Be a Light for the Gospel by Supporting Your Child’s Teacher

September 23, 2019

thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

We support things that are important to us. For instance, we speak of our support, or lack thereof, in a sports team or a politician. However, conversations seem rare regarding the support of our favorite toothpaste. Why? Because the type of toothpaste does not seem to be as important. So what about our child’s teachers—are they worth supporting?

As a teacher myself, I have had many conversations about the vital role teachers play in a child’s life. In reality, you as a parent are asking the teacher to partner with you in educating your child. This is an extremely important position, and your support to them is vital to their success. And for followers of Christ, this is not merely an opportunity to help a teacher but an opportunity to be a light for the gospel. Given that many teachers face pressure and criticism from parents, your support can stand out all the more.

So, how can you best support your child’s teacher this year? Here are five simple ways . . .

1. Give the teacher the benefit of the doubt.

When your sweet little Sally says that the teacher was “mean” that day, you are faced with the choice to either give the teacher the benefit of the doubt or immediately take what your five-year-old says as truth. How you respond to your child in that situation shows your support or lack thereof to the teacher.

Of course, if upon further investigation, a situation bothers you, ask the teacher about it. However, don’t just jump to conclusions. It is hard for the teacher to feel as if the parent is partnering with them when the parent immediately begins to tell the teacher their wrongs based on what their child says instead of taking the time to have an adult conversation. And please, if an issue does arise, for your child’s sake and the overall learning environment in the classroom, do not share your frustrations with your child by putting down the teacher. Instead, teach them to respect the teacher, even in those frustrating moments. It’s a teachable moment for how to handle difficult situations.

2. Keep an open mind.

There will be things that your child’s teacher might need to tell you related to your child that might be hard to hear. It could be a behavior issue or a learning challenge. These conversations are already difficult for the teacher to initiate, so don’t forget that your child’s teacher truly cares for your child and wants him/her to succeed. Keep an open mind in what they are sharing. Remember, they are partnering with you and can sometimes see a different perspective.

3. Ask.

Ask how you can best prepare your child for the classroom. This could be reading at home, going to bed earlier, prioritizing studying, etc. Also, ask how you can volunteer your time or resources. Again, this is a partnership. Whether you are a stay-at-home mom or a working parent, the teacher needs your help! Even if you work long hours, that’s ok. It might be that you can send in an item that your child’s class needs. Your child’s teacher does not need 25 room moms! It’s ok that you cannot volunteer for every event at school. Your investment in your child’s education and overall growth this year is important. In some cases, the child may spend more waking hours in the day with the teacher than at home.

4. Encourage.

This could involve writing encouraging notes or emails, giving gift cards, etc. Think of what teachers most often hear: the problems. Unfortunately, that is our society as a whole. “No news is good news,” right? Maybe put reminders on your calendar to send an encouraging note to your child’s teacher or a $5 gift card from Starbucks. This could be a simple way to show your support and appreciation for their role in influencing and shaping your child’s heart and mind.

5. Pray.

Of course, it goes without saying, but the best way to offer support is to pray for your child’s teacher. This makes us as parents dependent upon Jesus as we entrust our children to Him. Not only does prayer shape our hearts, but God also works in the hearts of those for whom we are praying. If your child’s teacher is not a follower of Christ, this is also a great opportunity for them to see Christ in you in the way that you partner with them.

Most parents, including myself, would say that, outside of their spouse, they love their kids more than anyone else on the planet. Who has their child’s best interest at heart? The parents do, of course! Who wants a child to succeed the most? The parents! However, a close second is your child’s teacher.

This article about supporting your child’s teacher originally appeared here.

The Remembrance of Death

Gary Thomas

September 23, 2019

When sportscaster Glenn Brenner died at the age of 44 in Washington DC, the city was in shock for several days. Why? After all, the city had been dubbed the murder capital of the United States, and victims of violent crime die there virtually every day—sometimes a half-dozen a night. Yet radio talk-show hosts displayed a remembrance of death by devoting entire mornings or afternoons to Brenner’s death. The newspaper covered it in every issue for a week. One television station ran a half-hour memorial program.

The city was stunned by the suddenness of the death. It forced people to remember that death doesn’t always wait until we’re 95. Sometimes it sneaks up on us in our forties. As people called talk shows to express their shock, they repeated a familiar refrain: “It was so sudden; so unexpected. He was so young, in such good health, and then all of a sudden…I just can’t believe it.”

Brenner had recently completed a marathon. He was young, healthy, humorous, and successful, but all of that became irrelevant when a brain tumor took his life. Death didn’t take into account his cardiovascular capability. It didn’t inquire about the number of children still depending on him or his vocational success or how beloved he was in the capital city. Death doesn’t ask questions; it doesn’t review résumés. It just comes.

The city was unsettled by death’s rude intrusion into its life. Denial was no longer possible, and people were forced to consider that maybe there’s more to life than we have been told. Maybe we need to make some inquiries and answer a few questions before death comes to knock on our door.

Every now and then we sneak a peek at the obituaries and look at the ages of those who have died. When we see somebody our own age or even younger, we involuntarily wince. We grope for the cause of death—please don’t let it be a heart attack or cancer, we hope. We want to be immune from that, at least for now.

Our denial means nothing to death because death doesn’t have to ask our permission. Death is coming. Every day is somebody’s last.

The Denial of Death

In spite of the prevalence of death, we prefer not to talk about it. In this we’re similar to previous generations. Fénelon wrote of this denial centuries ago:

We consider ourselves immortal, or at least as though going to live for centuries. Folly of the human spirit! Every day those who die soon follow those who are already dead. One about to leave on a journey ought not to think himself far from one who went only two days before. Life flows by like a flood.¹

Most of us recognize that we will eventually die—but decades from now, not today, not this week, not this month, not this year. Death is a foreigner, not a close neighbor.

We live our lives while clutching fiercely to this illusion. How else can we explain the fact that so many die without a will? We live without making a will, not because we believe we’ll never die, but because we don’t expect to die this week. Thus we have more important tasks to take care of, meetings to attend, things to buy, walls to paint.

Why do we deny death? Fénelon believed we avoid the thought of death so we are not saddened by it. But this, he said, is shortsighted. “It will only be sad for those who have not thought about it.”²

William Law wrote that the living world’s brilliance blinds us from eternity and the reality of death. “The health of our bodies, the passions of our minds, the noise and hurry and pleasures and business of the world, lead us on with eyes that see not and ears that hear not.”³

Part of this denial comes from the company we keep. During the seven years I studied in college and seminary, I attended a church with a congregation that was predominantly young. During those seven years, one person in the congregation died, and it was big news.

My first position after seminary was in a more historic church with a predominantly older congregation. The first church had required two rooms to break up the nursery, but this church couldn’t round up enough babies to fill more than two or three double strollers. During our first six months, we had three funerals.

Best Church Websites – ChurchJuice Picks the Top 15

Bryan Haley

September 22, 2019

We’ve spent dozens of hours searching the web to find the best church websites in North America. Of course, this is not an exhaustive list, and the list is not ranked in any order. Here are the questions we asked while searching church websites:

Does the website have a clear target audience?
Does the content and imagery of the website communicate clearly to its intended audience?
Is the website clear from distractions that take away from reaching the intended audience?

Based on those three questions, we put together a list of 25 of the best church websites in 2019. Here are 15. Want to get the full list and our evaluation of each website? Download our free resource, “The Church Website Guide,” here.

Top 15 Best Church Websites

Church of the Redeemer

Good News Church

CrossPoint Church

River City Church

Fellowship Church

Discover The Next Five on Page Two:

Coaching and the Gospel

Patrick Nix

September 21, 2019

There are few professions that provide the opportunity to build relationships with young people like the profession of coaching. I have always considered coaching my ministry and not just my job. It is a mission field unlike any other. As Christ-followers, we are all called to spread the gospel, and as a coach, I get the privilege of doing this in a unique way.

I grew up a coach’s son. My dad was blessed to have a very successful forty-plus year coaching career. He saw many winning seasons and championships, but the lessons that I and many others learned from him went well beyond the field. There were life lessons taught but it was the eternal lessons that are most valued. My dad is not only one of the best coaches I have ever been around but he is also the godliest. And it was his example that has had the most influence on my coaching career.

A Day I’ll Never Forget

The most impactful lesson under his influence came during my ninth-grade year in high school. My dad had been the head coach for two seasons and they were two of the most successful seasons the school had ever experienced. Small town politics got involved and the superintendent and the school board decided to let him go. You can only imagine how angry that made his ninth-grade son. I just could not understand how that could possibly happen to someone with such stellar character and success on the field.

The day after my dad was released, he had a team meeting. I was in that team meeting, bitter and angry. As the meeting began, my dad thanked the players for allowing him to coach them and the effort they had given. What happened next would change not only my life but countless others. Right there in the locker room during what I considered one of the darker days of my life, my dad began to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the team. I was torn with emotions. I was so bitter and angry at what they had done to my dad but I was overwhelmed that my dad had such strength and courage in that situation to share Jesus. That one moment taught me more about following Christ and the influence of ministry in coaching than any other and has had the most impact on my life and coaching career.

The coaching profession has given me the opportunity to be a light of hope for some that may not have ever seen or even heard of the hope we have in Jesus Christ. I have the opportunity on a daily basis to show the love of Jesus by the way I love the kids that not only play for me but also walk the halls of my school. I have the opportunity to show the compassion of Jesus by the compassion I show to them. I have the opportunity to show the righteousness of God by the way I hold them accountable each day. For many of the kids a coach comes in contact with, we may be the only example of Jesus they see. It is an incredible opportunity, and the responsibility can be overwhelming without the courage, strength, and protection of the Holy Spirit.

Learning from Tragedy

In October of 2017, it was a tragedy that reminded me of this great responsibility God has given me to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the early morning hours of October 26, I received a phone call letting me know that one of our junior high football players had died overnight in a house fire. I was devastated.

My youngest son was on the team with the young man and I had just seen him Tuesday night after their game and had even joked around with the kid. But the most devastating part of the news to me was that I was not sure if he had ever heard of the hope we have in Jesus Christ. I have always found ways to have the gospel shared with our team, but I had not been sure it had been shared with this team. The death of the young man was a very hard reminder of how fleeting life is and the importance and reality of eternity for all of us, coaches and players.

That following Friday night in the locker room after our high school game, we had a ministry opportunity and many players made decisions to follow Jesus. Although there were lives positively changed as a result of this tragedy, I still have to live with the fact that our junior high player may have died without hearing the good news of Jesus Christ. As a coach, as well as a Christ-follower, I must be sure that all the players I come in contact with hear the gospel.

The bottom line is this: Many of these kids will not step into a church but they will walk into a locker room and onto a field where we can minister to them. We have such an opportunity to share the most important thing in life with them through the avenue of sports, and that is more important than winning. Sports give coaches the perfect opportunity to build relationships with young men and women that they will not get anywhere else. It is a wonderful responsibility and opportunity coaches have been blessed with when it comes to having an eternal impact on our players. I thank God every day for it.

This article about coaching and the gospel originally appeared here.

Rely on the Word of God Alone, Not on Techniques

Andy Davis

September 21, 2019

The powerful Word of God alone has been building Christ’s kingdom since the beginning of redemptive history. It has never been defeated, and it never will be. Satan has been opposing God’s Word since he slithered up to Eve in the Garden of Eden and questioned God’s authority, recruiting humanity through Adam to join his rebellion. But since that dreadful moment, God’s Word has been destroying Satan’s kingdom, pushing back the darkness and rescuing the elect captives. Satan has never been able to tame the Word, chain the Word, stop the Word, or make the Word extinct.

And so, if a church is to be revitalized, it will only happen through the Word of God alone. The more revitalizing leaders trust the Word of God alone, the more powerful their efforts will be.

Revitalization is nothing less than the transformation of individual human hearts—by either conversion or sanctification—on a church-wide scale. This work of comprehensive salvation comes only through faith in Jesus Christ, and Romans 10:17 says saving faith comes by hearing the Word. It doesn’t matter what other things happen in your church; if the Word of God isn’t central to the revitalization effort, no genuine, long-lasting transformation will ever occur.

DEATH TO LIFE, DARKNESS TO LIGHT

Perhaps the clearest verse in the Bible on the essence of regeneration is 2 Corinthians 4:6: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” This is the miracle of regeneration, of being made a new creation in Christ. Paul likens the power of God to speak life into a dead soul to the power he displayed at creation in speaking light into a dark universe.

This moment of spiritual creation is the basic “building block” of any church revitalization effort. A subsequent work is like it: the Spirit’s increasing illumination in the hearts of existing regenerate church members. This progressive work of illumination reveals God’s radiant glory in Christ, as well as God’s purposes for our lives and for his church. Faith is the eyesight of the soul (Matthew 6:22) by which we see invisible realities, including the way the local church is falling short of God’s plan.

Therefore, the centerpiece of the ministry of the Word of God in the pulpit, in Sunday school, and in all Bible studies and discipling relationships must be the clear proclamation of Christ crucified and resurrected as the only Savior for sinners. Though the ongoing preaching of lesser doctrines is essential to a complete ministry of the Word, the gospel of Christ must be paramount. As Paul said, “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:1–2). Here, Paul is rejecting the human wisdom that was the glory of Greece and the envy of the pagan world of his time. The wisdom of God for the sinful human race is the cross of Christ. Lift it high!

MAN’S TECHNIQUES CANNOT REVITALIZE

The idea that revival—or for our purposes, revitalization—can be reduced to a series of inevitably successful principles or techniques is still alive today. All you have to do is Google something like “ten easy steps to church renewal,” and you’ll get an amazing potpourri of practical advice.

It’s true that every church revitalization situation is unique, with its own set of challenges. Yet in every case, true revitalization comes not with man-developed techniques, but with a firm reliance on the sufficiency of the Word of God to transform human hearts.

In the twenty-first century, man-centered revitalization techniques focus on other ways to tickle the sensibilities of seekers, attenders, and church members. These techniques aren’t much different than the approach of the medieval Roman Catholic Church or Charles Finney and other preachers of the Second Great Awakening.

Appealing to the five senses in the Middle Ages gave us cathedrals with soaring architecture, stunning stained glass windows, magnificent sculptures, the majestic tones of pipe organs, and the “smells and bells” of the Latin mass. In Finney’s era, these appeals to the senses centered on high-energy preaching with theatrical presentations of biblical themes, the psychological pressure made by the “anxious bench” (later developed into the techniques of the “invitation” and the “altar call”), and the use of culturally pleasing frontier music.

Today, our techniques might include a sleek-looking building designed to look like a country club, state-of-the-art electronics, cutting-edge worship music that stays current with popular tastes, the use of handheld smartphones and Twitter accounts to enable an interactive connection with the preacher and the audience, and “relevant” sermons that immediately address felt needs of the hearers and mostly stay away from deep theology. The employment of such human-centered techniques will never produce genuine transformation of the human heart and, therefore, will never produce genuine revitalization.

TRUST THE WORD OF GOD ALONE

The most significant force in the revitalization of any local church is the ongoing ministry of the Word of God Sunday after Sunday. If you’re a church member in a church that needs revitalization, you should pray that God will raise up a faithful biblical expositor to preach God’s Word from the pulpit. If that’s already happening, pray that God will sustain that man in his difficult work, for there often comes a time in church revitalization when unregenerate church members “will not endure sound teaching” but will seek to gather around themselves teachers to say what their itching ears long to hear (2 Timothy 4:3).

If you’re a pastor in a church that needs revitalization, seek to gain people’s trust by faithfully handling the Word of God. When your church trusts you, people will be less likely to divide regarding difficult doctrines.

* * * * *

Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from Andy Davis’ new book, Revitalize.

This article about relying on the Word of God alone originally appeared here.

5 Ways to Reach More Millennials at Your Church

Brandon Hilgemann

September 21, 2019

Hi, I’m Brandon, and I’m a Millennial. And I’m here to tell you how to reach more Millennials in your church.

I am one of those “entitled,” “snowflake” babies born between 1980 and 2000.

Being a millennial comes with many unfair stereotypes:

We are lazy.
We want trophies just for participating.
We can’t find stable jobs or move out of our parents’ basements…

While some of the stereotypes are true for some millennials, I know a lot of millennials who break the trend.

But there is one stereotype about millennials that is scary because it’s true. Millennials are leaving the church in droves.

So while I cannot pretend to speak for all millennials, I can tell you what my millennial friends and I want to see in your church. And how you can reach more Millennials.

1. To reach more Millennials…PUT MILLENNIALS ON STAGE.

When we go to church and see a bunch of gray-haired guys on stage and a bunch gray-haired people in the crowd, we wonder if we fit in.

Find ways to get younger people on stage. And let a millennial pastor preach every once in awhile.

If you don’t have one on staff (or at least as an elder or high-capacity volunteer), that may be part of the problem.

Show us that your church isn’t just an old-person club, but a place that we can serve and use our gifts too.

I know from experience how hard it is for millennials to break into ministry. We are starving for someone to give us a chance.

Just look at the churches that are reaching millennials and tell me if any of them don’t have young people on stage.

2. To reach more Millennials…BE REAL WITH US.

We crave authenticity.

Don’t pretend like everything in life is rosy when you follow Jesus. If you do, we will know you’re fake.

You aren’t fooling anyone. We all know you aren’t perfect. We loathe impostors, and many of us are skeptical because church leaders can seem fake.

So quit talking to us like we are naive and skipping around sensitive subjects.

Be uncomfortably vulnerable with us about your shortcomings and struggles in your faith. Tell us how you continue to wrestle with your imperfections while trying to follow Christ.

We want the ugly truth about the messy issues in life, even when it stings.

United Methodist Church Returns Land to Wyandotte Nation

Stephanie Martin

September 20, 2019

As part of its bicentennial celebration, the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries is transferring three acres in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, back to the Native American Wyandotte Nation. At a ceremony tomorrow, land that the Wyandottes deeded to what is now the United Methodist Church (UMC) will be formally returned to the tribe—a rare occurrence in U.S. history.

A Special Missions Connection to the Wyandotte Nation

John Stewart, one of the first Methodist missionaries, befriended the Wyandottes in 1816. Stewart, an African-American lay preacher, respected the tribe’s culture and secured government funds to build a church on its land. His work led to the 1819 founding of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and when he died four years later, he was buried nearby.

Stewart befriended the Wyandottes during a tenuous time, says current chief Billy Friend. After the War of 1812, “Nobody knew what the future held for Indian people,” he says. “So when John Stewart came and began to preach hope and compassion and love, I think that was something our people needed to hear at that time.”

Despite initial resistance against the government’s relocation efforts, the Wyandottes moved to Oklahoma in 1843. Beforehand, the tribe deeded three acres of land to what became the UMC to prevent the desecration of its burial grounds.

“I think the Wyandottes knew that the Methodists were the ones that built the church, and they were the ones that showed genuine compassion toward them,” says Friend, “so who better to leave it in the hands of than the United Methodist Church? Looking back, I think that was the best thing that we had done.”

Local Methodists have maintained the cemetery and church, where worship services are still held during summer months.

The Ceremony and Its Significance

Saturday at John Stewart United Methodist Church in Upper Sandusky, leaders from the Wyandottes and the UMC will hold a ceremony to return the land. Celebrations include a march through town, a pipe ceremony of blessing, a tribal dance, and recitation of the Lord’s Prayer in tribal sign language.

No money is involved with the transfer. The Wyandottes plan to apply for the government to keep the land in a trust, which offers legal protections. They’ll also apply for National Historic Landmark status.

Thomas Kemper, general secretary of Global Ministries, says it’s important to remember the “contributions indigenous people have made and continue to make to our Methodist heritage.” The relationship between Stewart and the Wyandottes represents an “admirable” account of the denomination’s history with Native Americans, Kemper says, but he admits that “regrettable chapters” occurred. “People have been killed, and we have been complicit in this,” he says. “This giving back of land is not taking anything away from this responsibility that we have as Methodists.” (For instance, the colonel who led the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre was a Methodist pastor.)

At its 2012 General Conference, the UMC issued “An Act of Repentance Toward Healing Relationships With Indigenous People.” Kemper says the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has assisted with 17 projects among 10 Native American tribes during the past two years. The denomination works with suicide prevention, provides school-supply kits, and gave a grant of almost $1 million to help a tribal community in Alaska relocate to a safer site.

Fantasia: Let Your (Good) Man Be the Head of the House

Jessica Lea

September 20, 2019

American Idol winner, actress and author Fantasia Barrino-Taylor has stirred up controversy for saying that women need to let men lead in their families. Following comments she made on the radio show, The Breakfast Club, the singer and her husband, Kendall Taylor, posted a video on Instagram where they shared their views on what godly leadership looks like and what submission is and is not.

“We need more men to stand up and lead the way,” said Fantasia on The Breakfast Club earlier this week [warning: this video contains language some may find offensive]. “Most women are trying to be the leader. That’s why you can’t find a man. You can’t be the king in the house. Fall back and be the queen and let your man lead the way.”

Fantasia Barrino-Taylor on Leadership in the Family

Toward the beginning of the show, Fantasia asked host DJ Envy to explain the key to his long marriage. When she asked if he and his wife ever pray together, he said he prays with his wife every morning before leaving the house. To that, Fantasia responded, “That’s what’s up. I respect that,” saying that society needs more men to step up and lead their families in a similar way.

Fantasia said she believes that modern culture has focused so much on women being strong and providing for their families that when a man comes along who wants to be a good leader, a woman will resist letting him lead. The singer acknowledged that women often cannot help having to be the main providers for their families, but her point was that it’s important for men to lead well and for women to accept that leadership if the men have integrity. She had to go through that situation herself when she met her husband because she was providing for everyone in her family at the time.

Show host Angela Yee asked, “Can we be equal?” to which Fantasia responded, “Oh, of course!” The singer used the metaphor of the woman being the neck in the relationship and the man being the head, saying, “It all works together, but you can’t be the head of the house. You’ve got to let the man be the head of the house.”

What are your thoughts about @TasiasWord comments saying women shouldn’t lead the house hold no matter how well they’re doing pic.twitter.com/U8xXxqYMOu

— Flow 🏁 (@ITSDJFLOW) September 16, 2019

Kendall Shares His Thoughts

After Fantasia’s comments stirred up debate online, the singer and her husband recorded a video sharing more of their views on leadership and submission in marriage. Fantasia said her husband had shared some thoughts on the topic with her that were “so dope,” and she also wanted to offer people a male perspective.

View this post on Instagram

A Talk with The Taylor’s: The Science Of Submission!

A post shared by Fantasia Taylor (@tasiasword) on Sep 18, 2019 at 8:04am PDT

“So here’s the issue,” Taylor said. “Submission is supposed to be a beautiful song and dance between two lovers. What’s happened is, men have abused that power. Forgive me, they’ve abused that gift, and we have been misled to think that it’s something where it’s a dominant spirit and we own every decision, we dictate everything, we rule with an iron fist. First of all, that’s not love.”

Taylor said that in his marriage, he submits daily “to the most High.” He reads the scriptures and works on his character so that he can come to his wife “from a pure position.” Because this is his focus, it’s easier for his wife to follow his leading. “Submission is a gift,” he said. “When she sees me laying at the foot of the Father, she has no reason to withhold that from me.”

But that doesn’t mean he makes every decision. Said Taylor, “We talk and we build, and I consider everything that’s on her heart,” taking her perspective into account. Taylor added that the moment he steps out of righteousness, he believes his wife has every right to intervene. The problem, he said, is that men are not handling their leadership with integrity. They are not modeling humility or forgiveness and are ignorant about important family matters, such as finances and the educational systems impacting their kids.

He argued that a man should be knowledgeable about these areas family life so that when his wife comes to him with a concern, he is already prepared to take care of it. At the same time, Taylor said he wants Fantasia to be strong enough to provide for herself and lead the family if he’s gone, noting, “She can’t do that if I’m controlling everything.”

The couple ended the video by observing they’re not perfect and are not trying to be. Rather, they are growing and hope that by sharing their experience, they will help others who are also pursuing growth.

Can You Be Evangelical and an Environmentalist? Absolutely

Megan Briggs

September 20, 2019

People around the world are joining in marches today to bring awareness to climate change and evangelical Christians are among their ranks. While there is an ongoing debate among evangelicals about the reality of climate change, a growing number of evangelicals not only acknowledge climate change but also feel it is their Christian duty to do something about it.

“We come at this work not because we’re environmentalist, even though some of us identify that way, and not because we’re Democrats or Republican,” says Kyle Meyaard-Schaap, national organizer and spokesperson at Young Evangelicals for Climate Action (YECA). “We come at this because we’re Christians and we believe that acting on climate change and calling the church to action and it’s just part of what it means to follow Jesus in the 21st century,” Meyaard-Schaap told Quartz.

Members of YECA aren’t the only Christians who are concerned about climate change. Scientist and evangelical Christian Katharine Hayhoe is working to change the mindset surrounding climate change in the church. She speaks to believers about the need to protect God’s creation and the mandate we have to help those who are “less fortunate than ourselves.” Caring for vulnerable populations is a big theme among climate change experts, who argue that the poor are the ones who stand to lose the most as the climate of the earth changes. Some scientists have even drawn a correlation between the rising violence in the Sahel region of Africa to the effects of climate change.

Hayhoe believes politics keeps many evangelical Christians in the U.S. from acknowledging climate change. She told Quartz she believes there are two types of evangelicals: political evangelicals and theological evangelicals. The political evangelicals’ “statement of faith is written first by their political ideology and only a distant second by what the Bible says,” Hayhoe believes.

Robin Veldman, the author of The Gospel of Climate Skepticism: Why Evangelical Christians Oppose Action on Climate Change, agrees politics sometimes get in the way of evangelicals engaging in issues of climate change. Speaking to Newsweek, she says:

Part of being a part of the evangelical community is showing that you keep good theologically conservative company, and environmentalism is associated with being liberal. In America, theological liberalism and political liberalism are kind of viewed as the same thing. So it does raise questions if you become interested in the environment.

Part of the reason evangelicals may be hesitant to either support efforts to address climate change or research the evidence for climate change may be due, in part, to former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Al Gore’s efforts to bring attention to the problem. Also speaking to Newsweek, Katherine Wilkinson, author of God & Green: How Evangelicals Are Cultivating a Middle Ground on Climate Change, says she noticed this connection while surveying focus groups around the time Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth came out in 2006. “There were a lot of Al Gore associations with climate change and the sense that this is part of a part of a broader progressive agenda,” Wilkinson says.

Veldman believes the efforts of the Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN) to bring the climate change movement into a more centrist sphere is a good strategy. Wilkinson believes YECA has a good strategy, too. Part of YECA’s mission is to train the younger generations—Millennials and Gen Z—to speak to their parents and even their pastors about climate change.

For evangelicals who are also politically conservative, YECA believes they have a compelling argument. Meyaard-Schaap says when speaking to conservatives, he emphasizes the economic benefits of moving away from the energy production monopoly the U.S. currently relies on, as well as the benefits of disentangling ourselves from foreign powers who supply oil. YECA also draws a connection between fighting climate change and being pro-life, pointing to the evidence that burning fossil fuels is linked to things like low birth weights and preterm births.

If you are interested in learning more about the science behind climate change or how you can get involved, the Evangelical Environmental Network has compiled a list of resources on creation care.

3 Common Emotional Mistakes Leaders Make

Eric Geiger

September 20, 2019

Sometimes being a leader feels like living in two different worlds as leaders must think about the future while also executing today. And then there are the emotional mistakes leaders make, as being a leader often requires leading with two emotions at once. Leaders often must grieve the loss of something while also holding to hope for the future. They carry a deep burden while also being filled with joy for the opportunity. They address problems with sober-mindedness while also rejoicing that good things are happening.

As I have grieved the loss of ending one season of ministry and rejoiced in the beginning of another, I have thought a lot about the tension of leading with two emotions at once. And of the emotional mistakes leaders are prone to make.

Here are three common emotional mistakes leaders make.

Mistake One: Ignoring emotion

It is not healthy to ignore an emotion because it will likely surface later without the benefit of processing and learning from it in the season. For example, if a leader buries and ignores grief—the grief can manifest in unhealthy ways. Or if a leader ignores the joy of leading because the leader worries that celebrating will take too much time away from work, the leader can easily create an unhealthy culture.

Mistake Two: Minimizing emotion

My current tension has been this: I have been tempted to minimize my excitement about my new assignment for fear of being disrespectful and dishonoring to my current team. In the same way I have been tempted to minimize the feeling of loss for fear that people will think I am not ready to go. It is hard to hold two emotions at once but minimizing them robs the leader of important moments and conversations with the team.

Mistake Three: Being ruled by emotion

Leadership is emotional. In fact, there has been a lot written on emotional intelligence—the ability to connect with others, show empathy, and effectively communicate non-verbally. While leaders are emotional people, wise leaders are not to be ruled by their emotions. Emotions can take us down dangerous paths and into unwise decision-making. The great news for the Christian is that we are able to continually submit our emotions to our Savior. We don’t have to let our emotions rule us, but we can preach the truth to our emotions. Pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote:

Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must say to your soul: ‘Why art thou cast down’–what business have you to be disquieted? You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: ‘Hope thou in God.

This article about emotional mistakes leaders make originally appeared here.

10 Manly Things Every Dad Should Teach His Son How To Do

Andrew Linder

September 20, 2019

I’m the proud father of 3 boys, ages 9, 11, & 17. And every day it’s increasingly clear in many ways that they are boys becoming men. I’ve learned some things about manly things every dad should teach his son from parenting my boys.

They enjoy a challenge, they are motivated by the accomplishment of work, and they anticipate the ability to learn new skills. As they’ve aged, there are a number of practical things that I’ve tried to teach them that often apply specifically to ‘guy life’. Here are a few of them.

10 manly things every dad should teach his son to do:

Mow the yard. A boy doesn’t have to be a teenager before he learns how to handle a mower and professionally spruce up a yard.
Check the oil and fluids in a car. I’m no mechanic myself, but I do want my boys to understand the basics of maintaining a vehicle and protecting their investment.
Use basic tools. We often take these simple things for granted, but every boy from an early age should know how to properly use a screwdriver, a hammer, a drill, etc. The best way for them to learn is to be given opportunities.
Own a pocket knife. For our boys, this has been a ‘right of passage’. They each have felt very accomplished when they became old enough that dad trusted them with a pocket knife.
Shoot a gun. I’m no hunter, but my boys enjoy shooting. Whether it’s a BB gun or a rifle, a boy learning how to shoot a gun and how to use it responsibly is a great experience.
Help around the house. Boys should never think that things like cleaning up after themselves, doing dishes, or other household chores are only for girls. If you’re raising a boy, your raising someone’s future husband. (I intentionally included this in my list of “manly” things, because in my book, it is. Your future daughter-in-law will thank you.)
Take the lead when necessary. John Steinbeck once said, “A boy becomes a man when a man is needed.” And there is truth to this. Our boys need to know when to step up and lead. Dads need to show them when those times come.
Stand up for his beliefs. Whether it’s protecting a girl, protecting God’s name, or protecting himself, a boy needs to know how to stand up for what he believes in.
Pray without shame. Very few things are as manly as men who know how to pray. This is something boys need to learn from their fathers.
Treat all ladies with respect. Boys should know how to treat girls and ladies because they’ve learned it at home. And such treatment should start with their sisters and their mother.

There are no doubt many more things every dad should teach his son. However, if you made this list, some of your top ten might be different than mine. What are some additional manly things that you would add? I’d love to hear them.

If you are a single mother or someone raising boys without a father present, look to a grandparent or other male mentor who can take your boy under his wing and teach him some of these things.

This article about what every dad should teach his son originally appeared here.

7 TEDTalks for Pastors That Will Make You a Better Preacher

Megan Briggs

September 20, 2019

TED has been known to provide some incredibly helpful information for leaders and innovators. In other words, their content is a gold mine for preachers. But how do you know which talks are the best TedTalks for pastors out of the thousands available? Luckily the organization has whittled down their very best talks on public speaking.

We’ve narrowed the list even further to 7 TedTalks for pastors that will make you a better preacher. Happy sermon prep!

Julian Treasure: How to speak so that people want to listen

According to Julian Treasure, “It is not what you say,” it’s also the way you say it. This TedTalk for pastors gives advice for improving the mechanics of your speaking. Doing things like taking a few minutes to warm up your voice can have a profound impact on how your sermons are received.

Chris Anderson: TED’s secret to great public speaking

If “ideas are the most powerful force shaping human culture,” it would stand to reason that the people effectively communicating their ideas would be able to change the world. In this video, the owner of TED, Chris Anderson, shares four guidelines the best TED talks utilize in communicating ideas to the audience.

Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are

When was the last time you evaluated how your posture is affecting your congregation? In this video, Amy Cuddy shares how your posture affects the way people relate to you, and also how you think of yourself. Encouraging thoughts from this video include “fake it till you become it” and “tiny tweaks can lead to big changes.”

Clint Smith: The danger of silence

If you’ve ever been given the cold shoulder by a loved one, you know that silence can speak louder than our words. Especially as pastors, we have a responsibility to address the issues our congregation members are dealing with. This talk, given by a poet and teacher, will inspire you to know your congregation and speak to their needs.

Melissa Marshall: Talk Nerdy to Me

Melissa Marshal was given the monumental task of teaching a communication’s class for engineering students. Given the stereotypical nature of engineers, Marshal likened the experience to Alice entering Wonderland. What you’ll learn from her insightful talk is how to communicate in a way that tells people why your particular field of study should be important to the rest of us. You’ll also learn why you should never use bullet points in your sermon slides.

Joe Kowan: How I Beat Stage Fright

Joe Kowan struggled with crippling stage fright up until the time he wrote a song to poke fun at his awkwardness on stage. “By thinking about my audience, by embracing, exploiting my problem, I was able to take something that was blocking my progress and turn it into something that was essential to my success,” Kowan explains. And while he hasn’t completely gotten over his stage fright, in his talk you will see that even if you struggle with this problem, you can still communicate very effectively to your congregation.

Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action

Using the example of the success of Apple, Sinek explains how, “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” After you watch his video, you’ll want to ask yourself these two questions: Why is this sermon important? Why is the mission of our church important?

Which TedTalks for pastors would you recommend?

5 Landing Page Essentials for Your Church Website

Brad Vos

September 19, 2019

Jane just moved to a new town. She grew up in a Lutheran church and would like get connected with a similar church in her new town. Jane does a quick search online to check out her options. While your church isn’t Lutheran, your denomination has similar historical roots or worship practices. There are very few Lutheran churches in your area, so you might be a the best fit for her. How can she find this out? (Hint: A great landing page would help.)

Carlos has become convinced that expositional style preaching is important. His current church preaches topically. Carlos types “expositional preaching” and your city in the search engine. How can your church be more likely to appear in his search results since your pastor is an expositional preacher? (Hint: A great landing page would help.)

The answer to both of these questions is landing pages. The term landing page often applies to a page advertisers use to get you to buy their product or service. These pages target the terms you searched for or an online advertisement you clicked on.

Churches can also use landing pages to help people connect with their body of believers. Many people like Carlos and Jane are looking for specific things (keywords) related to church. They may be looking for a particular denomination (Presbyterian, Anglican, Methodist), a theological perspective (reformed, Arminian), style of preaching (topical or expositional), or worship (contemporary, traditional, liturgical). Your church might be a good fit. They just don’t know this. Your landing page can help them make this connection.

I pastor a Christian Reformed church. If someone searches online for a reformed church, we should be a top result because there are only a few in our area. Our denomination has some strong similarities to some Presbyterians and Lutheran denominations. We have folks from those backgrounds who are a part of our congregations. Search engines, and people looking for these kinds of churches, might not understand these similarities. I use a landing page to build a stronger connection for them.

Here are the important components to use to maximize your chances of search engines finding you.

Page Web Address: You want the landing page web address to include the keyword you want to highlight. yourchurchdomain.org/keyword or yourchurchdomain.com/keyword-phrase.
Page Title: Your page title or heading should also highlight the keyword. Questions or a brief statement are all you need. Are you looking for a Presbyterian Church? Expositional preaching is important to our church.
Image or video: Include an image or video that focuses on the keyword or has a similar feel to your homepage. It could be a short video of your pastor explaining the similarities between your church and the denomination you are trying to highlight. It could also be an image that relates to the keyword. A good example might be the pastor preaching for expositional preaching or the worship team singing for contemporary worship.
Brief Description: It is also important to include a brief paragraph that connects your church to the keyword. Tell your audience why the topic is important or how you are connected to their search term. Be honest If you aren’t a part of a denomination make that clear, but phrase things in a positive way so that people feel welcome.
Call To Action: Use a button or text linked to another page on your website that encourages people to investigate your church more. “Click here if you want to learn about our church!”

One final word of caution, don’t go overboard with landing pages. Too many landing pages will dilute your message and make search engines think your website is spam. Find one or two denominations that are similar to your church. Highlight a few things that make your church unique. If you are at a loss for where to begin, ask your first time guests what they searched for to find your church and recent members what attracted them to your church.

A church landing page can be a powerful tool to help people find your church. A little work can help searchers make a connection to your church they wouldn’t have otherwise made.

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

New Research: Happy Couples Know How to Argue Well

Jessica Lea

September 19, 2019

happily married — Photo by Alex Holyoake on Unsplash

Any relationship that goes beyond a superficial level will involve conflict at some point, and there are few relationships that force us to reckon with our flaws as marriage does. A new study recently published in Family Process has found that happily married and unhappily married couples all deal with challenges in the same areas of life…but it’s how they approach those issues that makes all the difference in the quality of their marriages.

“Being able to successfully differentiate between issues that need to be resolved versus those that can be laid aside for now may be one of the keys to a long-lasting, happy relationship,” says Amy Rauer, the study’s lead author.

How Happily Married Couples Tackle Hard Discussions

The study, called “What are the Marital Problems of Happy Couples? A Multimethod, Two-Sample Investigation,” evaluated two groups of married couples who said they were happy in their marriages. Sixty-four of the couples were in their early 70s and had been married an average of 42 years, while 57 of the couples were in their mid- to late-30s and had been married an average of nine years.

The greatest potential sources of conflict for the couples included communication, financial pressure, children, in-laws, and intimacy. Older couples also mentioned health. All of the couples said jealousy, religion, and family were among the issues that gave them the least amount of trouble.

Regarding how they attempted to resolve their differences, the people in the study universally spent more time on problems that had clearly defined answers. One example would be determining who is responsible for chores around the house. “Happy couples tend to take a solution-oriented approach to conflict, and this is clear even in the topics that they choose to discuss,” said Rauer. “Re-balancing chores may not be easy, but it lends itself to more concrete solutions than other issues.” The researchers also found that the longer people were married, the fewer arguments they had, suggesting that over time couples had learned that some topics were simply not worth addressing.

The couples in the study spent far less time discussing problems that were complex and harder to resolve. One example of a subject the couples avoided more often than not was physical intimacy, a topic that requires vulnerability and has the potential to be embarrassing.

The researchers propose that focusing on topics, even challenging ones, that lead to successful, concrete resolutions will build a couple’s confidence in their relationship, making it easier to approach conversations with more complex answers. If a couple is perpetually tackling complex problems and struggling to resolve them, they can end up feeling they are unable to work through difficult issues together.

So the main takeaway from the study is that married couples should be discerning about the problems they choose to address with each other. In related marriage advice, Dave Willis also notes that it is important for couples to be mindful of their tone of voice when having any conversation. He says, “The tone of your words can set the tone for your entire marriage.”

The Iranian Church Is the Fastest Growing in the World

Mark Howard

September 19, 2019

It’s a simple story that can be summarized in just two sentences: Persecution threatened to wipe out Iran’s tiny church. Instead, the Iranian church has become the fastest growing in the world, and it is influencing the region for Christ.

Everyone loves a good story. As Christians, we especially love stories that tell us how, when all seems lost, God makes a way.

One such story is about the Iranian church—and it’s one of the greatest stories in the world today.

As simple as it is, such an amazing story is worth examining deeper.

Growth Amid Persecution

The Iranian revolution of 1979 established a hard-line Islamic regime. Over the next two decades, Christians faced increasing opposition and persecution: All missionaries were kicked out, evangelism was outlawed, Bibles in Persian were banned and soon became scarce, and several pastors were killed. The church came under tremendous pressure. Many feared the small Iranian church would soon wither away and die.

But the exact opposite has happened. Despite continued hostility from the late 1970s until now, Iranians have become the Muslim people most open to the gospel in the Middle East.

How did this happen? Two factors have contributed to this openness. First, violence in the name of Islam has caused widespread disillusionment with the regime and led many Iranians to question their beliefs. Second, many Iranian Christians have continued to boldly and faithfully tell others about Christ, in the face of persecution.

As a result, more Iranians have become Christians in the last 20 years than in the previous 13 centuries put together since Islam came to Iran. In 1979, there were an estimated 500 Christians from a Muslim background in Iran. Today, there are hundreds of thousands—some say more than 1 million. Whatever the exact number, many Iranians are turning to Jesus as Lord and Savior.

In fact, last year the mission research organization Operation World named Iran as having the fastest-growing evangelical church in the world. According to the same organization, the second-fastest growing church is in Afghanistan—and Afghans are being reached in part by Iranians, since their languages are similar.

Three Changed Lives

The testimonies of Iranian men and women who’ve come to Christ are powerful.

Kamran was a violent man who used to sell drugs and weapons. One day, a friend gave him a New Testament. After reading for five consecutive days, Kamran gave his life to Jesus. When his family and friends saw his transformed life over the ensuing months, many of them also came to faith. A church now meets in Kamran’s house.

Reza was a mullah (a Muslim scholar) who hoped to become an ayatollah (a Shiite leader). One day, while studying at an Islamic seminary in Iran, he found a New Testament that had been boldly left in the library. Out of curiosity, he picked it up and was deeply shaken. Over time, he fell in love with Jesus. Today Reza is a trained church planter serving in the Iran region.

Muslim Heard the Gospel … Now Leading Many to Salvation

Madeline Arthington

September 19, 2019

Ruslan’s* ritual Muslim prayers, which he performed five times a day, brought no relief to the ugliness he felt in his heart. He was a tough young man. He angered easily and was a troublemaker in his village in Central Asia. But when he first heard the gospel from relatives in the big city, he couldn’t sleep for days. On the fourth day, he visited their church and heard the truth about Jesus again. In tears, he repented and believed in Christ for salvation.

Ruslan began sharing the gospel even before he himself came to faith. In the four days between when he first heard the gospel and when he believed, he showed his gospel tract to two friends who accepted the message in faith and repentance.

God Uses Ruslan So Many Miraculously Hear the Gospel

Ruslan is now a married father of four, an evangelist, and a church planter. Many people have come to Christ through his obedience to boldly and faithfully share the gospel at every opportunity. He fasted and prayed ten days for the salvation of his mother, who came to faith. His older brother also repented and believed through Ruslan’s witness.

Another Christian met Ruslan at a wedding and asked him to share the gospel with his antagonistic older brother. The older brother had been threatening to inform the police about the Christians. Ruslan was hesitant and said he would share with the older brother during his next visit.

Ruslan noticed a phone in the man’s chest pocket but assumed it was off.

The other Christian disregarded Ruslan’s offer to follow up later, and he brought the older brother into their conversation right there at the wedding. Despite his fear, Ruslan shared the gospel with the man and talked for an hour about Islam and Christianity. Ruslan noticed a phone in the man’s chest pocket but assumed it was off.

A couple of days later, Ruslan learned the man recorded their entire conversation on his phone. Ruslan’s first reaction was fear, but he gave it to the Lord and prayed, “Use this for good. May your will be done.” He later found out that instead of giving the recording to the police, the man listened to the gospel message again and again. He too believed.

Ruslan has not always been spared from the cost of following Christ.

He and his family, including his young children, once spent twelve hours without food or water in a police station because they were caught gathering with Christians for worship.

That experience made him edgy and suspicious of outsiders. Soon after, he traveled to a village to encourage the Christians. He had repeatedly asked the leader of the meeting not to invite any unbelievers to the gathering. But when he arrived, he learned the leader had indeed invited an older woman who had heard the gospel but not yet believed. When the woman met Ruslan, she told him, “I saw you in my dream last night. You’re the one who invited me to come to this meeting.” During the meeting, the woman heard the gospel again and believed.

These experiences strengthen Ruslan’s faith and encourage him to persevere in obedience. He hopes to start a Bible school that will offer classes in the cities where he does gospel work.

You can pray with Ruslan.

Pray God will give wisdom to Ruslan and make a way to open a Bible school.
Pray God will help Ruslan’s children as they transition this year to a new school.
Pray God will provide for Ruslan’s family in the care of a disabled child. Pray even for God to heal this child.

* Name changed

This article about many who heard the gospel originally appeared here.

9 Reasons Weddings Aren’t My Favorite Part of Pastoral Ministry

Chuck Lawless

September 19, 2019

Over the next few months, I’m officiating at two weddings for my current students. I’m excited to help these young couples, but I (like other pastors I know) don’t always enjoy leading weddings. Here’s why:

Weddings can be a lot of work. Typically, a wedding requires blocking out much of a weekend. If you add pre-marital counseling sessions on top of the wedding weekend, the time commitment is even greater.
It’s hard for me to establish a set charge for a wedding, but I also sometimes receive nothing for my services. I fully understand why others consider weddings as simply part of a pastor’s job—and that’s one reason why I don’t set a fee—but the role does require additional work.
Parents, step-parents, and other family members sometimes don’t get along. I’ve been in situations where I had to make sure that divorced parents and their families sat some distance from each other. You’d think folks would let go of their anger and animosity to support the couple, but that’s not always the case.
Everything’s recorded now. That wasn’t the case when I started pastoring 38+ years ago. Back then, photographers took pictures, and only a small percentage of couples hired a videographer. Now, people record the event with their phones—and they capture any error the preacher makes. Our mistakes then go viral . . . .
Everybody’s stressed at some level. You want the wedding day to be filled with excitement, but stress sometimes robs the couple of the joy they should experience that day. Everybody wants everything to be perfect – and the pressure mounts to accomplish that goal.
There are often a lot of “moving parts” in the wedding. Large wedding parties. Musicians. Singers. Parents. Grandparents. Ring bearers and flower girls. Florists. Sound technicians. Scripture readers. Pray-ers. Ushers. Caterers. Church custodians. Every moving part is an opportunity for confusion.
Family members often have multiple—and differing—suggestions for what the wedding should be. In some cases, all of them give their suggestions during the rehearsal – and the pastor can never please all of them. I’ve even led weddings with multiple wedding coordinators who disagreed with each other.
I know that some commitments won’t last. No matter how hard you work to help the couple prepare for marriage, some couples will still decide to divorce at some point. It happens enough now that you begin to wonder about almost every couple you marry.
Something’s likely to go wrong. It just happens. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever officiated a wedding where everything went as planned. In my own wedding, our unity candle wouldn’t light (though, we’ve now been united for more than 28 years!).

Despite my reasons above, I am honored to share this day with couples I’ve grown to love and respect. Sometimes, ministry just demands that you serve well—and the Lord blesses it. Pastors, what are your thoughts about weddings?

This article originally appeared here.

Dealing With Depression in Ministry

Paul David Tripp

September 19, 2019

Sam’s Story With Depression in Ministry

I was there the week it happened. His wife asked to see me. Tearfully, she told me that he had walked into the church building that week and announced to his staff that he was “done.” He said he couldn’t face preaching another sermon, that all that he really wanted to do was to run away from his own life. Sam was 45 and the pastor of a vibrant and growing church.

I am convinced that there are important changes needed in pastoral culture and that the number of pastors who find themselves in the range from discouraged to depressed give clear evidence of this. Let me suggest four potential setups of this discouragement/depression cycle in ministry.

4 Triggers To Put You Into Ministry Depression:

1. Unrealistic Expectations

I taught a class at Westminster Seminary on pastoral care and was impressed year after year about how unrealistic the expectations of my future-pastor students were. Year after year, my students seemed to forget the two things that consistently make pastoral ministry hard. What are they? The harsh reality of life in a dramatically broken world and what remaining sin does to the hearts of us all. These two things make pastoral ministry a day-by-day spiritual war.

But there is another area of unrealistic expectations. It is the congregation’s unrealistic expectation of the pastor. Churches forget that they have called a person who is a man in the midst of his own sanctification. This tends to drive the pastor into hiding, afraid to confess what is true of him and everyone to whom he ministers. There is a direct connection between unrealistic expectations and deepening cycles of disappointment.

2. Family Tensions

There is often a significant gulf between the public persona of the ministry family and the realities of the day-by-day struggles in their home. We almost assume that the pastor will feel regularly torn between ministry and family and will be often forced to make “lesser of two evils” choices.

Yet this tension is not a major theme in the pastoral epistles. Could it be that we are asking too much of our pastors? Could it be that, as pastors, we are seeking to get things out of ministry that we should not get and therefore make choices that potentially harm our families? This tension between family and ministry robs pastoral ministry of its joy, and its seeming insurmountability is a sure set up for depression.

3. Fear of Man

The very public nature of pastoral ministry makes it fertile soil for this temptation. I know what it’s like to be all too aware of the critical person’s responses to me as I preach on a Sunday morning. I also know the temptation of thinking of what would win that person as I am preparing the sermon!

Fear of man is actually asking people to give you what only God can deliver. It is rooted in a gospel amnesia that causes me to seek again and again for what I have already been given in Christ. This then causes me to watch for and care too much about the reactions of others, and because I do this, to feel like I get way more criticism than I deserve. Each new duty begins to be viewed as another forum for the criticism of others, and with this, the emotional life of the pastor begins to spin downward.

4. Kingdom Confusion

It is very tempting for the pastor to do his work in pursuit of other glories than the glory of God and for purposes other than God’s kingdom. Personal acclaim and reputation, power and control, comfort and appreciation are the subtle little kingdom idols that greet every pastor. Yet in pastoral ministry, the kingdom of self is a costume kingdom. It does a great job of masquerading as the kingdom of God because the way you seek to build the kingdom of self in ministry is by doing ministry!

The reality is that the God who the pastor serves has no allegiance whatsoever to the pastor’s little kingdom of self. In fact, I am persuaded that much of the ministry opposition that we attribute to the enemy is actually God getting in the way of the little kingdom intentions of the pastor. It is God, in grace, rescuing the pastor from himself.

So as the pastor wants recognition, his Lord wants gospel transformation. As God is calling the pastor to spiritual war, what the pastor wants is to be liked. As the pastor is wanting just a little bit of control, God is demonstrating that He is in control.

It is discouraging and exhausting to be serving God, yet not be on God’s agenda page. This kingdom confusion robs the pastor of the deep sense of privilege that should motivate the service of every pastor. My pastor friend said it well to his wife, “I just want to go somewhere where life is easy!”

Run to Him When You’re Depressed

Depression in the pastor may be set up by the culture that surrounds him, but it is a disease of the heart, and for that, we have the presence, promises and provisions of the Savior. Pastor, He is in you and with you and for you. No one cares more about the use of your gifts than the Giver. No one cares more about your suffering than the one who suffered for you. And no one shoulders the burden of the church like the one who is the head of the church and gave Himself up for it.

In your despondency, don’t run from Him, run to Him. Jesus really does offer you the hope and healing that you can find nowhere else.

Editor’s Note: The following is part one of a five-part series on depression and the ministry. The series is a joint effort of the Biblical Counseling Coalition and The Gospel Coalition.

Garrett Higbee, Part 2: Occupational Hazards
Steve Viars, Part 3: A Ministry Sabbatical
Jeremy Lelek, Part 4: The Need for Wise Disclosure
Bob Kellemen, Part 5: Facing Depression with Christ

Abortion Numbers at Lowest Level Since 1973

Megan Briggs

September 18, 2019

The Guttmacher Institute released a report indicating abortion is at its lowest rate in the United States since the procedure was legalized in 1973. The report, which is more comprehensive than statistics released from the federally-funded Centers for Disease Control, shows a downward trajectory in the number of abortions obtained between 2014 and 2017. According to Guttmacher, the number of abortions dropped seven percent.

“Approximately 862,320 abortions were performed in 2017, down seven percent from 926,190 in 2014,” a summary of the report states. Another way of showing the downward trend is to say that in 2017 there were 13.5 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44, which is a drop from 2014’s 14.6 abortions per 1,000 women. These numbers have been declining since their peak in 1980.

As encouraging as the downward trajectory is, it is worth noting that the U.S. is a long way from being practically abortion-free. Guttmacher’s report indicates 18 percent of pregnancies ended in abortion in 2017. That number doesn’t include miscarriages.

Another interesting fact is that medication abortions are growing. A stunning 39 percent of the abortions recorded were induced through medication instead of a surgical procedure. This number is up from 29 percent in 2014.

Why Have the Numbers Gone Down?

As far as why abortion numbers are dropping, Guttmacher speculates it is due to greater access to contraceptives, thanks in part to things like the Affordable Healthcare Act, which covers the cost of contraceptives for more people.

As some states move to place tighter restrictions on abortions, doing things like banning the procedure after a certain number of weeks of gestation, Guttmacher does not believe these legislative moves have affected the abortion rate. As Elizabeth Nash from Guttmacher observes, the rates are “going down across the country in nearly every state”—even those that have passed laws to protect a woman’s right to abortion. She does acknowledge the declining rate in Texas is likely due to the closure of clinics in that state, but also notes that women in places like Ohio, which is currently trying to restrict abortion access, are traveling greater distances to obtain abortions in other states.

Nash also points to more effective forms of birth control, such as IUDs (Intrauterine devices) as a possible reason for the decline. Perhaps more concerning is the hypothesis that women are obtaining abortions without a medical provider’s assistance (thus those numbers are not being reported).

While some pro-life advocates may believe the public’s opinion on whether abortion is morally permissible has shifted, and thereby shifted the numbers of abortions, a Pew Research poll indicates public opinion on abortion in the U.S has remained fairly steady over the last couple decades, with the majority of Americans in favor of abortion being legal. Of course, it really depends on who you ask about public opinion on abortions, and it’s hard to say anything definitive about the entire population from a single poll. For instance, one poll conducted by the Knights of Columbus, which was released early this year, indicates that the U.S. population is almost evenly split between being pro-life and pro-choice.

Iranian Authorities Sentence Man to Prison for Selling the Bible

Jessica Lea

September 18, 2019

A bookseller from the city of Bukan in Iran has been arrested on charges of selling the Bible. He is one of many in the country being persecuted in the name of Christ, even as the gospel is spreading rapidly.

“If we remain faithful to our calling, our conviction is that it is possible to see the nation transformed within our lifetime,” one house church leader told Open Doors.

On June 11th, authorities arrested Mustafa Rahimi, a Kurdish man from Bukan in West Azerbaijan Province. The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reports that Rahimi was released on bail while waiting to be sentenced and is now in prison in Bukan after being rearrested mid-August. According to Hengaw, his sentence is for three months and one day. However, Mohabat News says that the bookseller was rearrested “a few days” after he was initially detained and that his sentence is six months and one day.

International Christian Concern reports that the area where Rahimi lives “is consistently under intense scrutiny by intelligence officers and political officials” because of its nearness to the Iraq border and because of the foreign people groups who populate it.

Authorities Continue to Attack Christianity in Iran

It is well-known that the Iranian government oppresses Christians, and Mohabat News says this persecution “has increased significantly over the past forty years.” After the Iranian Revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979, authorities banned Bibles, made evangelism illegal, and forced missionaries to leave the country. Despite these actions, however, the Iranian church has become one of the fastest growing churches in the world.

Open Doors, which ranks Iran as the ninth worst country in the world for persecution, reports the growth of Christianity has become so prominent that even the nation’s highest officials cannot ignore it. Mahmoud Alavi, Iran’s Intelligence Minister, has publicly stated that his agency is taking steps to combat mass conversions to Christianity, which he says “are happening right under our eyes.”

It is notable that Alavi is not downplaying the number of people turning to Christianity, nor is he blaming the conversions on a Western plot against the country. Instead he has said, “these converts are ordinary people, whose jobs are selling sandwiches or similar things.” Open Doors says its sources are witnessing many examples of Muslims turning to Christ and that there could be up to one million Christians in the country.

While this news is heartening, it remains extremely dangerous for someone to be an Iranian Christian, and many believers are seeking asylum outside the country. One Iranian refugee who fled to Greece was imprisoned in Iran twice for sharing his faith. While in prison the second time, he lost 100 pounds and was severely beaten. But what he suffered, he says, was worth it for Jesus.

Open Doors reports that at least 37 Christians have been arrested in Iran so far this year. This latest arrest is a reminder for us to “Pray with us by name for all of these believers, recognizing that they represent only a handful of thousands of our brothers and sisters in Iran who have been threatened, arrested or imprisoned for turning to Jesus and following Him.”

So, how can you best support your child’s teacher this year? Here are five simple ways . . .

1. Give the teacher the benefit of the doubt.

2.​ Keep an open mind.

​3. Ask.

​4. Encourage.

5. ​Pray.

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So while I cannot pretend to speak for all millennials, I can tell you what my millennial friends and I want to see in your church. And how you can reach more Millennials.

1. To reach more Millennials…PUT MILLENNIALS ON STAGE.

2. To reach more Millennials…BE REAL WITH US.

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Mistake One: Ignoring emotion

Mistake Two: Minimizing emotion

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Authorities Continue to Attack Christianity in Iran

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2. Keep an open mind.

3. Ask.

4. Encourage.

5. Pray.