Practical Principles for Powerful Worship

February 10, 2019

thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

As I write this devotional, I have just finished leading over 150 men in a no-agenda, multi-day prayer summit at Grace Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. I was privileged to pastor this church until 2007. What the Lord planted during those years has been watered by some faithful leaders and God has given the increase. It has been an incredible sight to see so many busy, burdened men take time out to seek the face of God in Scripture-fed, Spirit-led, worship-based prayer.

Next week, I will have the joy of leading another prayer summit in Northern California that will mark 25 years since we held our very first one with the dear saints I was pastoring there. Again, this will be a profound and free-flowing experience of personal transformation as scores of believers from around the nation take significant time away to seek the Lord together. As I often note, “God is always glad to oblige when you give Him your undivided attention.” Indeed, the Lord always works uniquely and powerfully in this multi-day event where we set our hearts to worship the Lord freely from the Scriptures and in united song and intercession.

What About Your Worship?

As you read this, you probably have not experienced either of these prayer summits. You may have never even been to one of these multi-day worship experiences. Yet, I guarantee you that you have been worshiping all week long. As Paul Tripp has noted, “You cannot divide human beings into those who worship and those who don’t. Everybody worships; it’s just a matter of what, or whom, we serve.”

Realizing this, it is imperative that we take quality time each day to worship according to the Scriptures. This can occur in the quiet minutes of the early morning, during moments of intentional focus throughout the day, or at a gathering of fellow believers. But, we must worship—consistently and passionately—as a lifestyle, according to the gospel, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and for the glory of Jesus Christ. John Piper has observed, “We belittle God when we go through the outward motions of worship and take no pleasure in His person.”

A Call to Growing Hunger

A failure to worship soon results in a diminished appetite for intimacy with God. A focus of daily worship fuels our love and willing sacrifice for Christ. As I have observed in these extraordinary prayer summit days, spiritual desire deepens and widens when we set aside concentrated time to adore and abandon ourselves before Jesus. Eugene Peterson noted, “Worship does not satisfy our hunger for God—it whets our appetite.”

A number of years ago, I preached a series on worship. The Lord used it marvelously and the summary points of that series still help frame the prayer summit experience. I hope they will likewise frame your worship today:

Worship is giving, not receiving. The question is not, “What did I get out of the service?” but, “What did God receive from me?”
Worship is participative, not passive. Worship is a verb, and by definition involves bowing down in order to attribute worth to God.
Worship is vertical, not horizontal. God is the audience. I am the performer, invited by His grace to offer a solo to Him. Everyone else is my back-up choir. My goal is not to appease any human onlookers but to bring pleasure to an audience of one—Him.
Worship involves attitude and action. It is experienced in my innermost being; but, to be sincere, worship must result in acts of sacrificial obedience.
Worship involves revelation and response. Worship is the Spirit-empowered response of all that I am, to the Spirit-inspired revelation of all that He is.
To worship “in spirit” involves possession of, submission to, and illumination by the Spirit of God. I cannot worship effectively apart from the absolute control and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.
To worship “in truth” involves the truth of God revealed in creation, Christ and the Scriptures—renewing my mind and received in my heart.
The enemies of true worship are ignorance, idolatry, impurity and insincerity.
The end of true worship is five-fold: God is glorified, I am sanctified, the church is edified, the world is mystified, and the enemy is notified.
My private expression of worship on Monday through Saturday will determine the fullness of my experience of congregational worship on Sunday.
The models and moods of worship are many, making the potential of multiplied expression a wonderful possibility, which brings joy to His heart as our Father and exalts His marvelous diversity as Creator.
The musical and physical means of expression in worship are marvelous gifts of form, to be used to His glory and in accordance with His Word, to express the realities of our soul to God.
God’s great concern in worship, however, is not so much the act but the heart.

And to further inspire and instruct your worship, here are a few classic words of wisdom about worship to guide your pursuit today:

“I must take time to worship the One whose name I bear.” Oswald Chambers
“Whenever the method of worship becomes more important than the Person of worship, we have already prostituted our worship.” Judson Cornwall
“We are called to an everlasting preoccupation with God.” A.W. Tozer
“I am not worshipping Him because of what He will do for me, but because of what He is to me.” Warren Wiersbe
“The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him.” A.W. Tozer
“Corporate worship is designed to remind you that in the center of all things is a glorious and gracious King, and this king is not you.” Paul David Tripp
“To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, and to devote the will to the purpose of God.” William Temple

So, come. Let us worship and bow down.

This article originally appeared here.

Stop Calling Your Wife Hot

Barnabas Piper

February 10, 2019

I saw a tweet from a friend recently that said, “If I hear one more Christian guy call his wife hot (every time he talks about her), I’m going to throw a plate at the wall.” I suggested that he actually throw the plate at the guy calling his wife hot, or “smokin’ hot” for that matter (tongue in cheek, of course). Maybe it would knock some sense and normalcy into them.

Fellas, calling your wife hot to other people is awkward. We can’t agree with you. That would be really weird. We can’t disagree with you. That would be really mean. Ignoring you is rude, but it’s probably our best option in this case. Do you really want us trying to determine if your wife is, in fact, hot? I’m glad you think she’s a 10. You should. But calling attention to her hotness doesn’t honor her as much as it creates an opportunity for others to judge. And that’s just awkward.

It’s also subjective. You think your wife is hot. In fact, you think she’s the hottest, just as you should. But what if other guys don’t? Do you really want to raise that issue? And what if they do? Do you really want to know, or to bring it to their minds? Your wife is your standard of beauty, or at least she should be. But every time you call her hot (which refers exclusively to physical beauty, unlike “beautiful” or “lovely” or “amazing,” all of which can encompass personality and character), you are making her a standard of beauty for others. You are talking about her objectively; that is to say, you are objectifying her. Bad idea.

It is a great thing to honor your wife publicly. It’s good for people to know your devotion to her and how much you love her. It’s good for people to know you are attracted only to her and want only her. But keep the hotness talk inside the walls of your home. That’s between you and her. Tell her she is smokin’ hot all you want. But don’t tell the rest of us because it does no good for anyone.

How Chronic Stress Affects Leadership

Charles Stone

February 10, 2019

Our brains play a vital role in effective leadership (duh!). That’s pretty self-evident. Yet, this often overlooked brain fact profoundly reduces leadership effectiveness—chronic stress diminishes your ability to lead because of how it affects your brain. In this post I list five ways chronic stress does that. Whether you’re a pastor or a business leader, effective leaders understand how their brains affect their roles. In my next post I’ll provide some solutions to these problems.

Chronic stress affects leadership in these ways.

It amplifies fear and anxiety.
- Chronic stress leaves the stress hormone, cortisol, in your body and brain for extended periods of time (as well as imbalancing brain chemicals called neurotransmitters). As a result it keeps the brain’s fight-flight center (the amygdala) on high alert, which turns up the dial for fear and anxiety and leaves it there. Fearful leaders don’t lead well.
It gives you a ‘shorter fuse.’
- Parts of our brain compete for energy and other resources it needs to work effectively. When the amygdala stays on high alert, it hogs those resources and our brain’s ‘thinker’ (the front part called the pre-frontal cortex) has less of those resources available to pause and reflect before reacting. Leaders who react make dicy situations even worse.
It impairs good decision making.
- Reduced resources for our brain’s ‘thinker’ also affects our ability to think clearly and make wise, thoughtful decisions. The thinker can literally go ‘off-line’ in stressful situations when a leader has been under chronic stress for a long time. Leaders who don’t make good decisions can hinder their churches’ or organizations’ ability to reach their goals.
It diminishes memory.
- A key part of the brain involved in turning short-term memories into long-term memories is called the hippocampus. Chronic stress actually shrinks this part of the brain which makes us more forgetful. Leaders who forget important information or commitments they made to others can lose trust from those they lead.
It decreases motivation.
- A fundamental way brain cells talk to each other is through chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. Chronic stress creates an imbalance of these important chemicals which can lead to depression, listlessness and decreased motivation. Unmotivated leaders struggle to lead their churches or organizations forward.

So, chronic stress hurts the brain which impairs our leadership.

In my next post I’ll offer some practical suggestions on how to deal with chronic stress.

This article originally appeared here.

The SBC Can’t Blame Lack of Accountability on Church Autonomy

Megan Briggs

February 10, 2019

Editor’s Note: Since the publishing of this article, parts two and three of the Houston Chronicle’s Abuse of Faith series have been published.

This morning, the Houston Chronicle published a lengthy expose´ piece on the Southern Baptist Convention’s track record of handling sexual abuse cases in its midst. The article, which is part one of three, represents six months of investigative work by journalists who initiated hundreds of conversations and email correspondences and poured through hundreds of prison and court records. Looking at the last 20 years, the investigation found that 380 SBC church leaders and volunteers have faced allegations of sexual misconduct, resulting in approximately 700 victims of their abuse.

The 380 leaders “includes those who were convicted, credibly accused and successfully sued, and those who confessed or resigned. More of them worked in Texas than in any other state,” the article says.

Church Autonomy Has Been Used as an Excuse

This first article indicated that perhaps more than anything else, the SBC’s bedrock belief in church autonomy is what keeps many in the upper echelons of SBC leadership from consenting to do things many believe would stem the tide of abuse, such as compiling a database of clergy offenders.

This is something Debbie Vasquez, one of the victims profiled in the first article, along with others, implored leadership to do at the convention’s 2008 annual meeting. Citing the difficulty presented by church autonomy, the leadership declined to implement the group’s suggestions. At the 2018 convention, another group approached the SBC’s leadership with the same plea. In response, the SBC launched an investigative team with the intent of finding out the extent of the problem.

The Houston Chronicle (HC), in partnership with the San Antonio Express-News, decided to build such a database on its own. The journalists started by searching news archives, websites, prison records, and state and federal databases. They searched records in more than 20 states, although they concentrated their efforts in Texas, where SBC churches are virtually ubiquitous. Their database is searchable and accessible to anyone.

When HC reporters reached out to August Boto, the interim President of the SBC’s Executive Committee, informing him they were compiling such a database, he said “good.”

“Guys, you are not my opponent. You are not the opponent of the Southern Baptist Convention in your reporting. You’re helping us. I’m all for shining the light of day upon crime,” Boto told the journalists.

When asked why the SBC points churches looking to hire clergy to search the public sex offender registry, even though perpetrators could negotiate a plea and therefore have their names taken off of it, Boto admitted the journalists had brought up a good point. Despite his agreement that the public sex offender registry is problematic for hiring churches, Boto does not see an independently compiled database as “viable,” again citing church autonomy.

However, Russell Moore, president of the SBC’s public policy arm, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, disagrees with this thinking. In an article published shortly after the HC’s hit the digital newsstand, Moore wrote a response on his own blog, in which he says church autonomy cannot be used as an excuse for lack of accountability.

Yes, in a Baptist ecclesiology each congregation governs its own affairs and is not accountable to anyone “higher up” in a church system. And yet, the decisions a church makes autonomously determine whether that church is in good fellowship with others. A church that excuses, say, sexual immorality or that opposes missions is deemed out of fellowship with other churches. The same must be true of churches that cover up rape or sexual abuse.

The current president of the SBC, J.D. Greear, was asked for comment. Greear said that any church that “proves a pattern of sinful neglect—regarding abuse or any other matter—should absolutely be removed from fellowship from the broader denomination.” Greear also takes issue with playing the church autonomy card. In a recent Tweet, Greear said, “It is a heinous error to apply autonomy in a way that enables abuse.”

“Removal from fellowship” or being “deemed out of fellowship,” as Moore puts it, essentially equates to a church getting kicked out of the SBC. Some are critical of the SBC for removing some churches over actions such as hiring female pastors but not removing others that hire known sex offenders. Some see the problem of sexual abuse and its cover-up in the SBC as a deeper problem with misogyny. In a response to the HC’s article on Twitter Sheila Gregoire, ministry leader, author and former Baptist church-goer, says:

John the Baptist—A Model for Church Planters

Rick Martinez

February 8, 2019

John the Baptist, that curiously dressed wild man with a penchant for preaching hard truths, has always been an odd figure. And though Jesus taught that John’s role was essential, virtually nothing about his ministry would make its way into church planting manuals today.

Yet while John the Baptist isn’t normally associated with church planting, I think his ministry can greatly help church planters understand their role. Specifically, we can learn from John’s understanding of his role in redemptive history, his willingness to recede into the background, and his posture toward Jesus’ ministry,

Look Down: John’s Understanding of His Role

The Gospels show that John the Baptist was well aware of his role in redemptive history. Even when others gave him every opportunity to exalt his ministry or religious status, he humbly pointed away from himself.

Consider, for example, one occasion when the priests and Levites, intrigued by John’s fiery preaching and eccentric dress, asked if he was the Messiah. John insisted, “I am not the Christ” (John 1:20 ESV). Then they asked if he was Elijah (Mal. 4:4–6) or the Prophet (Deut. 18:15). Again, John answered no.

Instead, John identified himself as “one crying out in the wilderness,” whose message was, “Make straight the way of the Lord” (John 1:23 ESV). In other words, John made it clear that he was not the focal point of his message and ministry.

The same should always be true of us. “For we are not proclaiming ourselves,” as Paul says, “but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake” (2 Cor. 4:5 ESV).

Step Aside: John’s Willingness to Recede Into the Background

John understood the implications of his ministry of prophetic preparation. He knew that his unique role had a built-in expiration date. In fact, he was working toward that end.

For many months John had pointed to the coming Messiah. He knew Jesus was the only one with the power to bring lasting change. John also knew that he himself possessed no such power and that only Jesus could alter the eternal destiny of countless souls.

All this is why John was willing to recede into the background so Jesus could shine in the spotlight. As John famously said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30 ESV). John’s life had a lasting impact precisely because he understood that the goal of all ministry is the exaltation of Christ and the extension of his kingdom.

Cheer Up: John’s Posture Toward Jesus’s Ministry

It’s one thing to know your role and its specific responsibilities. It’s harder to accept the implications of the role when it has a definitive endpoint. Yet to receive all this with joy—as John the Baptist did—is truly remarkable.

Note how John rejoiced at the news that many began flocking to Jesus instead of to him (John 3:26). He happily recognized God’s work in moving people from the messenger to the reality of the message (John 3:27). And John rejoiced at that result. He said, “He who has the bride is the groom. But the groom’s friend, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the groom’s voice. So this joy of mine is complete” (John 3:29 ESV).

Planting Like John the Baptist

Among peoples without an established church, preaching the gospel and planting churches requires increasing the role of international workers. This is why missionaries have often taken the lead when certain contexts demanded it.

However, like John the Baptist, international church planting has a built-in expiration point. There comes a time when the presence of an established church and a growing number of believers means that field workers are no longer needed in the same roles or even to the same degree.

In Latin America’s largest cities, for example, national churches are thriving and reaching many people with the gospel. In contexts like these, where I have served, we have seen great fruit in following the example of John the Baptist. By decreasing our direct influence as national believers increase their own, we are not retreating from the field. Rather, we are reaping the reward of many years of faithful prayer, evangelism and discipleship.

Indeed, the growth of the evangelical church in the world points to the fact that God is at work in a great way. We should rejoice that God has used us to pave the way for our brothers and sisters to rise up and do much more than our teams could ever hope to do. Our work shouldn’t stop, but like the ministry of John the Baptist, it must change. For like the quintessential forerunner himself, we have the privilege of coming alongside national believers in doing all we can to help increase their potential to reach the world. They must increase, but we must decrease.

This article originally appeared here.

Is Suicide the Unpardonable Sin?

Rusty George

February 8, 2019

The question of whether suicide is the unpardonable sin became very real for us. Recently at our church, we had to walk through the unexpected and unexplainable suicide of one of our pastors at our church.

He was a friend, a husband, a son, a brother and a leader in our church. He left behind a wake of disillusionment, confusion, sadness, questions and even anger.

Suicide has a way of doing that. We wonder why? What could I have done? How could I have stopped it? Why didn’t I know?

Many of those questions we dealt with in a weekend message.

But the one question I did not feel I should try to answer in that message was this question: Is suicide the “unpardonable” sin? Is it unforgivable? And I think we’ve all asked that before. Many of us know of friends and family who have made that choice and we are wondering their eternal destiny.

I chose not to answer it in the context of a weekend message for fear that some may hear it as “permission.” But based on the number of questions I heard after the message I feel this topic needs to be addressed. Not for the sake of those looking for a way out, but for the sake of those wondering about a friend they have lost. So with the input of Pastor Mike Breaux, here goes…and I would encourage you to share this with others, but with caution. I hope this lifts a burden, not offers a solution.

Many of us seem to have tucked in the back of our memory the idea that suicide is the unpardonable sin.

This belief on suicide actually grew out of the teachings of a man named Augustine centuries ago who taught that all people who commit suicide are eternally lost. Now while that may be a great deterrent, that’s not my understanding of the Bible.

There are many of my confused, heart-sick friends that lost hope that I fully expect to see in heaven and I’m looking forward to seeing them.

Bottom line is this: Jesus died for our sin…ALL SIN.

Now, I certainly don’t want to soft-pedal this in the least, because I understand and believe that suicide is a serious sin for a number of reasons.

For one…God makes it very clear… “You shall not murder.” Murder is the taking of human life. And you can break that commandment by murdering yourself just as you can by murdering another person.

I also believe it’s a sin because it’s probably the most extreme expression of ingratitude to God. God has given us what no one else can give us—the gift of life. And when a person takes their life they’re are destroying this incredible gift.

I believe it’s a sin because it’s an expression of self-hatred and the Bible says we should “love our neighbors as we love OURSELVES.” Not in an arrogant, self-centered way…but you ought to love yourself because God loves you. God loves you so much and values you so much that He gave His only son, Jesus Christ, for you. So we are to love ourselves—but when a person takes their own life they’re expressing self-hatred.

I think suicide is a sin because it can leave a bunch of people behind that have to deal with unexpected grief and trauma…the kind you were trying to escape. And based on what I’m walking through right now, it is devastating. I think suicide is a sin because you’re playing God. The Bible says God gives life and takes it away. But when I take life into my own hands, I’m playing God and that’s a job description I am unqualified to fulfill.

So it seems to me, for these and a number of other reasons, we would have to say that, biblically, clearly suicide is a sin. And like all sin, it breaks God’s heart. WHY? Because it hurts his children.

But that doesn’t make this unpardonable or the unforgivable sin.

Friends, there is not a person of conscience reading this blog who has ever committed an unpardonable sin.

Titus 3:4-5(NIV) But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

Romans 3:22(NLT) We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for EVERYONE who believes, no matter who we are.

We’re saved NOT by our goodness, we’re saved NOT by our lack of sin, but because of His mercy. We are saved because Jesus took every one of our sins, past, present and future, to a blood-stained cross.

And for a believer who has received that grace, even though they’ve gotten confused, sick, depressed or hopeless and committed the sin of suicide, I don’t know how any of us can say they’ve committed an unpardonable sin. You see, we’re not saved by our faithfulness, but by the Lord’s faithfulness. Suicide is a sin, but because of a blood-stained cross and empty tomb, it’s NOT an unpardonable sin.

And I believe that a suicide victim who sincerely made the decision in their lifetime to accept Christ as their forgiver and Lord before their death will find their way to the arms of God by the same amazing grace we all need to get there. And although they may have temporarily lost sight of it on this side…they will discover that HOPE that will not disappoint.

Whether you have thought about, or know someone who has thought about, suicide, please click here for resources to help.

This article originally appeared here.

How Kavanaugh and Gorsuch Did on Their First Pro-Life Test

Jessica Lea

February 8, 2019

Last Thursday, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked a law that would have limited doctors in Louisiana to providing abortions only if they had “admitting privileges” to a hospital within 30 miles. Trump-appointed Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch dissented, voting to put the law into effect.

If the law had been implemented, only one doctor in the state of Louisiana would have been able to perform abortions. However, several other doctors would have had the option of applying for admitting privileges and would therefore have been able, if successful, to continue conducting abortions. (For more about how hospital admitting privileges work, see here.)

The justices who voted to block the law were Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and John Roberts. Besides Justice Kavanaugh, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch also dissented. Kavanaugh was the only justice to explain the reason for his vote, and none of the other dissenting justices joined him.

The Louisiana law is not permanently blocked, but merely put on hold until it is appealed before the Supreme Court. If it accepts the case, SCOTUS will likely not review it until the end of this year or the beginning of next.

This ruling comes as the national debate on abortion intensifies. Certain states throughout the country, such as Virginia and New York, have recently passed or introduced controversial legislation that removes various restrictions on late-term abortions.

Influencing these laws is concern from abortion advocates that the Supreme Court could overturn Roe v. Wade as the result of President Trump’s appointment of Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch.

Why Kavanaugh Dissented

In his dissent, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said,

“Louisiana has three clinics that currently provide abortions. As relevant here, four doctors perform abortions at those three clinics. One of those four doctors has admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, as required by the new law.”

Kavanaugh goes on to say, “The law has not yet taken effect, so the case comes to us in the context of a pre-enforcement facial challenge. That means that the parties have offered, in essence, competing predictions about whether those three doctors can obtain admitting privileges.”

The state of Louisiana would have allowed those doctors 45 days to obtain the privileges. It would be better, Kavanaugh argues, to wait to see if the doctors were successful. If they failed to gain the admitting privileges, then it would make sense for the Supreme Court to review the case. But for the court to make a ruling on the case under the present circumstances was hasty because the situation was hypothetical.

So while Kavanaugh’s vote supported restricting abortions in Louisiana, he did not specify a pro-life motivation for his dissent, but rather based his decision on the “factual uncertainties” of the case.

CNBC points out, “Thursday night’s vote [on the Louisiana law] was the first time that Trump’s two nominees had to address their views on abortion since their Senate confirmation hearings.”

Because it wasn’t long ago that Justice Roberts voted to let a similar law stand, the Louisiana decision confirms him as a maverick in the eyes of many. Consequently, if the option to overturn Roe v. Wade does arise, it seems that the court’s decision will be very much up in the air.

Trump Promises: ‘I will never let you down’ at National Prayer Breakfast

Stephanie Martin

February 8, 2019

At the 2019 National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, President Trump addressed the importance of religion in public life and reaffirmed his pro-life stance. Speaking to the annual gathering of politicians, foreign guests, diplomats and business-people, Trump said faith “transforms lives, heals communities and lifts up the forgotten.”

Trump touched on a wide range of faith-related topics, including the release of evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson from a Turkish prison. The president praised Karen Pence, wife of Vice President Mike Pence, for teaching at a Christian school that’s faced scrutiny for affirming traditional marriage.

Echoing some words from this week’s State of the Union address, Trump said, “All children, born and unborn, are made in the holy image of God.” He promised to “build a culture that cherishes the dignity and sanctity of innocent human life.”

In 2017, when he last spoke at the breakfast, Trump pledged to abolish the Johnson Amendment, which limits the political speech of pastors. The law is still in place, and Trump didn’t address it this year.

“I will never let you down,” he promised attendees. Trump was ribbed on social media for saying one of America’s accomplishments is the “abolition of civil rights,” an error he failed to correct.

The National Prayer Breakfast Is a Nonpartisan Event Emphasizing Unity

The prayer breakfast, which began in 1953, brings together people from both sides of the political aisle. This year’s co-chairs, Senators James Lankford, R-Okla., and Chris Coons, D-Del., prayed together for Trump, asking God to give him energy, wise counsel, insight and joy. The two senators lead a prayer group at the U.S. Capitol every week.

Coons, who holds a master’s degree from Yale Divinity School, encouraged Democrats to be more vocal about their beliefs. “Many of us Democrats are uncomfortable talking publicly about our faith,” he said. “As a result, a lot of younger Americans associate Christianity and public professions of faith with some of the most politically conservative and theologically conservative views. But some of the most progressive senators are actively worshiping Christians. They just don’t talk about it. I think that’s one of the things I’m able to contribute here in Washington.”

Keynote Speaker Addresses Ending Slavery

The keynote speaker at this year’s prayer breakfast was Gary Haugen, CEO of International Justice Mission, an organization that fights modern-day slavery. Even during a time of division, anxiety and discouragement, Haugen said, “There is good that we all agree should be done.”

On Thursday, which was also the seventh annual Shine a Light on Slavery Day, Haugen emphasized that “this ancient sin” can be ended for good “with proper funding each year.” It’s vital, he said, for people “to actually believe that the good will ultimately prevail.”

An estimated 40 million people are currently enslaved worldwide, Haugen said, adding, “If we all do our part, all of us, to raise our voices and to raise the resources, millions of God’s children can note the freedom for which they were made.”

The United States has contributed to The Global Fund to End Modern Slavery, a public-private partnership that aims to make slavery economically unprofitable.

Three Discipleship Principles

Tim Lafleur

February 7, 2019

For the past few weeks I’ve shared what I typically do during the first and second D-Group meetings. On today’s post, I want to share three principles that must be incorporated in your D-Group if you want it to be rich and growing.

Three Principles for Effective Discipleship

Principle #1

The first principle is, “No contact, no impact.” This principle has to do with community; spending time with the members of your D-Group. If you want to really impact the men or women in your D-Group, you must spend time with them.

The danger is that if you fail to foster relationships with the members of your group, you will not earn the right to speak into their lives. That can only happen when you spend quality time with those in your D-Group getting to know one another as friends. The author of Hebrews says this:

And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25, CSB)

Being in a D-Group provides great opportunity to practically live out these verses.

Principle #2

The second principle is, “You can’t expect what you don’t emulate.” This principle is huge in that your D-Group should see you model the gospel that you profess to believe. You are not only sharing gospel truths with your D-Group, you are showing these truths with your lifestyle. I love the way the Apostle Paul says this in Colossians 1:

…so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:10, CSB)

Paul also says to the believers at Corinth:

Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1, CSB)

Don’t be guilty of the old adage, “I can’t hear what you’re saying because I see the way you’re living.”

Principle #3

The third principle is, “You can’t expect what you don’t inspect.” This principle highlights the importance of accountability. Developing accountability among your D-Group is essential!

Chuck Swindoll described accountability as “opening one’s life to a few carefully selected, trusted, loyal confidants who speak the truth—who have the right to examine, to question, to approve and to give counsel.”

We have to give ourselves over to accountability to help insulate our lives from sin! Dietrich Bonhoeffer said it best, “Sin demands to have a man by himself. It withdraws him from the community. The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over him.”

Every believer is accountable to God (Hebrews 9:27), to spiritual leaders (Hebrews 13:17), and to other believers (Proverbs 27:17). As the Holy Spirit enables us to pursue holiness, accountable relationships become the lifeblood for personal growth. A D-Group should be the best place to find accountability.

If you’ll incorporate these principles in your D-Group, you will have a group that is vibrant and flourishing.

This article originally appeared here.

Mega Pastoral Vacancies in Mega-Churches

Thom Rainer

February 7, 2019

You could see it unfolding. Boomer megachurch pastors are retiring. The number grows every month. And, as we thought might take place, the churches are having difficulty finding their successors. In fact, we are seeing search committees or their equivalents taking longer and longer to find a pastor. This trend will soon become a crisis.

Mega Pastoral Vacancies in Mega-Churches

So, how did we get here? How did we get to the point where some of the largest churches in North America are having trouble finding pastors? Here are a few observations:

These churches have similar profiles of the type of pastor they want. And there aren’t many that meet that profile. I see it repeatedly. The requisite age is 38 to 49. The candidate must have proven leadership experience. The prospective pastor must currently be serving in a church with an attendance of 500 or more. Dynamic preaching is a given. Doctoral degrees are preferred but not mandated by all churches. Oh, and the candidate must be happily married with 2.6 children.
The number of Millennials who are in vocational ministry and meet the profile is small. I am amazed at the same prospective candidates I hear every time one of these growing vacancies unfolds.
Fewer Millennials are excited about leading a megachurch. They don’t view bigger as better. They want to plant themselves and their families in a community. They are not the prototypical ladder climbers.
Millennials are concerned about the large worship centers many megachurches have. They would rather have more services and more campuses than one large worship center. They see a number of megachurches that can’t come close to filling their current space even now.
Many search committees (or their equivalent) try to look for a pastor in the old traditional path. You know that path. Vote on a search committee. Have meetings every third week except on holiday weeks. Receive resumes without a filter. And if the church belongs to a denomination, ask the denomination to send the same recycled names. One recent exception, Mariners Church in Irvine, California, retained Vanderbloemen Search Group to take the non-traditional path and found a pastor in relatively short order. Too many of the megachurch search processes simply are old and stale.
Many megachurches did not have a succession plan. For the life of me, I don’t understand why. This process, if done well, could save a lot of time and heartache.

Because of the reasons noted above, we have a supply and demand crisis. The demand is growing, and the supply is small.

By the way, a megachurch by definition has a weekend average worship attendance of 2,000 and more. We are now seeing more churches with an attendance of 1,000 to 2,000 having the same challenges.

It is a problem. It is likely a crisis. Unless something changes, it can only get worse.

This article originally appeared here.

Dysfunctional Family Life Creates Emotional Concussions in Kids

Linda Jacobs

February 7, 2019

Living in a dysfunctional family can create emotional concussions in kids. Emotional Concussions can be just as lethal, and sometimes even more so, than a physical concussion.

Have you ever considered the term emotional concussion? Have you ever thought about what might be involved in an emotional concussion?

Emotional concussions occur when young children live in a dysfunctional family…

Live in homes controlled by alcohol, drugs, explosive tempers
Live in homes full of stress
Live with dysfunctional adults
Have exposure to people who are physically, emotionally and/or sexually abusive
Experience the divorce of their parents

From the ACEs Too High website we find,

“The life-in-dysfunction emotional concussion is a day-in-day-out brain bludgeoning by stress-induced hormones of adrenaline and cortisol. It wires developing brains for flight, fight or freeze. It can set people up to pass on the family legacy of dysfunction.”

Very few people pay any attention to the emotional concussions our kids are saddled with on a daily basis. Even though the kids who live in the middle of these battlefields are injured emotionally every day of their young lives, most of their cries go unheard.

Checking for Emotional Concussions in Kids From a Dysfunctional Family

Unlike a physical concussion where a coach or someone checks a child’s pupils to see if they are dilated, holds up two or three fingers to make sure the kid isn’t seeing double, and asks them a few questions to make sure the child is cognizant, no one checks the kid who has an emotional concussion. There is no concern that the child has another new dad in the home. No one checks to see if the child is home alone late into the night because mom has to work two jobs to make ends meet. No one notices it is the same kid who is in trouble all the time.

Also, unlike a physical concussion where a kid is taken out of the game and must have a doctor’s permission to return, a child with an emotional concussion is sent right back into the emotional mayhem. There are no do overs or time outs for these kids. Most of them have no coach or outside adult who will oversee their wounds. Mostly, they are just patted on the head, told to stop their unruly behavior, get themselves straightened up and get back in the game.

Many children of divorce have emotional concussions. And, like physical concussions they can run the gambit of being light or severe. For the child of divorce who has a support system and concerned adults outside the home they will not have a severe emotional concussion.

For kids who have warring parents, no support system outside the home, and are stuck right in the middle of the war zone, their emotional concussion is more severe. Some kids will never completely recover and will carry the scars of the emotional concussion with them for the rest of their lives. It will affect everything they attempt to do.

Dysfunctional Family Life and Emotional Concussions: What can we do?

Children with emotional concussions need the church to step up and love on them. They need a safe haven where they can rest, relax and get a dose of biblical truths to help heal their souls. The children need adults who will say to themselves, “Hey, she is not giving me a hard time. She is having a hard time,” or “He is so out of control today!” but “Gee, I wonder what happened to him this morning.” It is a mind-set change for the adult and a helping tool for the child. It gives the adult an empathetic feeling toward the child, and believe me these kids are intuitive and they notice the change in your attitude toward them.

These kids need help controlling their emotions and their behaviors. From Kidlutions we read,

“The more out of control a child gets, the more she looks to us to demonstrate a sense of calm. When our behavior starts to mirror that of the child who is on a slippery slope to emotional mayhem, there is little hope left to assist her.” Think about that statement. Does your behavior mirror that of the child? No? What about loud voices? What about angry faces? What about the stance where your arms are folded across your chest? Even the rolled-eye exchange between the adults in the room says to the child you are mimicking them.

While there are no quick evaluations such as holding up three fingers to see if the child with an emotional concussion is seeing straight, we can be there for the child. We can be interested in their lives outside the church. We can offer hope and encouragement. We can remember scriptures that speak to such things as hope.

“Hope deferred makes a heart sick…” Proverbs 13:12

In the long run, emotional concussions can be just as severe as a physical concussion. They can leave a child crippled emotionally for the rest of their lives.

The Long-Term Damage of Emotional Concussions From Dysfunctional Family Life

Emotional concussions cause a lot of damage to a child. Many become dysfunctional early on and carry that dysfunction into their adult lives. As teens theFind out what they are and how to treat them.y may

Contemplate or succeed in committing suicide
Get involved in drugs
Become alcoholics
Become active sexually early on and end up as pregnant teens
Become cutters
Bully other kids
Drop out of school

My friend Robyn Besemann, who developed the curriculum Chained No More for the adult children of divorce/childhood brokenness, says, “I see this almost every day in ministry, whether they are young kids, teens or the adult kids of divorce. The chaos in families surrounds and permeates a child and there is little relief at home. When they leave the house, that chaos follows them. I agree that the church can be a haven, but workers need to be educated in childhood traumas, such as the child of divorce, to be able to minister effectively to these little souls.”

This article about emotional concussions from dysfunctional family life originally appeared here.

Are You Nervous About Being a Small Group Leader?

Roger Carr

February 7, 2019

Is God calling you to lead a small group but you don’t feel you have the ability to lead?

Moses didn’t believe he was ready to lead either…

God and Moses Talk About the Ability to Lead

God spoke to Moses through a bush on fire that did not burn up. He said He would use Moses to go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt where they were slaves.

God spoke directly to Moses through a miracle. Surely Moses jumped at the opportunity to be obedient, right?

Wrong!

Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?’” Exodus 3:11

Moses answered, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘God has not appeared to you.’” Exodus 4:1

Moses didn’t believe he had the status required for Pharaoh or the Israelites to listen and believe him.

God then told Moses the Israelites would listen to him when they were told God sent him. He also revealed that it would not be as easy to get Pharaoh on board with God’s plan. God would need to bring extreme difficulties on Egypt. Then God showed Moses examples of the power He had to cause those difficulties. He turned Moses’ staff into a snake and then back into a staff. He made the skin on Moses’ hand turn leprous and then back again.

With God’s explanation and demonstrating these additional miracles, now Moses would do whatever he was asked, right?

Wrong!

Moses said to God, ‘O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.’” Exodus 4:10

Moses still didn’t believe he was good enough because he wasn’t a great speaker. He asked God to send someone else. God was now angry! He did allow Moses’ brother, Aaron the Levite, to go and be his voice and ended the excuses.

Ultimately, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and well on their way to the Promised Land.

Is God Asking You to Lead?

It is easy to read about Moses’ burning bush experience and question how he could resist God’s plan for him. But don’t we do the same thing?

I recently talked with a woman who told me she knew for over a year that God wanted her to lead a small group. I asked what was stopping her. Her response was a familiar one. She didn’t believe she was knowledgeable enough to have an answer for any question the group might ask her.

God isn’t looking for perfection. He is looking for obedience. In fact, there is power in our weakness. God reveals Himself to others when He does the impossible through us.

Maybe you feel you need more training. Maybe you think you lack experience in some area. Or maybe, like me when I started, you get nervous when you talk to a group of people. None of these are valid excuses for being disobedient to God. If He is asking you to lead a small group, there is no valid excuse to say no. You always have the ability to lead through God’s power.

It is a privilege to lead a group of people who desire to be more like Jesus. Like Moses, God can use you to change your members, community and ultimately the world.

If God is asking you to lead a small group, it doesn’t matter if you believe that you have the ability to lead. Just say yes and He will show Himself to you and others through your obedience.

Question: Why do you think you lack the ability to lead? What can you do to move from feeling inadequate to obedient?.

This article originally appeared here.

Life-Changing Retreats: 5 Tips for Planning

Scott Talley

February 7, 2019

Life-Changing Retreats: 5 Tips for Planning

I was asked about a month or so ago if I could write a blog on how to pull off an awesome retreat weekend. I know that for many of us put on Disciple Now weekends, Middle School or High School retreats throughout the year. If we were to break down the DNA of those weekends, what would be the purpose or goals of those weekends? The goal of those weekends should always be to accomplish one of these two things, evangelize to your students or spiritually grow your students. Outside of these two those weekends, you plan Disciple Now, or other retreats should not be used for anything else. I have written down five things that I consider vital to pulling off life-changing retreats.

Plan out your theme and goal for the weekend

Have you ever taken a personal retreat day? I try to make one regularly for my spiritual walk, but once a year I take a day to plan out our next Disciple Now or retreat weekend. Our church is part of a network where about 12 churches come together to help put together one of the most powerful weekends of the year. Around 700 teenagers in our area come out to our event.

Over the last five Disciple Now weekends I have had the privilege to plan out the theme, speaker and band. But, one of the most important things about the weekend and our planning has to be the theme for the weekend. Why? Because we need to understand the goal or what we seek the outcome to be for our students.

In March of this year, we had an amazing weekend that centered around the theme of rising. The goal for the weekend was twofold. First, we wanted to challenge those who were non-Christians to rise and to have a relationship with Christ. Second, we wanted to challenge our students to rise and take their place in their schools, teams and their church to be missionaries for Christ.

Once you plan a date for your retreat weekend, begin to plan out the theme and the goals for the weekend. Personally, I have found it fruitful to go on a spiritual retreat to plan out the weekend. But, the most important thing for your ministry is to pray over the goals of the weekend to be accomplished.

Choose your speaker and band wisely

There are many amazing speakers and bands within our nation, but I would recommend you talk to the band and the speaker before they arrive. I have put together many retreat weekends over the last 15 years, but I have experienced failures in reaching the goals and purpose of the weekend because of not choosing the right speaker or band.

I have gotten to know some amazing speakers because I have called them to hear their heart for ministry to students, but also Student Pastors. I recommend booking your speaker and band a year out. I begin calling different speakers a year out to hear their heart and share the vision for the weekend. I have had some say they could not do it because they wanted to promote their new book, but I have had the majority say I am thinking the same thing and they write their sermons around the theme for the weekend.

When it comes to the band you choose to lead worship, I love bringing in college students because I want them to invest in my students throughout the weekend. Trust me, I want the best band I can get, and I have seen God use worship bands from local colleges mightily in our Student Ministry to disciple students. But, whoever you choose make sure they line up with your theme and goals.

Write a curriculum strategically to align with the speaker

I may be one of those weirdos out there who loves writing his curriculum for events, but I want to personally have my curriculum line up with the speaker’s messages, passages and our theme for the weekend. I devote a month every fall to writing out our curriculum for retreat weekends. I have found that writing the curriculum allows our students to stay focused on the sermon that they just heard. Once you have heard from the speaker and know the passages and direction for each sermon, then begin to write out the curriculum. I would recommend just praying through the curriculum and use your goals to help guide the small group time in your curriculum.

Promote with videos

I begin promoting three months out with different videos I make for the retreat weekend. If you are creative and have video skills, then use them to help market your retreat weekend. Personally, I enjoy video making and creating funny videos to grab our students attention. If you have the privilege or chance to share it in schools, then show different videos to help promote your retreat locally. We have students get excited and sign up without their churches because they want to be part of something God is speaking into their lives from the videos. Do not be afraid to be creative.

Be prepared for decisions to be made

The last thing I would tell you is to be prepared for decisions. We see decisions being made at our events and we plan what to do ahead of time. For example, we have counselors set up for students to talk with one break or at the end of the service. When I say prepared, I am meaning have counselors ready to receive students, but also have a place where people can have conversations privately about how God is speaking to them. It is important to also have a system in place for following up with students. Whenever we see students make a decision at one of our retreats, we make sure they are counseled, but also fill out a card about the decision they have made. We do not want to have our students leave a powerful weekend and not have someone follow up with them post the event. The most significant advice I can share with you is that you plan for decisions and have a follow-up plan.

This article originally appeared here.

Thriving Rural Congregations

Allen Stanton

February 7, 2019

Recently, I had dinner with a group of rural pastors to hear about their ministries. One by one, the pastors stood, gave their name, their church and their years of service. Then, invariably, each pastor’s face dropped.

“Our church only worships about 20,” the first pastor said. The dismay and anxiety rippled throughout the room as each pastor shared their worship attendance. The next church reported an aging congregation of 60. Another pastor serving on a multi-church charge reported that one of their churches only had about 12 people on a Sunday morning.

The pastors were understandably frustrated. They had tried the latest church growth strategies. They’d read the numerous blogs about leadership and had attended the best continuing education events, none of which really spoke to their contexts. Regardless, the enviable metric of “growth” seemed to elude them.

While these pastors all serve rural areas, their contexts are distinct. Some serve in communities that have entered into a period of seeming stagnation, a perception driven in equal parts by changes in the economy and the prevailing narratives about what it means to be rural. It has been decades since agriculture had been a leading industry in their communities, and now its replacement, manufacturing, is declining as well.

For others, though, rural ministry requires managing rapid change. Drawn by the allure of affordable property, a willingness to commute, and proximity to natural attractions, retirees are flocking from cities to these rural communities. This new population brings a shifting culture, and, in some places, an impending change from the designation of rural to suburban.

Conversations on church vitality usually hold up a few key metrics, emphasizing an increase in worship attendance and a large number of youth and young adults.[i] But there are obvious questions about how rural congregations can utilize these measures of vitality within their changing communities. How should a congregation whose growth is spurred by an influx of retirees respond when told they need to have more children involved? Or, when a congregation of 20 has a strong missional presence in a declining community, how are they to answer the critique that their church is stagnant or even dying?

In my office, I keep a post-it with a short phrase that I often hear from my colleagues in rural economic development: “If you’ve seen one rural county, you’ve seen one rural county.” Because rural communities are complex, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. It stands to reason, then, that rural congregations need an equally flexible marker for their vitality. Rural congregations occupy the centers of busy town squares and dot the sides of unpopulated state roads. Bound together only by the label “rural,” vitality must look different in these different spaces.

In working with churches and other rural leaders, I have found that thriving rural congregations share three key pillars of vitality.[ii] These are not metrics in and of themselves, but areas in which rural congregations should strive to develop context-specific measurements in order to set clear goals.

First, thriving rural congregations demonstrate a clear theological identity. These congregations conduct worship services and foster conversations that connect their parishioners’ faith with their weekly lives.

This theological identity also carries a deep theology of place. They know their own history, and in their own language they can tell the story of what God is doing in their community. They remember both pain and joy and hold together the tension that runs between sorrow, repentance and hope.

This theology of place serves as more than idle memory. Instead, it builds the foundation for the second key trait: thriving rural congregations understand their local communities as a place to cultivate, announce and invite others to participate in the Kingdom of God. They understand that they have a responsibility to the surrounding community.

This may look different in each congregation. In some places, this may be organic as members hear and respond to what they see in the community. Or, churches may develop ongoing missional programming. The result is that the congregation strives to face outward, yearning to see how they might be a part of God’s new creation.

Lastly, thriving rural congregations are sustainable. At its most basic level, congregations are able to pay their bills and keep the lights on. This presents a unique challenge—and opportunity—for many churches as giving patterns continue to change. It’s commonly reported that younger generations have less disposable income and a skepticism of institutions, resulting in lower tithes. Meanwhile, the 2018 tax reforms are likely to spur an overall reduction in charitable giving.[iii]

In many rural areas, bi-vocational pastors are becoming standard, creating opportunities to deepen the congregation’s commitment to their place. Programming budgets are also decreasing, which means that pastors will need to be more adept at cultivating partnerships with other organizations and funders. These are challenges, but they are also opportunities for new modes of ministry.

At the end of our dinner, I asked our rural pastors to share stories of where God was at work through them. With excitement, they shared stories of their small congregations raising money for community-based literacy programs. They shared their commitment to preserving and sharing the history of their 150-year-old, one-room church that once doubled as the schoolhouse for African-American students. They shared stories of their few high school students who had become active leaders. These are places of important and life-giving ministry.

Church vitality is not simply about growing a church, though that may be a natural outcome. Neither are these vital churches limited to the growing suburbs that surround our major cities. Thriving rural congregations have a deep commitment to seeing and being a part of what God is doing in the world around them. They offer a reminder that the narrative we often tell about rural ministry is misinformed. Being a rural church does not mean being a church on life support. Instead, they are places of meaningful and impactful transformation.

[i] Take, for instance, the UMC Call to Action: Vital Congregations Research Project. De Wetter, David, et al.. Towers Watson, 2010.

[ii] These cores represent a commonality in several reports, including the Thriving Rural Communities Summative Evaluation Report and work compiled by GBHEM.

[iii] Fox, Richard, and Joshua Headly. “The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—What Nonprofits Need to Know,” Philanthropy Journal News, 29 Jan. 2018.

This article originally appeared here.

Matt Chandler: Is Church Membership Biblical?

Matt Chandler

February 7, 2019

“The spouse of Christ cannot be adulterous; she is uncorrupted and pure. She knows one home; she guards with chaste modesty the sanctity of one couch. She keeps us for God. She appoints the sons whom she has born for the kingdom. Whoever is separated from the Church and is joined to an adulteress is separated from the promises of the Church; nor can he who forsakes the Church of Christ attain to the rewards of Christ. He is a stranger; he is profane; he is an enemy. He can no longer have God for his Father who has not the Church for his mother.” —Cyprian, Treatise on the Unity of the Church, 6.

I was 28 when I became the pastor of Highland Village First Baptist Church (now known as The Village Church). I had had a rough go early on in my church experience, and at that time, I was not fully out of my “disenchanted with the local church” phase.

In all honesty, I wasn’t sure at the time that church membership was biblical. Despite that, the Spirit had made it all too clear that I was going to be pastoring this small church in the suburbs of Dallas. That was one of the many ironies of my life in those days.

Highland Village First Baptist Church was a “seeker-sensitive” church in the Willow Creek mold and had no formal membership process, although they were actively working on one and wanted the new pastor’s input. I had a strong understanding of the church universal but wasn’t well versed—and as I said, I was somewhat skeptical—about the church local. We started growing quickly with young and oftentimes disenchanted 20-somethings who usually had no church background or bad church backgrounds. They liked The Village because we were “different.” This always struck me as strange because we weren’t doing anything but preaching and singing.

In conversations with these men and women, I began to hear things like, “The church is corrupt; it’s just about money and a pastor’s ego,” or “I love Jesus; it’s the church I have a problem with.” My favorite one was, “When you organize the church, it loses its power.” Although something occasionally resonated in me with these comments (I, along with most of my generation, have authority and commitment issues), I found them confusing since they were being made to me by people who were attending the church where I was the pastor.

TWO QUESTIONS FROM HEBREWS 13:17

With conflicts already brewing over other doctrines that I viewed as far more central, I wondered if we should let this church membership thing slide and come back to it later. I was preparing at the time to preach through the book of Hebrews and “happened” to be in chapter 13 when verse 17 leapt off the page: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

Two questions occurred to me. First, if there is no biblical requirement to belong a local church, then which leaders should an individual Christian obey and submit to? Second, and more personally, who will I as a pastor give an account for?

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