WHAT WE NEED MORE THAN ANYTHING IN 2021

Two years ago, I received a Facebook message on Christmas Eve that I’ve been thinking about this week. A member of our church, a young woman who would not live to see the next year, wrote to thank me for our service that night and one song in particular. All of us hear “O Holy Night,” every Christmas, again and again. But that year, one lyric lifted my friend’s spirit: “A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.”

That hope is what she needed that Christmas.

That hope is what her husband and kids would need just a few short days later.

That hope is what we preached at her funeral a week later.

That hope is what every reader of this blog needs in 2021.

WHY THE CHURCH MUST CANCEL "CANCEL CULTURE"

If you’ve written off someone because of one mistake or dumb remark, you’re participating in what has become a growing problem, “cancel culture.”

“There is no single accepted definition of cancel culture,” according to Forbes, “but at its worst, it is about unaccountable groups successfully applying pressure to punish someone for perceived wrong opinions.”

In other words, you wrong me or offend me, and you’re dead to me. And you should be dead to all my social media contacts, too. I’ll tell anyone who will listen why you’re dead to me and explain why they should cancel you as I have.

The Forbes article gives several recent examples, some of them describing celebrities with careers ruined (although some eventually saw a boost in their following after an initial outcry over their remarks).

Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVageDecember 16, 2020church, ministry, pastor, pastors, leadership, cancel culture, cancelled, cancel, culture, hope, help, hope dealer, forgivenessComment

3 REASONS I'M DONE CRITICIZING THE CHURCH

In some circles today it’s cool to criticize the church. Search social media and soon you’ll find someone upset because they say the church has failed them. Some have even walked away. In fact, most readers of this blog know at least one person who has decided to leave church altogether.

Obviously, the critics are not totally wrong. Attend church long enough and you’re sure to bump up against adultery, jealousy, lying, or just general unpleasantness among folks who are supposed to be redeemed.

I get it. Sometimes someone will say to me, “It must be wonderful to work at the church, doing God’s work all day every day.” Well, it certainly is gratifying to partner with God in his activity on earth. But it’s not for the faint of heart. Spiritual healing is like physical healing: sometimes it means cleaning messy wounds, draining ugly infection, watching for many months (or years) while disabled people slowly hobble along until their brokenness has mended.

So I could tell you plenty of reasons to criticize the church. But I’m committed not to join the critics, for at least three reasons.

Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVageDecember 9, 2020church, criticizing, complain, leading, leader, leadership, leadership struggle, stop, bride, hope, jesus, loveComment

5 WAYS TO GET POWER HUNGRY

All of us are more powerless than we want to admit. But in this time of quarantine, with daily reports of death and disease, we may feel more helpless than ever.

In these challenging days I’ve been thinking afresh about prayer. And I’ve come to believe what I’m beginning to experience: Prayer brings power. And the power that comes with prayer is unlike anything else we can imagine or create. Here’s what I mean.

Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVageApril 29, 2020prayer, progress, protagonists, peace, protection, church, hope, help, healing, anxietyComment

THE PANDEMIC OF GOOD NEWS

This shutdown is only beginning, and already most of us are looking forward to life getting back to normal. But my prayer is that the church will never get back to normal. Here’s what I mean.

Too much of the church I’ve seen in my 41 years has been complacent, apathetic, lukewarm, and self-seeking. I don’t want to get back to that.

In some ways, the church is being scattered today, and that’s what should continue:

“We gather to scatter.”

Maybe God is using this moment to scatter the church so it can actually BE the church. Maybe this quarantine can make us more aware of the needs and hopes of those around us.

So I’m praying for a new pandemic, a gospel pandemic, a pandemic as contagious as any virus we’ve ever experienced.

Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVageApril 8, 2020hope, pandemic, corona, covid, hope dealer, faith, love, church, leading Comment

“We gather to scatter.”

Trevor DeVage

copyright 2018

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