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Your Two Cents
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We want to know what you think — so, each week, we will open a new topic or discussion thread in our
Pastoral Families Online Community — our message boards for pastors and their family members — where you can express your opinions. This week's topic:
Give us your two cents worth on this question right now by visiting, registering, logging in
and contributing to our Pastoral Families Online Community.
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Featured Resource
of the Month |
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Pastor to Pastor®
It's been around since 1992 — encouraging, enlightening and equipping pastors, other Christian leaders and their families. It has been called powerful and life-changing.
Pastor to Pastor is a must for every pastor who is serious about effectively surviving ministry. This audio series continues to offer intimate conversations between host H.B. London and experts on nearly every issue that pastoral families eventually face.
 New editions are available either online — for easy listening or downloading to the device of your choice — or on CD — through a complimentary subscription. Many past editions are also still available either online or in other various formats. For a complete list of the topics and guests that are currently available, please visit the Pastor to Pastor area of our Web site, the Parsonage.
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Pastor's Weekly Briefing
Staff
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Teresa Marshall
Editor
Jan Bird, Roger Charman
Staff Writers
Dan Davidson
Editorial Director
H.B. London Jr.
Vice President
Pastoral Ministries
James D. Daly
President and CEO
Focus on the Family
James C. Dobson
Founder and Chairman Emeritus
Focus on the Family
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CELEBRATE FAMILY/CELEBRATE LIFE
— THE SUPER BOWL AD
Would you believe all the commotion and publicity the 30-second Super Bowl® ad sponsored by Focus on the Family has received?
By our estimates — and they are pretty accurate — the pre-Super Bowl hype of the "Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life" ad has registered to date 2,265,490,170 impressions. That is "billion" with a "B." Amazing!
The interesting thing about all of this is that no one in the media has seen the ad. And, unless there is a big leak before Sunday, no one will see it until it is shown during the Super Bowl pre-game show and the first quarter of the game itself.
Another interesting phenomenon is that, even those in the liberal media who have opposed us before — and disagree even now with most of what we stand for at Focus on the Family — are defending our right to run the Super Bowl ad.
On February 2, 2010, The Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins wrote, "I'm pro-choice and Tebow clearly is not. But based on what I've heard in the past week, I'll take his side against the group-think, elitism and condescension of the 'National Organization of Fewer and Fewer Women all the time' (referring to the group NOW). They aren't actually 'pro-choice' so much as they are pro-abortion."
She continues, "If the pro-choice stance is so precarious that a story about someone who chose to carry a risky pregnancy to term undermines it, then CBS is not the problem."
Interestingly enough — a little inside stuff here — our Super Bowl ad never mentions abortion. Also, as we have reported in other columns, not one dollar was spent from our regular operating expenses at Focus on the Family to underwrite the cost of the "Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life" ad.
When you see the ad, we would be interested in your response. You can write to us with your thoughts at pastors@family.org. Also, either privately or publicly, would you please offer up a prayer on behalf of those who might be influenced by the ad?
"I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints"
(Jude v. 3).
Be blessed and be a blessing.
—HBL
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Featured on The Heart of a Pastor podcast:
This week ...
"Pastoring With Joy"
Next week ...
"What Could You Do Better?"
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Graham Named Most Influential Preacher
The results of a survey conducted by LifeWay Research show that, by a large margin, Protestant pastors see Billy Graham as the most influential living preacher.
Pastors who represented both liberal and conservative Protestant churches were asked to name three living preachers that have most influenced them. Billy Graham, who has preached to more than 200 million people in 185 countries since 1949, was mentioned by 21 percent of those surveyed — three times more than any other. The other nine preachers that made up the top ten were:
- Charles Swindoll, senior pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, and founder of Insight for Living Ministries.
- Charles Stanley, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, and founder of In Touch Ministries.
- Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.
- John MacArthur, pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, Calif.
- Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopal priest, religion professor at Piedmont College in northeast Georgia and author of 12 books.
- David Jeremiah, senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in San Diego, Calif., and founder of Turning Point Ministries.
- Max Lucado, minister of writing and preaching at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas.
- John Piper, pastor of preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minn.
- Andy Stanley, senior pastor of North Point Community Church, Buckhead Church, and Browns Bridge Community Church — all in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
The list was compiled from telephone interviews with 1,002 pastors in November of 2009.
Freedom of Religious Expression in Jeopardy
The California Court of Appeals is considering a free-speech case in which a man was arrested for sharing his faith at a Sacramento-area mall.
In 2007, youth pastor Matthew Snatchko was arrested for striking up a conversation with two other people about his faith. Criminal charges were later dropped, but attorneys with the Pacific Justice Institute filed suit to challenge the mall's tight restrictions on speech. The Roseville Galleria Mall has a rule against people talking to other shoppers about faith and politics. The mall also has a ban against clothing with religious or political messages. A Placer County Superior Court judge upheld the mall's rules in 2008. The Pacific Justice Institute appealed the case.
Matthew McReynolds, staff attorney with PJI, said the mall has a rule that you can only talk about sensitive topics with people you know. "We think that flies in the face of every principle of free speech that this country has developed in the last couple hundred years," he said. "Our courts have taken the state Constitution's guarantee of free speech and expanded it to venues that are public forums, and they have said that shopping malls are a lot like the traditional town squares of old." [CitizenLink.com, OneNewsNow.com]
Pastors Sue Over Hate Crimes Law
A federal lawsuit was filed this week against U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder by the Thomas More Law Center on behalf of three Michigan pastors and the president of the American Family Association of Michigan — challenging the constitutionality of the 2009 "Hate Crimes" law. They allege it violates their civil rights.
The complaint was filed by the TMLC in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on behalf of Pastors Levon Yuille, Rene Ouellette, James Combs and Gary Glenn, the president of AFA of Michigan. The complaint states that Christians now can become the target of federal investigations, grand juries and even charges for no more than opposing the activism of homosexuals who want not only public endorsement of their life choices, but to halt any criticism of those decisions.
"On account of ... the Hate Crimes Act, plaintiffs are targets for government scrutiny, questioning, investigation, surveillance, and other adverse law enforcement actions and thus seek judicial reassurance that they can freely participate in their speech and related religious activities without being investigated or prosecuted by the government or becoming part of official records because of their Christian beliefs," the lawsuit explains. [WorldNetDaily.com, OneNewsNow.com]
Academy Recognizes Earth-Centered Religions
The United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo., is adding a new worship area for followers of earth-centered religions, including Paganism, Druidism and the form of witchcraft known as Wicca.
Although Wiccan cadets and officers on the base have been meeting for over a decade, the school will officially dedicate a newly built double circle of stones located on a scenic hilltop for earth-centered religions. Lt. Col. William Ziegler, one of the academy's chaplains, said designating the space is part of the school's effort to foster religious tolerance and to defend the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom. "It's about our commitment as airmen to protect freedom and defend freedom. To me this is a freedom thing," he said. In addition to this new outdoor sanctuary, the AFA has worship facilities for Protestant and Catholic Christians, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists.
"When I first arrived here, earth-centered cadets didn't have anywhere to call home," said Sgt. Robert Longcrier, the layleader of the neo-pagan groups on base. "Now, they meet every Monday night, they get to go on retreats, and they have a stone circle. ... We have representation on the Cadet Interfaith Council, and I even meet with the chaplains at Peterson Air Force Base once a year to discuss the religious climate."
The official dedication ceremony for the worship circle is tentatively scheduled for March 10. [FoxNews.com, WorldNetDaily.com]
• Tim Tebow Prays at National Prayer Breakfast
Thursday morning in Washington D.C., college football's Tim Tebow, a Heisman Trophy winner, attended the National Prayer Breakfast with President Barack Obama and delivered the closing prayer. The following is a small part of his prayer: "Lord, you came to seek and save that which is lost, and we thank you for that. Lord, we don't know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future, and that there is peace, and in that there is comfort and in that there is hope." In his prayer, Tebow also included the verse of scripture from James 1:2-4, which was his most recent eye black verse worn in the Senior Bowl game. [TebowsEyeBlack.com, CNN Political Ticker]
• Money Shifted to Adult Stem-Cell Research
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine is taking money allocated for embryonic stem-cell research and putting it toward ethical adult stem-cell research. The California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative passed in 2004. However, after five years and $3 billion, embryonic stem-cell research still offers no cures or therapies. The institute gave nearly $230 million to 14 teams in October 2009 for stem-cell research and only four of those involved embryonic stem cells, according to Investors.com. One group from UCLA and Children's Hospital in Los Angeles is using the money to attempt to cure patients with sickle-cell disease by using their own blood-forming cells. [CitizenLink.com]
• Pastor Quits — Church Remains Affiliated
Members of First English Lutheran Church in Wausau, Wisconsin, have voted to remain affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. However, in the midst of the turbulence surrounding the issue of gay clergy, Rev. Scott Mann, the church's pastor, will resign Friday. Mann said he disagreed with the ELCA's decision last year to allow people in lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as pastors and other leaders. He will be forming a new Lutheran congregation in the area with others who reject the ELCA decision. [WausauDailyHerald.com]
• Kurt Warner Retires
Last Friday, quarterback Kurt Warner announced his retirement from the National Football League. "As always, as it started in 1999 when I was up on the podium holding up a trophy, the first thing I want to do is give thanks to God," Warner said during a press conference. "My Lord Jesus brought me here. I know He brought me here for a purpose. And it's been an amazing ride," he added. Warner and his wife established the First Things First Foundation in 2001, a non-profit public charity, which has been involved with numerous projects for causes such as children's hospitals, people with developmental disabilities and assisting single parents. The foundation is dedicated to impacting lives by promoting Christian values, sharing experiences and providing opportunities "to encourage everyone that all things are possible when people seek to put first things first." [ChristianPost.com]
• Presbyterians to Clarify Women's Role in Leadership
The Central Carolina Presbytery has submitted an overture for consideration by the highest governing body of the Presbyterian Church in America, asking that women be stripped of the title "deaconess." "The Book of Church Order is now being used as a loophole to allow women to be elected as deacons," said Pastor Andrew Webb, who was quoted in the PCA magazine, By Faith. The Book of Church Order allows women to "assist the deacons in caring for the sick, the widows, the orphans, the prisoners, and others who may be in any distress or need." However, currently, women in the PCA are excluded from serving as ministers, elders and deacons. [ChristianPost.com]
• Ouija Board for Tots
A pink edition of the Ouija Board is being sold by Toys R Us® and is being marketed as acceptable for girls as young as eight-years-old. The regular version is designated for all children eight and up. Stephen Phelan, communication manager of Human Life International, commented that the primary groups that deny the evils of the Ouija board are the ones who deny the spirit world entirely. He goes on to say Christians have a biblical mandate. "We're supposed to deal with the truth only," he notes. "We're supposed to have nothing to do with dark spirits. We're not supposed to dabble in anything that would compromise our souls, and that's exactly what this does." [OneNewsNow.com]
Question of the Week:
I feel like my personal life is out of control. What, as a pastor, can I do to help myself?
Response:
Occasionally, we hear from pastors who say; "I have had the hardest year of my life." They tell us about several deaths in their family, problems that they are having with their children, health situations they or members of their family are experiencing or the financial mess that they are in because of low pay and trying to cover their expenses with credit cards. They are wondering whether they can continue in pastoral ministry and what they can do to earn a living if they do resign from the church. They punctuate the conversation with this line: "Please pray. I do not mean to complain. I am not trying to load up others with my troubles, but I feel somewhat helpless and alone."
How would you reply to one of your colleagues in this predicament? I usually try to express my concern and my support for how they have tried to manage these difficulties. We then begin to brainstorm some constructive steps that could be taken to intervene in these dilemmas. Sometimes, there are no easy answers except to scale back on everything that they are doing.
In many families there is serious resentment building toward the Lord and the church which can drain all the energy out of the pastor who is giving himself so completely to doing ministry. There is a need to find balance with all of that. Even Jesus knew His boundaries and often went off by Himself to commune with God. I think Jesus also needed to recharge His batteries, and He didn't have a marriage and family to build into that equation.
Many times, we discovered that we have been trying to do too much and it is time to lighten that load. We may have given as much as we can to our congregation, and we might need to turn the leadership over to someone else. Could we believe that a call to ministry doesn't always have to be for a lifetime? It may be for a season. It may have some stops and starts.
We urge you to call our toll-free Pastoral Care Line (877-233-4455) and share some of those overwhelming situations going on in your life. We may be able to help you sort through some of that, and hopefully help you to connect with some other care-giving organizations and counselors who can help you on the journey.
—JMB
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