Bill Bright

 

Would you expect a great revival movement to rise up out of Hollywood?  How about Coweta, Oklahoma (population 1318 in 1920)?  But in 1921 a mother prayed over her yet unborn son, dedicating him to the Lord’s service.  It didn’t seem to work.  Little Billy showed little interest in spiritual things.  His dad was a cattle rancher and he had 6 other brothers and sisters, full of Oklahoma orneriness. But Bill Bright (1921-2003) did go on to college and graduated from Northeastern Oklahoma State in 1943. Then he headed to Hollywood, California to make his fortune. There he founded a successful candy company.

            After receiving repeated invitations Bright began attending meetings for college students and young professionals led by Dr. Henrietta Mears at Hollywood Presbyterian Church.  After a particularly challenging teaching on finding happiness at the “center of God’s will”, Bill struggled.  As he recalled, “As I returned to my apartment that night I realized that I was ready to give my life to God…I knelt down beside my bed that night and asked the questions that Dr. Mears had challenged us to pray, ‘Who art Thou. And, what wilt Thou have me do?’ It wasn’t very profound theologically, but God knew my heart and He interpreted what was going on inside of me.  Through my study, I now believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, that He died for my sin, and that, as Dr. Mears had shared with us, if I invited Him into my life as Savior and Lord, He would come in.”  Bright sold his candy company, married another young woman, Vonette Bright, who had also been evangelized by Mears, and entered Fuller Theological Seminary.

            One night in 1951, Bill was studying for an exam and had a powerful vision of fulfilling the Great Commission by evangelizing college students.  He lived one block from UCLA.  He told his sem prof, Dr. Wilbur Smith, about the vision.  Smith was exuberant and shouted, “This is the will of God!” and the next day told Bright he had the name for this organization, ‘Campus Crusade for Christ’.  Bill and Vonette prayed and Bill decided that he needed to start immediately. He quit the seminary.  Though they lived right next to UCLA, the college was considered a hotbed of communist sympathizers, as was Hollywood itself. But not everyone on campus was a radical. Within one month, Bright had 250 join his ‘crusade’.  Then he met another young man from N. Carolina who wanted to go into the ministry. Billy Graham used the methods of an earlier preacher, Billy Sunday, to reach thousands, and Graham adopted the Crusade name for his effort. But there were early struggles for Campus Crusade.  Originally Bright wanted to work with many churches but some did little to assimilate or follow-up new Christians.  This can be typical with churches in college towns where students come and go, but established townspeople run the church somewhat oblivious of the students, who, of course don’t contribute much money. But Mears contributed her Bel Air home and spoke numerous times at gatherings.  Bill, the businessman, did arrangements and organization.  Soon they were operating in several colleges, sometimes rubbing liberal college chaplains the wrong way with their soul-winning platform.  They incorporated in 1953 and found a location for their headquarters on Westwood Blvd.   In 1956, Bright wrote a 20–minute evangelistic presentation called "God's Plan for Your Life", which set the tone for Campus Crusade's evangelism and discipleship program.  Billy Graham was receiving invitations for His crusades from liberal pastors and Bright seemed to learn how to do evangelism in the midst of hostile college campuses. He wrote books, pamphlets, articles and Bible studies profusely. Vonette did much the same for college women. The organization grew enormously (2011: 25,000 missionaries in 191 countries).

            This was Hollywood, no? And Bright had the idea for a film.  In 1979 he produced the film Jesus. It was not much of a success.  The LA Times slammed it as a "dull Sunday-School treatment of the life of Christ."  Yet critics acknowleged that it had meticulous attention to detail. Nonetheless it began a trend for films, not by Hollywood, but by Christian organizations to share the story of Christ. It went on to be shown to 4 Billion people subtitled in 650 languages by 2020. 121 million have become believers through Campus Crusade and Jesus. It is thought that the recent surge of Christianity in India is largely due to this film. Jesus lost $2 million in 1979 and was declared a failure.  But to be the movie that changed millions of lives, inspired a movement that includes Mel Gibson's Passion, and a new docudrama, The Chosen?  That is not failure.

April 19, 1521

This day contains many historic events—April 19, Lexington and Concord, Waco’s Branch Davidians, and the Oklahoma City bombing. But while April 19 is the shot heard round the world, April 17, 18, and 19 changed the world through a simple monk.  Martin Luther was an Augustinian who found salvation by grace alone in 1513 in his Tower Experience, then posted 95 theses or arguments against the supreme power of the pope, greed in the church and abuse of indulgences. Nothing new there--many in Europe wanted a reformation.  But it wasn’t until about 1519 that Luther realized the grace message split into Law and Gospel that many Christians had tragically missed it, hence had false views of faith that threatened to condemn them. Many historians say he was transformed from a critic to a Reformer with that knowledge.  And it was at that time that he began to write furiously, 30 books in 36 months, often about abuses in the church.  It was too much for the Roman pope and he excommunicated Luther in January 1521.

            But instead of diminishing support for Luther, it fueled the German people. His popularity warped the ruling authorities’ plans.  Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, agreed to hear Luther’s arguments at the Diet (rotating location legislature) to be held in Worms in April. This would include secular rulers as well as church men.  The church leaders all wanted him condemned to death without trial, but Luther was promised a fair trial.  Duke Frederick, Luther’s politically wise ruler talked to Staupintz, his mentor.  He said he knew what was coming.  They will demand Luther recant everything.  Luther would have to agree and repent.  He would be placed on probation for a few years and required to confess, and that would be it.  Staupintz looked at Frederick and said, “Except you don’t understand Luther.  He will never recant.”

            On 4 o’clock, April 17, Luther arrived in the town of Worms where 100,000 people had quintupled the population of the city cheering him on wildly. In the court, Luther was confronted immediately with a pile of his books and asked it they were his.  Yes, they were. And then he was asked to recant everything he had written. He was stunned that he would not be heard out, just given an ultimatum to recant. 

            It was a replay.  In 1414, Jan Hus, a Czech priest with very similar views as Luther on scripture was given assurances that his ideas would receive an audience at the Church Council of Constance, Germany. The Emperor promised his protection. When he arrived, Nov. 28, 1414, he was arrested, imprisoned and the following year put on trial for heresy, then burned at the stake.  As his last words, Hus, whose name in Bohemian means ‘goose’ said, “You will cook this goose but a hundred years from now, you will find a goose you cannot kill.”

            Luther’s response was very measured and nervous, “Thus touches God and His Word.  This affects the salvation of souls. Of this Christ said, ‘He who denies me before men, him will I deny before my Father.’To say too little or too much would be dangerous.  I beg you, give me time to think it over.” After some deliberation, even though the bishops didn’t think he deserved it, Luther was granted a day to make his reply.  Luther spent the night and next day (April 18) in prayer and at six the following evening, gave his famous answer, “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture by clear reason (for I trust neither pope nor council alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves) I am bound by the scriptures I have cited, for my conscience is captive to the Word of God.  I cannot and will not recant anything since to act against one’s conscience is neither safe nor right. I cannot do otherwise. Here I stand, may God help me. Amen.”

            Luther went back to his quarters and waited for the inevitable summons to execution.  Oddly, nothing happened. It is thought that Frederick and company partied late and were hungover.  Others said he was cautious since there was such an enormous crowd favoring Luther in town. (Charles was 19 and freshly coronated.) Whatever the case, in the afternoon of April 19, Luther uncertainly decided to start walking home to Wittenberg.  He didn’t get far.  Riders disguised as bandits took him captive.  They were knights of Frederick.  He was secretly spirited to Wartburg Castle in Saxony and instructed how to disguise himself as a knight needing R&R.  Martin Luther had 'disappeared'. Sometimes it is almost crazy how God is in control.

Gen Z

GEN Z, KIDS BORN 1997-2012 WHO HAD MID-CHILDHOODS IN THE 20-TEENS VOTE D. But this is just the tip of the iceberg.  They have high rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm , and suicide. Social psychologist began to notice this in 2013 as these things began to suddenly rise.  But the syndromes were not higher in older adults—just Gen Z. By 2020 25% of teen girls had symptoms of major depression. So what happened in 2012 or just prior? First iPhone 4 came out and selfies became all the rage. The helicopter parenting of years prior meant instead of kids 7 or 8 years old being allowed unsupervised socialization (the traditional age) this had extended to 10 or 12 years of age. Thus instead of the normal rough interactions causing psychological strengthening in early childhood, kids spent a childhood largely through the phones.  The depression numbers weren’t so bad in boys, 9%, but larger than the old normal of 5%.  Boys were playing video games and groups of boys competed, a healthy interactive activity.  But girls were drawn to ‘visual platforms’—instagram and tiktok.  Those are about display and performance. You post your perfect life and then look at others who have even better perfect lives. This phenom is called “compare and despair”.  It seems social because you are communicating but it’s performative. You don’t actually get good relationships. People in despair usually go defensive. Defensive mode is when you focus on threats.  Discover mode is when you seize information and create.  And sure enough, Gen Z is seriously behind in innovation, not inclined to take risks.  This has dire implications for the future of business in USA. Also the new ideology of woke/CRT valorizes victimhood. Those not inclined to take risks, seek accommodations and play it safe.  You are not going to swing for the fences or start a company. Here’s what is interesting about this.  It occurs in English-speaking countries.  Slavery guilt has rapidly spread to Canada and UK, but not Germany or Russia or China. And it has spread to US business. When the manager is afraid to speak up  honestly because of fears of being shamed on social media, the corporate culture gets dishonest and backfires in its purpose.  The impact of political discourse then moves conversations from honest personal interaction to the Colosseum of social engagement.  We don’t talk to one another, we perform. Amazingly Gen Z is not in denial.  They recognize the app-based life is really bad for them.  They wished they had childhoods more like their parents—playing outside, riding bikes with friends, having adventures. And as jobs expand when the R’s get control of government, socializing comes back, and Gen Z may seek a new normalism. 

Minorities go GOP

 

THERE IS A RISING TIDE OF R’S OF COLOR in case you hadn’t noticed. 14% of Af-Am voters went R in 2022 vs. 8% in 2018.  Trump won 12% in 2020.  Hispanic voters were 39% in 2022 vs. 29% in the 2018 midterms and 32% when Trump won in 2020.  In 2020, the House margin narrowed from a 38 Dem margin to 5 and in 2022 to +5 R’s.  In 2020, 13 R’s beat incumbent D’s and among the R’s were an Af-Am, an Iranian-Am 2 Korean-Ams, a Cherokee, 3 Hispanics, and son of Portugese immigrants. The Caucasian share of voters went from 72% to 67% in 2020, so this is significant. And in 2022 the 2 Af-Am House R’s were joined by 2 more.

     Texan Wesley Hunt and MI, John James were those 2 new Af-Am R’s. Both are West Pointers. Hunt says, “A lot of people in general think the big thing is that you are black. That’s about #10 for me.  I want to get ot the point to where we stop talking about it at all.” He’s a father, husband, a combat vet and now a congressman. The guys in the barber shop, he relates have gone from never-Trump to “please tell me he is running.” They don’t like everything about him but they miss his economy, prior to $5 gas and inflation well over 5%.  The issues of crime and the economy are high on everyone’s list.  “If the Republican Party can get 20% of the black vote, Democrats can’t win,” Mr. Hunt says. “Black men are moving.” And everyone worries about how their cities are dying. To win more, R’s will have to have a message of getting ahead and how to overcome the bad guys in the neighborhood.

     The rise of R’s among minorities came from a post-mortem after we lost the 2012 elections that urged R’s engage nonwhites.  But after Trump engaged white working class voters in 2016, many Republicans scoffed at the 2012 study.  Kevin McCarthy was an exception who recruited minority candidates.  This is what has fueled the secret rise. Even among the close losses in S. Texas and Arizona, very competitive R’s had Hispanic surnames. And some like FL’s Luna won. So did Juan Ciscomani who upset an apparent solid Dem in AZ.  . His theme was the American Dream, opportunity and freedom. And he advocates better border patrol, (illegals crush those who come according to the rules) while opening border entry ports.  “Some border towns have 80% of their economy in Mexican tourism. “The American experiment is alive and well among the common people worldwide.” And it was critical that he is very Spanish fluent to have interviews on Telemundo and Univision. When Biden did his SOTU, Ciscomani gave the Republican’s Spanish rebuttal and it was hailed as ‘what America should be all about’ by scores of writers.  He notes that lower income minorities rallied to AZ Gov. Doug Ducey’s school choice.  Choice is a big deal to Af-Ams too since the inner city schools are often horrid. Mr. Hunt of TX is an unabashed supporter of the oil and gas industry but also all other forms of energy.  “God gave us all these resources.  We need to be in the business of using our own resources to fuel ourselves and our allies.”  At West Point he lived in the Robert E. Lee barracks and his grandfather was a Louisiana slave. He opposes the Army changing the name  on the barracks.  “It’s a reminder of where we were and how far we’ve come.”  Both men spoke often of their Christian faith on the campaign trail. Mr. Ciscomani  used to help his dad wash cars in the rich part of Tucson and his father pointed out that his campaign headquarters was just two blocks from where they washed fancy cars. “Only in America,” became his campaign refrain. What struck him was how much his family’s history resonated with voters. People would always come up to me afterwards and say, “Your story is my story.” So he would ask about their story. “It was nothing like mine!” but the story of opportunity was.

     It should be pointed out that 30 of the 60 House districts represented by minorities have majority white voters.  What sells is a message that transcends both European/Caucasians and minorities. (Sourced from Wall Street Journal)

Being chosen will fix your church finances

 

I’m one of those Christians who believes Jesus literally when He says, “You did not chose me, I have chosen you” in John 15. So I have had a great time watching the series, The Chosen.  And having belonged to several interdenominational groups, I’ve always tried to steer some of my fellow evangelicals away from the decision-based theologies, and salesmanship gospel-sharing.  If faith springs from the Holy Spirit (and scripture says it does!) and natural man has only the ability to say NO to God until the Spirit enters him. Then what is sometimes called a decision of faith is really just an affirmation of what’s already within.  Same goes for those techniques of frightening people into faith with threats of hell or being left behind if the rapture comes.  A hedge to get into heaven may be more of scheme than a faith.

            I am on an initiative to do the chosen message with church finance and stewardship.  For years I have gone to churches where pastors didn’t talk much about money because of the backlash.  A certain number of people say, “I just hate it when the pastor talks about money!”  And since pastoral training doesn’t have much to do with finances, many pastors comply, talking about personal attitudes with money perhaps only once annually—still too often in the eyes of the money-crabbers. Thus the chore of talking finance falls to the treasurer of the congregation who would often try to humor the people (“Well if giving doesn’t improve, we will all have to start cutting wood this winter.”—to pay utilities even though the furnace is natural gas) or getting tough (“We may have to shut the doors if we don’t get enough.” “We may have to lay off staff and there won’t be any raises.”) Amateurish and abusive talk leaves us poorly motivated.

            I discovered the stunning outcome of turning to God while almost going broke in business. As a friend of mine, also a Christian businessman laughed, “One year I had a tithe of 88%.  Didn’t mean it to be that way.  Just had a horrid year.” Caught between a hard place and a rock in business, you catch yourself praying, “I don’t know how this is going to turn out, Lord.  I may go broke, but I want to pledge the first part of this to You.” Well, if you go broke, He will lead you to another career or something because He is always with you. Somewhere along the way, however, funds showed up in a totally unexpected way.  That caused you to lift your eyes to Him in thanksgiving and awe, “You really are here, aren’t you!  I’m sorry that I forget You are with me every nanosecond of every day.”  Talk to Him more. Listen to what His Word says.

            Of course you don’t’ have to be a business guy to learn this.  Many have their own personal stories. Look at almost any church’s contributors and you’ll discover that old guys who have learned to walk close to God and tithe, giving God their first fruits, are the significant supporters of the church.  If then, the church wants to have funds to delve into new ministries and discover where God’s Spirit is working, it needs to work on faith.  Faith=trust and a close walk.  That attitude of, I didn’t chose Him, he chose me and calls me a son/daughter that He will never abandon is not just a lesson in where to put your God-gifted money. It is the incredible joy and peace of living for your Lord, Savior and best Friend.  It isn’t just Heaven Insurance, it is a new life. Deuteronomy says, “It is no trifle for you: it is your whole life.” The non-believer has no assurance but dust and ashes in the end amid a universe destined to die after several billion years.  The believer beginning now, has an eternal close relationship with the One who created the universe.  The relationship is guaranteed not by your own vacillating self, but by Him.  He came for you. Chosen.