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Saturday, September 21, 2024

Saturday, September 21, 2024

Lawson’s Letdown and a Shaman’s Salvation

September 21, 2024

It's Saturday, September 21, 2024.

Today’s edition covers a reaction to Steve Lawson’s removal from ministry, the conversion of a shaman voodoo priest, and more.

Note from the editor: Still traveling. This week’s edition features just a few short articles and one piece of content to catch up on. Don’t miss the bit about the names of God!

“[Jesus] said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” (Matthew 16:15-16)

Of Christian Concern

PHIL JOHNSON RESPONDS TO STEVE LAWSON’S REMOVAL FROM MINISTRY OVER “INAPPROPRIATE RELATIONSHIP”

Screenshot from Lawson’s final sermon.

Famed pastor and author Steven J. Lawson “has been removed indefinitely from all ministry activities” for “an inappropriate relationship” with a woman, Trinity Bible Church Dallas announced this week.

Among the many who weighed in on this news was Phil Johnson of Grace to You, who wrote, “I think every ministry that has ever platformed him agrees wholeheartedly with his elders’ decision to remove him permanently from public ministry.” When asked whether he thinks Lawson is “a true follower of Christ while being deceptive and engaging in adultery,” Johnson wrote, “We’ll see,” and cited the Westminster Confession: “Christians ‘may . . . fall into grievous sins; and for a time continue therein.’” He added, “The proof of his profession of faith will be seen in the fruit of his repentance.”

Some have observed that Lawson’s final sermon before the news broke included an exhortation “not [to] judge a man by his one weak moment. You need to look at the whole body of his work. You need to look at his whole message. You need to look at his whole ministry. And don’t judge him on one hiccup that happens.”

Some social media commenters wonder if these comments about John the Baptist were self-serving. The sermon has reportedly been taken down from the church website but can be found here.

A 73-year-old father of four, Lawson has been married for 40 years.

SHAMAN VOODOO PRIEST COMES TO CHRIST

Photo: Steez Visualz

International Commission shared the testimony this week of a shaman voodoo priest in a West African country who came to Christ.

A “powerful voodoo priest in [her] community, feared and respected by all,” with a reputation for her ability to communicate with spirits, she was initially “skeptical and even hostile” to a visiting group of missionaries. P

But, she recounted, “as they shared the love and grace of Jesus Christ, I felt a stirring in my heart.” She realized her “power and authority…as a voodoo priest was nothing compared to the power and authority of Jesus Christ.” She gave her life to Christ and immediately asked for her idols to be taken away. Now, “experienc[ing] a peace and joy that [she] had never known before,” she says she will “use [her] knowledge and experience as a former voodoo priest to help others understand the truth about Jesus Christ.”

The group that shared Christ with her was a team from N2N (National-to-Nationals), International Commission’s initiative that trains and equips locals around the world to share the gospel in their own localities “without the barriers and costs presented by cross-cultural ministry.”

The photo above is for illustrative purposes only; it is not the actual woman in the story.

A “SINCERE CHRISTIAN” BUT “A WEAK MAN”: SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON UNDER FIRE FOR WILLINGNESS TO AXE THE SAVE ACT

Detail of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s official portrait, 2024, plus additions.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has come under fire for his willingness, in an effort to prevent a U.S. government shutdown, to pass a spending bill without the SAVE ACT.

The Act would purportedly “prevent illegal immigrants from voting in Federal Elections.” Nearly two weeks ago, U.S. Representative Thomas Massie predicted the measure would be dropped from the bill, calling its initial inclusion “politically theater” designed to allow “almost every Democrat [to] cast a vote so that illegals can vote in our elections.” The act would not have enough time to be implemented, he says, and was never going to be in the final bill anyway.

In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Massie agrees that Johnson is “working for the Democrats.” Christian author and .. Eric Metaxas wonders why Johnson, despite being “a deeply sincere Christian,” would do this. Carlson himself says Johnson is “a weak man, and that's the man you should be afraid of. …Weak people just become a host for evil.”

Content Catch-Up

Bipartisan Interfaith Abortion Roundtable: On Thursday, activist Berry Razi hosted a bipartisan and interfaith conversation about abortion on X. (X Space)

The Bible, Briefly

The Most Common Names For God

Photo: John-Mark Smith

“The most common Hebrew names for God are YHWH (Yahweh), Elohim, and Adonay,”writes Cedarville University’s professor of biblical studies Daniel J. Ebert IV. Here is a bit about each.

YHWH — 6,828 times

On one hand, Ebert observes, this name “suggest[s] abstract truths,” since it “comes from a Hebrew word that means ‘to be’ (Exod. 3:14).”
On the other hand, it is “God’s covenant name (Exod. 6:2–8),” so in the context of the Old Testament, it takes on a “personal, present, and faithful” connotation.

El, Eloah, and Elohim — over 2,500 times

Ebert writes, “These cognates are the basic Hebrew words for deity, much like ‘God’ in English.”

Adonay — 456 times

This word is the plural of Adon, which “indicates God’s rule.”

“A name reveals one’s identity,” Ebert explains. “Divine names in the Bible are integral to knowing God’s identity. Who is God? And what is he like?”

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