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Cardinal Zen: Vatican Is Complicit in the ‘killing’ of Chinese Churches

By
Stephanie Martin
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

As China’s Communist Party rolls out even more restrictions for religious organizations, a Catholic leader is accusing the Vatican of complicity in the “killing” of underground churches.

Cardinal Joseph Zen, the Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong, has been an outspoken critic of what he considers dangerous compromise with communists. On a recent visit to the United States, the 88-year-old led high mass in New York, accepted a pro-democracy award in Washington, and spoke passionately about his fears for the safety of Chinese Christians.

Though Cardinal Zen faults Pope Francis for silence and inaction, he says he’s mainly criticizing “the Holy See”—specifically the “bad people” who advise the pope. He singles out Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin for not being “a man of faith because he despises the heroes of faith.’

The Vatican’s Secret Deal With China

In September 2018, Cardinal Parolin helped arrange a pact with Beijing that was supposed to help unify the underground church and the communist-run Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA). The deal, most of which still remains secret, requires underground (or “home”) churches to register with the government, thus accepting the rule of state authority. It also apparently lets the CPCA select bishop nominees to present to the pope for his final selection. Cardinal Zen compares the arrangement to a 1933 negotiation between Germany and the Vatican, which the Nazis immediately violated.

In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, William McGurn notes that China, under President Xi Jinping, “has only stepped up persecution” in wake of the 2018 deal. “Meanwhile, the price extracted has been high: the pope’s silence,” McGurn adds. “This silence comes at a particularly terrible moment, when Mr. Xi is busy persecuting everyone from Tibetan Buddhists and Muslim Uighurs to house church Christians and Falun Gong practitioners.”

By endorsing the agreement, says Cardinal Zen, the pope is “encouraging a schism.” Registering with the communists goes “against our orthodoxy” and is “cheating the faithful,” the cardinal adds. He tells McGurn: “You can never compromise with a totalitarian regime because they want everything. Would you have encouraged St. Joseph to negotiate with Herod?”

Cardinal Zen Issues a ‘war cry’

Worshipers who attended high mass last week at New York’s Church of St. Vincent Ferrer called Cardinal Zen reverent, serious, and a “great example” of adhering to the truth. One woman referred to his message that day as “not a mourning cry but a war cry.”

Cardinal Zen is critical of communist-approved bishops in China who prioritize country over faith. For example, Bishop John Fang Xingyao, leader of the CPCA, recently said, “Love for the homeland must be greater than the love for the Church, and the law of the country is above Canon law.” Another Catholic leader, Bishop Peter Fang Jianping, justifies sinicization efforts by saying Chinese people “should first be a citizen and then have religion and beliefs.”

In his book For Love of My People I Will Not Remain Silent, Cardinal Zen details his concern for Chinese Catholics. He contends that Pope Francis is “shutting down” the progress made by John Paul II and Benedict. “Obviously they always give lip service,” he says of Vatican officials. “They always say, ‘In the continuity…’ but that’s an insult.”

La Civilta Cattolica, a pro-Francis Jesuit journal, is attempting to discredit Cardinal Zen, McGurn alleges. It is engaging in “missionary romanticism,” he says, by highlighting the work of Matteo Riccis, a 16th-century Jesuit “who sought to incorporate aspects of Chinese culture into Catholic worship.” The problem with that comparison, McGurn says, is that the 2018 deal was brokered mostly by European Catholics, not by Chinese church leaders who are intimately familiar with communist oppression.

That point is key, according to David Mulroney, a former Canadian ambassador to China. “The Sino-Vatican agreement was negotiated not by Chinese Catholics,” he says, “but by Vatican officials who appear susceptible to the same delusions about China and its intentions that infect many Western politicians.”

17 Biblical Ways to Glorify God With Your Life

By
Andrew Hess
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Glorify God
Adobe Stock #1038814276

Thomas Watson’s timeless advice to glorify God in your life helps us know how to glorify God. This list was first printed by Puritan Thomas Watson in 1692 in his bestselling classic, A Body of Practical Divinity.

Here are 17 ways of how to glorify God in everyday life based on scripture and Bible verses.

1. We glorify God when we aim purely at his glory.

“I seek not mine own glory, but the glory of him who sent me.” (John 8:50)

“Father, glorify your name.” (John 12:28)

Thomas Watson: “It is one thing to advance God’s glory, another thing to aim at it. God must be the ultimate end of all actions.”

2. We glorify God when we sincerely confess our sin.

“Then Joshua said to Achan, ‘My son, give glory to the LORD God of Israel and give praise to him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.’” (Joshua 7:19)

Thomas Watson: “The thief on the cross had dishonored God in his life, but at his death he brought glory to God by confession of sin.”

3. We glorify God when we believe by faith.

“No unbelief made him (Abraham) waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God” (Romans 4:20)

Thomas Watson:  “Faith knows there are no impossibilities with God, and will trust him where it cannot trace him.”

4. We glorify God when we are tender to his glory.

“For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.” (Psalm 69:9)

Thomas Watson:  “When we hear God reproached, it is as if we were reproached; when God’s glory suffers, it is as if we suffered.”

5. We glorify God when we bear spiritual fruit.

“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” (John 15:8)

Thomas Watson:  “It is not profession, but fruit that glorifies God.”

6. We glorify God when we are content in the state Providence has placed us.

“The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.” (Psalms 16:5)

Thomas Watson:  “A good Christian argues: It is God that has put me in this condition; he could have raised me higher, if he pleased, but that might have been a snare to me; he has done it in wisdom and love; therefore I will sit down satisfied in my condition.”

The Dominion of Drunkenness

By
Kyle Borg
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

It was April 10, 2004 and I was living in Biloxi, Mississippi where I was training with the United States Air Force. It was also my twenty-first birthday. Of course, when my friends found out they planned a night of heavy drinking. Up to that point in my life I had never had a sip of alcohol. I was raised with the wrong idea that Christians don’t drink. But on that night, in my new found freedom, I cast aside all hesitation. My first round of drinks was from a bottle of seventy proof whiskey. That was soon followed by more drinks than I can now recall. Admittedly, the alcohol caught up with me and I spent the early morning hours bent over the porcelain throne covered in the stink and stench of my own vomit.

That’s not an amusing story. It’s pitiful. I was training in an environment that valued honor and commanded respect. But there’s absolutely nothing honorable or respectful about being drunk. Let’s be honest. No one wants engraved on their headstone: “Here lies a drunk.” I don’t think anyone wants their enduring legacy to be centered on intoxication. And while it might make for a funny country song, no one is going to put on top of their résumé: “I’m pretty good at drinking beer.” Common sense seems to teach that drunkenness isn’t a virtue.

It would be saying too much to say that the Bible forbids or even condemns drinking alcohol. Unlike the religions of this world — Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc — biblical Christianity doesn’t teach that drinking alcohol is sinful. In fact, shocking as it might sound to some, the Bible recognizes the blessing and value of alcohol. The Psalmist sang: “You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man” (Psalm 104:14-15). When’s the last time you sang something like that in church? Among other things, the Bible likens the abundance of wine with joy (Psalm 4:7), the relief it can give to those in distress (Proverbs 31:6), and its medicinal value (1 Timothy 5:23).

What Does The Bible Say About Drunkenness?

However, the Bible does clearly teach that drunkenness is sinful. Jesus said: “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life” (Luke 21:34). Paul wrote: “Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy” (Romans 13:13). Peter taught: “For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry” (1 Peter 4:3). So serious is the sin of drunkenness that the Bible warns drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of heaven (1 Corinthians 6:10).

Why is Drunkenness A Sin?

But why is drunkenness sinful? That’s a fair question. Sometimes, I think we view the commands of God like that cranky dad who barks out an order: “Just do as I say!” without any rhyme or reason. We need to remember, however, that the law of God is holy, righteous, and good (Romans 7:12). Did you catch that? The law is good! God isn’t trying to be a killjoy in any of his commands. Rather, drunkenness is forbidden because it’s for our good.

Biblically, one of the reasons drunkenness is a sin is because of the way it actually destroys our purpose in life. When Adam and Eve were created God gave to our first parents a purpose: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28). The word “subdue” is a strong word. It means bringing something into bondage or service. Basically, God is saying that one of humanity’s purposes is to make use of this earth — all of its vast resources — for producing, researching, discovering, inventing, and advancing. Not as a mean tyrant but as a good steward who does all of these things for the glory of God. That includes using plants to bring forth wine to gladden the heart.

Drunkenness, however, turns that upside down. Rather than being a way of subduing the earth, drunkenness is being subdued by the earth — quite literally, it’s being brought under the influence and control of creation. That’s why, for instance, Paul cautions older women not to be “slaves to much wine” (Titus 2:3). Drunkenness isn’t exercising dominion over creation it’s being brought under its enslaving power. When you get drunk, alcohol is reigning as your master bending you to its influence.

Perhaps the best example of this is Noah. The name Noah means “rest,” and when he was born his dad had big expectations. Reflecting on the sweat and pain that sin brought, he said of his son: “Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands” (Genesis 5:29). Did Noah do that — did he bring rest from the toil of the ground?

Well, after the flood when Noah and his family stepped on dry ground God reminded him that all of creation was given to him (Genesis 9:1-3). Noah was supposed to resume subduing the earth. So he did. We’re told he became a “man of the soil.” Tragically, one of the last things we read about Noah in Genesis is that he planted a vineyard and got drunk. The great Patriarch of the faith intoxicated, naked, and passed out in his tent. Is that a comical scene? No way! It’s disgraceful that this man – so esteemed by God and others – was completely drunk. Instead of subduing the fruit of the earth he was subdued by it (see Genesis 9:20-21). Noah failed to live up to his name.

That’s a picture of what drunkenness really is — it’s dishonorable and foolish. But the gospel counters what sin does. Even as drunkenness enslaves us, Jesus Christ breaks the power of that dominion and brings us, by faith in his life and death, into a captive liberty to him: “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:17-18). Only then are we set free to do what we have been created to do: glorify God and enjoy him forever.

3 Ways Busyness Hurts People and Churches

By
Eric Geiger
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

There was a famous research experiment conducted by two Princeton psychology professors that shows the harm busyness does to our priorities and our focus. Because the experiment was conducted on seminary students, it is very applicable to ministry leaders and churches.

The year was 1973. John Darely and Daniel Batson were the professors. Three groupings of seminary students were told to individually walk across campus and give a presentation on the story of the Good Samaritan. An actor was hired to lay in an alley, slumped over and in need of help. One grouping of students were put under some time pressure. They were out of time, late for the presentation. The second group was told the presentation was about to start, if they left now they would be on time. A third group had time to get to the presentation, and may end up waiting once they got there. The results were very different for each group, depending on how much time they had and how busy and rushed they felt.

  • 63% of the students who had extra time stopped to help the man.
  • 45% of the students who were on time stopped to help the man.
  • 10% of students who were out of time stopped to help the man.

These were seminary students. Teaching on the Good Samaritan. And only 10% stopped to be a good Samaritan when they were late and out of time. Such is the devastating impact of being busy.

What Does Busyness Do? 

1. Busyness distracts us from God.

When we are overly busy, we fail to stop and listen. We rush by others, but we also rush by opportunities to listen to the Lord and enjoy time with Him. While busyness is often applauded over laziness, the cure for the vice of sloth is not busyness as trading sloth for busyness is trading a lethargic life for a frenzied one. Neither is pleasing to God or very effective.

2. Busyness distracts us from others.

When we are overly busy we fail to see the pain and struggle in others, as the research experiment with the seminary students proved. What is fascinating about the study is that the mental prompt of teaching about the Good Samaritan failed to overcome the busyness. In other words, the busyness was more powerful than the mental prompt. When we are overly busy we are unable to be for people what we should be for people, even if we know better.

3. Busyness distracts us from what is most important.

As many have pointed out, we can acquire more money and resources but we cannot get more time. Thus, when we are overly busy, we have no choice but to steal time from what is most important. When we are overly busy, time has to be taken from something important because there is not more time to get somewhere else. When we have a deep sense of commitment to an overarching important mission, we abhor busyness for the sake of busyness.

This article originally appeared here.

From the Books to the People

By
Nicholas Batzig
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

Like so many pastors I know, I have long had a love affair with books. Books are the best of friends, smiling down from where they sit on the shelf––urging you to come and spend time with them.

“A good book,” as one has put it, “is like a good friend. It will stay with you for the rest of your life. When you first get to know it, it will give you excitement and adventure, and years later it will provide you with comfort and familiarity. And best of all, you can share it with your children or your grandchildren or anyone you love enough to let into its secrets.”

There is incalculable benefit to living in the world of books. Charles Spurgeon once famously explained, “The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains, proves that he has no brains of his own.”1 However, the pastor (or congregant) who is an avid reader faces peculiar dangers. It is altogether possible to isolate oneself in the world of books. Although literary negligence is a tragic characteristics of modernity, those who love to read are susceptible to the negative impact of lingering too long in solitude with their books.

In his Thoughts on Preaching, J.W. Alexander sounded an important warning for those (especially ministers) who spent the better part of their time in their studies. He wrote,

“Much may be learned without books. To read always is not the way to be wise. The knowledge of those who are not bookworms has a certain air of health and robustness. I never deal with books all day without being the worse for it…There is magic in the voice of living wisdom. Iron sharpens iron. Part of every day should be spent in society. Learning is discipline; but the heart must be disciplined as well as the head; and only by intercourse with our fellows can the affections be disciplined.

Bookishness implies solitude; and solitude is apt to produce ill weeds: melancholy, selfishness, moroseness, suspicion, and fear. To go abroad is, therefore, a Christian duty. I never went from my books to spend an hour with a friend, however humble, without receiving benefit. I never left the solitary contemplation of a subject in order to compare notes on it with a friend, without finding my ideas clarified…Solitary study breeds inhospitality; we do not like to be interrupted.”1

World of Books

Taking note of similar danger, William Still explained that the world of books is meant to intersect with the world of people. He wrote, “We must not live in the world of books but in the world of real people. Yet all that is worth saying to them of lasting value comes from books.”2

Pastors must be book lovers who live among the people. The end of all our study ought to be more profitable spiritual interaction with those God brings across our path. If we live in the world of books as an end in itself, we potentially turn learning into mere selfish pleasure–something akin to hoarding possessions for ourselves. If we neglect reading in favor of spending most of our time with people, we run the risk of turning social interaction into a coping mechanism for our co-dependency. We must learn to move seamlessly from one world to the other.

We must learn to borrow from the world of books for the benefit of the world of people, while gleaning from the world of people what can only be gained from the living for the benefit of others to whom we minister.

1. An excerpt from Spurgeon’s 1863 sermon, “Paul–His Cloak and His Books.”

2. James W. Alexander Thoughts on Preaching (Edinburgh, Ogle and Murray, 1864) 52.

3. William Still The Work of the Pastor (UK: Christian Focus, 2010)

This article originally appeared here.

Justin Bieber: I Doubt I’d Be Alive If Not for Jesus

By
Jessica Lea
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justin bieber christian
Screengrab Youtube @JustinBieber

For anyone who has ever wondered, “Is Justin Bieber Christian?”, the singer recently sat for an interview that may answer that question. Bieber shared that understanding the true character and love of Jesus has helped to bring healing to his life and led him to commit to his wife, Hailey. The superstar said that although he was raised as a Christian and did believe Jesus died on the cross for him, he never “really implemented it” by obeying God. Now, however, Bieber views following Jesus differently. 

“The way I look at my relationship with God and with Jesus is I’m not trying to earn God’s love by doing good things,” Bieber told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “God has already loved me for who I am before I ever did anything to earn and deserve it. It’s a free gift…The forgiveness is the thing that we look at and we go, you know, I’m going to worship you, God, because you gave me something so good.” 

Is Justin Bieber Christian?

Before he came to a truer understanding of who Jesus is, Bieber said he was on a clear path to self-destruction. If he hadn’t deepened in his faith, “I don’t know if I’d be alive for sure. It was dark, really dark.” He was caught up in a lifestyle where he would drink, do drugs, and sleep around. Part of what led him to remain in that lifestyle was the hypocrisy he saw in the Christians around him. “I’d had really bad examples of Christians in my life who would say one thing and do another,” he said, “so they were my direct example of who Jesus was.” 

The turning point for Bieber was when he “just looked at the character” of Jesus. He said, “I really took a deep dive in my faith to be honest.” He came to see clearly that “following Jesus is actually turning away from sin…there’s no faith without obedience.”

At the same time, the singer said he knows that the right motivation for obedience is recognizing just how much God loves us. God is not judgmental, he said, but accepts us for who we are and “loves us through our pain and through our dirt. Jesus wasn’t this religious elite guy…he was in the dirt, and he found me in my dirt and pulled me out.”

Just as hypocritical Christians had a harmful impact on Bieber’s faith, faithful Christians have deeply encouraged him: “I’m very, very grateful to have influences in my life that have played a huge part in me seeing their relationship with Jesus and their relationship with their wives and their relationship with their kids.” Seeing these positive examples in others has helped Bieber to pursue God and pursue healthy relationships in his own life.

His renewed faith in God was a significant part of why Bieber chose to pursue marriage. His parents were not married, so he does not have that foundational example to look to for guidance. It was challenging to face the prospect of committing to Hailey while fearing that he would have no idea how to be a good husband. But he sensed that God was encouraging him to move forward, saying, “I’ll show you…just trust.”

Bieber hopes that his willingness to be vulnerable and share his story is an encouragement to other people. “I want to definitely tell my story so that if that resonates to anybody that they can hopefully learn from it,” he said. While he never asked for the platform he has and all of its challenges, he nevertheless says, “I’m just trying to steward that wisely, steward my relationships wisely. I want people to take a look at my story, and hopefully my words can make a difference.”

Nigerian Christians March for Leah, Warn of Potential Anarchy

By
Megan Briggs
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

It’s been two years since Christian student Leah Sharibu was kidnapped by Boko Haram. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) organized a service and peaceful march to mark the anniversary on Wednesday, February 19, 2020. Victims of Boko Haram’s terror were in attendance, and church leaders amplified their voices to once again appeal to Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in Sharibu’s case and to help stop the persecution of Nigerian Christians generally.

“The one message I have is that there should be no political statements. Mr. President, may God strengthen your hands and may Leah be set free,” said Gideon Para-Mallam, an activist and former regional secretary for the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students.

Despite Para-Mallam’s comment, the service and march waded into political commentary, with numerous attendees calling out what they perceive as the government’s lack of action concerning the release of Sharibu and the ongoing violence against Christians in Nigeria. 

Some People Turn a Blind Eye to the Persecution of Nigerian Christians

Paul Eneche, the Senior Pastor of Dunamis International Gospel Centre, called the present insecurity in Nigeria an “orgy of foulness” at the service on Wednesday. At a news conference the day before, Eneche drew attention to the persecution of Christians happening, especially in the northeast area of the country (where many of the kidnappings and killings perpetrated by Boko Haram are occurring). According to the Daily Post, Eneche lamented that many Nigerians are willfully oblivious of the dire situation, comparing it to a “bankruptcy of awareness.” He continued:

All is not well in the land. But in the name of Jesus, it shall be well. We believe that as this awareness rises, people take responsibility to say no, instead of keeping silent in the name of passivity, timidity and allowing the status quo to go. There are people in this country who are silent as if they have gummed their lips. People are watching evil going on and they say nothing. I want to say that if you are a businessman, you can only do business if there is a nation. If you are a pastor, you can only pastor a church if there is a nation. These things cannot continue anymore. 

Eneche concluded his thoughts by saying those supporters and collaborators of terrorism should know their “days are numbered.” “The silence of good men is more wicked than evil of wicked people. When good men agree to keep quiet, evil thrives,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of CAN President Samson Ayokunle, Dr. Caleb Ahima said the lack of action from the government is concerning for more than one reason. Ahima warned that under the present conditions, people will likely turn to anarchy: “We call on the Federal Government today that we are getting to a point of anarchy. It is the constitutional responsibility of government to protect lives and property of citizens.”

The widow of Rev. Lawan Andimi attended the events and said she was thankful for the support she has received. She also said she was thankful that her husband died knowing Jesus Christ, and she encouraged those present to be strong in their faith. Rev. Andimi was captured by Boko Haram and killed in January.

Earlier this month, Buhari claimed that 90 percent of Boko Haram’s victims are Mulsim, a claim which CAN leaders vehemently refuted.

Speaking to Christianity Today on their Quick to Listen podcast in 2018, Para-Mallam explained the unique demographics present in Nigeria. Nigeria has the largest population of any African nation; in fact, “one in every four Africans is a Nigerian,” Para-Mallam explained. Additionally, it represents the largest Muslim population in a single nation in Africa, as well as the largest Christian population in a single nation in Africa. Para-Mallam said the Christian community is “vibrant and very, very committed to sharing their faith in Jesus Christ.” At the same time, “you also have these vibrant Muslims who are ready to advance Islam.” Para-Mallam explained this makes for a volatile situation in the country. 

The 2020 World Watch List ranks Nigeria as 12 on its list of countries where Christians face the most persecution.

‘The Boys Think the Bible Says They’re Better Than Us’

By
Jenny Funderburke Smith
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

We moved last summer and our two-minute commute to school is now twenty minutes or thirty during snowbird season (if you don’t live in Florida – that’s a real thing). One of the blessings of this change is that my girls and I read Scripture together every morning. We started in Philippians and have just worked our way through, a section at a time. The challenge and beauty of reading the Bible this way is that you come across some tough passages that lead to heavy conversations.

I’ve worked with the girls on how to treat such passages:

  • Do I need to understand more about the context around the verse?
  • What does the rest of the Bible say about this idea?
  • Do I need to adjust my thinking?

Today’s passage was 1 Peter 3:1-7. This is a beautiful passage, full of truth I want my twelve-year-old, ten-year-old, and five-year-old to have in their hearts. But there were also some words that my very passionate, very independent, very strong daughters weren’t sure what to do with. Their questions were thoughtful and amazing, and also opened my eyes to how important these conversations are in light of controversies swirling in today’s culture.

What Does The Bible Say About Women?

I want my girls to grow up believing and living by the Bible. I want them to truly think Biblically, and that type of thinking must include Beth Moore’s description via twitter:
“the tension glaringly present in the NT regarding women.” In the following tweet she explained:

I’m not a radical feminist. I avoid political debates like the plague.  I am a female minister in a church in a denomination that has a long tradition of being very conservative in regards to women in leadership. I have voiced very few opinions about that, publicly or privately. I have trusted the leadership that I have served under, I have lived out my calling, and I have been extremely blessed to serve in churches that have let me do what God has called me to do with much freedom. For that, I am very grateful.

But not all women have had those blessings. Both in leadership and in the congregation, I believe many of our churches have failed many women by focusing only on one end of the tension. In the early days of the #churchtoo hashtag, I cried as I read of woman after woman who had reached out for help and was mistreated and shamed by her church leadership. In a day and time when the treatment of women is front page news, we can not ignore how this impacts our kids and how our teaching of what is Biblical is more important than ever.

In our discussion, my girls questioned two things that I just can’t get over.

  • “Well, I don’t like that the boys all say they’re better than us and that this verse would prove it.” This was the response from my ten-year-old upon reading verse 7 where Paul refers to wives as the weaker partner. This sweet child has no idea that what she described doesn’t just happen on the playground. In many contexts and unfortunately in many churches, the teaching of the unique roles that God has given men and women gets communicated in a way that little girls hear “boys are better.” I am not saying this is anyone’s intent. I’m just saying that if we aren’t really careful and if we don’t help our kids rightly divide the word of truth, we create a viewpoint that is damaging, unbiblical and potentially dangerous.

So, how did I address this with my ten-year-old who really just wants to run faster at all the boys and outscore them in baseball?

  • God made men and women differently. And, yes, there are some ways that we are weaker than men. It is rare that a grown woman is physically stronger than her husband. That is not bad, it is just reality. There are things that God made women better at. Differences are not bad – they are just different.
  • The end of that passage says that we are “co-heirs of the grace of life.” God has created us differently, but in the big picture, there is no difference. “There is neither… male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). We are all equally important to God, regardless of our gender.
  • There are many places in Scripture where God elevates women beyond cultural norms and where He uses strong women to do amazing things. My favorite to point to is that Mary was the very first one to share the gospel. She was the one who Jesus told to go and tell all of the disciples that He was alive. Women are critical to sharing the gospel with the world and in leading in our churches.

“How does someone submit to a husband if he does bad things?” 

This question came from my twelve-year-old as I shared with the girls what submitting to your husband looks like.  Oh, sweet girl, if you only knew the debate in Southern Baptist circles right now. These were the basic thoughts I shared:

  • Submit means to put yourself under the authority of another. I’m not a Greek scholar, but according to the NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon, when used as a non-military term, the word means “a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden.”  Submission is something we choose to do. God sets up authority in every part of our life and calls us to “voluntarily cooperate” with that authority.
  • Submission does not mean enabling and condoning sin. Submission does not mean saying any kind of abuse, adultery or other sin that is harmful to the spouse or the children is in any way ok. Godly submission does not equal being a doormat who just survives awful, sinful behavior.
  • God does not like divorce. No one does. God allows for divorce in situations of adultery and abandonment. In my opinion, abuse is abandonment even if the abuser still lives in the house. Divorce is not the unpardonable sin and when we intentionally or unintentionally communicate that it is, we run the risk of putting women in really bad situations.
  • These instructions are for wives to submit to their husbands. They are not saying all women submit to all men. The Bible does not say boys are always to be the leader on the playground or that that you should submit to the wrong thing the older boy in the youth group is asking you to do.
  • Ephesians 5:21 instructs us to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Marriage is a continual submitting to each other. Both husband and wife have to volunteer to cooperate and to put the other first. A truly Godly marriage will not be a husband ruling over his wife like a dictator, but rather operating from Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”

Mamas and daddies, let me encourage you to help your girls walk out this Biblical tension. Help them know that they are precious in the sight of God and they are powerful and important in the kingdom of God. Help them see the places where God calls us to submit to be places of honor and respect, not shackles. Help them to see that submission is for God’s glory and never to enable sin and harm. Help them know that their worth comes from a Creator who adores them more than any husband ever will.

And let’s pray for this generation of girls to rise up to serve God in a mighty way.

This article originally appeared here.

The Christian’s Call to Care for Addictive Populations

By
Supriya G Reddy
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

As a public health professor, Christ-follower, and substance abuse researcher, my vocation demands that I consistently reflect upon the intersection of faith and efforts that are intended to protect the needs of the population. As the prevalence and incidence rates of a variety of addictive behaviors continue to increase, the stigmatization and misconceptions associated with these behaviors continue to rise as well.

Addiction, whether related to substance abuse or not, can present itself in many forms. An individual may be struggling with prescription drug use, the use of illicit substances, sexual addiction, overeating, or tobacco and alcohol use, just to name a few. The repercussions of engaging in these behaviors often results in devastation for both the user and their loved ones.

Substance Abuse: What is Addiction?

Oftentimes, the general populace may not think of addiction as a disease. While there is a spiritual component, in actuality, it is a disease that is complex and chronic in nature and affects the functioning of both the brain and body. The most common symptoms of addiction are severe loss of control, continued use despite the negative consequences associated with the behavior, a preoccupation with using, failed attempts to quit, increasing tolerance, and withdrawal. There are many evidence-based programs studying best practices in substance abuse prevention and control, but there is still much work that needs to be done.

As the addiction field has matured, it has tried to integrate conflicting theories and approaches to treatment, as well as incorporate relevant evidence-based practices into a single, comprehensive model. Many positive changes have emerged, and a new view of motivation and associated strategies to promote positive behavior change have been developed. This trend in focusing on motivation, coupled with a shift away from labeling individuals as addicts, places an emphasis on examining the determinants and mechanisms of personal change.

Researchers and clinicians have become better equipped to apply and facilitate changes in an individual’s unhealthy or maladaptive behavior. With that being said, as Christians, we must remember that helping those who struggle with addiction is not the sole responsibility of a mental health professional. We must keep in mind that the Christian life is also about bearing burdens well. We are not meant to struggle alone (Gal. 6:2).

The current state of the problem: Incidence and prevalence rates

Currently, there are an estimated 40 million Americans aged 12 and older who engage in substance abuse behavior or are addicted to nicotine, alcohol, or other drugs. That’s more than 1 out of every 7 people. This is more than the number of Americans who suffer from heart conditions (27 million), diabetes (26 million), or cancer (19 million).

substance abuse

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the 2019 Monitoring the Future Survey Results, the use of illicit drugs among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders remained steady at 38%. The use of marijuana has increased in lower grades, when compared to 12th graders, but the prevalence of marijuana use also remains steady. Prescription drug misuse has declined in the adolescent population in recent years, but use among adults continues to be a major public health concern. Alcohol use continues to decline among middle and high schoolers. Lastly, we have made progress in regards to addressing tobacco and nicotine use among adolescents, but the recent popularity in vaping behavior has threatened these efforts.

 

Addiction, stigmatization, and a call to the Christian

Although the word “stigma” is widely used, there is some variability in how it is defined. Stigma, especially in regards to addictive behaviors, occurs when negative attitudes toward those suffering from substance use disorders arise on account of the disorder itself, and are likely to impact physical, psychological, social, or professional wellbeing. This stigmatization, manifesting as preconceived judgments and misconceptions, often results in the exclusion of those suffering from addiction.

Stigmatization is an issue we must work through both personally and as a society, but we cannot allow it to be a barrier to gospel ministry. Regardless of how you may perceive the culpability of those who suffer from addiction, Christians should continue to affirm their dignity as image-bearers of God (Gen. 1:26-28). Addicts may be resorting to the things of this world to satisfy, but we know they were made for so much more. We know and are reassured, that Christ is the only one who will satisfy (Heb. 6:19). Being intentional in caring for this hurting population can provide a God-glorifying opportunity to share the gospel as we strive to minister with love, grace, and compassion.

Caring for those who are suffering from addiction is not an endorsement of sin, gluttony, or the use of illicit substances. When Jesus called us to care “for the least of these” (Matt. 25:40), I believe it includes those who are in destitute and destructive situations. Being present in the lives of those who struggle with addiction provides us with a beautiful opportunity to love people in the midst of their affliction and point them to the One in whom true satisfaction is found. It allows us to help those in sin turn to the freedom that is found in Christ, walking alongside them on a difficult road. As an individual who has had the privilege of working with addictive populations and hearing their stories, I would urge Christians to seek out opportunities to serve this population as a means of living out the Great Commission.

This article originally appeared here.

Short Skirts and Angry Deacons

By
Ray Hollenbach
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

One spring night several years ago, I stood in line waiting to buy a movie ticket. The young couple in front of me was talking about the Easter Sunday “disturbance” at their church.

“Well, it was a pretty short skirt,” said the guy.

“That’s just the way Julie dresses,” answered the girl. “She needs to have people notice her.”

“She got noticed all right. One of the deacons went and got a video camera and took video of her in that outfit so that when they confront her about it they’ll have visual evidence.”

“That’s just wrong,” said the girl.

“Which?” asked the guy: “Her skirt or the video?”

Sometimes I make things up to prove a point. This conversation, however, was real. I wish it wasn’t.

Setting aside for a moment the creepy factor of middle-aged deacons running for a video camera to tape a girl wearing a short skirt, the case of the really short skirt demonstrates the reasons so many believers are done with the church. The incident makes it difficult to suggest that participating in church life is a vital aspect of following Jesus. It’s hard to be in favor of the church when the church is manifestly flawed.

But what about Julie? What if she really does “need to have people notice her”? Who will help her, and how can it be done? The camera-wielding deacons are not the answer; they are part of the problem. Yet church discipline should exist to help believers find freedom in Christ.

“Church Discipline”

The phrase is either an oxymoron or a neon sign warning all who see it to run for their lives because this church is nuts.

But what about the example of New Testament churches? The Apostle Paul not only planted churches but also considered church discipline a life-giving necessity, even if the words ring harsh in our 21st-century ears:

So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. … I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters. In that case, you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5: 1-5, 9-13)

What are we to do with Paul?

No one would suggest that he is a camera-crazed deacon! Or what should we do with Jesus, who laid down guidelines for handling conflict within the church ending with “if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” Perhaps we need to be reminded that redeeming love extends to the life of the church as well.

Yet we must also acknowledge that church history is filled with bad examples of applying church discipline. So how does an obscure blog from the peaceful hills of central Kentucky solve the problem? It doesn’t, other than to suggest three key factors every follower of Jesus should consider about church discipline:

1. Experiencing the presence of Jesus is the first and best kind of church discipline.

Jesus is the head of the church. He is alive, active, and he has opinions about the actions we take and choices we make each day. The best way for a disciple of Jesus to avoid camera-wielding deacons is to live in the presence of Jesus as a way of life.

SBC Ousts Church for Hiring Registered Sex Offender as Pastor

By
Jessica Lea
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

The Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has voted to disfellowship a Southern Baptist church in Midland, Texas, because the church was employing a lifetime registered sex offender as a pastor. The decision comes at the recommendation of the SBC’s Credentials Committee, which was repurposed in 2019 in order to better address problems arising when churches are not aligned with SBC’s “polity, doctrine, or practice.”

“We have spoken against matters of sexual abuse, and we have taken some major, demonstrative steps as a convention of churches,” said Ronnie Floyd, the president and CEO of the Executive Committee, according to Baptist Press News (BPN). “Also, churches are being equipped more effectively in matters related to sexual abuse…Today, we’ve seen this process in action with the disfellowshipping of (Ranchland Heights).”

The First Southern Baptist Church to Be Disfellowshipped

The SBC’s Executive Committee, which is composed of over 80 members, had a meeting in Nashville on February 17-18. During that meeting, the committee unanimously voted to disfellowship Ranchland Heights Baptist Church, reports Christianity Today (CT). The Credentials Committee’s specific words in its recommendation about the church were:

That the Credentials Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention recommend to the SBC Executive Committee that Ranchland Heights Baptist Church in Midland, Tex., no longer be considered in friendly cooperation with the Convention as outlined in SBC Constitution Article III.

Ranchland Heights is the first Southern Baptist church the SBC has disfellowshipped since it revised its bylaws and repurposed the Credentials Committee. According to the Tennessean, Credentials Committee chairperson Stacy Bramlett confirmed at a news conference that the church employing a registered sex offender was the specific reason for its disfellowshipping from the denomination.

The webpage where people can submit their concerns to the Credentials Committee says it “exists to provide individuals an opportunity to address concerns about whether a church that is currently identified as a cooperating church with the Southern Baptist Convention continues to meet our standards of faith and practice.”

In addition to incidents pertaining to sexual abuse, people can report racial discrimination, as well as “Other Concerns” they might have with how a church is relating to the SBC. Notably, it is not possible to submit anonymous tips through the portal. Bramlett said the reason why is that the committee needs to be able to communicate with someone as it evaluates particular churches. 

The Reasoning of Ranchland Heights

In 2003, Phillip Rutledge was convicted of aggravated sexual assault charges against two girls, one 11 years old and the other 12 years old. Ranchland Heights hired Rutledge as a pastor in 2016, knowing his criminal background. The church told CBS 7 News, “Our administration knew about Bro. Phillip’s history before the hiring, and the vast majority of the church knew about it as well. We believe that God can change people, and we believe that God has forgiven Bro. Phillip as well.”

CBS 7 contacted the Southern Baptist church in 2016 after receiving a tip from a church attendee who had found out about Rutledge’s history via word of mouth. Deacon DJ Rambo told the news channel at the time that both the church and Rutledge were careful to make sure the pastor was never alone with minors. When asked if the congregation knew that Rutledge was a registered sex offender, Rambo said, “I can’t tell you that 100 percent of the people know, but the vast majority know.”

The church has until 30 days prior to the 2020 SBC Annual Meeting on June 9 to appeal the decision, but Bramlett said based on prior communications with the church she does not anticipate Ranchland Heights will do so. While Bramlett acknowledged that the process of evaluating concerns was “very difficult,” she said, “I do believe in what we set in place. I’m very confident it’s working.”

The SBC Dealing with Fallout

The disfellowshipping of Ranchland Heights is another step the SBC has taken in order to deal with the fallout from an exposé the Houston Chronicle published on February 10, 2019. The report described widespread sexual abuse and cover-ups within the denomination and resulted in SBC president J.D. Greear asking the Executive Committee to look into 10 churches named in the Chronicle’s article. The SBC cleared all but three of the churches within a few days.

Since then, the Southern Baptist Convention has been struggling with how to better address the problem of sexual abuse within its ranks, and the Credentials Committee’s reporting system has been one of its attempts to do so.

The system has its detractors, however. Victims advocate Boz Tchividjian has criticized the online portal, saying, “The reporting system is confusing at best and misleading at worst. It certainly doesn’t approach the issue from the perspective of a reported victim.” The limitations of the portal are something that Greear acknowledged in a speech to the Executive Committee on Monday: “From the beginning, I’ve said that the issues of sex abuse in our churches is not something addressed by the appointing of a task force or the adoption of a resolution or a change of bylaws, as important as those things are.”

The SBC president also said that the denomination still needs a “culture change.” Said Greear, “We’re not done dealing with the sex abuse crisis.”

ERLC to Be Investigated After ‘public and private’ Grievances Aired

By
Megan Briggs
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

The Executive Committee (EC) of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has voted to investigate the actions of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), led by Dr. Russell Moore. The move is in response to “ongoing concerns” expressed “both publicly and privately” to members of the EC and other SBC leaders. 

“I’m fully aware that we may find, as we did in 2017, that what we are hearing is not as significant in fact as it is in perception. What we want to find is where the facts lead us,” said EC chairman Mike Stone, who will lead a seven-member study task force on its fact-finding mission.

ERLC’s ‘past and present activities’ to be Investigated

The EC voted on Tuesday, February 18th, to open an investigation into the ERLC’s “past and present activities.” The Committee met in Nashville, Tennessee to discuss some matters of business pertinent in the denomination at the moment, including the 2020 Pastors Conference and its controversial lineup of speakers and performers and the ongoing crisis of sexual abuse. 

The motion to investigate the actions of the ERLC originated from the SBC’s Cooperative Program, which is the pool of money collected by the SBC from cooperating churches across the country. This money is then used to fund organizations such as the ERLC, and also missions work domestically and internationally. 

Stone emphasized that the investigation is a “budget issue” in essence. Stone explained, “We continue to hear reports that are largely anecdotal but increasing in number where churches are either decreasing or withholding Cooperative Program funds related to concerns with the ERLC. We have a responsibility that we are granted under the bylaws of the SBC to look at this.” In October 2019, the SBC reported it had exceeded its budgeted goal for the Cooperative Program by $2.7 million for the 2018-2019 year. In fact, despite a decline in membership and baptisms, the Cooperative Program has exceeded its budgeted goals for the last five consecutive years.

Many see this investigation as an attempt to give Moore a slap on the wrist for some of the controversial things he has said and done. For instance, this is not the first time the SBC has been concerned about churches withholding funds over the actions of the ERLC. In 2017, Jack Graham’s Prestonwood Baptist Church withheld $1 million in funds they would have normally given to the Cooperative Program due to Moore’s criticism of President Trump and his supporters and a controversial amicus brief the ERLC joined to help in a religious liberty case involving the construction of a mosque. Additionally, Moore’s efficacy as a leader was called into question when a group of pastors from the Louisiana Baptist Convention called for an investigation into the ERLC in 2017. At that time, several African American ministers stood up for Moore.

Others, like sexual abuse advocate Rachael Denhollander, see the investigation as trivial and petty in light of more pressing issues the denomination needs to face.

In Nashville, Stone reminded attendees at the meeting that the EC does not have governance over Moore’s position or the actions the ERLC takes. That task of oversight falls upon the ERLC’s board of trustees. Rather, it will be the goal of the EC task force to determine whether the ERLC is using Cooperative Program funds in a manner that fulfills their “mission and ministry assignment.” Reiterating, Stone said the investigation “is not an attempt to remove Dr. Moore.”

What Is the ERLC?

The ERLC is a spiritual sounding board, designed to help members of the SBC weigh public policy issues in light of Scripture and the Baptist faith. They are also tasked with promoting religious liberty on behalf of the SBC. In a written statement given to Baptist Press, Elizabeth Bristow articulated the day-to-day focus of the ERLC:

Every day the men and women serving at the ERLC stand for the unborn, advocate for religious liberty, work to address the crisis of sexual abuse, and labor to equip men and women to answer ever-changing questions in light of the everlasting promises of our Lord.

Bristow also expressed the ERLC could not function “without the sacrificial giving of churches.” 

The task force will report to the EC on its findings on or before its September 2020 meeting. 

One Story Behind the Pro-Life Super Bowl Ad You Didn’t See This Year

By
Erin Woodfin
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

Josiah Presley, one of the abortion survivors featured in a 30-second ad that Fox Sports chose not to run during the Super Bowl, is a Criswell College graduate and a youth pastor at Galloway Avenue Baptist Church in Mesquite, Texas.

Faces of Choice Ad

“Can you look me in the eye and tell me that I shouldn’t be alive?” Presley asks in the ad made by Faces of Choice. The group’s founder said she repeatedly met additional terms set forth by Fox and in the end was not given a suitable reason why the ad was rejected.

“We are the survivors of choice. We are the faces of choice,” abortion survivors say in the ad.

When she was two months pregnant, Presley’s mother in South Korea had a curettage abortion, which “is the type of abortion where a doctor goes into a mother’s womb and rips the baby apart and brings him out in pieces,” Presley told the TEXAN.

The woman was sent home, but a few months later she realized the abortion “had actually failed and I was still very much alive,” he said. Presley was born in 1995 and placed with a foster home in South Korea. At 13 months, Randy and Kathy Presley of Norman, Oklahoma, adopted him and raised him along with nine other adopted children and two biological children.

Presley has a deformed arm, which is believed to have been caused by the type of abortion attempted. Throughout his childhood, he struggled secretly with low self-esteem, thinking he was less than others because of his deformity. “I thought I wouldn’t go anywhere in life,” he said.

When he was 13 years old, Presley’s parents told him he had survived an abortion. Though he was grateful to know his story, the news sent him deeper into darkness.

“It became apparent to me at that time that my life actually was worthless because the people who should have loved me the most thought my life was so unvaluable they tried to take it,” Presley said.

As a young teenager, Presley developed hatred toward anyone who was pro-choice, including abortion doctors, post-abortive women and Planned Parenthood workers. “I thought they were the scum of the earth because it was people like them who made me the way I was, so broken,” he said.

All the while, he continued projecting a good church kid façade at Trinity Baptist Church in Norman, where his father was a worship pastor. The summer after his sophomore year of high school, God got Presley’s attention at Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center in Oklahoma. The camp pastor that week talked about the Greek word dunamis and how God imparts in the believer the power to overcome the trials of the world.

“I remember thinking I didn’t have that in my life,” Presley said.

He accepted Christ as his Savior that week and started seeing changes in his outlook. He realized his value was not in what he did but in the fact that he was created in the image of a God who had a purpose for his life, he said.

“He has proven his love to me by dying on a cross for the punishment of my sins when I was far from him,” Presley said.

As God worked in his heart, Presley was convicted of the hatred he had toward his birth parents for the choices they made. “He has forgiven me of so much, the least I can do is forgive them for the wrongs they committed against me,” he said. “I found forgiveness there, and I found healing there.”

Presley graduated from Criswell College with a psychology degree in 2018, is married to Bethany, and works as a student success manager at Criswell while serving as a youth pastor.

He lamented the 60 million lives lost to abortion in the United States since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.

“We live in a culture that tells women, ‘If you want to get ahead in life, if you want to go anywhere in life, you have to take a life,’” Presley said. “We live in a culture that tells men, ‘Fulfill the passions of your flesh, and you are not held responsible for your actions.’

“We live in a world that applauds evil as seen by its support of the taking of the most innocent of human beings’ lives. That’s a culture of death.”

The only light strong enough to overcome that kind of darkness, he said, is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

“If you’re a follower of Christ, that light has been placed within you, and it is your calling and your duty to take that light into the world,” Presley said, pointing to Matthew 5.

The task starts with loving neighbors, those who are born “so that the world believes it when we say we love our unborn neighbor,” he said.

It also means caring for and loving the abortion doctor, the Planned Parenthood worker, the abortion-minded woman and the post-abortive woman, Presley said.

“Why? Because they’re people created in the image of God.”

Though he was disappointed, Presley said he wasn’t surprised Fox Sports chose not to air the Super Bowl ad that Faces of Choice submitted. He hopes the chatter that has followed the decision will still get the message into American homes, especially as pro-life people direct others to the various abortion survivor videos at facesofchoice.org.

“Our prayer is that it still has an impact and it still shows people the truth of what abortion is,” he said.

Though some people may want to boycott the Super Bowl because Fox chose to run a Sabra hummus ad featuring drag queens and not one with a pro-life message, Presley said an additional response could be to watch the game with unchurched friends or family and use what happened to the Faces of Choice ad as a springboard to talk about the value of every human life.

“They might not go to church with you, but they might watch the Super Bowl with you, and you might just in that moment have that opportunity to start a conversation about life,” he said.

People inspired by the message of the Faces of Choice ad can get involved in the pro-life movement by looking for crisis pregnancy centers in their cities where they can get involved or by joining pregnancy help or adoption support ministries in their local churches, Presley said.

“Get involved in those ways. If there aren’t those ministries in your church, maybe God would call you to start those,” he said.

“Love your neighbor in a tangible way so that as we speak for truth, as we affirm the value of human life, the world knows it by the way we value the lives of the born.”

This article originally appeared here.

Danielle Strickland: Jesus Is the Healer of Gender Inequality in the Church

By
Jason Daye
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

Danielle Strickland is a speaker, trainer and global social justice advocate. She has ministered in some of the grittiest environments around the world, addressing some of the most critical social issues of our day by sharing the boundless love and hope of Jesus. Danielle has written several books, including her latest, Better Together: How Women and Men Can Heal the Divide and Work Together to Transform the Future. Danielle is married to Stephen, and they have three sons. 

Key Questions for Danielle Strickland 

-Why is there a heightened awareness today around gender equality?

-Can you explain some of the terms you use in your book, like “equity” and “equality”?

-What does healing look like in a church context?

-What is the church’s biggest struggle when it comes to gender inequality?

Key Quotes from Danielle Strickland 

“I think there are tipping points in culture when the culture needs to change, and I think this is one of those tipping points.”

“Jesus is the great equalizer, he’s the great liberator for all peoples, all backgrounds, no matter what, and I think that Jesus has, maybe, never been more relevant to today’s hunger.”

“We feel like women have equality if they have the right to do something, and then, of course, equity is the use of that right.”

“There’s a lot to do in this world, and there’s a lot of people to reach, and we need everybody.”

“The relationship between women and men has been broken…It’s been broken for generations. This is this tipping point we’re in now where women and the stats and information and the internet has allowed us to see how broken it really is. And it’s staggeringly broken.”

“A woman’s self-confidence in her life, in our current culture, peaks the highest it will ever be at nine years old.”

“[Jesus] has come to reconcile everything to himself, and that includes men and women.”

“I always say: If you want to model sin to the world, go for hierarchy.”

“Whenever fear is the motivator for either what we do or what we don’t do, we will either be oppressed or the oppressor.”

“Difference is what it means to be human.”

“Mutuality is this idea that difference is not a threat. Regardless of what difference is, difference is an opportunity for us to actually need one another.”

2 Compelling Reasons to Observe Lent

By
Glenn Packiam
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

I’m not in love with all things old.

I don’t think then is better than now.

I’m not trying to get back to how things were.

My journey in learning about the liturgy and the liturgical year is not about nostalgia; it’s about spiritual formation.

The people who wrote some of the best liturgical prayers—from John Chrysostom (The Eastern Orthodox’s “Divine Liturgy”) in the fourth century to Oliver Cranmer in the 16th century (Book of Common Prayer)—were passionate followers of Christ and diligent scholars of the Scriptures and of theology. When the seasons of the church calendar—or the “Christian Year” or the “liturgical year”—developed, it developed as way to aid in the spiritual formation of those who sought to follow Christ. Easter was the first church-wide event to commemorate. (One could say the first Christians began celebrating the resurrection the very next Sunday after Christ’s ascension as a “mini-Easter.”)

Lent was the earliest actual season to develop and be adopted by the church worldwide. It became a common Christian practice in AD 330, shortly after Christianity had been legalized in AD 313 at the Edict of Milan. The other seasons of the church year (like Pentecost, Advent and Christmas) took shape later. By the High Middle Ages, the church year was fully developed, complete with special feast days for certain saints.

But why? Why was this developed? Why would anyone today practice these things?

To say it simply, the liturgical year was developed as a way to help the spiritual formation of Christians. How does it do that?

2 Compelling Reasons to Observe Lent

1. It Centers Us on Christ

As Christianity spread, many of the Church’s members (and, for a time in the early Middle Ages, many of its clergy!) were illiterate and ignorant of the Scriptures and of theology. A year that would center them on Christ was a way of helping them, teaching them, placing them in a rhythm of living that helped them reflect on Christ.

You may not have seen this right away (I did not!), but the liturgical year follows the life of Christ. It begins with anticipating His arrival in Advent, celebrating His birth at Christmas, marveling at His revealing during Epiphany, humbling ourselves in repentance as we join His fasting in the wilderness during Lent, reflecting on His love and sacrifice during Holy Week, remembering our sin and the weight of all the world’s evil that He carried on the cross on Good Friday, embracing the silent emptiness of Holy Saturday, celebrating the breaking forth of new life at Easter and Eastertide, rejoicing at His giving of the Spirit and His work in the Church during Pentecost, and trusting His presence is with us still during Ordinary Time.

The liturgical year helps our lives revolve around Christ.

Time-Tested Tactics for Fighting Temptation

By
Travis Myers
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

He was a Cambridge-educated pastor of a Congregationalist church near Boston for more than 50 years. But he is remembered primarily for his cross-cultural missions.

John Eliot (1604–1690) ventured “outside the camp” (Hebrews 13:13) to minister among the Algonquin and other tribes of the colonial eastern seaboard and helped produce the first complete Bible in an American language. Besides the publication of catechisms and language learning tools in the Algonquin tongue, Eliot also translated three Puritan devotional classics for use by Native Christians. His longest extant original composition in English is titled The Harmony of the Gospels, in the Holy History of the Humiliation and Sufferings of Jesus Christ, from His Incarnation to His Death and Burial (1678). It was Eliot’s contribution to the growing body of Lord’s Supper preparation literature that was a popular genre of the day in New England.

Fetch Grace at the Table, Among the Body

The septuagenarian pastor believed passionately that the ideal way to “go forth” unto Jesus and “fetch grace” from him in order “to enable us unto any Service in doing or suffering the good pleasure of the Lord, whatever it be” was to engage in the Lord’s Supper with faith and joy.

For Eliot, that meant participation in the Lord’s Supper with the other members of a congregation with whom one had entered into a covenant commitment to live in harmonious fellowship. It meant the taking of the bread and wine, in a thoughtful way, with a body of brothers and sisters who were pursuing faithfulness to Jesus together, who were “truthing it in love” when the need arose and were carrying one another’s burdens in tangible ways that bore witness to the Spirit’s presence among them. Eliot writes,

When we celebrate the death and sufferings of Jesus Christ in our Sacramental Communion with God, it doth revive our damped and discouraged Faith, it seals our inseparable union to Jesus Christ, enabling us to say what shall separate me? It doth also quicken, animate and encourage Faith to venture upon the greatest, most difficult and dangerous enterprise, when called thereunto; it enables the Soul to say, my life is not dear to me, so I may but finish the Lord’s work, unto which he hath called me, whatever Sufferings, sorrows, Trials, Temptations I am thereby exposed unto. When Faith is strengthened, all grace is on the thriving hand. (65)

Eliot had pastoral words of instruction and encouragement for readers facing sufferings, sorrows, trials or temptations—four separate categories of what Christ has endured for us and what believers each must also encounter. He considered the successful withstanding of temptations to be an important part of growing in Christian maturity.

He writes, “A right walking with God in Temptations is an eminent practical point of Religion: It renders a man to be a true follower of Jesus Christ, and very acceptable unto him” (63). He teaches that “a stone hewed by the Axe and Hammer of Temptations, is fit to be built into a Gospel Church, and to enjoy full Communion at the Lord’s Table, and voting in the Church, and one fitted and humbled by Temptations, is fit to undertake the Gospel Ministry in a Gospel Church” (58). He also says, “It is an experimental saying of holy men, that prayer, meditation and Temptation make a good Christian, a good Minister, a good Magistrate, it fitteth a soul for any service that the Lord shall call him unto” (64).

This Is How Asian Churches Are Preventing the Spread of Covid-19

By
Megan Briggs
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

Asian churches are altering their normal worship services and meeting schedules to take precaution against spreading the coronavirus, now known as Covid-19. Churches in China have been ordered closed since January 29th, while churches in other Asian countries are implementing precautionary measures in the hopes of containing the virus. 

Singapore Has Many Confirmed Cases Linked to Churches

Singapore currently has 77 confirmed cases of Covid-19, the highest number of cases in any nation outside of China. Six of those patients are in critical condition. Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Friday that churches may continue to hold worship services, but must be diligent to take precautionary measures such as “temperature screening, reducing mingling, and suspending or deferring nonessential programmes.” 

However, some churches have stopped all services and meetings for two weeks due to confirmed cases of the virus among their parishioners. One such church is Grace Assembly of God, which represents the biggest cluster of cases in Singapore. The MOH ordered the entire staff of the church to observe a home quarantine order as they have all been in contact with an infected person. Senior Pastor Wilson Teo was admitted to Singapore’s National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) last week after contracting the virus. At least one other staff member was also admitted to the hospital for treatment. 

Teo posted an update on Monday, telling concerned parishioners that his fever has subsided. Teo also mentioned one other staff member who was admitted to the hospital for treatment has been discharged already and that he is hoping to also be discharged soon. He also indicated his time in NCID has allowed for increased reflection:

My time in NCID has allowed me to wait upon God, while processing my emotions over all the events that took place recently. Although we may not fully understand why God allowed this to take place in Grace Assembly, I am confident that we will overcome the current situation with unity and courage, as our eyes are focused on Him and our hearts anchored upon His faithfulness.

Teo says he’s learned of a “ground-up prayer movement” initiated by parishioners. Groups of church members–”young and old”–are praying and fasting for the church and the nation. Teo also noted that a particular church group of young people ages 15 to 25 have “committed themselves to pray every night for the church.”

In addition to Grace Assembly, a much smaller church, the Life Church and Missions Singapore, has five confirmed cases linked to its congregation. The church has since stopped all services and also engaged a professional cleaning service to disinfect the premises using a hospital-grade disinfectant.

Speaking to the congregation via YouTube livestream, Rev. Vincent Choo informed those watching that the church unwittingly had two visitors from Wuhan, China (the epicenter of the virus) in their services three weeks ago. Those two visitors have since been confirmed as carrying the virus. The three other cases linked to the church represent church members, one of whom was in an intensive care unit of the hospital as of Sunday. Choo emphasized during his message that congregants should not blame the visitors for spreading the virus. “This is not the Chinese, the Wuhan people’s fault. It is also not the fault of those who came to sit among us. In times like these… we must pray for the masses, we must pray for Singapore. We must pray for the hospital staff, we must pray for China.”

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore, William Goh, announced on Friday that Mass would be suspended starting February 15th and lasting “until there is greater clarity on the way forward.” The Archdiocese has set up a broadcast on their YouTube channel for church members to watch the Mass at home and to receive the Eucharist “spiritually” instead of physically. 

Church Guide to Coronavirus 1

Mass Suspended in Hong Kong

Precautions in Hong Kong have steadily escalated. Initially, Cardinal John Hon Tong of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong approved the option of watching Mass online (an activity which is only allowed in extreme situations). The Catholic Church also asked those who would be attending in person to wear masks. Singing was avoided–with the exception of short hymns–due to the fact that the virus is spread through respiratory droplets. However, Tong has since announced Mass will be suspended for two weeks, from February 15th through the 28th. Even the Ash Wednesday service, which marks the beginning of Lent, on February 26th has been cancelled. 

During these two weeks, the Hong Kong Diocese will provide a live-stream Mass. Additionally, churches will remain open on Sundays and allow those wishing to pray to visit. However, as the Diocese is trying to prevent groups from gathering during this time, no organized gatherings will be happening for two weeks’ time. Tong admonished people not to panic:

At this difficult time, everyone should not panic. We must deepen our trust in God and implement our Christian love for our neighbors and all people. In addition to fulfilling our Mass obligation by participating in the Mass online, receiving Holy Communion spiritually, meditating on the Scriptures, or saying the Rosary, at home we can care more for the health of our family, especially the elderly and the children. In the community, we can help one another, share anti-epidemic materials, live the Gospel virtues of faith, hope and love, and pray for each other.

Avoiding Contact in the Philippines

According to the Associated Press, leaders of the Catholic Church in the Philippines have asked those attending Mass to avoid hand contact and to receive the Eucharist in the hand instead of the mouth, which is customary. Services have not been suspended in the Philippines, which has only seen three cases of the virus so far. 

Pray for Those Affected During Lent

Gospel for Asia, a Christian nonprofit organization, has called upon Christians around the world to spend time this Lent season praying for those affected by Covid-19. 

Speaking to Vatican News, French missionary Father Nicolas de Francqueville, who is currently serving in Hong Kong, said although it is a trial, the virus represents an opportunity for the church: 

So I hope that in this dangerous time of the virus it can also be an opportunity for Christians, and for everyone, to maybe show more solidarity, to slow down their lives which are usually so busy, so that maybe people can be more with their families, have more time to pray, to reflect on the sense of their lives, perhaps spend more time doing other things…in this crisis we do not only think about danger and fear, but that we may also trust in the Lord: may it become an opportunity to trust in the Lord and continue to love, as Christ asks us to do.

If you need religious items and merchandise like rosaries, you might want to visit sites like https://www.houseofjoppa.com/ for more items on sale.

First Baptist Orlando to Completely Pay for Controversial Pastors Conference

By
Stephanie Martin
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

After controversy arose about the speaker lineup for the 2020 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Pastors Conference, its leaders announced that First Baptist Orlando, an SBC church, will pay all costs for the two-day gathering. The conference “will not receive any financial support of any kind from any SBC entity or auxiliary,” according to a February 17 statement.

First Baptist Church of Orlando, which is led by Pastors Conference President David Uth, is paying the entire cost of the event, held June 7 and 8 at the Orange County Convention Center. “Our hope is that this will ease conflicts or tensions that exist over the slated program for the conference,” the statement notes. “The 2020 SBC Pastors Conference is in no way being sponsored, controlled, or paid for by the SBC, even though its purpose is still to bless and encourage SBC pastors and wives.”

Though participants will be “encouraged in your personal walk with Jesus and in fulfilling your calling as pastor,” conference attendance is optional. “If you don’t feel comfortable attending, that’s okay too,” the statement says. “Your participation is desired but by no means required.”

What Sparked the Uproar?

Some SBC members are protesting a scheduled performance by Hosanna Wong, a spoken-word artist who’s also a teaching pastor at a non-SBC congregation near San Diego. Southern Baptist doctrine limits the pastoral office to men. Uth has clarified that Wong will be appearing as an artist, not as a preacher.

Objections also are being raised about David Hughes, a Florida pastor who has used sexually suggestive sermon titles and visuals, and Emerson Eggerich, author of a book that some leaders say is misogynistic.

Uth says he doesn’t necessarily agree with all the speakers but believes “they have a message for us” and “God wants to speak to us through them.” He never imagined how much “division and hostility” would result from the lineup, he says, and asks, “Could I appeal to you to be open and give God a chance to speak through every person who is a part of this program?”

Lineup Underscores Rancor in the SBC

The SBC, America’s largest Protestant denomination, has been experiencing division regarding issues such as social justice, racial reconciliation, and gender roles. Last week, a new Conservative Baptist Network launched in response to what organizers call liberal “drift” in the SBC. Founders Ministries president Tom Ascol, who supports the new network, calls the “problematic speakers” slated for the Pastors Conference “merely the most recent of the SBC foibles.”

Oklahoma pastor Wade Burleson, meanwhile, calls male domination and opposition to female speakers “sick.” Though he feared Wong would be disinvited from the conference, he offered “kudos to David Uth for sticking by his convictions” and urges pastors to “show up and be inspired.”

Burleson tweeted: “I long for the day when the Southern Baptist Convention is known for our love for people from all walks of life, our desire to lead people to follow Jesus above all else, and our desire to cooperate for Kingdom purposes, laying aside all our personal preferences for Christ’s sake.”

Pastor: Planned Parenthood Wants to Exterminate Black People

By
Jessica Lea
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Father’s Day program ideas for church

Speaking at Upper Room Church of God in Christ in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest said that the purpose of Planned Parenthood at its founding was to exterminate the African American population—and he implied that agenda continues to this day. Forest, who is white, has been met with opposition for those comments. However, the church’s pastor, Bishop Patrick Lane Wooden, Sr., who is black, says he agrees with them.

“How are you going to be a woke church, and don’t know this?” asked Wooden. Church leaders who do not tell their members about the abortion provider’s agenda against the black community, he said, “are the epitome of being asleep. You’re asleep at the wheel.”

What Dan Forest Said About Planned Parenthood

“There’s no doubt that, when Planned Parenthood was created, it was created to destroy the entire black race,” said Dan Forest, as reported by WRAL News. “That’s just the truth.” Forest went on to say, “How the black community can’t come together and see that and understand that and fight against it, I don’t know. And how the white community can’t come together and see that and fight against it, I don’t know either.”

Gerald Givens, who is president of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP and also black, took issue with Forest’s remarks, telling WRAL, “I’m not sure why the Lieutenant Governor feels he’s authorized to speak on behalf of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or on what African-American people see. His opposition to organizations like Planned Parenthood show he has not learned much from Dr. King.”

Elder John Amanchukwu, Wooden’s assistant and Upper Room’s youth pastor, spoke to WRAL about the controversy, saying, “I’m thankful for Dan Forest for speaking up and saying it, but as a local church, he didn’t have to say it for us cause we say it all the time.”

Amanchukwu then showed WRAL a placard with part of a quote by Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, which read, “We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population…”

Although Wooden was not present to handle the controversy himself, he told his congregation that Amanchukwu handled the situation well, and he emphasized the importance of pastors addressing “the evils of Planned Parenthood.” According to Bishop Wooden, Planned Parenthood is the number one killer of African Americans and kills more of that population every two weeks than the Ku Klux Klan did in its entire history.

What Did Margaret Sanger Really Mean?

The quote Wooden and Amanchukwu referenced comes from a letter Margaret Sanger wrote to Dr. Clarence Gamble (of Proctor & Gamble). In the letter, Sanger is explaining the importance of having African American leaders help get the black community on board with her work.

The broader context of Sanger’s quote is: “The ministers work is also important and also he should be trained, perhaps by the Federation as to our ideals and the goal that we hope to reach. We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.”

The phrase as Wooden quoted it sounds damning, but pro-choice advocates argue Sanger was not arguing for exterminating an ethnic group. Rather, they claim, she was concerned that the Negro population would think that she and her associates were trying to exterminate them, and Sanger wanted them to know the truth—that they were not. The quote, says TIME magazine, when taken in context, “describes the sort of preposterous allegations she feared—not her actual mission.”

It’s difficult to know which interpretation of Sanger’s quote is correct without examining her other writings. No one denies that Sanger was a eugenicist, meaning she believed in using birth control to breed genetic defects out of people. This in itself is troubling. Even this article from Rewire.News, which arguably white-washes many of Sanger’s views, admits, “Margaret Sanger held many abhorrent ideas about population control and eugenics, ideas that any decent person today would find horrifying…she believed that the ‘reckless breeding’ of the ‘feebleminded’ was ‘the greatest biological menace to the future of civilization.’”

What Is Lent and How Should I Observe It?

By
An Anglican Pastor
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Lent
Unsplash // Jon Tyson

I walked through my first Lent in 2004. I had been raised and later ministered in a church that didn’t observe Lent. This was all new to me.

On Ash Wednesday, I entered a darkened worship space. The Rector (Senior Pastor) was seated up front. He was wearing all black. Everyone was silently praying. We stayed like that for what seemed like an hour (it was actually only about five minutes). The pastor stood up and announced that Lent had begun. He announced that the church was calling us to the annual season of repentance. He reminded us that repentance is only possible because of God’s grace.

Then, after our prayers and Scripture readings, we lined up to receive the imposition of ashes. I watched as the pastor first knelt to receive the ashes himself, symbolizing the universal need for repentance. One by one each of us in the congregation knelt, receiving dark ashes pressed onto each forehead in the shape of a cross.

As we continued through the season of Lent, the next 40 days plus Sundays, we read of John the Baptist, the prophecies of Isaiah, the temptation of Christ in the wilderness, and of the passion. I was instructed to give something up for Lent, and to fast on Fridays.

As a congregation, together with Christians all around the world, and like Christians who have gone before us, we walked through Lent and then Holy Week together.

And when Easter Day came that year, my experience of the celebration of the Resurrection of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ was changed forever.

While this was all new to me, it is not new at all for most Christians in history or in the world today.

What Is Lent?

Lent began in the early church as a period in which catechumens (people being taught the Christian faith in preparation for their baptism) fasted and prepared for their baptism on the night before Easter morning.

As this practice developed everyone in the congregation began fasting and repenting together, because humility and repentance should be a part of every Christian’s life. Across the Christian world, this practice spread. Eventually it was associated with the 40-day fast of Jesus in the wilderness. This became an important part of the Church Year.

 Why Observe Lent?

The Church Year is a cycle of fasts and feasts, celebrations and practices that walk a congregation through the life of Christ together. This allows for us to not just hear Scripture read about Jesus, but to actually practice disciplines that tap into all of our senses, and every part of our lives. And the beauty of these historic practices is that we do them together. We are being shaped into Christ’s image as a community.

And the Church Year also enables us to understand and draw from the experience of believers who have gone before us. In my first Lent, I read sermons written about Lent by Chrysostom. I was amazed about how his experience of fasting and repenting so matched my own. I felt like he could have written the same things in our own day and it would have been just as relevant.

This Church Year begins in Advent (four weeks before Christmas) and that prepares us for Christmas, which then flows into Epiphany. Lent is our preparation for Easter, which then flows into Pentecost. You see, both of the two major Christian feasts (Christmas and Easter), have a season of preparation before them.

Sadly, many churches have dropped off the preparation seasons completely. Christmas is celebrated before it starts, and Advent is skipped. Lent is often ignored, and so Easter just arrives one day. There isn’t a sense of humbling and preparing, and praying to get ready for these wonderful days.

So restoring the practice of Lent prepares us better for Easter, it reminds us to repent, and it reconnects us with the experiences of fellow Christians around the world and in our past.

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