Saying “Gospel Above All” is “more than a slogan,” Southern Baptist Convention president J.D. Greear urged unity in remarks this week at the annual meeting of the Association of State Baptist Publications.

Citing Romans 14, Greear suggested Paul’s exhortation and admonishment to believers not to pass judgment on nonessentials applies to some current issues in the SBC. “Gospel Above All” is the theme chosen by Greear for the upcoming 2020 SBC Annual Meeting, just as it was for the 2019 Annual Meeting. He said for the theme to become reality, Southern Baptists must not divide over tertiary issues.

“Paul had a definite perspective on what was right, which is what to me makes his instruction all the more relevant,” said Greear, pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, N.C. “Because he’s not talking about issues that don’t matter. He’s saying, ‘In this issue, I know I’m right, but I just don’t want to let this issue create division in this body, and unity in the body is more important than uniformity on perspective on these things.’”

During his presentations to state Baptist executives and editors, Ronnie Floyd, president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee, unveiled “Vision 2025,” and also cited Paul in emphasizing the need for strong relationships in order to achieve unity and to accomplish the collective goal of reaching “every town, every city, every state and every nation” with the Gospel.

“We’ve got to rediscover the power of relationships,” said Floyd, who added that Paul’s epistles show clearly, “the Gospel traveled on the tracks of relationships.”

Floyd, who assumed the SBC EC role in May 2019 after almost 33 years as senior pastor of Cross Church in Springdale, Ark., said he views his role “through the lens of a pastor,” and said the EC “exists to serve churches.”

“That’s what we do,” he said, adding: “We’re going to champion pastors.”

Source: Baptist Press

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Religious liberty can seem an abstract concept, but consider Kevin.

Kevin is one of more than 13,000 children in Missouri’s foster care system. Kevin has been waiting for adoption since he was 6. That was 10 years ago. Back in December, Kevin appeared on KOLR Channel 10 in Springfield, Mo. In a weekly segment, the station features foster kids like Kevin, who are in search of a home and forever family.

After footage rolled of Kevin working behind the scenes at school theatrical productions and taking a turn at the weather man’s green screen, he looked at the anchor interviewing him about what kind of family he might want and asked a question: “Can I say something?”

“Of course,” she said, as Kevin turned to face the camera.

“I want a Christian family,” the high school sophomore said. “Just get ahold of Ms. Krystal and tell her that you want to adopt me, and she’ll try to get it figured out.”

“Ms. Krystal” is Krystal Neal, Kevin’s caseworker and an employee of the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home Children and Family Ministries (MBCH), which handles Kevin’s case through a contract with the state. Because of MBCH’s mission to serve God by responding to the needs of children, youth and families, thousands of foster kids like Kevin have been served not just by the Department of Social Services, but by caseworkers and foster families that know a God-centered family is the one that works best.

During 2019, MBCH helped 187 children find permanent homes (76 reunified with family, 24 through guardianships, and 87 through adoption). More than a thousand families were part of the MBCH extended family through the foster care, crisis pregnancy and human trafficking rescue ministries. Each person touched by MBCH heard the Gospel.

Kevin’s story caused nearly every eye to tear up during the Jan. 28 MBCH trustee meeting. But even as they prayed for a family for Kevin and praised God for the Christian influence he clearly has in his life, they contemplated a time when state regulations may make such work difficult or even impossible.

Trustees began developing a five-year strategic plan for MBCH and its affiliates to be finalized by the end of the year. Threats from those who feel Christian values and mission do not have a place in the public sphere means this strategic plan is coming at a crucial time.

For example, MBCH and its subsidiary ministries receive funding through the Cooperative Program (Southern Baptists’ unified giving channel) and the Missouri Missions Offering, as well as through gifts and donations from individuals.

While these are vital sources of funding, the bulk of funding comes from bidding on contracts through the state’s Department of Social Services. Should a day come when the state or federal overseers object to MBCH’s enforcement of its statement of faith on its employees and integrating it into its services, the entity must develop a plan to continue serving with dramatically reduced revenue streams.

Source: Baptist Press

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Desmond Henry is the Global Network of Evangelist Director for the Luis Palau Association. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily represent those of BCNN1.

Evangelism. Evangelist. Evangelize. Who knew that a word with an etymology relating to good news could become such bad news in our world?

We all know that evangelism has fallen on hard times. What is central to Jesus’ mission for us has become secondary to many Christians. Not only does this one word evoke strong emotion (on either side), but it has become increasingly polarizing among evangelicals.

There are few words that consistently cause such varied reactions globally. Some love it and engage in healthy evangelism, some are neutral and prefer to remain unengaged. Yet, others dislike what it entails and some are even unsure about its relevance.

One thing is for sure: evangelism is not going anywhere, and more than ever, we need to reengage in conversation and dialogue around evangelism. Perhaps more than this, we need to embrace and unleash the power and gift of evangelism in our post-everything world.

More than ever, Christians need to reaffirm their commitment to evangelism as a priority in their faith.

Evangelism is…back?

We seem to vacillate in popular opinion regarding the role and importance of evangelism in our faith. There are times when the evangelist is welcomed and there are times when evangelism becomes anathema to Christians—which seems ironic, I know.

Irrespective of our feelings regarding the word itself, sharing one’s faith is an important aspect of the Christian faith. Evangelism is not a side activity for a busy church. Evangelism is not an optional extra. Evangelism is biblical. Evangelism is natural. Evangelism is necessary for Christ-centred, Spirit-filled, and Bible-believing Christians.

John Stott states, “We must allow the Word of God to confront us, to disturb our security, to undermine our complacency and to overthrow our patterns of thought and behaviour.” Sharing the Good News is good practise for Christians who care deeply about their neighbour, city, and the world.

Evangelism is love

One may even argue that evangelism is good for the world, and that sharing your faith is the most loving step you can take in every relationship. Where (healthy and holistic) evangelism is a priority, Christianity is good for the world, and Christians enjoy the favour of all people.

In an article in American Political Science Review from May 2012, Robert Woodberry, associate professor of Sociology at National University of Singapore, writes that “conversionary Protestants (CPs) heavily inuenced the rise and spread of stable democracy around the world.” According to Woodberry, CPs were a crucial catalyst in “initiating the development and spread of religious liberty, mass education, mass printing, newspapers, voluntary organizations, and colonial reforms, thereby creating the conditions that made stable democracy more likely.”

A world without a priority on evangelism from Christians is a world of hopelessness, darkness, and depravity. Whenever we lose ground on holistic and biblical evangelism, the vacuum is filled with spiritual poverty, shallow commitment and the church Jesus started is reduced to an ecclesial ghetto. If we love our neighbour, then we need to think clearly about our commitment to evangelism.

Source: Christianity Today

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Kimberly Penrod Pelletier is a spiritual director, writer, speaker, and co-host of the Ask A Spiritual Director podcast. Connect with her at kimberlypenrodpelletier.com. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily represent those of BCNN1.

In the fall of 2017, not long after we’d celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary, my husband and I sat down for an evening chat after getting the kids to bed. The particulars of the conversation are hazy now, but this was clear: After 30 years of being a Christian and spending almost half of that in ministry, my husband was leaving the faith. The faith that formed our marriage vows; the faith our children were baptized in; the faith we held when we buried a stillborn son; the faith our community was built around; the faith that my vocation is centered around as a spiritual director, writer, and speaker—he was leaving that faith.

I wanted initially to respect this news as his journey (even though it was mine, too), so I didn’t tell anyone. I also tried to keep the experience safe in my head so that I could think my way to answers in the newfound madness. My body, however, told a less cerebral story. I was driving home after a long day of errands when the full impact hit me: My eyes blurred with tears, and short breathes rolled through my chest. Two weeks had passed since my husband had dropped the “I don’t really believe there’s a God anymore” bomb. It took that long before I could even begin to feel the disorienting weight of his words and the betrayal, loss, and grief that came with them. This was clearly more than I could handle alone.

As I shared the news with some close friends and pastors, I felt plagued with questions: How do I tell the kids? What does this mean for their spiritual formation? How do we connect? How do I like him again? How did he get here? Why didn’t he tell me earlier? Will we still go to church together? Will we ever feel normal again?

In Letters to a Young Poet, the 19th century German poet Ranier Maria Rilke writes, “Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” As the spouse of someone who has lost faith in God, I am living the questions right now in hopes of finding future answers. But not everything is a mystery. Day by day, I’m learning how to love my husband in the midst of change. Over the last two years, I’ve learned these 10 lessons in particular:

Early on in the process, my husband came to me and told me he wanted to share his “anti-testimony.” Though I didn’t tell him, I felt appalled and disgusted. I brought those feelings to my much wiser spiritual director. She said to me, “It is only the Spirit’s work that opens up our heart to want to be known by others. His desire to be known is a gift.” Her words have remained with me and born fruit continually over these years.

As Adam Neder writes, “Our confidence that God will reveal himself … is grounded not in our own competence, character, or powers of persuasion, but in God’s desire to be known and in the eloquent presence of the risen Christ, who makes himself known in the power of the Spirit.” Although Neder is writing about the dynamic between a teacher and a student, his wisdom applies just as well to a spousal relationship. The work of the Holy Spirit is ever-present in my husband’s life, and I can trust that reality.

When my husband parted ways with Christianity, I began to feel spiritual loneliness in the space of my very own home. In that context, I’ve had to consider what keeps me spiritually alive. For example, my connection with my spiritual director has become increasingly essential to me. I also continue to cultivate practices that form me spiritually, like spending time in silence, engaging Scripture, praying, being in nature, reading spiritual formation books, and staying connected with my Christian faith community.

As you ponder your own faith story, think about what fills you up and keeps you open to the Holy Spirit. Stay in community with others who can support your journey and your spouse’s. And cultivate the relationships and practices that leave your heart open to God.

Two months after my husband declared his departure from faith, I found a new job as a chaplain, something I had always wanted to do. It was a great job and a good fit, but I quit after three months. It became clear to me that I was trying to escape my pain. Leaving that job was a repentance of sorts, not because a woman shouldn’t work or leave her child with a sitter (which I had to do) but rather because I was running from myself, from my husband, and from God. I had to stop the frenzy. I had to reckon with my body and my emotions, and I needed therapy to support the process.

Since then, we’ve moved to a smaller home and slowed our pace of life considerably. Making room for his process and my own has cost both of us, but it has also born significant fruit. We have more time to talk, ponder, and attend to our inner lives. I have more time to pray.

Christ’s command to “love your neighbor” never hits home closer than when that person is the one you share a bed with. In split-worldview marriages, we need hospitality for ourselves and also for the deconstructing neighbor right next to us. When we allow ourselves to come as we are, that deep, honest well within brings forth genuine prayers and a closer connection with God. It also enables us to follow Jesus when he says, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31, emphasis mine).

Although your spouse may be uninterested in Jesus in the formal sense, they’re unlikely to refuse genuine hospitality that comes in the spirit of Christ. In my own marriage, I practice this more than I perfect it, but nonetheless it’s worth every honest, humbling moment with my husband.

Source: Christianity Today

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Jim Denison is the founder and CEO of the Denison Forum, a nonprofit Christian media organization that comments on current issues through a biblical lens. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily represent those of BCNN1.

New Hampshire, with a population of 1,359,711, is smaller than forty-one other American states. Manchester is its largest city, with a population of 111,196. It would be the thirteenth-largest city in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, smaller than Denton but larger than Richardson.

And yet, all eyes today are on this state after yesterday’s Democratic Party primary won by Bernie Sanders. Although Pete Buttigieg finished a close second and Amy Klobuchar surged to third place, today’s New York Times is calling Sanders “the new front-runner of the 2020 Democratic primary.”

However, some caveats are worth noting.

Since 1976, only five of the nine Democratic candidates who won in New Hampshire eventually won their party’s nomination. And only one (Jimmy Carter) went on to become president. However, no modern Democrat has won the party’s nomination without finishing first or second in the state.

Whatever the future significance of yesterday’s primary, one lesson is that the anti-Sanders vote splintered, leading to his victory. Democrats who consider Bernie Sanders unelectable are going to have to find a way to consolidate around candidates who were not their first choices.

Such compromise, however, is at the heart of American democracy. Here we can learn a surprising lesson from history with strategic significance for Christians today.

What source did the writers of the Constitution quote more than any other? The Bible. Who came in second? Charles de Montesquieu (1689–1755).

Historian William Federer notes that the French political philosopher was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson (who translated a commentary on his thought from the French). His ideas about governance were formative for Jefferson and others who formed our nation.

Montesquieu divided governments into three categories: republics, which rely on moral virtue; monarchs, which rely on honor and shame; and despots, which rely on pleasure and fear. In his view, citizens in a republic typically act as co-kings in society, remembering that they will be held individually accountable to God and behaving morally and virtuously as a result.

Monarchs working within a Christian worldview (such as the British monarchy in Montesquieu’s day) exercise unilateral authority but remember that they are accountable to the King of kings in the next life. Despots, however, rule without reference to the biblical worldview and thus reward their supporters with pleasure while dominating their other subjects through fear.

According to Montesquieu, once virtue is gone in a republic, its society will become lawless. To restrain such impulses, he introduced the novel concept of separating powers into the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Each by itself could become despotic, but the others serve to check such power. This “separation of powers” became a foundational feature of America’s governance.

But the greatest force for good, according to Montesquieu, is the gospel. He said: “I have always respected religion; the morality of the Gospel is the noblest gift ever bestowed by God on man.” He believed that “the principles of Christianity, deeply engraved on the heart, would be infinitely more powerful than the false Honor of Monarchies, than the humane Virtues of Republics, or the servile Fear of Despotic states.”

Source: Christian Headlines

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CAMP HILL, Pa. – On a Sunday morning in late 2017, Oakwood Baptist Church pastor Donald Foose stood before a congregation that had been blindsided by the sudden departure of their previous head pastor.

Foose offered no answers to their lingering questions. Instead, his voice booming through the sparse sanctuary, he preached about the destructive power of gossip.

“The tongue is a fire,” Foose declared, reading from the Letter of James. He held up a piece of paper with his own name and the name of the church on it. With his other hand, he struck a match – and lit the paper ablaze.

“Look what that little fire did,” he said once the sheet had burned. “It destroyed me. It destroyed the church. It destroyed the unity of the church. And I’m amazed that I didn’t catch the place on fire.”

Within six months that sermon would seem like an attempt to smother questions leading straight to Foose’s disturbing past. The details emerged regardless.

In 2000, Foose was convicted and jailed for molesting an underage relative. He resigned from his role as principal of a Christian school, and Pennsylvania’s Department of Education stripped him of his teaching license, deeming him “a danger to the health, safety and welfare of students.” Under state law, Foose can’t even drive a school bus, and were he convicted after 2012 he would have been required by law to register as a sex offender.

But Foose still became a pastor at Oakwood, then superintendent of the Oakwood Baptist Day School. Church leaders who were aware of his past concealed it from the congregation.

The truth – exposed in 2018 after a husband and wife at the church discovered Foose’s record – fractured the tightknit, devout community of roughly 100 members. Pastors resigned, attendance fell, friendships dissolved and faith was tested. In interviews with more than a dozen current and former congregants, a portrait emerged of church leaders compounding Foose’s betrayal by twisting scripture and exploiting the concept of forgiveness to stifle questions about how the situation had been handled.

Foose resigned from Oakwood in May 2018. Soon after, the beloved pastor who had left Oakwood months before, Bob Conrad, acknowledged in a five-page letter to his former church that he and other leaders had known Foose could not pass a background check. Foose claimed to have been falsely accused, Conrad wrote, and church leaders took him at his word, failing to prevent him from having access to children even as school employees complained about his overly familiar behavior with the students.

“I pray,” Conrad wrote, “that you will find it in your hearts to forgive me for my lack in leadership and judgment.”

Foose, 69, did not respond to multiple interview requests for this story. A police investigation would ultimately find no evidence that Foose had harmed children at Oakwood. USA TODAY confirmed that since leaving Oakwood, Foose has preached in at least two other Baptist churches, in Pennsylvania and Virginia, where the congregants were unaware of his 2000 conviction.

The revelations at Oakwood occurred as the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest protestant denomination in the country with 15 million members, faced a crisis over sexual abuse that echoes the scandal in the Catholic Church. After a joint investigation by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News last year documented abuse in Southern Baptist churches spanning 20 years and 700 victims, SBC leaders faulted a “culture of casual indifference to predatory sexual behavior.”

At the SBC’s annual meeting in June, delegates approved an amendment to their constitution that would make it easier to remove churches that mishandle abuse from the denomination. SBC President J.D. Greear, in his remarks there, pressed members to take a hard line on sexual misconduct, saying, “somebody that has abused another should never ever be in a position in our churches where they can do it a second time, and if they are truly repentant they will understand that.” But because SBC churches like Oakwood are autonomous, and not beholden to centralized leadership, Greear’s words are essentially advice.

Rachael Denhollander, a lawyer, advocate and the first woman to publicly accuse disgraced USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar of sexual assault, said church leaders mishandle these situations when they rely on a limited understanding of abuse and shun the guidance of outside experts.

“It is a chosen ignorance,” she said. “They chose not to seek the help of experts, which leads them to approach the issue with a fundamental misunderstanding of abuse.”

Source: USA Today

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United Methodist women in Liberia are aiming to keep rural girls in school during their menstrual cycles with the launch of a new program to make reusable sanitary pads locally.

“These young girls are disadvantaged by their male counterparts when they have to leave school because of this natural phenomenon,” said United Methodist pastor Rose Farhat, director of women’s ministries.

She pointed out that the girls often miss their tests, and getting teachers to administer makeups is a struggle that sometimes leads to teachers taking advantage of the young girls — making them pay money or manipulating them into unwanted sexual activities.

The new program, launched Jan. 22, is funded by a $5,000 grant from United Methodist Women. The menstrual pads — made from local materials, including cotton — will be assembled by the district women and distributed to girls who can’t afford imported sanitary products.

Farhat told United Methodist News that the menstrual pads are hygienic, comfortable and reusable, which will save the girls money for school activities. She said that the project will be implemented throughout the 20 districts of the conference.

“This project is timely because the education standards of our rural girls are dropping very fast because of the menace that their menstrual cycle is causing them,” she said.

Farhat said the yearlong project will teach more than 60 women how to make the cloth menstrual pads.

“Our goal is to reach every town and village where The United Methodist Church has its presence,” she said.

Elizabeth G. Vonyon, a beneficiary, said the cloth menstrual pads don’t have the same restrictions as imported pads and are much easier to use.

Source: United Methodist News

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All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

The Episcopal Diocese of Michigan has consecrated its first openly lesbian bishop, in a move that the liberal mainline regional body is confident will not lead to further large-scale departures from the denomination.

The Rev. Bonnie A. Perry was consecrated as the eleventh bishop of the diocese at a ceremony held Saturday at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center in Dearborn.

Perry had been elected bishop in June of last year on the fifth ballot of the Special Electing Convention held at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Detroit. She got the votes of 64 clergy and 118 laity, which surpassed the minimum requirement of 55 clergy and 94 laity, according to Anna Stania, director of Communications for the diocese.

Stania also told The Christian Post that Perry did not experience any opposition to her candidacy because of her sexual orientation or that she is married to someone of the same-sex.

“We have experienced an overwhelming outpouring of joy, grace and excitement since her election and consecration,” explained Stania.

“We have been an open and affirming diocese for many years. Bishop Perry brings many incredible talents and abilities to our diocese, including her talent for growing congregations and serving and engaging deeply within communities. These talents are something that all of our congregations are eager to utilize and to learn from.”

In 2003, The Episcopal Church garnered controversy when it consecrated the Rev. Gene Robinson as the first openly gay bishop in the denomination’s history.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Michael Gryboski

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