Life in a Fallen World: a Theology of Uncomfortable Grace

May 21, 2020

Broken-Down House

Life in this terribly broken world is hard. You are constantly dealing with the frustration of this world not operating the way God intended. You are always facing the unexpected. Almost daily you are required to deal with something you wouldn’t have chosen for your life, but it’s there because of the location where we live. Life right here, right now is like living in a disheveled house that has begun to fall down on its own foundation. It is still a house, but it doesn’t function as it was meant to. The doors constantly get stuck shut. The plumbing only occasionally works properly. You are never sure what’s going to happen when you plug an appliance in, and it seems that the roof leaks even when it’s not raining. So it is with the world that you and I live in. It really is a broken-down house.

Now, there are really only two responses we can have to the brokenness that complicates all of our lives: cursing or mourning. Let’s be honest. Cursing is the more natural response. We curse the fact that we have to deal with flawed people. We curse the fact that we have to deal with things that don’t work right. We curse the fact that we have to deal with pollution and disease. We curse the fact that promises get broken, relationships shatter, and dreams die. We curse the realities of pain and suffering. We curse the fact that this broken-down world has been assigned to be the address where we live. It all makes us irritated, impatient, bitter, angry, and discontent. Yes, it’s right not to like these things. It’s natural to find them frustrating, because as Paul says in Romans 8, the whole world groans as it waits for redemption. But cursing is the wrong response. We curse what we have to deal with because it makes our lives harder than we want them to be. Cursing is all about our comfort, our pleasure, our ease. Cursing is fundamentally self-centered.

Mourning is the much better response. Mourning embraces the tragedy of the fall. Mourning acknowledges that the world is not the way God meant it to be. Mourning cries out for God’s redeeming, restoring hand. Mourning acknowledges the suffering of others. Mourning is about something bigger than the fact that life is hard. Mourning grieves what sin has done to the cosmos and longs for the Redeemer to come and make his broken world new again. Mourning, then, is a response that is prompted by grace.

The Evidence of Grace

Yes, your life is messy and hard, but that’s not a failure of the plan; it is the plan. It’s God working to complete what he’s begun in you.

It is so very different from the way we normally think about grace. It’s not the way we tend to think about God’s love. It doesn’t seem wise and good to us. It causes us to question God’s faithfulness and love. It’s just not what we thought we signed on for when we placed our trust in Jesus Christ. It’s not a typical definition of the good life, and it causes us to think at times that God isn’t paying attention and that the bad guys are winning.

You are tempted to think that because you’re God’s child, your life should be easier, more predictable, and definitely more comfortable. But that’s not what the Bible teaches. Instead, it reveals that struggles are part of God’s plan for you. This means that if you’re God’s child, you must never allow yourself to think that the hard things you are now going through are failures of God’s character, promises, power, or plan. You must not allow yourself to think that God has turned his back on you. You must not let yourself begin to buy into the possibility that God is not as trustworthy as you thought him to be. You must not let yourself do any of these things, because when you begin to doubt God’s goodness, you quit going to him for help. You see, you don’t run for help to those characters you have come to doubt.

God has chosen to let you live in this fallen world because he plans to employ the difficulties of it to continue and complete his work in you. This means that those moments of difficulty are not an interruption of his plan or the failure of his plan, but rather an important part of his plan. I think there are times for many of us when we cry out for God’s grace and we get it—but not the grace that we’re looking for. We want the grace of relief or release. We get those in little pieces, but largely they are yet to come. What we all really need right now is the grace of transformation. God’s grace is not always pleasant. It often comes in the form of something we never would have chosen to go through if we were controlling the joystick.

We all need to teach and encourage one another with the theology of uncomfortable grace, because on this side of eternity, God’s grace often comes to us in uncomfortable forms. It may not be what you and I want, but it is precisely what we need. God is faithful; he will use the brokenness of the world that is your present address to complete the loving work of personal transformation that he has begun.

This side of eternity in this broken world, cursing is the default language of the kingdom of self; but mourning is the default language of the kingdom of God. Which language will you speak today?

Content adapted from New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp. This article first appeared on Crossway.org; used with permission.

Face Masks: The New Sackcloth?

James Faris

May 21, 2020

Are face masks the new sackcloth? Modern American Christians read in the Bible frequently about sackcloth – that itchy fabric made of goat’s hair donned as an indication of repentance, mourning, inability, and humility (e.g. 1 Kings 21, Esther 4, Isaiah 37, Lamentations 2, Joel 1, Daniel 9, Revelation 11). We gloss over those verses quickly with nothing to compare sackcloth in our culture. Until perhaps now.

Face masks are a point of controversy these days of coronavirus. Like sackcloth, they’re uncomfortable, inconvenient, and goofy-looking. People argue over whether they really work to help curtail disease-spreading or not. Various leaders the Lord has put over us are recommending them. It makes sense to me that, rightly used, they can’t do much harm, and they probably can do a lot of good.

One thing they do accomplish: they humble us. No matter how hard my favorite seamstresses try to make them cool with various logos and styles, they can’t. I still look uncool. I get to feel some of how little and shameful I really am. I hate pulling a mask over my face. Yet, I find that when I do, it is a visible reminder of what should be the inward posture of my heart. Sackcloth didn’t “do” anything in days of old. But people in those days had a better sense of the whole person. They didn’t divide the spiritual from the physical the way we do. They were willing to humble themselves when they saw that God’s mercy was their only hope. The outward physical expression helped to shape the inward man.

We don’t know all of God’s purposes in this pandemic. We do know the Lord wants to humble us; we know that he is humbling us. It’s hard for proud Americans to willingly cover their faces. The thought of wearing a mask in worship is repulsive. Yet, in days of old, people willingly wore far more uncomfortable garb publicly together as an expression of willing submission and helplessness before the Lord.

I wonder if we’ve really been humbled yet as a land. Certainly, some of our health and wealth has been removed. I sometimes wonder as I read the tone and content of the debates, have our hearts been humbled? I’d like to think my heart has been. Then, I’m asked to wear a mask, and I think “I don’t really want to go that low.” There is a strange repugnance in my heart every time I pull my face mask on. It’s a repugnance that drives me to prayer every time for the Lord to be merciful to us. In the face of our historic pride and self-reliance, I wonder, what would be the harm in people willingly expressing their shame and weakness before Almighty God and fellow man? Will face masks do good to our neighbor? They might, but I suspect that they could do even more for ourselves – and in a different way bless our neighbors greatly.

Perhaps the ancient city of Nineveh serves as the greatest historical example of such humility. The Lord sent Jonah to preach to them. They heard Jonah,

And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.’ When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. – Jonah 3:6-10

This is not to argue for a law on face masks or to judge those who do or do not wear them. It is simply to urge us all to consider the posture of our hearts, whether we don a mask or not. As we go to the Lord humbly, we can do so knowing with confidence that he will loose our sackcloth and clothe us with gladness so that our glory may sing his praise and we may give him thanks forever (Psalm 30:11-12).

This article originally appeared here.

Please Don’t Make ‘How Many Watched Online?’ Our New Ministry Metric

Karl Vaters

May 21, 2020

It’s a whole new ballgame. In a matter of just a few weeks, churches all around the world have a new standard for measuring ministry success: how many watched online.

And I’m trying not to be cynical about it.

So here’s my best shot at a non-cynical (but certainly skeptical) take on this.

What’s Good About Online Church

I’m grateful every time I hear that a church now has as many or more people watching their online services than they had attending their in-person services.

Better that than a drop-off of numbers, for sure.

But let’s be honest about what’s happening here.

Recently, there’s been a lot of helpful information about how engagement is a better metric than attendance. I fully agree with that assessment.

But if engagement is a better metric than attendance, eyeballs on a screen is a worse one. At-home viewers are far less engaged than bodies in the room ever were.

Online And Distracted

We all know how online viewing goes.

We watch while we’re cooking, eating, chatting, Tweeting and working out.

Even if we lay all of that aside, people who sit at home and watch a screen are far less engaged in the experience than when they were in the room together.

An Incomplete Metric

Obviously, that’s all we have right now. And I’m truly grateful we have it.

Even when we’re able to meet together again, keeping an online presence will be an important way to reach new people and keep connected with absent members.

But.

Let’s be careful not to replace one incomplete, even unreliable metric (attendance) with one that’s even less reliable (online viewership).

Online church is here to stay. Our congregation does it, and we’ve learned how to do it even better because of the necessity of this moment.

But let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that having more online eyeballs is an adequate measure of any church’s health or ministry success.

The Online Onramp

At best, a church’s online presence is an onramp. The most important one we have right now, for sure.

But an onramp is not the endgame.

Discipleship is a long, multi-step process. If an online experience starts someone on that road, that’s great!

So, if we use the current online experience as a first step towards fully-engaged discipleship, it will have served a noble purpose. But if all we do is count eyeballs like we counted attendance, it will be a step backwards.

At some point – as soon as we’re able – that online experience must translate into real-life, flesh-and-blood, in-person, disciple-making reality.

When we do that we’ll have some success worth measuring.

This article about how many watched online originally appeared here.

Free Kids Lesson Package: “Missions: Kids Around the World”

Daniel So

May 21, 2020

Free Kids Lesson Package

From CMD, This lesson “is all about Saul’s conversion and Haiti. Kids will learn that just like God changed Saul’s heart, he is still changing people’s hearts all over the world in places like Haiti through missionaries.”

This lesson package includes:

Make It Stick! Parent Sheet
Memory Verse
Skit
Object Lesson or Kids Sermon
Large Group Lesson
Small Group Discussion
Large Group Game
Take Home Activity

Get Download Now

Resource provided by Children’s Ministry Deals

Download Instructions: Follow the on-screen directions at the download site.

Attention Grabber Ideas: 3 Ways To FASCINATE Kids

Tina Houser

May 20, 2020

There’s no doubt that you can learn without being fascinated—say it repeatedly or listen to someone talk, talk, talk. But, it is GUARANTEED, yes guaranteed, that you’ll learn something when you’re fascinated. These are the “Oh my goodness” moments. “I didn’t know that.” “I’ve never seen that.” “How does that work?” “How did you do that?” (Read those first two sentences again and grab onto the difference.)

So, why are we doing the same things over and over and over again when we teach kids in the church? If kids (actually people of all ages) learn every time they are fascinated, then we need to make it a goal to use fascination as a tool to draw kids into the Word of God. That means not doing it the same every time.

Being fascinated focuses your attention. Have you ever been delayed in a traffic jam for an hour … or two? Of course, you have! More than likely the reason for that delay was that there was an accident and everyone wanted a chance to take in the scene when they finally got close. A flood of questions went through each passerby’s brain as they observed the flashing lights, car in the ditch, and the contents of a truck scattered on the ground. Although it was terribly unfortunate circumstances, people were nonetheless fascinated. It was unusual. It was something they didn’t understand. It put their curiosity on high alert. They had questions. They wanted to know more. Those are the characteristics of fascination.

It only makes sense that if we create an environment where fascination is everywhere that kids will grasp that we serve a fascinating God! So, how do we go about incorporating fascination as we challenge kids to live a life where Jesus is Savior and Lord? Seriously, I could spew out ideas the rest of the day on this, but let’s just hone in on a few specific areas.

3 Attention Grabber Ideas

1. Science Experiments

We often talk about the most difficult group to engage being 3^rd, 4^th, and 5th-grade boys. They could be off in no-where-land, engulfed in their handheld device, or bouncing off the walls … but when you introduce a science experiment, they’ll lose all interest in what they were doing. Eyes will be glued on what could happen next. Our purpose, though, is not to teach the science. Our purpose is to draw kids to the Word of God, and now that you have their attention and created fascination, encourage them to voice their observations—the characteristics of the experiment. Take those observations and then increase the challenge by asking them to relate what they observed to spiritual truth. Of course, you’ll have something in mind—a direction you’d like to go—but don’t discount that they may see something completely different and it is totally valid. Connect a fascinating experiment to Scripture and you’ve given kids a visual that won’t easily fade from memory.

2. Live and In-Person Experiences

Showing a photo of what you’re talking about is always helpful. But, what if you had the actual item or person, instead of the photo? What if kids could touch the object and turn it to look at all sides? What if they could ask questions of the actual person, like a ballerina or firefighter? That takes it to an entirely different level—to a fascinating level.

A friend of mine posted a photo on Facebook of her three children watching the tow truck load their family van to transport it to the repair shop. She said the event took over an hour and the kids stood at attention in the grass at the edge of the driveway mesmerized the entire time. Which is more fascinating? Showing a picture of a tow truck or watching one load a vehicle on the back? It was a live experience. Now, I’m not saying you need to bring a real tow truck into your classroom (although I bet some of you are trying to figure out how right now), but anytime you can go the extra step by taking a photo and making it a live experience, you have created fascination.

3. Storytelling

We have the greatest story to tell—God’s story and how we can be part of it. His story is told with giant warriors, loaves of bread, jars of oil, on a mountaintop, in the belly of a fish, from jail, and on and on. God let His creativity go absolutely crazy when telling His story. So should ours! Want to see eyes get big? Want to fascinate? Turn out the lights and tell the mysterious story of Nicodemus going to Jesus in the middle of the night, but do it using blacklight figures. Bring in Abraham, in full garb, to amaze the kids as he tries to count the stars in the sky that represent his descendants. Take kids out under a tree where they’ll look up and find Zacchaeus perched on a limb recalling the day his life changed. Make it fascinating so they’ll fall in the love with the Word.

I’ll be the first to admit that these attention grabber ideas takes extra time and energy. But, it makes teaching so much more memorable and fun—for both students and teachers! When kids chatter with their parents later in the day about what they did while with you, you’ve achieved fascination. So, how are you going to fascinate your kids this week?

4 Things a Good Emcee Should Know

Josh Griffin

May 20, 2020

Stage presence isn’t natural—some people are so good at it you might be tempted to think so, but it is enormous work, and countless hours of practice fools you into thinking either you have it or you don’t. Sure, some people’s gifting makes it easier than others, but it is work for everyone. Here are some principles of basic good stage presence, and this is what we came up with:

KNOW THE STAGE
Know the steps onto the stage. Know where you should stand, where the lighting is best, and know the front edge of the stage. Make a mental note of any unusual parts of the stage and get an idea of your “sweet spot” where you’ll spend most of your time. It is also a good idea to walk the stage beforehand with lights fully up so you get an idea of your crowd blindness. Oftentimes, people on a stage for the first time are thrown by the strength of the lights in their eyes and are tempted to cover their eyes. Never talk about the lights or the sound—fight your instincts to shade your eyes or talk randomly off-topic.

KNOW HOW TO WORK A MICROPHONE
Be sure you hold the microphone up to your mouth—people that aren’t used to the stage tend to make the common mistake of holding the microphone away from their mouth. Make sure the microphone is right up near your mouth, rest it on your chin if you have to. If your hands are filled with stuff, that stuff will tempt you to move the microphone around too much. Either memorize what is on the cue card or put it on a music stand in front of you. When you ask someone on stage a question, remember to hold the microphone up to their mouth, too. Typically by this point in the service, even a rookie emcee has figure out they need to hold the mic up to their own mouth, but too often forget to help the crowd hear the other person on stage, too.

KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THERE TO DO
Someone has trusted you with the entire stage—and remember that everything is the message, not just the message, so what you’re doing is very important. You now control the room—you are there to build energy in the room and excitement toward the next element, you’re there to bring the crowd down to what’s next, or you’re introducing something. Either way, you’re not the star of the show; you are driving the vehicle with passengers and what people want to see. Know what you’re there to do and get off stage!

KNOW YOUR ENTRANCE AND EXIT
 If you’ve got an opening line/bit/joke, it will really help get you started on the right foot. Equally important, a great run on stage ends with a fizzle if you’re not sure how to end it all. If you’re throwing to video—sell it. If you’re introducing a person, make the transition obvious. However you come in or leave the stage, make sure you have a plan.

Anything you would add to this list of basics?

11 Signs That You Suffer From Ministry Arrogance

Scott Williams

May 20, 2020

As a ministry consultant and Chief Solutions Officer for Nxt Level Solutions, I get the opportunity to work with lots of different ministries and ministry leaders from around the country. It’s awesome to see how God is using each ministry’s unique approach, style, and idiosyncrasies to share the gospel, transform communities, and change lives. After leaving a visit with a church, the one thing that I always walk away with is this: “God is doing some amazing things everywhere and in ministries of all shapes, styles, sizes, denominations…”

On the other hand, I’ve come to the realization that it’s easy for ministries, groups, emerging movements, and denominations to become what I call “ministry arrogance.”

Arrogance is defined as: display of superiority or self-importance; overbearing pride. Combine that with ministry and you have-ministries and ministry leaders who show a display of superiority or self-importance; overbearing pride.

Yes, your ministry is doing great. Yes, God is allowing your church to grow. Yes, there are awesome core distinctions of your denomination. Yes, people want to learn from you. Yes, you are the sexy trendy thing. Yes, you hold onto important traditions…No, your ministry is not superior than any of the other ministries that God is using to draw people closer to Himself.

11 Signs That You May Suffer From Ministry Arrogance

1. You spend more time focusing on how others “have it wrong” than you do on the things that you can improve on.
2. You laugh and shake your head at the stylistic differences of another ministry.
3. You think your worship style is the only way someone could possibly connect with God.
4. You can’t understand why so-and-so’s church is growing and their pastor is not even a good preacher.
5. You can’t believe that ministries would have the audacity to have that length of a service time (too long or too short).
6. You believe the issues that you care about are the only issues that everyone else should care about.
7. You discount New Media and Online Ministry as illegitimate ministry.
8. You allow your way and your preference to become “The Only Way!”
9. You think because the expert at the conference said it…It must be the way, the truth, and the life.
10. You can’t believe that a ministry would use that version of the Bible seriously, NIV is the Non-Inspired-Version.
11. You read this list and laugh it off and say, “Who does that?”
Bonus: ~~When it comes to ministry you think BigIsTheNewSmall~~ Wait, scratch that, uhh that’s the name of my blog; somehow that has to be true.

The bottom line is there are many more ways and signs that you may suffer from ministry arrogance. We are all susceptible to it, and often times, the only way that we can get away from it is by having an open heart, getting out, and being exposed to other ministries, and truly trusting God.

I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

In this way, we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe, we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body,

Let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t. If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else. Romans 12:3-6 MSG (a.k.a the hip hop slang version of the Bible)

Share your thoughts on these 11 Signs of Ministry Arrogance and add more signs to the list.

This Is What Costi Hinn Wishes Celebrity Pastors Knew

Megan Briggs

May 20, 2020

Costi Hinn made a big theological shift in recent years—casting aside the prosperity gospel made famous by preachers like his uncle, Pastor Benny Hinn. With that shift in theology came a shift in lifestyle, too. Hinn grew up in the same circles as today’s so-called “celebrity pastors” like Rich Wilkerson, Jr. and Judah Smith. While he thinks they operate differently than his uncle, Hinn does think some in this new generation of preachers function more as motivational speakers than true shepherds.

Hinn wishes these preachers would “be willing to tell people the truth—don’t just be a motivational speaker.” Speaking on the PreachersNSneakers podcast, Hinn is concerned his former peers care too much about gaining and keeping followers than they do about preaching the gospel. “Be a real soldier; a real warrior; a real preacher on the front lines who’s willing to lose if it means gaining Christ,” Hinn exhorts.

Costi Hinn Lived the ‘Good Life’

“Our family was definitely the Bentley-driving, Maserati-driving, $10-million-home-buying family, and we flew in gulfstreams and all that,” Hinn said. While this is the extravagant lifestyle Hinn was born into, he continued it as a young adult and ministry leader himself. Hinn laughs as he recalls being truly saved when he was already in a ministry position at a church plant in southern California.

The church plant was “in the Judah Smith, Carl Lentz, Chad Veach scene,” as he describes it. “It was just look good, feel good, sound good, and then do some Jesus—sprinkle him in, he’s kind of a footnote of it all.” Hinn said the church plant exploded, and implies his paycheck did as well. Hinn used to drive a big H2 Hummer with all the bells and whistles. But, he started to ask some deep questions after he got married and experienced some family turmoil.

During this time, Hinn started reading the Bible and it caused him to examine how he was used to living. Hinn came to the conclusion that his extravagant lifestyle and the teachings of the Bible did not align. To their credit, the other ministers at the church plant agreed with Hinn’s shifting thinking and they started taking the plant in a completely different direction. Hinn says they lost people, but it was worth it.

As Hinn reflected on the way he grew up and how his family lived, he became increasingly uncomfortable. They were “living off poor people and rich people we were manipulating,” Hinn realized. “It’s really sick and twisted when you take a bunch of offerings from sick, poor people, and even rich people who have a kid with down syndrome, and you tell them God will heal their down syndrome kid and cure it if they give you a check for half a million and they do, and then you go fly on your private plane home and the down syndrome kid doesn’t get healed.”

Hinn says he had to go through a season of “pulling back” and reorient himself after he was truly saved. He describes his wife donating her Louis Vuittons to a rescue mission as the couple left behind that extravagant lifestyle. Hinn currently holds the position of executive pastor of discipleship at Redeemer Bible Church in Gilbert, Arizona.

The “Guys” Costi Hinn Grew Up With

“A lot of the guys on your account,” Hinn says to the host of the PreachersNSneakers podcast (who chooses to remain anonymous), “their dads were pretty decent preachers, just good guys, they weren’t real wild, rolling in Bentleys and all that.” However, these decent preachers’ children aren’t following very closely in their parents’ footsteps, Hinn implies. “This whole next generation of guys that are sort of like this Christian TED talk motivational speaker types, they really hit it in the business world. It’s almost like gospel business.”

While it may look different than his uncle’s style, Hinn says it shares some of the same elements and motivations:

They stay away from the white suits like my uncle [wears]. They’re not speaking in tongues everywhere and throwing their jackets at people and doing massive crusades. They’re appealing to culture in a way that is (for lack of a better word) ‘sexy’ or ‘trendy’ and that’s really attractive to the culture that’s like, “Man, these guys aren’t weird faith healers and I don’t know what a prosperity preacher is, but these guys are ballers and they love God, so that’s the best of both worlds.”

Pastor Detained 7 Months in India Now Home and Undeterred

Stephanie Martin

May 20, 2020

Residents of Shelbyville, Tennessee, held a car parade today to celebrate the homecoming of Bryan Nerren, a local pastor and missionary who’d been detained in India since last October. The seven-month ordeal, sparked by an airport customs dispute, ended when India dropped all charges against Nerren and returned his passport.

The pastor’s family and a group of congregants eagerly awaited his arrival yesterday at the Nashville airport, and his legal team thanked members of Congress and the Trump administration for intervening on Nerren’s behalf.

Why Pastor Bryan Nerren Was Detained

As Church Leaders reported last fall, Nerren, pastor of the International House of Prayer Ministries in Shelbyville and founder of the Asian Children’s Education Fellowship, embarked on an annual trip to train Sunday school teachers in India and Nepal. Nerren, accompanied by two other U.S. pastors, was carrying money to cover conference expenses and was asked whether funds were going toward Christian purposes. Eventually, Nerren was arrested and held for six days. After he was released on bail, however, a judge confiscated his passport.

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which represented Nerren, says the pastor openly declared the funds, was never informed of the duty, and wasn’t even carrying enough money to constitute a crime. The lengthy ordeal, says the ACLJ, was “a misunderstanding that should have taken just hours to resolve administratively within customs.” The coronavirus pandemic complicated Nerren’s return, as India shut down its courts and all international flights.

The ACLJ worked with a range of U.S. officials to secure Nerren’s freedom, and more than 200,000 people signed a petition on his behalf. Christian persecution has spiked in India, which ranked 10^th on the latest World Watch List from Open Doors.

Pastor Nerren Plans to Press On

While staying at a motel in India, Nerren communicated with his family and congregation via social media. He had regular in-person visits from other missionaries, who inspired him to continue and even ramp up his work. The pastor tells a Nashville TV station that his efforts to help churches and poor children in Asia “will triple.”

Nerren says he’s always known missions work involves some risk, but he’d assumed the worst consequence would be getting kicked out of the country and sent home. “[I] never would have imagined they would take me to prison and hold me for seven-and-a-half months for nothing,” he says about his 17^th trip to the region.

The toughest part of being detained, Nerren says, was knowing how much strain and pain his wife, Rhonda, was enduring at home. The couple have a child with special needs, and Rhonda, a hospital worker, fell ill in March and had to wait 10 days to get a COVID-19 test result, which was negative. During their time apart, Rhonda was a vocal supporter of her husband, proclaiming, “His only crime is living out his steadfast love for Jesus.”

When asked about his immediate plans now that he’s back in Tennessee, Nerren says he’ll “do whatever my wife tells me, for as long as she tells me. Amen.”

How Caffeine Might Make You a Better Leader

Charles Stone

May 20, 2020

I’m a leader. I want to maximize my brain power. And I care about how I treat my body. I don’t drink coffee or tea, yet I do strategically use caffeine with diet caffeine drinks and 5-Hour Energy (Disclaimer: I am in no way related to the company who produces 5-Hour Energy). I believe my strategic use of caffeine has helped enhance my cognitive resources as a leader. In this post I look at three areas: what caffeine does to your brain, cautions about its use, and how to strategically use it.

Caffeine is the most widely used stimulant in the world, consumed primarily through coffee consumption. The National Coffee Association says that nearly 2/3’s of Americans drink coffee. We also consume it through tea, weight-loss pills, chocolate, and energy drinks. It has gained the moniker as a,’waker-upper.’

How does caffeine work? It affects the brain in three ways.

It blocks a neurotransmitter that makes us tired (adenosine). Neurons have tiny receptors where adenosine binds. Think of adenosine (or any other neurotransmitter) like a key and a receptor like a lock. So, when it ‘binds’ the ‘key’ goes into the ‘lock’ to create the tiredness effect by slowing down brain cell firing.
It stimulates the brain to tell the adrenal glands to release adrenaline which gives us a boost of energy and increases attention.
It improves mood by increasing the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine, a brain chemical related to pleasure, attention, and motivation. It also helps dopamine hang around longer in our brain.

What cautions should you consider?

You can become addicted to it. It’s addictive because dopamine feels good and when we get addicted to it, we want more and more caffeine to maintain the same pleasure level. You will know you’re addicted when your try to stop because for a few days you may experience a dull headache, lethargy, sleepiness, and even depression. Most experts say the average person can manage 400 milligrams of caffeine each day, the equivalent of four cups of coffee. A bottle of 5-Hour Energy has about 200 mg.
You can develop a tolerance for it. Regular caffeine use actually creates a need for even more caffeine because it increases adenosine receptors in your brain. Thus, you need more caffeine to block the tired effects of adenosine.
Too much caffeine (more than 500 mg) can really mess up your body by causing such issues as muscle tremors, sleep difficulty, upset stomach, nervousness, and dizziness.
Caffeine too late in the day can disrupt your sleep patterns. Its half-life (how long it takes the body to eliminate 1/2 of it) is 3-5 hours and its effect can last 8-12 hours.

How can you strategically use caffeine?

First, I never use caffeine to wake me up in the morning. I try to get sufficient sleep so that I don’t use caffeine as a fall back for lack of sleep. I live in Canada and the winters can be brutal and overcast so I’m now using light therapy in the morning which appears to give me a nice natural wake up boost. I use a portable Philips blue light to give me 20 minutes of light when I wake up.
Consider a nap first. A 10-20 minute nap can clear out adenosine and give you a nice mental boost without caffeine. If you can’t take a nap at work, perhaps these other suggestions below will work for you.
Consider a nap-caffeine combination. It takes caffeine about 20 minutes to get into your gastrointestinal track and bloodstream. So, a cup of coffee or tea, a diet soda, or 5-Hour Energy just before your nap can give you a one-two punch.
When I’m studying to put a sermon together, I find that 1/2 bottle of 5-Hour Energy about mid-morning gives me a nice mental boost. About 2 hours later I will finish the bottle off so that I’m only getting about 200 mg per day.
About 30 minutes before I speak on Sunday mornings I drink a half of a bottle. I find it helps give me a bit more mental focus during my sermon.
On days when I need lots of mental focus in meetings, I will split a bottle of 5-Hour Energy between mid-morning and early afternoon. I find that I’m more focused later in the afternoon to give those in my meetings my full attention.
I seldom if ever use it after 3:30. Remember, it can stay in your system many hours.

I recognize that many readers may prefer to stay away from any caffeine. I respect that as I used to avoid anything with caffeine in it. Only in the last few years have I discovered that moderate use has helped improve my attention, concentration, and ability to think more clearly.

How have you used caffeine in a strategic way?

This article originally appeared here.

When Should a Pastor Read the Scriptural Text?

Mike Leake

May 20, 2020

When should a pastor read the Scriptural text? As soon as he is ready.

And if you aren’t ready—rather than making the Word of God central to the sermon–something else will take its place.

I am grateful for the resurgence of expository preaching. I believe it is absolutely correct to make the main point of the Scriptural text the main point of the sermon. We’ve all had to endure “sermons” which were no more than the preacher’s opinion; an opinion which, at best, is loosely related to a Scriptural text read at the beginning of sermon time.

The Importance of a Scripture Introduction

But I believe even expository preachers can inadvertently eclipse the text by not spending enough time placing the text. I’m indebted to Bryan Chapell’s excellent work, Christ-Centered Preaching, for developing the practice of preaching a scripture introduction and a sermon introduction.

The purpose of the scripture introduction is to place the Scriptural text. I begin every week by announcing the text and then I attempt to not only create interest for the text but I also work to place the text within it’s context. I think Chapell explains the preacher’s task quite well:

Those eager to read, those scared to read, and those calloused to reading all sit before the minister, who must draw each within the confines of the Word. (Chapell, 250)

But how long does such a thing take? It is here where I probably diverge from a good number of preachers. Chapell says, “if the Scripture introduction labors beyond four or five sentences, it is usually too long”. According to my Logos sermon editor I’ll be twelve minutes into my sermon this week before I read from 1 Peter. That’s a bit longer than normal—but it’s not incredibly unusual for me. And that’s not sloppy it’s intentional.

I believe these four ideas from Tim Pollard are correct:

People are overwhelmed with information.
As a result, they filter aggressively, rejecting as much as they can.
The filter will tend to let in information based on its relevance.
If you lose them at the beginning, you’re probably not getting them back. They judge quickly and move on. (source)

I’m not for one moment suggesting that God’s Word is not relevant. It is incredibly relevant. But I don’t entertain the assumption that everyone listening to a sermon both believes Scripture is relevant AND understands how it is relevant. Numerous studies have shown that a majority of Americans are biblically ignorant. They aren’t even sure what the Scripture says much less do they have the ability to know why it is relevant.

If Pollard is correct, then what is happening in those first few moments is that folks are aggressively filtering. And they are doing this with only a faint understanding of what the text might possibly be saying. By the time the pastor prays after reading the text a good percentage of the audience has already checked out. Or by the grace of God he is able to get their attention back—but now the driving force is his exposition of the text and not the text itself.

I agree with Chapell if you are laboring (I read ‘spinning your tires’) then you probably are droning on and would do better to just start reading from God’s Word. But what if rather than spinning your tires you were using this crucial time to set up the problem which the text will answer (thus creating interest). And using the time to place your 21st century audience into the world of the biblical author. Your scripture introduction needs to be as long as it takes for you to engagingly position your audience into a place where they are ready to hear that particular text.

I will have done my job in the scripture introduction if at the moment I read the Scripture passage our people can hear the waves of the Sea of Galilee lapping up against the shore as they feel the same nervousness as Peter’s elect exiles facing persecution and wondering if the dishonor they are experiencing is a sign of God’s displeasure. I want them to experience the wonder of being tied to the same story which Peter’s audience was tied to. I want them to feel the anxiety of Isaiah the prophet and the pull of conspiracy theories during the reign of King Ahaz. When we read Isaiah 8 or Isaiah 28 I want them, in as much as possible, to experience that same sigh of relief.

Sometimes you can do that in 4-5 sentences. At times you cannot. But so long as you are building towards that moment take us much time as you need. It’s not time to explain the text. Nor to tell more facts than necessary to paint the picture. It’s certainly not the time to spin your wheels and get your thoughts together. You just need to get your 21st century audience into the lap of the biblical author, to feel what they felt when those blessed words first came upon them.

Then…after you read the text…and you pray…that’s when you start walking your audience back into the 21st century.

This article originally appeared here.

Why You Are Allowed to Be Angry With God

Brian Jones

May 20, 2020

You are allowed to be angry with God.

If you don’t believe me I encourage you to read the “Psalms of Lament.”

Biblical scholars use that term for those psalms prayed by those living in immense pain. Our English word lament comes from the Latin word for weeping. Psalms 6, 13, 22, 35, 42, 43, 88, 102, 109 and 137 are examples of this type of psalm.

You’ll know you’ve come across one when you feel like you’ve turned the corner in a hallway and bumped into someone kicking, punching and screaming at a locked door; the psalms of lament are that intense.

You Are Allowed to Be Angry With God

For quite some time, when I was troubled or angry with God, I never told him about it—I didn’t think I was allowed. This resulted in an inconsistency between what was in my heart and what came out of my mouth. The psalms of lament gave me the courage to be real.

If the psalms of lament teach us anything, it is this: Christians can love God and feel immense hatred toward him at the same time. God doesn’t want tamed down, sanitized, forcibly dishonest prayers. He wants us to talk to him from our hearts, and sometimes that involves screaming and using words we wouldn’t repeat in public.

Sometimes anything less than this is dishonest.

As you read through the psalms of lament, you will notice that the people who wrote these prayers tended to focus on three basic themes when they were angry with God:

1. Accusations Against God

Their accusations are, at times, brutal. In Psalm 44:24, God is asked,

“Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?”

When I first read that, as a new Christian, I couldn’t believe someone could be that brash with God and live to write it. Yet, Psalm 44:23 is even worse:

“Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.”

The author essentially tells God to wipe the sleep from his eyes and quit being lazy! How could these psalm writers talk this way?

I think the reason they were so bold is because they were willing to be honest. They wrote what they felt. If the psalms are the gymnasium of the soul, then I think the psalms of lament are the personal trainers—pushing us to shed our inhibitions and false humility and encouraging us to express what we genuinely feel in our hearts toward God.

2. Hatred Toward Enemies

This is what shocked me the most about these psalms when I first read them.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:44 to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. How, then, do we reconcile this command with what we see in the psalms of lament? Look at what a few of the psalmists prayed:

“Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.” Psalm 3:7

“In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant.” Psalm 143:12

“O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us—he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.” Psalm 137:8 , 9

These are a far cry from Jesus’ words! I struggled with this for the longest time, trying to reconcile the two differing approaches, and then something occurred to me.

Maybe the reason the psalms of lament portray people praying for the destruction of their enemies is because we can’t love our enemies until God gives us the ability to love them.

And maybe God can’t give us the ability to love our enemies until we’ve expressed to him, in specific detail, the full brunt of our rage and hatred for our enemies.

Maybe it’s not until we’ve pulled every last ounce of hatred out of our hearts and flung it onto the lap of God that we can authentically love our enemies.

3. Vows of Praise

Interspersed among the kicking, screaming and pleading is something biblical scholars call “a vow of praise.” We see a perfect example of this in Psalm 43, which begins with a desperate petition:

“Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; rescue me from deceitful and wicked men.” Psalm 43:1

But then it ends like this:

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 43:5

The contrast is so stark, you wonder if the same person is writing the first and the last verses. How can someone go from such desperate circumstances to a position of confidence in God’s goodness? A vow.

In just about every psalm of lament, you’ll find a statement that expresses, “No matter how dark my circumstances get, no matter how much rage I feel toward God or those around me, no matter how much everything I think and feel tells me to give up on God, I will not. I will not give up on God.” Have you ever made a vow like that?

Sister Basilea Schlink, the founder of a Protestant order of nuns in Germany, counsels Christians in the midst of immense pain to make a modern day version of a vow of praise:

When you are in suffering say, “Yes, Father,” and strength will flow into your heart.

This is a vow of praise. By making such a vow, we’re saying that no matter how alone, abandoned and betrayed we feel, we will not turn back. By making a vow of praise, we’re not forgetting what has happened to us or letting God off the hook. We can still be angry with God. A vow of praise is a declaration in defiance of despair. It is a proclamation to ourselves and those around us.

One of the only ways the saints of old were able to live through unspeakable valleys of desperation was to make vows of praise to their heavenly Father. I want to encourage you to do the same.

Don’t know where to begin? How about:

Yes, Father, I still believe in your goodness, despite what I see with my eyes.
Yes, Father, I still believe you have a plan for my life, despite what I feel in my heart.
Yes, Father, I still believe my best days are ahead of me, despite what my enemies and friends and family and loved ones say to me.
Even if you ask me to live in mystery the rest of my life, I will wake up every day and say yes, Father, I still believe in you.

Your thoughts?

This article about it’s okay to be angry with God originally appeared here.

Free eBook: Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

Daniel So

May 20, 2020

Free eBook

Download this classic Christian work, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.

In this eBook, you can read about the life and death of faithful Christians from Stephen through Martin Luther and John Calvin.

This eBook is available in a variety of formats, including:

Get Download Now

Resource provided by Project Gutenberg

10 Questions to Ask Graduating Seniors

Chuck Bomar

May 20, 2020

Companies and organizations often do “exit interviews,” and they do so for many different reasons. But the biggest one is that they get really honest answers. And this is a great time to do the same with graduating seniors.

While people are “under” you, the faucet is often shut because there is usually too much to lose. But once they don’t have anything to lose, people let it flow. Companies do these exit interviews so they can learn, become better at what they do and more faithfully care for their employees.

I think student ministry pastors need to do this, too. Asking graduating seniors the following questions can help you become better at what you do, be more in tune with the actual needs of your students, and provide a natural way for you to give a few things for them to think about as they move onto the next stage of education. But mostly it’s about asking them questions and keeping your ears open.

Here are 10 questions to ask graduating seniors:

1. What is one thing you would NOT want to see changed in our ministry?

2. If you were me, what two things would you do differently in our ministry?

3. What questions are you thinking through right now? (Note: This is a good one to ask because it can clue you in to which questions you should answer for the next year’s graduating seniors!)

4. What do you think the biggest need of the students in our ministry is?

5. What aspect of our ministry do you think is the most effective in helping students grow in their faith? Why that one? Anything we can do better?

6. What do you think the students at (name school here) want the most out of life? What is a way that our ministry can meet/address that desire?

7. What was it that helped you best connect in our ministry?

8. Do you feel like you were invested in, the way you expect churches to invest in people? What could we do better?

9. Was there anything in our ministry that made you feel uncomfortable or discouraged?

10. Do you feel like you were encouraged in our ministry? If so, what did you find to be most encouraging?

If you desire to be more effective in what you do, ask for the faucet to be turned on.

Ken Blanchard: Christian Leadership Isn’t “All About You”

Andrew Hess

May 19, 2020

The famous management guru knows the difference between the world and the church. We should listen to him.

24 Ravi Zacharias Quotes

Jesse T. Jackson

May 19, 2020

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

Ravi Zacharias was an well-known American apologist who touched many lives reflecting the love and truth of Jesus Christ. If you have watched any of his videos, read any of books, listened to his radio shows, were able to attend any of his countless lectures or debates that defended the faith of His Savior and King, then you were blessed by a man of God that desired to give all that he had to lead others to Jesus and encourage others in the faith.

RZIM’s Twitter account posted “This morning, our beloved founder and apologist @RaviZacharias went home to be with Jesus.”

Over the years there are many important quotes and jewels of eternal wisdom which Ravi gave us through the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Here are just some Ravi Zacharias quotes.

Ravi Zacharias Quotes

“Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good, He came to make dead people alive.”

“God often reinforces our faith after we trust Him, not before.”

“Without God, you take man to be God, your body to be a soul, and time to be eternity.”

“We are commanded by God to love our fellow human being no matter how much we disagree with them.”

“An argument may remove doubt, but only the Holy Spirit can convict of truth.”

“We all want Canaan without going through the wilderness.”

“Television has been the single greatest shaper of emptiness.”

“Justice is the handmaiden of truth, and when truth dies, justice is buried with it.”

“I am totally convinced the Christian faith is the most coherent worldview around.”

“Success is more difficult to handle than failure.”

“The purpose of prayer and of God’s call in your life isn’t to make you number one in the world’s eyes but to make Him number one in your life.”

“Evil is a violation of purpose, the purpose of your creator and mine.”

“Jesus said, ‘Greater things of these you shall do…’ Become a peace builder, a bridge builder, not a destroyer, and the way you do that is through friendships and relationships, and through authentic character.”

“Beginning well is a momentary thing; finishing well is a lifelong thing.”

“In churches, we live with the danger of one-way verbal traffic.”

“It was not the volume of sin that sent Christ to the cross; it was the fact of sin.”

“There is no greater discovery than seeing God as the author of your destiny.”

“Many Christians have so busied themselves with programs and activities that they no longer know how to be silent and meditate on God’s word or recognize the mysteries that are in the Person of Christ.”

“A man rejects God neither because of intellectual demands nor because of the scarcity of evidence. A man rejects God because of a moral resistance that refuses to admit his need for God.”

“My goal is to satisfy the hunger and longing for those who are seeking the truth.”

“We have a right to believe whatever we want, but not everything we believe is right.”

“Love is hard work. It is the hardest work I know of, work from which you are never entitled to take a vacation.”

“If you believe in subjective morality, why do you lock your doors at night?”

“Redemption is prior to righteousness. You cannot be righteous until you are first redeemed.”

Cautious Churches Close Again After Being Open for Several Weeks

Jessica Lea

May 19, 2020

holy-ghost-church — Adobe Stock #137509446

At least two churches have closed their doors again after reopening at the end of April/beginning of May. Since the reopenings, several people affiliated with Holy Ghost Church in Texas and Catoosa Baptist Tabernacle in Georgia have tested positive for COVID-19, and one church leader has passed away in what might have been a virus-related death.

“Our hearts are heavy as some of our families are dealing with the effects of the COVID-19 virus, and we ask for your prayers for each of them as they follow the prescribed protocol and recuperate at home,” Catoosa Baptist said in a statement, as reported by an ABC News affiliate. “Though we feel very confident of the safe environment we are able to offer in our facilities, the decision was made last night that we would discontinue all in-person services again until further notice in an effort of extreme caution for the safety and well being of our families.”

Catoosa Baptist, Holy Ghost Church Close Again

Catoosa Baptist Tabernacle, an independent Baptist church in Ringgold, Georgia, reopened for in-person worship on April 26, reports The Christian Post. The church decided to close again on May 11 after the virus manifested itself among several of the church’s families. Catoosa Baptist did not say how many people had tested positive, although ABC reports there are three known COVID-19 cases connected to the church.

The church’s statement says that church leaders made the decision to reopen because of “the current data that was shared and the low volume of cases in our area at the time.” Leaders also hoped to give members the option to worship in person as well as online. About a quarter of the congregation attended in-person worship services during the time the church was open.

The church emphasized that those who attended practiced social distancing throughout the services. The organizers made sure doors were open as people walked in and asked members “to enter in a social distancing manner.” Attendees sat sit six feet apart from one another during the service and also observed social distancing as they left.

Catoosa Baptist made the decision to reopen following Georgia Governor Brian Kemp’s announcement that houses of worship, as well as various businesses (including gyms, theaters, restaurants, and salons), could reopen as long as they followed safety precautions. The governor’s decision sparked strong responses from some Georgia pastors, one of whom compared reopening the state to “opening caskets.”

In a video clarifying his church’s decision-making, Catoosa Pastor Justin Gazaway stressed that the decision to reopen came after hours of deliberation among the church’s leaders and was made in full compliance with state and local guidelines. Leaders decided to reopen, said Gazaway, specifically for the members—the reopening was not announced publicly. Before Catoosa reopened, the pastor reviewed the safety guidelines with the congregation, encouraging anyone who was at risk to stay home. The leadership simply wanted to offer an in-person worship option to people who were already working and going out in the community. “We made it crystal clear,” said Gazaway. “It’s only a choice…Many of our people chose not to come.”

While there are some people associated with the church who have COVID-19, the pastor said that at no time did the church act recklessly or in rebellion against state and local leaders. He said, “We are law-abiding citizens. We love our city. We love our county, and we obviously love our church…We went about what we did with utmost caution and utmost care, and the decisions that we made were just done out of extra precaution. We didn’t shut down because we had an outbreak in our church. I don’t know how that became the narrative.”

The Holy Ghost Church in Houston, Texas, has faced a similar situation. After reopening on May 2, the church canceled all masses indefinitely as of May 14. The cancellation followed the death of Father Donnell Kirchner at age 79 on May 13. In a statement released May 18, the church said that the cause of Kirchner’s death was unknown, but that he had been diagnosed with pneumonia. Rather than being admitted to the hospital after his diagnosis, the priest was given medication and sent back to his residence, which he shared with seven other members of his religious order. After Kirchner’s death, Holy Ghost church leaders decided to test those members for COVID-19 and to cancel services, even though the parish had followed safety precautions and social distancing since reopening.

Over the past several days, five of the members of Kirchner’s order have found out they had tested positive for COVID-19, and two of those five had participated in the services held since the church’s reopening. Holy Ghost has encouraged all attendees present at those masses to closely monitor their symptoms, adding, “We ask you to please keep everyone impacted by this illness in your prayers.”

Pastor Who Laid Hands on Sick Followers Dies of Virus

Megan Briggs

May 19, 2020

A pastor from Douala, Cameroon, Franklin Ndifor, is believed to have died from the coronavirus. Ndifor, who was recently engaged in efforts to distribute aid to those suffering in Cameroon due to the restrictions necessitated by coronavirus, was also reportedly laying hands and praying for his followers who have the coronavirus. Ndifor passed away on Saturday, May 16th, but his family and followers attempted to prevent police and healthcare workers from burying his body in the hope he would rise from the dead.

Police in Douala Deployed to Bury Body

The governor of Cameroon’s coastal region said he deployed police in Douala to force their way into Ndifor’s residence and allow Cameroon’s COVID-19 response team to move the pastor’s body. It appears Ndifor was buried sometime on Saturday. There are two conflicting reports about where the pastor was buried. One saying in front of his home while another saying that authorities transported his body to Koto Bass Cemetery in Bonaberi, Cameroon.

Hundreds of Ndifor’s followers crowded outside the leader’s residence in Douala, Cameroon, on Sunday morning praying for his resurrection. The crowd believed the pastor was on a spiritual retreat with God and that he would return soon. Their songs of worship and prayers for resurrection were broadcast on the radio.

According to Dr. Gaelle Nnanga, Ndifor died less than a week after being diagnosed with COVID-19. Nnanga was called upon to administer medical aid by some members of Ndifor’s church, Kingship International Ministries, on behalf of their struggling pastor. Nnanga says Ndifor was experiencing severe respiratory difficulty and died less than 10 minutes after being treated.

Speaking to Voice of America (VOA), Rigobert Che, a follower of Ndifor, said the pastor, who was considered a prophet by some, prayed for him and several other people, some of whom had been diagnosed with COVID-19, last Wednesday. Apparently people have been seeking Ndifor’s prayers as a cure for the virus and, according to Che, the pastor gave them reason to think he could cure it.

“This is a pastor that has been laying hands [on the sick] and claiming that he cures COVID-19,” Che said. “If you, the person that claims that you are curing COVID-19, you are dead, what about the fellow people that were affected by the COVID-19? Now that he is dead, I do not know how the people that he was laying hands on will be healed.”

VOA also reports that Ndifor was praying for COVID-19 patients in his home and his church. While these actions might seem incredibly risky and foolish, some of the aid he was offering was practical. He donated buckets and soap to Cameroon’s poor so they could hopefully prevent contracting the coronavirus by washing their hands. The pastor had also been distributing face masks on the streets as late as April 20th. According to the information from Nnanga, that date was before the pastor knew he had COVID-19.

Who Was Franklin Ndifor?

Ndifor founded Kingdom International Ministries, which is described as a nondenominational church on its Facebook page.

In 2018, Ndifor ran in Cameroon’s presidential election. Ndifor was the candidate for the National Citizens’ Movement of Cameroon. The pastor garnered only 23,000 votes, finishing in seventh place and ultimately losing to incumbent Paul Biya.

Ndifor was 39 years old when he died.

Ravi Zacharias Is With His Savior Now

Megan Briggs

May 19, 2020

Ravi Zacharias death — Facebook @Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias, an apologist, author, husband, and father of three, passed away this morning. Zacharias suffered from sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, which was deemed no longer treatable just last week by his physicians.

“This morning, our beloved founder and apologist @RaviZacharias went home to be with Jesus,” a post on RZIM’s Twitter account reads.

Zacharias’s daughter, Sarah Davis, the CEO of the ministry her father started (RZIM), announced last week that her father was returning home to Atlanta, Georgia, to finish out whatever time he might have left with his family. Zacharias had traveled to Houston, Texas, to seek treatment for the cancer he only recently found out he had. In March of this year, Zacharias found out he had cancer after undergoing an emergency surgery on his back.

The whole ordeal—from the emergency surgery to the cancer diagnosis to his death—transpired in a matter of about three months.

Other Christians leaders from Lecrae to Tim Tebow have been sharing the impact Zacharias has had on them after it became clear the famous apologist didn’t have much time left on earth.

For Ravi Zacharias Death Was Sudden

Davis gave the update about her father’s passing, sharing these words about the swift illness that took him and his final days:

It was his Savior, Jesus Christ, that my dad always wanted most to talk about. Even in his final days, until he lacked the energy and breath to speak, he turned every conversation to Jesus and what the Lord had done. He perpetually marveled that God took a seventeen-year-old skeptic, defeated in hopelessness and unbelief, and called him into a life of glorious hope and belief in the truth of Scripture—a message he would carry across the globe for 48 years.

His thoughts and conversations in recent years and his final weeks were saturated with gratitude for this team of evangelists, apologists, and staff that he called family: RZIM—Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. He spoke of our evangelists’ tender hearts and their love for people. Some have said my dad blazed a trail when he began commending the Christian faith and addressing life’s great questions of meaning nearly five decades ago. As one friend dear to him remarked, he has also paved that path, desiring that his teammates around the world would continue so untold millions might know the same Jesus he faithfully served—the one he now sees face-to-face.

My dad’s humility, grace, tenderness for people, and above all love for the Lord are forever imprinted on my mind, my heart, and my life. His love for our family will be impossible to replace until we join him in heaven one day. Ravi and Margie just celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary. My mother was entirely committed to my dad’s calling and to this ministry, believing God called them together. I cannot recall even one moment when I saw her commitment to this calling weaken, because she always placed unwavering trust in the God who called them and in His purposes. We experienced God’s kindness and faithfulness in so many ways as we felt Him journeying with us in bringing my dad home. For this we are at peace and filled with deep gratitude to God for the innumerable expressions of His love. Naomi, Nathan, and I are deeply grateful for your continuing prayers for our mother, Margie, and the many expressions of love you have shown to her and to us.

Davis also indicated a memorial service is currently being planned—the details of which have not yet been announced. The service will take place in Atlanta, where Zacharias and his family lived, and will be streamed. Davis requests in lieu of flowers those wishing to pay their respects to Zacharias should send a donation to RZIM.

Ravi Zacharias was born in Madras, India, on March 26, 1946. He died on May 19, 2020 in Atlanta. He was 74 years old.

6 Ways to Lead and Love Your Wife

Brad Merchant

May 19, 2020

Marriage is an imperfect picture of a perfect reality. But there are 6 ways to lead and love your wife.

In Ephesians 5, the apostle Paul explains that God designed marriage to be a metaphor for a divine truth, giving our watching world a glimpse of what it’s like to be loved by Jesus.

God wants to use every marriage to display his beauty and grandeur. But how? In part, by having husbands leading and loving their wives in godly, nourishing, Christlike ways.

Here are six practical ways that you, as a husband, can lead and love your wife.

1. Ask Good Questions

Proverbs 20:5 says, “The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.” Asking your wife intentional questions is a way you can learn about the state of her soul. As a start, here are four questions you should ask your wife on a regular basis:

How are you encouraged in your faith and life right now?
How are you discouraged in your faith and life right now?
In what ways can I pray for you?
How can I grow as a husband, father, and Christian?

2. Serve Your Wife

Ask yourself daily, What can I do today to make my wife’s day easier? Perhaps it’s doing the laundry, washing the dishes, taking the kids to soccer practice, or making dinner.

Husband, remember that Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve (Mark 10:45). He didn’t kick off his shoes and demand that we cater to his every need. On the contrary, he washed feet, cared for little kids, and comforted weary people. In the same way, remember that your home is not only a refuge for relaxation, but also a context to serve. Look for creative ways each day to serve your wife at home.

3. Make Time for Your Marriage

If you do not make time for your marriage, you will not have time for your marriage. Life is busy. We must be intentional about prioritizing marital health by instituting calendar rhythms. If we don’t intentionally schedule rhythms for marriage strengthening, our marriages will likely suffer. This will look different for each couple, depending on their season of life, but here are some of the rhythms my wife and I have in our marriage:

Pray daily (typically at night)
Date weekly (typically Friday nights)
Escape monthly (all-day thing)
Getaway quarterly (one overnight)
Retreat annually (several days together)

Plan regular touchpoints with your wife—and put them on the calendar.

4. Study Your Wife

The apostle Peter tells husbands to “live with your wives in an understanding way” (1 Pet. 3:7). One way we do this is by studying our wives. Do you know your wife’s heart as well as you know the statistics of your favorite sports team? If I asked you for your wife’s current likes, dislikes, and dreams, would you have an answer? You will never learn about these things unless you (1) are intentional in conversation with her and (2) listen more than you talk.

So put down the remote, your phone, or whatever keeps you from talking meaningfully with your wife, and invite her into concentrated conversation. Model James 1:19 in your marriage. Study your wife by listening to her.

5. Learn and Grow Together

Healthy marriages are characterized by a mutual desire for spousal growth. We don’t love our spouse by accepting them “as they are” so much as we point them to become more like Jesus. A key way you love your wife, then, is by prioritizing opportunities to learn and grow with her. Read a book or listen to a lecture together. Go to a conference or discuss Sunday’s sermon.

Husbands, God calls us to lead our wives into spiritual flourishing. Labor to find creative ways to grow and learn together to that end.

6. Be Intoxicated in Her Love

Proverbs 5:19 is one of my favorite verses on marriage: “Be intoxicated always in her love.” The word translated “be intoxicated” is used elsewhere in the Old Testament for a man staggering down the street in drunkenness (Isa. 28:7). The point is for a man to be crazy in love with his wife. Ray Ortlund says of this verse:

This counsel is not trivial. It is the serious wisdom of God, because, as we shall see later in the Bible, marriage points ultimately to the love of Christ and our joy in him. And the striking thing about this wisdom here in Proverbs, coming from ancient times as it does, is that marriages back then could be arranged for economic or political reasons. But the Bible sweeps all of that aside and calls husbands and wives to be head-over-heels in love with each other.

How can you be “head over heels” in love with your wife? Here are a few suggestions:

Remind her why you’re in love with her. Write her a card and list specific reasons why you treasure her.
Affirm her before others. Esteem your wife in the presence of others by directing their attention to visible graces in her life.
Surprise her with acts of kindness. Take the kids and send her out with friends for the night. Show up to her workplace with flowers. Leave her a card before you leave for work.
Encourage her with how you see God at work in her life. Take her on a date and tell her, slowly and specifically, how you see growing in her faith. Is she becoming more patient, wise, kind, bold, holy? Tell her and watch her faith fan into flame.

Scripture says husbands should be so in love with their wives that the watching world thinks they’re drunk on love. May it be so of us.

This article about how to love your wife originally appeared here.

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Here are six practical ways that you, as a husband, can lead and love your wife.

1. Ask Good Questions

2. Serve Your Wife

3. Make Time for Your Marriage

4. Study Your Wife

5. Learn and Grow Together

6. Be Intoxicated in Her Love

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