​February 8, 2023
 
 
Dear Orchard Church Family,
 
We have seen God’s powerful work in this church and our community over the last eleven years. It has been an honor to serve The Orchard Church as her pastor. Recently we have sensed God leading our family to another church. This week, I accepted the lead pastor position at a church in New York.
 
For this reason, I am writing to inform you of my decision to resign my position as senior pastor of The Orchard Church effective Friday, March 17, 2023.
 
This decision has been excruciating for me. I am excited to follow the Lord’s leading to my next ministry assignment, but at the same time, I have no desire to leave my family at The Orchard Church. Together under the power of the Spirit, we have seen lives transformed, and so many people brought into a deeper relationship with Jesus. You have been family members to our children and have loved us well.
 
I know many of you will be disappointed by this news. And for some of you, this will be a time of grief. I am grieving too. But I am convinced that God was working at The Orchard before I came, and he will continue to do so long after I am gone. This is his church, and you are his people.
 
In faith I can say, the best days of The Orchard Church are ahead of you.
 
This will be a difficult time for us all. Please know that I am willing to provide any assistance necessary to provide for a smooth transition. I wish I could have had this conversation with each of you face to face, but I send this letter with the desire to meet with you on your terms.
 
Because of Jesus,
Pastor Nathan J. Norman

Is Jesus Fighting Against Southern Baptist Leadership?
 
I read through the Guidepost Solutions Independent Report on the handling of sex abuse allegations by the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. I spent Sunday evening on it.

There was almost nothing in there surprising. Shocking, tragic, and despicable, but not surprising. I’ve been nauseous and angry over the last four days.
 
Then the question occurred to me: Is Jesus fighting against Southern Baptist leadership?
 
Let me back up a bit. I’ve served in two Southern Baptist churches since 2006. I’ve participated in state conventions, and local associations. I’ve been friends with trustees from almost every major SBC entity. I’ve had direct conversations and phone calls with a number of SBC elites during my ministry – when I feel convicted to challenge a decision or direction, I try to reach out directly.
 
I have always felt like an outsider trying to understand. I love how we have a system to collaborate in missions, disaster relief, and church planting. At the same time, though, the system of power is problematic. While SBC entity leadership says that we are a bottom-up convention (meaning the churches are the ones with the power), the reality is we are a top-down organization. Our bylaws certainly define us as a bottom-up convention of churches. But many leaders in SBC entities hold onto power by withholding information from the convention or the trustee teams. They hold onto power and control the narrative by putting friends into places of power – the good ol’ boy system. They hold onto power through the insidious SBC Eleventh Commandment, which is an informal rule that no matter how bad things get, Southern Baptists never speak against Southern Baptists. Actually, it’s not always an informal rule. I’ve seen a number of entities incorporate the rule into their employee and trustee code of conducts as grounds for dismissal.
 
(Which let’s be fair, petty vitriol over philosophy of ministry or minute points of theology should be avoided. But the eleventh commandment has silenced many from speaking up about abuses of power.)
 
This brings us to the Guidepost Solutions’ Report of the Independent Investigation . In this report we see credible and extensive documentation of the Executive Committee leadership bullying sex abuse survivors, withholding information from the trustees, burying information, and protecting powerful friends (my interpretation). We also saw reports of two past SBC presidents engaging in sexual abuse themselves. (One was characterized in the report as sexual assault. The other described as a mutual affair between a pastor and a woman he once pastored. This is still considered sexual abuse, and is illegal in thirteen states.)
 
Over the last few days, I’ve seen SBC leaders post their responses to the report. Generally, they’ve talked about being horrified, having compassion for the survivors, and wanting to work to make the SBC a safer convention.
 
Seeing these sentiments made me angry.
And I couldn’t figure out why for a day.
 
Hopefully, I’ve laid out this post well enough that you know why it made me angry. The system that enabled the Executive Committee to gaslight sex abuse survivors, protect abusive pastors, and withhold information from the trustees, is the same system that I’ve observed in other SBC entities.
 
I have no knowledge of other entities mishandling sex abuse cases.
But the same system of withholding information, good ol’ boy system of promoting, and eleventh commandment enforcement is pervasive throughout the entities of the convention. Not in equal measure, but we’re all aware of how the system works, and what we need to do if we want to climb the ladder to success.
 
While the leaders of the other entities may not have committed the evils the Executive Committee have – our overall system has led to this end. Many of our SBC leaders endorsed and supported these Executive Committee leaders outlined in the report. Instead of saying How terrible, we will work to do better, our leadership should be saying, How terrible, we allowed it to get this bad!
 
The Executive Committee and Baptist Press have apologized and repented. There’s more to do, but that’s a start.
 
There has been almost no repentance from the other SBC Leadership, and no repentance on the part of those named in the Guidestone report other than Steve Gaines.
 
For years I’ve heard from SBC leadership how we’re under spiritual attack. But maybe the attack hasn’t been from Satan. Maybe it has been from God himself.
 
Satan is involved, for sure. He has promised power and influence. He has encouraged silence and misdirection for the good of the organization. But I suspect that much of the warfare has been coming from the Lord.
 
In the book of Revelation, the glorious, risen Lord appears to John. He has a sword coming out of his mouth. He looks ready to make war. And in the next scene, we don’t see him fighting against his enemies in the world. In a shocking twist we see him battle against his own Church! In chapters 2 and 3, five out of the seven churches receive harsh warnings:

• I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
• So repent! Otherwise, I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
• Unless they repent of her works, I will strike her children dead.
• Remember, then, what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent. If you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come upon you.
• As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be zealous and repent.

 
Has the decline in SBC membership and baptisms been because of our convention’s hidden sins?
Has the risen Lord been fighting against us? Rebuking and disciplining us until we repent?
 
I think so.
 
And I think God has contended against our convention by first empowering the survivor community. Then, I think God has contended against our convention by using news organizations to uncover our shame. After this, I think God awoke the churches to the hidden sins in the convention, and despite the best efforts to block us and ignore us, we prevailed to have an investigation done.
 
Never have I seen so many people, fight so hard so we would have the opportunity to repent.
 
But it wasn’t just the Executive Committee that was broken. We are broken.
 
Look, to the best of my knowledge myself and the church I serve has never gaslit abuse survivors. We’ve tried to support and resource survivors. We’ve posted the sermon “What Will Happen if the Church Ignores Sexual Abuse?” on our homepage for over four years. But even still, in response to our reading of Daniel 9 – The Orchard Church repented.
 
And we will continue to do so.
 
Because from my perspective, Satan deceived many of our leaders into sin with the promise of a stronger convention, and many took it. And the Lord, because of his love for his Church, has been disciplining us.
 
Many have done evil in the name of God.
Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses his name (Exodus 20:7).
 
The terrifying part in all this, is that the Lord will continue to discipline and continue to rebuke until there is repentance.
 
And then – only then can we begin to bear fruit.
Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance (Matthew 3:8).
 
We cannot move forward as a convention until we repent as a convention.
 
I plead with our convention leaders, repent. Repent on behalf of the entities you lead.
And if you have personal culpability, repent now. God is going to reveal everything that is hidden. Yes, you may have to lose your position, but you will gain a right relationship with the One who created and upholds all things.
 
It’s only after we’ve done this that we can be empowered by Jesus to fix what is broken in our convention.

Father, 
​God of peace. God of truth. God of life. 

Why? Why? Why? 

​Not again. Not again. Not again. 

A young man targets people based on their ethnos? Men and women created by you. Loved by you. Bearing your image! 

A young man targets children. Precious little ones. Like the one our Lord welcomed. Like the ones our Lord said the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to.  

Father, are you not mightier than these evil men? Could you not stop them? Prevent them? Send someone to intervene in their lives before this happens? 

Our hands shake with grief and they ball up in rage. 

This has to stop. 
Put an end to it Lord. 
Show us the way to put an end to it.

Spirit of God, comfort the families in Buffalo, Uvalde, and beyond. 
Give them your peace, 
not as the world gives it, 
not from their current circumstances, 
but that can only come from You. 
May they feel your loving arms wrapped around them. 
May they feel your presence in their
anger, 
weeping, and
bitter sorrow. 

Father God be with the survivors, 
the children, 
the men, 
the women, 
who witness these horrors. 
Heal the wounds on their bodies, and
send your servants to help heal the wounds in their souls. 

Help us in our distress God. 
Search our hearts and reveal any evil within. 

We repent. 

Help guide our political leadership to find unity and wise laws - 
for we know you will use the law to restrain evil. 

Help guide us to our neighbors in distress. 
May we become a community again. 
Mothers to the motherless. 
Fathers to the fatherless. 
Sons and daughters to the childless. 
Sisters and brothers to all. 

Heal our land, Father. 
Change me. 
Change us. 
Change our country. 

In the Name of Jesus. 
Amen.

Personal Steps
I do not have answers or solutions. 
This is not definitive. But a friend of mine pointed out that bad ideas often lead to good ideas. 
So, I offer some thoughts about things we can do:

1. Cool down the angry rhetoric. America has been characterized by rage for the last decade. There is a time for righteous anger... but not every day. This angry rhetoric more often than not using dehumanizing vulgarity or terms for political opponents. When we dehumanize people or groups, they become more enraged and act in inhumane ways. This also makes a person vulnerable to radical ideologies. We must become people who disagree with grace. 
2. Check in on young people. Get to know people in your community. Volunteer to help out with basketball or soccer. Volunteer at the high school. Evil breeds in darkness and it cannot survive in the light. Many of these young men need people who will come alongside and support them. If healthy people aren't speaking into their lives, the monsters of this world will. 
3. Invite young people to volunteer. This might require us to join churches or community groups first. But getting young people involved in helping others, builds their self-worth and gives them purpose. We need to invite young people to invite their friends (and acquaintances, and that one kid no one knows very well) to do something greater than themselves. 
4. Love the young people in your life. Most everyone has young people in their lives. Maybe your own children, nieces or nephews, cousins, co-worker's kids, or people in the neighborhood. Invest time and money in them. As appropriate, send text messages, send letters, make phone calls, offer them books, ask what you can be praying about in their lives. Make some regular intentional contact so they know someone cares. 

Possible Political Steps
These are some thoughts. Maybe some of these bad ideas can lead to good ones. 
Those of you who know me, know that I am a big proponent of political cooperation. 
I also believe that one of the reasons God has given us government is to restrain evil. It will always do so imperfectly, but minimizing evil is better than letting it go unfettered. 

Here are some very flawed thoughts:

1. Security Guard or Police at the Entrance of Schools A friend of mine in banking told me that people who are up to no good don't want to be greeted at the door. Just having a greeter can minimize people with violent intent. I understand this would be an enormous cost. And there's possibly better measures. 
2. Mandatory classes and psychological evaluations of gun owners from 18-25. Ok, hear me out gun-rights advocates. I think this might be something both the right and left can get behind. The vast majority of these mass shootings are being carried out by young men in this age bracket. Let's do something to try and minimize access to deadly weapons to people who should not have them. In many states if young people want to get a driver's license, they need to first take a series of classes before they're allowed to take a written test and driving test. Car insurance companies require a very high premium for drivers under the age of 25. Let's face it, at 18 most of us made some pretty bad choices. I don't know of any parent who would hand over control of their household finances to their 18-year-old kids. So, let's take a page out of the traffic laws and require adults who are most prone to volatile decisions (18-25), to complete mandatory training, and complete mandatory evaluations to minimize violent people getting their hands on deadly weapons. 
3. Make Internet pornography an opt-in service. I think pornography is a blight on human society. A public health crisis. But I know we live in a free​ country. Fine. Let's not restrict it, but let's make access to the majority of pornographic websites something a person has to opt-in to with their internet service provider, and not something we have automatic access to. It is well documented that viewing pornography rewires the brain. Over time, a porn user's brain stops associating people as people, and it begins viewing people as objects. Objects! I know this proposal is a long shot. Porn makes a lot of corporations a lot of money. But if we wonder how a person can mass-murder people, even children, it's because they no longer see people as people. They see them as things. Not image-bearers, loved by God. Objects and obstacles to be removed. Porn does that to the brain. (And no, I'm not saying everyone who looks at porn is going to become a mass-murderer. I am saying that it removes a moral barrier that can lead to dehumanizing people.)

Those are some of my imperfect thoughts. 

What other personal steps do you think people could take? 
​What are some political moves we could realistically take to minimize this evil? 

I'm going to spend some more time in prayer for my community today. 

A traditional responsive song for Passover is called the Dayenu. It is a song of gratitude for the many blessings God has bestowed upon Israel through the historical Passover. 

I first became aware of it when listening to Exodus: An Oratorio in Three Parts, composed by David Itkin and narrated by William Shatner (yes that William Shatner). 

I have been preaching through the book of Exodus this year and right before Palm Sunday we had just experienced the crossing of the Red Sea and the Song of Miriam. And then we took a break from Exodus for Holy Week to travel forward in the narrative to the fulfillment of the Passover in Jesus. 

Part of our Good Friday service this year, we will be doing a responsive reading of an adapted version of the Passover Dayenu. Then we will do a responsive reading of a Christian version of the Dayenu. 
I have written this version and will likely revise it several times in the future. 

If you're looking for Good Friday service ideas, please feel free to use this and the PowerPoint version in a church service without credit. Just let me know you used it. 

You are, however, not allowed to use or adapt this for any other purpose, including publication electronically or in print. 

Good Friday Order of Service
 
Opening Prayer
Opening Thoughts on the fulfillment of Passover
 
Song – Jesus Paid it All
 
Hebrew Dayenu
 
Sermon on Passover to Good Friday
The Lord’s Supper
 
Song – Above All (Old Rugged Cross Chorus)
 
Christian Dayenu
 
Closing
 
[Exit in the discipline of silence]

Dayenu
Traditional Passover Song (adapted)
 
 
How many are the abundant blessings which the Almighty has bestowed upon us?
 
If He had brought us out from Egypt,
and had not carried out judgments against them
 
it would have been enough!
 
 
If He had carried out judgments against them,
and not against their idols
 
it would have been enough!
 
 
If He had destroyed their idols,
and had not smitten their first-born
 
it would have been enough!
 
 
If He had smitten their first-born,
and had not given us their wealth
 
it would have been enough!
 
 
If He had given us their wealth,
and had not split the sea for us
 
it would have been enough!
 
 
If He had split the sea for us,
and had not taken us through it on dry land
 
it would have been enough!
 
If He had taken us through the sea on dry land,
and had not drowned our oppressors in it
 
it would have been enough!
 
If He had drowned our oppressors in it,
and had not supplied our needs in the desert for forty years
 
it would have been enough!
 
 
If He had supplied our needs in the desert for forty years,
and had not fed us the manna
 
it would have been enough!
 
 
If He had fed us the manna,
and had not given us the Sabbath
 
it would have been enough!
 
 
If He had given us the Sabbath,
and had not brought us before Mount Sinai
 
it would have been enough!
 
 
If He had brought us before Mount Sinai,
and had not given us the Torah
 
it would have been enough!
 
 
If He had given us the Torah,
and had not brought us into the land of Israel
 
it would have been enough!
 
 
If He had brought us into the land of Israel,
and not built for us the Holy Temple
 
it would have been enough!

Christian Dayenu
 
How many are the abundant blessings which the Lord Jesus Christ has bestowed upon us?
 
If He was born of the virgin in a manger,
but wasn’t baptized to identify with humanity
 
it would have been more than we deserve.
 
 
If He was baptized to identify with humanity,
but did not perform miracles and cast out the demonic forces
 
it would have been more than we deserve.
 
If He performed miracles and cast out the demonic forces,
but did not speak in parables to reveal the Kingdom of God
 
it would have been more than we deserve.
 
 
If He spoke in parables to reveal the Kingdom of God,
but did not explain the meaning of the parables
 
it would have been more than we deserve.
 
 
If He explained the meaning of the parables,
but did not confront the powerful religious hypocrites
 
it would have been more than we deserve.
 
 
If He confronted the powerful religious hypocrites,
but did not fulfill the Passover in the Lord’s Supper
 
it would have been more than we deserve.
 
 
If He had fulfilled the Passover in the Lord’s Supper,
but he did not endure the scourging under Pontius Pilate
 
it would have been more than we deserve.
 
 
If He endured the scourging under Pontius Pilate,
but He did not endure the cross for the forgiveness of sins
 
it would have been more than we deserve.
 
 
If He endured the cross for the forgiveness of sins,
but was not laid in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea
 
it would have been more than we deserve.
 
 
If He was laid in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea,
but was not resurrected from the dead
 
it would have been more than we deserve.
 
 
If He was resurrected from the dead,
but He did not send the Holy Spirit to all His followers
 
it would have been more than we deserve.
 
 
If He sent the Holy Spirit to all His followers,
and will not come again in power and glory
 
it would have been more than we deserve.
 
 
If He comes in power and glory,
but will not prepare a place for us in the Kingdom of Heaven
 
it will be more than we deserve.
 
 
Jesus Christ. Crucified for your sin. The remnants of bread on your tongue, to remind you that His body was broken for you. The taste of the fruit of the vine in your mouth, to remind you of his blood spilt for the forgiveness of your sin. Behold your God who died for you. Jesus Christ – the Passover lamb.
 
[Exit in the discipline of silence.] 

Father, Lord God Almighty – you are the Glorious One who keeps all his promises. We, your Church, have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled, and turned away from your commands and ordinances. We have not listened to your Word.
 
Father, all righteousness belongs to you, but this day public shame belongs to us: the people of the Church, the pastors, and deacons, leaders, and congregations.
 
We confess and repent.
 
We have honored you with words, but our hearts are far away. We say we love your Word, but abuse and neglect it. We ignore the innocent and have embraced sexual brokenness.
 
We confess and repent.
 
We have embraced the yeast of Herod – mixing the politics of this world into the faith that was once for all delivered to the Saints. We have confused the city of man with the Kingdom of God.
We are a double-minded people, swinging from one extreme to the other. Desiring entertainment over discipleship. Too focused on judgment and condemnation or not mentioning sin at all.

We confess and repent.
 
We stereotype other churches and see them as competitors instead of co-laborers in the Gospel – because we are too often focused on ourselves rather than those around us; filled with arrogance and pride instead of the Great Commission. We have been far too busy building our own empire, rather than serving in the Kingdom of God.
 
We confess and repent.
 
We applaud arrogant, proud, boastful, unloving, and unmerciful people while neglecting the poor, single people, the divorced, the abandoned, widows, foster children, and orphans. We have failed to be reconciled to persons of every people, tribe, tongue, and nation as image-bearers of God. We have made comfort our god while tolerating spiritual abuse from our pastors because they know how to twist the gospel to numerically grow a congregation. We have accepted hypocrisy while our pastors sexually abuse the flock because we are more concerned about protecting our name and our reputation than your truth, your justice, and your care for the powerless.
 
We have been overcome by evil and responded with fearful anger, rather than the confidence and love that comes from you.
 
We confess and repent.
 
Now, Lord our God – who brought your people out of the land of Egypt, and who redeemed your people through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus – may your anger and wrath turn away from your Church. Our sin has made us an object of ridicule to all those around us.

Father God, hear our prayer and petition. May your face shine upon the broken Church. Listen and hear us, O God. We are not presenting our confession and prayers based on our righteous acts, but based on your abundant compassion. Our sins are scarlet, in the Name of Jesus make them as clean as snow. Fill us with your Spirit once again so we might return to our first love and do your will.
 
Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and act! Our God, for your own sake, do not delay, because your Church and your people bear your Name.
 
In the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord we ask you.
​Amen.

As Covid-19 continues to infect and continues to be debated, I have seen a number of my dear brothers and sisters communicate something along the lines of, “God will protect me from the virus.”
 
I’ve had numerous conversations in-person, over the phone, and online with friends about this sentiment. On its face, this sounds very spiritual and faithful. But the sentiment fails to understand the bigger picture in the Bible. Bad things happen to believers all the time. God allowed Joseph to be sold into slavery, and wrongfully thrown into prison. God allowed David to be hunted by the mad King Saul for years. Years. Righteous Job lost all his children, and his health. Paul suffered from some sort of thorn in his flesh. Timothy had ongoing stomach issues.
 
Believers are not shielded from the natural evils of this life.
 
Most of us know this intuitively. It’s why many carry health insurance. Or use a seat belt. Or lock their doors.

I’ve had this conversation regularly since April 2020.
 
But it occurred to me today that this sentiment is actually satanic in origin.
(I’m sure most of my readers had this figured out already.)
 
“God will protect me from the virus” is one of the temptations the devil presented to Jesus in the wilderness.
 
Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written:
He will give his angels orders concerning you,
and they will support you with their hands
so that you will not strike
your foot against a stone.” Matthew 4:5-6
 
The temptation was basically this, “You are the Son of God. So why not announce your entrance in style? Jump from the top of the temple. Then God can make angels grab you by the arm, they will carry you down in front of everyone! No one will have any doubts who you are!
 
And the devil wasn’t incorrect. God can command his angels to rescue Jesus from the fall.
So, what’s wrong with this temptation?
 
Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” Matthew 4:7
 
Essentially, Jesus said, “Yes, God can send his angels to grab me, but he is not obligated to do so!”
 
Can God protect us from car wrecks and home invasion and Covid-19?
 
Absolutely!
 
Is he obligated to do so?
 
Absolutely not.
 
I understand that many of my brothers and sisters in Christ have made this statement in an attempt to communicate their trust in God. But that’s not the message that comes across. It is spreading the lie of the devil: God is obligated to keep me from all suffering in this life.
 
He is not, and he expects us to make wise decisions to minimize the effects of sin on our lives.
 
To my fellow believers who have said, “God will protect me from the virus,” I implore you to search the scriptures (the book of Job, Romans 8, James 1, etc.).

I made this observation over the weekend during my sermon on Psalm 146. 
You can listen to it here: ​https://www.orchardchurch.net/sermons/hope-in-politicians

Are you tired of the rage? The anger from others? The fire within your own soul? 
The answer isn't social media, or political education, or fact checking.