches could meet at full capacity.

Two Churches Sought Help From SCOTUS

On Wednesday, Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church of Chicago and Logos Baptist Ministries of Niles filed an emergency application with the U.S. Supreme Court, saying Illinois’ restrictions were unconstitutional. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who oversees the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, requested a quick response from the Governor of Illinois, who indicated the case is now moot.

“Religious gatherings will no longer be subject to mandatory restrictions,” the state noted in its filing. On Thursday, Pritzker said the state health department is providing new guidance after “having received many plans and ideas from responsible faith leaders.”

Before seeking relief from the Supreme Court, the churches had been overruled by two lower courts, which said the governor’s order “does not discriminate against religious activities.” The lower courts said churches should be compared not to grocery and liquor stores but to schools and theaters. U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman indicated the congregations’ request for a preliminary injunction was “both ill-founded and selfish.”

Liberty Counsel, which represents the churches, calls the turn of events a “complete victory in the near term” but warns in a reply brief that Pritzker “cannot be trusted to obey the Constitution.” Mat Staver, Liberty founder and chairman, says the governor’s “sudden change in policy is merely a litigation ploy,” adding, “While we are happy that all churches and houses of worship no longer have any restrictions, we want to make sure this tyranny and abuse never happens again.”

In a Facebook post, Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church rejoiced that “God has destroyed the pharaonical resistance of Illinois state leadership!” When the church met for in-person worship earlier this month—resulting in a fine from Chicago police—it says it exceeded recommended safety measures.

Risk Remains, Warn Health Experts and Governor of Illinois

Illinois health officials emphasize that the revised guidelines don’t “obligate or encourage places of worship to resume in-person activity.” Rather, they “strongly” recommend continued use of online services, “particularly for those who are vulnerable to COVID-19, including older adults and those with co-morbidities.” Gov. Pritzker has indicated he’s particularly concerned about elderly and African-American worshipers, as statistics indicate they’re at higher risk of getting the novel coronavirus.

Illinois’ new guidelines acknowledge the “desire for the human connection of worshiping together, particularly during a time of crisis” but warn that “gatherings of any size pose a risk” of virus transmission. Officials recommend holding church outside, if possible, and wearing masks and maintaining physical distance when inside. The state health department’s list of “riskiest activities” includes singing, group recitation, hugging and shaking hands, and eating or drinking together.

What Do Virtual Worship Leaders Do in the COVID-19 World?

By
Phil Gifford
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

For two years I served on our state convention staff in the area for equipping worship ministries and leaders for our 500 churches. As I woke up this morning, I was burdened for virtual worship leaders specifically in this COVID-19 world.

I had ten fresh thoughts on how virtual worship leaders can lead well in this season when there aren’t really “worship services” to lead.

1. TEACH WORSHIP

We’ve taught for a long time as worship leaders how worship is not just a Sunday morning experience, but it should be a lifestyle we live each day. Now is the time when we can actually teach people to fully live this out, but you must lead the way. You can send emails that teach your church broadly about worship. Post videos that teach worship and look at various Scripture passages on worship. You can start virtual Bible studies that teach worship. You can take songs and make devotionals based on the message of that song.

2. TRAIN YOUR TEAM

Why not use this time of slowing down in your worship production to teach your team more deeply about their role as worship leaders? Read a book together and discuss it. Have your team walk through online classes or training. Create a curriculum of YouTube videos or blog posts for each person in their respective musical or serving area.

3. DEEPEN YOUR THEOLOGY

Look at this season as a chance to also deepen yourself. Read some good and rich theology books. Memorize some Scripture. Learn more about God, His glory, His grace, and the grand biblical narrative. Come out on the other side of this with a new depth of understanding that will help lead God’s people at a greater level.

4. PASTORAL CARE

As worship leaders, you already shepherd and care for people through worship. Now you can shepherd them through a crisis. Reach out to your team. Find ways to pray for them and connect them together. Look for ways to help serve the broader church in care. Worship will be a means to care for people in this crisis. Think of the fears worship can help put into perspective. Think about the practical needs you can help meet.

5. LEARN A NEW WORSHIP-LEADING SKILL

Why not use this time to explore a new skill as a worship leader? Is there an instrument you’ve wanted to learn? Have you always wanted to be able to lead from the piano or lead from an electric guitar? Use some time now to invest in your own skill sets as a musician and worship leader.

6. PRODUCTION HELP

Most of our churches are moving toward online church services and ministries. You and your team are probably the best situated to help in your own church or other churches around you make this happen well. Help your pastor and leaders create great videos and content to share with the congregation as we connect digitally.

7. VIRTUAL MUSIC LESSONS

I’ve seen a couple of churches offering virtual music lessons already. Consider blocking off time when you can teach guitar, piano, or other instruments. Get your team to do the same in whatever skills they have. Who knows, maybe in a year you will have a whole new group of young musicians for your church because of this investment.

8. STREAMING WORSHIP NIGHTS

Consider doing some livestreaming worship experiences for people throughout the week. You can bring a small team together (assuming this is still safe and within the guidelines of the government) and offer prayer and worship songs. Be sure your church has a streaming license to do this legally.

9. CLEAN UP STUFF

When I was a worship leader, we always had messes that went unattended. Consider your sound closet and that special box of junk cables. If you lead a more traditional church, take some time to inventory and purge your choral music. Think about cleaning out files on Pro-Presenter or whatever you are using for media.

10. PRODUCE AND PREPARE NEW MUSIC

Lastly, why not produce and prepare new music. What songs do you want to sing when people get back together? What do you want to have ready and build now? What songs can you write during this season? Psalm 40:3 talks about God putting a new song in our mouths. What new and powerful songs will you bring to God on the other side of this trail?

This article about virtual worship leaders originally appeared here.

Reach Postmodern People by Presenting Jesus as a Better Reality

By
Lucas Wilburn
-
Father’s Day program ideas for church

A small art studio/gallery is directly opposite our flat. Gallery owners display a new piece of art almost every week in the window exhibit. I was intrigued recently by a particular piece.

One day, I worked up enough courage to step inside and ask the artist about it. As I stepped inside, I could tell that my presence was an unexpected interruption. She wasn’t used to having visitors inquire about her work. We chatted for a few minutes before I asked a question that I think most artists hate. “What does your work mean?”

“My work is about more than meaning,” she said, only slightly irritated. “My work is also about the way reality is and the way it could be. It’s about what reality could mean. My work doesn’t simply portray reality, it reimagines it.” For the first time, I didn’t just understand a way to look at art. I understood a way to understand the young postmodern people in which I serve as an IMB missionary.

Much of modern western missions is logic based. Many missionaries employ apologetic techniques. We anticipate and answer objections. But is this approach the most effective? Maybe in some areas of Europe. Answers, logic, rationality are all helpful, but a younger postmodern people is looking for more. They are looking for authentic and meaningful expressions of reality.

How do we do missions in a postmodern context? How do we connect the gospel to authentic and meaningful expressions of reality? These are questions I ask myself regularly.

In his book, “Evangelism in a Skeptical World,” Sam Chan suggests several ways of reaching postmodern people. First, through authenticity. Because truth is subjective in the postmodern worldview, one is free to simply ignore it. They don’t deny it, because someone believes this truth, but not everyone has to acknowledge or accept it. Authenticity, however, is important. If you are not living your truth, if what you believe is not seen in how you behave, then this inconsistent. Authenticity is virtuous, incoherence is not. If Christians are going to present a believable gospel message, we must live authentic lives. If we say we believe that God is loving, then they must see our love for one another. Our lives must match our message.

A second way to reach postmodern people is through hospitality. Hospitality is related to authenticity. The gospel message is one of welcoming, belonging and participating. Hospitality magnifies in reality the message of “home.” Every month we open our home and host English discussion groups. This is a great opportunity for our German friends and neighbors to practice and improve their English. We also host monthly community dinners. It is potluck style, and everyone is encountering fellowship and Christian community. We talk about topics from our daily lives. Inevitably, the topic of religion comes up and we can easily and naturally share the gospel.  Through hospitality, postmodern people experience love and acceptance. The intimacy of the home provides an ideal context for personal stories and gospel conversations.

Christians can also reach postmodern people through an engagement with the creative arts. Like the artist at the gallery, many are not moved by eloquent arguments. They are far more interested in the imagination. They want to give attention to belonging to beauty, stories and emotion as a new reality. The presentation of the gospel story must be embedded and embodied in a story that represents a new reality. It must be told as story and embodied in story. We share the gospel and tell people how Jesus is the King of the world, who is renewing creation and righting all wrongs. That is the better reality that postmoderns want to experience.

However, Christians have to remember that our lives must match our message. We have to do more than tell people that Jesus is a better reality, we have to show how He actually is a better reality. In our church plant, we do that by creating a space where postmoderns feel like they belong. Looking around at society, young postmodern people are displeased with it. They want deeply meaningful lives inside of deeply intimate community. They don’t want to rationalize this present reality; they want a new reality. They want a meaningful reality. We create that new reality through the local church community. We create a space for people to encounter Jesus through community.

In our church plant, we emphasize love for one another. On any given Sunday morning in our church you can see friends connecting over coffee. One woman is praying with a young mother who has had a difficult week. Another is talking with someone who has just lost her job, offering words of comfort and encouragement. On Wednesday night, church members have a couple of the single girls over for dinner before small group starts so they have extra time of fellowship together. Small group members share prayer requests, then each member takes time to pray for them. Afterward, Christians ask how they can practically serve those in need. This isn’t flashy love, but it is deep and personal—like the love that Jesus has for us.

When we share the gospel with people, we talk a lot about Jesus. We talk about how Jesus rescues and cleanses us from our sin, defeated evil, gives us a place to belong, and is making the whole world new. Jesus is cleansing us and making all that is wrong with the world right again. This message resonates with the reality that postmodern people are looking for.

When people step through the front door of our church plant, we pray that they feel like they belong. We want them to experience our authenticity and hospitality. We want them to see our lives matching our message. We pray that they experience Jesus as a better reality. We would love for that to be your prayer too.

*Name changed for security

This article originally appeared here.

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