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How Might Albert Mohler Lead the SBC as President?

By
Megan Briggs
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Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS or Southern Seminary) announced he will accept a nomination to be the president of the Southern Baptist Convention at the June 2020 Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida. Mohler is being nominated by H.B. Charles, Jr., an SBC pastor in Jacksonville, Florida.

Mohler accepted Charles’ nomination on October 31st. 

Charles said “our times are filled with serious challenges from our culture,” in his nomination announcement. Indeed, if Mohler is elected, he will take the helm at a very interesting point in the history of the Southern Baptists. The convention is currently debating their way through numerous hot topics that the broader culture is also grappling with. Recently, things like women in leadership, sexual abuse, social justice, and the ongoing problem of racism have been debated (some would say ad naseum) on social media platforms, at conferences, and chapel sessions across the Southern Baptist world. 

Where Does Albert Mohler Stand on Controversial Issues?

While it’s hard to say wholesale how Mohler may lead the convention through this particularly difficult and controversial time, a look at what he’s done and said in the past may give us a clue.

Women in Leadership

Last year, Pastor Dwight McKissic made waves we he suggested Beth Moore would make a good president of the SBC. When asked whether he thought such a thing would be permissible, Mohler said “given just the constitutional responsibilities of the president of the SBC, there’s probably no reason a woman shouldn’t serve…” However, “the actual role…has actually been pastoral for the better part of the SBC.” Mohler makes the argument that because the President of the SBC gives a “major message” to the convention each year—a message which has evolved to become more of a “preaching exhortation” than a “business report”—a woman should not serve in this position. In fact, the president is called upon to preach in several instances. 

For Mohler (and many Southern Baptists), a woman preaching to men is a non-negotiable. However, if the role did not require the president to preach, Mohler sees nothing wrong with a woman occupying it.

Sexual Abuse Crisis

Earlier this year, Mohler apologized for supporting his friend C.J. Mahaney amid allegations that Mahaney and the church he founded, Sovereign Grace Ministries, covered up several claims of sexual abuse from parishioners. Mohler said his endorsement of Mahaney after the allegations came to light was hasty and ill-informed. Mohler told the Houston Chronicle:

I believe in retrospect I erred in being part of a statement supportive of (Mahaney) and rather dismissive of the charges. And I regret that action, which I think was taken without due regard to the claims made by the victims and survivors at the time, and frankly without an adequate knowledge on my part, for which I’m responsible.

When Paige Patterson lost his position as president of Southwestern Seminary, Mohler wrote a long opinion piece about the wrath of God and the “humiliation” of the SBC. While those most critical of the SBC and their negligent response to allegations of abuse see the larger problem of abuse and coverup as a conspiracy of (mostly) older, white men to hang on to power, Mohler called it “an unorganized conspiracy of silence.” 

More recently, Mohler moved quickly to suspend an adjunct professor at SBTS when allegations that he initiated relationships with girls in his youth group some 17 years ago came to light on social media. 

Social Justice 

When John MacArthur et al published their Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel, Mohler did not sign it. At a chapel session at SBTS, Mohler laid out his reasoning for agreeing with parts of the statement while disagreeing with others. The crux of Mohler’s disagreement with the statement lies in its caricature of victims. While Mohler agrees there is a victim “culture and industry” in our society, there are also real victims that have suffered real harm. He mentioned people who have suffered child abuse, and then seen their abusers protected. He also mentioned victims of racial prejudice. 

“I’m the president of a seminary established by slaveholders as a part of a Convention established to allow slaveholders to continue to send missionaries and be slaveholders,” Mohler said during the chapel session. His point being that one cannot escape the “continue reality” of racism present in our country today.

Racism in the Convention

Mohler’s pointing to racism in the chapel session is a highly controversial discussion currently going on in the SBC. At this year’s annual meeting, delegates voted to pass the resolution “On Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality” after a heated debate and multiple revisions. To some, the fact that the resolution reads “critical race theory and intersectionality should only be employed as analytical tools subordinate to Scripture—not as transcendent ideological frameworks,” points to the convention’s acceptance of critical race theory and belies a more liberal trajectory they believe the convention is on. 

This Is Why We Need a Prayer of Confession

By
Jessica Lea
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None of us likes to dwell on the ways we have failed God and others. Yet the Bible is clear that confessing our sins, both privately and in public, is important, and it has long been part of church tradition for believers to recite a prayer of confession together. As teacher and writer Donna Jones says,

“Confession brings darkness into the light. We don’t need to tell everyone our sins, but we do need to tell God—and, on occasion, others. Secret sin becomes serial sin.”

Prayer of Confession: A Biblical Basis

There is plenty of biblical support for the idea that, as believers, we should be regularly confessing our sins. 1 John 1:8-9 says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Proverbs 28:13 says, “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” Psalm 32:2-5 describes the need for us to confess our sins to the Lord and the harmful effects of remaining silent about them. James 5:15-16 exhorts Christians, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” 

Jones mentions several cases in the Old Testament where God’s followers say a prayer of confession. One interesting example occurs in Daniel 9, where it seems that Daniel is privately confessing sin, but doing so on behalf of the entire nation of Israel. In verses 4-5, he prays, “Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.” 

Nehemiah does something similar when he prays, 

LORD, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you.

And in Psalm 51, King David confesses his sins of adultery and murder, saying, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.”

Unfortunately, it is only too easy to gloss over our own sins and focus on those of other people, as Jesus warns us in Matt. 7. Not only would we like to avoid mentioning our sins in public, but it’s likely we do not spend enough time reflecting on them in private. One author makes this convicting statement: “Most of us are not reflective enough or open enough to really examine the destruction and pain our sin causes on those around us. If you can, think back to a time you really did hurt someone you care about and remember the grief you felt and the humility, contrition, that it produced in your life.” 

The Corporate Prayer of Confession

Jones observes that while Daniel, Nehemiah, and David’s prayers might have been private at one point, they were written down for many people to read and were therefore quite public. Pastor Paul Alexander also sees a biblical precedent for a public, corporate prayer of confession. He notes that in Matt. 6:5-15, when Jesus tells his followers how they should pray, he does not give them an individualized prayer. Rather, he uses phrases like, “Our Father,” “our daily bread,” “forgive us our debts,” and so on. Alexander also lists multiple examples of public confession from the Old Testament, as well as the New. He concludes, “Confessing our current sins is important to both our individual fellowship and our corporate holiness. If there’s clearly a place for corporate confession in Scripture, then why shouldn’t there be a place for it in our churches?”

But ask yourself this: When was the last time when you were part of a group prayer in a church context, and the person praying asked for God to forgive the sins of those present? Try that sometime when you are the one praying. It will probably be awkward. 

Yet a public and formalized prayer of confession has been part of many church traditions, although such prayers are by no means the only way believers can confess their sins to one another. For example, here is a prayer of confession from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer from 1662.

Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men: We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, Which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed, By thought, word and deed, Against thy Divine Majesty, Provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us.

UMC Western Jurisdiction Will Not Comply With Traditional Plan

By
Stephanie Martin
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With new restrictions looming for LGBTQ clergy in the United Methodist Church (UMC), certain groups within the mainline Protestant denomination are clarifying their stance on the controversial issue. While the National Chinese Caucus recently affirmed its support of the Traditional Plan, which prevailed at a General Conference special session in February, bishops in the UMC’s Western Jurisdiction declared they won’t enforce restrictions set to take effect January 1.

At a Council of Bishops meeting on November 6, the five active Western Jurisdiction bishops announced a Safe Harbor Declaration for LGBTQ clergy. Saying they’re “haunted by the actions of the 2019 Special General Conference,” the bishops write: “We do not believe The United Methodist Church has the authority or the power to impose limits on the movement of God’s Holy Spirit in the lives of God’s beloved LGBTQ+ children.”

Bishops of the Western Jurisdiction, which includes seven conferences, posted a video about the Safe Harbor Declaration and encourage fellow church members to support it. The move comes ahead of the Western Jurisdiction’s Fresh United Methodism Summit November 14 to 16 in California.

UMC Western Jurisdiction Bishops Defy Penalties

For the Western Jurisdiction bishops, opposition to restrictions on gay clergy isn’t new. But they say they wanted to affirm their beliefs and clarify how they’ll proceed after January 1. When new legislation from the Traditional Plan becomes effective, UMC clergy will face mandatory penalties for approving gay pastors, consecrating gay bishops, and performing same-sex marriages. Under church law, set forth in the denomination’s Book of Discipline, no other issue carries mandatory penalties.

Western bishops say while the Traditional Plan makes it easier to lodge complaints about gay clergy candidates, they won’t pursue those complaints. The declaration states they “do not intend to withhold or challenge ordination based solely on a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation.” They’re also “unwilling to punish clergy who celebrate the marriage of two adults of any gender or sexual orientation seeking the blessing of God and the church for their covenanted life together.

According to the declaration, they’ll ensure that all clergy, regardless of sexual orientation, “maintain the highest standards of holy living.

Bishops: This Is ‘a position of conscience’ 

Bishop Elaine Stanovsky of the Greater Northwest Conference says, “We make this statement out of a position of conscience with the clear affirmation that we don’t think the church has the authority or the power to limit the way God works in people’s lives.” She says the Western bishops wanted to testify about ways they’ve witnessed “the fruits of the Spirit” in the lives of gay UMC clergy. While acknowledging that Western bishops are “taking some risk,” she says they want to “be sure [we’re] fulfilling our responsibilities with integrity and standards.”

Karen Oliveto, who became the UMC’s first openly gay bishop in 2016 and oversees the Mountain Sky Conference, summarizes the declaration this way: “Sexual orientation alone is not a bar to serving God” and “When two adults find life-giving love together, for the church to withhold blessing from that is a sorry state.”

In the bishops’ video, Bishop Minerva Carcaño of the California-Nevada Conference says the Safe Harbor Declaration ensures a pursuit of “God’s vision, a vision of inclusion of all God’s children.” And Bishop Grant Hagiya of the UMC’s California-Pacific Conference says the church—“especially the United Methodist Church”—should be “a place of divine love and acceptance.” His goal is to make everyone feel welcome, he says, including traditionalists and people whose views differ from the bishops’.

Declaration Aims to Offer Hope, Ease Fears

In addition to taking a stand, the Western bishops say they want to provide encouragement and calm anxieties. The declaration, says Bishop Oliveto, offers “hope for people who are living in high anxiety,” whether clergy or church members. “For young people who wondered if there is still a home for them in the church,” she says, “I hope they see we in the West are saying, yes, there is a place for you. There is a home for you. You are a vital part of the body of Christ.”

One UMC pastor who appreciates the declaration is the Rev. Austin Adkinson, an elder in the Pacific Northwest Conference. “Queer clergy and our congregations are on pins and needles as we await the January 1 implementation of the punitive and discriminatory acts of [the] General Conference,” he says. Adkinson, convener of the United Methodist Queer Clergy Caucus, hopes other bishops also will speak up about their plans “to protect LGBTQIA+ clergy in their conferences and beyond.”

The Western bishops concur, saying in the declaration they “do not intend to act alone.” Instead, they “call upon the entire Church to offer safe harbor for LGBTQ+ clergy and laity to participate fully in the life of the United Methodist Church.”

4 Ways to Show You’re Really ‘In Love’ with Your Spouse

By
Brandon Cox
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I first met my wife in high school. I was a senior, she was a junior, and we were seven lockers apart. We met. We talked… a LOT. We fell in love.

That phrase is actually a pretty good descriptor of what often happens when a guy and a girl first start dating. There’s a strange mix of chemicals in the brain that give us a sense of euphoria. It’s a drug, and the high lasts, according to researchers, eighteen months or so.

During that first period of any serious romantic relationship where both parties share mutual feelings of being in love with each other, there are lots of notes and phone calls and dates spent just driving and talking and staring at each other a lot. Our friends make fun of us as they watch our personalities and preferences bend a bit to impress and woo our potential life mate.

We fall. It’s almost (though not entirely) uncontrollable. Some call it infatuation, but it’s not entirely a bad thing. It’s how God made you.

God wants you to fall in love with the person you’ll wind up spending the rest of your life with. But he also wants your love to grow into something solid and timeless – something more steady and reliable than mere human emotion.

In time, the notes and phone calls usually get shorter. If infatuation – that euphoric chemical high or brain has been enjoying – is our only foundation, the “love” will start to fade (and to clarify, it isn’t really love if it fades).

Without love, we revert to our self-occupied single mentality. Sometimes there’s a painful tearing away and a sense of loss over the time invested into a relationship that didn’t make it. Sometimes, we forge ahead out of a sense of commitment or an avoidance of conflict.

Sometimes people stay married, but not truly in love anymore for years or decades without ever progressing and maturing to something deeper, better, and more unshakeable than those initial emotional highs. We’ll still say we’re in love, but when conflict and tension and suffering come, it gets harder and harder to hang in there and make it work.

I believe marriage is a divine growth opportunity. It’s our chance to grow deeper and to develop virtues that outlast any season of infatuation. What started as a couple falling in love can become a couple rooted in love.

How do you get there? How do you go deeper and develop something more lasting and solid than mere emotion? Paul said it best…

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

– Ephesians 4:2 NIV

The apostle urged every believer to develop certain personal attributes all designed to take us deeper than the thrill of a season. He equipped us with virtues to last a lifetime. And he pointed out that the only real way to cultivate these character qualities is to do so in love.

Here are four ways to demonstrate you’re still in love with your spouse.

What It’s Like to Follow Jesus in North Korea

By
Travis Wussow
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North Korea is the most dangerous place on earth to be a Christian. Open Doors, which studies and reports on Christian persecution worldwide, has listed being a Christian in North Korea at the top of its World Watch List—an index of persecution against Christians—for 18 years in a row.

But despite this, the church in North Korea is not small. Experts estimate that there are between 200,000 and 400,000 Christians in North Korea. While a relatively small minority of the overall population of 25 million, 300,000 believers represents a significant movement of God and strong remnant in North Korea. Before the Kim regime began in 1948, Christianity flourished all over the Korean Peninsula.[1] Decades of missionary work starting in the 1880s preceded the Great Pyongyang Revival of 1907, which led to mass conversions and church planting work, centered in what is now North Korea.

Even a regime as brutal and autocratic as the Kim Dynasty cannot stop the work of God, even being a Christian in North Korea. As believers, we know that God is at work on every single square inch of our planet and that God is drawing to himself a people—a family—made up of every tribe, tongue, and nation on earth. Right now, we have brothers and sisters in Christ striving to worship and honor God with their lives, and they face persecution, martyrdom, and struggles that are difficult for us in the comfort and freedom of the West to even imagine.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul used the metaphor of a body made up of many members—every follower of Christ is an integral part, joined up together as one. And as Paul told us, “if one member suffers, all suffer together.”[2]

In order for us to pray for and take action to support our brothers and sisters, and every Christian in North Korea, we need to understand what their lives are like as they seek to follow Jesus in a hostile place. Here are three things you need to know about life as a Christian in North Korea.

North Korean believers crave the Scriptures

Believers in the United States have access to the Scriptures that would be unimaginable to a Christian in North Korea—or to believers in previous eras. The Scriptures are always at our fingertips, in any language, in multiple translations. We can listen to sermons on any passage or topic, buy books to encourage us and help us to grow spiritually.

In North Korea, possession of a Bible is a sufficient reason to be sent to a prison camp for the rest of your life. According to Open Doors, it is dangerous to possess or read the Bible either publicly or privately. Believers in North Korea carefully hide their copies of the Scriptures and divide them and keep them in multiple locations. In some cases, believers will memorize a book and then destroy the copy to minimize the risk of being found with illegal materials.[3]

It’s difficult to imagine risking so much to worship God, especially when even the Bible itself is in short supply, let alone Bible studies, commentaries, and sermons. As a result, the North Korean church treasures the Scriptures the way we ought to and recognizes the Scriptures as the essential Word of life. But we should pray for a day when Bibles and other religious materials can be freely shared throughout North Korea.

Being a Christian in North Korea means they live in constant fear in all areas of their lives

North Koreans face persecution in both the public and private sphere of their lives. This intrusion into their private lives includes electronic surveillance of messages and emails but does not stop there. North Korea has a comprehensive regime for monitoring and reporting on its subjects, called inminban.

Beginning in the colonial era, aegukbans, or “patriotic groups,” began to form in neighborhoods throughout unified Korea. These groups were designed as mandatory “neighborhood watch” programs that aim at providing safety, food, labor, and order. After the Korean Civil War, North Korea renamed their watch program as inminban meaning “people’s groups.” The duty of the groups went from promoting peace to a threefold program supporting surveillance, a normal function of life, and labor mobilization. Each group was appointed a leader, typically an older woman, who was forced to monitor her inhabitants closely. Her duties consisted of a weekly unannounced inspection of each home to be conducted in the middle of the night, close monitoring of the income and spending of each household, and reporting any suspicious activities to the local authorities immediately.

Throughout the late 20th century, successive Kim regimes began ramping down the broader inminban project. Inminban leaders became less willing to report discrepancies and focused mainly on securing food and labor. But when Kim Jong-un rose to power in 2011, a significant shift occurred. Religious material has been banned in the country for decades, but the Kim Jong-un regime has reinstated the roles of inminban and has cracked down on religious adherence. The inminban now has the duties of searching homes and punishing any violators found with religious materials, conducting religious practices, or even simply saying a prayer over their food. Violators are tortured in imprisonment camps and some face execution if they refuse to give up their beliefs.

Toxic People Aren’t Your Fault

By
Gary Thomas
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If you adopt a wolverine and pour all your love into that animal; if you treat it like a puppy, hugging it and feeding it and playing with it; if you give it the very best care anyone has ever given to a wolverine, the day will still come when that wolverine will attack you, because no matter how kindly you treat a wolverine, it is still a vicious, wild animal, and in the end, its nature will win. It is the same with a toxic person.

If you marry a toxic person and show extraordinary love, concern, care and compassion; if you are faithful in matters of kindness, communication, conflict resolution and sexual intimacy; if you go out of your way to be a model spouse to a toxic person, that toxic person will still most likely turn on you because that’s what toxic people do.

It’s not your fault.

It doesn’t mean you failed at love.

It just means you married a toxic person.

When Judas betrayed Jesus, Jesus didn’t beat himself up for not doing enough for Judas, for not coming up with the right words to correct and exhort Judas, for not loving him perfectly, for “missing” what, in hindsight, could seem obvious. On the contrary, Jesus released Judas to go and do what he was going to do.

What does this tell us? We have to let toxic people own their toxicity and not internalize it as a failure on our part.

A mom spoke to me with hurt in her eyes because her school district began blaming bullies on poor parenting. You can’t discipline a bully, the school seems to be saying, when the fault really lies with the parent.

This mother is distraught because she has two children who are model students and citizens at school, and one who enjoys being mean. She’s tried everything—prayer and fasting, counseling, time outs, etc. She feels like a failure as a parent. The school treats her like a failure. Throughout her life, if someone confronted her for something she was doing wrong, she could own it, repent and change it. But how can she own, repent and change what someone else—in this case, her son—is doing?

One of the most startling discoveries for me when writing When to Walk Away was the connection between control and evil. God calls us to choose (Josh. 24:15) and leaves the decision with us. The New Testament talks of demonic possession, but it doesn’t speak of “God possession.” Controlling or dominating someone is evil. So it stands to reason that if we can’t (and shouldn’t try to) control someone, then we can’t own or be responsible for others’ toxic behavior. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:23); controlling others is a Satanic strategy.

Focus on yourself. Do what you know to be right. Call others to do what is right. When the relationship warrants it, admonish, correct and speak up. Do your part to love and serve and forgive and encourage as parents, friends and spouses are called to do. But if a toxic person acts in a toxic way, don’t own their response. You can’t. Own yours. Did you do what God called you to do? Then you were faithful, regardless of the outcome.

Don’t beat yourself up because you didn’t do everything perfectly, as if that would work anyway. We can safely assume that Jesus was perfect with Judas, but that didn’t “work” in the way we define “working” if “working” means toxic people always repent and change.

It is spiritually healthy—essential, even—to own our “stuff,” to humbly accept our weaknesses, receive correction, apologize and make changes, and walk in repentance and accountability. For most of us, that’s a full-time job, spiritually speaking. But we can’t own and be responsible for the “stuff” of others. So just stop doing that. Stop owning that.

Wolverines will be wolverines regardless of how you treat them.

This article originally appeared here.

SBTS and Al Mohler Suspend Professor Over Abuse Allegations

By
Megan Briggs
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Wes Feltner, a pastor and adjunct professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS), has been suspended from his position at SBTS following allegations of sexual abuse that surfaced on social media. Elders at the church Feltner leads say that while there are “conflicting views of events and circumstances,” they are taking the claims seriously by engaging outside professionals to assist them with fact-finding. 

“I was a youth asking for help…I was manipulated. I was sexually abused,” writes one of Feltner’s accusers. 

The Allegations Against Wes Feltner

Megan Frey and JoAnna Hendrickson have gone public with claims that 17 years ago, Feltner, a youth pastor at First Southern Baptist Church in Evansville, Indiana, engaged in inappropriate relationships with them. While both girls were 18 at the time, Frey was still in high school, attending the youth group, and says her relationship with Feltner was sexual. Hendrickson was a youth intern under Feltner at the time their relationship started, although she had also attended the youth group prior to graduating high school. 

Both Frey and Hendrickson looked up to Feltner as the church’s youth pastor. He was 24 when he pursued a relationship with both Frey and Hendrickson (simultaneously, but unbeknownst to the girls). According to Frey’s and Hendrickson’s accounts (which include pictures), Feltner told both of them they needed to keep their relationship with him secret as he was trying to untangle himself from a relationship with another member of the church, Stephanie Todd. 

The two girls learned of each other’s relationship with Feltner at a youth retreat when they confided in the same person that they were in a relationship with Feltner. Joe and Kristy Donahue were youth ministers working at another church. Feltner and the Donahues linked up to have their youth groups participate in camp together and the whole story came to light when the girls told Kristy about their respective relationships. 

When the girls and their parents went to the leadership of their church, they were told it would be best to keep things quiet for the sake of their own reputations. Feltner was allowed to move on to another church, seemingly without any repercussions. Hendrickson says the church that hired Feltner after this incident would not talk to her mother or Frey’s mother. Feltner also married Stephanie, to whom he is still married. 

Today, Joe Donahue is a pastor in Arizona and is using his Twitter account to bring attention to the allegations. Both Frey and Hendrickson say their relationships with Feltner caused emotional and psychological damage. Hendrickson believes the relationship damaged her desire to move into a ministry career, while Frey believes the relationship caused her various physical ailments related to stress from the abuse.

SBTS Position and Pastorate on the Line

Al Mohler, president of SBTS, says a response team found the allegations to be “credible accusations of misconduct” within an hour of becoming aware of them. In a statement, Mohler said he learned of the allegations on Monday, November 4, 2019, and “immediately” sent the information to the response team.  After an initial investigation into the allegations, Mohler says “all teaching responsibilities for this individual were suspended and classes reassigned to other instructors.”

Mohler also said the seminary reviewed Feltner’s dissertation, “Pastoral Influence Tactics” and decided it was acceptable for continued public access. 

Feltner currently serves as a pastor at Berean Baptist Church in Burnsville, Minnesota, but he is being considered for the lead pastor position at First Baptist Clarksville (FBC) in Tennessee. According to the Leaf-Chronicle, FBC’s pastoral search committee reached out to Feltner’s alleged victims to hear their side of the story, but it doesn’t appear to have gone well. 

In a video posted to YouTube by Donahue, a leader of FBC, Paul Batson, is seen calling Feltner’s alleged abuse victims “adversaries” and making a case for Feltner on the basis of other leaders who have had suspicious pasts.

Batson has since apologized for the use of the word “adversaries.” According to the Leaf-Chronicle, he said: 

My biggest regret from the pastor search update … was the inadvertent use of the word adversaries. From my notes I meant to say “has people opposed to,” and instead I said “has adversaries.” … It was wrong, and I am sorry for how it might have portrayed them.

Francis Chan: My Family and I Are Going to Be Missionaries in Asia

By
Jessica Lea
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francis chan
Screengrab Youtube @BRMinistries

In a sermon he preached yesterday at Azusa Pacific University (APU), Francis Chan made a surprising announcement: he and his family will be leaving the U.S. this February to be missionaries in Asia. 

“I was thinking this morning, I have been preaching at APU chapel before a lot of you were born,” said Chan. “Like literally every year for the last 20 years or so. I think it’s a record…But this will be my last chapel message.”

A few months ago, Francis Chan and his family were in Myanmar, walking through the slums with a translator, “trying to explain to people who Jesus is. And these people had never even heard of him.” Chan described the people as eager to hear the gospel and willing to receive it and be baptized. Seeing their response made him ask, “What do we do on a normal day that even compares to this?” So on the plane ride home, he told his wife he thought it was time to move. 

What Francis Chan Sees in the States

Francis Chan used the analogy of fishing to describe his ministry experience in the U.S. He said, “I feel like I’ve been fishing in the same pond my whole life, and now there’s thousands of other fishermen at the same pond, and our lines are getting tangled, and everyone’s fighting over stupid things, and one guy tries some new lure, and we go, ‘Oh, he caught a fish, let’s all try his method.’ And it just feels like, what are we all doing here?”

But what if you heard of a lake five miles away where no one was fishing? And not only that, but the fish there bite as soon as you throw them a hook. Said Chan, “I’ll make that five mile hike if I love fishing.” In that scenario, what on earth would keep him at the original pond? “I’ll tell you what would keep me at the pond,” he said, “is I built a house on the pond and all my friends have houses on the pond, and we don’t even fish that much. We just go out and we hang out and we talk and we play, and I don’t want to leave my friends. But if my calling is to go fish, and there’s no one fishing over there, why wouldn’t I go?”

As he was pondering what to preach about during his last chapel message, he thought of 2 Cor 4:2-4:

Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

This passage, said Chan, convicted him that, instead of preaching the truth plainly, he was too concerned with offending people. But that is not the example we see in Jesus, who asked his followers to be willing to be nailed to a cross. If people reject Jesus, said Chan, it’s not because we need to be more clever about how we communicate. It’s because they are blind to how worthy he is: “I realized for years, we keep trying different types of bait, but the truth is the fish just aren’t biting. They’re blinded.” 

Chan went on to say that, over the past 20 years, he has noticed a change at APU and in Christian culture in general. While he was clear that he knows he is generalizing, he said he has noticed a trend of people elevating their own thoughts and feelings over the authority of God’s Word. He challenged his audience to evaluate whether there is anything they believe from the Bible that they actually don’t want to believe. Or are they comfortable with all their beliefs, meaning they are probably interpreting the Bible to suit their feelings? 

Chan cautioned the students that it’s easy to find highly educated teachers who know Greek and Hebrew who will tell them what they want to hear instead of what the Bible plainly says. There are many truths in the Bible that Chan himself does not want to believe, but that is all part of submitting to God’s authority: “There are things that I don’t like that I come under. That’s what it means to have a king. That’s what it means to have a lord. When you say that he is the “Lord” of your life, that means your master now is going to ask you to do things that you don’t want to do.” One of the Bible’s unpopular teachings that Chan mentioned is the idea that God is someone to be truly feared. Chan spent some time elaborating on this point, giving biblical examples of people who encountered God, such as Isaiah, John and Job. 

As he closed his message, Francis Chan said, “It has been an amazing adventure here, and I’m praying that something I’ve said through the years sticks, and especially this morning, that the Holy Spirit of God would light a fire in some of you to where you work out your own salvation with fear and trembling right now.” 

What to Do When Your Child Has Thoughts of Suicide

By
Kelly Rosati
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September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Suicide is not something anyone wants to think about, much less become familiar with. I have spoken often with despondent parents whose worst nightmare has become reality—their child has expressed thoughts of suicide. They are terrified, and no one they know talks about it. And when it happens to us as parents, we often have no idea what to do. Because we’re scared in the moment, our decision-making is clouded.

Caring for your child if they have expressed thoughts of suicide

This article is simply the parent-to-parent support I wish I’d had when those moments presented themselves. I share this with full permission of my kids who have experienced suicidal ideation and, thankfully, survived. Three of our four children have experienced these horrible thoughts. The combination of early trauma and mental illness takes a devastating and debilitating toll on their brains. But we nevertheless share a fierce conviction that we want these experiences to be able to comfort others with the comfort God gave us (2 Cor.). Here are a few things we’ve learned along the way:

First, take thoughts of suicide seriously. You will likely feel terrified, but the most important thing is to project love and nurture for your child like never before. Please show up for them in the most nurturing and loving way you can, even if you feel like they are being dramatic, seeking attention, or not counting their blessings. Beg God to help you; he will. Don’t minimize their pain, sermonize to them, or try to reason with them. Instead, be compassionate, tender, and fully attentive.

The second most important thing is to be calm and confident with your child. On the inside, you will likely feel anything but. You can say something like, “Sweetheart, I’m so glad you shared this with me, everything is going to be OK. We’re going to get you the help you need, and we’ll be right there with you every step of the way. You won’t always feel this terrible.”

Third, get professional help ASAP. Christian brothers and sisters, unless your pastor is a licensed clinical mental health provider, professional help for thoughts of suicide, is not the pastor or youth pastor. By all means, inform them later for prayer and practical support, but right now your child needs professional help. Don’t let fear prevent you from getting them what they need.

If your child has thought about a suicide plan, keep them in the line of sight at all times, even if that “feels excessive.” If your child is a danger to himself or anyone else, call 911 immediately. You may feel like you’re overreacting, but the old adage exists for a reason: better safe than sorry. If it’s safe to (for example, you have another person to sit with your despairing child while you drive, and you have safety locks on the doors), go ahead and drive straight to an ER to start the process of a behavioral health assessment and evaluation. Before this situation happens, know the behavioral health crisis lines, walk-in centers, or psychiatric hospitals in your city.

If your child’s suicidal condition meets criteria, he or she might be put on an involuntary hold for his or her own safety. This means that for a short period of time, the hospital has the legal authority to ensure the safety of your child. It’s always best to authorize your child’s admittance voluntarily if the professionals deem it’s warranted so they don’t have to exercise the legal option of an involuntary hold.

Parents, if this happens, it may feel like the world is coming to an end. I have spent literally hundreds of days in psychiatric hospitals. I have wept in their halls outside the view of my child. It isn’t as horrible as it feels. Your world is not coming to an end, and neither is your child’s. Your child is getting the professional help he or she needs, and you, as their loving and responsible parents, are making sure of that. Stay nurturing, calm, and confident for and around your child.

If your child is admitted, assure him that while it’s scary, it’s good that he is getting help and that he’ll be back home just as soon as he is healthy and ready. Assure him you’ll talk on the phone and visit often.

And repeat often how proud you are of her for voicing her feelings; how brave she is for receiving help; how, while she can’t know this now, you know she’ll not always feel this way. Tell her it’s okay if she doesn’t have hope—she can borrow yours.

Three Unchanging Truths for a Post-Truth World

By
Jared C. Wilson
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I had the chance last week to speak at the Shepherds 360 Church Leaders Conference in Cary, NC to a group of pastors and church leaders on three unchanging truths for a “post-truth” world. Here are some of the highlights from that talk:

A post-Christian age is not a problem for God.

And while this may seem counterintuitive, in many ways post-Christianity is an advantage to the church, because it’s an opportunity for truths and to see what only the gospel can do.

In a “post-everything” world, we can no longer appeal to religious sensibilities. We can no longer market an improved version to people of what they already kind of believe in. In a morally confused, philosophically complex, theologically vacuous culture, we now get to see how much we’ve always needed the supernaturality and truths of Christianity.

We minister in confusing times. Difficult days. Moral confusion. Gender confusion. Political division.

And the way the American Church has gone about trying to navigate the complexity and chaos has been combative or consumeristic. In this spiritually confused – often hostile when not ambivalent – post-everything world, the best thing the church can be is herself.

There are three things we can draw from Peter’s sermon in Acts 2:14-41 that the world will never be “post” – three unchanging truths in a changing world:

 

1) The World will Never be “Post” – The Saltiness of the Church

One of the very reasons God has ordained the gospel of Jesus to create a new covenant people is to provide to a divided, confused world, a living, breathing witness to the reality of his united, coherent kingdom. In other words, this is one of the unchanging truths that says the church is meant to be a signpost to a lost world that the beauty and peace of heaven is true.

This is why the mission of the church begins with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit makes such a stark difference between the people of God and business as usual that it is non-ignorable by the outside world (Acts 2:13-15). The first outside observances to the witness of the church surmised they were drunk!

As the church is first formed through the good news of Jesus, the Holy Spirit descends and marks the believers with something like tongues of fire. And people who previously could not understand each other, suddenly did, “We can hear in our native language!”(Acts 2:7)

Pentecost becomes the great un-babeling of Babel (Gen 11). Where there was division and confusion, now there is unity and understanding. Where there was conflict between humans centered on themselves, now there was peace between humans who were centered on Christ.

The Holy Spirit makes a new humanity at Pentecost.

The repentance & baptism that Peter calls for in 2:38-41 amounts to going another way. It is counter-cultural. The church isn’t meant to reflect the culture back to itself, to offer a spiritualized version of itself back to it. That is a church that has lost its saltiness according to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:13).

What is God’s plan for combating the darkness of those who reject His counter-cultural mandate? The church. The church founded on Christ and working by the Holy Spirit is God’s hope for the world.

The church is God’s Plan A, and there is no Plan B.

No matter the state of the world, it will never be beyond the sanctifying, prophetic witness of the church centered on the gospel. Indeed, the Lord has ordained the experience of church not for smooth sailing in favorable winds and peaceful waters, but precisely for apparently insurmountable cultural moments like ours. “This corrupt generation” is not more powerful than a group of broken sinners who’ve decided to stop going their own way and in lowliness and meekness turn to the saving glory of the Lord. Even hell itself is no match for the salt and light of the church.

Do you convey that reality to your people? You should.

There should be no more victim mentality in the church. The Holy Spirit has poured himself out on us. Even should they kill us, we’ll only get stronger.

The Game Changing App for Teen Evangelism You’ve Been Waiting For

By
Greg Stier
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Imagine if you could give the teens in your youth group an app that made teen evangelism and sharing the Gospel both easy and engaging.

Imagine if this app could remind them to pray for, care for and share the good news of Jesus with their unreached friends, classmates, teammates and family members.

Imagine your teens using it as teen evangelism to form or join faith sharing groups for accountability and encouragement when it comes to reaching their friends for Christ.

Imagine this app helping to raise the temperature for teen evangelism and discipleship in your youth group like never before

Well imagine no more. This app is now available for free on the app store. It’s just the app you’ve been waiting for to help get your teens to “dare to share” the hope of Jesus clearly and confidently.

The level of functionality in this highly redesigned and newly re-released Life in 6 Words app will blow you away. It could very well be a game changer for teen evangelism across the United States and around the world.

The Life in 6 Words app helps teens navigate Gospel conversations with their peers in a a very natural and interactive way. Believing teens have their friends identify 6 words (out of a list of 14) that would best describe their lives. As they do a conversation begins where each of the teens begin to open up about their lives and why they chose their 6 words. Soon the believing teenagers are swiping through screens that explain the Gospel message (based on Dare 2 Share’s GOSPEL acrostic.) Think of it as a highly sophisticated, yet easy-to-use interactive digital tract

One of the things I love about the app is that it causes teenagers to engage their friends face-to-screen-to-face . Teens aren’t just sending their friends a video that gives the Gospel, they are explaining it to them as they walk their friend through the app.

After a teen explains they GOSPEL they can send their friend a digital copy of the 6 words they chose with a verse from Scripture for each of those words. The goal of this is to continue the conversation and nudge them closer and closer to Jesus.

Take a look at some of the screen shots of the app below and then download the app to your iPhone or Android. But don’t just download it. Watch the tutorial video and explore the app. Fill out your “Cause Circle” with the names of the people you are seeking to reach. Launch a faith sharing group with the teenagers on your leadership team. Get your teenagers to engage with the app as well. If you let it, the Life in 6 Words app could be the game changer you’ve been looking for when it comes to teen evangelism.

Li6W 1080x1080

This article originally appeared here.

Texas Pastors Rally to Stop Inmate from Being Executed

By
Stephanie Martin
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Clergy in Texas have joined efforts to spare the life of convicted murderer Rodney Reed. A group of pastors met last week, urging Governor Greg Abbott to stop the November 20 execution of Reed, who has been on death row for more than two decades.

Reed, who was found guilty of the 1996 murder of 19-year-old Stacey Stites, has maintained his innocence. Local law enforcement officials, a bipartisan group of state legislators, and celebrities are rallying to support Reed, 51.

They’ve raised several concerns about the case; for example, the murder weapon wasn’t tested for DNA evidence, and forensics experts admitted to errors in the time-of-death estimates. Reed, who is black, was convicted by an all-white jury. He claims he was in a consensual relationship with Stites, a white woman. Another inmate now says Stites’ fiancé confessed to the murder.

Bishop: Rodney Reed Execution Would ‘erode public trust’

At an October 29 gathering at Greater Mount Zion Church in Austin, pastors pleaded with Gov. Abbott to postpone Rodney Reed’s execution so new evidence and witnesses can be examined. “No one should be executed when there is reasonable or even possible evidence of their innocence,” says Gaylon Clark, pastor of Greater Mount Zion. “Let the evidence take us where it leads.”

Sherwynn Patton, a former missions pastor who now works in restorative justice, encouraged people to sign a petition on Reed’s behalf and attend a November 9 rally at the governor’s mansion.

Joe Vásquez, Catholic bishop of the Austin Diocese, also is requesting a stay. “If the scheduled execution of Mr. Reed proceeds, there is great risk the state of Texas will execute a man who is innocent of this crime while allowing the guilty party to go free,” he says. “Proceeding with an execution without certainty of guilt will erode the public trust in our justice system.”

Vásquez adds, “My prayers remain with the family of Stacey Stites and all murder victims’ families. I continue to pray for healing and justice for all who have been touched by this tragedy.” 

‘People are willing to take action,’ Says Reed’s Lawyer

Bryce Benjet, who is representing Rodney Reed through the Innocence Project, says it “takes a lot of time for innocence cases to get proven.” Although Gov. Abbott has stopped only one of 48 executions during almost five years in office, Benjet says that offers some hope. “Anybody will tell you that the death penalty is a very serious matter in Texas,” the attorney says, “but…where there is compelling evidence, people are willing to take action.”

Reed’s legal team is asking the governor to grant a 30-day delay and to have the state parole board consider commuting Reed’s sentence. They’re appealing for clemency, Benjet says, because “Texas is frighteningly close to executing an innocent man.”

Celebrities who’ve advocated for Reed include Kim Kardashian West, Dr. Phil McGraw, Pusha T, and Eric Andre. Many are using the hashtag #FreeRodneyReed to draw attention to his case. Kardashian West tweeted that Gov. Abbott should “do the right thing” and stop the execution.

Christian Comedian John Crist Accused of Sexual Harassment

By
Megan Briggs
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christian comedian
Facebook @John Crist

UPDATE: John Crist’s Netflix special, “I Ain’t Prayin’ for That”, which was set to debut on Thanksgiving, has been placed on hold in light of the allegations that have come forward.

 Allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment have surfaced concerning Christian comedian John Crist. Charisma News published the allegations in an article today after “months” of gathering information. In light of the allegations that have come forth, Crist has canceled his 2019 tour dates and says he will “postpone all future commitments.”

“The church should not be looking the other way when a Christian leader is preying on women,” says J. Lee Grady, the former editor of Charisma Magazine. 

The article gives the testimonies of five young women with whom Crist allegedly had manipulative sexual relationships. Charisma decided to use pseudonyms for the women who allowed their stories to be published for the sake of protecting them.

Crist is accused of using “his Christian reputation and platform to harass, manipulate and exploit young women over the last seven years.” Specifically, the article outlines Crist soliciting sexual favors from women in exchange for tickets to his shows, sexting multiple women at once (while leading them to believe they were in an exclusive relationship), and “initiating sexual relationships with married women and women in committed relationships,” the article states. 

Charisma says their editorial team ultimately decided to publish the allegations, while noting they are not criminal, because of the threat Crist and his actions pose to the Christian community:

Yet some evidence suggests certain Christian leaders have been aware of Crist’s behavior and—through inaction—let it continue unchecked. This is why Charisma believed it necessary to warn the body of Christ about what Crist has been doing behind the scenes. To be candid, our editorial team does not relish being in this position. We sifted through and gathered information for months before deciding to move forward with the story. Though the allegations against Crist are not criminal, we believe they are newsworthy for three reasons. We believe pastors and leaders who book Crist at their ministry events need to know the person they’re signing. We believe leaders who make Christianity part of their public persona—whether or not they are formally in ministry—should [be] held to a higher standard. And above all, we believe the body of Christ must police itself and has an obligation to protect the innocent and vulnerable among us.

In a statement given to Charisma Magazine, Crist admitted to being guilty of hurting women and sinning against God. He wrote:

“Over the past number of years, various women have accused me of behavior that has been hurtful to them. While I am not guilty of everything I’ve been accused of, I confess to being guilty of this—I have treated relationships with women far too casually, in some cases even recklessly. My behavior has been destructive and sinful. I’ve sinned against God, against women and the people who I love the most. I have violated my own Christian beliefs, convictions and values, and have hurt many people in the process. I am sorry for the hurt and pain I have caused these women and will continue to seek their forgiveness. I have also hurt the name of Jesus and have sought His forgiveness.

Over several recent years, I have privately sought and received regular professional treatment for my sexual sin and addiction struggles. I’m committed to getting healing and freedom from my sin and have decided to cancel my remaining tour dates this year and to postpone all future commitments in order to devote all my time and energy on getting healthy spiritually, mentally and physically.

Those closest to me—my family, team and close friends—have known about this battle for some time, and now you do too. I’m ashamed of my behavior and I’m so sorry for hurting so many people. I don’t blame anyone but myself. I’m responsible for my actions and I’ve repented and am taking full ownership. I realize it will be difficult for some people to ever forgive me, and I accept that as a result of my bad decisions and actions.

My entire career has been lived out on stage, and even though I’ve shared many of my life struggles with my audiences, I’ve lived in constant fear of the darkest parts of my life being exposed publicly. My greatest fear has been that those who have loved and supported me would hate me if they knew everything about me. I now humbly seek forgiveness and mercy and love—not just for me, but for those I’ve hurt along my path. I’m so sorry.

Crist has vaguely referenced having addiction problems in the past, and according to one of the women who spoke to Charisma, confided in her that he is a sex addict. 

Despite his latest confession, though, one of the women, named Lindsey in the article, says this confession is not enough. “It is never OK for me to remain broken and hurt someone else,” she said. 

You can read about these allegations in greater detail here.

Russell Moore on the Need to Be Aware of True Spiritual Attack

By
Jessica Lea
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In a recent video about spiritual attack on his YouTube channel, Dr. Russell Moore explained some errors Christians make in regard to spiritual warfare, one of which is a tendency to ignore it altogether. 

“In this sort of secularizing environment, Christians, even very biblically-oriented Christians, often want to blame biology exclusively without ever thinking about the reality of the demonic,” said Moore. But this is a reality we must be aware of in order not to fall prey to it.

The Bible on What a Spiritual Attack Actually Is

Dr. Moore began by acknowledging that sometimes people do go to the extreme of over-spiritualizing their circumstances. He gave the example of a woman who attributed her bad temper to a curse and wanted help getting it “magically removed.” It is fairly obvious to most of us, he said, that the woman’s problem is not spiritual in any kind of mystical sense, but comes from her own lack of self-discipline. 

But while Christians do sometimes spiritualize their problems in a similar way that avoids personal responsibility, more often than not, our problem is that we forget our difficulties could be connected to a spiritual reality. People on this extreme might view their temptations only in light of how they are biologically or psychologically wired. Those considerations are valid, said Moore, “But very rarely in most circles do we talk about the reality of unseen, invisible beings—when in reality every culture has recognized the presence of something spiritual that does not have our interests at heart.”

There is no question that the Bible acknowledges the presence of such beings, he said, citing the numerous times Jesus encountered demons in the gospels: “You are in a place of spiritual warfare, the Bible says, all the time, overtly or covertly.”

A Spiritual Attack Takes Two Forms 

The reason it’s easy to be unaware of spiritual warfare could be because spiritual attacks against Christians take one of two forms: deception or accusation. One example of a spiritual attack in the form of deception was when the serpent deceived Eve in Genesis 3. Moore also mentioned Proverbs 7 as a helpful illustration of the subtle nature of deception. 

The passage describes a young man being seduced by an adulteress and calls him an “ox going to the slaughter.” When an ox is about to be slaughtered, said Moore, it is totally unaware of what is happening to it. In the moments before its death, it feels comfortable and well-fed. This is what it is like for believers to be led along the path of deception.

But demonic beings do not merely deceive us. They also accuse the faithful, which, according to Moore, is how demons attack people “more broadly speaking.” The Book of Job gives us a behind-the-scenes look at Satan accusing and launching a prolonged attack against a man whom Scripture describes as “blameless.” 

So how do you know if you’re experiencing spiritual warfare? “Well,” said Moore, “You are. You may not see it, you may not recognize it, but if you’re not dead, then that means that you are in the middle of a fight. And if you don’t realize that you’re in the middle of a fight, that probably is because you’re surrendering to the fight.” 

The reason we know we are in a fight is the Bible itself informs us that we are. The New Testament is full of warnings to that effect, instructing Christians to beware of temptation, stand against the devil, and put on the full armor of God (Eph. 6). And the Bible does not tell us to fight demonic forces by seeking out mystical or esoteric solutions, but by standing in the power of the gospel. 

Through the gospel, we break the power of both deception and accusation. We remember the truth of who God is and who we are in him. And we remember that the devil’s accusations are no threat to us. “Often when we’re being accused by the Accuser, everything he’s saying is usually true,” said Moore. “But if I’m in Christ, I’m crucified with Christ, which means I have already undergone the judgment of God. I have already been raised with Christ, which means that my life is seated with Christ at the right hand of God.” 

Because of this reality, we do not need to fear that God is angry with us or condemning us. “If I want to know what God thinks about me,” said Moore, “I just have to answer the question, what does God think about Jesus? Because my life is hidden in his life.”     

Joshua Harris on His Self-Imposed Excommunication

By
Megan Briggs
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Joshua Harris, former evangelical pastor and author of the infamous book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, shocked followers this summer when he announced his plans to divorce his wife, Shannon, and shortly thereafter, his decision to renounce his faith. In a recent interview, Harris gave a little more insight into why he so publicly stated he no longer considers himself a Christian, and why he uses the term excommunication. 

“I came to a point of recognizing I’m not living according to this [Christian standard], and I held other people to this standard, and I excommunicated myself essentially,” Harris said in an interview with Axios. 

Joshua Harris Understands Why People Are Angry

Harris said his supporters and followers were “understandably” angry. When interviewer Mike Allen asked why, Harris explained: “Because I was a leader and a spokesman and I called people to live very particular ways, to sacrifice in very particular ways, and so for me to change in my thinking feels like a betrayal to them.”

He also alluded to feeling hypocritical because when he served as a pastor he would excommunicate people and now he is doing some of the same things he had excommunicated people over. He mentioned “unbiblical divorce” and living in any kind of unrepentant sin as cause for excommunication. In a portion of the interview that didn’t make the final cut of Axios’ video, Harris told Allen he didn’t feel the need to elaborate on his own “unrepentant sin”. He explained:

It’s like if the answer to the question of my sexuality puts me inside or outside of your circle, accepted or unaccepted, … I don’t want to be friends, you know?… That’s how I feel. And so that’s why I don’t feel any need to answer that question.

As far as his former followers, who have expressed regret over following his advice, particularly his advice about romance and relationships, Harris said he apologized and has “unpublished” the books. However, he acknowledges “you can’t give people years of their life [back].”

On his Instagram account, Harris wrote about another interview, in which he was asked “where did things go wrong in your life?”. Harris indicates he doesn’t feel things have gone wrong and is thankful for the “journey” he is on: 

I was asked in an interview “Where did things go wrong in your life? Were you given too much responsibility at too young an age?” I understood the question, but I didn’t agree with its assumption that I consider where I am today a mistake—as some kind of tragedy that different choices in the past could have avoided. How do I explain that in spite of the messiness of my life and even my mistakes, I am so grateful for the journey that led me here, to this moment? I want to be here and so the events, the mistakes, even the hurts that delivered me here aren’t things I would reverse even if I could. ⁣⁣

The former evangelical church leader briefly addressed the phenomenon of major evangelical leaders supporting Donald Trump. “I don’t think it’s going to end well,” he said. You can see hear his full comments on that topic here.

Harris currently resides in Vancouver, Canada, and has a “marketing and brand strategy company called Clear & Loud. In an Instagram post, Harris shared how he was inspired to help others with their marketing projects while attending a Story Brand course developed by Donald Miller (of Blue Like Jazz fame). Harris has been working on Clear & Loud for four years now. 

Mark DeYmaz: Tithing Is Not Enough If Churches Want to Survive

By
Jason Daye
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Mark DeYmaz is a pastor, theologian and author of The Coming Revolution in Church Economics: Why Tithes and Offerings Are No Longer Enough and What to Do About It. Mark is the founding pastor of Mosaic Church in Central Arkansas and the co-founder of the Mosaix Global Network. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Wheaton College. Mark has been married to Linda for 25 years, and they have four children.

Key Questions for Mark DeYmaz

-What are the shifting realities that churches relying on tithes and offerings will face in the next couple of decades?

-What would you say to people who disagree with talking about the church as an “economic system”? 

-How do local churches that are already strained economically successfully share the gospel through economics?

-How does a church plant actually make an impact on an urban area on its own?

Key Quotes from Mark DeYmaz

“The fact is, the church is an economic system, and it depends on butts in the seat, as pastors like to call it.”

“Millennials do not trust institutions the way people born before 1964 do, nor do they give money in bulk sums to those institutions…When they give, they tend to spread that giving out.”

“Getting more people to church will never be enough because of generational shifts in the church in approaches to giving.”

“In this day and age, the church, like most families, is going to require multiple streams of income for funding going forward.” 

“The message we’re talking about today is fundamentally theological at its core.”

“We’re intentional in our worship, we’re intentional in our discipleship—we had better be intentional about our economics, and there is nothing wrong and everything right about that.”

“I have it on good authority that the American Church right now is sitting on billions and billions of dollars of buried assets.” 

5 Counterintuitive Ways to Make Your Child Happy

By
Andrew Linder
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Every good parent wants to make their children happy. But what if as a parent, your good intentions to bring happiness to your children are actually working against them in the long run?

Here are five things that parents are often hesitant to do with their children either out of inconvenience or because they’re afraid of their child’s disapproval. However, in the long-term, doing these things will actually produce healthy, happy, and charactered young people rather than slothful, entitled, and shallow individuals (all of these principles come from the wisdom of Solomon in the book of Proverbs):

Don’t give your child everything they want

Most parents want to give their kids their hearts’ desires, or maybe everything that they never had themselves growing up. But this can be a very dangerous approach to parenting that plants seeds of entitlement in years to come. Your responsibility is to give your children what they need. Along the way, every good parent will bless their child with a few of their wants as they’re able. However, make them earn, or work for, most of their wants.

Proverbs 13:4  The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

Regularly tell them no

I’m big on telling my kids yes when I can because I want to be a “yes” parent whenever possible. But good parenting also involves the ability to regularly tell your children no. Wise parents are able to discern the difference between the two. Don’t be the parent who refuses to clearly and firmly tell your children no when necessary. Because if they don’t learn how to properly receive and respond to “no” from you, it’s going to be a whole lot harder receiving it from anyone else for the rest of their life.

Proverbs 29:17  Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.

Discipline them when they do wrong

Good parents lovingly and consistently discipline their children. (Proverbs 22:15) In fact, according to Scripture, choosing not to discipline our children is a sign of a lack of love.

Proverbs 13:24  He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chaseneth him betimes.

Administering discipline out of love is a long-term parenting strategy. Withholding discipline out of convenience is a short-sighted parenting strategy. (Proverbs 23:13-14)

Make them do hard things

Most often our children naturally will not want to do hard things, but this is one of the reasons we need to make them. Hard things build character, and not allowing them to quit when things get tough develops life-long skills. Whether it’s doing the dishes, mowing the yard, or finishing that school report or project, hold your kids accountable to do hard things that aren’t always fun.

Proverbs 20:4  The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing. 

Require them to deal with conflict

Your child is going to be dealing with conflict for the rest of their life. So what better time to equip them with the tools they’ll need for success than by helping them navigate their conflicts with the wisdom and discretion of you by their side? While all conflict does not always need to be resolved head-on, all conflict does need to be dealt with personally, biblically, and sometimes collectively.

Proverbs 18:19  A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.

Yes, these things are often counterintuitive for us as parents, because it’s just so much easier not to do them, even though we know deep down that they produce future happiness for our kids. (Heb. 12:11)

Sometimes making our children happy for life requires making them unhappy for now.

Of these five things, which one do you struggle with the most?

This article originally appeared here.

What Purpose-Driven Means to Generation Z

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

My friend Rick Warren famously wrote about the purpose-driven life, but before that he wrote about the purpose-driven church. In The Purpose Driven Church, he contends that the church has a five-fold purpose (worship, ministry, evangelism, community and discipleship) and should therefore be driven by those purposes (as opposed to what commonly drives churches such as tradition, money, programs, personalities or events).

The idea of an organization of any kind being “purpose-driven” is not only strategic, but it is what will most capture the attention of the youngest, largest generation on the planet—Generation Z. I wrote about this in my book Meet Generation Z, but the studies continue to confirm and even enlarge upon understanding how important this is to this generation.

The 2019 Porter Novelli/Cone Gen Z Purpose Study set out to find Generation Z’s “expectations of and attitudes toward company involvement in social and environmental issues.” It once again confirmed how deeply this generation wants to make its mark on the world.

The lessons held for the church are important. For example, 94 percent are tired of the “divisive narrative that has taken over the national news” and wants to see the country come together to make progress on important issues. This sentiment runs so strongly that “85 percent would rather focus on the positive progress we’ve made rather than the negative.”

This is an important reminder to churches that seem to be known more for what they are against than what they are for. So little surprise when nearly nine-in-10 “are inspired when their peers like Emma Gonzalez and Greta Thunberg take stands on issues” (respectively, gun control and the environment).

Generation Z does not simply want to make a difference personally. The vast majority (90 percent) “also believe companies must take action to help social and environmental issues. And they’re holding these organizations accountable. More than nine-in-10 (93 percent) say if a company makes a commitment, it should have the appropriate programs and policies in place to back up that commitment and three-quarters (75 percent) will do research to see if a company is being honest when it takes a stand on issues.”

The bottom line? “Companies that demonstrate authentic purpose to this astute demographic will be rewarded, as Gen Zers use purpose as a core filter in deciding which companies to associate with.” As Alison DaSilva with Porter Novelli/Cone notes, “companies need to clearly communicate how they are making an impact to appeal to this driven but discerning generation.”

Clearly a purpose-driven church is needed now more than ever. But do our purposes align with theirs in a way that would prove attractive? You might be surprised.

The top priority they would like to see companies address is the environment (26 percent), followed by poverty and hunger (19 percent) and human rights (19 percent).

When it comes to cultural headlines, again their greatest concerns might surprise. Job-creation at 91 percent is at the top of the list, followed by racial equality (90 percent), sexual harassment (90 percent) and women’s equality (89 percent). Religious freedom and tolerance came in at 83 percent, higher than immigration, gun control or LGBTQ rights.

In other words, what they would like to see organizations purpose to address, and what they are most personally purposed to see addressed, are all biblical purposes that the church should be known for purposing itself.

After all, we are called to be stewards of creation, caregivers to the poor, fierce advocates for justice, and passionate believers in the innate worth and value of every human being. That pretty much covers all of their concerns.

So why isn’t the church attracting more Generation Zers?

Perhaps we need to get back to being a little more purpose-driven—particularly in regard to what the purposes of the church are supposed to be producing.

Sources

Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church.

James Emery White, Meet Generation Z.

“90 Percent of Gen Z Tired of How Negative and Divided Our Country Is Around Important Issues, According to Research by Porter Novelli/Cone,” Yahoo! Finance, October 23, 2019, read online.

“2019 Porter Novelli/Cone Gen Z Purpose Study,” Cone, read online.

This article originally appeared here.

4 Tips Toward a Great Church Website

By
Bryan Haley
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Before your church’s website can even completely load, the average visitor has already formed a first impression. It takes just 50 milliseconds. In a flash, they’ve already decided whether they want to continue engaging with you (through your site) or move on to the next church on their Google search results page. The takeaway? You better have a great website. Potential visitors are coming to your website to learn more about your church—to gather information, and see if your church is the right fit for them. So how can you quickly and effectively engage more people through your website? Here are 4 tips for creating a great church website. If necessary, you can also seek full-cycle development services from a website development company, like EcDev Studio.

Know Your Audience

One key mistake many churches make when it comes to their website is not having a clear audience in mind. Google says, “Great marketing begins and ends with the audience.” Have one clear audience in mind when it comes to your website. The less laser-focused you are, the more muddy and confusing your website becomes. So, who is your website meant to reach? Is it the already-connected member, or someone who has never set foot in any church, let alone yours? Those are two completely different audiences. And your website should look entirely different depending on which audience you’re trying to reach.

It is essential to identify your primary audience, and then stick with it through the web design process. This may mean that you need to have a separate website for your next step or member-centric resources. Or, perhaps you need to create a page with a specific URL (web address) to be your church member’s central hub—a URL on your main site, but one that isn’t directly navigable from the main homepage.

Be sure to study and really get to know your primary audience well. Know what issues they’re facing; what questions they’re asking; what they need to know. Meet them where they’re at, and help answer any question they may be asking when they visit your website.

If your main audience is visitors from your community, look at area demographics. Survey neighbors and fellow community members about their most pressing needs. And talk with folks who have recently started attending your church. Ask them why they came and why they stayed. You may find that your church’s rock-solid recovery program has been attracting the majority of new members to your church. If this is true, your church website should make it easy for visitors to learn about the hope and resources you provide for people who are struggling with addiction.

The more you know your audience, the better you can cater your website to meet their needs. This will not only provide a better first impression, but it will increase the likelihood that a website search will turn into a real in-person visit.

Create Simple Calls-to-Action

It’s important for the great church website homepage to provide the essential information your audience is looking for, but fight hard against the temptation to over do it. Keep your homepage simple and provide one or two clear call-to-action buttons. Your homepage should draw people in, but also leave them wanting more information.

An effective call-to-action button provides a clear next step for a visitor to learn more about your church (think “Service Times” or “Our Beliefs” or “Watch Online”). It directs the visitor to a page deeper in your website where more detailed content and information can be found. Once you’ve thought it through and identified what you think are the most essential calls-to-action for your audience, mock up a front page, and test it with folks from your primary audience (e.g. potential visitors or members).

Set Realistic Expectations

Make sure that whatever is on your website authentically reflects who you are as a church. There’s nothing worse than reading that the dress code is “wear whatever you want” only to arrive on a Sunday morning to find that the real dress code is khakis and a collared shirt. Be true to who you are as a church—people will appreciate your honesty. Never use your website to try to convey that you’re something you’re not.

An easy way to quickly and authentically communicate what people can expect from your church is by using visuals. But don’t use any images. Use real photos from your real church, not stock photography. A picture of your actual worship setting shows people what they can expect—from your facility, to your demographics, to your worship style, and even your dress code.

CHECK OUT: ChurchJuice Picks The Top 15 Best Church Websites

Evaluate

I hate to break it to you, but a great church website is not a one-and-done project. You must regularly re-evaluate and update your site. If your website is static, people will notice and it will make an impression (but not the good kind). The key is not just to update things for the sake of updating them. Instead, establish a schedule for your website evaluation and updates.

For certain parts of your site, you may have to update information weekly (e.g. Sermon info), but for other pages, like you’re front page and navigation, you’re probably not going to alter it very often. However, it’s still important to schedule these evaluations quarterly or at least every six months. And when you do, go back to your target audience and see how your website is performing with that audience. Ask them simple questions like: What can you improve? What is working well?

Whatever you do, don’t ask your church members to evaluate your website if they’re not your target audience. You’ll get skewed data. Sally really cares about the Ladies’ Bible study, so she wants that information upfront. Karen is the treasurer, so she wants to make sure the online giving button is prominent. You get the idea. Instead, ask someone who goes to another church, or maybe ask your neighbor who doesn’t go to church at all—someone who fits your target audience—to visit your website and give honest feedback. Are their questions answered? Can they find their way around?

Follow these 4 key tips, and I think your website will be off to a great start. And if you want even more information about what makes for a great church website, check out Church Juice’s free “Church Website Guide” ebook.

 

This aticle originally appeared here, and is used by permission.

Girls in the Same Youth Group Targeted by Sex Offender Via Bible App

By
Jessica Lea
-
registered sex offender
Screengrab @BibleApp

Authorities recently apprehended a registered sex offender in Florida who was using the YouVersion Bible app to target teenage girls. The incident highlights the need for parents to be vigilant about their children’s smartphone use, no matter how innocent a particular app might seem. 

“There’s a world of nasty people who want your children, and open platforms give them an open door to them,” said Rev. Russell Meyer, as reported by ABC Action News. Meyer is a Lutheran pastor over two local churches not connected to the case. 

Registered Sex Offender Targets Youth Group

Douglas Earl Kersey is a 50-year-old man from Tampa who started using the Bible app to befriend underage girls at an unidentified church in Hillsborough County. Kersey went under the name, “Doug K,” and used an email address that he failed to register with law enforcement, something that is a third-degree felony for a registered sex offender. 

Detective Theresa Grooms, who worked the case, said the incident “was unheard of for me and I’ve been with the sheriff’s office 21 years and been an investigator, school resource deputy. I did not even know that they could friend request and converse on that app.”

For those who might not be familiar with this feature of the Bible app, if you go to the home page, you will see an icon of a person in the upper right hand corner.

registered sex offender

When you tap the icon, the app takes you to a page where you have the option to add friends.

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