Issuu

christian standard

where to stand Should Christian leaders confront political issues?

more on Page 38

March 2018

the

DOT.

What every church should know about the people theyâ€™re reaching more on Page 30

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letter FROM THE

publisher Jerry Harris Publisher | Christian Standard Media

As the publisher of both Christian Standard and The Lookout, I have been tasked with reimagining the magazines and what they are supposed to accomplish. Christian Standard is primarily focused on ministry from a leadership perspective, so I know that leaders are primarily reading this. You are the decision makers, the ones with the sacred responsibility of caring for the flock of God. Like me, you want to have the very best tools at your disposal, and so providing you with the best tools is our goal at Christian Standard.

When I assessed The Lookout early last year, I saw many similarities between it and the former Christian Standard. The main difference is that The Lookout had the Uniform Lesson series—also known as the International Sunday School Lessons—and associated columns and features. I knew that for more than a century, The Lookout had been used primarily as a Bible teaching tool, and so I sought to expand that aspect of the magazine to be a more relevant discipleship format that could be used in multiple ways.

We want to leverage the power that comes from our unity by networking you into a fellowship of church families all committed to the same mission. We want to encourage you with successful models of ministry and offer you access to them, inspire you with great stories of what God is doing through his people, and equip you with practical tools to help make your ministry flourish.

I thought about a person’s need for a daily quiet time with personal Bible study, the necessity of developing an organized prayer life, and the value of a Bible reading plan. I thought it important to retool the lessons and applications with questions and discussion starters to energize Sunday school classes, small groups, and Bible studies. I thought of how important these concepts and disciplines

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are for the next generation and how The Lookout could fill that need. The changes you now see in The Lookout are the results of that desire. I want to take a moment to challenge you as a leader. What if we could empower churches, groups, and individuals to implement these disciplines? How would it change the way we function as a church? How would it impact our communities and our worldview? How would it shape our gifts and abilities, our use of time, and our giving habits? What if we were unified within our churches in what we were learning in order to magnify its effectiveness in our maturity and our unity? What if that were spread out to multiple churches all reading, praying, learning, sharing, and putting into practice these discipleship principles? God has placed you in a role as a church leader and decision maker. I would like to challenge you to put The Lookout to work in your church and in the lives of the people with whom you have been entrusted. Investing $25.99 a year (less in bulk) or encouraging your people to make that investment as a group for 52 weeks of lessons, applications, questions, Bible reading plans, and inspiring stories that apply the character and mission of Christ could pay priceless dividends for your people, your ministry, and the kingdom.

FAQ

When did The Lookout start? A: In 1888! The magazine was originally called The Young People’s Standard when the first issue was published 130 years ago. Why did you go to a monthly format? A: We didn’t. There are 13 issues in a year with 4 weeks of material in each issue. Why did you reduce the size of the magazine and print size? A: The print size is the same as before. The smaller magazine size is designed to carry with your Bible. Why don’t you include the Bible verses in the magazine? A: We want Christ followers to develop the commitment of using their own Bibles regularly. We also don’t want to get caught up in translation arguments. What’s with the dots? A: We use the dots in our design so readers and learners can keep a straight line when writing or drawing. We take styling cues from a younger generation while concentrating on theologically sound and proven content. Do you know that printing on dark backgrounds can make it harder to read? A: Yes, we do. This is an unprecedented time in human history when five generations are all living at the same time. We are doing our best to appeal to the largest audience possible, and printing black on a white background exclusively can get boring. How long will it take to read through the Bible with this plan? A: It will take one year to read through the Bible and six years to study through the Bible using our material. Imagine being able to study every verse and read through the Bible six times in six years! Who are the churches and ministries listed in the prayer section? A: They are churches like yours which are using The Lookout for discipleship.

Jerry Harris is publisher of Christian Standard Media and senior pastor of The Crossing, a multisite church located in three states across the Midwest. @_jerryharris

/jerrydharris

Why was it necessary to change it? I liked it the way it used to be. A: We hear you. However, we want to reach future generations with discipleship material, and the older format wasn’t accomplishing that. We need these disciplines now more than ever. I have a question you didn’t answer. A: We’d love to read it and learn from it. Send it to cs@christianstandardmedia.com.

CHRISTIAN STANDARD —

FOUNDED 1866 BY ISAAC ERRETT Devoted to the restoration of New Testament Christianity, its doctrine, its ordinances, and its fruits.

The Staff Jerry Harris, Publisher Michael C. Mack, Editor Jim Nieman, Managing Editor Shawn McMullen, Contributing Editor Megan Kempf, Designer Abby Harris, Designer Renee Little, Operations

Subscription Information To order Christian Standard for yourself, your church, or your group, visit christianstandard.com or contact Customer Service. Bulk pricing is available.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

800.543.1353 info@christianstandardmedia.com Volume CLIII. Number 3. Christian Standard (ISSN 0009-5656) is published monthly by Christian Standard Media at 16965 Pine Lane, Suite 202, Parker, CO 80134. Periodicals postage paid at Parker, CO, and additional offices. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Christian Standard Media, 16965 Pine Lane, Suite 202, Parker, CO 80134. Phone: 1-800543-1353. SUBSCRIBERS: Send address changes to Christian Standard, 16965 Pine Lane, Suite 202, Parker, CO 80134. Send old and new addresses, complete with zip codes, at least six weeks before delivery date.

Christian Standard is published by Christian Standard Media, www.christianstandardmedia.com

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06 24 30

TABLE OF CONTENTS

special: LETTER from the EDITORS

—

by Michael c. mack and jim nieman

I N E V E RY I S S UE 2-3 | L E TTE R F R OM THE P UB L ISH E R

HIS favorite THING

Jerry Harris

by ken idleman

6-8 | L E TTE R FR OM THE E DITO RS

Michael C. Mack & Jim Nieman

9-11 | MOVE ME N T

A Roa dma p for He a lthy Co nflict Re so lutio n David Dummitt

feature: THE DOT

by jerry harris

12-14 | ME TRIC S

38 44

Wha t Ar e Your Chur c h’s Push and Pull Fa c to r s? Part 2 Kent Fillinger

EXTINGUISHING the FLAMES of CONFLICT

15-17 | E 2 : E F F ECT I V E E L DE RS

by walt wilcoxson

Le a ding Throug h Co nflic t Jim Estep

SHOULD CHRISTIAN LEADERS TAKE A STAND ON Political Issues?

18-19 | H O RIZON S

Sta nding Firm in the Spotlight Emily Drayne

by bob russell

20-21 | IMAG IN E

Wor n-Out Boots and Re a l-Life Ministry Mel McGowan

When the Church Splits: HOPE After the Loss

30-37 | F E ATUR E A R T I CL E

by jessie clemence

The Dot Jerry Harris

64-67 | H E ADL I N ES

Chris Moon

CIVIL LIBERTY: How Christ Frees Us to Be Civil in Less-than-Civil Times

68-71 | IN TE RA CT

by shawn mcmullen

72 | C O MMUN ION ME DITATIO N

P r o claim in g Hi s D e at h Dick Wamsley C H RIS TIAN STA N DAR D

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letter editors FROM THE

Michael c. Mack

Jim Nieman

Editor | Christian Standard

Managing Editor | Christian Standard

It was intended as a feel-good story for the October 2017 issue. Managing editor Jim Nieman reported on a son turning his life around, through God’s grace, and returning to his hometown to minister to those who are “down on their luck.” It was a story with a stern warning and a storybook ending. And then everything utterly collapsed. The preacher’s son who had battled years of addiction to opiates during and immediately after high school, and then managed to turn his life around and graduate from Christian college and return to his hometown to lead a ministry to the homeless and addicted, relapsed and lost his job. He reentered a residential program that had helped him once before. And then his father, a senior minister of a large church in the same small Midwestern city, and his mother, also a minister with that church, were dismissed from their positions. The same church leaders who had once stood behind the minister and his family, wayward son included, and who had rejoiced when the son seemed to break the bonds of addiction— and even helped pay for his college—decided C H RIS TIAN STA N DAR D

after the son’s relapse that enough was enough. The son was left struggling to regain control over his life. The parents were left looking for ministry positions with retirement only a couple of years away. And the church was left looking for a new preacher and children’s minister. We never published the story, but have decided to share it now—in this issue about dealing with conflict, division, and failure in ministry—because we believe church leaders can learn from, or at least be given the opportunity to think through, these issues. It’s important to say up-front that we do not condemn the church or its elders, the ministry parents, or the son. We all love uplifting stories, but not every chapter of life is uplifting. People are human and people fail. Churches must make tough decisions. That’s why we’re not naming the ministers or ministries in this article. We could—perhaps we should—but it just doesn’t seem fair. No one wants to be memorialized in perhaps their lowest moment. We write this, really, to highlight two things, both of them rather pointed and poignant. - 6 -

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Addiction and Heartbreak in Ministry Are Real

In his short time leading the ministry, the son was building relationships throughout the town. In fact, the town’s churches and the underfunded downtown ministry were beginning to work together. They seemed to be developing a relationship that could serve as a model for other towns. “We know we need resources, but [we are] a resource too,” the son told us back in July 2017. “Everyone knows someone who is struggling.” As an example, he mentioned the elder of a church in town who had called to ask him to counsel his son, who had overdosed. “People come here who would never come to a church otherwise,” the son said. “These people are going through some of the roughest times of their lives.” A jobs program, Celebrate Recovery, and a food pantry were among the services the son was helping to coordinate. Even in those good times last summer, the recovering addict’s parents were mostly interested in spotlighting one thing—a ministry void, as they saw it, among Restoration Movement churches and agencies. “We went through hell for about five years when he was addicted to heroin. He would come in the door at night and we didn’t know him,” the father told us back in July.

The parents looked for help among our fellowship of churches, but couldn’t find any. “We did not know one person to call,” the father said. Our churches and ministries still seem to want to ignore the problem of substance abuse and addiction instead of addressing it, he said. “It’s an epidemic,” the father said, speaking specifically of heroin abuse, “but our brotherhood just wants to sweep it under the rug. Satan is killing a generation with drugs.” Does help for the addicted, and/or the families of the addicted, exist within our fellowship of churches? (Seriously, we would like to know. The parents still would like to know.) And if no such ministry exists among our churches, what should be done about that? (Help for this family ultimately came from Adult and Teen Challenge USA, a Christcentered, faith-based program for people struggling with life-controlling problems such as substance abuse. The Assemblies of God helped start the organization in 1960. The son reentered the program that helped him once before.)

We Must Make Tough Choices in Ministry This article, we emphasize again, is not intended to condemn the church’s firing of this ministry couple—the parents of the boy struggling with addiction—after their decade-

We never published the story, but have decided to share it now— in this issue about dealing with conflict, division, and failure in ministry—because we believe church leaders can learn from, or at least be given the opportunity to think through, these issues. C H RIS TIAN STA N DAR D

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plus of service. It’s possible other factors were involved. But this situation does raise some questions we would do well to consider. How many times should we extend grace? How many times should a church extend grace? The church leaders stood with this family during their first trial with addiction several years ago. Back in July, when we conducted the first interviews for this article, the father— who was senior pastor at the time—called it “the most nonjudgmental church in America.” Months later, after the son’s relapse, the father said the church’s leaders “decided that was too much.” The parents have chosen to hang with their son through his relapse into addiction. We would expect that, and we should applaud that. God, after all, willingly forgives us when we—every one of us—fall prey to our various sinful addictions time and again. But a church, admittedly, is in a different position. It must weigh many factors. It must consider all of the other souls who attend the church. It must factor in the church’s reputation in the community. It must weigh whether the minister’s ability to lead has been compromised. A church feels pressure to continue moving forward. As Christians, we love turnaround stories. They capture the heart of the gospel. And often those testimonies conclude with the storybook ending of “and they lived happily ever after.” Yet, the reality is that people sometimes fall back into bad behavior. We live, after all, in a fallen world full of spiritual battle. So, we must consider even more questions: How does the church live in this tension? How do we extend grace and yet stand firm in truth? How far will we go and how often will we offer real restoration? How do we love

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imperfect people and yet allow for natural consequences of sin? These are tough questions—questions worth thinking about, praying over, and dicussing. Several of the articles in this issue can help you consider how to approach these questions. You’ll read about other true stories of how God uses broken people and churches to carry out his mission (“Our Heavenly Father’s Favorite Thing,” by Ken Idleman and “When the Church Splits: Hope After the Loss,” by Jessie Clemence). You’ll also find practical advice on these issues from Bob Russell, Shawn McMullen, Jerry Harris, and Walt Wilcoxson. Our regular columnists provide guidance and encouragement as well.

Moving Forward

A few days ago, we closed this article this way: “There are no winners in this story—not yet. That is sad . . . but that is life, and life is hard.” But a new ending is being written. The senior minister wrote today to say a congregation in his state had just voted to hire him as their lead pastor. His service with them will begin about the time this issue is printed. The son, meanwhile, has completed a restoration program at an out-of-state Adult and Teen Challenge facility and is working at a church in that area in addiction recovery. “God is good!” the father wrote, while requesting prayers for his son’s “continued sobriety and faithfulness.” The church where the mother and father served for many years also recently hired a new senior pastor. We rejoice with them, as well. It isn’t the story we set out to write. For everyone, it seems, it’s a story that is still being written. But we’re glad this “storybook” is trending toward a happy ending.

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- MOVEMENT -

a roadmap for healthy conflict resolution

USE THESE 5 TIPS TO CREATE A CHURCH CULTURE THAT HANDLES CONFLICT IN A GOD-HONORING WAY

BY DAVID DUMMITT

hurches are made up of broken, messy people. That statement won’t shock anyone reading this. Problems in churches are inevitable. Conflict can lead to division. Planning ahead for how to navigate through conflict is important to protecting the unity of our churches. Whether you’re planting a church or have been leading one for years, it is never too early (or late) to create a roadmap for dealing with conflict within your church in a way that honors God. Here are five tips for creating a church culture that handles conflict well.

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define values

Take the time to define the core values—the ethos—of your church culture. Our stated values serve as the guiding beliefs and convictions of our church. You can refer to this ethos repeatedly, and it will help you stay the course when handling conflict. Having predefined values in place for how to manage people problems provides a strategy for how to deal with them when they arise. Jesus provided a roadmap for this in Matthew 18, and our conflict resolution strategy should be built around this Scripture. A few important principles to handling conflict well are: • Have zero tolerance for gossip, including criticizing or expressing “concerns” about people who are not present or to whom you have not already spoken. • Deal with conflict privately first. • Restoring the relationship should always be the goal.

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align attitudes & actions

Culture isn’t created by what we say we value, but by aligning our attitudes and actions with our stated values. As leaders, culture begins with our own individual attitudes and behaviors. If we say we value Matthew 18 as a roadmap for conflict resolution but then entertain gossip, we are misaligned and fanning the flame of disunity and brokenness within our church. As leaders, we must model our church values through how we handle conflict and complaints. Cultural congruence happens when our stated values, our speech, and our behaviors all line up.

have clear leadership expectations

Leadership expectations should be clear and mutually agreed upon, whether for staff, smallgroup leaders, high-level volunteers, or others. As we lead our staff, we are responsible to set and communicate clear expectations for how to handle interpersonal issues when they come up. Establishing the right culture and properly handling conflict as it comes up must be a priority. We reach cultural congruence when we set the value, model the value, and talk about it often. This creates a culture with clear expectations. Whether it’s a regular topic during all-staff meetings or a part of leadership and volunteer training, we must equip our people with the biblical knowledge and skills to live out our value of healthy conflict resolution. RISTIA TI ANN STAN STANDA DARRDD - - 1100 - - MMAR A RCH CH 22001188 CCHHRIS

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have crucial conversations When stakes are high, emotions are strong, and opinions vary, we must engage in crucial conversations. This is what Jesus spoke about in Matthew 18. These can be uncomfortable conversations about difficult issues, but they need to be addressed. By creating a culture in which these conversations occur regularly, we protect unity and keep issues in check to prevent them from growing like cancer. Crucial conversations can include defining the relationship, challenging an employee to grow in a weak area, addressing sin issues when they come up, and handling staff transitions strategically. We need to have crucial conversations along the way that address issues privately, clearly, and with the goal of developing people.

prioritize people We must focus on the long game in order to create the proper culture and handle conflict resolution well. We are all playing to win, and we want to win together. Fighting for the unity of our church means we are fighting for our individual team members. Whether we are having crucial conversations, helping someone transition well, or dealing with any other difficult situation, our goal should always be to value and love people. Our aim must always be to develop and restore. People problems are a part of what we do. Hard conversations, confrontation, sin issues, division, and more come up far more often than any of us like (we donâ€™t ever like it). But by creating and modeling a plan for healthy conflict resolution, we can protect our churches from division and disunity when difficulties do arise. ď §

David Dummitt is the lead pastor and planter of 2|42 Community Church in Michigan, one of the largest and fastest-growing churches in the country. He is also on the lead team of NewThing, a catalyst for reproducing churches worldwide. /DavidDummitt H RISTIA TIAN NSTAN STANDADAR DR D - - 1 1 1 - - MMA RARCHCH2 02 10 81 8 C HC RIS

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BY KENT FILLINGER

Last month we looked at “push” factors that cause a person to leave a church or religion. This month we look at conditions that “pull” someone into one church or faith over another.

Common “Pull” Factors A LifeWay Research survey asked about 2,000 “unchurched” Americans (those who have not attended a worship service in the last six months, outside of a holiday or special occasion) what, if any, life experiences would make them more open to consider turning to the church for help. The top three life experiences (as reported in Facts & Trends, Fall 2016) were: • facing death (26 percent) • losing someone I love (25 percent) • facing a health crisis (19 percent) In the past, marriage and having children would have been two common “pull” factors to get someone to go to church. But this research showed only 7 percent said marriage would be a pull factor, and having kids was the lowestranked pull factor at 4 percent. More than one-third said there wasn’t any life experience that would create a pull for them to seek help from the church. A personal invitation from a family member, friend, or neighbor still seems to have some level of pull for the unchurched. Among the LifeWay survey respondents, 55

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percent said a personal invitation from a family member would be an effective way to get them to visit a church, and 51 percent said the same was true if the invitation came from a friend or neighbor. Sixty-two percent of the unchurched said they would likely attend a neighborhood safety event at a church if someone they knew invited them. And just over half of the unchurched said they would help with a community service project if asked. By comparison, only 35 percent said they would be likely to attend a worship service. An April 2017 report by Gallup measured seven different reasons why those who attend a place of worship at least monthly say they go. Respondents were asked to identify if the pull was a major factor, a minor factor, or no factor at all. The top five pull factors were: • sermons or talks that teach you more about Scripture (76 percent) • sermons or lectures that help you connect religion to your own life (75 percent) • spiritual programs geared toward children and teenagers (64 percent) • lots of community outreach and volunteer opportunities (59 percent) • dynamic religious leaders who are interesting and inspiring (54 percent) Corresponding to this Gallup research, Thom Rainer’s survey of unchurched people discovered these 12 pull factors that attracted them to a church: the pastor/ preaching, doctrine, friendliness of the members, a friend’s invitation, a family member’s invitation, the presence of God, a relationship with a church member, a Sunday school class, children’s or youth ministry, other small groups, the worship, and the church’s location.

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Other Pull-Factor Considerations In a separate survey, Rainer asked the formerly unchurched what kept them active in their new church. They identified the following six things, in order: ministry involvement, Sunday school, obedience to God, fellowship with other members, the pastor/preaching, and the worship services, according to an article by Mark Denison (from “What Attracts [and Keeps] New Church Members,” Church Made Better website, June 8, 2015). It’s important to note that preaching is a major factor why someone choses to begin attending a church, but it’s less of a factor for why they stay at a church. Many churches have placed great importance on music or style of worship in the last 30-plus years. But the Gallup

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Kent E. Fillinger serves as president of 3:STRANDS Consulting and director of partnerships with CMF International, Indianapolis, Indiana. /3strandsconsulting www.3strandsconsulting.com

research showed that a good choir or praise band was a major factor to attending church for only 38 percent of the people (from “Sermon Content Is What Appeals to Most Churchgoers,” by Lydia Saad, April 14, 2017, accessed at new.gallup.com). And the Rainer study reinforced this finding by showing that only 11 percent of people said the worship or music was a factor in choosing a church. Also only 14 percent said worship or music was a reason for staying there. In response to the Gallup research, Warren Cole Smith wrote in BreakPoint: “People want sound preaching and opportunities for service. It’s not an ‘either/or.’ It’s ‘both/ and.’ Great churches provide opportunities for growth and service, knowing that one feeds the other” (from “Why People Attend Church,” May 5, 2017, breakpoint.com). David Haskell studied 22 Canadian churches over five years and surveyed more than 2,000 churchgoers in those congregations. In the Spring 2017 issue of Facts & Trends, he reported that people who attend growing churches pray more, read their Bible more often, are more likely to believe that God provided a way for the forgiveness of sins through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and are more likely to believe that only those who believe in and follow Jesus Christ will receive eternal life than those who attend declining churches. On a positive note, a Pew Research report in the Winter 2017 issue of Facts & Trends found that 27 percent of people go to religious services at least once or twice a month, and this is more often than they did in the past. The top five reasons people identified for attending services more frequently were: • became more religious (20 percent) • need God more (15 percent) • are more mature (14 percent) • family changes (13 percent) • have more time (10 percent) I hope you’ll take some time to reread and reflect on the push and pull factors identified by these research studies. And I hope you’ll ask and answer the following three questions with your staff, leadership team, or elders: • How does the nonbeliever learn the gospel at your church? • How does the new believer at your church learn the basics of the faith? • What resources or opportunities are you providing to mature and deepen believers? 

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leading

THROUGH CONFLICT Elders are no strangers to church fires, and by that I mean the conflicts that occur far too often in our congregations. Whether the conflicts involve leaders, staff, individuals, or groups, we often find ourselves ill-prepared to understand them and ill-equipped to respond to them. As elders, we need to understand the fires of conflict so we can ease confusion and help extinguish them when they flare up.

BY JIM ESTEP C H RIS TIA N STAN DA R D

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Understanding Conflict in the Church Here are some facts about church conflict.

Fires are inevitable. No church is immune to conflict, so be aware of it and alert for it. A change in the church will always result in a degree of resistance, which can escalate into open conflict. And since change is inevitable—whether it is intentional or unintentional—fires will also be inevitable. Sometimes fires are necessary. Leaders can often manage conflict and turn it into constructive dialogue. It can be an opportunity to explore alternatives, forge a common perspective, and redress past wrongs. Conflict can help lead to a healthier future, but only when handled properly. Fires grow in stages. Firefighters categorize fires with “alarm” levels (for instance, “a four-alarm fire”). Church conflict does the same, with alarm levels progressing from a simple difference of opinion all the way to an intractable, all-encompassing battle. As the conflict heats up, communication becomes distorted, and resolving the conflict is more difficult. Addressing conflict early is the key to resolving it. People start fires. No matter how we label conflict (be it congregational, institutional, or organizational), it is always between people. Buildings don’t fight, but people fight about buildings. Programs don’t clash, but people clash over programs. Conflicts may start for different reasons, but people are always involved.

Redressing Conflict in the Church

Now let’s look at ways we can respond to church conflict. Take preventative steps. Conflict may be inevitable, but we shouldn’t go out looking for it, and we should do our best not to inadvertently cause it. Conflict can usually be prevented with appropriate planning. For example, we all can think of an instance when a proposed change gave rise to conflict simply because of a poor communication strategy. If we take steps to appropriately introduce a change, and provide opportunity for dialogue about it, we usually can minimize the potential for conflict. Deal with it! We cannot ignore a fire. We can’t just say, “It’ll burn out on its own.” (Maybe we could, but at what collateral cost?) Elders and other leaders must have the integrity and courage to address the matter at hand. Fires left to their own typically don’t burn out, they burn down.

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Listen before speaking . . . or deciding. Act, don’t react. Before acting, gather information. Extract the facts from the opinions and “spin.” While perception often replaces reality, eventually reality brings people back to the facts. As elders, we should spend time listening to all the conflicting parties, even if we are a party in the disagreement. In conflict, the truth is usually the first item to be discarded and replaced with innuendo, suspicion, misinformation, or disinformation. Leaders must ascertain the facts, stand on them, and communicate them consistently. Make a proportional response. Jesus called us to be “peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9). We should make sure our response doesn’t broaden the conflict. If the issue is with an individual or a group of people, we should limit our response by engaging only with those folks in face-to-face meetings. If the conflict has spread to the entire congregation, then a response to the entire congregation may be required. On some occasions, instituting the measures of church discipline may be required. The point is, don’t treat a grease fire like a five-alarm inferno. Likewise, don’t try to dowse an inferno with a hand-held fire extinguisher. Address all the participants. When combatting a fire, especially a wildfire, firefighters must make sure to suppress all the fire’s sources and major outbreaks, even some minor ones, until it is containable and can be extinguished. (For more on this “fire tetrahedron,” read “Extinguishing Fires of Conflict,” by Walt Wilcoxson, on page 38.) Church conflict requires a similar response. Elders need to connect and—depending on the circumstance—even confront the fire starters, those burned by the fire, and sometimes the congregation (depending on how far the conflict spreads). Point to the future. We cannot fix the past, but we can point people toward the future. We cannot undo what has been done, but we can learn from it, express what can be done differently the next time, or assure them that a healthier, more vibrant congregation is ahead. Repent if necessary. We are all human and imperfect, even leaders in God’s kingdom. As leaders, we must act with integrity and transparency if we are, in fact, the cause of unnecessary conflict. Whether a leader has made an ill-informed decision or responded inappropriately to an existing conflict, the situation can be resolved only by admitting to the failure, thereby suppressing the fire. Lead well!  Jim Estep serves as event director with e2: effective elders and as professor at large with Lincoln (Illinois) Christian University. @e2elders

/e2elders

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- HORIZONS A missionary gets to live in a new place, explore new locales, try new foods, have cross-cultural experiences, and more. What’s not to love? They live the same life, just in a different location—right? No! A million times no. The amount of planning, prayerful consideration, financial preparation, and training that goes into becoming a full-time missionary is staggering. Missionaries undergo months of training to prepare for something that one must experience to truly understand. They need a lot of self-discipline, hard work, and faith to make that leap. The Need for Spiritual Disciplines Some people think since missionaries constantly are talking about Jesus, they have little need for spiritual upkeep. But that’s like assuming church ministers don’t need to maintain a relationship with God because they preach about him every Sunday, spend their week encouraging others, and study his Word. Satan does not discriminate. He targets everyone: churchgoers, ministers, and missionaries. God has provided Christians with spiritual disciplines and the fruit of the Spirit, among other things, to fight off temptations.

standing firm in the

SPOTLIGHT BY EMILY DRAYNE

Disciplines and Fruit Many of us, when we were young, were taught that spiritual disciplines such as serving, prayer, financial stewardship, and reading the Bible go hand in hand with the fruit of the Spirit. Sometimes the fruit is the product of the discipline, and other times the disciplines are a direct result of showing the fruit. Serving others in any capacity, let alone in a foreign country, requires patience, love, kindness, gentleness, and sometimes selfcontrol. That last character trait, self-control, is practiced with most spiritual disciplines. It takes self-control and discipline to read the Bible every day, manage one’s finances, journal, and fast. The joy of the Lord is a fruit that should be shown while striving to win the lost to Christ. People notice when we have joy. Our inner light shines and allows them to see the Father. Solitude is particularly difficult for many people today, even missionaries. With the world at our fingertips on our smartphones and tablets, we struggle more than ever with this spiritual discipline. Like Jesus, we must set aside time for solitude to reconnect with our heavenly Father. We need self-control to put the screens down and focus solely on him. “Unlearning” the habit of constantly looking at our smartphone may be difficult,

Ministry Under Pressure A missionary must work constantly to build a program from the ground up and see the project through to the end. The missionary must also deal, in most cases, with a crosscultural move, so family dynamics often shift while trying to learn a new language and make friends in a new setting. Missionaries and their families typically are new to a community. People will be watching them closely. Some might want them to fail, but all will be looking to see whether they actually are who they claim to be as Christians. Ministers in America face some of these same pressures. They’re in the spotlight. Some people are waiting to see them stumble, which will give those onlookers an excuse to write off Christianity. These ministers and missionaries—and all of us as Christians— have a responsibility to prove that Christ lives in us. We owe our ministers and missionaries a huge debt of gratitude and respect. It’s not easy being in the spotlight, maintaining their marriages and families, being constantly “on,” and keeping up their own spiritual lives. The church body as a whole expects a lot from these folks, and rightly so, but we need to love and encourage them, as well. Satan’s mission is to destroy Christians and the body of Christ. We must be spiritually fit to withstand his destructive advances. Remember Paul’s words: “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). 

Emily Drayne lives in North Carolina and has served with the International Conference on Missions since 2011. /emilydrayne

@edrayne0530

www.theicom.org

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but we must stick with it. Paul challenged Christians, “Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:7, 8).

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In some parts of the world, multiple missionaries serve in the same cities and communities. This can lead to conflict, even if the missionaries are from the same organization. Missionaries are human. They may have differences of opinion on how to run church services or small groups, how to spend money, the effectiveness of certain types of outreach, and many other things. It’s how missionaries choose to resolve these conflicts that can determine their success in that community. Training and spiritual disciplines can make the difference.

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WoRN-OUT BOOTS & REaL-LIFE MINISTRY

Real Life Ministries in Post Falls, Idaho, strives to meet people where they are and then walk a mile or even a lifetime alongside them. This church does not attempt to impress its community but, rather, exposes its own raw, real character to draw in “messy, ordinary people.” My company learned this firsthand when we presented a storyboard to them that included a photo of nice, new work boots, and the church leaders’ immediate pushback was that the boots wouldn’t be theirs. That’s because the shoes they walk in would be a pair of boots borrowed from a friend of a friend that are checkered with holes and caked with dirt, but which do the job. Real Life Ministries is not for perfect people; it is a place for real people with real passions and real problems and real lives to come and meet with Jesus. The ministry was started by four families in 1998 and has rapidly grown into a megachurch reaching thousands each weekend in rural Kootenai County, Idaho. I got to know founding pastor Jim Putman more than a decade ago while leading an effort to create a master plan to accommodate RLM’s growth. More recently, we were called in to lead a “design intervention” to remake the existing spaces of their Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene campuses, which will serve as a blank canvas for Spatial Storytelling of their unique mission, values, and vision.

RAW MATERIALS BY MEL MCGOWAN

Mel McGowan is cofounder and chief creative principal of PlainJoe Studios. He is a leading master planner and designer of churches in America. @visioneer

/visioneer

Real Life Ministries has answered God’s call to practical action by directing their time, talents, and resources toward real-life problems like not being able to pay rent, buy groceries, or find a job. These needs are met through a variety of RLM-run establishments such as a community center, thrift store, food pantry, and the church itself.

We are weaving RLM’s strong conviction to equip people beyond spiritual needs into the exterior and interior environments of the church. We are communicating the church’s heart by using raw materials such as reclaimed wood and rebar in the numerous gathering spaces. Refined elements and unnatural finishes were excluded from the design palette. “Everything is practical,” senior designer Bryce Reyes explained. “These materials aren’t trendy elements picked just because they look cool; rather, the materials were very intentionally selected because, like the worn-out boots, they reflect the raw and real nature of the church, the story of the church.” This authenticity is laced into the walls and furniture to help share the story of Real Life Ministries, not distract from it as a modern and newly polished environment would.

SUBCONSCIOUS CONNECTORS

Colors and patterns are woven throughout the environment to subliminally convey personal elements of Real Life Ministries. Traces of a herringbone pattern are incorporated throughout the campus, from faint etching on signage to the layout of wood flooring. This pattern’s distinct layers represent “life on life” within the church. Orange is boldly incorporated throughout the church’s campus and its graphic branding. This vivid color stands out amongst the neutral tones of wood and metal, infusing a sense of life and energy into the place, and conveying the gospel message. These touches also serve as subconscious connecters. Newcomers who receive a flyer with a herringbone design element may feel a sense of familiarity to the church and its buildings, bringing a sense of continuity to RLM’s visual brand. These sparks of design hold immense significance in bringing to life RLM’s calling. This calling is being actively lived out as Real Life team members and outreach activities become an engaged part of people’s lives in Kootenai County and beyond. In a world that urges people to keep up appearances through superficial smiles and artificial agendas, Real Life Ministries releases its congregation to freely experience “where real life and Jesus meet.”  C HCRIS TIA N NSTAN DADA R DR D - -2 12 1- - F EMBAR R UA H RIS TIA STAN CHRY2 021081 8

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BY KEN IDLEMAN

HIS favorite thing.

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This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says . . . “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:4, 11). The “health and wealth gospel” folks and the “name it and claim it” crowd frequently highjack this verse as an ironclad guarantee from Heaven that any of us can experience a life without physical hardship or fiscal trial, that God’s will for us is that we never have a sick day and always have plenty of folding money in our pockets. But we must factor in the context to accurately interpret God’s character. When this prophecy was communicated to Israel, the nation was exiled from Jerusalem and living as aliens in Babylon. God’s people were bankrupt and broken, defeated and enslaved. And God was telling them, “This is not the end. I have plans for you. Call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. I will forgive your past, redeem your present, and give you hope for a bright future.” You see, God is not fatalistic. He is optimistic. God’s favorite thing to do is to restore defeated people and revive dying churches. As evidence of this, consider the true story of Sammy Harris and Leesburg (Kentucky) Christian Church. God engineered a partnership between this defeated pastor and this dying church that resulted in the redemption of both! It is a grace story indeed.

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Both the Old and New Testaments reveal something about God that we tend to either quietly doubt or glibly take for granted. We can find it buried in the historical narrative of the book of Jeremiah, who speaks for God, revealing both his heart for and goodwill toward his people:

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“

IN 2000, SAMMY’S PERSONAL LIFE AND PASTORAL MINISTRY IMPLODED.

Sammy’s Story Sammy Harris grew up in a dysfunctional family in a house with no indoor plumbing along the Ohio River. His biological father abandoned Sammy when he was 2 months old and his sister was 5. His mother, who married four times, was subjected to mental and physical abuse throughout Sammy’s childhood. Providentially, a small independent Christian church was within walking distance of Sammy’s house and it was there that he found the love, acceptance, and peace that were absent in his home.

The local church and church camp were major heart-shaping influences in Sammy’s life. At 13, he was baptized into Christ by a young preacher named Russell Johnson. After graduating from high school, Sammy enrolled at Kentucky Christian College. During his student days, he married his high school sweetheart. Upon graduating after four years, Sammy spent five years in youth ministry in Cynthiana, Kentucky; both of his sons were born while he served there. His desire to preach took him to

He began to rebuild his Christian life, doing menial tasks as a volunteer servant at Southland Christian Church. One day, a godly elder and his wife, J.L. and Wanda Hatter, approached him and insisted that Sammy and his younger son move out of the garage and into their home rent-free. In the summer of 2001, Sammy’s sister encouraged him to attend his high school graduating class’s 20th reunion. He reluctantly agreed and found himself in the company of a small group of two dozen people. One of the attendees was Sheree. Her father had been Sammy’s baseball coach. Her brothers had been his friends. They began to talk. Both were divorced and were single parents. Both lived in Lexington and faithfully attended Southland Christian Church. That night, Sammy gave Sheree his phone number with this Scripture verse: “Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God” (Philippians 1:3, New Living Translation). Two weeks later, Sheree called to wish Sammy a happy birthday. They began to talk deeply about their formative years, their common experiences with domestic violence, the negative impact of divorce on their children, and their faith. A spiritual heart connection began to form. The following December 21, they were married and became a blended family with five children in a small, three-bedroom, rented house—and they were happy!

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moment of surrender, Sammy’s exhausting quest for approval, recognition, and status died.

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Williamstown, Kentucky, for five years. From 1989 to 1994, the church doubled in size from 120 to 240. He was called to Gardenside Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1994, and he served there for six years. In 2000, Sammy’s personal life and pastoral ministry imploded. The subtle pressure to succeed as a church leader contributed to him becoming a workaholic. The challenges of balancing family life and ministry demands became overwhelming. His 17year marriage ended in divorce. In addition, the anger and resentment resulting from unresolved issues of his growing-up years reached the breaking point. He began abusing alcohol and prescription drugs. He suffered depression and feelings of shame and worthlessness. Within a period of a few weeks, Sammy lost everything: his marriage, family, ministry, and dignity. He disconnected from church. By then he was living in a garage and contemplating suicide; he went so far as to plan his death in detail, sincerely believing his loved ones would be better off without him. His plan? Borrow a gun, drive up to Sugarloaf Mountain, and end his life. Sammy testifies that his “rock bottom” happened on top of a mountain. Lying back in the leaves on that cold afternoon, he cried out to the Lord . . . for more than an hour. And in what he expects will be the closest he will ever come to hearing the audible voice of God, this message came to him: “Now, I can use you. I love you. I am not finished with you.” And, in that

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Leesburg Christian Churchâ€™s story Leesburg Christian Church started in August 1828 on the homestead of Zachariah Graves, next to the present church building. Barton W. Stone preached the first message under a plum tree on the Graves property. The original 10 members pledged themselves to congregational freedom and allegiance only to Christ and the Bible. The church struggled for the first few years. But in the fall of 1830, Alexander Campbell visited while on a preaching tour through Kentucky. Other great Restoration leaders preached there as well, including Raccoon John Smith and J.W. McGarvey.

The church began to grow during the 59-year ministry of John Allen Gano, numbering more than 300 souls by 1847. The church flourished once again in the mid-1940s under the leadership of Lewis Foster, and grew to nearly 500 active members. It was not unusual for people to stand on the lawn outside the windows to listen to Fosterâ€™s sermons. From the late 1970s through the 1990s, LCC went through a series of ups and downs, dwindling to fewer than 40, in part because the restructuring of the Kentucky highway system bypassed the little community. With only 70 residents in the settlement, prospects for a thriving congregation seemed bleak.

“I am broken,” Sammy said. “Our church is broken,” someone replied. Sammy began to meet and pray with a small group of four families. A “dream team” was formed, made up of 14 people who accepted the challenge of living with two churches—the one that is and

Ken Idleman served as the fourth president of Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri, was senior pastor for 10 years at Crossroads Christian Church, a megachurch in Newburgh, Indiana, and is presently mentoring pastors as vice president of leadership development with The Solomon Foundation.

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the one that can be. From the beginning of this partnership, both pastor and parish have resolved to be a real church for real people. And so, predictably, church attendance doubled quickly. Sammy quit his job in Lexington, taking a large pay cut and sacrificing his benefits. He took a graveyard-shift job at a local factory in the Leesburg area to support his family and new ministry. Many more good and God-honoring details could be shared, but here is an update . . . By Christmas 2016, Leesburg Christian Church had a record attendance of 1,400 and needed to rent the local high school to accommodate the crowd. Last Easter, LCC held five worship services in their new worship center. The church’s budget for 2017 is $720,000, with 10 percent designated for missions. The active weekly attendance is up to 600 in dual services. LCC now employs five full-time pastors and has four part-time staff positions. The church has been through two building expansions in the last 10 years—the most recent, a $1.6 million remodel of their old building. And the church’s vision is crystal clear: “Meeting, Serving and Sharing Jesus.” And so there is a real-life happy ending—though it’s not really an ending—to the true story of how our heavenly Father can orchestrate a plan to restore a broken pastor and, at the same time, revive a dying church. It is his favorite thing to do. 

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God’s Restoration Story But God had a plan . . . God was at work to restore a defeated pastor and revive a dying church. He had a blueprint for giving hope to Sammy Harris and a future to Leesburg Christian Church. And so it was that Barb Yearsley, a member of LCC, called Sammy one day in 2002. She said the church needed someone to “fill in.” When Sammy and Sheree arrived that first rainy Sunday morning, they were put off by the poor condition of the building and the sagging morale of the people. Hard times were evident. And when the furnace kicked on that morning, a haze of black smoke filled the room. Strategically placed buckets caught water dripping from the holes in the roof. The baptistery was empty and the piano hadn’t been tuned in years. Five people shuffled in for Bible school, and 27 assembled for worship (seven of these were the Harris family—the only early arrivals). But the people were gracious and kind, inviting him back the next Sunday. Sammy was transparent, telling the Leesburg church family his story.

the

DOT.

BY JERRY HARRIS

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W Whether it happens intentionally or accidentally, every church fashions a product that is more effective with at least one subset of people. Every church has a target. It may not be a deliberate target, as traditions tend to take on lives of their own, but it’s there just the same. Consider the style of your music and worship. Who is attracted to it? Scan the church budget. Who gets the most money? Study the use of the building. Who gets the most space? Assess the style of the building and its furniture. Is it antique? Do the color choices reflect the 1970s or present day? Your church will tell you whom you are targeting. Now look at who is sitting in the seats of the auditorium or sanctuary. Don’t factor in the preteens, as they have to go wherever their parents drive them. What is the average age? Don’t speculate! Do your homework and give an honest answer. At my church, we pass out cards and ask attendees to write down their age. After we pick up the cards, we simply add up the numbers and divide by the number of participants. When you put all that together, you will know whom you are targeting. That is your dot. Now place that dot on a horizontal line. Find an age range of about 10 years, with 5 years on either side of the dot. That 10-year span with the dot in the middle we call “the sweet spot.”

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the MOVING DOT and the CERTAINTY OF CHURCH MORTALITY If you want to do ministry the same way you have been, you’ll continue to be effective with that group of people as it ages. How close are they to dying? If your dot is at age 55, it means that your church has about 25 years to live if it continues on its same course. If the church continues doing the same thing, in 25 years it will be relevant mainly to people who have died or will soon die. That’s a sobering thought, but one that’s very important to understand. Many churches wonder why they are getting older and smaller. That is the reason. Time relentlessly marches on, and as it does, the dot will move with it. As long as we continue to be most relevant to the same people, the dot will continue moving to the right until the church dies. The only way to change this is to change the target. If the church can put pressure on the right side of the dot, time won’t slow down, but the dot will. Our goal is to stop the dot from moving. I know a church that has continued doing things as they did in 1980. They were on the cutting edge 30-plus years ago. They sang their hymns faster than anyone, projected words on a screen, had a moveable pulpit, and used chairs instead of pews. The building was filled with young families in their late 20s and early 30s. It worked so well, the church stuck with it. Today, they are still doing the same things in virtually the same ways, with relatively minor changes. The only difference is that those who were once in their early 30s now are retiring! They love the church, but no one is accusing them of being on the cutting edge anymore. The church has few young families . . . but they have plenty of money. The more time they delay necessary changes, the farther the dot goes to the right, and the more difficult corrective actions become. Someone once described leading change as making people uncomfortable at a rate they can tolerate. For this church, the necessary changes are becoming less and less possible.

TIME RELENTLESSLY MARCHES ON, AND AS IT DOES, THE DOT WILL MOVE WITH IT. AS LONG AS WE CONTINUE TO BE MOST RELEVANT TO THE SAME PEOPLE, THE DOT WILL CONTINUE MOVING TO THE RIGHT UNTIL THE CHURCH DIES. THE ONLY WAY TO CHANGE THIS IS TO CHANGE THE TARGET.

STOPPING the DOT— and MOVING TOWARD CHURCH IMMORTALITY How does a church get the dot to stop moving? You can’t stop time . . . but you can stop the dot. To do this, the church must continually look to be the most relevant to the people who are approaching where their dot—their “sweet spot”—presently exists; the church can adapt over time if it continues to focus on that target—that age of folks, that dot—and not on the folks who are there right now and who will continue to grow older. In doing this, the church keeps looking at the changing culture and adapting to it. The church need not compromise doctrine or vision, just the means and methods of how doctrine and vision are delivered. Stopping the dot means each church must embrace new forms of technology and new styles of music and worship, hire younger staff members, and spend more money on and expend more energy in programming in that direction. When the church continually focuses on their target, their unmoving dot, and that is coupled with a willingness to be relevant, the church sets itself up for immortality. If the dot isn’t moving, even though people in the church are getting older, the church isn’t getting older. By focusing on this target, a steady stream of people who are outside of a relationship with Jesus— now estimated at 80 percent—will come to your church and begin a relationship with him because they are attracted by the relevance defined by the dot.

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AS PEOPLE INCORPORATE THEIR GIFTS INTO THE REST OF THE BODY, THE MATURE AND ESTABLISHED MEMBERS JOIN TOGETHER TO REACH INTO THE LIVES OF THOSE HEARTS COMING INTO FULL BLOOM.

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the DOT and DISCIPLESHIP You might ask, Aren’t we neglecting the people on the right side of the dot by focusing intently on the left side? What about their needs? Look a little closer at the dynamic. As people approach the age range on either side of the dot, everything becomes more and more relevant for them. The church enjoys the maximum impact of its work. Things begin to make more and more sense for people as they land in that 10-year age range, the sweet spot. This is the place when our hearts are the most open, we’re the most teachable, and discipleship traits like worship, ministry, prayer, and Bible study really rev up. Those 5 to 10 years are absolutely critical to discipleship. The church must establish proper priorities, values, and a Christian worldview in the hearts of people in that targeted age range. People in that sweet spot learn how important an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus is to both him and them. They begin to value spiritual change in others more than personal comfort, and they develop disciplines to that end. They commit to being part of the solution; they discover their ministry gifts and put them into practice. It’s a brief but critical time, and before long, people are moving out of it. We can’t stop the march of time in our own lives. The goal is that the people for whom church is becoming less personally relevant will begin to trade in their own needs for the “bigger yes” of seeing the effectiveness of the church and their own gifts put into practice on those coming up. As people incorporate their gifts into the rest of the body, the mature and established members join together to reach into the lives of those hearts coming into full bloom. And what of the people who have aged beyond the target area—that is, the people on the right side of the dot? If the church has done its job, there really isn’t a problem. It’s not about “us” anymore. It’s about growing in Christian maturity. And guess what else is happening? The church is becoming immortal because, while time marches on, the dot is holding steady.

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COMMUNICATING the "WHY" I can’t overemphasize just how important it is to communicate this philosophy to the leaders and congregation. Communicating this goes beyond explaining what we’re doing to answering the question of why we’re doing it. When we know why—when everyone knows why—it gives substance to the church’s purpose. The church is making a difference that will outlive us. When we take a hard look at it, we realize it’s wise to refrain from self-centeredness. The church grows in depth (and definitely can’t be accused of being an inch deep and a mile wide). Focusing on the sweet spot of our targeted age range is what makes the church attractional. The countercultural dynamic makes it magnetic. In certain settings, such as rural and micropolitan areas, other churches won’t follow suit because the investment is too great or the change too severe. Then, the 80 percent— those people who are outside of a relationship with Jesus—will become your exclusive territory.

LOSING THE SAVED TO WIN THE LOST ISN'T A BAD DEAL, BECAUSE WHETHER A CHRISTIAN ATTENDS YOUR CHURCH OR NOT, THE SAVED ARE STILL SAVED.

Some folks in the church will find the changes uncomfortable and will look for a church home that is more comfortable for them. That’s OK! You will always lose people with change, but a church that incorporates this plan will also experience an exponential gain. Losing people is rarely a positive experience, but losing them for this strategy is a worthy trade. Losing the saved to win the lost isn’t a bad deal, because whether a Christian attends your church or not, the saved are still saved. Those who oppose this kind of aggressive strategy will find plenty of other comfortable places to worship. It is important to communicate that plenty of other churches exist in the community where one can worship, but that we (the church incorporating this strategy) feel called to this “bigger yes” of the 80 percent who are lost. Sometimes the worst thing that can happen is for frustrated people to stay. Churches must be gracious in showing the door to those who are more internally focused. If we’ve done our job properly, as people move out of that sweet spot, they discover that it’s really not about them anymore. Then the entire body can work together as an immortal church, equipping the saints to reach the lost and deploying them into a world that so desperately needs hope.  The article is adapted from Micropolitan Church: Doing Mega-Ministry in America’s Small Towns by Jerry Harris (Bloomington: CrossBooks, 2011).

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extinguishing the flames of conflict WHAT LEADERS CAN LEARN FROM THE FIRE TETRAHEDRON FOR THE GOOD OF THE CHURCH

BY WALT WILCOXSON

eat, fuel, oxygen, and a chemical chain reaction. These four factors comprise the fire tetrahedron, which is basic knowledge to every firefighter and the basis for the plan of attack for fighting every fire. Even rookie firefighters know that if you can eliminate any single part of the tetrahedron, the fire will go out. Or, if any of these four elements is missing, there will be no fire. In church conflict, leaders have a tetrahedron to consider as well. They need to be mindful of four factors as they carefully watch how others are following. The four sides of the conflict tetrahedron are the heat of emotions, the fuel of relationship, the oxygen of talk, and the chemical chain reaction of timing. The fire of conflict can come into play anytime. But it most often raises its ugly head when decisions have been made by leadership, changes are announced, or a new direction is being taken—those times when the Spirit is on the move to take ground for the Lord. Make no mistake about it, conflict shows up because the enemy of the cross is working overtime to steal, kill, and destroy. People are involved, of course. But the problem is spiritual as much as it is worldly. The individual sides of the tetrahedron—emotions, relationship, talk, and timing—benefit both the individual and the body of Christ in a spiritually healthy environment. The church needs passionate people, relationships that are strong, people sharing their faith and pulling together at the same time. But when Satan gets a foothold and causes all four of the elements to come together sinfully, they ignite a fire of conflict and divisiveness that can consume everything in its path. FACTOR I: THE HEAT OF EMOTIONS The heat of conflict is emotion—more specifically, unhealthy, inappropriate, and sinful emotions. Instead of joy, gladness, compassion, and empathy— virtues that promote unity—you find bitterness, sadness, and anger wrapped in legalism, selfishness, and self-promotion. The negative attributes all serve to supplant grace. Formerly healthy emotions once used to praise and glorify God and show love to our neighbors are twisted by Satan into unhealthy emotions that divide the flock, hurt the weak, and damage the witness of the body of Christ before a world that needs Jesus. The heat of emotions, much like the buildup of hot smoke and gases in a house fire, needs to be properly vented to remove this side of the conflict tetrahedron. As a leader, this is a time for listening instead of lecturing. People often have amped-up emotions because they want to be heard. Leaders need to provide an environment that allows for the proper venting of emotions, a place where you can listen earnestly. The venting sometimes occurs by spending time one-on-one with an individual. At other times, the heat of emotions has gotten so intense that an

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entire group needs to have the opportunity to be heard. As a general rule, the larger the fire, the larger the vent hole that is needed. By listening and allowing others to be heard, the leader vents the fire of conflict and allows the heat of emotions to escape. Once that emotional heat is vented, work still needs to be done. The fire still needs to be extinguished. If not, the heat will build up again. After listening, the leader needs to speak the truth in love. This can mean anything from correcting misunderstandings to acknowledging things that could have been done better, confessing personal sin that you (as a leader) become convicted of, or even confronting the sin of others. This action can finally separate the heat of emotions from the rest of the tetrahedron. FACTOR II: THE FUEL OF RELATIONSHIP The fuel in church conflict, the next side of the conflict tetrahedron, is relationship. And as in a real fire, the more fuel, the bigger the fire. The more relationships a person has, the greater the potential size of the conflict. This is why someone new to the church usually has less of an impact on the flock as a whole than a staff member or a ministry team leader. Identifying relationship as the fuel for conflict may seem counterintuitive since the church is meant to exist in relationship. But the church is also meant to exist in unity (see John 17:23). And while healthy, God-honoring relationships are a fuel for spiritual growth and excitement, relationships that fuel conflict are relationships that exist, or begin to exist, outside of the desire for unity. They are relationships that have begun to be spiritually unhealthy. These relationships may have previously been beneficial, encouraging, and supportive for spiritual growth and ministry. These unhealthy relationships can exist in such places as small groups, ministry teams, or even relationships among staff. In the tetrahedron of conflict, once-healthy relationships become a source of fuel for obstruction, or destruction, of the objectives set forth by leadership. It’s been said our greatest weakness is our greatest strength exploited by Satan. In conflict, Satan exploits healthy, supporting, and unified relationships and uses them to fuel conflict for the purpose of disunity and destruction. Sometimes, by confronting the individual(s) involved in causing trouble, and exposing their sin, the sinner will graciously and genuinely repent and healthy relationships will be restored and again become beneficial to the work of Christ. However, at times it is absolutely necessary, because of a person’s unrepentant attitude, to remove the fuel and starve the fire. If this is the case, staff members sometimes need to be let go or reassigned, or ministry leaders replaced. With a house fire, removing the fuel that is feeding the fire is often the most difficult task to accomplish. The same can be said for removing unhealthy relationships in the church. And while it should not be the leader’s first choice, it

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â€œ

It's been said our greatest weakness is our greatest strength exploited by Satan. IN CONFLICT, SATAN EXPLOITS HEALTHY, SUPPORTING, AND UNIFIED RELATIONSHIPS AND USES THEM TO FUEL CONFLICT FOR THE PURPOSE OF DISUNITY AND DESTRUCTION.

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is often the only choice left. Sometimes, after our best efforts, we find ourselves having to accept the same advice that Titus received from Paul: “Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them” (Titus 3:10). Still, even after letting a staff member go or asking others to leave the church, the leader needs to keep a careful eye on the relationship side of the tetrahedron. It’s likely that the catalyst of the conflict left embedded relationships in the church. It can be like separating a hot coal from a fire: One coal is removed but the others continue to smolder. Coworkers, ministry teams, small group members, family, and friends all may continue to carry the offense of the one who was let go. The leader must guard against thinking the fire of conflict is out simply because someone is no longer around. A significant amount of time, effort, prayer, and wisdom will be needed to continue to deal with the remaining relationships so that they will return to health. FACTOR III: THE OXYGEN OF TALK The third side of the fire tetrahedron is oxygen, and talk is the oxygen in the tetrahedron of conflict. Sinful talk. Gossip that is fueled by relationship and heated by sinful emotions. Selfish talk. Talk helps ignite church conflict. Gone are these restraints of Scripture: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29); and, “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone” (Titus 3:1, 2). Is it any wonder James says of the tongue, “[It] is itself set on fire by hell” (James 3:6)? Of course, talk is very difficult to control, because harmful chatter ultimately is not a tongue issue but a heart issue. “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Matthew 12:34). Venting helps with emotions, and it also can help reduce or eliminate gossip. But the way a leader vents the conflict is important. Proper venting of a house fire allows the buildup of heat and smoke to escape. But there are other benefits as well. Proper venting halts the spread of the fire and increases the likelihood victims inside the house will survive. Venting of conflict in the church produces similar benefits. Confronting the sin of gossip, slander, and backstabbing serves to halt the spread of conflict, dissipate the heat of emotion, and help prevent further hurt.

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Some leaders resist venting conflict because they worry the fire of conflict will get out of control. But the truth is, it is already out of control. Even a small fire can be out of control. A small fire in a fireplace is beneficial. But a fire of the same size in the heart of your living room is out of control and has the potential to cause much more damage. In conflict, sinful talk and ungodly emotions are already stoking the fire! Better to vent the fire properly and control it than to let it grow and spread. Giving people a place to vent their emotions and their words, while also lovingly and truthfully confronting the sins associated with the tongue, provide the leader the opportunity to influence future conversations so they can be godly and beneficial for the cause of Christ. FACTOR IV: THE CHEMICAL CHAIN REACTION OF TIMING The final side of the tetrahedron, timing, is the chemical chain reaction that takes place when the other three elements are present. But timing is not accidental. The enemy brings all these together at a time when God is moving and when ground for the kingdom is being taken. Timing is orchestrated by Satan, and because “we are not unaware of his schemes” (2 Corinthians 2:11), the leader must always be vigilant. A firefighter extinguishes a fire by systematically working his way to the seat of the fire. A leader, in a similar fashion, must work his way to the seat of the conflict. The leader must assess the conflict and determine the best way to deal with it. The best approach might be to remove a relationship, or vent emotions, or douse sinful talk with truth, or a combination of any or all of these three. In the end, the seat of the conflict will inevitably be one or more individuals sowing discord and disunity. We see an example of the human element in 1 Timothy 1:3, 4, where Paul tells Timothy to “command certain people not to teach false doctrines” because they “promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work.” There is, however, another participant in the fire of conflict, and it is Satan himself. We, as leaders, cannot approach conflict or view it from only a worldly, lower story, human perspective. Because the church is made up of flawed individuals we must, by necessity, confront the individuals causing the conflict. But we should remember the arsonist, the enemy, the one who strikes the match, is not the individual standing in front of us. It is Satan! The enemy of the cross (Ephesians 6:12). But there is good news! He has been defeated (Colossians 2:15).  Walt Wilcoxson serves as discipleship pastor at The Crossing, and the campus pastor of The Crossing, Lima, Illinois.

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SHOULD CHRISTIAN LEADERS TAKE A STAND ON POLITICAL ISSUES? BY BOB RUSSELL C H RIS TIA N STAN DA R D

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popular Christian blogger recently suggested ministers should avoid preaching “anything political” because that’s an automatic turnoff to most seekers. He pointed out that when preachers take a position on contentious,cultural issues they minimize opportunities for evangelism—especially with millennials. He applauded one of the leading ministers in America who recently announced he would no longer preach about homosexuality because it was such a polarizing subject.

WHY CONFRONT CONTROVERSIAL POLITICAL ISSUES? That may sound like good counsel because, after all, our ultimate hope isn’t in politics but in Jesus Christ. But think about the many hot-button political issues that are also spiritual issues. Abortion, euthanasia, creationism, gay marriage, divorce, cohabitation, sexual harassment, gender identity, racism, religious freedom, proper care for the poor and aliens, women’s rights, and other pertinent topics are both civil and biblical matters. It’s my conviction that to remain silent on controversial political issues abdicates our responsibility to preach the whole counsel of God, fails to disciple the church’s youth, yields critical territory to Satan, and is gross spiritual malpractice. The Old Testament prophets spoke truth to power and boldly proclaimed God’s Word even though it angered influential leaders. John the Baptist courageously called out King Herod for living with his brother’s wife. Jesus angered the zealots when he suggested they should pay taxes to Caesar. He undoubtedly made those who wanted to appease Rome uncomfortable when he referred to Herod as a “fox.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer is generally regarded as a 20th-century hero because he bravely opposed the politics of Adolf Hitler. The cost of Bonhoeffer’s discipleship was imprisonment and death. Conversely, German church

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leaders who bent over backward to accommodate Hitler’s policies are now considered cowards because they remained silent in the face of atrocious evil. Christian leaders today have a responsibility to “Preach the Word in season and out of season.” Even though we’re living in a season when many will not put up with sound doctrine, we can’t just say what “itching ears want to hear.” Our first responsibility is not to be sensitive to the seeker; our first responsibility is to be obedient to God and preach his Word, trusting it will not return empty. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, authored the book We Cannot Be Silent: Speaking the Truth to a Culture Redefining Sex, Marriage and the Very Meaning of Right and Wrong. Mohler states that Karl Marx prophesied, “The modern age would sweep all conventional morality and political structures aside in a complete transformation of values.” Mohler then declared, “What Marx promised is now happening before our eyes.” Francis Schaeffer wrote in A Christian Manifesto, “It is not too strong to say that we are at war, and there are no neutral parties in the struggle. One either confesses that God is the final authority, or one confesses that Caesar is Lord.” We can’t pretend a cultural war isn’t really happening. We can’t naively claim it’s over or it doesn’t matter, because, “after all, Christianity thrives under persecution.” (Tell that to the few godly believers in North Korea!) God’s people cannot be silent! Jesus warned, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness . . . it is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot” (Matthew 5:13). The apostle Paul asked, “If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?” (1 Corinthians 14:8).

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ways to confront pol itical issues

The pivotal question is, How can we most effectively share God’s truth with a culture that is rapidly becoming more secular and more hostile to people of faith? How can we stand firm for biblical absolutes and not alienate the very people we’re trying to win?

Be balanced—avoid the extremes. In speaking the truth about controversial issues, we would do well to avoid the extremes. On the one extreme are spineless appeasers who bend over backward to be politically correct— they appear cowardly. On the other extreme are strident crusaders who continually rant against the culture— they appear hateful. Jesus instructed us to be light to the world, but not a lightning rod. Paul encouraged us to fight the good fight of faith and yet to live at peace with everyone, if possible. So avoid the extremes of wimpish cowardice and hawkish militancy. Make every effort to maintain the powerful balance of preaching the truth in love. Be biblical. The most effective way to stay balanced when dealing with social and political issues is through expository preaching. If we ministers preach verse by verse through a book of the Bible, when we come to passages that deal with sexual immorality or concern for foreigners, no one can legitimately accuse us of representing a political party. We are simply preaching the whole will of God. If we preach through a book of the Bible, we are also more likely to stay balanced and avoid disproportionate emphasis on our pet peeve.

Be pleasant. Preach the truth in love. Don’t attack the world with an angry tone, a clenched fist, or a fierce scowl. Let people know by your thoughtful words and gentle spirit that they are loved and that spiritual rebellion breaks God’s heart . . . and yours. It’s amazing how strong a stand you can take if you do it with a joyful countenance.

Be courageous. In order to avoid criticism, ministers may be tempted to buffer God’s Word with so many qualifiers that the truth is barely recognizable. Not long ago I heard a sermon titled, “Is Homosexuality a Sin?” The sermon, one in a series on hot-button issues, had so many safeguards that the primary message that came through was, “The Bible says homosexuality is sinful. But we’re all sinners and no one sin is worse than another. And since we all need God’s grace, don’t be guilty of the greater sin, which is to be judgmental of others.” The preacher may have felt he had taken a biblical stand, but in reality there was no call to repentance and the congregation left somewhat bewildered because he essentially said what itching ears wanted to hear.

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Contrast that with Franklin Graham’s statement about gay marriage: True followers of Jesus Christ cannot endorse same-sex marriage, regardless of what our President, the Congress, the Supreme Court, the media or the latest Gallup poll says about the matter. . . . This moral issue has been settled by God Himself and is not subject to man-made revisions or modifications. In the end, I would rather be on the wrong side of public opinion than be on the wrong side of Almighty God who established the standard of living for the world He created (from “The Flood of Compromise,” Decision magazine, May 2014). That kind of stand takes courage. Courage is not the absence of fear; courage is action in spite of fear. Just before going into battle against the Canaanites, God commanded Joshua, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

Be decisive. A few years ago most evangelical churches did a good job of taking a strong stand on abortion. Ministers informed their congregations early and often, “We are a pro-life church. Abortion is taking a life that God is knitting together in the womb. If you have had an abortion, we urge you to repent and receive God’s amazing grace. But we are unashamedly pro-life.” There was little ambiguity. Visitors soon knew the church’s position. That clear, decisive stand and advances in technology have been used by God to turn the national opinion in favor of life. Few predicted that happening 40 years ago, but most churches stood for biblical truth and God honored that stand. We would do well to follow that same consistent pattern in other controversial issues. Communicate early and confidently your church stances on divorce, cohabitation, gay marriage, gender identity, treatment of illegal aliens, women’s roles in the church, and so forth. Most people appreciate clarity and courage even though they may not totally agree. The failure to be decisive and take a clear biblical stand creates uncertainty and eventually division in the church.

Be relevant. Occasionally, current events beg for comment from spiritual leaders, but the scheduled passage of study does not lend itself to commentary. It may be a race riot prompted by a questionable police shooting or a Supreme Court decision on a moral issue that has everyone buzzing. Wise leaders should be perceptive and flexible enough to occasionally back away from a planned series of lessons and relate biblical truth to current events. Fred Craddock said, “The preacher needs to understand he doesn’t just speak to the church, he often speaks for the church.” The minister should express openly, “This is what this church believes. This is where we Christians stand on this issue.” If people come to worship after their biblically based views are challenged by the world and those views are not reinforced, they go home frustrated, discouraged, and invalidated.

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Be discerning. Know when it’s time to fight and when it’s time to be still. Some one-issue Christians pressure the preacher to lead the charge for all kinds of perceived spiritual battles. Proper health care for veterans, the appropriate display of the flag, standing at attention for the national anthem, the distribution of voter guides, the expansion of gambling, the display of the Ten Commandments at school . . . you name the cause and over-eager soldiers are urging you to take up their chosen banner. At times Jesus intentionally avoided conflict. He healed people away from the crowd and told them not to tell anyone so the multitudes wouldn’t overreact. At other times Jesus deliberately threw down the gauntlet. The Pharisees were watching to see if he would heal a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. The man’s disability wasn’t life-threatening, so Jesus could have waited until the next day. But instead, he said to the man, “Get up and stand in front of everyone. . . . [Now] stretch out your hand” (Luke 6:8, 10). Jesus discerned it best to confront the objections openly, fully aware that his actions would elicit intense opposition. Leadership requires divine wisdom to know when to march forth into battle and when to remain peacefully in the camp. The Bible promises, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5).

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STAND FIRM! At the very least, Christian soldiers are called upon to stand our ground. The Bible encourages us to: “Stand firm. Let nothing move you” (1 Corinthians 15:58); “Stand your ground” and “stand firm” (Ephesians 6:13, 14); “Contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people” (Jude 3). If you can’t stand for a miraculous creation, the sinful nature of man, the inspiration of the Bible, the sanctity of life, the sacredness of marriage, the equal value of all races, salvation through Christ alone, and the evangelistic mission of the church, what in the world can you stand for? Where is your backbone? We can’t keep retreating from truth just because it might

offend someone. We have a God-given assignment to stand firm and guard the gospel. So be thick-skinned. The world hates God’s truth because men love darkness rather than light. If you just stand for the basic truths of God’s Word, you won’t have to go looking for a fight; the fight will come to you. Unbelievers will accuse you of being intolerant, bigoted, and a hater. You can’t avoid it. Jesus warned, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first (John 15:18). Sadly, some of the most scathing criticism may come from within the church. Paul warned, “Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth” (Acts 20:30). Some church members are terrified that if their church takes a strong stand it will develop a bad reputation in the community. They crave the approval of men more than the approval of God, so they attack God’s messengers for stirring up trouble. When you’re attacked, remember, Jesus offended people so much that they crucified him. He promised, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11, 12). So expect criticism and toughen up!

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Dr. David Jeremiah, minister of Shadow Mountain Community Church in Southern California, has always taken a bold stand for righteousness. He explained, “I cannot sit idly by and watch believers be destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (See Hosea 4:6.) But in fighting for the soul of America, Dr. Jeremiah wisely adds a word of caution. “America cannot be saved by politics,” he writes in his book Is This the End? “It is not going to be saved by Republicans, Democrats, or Independents. While we need wise and godly national leaders, the real answer to our problems is not political but spiritual. . . . The answer is not found in being liberal or conservative, but in being committed to Jesus Christ.” So, “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses . . . until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time” (1 Timothy 6:12, 14, 15). 

Bob Russell serves as pastor emeritus at Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky. He continues to preach, provide guidance for church leaders, mentor other ministers, and write through Bob Russell Ministries.

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WHEN THE CHURCH SPLITS :

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HOPE AFTER THE LOSS

BY JESSIE CLEMENCE

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The church gymnasium, once filled with the sound of squealing children and bouncing balls, fell silent. The church bank account, once bolstered with tithes from generous givers, dropped to a frightening low. The elder board had vacancies. The pulpit lacked a minister and the worship team was missing vocalists and musicians. Children were missing from Sunday school classes, but that was OK because there werenâ€™t enough adults to teach them anyway. The church had split, and those of us who stayed walked through an endless succession of losses. I grew tired of trying to explain to my children why their friends were suddenly missing on Sunday. I grew furious at everyone who had voted for the enormous church mortgage a few years earlier and then left us without the means to pay for it. To preserve my sanity, I unfollowed a slew of old church friends on social media. I decided Jesus would understand my need for a little bit of space from the emotional gut punches of badly placed comments.

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Walking to the car on Sunday mornings became an act of maturity and discipline. It certainly wasn’t joy or excitement that dragged us out of the house to the church building. We just knew that someone had to show up, and it might as well be us. On Sunday we straggled into the building with the other families who stayed, our faces often betraying our struggles and frustrations. Did we pray for a chance to leave as well? We certainly did. It would have been much easier to walk out, but that was never God’s direction for our family. We stayed because we knew we needed to stay. And we’ve never once regretted that decision, hard as it was. We’ve been given a front-row seat to watch God’s restoration of a congregation. First, a young staff member and his family agreed to stay and fill the pulpit in the middle of the tumult. Men stepped up to fill open elder positions, new vocalists volunteered, and teenagers picked up their guitars and blew us away with skills we didn’t know they had. The children’s programs were condensed and restructured until we had enough (barely enough) kids and teachers. The bank account remained a serious concern, until The Solomon Foundation stepped in and refinanced the mortgage when conventional banks shied away from our situation. Piece by piece, things fell back into place. We began to breathe a little easier.

LESSONS IN GRACE While the church’s situation was resolving itself, my heart remained unsettled. I’d like to say I sailed through the experience with a joyful, worshipful attitude. I wish I’d run to the auditorium each Sunday, ready for the Holy Spirit to fill the room and change my heart. I wish I’d believed God could still glorify himself despite our despair. But these things did not happen. I was an angry, anxious mess who sat in the back row and prayed for something—anything—to happen. When I prayed, my heart wasn’t in the right place, but God heard me anyway. Slowly, ever so slowly, he began to give me more and more grace for those who had left. The bitterness eased as I realized our friends didn’t leave the church to hurt us. They weren’t terrible people; they were simply convicted of other issues and impassioned for other ministry focuses. They left because they felt a strong pull to honor God in another way. I realized they probably felt the same frustration toward me, and they were likely angry and irritated at my choices. I had to examine my own actions and repent of my own sin. What could I have done differently? What responsibility did I have in the split? I identified specific sins and repented of them. But there were other choices that—even now—I’m not sure I could have changed. Hindsight helped reveal some errors to me, but I was doing the best I knew to do at the time. Paul’s words rang true for me: I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges

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THE BLESSINGS OF STAYING

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me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God (1 Corinthians 4:3-5). My judgment of the situation—who was right and who was wrong—was inadequate. It was all in God’s hands, and I chose to believe we were all doing the best we could to follow Christ. Offering grace to my friends and myself was the only way I could get through it.

A RENEWED FOCUS ON A RESTORING GOD As the anxieties eased and the bitterness faded, something beautiful emerged. The congregation renewed our focus on Christ. We allowed the Holy Spirit to work in us corporately and individually as we began to seek ways to glorify God while we rebuilt. We had no choice but to look to the future with faith, because holding on to our grief and fury would only poison us. None of this healing was possible within our human ability; it was the Holy Spirit who worked in us as we prayed for God to be glorified. God is good. He can be trusted. This is his church and we are his people, and when we take our focus off ourselves and our petty opinions, he can work a miracle. We have a hope and a future because he holds that future, and he loves us enough to rebuild what is broken. About five years have passed, but I still sit in the back row of the auditorium each Sunday, and sometimes I still cry a little. But now my tears are joyful. The young minister who stayed is now the lead pastor, and every Sunday I’m so thankful he and his family are here. New staff have come. New families have joined, and many of those couples are having children and repopulating our children’s programs. We must watch our step each week as a hoard of giggling toddlers plays tag in the foyer. The laughter is back. So are the bouncing balls, the smiles, the laughter, and the joy. Relationships have grown deep and strong. When I look into the eyes of the sisters and brothers who stayed with us through the storm, I know I can trust them through anything. But mostly, I’ve learned I can trust God through anything. There’s nothing so broken that he can’t restore it. Not even my own heart, which is prone to anxiety, distrust, and bitterness. He alone can restore our hearts to faith and joy as we glorify him together, one little congregation in his worldwide church.  Jessie Clemence is a Christian church secretary. Her newest book is I Could Use a Nap and a Million Dollars (Kregel Publications). Her website is jessieclemence.com.

civil liberty How Christ Frees Us to Be Civil in Less-than-Civil Times

BY SHAWN M c MU LLEN

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Products of Our Culture We’re inundated by incivility. It peppers political speeches. It incites grown athletes to behave like children. It makes the workplace a prison, the home a battleground, and the church the last place you want to be. We’ve come to expect it, as if we have little choice but to endure it—and to dish it out when necessary. But it doesn’t have to be this way. God has a better plan and he has laid it out in Scripture. It’s not only possible to be civil and gracious in every situation, it’s God’s will for his children.

What Should We Expect?

Ysilver ou’re driving down the highway and notice a Honda in the passing lane traveling a few

miles per hour below the speed limit, impeding the progress of the gray Toyota behind it. When the Toyota gets a break in the line of traffic, its driver veers quickly into the other lane, moves in front of the Honda, and taps his brakes, causing the driver of the Honda to brake and swerve into the berm. The party of four at their lunch table simply can’t be pleased. They complain loudly to one another throughout the meal: the service is slow, the food is bland, and the staff is inattentive. One member of the party demands to speak to the manager and requests a credit on their bill. Finally the group leaves the table, but they don’t leave a tip. The outreach team of a local church plans a community event targeting unbelievers. The minister of a nearby congregation hears of their plans and posts a scathing comment on his Facebook page criticizing the event, the church, and their methodology. What do these stories have in common? The driver of the Toyota, the party at lunch, and the critical preacher are all believers—disciples of Jesus Christ. But instead of displaying Christ’s character, all three chose to respond in lessthan-civil (and less-than-Christlike) ways. C H RIS TIA N STAN DA R D

While God calls us to be civil in all our interactions, we can’t expect the same from unbelievers. It would be nice if we could, but we can’t. True civility is a by-product of the Holy Spirit’s presence in the believer’s life. Those who don’t have the Holy Spirit can’t be expected to live under his direction. On the other hand, we should always expect civility from those who follow Christ. We were near the end of a church leadership meeting when two of our leaders disagreed about a small matter, and neither wanted to concede his point. As the minutes dragged on, their conversation grew louder and less civil. After verbally insulting each other, both men sprang from their chairs and left the room. Those of us who remained looked around in stunned silence before we sadly concluded the meeting. In the week that followed we spoke privately to both men and helped them evaluate their conduct in light of Scripture. We began our next meeting with a brief Bible study and introduced a simple covenant, asking every leader around the table to verbally agree to it. The covenant affirmed that every member of the leadership team had not only the right, but the obligation, to politely interrupt any other member during a meeting to ask, “Can you tell me how what you just said, or how the attitude you’re currently displaying, is bringing glory to God?” Our goal was to help build a culture that anticipated civil behavior in Christian leaders at all times. - 59 -

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Who Matters Most? Much of our incivility is rooted in pride and in our hope, if not our belief, that we’re more important than the people around us. The newscaster introduced his opinion segment with a story about an annoying passenger who sat near him on a recent flight. The passenger snapped his fingers at a flight attendant to order a drink. He snapped his fingers at another to get a pillow. He snapped at an assistant to bring his laptop. The newscaster observed with indignation, “No matter how you look at it, snapping at people smacks of pride and superiority.” He guessed the annoying passenger would never treat the president of his company or the chairman of his board in such a manner and concluded, “People never snap up. They always snap down.” It’s true. We get away with what we can. In 1909, Harry Gordon Selfridge, founder of Selfridge’s department store in London, coined the phrase, “The customer is always right.” I’m sure he meant to promote positive customer service, but his phrase opened the door to a great deal of incivility in the retail world. As a result, people with the flimsiest of complaints boldly demand satisfaction from salespeople. Hiding behind a retail slogan, they feel superior to the person behind the counter. Sadly, many Christians have embraced the philosophy too. But how would God have us view the issue? Paul tells us in Philippians 2:3, 4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.” You know you’re growing in Christlike civility when you treat those around you as more important than yourself; not because you know it’s the right thing to do, but because you actually believe it.

incivility makes the the home a and the church the last

Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). The imagery wasn’t lost on his listeners. Anyone seen carrying his cross through the streets of Jerusalem had but one end—death. To deny self for Jesus’ sake is to die to self for Jesus’ sake.

workplace a prison, battleground, place you want to be.

Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live” (Galatians 2:20). While he went on to explain that Christ now lived in him, we musn’t overlook the death-of-self analogy. Deithrich Bonhoffer noted, “When Christ calls a man he bids him come and die.” Suppose I die and you attend my visitation. You approach the open casket and look down on my body. You say to me, “Shawn, I never really liked you. You were a mediocre preacher and a poor leader. And one more thing. All that humor from the pulpit? You were never as funny as you thought you were.” How do you think I would respond to those comments? You guessed it. I’d let them pass. I wouldn’t be offended at all. Why? Because you can’t insult a corpse. It seems to me this same principle applies to every disciple of Jesus. We die to self in order to live for Christ. We have nothing to lose and nothing to prove. When people attempt to hurt us, insult us, or make us feel unimportant, we don’t respond in kind. It’s not that we grit our teeth and refuse to lash out even though we’d like to. We don’t retaliate because we have no reason to retaliate. We’ve died to offenses even as we’ve died to the world. A wise man once said, “Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult” (Proverbs 12:16).

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You Can’t Insult a Corpse

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Free to Be Civil Paul wanted the Galatian Christians to live freely in God’s grace and not to relapse into a religion based on works. So he reminded them, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1). Our freedom in Christ frees us from offense and allows us to live in civility with one another. Here are several ways we can do this. Focus on God’s glory. What if we paused before responding to an insult or injury and asked, “What can I do in this moment that will glorify God?” What if our goal in every interaction became to make sure God is honored above all other things? Let’s ask God to create that mind-set in us. Give the benefit of the doubt. Often the insults, injuries, and offenses we perceive are not intentional. We may be filtering the reactions and comments of other people and receiving them in ways they were not meant to be received. Here is where we seek God’s wisdom to understand the words and actions of others (see James 1:5), and in the meantime, we follow James’s advice: “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (James 1:19). This allows us to assume that a comment or action is not meant to be harmful until we have clear evidence to the contrary. Lay aside pride. Incivility often is driven by ego. So another simple step we can take toward Christlike civility is to ask ourselves, “How would I respond to that action or comment if I were completely devoid of pride?” Be a peacemaker. “Blessed are the peacemakers,” Jesus said, “for they will be

called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). “If it is possible,” Paul urged, “as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18). While we’re clearly called to be peaceable people, we must remember that peace in the church is not more important than purity in the church. If you are a church leader, you will at times need to respond in ways that are neither easy nor peaceable. You will stand for truth and for God’s glory no matter the cost. But even in those difficult times, you can allow Scripture to guide your words and actions: “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 2:24, 25). Make unity a priority. The apostle Paul challenged the believers in Ephesus to “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). He urged the disciples in Corinth to be “perfectly united in mind and thought” (1 Corinthians 1:10). Clearly unity among Christ’s followers was a key issue to the apostle. And no wonder. Paul learned it from the master teacher, Jesus Christ, who prayed, “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:22, 23). Unity is essential to the mission of Christ. And that unity is clearly displayed when Christ’s followers behave with civility— toward one another and toward unbelievers. Much is at stake here.

Golden Opportunities Think of how God would be honored and Christ exalted if we viewed every insult, every disagreement, every misunderstanding, every personal attack as a golden opportunity to show an unbelieving world—and the believers around us—just how powerful the grace and mercy and love of God really are. When faced with incivility, perhaps we should first go to our knees and thank God for sending such an uncomfortable, potentially hurtful incident our way; for without such incidents, we would never have opportunities to show others the true measure of Christ’s love. From that vantage point, we can rise in God’s strength to respond with forgiveness and forbearance.  Shawn McMullen serves as editor of The Lookout and contributing editor of Christian Standard.

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Central Christian Church in Beloit, Wis., is helping children in Puerto Rico affected by the 2017 hurricane season. Proceeds from the church’s annual “Cookie Walk” event—where volunteers sold boxes of home-baked cookies for $10 per box—went to provide food for hungry children. Ten Mile Christian Church in Meridian, Idaho, hosted a monthlong “Diaper Drive” in the fall to collect diapers and wipes for the local Meridian Food Bank and foster care families. To promote the effort, the church posted a video on Facebook of people being blasted by diapers shot from a cannon. StoneBridge Christian Church in Omaha, Neb., hosted a one-day retreat in February for area business leaders. The “Work As Worship” retreat allowed Christian business owners, CEOs, and business leaders who want their faith to impact their work to come together and hear from speakers on the topic. The youth team at College Heights Christian Church in Joplin, Mo., didn’t let the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation go by without a party. The group got together to pray, and then they put on costumes and ate “Reformation Snacks”—Fruit Roll-Ups to represent Martin Luther’s 95 Theses and pretzel sticks to represent the nail he used to hang it on the door of the Wittenberg church. University Christian Church in Manhattan, Kan., reached out to military families by hosting a “night out” for single parents and the spouses of deployed soldiers. The church offered free childcare so parents could go shopping, have alone time, or spend time with friends. UCC is located near Fort Riley, a U.S. Army post. First Christian Church in Canton, Ohio, hosted a two-day women’s retreat called “Livin’ the Dream.” The retreat focused on whether someone is living out the dream God has planned for her and to help women recognize, embrace, prepare for, and live out God’s dream with courage and passion. Northside Christian Church in Wadsworth, Ohio, assembled a large stack of shoeboxes last fall by collecting 1,736 gift boxes for Samaritan’s Purse’s Operation Christmas Child.

HEADLINES

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ticker//tape

BY CHRIS MOON

Maryland Community Church in Terre Haute, Ind., is revamping its youth ministry to try to help stop the exodus of young people from our nation’s churches. With “Growing Young at MCC,” the church is dropping some staples of traditional youth ministry—like its high school worship service on Sunday morning—and adding more elements that bring parents and students together in church. The theory is that offering age-specific programming twice a week for students overburdens families. MCC wants to encourage high school students to be part of the larger church body in ministry teams as a way to involve, retain, and grow teenagers at the church. “Change is good,” the church student ministry team wrote in a letter to the congregation. “It’s a constant in growth, life, and forward movement. But while change is good, transitions can be awkward (and in student ministry we’re surrounded by people going through puberty, so we know about awkward transitions!).” MCC cited statistics showing a decline in the percentage of adults who identify as Christians in the United States, now at only 71 percent, and an increase in the percentage of people who do not affiliate with any religion, now at 23 percent. Even more pressing perhaps is the aging church. Maryland Community Church noted that 22 percent of the adult population in the United States is in the 18-29 age range, but only 10 percent of the church is comprised of adults that age. MCC said nearly 50 percent of “youth group seniors—young people in our church—drift from God and the faith community after they graduate from high school.” “As followers of Jesus, parents and leaders who have been in student and pastoral ministry much of our adult lives, we aren’t satisfied with the dangers of the shrinking and aging of our worshipping community,” the church’s leaders wrote. The church this year will start offering a worship service for middle school students on Sunday mornings and a service exclusively for high school students on Wednesday nights. High school students are invited to worship in the sanctuary during weekend services and serve at the church during those services.

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CHURCH RESPONDS TO YOUTH DEPARTURE

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Christ’s Church in Mason, Ohio, recently hosted its “Night to Shine Shopping Day.” The church partnered with Cinderella’s Closet to provide a large selection of prom dresses for members of the community. Southpoint Church in Trenton, Mich., tackled the dangers of technology with an event called “Creating a Media-Safe Home,” featuring Jim Burns, of the Homeword Center for Youth and Family. Topics included how to manage things like movie and television content, online bullying, and social media. Lifepointe Church in Raleigh, N.C., hosted a special event during the holidays called “Foster Care Christmas.” It was for families who are providing foster homes in the community, and it featured inflatables, a movie, and a visit from Santa Claus. New Life Christian Church in Chantilly, Va., made sure the Christmas season was sweet by having members of its student ministry compete in its annual “Great Christmas Bake Off.” Students attempted to make the best Christmasthemed treat before time ran out. Guest judges selected the winner. Manhattan Christian College in Kansas is trying to help churches reach the baby boomer generation. It hosted a conference called “Reaching and Unleashing Baby Boomers,” with an emphasis on providing meaningful ways for members of that generation to serve in the church. Milligan College recently hosted its annual “Buffalo Tales,” a student storytelling event in the college’s McGlothlin-Street Theatre. It promotes storytelling as an art form and as an effective method of communication. Johnson Harvesters this winter held its annual “Soupport Our Missionaries Soup Cookoff.” The Harvesters, a missions emphasis group at Johnson University Tennessee, sent proceeds from the event to Knoxville Area Refugee Services. Guy Fox is the new lead pastor of Diamond Canyon Christian Church in Diamond Bar, Calif. Fox previously launched Venture Christian Church in Murrieta, Calif. He replaces James Price, who retired after leading DCCC for 37 years.  would you like to submit a news item? /ChristianStandardMagazine @ChrStandard @christianstandardmagazine Cs@ChristianStandardMedia.com

LONGTIME SEMINARY STAFF RETIRE

God opens doors. That’s the enduring message student Olivia Ruckriegel of Redemption Christian Church in Jasper, Ind., learned last year after she wasn’t able to go on a mission trip to Mexico. When that door to ministry was shut, Ruckriegel discovered God had freely opened another—to help an orphanage in Uganda from where she lived in Indiana. Ruckriegel attended a Christ in Youth summer conference, still bummed about not getting to go to Mexico. “At that CIY, I really felt like God kept saying, ‘Go and do more and show my love to more people,’” Ruckriegel said. “And I had no idea how to [do that] because I wasn’t able to . . . go across the world to do this internationally. So I felt that if I can’t leave, I need to make a way to stay here and still impact people.” Then she was presented with the opportunity to help raise money for an orphanage in Uganda that needed to purchase land. Ruckriegel paired her love for soccer with a T-shirt-selling venture, and raised the exact amount of money needed to purchase the land for the orphanage. Today, the land has been fenced and the orphanage has used it to grow crops. A structure eventually will be built on it. The orphanage houses 70 kids. “None of it would have happened if (Olivia) hadn’t done that,” said Kim Smith, a sponsor for the orphanage. Olivia’s story was shared in a video posted to Redemption Christian Church’s webpage. The video recounts the challenges Olivia faced to get the fund-raising effort off the ground. But God was faithful, and the money was raised. “From a perspective of uncharted (territory), Olivia takes a handful of leaps of faith here,” said Corey Andry, student minister at Redemption Christian Church.

Emmanuel Christian Seminary in Johnson City, Tenn., has said goodbye to a couple of longtime, familiar people. Dan Lawson, director of seminary development, retired from 29 years of service. And John Mark Wade, the theological librarian, retired after 25 years of service. Lawson arrived at Emmanuel in 1988 after 22 years in youth and singles ministry at churches across the country. During his time at the seminary, the school tripled its gift income and more than doubled the endowment. Lawson also spearheaded efforts to fund the seminary’s student village. In a Facebook post, Emmanuel said Lawson’s impact “reaches around the globe, visible in the countless healthy ministries that exist today because of his work.” Lawson currently is working toward his doctor of ministry degree at Emmanuel. Lawson is succeeded by Phil Roberts, who will serve as assistant to the president of Emmanuel for seminary development. Wade came to Emmanuel a quarter century ago after serving as director of the library at Dallas Christian College. He also served as a youth minister, teacher, and church librarian. David Kiger has been hired to serve as the next theological librarian at Emmanuel. 

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STUDENT OVERCOMES CHALLEGES TO MAKE IMPACT

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interact HIGHER INVESTMENT IN FEWER PROJECTS?

STAND Loved your article about you and your dad [“Stand: When You Did Not Receive Your Father’s Blessing,” by Michael C. Mack. December 2017, p. 54]. I think a lot of guys can relate to your story, so thanks for being open with us. This also gives everyone a chance to know a piece of the heart the new editor of the magazine, which I think has great value. Rick Lowry Burlington, Kentucky via email

David Dummitt’s article in the November Christian Standard [“Three Shifts to Increase Global Engagement,” p. 8] was thoughtful and challenging. We should be intentional as we consider where and how much we support projects. However, I fear that his recommendation for “higher investment for fewer projects” can have unintended consequences. Implementing that idea across the spectrum of missions and ministries supported by a church will negatively impact church camps, campus ministries, and other local/regional ministries that rely on partnerships with many churches. [While] $5,000 may appear to be modest support to a megachurch, it represents major impact for many of those local ministries. Moving support from local or regional projects to a global project is not a net investment for global outreach and mission. Mark Pike Senior campus minister, Ball State University, Christian Student Foundation Muncie, Indiana via website

BLESSING THOSE BEYOND THE CONGREGATION Avalon Church of Christ has subscribed to The Lookout and Christian Standard for many years, and we have found the magazines to be relevant, timely, and encouraging. As the office manager, I’ve also received a number of positive comments since the redesigned Christian Standard rolled out. We normally have several copies [of the magazines] left at the end of each month, and I deliver those to the Virginia Beach jail, where they are distributed to inmates. I try to drop them off regularly, but if too much time goes by, it’s not unusual for me to receive a call from the chaplains, requesting a delivery. We are excited to know that the magazines that are such a blessing to us are serving to encourage and uplift those even beyond our congregation, and we are thankful for your commitment to providing this valuable resource. I am also grateful for your amazing customer service. This week, I realized we had not received the most recent Lookouts. I called and spoke with Anne, and within minutes, she had created a mailing label and dropped a set in the mail for us, and then emailed to let me know. Thank you so much for the important kingdom work you are doing, and may God continue to bless you as you continue to serve him. Gail Swartzentruber Virginia Beach, Virginia via email

“PICTURE OF THE YEAR” I vote this picture of Dave Stone and his father, Sam, “Picture of the Year” for Christian Standard [published with the article “The Blessing Freely & Naturally Given,” December 2017, p. 28]. If a picture is worth a thousand words, this one is worth ten thousand. Victor Knowles Joplin, Missouri via website

DROPPING THE ACT Thank you for this article [“Dropping the Act” by Chuck Dennie, p. 14, December 2017]. I mentor three young adult Christian men and I will use this topic/article tonight in our group discussion. Chris via website

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LIFE LESSONS I appreciate Matt Merold’s description of his grandparents [“Life Lessons Learned from My Grandfather,” p. 42, December 2017]. A favorite line I heard Ben Merold deliver in 1981 about how to make a church grow: “Make this place the only place anywhere near this place like this place!” But I assume Matt doesn’t mean what he wrote, “God made Christ . . .” as I also assume he is well aware of the claim about Christ found in John 1: “In the beginning was the Word. . . .” That is, Jesus was born but not “made.” He was the Maker. Russ Kuykendall via website Editor’s note: Here is the full quotation Mr. Kuykendall is referencing: “God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ,” which is a direct quotation from 2 Corinthians 5:21, New Living Translation.

Thank you, Matt [Merold], for this very uplifting article concerning your grandfather. As a student at Johnson University (late 1990s and early 2000s) I heard Ben [Merold] speak a few times. His life of ministry, which you elaborate on so well here, does much to encourage me. Steve Page via website

SALARY SURVEY Excellent work; keep it up [“2017 Ministers’ Salary Survey” by Kent Fillinger, p. 10, January 2018]! Question: Did the salary figure reported in Kent Fillinger’s report on full-time lead ministers’ salaries by church size include benefits, thus the minister’s salary package; or was the figure reported his base, cash salary only? It was an excellent, informative article. Bob Phillips via email Editor’s note: Kent Fillinger responded, “The question regarding salary asked, ‘What is your total annual salary compensation for the most recent fiscal year? The next question in the survey asked, ‘Which of the following employment/salary benefits do you receive in your current position? (Check all that apply.)’” C H RIS TIA N STAN DA R D

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LOVING THE NEW LOOKOUT I love the new monthly format of The Lookout. • It’s contemporary in style. • It’s a great format and size. • It’s easy to carry with me and keep in my Bible. • And best of all, it’s biblical! I know that making a change to a traditional weekly publication does not come without a little risk and a whole lot of complaint (I’m sorry that people that call themselves Christian can be some of the meanest people ever!), but I think what you have done is just outstanding. Using this new monthly format and easy daily Bible-reading guide, we have launched the “Bible 365 Challenge” at our church (East 91st Street Christian Church—pastored by two great men of God, Rick Grover and Dave Faust) and now have more than 25 people who have committed to reading the Word of God every day in the next year. Thank you for facilitating this! Thanks again for making the Word of God accessible for Christians around the world to abide in it daily and to show we are truly disciples of Jesus! Ned Campbell Indianapolis, Indiana via email

THE FUTURE OF FINANCES Doug [Crozier], thanks for this great article [“The Future of Finances in the Restoration Movement,” p. 24, January 2018], your leadership, and the encouraging words about the future of our movement. In particular, [I appreciate your writing] that “the future of our movement depends on healthy churches investing in new churches”! George Johnson Executive Director, Christian Evangelistic Association via website This article was so disturbing to me [“The Future of Finances in the Restoration Movement”]. This is why I don’t attend church anymore. The church has become a corporate entity. I retired from a corporate entity—the environment was brutal. You say we are a nonprofit, but money is the ruling factor. Jesus preached to the poor, not to the wealthy. These truly are the last days. Gloria Edmond via website Hope International University Alumni Each year the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities calls for nominees for their young alumni award seeking an individual that has achieved uncommon leadership or success in a way that reflects the values of Christian higher education. This year Hope International University has nominated Bethany Anderson (BA, 2012) @banderson4 for her courageous work with the undocumented population and the nonprofit organization @solidaritynpo (founded by #HIUalumni, @solidnixon). Earlier this year Bethany wrote about her experience with Solidarity in an article for the @christianstandardmagazine [“Close to God’s Heart,” p. 21, March 2017].

Give us your

feedback! /ChristianStandardMagazine @ChrStandard @christianstandardmagazine Cs@ChristianStandardMedia.com For space, length, readability, relevance, and civility, comments sent to Interact may remain unpublished or be edited. We do read them all and prayerfully take them to heart. If we publish your comment, we will try to honestly reproduce your thoughts with those considerations in mind. Where we disagree, let’s continue to keep P.H. Welshimer’s words in mind to “disagree without being disagreeable.”

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(Taking Christ to Millions) TCM is an international training institute in Austria, where theological

graduate students from countries in eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and central Asia converge for concentrated study to help them reach their people for Christ. One student at the institute describes how the church he serves in one of those closed countries observes the Lord’s Supper each week.

PROCLAIMING HIS DEATH “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes”

After everyone has finished the meal, the leader picks up a piece of bread and bows his head in silent prayer. Everyone knows what he’s doing, though nothing is said. When he lifts his head, he eats the piece of bread. Others at the various tables follow his lead. Then he bows again in silent prayer. Again, he lifts his head and picks up a glass of wine, water, or whatever else he has, and he drinks. Others follow in like manner. No words are spoken. No verbal acknowledgement is made of what they have just done. But everyone at the tables knows they have just “proclaimed the Lord’s death.” In fact, it’s the very reason they gather in a public place to observe the Lord’s Supper— to proclaim Jesus’ death even at the risk of being discovered.

(1 Corinthians 11:26).

BY DICK WAMSLEY Dick Wamsley served as senior minister at Taylorville (Illinois) Christian Church for more than 27 years and at Nebraska Christian College for 14 years. He is retired from full-time ministry, but continues to serve in interim ministries for churches in central Illinois. Adapted from the e2: effective elders newsletter, September 8, 2017. Used with permission.

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The adults meet at an appointed time each week at a restaurant for a meal. They may sit at several different tables, but the predetermined leader situates himself so everyone in the group can see him.

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The student’s story draws us into the profound sacredness of the Lord’s Supper; that we proclaim our Lord Jesus’ death with other Christians around the world, some of them at risk of their own lives. What a solemn moment this is! What an extraordinary opportunity we have to lead others toward the foot the cross, to “the throne of grace with confidence” (Hebrews 4:16). 

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