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Author Topic: The fearless evangelist  (Read 7331 times)

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Billy Evmur

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Re: The fearless evangelist
« Reply #13 on: June 30, 2020, 07:28:52 am »


not too sure about him yet...will have to watch more....

Blade
The more you listen to him the more you understand he is a holiness preacher in the line of Martin Lloyd Jones and C.H.Spurgeon. I have come to love him to pieces. Of COURSE that does not mean I agree 100% with everything. But he is lovely.

And I am a lifelong C.H.Spurgeon devotee.


As a lad he had a horrible speech impediment so that everybody laughed at him. When he was saved he was healed immediately and started preaching.
Have faith in God

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Re: The fearless evangelist
« Reply #14 on: June 30, 2020, 04:57:56 pm »
Despite the ongoing debates over gender roles, surveys show significant agreement in favor of female Sunday school teachers, worship leaders, speakers, and preachers.


In evangelical discourse, there are several issues that you can count on to stir up a heated debate. One is the role of women in the life of the church.

Take last year’s spat over Beth Moore speaking at a church on Mother’s Day, which came up again months later with John MacArthur’s viral “go home” line. Or the more recent discussion around author Aimee Byrd and Reformed complementarians’ pushback on social media.

Yet for all the debates around gender and leadership roles, for years researchers have found less of a divide on the topic among the people in the pews. The results of a recent survey once again indicate that most evangelical Protestants are in favor of seeing women take on more prominent positions in the church.

In a survey I fielded along with political scientists Paul Djupe and Hannah Smothers back in March, 8 in 10 self-identified evangelicals said they agree with women teaching Sunday school, leading worship at church services, and preaching during women’s conferences or retreats.

Slightly fewer endorsed women preaching during church services, but 7 in 10 were in favor, according to the research, conducted by a team of political scientists in March 2020.

This new research follows an analysis of 2011 survey data I published last year, which showed that significant majorities of major Christian traditions—including Southern Baptists—would support women as pastors.











Some commentators pushed back saying both that the 2011 data was dated and that the questions weren’t explicit enough about the types of roles for women in the church. The March 2020 survey was designed to allow respondents to indicate what kinds of leadership roles they are comfortable with women taking on.

A strong majority of evangelicals, men and women alike, supported women’s involvement in each of the roles queried, though women were slightly more in favor of each.

The most universally supported role was having women teach Sunday school, with 86.9 percent in favor. The debate over whether women can lead over mixed-gender Sunday school classes has gone on for years in certain evangelical traditions, including Baptist and Presbyterian denominations. It comes up on sites like 9Marks, Reformation21, and Desiring God, often hinging on whether the Sunday school setting is analogous to a church service or not.

Women preaching on Sunday morning got the least support, with 72.8 percent. Even some churches that do not permit women to serve as lead pastors and elders at times allow women to share on Sundays as guest speakers or preachers—making a distinction to between the “special teaching” they believe to be restricted to qualified male leaders and the “general teaching,” which can be presented by any church member, male or female.


















What is also surprising is how little this support for women in leadership is impacted by church attendance. A natural assumption is that more frequent attendance at an evangelical church that only permits male pastors is a sign of support for the doctrine of that faith tradition, but that’s not the case. In fact, in each of the four scenarios that were offered in the survey there was no statistical difference in support for women leaders between evangelicals who never attend services and those who indicate that they go to church multiple times a week. Three quarters of the most devout evangelicals believe that women should have a place behind the pulpit.

This finding continues to persist even when theology is taken into account. When the sample is restricted to just those who believe that the Bible is literally true, three-quarters of those who attend services multiple times a week agree with women preaching during weekend services.


















However, there is an interesting pattern when age is considered. There is not a clear relationship between older evangelicals and resistance to women preaching. For instance, while 20 percent of evangelicals who are 65 or older disagree with women preaching, that drops to just 10 percent among those between the ages of 55 and 64. Another notable result is that the youngest evangelicals (those between 18 and 35) are just as likely to oppose women preaching as those in the oldest age group.

There has been evidence that support for women in leadership roles has led to some evangelical churches hiring female pastors. Barna Research found that the share of pastors that are women was 9 percent in 2017, up significantly from 3 percent in 1992. But, clearly the vast majority of evangelicals would be comfortable with this number increasing more rapidly.

The findings here are not out of step with results from the Faith Matters Survey from 2011 that found that 65 percent of Southern Baptists are supportive of women being allowed to serve as clergy. And a Barna survey of pastors found significant support among non-mainline traditions. Two-thirds of non-mainline pastors were in favor of women being deacons and nearly 40 percent supported women preaching.

Taken together, these results indicate that evangelical support for women preaching and leading is robust across gender, church attendance, theological position, and age.







Ryan P. Burge is an instructor of political science at Eastern Illinois University. His research appears on the site Religion in Public, and he tweets at @ryanburge.

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Re: The fearless evangelist
« Reply #15 on: June 30, 2020, 07:24:12 pm »
Despite the ongoing debates over gender roles, surveys show significant agreement in favor of female Sunday school teachers, worship leaders, speakers, and preachers.


In evangelical discourse, there are several issues that you can count on to stir up a heated debate. One is the role of women in the life of the church.

Take last year’s spat over Beth Moore speaking at a church on Mother’s Day, which came up again months later with John MacArthur’s viral “go home” line. Or the more recent discussion around author Aimee Byrd and Reformed complementarians’ pushback on social media.

Yet for all the debates around gender and leadership roles, for years researchers have found less of a divide on the topic among the people in the pews. The results of a recent survey once again indicate that most evangelical Protestants are in favor of seeing women take on more prominent positions in the church.

In a survey I fielded along with political scientists Paul Djupe and Hannah Smothers back in March, 8 in 10 self-identified evangelicals said they agree with women teaching Sunday school, leading worship at church services, and preaching during women’s conferences or retreats.

Slightly fewer endorsed women preaching during church services, but 7 in 10 were in favor, according to the research, conducted by a team of political scientists in March 2020.

This new research follows an analysis of 2011 survey data I published last year, which showed that significant majorities of major Christian traditions—including Southern Baptists—would support women as pastors.











Some commentators pushed back saying both that the 2011 data was dated and that the questions weren’t explicit enough about the types of roles for women in the church. The March 2020 survey was designed to allow respondents to indicate what kinds of leadership roles they are comfortable with women taking on.

A strong majority of evangelicals, men and women alike, supported women’s involvement in each of the roles queried, though women were slightly more in favor of each.

The most universally supported role was having women teach Sunday school, with 86.9 percent in favor. The debate over whether women can lead over mixed-gender Sunday school classes has gone on for years in certain evangelical traditions, including Baptist and Presbyterian denominations. It comes up on sites like 9Marks, Reformation21, and Desiring God, often hinging on whether the Sunday school setting is analogous to a church service or not.

Women preaching on Sunday morning got the least support, with 72.8 percent. Even some churches that do not permit women to serve as lead pastors and elders at times allow women to share on Sundays as guest speakers or preachers—making a distinction to between the “special teaching” they believe to be restricted to qualified male leaders and the “general teaching,” which can be presented by any church member, male or female.


















What is also surprising is how little this support for women in leadership is impacted by church attendance. A natural assumption is that more frequent attendance at an evangelical church that only permits male pastors is a sign of support for the doctrine of that faith tradition, but that’s not the case. In fact, in each of the four scenarios that were offered in the survey there was no statistical difference in support for women leaders between evangelicals who never attend services and those who indicate that they go to church multiple times a week. Three quarters of the most devout evangelicals believe that women should have a place behind the pulpit.

This finding continues to persist even when theology is taken into account. When the sample is restricted to just those who believe that the Bible is literally true, three-quarters of those who attend services multiple times a week agree with women preaching during weekend services.


















However, there is an interesting pattern when age is considered. There is not a clear relationship between older evangelicals and resistance to women preaching. For instance, while 20 percent of evangelicals who are 65 or older disagree with women preaching, that drops to just 10 percent among those between the ages of 55 and 64. Another notable result is that the youngest evangelicals (those between 18 and 35) are just as likely to oppose women preaching as those in the oldest age group.

There has been evidence that support for women in leadership roles has led to some evangelical churches hiring female pastors. Barna Research found that the share of pastors that are women was 9 percent in 2017, up significantly from 3 percent in 1992. But, clearly the vast majority of evangelicals would be comfortable with this number increasing more rapidly.

The findings here are not out of step with results from the Faith Matters Survey from 2011 that found that 65 percent of Southern Baptists are supportive of women being allowed to serve as clergy. And a Barna survey of pastors found significant support among non-mainline traditions. Two-thirds of non-mainline pastors were in favor of women being deacons and nearly 40 percent supported women preaching.

Taken together, these results indicate that evangelical support for women preaching and leading is robust across gender, church attendance, theological position, and age.







Ryan P. Burge is an instructor of political science at Eastern Illinois University. His research appears on the site Religion in Public, and he tweets at @ryanburge.


The instructor above said: The results of a recent survey once again indicate that most evangelical Protestants are in favor of seeing women take on more prominent positions in the church."

the majority of evangelical Protestants? REALLY? where is GODs WORD?   They have either forgotten it or are not obeying it on purpose.
 
Today, I saw a survey that asked if Christianity was ve3ry important. Some 56% answered YES. The another question was ask: Do yo believe Homosexuality should be accepted within this nation. OOPS!   76% of those answering said YES:    OK< How many of this 76% was Christiants,,,There had to be at least 56%.but WHERE NOT!......REALLY?

We as a Nation are well on our way of being  like those in (Lev 18:21; 2Kings 17:31; 2Chron 28:3; 2Chron 33:6) who murdered their children 50 million since 1967),  accepting homosexuality as in the days of  Sodom and Gamorrah and with the Priest (men and women) of our present day churches accepting this and spreading it around.

According to His WORDs, Judgement for all is coming soon!  If I were one of those that believed in anyone of the three above, I would be very afraid.

Blade
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patrick jane

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Re: The fearless evangelist
« Reply #16 on: July 02, 2020, 10:31:52 am »

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/july-web-only/pandemic-lessons-eurasia-churches-coronavirus-covid-russia.html







5 Pandemic Lessons from Eurasia’s Evangelical Churches










How congregations in the former Soviet Union are responding to the coronavirus challenge can help the global church think better about buildings, young professionals, and persecution.


For many Western Christians, Eurasia is uncharted territory, and no less so amid this pandemic. In the midst of troubling COVID-19 tallies from the US and Europe, little is heard about what is happening in this strategically important region, situated with Europe to its west, China to its southeast, and the Muslim world to its south.

Yet the way local evangelical churches are responding to coronavirus challenges speaks volumes about their way of life and ministry, as well as their future missions potential.

National church leaders testify that the situation in Russia—with more than 640,000 confirmed cases, the third-worst reported outbreak in the world after the US and Brazil—and other Eurasian nations is alarming. Health systems, economies, transportation, and security systems are on the verge of collapse. Mass testing for COVID-19 is not happening. Governments deny access to reliable information. And all the while the war in Ukraine continues, and restrictions on religious freedom and human rights increase in Russia, Belarus, and Central Asia.

The former Soviet Union is a gray zone where hybrid systems have emerged which imitate the developed world while using talk of democracy, free markets, rule of law, independent media, freedom, and human rights to mask their absence. Given these circumstances, evangelical churches are under constant pressure both from government authorities and wider society, which are dominated by either aggressive Orthodoxy, Islamism, or a secular Soviet mindset.

However, the challenge of the pandemic has lit a spark which casts light on the little-noticed but active and essential role of evangelical churches in this gray zone. Based on my extensive conversations with local leaders, here are five lessons that Christians worldwide can learn from their brothers and sisters in Eurasia:

Lesson 1: When the government is helpless and public institutions are paralyzed, the church is on the front lines.
Under the circumstances, people have no one to turn to other than the church and volunteers. And this creates unprecedented opportunities for sharing the gospel beyond church walls. Regular church members serve as agents or angels of hope for thousands of people paralyzed by fear and poverty. When regular church activities come to a halt, it prompts many young Christians to begin thinking about what they can do for others.

For example, Sergey, a young Russian pastor from Buryatia (a region of Siberia bordering Mongolia), shares his experience:

“Jesus said, ‘Go and make disciples of all nations,’ and our government said, ‘Stay home.’ We were faced with the question of how to help people without breaking the law. Our team registered as volunteers and received special volunteer movement permits. Some of us sewed masks, others collected and distributed food donations to those in need, and others answered calls to a hotline, offering much-needed counseling and encouragement.

“One day we were asked to visit a woman who had been severely beaten by her husband. She had gone blind and was alone. We expected her to have a lot of questions about how God could have allowed this to happen to her, but instead she eagerly listened as we told her about Jesus and she prayed to accept Him as her Lord and Savior. We prayed for her, for healing for her soul, spirit, and, of course, her eyes. She is very lonely and would like us to visit more often to tell her about God. After encounters like that, you begin to appreciate things you almost didn’t notice before and took for granted: your ability to see, hear, walk, and live.”

These positive examples serve to introduce many people to the church and change their attitude towards it. “All non-Orthodox churches are considered illegitimate in Russia,” said Sergey. “However, now a lot of good things are being written about us online and on TV. While before the evangelical church was considered a sect, now we are practically heroes!”

Lesson 2: In addition to formal church structures, it is important to have parallel networks of informal leaders.
In critical moments when church structures are paralyzed, these leaders in the field—not the office—can take the lead. For example, Mission Eurasia began training young leaders in 2004 from 14 countries through its School Without Walls program, which emphasizes serving beyond the church building. It is an invaluable resource for local churches to have relationship-based regional networks of young leaders with experience working together, especially during a crisis of large institutions and structures.

Another important group is young professionals. Normally churches overlook them; however, now churches are praying specifically for doctors and teachers. Now that churches are closed, everyone understands that it is Christian professionals out on the front lines. They have become more visible. And this experience should change us forever.

We should not wait for the next crisis; we should mobilize churches now to strengthen ministry to young professionals, through training, caring for, and supporting them. If they are the front-line workers of the church, then they deserve better treatment and better resources. In the coming years, we should focus on helping those professional communities which are critically important to the life of our whole society—that could be called to the front lines at any moment. At Mission Eurasia, we call this movement “Mission in Profession.” It is a new, fresh initiative which could change our way of thinking about missions, vocation, the church, and young professionals’ place within it.

Lesson 3: Christian communities need to develop their own internal culture of generosity.
When the whole world is in crisis—when borders are closed, and giving to global missions declines—we need to count, first and foremost, on local resources.

I remember back in 2005 when the Russian government refused to recognize Samaritan’s Purse’s Operation Christmas Child gifts as humanitarian aid. Authorities claimed, “Russia is rich and can take care of its own children.” That same year, Russian evangelical churches began their own Christmas gift distribution project called Gift of Hope. It turned out that churches were glad to put together gifts for orphans and children from needy families. Since then, the ministry has continued to grow. It is not well known in the West but is well known in Eurasia, and many churches have even developed their own local initiatives—the idea has become contagious. Today, as the lockdown continues, instead of Gifts of Hope for children, churches are putting together “iCare” grocery packages for hungry families.

All this is not to say that churches in Eurasia do not need help. Help is needed more than ever, especially in the dark corners of Eurasia such as the Russian-controlled separatist regions of Ukraine or the far-flung regions of the Caucasus and Central Asia. However I am convinced that when we in the West know the extent of local generosity, we will be happier to support churches in Eurasia—adding our international assistance to their sacrificial giving, thereby sharing in their needs and blessings.

Lesson 4: Churches without comfortable, well-equipped buildings are more flexible and creative in missions outreach.
In Russia and many other countries of Eurasia, the government can easily confiscate, bulldoze, or shut down an evangelical church’s building. Therefore a majority of churches have faced difficult choices, weighing the risks of continuing to actively reach out to their community or calmly enjoy a comfortable church life in a well-equipped location with no external outreach activity. During the pandemic, churches without buildings responded more quickly, because they lost less. They were able to mobilize to serve others instead of grieving over their empty building.

Media attention has been fixated on the Orthodox churches, which continued public services during lockdown in defiance of government restrictions. In the Orthodox tradition, the temple is everything, and without the temple and sacraments there is no church. In contrast, evangelical churches which have learned to live and serve “without walls” are in a much better position. While Orthodox churches fight for their traditional liturgy formats, evangelical churches are reaching new missions fields—online and in homes.

Many call themselves “Church Without Walls,” putting an accent on their flexible format and missional nature. For example, pastor Igor says that the quarantine has not in any way limited his congregation’s activity: “We were not tied to a particular location or ministry format, therefore we do not feel that we have less work or fellowship. In fact, the opposite has occurred, because during lockdown everyone wants to hear about God and no one refuses assistance or prayer.”

Lesson 5: Ministry during lockdown serves as a valuable lesson for future periods of repression and persecution.
This is not the first time the church in post–Soviet Eurasia has been in lockdown. It survived 70 years of aggressive atheism, when almost all churches were closed. While Soviet communism feels like the distant past, the lessons of that history—learned through underground ministry, personal evangelism, and a battle for freedom—are still relevant today.

For example, pastor Sergey serves in a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, and he said when church services were forbidden, he wasn’t discouraged—because he still remembered church services in Soviet times:

“I realized that now was the time for individual meetings and family visits, for speaking without a pulpit or microphone but rather heart to heart. In the very first week of lockdown, two people confessed their sin and made peace with God. They had never attended church before the lockdown. But God found them. I am grateful for the new opportunities created by this situation.”

The church of post–Soviet Eurasia was cleansed through trial by fire, and the current challenges are unlikely to limit its ministry but instead serve as a powerful stimulus to renew its mission and to grow in leadership, generosity, and creativity. These lessons from evangelical churches in Eurasia during this pandemic serve as a reminder that in times of external difficulties and limitations, God renews the church, activating its young and creative powers for ministry “without walls.”




Michael Cherenkov is executive director of Mission Eurasia’s field ministries.

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Re: The fearless evangelist
« Reply #17 on: July 16, 2020, 05:40:57 pm »

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Re: The fearless evangelist
« Reply #18 on: July 16, 2020, 11:54:22 pm »

https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/july/archaeology-swbts-lipsomb-ortiz-davis-patterson-lanier.html








Largest Evangelical Archaeology Program Finds New Home in Nashville












Southwestern’s former president Paige Patterson connected outgoing professors to Lipscomb University.


After they were dismissed from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTWS) within a few minutes of each other in March, Steve Ortiz and Tom Davis put their heads together to pray and figure out what they were going to do.

Ortiz and Davis were both seasoned directors of archaeological projects in Israel and across the Middle East. While at SWBTS, the third-largest seminary in the United States, they saw the Tandy Institute for Archaeology contribute to the school’s growth and vision. The institute had about two dozen MA and PhD students, making it the largest archeological program at an evangelical school.

The two professors expected cutbacks in 2020 because of COVID-19 and ongoing financial challenges facing higher education. But they had no idea their jobs were on the line.

It didn’t seem right to them. As Ortiz and Davis reviewed their accomplishments of the preceding decade, they came up with a growing list of accomplishments. They’d done an amazing amount of research since Ortiz started as director.

“We saw how God had been growing the Tandy and providing us projects that were already funded and just needed our staff members and our students,” Ortiz told Christianity Today. “So we said, ‘Let's see if somebody will hire both of us.’”

One of the first people they called was former SWBTS president Paige Patterson, who had been a strong Tandy supporter. Patterson suggested they talk with Mark Lanier, a Houston attorney and the founder of the Lanier Theological Library.

Lanier was in touch almost immediately and said he would like to see them hired at his alma mater, Lipscomb University, a 129-year old, Churches of Christ-affiliated school in Nashville. Ortiz and Davis didn’t know anything about Lipscomb, except that Lanier was on the board of trustees.

“God is amazing,” Ortiz said. “On the day we got our notification that we were being fired, we already had somebody talking about a potential job offer that evening.”

Lanier didn’t waste any time taking his vision to Lipscomb president Randy Lowry and the rest of the trustees. “I think within two weeks we had the entire deal put together,” Lanier said.

Classes start in Janurary
The new Lanier Center for Archaeology was announced on the college’s website Wednesday. Ortiz and Davis will join the faculty in the fall, and the school will start offering archaeology classes in January, when it expects to complete the accreditation process. There will be a graduate-level program as well as undergraduate courses.

Ortiz was the principal investigator and co-director of the Tel Gezer Excavation Project and is also participating in a dig at Tel Burna, both in Israel. Davis directs the Kourion Urban Space Project at the early Christian site in Cyprus and is part of an ongoing project documenting findings in a temple in Egypt.

Lipscomb provost W. Craig Bledsoe said the center for archaeology “will provide our faculty with new opportunities to collaborate as well as to share and apply their knowledge and expertise. We look forward to the impact this program will have not only on Lipscomb but also on the field of archaeological research on the whole.”

Lipscomb faces the same economy and the same coronavirus-caused disruptions as other Christian schools and universities, according to Lanier, but the administration and trustees were excited about the new opportunities.

“Lipscomb is looking at this as a wise use of our opportunities, resources, talents, and gifts,” Lanier said. “We want this program to grow and thrive and become a world-recognized program both within Christianity and even outside the Christian circles.”

The program is funded for five years, after which it will be reevaluated.

“Because of Steve Ortiz and Tom Davis, we will go from zero to 60 faster than a Tesla,” Lanier said.

Graduate students transferring
Many of the graduate students from SWBTS are transferring to Lipscomb and will not have to restart their degree programs. Two international students are tied to Texas seminary by the terms of their student visas and will not be transferring to Nashville.

Some of the students have filed a complaint against SWBTS with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), the regional accrediting agency. The complaint says that when a graduate-level academic program is canceled “SACS standards call for the need for teach-out plans to offer students a chance to continue their degree with 1) minimal disruption, 2) be reasonable, and 3) offer a chance to transfer to comparable programs.”

Like fellow professors, Oritz and Davis are not sure at this point how much of their teaching will be in person and how much will be online this fall. But they are eager to get started and pleased to have found a new home at Lipscomb.

“At SWBTS, we thought that was the end of archaeology,” Ortiz said. “And now all of a sudden we're at Lipscomb and we have a bigger footprint and an institute that wants us there, that’s a big difference.”

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Re: The fearless evangelist
« Reply #19 on: August 26, 2020, 04:58:41 pm »

https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/august/christian-criminal-justice-police-reform-and-campaign-race.html








Evangelicals Call for Police and Criminal Justice Reform










New initiative challenges churches and believers: “Scripture makes the pursuit of justice for our neighbors a mandatory part of the Christian life.”


A coalition of Christian groups including the Church of God in Christ and the National Association of Evangelicals is launching a new criminal justice reform push that seeks to rally believers behind policing changes grounded in biblical principles.

Set to be announced Wednesday, the Prayer & Action Justice Initiative has its roots in a campaign started in the aftermath of the coronavirus to help save small churches at risk of closing, with top contributors to that work now channeling their energy toward the criminal justice project. It is expected to include prayer gatherings, nonviolent protests, and policy advocacy—all aimed at advancing the cause of racial equity in the justice system.

“This initiative is confronting the fact that some parts of the church have failed on this, that the church hasn’t been clear,” Justin Giboney, president of the And Campaign, a Christian social justice advocacy group that is leading the initiative, told the Associated Press.

Nationwide protests that flared for weeks after the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and other black Americans galvanized engagement by faith leaders from multiple denominations to press for criminal justice reform.

But the issue has faded from public view somewhat as the coronavirus continues to spread, and Giboney described the new project’s mission as, in part, ensuring “that when it’s not on the front page, that we’re still working on it like it is.”


Other groups participating in the new coalition include the Center for Public Justice, Prison Fellowship, the American Bible Society, the Asian American Christian Collaborative, the National Day of Prayer, and World Relief. Former pro football player and outspoken Christian Benjamin Watson also is part of the coalition. Giboney predicted that its numbers would grow as other Christian organizations and congregations sign on.

At the heart of the nonpartisan effort are a set of broad priorities that include some specific policy changes. For example, the initiative is calling for greater public disclosure of reports on use of force by law enforcement agents, deaths in custody, and other metrics.

Other elements of its agenda include easing sentencing laws and limits on parole releases, as well as the use of faith-based prison programs and other infrastructure to help inmates prepare for life after release.

The project comes two years after President Donald Trump signed a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill into law that moved ahead thanks in part to the support of some leading Christians, including evangelicals and black ministry leaders. However, the changes that measure made were widely seen as only a beginning of work on the issue.

Among the Christian leaders backing the initiative are Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference as well as a past faith adviser to Trump, and Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, a speaker at this week's Democratic National Convention.

Federal criminal justice reform legislation remains stalled in Congress despite broad public support for action, though several state legislatures have made progress on policing overhauls following Floyd’s killing and the resulting unrest.

Giboney said the new initiative will largely emphasize state and local progress even as it keeps a nationwide focus, with organizing efforts already underway in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, and Philadelphia.

Despite the partisan heat of the impending election, Giboney—an attorney and political strategist who served as a Democratic National Convention delegate in 2012 and 2016—vowed to separate its work from ideological divisions.

“Put that to the side right now and really focus on people, on human dignity,” he said.

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Re: The fearless evangelist
« Reply #20 on: August 26, 2020, 05:15:24 pm »

https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/august/white-evangelicals-covid-concern-trump-biden-vote.html








Ahead of 2020 Election, White Evangelicals Still Concerned About COVID-19









Those who know someone who suffered from the virus are less likely to say they plan to vote for President Trump.


Months into the pandemic, facing mixed plans for reopening churches and starting another school year, white evangelicals are still worried about the coronavirus.

They are as concerned about the spread of COVID-19 as the rest of the population and as likely to know someone infected with the disease, according to a recent survey. Previous predictions that some segments of the population would feel isolated from the risks of the virus, or that evangelicals’ concerns may have been dwindling, have not borne out.

This trend may have political implications. The outbreak has become one of the top issues in the upcoming election, so evangelicals’ continued worries over coronavirus are expected to be a factor in how they vote.

Among both white evangelicals and the general population, 7 in 10 people personally know someone who had been hospitalized due to COVID-19, according to a Data for Progress survey conducted in late July. Half say that they knew someone who has died from the virus.



White evangelicals have not been insulated from the consequences of COVID-19. For both questions, the differences between the general sample and the evangelical subsample is not statistically significant.

And though evangelicals’ level of concern over the coronavirus dipped during some weeks over the course of the pandemic, most are still as worried about the virus as they were back in April.



The share of white evangelicals who said they were “very concerned” about experiencing the coronavirus was around 35 percent from mid-April to mid-May before retreating to 25 percent by the end of June. The number has since crept back up over a third by the end of July. Over 7 in 10 white evangelicals said that they were either “very” or “somewhat” concerned.

The distribution of concern among white evangelicals is not that different from the general population. There are weeks when the gaps become larger, but in aggregate, their levels of worry tend to be close to the rest of Americans (7 in 10 also “very” or “somewhat” concerned).

This translates to only small differences in behavior. For instance, by late July, 20 percent of white evangelicals said that they were socializing in public places compared to 15 percent of the general population.

But, there’s another area where the personal impacts of COVID-19 might be felt: the upcoming presidential election.



When asked who they intended to vote for in the 2020 election, more than two-thirds (68.5%) of white evangelicals who did not know someone who had been infected by COVID-19 said that they would cast a ballot for Donald Trump. Among those who knew someone who contracted the coronavirus, it was only 60.4 percent.

This 8 percentage-point drop in support for Trump, correlated with how people have experienced the impact of the coronavirus, carries over into the general population. Of Americans who knew someone with COVID-19, Trump’s share of the vote was 33.9 percent in the survey. His support among those who did know not someone with the virus was 41.1 percent, 7.2 percentage points higher.

Trump’s baseline of support has always been robust among white evangelicals. Many have been pleased with the administration’s response to the coronavirus, including the president’s remarks declaring churches “essential” during the pandemic. A majority—whether they have seen the virus’s impact firsthand or not—still say they will vote to re-elect the president.

The survey is one piece of evidence, however, that some white evangelicals, feeling the brunt of the pandemic, may be rethinking their stance in 2020. Ahead of a contentious election, voters may see the response to the coronavirus become an even more central issue in the final months of the campaign.







Ryan P. Burge is an instructor of political science at Eastern Illinois University. His research appears on the site Religion in Public, and he tweets at @ryanburge.

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Re: The fearless evangelist
« Reply #21 on: August 26, 2020, 05:19:36 pm »

https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/august/zimbabwe-evangelicals-catholics-mnangagwa-genocide-efz.html








Zimbabwe Evangelicals Defend Catholics from Government’s ‘Genocide’ Accusations









Pentecostal leader explains 90 days of prayer for “the Zimbabwe God wants” as Christians lament problems under Mugabe’s successor, President Mnangagwa.


Zimbabwe, in its 40 years of independent history, has “never enjoyed life.”

And as the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) stands in solidarity this week with maligned Catholic bishops accused of fomenting genocide, its president, Never Muparutsa, told CT the Southern African government is failing to honor its biblical responsibility.

There are too many poor, amid official repression.

The problems predate the presidency of Emmerson Mnangagwa. In 1965, white apartheid settlers declared the independent nation of Rhodesia; however, it was not until 1980 when Robert Mugabe’s violent revolutionary movement achieved universal suffrage.

But failures in economic integration, anti-white racism, and political corruption plagued the renamed nation of Zimbabwe. After nearly three decades in power, an aged Mugabe was overthrown by the military following sustained popular protests in 2017.

Initially lauded across the continent as a pioneering African nationalist, by the end Archbishop Desmond Tutu called Mugabe “a cartoon figure of an archetypal African dictator.”

Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s vice president, was installed as his replacement by the military, and ushered in a new period of hope after he won election in 2018. He passed the National Peace and Reconciliation Act to address the 1983–85 massacres in which up to 20,000 civilians were killed.

But worsening economic conditions led to sometimes riotous protests in January 2019, which were forcibly suppressed by Mnangagwa’s administration, with hundreds arrested. One month later, the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHCD) launched the nation’s first National Leadership Prayer Breakfast to appeal for dialogue.

Zimbabwe’s population of 14 million is 86 percent Christian, and the ZHCD is the umbrella organization uniting the four primary expressions of the faith.

The EFZ, comprising Baptist and Pentecostal churches, is the nation’s oldest, founded in 1962. The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC), representing the missionary-era efforts of Methodists, Lutherans, some Baptists, and others, was founded in 1964 and affiliates with the World Council of Churches. The Zimbabwe Catholic Bishop’s Conference, recognized by the Vatican, was founded in 1969.

In 1993, the ZHCD helped organize the nation’s indigenous churches, many of which are syncretistic in practice, into its fourth member body, the Union for the Development of Apostolic Churches in Zimbabwe.

In October 2019, the four groups collectively called for a “seven-year political sabbath” to reset the nation and address its polarization and economic decline.

But as inflation soared over 800 percent, protests scheduled for July 31 last month were also squashed, with a prominent journalist and opposition leader put in prison. The EFZ warned the moment was a crossroads for the country, endorsing the “Zimbabwean Lives Matter” hashtag.

And last Sunday, the Catholic bishops authorized the nationwide reading of a definitive statement.

“Fear runs down the spines of many of our people today,” it said. “The crackdown on dissent is unprecedented ... Our government automatically labels anyone thinking differently as an enemy of the country: That is an abuse.”

The government responded immediately by calling the bishops “evil-minded,” seeking to lead the nation into the “darkest dungeons of Rwanda-type genocide” in pursuit of a Western agenda of regime change.

The next day, the EFZ responded.

“We stand with the truth that the Catholic bishops so ably articulated,” read its statement, “the truth of a multi-layered crisis of … economic collapse, deepening poverty, food insecurity, corruption, and human rights abuses.

“We stand with the truth that the government is focused on things other than national democratic priorities.”

CT spoke with EFZ president Never Muparutsa, presiding bishop of the Pentecostal Assembly of Zimbabwe, about ecumenical cooperation, the focus on accountability, and his hope in launching 90 days of prayer and fasting:

With such Christian diversity in Zimbabwe, why did you pursue unity?

It came from necessity. There are theological differences between us over speaking in tongues, church authority, and syncretistic practices. But for the purposes of moving our mission forward, since all claim to be Christians, at the ecumenical level we have to come together.

We realized that when we are divided, politicians take advantage. We have not eradicated this completely; politicians still divide us for particular agendas. But we have all agreed that in national matters we must be united, in order to move society in a positive direction.

What are your essential national issues?

The church must be nonpartisan, but at the same time be concerned about the well-being of the general population. We must be the voice of the weak and the voiceless. We must hold our government accountable when it comes to looking after the vulnerable.

Sometimes this makes us look like we are pro-opposition. But we have nothing to do with the opposition, because they are not in power. Our interactions instead are with those in power, because they bear the responsibility.

But we must also come together to hold ourselves accountable, to prevent our members from working against the government—or benefitting from it.

How do you accomplish this?

Within its jurisdiction, each umbrella organization is expected to intervene in areas of dispute, but with limited authority. We go not to discipline, but to persuade. We approach the most senior leaders, relying on our relationships.

Where there is a good relationship, there is a better chance to achieve reconciliation or rebuke.

How does it work within the ecumenical umbrella?

We make decisions based on consensus, after each grouping has gone back to its membership for feedback and support. It can be cumbersome.

But with all that is going on now, we have to make sure we are on the same page. Then we can ask together: Where is the nation going, and how can we help our politicians and hold them accountable?

Each group is encouraged to act where it is strong. Catholics are good in issues of peace and justice. We are understood to be people of prayer. The ZCC is known as being active in civil society. Then we bring it all together, to forge our common path.

Politicians come from society, so I imagine most are members of one church or another. How do you navigate the affiliation of a politician, who might want to leverage support from his church, even if to do something good?

It is not easy. When we meet, we separate the issue from the person. There have been casualties. We have individuals who have been compromised by political prizes here and there. As leaders, even when things are going well, you have to be above board, because tomorrow your stance might compromise you, even if you did not intend it at first.

We feel sorry for them, because we have to approach them at the level of conscience, asking them to do what is right.

What has it been like through the political upheaval of the past several years? Is ecumenical cooperation increasing, or is it increasingly difficult to manage?

From 2004–2006, when our economy first came under pressure, our cohesion and unity became more pronounced. As churches we produced a document called, “The Zimbabwe We Want.” It was not easy, amid many differences. But it produced a very powerful statement, and was launched by the former president himself. And our new constitution borrowed from it as well.

During this time, the church became very strong, and we are getting stronger, especially when there is a crisis. When things are calm, we tend to go back to our individual groupings. But since that time, there is a more comprehensive cohesion, through which we developed our values and vision.

So why is the situation so difficult now?

The former president left us with a system of misgovernance, human rights issues, and international sanctions. We were all very happy when [Mnangagwa] was elected, hearing that he would turn over a new leaf. There was so much hope. Having been part of the system, we expected he would learn the lessons of the past and bring us back into the family of nations.

But with the COVID-19 pandemic, problems began to multiply. We were already suffering, and our health situation became dire. The majority of our people live hand-to-mouth. But as workplaces closed due to the lockdown, there was civic upheaval because people were hungry.

On June 1, we called for 90 days of prayer. On the 15th day, the president called for a national day of prayer, and we supported him. We don’t necessarily blame the president for all the problems, but there is a lack of leadership to bring everyone to the table.

And this is why you stood with the Catholics?

The Catholic letter was trying to provoke discussion, not give an insult. It pointed out problems like all of us were doing. But it received such a strong backlash.

We felt that given the situation in the country, if we just stand by and watch, we don’t know what will happen. We have journalists and activists in prison. There have been abductions with perpetrators unidentified, making us all vulnerable.

So this prompted us to stand with the Catholics, because an insult to one is an insult to all.

The 90 days of prayer will end on August 29. What are your hopes for Zimbabwe, in how God might move on behalf of the church and country?

We need a better future. We have suffered enough over 40 years, having never really enjoyed life. Zimbabwe has been given many natural resources and riches, and if our leaders are gifted enough, they can exploit these for the benefit of the people.

We are praying that the church will raise up disciples, who in the future will be good politicians. We blame ourselves. We have what we deserve, because we have not done a good job.

We want God to help us achieve the Zimbabwe we want, with freedom of speech, access to the wealth of the nation, and an uprooting of corruption.

This is the Zimbabwe we believe God wants, too.

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Re: The fearless evangelist
« Reply #22 on: August 26, 2020, 05:22:30 pm »

https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/august/baptists-russia-religious-liberty-putin.html








Russian Evangelicals Fined for ‘Missionary Activity’ During Pandemic




















Offenses include passing out tracts and telling people to invite friends to hear the gospel.


Anatoly Chendemerov was handing out tracts that said “You must be born again!” in the Volga Federal District in southeastern Russia. He was fined 6,000 rubles, the euqivalent of about $80.

Sergey Krasnov was passing out Christian newspapers and New Testaments in Krasnodar, a city in the South. He was fined 5,000 rubles, or about $65.

Seo Jin Wook, a South Korean, met with about 10 people in a private home in Izhevsk, in the Western Ural Mountains, to talk about the good news of Jesus Christ. He told the people they should come back and bring friends. He was fined 30,000 rubles (about $400) and deported.

More than 40 people have been charged with violating a Russian anti-missionary law in the first six months of 2020, according to a new report from Forum 18, a religious liberty news service based in Norway. Govenment lockdowns and pandemic stay-at-home orders did not substantially slow the multiyear crackdown on unauthorized religious activity.

Russia passed a 2015 law that said all religious meeting places needed to be registered and followed it in 2016 with an anti-missionary law. The bill was labeled as anti-terrorism legislation, meant to prevent foreign extremist from exerting influence in the country. At the time, religious liberty experts said it was hard to predict how the law would be applied and what activity would be prohibited.

“It is broad and vaguely defined,” wrote Travis Wussow, of the Southern Baptist’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, in 2016. “Of course, limiting expression and freedom in a vague way is a tried-and-true tool of regimes to stifle speech beyond the language of the law by creating fear of punishment.”

Four years later, the application of the law is clear. Local police, sometimes supported by the Federal Security Service, have fined roughly 100 religious people per year for practicing their faith. Baptists distributing tracts and Muslims teaching people the language skills necessary to read the Qur’an are prime targets, alongside ongoing efforts to completely rid the country of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

So far in 2020, local police have fined a dozen Muslim men for teaching Arabic grammar, according to Forum 18. They have also fined a sectarian Roman Catholic performing a Latin Mass, a Pentecostal holding services in his home, and a dozen Baptists distributing religious literature. Seventy percent of Russians are Orthodox, though only about five percent go to church regularly. Seven percent of people are Muslim and about 2 percent are Protestant—mainly Baptist and Pentecostal.

While the government has been targeting evangelical Christians, the Russian constitution was also amended to include a reference to God, define marriage as a union between one man and one woman, and allow President Vladimir Putin to remain in power beyond his fourth term, which ends in 2024. The Russian legislature is also considering a law limiting religious liberty to Russian citizens and permanent residents, banning non-residents from practicing their faith in the country and preventing Russian religious leaders from receiving theological education abroad.

Putin has raised the status of the Russian Orthodox Church in his fourth term and talked about the need to stand strong against secularism and the “chaotic darkness” of the West, which he says is “denying moral principles and all traditional identities: national, cultural, religious, and even sexual.” That political program includes clamping down on “foreign religions,” such as Baptists.

“There is a sophisticated narrative … that Russian society and culture are under siege,” Eric Patterson, a scholar in the Robertson School of Government at Regent University, wrote for the conservative website The Blaze, “and that Russia is fortunate to have the bold, determined leadership of Vladimir Putin and his United Russia party to stand up against all forms of foreign influence and aggression.”

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has recommended targeted sanctions in response to the violations of religious liberty.

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Re: The fearless evangelist
« Reply #23 on: August 26, 2020, 05:25:31 pm »

https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/august/republican-national-convention-speakers-trump-evangelicals-.html








Trump’s Faithful: Franklin Graham, Navajo VP, Freed Pastor Andrew Brunson on GOP Convention Lineup












During this year’s event in Charlotte, evangelicals are praying inside, outside, and remotely.


Three and half years after offering a prayer at President Donald Trump’s inauguration, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan opened the Republican National Convention—which had officially nominated the president to run for a second term—by praying for America Monday night.

His prayer mentioned both parties and spanned a litany of issues around this election, saying “pray we must” for COVID-19 patients, frontline workers, police, babies in the womb, immigrants, trafficking, religious liberty, democracy, and the electorate preparing to vote.

The convention speakers and panels, convened to make a case for Trump’s reelection, were also punctuated with mentions of prayer and freedom to worship, a sign that—like at the Democratic National Convention the week before—faith remains a guiding factor for how Republicans approach the 2020 race.

On the broadcast airing Monday night, a Montana businesswoman described desperately praying for the Lord’s guidance before receiving a Paycheck Protect Program loan to support her coffee shop during the pandemic. Attorney and Trump advisor Kimberly Ann Guilfoyle gave a passionate speech in favor of Trump’s vision for a country where “we kneel in prayer and we stand for our flag.” Football great Herschel Walker mentioned praying for his friend, the president: “I pray every night that God gives him more time. Give him four more years.”

During presidential election years, “I watch the key points of both conventions to help me know how to pray for our country and make sure Christians are involved,” said Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, who has visited the White House multiple times under Trump and applauded outreach to evangelicals. “We need to both think and vote biblically. I encourage every believer who cares about the future of our country to do the same.”

Chaplains from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) have been on the streets offering prayer around the Charlotte, North Carolina, convention center that’s hosting a downsized version of the GOP event. BGEA president Franklin Graham is scheduled to offer a prayer at the convention on Thursday.

While Graham—who also prayed at Trump’s inauguration— is the biggest evangelical name on the lineup, he’s not the only one. Myron Lizer, a former bivocational pastor in Arizona who now serves as vice president of the Navajo Nation, will speak Tuesday.

“I attribute it to God’s favor that I am in this position for such a time as this,” he told CT. He suggested that perhaps the Lord would use the Navajo to help the country out of turmoil, like the role of the code talkers in World War II.

Lizer, who led a Southern Baptist congregation in Window Rock, Arizona, said he has a unique perspective as a Christian and a Native American. He knows what it’s like to feel the tension on both sides and believes “right-wing and left-wing extremists are taking America down the wrong road.”

While the Navajo leader praises what the Trump administration has done for his people—including providing $714 million in COVID-19 relief funding and establishing a task force to address missing and murdered indigenous women —he knows many of his fellow Navajo oppose Trump. Navajo President Jonathan Nez, for example, is a Democrat. But the two fellow Christians pray together each week.

Evangelical Presbyterian pastor Andrew Brunson made an unlisted appearance at the convention Monday night, part of a panel of overseas detainees returned to the US by the Trump administration. Each briefly thanked the president for his role in working toward their freedom. Brunson spent two years in a Turkish prison on erroneous terrorism and espionage charges. After a prayer campaign and through the efforts of the president, State Department, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, he was freed in 2018.

Later this week, convention viewers are slated to hear the more tragic story of a hostage who reportedly refused to recant her faith and didn’t make it home. The parents of the late Kayla Mueller—the Christian aid worker who was kidnapped, tortured, and enslaved by ISIS leaders in Syria—have previously criticized the Obama administration for not doing more to try to facilitate their daughter’s release and thanked the Trump administration for going after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Secretary of State Pompeo, who belongs to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, is slated to address the convention Tuesday through remarks recorded in Jerusalem. While the location has stirred debate over politicking while on government business, it also evokes the significance of Trump’s Israel policy, including moving the embassy to the capital—a decision heralded by US evangelicals but far more contentious for believers in the region.

Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations, described a vision for America under Trump “where every believer can worship without fear” and “where every girl and boy, every woman and man of every race and religion has the best shot at the best life.”

During the first night of the convention, this vision, and versions of it described by fellow speakers, was presented in contrast to the Democratic platform.

As Wheaton University politics chair Bryan McGraw predicted, Republicans’ message will declare “the Democrats are coming for their churches, their schools, their families,” as an attempt “to make evangelicals believe that unless they vote for Trump—and vote for him in large numbers—they will be on the receiving end of a kind of cultural revolution.”

“People of faith are under attack,” Donald Trump Jr. said. “You're not allowed to go to church, but mass chaos in the streets gets a pass. It's almost like this election is shaping up to be church, work, and school versus rioting, looting, and vandalism.”

Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk, who runs a think tank affiliated with Liberty University, mentioned the importance of pastors being able to reopen their churches without government interference. Liberty’s Jerry Falwell Jr., who was an early evangelical supporter of Trump in 2016 and gave a seven-minute speech in his favor during the last convention, had not been invited to speak.

In a Pew Research Center survey released last month, 82 percent of white evangelicals and 55 percent of all Christians said they planned to vote for Trump while 88 percent of black Protestants supported Joe Biden. As CT reported last week, his campaign has emphasized his Catholic faith.

Samuel Rodriguez, pastor and president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, said as a believer, he doesn’t vote for “parties or for politicians but for policies that advance the Lamb’s agenda of protecting the sanctity of life, advocating for biblical justice, and protecting religious freedom.”

Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Texas, had a similar directive.

“Christians who are watching the major party conventions should ask themselves this simple question: Do the policies being discussed by these leaders align with our biblical values and beliefs?,” said Graham, who has spoken out in favor of the president’s pro-life policies. “This question should tell Christians all they need to know.”

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Re: The fearless evangelist
« Reply #24 on: August 28, 2020, 04:01:41 pm »

https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/august/jerry-falwell-jr-resigns-liberty-university-affair-scandal.html








Jerry Falwell Jr. Finally Resigns from Liberty Amid Sex Scandal









Board leaders decide return of Christian college’s president wouldn’t be in its “best interest” after dueling accounts of a sex scandal make news.


Monday was a big day for Liberty University. The school began the first day of classes as President Jerry Falwell Jr.’s name trended on Twitter due to recent news reports about the involvement of a young man in the conservative Christian leader’s marriage.

Falwell had been put on leave two and a half weeks ago after sharing a provocative vacation photo on his Instagram account. He told a Virginia publication this evening that he has been “enjoying” his break, “except for the press.”

The new reports made it clear that it would not be in Liberty’s “best interest” for him to return, the Christian college said Monday night in a statement.

Leaders from the board of trustees met Monday morning, then accepted Falwell’s resignation later in the day—only to have him withdraw the decision, the college stated. Upon seeing news reports of him leaving his position at Liberty, Falwell spoke out Monday evening to call them “completely false.”

According to a Wall Street Journal update posted shortly after midnight, the outgoing president reversed again to say that he would resign because he wants “what’s best for the school,” but that he was still due his full compensation.

Liberty’s board will meet again Tuesday as it waits for an attorney to tender Falwell’s resignation letter.

“I call upon the University community and supporters to be in prayer for the University and for all its leadership, past, present and future, as we walk with the Lord through this stormy time of transition,” said acting president Jerry Prevo, an Alaska pastor who had served as board chair before he stepped in to lead while Falwell was on leave.

Falwell joins a regrettable list of prominent evangelical leaders brought down by sexual scandal.

Falwell said in a statement to the Washington Examiner Sunday night that his wife, Becki, had an affair with a pool boy-turned-business partner, alleging that he and his wife were now being extorted. In a Reuters investigation published Monday morning, the 29-year-old Florida man, Giancarlo Granda, said he had been in a relationship with the Falwells, with Jerry’s knowledge, from 2012 to 2018. Falwell said in his statement, prior to Reuters airing Granda’s claims, that he was not involved and called Granda’s account “90 percent false.”

Questions around Falwell’s ties to Granda and Falwell’s investment in a Miami hostel previously came up in investigations in Politico and the Miami Herald.

Critics also expressed frustration about the racial climate on campus, brought to the forefront by a divisive tweet in May that led several African Americans to cut ties with Liberty and dozens of African American alumni to call for his resignation.

For the past few years, concerned members of the Liberty community say they worried that nothing would be done. They assumed because of Falwell’s influence at Liberty, and the loyalty of a board made up of Jerry Falwell Sr.’s associates and Falwell Jr.’s own appointees, he may never be held into account.

But then a viral photo turned up—not from media investigations, but Falwell’s own Instagram account. He is posed next to a woman and both have their zippers down. After backlash, Falwell agreed to take an indefinite leave of absence, which he recently characterized as a sabbatical, though it came at the board’s request.

Some critics of Falwell told CT at the time they were shocked to see the school take action.

The move also had trustees considering whether Falwell should stay in his position, even before hearing the news about the Falwells’ alleged sexual tryst.

The concerns could no longer be dismissed as baseless attacks from the outside, said Suzanna Krivulskaya, a professor at California State University San Marcos who writes about the history of American evangelical sex scandals.

She likened Falwell’s narrative to the pattern of institutional denial, then temporary leave, then permanent oustings Christians have seen modeled around leaders such as Jim Bakker, Ted Haggard, and Billy James Hargis. Krivulskaya observed that cases involving “accusations of homosexuality and allegations of bisexuality—where there’s another man involved” often prompt a quicker response and swifter condemnation.

Falwell Sr., Falwell’s father and Liberty’s founder, knew how sexual misdeeds could hurt ministry relationships and impede the work of evangelism. He famously took over for televangelist Jim Bakker after an “alleged sexual indiscretion” and coverup at the PTL Club in the 1980s.

Among evangelicals, sexual scandals hit on several levels. There’s the hypocrisy of a leader espousing sex between one man and one woman while not obeying the teaching himself. But there’s also the grief of how sexual brokenness damages people, families, and ministries.

“The past 24 hours of news related to Liberty University and Jerry Falwell Jr. and his family is sad. Whatever portion of it is true, it is a reminder of just how deeply entangling sin can become and our deep need for genuine spiritual renewal from Christ each and every day,” said Virginia pastor and Liberty alumnus Colby Garman, who signed a petition the week prior calling for Falwell’s removal.

“As I have said before, it will be best for the school to make a permanent leadership change immediately and allow the Falwell family to work out these matters in private. Prayers for all involved.”

The impact of Falwell’s departure will extend beyond the school. Falwell is a big name in evangelicalism because of his father’s legacy and the success of Liberty, which has grown to an enrollment of more than 120,000 students. Lately, he has also become known as a close friend of President Donald Trump. He serves as a faith adviser to Trump and has hosted the president on campus.

David Dockery, president of the International Alliance for Christian Education, said, “The news will certainly have implications for all who serve in Christian higher education as well as for evangelicalism at-large, at least from the vantage point of perceptions among those looking on from the outside.”

Liberty is somewhat of an exceptional example in the Christian college landscape. It is not a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), though fellow evangelical schools, looped in with Liberty and its leader in media accounts, “are surely embarrassed by Falwell,” Bill Ringenberg, author of The Christian College: A History of Protestant Higher Education in America, told CT.

Even at the helm of what was once the country’s largest Christian college, Falwell never claimed to be the spiritual leader in his family—that’s his brother Jonathan Falwell, who succeeded their father as pastor of his other institutional legacy, Thomas Road Baptist Church. Instead, Falwell had positioned himself as steering Liberty like a business.

Many attribute that strategy as leading to Liberty’s massive growth in online education, sports, and enrollment.

“Jerry has done a great job in building a tremendous school,” Robert Jeffress, fellow Trump supporter and pastor of First Baptist Dallas, told the Washington Post. “The allegations, if true, should be a warning of the destructive power of sin.”

But his leadership has also tainted the school’s Christian witness, critics say.

Quan McLaurin, who resigned as a diversity director at Liberty, fears the board has only acted to hold its leader accountable when the negative press stands to affect its bottom line. He criticized leaders for not acting sooner or in response to the racial matters that have come up on campus. He called Falwell’s resignation “a great step in the right direction, but not enough” and wants to see “true accountability” and ethical behavior from the top.

Dockery, like many fellow Christian leaders, extended prayers for Liberty’s leadership.

“With the amazing resources with which they have been blessed,” he said, “we hope that the Board will prioritize their calling to rigorous academics and an unapologetic Christian commitment that will allow them to maximize their impact and influence in the world of higher education as well as in their service to church and society.”

Johnnie Moore, who previously served as the school’s vice president of communications during his 13-year tenure at the school, said its mission will continue even without a Falwell at the helm.

“Liberty would not exist but for the Falwells. Yet, the brilliance of its original mission and vision was transcended long ago,” said Moore, founder of the evangelical marketing firm The Kairos Company. “Liberty is an institution designed to thrive for the cause of Christ today and for generations. I am sure members of the community—past and present—will pray and will work together to ensure that Liberty's best days are ahead."





Additional reporting by Daniel Silliman.

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Re: The fearless evangelist
« Reply #25 on: August 28, 2020, 04:06:49 pm »

https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/august/jerry-falwell-jr-resigns-liberty-university-affair-scandal.html








Jerry Falwell Jr. Finally Resigns from Liberty Amid Sex Scandal









Board leaders decide return of Christian college’s president wouldn’t be in its “best interest” after dueling accounts of a sex scandal make news.


Monday was a big day for Liberty University. The school began the first day of classes as President Jerry Falwell Jr.’s name trended on Twitter due to recent news reports about the involvement of a young man in the conservative Christian leader’s marriage.

Falwell had been put on leave two and a half weeks ago after sharing a provocative vacation photo on his Instagram account. He told a Virginia publication this evening that he has been “enjoying” his break, “except for the press.”

The new reports made it clear that it would not be in Liberty’s “best interest” for him to return, the Christian college said Monday night in a statement.

Leaders from the board of trustees met Monday morning, then accepted Falwell’s resignation later in the day—only to have him withdraw the decision, the college stated. Upon seeing news reports of him leaving his position at Liberty, Falwell spoke out Monday evening to call them “completely false.”

According to a Wall Street Journal update posted shortly after midnight, the outgoing president reversed again to say that he would resign because he wants “what’s best for the school,” but that he was still due his full compensation.

Liberty’s board will meet again Tuesday as it waits for an attorney to tender Falwell’s resignation letter.

“I call upon the University community and supporters to be in prayer for the University and for all its leadership, past, present and future, as we walk with the Lord through this stormy time of transition,” said acting president Jerry Prevo, an Alaska pastor who had served as board chair before he stepped in to lead while Falwell was on leave.

Falwell joins a regrettable list of prominent evangelical leaders brought down by sexual scandal.

Falwell said in a statement to the Washington Examiner Sunday night that his wife, Becki, had an affair with a pool boy-turned-business partner, alleging that he and his wife were now being extorted. In a Reuters investigation published Monday morning, the 29-year-old Florida man, Giancarlo Granda, said he had been in a relationship with the Falwells, with Jerry’s knowledge, from 2012 to 2018. Falwell said in his statement, prior to Reuters airing Granda’s claims, that he was not involved and called Granda’s account “90 percent false.”

Questions around Falwell’s ties to Granda and Falwell’s investment in a Miami hostel previously came up in investigations in Politico and the Miami Herald.

Critics also expressed frustration about the racial climate on campus, brought to the forefront by a divisive tweet in May that led several African Americans to cut ties with Liberty and dozens of African American alumni to call for his resignation.

For the past few years, concerned members of the Liberty community say they worried that nothing would be done. They assumed because of Falwell’s influence at Liberty, and the loyalty of a board made up of Jerry Falwell Sr.’s associates and Falwell Jr.’s own appointees, he may never be held into account.

But then a viral photo turned up—not from media investigations, but Falwell’s own Instagram account. He is posed next to a woman and both have their zippers down. After backlash, Falwell agreed to take an indefinite leave of absence, which he recently characterized as a sabbatical, though it came at the board’s request.

Some critics of Falwell told CT at the time they were shocked to see the school take action.

The move also had trustees considering whether Falwell should stay in his position, even before hearing the news about the Falwells’ alleged sexual tryst.

The concerns could no longer be dismissed as baseless attacks from the outside, said Suzanna Krivulskaya, a professor at California State University San Marcos who writes about the history of American evangelical sex scandals.

She likened Falwell’s narrative to the pattern of institutional denial, then temporary leave, then permanent oustings Christians have seen modeled around leaders such as Jim Bakker, Ted Haggard, and Billy James Hargis. Krivulskaya observed that cases involving “accusations of homosexuality and allegations of bisexuality—where there’s another man involved” often prompt a quicker response and swifter condemnation.

Falwell Sr., Falwell’s father and Liberty’s founder, knew how sexual misdeeds could hurt ministry relationships and impede the work of evangelism. He famously took over for televangelist Jim Bakker after an “alleged sexual indiscretion” and coverup at the PTL Club in the 1980s.

Among evangelicals, sexual scandals hit on several levels. There’s the hypocrisy of a leader espousing sex between one man and one woman while not obeying the teaching himself. But there’s also the grief of how sexual brokenness damages people, families, and ministries.

“The past 24 hours of news related to Liberty University and Jerry Falwell Jr. and his family is sad. Whatever portion of it is true, it is a reminder of just how deeply entangling sin can become and our deep need for genuine spiritual renewal from Christ each and every day,” said Virginia pastor and Liberty alumnus Colby Garman, who signed a petition the week prior calling for Falwell’s removal.

“As I have said before, it will be best for the school to make a permanent leadership change immediately and allow the Falwell family to work out these matters in private. Prayers for all involved.”

The impact of Falwell’s departure will extend beyond the school. Falwell is a big name in evangelicalism because of his father’s legacy and the success of Liberty, which has grown to an enrollment of more than 120,000 students. Lately, he has also become known as a close friend of President Donald Trump. He serves as a faith adviser to Trump and has hosted the president on campus.

David Dockery, president of the International Alliance for Christian Education, said, “The news will certainly have implications for all who serve in Christian higher education as well as for evangelicalism at-large, at least from the vantage point of perceptions among those looking on from the outside.”

Liberty is somewhat of an exceptional example in the Christian college landscape. It is not a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), though fellow evangelical schools, looped in with Liberty and its leader in media accounts, “are surely embarrassed by Falwell,” Bill Ringenberg, author of The Christian College: A History of Protestant Higher Education in America, told CT.

Even at the helm of what was once the country’s largest Christian college, Falwell never claimed to be the spiritual leader in his family—that’s his brother Jonathan Falwell, who succeeded their father as pastor of his other institutional legacy, Thomas Road Baptist Church. Instead, Falwell had positioned himself as steering Liberty like a business.

Many attribute that strategy as leading to Liberty’s massive growth in online education, sports, and enrollment.

“Jerry has done a great job in building a tremendous school,” Robert Jeffress, fellow Trump supporter and pastor of First Baptist Dallas, told the Washington Post. “The allegations, if true, should be a warning of the destructive power of sin.”

But his leadership has also tainted the school’s Christian witness, critics say.

Quan McLaurin, who resigned as a diversity director at Liberty, fears the board has only acted to hold its leader accountable when the negative press stands to affect its bottom line. He criticized leaders for not acting sooner or in response to the racial matters that have come up on campus. He called Falwell’s resignation “a great step in the right direction, but not enough” and wants to see “true accountability” and ethical behavior from the top.

Dockery, like many fellow Christian leaders, extended prayers for Liberty’s leadership.

“With the amazing resources with which they have been blessed,” he said, “we hope that the Board will prioritize their calling to rigorous academics and an unapologetic Christian commitment that will allow them to maximize their impact and influence in the world of higher education as well as in their service to church and society.”

Johnnie Moore, who previously served as the school’s vice president of communications during his 13-year tenure at the school, said its mission will continue even without a Falwell at the helm.

“Liberty would not exist but for the Falwells. Yet, the brilliance of its original mission and vision was transcended long ago,” said Moore, founder of the evangelical marketing firm The Kairos Company. “Liberty is an institution designed to thrive for the cause of Christ today and for generations. I am sure members of the community—past and present—will pray and will work together to ensure that Liberty's best days are ahead."





Additional reporting by Daniel Silliman.


https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/august-web-only/jerry-becki-falwell-resigns-board-governance.html











Was Liberty’s Board Set up to Support Falwell or Liberty?








The challenge of holding Christian ministry leaders accountable.


Jerry Falwell Jr. resigned as president of Liberty University on Monday. The news came after Reuters reported that a friend and business partner of the couple had sex with Becki Falwell while Jerry Falwell Jr. watched. Falwell Jr. himself submitted his resignation only to reverse course twice.

Falwell Jr. was already on an indefinite leave of absence after he posted a picture on Instagram of him posing with his arm around a woman at a party with their zippers down and midsections exposed.

With one notable exception, Liberty’s board has stayed largely silent in the wake of Falwell’s increasingly controversial public statements and financial dealings.

For ministry boards that have run into moral or ethic issues with their CEOs, one common mistake is allowing the CEO to recommend too many board members, says Bob Andringa, the managing partner of the Andringa Group who specializes in governance and the relationship between boards and chief executives.

“Who's a CEO going to recommend? They’re going to recommend friends,” said Andringa, who has written several books on board governance, including The Nonprofit Board Answer Book and Good Governance for Nonprofits. “And so when it comes down to crunch time, those friends have more loyalty to the CEO than they do to the mission of the whole organization.”

Andringa joined global media manager Morgan Lee and editorial director Ted Olsen to discuss the blind spots of Christian boards, what encourages and discourages them in holding leaders accountable, and why more retired people should serve on boards.

 

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