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It's Saturday, June 24, 2023.

Today’s edition covers a Brazilian pastor under fire for encouraging imprecatory prayers, teachers under fire for not toeing the LGBTQ+ line, and more.

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Of Christian Concern

BRAZILIAN FEDERAL POLICE TO INVESTIGATE PASTOR WHO ENCOURAGED PEOPLE TO PRAY THAT GOD WILL BREAK THE JAW OF THE PRESIDENT

Brazil’s Minister of Justice Flávio Dino announced that he will direct the Federal Police to investigate Pastor Anderson Silva after statements he made in a viral video. In the clip from an episode of Silva’s podcast Tretas & Diálogos, the pastor urges Christians to recover the practice of praying imprecatory prayers like those found in the book of Psalms.

In the statements recorded on May 17, Silva refers to Brazil’s socialist president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula) and to the Brazilian supreme court (STF), suggesting, “We are lacking these imprecatory prayers of the psalmists: ‘Lord, kill my enemies. Break their teeth.’ We fail to pray like this. ‘Lord, break Lula's jaw.’ You know... ‘Lord, make the ministers of the STF sick.’”

The comments stirred up controversy, with prominent figures speaking out on both sides. Notably, federal deputy Gilvan da Federal stated that he stands in solidarity with Pastor Silva, calling Lula a “corrupt thief” and saying, “You can send the federal police because I too will pray to God to destroy this enemy of the nation.” Prior to his current presidency, Lula served time in prison on corruption charges.

TEACHERS UNDER FIRE FOR NOT GOING ALONG WITH LGBTQ+

A number of teachers across the Western world have recently faced backlash for not affirming transgenderism. In England, a now-fired Christian teacher received a demand letter for £14,000 (around $17,000) in legal costs from the Nottinghamshire County Council after she sought a judicial review against them for their trans-affirming approach to an 8-year-old student.

Meanwhile, also in England, teacher Kristie Higgs, who was fired over Facebook posts criticizing the teaching of LGBT+ relationships in her son's Church of England primary school, has won her appeal against a tribunal's ruling to uphold her dismissal.

In New Zealand, a Christian high school math teacher has resigned and had his teaching license canceled by a disciplinary tribunal over his refusal to refer to a 14-year-old student by her preferred name and pronouns.

Also Noteworthy

→ Thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the LA Dodgers Stadium last Friday to protest the baseball team’s honoring a Catholic-parodying drag queen group called the Los Angeles Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

→ Bishop Wilfred Anagbe says persecution and killings of Christians in Nigeria “has become a daily occurrence.” Fulani terrorists killed 46 Christians in Benue State three weeks ago, and another 15 in Plateau State this week. Unidentified gunmen also killed a priest, Father Charles Igechi, near Benin City on June 7.

→ The Franciscan priests who were banned from serving patients at Walter Reed Military Medical Center two months ago have now resumed their service after prominent Catholics raised objections.

→ The Iowa Supreme Court deadlocked in a 3-3 decision on a 6-week abortion ban, which means a lower court’s ruling to block the ban stays in effect. Abortion remains legal in the state for up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.

→ Barna reports that pastors’ spiritual, mental, and emotional well-being has declined significantly since 2015.

→ The Biden Administration lost a legal battle over its effort to force religious doctors and hospitals to perform abortions and controversial gender-transition procedures. The administration’s deadline to appeal the court decision that blocked the effort expired on Wednesday.

→ Grace Community Church in Marblehead, Massachessets was vandalized after removing Pride flags put on their property by the gay-run preschool that rents space on the church campus.

→ Dana Rivers, a trans-identified male who murdered two women and a teenage boy in what the judge called “the most depraved crime I have ever handled” has been transferred to a women’s prison to serve his life sentence.

Content Catch-Up

Recent, notable content by Christian creators.*

→ “Reclaim The Rainbow”: Hip hop artist Bryson Gray released a song and music video last Friday in response to the LA Dodgers’ controversy (discussed above), calling for national repentance over LGBTQ Pride. The song, which features Jimmy Levy and Shemeka Michelle, reached #2 on iTunes Charts in all genres on Thursday. (Song)

→ “All In All”: Indie folk artist Josh Garrels released the first new music he’s put out in some years on Friday, a worship single “with a summer vibe” about surrendering all to receive all from Christ. (Song)

→ 5 Reasons Mothers Should Be Charged For Abortion: In a series of tweets on Friday, the anti-abortion group Abolitionists Rising made a case for why abortion laws should not include maternal immunity—a provision that’s in every state’s abortion code, including that of the 13 pro-life states which claim to have banned abortion. (Twitter Thread)

*Not necessarily an endorsement

The Bible, Briefly

The Truth About Imprecatory Psalms

An “imprecation” is a spoken curse, so an “imprecatory prayer” is a prayer for God to curse someone—that is, to bring harm or judgment on them. Some psalms feature just such a prayer. For example:

“Arise, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.” (Psalm 7:6)

“Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none.” (Psalm 10:15)

“Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name!” (Psalm 79:6)

Pastor and author Sam Storms notes that many believe these kinds of prayers are “defective” and inappropriate for Christians, but he cautions against dismissing them for being in the Old Testament or being "sub-standard morality.” All Scripture is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16), and God’s morality is unchanging. In fact, similar imprecations are also found in the New Testament. Storms lists some things to know about imprecatory prayers:

They “are not emotionally uncontrolled outbursts” or “expressions of personal vengeance.” Rather, they are “reasoned” and “calculated” expressions of desire “for the triumph of divine justice.” They’re “based on divine promises,” a response to “the horror of sin,” and motivated by zeal for God’s righteousness, honor, reputation, and kingdom. Storms also observes that these prayers are rarely, if ever, about a specific person but rather a class of people like “the wicked.” 

Importantly, in most cases, the psalmist has called the wicked to repentance before resorting to this kind of prayer. David, the great psalmist, portrays the righteous attitude necessary in Psalm 139 when, after asking God to “slay the wicked” (v. 19) and declaring his own “complete hatred” for God’s enemies (v. 22), also asks God to search his own heart for impure motives: “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (v. 23-24).

For more insightful discussion on imprecatory psalms, read or listen to these brief comments by scholars W. Robert Godfrey, Albert Mohler, and William VanDoodewaard.

Church History Tidbit

Cyprian and the Novatian Schism

During a years-long campaign of persecution launched against the Christian community by the Roman Empire in 249 AD, many faltered in their faith and sacrificed to pagan gods to spare their own lives. Many regretted that decision and wanted to rejoin the church. Some argued they should not be readmitted, counting their betrayal as unforgivable, while others said they should be forgiven after years of penance. 

This disagreement caused a split known as the Novatian schism, in which the unforgiving crowd formed their own church and elected a bishop named Novatian as their leader in Rome. On the more forgiving side was Cyprian (d. 258), the bishop of Carthage, who wrote The Unity of the Church to argue his case. 

Cyprian said there could only be one church united under one episcopate, labeling any other movement as a false church, and he championed the authority of bishops, saying they alone should decide whether someone is to be forgiven. His treatise was massively influential. Read it here.

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Why "18:15"? The name Project 18:15 is based on Proverbs 18:15: “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” The aim is for this weekly email—a Christian news briefing, a Bible study, and a Church history lesson rolled into one—to be one way you keep abreast of current events and acquire knowledge you might not acquire elsewhere.

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