Moqueca, a stew from the Brazilian state of Bahia, is a finessed union of sweet and savory.
The post A Seafood Stew, a Study in Contrasts appeared first on TASTE.
7 Reasons Not to View Other Churches as Competition
Your reaction to this title might be, “Duh, of course we should not compete with other churches.”
But, in reality, many church leaders do play the dangerous game of comparisons. They are seeing how their church stacks up to other churches. It’s a form of competition. And though the title might state the obvious, allow me to remind you with seven clear reasons why it’s wrong to compete.
- We are on the same team. Competition and comparisons imply that churches are on different teams. Not true. Though our doctrinal alignments may not be perfect, all true churches of the Lord Jesus Christ are on the same team. We fight the same enemy. We have the same mission.
- A mindset of competition distracts from a mindset of the Great Commission. When you focus on something, you are doing so to the exclusion of everything else. If you are focusing on measuring your church compared to others, you are doing so to the exclusion of focusing on the Great Commission.
- Every local church is different. We have different sets of members. We are located in different contexts. We have different strengths and challenges. We can’t compare our church with other churches because God gave us each local church as a unique expression of His ministry.
- Comparison and competing with other churches are forms of lust. You desire something that is not yours. You are not content with that which God has given your church. You want something God does not want your church to have.
- Comparison and competing with…
… Read More
—
Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Thom Rainer.
‘It’s Time for Us to Trust in God,’ Cissie Graham Lynch Says amid Pending Election Results
In a new Fearless podcast episode, Cissie Graham Lynch, the granddaughter of evangelist Billy Graham, shared how her perspective has changed in the days surrounding the 2020 Presidential Election.
“I finally realized no matter what, my message is the same. We need to be driven to our knees in full dependence on God,” she stated.
Cissie recalled how her grandfather would always pray for the elections and seek God’s guidance both for himself and the country. “It’s time for us to trust in God. This is God’s battle, it’s not ours. We need His help. My prayer is He’ll be a God that shows mercy to this nation,” Lynch stated.
Cissie hosted the Washington Prayer March with her father, Franklin Graham, in September. Tens of thousands gathered together to pray from the Lincoln Memorial to the U.S. Capitol. Her grandfather, Billy Graham, met with most of the U.S. Presidents in his lifetime and shared the gospel with them while counseling them on a Biblical worldview.
When she stood in line to vote, Lynch stated she felt anxiety and texted her friends asking for prayer and encouragement. She says she believes Satan is trying to destroy the country with lies and darkness, stating, “the days we’re facing now are evil. How you react, the words you will speak, the tweets you will tweet, the social media comments you will make, they will have a…
… Read More
Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.
Prophecy teacher Irvin Baxter dies, but TV ministry to continue
The Rev. Irvin Baxter Jr., well-known for his television program “End of the Age,” died Tuesday of complications from an intense weeklong bout with COVID-19, said his Endtime Ministries. He was 75.
“We will continue in his legacy, sharing the message and good news,” said Dave Robbins, Baxter’s co-host, who will now take a higher-profile role in the broadcast. Robbins anchored a video tribute to his former leader that was released late Wednesday. Baxter’s operations director and grandson, Vince Stegall, will have added responsibilities in off-camera facets of the ministry.
The television program reaches 100 million households in North America and millions more globally through satellite and cable channels. TBN, Daystar, TCT, WHT, FETV, WACX, PTL, Uplift TV and Faith TV have carried the show. His radio program has been aired by many AM and FM stations, gaining significant followings in some large cities, such as Dallas, Texas. He also published a magazine.
Saved at an early age, Baxter started traveling…
… Read More
—-
Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.
“This is the election 2020 deserves”: Two biblical ways to cope while we wait
Americans are still waiting for votes to be counted in Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump need some combination of these states’ electoral votes to win the White House. Lawsuits are being contested in several states as well.
I was being interviewed on radio this week when the host noted, “This is the election 2020 deserves.” Here’s what he meant: the year began as 1974 with impeachment, then it became 1918 with the pandemic, 2008 with the recession, 1968 with street riots, and now 2000 with delayed election results.
However, the last fact is the least surprising in the list.
Contested elections are nothing new in the US. Except for the 1860 election that led to the Civil War, the rule of law prevailed each time.
Nonetheless, given the enormity of the stakes, it’s difficult to be patient while waiting for such momentous results. In this context, Christopher Ojeda, a political science professor at the University of Tennessee, wrote an article on “coping with post-election blues” that caught my eye. He advises us to “focus on healthy living” by taking breaks from the news and politics, limiting time on social media, seeking out social support, affirming the value of democracy, and continuing to participate in the political process.
His article spurred this question: What are biblical ways to cope with such a divisive election and its enormous consequences?
Model unity in diversity
Some two hundred evangelical leaders have signed a letter titled, “A 2020 Call for Biblical Peacemaking: Evangelical Leaders’ Statement on Violence and…
… Read More
—
Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Denison Forum.
What Is Fueling Your Strategy?
Recently, my family went on vacation. We have three growing kids and needed a little bit of extra room for the long drive to Florida, so we rented a van. The entire drive my wife talked about how spacious the van was and that we needed one. I couldn’t help but think about the fuel economy and that our current car gets way better gas mileage. This got me thinking about fuel economy in strategic leadership.
Whether you are leading a church, an organization, a team, an initiative, or a project they all need fuel. Like any good pastor I came up with an acronym to help me explain the F.U.E.L. you need to lead strategically.
Future – Some pastors call this vision and others call this mission. The point is to make sure to communicate a clear and compelling preferred future. Ideally the preferred future inspires or solves a felt need. Without a compelling future then you are just wasting fuel. Your team will often burn out. This can happen when you change the end goal or direction.
Utilities – In this analogy think of your utilities as all the tools and resources you need. Some of the utilities you will need include communication channels, budget, curriculum, sermon material, time, or facilities. When a car doesn’t have enough fuel it won’t make it to its final destination. Leaders must provide the needed resources to make the future happen. Sometimes it means changing priorities or even reallocating resources.
Execution – Effective execution must be broken down into next steps….
… Read More
—
Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Thom Rainer.
Colorado Voters Reject Ban on Abortions after Viability
A majority of Colorado voters rejected a ballot measure which would have banned most abortions after 22 weeks.
According to the latest update on The New York Times, 1,744,953 people, or 58.9%, voted against the initiative and 1,218,589, or 41.1% voted in favor of it.
Proposition 115 would have prohibited abortion “when the probable gestational age of the fetus is at least twenty-two weeks.” Any doctors who performed the procedure would be charged with a misdemeanor and have their medical license suspended for three years. They would have been punished with a fine, but not jail time.
The measure carved out an exception if “the abortion is immediately required to save the life of the pregnant woman.” It went on to specify that this did not apply in cases where the threat was “solely by a psychological or emotional condition.”
Opponents of Proposition 115 painted it as an effort to restrict health care for vulnerable women and spent $9 million to oppose it compared to only $505,488 in spending by supporters of the restrictions. Dusti Gurule, the executive director of the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights declared Proposition 115’s defeat as “a victory for every person who has ever been denied an abortion in their home state and had to travel thousands of miles for the medical care they needed.”
Lucy Olena, campaign manager for…
… Read More
Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.
Carl Lentz Hillsong firing ‘I was unfaithful in my marriage’
Carl Lentz has broken his silence about his firing from Hillsong East Coast on Wednesday, revealing that he was unfaithful to his wife.
“I did not do an adequate job of protecting my own spirit, refilling my own soul and reaching out for the readily available help that is available,” Lentz admitted in a lengthy Instagram post, along with a photo of his wife, Laura, and their three children.
He added, “When you lead out of an empty place, you make choices that have real and painful consequences.”
“I was unfaithful in my marriage, the most important relationship in my life and held accountable for that. This failure is on me, and me alone and I take full responsibility for my actions,” Lentz continued.
Hillsong’s founder, Pastor Brian Houston, first made the announcement about Lentz’s termination in an email to church staff and members of Hillsong East Coast on Wednesday afternoon.
In a statement sent to The Christian Post by Hillsong, Houston revealed…
… Read More
—-
Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.
Voters change abortion rights in Louisiana and Colorado: What are you paying attention to today?
While the race for the White House has understandably dominated headlines and the collective attention of the nation since the polls closed on Tuesday, the presidential election was not the only important issue on the ballots.
Largely lost amidst the chaos surrounding swing states were the decisions rendered on abortion in Louisiana and Colorado.
In Louisiana, voters decided by a 62 percent majority to amend the state’s constitution so that it “expressly states the document offers no protections for a right to abortion or the funding of abortion.” The move was made in anticipation of Roe v. Wade possibly being overturned by the Supreme Court, in which case they would be free to limit or even eliminate abortions within state lines.
Colorado voters went the opposite direction as 59 percent rejected a proposition that would have banned abortions beginning at twenty-two weeks of pregnancy. As such, the state remains one of seven in the country that do not place any restrictions on when an abortion can be performed.
The impact you could have
Given the number of issues people voted on across the nation that have largely taken a backseat to the question of who will reside in the oval office for the next four years, it’s understandable if something like the news out of Louisiana and Colorado went relatively unnoticed. To be honest, I was aware of these issues before the election but forgot to check on the results until I saw the story while searching for something else.
As such, they served as a good reminder that the presidential election was not and is not the only important event going on in our country. The world doesn’t stop just because our collective consciousness becomes fixated on one particular event.
So take some time today to ask God to help your attention be more evenly distributed amongst the rest of what’s going on in our world.
Ask him to make you more aware of where he’s working…
… Read More
—
Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Denison Forum.
