This Church in Indiana Is Making a Difference in the County Jail

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June 14, 2019

thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

A church in Wheatfield, Indiana, is making a difference in lives of inmates in Jasper County. The church has been holding weekly services at the county jail for only three months, but the inmates, corrections officers, and sheriff say they can already see an impact.

“We have a quieter atmosphere,” says Jasper County Sheriff Patrick Williamson. “In times past, you would hear banging, kicking, yelling, screaming, but now it’s very quiet. They get along well, they treat staff better so we have less incident. It just complements the other things going on in our jail.”

Jasper County Jail Culture Shift

John Hill is the senior pastor of First Church in Wheatfield and has been with the church since 2014. After successfully working with Williamson to start an addiction recovery house for men, the church decided to pursue ministry in the Jasper County Jail. Hill says, “Our church was really excited just to build bridges with these families, help them connect with our community, help them with employment, and just show them that we care.”

First Church holds a weekly worship service on Thursdays. The jail supplies coffee, and the church brings in sound equipment, chairs, and donuts. Going to a service is optional for inmates, and about half of the men and women in the jail currently attend. Anthony Gann, who is in for drug use, says that while the inmates did have a Bible study, “it’s awesome to get to have that real church experience while we are in here doing our time.”

Hill says, “The corrections officers have talked about how the entire culture of the jail has shifted. The inmates are caring for one another and actually thinking about life beyond bars.” They are also putting their faith in Jesus. Three weeks ago, the church posted this video on Facebook of five men and four women declaring their faith in God and being baptized.

The jail is implementing a number of other solutions to help inmates build healthy habits and prepare for life on the outside. There is a psychologist to help them with mental health challenges. They participate in community service projects, and female offenders can receive training on how to care for their families.

There is also a garden right outside the jail that inmates tend. The food goes first to the jail’s kitchen and then to people in need. Williamson says his team makes sure the inmates hear how the produce is helping people, so offenders can see the positive ways they are impacting the community.

The purpose of these efforts is to equip people to give back to their families and society in order to break the cycle of crime. The sheriff is a Christian and believes in the power of the gospel to make a difference in people’s lives. He says, “I believe that Jesus is the only hope in the world. I think we live in a society that is so quick to condemn people but Jesus was so quick to give people second chances.”

Fundamentalist Pastor Seeks to ‘Make America Straight Again’

By

Stephanie Martin

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June 14, 2019

In response to June’s Gay Pride celebrations, one Florida pastor is sponsoring a “Make America Straight Again” (MASA) conference this weekend. Pastor Patrick Boyle of Revival Baptist Church near Orlando says homosexuality “isn’t a normal lifestyle” and should be illegal.

“The Bible tells us that it’s wrong,” Boyle says of homosexuality, adding that the “government should arrest [homosexuals], try them, and if found guilty, execute them.”

The pastor insists he isn’t “trying to pick a fight” and says the event isn’t tied to the three-year anniversary of the tragedy in Orlando at Pulse, a gay nightclub. Instead, he says, “It’s their Gay Pride month in Orlando, and they’re out there advocating their cause. We have every right to advocate ours.”

Make America Straight Again to Feature Anti-LGBT Speakers

In a promotion video, Boyle says the three-day conference “exposing the reprobates” will feature speakers who “take a stand against the sodomites and the filth that they have been spreading.” One, Steven Anderson, has been banned from several countries for hate speech and has praised the Pulse gunman. Another, Roger Jimenez, equates homosexuals with pedophiles and says he’s not sad when they die.

To discourage protesters, Boyle hasn’t revealed MASA’s location. He’s hiring private security for the June 14-16 conference because the Lake County Sheriff’s Office declined his request to hire off-duty deputies.

“It looks like a hate group, and we decided we didn’t want to be involved,” says a spokesman. The sheriff’s office also calls MASA’s timing in “poor taste.” Because of the “potential for protests,” however, they’re stepping up patrols.

Revival, part of the New Independent Fundamental Baptist Movement, has about 60 members. Facebook posts advertising MASA have sparked angry comments and “love wins” memes. “What a cult,” one person writes. “Please don’t associate or think every baptist church is like this. This is clearly not a bible believing church but rather a church filled with hate.”

Backlash Includes Hate Mail, Counterprotest

Pastor Boyle says he receives supportive correspondence as well as hateful messages directed at him and his family. “We’re asking for a normal lifestyle of a husband and wife and kids, sitting around a dinner table, but somehow we’re the ones who are weird,” he says.

Boyle expects about 300 MASA attendees. A counterprotest is also in the works, with organizer C.K. Blackwood saying, “We need to put a message out that love is greater and love is better.” A Facebook post indicates the counterprotest’s goal is “to stand outside the church in firm (yet loving) opposition to blatant discrimination and intolerance.”

Tennessee Detective-Pastor Calls for Execution of Gays

In related news, a Tennessee pastor who’s also a Knoxville County Sheriff’s detective is under scrutiny for a June 2 sermon calling for governments to “speedily” execute homosexuals. In his hour-long message, titled “Sodomite Reprobates,” Grayon Fritts of Knoxville’s All Scripture Baptist Church (another New Independent Fundamental Baptist Movement Church) used anti-gay slurs and denounced Christians who support gay rights.

The local district attorney is now reviewing the veteran detective’s work history. Fritts, who supports Boyle’s MASA conference, has taken a buyout from his job. He insists he isn’t calling for violence and urges other pastors to “grow a spine.”

“If all the facts are confirmed, [Fritts] should not be in law enforcement,” says Chris Sanders of the Tennessee Equality Project.

4 Reasons You Should Preach Through Haggai

By

Michael Prodigalidad

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June 14, 2019

One of the biggest challenges of preaching Haggai is simply finding it in our Bibles. When people spend time in the Old Testament, they usually gravitate toward the Pentateuch, maybe the Psalms, or one of the major prophets. Few venture into the labyrinth of minor prophets and, once there, it’s relatively easy to miss the two short chapters of Haggai.

That’s unfortunate, because Haggai is a hidden gem that brings great encouragement for those prepared to dig for it. His central message for God’s people is, “Don’t be distracted nor discouraged in a day of small things. God is working to ensure he will receive great glory”.

Under this overall theme, here are four reasons to preach through Haggai.

4 Reasons to Preach Through Haggai

1. Haggai challenges our love of personal comfort over kingdom sacrifice.

If you preach through Haggai, it’s hard to miss the prophet’s opening rebuke of God’s people for prioritizing personal comfort ahead of God’s glory. It’s important to note that Haggai’s challenge isn’t to typical backsliders, but those who were relatively diligent and faithful.

Haggai addresses the first wave of Jews who returned from Babylonian captivity. According to Ezra and Nehemiah, there were only 50,000 Jews who returned, a small minority compared to those who remained. Those who stayed were content, comfortably settled in Babylon and couldn’t be bothered with the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

So Haggai’s audience was the faithful ones. Having denied themselves, they returned to Zion and began rebuilding the temple. This remnant put God’s kingdom ahead of their own personal comfort—at least in the early days. Now, after more than a decade of labor and toil, the people are discouraged and conclude, “The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord” (1:2). Can you blame them? They were few in number, exhausted, and had little to show for it.

Are you part of a faithful church, laboring diligently whilst others don’t seem to care? Have you ever questioned why you should financially support missionaries, prioritize prayer meetings, or turn up to a church working bee? If you’ve ever struggled with the tension between kingdom sacrifice and prioritizing your own personal needs, Haggai has a timely word.

“Is it time for you to dwell in your paneled houses, whilst this house lies in ruin? Now therefore, consider your ways” (1:4–5). Remember, these were the faithful ones who left Babylon. What’s happened? Over time, the focus of God’s people had drifted from rebuilding the temple to their own homes.

In our materialistic age, how easy is it for God’s people to lose sight of gospel priorities and focus on personal agendas? Haggai challenges us by asking, are we seeking first the kingdom of God, or our own pleasures and comfort? Haggai warns us that if we seek our own kingdom first, God will withhold material blessings (1:7–11), but if we prioritize his kingdom, all else will be given to us (Mt. 6:33).

2. Haggai shows the blessing of God’s presence when his people obey.

How often do we see God’s people reject his challenges and rebukes? Given the historical pattern of Israel’s disobedience to God’s Word, it would be reasonable to expect a similar response to Haggai’s ministry. However, we are told that the leaders Zerubbabel and Joshua respond with all the people by obeying the voice of the LORD their God (1:12).

This near-obedience demonstrates blessed unity amongst the leaders and the people. From prophetic challenge to faithful response, it takes 23 days for temple construction to recommence. In this context, the people hear these words of comfort and assurance, “I am with you, declares the LORD” (1:13).

What Do I Do If I Want to Quote a Fallen Pastor in My Sermon?

By

Mike Leake

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June 14, 2019

I typically preach from a full manuscript. I know, I know, you aren’t supposed to do that. But it works for me. And I don’t just read from my manuscript. Even if I use a modified sermon outline format, I still type out pretty much every bit of my sermon. This means that I have at my disposal about 15 years worth of sermons and sermon topics. Some of the sermons are cringe-worthy. Others I can tweak to a present context and recycle for certain occasions.

I’m also a guy who will likely have at least two quotes from other sources as I’m preaching. I think it’s helpful to do this for many reasons. One of these reasons is it will introduce people to good books to read. Often folks will hear me quote an author and then do a bit more digging only to find a new best friend in someone like Robert Murray McCheyne.

But this leads to an interesting situation in our present context, when it seems a new pastor/leader falls about every week or so. What do I do when the person I’m quoting is a fallen pastor/author? As an example, I’m likely not going to be searching for Mark Driscoll quotes. But some of my old sermons might have them. What do I do when I’m recycling an old sermon and it has a quote from a guy who doesn’t need to be given a platform?

I’ll give you a couple of don’ts and then explain what I do.

First, don’t read their name without comment. When you name someone from the pulpit you are giving that person tacit endorsement. Orthopraxy is important just as orthodoxy. We don’t want to endorse those who don’t live what they preach. We also don’t want to risk folks thinking we are okay with endorsing a guy who covered up sexual abuse or who spiritually abused his flock. If you quote a fallen pastor you need to say something.

Secondly, don’t read their name with a lengthy comment. One of my pet peeves is when somebody reads a quote from someone and says, “Now I don’t agree with everything that person X says, but here they get it right.” There is no point in reading the quote at this point. Everybody is thinking about what you don’t agree with instead of actually listening to what they say. Besides, it creates and us v. them mentality that isn’t helpful to the body.

Thirdly, never pretend like the quote is your own. Seriously, don’t plagiarize. Don’t even take a sermon off the internet that is made available for you to use free of charge without first letting your congregation know that you’ve done this. It’s unethical. It’s not serving your flock. And it does irreparable damage to your integrity if it’s found out that you’ve stolen someone else’s material.

Now for what to DO…

Do consider whether you need the quote. It might be more harmful than helpful. There is no human quote that is absolutely vital. We are tasked with faithfully expositing the Scriptures. It might be better to find a good quote that is similar to the one you want to share, or just forget it altogether. But if you must proceed.

Consider saying something like, “as one Bible teacher has said…” or something similar. This is typically what I do when I’m keeping a quote from a needlessly controversial pastor, a fallen pastor, or someone who I think won’t help the cause by directly quoting them. But I’d suggest not using adjectives. If I hear, “As one popular preach said” it makes me want to look it up and figure out which popular preacher. Make the description nonchalant.

You know your congregation. Love them well and be thoughtful in your quoting of others.

This article originally appeared here.

Communicating Truth to a Lost Generation

By

Erwin Lutzer

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June 14, 2019

“What is truth?”

Pilate asked Jesus this critical question, but unfortunately did not wait for an answer. We read that after Pilate asked, he then left the room and went back outside (John 18:38).

We wish Pilate had waited for Jesus to reply, but even so we have a good idea of what Jesus might have answered. He quite possibly would have simply reiterated what He told the disciples, “I am the way, the truth and the life. . .”

In our age of conflicting voices, we need to communicate truth to a skeptical generation that has given up the quest for truth in exchange for radical individualism and desire-driven philosophies of life. Paul predicted that the day would come when people would turn from the truth, “but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Timothy 4: 3); we can confidently say that that day has arrived.

What are the characteristics of truth that we must communicate to this generation? First, truth has universality; the best example is 2+2=4. And what is true in mathematics applies to the spiritual realm. Confused modern minds think that all religions are in some sense “true.” But this is absurd, because taken together they are contradictory and even internally inconsistent. When Jesus said “No man comes to the Father but by me,” He was making a universal claim—and He has the credentials to prove it. Jesus cannot simply be the truth for me and not the truth for you.

Second, truth has objectivity; that is, it exists outside of us and is not dependent on whether we believe it. If a certain star exists, its existence is not dependent on whether I believe in it. The present generation wants us to believe that “nothing is true unless I believe it;” or, to put it another way, “truth is whatever I think it to be.” But logically something is not true just because I think it; nor is it determined by a majority vote.

To a lost generation we must say, “You are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own truth.” If you have found truth, it belongs to all of us; and if Jesus is the embodiment of all truth, He is not just a Savior for the West but the Savior for the whole world.

Our duty as Christian communicators is also to realize that there are those who accept the premise that Jesus is the embodiment of truth, but nevertheless twist the Scriptures to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16). The responsibility of interpreting the Scriptures correctly is of vast importance, for the obvious reason that our eternal destiny is dependent on whether we have heard the Word of God correctly.

No topic is more relevant than “Communicating Truth,” for therein lies the heart of our task as teachers and leaders. Without truth, no one can be saved; believing the truth gives us the assurance of eternal life.

Pilate did not have to wait for Jesus to reply to his question. Jesus answered it elsewhere: “Sanctify them in the truth; your Word is truth” (John 17:17). Armed with truth, we can give hope to a needy world.

This article originally appeared here.

To join Dr. Lutzer, at this year’s Shepherds 360 Church Leaders conference on Communicating Truth (Oct. 21-23), register here.

7 Surprisingly Simple Ways To Become More Productive

By

Carey Nieuwhof

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June 13, 2019

Ever notice your day seems to vaporize and you wonder what happened to all your best intentions?

7 Surprisingly Simple Ways To Become More Productive

You’re ready to leave work but you barely even dented your to-do list. As a result, you’re going to have to try to justify squeezing an hour of work in once you get home, or just get up at a ridiculous hour tomorrow to try again.

Not only is that pattern unsustainable, it’s mysterious. You try not to have it happen again, but it does anyway.

So…what causes that?

At the root of it is likely repeated patterns and behaviors.

New patterns, habits and approaches can change everything. If you want a simple way to free up more time starting today, one of the best ways to do that is to eliminate distraction.

As research and experiments have shown, workers get interrupted as often as every 11 minutes during the workday, and it takes 25 minutes to refocus after each interruption. The math doesn’t even exactly add up, but you get the point. That’s why it feels impossible to get anything done.

Here are 7 stupid things that interrupt your day that simply don’t need to.

Get rid of these distractions today and you’ll have a better tomorrow.

1. PUSH NOTIFICATIONS

Every single app in the world starts off its relationship with you by asking “Allow Push Notifications?”

Your automatic answer as a leader should be no. Every single time (except one…I tell you which exception I think you should make below).

You don’t really need to know every time someone sends you an email. Similarly, it’s useless to be notified every time someone comments on your Instagram.

Why? Well, think of push notifications as someone tapping you on the shoulder. If someone tapped you on the shoulder somewhere between 30-300 times a day every day, you would either punch them or get a restraining order.

Every time your phone vibrates, that’s what’s happening.

And don’t think the people you’re in real life conversation with aren’t bothered by your constantly buzzing phone and your incessant need to check your screen. It’s hard to respect or follow a distracted leader.

Being busy doesn’t earn you respect anymore. It’s actually a sign you’re not managing your time or priorities well.

I disabled push notifications on my phone and turned on the Do Not Disturb on my devices a few years ago. I don’t miss the constant buzzing at all. Nor do my friends and family.

Instant notifications about your messages aren’t that important.

Actually, I’m not actually that important. With all due respect, neither are you.

2. TEXT MESSAGES

You’re probably thinking, I get the part about not getting notifications about Instagram, but come on, text messages? Miss those, too?

Here’s what I’ve done with my text messages. Before I tell you, know that I do not give out my cell number freely. Not a lot of people have it. Even then, I don’t want to be a slave to it.

So, I allow push notifications for text messages, but I keep my phone on Do Not Disturb, which means I don’t feel them or hear them.

When I’m ready to take a break, I pull out my phone and do a quick check. That way they don’t interrupt me.

But wait, you argue. I can’t miss any text messages. What about my wife and my kids? What about my super important projects?

First, remember when you were a kid? Your parents had no idea where you were, and after a few hours, they’d call the neighbors. You survived. So did they.

Ditto with work. People used to get work done at work. Remember those days? Now you don’t get any work done at work, and constant interruption is one of the reasons.

What’s happened is you’ve confused importance with urgency. Texts may be important, but mostly they’re not that urgent if you’re going to look at your phone every hour anyway.

But wait, you say, what if it’s a true emergency?

Well, if you’re waiting for a new kidney and the doctor is texting you that you need to come to the hospital right this second or you lose the organ, sure…keep your phone on.

But that’s not what ruined your day last Tuesday. In fact, you can’t even remember what the texts that ruined last Tuesday were about, can you?

Nope, you can’t.

Which is why you should ignore what’s going on on your phone until you’re ready to take a break.

The planet will keep spinning. I promise you.

And you will get more done.

3. YOUR IDLE CURIOSITY

The challenge of working in an online environment is that the world is literally at your fingertips.

The distractions are a click or tap away. It takes tremendous self-discipline not to go down the rabbit-hole of the internet, from social media to mindless Googling of things that really don’t’ matter, like the surface area of the sun or who invented the straight-razor.

Curiosity is a great thing, but idle curiosity that produces nothing…not so much.

We blame our office environment, co-workers, endless email or whatever. But eliminate all those things, and you still have you to contend with.

I don’t need an enemy. I have one. It’s a perpetually distracted me.

You don’t need an enemy. You have one. It’s a perpetually distracted you.

4. INEFFICIENT EMAIL

If you can’t totally escape email entirely (I’ve experimented with that in seasons), limit it.

I’ve also figured out a simple way to get to and stay at inbox zero. Here’s how to do itbefore you go clock out later today.

Try changing your email practices from ‘always checking all the time’ (which is the default for almost all of us) to tiny pockets where you check it at different points in the day.

For example, try doing a small window of say 15 minutes in the morning to make sure nothing’s on fire. 90% of the time, things aren’t on fire.

Then come back to email at a set time later in the day and pound through it. Do it when your energy is a little lower, and spend your best energy instead on the tasks that are most important to you that day.

That way when you get home, you’ll have accomplished something significant and not spent your time on things that matter less.

The less time you spend on email, the less it will consume you.

Second, don’t manage or lead by email.

Here’s how it happens to most leaders. Someone thinks of an issue, so they send an email. Someone adds a thought, and they reply all.

A conversation that might take 5 minutes in person (or less) drags on a through a series of useless replies that go on for days.

We’ve adopted some practices on my team that have helped.

First, don’t email people about everything. If you have an issue that could be just as easily handled by phone or in person, park it on a list (use something like Asana or Wunderlist to keep track).

Then, once you have a list of 5-15 items, do a simple 15-minute check-in phone meeting or stand-up meeting in person to handle them all. You’ll be way more efficient.

Similarly, if a direct report emails me something that’s not urgent, I’ll just ask them to wait until our weekly meeting with it. It can almost always wait.

If it’s truly urgent and there will be a lot of back and forth, pick up and phone and call or do a quick text exchange. People are always shorter on text than on email.

Not everything is urgent, so don’t treat it like it is.

5. TOO MANY MEETINGS

We live in meetings, and our productivity dies in them. Meetings are a huge distraction in a world where leaders often simply need to get work done.

Patrick Lencioni, Al Pittampali and others have effectively critiqued the way most leaders live in meetings.

If I’m not careful, I can spend three-quarters of my week in meetings and have only a few hours left over for writing messages and leading what matters most.

Meetings expand to fill the time you’ve set aside for them. So just set aside less time.

6. AN OPEN SCHEDULE

Chance are you only write appointments with others and meetings in your schedule, right?

Big mistake.

Make appointments with yourself. Write in writing time, thinking time, date nights with your spouse, family time —everything you need to get done.

Why?

Then when someone asks to meet, you can say you have a commitment. If it’s truly important, schedule them in during your next available slot.

I show you exactly how to do that in the High Impact Leader, and right now we’re including free iCal and GoogleCal High Impact Leader templates with the course so that you can get your life and leadership.

An open schedule is a guarantee you’ll spend your time on everyone else’s priorities, not yours.

Conversely, a fixed calendar can fix your life.

7. CONVERSATIONS WITHOUT A PURPOSE

Conversations can waste tons of time. And they happen all the time to leaders.

Sometimes you feel trapped in one.

What do you do when someone corners you?

Be pleasant and move on. You’ve got work to do.

Turn that 20-minute conversation into a two-minute conversation. Be pleasant, thank them and if need be, tell them you were on your way to get something done. Then go do it.

If you work in an actual office, close the door or put a sign on the door that you’re doing focused work.

If you’re in an open office, you can even devise a signal with co-workers that lets them know you’re not free to chat. I’ve seen leaders put a small orange traffic cone or another kind of marker on their desk that effectively says “do not disturb.”

If you can shut down meaningless conversations, you’ll ramp up your productivity.

This article originally appeared here

How to Reach Your Grandkids With the Gospel Part 2

By

Sam Luce

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June 13, 2019

This post is part 2 of a message I spoke to our church on passing our faith to the next generation.

3. We must take care not to forget God. – Connect truth to life – When life is going well, don’t forget that kids need the gospel more than they need a set of rules or instructions alone. Our grandkids need to know the story of our past of our church and our family; they need to understand Salvation belongs to the Lord. We must convey that Jesus is our Treasure and our great reward. He is our life and joy. – We must view our lives in light of God’s saving grace. We must remember who we were before God redeemed us. When our lives are full of the good things God gives us, and we forget that we are great sinners that were taken from slavery and made sons we walk in humble gratitude for such a great salvation.

Deuteronomy 6:12-13
12 then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.

Remembering the radical change that took place when we were redeemed keeps us humble. Humility makes us dependent, and dependence keeps us in touch with God’s power. This ensures that our life will be characterized by security and strength in the face of temptation.
Hughes Kent R.

4. We must serve God without conditions – Trust Jesus explicitly – Submit our desires and ambitions and read the scriptures with a view to obey them — don’t test God.

Deuteronomy 6:16
16 “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. 17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you.

At Massah, Israel said if God loved us. If God were good he would give us water to drink. – To test is to consider a party guilty until he or she proves him or herself innocent. Guilty until proven innocent. It is the exact opposite of trust that says that someone is innocent until proven guilty. To “test the Lord” is to say basically, “I’ll follow you as long as my life is going the way it ought to go. I’ll follow you as long as I’m getting explanations and answers to all my questions. I’ll follow you as long as you prove yourself worthy.”  We test God by needing an explanation or forcing him to prove his love to us. I’ll serve you if… I will follow you if you help me understand why.

Elisabeth Elliot used to visit a couple of friends of hers who had a farm and had sheep on their farm in northern Wales. She was there one time at the season of the year in which the shepherd has to do something kind of awful to the sheep. At one point of the year, the shepherd has to take his sheep and take them to a massive vat of antiseptic and completely submerge the sheep in the vat of antiseptic. If they don’t go through that, they will literally die, be eaten by parasites and insects. So what they have to do is take the sheep and not only throw them into the vat before they swim but submerge them and hold them under.

She essentially says, “One by one, John seized the animals. They would struggle to climb out the side and Mack the sheepdog would snarl and snap at their faces to force them back under. When they tried to climb up the ramp in a panicky way at the far end, John the farmer would catch them, spin them around, force them under again, holding them ears, eyes, and nose submerged for a few seconds. And as their lord and master was pushing their head under, drowning them at least as far as they could tell, their panicky little eyes would look up over the edge of the vat, and it was easy to see what they were thinking. ‘What is God doing?’ ”

Here’s what Elisabeth Elliot says, “I’ve had some experiences in my life which have made me feel very sympathetic to those poor sheep. There were times I couldn’t figure out any reason for the treatment I was getting from my Great Shepherd, whom I trusted. And like these sheep, I didn’t have a hint of an explanation.”

We’re still finite, limited creatures, but God is infinite.  We must serve God without conditions

5. When kids ask why we do what we do give them Jesus. – Show how the laws of God point us to the Grace of God. – If you follow God with fear, love, obedient sacrifice, and humble submission in success and failure of the generation below, you will wonder. When they wonder, when they wonder give them Jesus.

When kids ask why do you keep God’s commands don’t just pass that opportunity by. Give them the gospel. Tell them of the events but connect those events, not to your wisdom or your efforts but the life-transforming power of a redeemer. Don’t steal God’s glory, thinking you bought the house you live in, or the car you drive. When you experience blessing, remember the Lord Your God who brought you out of the land of slavery.

Deuteronomy 6:20-23
20 “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. 23 And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers.

Tell the gospel as you find it in the Bible, but set it in the frame of your experience of its preciousness. Tell your son how you sinned, and how the Lord had mercy upon you; tell him how he met with you, how you were brought to seek his face, how you were born again, how you received a new heart and a right spirit. He will think the more of this great change because it happened to his father, or to his mother, or to some kind friend. – Charles Spurgeon

When the kids in our church wonder why, when your children ask why do we go to church, why do we do what’s right, why do we do what we do don’t tell them because God said so. That is what Moses is saying.

Kids need truth, but when kids ask why to give them the truth but tell them a story. What Moses is saying is to give them the gospel. Tell them about a God who broken into history and saw a bunch of helpless slaves who were not lovely, but God loved them because he loved them that he demonstrated his power by preserving them, by delivering them, by caring for them and by preparing a place for them. Our kids need to know the truth they need to know the Bible; they need to pray, but how are we going to expect them to do those things if we can’t even do those things. Doing the right thing without the power of the Gospel only changes who or what we are slaves to.

What did Moses what his children to remember? That they were freed because a lamb died instead of them. They placed the blood of a lamb on the door of their homes. What our grandkids need to know is what we need to remember. What we need to rehearse over and over again is that Jesus Christ, who is the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world, died instead of us. It is through his life through his death through his resurrection that we have the power and the desire out of humble gratitude, out of awe and love we keep his commands because he lived for us and died for us.

The beautiful thing about being part of a faith community about being a parent is The Gospel story is the same but details are different. How God brings his story alive in your life is for you to discover through trials and storms. So you can recount how God taught you to fear him, love him serve him. What our church believes about the Gospel will not be seen in our kids but in how our kids tell their kids about the Lamb slain before the foundations of the world.

We must preach the gospel to our kids, but we must teach them to preach the gospel to themselves. We have to preach to our hearts so we can teach them to preach to theirs.

It’s not enough just to say to your heart, “Well, you have to trust him, because he’s God, and you’re just a stupid sheep.” That will work for a while, but in the end you have to say, “The Shepherd became a sheep. The Shepherd became a little lamb who was destroyed. He became vulnerable … the invulnerable, infallible God. He did that for me. That’s why I can trust him.”
Tim Keller

This article originally appeared here.

5 Ways to Recruit New Members Into Your Small Group

By

Roger Carr

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June 13, 2019

Do you want to recruit new members into your small group but don’t know the first thing about recruiting?

Here are five ways to get you and your group members started:

1. Ask Coworkers, Neighbors, Friends and Family

Ask those you have the closest relationships with. They are the ones most likely to give you an immediate “yes” to your invitation.

Go through your address books, email lists and social media (Facebook Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) contact lists to make sure you haven’t forgotten someone who needs to be invited.

Ask them in person. The more personal invitation methods are the most effective. However, they aren’t always the easiest. The fact you go out of your way to ask in person shows the person and your small group are important to you. Only use phone calls, mail, email and messages as a last resort.

2. Ask at Church

Ask people who are attending your church services. Strike up a conversation with them. Ask if they know what a small group is and if they are involved in one. Invite them to visit your group after giving them a great reason to be a part of your small group.

People have a habit of sitting in the same place during a service. Sit in a different place each week and have that conversation with people you don’t know sitting around you.

Does your church have more than one service? Consider attending them all to increase the number of people you can talk with.

3. Pray

Any pursuit of new small group members needs to be covered in prayer. Ask God to put people in your path that need your invitation.

But it is also important to listen to what God wants you to do and follow His instructions. He demonstrated to me His ability to move a number of people into a small group without any action. Read my post I Did It My Way (and It Didn’t Work) to learn about this experience.

4. Participate in Recruiting Events

Many churches that have a small group ministry will have events specifically for recruiting new members into small groups. If your church has a recruiting event be sure to take part.

5. Use Social Media

Tell everyone you know that your small group is looking for new members. Use social media as one method to get the word out. People who know about your desire may be aware of people in your area who would benefit.

You can also post your small group meetings as an event on sites like Facebook and Meetup.

Question: What are some other ways you have found useful for recruiting new members into your small group?

This article originally appeared here.

5 Dangers of Being Deprived of an Involved Father

By

Eric Geiger

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June 13, 2019

In their latest book, The Boy Crisis, Warren Farrell and John Gray highlight stats and research that point to the pains of boys growing up deprived of an involved father. They also offer wisdom and counsel on how to invest in your sons. Though I don’t have sons, the research reminded me of the great responsibility I have as a dad. The countless studies on the benefits of an involved father and the consequences of an absent father remind us how important our role as father is. In Appendix B of their book, Farrell and Gray give 55 research-based benefits of an involved father (yes, 55!). The body of research on this issue is staggering. I won’t regurgitate the appendix, but here are some significant findings on what happens to a child who is deprived of a father. I have placed them under five broad categories:

Physical

Children who suffer the loss of a father have, by the age of nine, a 14 percent reduction in telomere length—the most reliable predictors of life expectancy.

The more frequently a father visits the hospital of an infant who is born prematurely, the more quickly the infant is released from the hospital.

Mental

Students coming from father-present families score higher in math and science even when they come from weaker schools.

The more interaction a boy has with his dad before six months of age, the higher his mental competence.

Living without a father doubles a child’s chance of dropping out of high school.

Social

Father absence predicts the profile of both the bully and the bullied: poor self-esteem, poor grades and poor social skills.

Among youths in prisons, 85 percent grew up in a fatherless home.

A study of ISIS fighters concluded that almost all male and female fighters had in common “some type of an ‘absent father’ syndrome.”

Emotional

Living in a home without a dad has a greater correlation with suicide among teenagers than any other factor.

The amount of time a father spends with a child is one of the strongest predictors of the child’s ability to empathize as he gets older.

And Spiritual

Though Farrell and Gray do not highlight this reality, surely Satan has plotted the attack on fathers and celebrates the reality that terms such as “dad deprivation” have been invented. Because God reveals Himself to us as a loving and compassionate Father, an attack on the image of a father is an attack on how humanity views God as Father. With the damaging impacts of fatherlessness in view, the Lord has defined true religion as providing care for the orphan (James 1:27) and He has commissioned fathers to love their children without provoking them.

Fathers, father your sons and daughters. Dads—for the sake of your child’s physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual development, be an involved father.

For those without a father and those who have suffered through “dad deprivation,” the Lord sees you and He cares infinitely more for you than you could possibly imagine. In His holy dwelling, He does not ignore you. “In His holy dwelling, He is a father of the fatherless and a champion of widows” (Psalm 68:5). He will not deprive you of His love and grace.

This article originally appeared here.

Leah Sharibu’s Mother to President Trump: ‘Please Help Me’

By

Jessica Lea

-

June 13, 2019

Speaking before The Heritage Foundation, the mother of teenager Leah Sharibu pleaded for the U.S. government to intervene on behalf of her daughter, who is being held captive by the terrorist group, Boko Haram.

“I am Rebecca Sharibu. I stand here pleading [with] the government of U.S to please help me!” Sharibu said as she started crying. “Please help me bring my daughter back. I need my daughter!”

Sharibu was participating in a panel discussion about the ongoing violence in Nigeria. Her friend, Dr. Gloria Puldu, stood with her and spoke the rest of the time for her, as Rebecca is not fluent in English. Puldu began by describing the failure of the Nigerian government to be proactive in taking steps to rescue Leah or even communicate with her family. “We have tried the best that we could to get the attention of our federal government and even the state government and the local government to ensure that Leah has been released,” she said, “but up to today, Leah has not been released. She’s still in captivity.”

What Happened to Leah Sharibu

In February 2018, Boko Haram kidnapped Leah and over 100 other girls. Reports say that five girls died, and the terrorist group released all of the girls who were kidnapped except for Leah. According to one of the kidnapped girls, the reason why Boko Haram refused to let Leah go is that she is a Christian and refused to renounce her faith. In October 2018, the terrorists threatened to execute her, but instead released a video of another person being executed. Leah currently remains in captivity.

Dr. Puldu said that last October they held a press conference calling on the Nigerian government to get Boko Haram to release Leah. Up to that point, no government officials had contacted Leah’s parents about her situation. But after the conference, President Muhammadu Buhari called Rebecca on the phone and assured her the government was doing its best to achieve Leah’s release.

But the Sharibus have not heard anything from Buhari since the phone call, even though three government officials did visit the parents in person a couple weeks later. “After that…we never heard anything again,” said Puldu. They held another press conference in February 2019 asking for help, but still heard nothing from the government. Puldu said that Leah turned 16 on May 13th. At that time, there was a huge advocacy movement for Leah through Nigeria, but again, to no effect.

“That is why we are here,” said Puldu. Referring to Rebecca’s opening words, Puldu said, “What she said in the beginning is to plead with your government to please pressure our government because our government seems unable to secure her release.”

Puldu says they are thankful for the opportunity to come to the U.S and ask for help. “We know that President Trump can do something about it. Your administrators can do something about it. All of you sitting here can do something about it.”

She closed her remarks with an impassioned plea: “Our government should be held responsible. Boko Haram has been raging all over the northeastern part. Women and girls are going through hell….please pressure our government. Help us.”

New SBC Amendments Target Churches Complicit in Abuse

By

Jessica Lea

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June 13, 2019

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has taken significant steps toward strengthening its ability to discipline churches that tolerate sexual abuse or racial discrimination. At the SBC annual meeting earlier this week, delegates voted to pass amendments stating that if churches do not appropriately address those problems within their congregations, they will be put out of fellowship with the convention.

“I believe this is a very, very significant moment in the history of the Southern Baptist Convention,” said Ronnie Floyd, president of the SBC Executive Committee, as reported by Religion News Service (RNS).

Another amendment made changes to the SBC bylaws that repurposed the Credentials Committee. The committee’s new function is to review incidents of church misconduct as it relates to sexual abuse and ethnic discrimnation in order to determine if churches should be deemed “not in friendly cooperation” with the SBC. The Credentials Committee will have nine members, including the chairman of the Executive Committee and the SBC registration secretary. Three members will be nominated by the Executive Committee and four by the SBC Committee on Nominations. Disfellowshipped churches will have the opportunity to appeal to be reinstated.

The previous function of the Credentials Committee was to take care of the registration process of its delegates, who are called “messengers.” The newly created Registration Committee will now handle these responsibilities.

Floyd said that while it might take some time to nail down exactly how the Credentials Committee will operate, its repurposing is “an incredible move” for the convention. He also said that, if necessary, the SBC can always make additional changes to the bylaws. “But thank God,” said Floyd, “we have today, once again, sent a clear signal, a concrete statement, that it’s not only about what we say, but it’s about what we do.”

The amendments will not be official until they are voted on a second time and are passed by a two-thirds vote at next year’s annual meeting.

RNS reports that despite the steps the SBC has taken to address the problem of sexual abuse in its ranks (such as commissioning the “Caring Well” report), there are people who would like to see the SBC do more. One sexual abuse survivor told RNS that victims would like the SBC to require its leaders and seminary students to complete training on how to recognize abuse. They would also like the SBC to create a database registering sexual abusers who have been convicted or credibly accused.

Other Issues Addressed

Other items addressed at the meeting included a report on the increasing diversity within the SBC, both in terms of race and gender. Messengers also passed a series of resolutions expressing the SBC’s viewpoints on various issues. The resolutions passed this year covered topics that included Christian persecution, abortion, biblical authority, same-sex attraction, gene editing, women being drafted into the military, and Christians and politics.

In his opening address to the Executive Committee, SBC President J.D. Greear, who was elected to serve a second year, emphasized how important it is for the convention to handle its current challenges well. He said, “I want to be careful not to overblow this … [but] how we respond to some of these things that are ahead of us will not only shape our witness in the present, it will also shape who Southern Baptists are for generations to come.”

Greer also said that caring for sexual abuse victims is a key aspect of God’s call to church leaders: “Brothers and sisters, this is our mission. As shepherds of God’s people, we are charged to protect God’s people and we are also charged to reflect the Gospel, and we serve a Savior who laid down His life for the vulnerable, to offer a safe refuge for them. That means that God’s shepherds ought to be willing to show the same degree of fierceness in their devotion to this.”

Wang Yi’s Wife Released From Prison After 6 Months

By

Megan Briggs

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June 13, 2019

Jiang Rong, the wife of Pastor Wang Yi of the embattled Early Rain Church in China, has been released from prison. Jiang spent six months behind bars after she and other members of Early Rain were arrested during a raid by government authorities in December 2018. Jiang has been reunited with the couple’s 11-year-old son, Shuya, while her husband remains in prison.

“Because of the nature of the kind of detention she was placed in, we don’t know a lot about what condition she was in, about whether she was mistreated–although mistreatment is quite common in the type of detention she was placed in,” a spokesperson from Christian Solidarity Worldwide told Premier.

More than 100 members of the church were arrested in December, including elderly members and children. Nearly half of those arrested were released relatively quickly, while over 50 members were held for periods varying from days to months. Currently, five members are still being held, including three elders of the church, according to a Facebook post by the group Pray for Early Rain Covenant Church.

An article by the New York Times suggests Jiang’s release appears to be an effort to comply with Chinese law that states authorities may detain people for six months without trial.

The Early Rain Church raid was just one effort on the part of Chinese authorities to crack down on underground churches and other religious groups in China. Given the concentration of attacks on churches in China lately, and the negative attention given to Christians in particular, it is very apparent the Chinese government sees Christianity as a threat to its power.

The latest push about the church has been the campaign to rid the Bible of any western influence. A new translation has been commissioned and an effort has been exerted to integrate traditional Chinese culture into the state-sponsored churches in China. Despite the persecution, though, China’s underground churches remain strong.

While it is good that Jiang is able to see her son, she has only been released on bail, pending a trial. Please continue to pray for the members of Early Rain Church.

‘Christian Art’ May Be Safe, But Is It Good?

By

Ethan Renoe

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June 13, 2019

Recently I was sitting with a friend and the subject of music came up. I asked him what type of music he listened to and he told me he loved “Christian music.”

I hadn’t realized that was a genre.

Christians can and do make music all the way across the spectrum of musical genres, and many of my favorite metal bands are Christians. However, I love what Jon Foreman once pointed out about that phrase:

People are saved. People are Christians. Music is not Christian. Jesus did not die so music could go to heaven; He died for people.

What’s Wrong With Christian Art Today?

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the topic of Christian art and how we interact with the creative endeavors of the world.

Michael Gungor said that he and his friends could tell, without fail, which songs were ‘Christian’ after only hearing the first five seconds of them because they sounded more fake and plastic.

Bono said that Christian art ironically lacks the honesty which is so evident in the Bible’s own songbook, the Psalms.

I think the Christian media scene has carved out for itself a unique niche. Speaking generally, it doesn’t create the best films, the most original music, or the most unique books. There tend to be boundaries within which it works, and these boundaries give a lot of people comfort.

In other words, people perpetually subscribe to Christian media because it’s safe.

We can be sure that by shopping at Hobby Lobby, we may be buying some mass-produced original-seeming kitsch piece of art or a quote painted on ‘vintage’ wood, but at least it won’t have any cuss words or nudity.

Many American Christians have become attached to this universe in which safety and shelter are prized above honesty, authenticity and risk.

We would rather something be safe than good.

Ironically, this is the exact opposite of C.S. Lewis’ description of God via the character of Aslan in his Chronicles of Narnia:

“Aslan is a lion, the great Lion.”
“Ooh” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he…quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion”
“Safe?” said Mr Beaver. “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

This is one of my favorite ways to think of God. He isn’t safe…but He’s good. Like the beautiful power of a tsunami or the destructive slithering body of a tornado, God isn’t safe. Not at all. But He is good. He is beautiful.

No More Confrontational Evangelism Please

By

Greg Stier

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June 13, 2019

Confrontational evangelism: “the kind of evangelism that communicates the Gospel in an abrasive, in-your-face way.”

I’ll never forget taking an outside escalator in Las Vegas down to the street level with my then 12 year old daughter Kailey. There were hundreds of people on the sidewalk below us as we descended toward the large crowd.

At the bottom of the escalator was a man with a repent sign and, no joke, a bullhorn. He incessantly yelled “Repent!” at all the people coming down the escalator and others walking by.

My daughter turned to me and asked, “Daddy, what is that man doing?” I replied, “He is attempting to share the Gospel with the crowd here.” She said, “Daddy, I think your way is much more effective.”

No More Confrontational Evangelism Please

My way isn’t really even my way. It’s the way you see modeled in Scripture. It’s good news people sharing the good news of Jesus in a good news way.

You may be thinking, “Well, didn’t Jesus preach to people on the street?” And, you’d be right. But he did it in a relational way. He provided healing for their bodies and food for the stomachs. And he shared hope with them in a loving and powerful way.

And, yes, Paul did “street preaching” too. But he did it in a relational way, not an abrasive way. In Acts 17:22,23 he starts his outdoor sermon with these words, “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.“

Instead of just screaming “repent” and reminding his audience of pagan philosophers that they were on a highway to hell, he found common ground and used it to introduce them to the Gospel story.

In a sense, all evangelism should be relational. In other words, it should be done in a way that seeks to build bridges instead of walls.

Some would call confrontational evangelism any kind of evangelism that happens outside of an already existing relationship. The idea is that if you don’t have a relationship then you haven’t “earned the right to be heard” with that person.

But Jesus had no previous relationship with the woman at the well in John 4. But, in a very relational way, he asked her for a drink of water. This shocked the woman because Jewish men didn’t talk with Samaritan women in this culture. And, of course, this led very quickly to a conversation and a conversion.

Was that “confrontational evangelism“? I submit that it was more relational than confrontational.

Of course there are truths that confront people’s hearts when we share the Gospel. We share the good news that God loves us and then the bad news that our sins separate us from him before we share the great news that Jesus died in our place for our sins. And, sometimes, the truth about sin stings. So we double down on communicating these hard truths in a loving way.

Here’s how Paul instructs Timothy to share the Gospel with opposing false teachers in 2 Timothy 2:24-26, “A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.”

Sounds pretty relational to me.

My friend Dave Gibson is the most relational evangelist I know. From friends, neighbors, baristas, flight attendants and restaurant servers he is constantly engaging people in conversations. He then gently turns the conversation toward spiritual things and, inevitably, gets to the Gospel. I’ve witnessed him witness to countless people and have never seen him do “cold turkey” evangelism in a confrontational way.

He turns cold turkey into a warm panini and then serves it up with a smile. He does all of his evangelism, like Jesus, in a relational way.

At Dare 2 Share we train teenagers to “ask, admire and admit” when they share their faith. They ask questions to get to know somebody, admire what they can about what they believe and then admit the reason they’re a Christian is that they are so messed up they need Jesus to save them.

Then we train teens to naturally move on to have a Gospel conversation. This relational way of engaging Gospel conversations can be done with strangers and with friends alike.

What we ave seen is that the more teenagers can learn to have Gospel conversations the less likely they are to make evangelistic presentations. This is a powerful, practical and super relational way to share the good news.

Sometimes Christians tell me they never share the Gospel with a stranger because they only believe in relational evangelism. Many of these believers categorize any evangelism style they are not comfortable with as “confrontational” and, sadly, miss many opportunities to share the Gospel with people they meet throughout the day.

I think Satan has built a stronghold in many believer’s hearts when it comes to evangelism. He built it to keep them from evangelizing.

Here’s what God’s Word tells us about strongholds, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.

Let’s demolish the strongholds in our hearts that are keeping us from speaking the truth in love to friends, neighbors, family members and the “strangers” we meet along the way. Let’s do all evangelism in a relational, non-confrontational way that seeks to win people over before winning their souls.

Let’s be good news people who speak the good news of Jesus in a good news way. No more confrontational evangelism please!

This article originally appeared here

Ascension: The Present-Tense of the Gospel

By

Jason Micheli

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June 13, 2019

What Pliny required of Christians who would renounce their faith is no different from what the Apostle Paul says is required for Christians who would be saved by their faith.

In his Letter to the Romans, Paul writes that “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord…you will be saved” (10.9-10). The word Paul uses there for confess is homologeo. It means “a public declaration of fealty.” In other words, what Paul says will save you for God is the equal and opposite expression of what Pliny said would save you from Caesar and his wrath.

Again, notice Paul doesn’t say “If you confess that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise to David (or Abraham), then you will be saved.” Paul doesn’t write that if you confess that Jesus is God incarnate then you will be saved; nor does Paul say that in order to be saved you must confess that Jesus died for your sins. When it comes to salvation and the necessary confession of faith for it, Paul focuses squarely on one specific stage of the Gospel: the Lordship of Jesus.

Why?

Why does Paul fix our participation in God’s salvation to the confession of Jesus as Lord? Why not confess that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself; believe and be saved? Why not while we were yet sinners…put your faith in what he’s done for you and you will be saved?

Why does Paul say that in order to be saved we must confess Jesus not as Savior or Substitute or Sacrifice, not as Son of Man or Son of God, but as Lord?

Because, for Paul, the incarnation, the crucifixion, resurrection and reconciliation- those are all past perfect events.

The present Lordship of Christ is the stage of the Gospel we now occupy.

What Paul summarizes as the Gospel in Romans 1 he spells out in 1 Corinthians 15. The Gospel he receieved which he in turn handed to the Church in Corinth has 8 parts to it or stages.

Paul’s Gospel is that Jesus:

preexisted with the Father
took on human flesh, fulfilling God’s promise to David
died for sins in accordance with the scriptures
was buried
was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures
appeared to many
is seated at the right hand of God as Lord
and will come again as judge.

Note the shift, both here in Paul’s Gospel and in the Apostles Creed, from the past tense to the present tense.

Paul says that in order to be saved you must confess that Jesus is Lord because that’s where we are all at in the story.

It’s a non-negotiable part of the Gospel. Jesus is Lord right now, currently in residence as Lord and King to whom God has given dominion over heaven and earth.

To accept that present-tense point in the Gospel is to acknowledge the other parts of the Gospel that preceded it; likewise, to deny Jesus’ Lordship is to devalue the Gospel that precedes it. The enthronement of the crucified and risen Jesus to the right hand of God to be Lord isn’t ancillary to Paul’s Gospel but is the climax of it. The cross and resurrection aren’t ends in themselves; they are the means by which God establishes Jesus as the Earth’s true and rightful Lord. As Abraham Kuyper said, “There is not a square inch now in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ who is Sovereign over all, does not cry “Mine!””

When we deemphasize the Ascension of Jesus, we immediately neuter the Gospel of the only present-tense element to it.

All that remains is the Gospel’s past and the future tenses. We demote Jesus from Lord of the cosmos to Secretary of Afterlife Affairs, which produces a false distinction between Jesus as a personal lord and Jesus as Lord of the Cosmos.

Salvation then becomes the promise of a future reality we access by agreeing to propositions about what Jesus did in the past rather than salvation being a present reality into which we’re incorporated by baptism and in which we participate already as subjects of the Lord who reigns now.

If this sounds like a picayune grammatical distinction, then consider the qualitative difference for discipleship:

“Jesus taught 2,000 years that we should love our enemies.”

Versus:

“The one who taught us to love our enemies 2,000 years ago is, this very moment, Lord of heaven and earth.”

Without the Ascension of Jesus, the Sermon on Mount can remain safely in the past, leaving us free to argue with it or agreed to it. If the Preacher on the Mount is right now Lord, suddenly his sermon becomes less about assent and more a matter of obedience.

Passing the Baton: How to Reach Your Grandkids With the Gospel

By

Sam Luce

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June 12, 2019

In over 21 years of ministry, I have come to understand that what I believe about God will be seen most clearly not in my life or the lives of my kids but in my grandkids. What I believe about faith is like passing the baton on to the next generation who then passes it on to the next generation. We can’t be successful at passing the baton on to our kids and even less to our grandkids but what they remember is what is most precious to us. What we value most they will catch. The failure to do this was seen in the lives of Israel in the book of Judges – The book of Judges is the perpetual cycle of commitment, complacency, and then compromise.

Failing at Passing the Baton

Judges 2:10 – There arose another generation that did not remember the name of the Lord. – They forgot God.

10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

Verses 10-11 describe a rebellion. It had two stages. First, the generation after Joshua’s “knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel” (v 10). The word “knew” probably does not mean that they did not know about the Exodus, the Red Sea, the crossing of the Jordan, and the walls of Jericho falling, but rather that the saving acts of God were no longer precious or central to them. They had not learned to revere and rejoice in what God had done. In other words, they had forgotten the “gospel” that they were saved from slavery in Egypt and brought into the promised land by the gracious, mighty acts of God. Put simply, they forgot. Keller, Timothy

God knew his people would forget. He even had Israel place physical memorials to help them to remember. He knows that if we do not build into our lives through intentional means, we will forget the gospel. If we don’t systematically and organically repeat the gospel to our kids, it will never become precious to them. That’s what the book of Judges painfully points out to us over and over again.

This painful pattern is illustrated most plainly at the end of Judges

Judges 17:7-13
Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. 8 And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to the hill-country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. 9 And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place.” 10 And Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be to me fa father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living.” And the Levite went in. 11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. 12 And Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest and was in the house of Micah. 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me because I have a Levite as priest.”

A priest of Israel leaves Israel and rents himself out to the highest bidder and becomes a priest in the home of a blaspheming idolator. This priest aids others in the worship of other gods. He gives Micah the false assurance that God is with him and will prosper him. This priest whose life was supposed to revolve around the temple, helping people worship Yahweh. Instead, he is working for an idolator and helping lead people away from Yahweh. He is aiding in the worship of Baal. Who was this priest that was misrepresenting Yahweh? Who was this priest who was aiding in Israel’s worship of false gods? He is named at the end of chapter 18. Jonathan, son of Gersham. Moses grandson.

This was Moses, the guy who talked with God whose face was glowing because he had met with God. The thought that comes to my mind is that if Moses grandson can forget the gospel. How sure am I that my kids find the gospel precious? How sure are we that our churches youth find the gospel central to them? So the question I have been asking is, how do we as parents and as members of a faith community succeed at passing the baton of faith to our kids and our grandkids?

What is interesting is that God knew this was going to happen to Israel, and he knows that we in 21st Century America have the same propensity. So in Deuteronomy 6, Moses farewell sermon, he outlines for us how we hand our faith as parents to our kids and grandkids, how we had our faith as a community of believers to the next generation.

Passing the baton: 5 Ways to pass our faith to our grandchildren.

1. We must fear the Lord. – What you fear you worship. We can not have a proper understanding of the love of God divorced from the justice of God. On the Cross, the holiness and justice of God demanded payment for our sin. And it was at the cross that Christ in his love provided that payment for us. He gave His one and only son because he loved. If you don’t understand the justice of God and fear God, you will always abuse the love of God.

Deuteronomy 6:2
2 that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.

Should Technology Be Allowed at Small Group Meetings?

By

Roger Carr

-

June 12, 2019

We are living in an age filled with technology.

People can call or text us at any time of the day or night with an expectation that we will respond within minutes or seconds.

We can monitor the movements of our children and security of our home from anywhere through the devices we carry around with us.

We have virtual assistants in our homes that play our favorite music, order products online for us, and even tell jokes when asked.

Technology: Good and Bad

These devices help us in many aspects of our lives. However, they waste time and distract if we are not careful. This negative side of technology has driven many leaders to eliminate mobile devices from meetings.

Should you stop your small group members from using their mobile devices during meetings? The answer to this question can be complicated and different for each group.

The High Cost of Multitasking

From Visually

Problems With Allowing Technology at Small Group Meetings

What are some of the potential problems technology, like mobile devices, can cause during small group meetings?

Interruptions
Our mobile devices are designed to interrupt us every time we need a reminder or receive a call, instant message or email. This is done through different ways including rings, beeps, vibrations and music. Many prayers have been interrupted by these sounds coming from a member receiving a phone call on their smartphone.
Ineffective listening
It is difficult to not use our devices to check for new emails and text messages in the middle of meetings. Many of us are addicted to our cell phones. This addiction can be so great that people can suffer from a fear of not being able to use a smartphone. It is called “nomophobia” (no-mobile-phone phobia).
When we are using our devices, we aren’t listening to the group conversation. Even when we think we are listening, we are not looking at the speaker so we are not being an effective listener.
Reduced participation
Attempting to multitask during the meeting with our devices means a lack of presence with the group discussion. It not only affects our focus while using our device, but it also takes some time after we re-engage with the small group before we are fully present again. We don’t switch back and forth between tasks instantaneously so switching between tasks comes with a huge cost.

There are many reasons to ban technology from small group meetings to be effective.

Advantages With Allowing Technology at Small Group Meetings

There are also great ways mobile devices can be used by group members to enhance their participation and learning. Here are a few of those ways:

Bible reading and research
More and more people are reading (and listening to) the Bible using technology. I have heard people complain about this. Because the Bible is being read from an electronic file doesn’t make it any less spiritual. If that were true, we should all be reading from scrolls.
One of the biggest advantages of having technology available in small group meetings is the ability to quickly search for verses and research topics. This can be a tremendous aid during small group discussions.
Note taking
Every small group leader should encourage note taking during meetings. Some members will feel more comfortable taking notes on their electronic device, and not a paper journal or notepad. The more convenient, the more likely notes will be captured.
Prayer requests
Like note taking, prayer requests can be written into a paper journal or notepad. But some members may keep track of prayer requests on an electronic device. I use the Echo prayer app for this purpose.
Emergency Alerts
There are reasons some of your members need to be contacted in an emergency. Parents need babysitters to be able to reach them. Doctors and other emergency workers who are on call need to be reached if required. Mobile phones allow members to take part in the meeting, but be alerted of an emergency when necessary.

How to Find Summer Balance in Your Youth Ministry

By

Andy Lawrenson

-

June 12, 2019

How to Find Summer Balance in Your Youth Ministry

Having served in student ministry for over 25 years I have learned something about summer balance and time. This summer, youth leaders, you will be taking students to camp and on mission trips, water parks, amusement parks, the beach, etc. Make sure you balance your ministry time and your family time. If you are single make sure to balance your “you” time. I have heard of churches hiring youth pastors, church staff, who are single because “they will have more time.” No one on this planet has more time than anyone else. We all have the same amount of time each day.

Youth Pastors
Take some extra time off. Summer can be super busy for you. Flex your hours. If you just spent two days on a youth trip take some extra time off, at least an extra day. If you take students to camp or mission trip try to take the next week off (as much as possible). Go in late to the office on the day after a trip. If you are a morning person like me take off early the next day.

Volunteer and Part Time
I stand and applaud you. I’m sure the last thing you want to see on social media is a full timer complaining about being busy or working too much. You, of all in student ministry, need to be extra careful with your time. You are juggling family, your “real” job and ministry. Make sure during the busy summer season you take time off from ministry and spend time with your family. I grew up a pastor’s son. I remember, as a little kid, sitting in the station wagon on Thursday evenings while my dad and a deacon were on visitation. Looking back I did that just so I could spend time with my dad who was bi-vocational. That is not the same as playing catch with your dad and having his undivided attention.I know when I’ve taken family with me to camps, while yes they are there with me, I’m not there with them 100 percent. Your family needs time with you 100 percent, they are your first ministry and first priority.

Church Leaders
Senior pastors, elder board, personnel committee, your student ministry pastor gears up and gets really busy in the summer. How can your church make sure he/she is taking some extra time off after a big event, camp or mission trip?
Who will hold him/her accountable to take some extra time off?
But what if leadership is on board with flex hours and taking extra time off that doesn’t count against vacation time and members complain?
Have a pre planned statement, something like this:
“Bobby works hard and puts in full work weeks all year long. When Bobby takes our students to _____ he puts in lots of extra hours. We are allowing Bobby flex time so he can rest, relax and spend quality time with his family. Our church loves Bobby and we don’t want him to burn out or for his family to suffer. I’m sure you agree that Bobby’s health and family should come first so he can be more effective serving here with us.”

Guard your time this summer, find that balance between work and family, and find that person to hold you accountable.

This article originally appeared here.

This Is Why People Have a Problem With This Year’s Group Publishing VBS

By

Megan Briggs

-

June 12, 2019

This year’s Group Publishing VBS has garnered the company some intense criticism. The major VBS curriculum provider and Christian publishing company is being called out for some of the elements in its Africa-themed VBS in a box, which some children’s ministers and non-ministers alike are calling culturally insensitive.

“As the largest VBS curriculum around, I would think you would have a larger responsibility to make sure what you send to churches is ethnically and racially sensitive,” a director of Family Ministries at a United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana wrote to Group Publishing.

Tandy Adams expressed her concerns about the curriculum directly to Group. Her church is currently using the curriculum for their VBS program which runs this week. Adams says the church had to rewrite the curriculum in places to make it appropriate for their church.

Simply Omit the Parts That Make You Uncomfortable, Group Says

Originally, Group Publishing responded to Adams by explaining the curriculum was simply using biblical language and encouraging children to learn through experiential activity. They acknowledged that while some biblical stories are “ugly”, they “feel it’s important to help children truly understand what is recorded in the Bible.”

Group defended its activities and the scripts used in the curriculum by saying they clearly state the kids are “playing a Bible-times role.” They soften their explanation by saying if the “biblical words” used in the leader’s script make the leaders uncomfortable, “simply omit the words.”

The publishing company also assured Adams the curriculum had been developed and tested by “teachers with a background in anti-bias, and leaders with a child psychology background.”

However, on Monday, June 10th, the publishing company issued a public statement via its Facebook page, apparently in response to all the pushback it was receiving concerning the curriculum. After their initial response to Adams defending the curriculum and its activities, they announced they had created “modifications and revisions” to the curriculum that is available for download.

What Made the Group Publishing VBS Curriculum Controversial?

The theme of this year’s curriculum, “Roar” is “Life is wild…God is good.” Churches who purchase the curriculum (Group told HuffPost some 10,000 churches purchased the curriculum this year) are encouraged to decorate their children’s ministry spaces with Africa-themed decorations such as raffia-topped huts and termite mounds.

The most controversial thing critics cited in “Roar” was an activity where students are instructed to role-play being Israelite slaves while a leader pretending to be an Egyptian slave master verbally berates them. The activity is part of a lesson attempting to teach kids that “when life is unfair, God is good!”

In the instructions for the activity, leaders are given the following lines to tell the kids as they are making bricks like the Israelites did in the book of Exodus:

You’re in trouble now! Pharaoh is furious with Moses! Pharoah says you’re nothing but a bunch of lazy slaves. And now he won’t give you any straw to make the bricks. You’ll have to find your own straw! And you’ll have to make just as many bricks as before! Without straw! So get back to work!….What are you waiting for? Spread out and try to find your own straw!

An activity involving “click language” was also cited as being culturally insensitive. The original version of the curriculum reads:

People in different countries in Africa speak a lot of different languages. But one amazing thing you might hear if you visited a certain area in Africa would be people talking with clicks in their language.
Lead kids in clicking their tongues for a few seconds. Then show the “Click Language” video.
Make your name include a click or two, and “introduce” yourself to kids using your new name.
Imagine your name included a click or two. Introduce yourself to your Crew with your new “click language” name.

WATCH: Flatirons Community Church Pastor on Why He Needs a Break

By

Jessica Lea

-

June 12, 2019

Jim Burgen, lead pastor of Flatirons Community Church in Colorado, announced a few days ago that he would be taking a six-month sabbatical. In a heartfelt video posted on YouTube, Burgen expressed sorrow for the pain he’s caused his family and church staff, love for the Flatirons community, and gratitude for the church’s elders.

“Every time we turn on the news, it’s like one more pastor fell apart,” said Burgen. “[The elders] loved me so much that before there’s a moral failure, before there’s a financial failure, before there’s all this list of things that have taken leaders out, they said, let’s get on the front end of that and let’s take you out and let you rest for six months and disconnect from Flatirons, so that I can come back.”

Stepping Away from Flatirons Community Church

Flatirons is based in Lafayette, Colorado, and is a fast-growing megachurch with multiple campuses. Burgen began his announcement by saying that in 13 years of shooting videos for the church, this was the hardest one he has ever done. He is on sabbatical because, at a recent meeting, the elders told him he was exhausted and needed some time away from the church. “I’ll be honest with you,” said Burgen. “It felt more like an intervention than a loving confrontation.”

While his first reaction was to resist what they were saying, viewing needing a break as weakness, the elders persisted. And as Burgen considered his time at Flatirons over the past couple of years, he realized his elders were right. He said that in 35 years of ministry, there had been only one year when he took all his vacation time. And even when he did take a vacation, Burgen said that if people were to talk to his wife and kids, his family would say that even during his time off, he was preoccupied with work-related tasks.

“I love Flatirons with all my heart, but it’s kind of taken a role in my life that’s…reserved for some other people.” Those people, said Burgen, are Jesus and his family. What has happened is that Burgen has made Flatirons his top priority. “I think I’m addicted to Flatirons,” he said. He also said that, as a man, he had felt like the right response to being tired was to push harder. “What I wasn’t aware of is that I was devastating people. My wife, I was withdrawing from my kids, and I was just running over people here on our staff…I’ve crushed a lot of people.”

‘Not Over’

During his sabbatical, Burgen said he plans to spend a lot of time alone with Jesus, as well as with his wife, Robin, and his kids. He also plans to spend time with mentors, coaches and teachers and to get plenty of counseling, because, he said, “I’m probably more jacked up…than I want to even admit.”

Burgen said he anticipates rumors about the “real reason” he’s stepping away from Flatirons. But there is no reason except for his failure to rest well: “This is the real story. I’m tired.” In addition to taking a break from the church, he’s also staying off social media and won’t be corresponding much. He said people are welcome to reach out to him, but if he doesn’t respond, it’s not because he doesn’t care. It’s just that he needs a break.

As he wrapped up his video, Burgen apologized through tears to those he hurt. He asked for prayer for himself and for the leaders of his church. “I promise, I’ll do all the work I need to do, and I’ll come back and I’ll be the leader that you deserve. I’m not that leader right now.”

The comments below Burgen’s video are full of encouragement and support, with people saying they are praying for him and how thankful they are for his humility and vulnerability. According to the Daily Camera, Flatirons has said that Burgen’s six months is not set in stone, but is a timeframe that will flex based on when he feels ready to return to his role.

In the video, Burgen emphasized his affection for Flatirons and that he will be back soon: “I love you. I love this church, I love Jesus, I love Robin, I love my kids and my grandkids. I love the stories I get to hear about what God is doing in this place, and that’s not over.”

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