Pro-Life and Pro-Grace

 I just read that the pop artist Pink said that anyone who is pro-life is to never listen to her music again. Not a problem as I never listened to it anyway!

A few years ago I talked with an older lady who shared with me a story of how she had an abortion many years ago. I'm sure she had her reasons at the time, but ever since that time she has lived with regret and a fear that God could never forgive her. I let her know that I was not going to judge what she had done and neither would God. She loved the Lord and had given her life to Christ. Her sins had all been forgiven. My prayer is that she experienced that forgiveness.

One of the important things that those of us who are pro-life can do is to make certain that those who have made the choice to have an abortion do not feel that we hate them or that God will never forgive them for that decision. This was the fear of the lady who shared her story with me. She was not sure that God could forgive her so she had never been able to forgive herself. According to a 2015 Lifeway Research study 7 in 10 women who have had an abortion identify as a Christian. That means that is likely that in your church there are women who are struggling with their decision to abort an unborn child, and that struggle is likely well hidden from rest of the congregation. It takes a great deal of trust between a Christian woman who has had an abortion and her pastor for her to admit to him or her that she had made that decision. How we respond at that time can make a difference in their future walk with Christ.

I strongly believe that every unborn child has a right to be born. Regardless of what the law states, I will never accept that abortion is acceptable. But what do we do when a woman comes and shares that she had once made the decision to abort an unborn child? Do we condemn her? Or do we respond as Jesus did to the woman caught in adultery? 

Christ came to offer forgiveness for all sins. Are we supposed to decide that some sins are beyond His ability to forgive? Let those of us who have been called to preach be faithful in stressing the importance of the right to life for all, but never let us be numbered among the haters.

Star Wars

 I've admitted here before I am a Star Wars fan. I've watched the films numerous times and have all of them on video. A few years I decided to begin reading the books, and during the Covid quarantine I read several of them. The last I knew there were 381 Star Wars books published not counting comics and those for children. I've read 139 of them.

The funny thing about this is that before I began reading these books I seldom read a fiction book. I probably didn't average reading one fiction book a year before I began reading the Star Wars books. My reading was focused on ministry, leadership, personal growth, theology and similar interests. I thought reading fiction was a waste of time. I was wrong. For one thing, it's better than watching endless hours of TV. More importantly, it allows your mind to think about possibilities you may have never thought of before. I never got too excited about space before reading these novels, but now I try to watch the Space Station fly over every chance I get. No matter how many times I watch that amazing spectacle I think of how perfectly fine-tuned God created our universe that we can know exactly the time and the location that the Space Station will pass within our viewing range. Currently, I'm excited about the green comet that is expected to be viewable in my location on February 2. I think it's the first time in 50,000 years it has been close enough to earth to be visible. I doubt I'll get a second chance to see it if I miss it this time!

Star War books are the classic story of the battle between good and evil. Like many good novels, it often appears that evil will win, but somehow good seems to triumph. I have to admit as well that I often find disturbing parallels between the Senate and the evil Emperor in these novels and our own current government. The treacheries and deceit found in these books could easily come out the front pages of our current newspapers. After reading these books it could become easy to get a little paranoid any time our government seeks to reassure us that everything is fine!

One of the things I like best about these books is that it costs me nothing to read them. I have a large library of books that I have spent a small fortune to obtain. These Star Wars books are accessed through an app called Libby. I simply use my library card from our local library and can access any book that is available through that library. Since our library is connected to a larger group of libraries that means I have a large collection of books I can read on my phone or laptop. Everyone of these Star Wars books have been obtained this way saving me a lot of money. Depending on your library you may have tens of thousands of books available to you on virtually any subject you can think of that you can read without ever leaving your home. 

Leaders are readers. This app is a great opportunity for you to increase your reading with no cost to you. I encourage you to check it out.

How do we defend Christian truth in today's culture?

 I believe the title of this post is one of the most critical questions we can ask today. In a postmodern society the idea of absolute truth is rejected. The only absolute truth that is acceptable is that there is no absolute truth! Paul Gould addresses this problem in his excellent book Cultural Apologetics. He first defines the problem by writing

"Today, religious claims generally and Christian claims specifically are viewed as subjective claims. The truth claims of Christianity are not understood as claims pointing to an objective, mind-independent reality. Rather they are viewed as private, subjective beliefs held by a few faithful individuals. As subjective beliefs, these claims are viewed as irrelevant to the so-called public marketplace of ideas. Christianity is marginalized and ignored since the claims Christians make are treated as personal preference, not as something publicly testable, and not as claims that can compete for the mantle of 'public truth,'"

Tony Dungy is one of the kindest, gentlest Christian men you will ever meet. He has come under tremendous criticism because he dared tweet that he and his wife would be attending a Right-to-Life rally. To the postmodern individual this was unacceptable. They alone know the truth, and the only truth acceptable to the "woke" generation is that abortion should be available to all persons. 

The same things happens when one makes the claim that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. This is not acceptable in our pluralistic society that insists that all religions pray to the same God and that, if heaven even exists, that all persons will  go to "a better place" when they die. Anyone who studies world religions even briefly will note that all religions are not the same and that all gods are not the same. Jesus said He was the only way to God. This is a tough claim to make to today's culture, but it is one as Christians we must make. All roads may lead to Rome, but all religions do not lead to salvation.

We could address many other areas in which our modern culture has deviated from clear Christian teaching. The problem is that, while we may understand there is a problem, few churches are willing to address it. One reason we do not address the differences between Christian teaching and today's postmodern mindset may be fear of upsetting people. Another reason we do not is because we are not sure we know how to relate the Gospel to the various aspects of contemporary life.

I have found this book very helpful in that regard. Gould gives us direction that we as ministers can use to speak to the issues that divided the church and our culture. He writes, "The cultural apologist should help seekers overcome...barriers so that the seekers can genuinely consider the question of Jesus as an attractive possibility....What we cannot do, however, is to ignore them if we want others to see and understand Jesus as their only hope and greatest need."

Pastoral leadership for the smaller church

For the past 2+ years I have had the privilege of serving as the Transitional Pastor of a great church I dearly love. I explained when I went there that it was likely that I would be there for 1 1/2 - 2 years, and my time there has exceeded that estimate. As a former denominational minister who worked with dozens of pastor search teams I knew how difficult it is for smaller churches to find pastors. We have prayed much for this search team to find the person God has prepared for the position. I applaud the search team for their dedication and hard work. They have had to overcome more than one disappointment, but they have done so trusting God to lead them to the right individual.

During this process I have seen numerous other smaller churches struggle to find pastors. Some have been looking even longer that I have served in my present position. Some wonder what is wrong with them that no one is interested in serving there. One of the dangers is that they will lower their expectations and simply take the first person who shows an interest in being their pastor. That often turns out to be a big mistake.

I've addressed the reasons in previous posts about why it's so difficult for smaller churches to find pastors and will not repeat those reasons here. Many of those reasons are related to the candidates themselves. Sometimes the reasons have more to do with the church and its expectations.

When I still worked as a Regional Minister many smaller churches still believed they needed a full-time pastor even though their church had been in decline for some time. The hope was that with a full-time pastor they could return to their former glory years. I'm afraid for many that is a false hope. I recently spoke to a member of a church of a different denomination than mine who told me their current pastor recently announced his upcoming retirement. This person told me since Covid the church is down to about 20 people attending on a regular basis, none younger than retirement age. Because of endowments and the generous giving of former members the church has a large bank account. Although he didn't say anything, that combination historically has meant that the church would seek a fully-funded pastor believing that person would rebuild their church to its former glory. These churches fail to realize that they would be better served by a bivocational minister making more money available to reach out into the community that would allow them to minister to that community and grow the church.

Of course, this brings us to another issue. Just as there are not many fully-funded pastors willing to serve smaller churches; there are not many bivocational ministers available either. Now, this is just a guess as I do not have any actual data, but I bet there are at least 20 smaller churches who need a bivocational pastor within a 50 mile radius of me and cannot find one. Now, what is wrong with this picture?

Has God messed up and not prepared people for the needs of His church, or has God's people not recognized that He has been calling them to such ministry? Personally, I am not going to blame God. I believe there are many God has called to the ministry who are afraid to step out and commit themselves to that work. They are afraid of the commitment that would be required. They are reluctant to commit to the education they would need. (BTW - You do not need a seminary degree to serve as a bivocational pastor!) What you do need is to recognize that God has His hand on you and is calling you to serve Him in this role.

I cannot call anyone to the ministry and would not try. Only God can call someone to serve as a pastor. At the same time, I can challenge you to pray about what you may have felt for some time that might be a calling to such a ministry, and I can make myself available to you if you want to talk about it. Churches need pastoral leadership. If you think God might be calling you to that role, it's time to talk to someone.

A life well lived

I read yesterday where Jack Hayford passed away. I never met the man, but he was one I admired from afar. He wrote over 50 books and more than 600 hymns and choruses. His song Majesty is sung in many churches each week. He was the founding pastor of The Church on the Way where he served as senior pastor for more than 30 years. He also founded The Kings University where he served as chancellor and was active with Promise Keepers. For five years he served as President of The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel.

I heard him speak in interviews and on tape a number of times and was always impressed by his gentle spirit. He was a man called of God who recognized that calling and sought to live in that calling to the best of his ability.

One of the things that impressed me so much about Jack Hayford was his approach to ministry and to life. He was never flamboyant or excessive in his approach to either. The various positions he held could have made him arrogant, a problem some mega-church pastors and denominational leaders seem unable to avoid. I always felt I could sit down with Jack Hayford and talk about anything and be heard and come away with practical advice that addressed my questions.

Hayford is now in eternity with the One he worshiped so well. No doubt he has heard the wonderful words we all seek to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant...." He truly lived life well.

We could do worse than follow the example Jack Hayford set before us. He was a pastor to thousands, a founder of an important university, a writer, a song writer, and yet I believe if you asked him he would respond that he was simply doing what God called him to do. Far more than his successes, he was faithful to the work God set before him. This should be the goal of all of us called into ministry.

One of the things I find most attractive in Christian leaders is faithfulness. I own a print of George Younce and Glenn Payne, founding members of The Cathedrals, that is on the wall in front of my desk. Their faithfulness in carrying out God's call on their lives has always been an inspiration to me. I see that picture numerous times a day when I working in my study to encourage me to that same faithfulness. Jack Hayford inspires the same desire to be faithful to God's call on my life. I care not about the world's acclaim. I only want to hear God's affirmation of my life and ministry when I stand before Him. I encourage you to seek the same.

Christian Websites and Pop-Up Ads

 It might be early in the year for a rant, but here it comes anyway. I was doing research on a topic on several Christian websites and struggled to do anything for all the pop-up ads that  kept appearing on my screen. Some of them blocked half the page so I couldn't read anything until I did something with the pop-up, and in some cases there wasn't even an option to delete it. I just had to go off the page without reading the article.

I understand the need to monetize a site, but it was ridiculous at the number of pop-up ads on these sites. I tried to visualize a non-Christian trying to learn more about Christianity running into this problem. Such a person would come to the conclusion that the site wasn't nearly as interested in providing information as it was in getting their money. That mindset already exists in the thinking of many non-Christians (and some Christians as well).

Along with the commercial pop-ups there were also those offering a free resource, again with no way to delete the pop-up. Those "free" resources requires your email address which will lead to your inbox being filled with more offers. No thanks.

Very seldom do I research a topic on secular sites and have to deal with unwanted pop-ups. They may have offers for consideration, but they are not usually preventing anyone from reading the article.

Some of my Christian friends need to re-consider their use of pop-up ads. It really does not project a very good image.