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A Conversation With a Scientologist

By
Jordan Standridge
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

I’ve heard a lot about Scientology over the years, but never had the opportunity to speak to someone who believed it.

That all changed this last Sunday afternoon.

My friend and I went door to door around our church, getting to know our church’s neighbors and offering prayers. We ended up at the house of a man who told us that he was part of Scientology. He invited us in, and we spent over one hour speaking with him.

He was a very gentle man, and we found out that he grew up Baptist, but it was very clear by the end of the conversation that he was pretty high up in the Scientology religion. On his shelf, there were several binders that only those who are high up in the Scientology religion can purchase, and they cost thousands of dollars to have.

It is very easy to mock Scientology and to think that its adherents are nuts, but that all changes when you have someone in mind as you think about them.

As I said before, Tim was a very gentle man who was kind and respectful and listened to us carefully as we shared the Gospel with him. Of course, his religion caused him to have strange views about reality and his existence. It caused him to believe that he existed in several different bodies prior to this life, and, ultimately, will return to an angelic state where he will be most happy.

There is a lot to Scientology, and perhaps I’ll write a future post on it, but I came away from this conversation with a few thoughts that became clear and that might be helpful to you if you ever encounter a Scientologist in the future. I think that these points will help us as we think through religions in general.

1. Humans are generally good

Tim’s whole premise was that human beings are generally good. Through some work in understanding how we can control our mind, we will be able to slowly walk our way back to our previous world where we once were before our rebellion. Scientologists spend much time in prison helping prisoners unlock their minds so that they can be “saved” from their vices and start working their way back toward their angelic form. In short, humans are good and anyone is redeemable—all you have to do is help them control their minds, and through their own emotions they can keep themselves from what we would call sin.

2. Humans can fix themselves

Through a process of expanding and “struggling for survival” in eight different dimensions and through many lifetimes, we humans (who are fallen angels) can ultimately return to a state of angelic reality. If we slowly unlock our minds to see, not only our past lives but, ultimately, our future, the goal is to return to our original state of being with our creator before we rebelled and were sent to this life. In short. We have the ability to work our way back to our original state. Humans are encouraged to follow their set of ethics called “the way to happiness” (which is pretty much a mix of the Ten Commandments and Buddhist principles), and if they do so they can slowly redeem themselves. Obviously, I have a lot more to learn, though the more I dig into it, the more confusing it gets. But in short, like every other religion, it trains its people to glorify themselves and their ability to save themselves, therefore nullifying any need to be redeemed by God through Jesus Christ alone.

3. Human beings will become gods

So many religions have a similar view that ultimately exalts humanity to the point where we can become gods. In Scientology, they have a creator but he, himself, is constantly expanding and growing in his glory. Human beings ultimately become gods themselves. And this is when, once again, I was reminded about this simple reality: The devil is in the business of stealing glory from God. He creates religions that aren’t neutral, but instead their main objective is to steal glory from God through exalting man and through causing man to either believe that they can earn their way back to God through works, which is blasphemy or through themselves achieving god-like status, which is also blasphemous. Either way, the goal is always to diminish God and His glory and to exalt man to steal His glory.

It’s really easy to mark some religions as ridiculous and make fun of them in our minds. Especially religions started by L. Ron Hubbard who (allegedly) made it clear he was doing it for the money. And yet, on Sunday I met a soul that will spend eternity in either heaven or hell, and my heart broke for him with compassion. I hope you will pray for Tim, and if you ever run into a Scientologist, or really anyone at all, that you will lovingly point them to Christ who is the only One who deserves glory and worship.

This article originally appeared here.

Lauren Daigle at KLOVE Awards: Please Pray for My Grandfather

By
Jessica Lea
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klove fan awards
Screengrab Instagram @lauren_daigle

At the KLOVE Fan Awards in Nashville this past Sunday, artist Lauren Daigle asked for prayer for her grandfather, who drove nine hours to see her perform and win two awards.

“I’m going to try not to cry, but I want to honor my grandfather,” said Daigle during one of her acceptance speeches. “He’s 86 years old, and he has knees that are giving him a hard time and shoulders and a back that, it all kind of needs to be replaced. So if ya’ll could be praying for someone, that’s the man.”

Daigle took home awards for Artist of the Year and Female Artist of the Year, saying, “I just want to give all glory to [God]. Thank you for everybody who voted. I appreciate you guys. We’ll see you soon!”

A Big Year

It has been quite a year for Daigle. Her album, Look Up Child, beat Drake, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj to debut third on Billboard’s 200 chart last September. After tying with Carrie Underwood in January for being a female with the longest running single on Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs chart, Daigle broke that record the following week. She then went on in February to win her first Grammys for Look Up Child and her single, “You Say.” Daigle also won at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards on May 1st in the categories of Christian Artist, Christian Album, and Christian Song.  

The KLOVE Fan Awards is an event that allows people to vote for their top choice in a variety of categories. According to the site, the purpose of the awards show is to “create a fan experience that celebrates and promotes artists, athletes, authors and entertainers who, with excellence, engage and impact popular culture for Jesus Christ.” Other winners this year were for KING & COUNTRY, Kathie Lee Gifford, and Unplanned.

The KLOVE Fan Awards will air on Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) on June 9th.

Kirk Franklin on Growing Up Fatherless: It’s Made Me Insecure

By
Megan Briggs
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Gospel singer and songwriter Kirk Franklin is no stranger to the spotlight. With over 20 years of experience as a recording artist and having received five Grammy Awards, Franklin has had a long and successful career. He’s also managed to keep his faith and stay married to his wife of 23 years. Yet Franklin says all the success he’s experienced hasn’t alleviated the mental health challenges he’s faced in his life—including a deep-seated feeling of insecurity.

“I’m always the most insecure man in the room,” Franklin told his biological father one day. Kirk Franklin grew up not knowing his father and not being very close to his mother, either. While his father was dying of cancer, the singer admitted to him that not having the affirmation of a father really contributed to a lot of problems in his life.

Kirk Franklin Getting Real on The Breakfast Club Radio Interview

Kirk Franklin appeared on The Breakfast Club radio program to talk about his new album, “Long Live Love”. While radio hosts Charlamagne tha God and Angela Yee were interested in the new album, which Yee described as “jammin’”, the interview mainly focused on the personal struggles Franklin has faced in his life. Yee pointed out that Franklin was very open and forthcoming, despite the evidence that suggests culture holds Christian ministers to a higher standard than other people. She pointed to the criticism other ministers face, such as John Gray, and how it was surprising to hear Franklin so willingly talked about his issues.

“As I reveal, I heal,” Franklin said in response to Yee’s observation. “I come to the table with a lot of PTSD, with anxiety issues, with depression,” the singer explained. He is eager to talk about these things openly because of the way mental health issues are often seen as a weakness in the church. “I like to talk about those things because those things are always taboo to talk about in church,” Franklin explains. There is a tendency to try and “pray everything away” in the church that Franklin believes is not helpful.

The singer said he has been in therapy since he was 18 years old. He’s struggled with abandonment issues since he learned as a young kid that his mother wanted to have an abortion, but his aunt (who adopted Franklin at the age of four) convinced her not to. This revelation, coupled with an absent father, created a lot of problems for the budding music artist. While growing up, Franklin sang in church choirs and his talent was recognized early on. By the age of 7, Franklin had already been offered a recording deal (which his aunt turned down for him), and by 11 he was directing the music at a church.

All the success and the time spent in church didn’t stop him from getting in some trouble, though. In the interview with the Breakfast Club, Kirk Franklin addressed his complex view of the abortion debate by saying that while he is pro-life due to his own experience with his mother, he has also paid for an abortion himself. He admits he is in no way complicit when it comes to the problem of abortion in America, acknowledging that when his girlfriend was pregnant during his wayward years he took her to receive an abortion. When Charlemagne pointed out that that couldn’t have been entirely his decision, noting that his girlfriend had to agree to end the pregnancy, Kirk Franklin expressed his belief that sometimes men sway women toward abortions.

Franklin summarized his beliefs on the abortion debate by saying “I am pro-life, but I still believe that I don’t have a right to force a woman to do anything with her body. The same way that I can’t force somebody to come to Jesus Christ.”

Making an unfortunate choice when faced with an unplanned pregnancy wasn’t the only thing Franklin feels regret over. He also admitted to the radio hosts that when he got married, his insecurity and lack of understanding about how to be a good husband almost cost him his marriage early on.

Kirk Franklin Learning to Be a Good Husband and Father

Kirk Franklin and his wife, Tammy, spent a period of four years going to therapy together as a couple. He says it saved their marriage. “I don’t know how to be no husband,” Franklin said, alluding to the fact that his father wasn’t around to show him an example of a good husband.

Despite his own father not being able to show him a good example, though, Tammy did have a present and loving father. Tammy’s father was a “super dude” who was able to raise Tammy to be a “strong woman,” according to Franklin. He recalled an incident early in their marriage when Tammy’s parents were staying with them. Franklin was coming off the success of “Stomp”, a song that gained popularity in both the gospel music and secular music spheres. He admitted he was “feeling himself” and acting foolishly because of it. When the couple got into an argument late at night, Tammy woke her parents up because she thought Franklin was disrespecting her. Franklin says the older couple didn’t say much but grabbed both of their hands and knelt down to pray against what they perceived to be a spiritual attack. Franklin implied the experience really humbled him and he apologized to Tammy.

Now, he admits, with daughters of his own, he would want his girls to do the same thing Tammy did if they were faced with a similar situation. He gives Tammy a lot of credit for sticking with him. She “married a bipolar Christian”, Franklin said.

While his success in music couldn’t ease the feeling of insecurity in Franklin, he says the support of his family really speaks to him about his worth. He says (with a smile) he’s touched by their validation of him because “they ain’t gettin’ paid to.”

Even If You Know God, Mental Health Issues Don’t Just Disappear

During the interview, Kirk Franklin really emphasized the fact that God doesn’t magically make someone’s life better once they start following him. After all the years of walking with God, Franklin says the mental struggle still affects him. When asked why he waited four years to make another album, he admitted it was probably due to his ongoing struggle with insecurity.

Circling back to the topic of mental illness, Franklin says he’s “seen people try to shout it away, try to speak and tongue it away” without addressing the physical side of the struggle. Simply trying to address the spiritual side of the issue won’t help, though. He explains: “You’re a body and soul, and so to minister to the whole man, it’s the right thing. It’s the godly thing to do.”

Franklin concluded the interview by implying it doesn’t do anyone any good to pretend they have all the answers or that their life and faith is perfect. “I can impress you talking about accomplishments, but I can impact you talking about my mistakes,” he said.

* You can help provide daily inspiration and encourage meaningful conversations with the men in your life. Buy Vince Miller’s book “Thirty Virtues That Build A Man” and share it with a man you want to encourage.

The Five Marks of a Spiritually Mature Leader

By
Rick Warren
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

At Saddleback, we’ve always tried to make it easy for people to serve. You don’t need to be a committed Christian to pass out donuts or bulletins at our church. We shouldn’t need to check on a person’s doctrinal convictions in order to let them greet people outside of our worship services. However, leadership is different from serving and requires a spiritually mature leader.

In fact, as I’ve written before, getting new people involved in serving early on can help you keep them connected to your church.

You know that your church won’t grow unless you develop leaders. When we’re considering new leaders, we can be tempted to lower the standards.

As you likely know, taking shortcuts is dangerous.

But the LORD said to him, “Pay no attention to how tall and handsome he is. I have rejected him, because I do not judge as people judge. They look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7, GNB).

The Five Marks of a Spiritually Mature Leader

Leadership isn’t about charisma. It’s about character and competence, demonstrated through maturity. Some of the most charismatic leaders of the past century were also the worst (Hitler, Mao and Mussolini, to name a few).

Whether you’re hiring a new staff member or involving a new volunteer leader in your church, if you’re not considering maturity, you’re headed for trouble.

Characteristics that just don’t matter

I’ve seen a lot of myths out there about the kinds of characteristics that tell us a person is mature enough to lead. Let’s get those out of the way first.

  • It’s not about age. Not everyone who has grown old has grown up. Just because a person has been a Christian a long time doesn’t mean he or she has matured and is ready to serve in your church’s leadership. Maturity isn’t automatic.
  • It’s not about appearance. Leaders don’t have a “look.” We can’t define maturity through external appearances, such as wearing the right clothes or being attractive.
  • It’s not an accomplishment. You probably have people in your church who have accomplished a lot and are still jerks. Those people don’t need to be in leadership.
  • It’s not about academics. You can’t lead based on what you know. Some people have lots of Bible knowledge but still shouldn’t lead. Just because someone can quote Scripture and has been through years of Bible study doesn’t mean they’re ready to lead in your church.

The five marks of a mature leader

When you read through the book of James, you discover five characteristics of mature believers. You may want to take these principles and turn them into a checklist for the next time you’re evaluating new leaders.

Mature leaders are:

Positive under pressure (James 1:2-4). Problems will come when people serve in ministry. You can expect that. So you need to know before you enlist someone to serve in a leadership position, “How does this person respond to problems?” You want leaders who are defined by gratitude not grumpiness under pressure.

Sensitive to other people (James 2:1-3). James gets highly specific about how to treat other people in chapter 2. He tells us not to show favoritism, judge people by their appearance, insult them or exploit them. But here’s the bottom line: James tells us that mature leaders consistently live by this truth: “Love your neighbors as yourself.” This kind of love takes humility. Spiritually mature leaders don’t think less of themselves. They think of themselves less. There’s a huge difference between those two statements.

Responsible in what they say (James 3:2-6). In World War II, there was a saying, “Loose lips sink ships.” They also destroy lives. Gossip destroys more churches than anything else. You can tell a lot about prospective leaders by how much they gossip. When doctors want to see if you’re sick, they put a thermometer in your mouth. If you want to know the temperature of a potential leader’s spiritual life, check the person’s tongue.

Peacemakers (James 4:1). You don’t want troublemakers in leadership roles. You want leaders who calm things down rather than stirring them up. An argumentative attitude is a sign of immaturity.

Patient and prayerful (James 5:16). Patience and prayerfulness go together. People who pray more tend to be more patient. Mature leaders have learned to wait. Immaturity says, “I want it now!” There’s always a tension between the ideal and the real. Leaders have to live with that tension because it won’t go away. Leaders must press on toward the ideal but be content and patient as they pursue it.

Leadership is one of the most important aspects of your church’s future growth and health. Your church can’t grow until you get more leaders involved. No question about that.

But that doesn’t mean you can afford to lower your standards and bring aboard leaders who don’t exhibit the characteristics above. Maturity must always be a prerequisite for leadership.

This article originally appeared here.

When Sundays are Hard: How You Can Serve Young Families in Your Church

By
Julia Ball
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Confession time: Before I was a parent, I could never understand when parents complained about how “hard” it was to get their kids out the door on Sunday mornings or to midweek programs.

Church didn’t start until 11—and it started the same time every single week—so I figured, how hard it could be?

I discovered the answer to that question when Levi came along. How hard can it be? Answer: really, really, hard. Nearly impossible, even.

While I can’t prove it scientifically or with stats, I am convinced that Sundays are THE most difficult day of the week with children. When Levi was an infant, it was nearly guaranteed that he would be up all night on Saturday, spit up over his church clothes, have a blowout as we were heading out the door, or just be plain cranky.

Now that we’ve entered into the phase known as the “terrific twos” (insert eyeroll here), Sunday mornings mostly consist of a few tantrums and timeouts, Levi wanting to pick out his own outfit, getting up at an ungodly hour, and battling over what toys we are taking with us to church.

When I arrive at church on Sunday, any ounce of judgment I once felt toward families trotting in late has been replaced with empathy. “I wonder what their morning was like.” “Good for them for being here!” “They deserve a round of applause for making it today.”
Your kids’ clothes don’t match? At least they’re wearing clothes.

You got here 10 minutes before the sermon starts? Well, at least you’re here for the sermon. Your kid is throwing a tantrum during prayer time? I feel you.

I sit with other parents in the back rows of our sanctuary. We are in solidarity as we pass fruit snacks and cheerios and try to keep our children (OK, mostly my child) from escaping on to the platform before it’s time to head to the church nursery.

Whether you have children of your own or not, let me just tell you—Sundays are really hard for families with kids.

They may believe church is important, they may desire to be there on time (or even early), they may love every program and ministry you offer, but it doesn’t change the fact that Sundays are disaster days for most of us.

It doesn’t change the fact that getting everyone ready and the car ride to the service leaves many parents on the verge of tears.

It doesn’t change the fact that when they get to church, they often forget why they are there in the first place.

I am convinced then, that it is important for our church families to ask this question: How can we best serve the young families who are a part of our church family? I don’t believe this requires a complete overhaul of your existing church structure or programming. In fact, I think there are simple things EVERY church can do to welcome and serve young families with open arms.

Greet families warmly.

Even though I’m the pastor in our church, I feel important just as a parent when people in our church family take the time to say “Good morning.” When people who are old enough to be my grandparents ask how my week was and tell Levi he looks handsome, it makes me feel like I’m a part of a family.

I believe this is true for all young families—and is so simple to implement. Ensure that your ushers and greeters make a special effort to welcome young families into your church service. Give them a warm smile, get down at eye level with their kids, tell them how glad you are they are here today. Enlist people in your congregation to remember the names of kids, slip into rows before the service starts to ask parents how they’re doing, or to shoot a knowing smile when a child starts crying for more Goldfish or fruit snacks.

Even if it’s hard to get to church, it makes all the difference when someone intentionally takes the time to let you know they are happy you are present. Whether your church has 25, 250 or 2500, you can easily do this.

Be clear about the fact you are a family-friendly church.

It is one thing to say your church is “family-friendly” on a sign, bulletin or social media post, but it is another to be clear about it week-in and week-out. Here are some simple ways you can do that:

  • Say it from the front! When you make your morning announcements or welcome people to the service, simply say “We’re especially glad to see all the families here today! It means a lot to us that you’ve joined us!”
  • Make ‘noise’ an accepted part of your church culture. Yes, I believe that there are times when kids can be exceptionally rowdy and out of control, but most of the time, parents are doing their absolute best. It’s just a fact that children are not made to be perfectly still and silent. So, if children are present during a part of or all of your worship, embrace it. Accept the movement, whispers (and sometimes not-whispers), interpretative dance, snack wrappers crinkling and crying as a normal part of your church.
  • Say it whenever you get the chance—“We are a church for families.” Communicate it on the platform, when you speak, at special events, on your church sign, in weekly social media posts, in one-on-one conversations—whenever you get the chance.

The Role of the Body in Healing After Trauma

By
Karen Swallow Prior
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

One year ago, I stepped into a crosswalk and was struck by an oncoming bus.

The trauma of the accident has made me reflect much on the role the body—both the physical body and the church body—plays in spiritual healing and recovery.

That it even happened seems surreal—like a bad dream or a too-vivid movie about someone else’s life: the close-up I saw of the bus just as it was about to strike me, the voices I heard of people surrounding me as I lay in the intersection, and the stabbing knives of pain I felt throughout my body over the following hours and days. For someone with a well-developed imagination, for whom the best-written stories become just as much a part of my mind as my own experiences, it would seem these memories could just be stored away in a part of the brain that retains information about things that happened to other people.

But my body doesn’t make that possible.

Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Healing

There is the lingering pain, of course, from the fractures to my spine, shoulder, ribs and pelvis (now permanently stabilized by a large titanium screw). Then there are the visible scars from the chest tube and the staples, as well as the bruise on the inside of my knee, still faintly visible a year later.

But my body retains even more than these reminders of trauma, memories carried deeper inside, beneath flesh and bones—visceral memories. It is this visceral dread that causes my body to react to scenes in the news or movies of people being struck by vehicles. I had no idea until my accident just how common these scenes are. It makes me flinch involuntarily at passing vehicles while I’m running. (It took me quite a while not to envision every single vehicle that came toward me hitting me.)

I confess that before experiencing this trauma, I thought that emotional (as well as spiritual) healing consisted primarily in thinking the right things and believing the right things. I didn’t understand the role the body plays. Yet, the original meaning of the word “emotion” is “a physical disturbance.” Emotions originate in the body, not the mind. And as Dr. Bessel van der Kolk explains in The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, “traumatized people chronically feel unsafe inside their bodies.” Because trauma is an embodied experience, the book shows, those who have suffered trauma must pay attention to the sensations of their bodies in order to recover:

Being frightened means that you live in a body that is always on guard. Angry people live in angry bodies. The bodies of child-abuse victims are tense and defensive until they find a way to relax and feel safe. In order to change, people need to become aware of their sensations and the way that their bodies interact with the world around them.

For healing from trauma to take place, Van der Kolk says, “the body needs to learn that the danger has passed” [emphasis added].

Although I have known, loved and talked to many traumatized people, I never really understood this phenomenon until I experienced it for myself.

I have a friend who, years ago, was hit by a car while walking at night and suffered irreparable injuries. For many years afterward he always wore fluorescent orange shirts so he could be seen easily wherever he went. I didn’t get it. But I do now.

I have another friend who went on a job interview and was raped afterward by the man who interviewed her. It has taken her a long time to learn to trust her own judgment about all kinds of life decisions, and I didn’t really understand why. But I do now.

A year out, the hardest part of my trauma now is not being able to trust what my own senses are telling me.

Object Lesson for Sunday School Offering Time: Cheerful Giving

By
Dale Hudson
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

An object lesson about the offering time is a great way to teach children about cheerful giving. Read on for 10 Bible-based, kid-friendly object lessons about generosity and stewardship. Then use them in your children’s church or Sunday school programs.

Each week in our children’s ministry service, we pause before the offering time to teach a lesson about giving. We seek to give kids a foundation of generosity so they can experience a lifetime of the blessings and joys of giving.

Here are 10 object lessons we’ve used to teach kids about giving. Feel free to use these in your kidmin program.

Object Lesson on Giving: 10 Offering Messages

1. Object Lesson: Giving Is Greater Than Receiving

  • Read Acts 20:35 aloud. “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
  • Show kids the words Giving and Receiving.
  • Ask which the Bible says is greater…giving or receiving?
  • Explain that it’s okay to receive things. It’s nice to get awards, birthday gifts, etc.
  • Show kids this: GIVING > RECEIVING.
  • But it’s even better to give to help others. It makes an eternal difference, and you’re like Jesus when you give. Jesus came to give instead of receive.

2. Object Lesson: Don’t Close Your Eyes

  • Read Proverbs 28:27 aloud. “Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to poverty will be cursed.”
  • Show a picture of kids in need.
  • Explain that people nearby and around the world are in need…physically and spiritually.
  • When we see this, we have two choices: We can give or close our eyes to their needs.
  • Have kids close their eyes to the picture of the kids in need a few seconds. Then have them open their eyes back up.
  • Encourage kids to not close their eyes to those in need. Instead, they should look and respond by giving an offering to help others physically and spiritually.
  • When you do this, God promises to provide for your needs.

3. Object Lesson: Overflowing

  • Read Luke 6:38 aloud. “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap.”
  • Hold up an empty clear cup.
  • Have another clear cup that’s half-full of water.
  • Pour some water from the half-full cup into the empty cup.
  • Bring out a clear pitcher of water.
  • Use the pitcher to overflow the cup you poured water from.
  • While doing this, explain that when we give, God promises to fill us back up to overflowing. You can’t outgive God!

4. Object Lesson: World’s Tallest Tree

  • Show a picture of General Sherman, the world’s tallest tree. Located in Sequoia National Park, it’s 102 feet around and 275 feet tall.
  • This tree started as a simple seed planted in the ground years ago. (Hold up a small seed to show kids.)
  • When you give an offering, it’s like planting a seed. It will grow into big things and make a big impact in people’s lives.

5. Object Lesson: In God We Trust

  • Hold up a dollar bill. Ask kids if they’ve ever noticed that money says “In God We Trust.”
  • This is a great reminder that when we give our offering, we can trust God to take care of us. God always provides for our needs.

Who Will Win the Battle Between the Talkers and the Silent?

By
Daphne Kirk
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Option 1

Having encountered this problem many times, my initial response is to go into groups of three for part of the meeting, putting the talkers in one group and the shy or quiet ones in another. This approach puts the talkers to “battle it out” and learn listening skills from each other. Three who like talking will bring chaos or order. It is worth a try.

Similarly, putting the quiet ones in a small group together means they talk—or all stay silent (not really an option when feedback to the whole group will be required). It also gives them safety without being interrupted and overshadowed by those more bold.

Always have a time of feedback to the main group to bring cohesion and to enable the rest to hear a summary of what was said. In this context the value of what was said in both groups will be equally honored.

Option 2

Another approach would be to get the “talker” on your side by asking him or her to help draw out the quieter ones or help to allow silence so they feel safe. In this way they will not feel criticized but honored.

Of course there may be genuine reasons why someone does not speak up. Perhaps he or she has been mocked for input in previous situations and might feel inhibited by other group members. Or there might be other internal reasons. Taking time to invite this person for a personal meeting outside the group is a great option. In this meeting the leader can discover how he or she feels and can listen to concerns and then take action that will bring healing.

Option 3

Another way might be to address the issue of everyone’s participation in the group and ask how the group can ensure everyone has time and opportunity to express themselves. Brainstorm ideas and bring group awareness of this essential dynamic.

Non–option!

One thing NOT to do is ignore the problem, hoping it will just go away. Of course every member may be quiet for a few meetings or overtalk for others, but when there is a persistent challenge, it must be dealt with in a loving way.

…And by the way, the leader must make sure that he or she is not the talker!

This article originally appeared here.

Find Peace! The “Communication War” Between Old & Young

By
Yvon Prehn
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

There is a silent war going on in churches today. Nobody talks about it and many in the church are not even aware it is going on, but it continues day after day and the injuries, both to individuals and to the Kingdom of God, are immense. This is the war of communication expectations between talking on the phone, email, and texting.

Though this conflict can happen between any members of the church, for purposes of this article, I’m going to over simply it by sharing what I’ve seen happen many times between Boomer and Millennial age groups. Though I’m using these two groups as examples, read into them “Boomer and older” and “Millennial and GenX”.

I’ll first give some examples and then suggestions for ways to improve the situation.

Situation #1:

A Boomer congregation member places a phone call to a Millennial Youth Pastor and leaves a message. No response. Boomer tries email. No response. Sunday comes around and Boomer angrily confronts Millennial, “I was going to give two scholarships to Winter Camp, but since you didn’t have the courtesy to respond to my offer, the scholarship money has been donated elsewhere.”

Millennial responds, “I’m really sorry. I didn’t get any of your messages.”

Situation #2:

Millennial Youth Pastor texts the Boomer age people in the church who have said they want to be part of the prayer team for youth. She is excited with the list she received from the church office and then sends them a series of Instagram links to images showing the kids they will be praying for at an upcoming strategy session at Starbucks.

When the time comes for the strategy session, only one person out of the 15 she sent multiple text messages to shows up. On Sunday, when she tries to be kind and ask why various Boomer individuals didn’t show up, she gets a combination of blank stares and replies of “You never contacted me” in response.

What is going on

In both groups, the person sending the message felt they were doing all they could to communicate. However, just sending a message is not the same as communicating a message.

In both cases the party it was intended for never received the message.

Before I get to specific advice on how to deal with this redemptively in the church, let’s step back and realize that we are at a unique time in the world of communication because, though we have many channels of communication available today, different groups use different tools that do not necessarily communicate with each other. Following are some examples of this:

Millennial communication channels

Many Millennials rarely talk on their phones—they don’t answer them or listen to messages. Nor do they read email—they rarely sit down at a computer because they do everything with their phones. Except talk on them.

They text. A lot. They constantly scan and send social media on their phones. These are the communication channels they use.

The result is that if someone calls them or leaves a voice message or sends an email, chances are they won’t hear it or see it.

Boomer communication channels

Boomers talk on their phones. They listen to and leave messages. Many have no idea how to text, how to receive one or how to send one. Many of their phones don’t have the texting app enabled or it may not be available. If they have it, they may not know how to use it.

For many Boomers their preferred method of technological communication is email, though many Boomers, and those older don’t even know how to use this. The Boomers, who use email, assume everyone has email and responds to it.

The social media of choice for many Boomers is Facebook—but they use Facebook at home on a computer and they primarily look at the updates and ignore (or are not aware of) messages sent through Facebook. Many other social media simply aren’t on their radar.

Of course there are many exceptions to the examples above, but they are worth considering when communication problems arise.

WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS? FIND OUT ON PAGE TWO

Fear of Death Did Not Keep High-Security Inmates from Baptism

By
Jessica Lea
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

What if giving your life to Christ and being baptized meant facing imminent death? That’s not the case for most of us in the U.S., but it was the reality for five men baptized last week at Coffield Unit, a maximum security men’s prison in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

“These men are all active gang members,” said Niles Holsinger in a video update on Facebook. “And not only were they making a decision to be baptized and to commit their lives to Christ, they knew that this decision meant, to some of them, certain death.”

Holsinger, who is a pastor with Gateway Church in Dallas/Fort Worth, said that guards led the men, who were shackled hand and foot, into the gym where the baptisms were held and placed them at opposite sides of the room in case of violence. The men are members of two rival gangs. According to Fox News, a guard explained that death is the only way for the men to leave their gangs. The guards did not let go of the men’s arms until the men were in the baptismal tank.

But these men, said Holsinger, “professed the same Lord yesterday, were baptized in the same water, and they walked out together in a line, guards not holding onto their arms any more, because God had done something in their life.”

Administrative Segregation

The men are housed in Administrative Segregation (Ad Seg), that is, solitary confinement. This means they spend 23 hours a day in their cells and are not even allowed to see their friends and family members. Holsinger toured the Ad Seg area of prison prior to the baptism and wrote in an Instagram post, “Most of these men are dangerous, some are considered the most dangerous men in Texas.”

He also said he had a strong sense of spiritual oppression during his tour: “It’s hard to describe what this section of the prison is like. It was the darkest, most oppressively evil place I have ever been. Even the sunlight coming in the windows of the corridors seemed darker.”

But the light of Christ is shining through the darkness. One of the prisoners being baptized told Holsinger, “I have tried it my way my whole life and it’s gotten me here. I want to try it God’s way…we’re going to come out of the water as new men.”

While the whole situation was “mind-blowing” to Holsinger, something else that shocked him was the fact that after the men left the water, they were shaking with fear. “These guys literally know they’re putting their life at risk and they’re doing it anyway,” Holsinger told Fox News. “Never one time in my life have I felt like my decision to follow Christ has put me in danger or discomfort.”

Church Celebrates Baptism of Rival Gang Members in Coffield Prison from HIS Radio on Vimeo.

Be the Church That Embraces Children, Not Just Tolerates Them

By
Sam Rainer
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

There are two kinds of restaurants. Those that embrace children, and those that tolerate children. If you’re a parent, especially if you have multiple small children, then you know this reality. When my family of six storms a restaurant, I can tell immediately whether the establishment will embrace my children or tolerate them.

In a recent occurrence, the host looked at my brood with eyes wide: “Oh, my. You have…a lot of kids.” I was not offended. Serving large families at a restaurant is tough. Odds are at least one of my kids will have a meltdown before the food arrives, and a 100 percent probability exists that large portions of something will fall to the floor.

Rarely are we treated rudely, but I can tell which restaurants merely tolerate my children. I understand the tension. Feeding my kids is hard work. It’s why we pay money to have someone else do it! My wife and I don’t get angry; we just don’t return to the places where my kids are a burden. When we discover a restaurant that embraces children, we go back.

There are two kinds of churches. Those that embrace children, and those that tolerate children. Most churches are not rude toward kids, and I’ve never seen a church sign stating “No Kids Allowed.” However, the families visiting your church will know whether you embrace their kids or not. The churches who welcome children have a higher likelihood of families returning—not just once but often!

Does Your Church Say “Let the Children Come to Me”?

Embracing children means understanding that messy is healthy. Children do not learn to eat cleanly. They turn dining room tables into abstract impressionist works. More food ends up in the hair than in the mouth. You’ll need a hazmat suit to serve spaghetti. Children learning to take in God’s Word, learning to worship, learning to love Jesus are just as messy. The line of dirt on walls about two feet high is there because little hands are dragging as kids walk the halls. Messy is healthy.

Embracing children means valuing noise over perfection. Children make noises in worship. Children make noises in classes. Children make noises in the parking lot. They cry. They laugh loud. They scream and yell. Some churches tolerate the noise. Other churches value the noise. I’ve heard of churches not allowing children below a certain age in the worship service. Try to bring an infant into the worship space, and they’ll stop you like an irate Pharisee with a bad case of the Mondays.

Embracing children means protection at all costs. Child security is a discipleship issue—and one of the most important! If you believe in the Great Commission, then you will create robust security measures for children. Jesus says, “I am with you always.” A low-security church teaches children “I am with you sometimes.”

Embracing children means consistent promotion in multiple venues. Check your worship guide. What is in there about children? Check your social media feeds, your email newsletter, and your worship service announcements. If kids are not there, then you are not embracing children.

Embracing children means investing in KidMin. Is your children’s minister the lowest paid ministry team member? Does your children’s budget match your worship budget? A church that embraces children will invest in the ministries supporting children. A church that tolerates children will give the monetary leftovers to them. If it is easier to cut your children’s budget than your technology budget, then you likely are not embracing children in your church.

Embracing children means understanding church at their level. A lot of churches will seek out the perspective of parents. You should! Helping parents create God-centered homes and not child-centered homes is one of the core elements of family discipleship. However, you should not neglect the perspective of a child. Ask about their experiences, their feelings and their opinions. When you understand church at the level of a child, you are better positioned to guide the child toward Christ.

In Luke 18, Jesus invited the children. In Mark 10, Jesus embraced the children and said: “Let the children come to me.” Churches that welcome and embrace children are like Jesus. In fact, Jesus becomes angry at the disciples for discounting the value of children. The next time a child cries out in church, don’t get angry at the child. Get angry at the person who is angry at the child. Children are a blessing, so churches should make them a priority. Be the church that embraces children, not just tolerates them.

This article originally appeared here.

The Hardest Rebuke to Hear

By
Mike Leake
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

One of my favorite memes are those of the There, I Fixed It variety. I enjoy them so much because there are likely things around my house which could make it on their website. I am slowly waking up to my propensity to spend an inordinate amount of time and effort “fixing something” which would be far better to just replace.

It’s amazing to me the dedication that I’ll put into making an old rust bucket still functional. It’s a rust bucket! But it was my rust bucket. And in that moment it seems far easier and more frugal to come up with a life hack than to admit that I need to get a new one. It still technically “works” even if it’s not up to a certain code.

Jeroboam Wanted to Live by His Own Code

Jeroboam was one of those There, I Fixed It guys. He had a political problem and came up with a great life hack. The Law of Moses called for worship in Jerusalem. But that was in the Southern Kingdom—that wasn’t a good idea for him to allow his people to see the glorious temple of Solomon. That would have led to them questioning the wisdom of breaking away from the family of David.

So Jeroboam grabbed his duct tape and got to work. He crafted two golden calves—one for Bethel and one for Dan. Then he tells all the people—“It’s too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt.” No sense in going to Jerusalem, the building code is just a suggestion anyways. God is everywhere so why not just set up a temple here and worship him in our homeland?

Jeroboam made religion a matter of convenience. He allowed the people to set the plumb line. God’s Word was no longer the standard because Jeroboam had come up with a genius fix. It was no longer about what God wanted—or what was right—it was now about what worked. Bethel was shorter, so worship there. It’s easier.

Religion became convenient and then it also became non-judgmental. They forgot the God of justice. They weren’t hating on Jerusalem. It was fine to worship there. Bethel is fine to worship at. So is Dan. It doesn’t really matter…so long as you are sincere.

And it’s “working.” At least practically speaking. The Northern Kingdom experiences a time of great prosperity. There isn’t much conflict. Everybody is getting along just fine. “No judgment here.” So apparently God doesn’t care much about where he is worshipped. It’s a new day…a new era.

Amos Steps in With God’s Word of Judgment

And then a prophet named Amos comes to town, from Judah of all places, and tells them their life hack isn’t up to code. Amaziah cannot believe that he’d have the audacity to say such a thing. Everything is working. “Check your plumb line again, Amos. Cause stuff is going great in the Northern Kingdom.”

And isn’t this true of us even today? The idols which are the most pernicious and hard to fell are the ones still working. When our idols come up empty and we see them for what they are it isn’t nearly as difficult to abandon them (usually for another shiny thing). But it’s really hard to hear a word of judgment (truth) when we are in the midst of prosperity. “Maybe we were right to move our moral compass—look at how great the economy is going!”

It’s also really hard to hear a word of judgment from somebody outside your camp. In Amos 7:12, Amaziah uses different words for prophets. He’s basically telling him that he needs to stay in Judah and they don’t need his voice up in the Northern Kingdom. “Do we really need to hear from minorities or immigrants about how to run our country?” “Is it really OK for someone without a uterus to speak about abortion?”

Listening to Amos’ message would have been tough. He is coming into a land where everything seems to be working and he tells them they need to change everything in order to be up to code. It’s so much easier to just say, “Your code is stupid, my life hacks are working, stay in your lane and leave me to my own business!”

Amaziah’s response to Amos is concerning to me, because I feel in my bones how easy it is to take up such a response when confronted with the plumb line of God’s Word. It’s far easier to go with the cultural tide than to stand with God’s Word. And none of us are immune to the “cultural tide.” Bleeding-heart liberalism isn’t the only godless culture in our nation. God-belittling conservatism is just as deadly.

Amaziah resorted to blame-shifting, silencing and an ‘only God can judge me’ theology. When we see our own hearts responding similarly we really should pause and try to discern whether we’re combating “the other side” or we’re actually warring against God’s plumb line. We try to silence what we fear. We blame-shift when we don’t have a foundation to stand upon. And we hide behind weak theology when the living version is far too terrifying for our comfortable universe.

The most grating rebukes are always the ones which come from the hand of a God not like us.

This article originally appeared here.

How Worship Becomes Noisy and Empty

By
Colton Tatham
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The Book of Amos depicts an interesting problem. The problem is not that God’s people don’t worship. The problem is that they still consider themselves the people of God when their worship is hollow. Their worship has become nothing more than an irritating sound to God:

“Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen.” (Amos 5:23)

In response to this, you might ask: When does worship become noise? In other words, when do our attempts to ascribe glory, honor and praise to God start to become an annoying or even blasphemous sound?

A Lesson From Exodus 32

Let’s consider these places in the Bible to see what defines noisy, empty worship:

A. Worship without God

And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’” (Exodus 32:7-8)

When the Bible speaks of worship, it means so much more than sharing a kind word for a job well done. It means actively bending your knee in submission, praise and sacrifice to something or someone worthy of your utmost devotion. That’s why what we see happening in Exodus 32 is so offensive to God.

No matter how marvelous they may be to behold, human-made idols like a golden calf are not worthy of worship in comparison to God. The same can be said of worshipping art and artists, discoveries and discoverers, or visions and visionaries.

God alone is worthy of our worship because God alone made us as his image-bearers designed to reflect his glory—not our glory.

So when we worship without him, it is the ultimate let down because we are devoting ourselves to less than the best that we were created for.

When you take a moment to consider all the Bible reveals about God, who else can redeem a nation of slaves from a nation of tyrants? Who else can create something out of nothing? Who else can bring the dead to life?

The magnitude of God’s power to transform not just your life but the entire course of the world’s history should be reason enough to worship with him rather than without him.

B. Worship without Love

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:1)

In the United States, we often talk about “love” in terms of passions and affections that bring us pleasure. We fall in love with people, books, jobs and hobbies, so long as we find them delightful. And then when our passions fade, we lose interest, break-up and move-on searching for something new to love.

Satan Will Sing You to Sleep, Waking Up From Spiritual Indifference

By
Jon Bloom
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“You don’t tell people about Jesus, because you don’t care about their eternal state.”

His assertion stung. But I knew it was true. Confronted with the way he lives for the lost, its truth was as obvious to me as the nose on my face. And like the nose on my face, I wasn’t paying much attention to it until he called it out. But unlike the nose on my face, his assertion was eternally significant.

Satan Will Sing You to Sleep, Waking Up from Spiritual Indifference

I recently met this remarkable man while traveling in the Middle East. He, along with his wife, is leading a rapidly growing movement of Muslims turning to Christ in a very restrictive part of the Islamic world. I had the great (and exposing) privilege of spending hours with him. I wish I could tell you more about his story—how Jesus called him and the incredible ways the Lord uniquely prepared him to make disciples and plant churches in a very dangerous place. His story is worth a book someday. For now, I will spare the details, lest I in any way expose him.

I must pass along something he shared with me, though, because we all might be ignoring the obvious and eternally significant “nose” on our collective Western Christian faces—to our own spiritual detriment, for sure, but also to the spiritual catastrophe of those around us.

What Could Happen to Them

My new friend lives in an Islamic country where sharing the gospel, if you’re caught, will get you thrown into prison and likely tortured to extract information about other Christians. Yet he and his wife are daily, diligently seeking to share the gospel with others because they want to “share with them in its blessings” (1 Corinthians 9:23)—even more than they want their own survival.

Each morning, when this husband and wife part ways, they acknowledge to one another that it might be the last time they see each other. She knows, if caught, part of her torture will almost assuredly include rape, probably repeatedly. He knows, if caught, brutal things await him before a likely execution. For to them, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).

Yet each day they prayerfully pursue the Spirit of Jesus’ direction in order to show the lost the way of salvation. And they are equipping other Christians to do the same.

Wholly Dependent on God

When I say “prayerfully,” I mean prayerfully. They, and their fellow leaders, spend a minimum of four hours a day in prayer and God’s word, and frequently fast for extended periods, before they go out seeking souls. They do this because they need to.

Spiritual strongholds do not give way and conversions don’t happen unless they do this. One wrong move and a whole network of believers could be exposed. So, they depend on the Holy Spirit to specifically lead them to people the Spirit has prepared. For them, the doctrine of election is not some abstract theological controversy for seminary students to debate. They see it played out in front of them continually.

The cessationism-continuationism debate is also a moot issue for them. They regularly see the Holy Spirit do things we read about in the book of Acts. As my friend described the Spirit’s activity where he lives, it was clear that all the revelatory and miraculous spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12–14 are a normal part of life for these believers—because they really need them.

They’re not debating Christian Hedonism either. When you live under the threat of death daily, either life is Christ and death is gain to you, or you will not last. So, I learned that my friend has translated John Piper’s original sermon series on Christian Hedonism into his native language and used them as part of his core theological curriculum for believers.

Lulled by an Evil Lullaby

All those things were wonderful and encouraging—as well as convicting—to hear. But then he told me a disturbing story.

A number of years ago, this man and his wife were given the opportunity to move to the States, and they did. After living here for a period of time, however, the wife began to plead with her husband that they move back to their Islamic country of origin. Why? She told him, “It’s like there’s a satanic lullaby playing here, and the Christians are asleep. And I feel like I’m falling asleep! Please, let’s go back!” Which they did (God be praised!).

This story contains an urgent message we must hear: She wanted to go back to a dangerous environment to escape what she recognized as a greater danger to her faith: spiritual lethargy and indifference. This should stop us in our tracks. Do we recognize this as a serious danger? How spiritually sleepy are we?

According to my new friend, we can gauge our sleepiness by how the eternal states of non-Christians around us shape the way we approach life. Judging by the general behavior of Christians in the West, it’s clear to my friend that, as a whole (we all can point to remarkable exceptions), we don’t care much about people’s eternal states.

Are We Content to Sleep?

My friend and his wife are right. There is a satanic lullaby playing, even in churches, across the West. Why else are we so lethargic in the midst of such relative freedom and unprecedented prosperity? Where is our collective Christian sense of urgency? Where are the tears over the perishing? Where is the groaning? Where is the fasting and prevailing intercession for those we love and those we live near and those we work with, not to mention the unreached of the world who have no meaningful gospel witness among them?

Paul had “great sorrow and unceasing anguish in [his] heart” over his unbelieving Jewish kinsmen (Romans 9:2). Do we feel anything like that? And Paul’s Spirit-inspired urgency to bring the gospel to the lost shaped his whole approach to life:

I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:22–23)

What is shaping our approach to life? If we think that kind of mentality was only for someone with Paul’s apostolic calling, all we need to do is keep reading 1 Corinthians 9:24–27. It’s clear that Paul means for us to run our unique faith-races with the same kind of kingdom-focused mentality.

If we’re not feeling anguish over people’s eternal state and ordering our lives around praying for and trying to find ways to bring the gospel to them, we are being lulled to sleep by the devil’s soothing strains. It’s time to start fasting and praying and pleading with God and one another to wake up.

Now Is the Time

It matters not if we call ourselves Calvinists and believe we have an accurate knowledge of the doctrine of election, if our knowledge does not lead us to feel anguish in our hearts over the lost and a resolve to do whatever it takes to save some. “We do not yet know as we ought to know” (to paraphrase 1 Corinthians 8:2). What we need is to cultivate Paul’s heart for the lost.

My conversation with this new friend showed me that, Calvinist though I am, I do not yet know as I ought to know.

But, Father, I want to know as I ought to know! I repent of all lethargy and indifference! I will not remain sleepy anymore when it comes to the eternal states of the unbelieving family and friends and neighbors and restaurant servers and checkout clerks all around me.

Over Our Dead Bodies

According to Jesus, in his parable of the 10 virgins, spiritual sleepiness is a very, very dangerous condition (Matthew 25:1–13). We need to get more oil—now! There isn’t much time.

I want to be done with satanic sleepiness and cultivate the resolve that led Charles Spurgeon—that unashamed Calvinist—to say,

If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.

Father, in Jesus’s name, increase my anguish over perishing unbelievers and my urgent resolve to “become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22), whatever it takes!

This article originally appeared here. 

How to Keep Going When It Feels Like Your World Is Crashing

By
Josh Weidmann
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Life: It has a way of stepping on itself.

When we are busy doing good and godly things the evil intentions of our seen and unseen enemies will get in the way. I often wish I could stop the world and just face the issues in front of me, but life doesn’t work that way. Most often we have to keep going even when it feels like we have nothing to go on. 

How to Keep Going When It Feels Like Your World Is Crashing

King David Could Relate…

King David wrote many Psalms about pursuing ahead even when times are rough:

Psalm 27:1-3, “The LORD is my light and my salvation—so why should I be afraid? The LORD is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident.”

Psalm 31:1-5, “O LORD, I have come to you for protection; don’t let me be disgraced. Save me, for you do what is right. Turn your ear to listen to me; rescue me quickly. Be my rock of protection, a fortress where I will be safe. You are my rock and my fortress. For the honor of your name, lead me out of this danger. Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me, for I find protection in you alone. I entrust my spirit into your hand. Rescue me, LORD, for you are a faithful God.”

David sings of God’s protection and His justification of the repentant and righteous person in many other Psalms, such as 7, 34, and 52.

God hears our cries for help and delivers us when we repent of our sin. So whether our circumstances are consequences of our own sin, consequences of another person’s sin, or simply because sin exists in world through the heart of man, we can trust that God will give us the strength we need to keep going, as long as we remain humble and contrite in heart (Psalm 51:17).

“Keep on Keepin’ On”

In other words, keep going even when you think you can’t. This kind of perseverance reminds me of a professor of mine at Moody Bible Institute named Dr. Sauer. He was an incredibly godly man and left the deepest impression on me. A day I will never forget was when I was sitting in class and he walked in, telling us that his daughter had been found dead the day before. I was shocked—both at the loss of his daughter, and the fact that he was at work that day! Yet that class was unforgettable as he recounted the need to remain faithful even when life turns upside down.

He came and spoke to a small group of us later and recounted the story, listen to this:

[Transcript of the audio clip from Dr. Sauer]

Our daughter killed herself on Tuesday afternoon. The next day, about five in the morning, she [his wife, Sweet Sue] went to work and I’m in my office ready for Bible study and prayer. I’m hurting so bad, in a sense I don’t feel anything. I’m confused, I’m almost upset at the Bible, angry at God, but we don’t miss a minute of work or a day. 

Now, some people might say, “Oh yes, but you were a 56-year-old mature man when your daughter killed herself, and these students here at Moody are young and they are not able to respond like that.” Remember what Jesus said in John 13? “I gave you an example. As I washed your feet, you go and wash the feet of other people.” OK? “I’ve given you an example.” 

When tragedy strikes and you are hurt, get a grip on yourself and, with God’s grace, full speed ahead with whatever you got.

The True Test of What We Value

What we value most will determine what we live for most. When we feel like we’ve had a major loss or attack and what has been done to us is unfair, we may be placing too much focus on our own feelings or our own rights. We need to find what God can to do through these circumstances in our lives. When we kick and scream about not getting our way, or what we think is right, it demonstrates what we value the most. If we value Jesus Christ as supreme in our life, we will push ahead in devotion and faithfulness, no matter the circumstances. We will be able to say, I live for God, even when…

Friends, character is victory, it is not a gift. God doesn’t just give a person character (Psalm 1) but He asks us to have deep character that has faith in Him. He will always remain devoted to us, so let’s live a life for God and have a clear display of devotion even when…[fill-in the blank]…happens in our life.

This article originally appeared here.

Church and Artists: 6 Critical Errors You Must Avoid

By
Ross Lester
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Church and Artists: 6 Critical Errors You Must Avoid

Reposted with permission from Ross Lester. Read the original post on Ross Lester’s website.

I recently had the immense privilege of being at and speaking at The Canvas Conference in Costa Mesa, California. If you would like more info and all the media from the conference, you can get that here.

The task assigned to me was to spend 20 minutes looking at some of the reasons that there is a disconnect between the church and artists and then also to provide some hope and help for the way forward. Below are my long-form notes from my talk. I hope they serve you well.

I am in some ways completely unqualified to be speaking with you tonight, and I am a little embarrassed by the extent of that. On first appearance, I am the archetypal non-creative. I am a suburban Campus Pastor in a multisite megachurch who has spent the last 10 years of his life trying to squeeze camels through the eyes of needles. I spend my days discipling bankers, accountants, financial advisers, venture capitalists, day traders and lots of soccer moms, although I have learned in Texas that they aren’t soccer moms but baseball and football moms, because soccer is for Europeans and communists.

I am not nearly hip enough for this room. I bought these wonderfully sensible trousers from Target and I am not wearing this sports coat in any sort of ironic way. I actually just like it. It isn’t a statement against the man. I am the man.

But, in some small way, I feel like I do have something to contribute for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, I have been on both sides of the artist and church leadership divide. I grew up in church, conservative church. Church where the band got shut down the day it brought drums and guitars into the room. And I left church to pursue art. Well art of sorts. I worked as a pro drummer for a few years, paying the bills by playing in Jazz trios on weeknights and alternative rock bands on the weekends. Sadly, I then ended up leaving art to pursue church. It was drumming that took me back into church, but I never found a place for full expression there, and I was told that laying down my life to pursue Christ meant laying down my musical pursuit at the same time. I do miss playing. And then I have been a pastor for more than a decade, and I have worked with a lot of artists, most of them pretty frustrated with the church, and at times I have been pretty frustrated with them. I feel and have lived and do still live the tensions on both sides.

Secondly, I am from a different country and culture and have been spared a lot (although not all) of the Christian industrial megacomplex. It has been startling and stark for me to encounter it here. I have some thoughts about it, but they aren’t developed enough yet for me to share them fully tonight.

With all that said, I wanted to provide some admittedly limited opinion and insight on how we got to where we are and what might be a helpful posture moving forward as someone who is both a frustrated artist and some days little more than what feels like a suburban door to door salesman of religious goods and services. This is in no way a comprehensive dealing with the topic. I am just going to whet the appetite tonight. I can’t wait to see how you all unpack this over this weekend.

What got us here? Six errors I have seen and do see.

1. We have believed that clarity and beauty are mutually exclusive.

Truth be told we have done this in both directions. So much of what we see as theological precision lacks beauty, texture, nuance and tension and so ends up being a restrictive jacket that artists cannot wear. And this is how we primarily train people theologically, in terms of systematics, which is an essential but very linear mode of thinking and understanding. In our fight for clarity, we have made people with big questions and out of the box ideas seem and feel heretical instead of slowly discipling them into deeper knowledge. We have insisted on clarity in all things, even things that are by their nature and design mysterious, and this has created fear of finding beautiful ways and images to describe and understand and revel in such mysterious things.

But…we have also failed to hold the tension in the other direction and so much creative impulse has besmirched the quest for clarity as a vice and exalted doubt and deconstruction as the ultimate virtues of the creative quest.

It seems every other week that some form of influential Christian artist who has been squashed by the machine and worn an ill-fitting coat for too long announces their departure away from certainty in key Christian doctrines that have held the faith together for 2,000 years. Every time this happens my response is not one of disappointment at another artistic heretic, but one of deep sadness and remorse that once again we have failed to tell the truth beautifully and creatively.

Beauty and clarity are not mutually exclusive. If we describe God as clearly as we can, beauty and creativity should be the soon and sure response to that. 

2. We have turned Christianity into an enterprise and allowed that enterprise to dictate what creativity is.

When profiteering replaces prophecy as the outcome for the creative mouthpieces of our churches, then we lose our voice in the world. 

Friends, why is so much Christian music and media and art so insipid, and samey, and formulaic? It sells, that’s why. But that is such a worldly desired outcome for an artistic endeavor! We need a hard reboot in our churches, that resets us away from so much that has become Christendom and toward so much of what it supposed to be Christianity.

When I hear that artists have left Evangelicalism, I am not nervous, because I know that most likely that means they are leaving an industrial complex, a subculture of our own creation, a voting and funding block. My only hope is that they have something to catch them as they leap. The church. Christians in community.

3. We have made leadership the desired outcome of Christian maturity and modeled most if not all leadership on business efficiency principles.

I like leader development. I do. But last time I checked, the Great Commission didn’t call us to make leaders, it called us to make obedient, multiplying disciples. Will it take leaders to make that happen, absolutely; but are they the same thing, no.

Why do I raise this?

  1. It impacts who gets seen, shepherded and developed in our churches, which often means that artists don’t get seen, shepherded and developed in our churches.
  2. The leadership philosophies we embrace and encourage often have more to do with domination, control and efficiency than they do with anything we see in the leadership qualifications and characteristics of Scripture.

This leaves us with unchecked and unaccountable church leaders who don’t get called out and the reason they don’t get called out is because they are very efficient, even if they are very deficient in the fruits of the Spirit. The victims of this are often artists, who are drawn to leaders like this hoping to get developed and nurtured and seen, but they often end up being used to further platform and then tossed aside when they won’t conform. Or, their reputations get tarnished and their faith tainted when they find themselves on a stage using their gift to advance the influence of a clearly unqualified leader.

If our pipelines and development plans aim to make obedient disciples of Jesus, then leaders will emerge from that, but the good news is that they will be obedient disciples of Jesus first and leaders second. This will produce greater variety of leadership in the church and greater fruit and faithfulness to the ministry we get to do together.

4. We have allowed colonial ideas to conflate sound doctrine and religious practice.

Maybe this is just an indulgence for the international guy and bear with me if that is the case. But, it seems to me that we are ill prepared for the marvelous diversity of worship that we are going to experience in eternity. We ought to be practicing a bit more for that day in our churches today.

We have allowed the colonial ideas of cultural dominion to influence our ideas of orthodoxy and indeed some orthopraxy. What this means in large parts of the developing world is that Christianity is being rejected as the Colonizers religion, because in order to be a follower of Christ we have insisted on largely white and very western norms of community, creativity, worship and expression.

I don’t need to get on that soapbox as it crowded enough up there already, but we do need to think more carefully about what is cultural supremacy. We are so terrified of syncretism when it comes to cultural practices and norms of Africa and East Asia, but we are more than willing to adopt and hopefully redeem all sorts of knowingly and obviously Pagan rituals and ceremonies that happen to have Western roots. Oh, how we narrow the scope of acceptable artistic expression as we do this.

5. We have struggled to hold on to hopeful realism as the way to view people and the world.

Christians ought to be the most hopeful of all people. We are a resurrection people. And…we ought to be the most realistic of all people. We have doctrine for how messed up we and the world are.

Hopeful realism ought to be our tension, but we struggle to hold it. Hopeful realism holds the tension of seeing people as fallen image bearers. Divinely crafted and utterly deluded at the same time. Capable of magnificent mercy and beauty and creativity and good, and simultaneously capable of genocide and cruelty and prejudice and selfishness and narcissism.

Hopeful realism holds the tension of seeing the world as both beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

Friends this matters for creatives in the church because it keeps us from the two vices of blind optimism and hopeless cynicism. It is actually easy to make art in either of those views but they always lack the tension that makes the best art. Both extremes are deeply unsatisfactory. So much of Scripture holds this tension, and even does so in brilliantly artistic metaphor. We end up in either blindly optimistic health, wealth and prosperity nonsense that makes people feel more optimistic but ultimately doesn’t create a net that can carry the weight of their lived experience. Or we end up overextending total depravity into utter depravity, where everything just sucks all the time. This leaves people without hope, and ultimately feeling like cogs in a wheel of what they worry might be divine destruction.

Tension makes great art. Hopeful realism is what the world needs. 

6. We have scrapped contemplation from liturgy.

In our quest for efficiency and growth and entertainment, we have removed the opportunity and even the possibility for creative space to process and to grow in response to what we have heard and learned in our gatherings.

This is (in part) why we are yielding such poor results in Christian discipleship. People keep watching a band instead of singing with the saints. They keep getting sermon after sermon and never get space to ask their questions, or to learn how to read the Scriptures for themselves. They get rushed through a smorgasbord of religious goods and services and don’t get to feel what it is like to be the body of Christ.

We need creatives to help us do this better. We need church leaders who allow space for sacred creativity.

OK, what posture from here?

Throw yourself into study of our Big God.

Don’t be scared of growing in clarity in this space. We need our artists to be excellent theologians. This won’t stifle creativity, it will grow it.

We need the posture of the Apostle Paul in Romans 11, who said…

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!  34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”  35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. [1]

Paul’s response to some of his most complex theology is singing! Let’s be people of the book, who are filled with wide-eyed wonder!

Serve a local church.

The church is messy but it is the manifold wisdom of God to a dying world. There is literally no other way to fully display it for believers but within the community of the body.

8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.[2]

I know many of you have been burned. I am asking you to try again. Were you burned by an overly ambitious pastor? OK, find one who isn’t. Find a little local church close to your house and serve your guts out. As you do, the manifold wisdom of God is on display.

Broaden your stream.

In an echo chamber world read broadly, listen widely, explore constantly. I have a deep desire for people to be surprised and confused by my bookshelf. The gospel is too rich. The church is too important. The world is too large a mission field, for us to continually just stay in one field, thinking that it’s the world.

Be people of hopeful realism.

Be realistic about the church, about the world, about yourself. But be hopeful about the church, about the world, about yourself.

My prayer for you is the same one Paul prayed for the Romans in Romans 15.

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. [3]

[1]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version(Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ro 11:33–36.

[2]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version(Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eph 3:8–10.

[3]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version(Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ro 15:13.

This article originally appeared here.

America’s Moral Values Are Crumbling, Conservatives and Liberals Agree

By
Stephanie Martin
-
thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

While Americans continue to grow more liberal on many moral issues, several topics are driving an even bigger wedge between liberals and conservatives. Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs poll, conducted in early May, found that abortion is the most divisive of 21 behaviors listed, with 73 percent of liberals and only 23 percent of conservatives calling it morally acceptable.

Divorce is deemed morally acceptable by 77 percent of respondents, up 10 points from 2012. Although 91 percent of “very liberal” and “liberal” respondents say divorce is OK, only 67 percent of those who consider themselves “very conservative” and “conservative” say it’s OK.

Likewise, 71 percent of respondents say sex between an unmarried man and woman is morally acceptable, with 87 percent of liberals but only 54 percent of conservatives taking that stand.

Which Moral Values Issues Get a Green Light

Of the 21 personal moral behaviors measured by the poll, the three most widely accepted are using birth control (92 percent), drinking alcohol (79 percent), and getting a divorce (77 percent). In addition, at least 60 percent of Americans agree that these other seven behaviors are morally acceptable: sex between unmarried adults, gambling, smoking marijuana, embryonic stem cell research, having a baby out of wedlock, gay or lesbian relationships, and the death penalty.

Meanwhile, fewer than 40 percent of respondents say these seven behaviors are morally acceptable: teenage sex, pornography, cloning animals, polygamy, suicide, cloning humans and extramarital affairs. Eighty-nine percent of Americans frown on affairs.

The narrowest gap between answers of “morally acceptable” and “morally wrong” (just seven or eight percentage points) appears on these four issues: buying and wearing clothing made of animal fur, doctor-assisted suicide, medical testing on animals, and abortion.

Where Liberal & Conservative Moral Values Stand

Gallup notes that “considerable overlap” occurs between what liberal and conservative Americans view as morally acceptable. Of the 21 behaviors studied, liberals say 13 are acceptable and conservatives say nine are acceptable.

Notably, a majority of liberals but less than half of conservatives consider these seven issues acceptable: abortion, gay or lesbian relationships, doctor-assisted suicide, smoking marijuana, having a baby outside of marriage, pornography, and sex between teenagers. By contrast, a majority of conservatives but less than half of liberals consider these three issues acceptable: the death penalty, buying and wearing clothes made of animal fur, and medical testing on animals.

People from both sides of the ideological fence broadly agree that these five behaviors are morally wrong: suicide, cloning animals, cloning humans, polygamy and extramarital affairs.

Respondents: America’s Moral Values Are Poor—and Getting Worse

Gallup’s annual poll also reveals that 47 percent of Americans rate the country’s moral values as “poor,” down from 49 percent last year. Only 17 percent of people rate U.S. values as “excellent” or “good.”

Seventy-seven percent of Americans say the country’s values are getting worse—a figure that has held steady three years in a row. (The high was 82 percent in 2007.) Only 19 percent of Americans say the country’s values are improving.

Parents Forgive Man Who Tried to Kill Five-Year-Old Son in Mall of America

By
Jessica Lea
-
thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

The parents of the five-year-old boy thrown from a balcony at the Mall of America in April said they forgave the man who tried to kill their son. In statements read by the prosecutor at the sentencing of Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda on Monday, Landen’s mother and father said they will not let the “evil” act define them and also told Aranda that God’s grace and mercy are available to him.

“I want you to know I forgive you,” Landen’s mother said. “Not because what you did was OK, not because I want to, but because God wants me to. I’m not letting you take any part of our family. You’re not taking our love, our joy, our peace. You’re not taking anything! I refuse to be full of anger and hatred, I refuse to let you take my joy.”

The Father’s Statement

Landen’s father said that Aranda’s actions will not affect them any further: “You chose to listen to the worst parts of yourself that day. You chose evil over good and chose to take your hate and hurt out on my precious boy. That is where your impact on us stops. You will take nothing more from us.” They were at the mall to have a “normal,” “fun” day, said Landen’s father, and the fact that Aranda harmed their son would not change they way they live in the future. “You will not define our lives or our hearts,” he said. “We will live our lives to the fullest filled with fun and joy.”

Landen’s father expressed that he wished Aranda could experience the pain and suffering Aranda caused Landen. But while he did want Aranda to get “the maximum punishment,” Landen’s father also said he forgave him: “I forgive you, because it is what God calls me to do and holding hate only harms me and I will not allow that.”

He also wanted Aranda to know that God loved him and wants to save him. Landen’s father quoted John 3:16 and said, “This is the grace that our merciful, loving, and forgiving God offers you.” Jesus, he said, “is greater than any evil you have committed. I pray you call on his name so that you will be saved.”  

The Mother’s Statement

Landen’s mother began her statement by alluding to Genesis 50:20 where Joseph tells his brothers he forgave them for selling him into slavery. Joseph says, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” She focused on God’s authority to use even evil actions for good, saying that now, “The whole world is seeing God move in this little boy that I get to call mine.”

The mother expressed compassion for Aranda, saying, “I’m sad you chose anger and hatred. Something really bad must have happened to you for you to want to do this to a sweet, innocent little boy. I’m sorry for whatever you’ve gone through. I hope God can save you and show you what His love is all about someday.”

She also said she is at peace with the fact that God will ultimately judge Aranda one day. “I hand it off to him and you will take none of my thoughts EVER again,” she said. “I am done with you. God, it is all in your hands.”

What Occurred at the Mall

A couple of months ago in April, Landen was at the Mall of America with his family when Aranda approached Landen and his mother, snatching the boy and throwing him off a balcony. Landen fell an estimated 40 feet, but has miraculously survived without any brain or spinal damage.

He has, however, sustained serious injuries, including multiple broken bones. The GoFundMe page set up for him states, “Landen has a very long road to recovery ahead of him… He has many surgeries ahead in his life to try to get back to a normal life for a young, vibrant boy.”

Police found and arrested Aranda as he was leaving the mall. He admitted to throwing Landen off the balcony and also admitted that he had gone to the mall intending to kill someone. He had been planning to kill an adult, but chose Landen instead.

Aranda was sentenced to 19 years in prison, which according to The Washington Post, is the maximum amount of time recommended by the state of Minnesota for a crime like this. He will serve at least 12.5 of those years, but will then be eligible for supervised release.

Aranda chose not to make any address to the court, the judge or Landen’s parents.

Steven Argue: It’s a Difficult Time to Be an Emerging Adult

By
Jason Daye
-
thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Steven Argue is a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary where he teaches classes and advises masters and doctoral students. When he’s not researching with the Fuller Youth Institute, Steven speaks, writes, and consults for universities, churches, denominations, and parachurch organizations on the topic of adolescence and emerging adulthood. Steven and his wife, Jen, have three daughters and live in California.

Key Questions for Steven Argue

– How do you define adulting?

– What does research show that suggests young people have to go through more preparation today?

– How does the church play a positive role in an emerging adult’s life?

Key Quotes from Steven Argue

“Adulting is our child’s growth in agency as they embrace opportunities to shape the world around them.”

“It’s often the instinct of us older types…to use the phrase ‘when I was your age.’ As soon as that phrase is offered, I think for an older type they think that that’s a bridge-building phrase, but we’re finding for young people it actually isn’t bridge-building, it’s more of a barrier.”

“It takes longer for young people to grow up today. The delay of the typical markers of adulthood like marriage, career, or children are being started later than average—up to even 5 years later. And while young people, in some aspect, choose this, it also isn’t a choice. Education is more expensive, it takes longer. Establishing careers and relationships and family is more complex and requires more preparation.”

“The third decade of life isn’t about meandering, it’s about investment.”

“For most emerging adults, 30 is sort of a magic number. They kind of want to be on their way by the time they’re 30…”

“There’s something called intragenerational, where instead of things changing generation to generation with an overlap, within a generation things are changing so fast that the things you and I learned in high school aren’t even relevant to our lives today.”

“College tuition has increased probably about 200 percent since their parents went to college.”

“I think sometimes churches are masters of the unpaid internship.”

“For them, one of the key markers for adulthood is not so much marriage or even having a family, but it’s actually financial independence.”

“A lot of young people in their 20s, almost up to 50 percent, will at some point in time find a way back to living with their parents again.”

“This whole idea of work-life balance is non-existent to this generation.”

“Young people are looking for a group of people that is willing to take a risk in them in a world where your resume is never long enough and there’s always someone smarter than you and your competition is not with the person across the street but it’s really with someone on the other side of the world.”

“The church is bursting with good news that young people want to hear. If we keep telling ourselves that young people don’t care about the church, we’re going to miss the chance to recognize that if we actually think about what it means to invest in young people and advocate for them, I’m convinced that they’ll be lining up out the door because that’s what they want.”

“We have an opportunity to treat our young people as prophets rather than pariah.”

“We tell young people all the time that they can be anything, but I think what they really want is to be something.”

Mentioned in the Show:

Growing With

Growing Young

FullerYouthInstitute.org

StevenArgue on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

StevenArgue.com

Other Ways to Listen to this Podcast:

► Listen on Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-churchleaders-podcast/id988990685?mt=2

► Listen on Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/churchleaders/the-churchleaders-podcast

► Listen on GooglePlay: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/churchleaders/the-churchleaders-podcast

► Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3NOo1CepdPQog17rmL7DuT

Preacher: Become a Better Storyteller

By
Joe Hoagland
-
thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Stories are a big part of preaching. The biblical narrative that we are preaching from contains some of the most compelling true stories in history. A major way we can connect with our audience while preaching is by being compelling storytellers.

Unfortunately, many time preachers are not the best storytellers. One of the quickest ways we can connect better with our preaching is to tell better stories and tell them in more effective ways.

How to Be a Good Storyteller

Today we are going to look at a few easy and practical ways to become better storytellers.

Practice in Your Everyday Conversation

One way to improve on your storytelling is to practice in your everyday conversations. This may sound dumb and trivial but some of us are just not gifted storytellers. We leave out important and interesting details or we over-explain.

So, practice. Add more stories into your conversations to see what really resonates with people and what leaves people staring blankly at you. Take this new personal research up with you to the pulpit and tell more compelling stories.

Think Through Common Narrative Structures

When you think about a story in a book or in a movie or TV show there is a structure. It’s not necessarily always the structure you learned in 7th grade Literature class but there is a structure. When we are telling stories and we are undisciplined they can wander or go through tangents that do not make cognitive sense.

Think about your favorite stories (books, movies, tv shows, etc.) What is so compelling about how the story is structured?

Curate What You Expand On

Sometimes our stories go off the rails because we talk about things that do not really matter. Storytelling is an intentional part of our conversation. If we are not disciplined in how we tell stories we can drone on and on about something that would have had a much larger impact in a shorter amount of time.

Don’t Under-Explain Important Elements

Sometimes the opposite happens and there is a really intriguing nugget or useful information to the story that we neglect to tell or we do not talk enough about it. This can cause the story to not be as compelling as it could be.

Deliver a “Payoff”

An important part of storytelling in preaching is a payoff. This does not necessarily have to be time spent at the end of the story explaining the story and the significance of it. A lot of times the payoff can be delivered throughout the story or it can be delivered by connecting back to the story at a later time.

Always think through what payoff a particular story will have and think through the best way to deliver this payoff.

What Have You Done to Become a Better Storyteller?

Let us know in the comments below (just scroll all the way down). Or connect with us on social media—tweet us or join our Facebook group.

This article originally appeared here.

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