Month: July 2024

This Ain’t That…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

Okay, so by now you’re aware that there was an assassination attempt on the life of Donald Trump on July 13, 2024. You’ve probably seen the soon-to-be iconic photograph taken that day at the fairgrounds rally in Butler, PA.

I’ll say with a fair degree of certainty that photograph sealed Joe Biden’s fate as far as the Presidential election is concerned. Regardless of what one thinks of Donald Trump, one must admit it is a compelling picture.

I continue to be amazed how some in the Christian community can try to make something out of current events that there is simply no evidence to support. Donald J. Trump may be a character of biblical proportions, and he may, in fact, be God’s man for God’s time (that remains to be seen), but please, let’s stop trying to tie biblical images to the man. We might just be opening a can of worms that we don’t need to open when we do that.

What do I mean?

Not too long after the assassination attempt, Donald Trump was tied to an obscure passage of scripture in Leviticus noting that Trump was somehow being anointed for God’s service (click here for an example).

The photo on the right also started hitting my Facebook feed shortly after the assassination attempt, and one prosperity preacher, Rev. Jentezen Franklin, made the connection while making remarks before the Faith & Freedom Coalition breakfast during the Republican National Convention. I searched the internet for the video, but it has apparently has been taken down.

Let me just say: This ain’t that!

Here’s the passage in question:

 23 Moses slaughtered the ram and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 24 Moses also brought Aaron’s sons forward and put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet. Then he splashed blood against the sides of the altar.  Leviticus 8:23 – 24 NIV

In its context, Leviticus 8 is clearly Moses’ anointing of Aaron and his sons to the Old Testament Aaronic priesthood. It was a consecration of Aaron and his sons as priests for the nation of Israel. We must read it and understand it as we seek to understand what God was doing with His people in that time. To attempt to make a contemporary application is to open ourselves to several problems.

The Problems

Exegesis

Exegesis simply means the critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially of scripture. To take out of the text that there is a connection between the Aaronic priesthood of the Old Testament and Donald Trump is blatantly false. To suggest that the assassination attempt on Donald Trump is God’s anointing of him as some sort of priest or prophet for the United States of America is to have a completely wrong understanding of the Old Testament.

Connecting this passage of scripture, even as allegorical or metaphorical, is to make a very crass interpretation of scripture. We must be careful doing this…or tying any American President (or any person for that matter) to events in the Bible. We must be careful because two can play that game.

Here’s what I mean:

3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.  Revelation 13: 3 NIV

Could Donald Trump be the beast of Revelation? I don’t know! I guess it depends on your interpretation of scripture (or your political party!).

Devil in the Details

Honestly, there are just too many details missing for Leviticus 8 to be in any way associated with Donald Trump. First, the blood applied to Aaron and his sons came from a sacrificial ram. That means something else had to die to provide the blood for the ceremony (think New Testament…think Jesus here). The blood applied to Aaron’s ear (and thumb and toe) was not his own.

Second, the Levitical instructions are specific in what was to be done with the fat and the entrails of the sacrificial animal. As best I recall, there was no fat or entrails (blood and guts) involved in the assassination attempt of former President Trump.

Third, as far as we know, none of the blood made its way to Trump’s big toe. We do know that he lost his shoes when he was tackled by the Secret Service, and he had the presence of mind to want to retrieve his shoes before departing the platform.

I’m going to say, as an aside, that wanting to get your shoes while someone is shooting at you is either the most narcissistic thing in the world, or the bravest thing in the world. There’s probably an element of both involved, but I’ll let you be the judge of it. Maybe they were just expensive shoes!

Lessons Learned

Let me be the first to say that I also think my Christian brothers and sisters who dispute God’s providence in the protection of Donald Trump through that attempt might also be hasty in their response. There is nothing wrong in acknowledging that God could very well have been provident in those circumstances, the fact that someone else was killed notwithstanding. One lesson in all of this is for us not to become extreme either way.

Another lesson to be learned is that the Bible is not a political prop and we shouldn’t seek to use it for political gain. It is the revelation of God the Father designed and given to lead us to repentance in Jesus Christ, the Son through the power of the Holy Spirit. Shame on us for using it any other way.

One final lesson we can learn is that Jesus Christ is our hope and the Savior of the world. We have so much hope and truth in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we have no need of taking an obscure passage of scripture and misapplying it to our current situation to find hope. Jesus is the Savior who forgives sinners, saves them by His grace, invites them into His Kingdom and will one day come again in glory to reign eternally. That’s enough!

I’m telling you…this thing with Donald Trump…it ain’t that!

Until next time, keep looking up…

To Eat and Live Indoors…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

I didn’t get paid. And, really…I’m okay with that fact. There have been a couple of instances recently when I was invited to minister in settings and I was offered no remuneration. Can you believe that? Yeah! Me either! Geesh! What are people thinking?

No Complaints

Please, if any of you are reading this and I’ve been in ministry with you recently, don’t wrack your brain wondering if you “paid” me for the ministry. It’s 100% okay. I’m not complaining. I’m not in ministry for the money…though I do like to eat and live indoors.

Why am I 100% okay with not getting paid for ministry? Because I’ve learned the freedom that comes from not being dependent on the “church” for a living. Oh! There is freedom in that independence.

It’s been five years since I stepped away from vocational ministry. We stepped away from ministry totally trusting the Lord to provide for our needs (and He has). Yes, I had a job lined up, but even that job meant we had to adjust our lifestyle if we were going to make it, and I figured I would pick up some extra dough on the side by “filling the pulpit” to cover some gaps in the budget.

For twenty-eight years the “church” provided a good living (a very good living the last few years, I might add). I’ll be honest. It was hard to walk away from that security. Great salary. Great benefits. Great retirement plan (both in this world and the next!). What’s not to like? And, hey? Didn’t Jesus say that a “worker is worthy of his wage” (Matthew 10:10)?

I’m not indicting the model of vocational ministry that developed through the centuries. It serves its purpose to the Church (the institution) and to the church (the local congregation). Nor, am I indicting those who continue to serve full-time in vocational ministry. That’s your calling. You have to walk in that calling to be obedient. Good for you!

Paul’s Ministry

I am, however, going to espouse the freedom and the virtue of bi-vocational ministry. When someone hears the word bi-vocational, it is generally taken to mean a person who serves a congregation but also maintains secular employment–generally because the congregation can’t afford a full-time pastor.

What I mean when I say bi-vocational is a person who maintains secular employment as a means to support his/her ministry. I believe that’s what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote:

4 On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. 5 You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. 6 We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority. 7 Instead, we were like young children among you. Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, 8 so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. 9 Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you (1 Thessalonians 2:4-9 NIV).

The Apostle Paul was a tent-maker and he plied his trade wherever he went in order to support the ministry to which he was called. Yes, he could have asserted his right to be compensated by those to whom he ministered, but he chose otherwise. He was a traveling evangelist, but he wasn’t expecting a love offering wherever he went.

Advantages of Bi-Vocational Ministry

As I reflect on Paul’s life and my own experience over the past five years, I want to point out three advantages of bi-vocational ministry.

Don’t Compromise the Gospel

First, there is the freedom of not compromising the message of the Gospel. Paul says that he is “not trying to please people, but God, who tests our hearts.” I’m not saying that pastors in full-time ministry compromise the Gospel. Please don’t hear that. I’m saying in bi-vocational ministry, the temptation to compromise the Gospel is not present because one is not dependent on the congregation to eat and live indoors.

Let me offer an example, if I may. When I served as a District Superintendent, it was a common task to meet with congregational leadership to discuss pastoral leadership. More than once (a lot more than once) I heard church leadership say, “the pastor works for us.”

Too many congregations see the pastor as an employee. As an employee, he/she is supposed to do what the leadership says. As an employee, the pastor is dependent on the congregation for a livelihood. As an employee, the pastor can be fired. With that in mind, there is the temptation to “give the people what they want” so that I can maintain the security of my position.

I’m sorry, but no! The pastor is not an employee. Congregations need to hear that. Pastor, you are called to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Truth of God’s Word. That means we have to tell people what they don’t want to hear sometimes. We need the freedom to do so to be faithful to the call. Bi-vocational ministry provides the means to that end.

Role-Model

Second, bi-vocational ministry provides the opportunity for the minister to be a role-model for others on a daily basis. I love how Paul says that he did not “put on a mask to cover up…” It becomes really easy for a pastor to put on the pastor mask every day to go out into the secular world. It’s like putting on a clergy collar for the world to see (nothing wrong with a clergy collar), but It can too easily become a role we play instead a definition of who we are. Believe me, this one hits very close to home!

Being in the marketplace in secular employment every day challenges the believer (and especially the pastor) to model the faith in ever more faithful ways. You can’t hide behind the clergy collar when you’re around 8 co-workers who know your short-comings and see them five or six days a week. As Paul told the Thessalonians, “we were delighted with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.”

Evangelism in Truest Sense

Third, bi-vocational ministry puts the minister in the secular world where secular people live. If we want to reach the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we have to be where the people are. That is evangelism in its truest sense.

As a full-time vocational pastor, I spent more time with church people than I did with secular people. Between worship services, staff meetings, board meetings and bible studies, it left little time for engaging with un-churched and de-churched people. There was no time to share the Gospel with the lost (unless one considers folks in the church lost) because most of one’s time is already spoken for (you’re an employee, remember?).

Additionally, because a bi-vocational minister is in the secular world on a daily basis, living where secular people live, it becomes easier to interpret secular thinking and to stay abreast of shifting cultural values and mores. One gets the opportunity to understand why people think like they do and believe what they believe. It helps the minister make the Gospel relevant when the minister understands the mindset of the society and secular people.

A Final Thought

There are probably more advantages to being bi-vocational as a minister of the Gospel. These are just three I’ve thought about this morning reflecting on Paul and my own experience.

I never really saw myself as a bi-vocational minister in this regard. I’ve considered being bi-vocational in the traditional sense. Lord knows there is ample opportunity. I’ve said in recent years that I don’t have time for that. It’s not fair to the congregation because I couldn’t devote enough time to “grow” a church. After all, there’s no such thing as part-time ministry, only part-time pay.

But, I am bi-vocational in that I can work to support the work of the ministry to which I’m called. Right now, I’m called to be in the oil change business and preach in local congregations when asked. That’s what I’ll do for now. You can pay me, or not. I don’t care. If you do, I’ll be grateful and accept your blessing. If you don’t, I’ll thank God for His provision and that I had the chance to share the Gospel so as not “to be a burden to anyone.” That, and I like to eat and live indoors…

Perhaps the Lord is prompting you, Pastor, to reflect on His calling in your life. Is it time for you to become bi-vocational, too?

Until next time, keep looking up…

Praying for the USA…

/ pastorlynnmalone / 1 Comment

Please don’t mistake me for a Christian Nationalist (although some probably will), but I am reminded this morning of the words of the Psalmist:

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
    the people he chose for his inheritance.
13 From heaven the Lord looks down
    and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches
    all who live on earth—
15 he who forms the hearts of all,
    who considers everything they do.

16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
    no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
    despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
    on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death
    and keep them alive in famine.

20 We wait in hope for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice,
    for we trust in his holy name.
22 May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
    even as we put our hope in you. (Psalm 33: 12 – 22 NIV)

Now is not the time for followers of Jesus to point fingers and ascribe blame. Now is the time for us to pray.

For my left-leaning friends, President Trump is not Hitler reincarnated and he is not an existential threat to our democracy. Stop saying he is. Please!

For my right-leaning friends, President Trump is not the savior nor the Savior of America. Stop treating him that way. Please!

Rather, as followers of Jesus, let us pray for our nation and our leaders. That’s what we’re instructed to do:

2 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior,… (1 Timothy 2: 1 – 3. NIV)

Here is the question I have for my left-leaning friends: Did you pray for President Trump while he was in office? No? Then, shame on you! Are you praying for him now that someone has attempted to take his life? No? Then, shame on you!

Here is the question for my right-leaning friends: Are you praying for President Biden while he is in office? No? Then, shame on you! Are you praying for him now that the evidence of his cognitive decline is irrefutable? No? Then, shame on you!

Yes, I have my political biases and my political preferences. I will express those (although I’m guilty of occasionally expressing otherwise–yes, I repent) on Election Day at the ballot box. It makes us good citizens when we do.

In the meantime, I’ll recognize that President Trump was God’s man for God’s time (for whatever reason he was) while he was President, and I will treat him with the respect he deserves. I’ll also recognize that President Biden is God’s man for God’s time (for whatever reason he is) while he is President, and I will treat him with the respect he deserves. And, I will pray for them both…and their families…and our nation.

July 13, 2024 was a sad day in American history regardless whether we are right-leaning or left-leaning. Let us not, as those who say we follow Jesus, add to the division in our nation by joining in the expression of hateful political rhetoric (though both President Trump and President Biden make it so easy to do so). It is unbecoming of a disciple of Jesus, and it gives the Church a black eye when we do (guilty again–and again, I repent).

So, my rant is over. Will you join me in repentance? More importantly, will you join me in prayer?

Until next time, keep looking up…

The Coming Storm…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

I heard some bad news this week that makes me think it really is only the first winds of the storm that is blowing on the horizon for the institutional church, especially as it presents itself in the local congregation.

What was the news? I heard that this past Sunday was a pastor’s last Sunday at one local congregation because the congregation could no longer pay the pastor’s salary. I hated to hear the news, especially for the pastor who was faithful to lead the congregation through the disaffiliation process of the United Methodist Church.

I don’t know all the details of the transition. I know it was, by all United Methodist standards, a successful church plant a decade ago. The departing pastor was not the founding pastor (that might have a little to do with it), but the fact that the local congregation could no longer pay the salary points to a financial reality that many congregations will be facing in the future.

The news got me to thinking about some of the challenges that the institutional church will face in the future…there really is a storm on the horizon.

Challenges on the Horizon

Inflation

Thanks to Covid and bad national economic policy, everything costs more these days. That means people have less money to give to the church, but it also means that utilities, sound equipment, cleaning supplies, office supplies…literally everything costs more.

When people are unable to give to the church because their personal expenses have gone up, the local congregation can’t keep up with its own expenses. Programs have to be cut, personnel costs have to be cut. The model for the local congregation is unsustainable.

Real Estate

What inflation has done to everything else, it’s also done to real estate. I suppose this challenge could have been included in inflation above, but I think it stands on its own. Real estate prices have risen disproportionately to almost everything else, which is good for homeowners, but not really good for anyone else.

Real estate becomes a problem for the institutional church when it comes to the prospect of church planting. How can a “traditional church model” of church plant afford real estate in today’s market? Or, how can a “growing” congregation afford to either build or relocate in today’s real estate environment?

Not to mention building restrictions that many municipalities are placing on property use. Municipalities lose millions of dollars of revenue when property is used for a church. Those municipalities aren’t liking that much anymore and planning and zoning commissions are limiting the number of churches in some areas…because the municipalities need more revenue, too.

Salaries

Salaries will definitely be a challenge for local congregations in the future. Well, the future is now! Thus, the example given above. The local congregation could no longer afford the pastor’s salary. So it will continue to be as inflation takes its toll on the economy.

Even large congregations will find themselves scaling back on personnel in order to sustain the cost of keeping the doors open. Let’s face it, there are a lot of pastors and church staff who weren’t making a living wage anyway. It’s only going to get worse.

Congregations will begin (have begun) the transition to bi-vocational ministers, and pastors will have to transition to bi-vocational because, I know for a fact, that pastors like to eat and live indoors. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with that transition. It might even be for the best—it puts the pastor out into the community with an opportunity to meet un-churched, de-churched and un-saved people instead of spending all of their time “tending the sheep” inside the church walls, or sitting eight hours a day in the office because the Church Council demands their “availability” to the congregation.

Honestly, though, when you start cutting church staff, programs suffer and today’s institutional church model is built around attractional programming.

Clergy Shortage

Okay, so even if a congregation can afford to pay a full-time pastor, where are they going to find said pastor? (For more on the clergy shortage, click here and here).

There is no longer a functional ministry pipeline from which to choose trained professional clergy.  Number one, people aren’t going to seminary in the numbers they were in the past. Seriously, they finally figured out that spending all that money for a seminary education wasn’t paying off.

Many people who feel called to ministry have figured out they can fulfill their calling in the non-profit world and get paid more for it. I know it’s not all about the money in ministry, but pastor’s still have to provide for their families.

Additionally, traditional denominations have provided a pipeline and pastors would “rise up through the ranks” to fill pastoral roles. Well, there are no ranks anymore in many denominations. Many denominations find themselves in “warm body syndrome” where they just need someone/anyone to fill a pastoral position. Yeah, the Holy Spirit is really in that process.

Another issue affecting the clergy shortage is the fact that the majority of clergy are near or past retirement age. I know! Retirement is not a biblical concept, but most retired clergy don’t have the energy and don’t really want to invest the time it takes to “grow” a church. Yeah, I’m probably just speaking for myself, but I’ve also heard it from other retired clergy who have been asked about serving full-time or even planting a church.

The clergy shortage makes the traditional institutional church model unsustainable.

Shrinking Attendance

Rev. Max Edwards, General Superintendent of the Evangelical Methodist Church, posted a link to an article in his weekly newsletter that is really eye-opening. Church attendance has been falling for generations and according to the article, shrinking attendance has costs far beyond the ability of a congregation to stay open.

Also, the article states that since the 1990’s, 40 million people have stopped going to church—that’s one in eight Americans, and in 2021, membership in houses of worship fell below the majority for the first time.

Yeah, I know! Covid, right? Covid only accelerated the decline. Most churches haven’t recovered their pre-Covid attendance. Most churches never will. Shrinking attendance makes the traditional model of the institutional unsustainable.

Disciple-Making Process

Okay, as one who served as a full-time pastor, I assume my share of responsibility for this one, but the local congregation has not been very good at making disciples. Most congregations don’t have an intentional disciple-making process.

For generations, it has been about programming for the local church and for the passing on of information as if we can just get enough information we can experience transformation.

Yeah, well it doesn’t work that way. Information does not equal transformation. Only the Holy Spirit can transform a person and I suspect we were so busy planning programming and designing ways to keep people’s attention that we forgot to leave room for the Holy Spirit.

Heck, we didn’t even disciple our children and that’s the very place we should excel most. Young people have left the traditional church in droves and they’re not coming back!

Unless and until a local congregation implements an intentional disciple-making process—a process whereby a person grows up in faith and holiness to engage their own gifts for ministry in service to the Kingdom—the local church/traditional brick-and-mortar model is going to be unsustainable.

The House Church

I think there is a legitimate answer for the challenges facing the local church and the institutional church. I don’t want to talk about a bunch of problems without offering some solutions.

I am evermore convinced that the answer to the “church” problem is to go back to the future—The House Church.

I don’t intend to lay out the Biblical justification for house churches in this blog (for that you can click here, here, here, here and here). But, let me offer some reasons that I believe the house church is the harbor in the storm facing the institutional church.

Here are some reasons I believe this:

No Professionals Needed

You don’t need a “professional” pastor in a house church. All that is required is for a person to exercise his/her gifts for ministry.

There is no need for a salary because it is not a “job” or means of support for anyone who is part of a house church. The ministry pipeline already exists in every house church. The members of the house church are the ministers—each one engaging in the use of their own giftedness supporting the body of Christ.

No need for M.Div’s or theological schools and no student loans to have to pay back. The primary expense of any local congregation is cut in half when no “professional” pastor is needed.

Real Estate

In a house church, real estate is not an issue. You already own it (unless you rent, of course). What’s more, the government can’t shut you down in the next pandemic. The cost of maintaining a place of worship no longer exists because you’re going to live in your house anyway.

It’s More Evangelistic

Trust me, it’s easier to invite someone to your house for a Bible study than it is to invite them to a church building for worship.

With a house church, you can meet in the local coffee shop (a house church doesn’t necessarily limit one to a literal house) for prayer. Someone will see you praying and it will open the door for a conversation with someone present who desires/needs prayer.

Honestly, many existing local congregations, including many who disaffiliated from the UMC, are really Sunday school classes that own property. What if all those “Sunday school classes” transitioned to house churches and sold their property and gave all the money to missions—of course, that would have to mean the local congregation had a focus and passion for missions, but that’s for another blog.

The church becomes infinitely more accessible under a house church model in today’s culture—more accessible than a traditional church ever will be again.

Financially Sustainable

A house church doesn’t need gazillions of dollars to sustain itself. There are no salaries, no church staff, no buildings to maintain, no church vans or buses to pay for. The only need for money comes in the resourcing, and there are abundant resources for house churches whose costs can easily be shared by those attending.

Quickly Scalable

Because house churches are not dependent on large investments of money, and because they are only limited by the real estate that its members already own, it becomes simple to multiply and replicate.

So, your house can only accommodate 20 people? Cool! Start another house church!

Intergenerational

The church was/is meant to be intergenerational. The house church is specifically meant to be so. Yes, everyone stays together. Everyone prays together. Everyone sings together. Everyone studies together.

This is the absolute best example of disciple making for your children. We pray with our children and for our children…and they pray for and with us. That’s the way it is supposed to be.

We were never supposed to send our children to children’s church or our youth to youth services. Worship is meant to be intergenerational.

Tell me, really? Why does the “traditional” church model have “youth ministry” at 5 p.m. on Sunday, yet they don’t have any ministries at the same time for adults…or children…or anyone else?

And, really? We want the church to do for our children and youth what the Bible says parents are supposed to do? The home is now, and has always been, the greatest incubator of faith.

Like Hurricane Beryl in the Gulf of Mexico this past week, all the signs pointed to the storm that was coming. The signs are on the horizon for the local church. How will local congregations (and the institutional church) prepare for the storm ahead?

An Invitation

May I invite you to pray with me? Pray for the many local congregations that are struggling with their future. They have looked toward the horizon and see the storm brewing but are unsure how to prepare. Pray for the Holy Spirit to lead them into His future for them…and pray that the congregation will be open to the Holy Spirit.

Also, pray with me about The House Church Movement. The House Church Movement was a vision the Lord gave me back in 2020, but it has been on the back burner (I rather called it “paused”) for a couple of years. I am praying to discern if now is the time to re-launch the Movement.

I would love to hear your thoughts. Please comment below, and if you live in the northwest Louisiana area and would be interested in being a part of a re-launch, I’d love to hear that, too. All it takes is two:

20 “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18: 20 NIV)

Until next time, keep looking up…