"Instead of obliterating the distinction between the Kingdom and the world, or on the other hand withdrawing from the world into a sort of modernized intellectual monasticism, let us go forth joyfully, enthusiastically to make the world subject to God." – J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Culture

Cultural Commentaries

• Celebrating What Is Good - Read through Dane Ortlund's 100 Facets of the Diamond of Jesus Christ. This is a great article to share with your church to draw their attention back to the goodness, truth, and beauty of the gospel at a time when emotions and anxieties are running hot.  

• Creating What Is Missing - In his essay, Ringing the Bell for Family Preservation, Phil Krause, co-director of My Village Ministries and Upstream Collaborative, encourages churches to look upstream to get at the core of what’s leading so many kids to end up in foster care. “It is through Biblical hospitality [of local church members] that we are beginning to see families preserved in our city. By serving preventatively and relationally, the number of children in foster care is declining seven times faster in Franklin County than in the rest of the state, leading to 1000 less children in care than there were in 2020.”

• Ending What Is Evil - Political vitriol on both sides that leads to violence. We, the body of Christ have to have a different tone. "Blessed are the peacemakers."

• Restoring What Is Broken - The Republican National Convention adopted former President Trump’s new GOP platform. Contrary to previous editions, the 2024 platform includes more moderate language on abortion and omits defining marriage as between one man and one woman. The platform is significant not only because it guides Republican policy for the next term, but a supermajority of Republican voters have indicated it will affect their vote. While the pro-life community is split on the change, Center for Christian Virtue (CCV) was one of the organizations that tried to help preserve a strong pro-life, pro-family platform.

Upcoming Events

Registration for The Essential Summit is open! One of the highlights of the conference will be a Church Leadership track which is specifically recommended for pastors, elders, deacons, and other church leaders. 

Exclusively for Pastors and Church leaders – your registration includes our annual Pastors’ Appreciation Breakfast with special guest speaker, Dr. Os Guinness, before the Ohio March for Life on Friday, October 4. 

Thanks to the support of several ministry partners, we're offering additional discounts to anyone with connections to:

• Crossroads Church (Mansfield)

• State Convention of Baptists in Ohio

• Cedarville University

• Ohio Christian University

• Mount Vernon Nazarene University

• Ohio Ministry Network

• Bella Vita Network

If you are connected to one of these and have not yet received your discount code, or if you are interested in becoming a University or Denominational Partner for access to an additional discount and other perks, please reach out to events@ccv.org.

Resources

• Married Fatherhood by Ian Rowe - We are excited to have Ian Rowe joining us for The Essential Summit in October (see church discounts and registration link below). Toward the end of June, Ian published an insightful article in which he argues, “Marriage must become known as the institution that first bonds the father to his spouse, the original commitment, even before children are present… Marriage is the social institution, however imperfect, that imposes a moral obligation—and privilege—on a father that no other institution can replicate to be a strong role model for their children.”

• Subscribe to The Pour Over - The Pour Over exists to be a trustworthy news resource guiding people toward eternal hope. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday they seek to summarize and engage with the news of the day and point their readers to the best news of all time.

• Developing Generosity - We are blessed to have the National Director for Church Partnerships at Generous Giving right here in Ohio! Check out their site to learn more about building a Culture of Generosity in your Church. If you would like to learn more about hosting a Journey Of Generosity (JOG) in your church, please send me an email. We have facilitated many JOGs for churches all over the state and would be happy to bring this FREE resource to your congregation!

If you believe other pastors in your network would benefit from receiving The Times, please connect us over email, or send us their name and email address and we will reach out!

Pastor Testimony

"It is an incredible blessing that we have Center for Christian Virtue in Ohio to advocate for us. Our work would be much harder without their efforts to enact public policy that reflects the truth of the Gospel. Ultimately, in this world today, it would be disastrous... I encourage you to join us in supporting this organization that protects pastors—both as individuals and as the leaders of our congregations, defends the rights of Christians to live out our beliefs, and preserves our ability to preach Truth." – Pastor Ken Harrell

Closing Thoughts

"Telling the truth about the godhood of God makes you a heretic in the eyes of those who are their own moral authorities. Straight talk about the sinfulness of sin is offensive to those convinced that their own hearts are unfallen and worth following. Proclaiming Jesus as our only hope for salvation will step on toes… When we don’t share the gospel, we leave people shackled to soul-crushing ideologies, enslaved to sin, and captive to forces of darkness." – Thaddeus Williams, Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth

A number of churches have decided to support CCV and the Church Ambassador Network financially through their budget. To set up a recurring monthly donation to CCV, please visit CCV.org/Donate and make sure to click the check box at the end of the form, above the comments field, before submitting your gift. 

We would be honored if you chose to invest a portion of God’s resources into our effort to serve and support churches in Ohio with resources to help them carry out the Great Commission in the spirit of The Greatest Commandments in our current cultural context. 

The Church Ambassador Network is a coalition of church leaders who are committed to redeeming the culture in Ohio through a biblical worldview of dual citizenship.