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Carlos Campo on How Christians Should Respond to the New Majority-Minority Public Schools

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Carlos Campo

Carlos Campo

As a grade-schooler in Miami, the only other Hispanic in my class had the jealousy-inducing, grandiose name of Evaristo Monteiro (yes, it’s a cognate for Mount Everest). But this year, for the first time ever, white students are not the majority in U.S. public schools. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, minority students, when added together, make up a new majority in K-12 schools. The shift is largely fueled by growth in the number of Hispanic children. Since 93 percent of America’s students—including students with a tradition of faith—are enrolled in public schools, the educational success or failure of these schools directly impacts America’s churches. As our sisters’ and brothers’ keepers, we should care deeply that all this year’s kindergarteners, the future class of 2027, will graduate with a solid educational foundation. If we expect the next generation of church leaders to be literate, and biblically literate, then we should unwaveringly support student success in our public schools.

And yet, as this new school year begins, I hear some American evangelicals calling for parents to pull their children out of public schools. I understand our valid, visceral emotions regarding secularism and education in America. And while I honor the right of every parent to prayerfully consider how their children will be educated—we homeschooled all our kids at one point or another—I wonder how many of these fellow believers realize that homeschooling and private schools are simply not an option for many families, including most poor and minority families. Instead of leaving our local public schools, now is the time for Christians to invest more in student success. We have an opportunity to love our neighbors, and their children, in a very practical way. We can pursue biblical justice for all students by advocating for educational equity and high standards regardless of a family’s zip code, ethnicity, or income. A friend of mine started a local tutoring group for elementary students struggling with reading. The principal was thrilled to have the help, and she even approved the Bible as one of our texts—so long as it was just one of a number of choices.

Now is the time for Christians to find practical ways to “seek the good of the city” as never before, and I’m encouraged by those who choose to live as the prophet Micah urged by acting justly and loving mercy. One of the most heartening examples of Christian love in action in our public schools is reflected in the organization Be Undivided. They help churches invest time and effort year-round in students and schools. Roosevelt High School in Portland, Oregon, experienced an enormous turn-around when the members of Southlake Church decided to focus their time and energy on that struggling student body. Their faith in action helped raise morale and expectations for students as a long-term community partnership led to unprecedented student success in Oregon’s most ethnically diverse neighborhood. What Be Undivided and others are realizing is that educational success is rarely directly proportional to cognitive ability, and many students simply need direction and encouragement—God’s transforming kindness—to succeed.

Click here to read more.

SOURCE: Christianity Today
Carlos Campo



Anthony Bradley: How Evangelicals Go About the Business of Addressing Social Issues

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Anthony Bradley

Anthony Bradley

I recently had an exchange with a Duke Divinity School student regarding many of things I’ve written at the Acton Institute over the past 12 years. The student said this about me:

When it comes to speaking comfort to power and castigating the most vulnerable in our society, there is perhaps no public theological voice more eager than that of Anthony Bradley’s. His body of work is a textbook in blaming the victim and reducing problems to pathology.

Not only had the student actually not read most of the things that I have written but the comment exposes something that Jonathan Haidt explains well that I’ve talked about before: ideological “tribalism.”

Evangelicals generally develop perspectives on justice down tribal ideological and political lines because they normatively do not source the Christian social thought tradition when constructing perspectives on justice. It turns out, that I was simply being critiqued by a card-carrying, bona fide political progressive who is be also Christian. In this light, I was not surprised by the content of the critique. I do not hold the same presuppositions about creation, the implications of the fall, natural law, human dignity, the role of the state, the authority of Scripture and so on, as progressives do so naturally progressives are going to see calls to personal moral virtue and challenges to the patriarchy, soft bigotry, and historic tendency for coercive government to make things worse off for those on margins through the welfare state as “speaking comfort to power and castigating the most vulnerable.”

The exchange provides a clear example of how evangelicals, ignorant of the Christian social thought tradition, go about the business of addressing social issues. It goes something like this:

Step 1: For a variety of well-intentioned reasons, choose a preferred political ideology you believe is the right one and will adequately to address the differentiated problems in society. As David Koyzis, explains it could be libertarianism, socialism, nationalism, conservatism, progressivism, or democracy.

Step 2: Read your preferred political ideology into Bible in a such way that it becomes a tool for interpreting and applying the Bible to social issues. That is, your political ideology becomes your hermeneutic for “Biblical” views on justice.

Step 3: Cherry-pick Bible verses (often taken out of context) and repackage them to make the case that your preferred, tribal, political ideology is indeed “Biblical,” “follows the teaching of Jesus,” is “Christian,” and so on. Here the goal is to prove that God must obviously be on your tribe’s side.

Step 4: Now that you have baptized your political ideology by pouring on a random assortment of Bible verses, you are ready to declare your ideological tribe and those who agree with you, “right.” As a result, any other tribe that does not read the Bible through your ideological lens is not only wrong, they are the enemy and a threat to the church and the world.

Click here to read more.

SOURCE: Acton Institute
Anthony Bradley


WATCH: Anne Graham Lotz and National Religious Broadcasters Make Solidarity Visit to Israel

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Anne Graham Lotz and National Religious Broadcasters Make Solidarity Visit to Israel

Despite the war between Hamas and Israel, a diverse group of Christian leaders from the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) paid a solidarity visit to Israel.

Billy Graham’s daughter Anne Graham Lotz shared how important it is to stand with Israel for such a time as this.

“I came at a time like this because it is a time like this to show that I stand by Israel,” Lotz said. “I believe that She is God’s special place, God’s special people. He put His Name on this city. And I feel in the world there’s a different perspective.”

“I believe it’s time for God’s people to stand up with God’s people. I just want to be here to tell Israel that representing the Evangelical world, that I love Israel and I’m going to be praying for her in a special way,” she continued.

“Countering rising anti-Semitism in the international press and on the streets, this friendship visit will communicate to Israel and to the Palestinians who stand in opposition to Hamas that we, leaders who represent the Christian community, stand with them,”expressed NRB President & CEO Dr. Jerry A. Johnson.

Click here to read more

Source: CBN News


North Carolina Pastor William Scott and his Wife, Charlotte Scott, Found Dead Outside Their Home

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North Carolina Pastor William Scott and his Wife, Charlotte Scott, Found Dead Outside Their Home

Robeson County authorities are investigating the deaths of a pastor and his wife who were found dead at their Lumberton home Wednesday afternoon.

Investigators won’t comment on the case other than to say that it did not appear that William Scott, 68, and Charlotte Scott, 64, died of natural causes.

Sheriff Kenneth Sealey met with the Robeson County district attorney Friday and said he was awaiting preliminary autopsy results.

The couple’s granddaughter found them outside on the patio at their house on Old Whiteville Road around 2:30 p.m.

William Scott was a pastor at Charity Baptist Church in Gray’s Creek, and he also served as the treasurer at East Lumberton Baptist Church.

Church members learned of the deaths Wednesday.

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Source: WRAL


Zimbabwe Pastor Menard Zvenyika Commits Suicide After Adulterous Relationship Is Revealed

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Reverend Menard Zvenyika

Reverend Menard Zvenyika

A REFORMED Church in Zimbabwe pastor, Reverend Menard Zvenyika, who was facing a $10,000 lawsuit from a Masvingo man for having an adulterous relationship and impregnating his wife has committed suicide.

Chezhira Mukobvu dragged the clergyman to the Masvingo Civil Court earlier this year alleging the pastor had an improper relationship with his wife, Rosemary Nyamukachi, 35.

Family members told NewZimbabwe.com that the pastor committed suicide by drinking poison at his homestead in Bikita on Friday. He died while being rushed to Bikita clinic.

The source said Zvenyika was due to be dragged before a church disciplinary hearing over the alleged affair.

“Pressure was mounting on him,” said the family member.

“His job was on the line since there was overwhelming evidence that he was involved in a relationship with a married woman yet he was also married. The hearing was scheduled for Monday.”

Click here to read more

Source: All Africa


Case of Former Alabama Pastor Timothy Dane Tillman Convicted Twice in Shooting Death of Wife to be Featured on TV

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Timothy Dane Tillman, former pastor of the Vincent Revival Center, lived a double life impersonating a Navy officer. He was twice convicted in the death of his wife, Janet Tillman.

Timothy Dane Tillman, former pastor of the Vincent Revival Center, lived a double life impersonating a Navy officer. He was twice convicted in the death of his wife, Janet Tillman.

Timothy Dane Tillman almost got away with murder. Almost. 

The former pastor of the Vincent Revival Center in Shelby County, Tillman claimed it was a tragic accident when his wife was fatally shot with a shotgun in the bedroom of the church parsonage where the couple lived with their young daughters.

It was a Wednesday night, October 2005, and church members were gathering just 100 yards away for the mid-week service. Tillman and his 40-year-old wife, Janet, were unloading several guns from Tillman’s car and moving them to the bedroom for safe-keeping.

“It was about 45 minutes before church was supposed to start” said Alabama Bureau of Investigation Lt. Scott Bartle. “He waited until there were a lot of people around.”

His story was that one of the guns began to slip from his arms. As it did, his wife reached out to help and a gun discharged, hitting her in the back. She died instantly.

Initially, there wasn’t much to debunk his story. Janet Tillman’s family members, however, didn’t buy it and eventually called state investigators to get involved. In stepped Bartle and ABI Cpl. Thomas Whitten. “When I saw the work the Vincent Police Department had done, and read his interview, I knew he was lying,” Bartle told AL.com.

It would be years before they could arrest and charge Tillman, and they uncovered a bizarre story along the way. That story and the years-long probe will be featured tonight on national television via Investigation Discovery’s Handsome Devil series, which “tells the stories of real life lady-killers – men who will have you on top of the world one minute and six feet under the next,” according to the channel’s website. The show will air at 8 p.m. CST.

At the time of his wife’s death, investigators said, Tillman was leading a double life. He was having an affair with a young lady in Washington state who later became his wife. The two initially met on the internet.

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Source: AL.com |  Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com 


How Pastors Can Lead Their Churches to Pray for Persecuted Christians Worldwide – and Be Enriched In Doing So

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pray-MD

It doesn’t take long when reading the Bible to see that God is impassioned for the plight of His people, such as this passage in Exodus:

“Then the Lord said, ‘I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them….'” (Exodus 3:7-8).

In the face of an ever-increasing worldwide persecution of Christians, we would be wise to cultivate practices in our churches that might more readily reflect this notion of God’s nature. I would like to note three ways you can implement this in the life of your church that will, eventually, lead to three rewards.

Three practices:

1. Apply biblical truth locally by using what is happening globally.

Every pastor labors to try and faithfully apply the truths of the Bible in a way that will assault his people and spur them on toward faithfulness. They do that by considering their own context and using aspects of it to illustrate or apply that particular truth.

However, considering a different context will help your congregation identify with the plight of God’s people around the world. For example, when preaching or teaching through 1 Peter, don’t limit the illustrations and applications of persecution only to homosexuality or other American problems. Take them to the checkpoint just outside of Mosul where they are walking with their family and will have to answer for their faith in Christ. Bring them into the homes of those who just received word of the mock crucifixions of converted Christians in Syria.

Occasionally sprinkling in ideas like these will serve to strengthen faithfulness in our more immediate contexts.

2. Pray frequently, specifically and experientially.

If we pray for the plight of God’s people in our public services, it is often done in short order or in a sort of peripheral way that does not resonate with the actual circumstances of the world. Don’t just pray for the persecuted church when it is on the calendar; pray for them often so as to engrain it into the minds and hearts of the people.

Praying continually will help your church understand that persecution is going on continually and will model the realities of our brothers and sisters in other countries. And when you do pray, pray for specific people in specific places. This will serve to put a face on otherwise formless peoples.

Also, genuinely pray in the mood of the situation. If I asked you to breathe life into the lungs of a victim the same way I asked you to pick up some milk at the store, we would rightly think something has gone awry in my soul. Likewise, consider the situation and pray in a manner that reflects it.

3. Be meaningfully involved in the nations.

Appropriating 10 percent of your monies toward international missions is a good thing but it is not sufficient to build a fervency among your congregation for the people of God around the world. As a church, we have adopted a couple of communities around the world, and we have people who travel and work in others.

By sending people and resources to Christians in various communities, we make the people at our church more familiar with situations that might have just been another story on the evening news.

As you apply these practices to the particular church you pastor, you’ll probably begin to notice the culture of your congregation changing. Here’s what I believe you’ll joyfully reap.

Click here to read more.

SOURCE: Baptist Press
Nathan Knight


Conservative Presbyterian Denomination Reports Rapid Growth Over Past Year

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Grace Presbyterian Church of Houston, Texas. (PHOTO: DOUG GLEDITSCH)

Grace Presbyterian Church of Houston, Texas.
(PHOTO: DOUG GLEDITSCH)

A nascent growing conservative Presbyterian denomination has reported rapid growth over the past year.

The Evangelical Covenant of Presbyterians, a new reform body founded in 2012, concluded its National Gathering in Dallas on Wednesday.

The Rev. Dr. Dana Allin, synod executive for ECO, noted that since the last gathering, held in 2013, the Presbyterian denomination had experienced fantastic growth in the number of member churches.

“It’s exciting to see how we’ve grown from 30 churches and 10,000 covenant partners at our first Synod gathering in 2013 to now having 149 churches and 60,000 covenant partners at this gathering,” wrote Allin.

“Plus, it’s extremely encouraging to see a dozen church plants in various stages of formation and organization! There is so much to be grateful for.”

Allin also noted that he spoke at the National Gathering about the need and growth of resources within ECO as well as expanding to have partnerships with other entities.

“I am grateful for the time and resources invested by individuals and churches to be a part of this event,” wrote Allin. “I believe our three days together in Dallas will continued to strengthen our foundation as we look into the next phase of this movement.”

Cosponsored by the theologically conservative Fellowship of Presbyterians, the 2014 National Gathering took place at the InterContinental Hotel off Dallas Parkway from Monday to Wednesday.

The theme for the National Gathering was “From Consumerism to Community,” which was stated in a promotional video.

“We love our churches. They’re where we worship. They’re where we laugh. They’re where we grieve. They’re where we share meals. They’re where we meet neighbors,” stated the video in printed word. “Our churches give us a lot. But what we get isn’t the full story. It’s just a drop in the bucket. We can experience more. We were made for mission. Made to create something beyond ourselves.”

Click here to read more.

SOURCE: The Christian Post
Michael Gryboski



Christians Warned About Participating In the Ice-Bucket Challenge

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On Sunday night evangelist and megachurch pastor Greg Laurie joined the ranks of people who have accepted the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

On Sunday night evangelist and megachurch pastor Greg Laurie joined the ranks of people who have accepted the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

Abortion opponents are encouraging conservative Christians to chill out before taking the Ice Bucket Challenge plunge.

As of Friday, Aug, 22, the ALS Association has received $53.3 million in donations — compared to $2.2 million during the same time period last year — thanks to the viral phenomenon where people get doused with buckets of ice water on video, post the video to social media and challenge others to do the same.

It’s all in the name of raising awareness about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a progressive neurodegenerative condition best known for killing New York Yankees slugger Lou Gehrig in 1941, with lesser-known sufferers including Baptist scholar William Hull, who battled the disease six years before succumbing in December 2013.

Numerous high profile celebrities have taken the challenge, including a few religious leaders, including T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen and former Southern Baptist Convention President Jack Graham.

Recently, however, abortion foes like Patheos blogger Father Michael Duffy, a priest for the Diocese of Rockville Center in Long Island, N.Y.; the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and anti-abortion activist Lila Rose raised moral objections over the ALS Association’s support for embryonic stem cell research.

Click here to read more.

SOURCE: Associated Baptist Press
Bob Allen


Chicago Pastor Wilfredo De Jesus Discusses His New Book ‘In the Gap,’ Politics, and Immigration

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Pastor Wilfredo De Jesús

Pastor Wilfredo De Jesús

Wilfredo De Jesus, pastor of a Chicago megachurch that oversees more than 130 ministries to the poor and disenfranchised, believes Christians in the U.S. have been playing it safe for far too long. He says many are unwilling to stick their necks out for the marginalized who are suffering in the cracks created by society’s broken systems and abusive structures.

De Jesus, pastor New Live Covenant Church, the largest Assemblies of God congregation in the U.S., says it is fear of being ridiculed or ostracized that has paralyzed some leaders and kept them confined to their churches, limiting their engagement with a world in desperate need for people willing to help bridge those gaps.

“A gap is a place of weakness, vulnerability, and danger — a place of real threats,” explains De Jesus in his new book, In the Gap. He explains in the book that while gaps can be as broad as illiteracy and human trafficking, they can be as personal as an unfaithful spouse or an abusive family member.

De Jesus, senior pastor to more than 18,000 NLCC members worldwide, believes that, just like God called on Nehemiah, Esther, Noah and others in ancient times to stand before Him in the gap as intercessors, “God is still looking for men and women to stand in the gap in our homes, in our neighborhoods, in our cities and towns, in our nation, and in every corner of the world.”

De Jesus was named in 2013 as one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” and is former vice president for Social Justice for the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, which represents more than 40,118 Evangelical congregations.

In a phone interview with The Christian Post, De Jesus (often referred to as Pastor Choco) discussed his reasons for writing In the Gap, what he believes are some of the defining issues of the present time, why he is a firm supporter of comprehensive immigration reform, and why he thinks the Republican Party has “lost its way.” The interview has been edited for clarity.

CP: What is it that you wanted to accomplish with writing In the Gap?

De Jesus: The whole premise of the book was that gaps have always existed in our society, but today they’re wider and with more destructive force. I’m hoping to get out of the book, that people will engage in those gaps from different levels in our society. Education, government, poverty, social justice. It is not only a Christian book. It’s a book that will provoke people to find a gap wherever they’re at, in their villages or in their community, and then do something about. That’s the idea of the book, to engage it. Then, also to reveal the broken system we have in our society. It’s only going to get wider and more destructive if the Body of Christ, first of all, and then humanity if they don’t get involved in certain issues we’re facing as a nation.

CP: There are a lot of “gap” situations we can point to right now all over the world. Overseas, there are conflicts in the Ukraine. In various countries in the Middle East, there are cases of Christian persecution. What would you say is perhaps the most significant or defining “gap” issue of our current times?

De Jesus: Here in the United States, or around the world?

CP: Whatever comes to your mind naturally.

De Jesus: What comes to mind is the situation that we’re facing in our society is that 80 percent of humanity lives on $10 a day. When you think about one billion children don’t read or write on this planet, that is just a troublesome stat. When you look every 40 seconds, someone around the world is committing suicide. These are some of the gaps that have been presented that have to be engaged. When you look at the United States, if we bring it home, the average homeless person in America is not 32 years old, it’s 9 years old. That’s the average homeless person in the U.S., and that’s just unacceptable, to have eight-year-olds and nine-year-olds and 10-year-olds sleeping in the streets of our cities.

Click here to read more.

SOURCE: The Christian Post
Nicola Menzie


WATCH: Serita Jakes’ 2014 Birthday Tribute

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First Lady Serita Jakes (PHOTO: TWITTER/FIRST LADY JAKES)

First Lady Serita Jakes
(PHOTO: TWITTER/FIRST LADY JAKES)

Mrs. Serita Jakes Birthday Tribute


WATCH: T. D. Jakes’ 35th Anniversary with Bernice King

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Bishop T. D. Jakes (Facebook)

Bishop T. D. Jakes (Facebook)

35th Anniversary Celebration – Humanitarian w/ Bernice King

35th Anniversary Celebration


Christian Rapper Lecrae Shares His Thoughts on Ferguson

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lecrae

Lecrae, outspoken Christian and award-winning recording artist, has taken to his social networks to speak out on the frustration he feels in light of responses to the killing of Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson. The rapper also has received pushback for suggesting that hip-hop artists lose credibility by rapping about “lawlessness” and then demanding “equality and justice.”

“Regardless of your view on #Ferguson. If [you] have zero compassion for that community you are not loving your neighbor as yourself. These are my cousins, aunts, nieces, uncles, nephews, and our ethnic bond is strong,” Lecrae wrote on Instagram Friday. “It does not supersede my bond of faith but at times it feels like my eternal family could care less about my earthly family.”

He added, “I feel I’m only accepted if I perform well and don’t act like my ‘cousins.’ I am the same as them but the grace of God has granted me opportunities they didn’t get.”

The rapper went on to comment on law enforcement officials on duty during the weeks-long protests and occasional mayhem that have unfolded in Ferguson, Missouri, where Brown and Wilson had their deadly encounter.

“I pray for the families of the officers who haven’t seen their wives and kids for days,” Lecrae added.

“I have no ill will toward anyone I only want unity, equality, and love. Were it not for the compassion of people who didn’t look like me loving me I wouldn’t be all I am today.”

The married father and ReachLife Ministries leader concluded his comments by referencing the apostle Paul’s words on how love supersedes all in 1 Corinthians 13: “If we have ANYTHING and do not have Love…we have Nothing.”

Click here to read more.

SOURCE: The Christian Post
Nicola Menzie


William Dwight McKissic Sr. on What Fathers and Mothers Need to Know About Ferguson

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William Dwight McKissic Sr.

William Dwight McKissic Sr.

Psalm 78:5-7

On Saturday, August 9, about 2:15 p.m., a shooting took place in Ferguson, Missouri, that will forever be etched on the collective psyches of all Americans. Ferguson, Missouri, was not on the radar screen of most Americans until the news begin to circulate over the past several days, that yet another young African American male had been shot and killed by a police officer. Complete facts and details surrounding the young man’s death are still largely unknown. But what is known has triggered protests, looting, rioting and a police response that is reminiscent of the civil rights rallies and police responses in the 60’s. Ferguson is indeed a powder keg, and America and the world are watching.

What should fathers say to their families about Ferguson? What should pastors say to their congregations about Ferguson? What would Christ, through His preachers—Black, White, Asian and Hispanic—say to America about Ferguson?

The Bible is clear that it becomes the responsibility of fathers to interpret history for their children and to provide for them lessons that lead to hope in God.

“Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; Your elders, and they will tell you:” (Deuteronomy 32:7)

5 For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children;

6 That the generation to come might know them,The children who would be born,

That they may arise and declare them to their children,

7 That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God,

But keep His commandments; (Psalm 78:5-7)

“1 Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, And give attention to know understanding…

3 When I was my father’s son, Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother,

4 He also taught me, and said to me: “Let your heart retain my words;

Keep my commands, and live.” (Proverbs 4:1, 3, 4)

The Bible commands fathers to instruct their children and to specifically instruct them concerning historical matters, in a manner that they “may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.” What fathers need to know about Ferguson is what is it that they should teach their children as a result of what took place there.

The lesson that every child needs to learn from Ferguson is this: I cannot control what the policeman can do toward me, but I can control how I will respond to him or her. Therefore, my response should be respectful, submissive and strategic toward protecting my best interest and Kingdom concerns.

I. Ferguson Reminds Us that We live in A Fallen World

The Bible portrays heaven as a place of total tranquility, racial inclusion, peace and harmony.

9 And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10)

Everybody in heaven is redeemed. Everybody on earth is not. There is no racial strife, mistrust, bickering and rioting in heaven. There is division, disunity, distrust and disfavor that often characterize race relations on earth. Men are separated from each other, because they are separated from God.

The first murder recorded in Scripture was between two brothers. Even among people of the same family and race there is confusion, disunity, and bickering, because we live in a fallen world. The first fight in the early church was among members of the same church at Jerusalem, but one group (Greeks) leveled charges of inequitable distribution against another group (Jews) in Acts 6:1-7. Because we live in a fallen world tainted by sin, we see the fall-out in our families and in the church. Consequently, we inevitably will see it in our society.

Ferguson, Missouri, is symbolic and symptomatic of the fallen nature of mankind that’s evident universally. As Black families moved into Ferguson beginning in the 70’s, Whites began to flee. In 1980 the town was 85% White and 14 % Black; by 2010 it was 29% White and 69% Black. However, the Ferguson Police Department consists of 53 officers, of which only three are Black. The largely White police force stops Black residents far out of proportion to their population, according to statistics kept by the state’s Attorney General. Blacks account for 86% of the traffic stops in the city, and 93% of the arrests after those stops. In St. Louis County there have been allegations of widespread racial profiling. Ferguson reminds us that racism is still a reality in our world in hiring practices and in police patrol—racial profiling.

The consequences of this profiling can be deadly for many. A BLACK MAN IS KILLED IN THE U.S. EVERY 28 HOURS BY POLICE is the title of an article written by Adam Houston. Houston maintains that police officers, security guards or self-appointed vigilantes extra-judicially killed at least 313 African Americans in 2012. Ferguson hosted the most recent high profile case of such killing. Ferguson reminds us that we live in a fallen world. Jesus said in this world, ye shall have trials and tribulations (John 16:33). Jesus wept over Jerusalem because of their propensity toward violence. The Black-on-Black crime in Chicago, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Detroit, Dallas, and New Orleans is equally indicative of the fact that we live in a fallen world. Cain is still slaying Abel. How unfortunate!

Click here to read more.

William Dwight McKissic, Sr. is a prominent African-American Southern Baptist minister from Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He is the founder and current senior pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas. You can read his blog at http://dwightmckissic.wordpress.com/


WATCH: In Case You Didn’t Know, CeCe Winans Not Only Sings, but she Also Preaches

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Gospel singer, CeCe Winans, preached the message above at Christ Church Nashville on February 14, 2014.

CeCe Winans currently co-pastors Nashville’s Life Church along with her husband Alvin Love. According to the church website:

Although she’s known to most as CeCe Winans, her name is Priscilla Love! She was born in Detroit Michigan the eighth sibling out of ten. Priscilla grew up singing in church and has never stopped. Worshipping God through her life and through song is what she was born to do!

Nashville has been her home since 1989 along with her wonderful husband and two incredible children. Her life is a testimony to God’s goodness, greatness, grace and mercy.

She loves the Lord with all her heart.

Find out more about CeCe Winans here.



LISTEN: Deitrick Haddon’s Ex-Wife, Damita, says “Truth with Deception is Not a Whole Truth”; Talks for the First Time About Divorce

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For the first time Damita speaks exclusively to Path MEGAzine about what really happened during her 15 year relationship with the singer, actor and “Preachers of LA” reality TV star Deitrick Haddon.

READ MORE: http://www.pathmegazine.com

Twitter: @PathMEGAzine @TheKrisPatrick


Mark Driscoll to Make Important Announcement at Mars Hill, Sunday, August 24, at 8 am PST; New York Times says his ‘Empire is Imploding’

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Mark Driscoll founded a Seattle-based megachurch. (Credit: Scott Cohen/Associated Press)

Mark Driscoll founded a Seattle-based megachurch. (Credit: Scott Cohen/Associated Press)

From Patheos:

Several sources (current Mars Hill members, current pastors) have informed me that church pastors are telling members of the congregation that Mark Driscoll plans to make a “big announcement” on Sunday, August 24. The community groups have been informed to watch for it but there is nothing specific about the announcement as yet.

The month of August has been difficult for Mars Hill and Driscoll. Among other items, two church board members resigned, Acts 29 Network removed Driscoll and the church from membership, several groups have canceled appearances by Driscoll, and 21 former pastors filed charges against him with the allegation that Driscoll has disqualified himself as a pastor.

Read more…

From the New York Times

Mark Driscoll has long been an evangelical bad boy, a gifted orator and charismatic leader who built one of the nation’s most influential megachurches despite, or perhaps fueled by, a foul mouth, a sharp temper and frank talk about sex.

The church he founded, Mars Hill, enjoyed rapid growth in the Pacific Northwest — one of the most secular regions of the nation — and it claims 15,000 members worshiping at 15 campuses in five Western states, and 200,000 more people watching its services online every week. Mr. Driscoll became a celebrity in conservative Christianity, a sought-after speaker and prolific author known for a celebration of masculinity that helped Mars Hill attract young men, a demographic noted in church life mostly for its absence.

But now Mr. Driscoll’s empire appears to be imploding. He has been accused of creating a culture of fear at the church, of plagiarizing, of inappropriately using church funds and of consolidating power to such a degree that it has become difficult for anyone to challenge or even question him. A flood of former Mars Hill staff members and congregants have come forward, primarily on the Internet but also at a protest in front of the church, to share stories of what they describe as bullying or “spiritual abuse,” and 21 former pastors have filed a formal complaint in which they call for Mr. Driscoll’s removal as the church’s leader.

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Thom Rainer Gives 7 Traits of Pastors Who Lead Breakout Churches

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Thom Rainer

Thom Rainer

If you want to experience an “aha” moment about revitalizing churches, this research may be the near the top.

Most of you have heard the dire information and statistics about congregations in North America. Indeed, I have been among the purveyors of the negative news. For sure, the overall picture is gloomy. There is no hiding from that reality.

Reasons for Hope

But I remain an obnoxious optimist about churches across our nation. And one of the primary reasons I do so is some ongoing research and observations about churches that have truly been revitalized.

My own research began several years ago and culminated in my book, Breakout Churches. It was a massive project, beginning with over 50,000 churches. My research, and that of many others, continues to this day.

While most of the research has focused on information endemic to structural and congregational issues, I have taken a laser approach to look at the leaders of these churches. And while I will release more comprehensive information later in a video consultation, I am incredibly excited to release some key information about leaders of these churches today.

The Seven Traits

The churches I have studied are churches that were once declining, but now are growing in a healthy fashion. The decline may have been dramatic, or it may have been almost imperceptible. In almost every case, however, the pastor embodied seven key characteristics.

In some of the churches, the pastors were new, and the presence of a new leader energized the congregations to move forward. In other churches, the pastors had been the leader during the decline, but now they were leading a church headed in a positive direction, a breakout church.

But here is a key to remember. The pastors intentionally adopted seven traits that were key to the churches’ turnaround. Let’s look at each of them briefly.

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Thom S. Rainer is the president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. Prior to LifeWay, he served at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for twelve years where he was the founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism. He is a 1977 graduate of the University of Alabama and earned his Master of Divinity and Ph.D. degrees from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.


Baptist Pastor Hanna Massad Talks About the Hamas-Israeli Conflict

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Image: Khalil Hamra / AP Relatives mourn over the coffin of Jalila Ayyad, a 70-year-old Christian woman killed when her Gaza City home was destroyed in an Israeli air strike.

Image: Khalil Hamra / AP
Relatives mourn over the coffin of Jalila Ayyad, a 70-year-old Christian woman killed when her Gaza City home was destroyed in an Israeli air strike.

The summer of violence in Gaza and Israel on Tuesday entered its fifth week after rockets, fired from inside Gaza, broke the latest ceasefire. After the attack, Israel recalled its negotiators from peace talks in Cairo, and Israeli forces launched new airstrikes.

Since the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) launched Operation Protective Edge on July 8, the IDF has completed 1,300 air strikes, and ground troops have destroyed more than 30 cross-border tunnels. Since January, combatants inside Gaza have fired about 3,000 rockets into Israel. It is the deadliest conflict between Palestinians and Israelis since the Second Intifada, which ended in 2005. As of mid-August, more than 2,000 have died in the current conflict, including 1,975 Gazans (combatants included), 64 Israeli soldiers, and two Israeli civilians.

The Christian minority inside Gaza has not been spared fatalities. But it has also offered shelter, food, education, and medical care to hundreds of Gazans. Hanna Massad, former pastor of the Gaza Baptist Church, has been coordinating Christian aid efforts from his current pastorate in Amman, Jordan. Massad is a graduate of Bethlehem Bible College and earned a doctorate in theology at Fuller Theological Seminary. There have been Christians in Gaza since the third century.

Timothy C. Morgan, senior editor, global journalism, and journalist Deann Alford interviewed Massad recently by phone and email as the conflict continued. CT is pursuing a similar interview from the perspective of Christians inside Israel on the latest conflict.

What are Christians inside Gaza telling you?

I was happy to hear about the ceasefire. This morning the news was that, unfortunately, the fighting has continued. Several times daily I communicate with Gaza by phone or Skype. Water supplies are very low in Gaza. There’s little or no electricity. I’ve spoken with my Muslim neighbors and Christians. All are waiting and anxious about what will happen next.

Are Gazans being sheltered in churches?

Gaza Baptist Church hasn’t been damaged, but it’s next door to Gaza’s main police station, which is a target. The bombs have made it too dangerous for Baptist church members to meet. But thousands of Muslims have found refuge in other churches that have opened their doors to refugees. My neighbor called to ask if he and his family could move into my family home in Gaza. Now there’s almost 100 people living in my house. People throughout Gaza are taking care of each other.

Eastern Gaza is very dangerous. Most of north Gaza borders Israel. Through the Christian Mission to Gaza that I founded in 1999 and in partnership with Bethlehem Bible Society and Gaza Baptist Church, we’ve supplied food relief to hundreds of Muslim and Christians. Our goal is to help 1,000 families.

How many Christians remain in Gaza?

Four hundred families. Two months ago there were 1,333 individuals—mostly Greek Orthodox, Catholics, and Baptists.

Click here to read more.

SOURCE: Christianity Today
Interview by Timothy C. Morgan and Deann Alford


Youth Pastor Cameron Triggs on How Church Workers Can Fight Fairly for Their Youth Ministry

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Cameron Triggs / Twitter

Cameron Triggs / Twitter

It happened again. No support. No budget. No promotion. No encouragement. No help. No volunteers. Few students. Exhausted Youth Pastor.

Many churches struggle in this area. Most congregations still focus on their natural tendency to be adult-centered at the expense of excluding children & teens. In some sense, they are treated as a Junior Varsity team that few support. As youth workers, our job is to change that. We have to encourage the whole church to be involved and invested in youth ministry. However, we can’t do this with bad intentions. We have to fight fairly. Here are some suggestions to do that…

1. Be patient- Everything won’t happen quickly. Truth be told, it is probably best that way. Call for change. Teach on change. Share why it’s important. But more importantly, wait. Don’t be the renegade youth pastor with a track record longer than Al Capone. Be faithful where God planted you and help be the change you wish to see in the youth ministry.

2. Be a servant- As a youth pastor, you have insight, skill sets, and a perspective many will not have as volunteers or staff. The greatest way to receive is to give. Give your service and talents to other ministries. Don’t let this be a tool of manipulation rather a platform of service. Show people your heart for ministry and you may enlighten them to leave the territorial grounds of their ministry to serve teens.

3. Be mindful- Youth Ministry is not the only important ministry at your church. There are times when you need to sit back and understand the need to serve and edify others not a part of the youth ministry. Sometimes that may come at the expense of the youth ministry. That’s ok. If we can’t sacrifice how can we expect others to?

4. Be saturated in prayer- What ever it is: IT happens after prayer. No victory or motivation will last in your youth ministry if it’s not founded on prayer. Prioritize prayer amongst your volunteers and ask for the church to pray for your youth!

5. Be diligent- Your ideas and request will get rejected and deflected. Don’t give up. Stay motivated. It is your job to make sure the church is deeply committed and invested in the lives of teens. If you lose motivation due to rejection and find it hopeless you will find yourself in a spiritual rut. Find your identity in Christ and not your performance. Your faithfulness can only be sustained by trusting the Gospel and hoping your teens will do the same.

Click here to read more.

SOURCE: HBCharlesJr.com
Cameron Triggs, Pastor of Youth and Young Adults at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church in Jacksonville, FL.


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