John Fea teaches American history at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.  He is the author of “Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump.” The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of BCNN1.

Do the current Democratic candidates for president have any chance of winning evangelicals in November 2020?

Probably not.

Of the candidates left in the Democratic primary race, Pete Buttigieg has made the most of his Christian faith. Buttigieg regularly quotes the Bible on the campaign trail and is always ready to remind us that the Christian right does not have a monopoly on the language of faith.

But for many evangelicals, Buttigieg’s Bible-infused sermonettes seem indistinguishable from the usual Democratic talking points. One wonders if there is anything about his understanding of Christianity that would put him at odds with party orthodoxy.

Over the last couple of years, I have talked with a lot of Trump-voting evangelicals. Some go to my church. Some are in my family. We have exchanged emails and social media messages. I met many of them during the tour for my book “Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump.”

Based on this anecdotal evidence, I know that a lot of evangelicals will vote for Trump again. I’ve even met a few evangelicals who voted for a third-party candidate in 2016 but plan to vote for Trump in 2020 because he appoints conservative Supreme Court justices, fights for religious liberty (as defined by conservative evangelicals) and defends the interests of Israel.

But I have also met people who voted for Trump in 2016 and are looking for a justification — any justification — to vote for a Democrat in 2020.

These evangelicals might vote for a Democratic candidate who speaks in genuine and sincere ways about reducing the number of abortions in America. Ideally, this candidate would support the Hyde Amendment, the legislative provision that prevents the government from using federal funds to pay for most abortions.

Evangelicals might also consider voting for a Democratic candidate who recognizes legitimate threats to religious liberty. Such a candidate might be willing to endorse the Fairness for All Act, a bill that both outlaws discrimination against the LGBTQ community and protects the convictions of faith-based institutions.

Perhaps this candidate might embrace something akin to what Washington University law professor John Inazu calls “confident pluralism.” Inazu calls both the left and the right to think more deeply about how Americans can live together amid their deepest differences and, in the process, forge a healthy republic defined by “tolerance, humility, and patience.”

If a candidate will speak proactively on these issues, he or she just might steal a small number of evangelical votes away from Trump. In another close election, such votes may be all that is needed to defeat the president in 2020.

Unfortunately, no such candidate exists in the Democratic field.

Source: Religion News Service

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

The Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a Jesuit priest, is a Senior Analyst at RNS. Previously he was a columnist at the National Catholic Reporter (2015-17) and an associate editor (1978-85) and editor in chief (1998-2005) at America magazine. He was also a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University (1985-98 & 2006-15) where he wrote Archbishop, A Flock of Shepherds, and Inside the Vatican. Earlier he worked as a lobbyist for tax reform. He has a doctorate in political science from the University of California Berkeley. He entered the Jesuits in 1962 and was ordained a priest in 1974 after receiving a M.Div from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily represent those of BCNN1.

As archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles Chaput was not afraid to take a different line from the pope on issues facing the church. In 2016, after Pope Francis opened the possibility of Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, Chaput added a stipulation: In his diocese, such couples who wanted to receive the Eucharist would have to abstain from sex.

More recently, he criticized the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest whom the pope has met with and encouraged in his ministry to LGBTQ Catholics.

A Catholic bishop, even one who disagrees with a new pope, cannot just be fired and replaced. The pope must wait until the bishop reaches retirement at 75 years of age before appointing a successor.

But if change is slow, the direction is clear, and Francis, like popes before him, is slowly filling the American hierarchy with bishops who reflect his values and priorities.

That’s what happened last week when Francis accepted the resignation of Chaput, the conservative culture warrior who turned 75 in September, and appointed Nelson Perez to be the next archbishop of Philadelphia. Since 2017, Perez has been bishop of Cleveland, where he had succeeded an unpopular bishop who had been tainted by his association with disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston.

But don’t think that Perez is a liberal who will lead his flock to the barricades calling for a change in church teaching on the ordination of women, gay marriage or birth control. That is not going to happen, any more than Francis would change such teaching. But neither sees any point in obsessively repeating arguments when everyone knows what the church teaches.

Rather, the most noticeable change between Perez and Chaput will be one of style. Chaput saw himself as an intellectual who had to take on American culture and politics when he thought it was out of line with church teaching. If he had not been a priest, he would have been happy as a conservative academic, commentator or talk radio host.

With Chaput’s retirement, the conservative bishops in the U.S. have lost their intellectual leader and the American church has reached a turning point. Chaput and Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, who died in 2015, had been the most forceful conservative voices in the American hierarchy for a generation. With both of them gone, we will see a more pastoral vision of Catholicism promoted by the bishops.

Source: Religion News Service

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

Jay Sekulow, one of President Donald Trump’s lead attorneys during the impeachment trial, is being paid for his legal work through a rented $80-a-month mailbox a block away from the White House.

The Pennsylvania Avenue box appears to be the sole physical location of the Constitutional Litigation and Advocacy Group, a for-profit corporation co-owned by Sekulow. The firm has no website and is not listed in national legal directories. The District of Columbia Bar has no record of it, and no attorneys list it as their employer.

But Sekulow, 63, is registered as chief counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice, a non-profit Christian legal advocacy group based in an expansive Capitol Hill row house a short walk from the Senate chamber.

A half dozen lawyers employed by the non-profit ACLJ are named in recent Senate legal briefs as members of Trump’s defense team — including one of Sekulow’s sons. The ACLJ, as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, is barred under IRS rules from engaging in partisan political activities.

The Republican National Committee has paid more than $250,000 to Sekulow’s for-profit CLA Group since 2017, when he was first named to Trump’s legal team as special counsel Robert Mueller was leading the Russia investigation, according to campaign disclosures.

Sekulow has been one of Trump’s most visible defenders, enduring as a trusted attorney for the president even as other of his lawyers have been sidelined or entangled in controversy.

In the impeachment trial, he has sought to present Trump as unfairly hounded by investigations, seizing on surveillance errors the FBI acknowledged making in the Russia probe and accusing Democrats of investigating the president over Ukraine simply because they couldn’t bring him down after the Mueller investigation.

Charity watchdogs for years have raised concerns about the blurred lines between for-profit businesses tied to Sekulow and the complex web of non-profit entities he and his family control.

The Associated Press reviewed 10 years of tax returns for the ACLJ and other charities tied to Sekulow, which are released to the public under federal law. The records from 2008 to 2017, the most recent year available, show that more than $65 million in charitable funds were paid to Sekulow, his wife, his sons, his brother, his sister-in-law, his nephew and corporations they own.

Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy, said Sekulow appears to be mixing his defense of Trump with his charitable endeavors. The group has issued a “Donor Alert” about ACLJ on its CharityWatch website.

“Charities are not supposed to be taking sides in partisan political activities, such as providing legal services to benefit a politician in an impeachment trial,” Borochoff said. “Regulators should investigate whether or not charitable resources, such as office, labor, equipment, etc., are being wrongly utilized to benefit Sekulow’s for-profit law firm.”

The address for CLA Group listed in recent court filings matches Carr Workplaces, a flex-space provider that rents out mini offices, individual desks and conference rooms for periods as brief as one hour. According to its website, the company also offers its customers “virtual offices” that include a mailbox and mail forwarding.

A receptionist at the Carr Workplaces office confirmed the law firm’s mail is delivered to a mail slot in a secure room before being forwarded to another location, which she declined to disclose.

A call to Carr last week asking to be connected to CLA Group was forwarded. After a few rings, the call was answered by a receptionist at the non-profit ACLJ.

Inquiries about Sekulow’s for-profit law firm were referred to Gene Kapp, a Virginia public relations contractor paid through the charity.

“Jay Sekulow is serving as a member of the President’s legal team in his personal capacity,” Kapp said in an email. “His work with the President is separate and distinct and is not connected with his work as Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. The ACLJ’s work is separate and distinct from the legal work being done for the President.”

Kapp declined to say whether CLA Group has any support staff or whether Sekulow was doing his legal work for Trump in the non-profit group’s office. Kapp would also not comment on whether CLA Group was reimbursing ACLJ for any resources being utilized for Trump’s legal defense.

A 2005 investigation by the publication Legal Times reported about questionable spending at ACLJ, quoting former employees describing millions in charity funds being spent to support the Sekulows’ lavish lifestyle, which included multiple homes, golf junkets, chauffeur-driven cars and a private jet used to ferry then-Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. A 2011 investigation by the Tennessean newspaper found more than $33 million in charitable funds paid to Sekulow and his family. The Guardian and The Washington Post reported additional details in 2017, shortly after Sekulow was named as Trump’s lawyer.

Over the 10-year-period examined by AP, the tax returns show nearly $37 million in charitable funds were paid by ACLJ to the CLA Group, the phantom law firm listed on court filings as defending Trump.

Incorporation filings and tax records show Sekulow co-owns CLA Group with his law school classmate and longtime business partner Stuart J. Roth. Roth is also listed as senior counsel at ACLJ and named in recent legal briefs as one of Trump’s defense lawyers.

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, is investigating the potential abuse of charitable funds raised by the organizations tied to Sekulow. Spokeswoman Laura Brewer said it was unclear when that probe, begun in 2017, would be complete.

Trump, Sekulow’s star client, has faced similar legal questions. Trump agreed to pay $2 million as part of a settlement with the state of New York in which he was forced to admit he misused charitable funds from the Donald J. Trump Foundation to promote his 2016 presidential campaign, pay off business debts and buy a $10,000 portrait of himself hung at one of his Florida resorts. Trump’s charity also cut an illegal $25,000 check to support the reelection of then-Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who now works with Sekulow as a member of the president’s defense team.

A Brooklyn native, Sekulow graduated from Mercer Law School in Georgia and briefly worked for the Internal Revenue Service before going into private practice in Atlanta with his former classmate Roth in the early 1980s. The pair specialized in buying and selling historic properties as tax shelters, but the business collapsed after disgruntled investors sued them over alleged fraud and securities violations. Court records show both Sekulow and Roth filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 1987.

Sekulow quickly remade himself as general counsel for the group Jews for Jesus. A self-described Messianic Jew, Sekulow won a religious liberties case before the U.S. Supreme Court after members of the group were barred from passing out pamphlets at the Los Angeles International Airport.

The following year, records show Sekulow founded the non-profit Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism (CASE), a charity “dedicated to the ideal that religious freedom and freedom of speech are inalienable, god given rights.”

In 1992, he was named chief counsel at the ACLJ, which was founded by televangelist Pat Robertson as a conservative counterweight to the left-leaning American Civil Liberties Union. It is affiliated with the law school at Regent University, the Christian college founded by Robertson and located next to the studios of his Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Tax records show ACLJ now receives the bulk of its $23 million annual budget from CASE. All six of the charity’s paid board members share the last name Sekulow, including Jay’s wife, Pam, and their sons, Jordon and Logan.

That tight-knit family control runs afoul of standards issued by multiple watchdog groups to help stem the likelihood of self-dealing and graft.

The Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance recommends at least five independent board members and not more than one who receives direct financial benefits. Bennett Weiner, who heads the BBB alliance, said it issued an advisory about ACLJ after the organization didn’t respond to requests for more information about its finances.

The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, founded 40 years ago by Billy Graham and other evangelical leaders to accredit Christian non-profits, requires independent boards of directors made up of people “not related by blood or marriage to staff members.” CASE and ACLJ are not listed among the council’s 2,400 members.

As Sekulow has positioned himself among Trump’s chief defenders in both the courtroom and as a legal analyst on Fox News, CASE has continued to raise more than $50 million annually through an aggressive mix of telemarketing and direct mail soliciting the conservative faithful to support ACLJ’s courtroom advocacy.

But tax records show much of that money is routed to Sekulow and his family. Over the 10-year period examined by AP, more than $12 million was paid in direct salary and benefits to Sekulow and his family members.

Gary Sekulow, Jay’s 61-year-old brother, was paid a total of $985,947 in salary and benefits in 2017 as the chief operating and financial officer at both ACLJ and CASE — two full-time positions that tax documents indicate would require him to work 80 hours each week.

Adam Sekulow, Gary’s 31-year-old son, was paid $229,227 as the director of development at CASE and $65,052 as the director of major donors at ACLJ the same year.

Records show millions more each year going to for-profit companies controlled by the family. In addition to the $5.8 million ACLJ paid to CLA Group in 2017, $1.4 million was paid to Regency Productions, a company owned by Jay Sekulow that receives his fees for appearing on the radio show “Jay Sekulow Live!” and his television show “ACLJ This Week with Jay Sekulow,” which airs on the same Christian network as Pat Robertson’s “The 700 Club.”

Over the 10-year period reviewed by AP, CLA Group and Regency were paid a combined $46 million in charitable funds by ACLJ and CASE. Millions more were paid by the charities for “airtime,” though the recipients of that money were not detailed in the tax records.

Sekulow’s show is often recorded at a studio located at the Washington, D.C., headquarters of ACLJ. Tax records show the office building, with a current assessed value of $3.8 million, is owned by CASE. The charity controlled by the Sekulow family also owns the spacious four-bedroom, four-bath row house next door, which has a current assessed value of $1.8 million.

This week, an AP photographer saw Jay’s son Jordan Sekulow, 37, entering the residence. A graduate of Regent law school, Jordan Sekulow is the executive director of ACLJ, a member of Trump’s defense team, and also hosts his father’s radio show. ACLJ’s website and affiliated YouTube channel have been posting daily updates about the impeachment trial, reiterating GOP arguments and hammering Democratic House managers.

Jordan’s wife, Anna Sekulow, 36, also works at the charity as a digital media adviser, according to its website. The public tax records do not indicate how much they are paid.

About $6.8 million went to the company PFMS of Georgia for producing Sekulow’s shows. That company’s website lists Gary Sekulow’s wife, Kimberly Sekulow, 60, as president and CEO. The address for that business is in the same suburban Atlanta building listed on tax returns as the offices for CASE, the charity that pays it.

In addition to his two paid jobs at the non-profits, the couple’s son Adam Sekulow is listed as the acquisition manager at PFMS. His sister Jennifer Sekulow, 27, is the head of market research.

The records show at least $1.2 million was spent by the charities on private jets, including an unusual arrangement where CASE was paying to lease a plane co-owned by the for-profit companies controlled by Jay Sekulow and his sister-in-law.

The tax records show millions more were routed into numerous non-profit and for-profit entities, which makes it challenging to determine who is really getting the money.

For example, ACLJ and CASE made payments to the Law & Justice Institute, a non-profit entity created by Sekulow and Roth. Tax records show that charity’s only activity was to make annual payments to two for-profit companies, Advocacy Services Inc. and Educational Resources Associates.

Virginia incorporation records list “M.G. Robertson” of Virginia Beach as the president and director of Advocacy Services, which received $4 million in payments. Marion Gordon Robertson, 89, is better known to TV viewers by his nickname, Pat.

Incorporation filings for Education Resources Associates in Washington, D.C, list its CEO as John Ashcroft, who served as U.S. attorney general in the administration of President George W. Bush. That company got $2.2 million in consulting fees from the charitable Law & Justice Institute. Ashcroft, 77, is listed as a distinguished professor at Regent University and has appeared with Sekulow at ACLJ events.

Marc Owens, who served for 10 years as the director of the Exempt Organizations Division of the Internal Revenue Service, said the structure of the charities and corporations controlled by the Sekulow family appeared designed to obscure just who is getting paid and how much.

Federal law forbids charities from excessively benefiting those who have “substantial influence over the organization.” Owens said both the IRS and state attorneys general should investigate.

“This is an apparent web of organizations that seem to exist to pay compensation to Sekulow and his family members,” said Owens, who is now in private practice. “That pattern clearly raises questions for those entities that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) as to whether they’re operating for a public benefit or the private benefit of Jay Sekulow and his family members.”

Sekulow’s spokesman denied any wrongdoing.

“The financial arrangements between ACLJ, CASE and other entities have been reviewed by outside independent experts and are in compliance with all tax laws,” Kapp said.

Asked who those outside experts are and whether AP could speak with them, Kapp responded that he didn’t have anything to add.

___

Associated Press reporter Ashraf Khalil contributed to this report.

___

Follow AP Investigative Reporter Michael Biesecker at http://twitter.com/mbieseck

___

Contact AP’s global investigative team at [email protected]

Source: Associated Press via Religion News Service

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

A New Jersey megachurch is opening a cafe staffed by adults with special needs to better reflect the “Kingdom of God in 3D Technicolor,” pastor Tim Lucas has revealed. 

This year, Liquid Church in Parsippany, New Jersey, will transform the Clean Water Café at its Broadcast Campus into a full-service coffeehouse operating Monday-Friday that “will serve delicious breakfast, lunch, and specialty coffee creations in a warm, work-friendly environment.”

The coffee shop will provide over 30 jobs for those with Asperger’s, autism and Down syndrome who have aged out of the education system.

“I think special needs ministry is singular in its ability to show the Kingdom of God in 3D Technicolor,” Lucas told The Christian Post. “When Jesus says, ‘The last shall be first,’ He means that the way we love and care for the weakest members of His family will contribute to the strength of the community. It’s lavishing the love of the King on His most vulnerable children.”

According to statistics, about 80% of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities are unemployed. Through the Clean Water Café, Liquid hopes to “create a path for our special friends to be accepted, included, and valued in the workplace.”

In addition to supporting the local community, the café will have a global impact: Any profits from the shop will be added to the donations that Liquid is already giving to support the Clean Water Cause in Africa and Central America.

According to Lucas, the 5,000-member church seeks to “saturate our state with the Gospel of Jesus Christ without watering down the Gospel.” And the rate of autism among children in New Jersey, he revealed, is the highest ever documented for a state.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Leah MarieAnn Klett

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

The French appeals court has acquitted Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon of charges that he failed to report sexual abuse cases.

In 2017, Barbarin was charged and later convicted for not reporting the abuse of a minor, which resulted in a six-month prison sentence. His was the most high-profile case of a member of the Catholic hierarchy to be tried and sentenced for sexual abuse coverup.

The prosecutors accused Barbarin of not reporting the notorious pedophile Bernard Preynat, who was convicted in July for sexually abusing up to 45 young Boy Scouts under his care in the diocese of Lyon. The Catholic Church removed him from the clerical state, meaning Preynat is no longer a priest.

On Thursday (Jan. 30), an appeals court acquitted Barbarin.

Lyon is an important diocese in France, overseeing more than 1.2 million Catholics, and traditionally a stepping stone for becoming a cardinal and occupying other prestigious positions.

The victims who accused Barbarin of covering up abuse plan to appeal the matter to France’s highest court, the Court de Cassation. Victims may also present the case before the European Court of Human Rights. In either case, a final decision over Barbarin’s guilt or innocence may not be made for several years.

At the time of his conviction, the 69-year-old Barbarin presented his resignation to Pope Francis even though the cardinal hadn’t reached the retirement age of 75. Francis refused the resignation due to the “presumption of innocence,” but in June he appointed Bishop Emeritus Michel Dubost of Evry-Corbeil-Essonnes to oversee the diocese while Barbarin maintained the title of Archbishop of Lyon.

Despite being acquitted, Barbarin said he presented his resignation once more to the pope, who has the last word in these cases.

“For the Church in Lyon, it’s time to open a new chapter,” the cardinal told French reporters after his court hearing. “Once again I will present my resignation as archbishop of Lyon in the hands of Pope Francis.”

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni stated on Thursday that the Vatican and the French bishops “reaffirm their closeness to all the victims of abuse, in their suffering, and to their families and communities.”

“The Holy Father, who continues to follow closely the unfolding of these painful events, will communicate his decision at the appropriate time,” he said.

In a tweet, Cardinal Robert Sarah, who heads the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship, said that he greeted the news of Barbarin’s acquittal with “emotion.”

“We have long awaited this important day with him. Our friendship never wavered. He has always been a great servant (of God),” he wrote.

Source: Religion News Service

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

There’s not much love lost between Christian marriage and sex blogger Sheila Wray Gregoire and pastor turned marriage expert Emerson Eggerichs.

Or much respect.

The two — both of whom have been featured on Focus on the Family broadcasts — have been feuding for a year over Eggerichs’ bestselling book, “Love & Respect.”

Gregoire says she’s heard from hundreds of women who say one of the book’s main themes — that giving a husband “unconditional respect” can lead to a happy marriage — contributed to abuse in their marriages. She wants Focus on the Family, which originally published the book in partnership with Integrity Publishing, to drop its endorsement.

Eggerichs rejects any claim that “Love & Respect,” which has sold more than 2 million copies since 2004, has contributed to abuse. He believes the book and the ministry that shares its name have helped thousands of couples.

Like any book, he said, “Love & Respect” could be misused by people with bad intentions.

The dispute over the book has raised enough controversy that Focus on the Family weighed in. Focus issued a statement last week saying Gregoire had “orchestrated a campaign” to discredit Eggerich’s book. According to the statement, Focus continues to endorse Eggerich.

“The fact of the matter is that we believe Mrs. Gregoire has seriously misread and misjudged various aspects of Love & Respect, and we further maintain that its central message aligns both with Scripture and with the common-sense principles of healthy relationships,” Focus said in a statement.

Focus also said any book, including the Bible, can be misapplied.

“But to the extent that Mrs. Gregoire has shared examples of marriages that have been harmed by Love & Respect, we would submit that the damage has come as the result of one or both spouses twisting and misapplying the text, not as the result of the book’s actual message,” the statement read.

Sheila Gregoire. Photo by Dawn
Stafford, courtesy of Sheila Gregoire

The dispute between Gregoire and Eggerichs and Focus on the Family started — as so many current debates do — with a tweet.

Gregoire, who has just over 16,000 followers on Twitter, posted a message that seemed to be a direct challenge to the main theme of Eggerichs’ book: the idea that a woman’s greatest need is for love, while a man needs respect.

“You know what I appreciate a ton about my husband? That he respects me. Sure, he loves me. But you can love someone and also take them for granted. That feels horrible,” she wrote in January 2019. “When you respect someone, then you treat them as a real, whole person. Women need respect, too.”

Gregoire, author of “The Good Girl’s Guide to Great Sex” and “To Love, Honor and Vacuum,” said she’d been asked to endorse “Love & Respect” from the stage while speaking at marriage conferences in the past. But she’d not read it carefully.

The response to her tweet — and a growing concern she had about the quality of marriage advice being given to Christian couples — convinced her to give the book a closer look.

Since she writes about sex, Gregoire began with the chapter on that topic. She found it troubling and said that the chapter focused primarily on women meeting the sexual needs of their husbands — and seemed to frame sex as a means to an end for women to gain love.

In several cases involving divorce discussed in the book, she said, the husband blamed his wife for the breakup — and sometimes for an affair — because she had withheld sex.

Gregoire ended up writing a review of the sex chapter on her blog.

“That was on a Monday,” she said. “I was just inundated with emails by women who said ‘we read this book and it enabled my husband to abuse me.’”

Over the next few days, Gregoire wrote two additional blog posts — with one focusing on the problem of unconditional respect and and she also recorded a podcast discussing the book.

In response, Gregoire said, she received hundreds of comments, saying that the advice from “Love & Respect” had backfired. The more they tried to respect their husbands, commenters told her, the worse things became.

Gregoire concluded the book’s central message was harmful and robs women of respect.

Sheila and Keith Gregoire at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2016. Photo courtesy of Sheila Gregoire

She eventually compiled a report on the comments and said she sent copies to Eggerichs and Focus on the Family. She also asked Focus to stop promoting “Love & Respect.”

“To me this was a no-brainer,” she said.

She said that Focus ignored her request. But she continued to collect stories from women who said they had been hurt by the book. Eventually, she sent a 5,500-word open letter to Focus on the Family documenting her conclusions and including many of the letters and comments from her readers regarding the book.

Eggerichs said Gregoire could not be more wrong. He said that of course women need both love and respect, as do men. But he believes the Bible teaches that love is women’s greatest need while men’s greatest need is for respect.

He told Religion News Service that he’s heartbroken to hear about cases of abuse. And that’s one point, he said, where both he and Gregoire agree.

“We are on the same page when it regards abuse,” Eggerichs said. “I am as concerned as anyone that people will use things in abusive ways.”

Eggerichs is president of Love & Respect Ministries Inc., a Rockford, Michigan-based nonprofit that conducts marriage seminars and conferences. The organization, which was founded in 2000, has brought in an average of about $790,000 a year in revenue from the sales of resources and services over the past five years.

The main idea of his work is based on a verse found in the New Testament Book of Ephesians: “However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”

In an interview, he said that respect has its limits.

Source: Religion News Service

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

Stefen Wisniewski of the Kansas City Chiefs thought he had everything figured out during his teenage years in Pennsylvania. Though he was raised in a Christian home with godly parents and attended church regularly, he admits that he was more self-sufficient than he should have been.

“I thought I was doing well in life,” he told Baptist Press during Super Bowl Opening Night Jan. 27 at Marlins Park. “I thought I was successful, doing well in sports and academics and all that. And God really humbled me.”

A car crash changed Wisniewski’s perspective about life, about God and about his faith. He was with friends and driving too fast on a winding road when he lost control of the vehicle, hitting the guardrail and careening off the road and down a hill before stopping in someone’s backyard.

Nobody in the demolished vehicle was hurt, but Wisniewski was shaken. He had recently heard a sermon on Galatians 6:7: “Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap.” As he stood outside the car waiting for the authorities to arrive, Wisniewski realized the truth of that verse.

“I thought I could mock God by doing what I wanted, but on that night I finally reaped what I sowed,” he wrote in a testimony at Beyond the Ultimate, a website by Athletes in Action. “In reality I received not justice from God, but mercy, as He protected all of us in the car from injury, and He stopped us from ending up in the lake that was only 50 yards ahead of where we stopped.”

That accident was a wake-up call for Wisniewski, who has been walking with the Lord more faithfully since that crash more than 10 years ago.

“It really helped me realize that I didn’t have it all figured out and that I really needed God,” he said. “Ultimately, pride is a great enemy of a relationship with God. Every relationship with God begins with humility, with ‘God, I need you. I can’t live this life without you. I can’t have a purpose without you. I can’t save myself. I can’t have salvation on my own.’”

A newcomer to the Chiefs, Wisniewski signed with Kansas City about halfway through the year after Philadelphia released him in August. He was the starting left guard and won a Super Bowl with the Eagles during the 2017 season.

Source: Baptist Press

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

TEXT: Matthew 11:25-30

25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.

27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

———-

If you want rest and peace in your life you need to come to Jesus. This passage is about coming to Jesus and finding rest and peace in Him. If you are struggling under the burden of sin and life you can come to Jesus and find rest in Him. You find rest by coming to Jesus and learning from God.

Third God has revealed these things to those the world thinks are simple and ignorant. The passage reads, “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.” Another verse in Matthew 18:3 tells us Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” That is similar to what Jesus is saying here. He is not talking about actual children but he wants us to have humble and trusting hearts like little children. God has chosen to reveal his knowledge to those who trust in him above their own knowledge. David Guzik said, “Jesus was happy that God had chosen the unlikely – seen by the world as babes – to respond to His message of the kingdom. This should be seen in the larger context of the rising rejection of Jesus and His messengers starting in Matthew 9. It also reminds us that if we do respond to Jesus, it is because the Father has revealed these things to babes like us.” John MacArthur said, “It is not intelligence which shuts people out of the Kingdom; it is intellectual pride. And it is not intelligence which gets one into the Kingdom; it is humility. Intelligence, then, is not the issue; intellectual pride is the issue. And they were too proud, too self-seeking, too egoistic, too busy justifying themselves by their own attainments. Psalm 138:6 says: “Though the Lord be high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly: but the proud He knows afar off” – in other words, they have no intimacy with Him at all. So, He says, “Father, I thank You that intelligence isn’t the issue – you don’t need to be intelligent to get saved – and I thank You that intellectual pride shuts men out, because that wouldn’t glorify You. But I’m also thankful that You have revealed these things unto babes, for that does glorify You, and that lets the least of men have access to Your Kingdom.” Who are the ones who can enter into salvation? They are the dependent – not the independent, the dependent. They are the humble – not the proud, the humble. Those who are humbly confessing their dependency. They are helpless, and they recognize it. They are empty, and they know it. They are nothing, and they’re aware of it. They are deeply aware that they have no resources in life, none. And they turn in utter dependency, and that is what our Lord means when He says: “Except a man become as a little child, he can’t enter the Kingdom.” You have to come to the point where you abandon all of your own resources, you see. So, the comparison between the wise and the babes is not a comparison between smart and dumb people, not a comparison between educated and uneducated people. It is a comparison between those who think by their own intellect they can save themselves, and those who know they can’t, and are totally dependent on God’s grace. It is a grace and works comparison. It is a God and man comparison.” If you want to find rest you need to come to Jesus with the humble heart of a child that is dependent on God.

Someone said:

Cast thy burden on the Lord,
Only lean upon His Word;
Thou wilt soon have cause to bless
His eternal faithfulness.

He sustains thee by His hand,
He enables thee to stand;
Those whom Jesus once hath loved
From His grace are never moved.

Human counsels come to naught;
That shall stand which God hath wrought;
His compassion, love, and power,
Are the same for evermore.

Heaven and earth may pass away,
God’s free grace shall not decay;
He hath promised to fulfill
All the pleasure of His will.

Jesus, Guardian of Thy flock,
Be Thyself our constant Rock;
Make us, by Thy powerful hand,
Strong as Zion’s mountain stand.

——-

Now, if you are with us today and you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior, allow me to show you how you can place your faith and trust in Him for Salvation from sin and Hell.

First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”

Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 18:8: “Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Now that is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.

Romans 10:9 & 13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved… For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, and you want to trust Him for your Salvation today, please pray with me this simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. I am sorry for my sins, and today I choose to turn from my sins. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior and I choose to follow Him as Lord from this day forward. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.

If you believed in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the Cross, was buried, and rose again, allow me to say, congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”

If you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior today, please email me at [email protected] and let us know. There is some free material that we want to send you. If you have a prayer request, please e-mail that to us as well, and we will pray for you until you tell us to stop.

God loves you. We love you. And may God bless you.

Daniel Whyte III has spoken in meetings across the United States and in over twenty-five foreign countries. He is the author of over forty books including the Essence Magazine, Dallas Morning News, and Amazon.com national bestseller, Letters to Young Black Men. He is also the president of Gospel Light Society International, a worldwide evangelistic ministry that reaches thousands with the Gospel each week, as well as president of Torch Ministries International, a Christian literature ministry.

He is heard by thousands each week on his radio broadcasts/podcasts, which include: The Prayer Motivator Devotional, The Prayer Motivator Minute, as well as Gospel Light Minute X, the Gospel Light Minute, the Sunday Evening Evangelistic Message, the Prophet Daniel’s Report, the Second Coming Watch Update and the Soul-Winning Motivator, among others.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from Bethany Divinity College, a Bachelor’s degree in Religion from Texas Wesleyan University, a Master’s degree in Religion, a Master of Divinity degree, and a Master of Theology degree from Liberty University’s Rawlings School of Divinity (formerly Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary). He is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Ministry degree.

He has been married to the former Meriqua Althea Dixon, of Christiana, Jamaica since 1987. God has blessed their union with seven children.

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

This is Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International with the Whyte House Family Devotional Reading of Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening podcast. This is Episode #16.

Charles Spurgeon was a prominent English Particular Baptist preacher. He was very influential among the Christians of various denominations during his age and even today, and is commonly called the “Prince of Preachers”. After some time of alternately searching for God and running from God, he had a powerful encounter which led him to give his life to Christ. Spurgeon was only 16 when he preached his first sermon and he began publishing books shortly afterward. At the time of his death, he had preached nearly 3,600 sermons and published 49 volumes of commentaries, sayings, anecdotes, illustrations and devotions. Spurgeon said, “encouraging thoughts are like honey to the heart”, and wrote this devotional in hopes that its uplifting messages for each day of the year would bring comfort and refreshment to our walk with God. He was inspired by Isaiah 50:4 which reads, “He wakeneth morning by morning. He wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned” and Psalm 63:5-6 which says, “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips; when I remember Thee upon my bed, and meditate on Thee in the night watches.”

Song of Solomon 1:2 reads: “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.”

Nothing gives the believer so much joy as fellowship with Christ. He has enjoyment as others have in the common mercies of life, he can be glad both in God’s gifts and God’s works; but in all these separately, yea, and in all of them added together, he doth not find such substantial delight as in the matchless person of his Lord Jesus. He has wine which no vineyard on earth ever yielded; he has bread which all the corn-fields of Egypt could never bring forth. Where can such sweetness be found as we have tasted in communion with our Beloved? In our esteem, the joys of earth are little better than husks for swine compared with Jesus, the heavenly manna. We would rather have one mouthful of Christ’s love, and a sip of his fellowship, than a whole world full of carnal delights. What is the chaff to the wheat? What is the sparkling paste to the true diamond? What is a dream to the glorious reality? What is time’s mirth, in its best trim, compared to our Lord Jesus in his most despised estate? If you know anything of the inner life, you will confess that our highest, purest, and most enduring joys must be the fruit of the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. No spring yields such sweet water as that well of God which was digged with the soldier’s spear. All earthly bliss is of the earth earthy, but the comforts of Christ’s presence are like himself, heavenly. We can review our communion with Jesus, and find no regrets of emptiness therein; there are no dregs in this wine, no dead flies in this ointment. The joy of the Lord is solid and enduring. Vanity hath not looked upon it, but discretion and prudence testify that it abideth the test of years, and is in time and in eternity worthy to be called “the only true delight.” For nourishment, consolation, exhilaration, and refreshment, no wine can rival the love of Jesus. Let us drink to the full this evening.

PRAY.

Thank you for listening to the Morning and Evening podcast. If you do not know the Lord as your Savior, here is how you can be saved from Hell and walk with the Lord morning and evening until you go to that wonderful place called Heaven when you die:

First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”

Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 18:8: “Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Now that is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.

Romans 10:9 & 13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved… For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, and you want to trust Him for your Salvation today, please pray with me this simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. I am sorry for my sins, and today I choose to turn from my sins. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior and I choose to follow Him as Lord from this day forward. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.

If you believed in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the Cross, was buried, and rose again, allow me to say, congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”

If you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior today, please email me at [email protected] and let us know. There is some free material that we want to send you. If you have a prayer request, please e-mail that to us as well, and we will pray for you until you tell us to stop.

God loves you. We love you. And may God bless you.

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

This is Daniel Whyte III with The Scripture & The Sense Podcast #401, where I read the Word of God and give the sense of it based on an authoritative commentary source such as the Bible Knowledge Commentary. This podcast is based upon Nehemiah 8:8 where it says Ezra and the Levites “read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.” The aim of this podcast is that through the simple reading of the Word of God and the giving of the sense of it, the church would be revived and the world would be awakened.

Today we are reading Amos 1:2.

2 And he said, The Lord will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.

________

That was Amos 1:2. Now here is the sense of it.

The FaithLife Study Bible reads:

Amos was not a professional prophet and did not come from a prophetic background. He was a shepherd and likely was the owner of his flock, not merely a hired hand. He also tended sycamore figs. Little else is known about him.

The book of Amos can be divided into three sections. The first briefly introduces the prophet and conveys eight messages of judgment, each introduced with a phrase stating the words belong to Yahweh. The first six messages condemn foreign nations for injustice and oppression. The seventh tells of judgment against Judah for rejecting God’s law, while the eighth message—the longest—takes aim at Israel. The kingdom is judged for injustice, sexual immorality, and rejection of God’s guidance, including a rejection of his prophets.

The second section includes three messages of judgment introduced by a command to hear this word. These messages are all directed at the northern kingdom of Israel. Amos accuses them of oppressing the poor and worshiping improperly, especially at the wrong place—Bethel, rather than Yahweh’s ordained place of Jerusalem in Judah. King Jeroboam II of Israel, and most of the kings of Israel before him, encouraged worship of Yahweh at Bethel rather than Jerusalem—this politically motivated decision was tantamount to heresy. But despite the words of rebuke and discipline, Israel refused to turn back to God.

The third section of Amos presents three visions of the judgment that awaits Israel. Between the first and second visions, a brief narrative episode tells of a priest from Bethel who attempts to stop Amos from prophesying in Israel. Here, we see the pitiful effects of the disunity among God’s people, created from selfish ambition and spurred by the separation of worship sites. The third vision tells of what will come after judgment.

Amos focuses on God’s concern for justice. The nations surrounding Israel are judged and will suffer for their oppressive actions. However, contrary to what the Israelites might have expected, their position as God’s chosen people will not protect them from disaster. In fact, their relationship with God sets a higher standard for them. If they persist in their injustice, they will suffer just like the other nations.

Amos also critiques the people of Israel for improper worship. Their rituals are worthless if the worshipers do not also seek justice. In addition, Israel’s worship involves improper sacrifices (such as leavened bread) being offered at improper worship sites (such as Bethel and Gilgal). Amos’ warnings of judgment do not merely proclaim disaster; they also invite repentance.

The message of Amos is a call to reflect on our interactions with other people. Regardless of our place in the world, all of us enjoy some degree of privilege over others, and we need God to help us recognize how our attitudes and behaviors might be unfair, unjust, or even oppressive. Without committed action that advances God’s justice, anything we do to worship Him will amount to an empty ritual. But when we turn to God in repentance and seek His ways, we will encounter His transforming presence dwelling among us. This is the promise in the closing images of Amos: God will lift up His people and give them a beautiful and fruitful future.

____________

Thank you for listening to the Scripture & The Sense Podcast. Remember to read the Word of God each and every day and pray without ceasing to God for wisdom to understand it and apply it to your life. Most importantly, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Please stay tuned for a complete presentation of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ so that you can get your soul saved from Hell to that wonderful place called Heaven when you die. May God bless you and keep you is my prayer.

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source