Jeff Christopherson is a church planter, pastor, author and Missiologist at the Send Institute – an interdenominational church planting and evangelism think tank. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily represent those of BCNN1.

On this journey of leading ourselves, we have discussed two Kingdom realities that should create a great sense of spiritual apprehension in the heart of any potential leader (see Part 1 here and Part 2 here).

The troubling fact that my lowest point of character is my highest point of capacity should drive us to a place of analysis and deep introspection. Knowing that the way I do one thing is the way I do everything should eradicate any semblance of self-reliance and move us to a place of desperate dependence. The fallacy of ‘sin management’ only extends the rope which eventually hangs us.

But where do we bring the fruit of this authentic introspection?

Evangelical Christianity in the West has become a largely individualistic pursuit. We make much of a personal relationship with God, the priesthood of the believer, and discovering God’s will for our lives.

We worship corporately; yet often it is little more than group isolation as we listen to one speaker, make individualistic applications in our personalized study Bibles, and take our leave until next week.

In this contemporary understanding of the body of Christ, it is left to the individual believer to get his or her house in order through sheer intrinsic motivation. There is no place for accountability and support because there is no place for self-revelation. We are all on our own.

As a result, those in the church of Jesus Christ experience about the same level of social dysfunction as those outside its community. The salt, light, and yeast we are commissioned to be are impossible because our character reflects no radical differences that are captivating to the lost. Practicing this over time, our differences are now only distinguished by our socio-political preferences. Probably not what Jesus had in mind.

So how does a Kingdom citizen break away from this culture of isolationism and experience something more transformative? Something more Acts-like?

The humility of community becomes the key. It is imperative that church leaders experience and model a different type of faith, one far less individualistic and far more transparent. When James said, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16), he was taking for granted that his audience understood the humility of a Kingdom community.

The notion of corporate isolationism was as foreign to the New Testament audience as the prosperity gospel was to Jesus’ apostles – cultural synchronistic aberrations designed to comfortably ensconced sinners in their preferred addictions.

The gospel call was to go deeper in community and to honestly admit sins of character in an environment of support and account- ability. Transformation. “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy” (Prov. 28:13).

Because of the ecclesiological culture we have inherited through a semi-reformed reformation, most church leaders have rarely experienced a New Testament-esque version of spiritual community and therefore have little insight on how to reproduce it. If that is the case for you, let me suggest four ideas.

1. Make It Personal

Considering much of any leadership culture reflects the strengths and weaknesses of its leadership, it becomes essential to begin the assignment of enlarging my personal character capacity. Gather into a peer-mentoring group with other planters/pastors that are geographically close and make a priority of meeting weekly. Read together, learn together, pray together, and grow together.

Source: Christianity Today

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San Francisco’s ability to embrace an attitude of selflessness was the key to the 49ers’ drive to the Super Bowl, according to team chaplain Earl Smith, who also says that theme was mirrored in the team’s Bible studies over the past year.

The 49ers will face Kansas City Sunday in Super Bowl 54.

Smith told Sports Spectrum the 49ers’ season reminded him of the selflessness exhibited by the NBA’s Golden State Warriors when they won their championship in 2015. Both teams played as “one unit,” he said.

“[The 49er players] were happy for each other, and it wasn’t just a personal happiness, but there was a joy among the guys, the coaches, the administration, and for me, that’s really what it was about,” Smith said. “… These guys are just one. They’re not selfish. They really want each other to do well. And I was really proud to see that. I was really happy and blessed that I could see that materialize on the field.”

The players, Smith said, studied “hope, trust and accountability” during Bible studies with him during the season.

“We spent like a month – a series – on each of those things,” he told Sports Spectrum.

They also studied the Lord’s Prayer and the theme of what “the Lord is.”

Source: Christian Headlines

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The Iowa Attorney General’s Office has dismissed a case against a former Midwest Christian Services student convicted of sex crimes after the student identified as a woman.

According to the Des Moines Register, court records show the state dismissed the case in early January.

Attorney General spokesman Lynn Hicks did not comment on the reason for the dismissal other than to say “an offender’s hormone levels are an important part of substantiating an offender’s likelihood of recidivism.”

In November, the Storm Lake Times reported that Joseph Matthew Smith, 23, was “undergoing medical treatment that is needed prior to (Smith) potentially undergoing gender reassignment surgery.”

Smith had previously been convicted of molesting an MCS student in 2014.

Smith has received treatment for gender reassignment the past two years at Newton Correctional Facility. In October 2017, Smith first expressed a desire to “get started on transgender classification” and began using female pronouns. Smith now prefers to be called “Josie.”

An Iowa Department of Corrections spokesman said Smith had been transferred to the Sioux City Residential Treatment Facility for transitional release. He did not say when Smith will be released.

Source: Christian Headlines

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Sermons are a distinctive feature of worship services among most of the various traditions of Christian churches. And while many churchgoers consider sermons a major element of the worship experience, satisfaction with sermons is widely mixed, Pew Research Center says in a report posted Jan 28 on its Fact Tank page.

In reporting on two related recent studies, Pew says, “there are differences by religious tradition in how satisfied churchgoers are with what they hear from the pulpit – as well as in the length and content of those sermons.”

In its 2019 opinion survey of 6,364 U.S. adults, Pew said that 90% of respondents who attend church services “at least a few times a year are satisfied with the sermons they hear.” Protestants, Pew reported, “are somewhat more satisfied than Catholics” with the sermons they hear.

In breaking down opinions of sermons, Pew said its survey found that 61 percent of evangelical Protestants (six-in-ten) say they are “very satisfied” with the messages. That’s almost double the 32 percent of evangelical respondents who said they are “somewhat satisfied,” according to Pew’s report.

Almost a third – 32 percent – of Catholic respondents, indicated they are “very satisfied” with sermons, which are formally referred to as the “homily” in the Catholic Mass, as well as in the worship traditions of Anglican, Lutheran, and Eastern Orthodox Churches.

Just over half – 52 percent – of Catholic respondents indicated they are “somewhat satisfied.” A higher percentage of Catholics – 15 percent – than Protestant respondents – 7 percent – say they are “not too” or “not at all” satisfied.

“It is unclear from the 2019 survey why churchgoers’ satisfaction in sermons differ,” Pew said.

Some clues about the levels of satisfaction in sermons among Christian faith and worship traditions may be found in Pew’s review of 49,719 sermons on video.

In its study The Digital Pulpit: A Nationwide Analysis of Online Sermons, Pew said that its analysis revealed variations of length and content among Christian groups.

Source: Christian Headlines

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LONDON – Britain’s 47-year relationship with the European Union officially ended at 11 p.m. Friday night to shouts of jubilation by Brexit supporters.

The party is over and London is out of the European Union. Now Brussels will be watching nervously to see if any other nations will follow Britain out the door.

Italy, Poland, Denmark, and Finland are all said to be unhappy with the EU. But are they unhappy enough to leave?

And Britain still has an 11-month transition period, until 2021, before its last ties to the EU are cut. Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage says he likes the way Prime Minister Boris Johnson is handling it so far.

“Well, I think he’s saying all the right things. I mean he’s saying we won’t have any jurisdiction from the European Court of Justice, good. We are aiming for a Canada-style trade deal, which means the rest of our economy won’t be bound by EU rules. Good. No regulatory realignment, good. In fact, it’s everything I’ve ever wanted,” Farage said.

But there is a sense here that Britain has just stepped into the unknown, and those who opposed Brexit fear rough times ahead.

Brexit opponent James Parkes described his mood as, “Depressed. Down-beaten.”

But Brexit supporters believe that, for their great nation, the future just got brighter.

Supporter Toby Brennan said, “I think things are going to be tough in the beginning, but I think we’re going to make it. It may take a year, it may take a couple of years, but you know what? It smells like freedom.”

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Nijay K. Gupta (PhD, University of Durham) is Associate Professor of New Testament at Portland Seminary, George Fox University, Oregon, and author of Worship that Makes Sense to Paul. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily represent those of BCNN1.

A few days ago, Owen Strachan made this statement on Twitter

“The gospel of grace takes men who have been softened by the devil and makes them hard, strong, lean, loving, and ferocious in pursuit of God and his glory. See νδρζεσθε in 1 Cor. 16:13, best translated “act like men.” Men aren’t soft. Men must be tough in Christ.”

There are quite a number of things that are unclear and unbiblical about this statement. Strachan seems to have a developed a theology of “softness” that he doesn’t bother to define or explain here. His theology has more in common with a Hans and Franz SNL sketch (watch one HERE) than the Bible. I think his statement is easy to refute. (And I am sad that it needs refuting at all.)

I. The Devil does not seem to have a man-softening agenda

A study of satanology in the Bible will quickly reveal the Devil’s main objective is to convince people to sin. In fact, we find that his agenda tends to involve getting people to acquire power rather than relinquish it (see Matt 4:9). He is associated with murder (John 8:44), acts of power. Man-softening is not his MO.

II. Strachan does not (and probably could not) define “softness” as a vice relevant only to men

Strachan fails to define softness in a clear or convincing way. Does it mean gentle? All Christians are called to be gentle (Gal 5:23). Does it mean warm and intimate? The model for this is Jesus who lovingly leans on the Father’s chest (John 1:18). Or perhaps it means cowardly? But in that case no believer should be cowardly, man or woman. All are called to be brave, resilient, strong. Who would favor “softness” if it meant cowardice? And perhaps again he means “weak in faith”—again, not a sin only relevant to men.

III. The verb νδρζεσθε is not best defined as “act like a man”

It is true this literally means “act like men,” but that does not assume that is the best way to translate it or understand it in 1 Cor. This verb comes from a cultural image of the courageous and fearless man, a nod to the great warriors of the day. But we must not assume all men were always courageous. And, likewise, we must neither assume all women were always cowardly. Hebrews extolls the brave faith of Rahab (11:31). Note too the intrepid and clever mother of the Messiah (Revelation 12). And what shall we say about the early martyrs Perpetua and Felicitas? The verb νδρζεσθεwould naturally apply to all of these because they were brave.

Source: Christianity Today

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JOS, Nigeria, January 30, 2020 (Morning Star News) – At least 32 people were killed and a pastor’s house and church building were burned down in two nights of attacks this week by Muslim Fulani herdsmen in Plateau State, Nigeria, sources said.

The Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) building and home were destroyed in an attack on predominantly Christian Marish village on Monday evening (Jan. 27), one of three communities in Bokkos County hit in armed assaults that began the previous evening, area residents said. The attacks were the latest bloodshed in an escalation of violence in Plateau state, where herdsmen killed Christians in Riyom and Mangu counties earlier this month.

Herdsmen killed 17 people in Marish and Ruboi villages on Monday after killing 15 people in an attack on Kwatas on Sunday (Jan. 26), Titus Ayuba Alams, former speaker of the Plateau state House of Assembly, told Morning Star News.

“The attacks took place between the hours of 7 p.m. and 4 a.m. on Kwatas on Sunday, and also on Monday within the same time frame on Ruboi and Marish by the herdsmen,” Alam said.

Five people were wounded in the attacks and several houses were burned, area resident Theophilus Mancha told Morning Star News.

“A pregnant woman and 16 others have been killed,” Mancha said.

Kwatas, Marish and Ruboi are suburbs of Bokkos town, about 15 kilometers (nine miles) southwest of Plateau State University, Bokkos.

Kelly Kanang, another area resident, confirmed that Fulani herdsmen launched the attacks.

Benjamin Dogo of Kwatas informed Morning Star News in a text message, “Our people have been killed again. About 15 of the dead have been evacuated to the mortuary along with many others that sustained injuries during the attack on Sunday night.”

State police said 13 persons were killed and five injured in the attack on Kwatas. Police spokesman Ubah Gabriel Ogaba on Monday confirmed the attack by “unknown gunmen” on Kwatas in a press statement.

Ruboi and Marish were attacked after police issued the statement, and officers have provided no details on those attacks.

Source: Christian Headlines

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