How should we respond to LGBTQ Festivals and White Nationalists rallies?

On September 15, 2018, the first annual TriPride Parade and Festival took place in Johnson City, TN. WJHL reported that 10,000 people celebrated at the Festival. In addition to this the Tennessee League of the South announced they will hold a rally at Sycamore Sholes State Historic Park on Saturday, September 29, 2018, at 9 am. According to the League State Chairman Tom Pierce, the purpose was to “draw attention to the continued assault upon our people and heritage.” They are protesting the fall of “Silent Sam” at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill campus. The question is how do we respond to these groups in our community? 

First, I would like to point out that these two groups share distortions. Both groups are distorting God’s creation and plan for humanity. The LGBTQ community distorts God’s plan and the creation of gender, sexuality, and the family.  God made two genders in Genesis 5:2. God established the plan for the family in Genesis 2:24 stating that a man shall “leave and cleave” to his wife, beginning a new family unit. Two genders fulfilling the earth through a God defined marriage is His plan for humanity. Anything outside of this plan laid out in Genesis is a distortion of God’s good plan and leads to greater distortions and brokenness.

The nationalist community distorts the value and equality of all mankind through racism. Genesis 1:27 tells us that all are made in the image of God. This includes all skin color. We are also told that all, if we believe in Jesus, are one in Jesus Christ, Galatians 3:28.  The New Testament teaches us that justification by faith does not eradicate our gender, our vocation, or our ethnicity, but it does relativize all these things. Our first and most important identity is not male or female, American or Korean, black or white, but Christian. We are more alike then we are different. 

Lastly, bible last teaches us that partiality is a sin, see James 2:1. And 1 John 3:15 tells us that everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. Hate is murder of the heart because it looks at someone else or some other group and thinks, “I wish you were not around. You are what’s wrong with this world, and the world would be better without people like you.” That’s hate, which sounds an awful lot like murder. 

Here are some things to remember:

1.    We must be salt and light, but don’t throw salt in people’s eyes or blind others.While it may be enticing to join the anti-protests in each group, we should avoid this. We must show love for the persons trapped in these principalities, and stand against their messages. 

2.    Remember the church brings together what the world defines as natural enemies. We are all one in Christ Jesus. The separating of peoples at Babel in Genesis 11:7-9 was a cure, but bringing peoples together at Pentecost in Acts 2:5-11 was a gift God gave us.

3.    Be tough and tender, and be patient with all.Jesus was the toughest on Pharisees and tender towards people, like the woman at the well. We never back down from God’s Word, but we also need to have compassion for the brokenness of fallen human beings. Let us remember, were it not for the grace of God, we would most likely be in one camp or the other.

Why Move Trunk or Treat to Sunday, instead of October 31?

Trunk or Treat last year was a big success! Actually, it was more successful than we were prepared for. The Facebook event was shared some 30 plus times, leading to over 700 children plus attending the event. This led to discussions in church council. It was decided by the council to move the date to Sunday October 31 for the following reasons:

1.     To Redeem Halloween to the Max-Anytime we find something in culture we have three choices as believers- we can:

a.     Reject Halloween-this holiday has pagan roots, so we can’t have anything to do with it. The problem with this view is that we can’t say that just because something has a bad root or beginning means it is totally bad. If that were true, we should stop driving Volkswagens because they were originally invented by Adolf Hitler. We will also be hard pressed to explain to children why biblically we can’t dress up and receive some treats. (see Gen. 50:20)

b.     Receive Halloween- This is simple, we will receive the holiday as it is. The problem with this view is accepting practices of the holiday we cannot go along with as Christains, like inappropriate customs (1 Timothy 2:9), any kind of celebration of witchcraft or pagan worship (Leviticus 19:31), and any kind of seeking to speak with the dead (Deut. 18:10-14).

c.     Redeem Halloween-As I child, I grew up in an unchurched/unreached family, and we always celebrated Halloween. I have many fond childhood memories. We often think of this from a churched or Christian perspective, but let’s try to put ourselves in the shoes of the unreached. My unreached family did not worship pagan Gods, play with ouija boards, or seek out spiritual mediums. For us, it was about three things: a sweet costume, which you wanted to wear every day, letting your neighbors see your sweet costume, and CANDY! I don’t recall ever going to a church to trick or treat, and to be honest, it never crossed my mind. But going to a neighbor’s house, sign me up! October 31 is the ONLY night of the year when lost people knock on our door. Will we be home to be salt and light to them, showing them the love of Christ?

2.     To allow maximum volunteer participation-The reality of last year was that we could have used more man power. For various reasons, several of our volunteers could not come on October 31, as it usually falls on a weekday. Most work schedules simply do not allow for them to participate. Another group stated they always hand out candy at their house, as it is a community event for them. Another still stated they could not help due to family activities on October 31^st. These three issues knocked out a block of help, the Sunday before removes these hurtles.

3.     To be kind to our neighbors-We have been approached by several from Thomas Blvd about the tremendous pressure it puts on them when we hold our event on Oct. 31. The 700 plus people will visit the surrounding homes either before or after our event. 

4.     To have a backup plan for bad weather-With this even being outside, holding the event on October 31 gives no backup date. In the event that Sunday’s weather doesn’t work, we can always pick the three other days! 

o  Bonus: If we have good weather, the leftover candy can be handed out at church members homes who have lots of traffic.

Baptism Service Haiti 2018

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What is an Honorarium, and how much is appropriate for a pastor on a wedding or funeral?

I was once asked by someone if they could rent me from the church to do a funeral or wedding. The answer is, you don’t rent a pastor from the church, but you can be a blessing to him. An honorarium is a payment made without the giver recognizing themselves as having any liability or legal obligation to a person for his or her services in a volunteer capacity or for services for which fees are not traditionally required. So at the conclusion of any funeral or wedding, you may ask the pastor, “What do I owe you?” and the answer will always be, “Nothing.” But what is the service the pastor has given to you in a time of need or blessing worth to you?

Pastors often HATE to discuss compensation with their church, and this falls into that arena. Pastors don’t get into the ministry to get rich. I also understand that funeral costs are rising and fewer people are buying life insurance policies. With that being said, if a family is strapped for cash no decent pastor expects anything; but, in the case where a family has means to do so I want to provide you with some things to consider, and some guidelines for how much to give a pastor.

First off consider how much time he is taking to serve your family and who is really paying the price. A pastor’s time must be weighed against his family and/or church responsibilities. An average local funeral or wedding will easily add on a minimum of 8 to 12 hours of work for a pastor’s week. He has his regular responsibilities to the church and his family. Remember he does more than just preach he takes time to meet with the family when death occurs, plan the service, do premarital counseling, show up for rehearsals, plan the wedding service, and prepare his sermon. He will have to make of the time somewhere, and often time with his family is sacrificed. When I receive honorariums, I seek to use it for Christmas or vacation with the family as repayment to my wife and children for the time they have lost with me.

So now for the scale, I have been asked for many times. Keep in mind I have asked many pastors about this, and this is from personal experience. I spoke to one of my mentoring pastors who has done 1,000 of funerals in his lifetime, and he was in agreement with this scale. So here it is and I have kept this on the low side:

·       Minimum: $100 (note: this has been the minimum for about 20 years so $150 would be a better minimum bar today)

·       Very Nice: $200-250

·       Blessing His Family: $300-350

·       Being Generous: anything over $400

·       One final note that should be considered, if you are going to appreciate a pastor, don’t forget his travel expenses- mileage, meals, and rooms. I would say that you need to add a minimum of $250+ for travel. I have heard of some honorariums being as high as $800-1,000.

What are Signs of Legalism?

Legalism is defined as adding anything to grace through faith alone. They seek to obey in order to get God to do bless me or be good to me, or I can keep God loving me and blessing me. In the book of Galatians false teachers had entered the church and tried to place the members under the control of the law. Today we face a couple of issues on legalism; sometimes our traditions can become legalistic holdovers from the past. Here are a few signs of legalism.


1. Legalists always settle for a fixation on outward appearances only. Jesus said it best, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.” (Matthew 23:27) The legalist will fixate on externals only, with no thought or care of the heart or spiritual growth. Church becomes the building, not the people. Attending church becomes about being seen instead of seeking to be part of the body of Christ and bearing others burdens.

2. Legalists always compel others to adopt their pet peeves. In Galatians, the legalist wanted the church to embrace circumcision. Circumcision was a sign of the old covenant, Jesus had not established the new. We have the same problem today, many legalists push unnecessary pet peeves like using only the King James Version of the Bible (which I love, but we don’t talk that way anymore). Or, to them you don’t smoke, don’t chew, and don’t go with girls that do! Christianity is much more than staying away from things that annoy others!

3. Legalists always maintain a safe distance from grace. Because of their misunderstanding of God’s grace, that is his unmerited favor upon us. A legalist will always seek to contribute to salvation in some form or another. Paul says it this way, “so that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.” (Galatians 6:12) The legalist wants God and everyone to know that God is lucky to have them on his team.

4. Legalists are hypocrites. In Galatians 6:13, Paul says, “even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law…” The legalist will keep a list of things they don’t struggle with staying away from and expect others to keep that standard. I remember a legalistic televangelist who railed ageist drinking beer, but three weeks later he was caught with a prostitute.

5. Legalists seek notches on their belt. Paul also nailed the legalist for bragging about convening others to follow their nonsense he says, “they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.” They don’t see the church as Christ does, but merely as a scoreboard of people who they can convert to their line of thinking, instead of Christ’s example.

Should Local Churches Pay Their Pastor?

“Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.”
–Galatians 6:6

A few years ago, I heard a biblically ill-informed “Christian” DJ say on the radio, “I don’t think we should pay pastors.” He went on to explain that that money should be used for other things like taking care of widows in the body. While this may be an extreme example, many may question the idea of paying the preacher. Wayne Pohl points out, “Churches often fail to count the hidden costs of poor salaries.”

The passage above from Galatians points out the fact that those who teach and preach the word of God faithfully should “share all good things” which means the physical provisions like food, clothing, and shelter. The passage is in the context of sowing and reaping. The reality of human nature remains that we will spend our money on what we value. Paying a pastor for faithful preaching and teaching emerges many places in the New Testament. Paul quotes both Jesus and Deuteronomy in 1 Timothy 5:18, “For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.” Also, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:14, “In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.”

Every church should strive to pay at least one full-time pastor who labors to faithfully preach the gospel and apply it to daily living. Not all churches can afford this, but many have a bi-vocational pastor. The pastor needs time to reflect and study the word. Many issues continue to bombard the church, and the church needs someone to aid them in applying the gospel and biblical principles. Remember the Bible does not focus on private bible study, although that holds significant value. The Bible emphasizes the public teaching of the word, which is taught by pastors supported by their hearers. The human principle remains, we will find money for what we value. Our bank statements are a black and white snapshot of the values of our hearts. Too many times our local churches approach pastors’ salaries with the attitude of, “What is the least we can do?” instead of asking the important question of, “What is the best we can do for our pastor or pastors?” Here are a few practical points to make on this issue to ensure that you as a church member are faithful in this area.

1.    Do you know if your pastor’s salary is livable? Remember pastor’s compensation package is not the same as a salary, what you see reflected usually has to have medical insurance and retirement carved out of it.

2.    Do you know if your pastor’s salary truly provides what he needs to live and support his family (including housing, transportation, healthcare, continued education, kids college savings, and retirement)?

3.    Do you know if your pastor’s salary is comparable to other churches of a similar size? In our denomination, Lifeway often does compensation studies to determine if a pastor is being paid adequately and fairly.