| From | Focus on the Family <[email protected]> |
| Subject | The Daily Citizen Morning Headlines |
| Date | November 18, 2022 4:15 PM |
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The Daily Citizen Morning Headlines
Friday November 18, 2022
Good Morning!
It’s Friday. There’s been a lot of frustrating developments this week. Let’s start with some good news, which Charles Spurgeon once likened to “cold waters” for a “thirsty soul.”
1. What Candace Cameron Bure Can Teach All of Us About Bold Faith and Purposeful Parenting
From the
[link removed]
Daily Citizen:
If you’ve been watching the news recently, then you know that Candance Cameron Bure has once again been targeted by the Left, who cannot tolerate the religious values she stands for. Her continued professional success and ability to rise above cancel culture’s grasping claws has the woke Left hyperventilating. There are two important lessons that Christians can learn from Bure about having bold faith and purposeful parenting.
It’s well-known that Bure left Hallmark Channel this past April and joined Great American Family (formerly GAC Family). She
[link removed]
said at the time that she was excited “to develop heartwarming family and faith-filled programming.”
In a recent
[link removed]
interview with the Wall Street Journal, Bure said one of the things that attracted her to Great American Family was that the people behind the channel are “Christians that love the Lord and want to promote faith programming and good family entertainment.”
The comment generating all of the negative feedback is shockingly benign. When asked if Bure thought Great American Family would have same-sex couples as leads in their programming, she said, “I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core.”
Several celebrities tried to tarnish her character by publicly
[link removed]
attacking her for those remarks. She was called a bigot and a hypocrite and told her comments were rude and hurtful to an entire community of people.
The President of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLADD) even released an official
[link removed]
statement condemning Bure. The statement called her actions irresponsible, hurtful and out of sync with a majority of people of faith.
Bure’s daughter came to her defense on an Instagram post in an incredibly touching way.
She wrote, “I love you
[link removed]
@candacecbure for continuously choosing Christ before all. The media is an absolutely VILE space for negativity and I applaud you every time for how you handle yourself with the utmost grace. As they continuously twist the narrative to beat down on the Kingdom, you stand firm in faith and never let others dim your light for Him ... The Lord shines through you time and time again. The battle is HIS. ❤️”
The first important lesson Bure can teach all of us is that we should never, ever, ever, EVER apologize for living out our faith.
Bure is boldly proclaiming THE TRUTH to a secular world. She doesn’t try to tone it down so she will be accepted.
Her initial comment wasn’t even controversial. She said that she thinks Great American Family will have traditional families at its core. How is that controversial?!
The Left pounced on her remarks to try to make an example out of her. Instead, they gave her a platform to share biblical truth about God’s love for all people and the true reason for the Christmas season — God’s hope for all the world. When the enemy tries to tear you down, use it as a platform to proclaim God’s truth!
The second important lesson we can learn from Bure is that we must demonstrate an authentic commitment to living out our faith in front of our children.
I’m a mother, and I have to say, I was so touched by the moving defense Bure’s daughter, Natasha, gave in response to the haters. Bure’s daughter knew her mother’s faith was genuine. Natasha called it out when she said she loved her mother for continuously choosing Christ before all.
Wow. What a testament to how Bure lives behind closed doors. Her faith is real.
Natasha also thanked her mom for standing firm in her faith, being grace-filled, and shining for the Lord. Then Natasha demonstrated her own Christian maturity by reminding her mom (and all of us) that the battle is the Lord’s. There is no way a 24-year-old daughter would write like that about her mother if it weren’t based on reality. As parents, the very best thing we can ever do for our kids is model an authentic and growing relationship with Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of our lives.
Thank you, Candance Cameron Bure, for your boldness in your beliefs and for purposefully parenting with authentic faith. It’s an excellent example for all of us.
2.Redefining Marriage is Clearly Not Conservative
Dr. Al Mohler
[link removed]
opines:
The big moral message for evangelical Christians is understanding that the culture is moving away from us faster than we might even have recognized. We are now in a position, this is a very sobering realization, but we've had a couple of enormously sobering realizations in recent weeks. The first of them has to do with the failure of just about every pro-life effort that was on the ballot in the midterm elections just a matter of days ago. Now, the second shoe has dropped, and this one is on same-sex marriage and the big revelation is that 12 Republican senators voted for this bill. And that means that 12 Republican senators have basically looked at the Republican base and said, "We really don't care about your stated convictions about marriage because we see the way of the political
future."
That also gets to something else. When you look at Senator Portman, I discuss the fact that what you have there is a family situation, what I call the Republican version of moral relativism. A relative comes out of the closet. When it comes to Roy Blunt, very interesting, or even others who on this list might not face voters again, the big question is, did they vote because they believe that history is going to vindicate them? Is history supposedly moving in the direction where in a moderate or short amount of time people are going to look at that vote and say, "You know, voting for the codification of same-sex marriage, that was the right thing to do"?
Now, here's where I want to warn Christians. The moment we enter into that calculation, we give the store away in moral terms. The moment we decide, "You know, I want to look good in the eyes of my descendants on an issue like this," and we abandon biblical conviction, we compromise moral conviction in order to put ourselves, at least we might believe, in a better moral light or political light as judged by our descendants and generations beyond us. Well, the moment you do that, you give away any current moral responsibility. You also, and this is what Christians and conservatives must recognize, this is central to what defines conservatism, you are also giving away your patrimony. Because the moral continuity that conservatives are supposed to prize means that we as Christians want to
hold to the very same doctrine and the very same morality as the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ in the first century when it comes to the issues on which scripture is abundantly clear.
3. Pelosi stepping down from leadership role following midterm losses that cost Dems House majority
“For me, the hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic Caucus that I so deeply respect, and I’m grateful that so many are ready and willing to shoulder this awesome responsibility,” Mrs. Pelosi told lawmakers.
More from the
[link removed]
Washington Times .
4.Georgia Judge Strikes Down Heartbeat Abortion Ban in Controversial Ruling; State to Appeal
From the
[link removed]
Daily Citizen:
The fight for life in Georgia has hit another legal snag in its on-again, off-again legal efforts to defend its 2019 heartbeat abortion ban known as the
[link removed]
Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act (Life Act). A state court trial judge just struck down major portions of the act.
And the reasons Georgia Superior Court Judge Robert C.I. McBurney gave as justification for his ruling have legal experts scratching their heads.
First, some context.
When the Georgia legislature passed the LIFE Act in 2019, it was immediately challenged in federal court as unconstitutional under federal law because of Roe v. Wade. A federal district court judge agreed and issued an injunction preventing Georgia from enforcing the law.
Georgia appealed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the lower court decision. While that appeal was pending, however, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case involving a Mississippi 15-week abortion ban in which that state asked the high court to revisit and overturn Roe v. Wade.
Because of the Supreme Court’s decision to take up the Dobbs appeal, the 11th Circuit put the Georgia case on hold. After the high court overturned Roe in its Dobbs decision last June, a three-judge panel of 11th Circuit judges then issued a
[link removed]
decision upholding the Georgia law.
Because of the 11th Circuit’s decision, the LIFE Act went into effect in July, saving babies in the process.
5. New San Francisco Guaranteed Income Program Offers Nearly 100 Gender Options
From the
[link removed]
Daily Citizen:
San Francisco Mayor London Breed has
[link removed]
just announced a program guaranteeing a salary for low-income non-white “trans” citizens in the City by the Bay.
The
[link removed]
GIFT program (Guaranteed Income for Trans People) provides for economically marginalized transgender people with an unrestricted guaranteed income of $1,200 per month for up to 18 months. The Daily Citizen reported
[link removed]
earlier this yea r on other California cities offering similar treasures. And The New York Times
[link removed]
explains that such socialist programs are spreading across the nation.
The
[link removed]
program’s website demonstrates this offering is an absolute catch-all, spaghetti tangle of politically-correct intersectionality. It is honestly cartoonish.
The program will prioritize enrollment of Transgender, Non-Binary, Gender Non-Conforming, and Intersex (TGI) people who are also Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC), experiencing homelessness, living with disabilities and chronic illnesses, youth and elders, monolingual Spanish-speakers, and those who are legally vulnerable such as TGI people who are undocumented, engaging in survival sex trades, or are formerly incarcerated.
Yes, “survival sex trades” is woke-speak for prostitution.
But what is most stunning about this program is the official application offers applicants nearly a hundred different gender and seventeen different preferred pronoun choices. The nearly endless options go on for
[link removed]
multiple pages on the application.
Most of these are supposed “genders” that no one has ever heard of before like “Gender Outlaw,” “Neutrosis,” “Novigender,” “Maverique,” “Muxe,” “Ashtime,” Tida wena,” “Winkte,” and “Travesti” just to name a few. Do these describe anyone you know of have ever heard of?
6.Opioid Epidemic Continues to Wreak Havoc
According to the CDC, nearly 78,000 people in the U.S. died due to an opioid overdose in a 12-month period ending this past May. More than 103,000 deaths have been attributed to drug overdoses during that same period.
More from the
[link removed]
Deseret News .
7. Pastor, don’t underestimate your influence
Writing in
[link removed]
World Magazine , Andrew Walker suggests pastors make a big impact in their communities and shouldn’t lose heart. In fact, a new report confirms this perspective. It’s called “Neighborly Faith.”
“The report is a vindication of the New Testament’s teaching on ecclesiology,” Walker writes. “The fact that pastors are influential reflects God’s design for why He gave us pastors to begin with — for the building up of righteousness and sanctification.”
“Pastors, we know you all are weary and worn down from the last few years of cultural chaos. But we need you to equip us and administer the undiluted Word of God, not simply for the sake of our own obedience, but for the cause of loving our neighbor and our nation as well.”
8. Is Narcissism the Problem Behind Pastors’ Moral Failures?
Charles DeGroat has written a book titled, “When Narcissism Comes to Church,” and suggests the ministry seems to attract people with big egos. Writing for the
[link removed]
Gospel Coalition , Dan Doriani suggests it’s not so simple:
DeGroat’s work on narcissism is very helpful for people who live with narcissists or contend with narcissistic leaders. Still, we may question his claims about the prevalence of narcissism in the church. If most people who claim to speak for God have narcissistic tendencies, does that mean most prophets, apostles, teachers, and preachers in history were narcissists (
[link removed]
Eph. 4:11-16 )? When DeGroat approves a colleague who thinks one must be a narcissist to want to “speak on behalf of God,” he questions the motives of all preachers and almost makes “godly preacher” an oxymoron.
He concludes:
Yes, some pastors are unhealthy narcissists, but pastoral ministry has other dangers. Some young pastors constantly question themselves. In recent self-evaluations at the seminary where I lead, ministry candidates seem more likely to shun power and spotlights than to seize them. Like many pastors over the centuries, they need to find fortitude in God. For that, the confident thought, I am God’s ambassador (
[link removed]
2 Cor. 5:20 ) seems correct and essential.
9. Power of romantic getaways: 42% of couples found their lost spark, fell back in love on vacation
It’s settled. Go on vacation!
More from
[link removed]
Study Finds .
10. 6 of the Most Beautiful Houses of Worship in America
From the
[link removed]
Daily Citizen:
Houses of worship have long played a central role in American life, not only spiritually but also geographically. Whole towns have been built around churches, and their steeples have historically served as both physical landmarks and symbols of a town and country’s priorities.
As Christians, we can worship the Lord anywhere, of course, and are actually commanded to worship Him everywhere in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Over the years, I’ve had pastors who regularly remind the congregation that the “Church” is not a building — but a people on the move, out and about spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ.
But physical buildings and related sites can provide a practical and inspirational lift to our worship experience. They also say something about us.
It was Winston Churchill who famously quipped, “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.”
Admittedly, I’ve been a bit disheartened at recent church construction projects. Many seem to lack creativity, more closely resembling banks and libraries than soaring and dramatic houses of worship befitting our mighty and miraculous God. I understand the cost and budgetary restrictions, especially for churches of a certain size. But could it be that bland architecture is helping to contribute to a culture where too many churches are similarly conforming to the ways of the world? Instead of lifting our eyes to Him, are we trying to lower Him to us?
Where are the most beautiful places of worship in the United States today? If by “beautiful” we mean where we connect with one another to praise the Lord and serve our local communities, our home churches must be at the top of the list.
But aesthetically speaking, where are the most beautiful and magnificent structures across the country? Sadly, some of these churches are now under the auspices of denominations that have lost their way. Nevertheless, their architecture rightly reflects the might and majesty of Jesus Christ.
[link removed]
Give Now to help us continue providing culturally relevant information with a Christian worldview that’s easily accessible.
Focus on the Family
8605 Explorer Dr.,
Colorado Springs, CO 80920
1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459)
[link removed]
Change My Preferences or
[link removed]
Unsubscribe All if you do not want to receive this e-newsletter or any future emails from Focus on the Family. (c) 2022 Focus on the Family. Source Code:
855206
[link removed]
Click here to receive the Daily Citizen Morning Headlines every weekday!
This email was sent by: Focus on the Family
8605 Explorer Dr Colorado Springs, CO, 80920-1051, US
[link removed]
Update Profile
Friday November 18, 2022
Good Morning!
It’s Friday. There’s been a lot of frustrating developments this week. Let’s start with some good news, which Charles Spurgeon once likened to “cold waters” for a “thirsty soul.”
1. What Candace Cameron Bure Can Teach All of Us About Bold Faith and Purposeful Parenting
From the
[link removed]
Daily Citizen:
If you’ve been watching the news recently, then you know that Candance Cameron Bure has once again been targeted by the Left, who cannot tolerate the religious values she stands for. Her continued professional success and ability to rise above cancel culture’s grasping claws has the woke Left hyperventilating. There are two important lessons that Christians can learn from Bure about having bold faith and purposeful parenting.
It’s well-known that Bure left Hallmark Channel this past April and joined Great American Family (formerly GAC Family). She
[link removed]
said at the time that she was excited “to develop heartwarming family and faith-filled programming.”
In a recent
[link removed]
interview with the Wall Street Journal, Bure said one of the things that attracted her to Great American Family was that the people behind the channel are “Christians that love the Lord and want to promote faith programming and good family entertainment.”
The comment generating all of the negative feedback is shockingly benign. When asked if Bure thought Great American Family would have same-sex couples as leads in their programming, she said, “I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core.”
Several celebrities tried to tarnish her character by publicly
[link removed]
attacking her for those remarks. She was called a bigot and a hypocrite and told her comments were rude and hurtful to an entire community of people.
The President of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLADD) even released an official
[link removed]
statement condemning Bure. The statement called her actions irresponsible, hurtful and out of sync with a majority of people of faith.
Bure’s daughter came to her defense on an Instagram post in an incredibly touching way.
She wrote, “I love you
[link removed]
@candacecbure for continuously choosing Christ before all. The media is an absolutely VILE space for negativity and I applaud you every time for how you handle yourself with the utmost grace. As they continuously twist the narrative to beat down on the Kingdom, you stand firm in faith and never let others dim your light for Him ... The Lord shines through you time and time again. The battle is HIS. ❤️”
The first important lesson Bure can teach all of us is that we should never, ever, ever, EVER apologize for living out our faith.
Bure is boldly proclaiming THE TRUTH to a secular world. She doesn’t try to tone it down so she will be accepted.
Her initial comment wasn’t even controversial. She said that she thinks Great American Family will have traditional families at its core. How is that controversial?!
The Left pounced on her remarks to try to make an example out of her. Instead, they gave her a platform to share biblical truth about God’s love for all people and the true reason for the Christmas season — God’s hope for all the world. When the enemy tries to tear you down, use it as a platform to proclaim God’s truth!
The second important lesson we can learn from Bure is that we must demonstrate an authentic commitment to living out our faith in front of our children.
I’m a mother, and I have to say, I was so touched by the moving defense Bure’s daughter, Natasha, gave in response to the haters. Bure’s daughter knew her mother’s faith was genuine. Natasha called it out when she said she loved her mother for continuously choosing Christ before all.
Wow. What a testament to how Bure lives behind closed doors. Her faith is real.
Natasha also thanked her mom for standing firm in her faith, being grace-filled, and shining for the Lord. Then Natasha demonstrated her own Christian maturity by reminding her mom (and all of us) that the battle is the Lord’s. There is no way a 24-year-old daughter would write like that about her mother if it weren’t based on reality. As parents, the very best thing we can ever do for our kids is model an authentic and growing relationship with Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of our lives.
Thank you, Candance Cameron Bure, for your boldness in your beliefs and for purposefully parenting with authentic faith. It’s an excellent example for all of us.
2.Redefining Marriage is Clearly Not Conservative
Dr. Al Mohler
[link removed]
opines:
The big moral message for evangelical Christians is understanding that the culture is moving away from us faster than we might even have recognized. We are now in a position, this is a very sobering realization, but we've had a couple of enormously sobering realizations in recent weeks. The first of them has to do with the failure of just about every pro-life effort that was on the ballot in the midterm elections just a matter of days ago. Now, the second shoe has dropped, and this one is on same-sex marriage and the big revelation is that 12 Republican senators voted for this bill. And that means that 12 Republican senators have basically looked at the Republican base and said, "We really don't care about your stated convictions about marriage because we see the way of the political
future."
That also gets to something else. When you look at Senator Portman, I discuss the fact that what you have there is a family situation, what I call the Republican version of moral relativism. A relative comes out of the closet. When it comes to Roy Blunt, very interesting, or even others who on this list might not face voters again, the big question is, did they vote because they believe that history is going to vindicate them? Is history supposedly moving in the direction where in a moderate or short amount of time people are going to look at that vote and say, "You know, voting for the codification of same-sex marriage, that was the right thing to do"?
Now, here's where I want to warn Christians. The moment we enter into that calculation, we give the store away in moral terms. The moment we decide, "You know, I want to look good in the eyes of my descendants on an issue like this," and we abandon biblical conviction, we compromise moral conviction in order to put ourselves, at least we might believe, in a better moral light or political light as judged by our descendants and generations beyond us. Well, the moment you do that, you give away any current moral responsibility. You also, and this is what Christians and conservatives must recognize, this is central to what defines conservatism, you are also giving away your patrimony. Because the moral continuity that conservatives are supposed to prize means that we as Christians want to
hold to the very same doctrine and the very same morality as the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ in the first century when it comes to the issues on which scripture is abundantly clear.
3. Pelosi stepping down from leadership role following midterm losses that cost Dems House majority
“For me, the hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic Caucus that I so deeply respect, and I’m grateful that so many are ready and willing to shoulder this awesome responsibility,” Mrs. Pelosi told lawmakers.
More from the
[link removed]
Washington Times .
4.Georgia Judge Strikes Down Heartbeat Abortion Ban in Controversial Ruling; State to Appeal
From the
[link removed]
Daily Citizen:
The fight for life in Georgia has hit another legal snag in its on-again, off-again legal efforts to defend its 2019 heartbeat abortion ban known as the
[link removed]
Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act (Life Act). A state court trial judge just struck down major portions of the act.
And the reasons Georgia Superior Court Judge Robert C.I. McBurney gave as justification for his ruling have legal experts scratching their heads.
First, some context.
When the Georgia legislature passed the LIFE Act in 2019, it was immediately challenged in federal court as unconstitutional under federal law because of Roe v. Wade. A federal district court judge agreed and issued an injunction preventing Georgia from enforcing the law.
Georgia appealed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the lower court decision. While that appeal was pending, however, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case involving a Mississippi 15-week abortion ban in which that state asked the high court to revisit and overturn Roe v. Wade.
Because of the Supreme Court’s decision to take up the Dobbs appeal, the 11th Circuit put the Georgia case on hold. After the high court overturned Roe in its Dobbs decision last June, a three-judge panel of 11th Circuit judges then issued a
[link removed]
decision upholding the Georgia law.
Because of the 11th Circuit’s decision, the LIFE Act went into effect in July, saving babies in the process.
5. New San Francisco Guaranteed Income Program Offers Nearly 100 Gender Options
From the
[link removed]
Daily Citizen:
San Francisco Mayor London Breed has
[link removed]
just announced a program guaranteeing a salary for low-income non-white “trans” citizens in the City by the Bay.
The
[link removed]
GIFT program (Guaranteed Income for Trans People) provides for economically marginalized transgender people with an unrestricted guaranteed income of $1,200 per month for up to 18 months. The Daily Citizen reported
[link removed]
earlier this yea r on other California cities offering similar treasures. And The New York Times
[link removed]
explains that such socialist programs are spreading across the nation.
The
[link removed]
program’s website demonstrates this offering is an absolute catch-all, spaghetti tangle of politically-correct intersectionality. It is honestly cartoonish.
The program will prioritize enrollment of Transgender, Non-Binary, Gender Non-Conforming, and Intersex (TGI) people who are also Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC), experiencing homelessness, living with disabilities and chronic illnesses, youth and elders, monolingual Spanish-speakers, and those who are legally vulnerable such as TGI people who are undocumented, engaging in survival sex trades, or are formerly incarcerated.
Yes, “survival sex trades” is woke-speak for prostitution.
But what is most stunning about this program is the official application offers applicants nearly a hundred different gender and seventeen different preferred pronoun choices. The nearly endless options go on for
[link removed]
multiple pages on the application.
Most of these are supposed “genders” that no one has ever heard of before like “Gender Outlaw,” “Neutrosis,” “Novigender,” “Maverique,” “Muxe,” “Ashtime,” Tida wena,” “Winkte,” and “Travesti” just to name a few. Do these describe anyone you know of have ever heard of?
6.Opioid Epidemic Continues to Wreak Havoc
According to the CDC, nearly 78,000 people in the U.S. died due to an opioid overdose in a 12-month period ending this past May. More than 103,000 deaths have been attributed to drug overdoses during that same period.
More from the
[link removed]
Deseret News .
7. Pastor, don’t underestimate your influence
Writing in
[link removed]
World Magazine , Andrew Walker suggests pastors make a big impact in their communities and shouldn’t lose heart. In fact, a new report confirms this perspective. It’s called “Neighborly Faith.”
“The report is a vindication of the New Testament’s teaching on ecclesiology,” Walker writes. “The fact that pastors are influential reflects God’s design for why He gave us pastors to begin with — for the building up of righteousness and sanctification.”
“Pastors, we know you all are weary and worn down from the last few years of cultural chaos. But we need you to equip us and administer the undiluted Word of God, not simply for the sake of our own obedience, but for the cause of loving our neighbor and our nation as well.”
8. Is Narcissism the Problem Behind Pastors’ Moral Failures?
Charles DeGroat has written a book titled, “When Narcissism Comes to Church,” and suggests the ministry seems to attract people with big egos. Writing for the
[link removed]
Gospel Coalition , Dan Doriani suggests it’s not so simple:
DeGroat’s work on narcissism is very helpful for people who live with narcissists or contend with narcissistic leaders. Still, we may question his claims about the prevalence of narcissism in the church. If most people who claim to speak for God have narcissistic tendencies, does that mean most prophets, apostles, teachers, and preachers in history were narcissists (
[link removed]
Eph. 4:11-16 )? When DeGroat approves a colleague who thinks one must be a narcissist to want to “speak on behalf of God,” he questions the motives of all preachers and almost makes “godly preacher” an oxymoron.
He concludes:
Yes, some pastors are unhealthy narcissists, but pastoral ministry has other dangers. Some young pastors constantly question themselves. In recent self-evaluations at the seminary where I lead, ministry candidates seem more likely to shun power and spotlights than to seize them. Like many pastors over the centuries, they need to find fortitude in God. For that, the confident thought, I am God’s ambassador (
[link removed]
2 Cor. 5:20 ) seems correct and essential.
9. Power of romantic getaways: 42% of couples found their lost spark, fell back in love on vacation
It’s settled. Go on vacation!
More from
[link removed]
Study Finds .
10. 6 of the Most Beautiful Houses of Worship in America
From the
[link removed]
Daily Citizen:
Houses of worship have long played a central role in American life, not only spiritually but also geographically. Whole towns have been built around churches, and their steeples have historically served as both physical landmarks and symbols of a town and country’s priorities.
As Christians, we can worship the Lord anywhere, of course, and are actually commanded to worship Him everywhere in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Over the years, I’ve had pastors who regularly remind the congregation that the “Church” is not a building — but a people on the move, out and about spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ.
But physical buildings and related sites can provide a practical and inspirational lift to our worship experience. They also say something about us.
It was Winston Churchill who famously quipped, “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.”
Admittedly, I’ve been a bit disheartened at recent church construction projects. Many seem to lack creativity, more closely resembling banks and libraries than soaring and dramatic houses of worship befitting our mighty and miraculous God. I understand the cost and budgetary restrictions, especially for churches of a certain size. But could it be that bland architecture is helping to contribute to a culture where too many churches are similarly conforming to the ways of the world? Instead of lifting our eyes to Him, are we trying to lower Him to us?
Where are the most beautiful places of worship in the United States today? If by “beautiful” we mean where we connect with one another to praise the Lord and serve our local communities, our home churches must be at the top of the list.
But aesthetically speaking, where are the most beautiful and magnificent structures across the country? Sadly, some of these churches are now under the auspices of denominations that have lost their way. Nevertheless, their architecture rightly reflects the might and majesty of Jesus Christ.
[link removed]
Give Now to help us continue providing culturally relevant information with a Christian worldview that’s easily accessible.
Focus on the Family
8605 Explorer Dr.,
Colorado Springs, CO 80920
1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459)
[link removed]
Change My Preferences or
[link removed]
Unsubscribe All if you do not want to receive this e-newsletter or any future emails from Focus on the Family. (c) 2022 Focus on the Family. Source Code:
855206
[link removed]
Click here to receive the Daily Citizen Morning Headlines every weekday!
This email was sent by: Focus on the Family
8605 Explorer Dr Colorado Springs, CO, 80920-1051, US
[link removed]
Update Profile
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