Category Archives: Featured

Brian Kluth on the NAE’s Bless Your Pastor Campaign

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Brian Kluth is the national director of NAE Financial Health, an initiative of the National Association of Evangelicals to provide solutions for pastors and churches facing economic challenges. Brian regularly travels across the country to speak at denominational, pastor, church and leadership events on pastor finances and church generosity. He also directs the national Bless Your Pastor campaign.

CHRISTIAN POST: NAE launches $1M campaign to help churches bless financially strapped pastors

Run Sheet for Tuesday, July 30

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LISTEN LIVE AT 1:00 PM ET

The Democratic Debates in Detroit

DETROIT CURBED: Everything you need to know about the Democratic debates in Detroit

DETROIT REGIONAL CHAMBER: Which Issues Matter to Michigan Voters in Advance of the Detroit Democratic Debate

US NEWS: Outwit, Outlast, Outplay: What to Watch at Democratic Debate

Ballotpedia: Democratic Presidential Primary Debate

CHICAGO TRIBUNE: As Democrats descend on Detroit for presidential debate, black voters offer a warning: Don’t take us for granted

  • “If you don’t come into my community and talk to me, don’t talk about my issues, don’t ask me for my support, then guess what? Don’t automatically assume I’m going to vote for you,” said Jonathan Kinloch, Democratic chairman of Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, which encompasses Detroit’s western half. “We can’t make the same mistake Hillary made in 2016 and assume that because Donald Trump is such a vile candidate, that black people will rise up and just zombie to the polls.”

REUTERS: GM braces for attacks from Democrats in Detroit debates

TIME: The Second Democratic Debates Could Be All About Trump’s Racist Tweets

  • “… the President of the United States spent his weekend writing racist tweets about Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings — who as chairman of the House Oversight Committee has been investigating Trump — and his majority-black Baltimore district…”

CNN: Test your Detroit trivia knowledge ahead of this week’s debates

POLITICO: The Fiercest Democratic Debate in 2020 Is About Barack Obama

  • “Democrats are oddly conflicted about Obama’s legacy, with many on the left believing that Obama’s policy record was too tepid, and his governing style too timid, to warrant emulation.”

CNN: ‘Motors, mortgages and pizzas:’ Here’s why Detroit is on a rebound

Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice

TODAY’S GUEST: Bryan Chapell is the Senior Pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church (Peoria, Illinois), the Founder and Chairman of Unlimited Grace, a radio and online Bible-teaching ministry, and President Emeritus of Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.

CNN: Trump hosts African American pastors and faith leaders at the White House

CT: Want More Christian Influence? Get Off Facebook And Talk To Actual People

Hey, Siri! Apple contractors ‘regularly hear confidential details’ on Siri recordings

Run Sheet for Monday, July 29

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LISTEN LIVE AT 1:00 PM ET

Evangelism as Exiles: Life on Mission as Strangers in Our Own Land

NAE launches $1M campaign to help churches bless financially strapped pastors

  • GUEST: Brian Kluth is the national director of NAE Financial Health, an initiative of the National Association of Evangelicals to provide solutions for pastors and churches facing economic challenges. Brian regularly travels across the country to speak at denominational, pastor, church and leadership events on pastor finances and church generosity. He also directs the national Bless Your Pastor campaign.

CNN: ‘Motors, mortgages and pizzas:’ Here’s why Detroit is on a rebound

Rod Dreher: Unfree at Liberty

REDEEMER CHURCH AUDIO: Pastoral Thoughts on the Funeral and the Treatment of the Body After Death

Josh Harris: I Kissed Jesus Goodbye

  • “By all the measurements that I have for defining a Christian, I am not a Christian.”
  • DOCUMENTARY: I Survived I Kissed Dating Goodbye
  • PATHEOS: Farewell, Joshua Harris
    • “The volume of celebrity pastors, leaders, musicians, etc., departing from the faith or even falling away in incredibly devastating ways is an indication of the whole; think of how many unknown, small-town pastors are doing the exact same thing. How many men who have no genuine love for Christ are preaching each Sunday, only because they have no viable source of income that will stream in from the book deals, interviews, and so forth, when they depart from the faith? How many unknowns are doing much the same? Worship leaders, bible study leaders, community group leaders, etc. How many are serving–not the church, nor Christ, but their true father, Satan?”
    • Get Ready for a Flood of Christian Defections
    • “There will be a high price to be paid for those who remain faithful to Christ and the teachings of the Bible. People will lose their jobs, they’ll be denied professional credentials, they will be banned from popular social media platforms and essentially exiled from polite society.”

MSN: An Evangelical Megachurch Is Sued for More Than $1 Million in Child Sexual Abuse Case

NPR: Federal Government To Resume Capital Punishment After Nearly 20-Year Hiatus

NPR: A Warm Bedtime Bath Can Help You Cool Down And Sleep Better (Note from Paul: My mother knew this 50 years ago without the research)

NYT: Splitting Heirs: Neil Armstrong’s heirs divide over a lucrative legacy

Josh Harris: “By all the measurements that I have for defining a Christian, I am not a Christian.”

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The former pastor of Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland and author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye, has publicly renounced his Christian faith in an Instagram post.

I have reposted his post in its entirety below:

My heart is full of gratitude. I wish you could see all the messages people sent me after the announcement of my divorce. They are expressions of love though they are saddened or even strongly disapprove of the decision.⁣⁣
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I am learning that no group has the market cornered on grace. This week I’ve received grace from Christians, atheists, evangelicals, exvangelicals, straight people, LGBTQ people, and everyone in-between. Of course there have also been strong words of rebuke from religious people. While not always pleasant, I know they are seeking to love me. (There have also been spiteful, hateful comments that angered and hurt me.)⁣⁣
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The information that was left out of our announcement is that I have undergone a massive shift in regard to my faith in Jesus. The popular phrase for this is “deconstruction,” the biblical phrase is “falling away.” By all the measurements that I have for defining a Christian, I am not a Christian. Many people tell me that there is a different way to practice faith and I want to remain open to this, but I’m not there now.⁣⁣
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Martin Luther said that the entire life of believers should be repentance. There’s beauty in that sentiment regardless of your view of God. I have lived in repentance for the past several years—repenting of my self-righteousness, my fear-based approach to life, the teaching of my books, my views of women in the church, and my approach to parenting to name a few. But I specifically want to add to this list now: to the LGBTQ+ community, I want to say that I am sorry for the views that I taught in my books and as a pastor regarding sexuality. I regret standing against marriage equality, for not affirming you and your place in the church, and for any ways that my writing and speaking contributed to a culture of exclusion and bigotry. I hope you can forgive me.⁣⁣
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To my Christians friends, I am grateful for your prayers. Don’t take it personally if I don’t immediately return calls. I can’t join in your mourning. I don’t view this moment negatively. I feel very much alive, and awake, and surprisingly hopeful. I believe with my sister Julian that, “All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”