Local newspapers are dying: to the detriment of education, democracy, and the Church

My first job was delivering the Grand Rapids Press {Grand Rapids, MI}.  Five days a week I delivered about 16 papers after school, on Saturday I got up early to deliver the same number, and on Sunday my father drove my brother and I to deliver our whole route together before church {our little sister delivered 6 papers on the other days, but not Sunday morning, that was for the older kids}.  My whole life I have been an avid newspaper reader, maintaining a habit I learned from my grandmother, I read all my old newspapers in order when I return from vacation {Yes, it is emotionally satisfying to do so}.  When I moved here to Franklin, PA in 2012, I discovered pleasantly that our community has an excellent local newspaper: the combined The Derrick / The News-Herald {Oil City - Franklin}.  We are fortunate.  According to this AP news story: Decline in readers, ads leads hundreds of newspapers to fold , over the past fifteen years, 1,400 cities and towns in America have had their local newspaper close up shop, circulation of newspapers in America has declined every year for three decades, and ad revenue has fallen dramatically since 2006 {Meanwhile, Facebook's ad revenue for 2018 was $55 billion}.  It should be obvious that losing our local newspaper would be detrimental to our schools and government, denying us a source of both encouraging and uplifting news and awareness of potential or growing problems.  What may not be readily apparent to everyone is the harm that would befall the Church in Venango County without The Derrick / The News-Herald.
The first significant initiative with which I became involved as the new pastor in town was the Children's Roundtable.  In the fall of 2012, those meetings led to the formation of the exploratory committee which became Mustard Seed Missions.  How did we let people know that we were holding a public meeting about helping those in need in our midst, which several of our current board members {still helping out 7 years later} attended?  We told the local religion reporter and the paper printed an article.  Since its inception, Mustard Seed Missions has received incredible coverage in the newspaper, boosting both our quantity of volunteers and our donations.
The effort to open, and now expand, a homeless shelter in Venango County, now headed up by Emmaus Haven, was also greatly helped by articles in the newspaper highlighting our efforts as a Church community.  In both of these ecumenical ministry efforts, the coverage has been both positive and accurate, a testament to the reporters and editors of our local newspaper.  Would we have been able to successfully launch either of these non-denominational para-church charities without the boost of articles from the newspaper?
In addition, we have a weekly religion page in the Saturday edition of the newspaper, featuring rotating commentary by local ministers, articles about what is happening here in the Church {such as Nicole's Fairy Enchanted Evening fundraiser}, and announcements about upcoming church events and efforts {free of charge, a gift to the community}.
It would be a massive blow to Venango County if The Derrick / The News-Herald were to close at some point in the future.  I know that some of the profit/loss issues facing print media in general are far beyond the control of a small market like this one.  But I also know that there are enough people here in Venango County, enough businesses, enough civic organizations, and yes, enough churches, to keep our excellent newspaper going through our subscriptions, purchases of ads, and cooperation with, and encouragement of, the reports, editors, and staff who publish our local newspaper.  As the AP story says, "Local journalism is dying in plain sight", but it won't here if we offer our ongoing support to one of the freedom's enshrined in our Bill of Rights, our local newspaper.

{As you probably know, my blog has no ads, it earns me no money, nor have I used it before to advocate for any business venture.  Supporting the newspaper of my community, which in the ways I described above, in turn supports the church which I serve, is an exception to my own rule; thank you.}

The Culture War rages on; the Church's role in it is toxic.

The recently concluded United Methodist Church General Conference 2019 is the latest example in a disturbing trend of the politics and viciousness of the Culture Wars finding a home within the Church.  Previously, various Christian leaders, churches, and denominations would at times choose to become involved in various political/cultural issues, attempting by doing so to bolster their viewpoint within society as a whole, but largely remaining outside of the debate itself which was taking place between those advocating positions inspired by a Christian worldview and those coming from a secular viewpoint.  And while fights like that continue to rage over a broad range of issues, they are now being joined more and more frequently by fights within groups of those claiming to represent Christ/God's Word/the Church.  In other words, issues like abortion and human sexuality which once enjoyed a reasonably unified response from a variety of American Church sources are now not only polarizing American culture and politics, but the Church here as well.  This is not unexpected, it has been coming for some time.
On its own, division within the Church is troublesome enough whatever its cause or content might be, what makes it more dangerous here is the extent to which the tactics which are currently devastating our political/cultural discourse are being, or already have been, adopted by those within the Church for both battles in that exterior arena and internal fights against fellow Christians.  Even if it is conceded (and part of the point is that it no longer is) that those on the opposite side of these issues dividing local churches and denominations are wrong in their reasoning or conclusions, and even if one believes that the viewpoint of the opposition is dangerous, it is still a massive moral step to take to act in response as if the, "ends justify the means" to defeat them, or that the confidence that one is right justifies a "win at all costs" mentality.
It has been a consistent warning of mine that the marriage of the Church and political ambition/power is an uneven one that eventually sullies the reputation of the Bride of Christ.  Advancing a cause through political means (or its cousin, judicial) regularly entails deception, character assassination, double-talk, evasion, what-about-ism, moral relativism, alliances of convenience against one's convictions, the corrupting influence of money, and the every present corrupting influence of power itself.  And while it ought to always be inexcusable for a politician to use immoral tactics, whether he/she claims to be a Christian or not, and it ought to be out of the question for Christians to knowingly encourage and support such unethical behavior even when it advances "our cause", it is not contrary (and actually beneficial at times) to the oath taken by a politician to support and defend the Constitution for him/her to forge alliances of convenience and to make compromises for the sake of governance.  It is the job of a politician to represent all of the people, even a Christian politician needs to consider the rights/needs of their non-Christian constituents.  Is it in the best interest of the Church to enter with them into alliances of convenience and compromises for the sake of governance?  Corporations, Unions, special interest groups, and lobbyists all have their own agenda; in what way is that agenda a fitting partnership with the Church?  Is it not better for the Church to focus upon seeking God's will through the Word of God and the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit?  Do we not have sufficient issues within the Church to address (like the sexual abuse scandal which is certainly not limited to Roman Catholics) and sufficient mission priorities outside of the Church to fulfill?
At this point I don't anticipate the possibility of an American Church that isn't knee deep in the Culture Wars in partnership with politicians/parties.  That ship has sailed, and once involved in the fight, like grasping the tiger's tail, it isn't easy to stop.  The politicians will not stop looking for support (i.e. votes) from Church representatives, and those within the Church who are zealous for various issues will continue to seek help for their cause from politicians.  But make no mistake about it, if the culture as a whole continues to secularize, which seems extremely likely, the battles being waged will occur more and more often within the Church, splitting churches asunder, causing rancor and ill will, and tempting people within those churches to fight back "by any means necessary."  If Republicans and Democrats, at least publicly and on TV, act as if their opponents hate America and want to destroy the country, how long will it be until disagreeing factions within churches and denominations are calling those they disagree with enemies of the Gospel?  {If reports from UMC General Conference 2019 are true, such venom was there in abundance}.  Solutions are not easy to come by, I don't pretend to know the right way to move forward, for our UMC brethren or anybody else, but it is important that we recognize the danger of the path the Church is currently walking upon.  The Culture War rages on, and the role the Church is playing is becoming more and more toxic.

Sermon Video: "The pride of your heart has deceived you" - Obadiah 1-9

In the first half of Obadiah's message from the LORD to Edom, the prophet warns Edom that God's judgment is at hand, that they will be brought low despite their self-confidence because the "pride of your heart has deceived you".  In the case of Edom, the descendants of Jacob's brother Esau, who at this point in history have become a consistent enemy of Israel, their pride is related to the defensible nature of their rugged mountainous territory SE of the Dead Sea.  As an application to others, including ourselves, the warning against pride is always apt.  Pride is at the heart of humanity's rebellion against God: denying God's role as our Creator and upcoming Judge, denying that humanity (ourselves in particular) are flawed, refusing to admit, if that must is acknowledged that we can't help ourselves, and lastly pride can turn against the acceptance of what Christ has done on our behalf by grace through faith.
In order to advance in our discipleship, to become more Christ-like, we must put away pride.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: Trying to persuade people about Jesus - Acts 28:17-31

In the finale to the book of Acts, Luke shares the story of Paul's attempt upon his arrival in Rome to share the Gospel with the leaders of the Jewish community there.  It was not their first encounter with Jesus, they had been a divided community regarding the question of whether or not Jesus was the Messiah since at least AD 49 when Claudius expelled the riotous Jewish community from Rome about twelve years prior to Paul's arrival.  After a whole day of explaining the Gospel on the basic of the Law and the Prophets, Paul is able to persuade some, but only some, of the group.  Why is that?
Paul's explanation for the failure to see the Truth of the Gospel echoes that of the prophet Isaiah and of Jesus himself who also quotes Isaiah 6:9-10.  The problem is a hardened human heart.  It is not a matter of the eyes or ears (i.e. an intellectual problem) but of the heart (i.e. a spiritual problem) which has become calloused.  That frustration, of Paul, which echoes God's frustration, results in a decision that is relevant to the Church to this day.  If the Gospel will not be accepted by those privileged enough to receive it, it will be sent to others who are willing to believe.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Systematic expository preaching: What 7 years worth has wrought

I was raised under exceptional expository preaching.  From my earliest years until well into my adult years, Pastor James Frank preached systematically through portions of Scripture using an expository style.  Given that, I was predisposed to prefer that style when I sought to enter into the ministry.  Now, having been at First Baptist Church of Palo, MI for five years, and here at First Baptist of Franklin, PA for seven years, I can step back and see what choosing to work verse by verse through books of the Bible has accomplished.  And while I could go through my old sermons to figure out what I preached at Palo in five years (and that would take a while), I don't have to do that here at Franklin because I began keeping records when I started here.  Thus I can report that in seven years I have:

Preached the entirety of 10 books of the Bible: Ruth, Jonah, Malachi, Luke, Acts, Philippians, Titus, Philemon, Colossians, and James.

In addition, I've done substantial portions, but not yet finished with: Genesis (chapters 37-46), Joshua (chapters 1-7), 2 Chronicles (chapters 10-36),1 Corinthians (chapter 1-8), as well as individual passage here and there chosen for Christmas, Easter, and other special occasions.

That, in a nutshell, is what you get from about 350 systematic expository sermons over 7 years.  I don't expect anyone to remember what I said, after all half the people of the church we're here when I started anyway, but there is a method to my madness.

Why systematic?  So I don't/can't skip the hard or uncomfortable passages. {Acts 20:27  (NIV) For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.}  I prefer to keep the focus on one thought from the author (that's how I decide how long the text needs to be for a sermon; typically it will be one thought in length which could be half a sentence or a whole paragraph) and not allow other passages, however relevant they might be, to distract us from what this particular text is trying to say to God's people.

Why expository?  So it is more likely to be the Word of God speaking than me.  While I know there are some phenomenal topical preachers who each week decide the topic and then search for a corresponding text(s) (and some lousy expository ones; preaching style doesn't equate to quality), for my own ministry it just makes sense to take the weekly topical choice out of my hands and let the text decide.  Yes, I know that one can shape Scripture, bending and twisting it, to suit a variety of ends, that danger remains no matter what style of preaching one adheres to.

So, here I sit, at my computer, with this week's sermon ready to go, the last for the book of Acts, considering where we will turn next.  Back to one of the series that have been begun but not yet finished, or somewhere else?  Wherever we end up, it'll be one verse, one thought, at a time until we've finished.

** Update**  I've figured it out: 2 messages for Obadiah, and 3 for Haggai (minus one week for being in MI for Alumni basketball) brings us to Palm Sunday.