A Modern-Day Apostle Paul

It's not everyday you talk to a modern-day Apostle Paul. But that's how I felt after interviewing Joel Stockstill, a youth leader from Baton Rouge, LA.

The guy is absolutely crazy—in a good way.

Back in 2001 when Stockstill took over the youth ministry at Bethany World Prayer Center in Baton Rouge, LA, the church’s 70 kids quickly grew to 1000. But Stockstill wasn’t satisfied.

“Lord this isn’t what you promised us!” he remembers crying out in prayer.

Stockstill wasn’t focused on numbers. He just felt that God had promised him that 20,000 young people would get saved and join the youth group.

They didn’t have a big budget, but the group fell to their knees in prayer. Months later the group ballooned to 2000. By 2006 they had grown to 6000. Today they are past 7000. And the growth shows no signs of stopping. In the week before we spoke 147 kids had been saved. The week before that 262 came to Christ.

I’m sure a lot of people thought Stockstill was crazy when he announced that God wanted to bring in 20,000 young people. They’re probably not thinking that anymore.

And here’s the really crazy part. Stockstill is also a modern-day Job. His voice broke as he told me about how he lost his young wife, Amy, to cancer last year. He’s suffered with major health issues too. He feels that the enemy has targeted his family because of what’s happening at Bethany.

And yet he keeps going, broken yet bold, rocked by tragedy but still ministering to young people with every fiber of his being.

Talking to him put my puny problems in perspective and inspired me to serve God with all my heart. Thanks, Joel.

Pray For Steven Curtis Chapman

This morning as I scanned the CNN headlines, one story caught my eye: "Christian Singer's Daughter Killed by Car."

The Christian singer was Grammy-winning musician, Steven Curtis Chapman. His 5-year-old daughter, Maria Sue, was hit in the driveway of the family’s home yesterday afternoon by an SUV driven by her teenage brother. She was pronounced dead later at the hospital.

Maria Sue was the youngest of three children that the Chapmans adopted from China. They also have biological children. In recent years Chapman had become known as an advocate for international adoption. He and his wife even created Shaohannah's Hope, a foundation and ministry to financially assist thousands of couples in adoption. Those closest to the Chapmans talk of Steven’s love for children, a passion that far exceeds his love of music. Chapman’s recent hit song, "Cinderella," was about the father-daughter relationship.

I can’t imagine what the Chapman family is going through at this point. But I wanted to encourage all the readers of this blog to lift them up in prayer today. Pray for Steven and his wife Mary Beth. And please pray for their teenage son involved in this terrible accident. I’m trusting that God can bring something meaningful out of this dark tragedy.

In lieu of flowers, the Chapmans request any gifts be directed to Shaohannah’s Hope, according to the Steven Curtis Chapman web site. To express condolences click here. By mail, send to P.O. Box 150156 Nashville, TN 37215.

Osteen Out of the Closet ... In a Good Way

I'm not a big fan of Joel Osteen. Not that he needs my support. The popular "smiling preacher" leads the largest church in America, writes best-selling books and has a huge TV ministry. I don’t have a beef with Osteen personally. He seems like a nice guy. It’s just that I find his sermons a little fluffy. To me the brand of faith he promotes seems like Christianity lite. A little biblical truth supplemented with a lot of pop psychology.

Still, I have to give credit where credit is due. And this week I applaud Osteen for a courageous stance he took on the issue of homosexuality.

It all started when son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, Jay and a group of gays and lesbians attended Osteen’s Lakewood Church in an effort to influence the famous pastor’s view on the issue of homosexuality. Jay Bakker is part of a coalition of organizations that advocate for complete acceptance of homosexuality. Osteen welcomed the group and met with them after the service. But according to Lakewood’s spokesman, Donald Iloff, Osteen did not bow to the group’s pressure.

“It was a very cordial, very nice meeting,” Iloff said. “But ultimately through our conversations, we continued to disagree with … Jay's position.”

Additionally, Iloff said that, at the church, they “believe homosexuality is sin” and that “it is disobedience under God.”

Osteen’s stance was important for a couple of reasons. First, the visit to Lakewood was the first stop for the pro-gay group (they’re calling it “The American Family Outing”) in a 6-stop campaign that will move on to other influential churches such as Willow Creek and Saddleback. I’m glad Osteen set the tone by taking a tough stand for biblical truth. It sent a message to the other churches on the gay activists’ list not to be intimidated into compromising their beliefs.

Osteen has been evasive about the controversial issue until now. So in a way the group’s visit occasioned a “coming out” moment for him, a time when Osteen could weigh in on an important topic. And he passed the test. He resisted the pressure.

Osteen may still not be my favorite preacher, but today I’m impressed.

Disturbing Realities

This week, I've been forced to think about some pretty terrible things.

First, in the current issue of the New Man eMagazine, we ran an interview with Peter Holmes, author of Christ Walks Where Evil Reigned. It’s not an easy read. His book (and the interview) is about the 1994 Rwandan Genocide that left approximately 1 million dead. Thinking about the 100-day frenzy of murder, rape and maiming left me sickened and horrified afresh at the truly demonic capabilities of man.

Second, I interviewed Rob Morris, president of Love146, a ministry that rescues children from the seedy sex slavery industry. Rob’s accounts of children snatched from their families and farmed out to pedophiles made me blink back tears.

Just when I thought I was out of the woods, I stumbled upon youtube.com videos on the topic of abortion, created by a Catholic group called “Priests for Life.” The videos detail two popular forms of abortion that reveal the true horror of these “procedures.” The priest in the video does not dramatize, nor does he vent. Rather, in a matter of fact fashion, he simply describes second term abortions, demonstrating the technique, forceps in hand.

Abortion is one of those practices that infuriate me. Yet I have to admit that—until I was confronted by these unsettling videos—it had been a while since I had been filled with righteous indignation at the practice. It was the same with the Rwandan Genocide and the scourge of child sex slavery. These things, while reprehensible, failed to gain my attention until my brothers in Christ awakened my conscience by peeling back the lid I had placed over those disturbing realities.

Though it was tough to think about these things, I’m grateful I did. Sometimes we need to have our realities disturbed by disturbing realities—especially when our actions can form part of the solution. Today I want to give you a challenge that I will also take myself: next time God awakens you to a disturbing reality respond with your heart and your hands. Don’t shrink away from the pain, and when you feel it, step out in faith and take action. You just may be the answer God had in mind.

Scary Preaching

This week I did something terrifying. I preached a sermon.

What's the big deal? You may ask. For all you ministry types out there I realize that preaching isn’t scary. You do it all the time. You feed on it. But as an editor who finds himself more comfortable behind computers than in front of crowds, it took all the courage I could muster.

The topic was chosen for me. My pastor was working through a series on the 10 commandments and needed a week off. He asked me to speak on the ninth commandment—the one about lying. My mind immediately started searching for a lie to get me out of speaking, which I took as a sure indicator that I could use some brushing up on this commandment.

When I got in front of the congregation my mouth went completely dry. My lips started sticking to my teeth. I was having a hard time talking, so I had to stop and ask for some water. After I got some moisture into my mouth (and made it abundantly clear to everyone how nervous I was) things went more smoothly, though I leave it to those listening to make the call on how I did.

In the aftermath I’ve been thinking about the role of preaching in the church. Some think preaching is kind of old school, something we should replace with home meetings, one-on-one teaching and more organic kinds of ministry. “Dialogue” is the word of the day while “preaching” has gathered a host of negative connotations. For many the word calls to mind sweaty televangelists strutting dramatically before gullible followers.

But regardless of the abuse preaching has suffered (or the negative connotations it has) I believe that nothing can take its place. Don’t get me wrong. We need other forms of teaching. We need to study the word. We need to discuss it. But something powerful happens when we preach it. There’s something irreplaceable about good old Acts 2 proclamation. Preaching was crucial to the early church’s growth and I believe it must continue to play a central role as we move forward. Preaching is worth the effort … even if it is kind of scary.