Tuesday's Catch: 'Lausanne Congress concludes with call to 'collective responsibility' for the Great Commission' And More

Lausanne Congress concludes with call to 'collective responsibility' for the Great Commission
"The Great Commission is everyone's responsibility," Dr Michael Oh told thousands of Christians at the end of the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Incheon, South Korea, on Saturday. Speaking during the closing ceremony of Lausanne 4, Dr Oh warned against dismissing the Great Commission as "not my business", and said that it must be seen as the Church's "collective responsibility" and "everyone's business". "The Great Commission is everyone's responsibility. The aggregate result of Christians doing their own thing in their own place - even faithfully - has left us with the trajectory that, year after year, there are more people in the world who have never heard the Gospel than the year before," he said.

New Anglican Arctic Radio Has ‘Hearts Leaping for Joy’
A new North/South partnership is making waves in the Arctic — sound waves. Facebook carried this message from Frobisher Bay on September 19....

In warning for Trump, evangelical Christian leaders urge 'biblical principles' on immigration
The letter had cautions for both parties, but its authors appeared especially frustrated by the Trump campaign's recent rhetoric regarding immigration policy and immigrants.

Donald Trump Posts ‘Prayer to Saint Michael’ in Observance of the Feast of the Archangels
“Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle,” former President Donald Trump posted to X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday. “Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.” The post, which was accompanied by an image of 17th century artist Guido Reni’s painting depicting the Archangel Michael standing on the head of Satan, was the quotation of the Roman Catholic “Prayer to Saint Michael.”

I seriously doubt that Trump himself came up with the idea of posting a prayer to St. Michael on Michaelmas on X. It was most likely suggested by someone in the Trump campaign and is directed at Catholic voters. Mainline Protestants and evangelical Protestants do not pray to saints or angels. Scripture recognizes only one mediator--Jesus Christ, and condemns the worship of angels which includes praying to them.

U.S. Evangelicals Want to Engage Culture More Than They Actually Do
Although evangelicals say they want to engage culture, they often bypass the opportunities in front of them to do so.

'I'm An Evangelical, But I Rarely Go to Church'
This is a phenomenon that occurred entirely between 2008 and 2020. If you look at the last couple of years of data, it’s almost exactly the same. The percentages deviate by just a single point in either direction. The rise of the low attending evangelical has abated, at least for now.

Do NOT Make These Five Financial Mistakes in Your Church 

These five financial mistakes are common in churches of every size. Thom and Sam discuss five “don'ts” of church finance. Correcting these mistakes often yields immediate and measurable results in the financial health of the congregation.

4 Idols That Kill Leadership Development
Leaders have been given the holy responsibility of leadership development — that is, equipping others. Just as in other areas of our lives, our idolatry, our longing for something other than God, keeps us from obeying Him with glad hearts. A leader’s idolatry will prevent a leader from the holy task of leadership development.

Dear Pastor, Sermon Prep Is Worth the Effort
The indispensable requirement for consistent fruitfulness and fulfillment in ministry is schedule control. The most important issue to decide is what you will invest your time in, because that reveals what your actual priorities are in practice, irrespective of your theoretical stance. We need to thoughtfully and prayerfully revisit our time commitments, reestablish what really matters most in our lives and ministries, and then make the necessary changes and stick to them.

7 Ways to Preach Christ From the Old Testament
It doesn't take long in a conversation about preaching Christ before someone says "Are you just trying to find Jesus under every rock?" Arguably, the bigger problem in Evangelical preaching is finding no Christ where it turns out Christ was the rock (1 Cor 10:4). Nonetheless, it's a good question at the root: how do we preach Christ in the Old Testament? But there's a bigger problem at stake.

Contemporary Christian Is One of Music’s Fastest-Growing Genres. Why?
What should we make of this trend? What factors might explain this seemingly counterintuitive rise of contemporary Christian music (CCM) in a secular age? Here are four initial thoughts.

Infrastructure: The Foundation of Your Small Group Ministry
As you start to add groups to your church, a common problem is keeping them. Groups left on their own will soon fade away. Without the proper guidance, groups will become social communities, and without purpose people will quit coming because there are more than enough social communities pulling at us. Let’s go through some common questions on infrastructure to help us make “infrastructure” a strategic word instead of a task word.