Evangelism

Why Political Conservatism is Good for Evangelism

Pastor Josh Howerton of Lakepointe Church, a multi-state congregation in Dallas, has a reputation for helping believers put their faith into action.

He’s also not afraid to share politically incorrect or even unpopular facts regarding concerning trends in American Christianity. Speaking recently on his podcast, Live Free with Josh Howerton, the 42-year-old mega pastor stated:

“If you want the advancement of the Gospel and the growth of the church to get significantly smothered in your state or your city, here’s all you gotta do. Let it go blue. That’s simply what data shows. I’ll say it like this. Show me a map of the most progressive areas in our nation. Then show me a map of the areas in our nation that have the fewest churches. It’s the same map.”

Pew Research data shows that states with the fewest churches include Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Oregon, Massachusetts and Hawaii.

Pastor Howerton, though, isn’t crunching the numbers for politically partisan reasons but rather for evangelistic outreach. Instead, he notes that political conservatism serves as a good prelude to reaching people for Christ.

“It is a significant and powerful force for pre-evangelism because it installs a plausibility structure in the populace that leads to intuitively understanding Christianity is true, right, and good.”

Pastor Howerton then goes on to say something that may make some people very uncomfortable:

“In order to accomplish the Great Commission, we need to advocate for it at the political level. When political conservatism spreads, more people become Christians. And when political progressivism spreads, less people become Christians.”

Why is this the case?

The New Testament talks about laws. The book of Galatians talks about laws. It talks about the law as a teacher. What people do not understand is that laws in a nation, they have what Christians have historically called a didactic function. Laws do not simply legislate right and wrong. They teach the populace what’s right and wrong.

Laws calibrate the consciences of a nation. If you start swimming in the streams of truth and liberty, you’re eventually going to find its source. Conservatism in general calibrates the conscience in such a way that it pushes people toward the God from whom the principles came.

As social conservatives, we’re drawn to and encouraged to preserve and protect God’s most fundamental and foundational institutions and values. These include the uniqueness and distinctiveness of male and female, the sacredness of human life from conception to death, the beauty of one-man, one-woman marriage, and our rights to worship and live out our faith in the public square.

Radical progressivism pushes to upend societal norms by redefining and reimagining and reengineering what God has established.

“Progressivism, particularly secular progressivism, calibrates the consciences of people away from what is true, right, and good,” observes Pastor Howerton. “It teaches people to call evil things good and good things evil. And you can do that with abortion, with gay marriage, with trans stuff, with redistribution of wealth, all the things, literally all the things.”

Our faith informs our politics – but our politics will also help shape faith and provide us with opportunities talk about the life saving and transformational power of Jesus Christ.

Image credit: Josh Howerton

Trump Admin: ‘The Days of Anti-Christian Bias in the Federal Government are Over’

Apple founder Steve Jobs famously said you can’t connect the dots looking forward – you can only connect them looking backward – a truism of life that’s especially relevant as the federal government looks to root out anti-Christian bigotry.

Created by President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14202, “The Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias” has released its initial findings of examples of religious bigotry during the previous four years.

They concluded, “A review of federal departments and agencies revealed a consistent and systematic pattern of discrimination against Christians during the Biden Administration. Where there should have been “equal justice under law” there was unequal treatment–policies and practices that singled out Christian people, Christian houses of worship, and Christian convictions for disfavored treatment.”

The dots they connect won’t come as a surprise to faithful readers of Daily Citizen or those who have been paying attention, but they’re still sobering to see listed all in one place.

Here are a few examples:

  • The Department of Labor eliminated the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives and replaced it with the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Office.
  • Social media posts acknowledging such sacred celebrations as Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter were taken down while posts noting “Pride Month,” Ramadan and Diwali were left up.
  • Employees were forced to use preferred pronouns and include rainbow flags in communication regardless of faith objections.
  • The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission expanded the “Pregnant Workers Fairness Act” to include abortion and even suggested that denying males access to female restrooms constituted harassing conduct.
  • The Department of State likened homeschooling to child abuse.
  • The Department of Justice arrested individuals for praying and protesting outside abortion clinics – yet ignored protestors outside churches and pregnancy resource centers.
  • Requests for COVID-19 vaccine religious wavers were regularly ignored and denied.
  • Under the Biden administration, the FBI unfairly targeted “radical-traditionalist” Catholics, even labeling them as “domestic terrorism threats” given their opposition to abortion.

The reports also concluded that the Biden administration harassed Christian universities like Grand Canyon and Liberty, slapping extraordinary fines on them over unfounded or trumped-up charges. This past May, the Department of Education reversed course and removed a $37.7 million fine on GCU. The school had been previously accused of misleading graduate students.

During the last four years, anti-Christian bias has also been evident in what might be considered passive aggressive declarations. For example, back on Easter Sunday in 2023, the Biden administration declared it to be “Transgender Day of Visibility.” There were 364 other days they could have chosen – but they chose the day Christians celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

Over the years, we’ve seen religious bias on display in the foster care system where prospective parents have been told they have to play along with a child’s sexual confusion if they want to be permitted to serve. On college campuses, Christian groups have been told they can’t discriminate and have been told atheists should be permitted to be in leadership roles. Then there are the Little Sisters of the Poor being constantly harassed and told as an organization that they need to pay for abortifacients.

Thankfully, President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi are saying, “No more!”

The report concludes:

“The Task Force makes this commitment: the federal government will never again be permitted to turn its power against people of faith. Under President Trump and Attorney General Bondi’s leadership, in partnership with all members of this Task Force, the rule of law will be enforced with vigor, and every religion will be treated with equality in both policy and action. The days of anti-Christian bias in the federal government are over. Faith is not a liability in America–it is a liberty.”

Amen.

Image from Getty.

President Trump: No More Student Indoctrination and Antireligious Propaganda

With members of his Religious Liberty Commission sitting to his right and left, President Donald Trump announced on Monday that new guidelines would be forthcoming to protect a student’s right to pray in school.

“Our nation was founded on the recognition that moral virtue and a steadfast faith in God are necessary preconditions of freedom,” said President Trump. He then lamented previous administration’s efforts to both belittle and weaponize government towards people of faith.

“That era has ended,” he declared.

To illustrate the hostility our nation’s schoolchildren have been navigating the last few years, Trump highlighted the plights of two students who were joining them at the Museum of the Bible gathering.

Hannah Allen from Honey Grove, Texas, had pulled together a group of students to pray for a former fellow classmate during their lunch break. The individual had been injured in an accident.

“Y’all don’t do that again,” warned the principal, Lee Frost. After Hannah and her friends pushed back, they were told they could only pray where nobody could see them. Our friends at First Liberty stepped in and were able to protect the students’ right to pray out in the open.

President Trump invited 12-year-old Shea Encinas to the podium to share how his school forced him to read “transgender” propaganda to a kindergartener in his school.

“The book said you can choose your gender based on feelings, instead of how God made us,” the now 6th grader explained. “I knew this was not right, but I was afraid of getting in trouble.”

When the Encinas family pushed back, other students and administrators began bullying Shea and his parents.

“It hurt a lot, but I kept trusting God,” confided the youngster. “I believe kids like me should be able to live our faith at school without being forced to go against what we believe. I hope no other family has to go through what we did.”

President Trump and millions of Americans agree.

In addition to protecting prayer in schools, since January, President Trump has signed a series of executive orders designed to reinstate sanity and common sense. This includes cutting federal funding for any school that shills sexual confusion nonsense. He’s also banned the sexual mutilation of children, affirmed the existence of only two genders, and banned boys from competing in girls’ sports.

“All of the different things we talk about, it’s insane,” reflected the president. “If you were here 15, 20 years ago, and if somebody had made a speech about ‘transgender’ for everyone … People would look at the person and say, ‘What’s he talking about? Is he crazy?’”

Attorney General Pam Bondi also joined the meeting and affirmed the government’s commitment to the First Amendment.

“Our founders believed every individual has the right to worship freely without fear of their own government,” she told those gathered. “No one knows this better than President Trump. Under his leadership, we dropped cases against pro-life Christians, stopped the FBI from spying on Catholics, launched multiple investigations into ant-Semitism in schools, and we are aggressively prosecuting vicious crimes against Jewish Americans.”

President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission is being led by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Vice Chair Dr. Ben Carson. Other members include Franklin Graham, First Liberty’s Kelly Shackelford, Gary Bauer, Ryan Anderson, Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Bishop Robert Barron.

These individuals and others are ensuring a student’s right to pray in school. We should return the generous gesture and pray for them and President Trump.

Image from Getty,

Young Attend Church More Than Old — But Is It Enough?

Responding to news that he was either dying or dead, Mark Twain famously said, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

According to a new report from Barna Research, the same might be said regarding the previous decline of young people’s faith and church attendance.

Released Tuesday as part of the group’s ongoing “State of the Church” initiative, “Gen Z” and “Millennials” attend church more regularly than their older counterparts.

Digging into the data, Gen Zers, those born between the mid to late 1990s and early 2010s, attend church 1.9 times per month. Millennials, those born between 1981 and 1996, average 1.8 times per month.

In contrast, Boomers (1946-1964) and Elders (those born before 1946) attend 1.4 times per month.

David Copeland, who serves as Barna’s vice president of research, acknowledged the surprise that accompanied the findings.

“It’s typically older adults who are the most loyal churchgoers,” he said. “This data represents good news for church leaders and adds to the picture that spiritual renewal is shaping Gen Z and Millennials today.”

But is it really good news that the typical Christian is attending church only two out of every five weekends?

Scripture makes clear the importance of regular corporate worship. The writer of Hebrews urged believers to “not [give] up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

The Fourth Commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8) may not specifically dictate weekly church attendance, but it does demand our attention and our obedience. As Christians, if we’re not a member of a church and regularly attending weekly services, how are we setting apart the day? How are we not neglecting the call to meet together with fellow followers of Christ?

While it’s a good thing that young people’s faith doesn’t appear as anemic as suspected, if the standard we’re comparing it to is already dangerously low, a sober-minded awareness seems in order.

We’d also be wise to ask some difficult and even uncomfortable questions.

Why are Christians going to church so infrequently? Are we allowing ourselves to be pulled away by very worldly priorities like youth sports, vacation travel, creature comforts like sleeping in and having a leisurely Sunday morning instead?

This has no bearing on a committed believer’s responsibility to participate in corporate worship, but churches themselves should be examining elements of their service and outreach. Are they doing everything they can to retain interest, especially from those who may dip in and out, who are on the fringes of Christianity? Are they challenging people enough? Are pastors prepared and interesting, addressing issues relevant to real lives in real time?

It’s always curious why sports stadiums can sell out week after week, yet rare is the church that suffers from not having enough seats for those wanting to join the worship service.

“Church attendance is as vital to a disciple as a transfusion of rich, healthy blood to a sick man,” warned D.L. Moody.

Some Christians dismiss or diminish the importance of physical church attendance. Instead, they may talk of communing with God in nature, praying alone, or spending their quiet time with the Lord in personal reading of Scripture. Those disciplines are important and supplemental, but they cannot and must not replace corporate worship. The same goes for those able to attend in person but who instead opt out for church culture.

The famed evangelist Billy Sunday once said, “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile.” He was right. Inner transformation, repentance, and accepting Jesus Christ as Lord of your life is what makes you a Christian.  But going to church provides us with community, connection, opportunities for service, and ideally, offers solid spiritual teaching that will help us grow in our faith and strengthen us in numerous ways that will then equip us to share the Good News with others.

Given all those personal and Kingdom benefits available at church, wouldn’t you want to attend more than 21 weeks out of a 52-week year?

Image from Getty.

President Trump, Heaven and Our Father’s Greatest Gift

During an interview Tuesday on Fox & Friends, President Donald Trump spoke at length about Monday’s historic White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders.

Sharing his burden over the rising death toll suffered on both sides in eastern Europe, President Trump then offered, with a seeming smile in his voice, another motivation for trying to help broker a peace deal.

“I want to try and get to heaven, if possible,” he explained. “I’m hearing I’m not doing well. I am really at the bottom of the totem pole. But if I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons.”

For Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times, President Trump’s comments were quite shocking. From the Old Grey Lady’s White House beat writer:

This would have been a highly unusual admission from any president, but it seemed especially out of character coming from this one. The man who is regarded as a messiah by many of his own supporters — a belief he has encouraged at every turn — says now that he knows he’s no saint.

This fear of perdition raised some questions. Chief among them: Who, exactly, has been informing the president that he is “not doing well” with regard to kingdom come? Did Michael the Archangel somehow get Mr. Trump’s cellphone number?

Heaven comes up a lot in popular cultural conversation, and even with people who may not even consider themselves “religious.” There are people who mistakenly believe “all roads” lead there, and then there are those who discuss it in Hollywood-esque terms, a vague place populated with angels and harps.

It’s actually not unusual for politicians, journalists and even the general public to talk about somehow earning their way into Heaven. Ask a room full of people, many of whom might even profess belief in God, whether they’re going to Heaven when they die, and you’ll inevitably hear answers comparable to President Trump’s self-evaluation.

At a campaign rally last October, President Trump told the crowd, “I know my mother’s in Heaven. I’m not 100 percent sure about my father, but it’s close.”

One of the thrilling and overwhelmingly reassuring aspects of Christianity is that admission to Heaven isn’t merit based. There is no totem pole to climb, no boxes to check – no way to earn our way by being great or even good enough. Whether you make it to Heaven won’t be decided like a photo finish of a race. Close won’t be close enough.

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them,” said Jesus (John 3:36). We later read in John’s Gospel another declarative promise from the Lord: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (14:6).

As Christians, we don’t have to wring our hands in worry or frustration. We don’t have to wonder about our eternal destiny.

Believe and be saved – simple, and yet so beautifully profound.

Image from Getty.