Following Jesus

That’s Perseverance!

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From the Bible Society:

Bringing the love of Jesus to children in the outback for 61 years

 

The first time Lance Jackson taught Scripture at a one-teacher school west of Ivanhoe in outback NSW he asked the class to tell him what they knew about Jesus.

“They all looked a bit dumb … Anyway, I pressed the issue, thinking they were shy, but at the finish a 13-year-old girl up the back put up her hand and said ‘Look, I don’t think he lives anywhere around here but I’ve heard Dad talking about him,’” Lance recalls.

“It was an isolated area but what struck me was I’m less than 500km from Sydney and there’s a whole room of kids who don’t know who Jesus is.”

It is experiences such as this that have kept the 82-year-old Presbyterian pastor teaching Scripture for the past 61 years. The record shows that in that time he has brought the gospel of the Lord Jesus to children in 48 schools in NSW, three in South Australia, 12 in Queensland and two in Victoria, all in bush areas.

Faithful Scripture teacher Lance Jackson

“That motivated me to just keep pressing on – because you had to really discipline yourself,” he says.

“I grew up in a climate and a church where you made a commitment for life and you didn’t rust out, you burnt out.”

Now based in Glen Innes, in the northern tablelands of NSW, Lance still coordinates Scripture for 18 classes in three local schools and the annual training courses. He also still works on a voluntary basis as a pastor at the Presbyterian Church in Glen Innes.

 

Read the rest of the story here

Muslim student finds Jesus at Islamic school

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Awesome news in Iraq and Syria in the midst of terrible suffering.

From My Christian Daily:

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Muslim student finds Jesus at Islamic school

As battles continued in Syria and Iraq between flesh and blood, Christian workers watched in awe as the gospel advanced “nearly unopposed” on the spiritual front lines of the same region.

Christian workers in northern Iraq could barely keep up with people’s desire to learn more about Jesus and the Bible, according to a report by Christian Aid Mission. Residents in northern Iraq’s largely Muslim, autonomous region of Kurdistan have been more open to Christianity than other Iraqis and have shown heightened interest in response to the advance of ISIS.

“They’re just sick of Islam,” one ministry director told Christian Aid Mission. “People are very hungry to know about Christ, especially when they hear about miracles, healing, mercy and love.”

The ministry leader said that administrators at a sharia (Islamic law) college recently made contact with him after they learned he was giving away Bibles. They requested 21 Bibles for a comparative religion class so they could equip Muslims with ammunition to defeat the Bible and proselytize Christians.

“In a couple months, after they took that class going through the Bible, five of the students got saved,” the ministry leader said. “They called me and said, ‘Hey, we’re done with Islam.’”

The Muslim teacher reported the conversions to authorities, who demanded the ministry director come in for questioning. A policeman asked him if he had tried to convert the students, and he replied that he had never even met the students.

When the officer asked him why he gave them Bibles, he said the instructor had requested them. The officer confirmed this with the teacher and asked the students why they converted to Christianity.

One student said, “The Bible is strong, powerful; it changed our lives.”

Then the policeman said, “Okay, then go, there is no case here; I can’t do anything.”

As they were walking away the policeman turned to the ministry leader and asked, “Is it true that the Bible has the power to change lives?”

“Yes, of course. It’s been changing lives everywhere,” the man replied.

“Can I have a copy?” the policeman asked quietly.

The ministry leader gladly complied with his request.

In numerous testimonies heard from Kurds every day, the ministry leader cited an “awakening” among Muslims in northern Iraq, according to the report by Christian Aid Mission.

No one refused a Bible or passed up an opportunity to hear the gospel, he said, even if not everyone came to faith overnight. He recounted the story of a Muslim who received aid – and a new Bible.

“OK, but I’m Muslim, I can’t become Christian – I have a big family, and my father is a very extremist radical,’” the man said.

“I didn’t ask you to be Christian,” the ministry leader replied. “I’m not trying to change your religion here. I just want you to read the Bible and know who Jesus Christ is. I want you to have a relationship with God.’”

The Kurdish Muslim thought this reasonable, and he began reading the Bible with his wife and children. There were often power outages in the area, so when the ministry director visited him, often they found him reading God’s Word by candlelight.

The Muslim man presented the ministry leader with a list of questions from his study of the Bible. One day he asked the ministry leader for his perspective on Muhammad.

The surprised director, who normally does not talk about Islam, gave him a summary description of Muhammad but did not include anything offensive.

“Why do you ask me that question?” the ministry leader asked.

“You know what? I don’t like Muhammad anymore,” the man said.

Surprised by this turn, he asked the man, “What now?”

“I want to be a Christian,”

“I thought you said you didn’t want to be Christian before.”

“Oh, I changed my mind.”

As a result of the power of God’s Word and the Spirit of God opening the heart, the Muslim man prayed to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

Kurdish Muslims are discovering a sharp contrast between Christianity and Islam – especially as practiced by the radical militants. “As terrifying and horrifying as ISIS is, they did us a great favor because they came and have shown them all the killing, saying that it’s all in the Koran verses,” the ministry leader reported to Christian Aid.

“So now we don’t have to say much, we just say the truth.”

The indigenous ministry leader said the gospel continues to be well received among displaced people, with 10 house churches meeting regularly in run-down apartments in Erbil, Dohuk and surrounding areas. From time to time the fellowships vanish as displaced people leave the country in search of a better life, but others spring up in their place, he told Christian Aid.

The ministry continues to provide aid to displaced people in tents and whatever dilapidated or unfinished buildings they can find for shelter, with needs for blankets, heaters, food and diapers still being high.

First ministry members show the love of Christ by meeting physical needs, and only later do they bring Bibles, he said.

“We just help because we love them, and maybe the next time we visit we tell them about Jesus and give them Bibles,” he said. “We believe in the power of the Word of God. We don’t have many preachers. We don’t have many missionaries, but we have the Word of God that we’re able to print, purchase and deliver to the people and their children.”

Sarah Bessey: Go ahead, wave your flag

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I just love Sarah Bessey’s writing about the special weirdness of christians.

Go ahead, wave your flag

On the weekend, I did one of the most Vineyard-y things I’ve ever done in my life: I took two of my tinies to a worship flagging workshop. Like, it was a class about great big coloured flags and how to wave them well during church as part of the worship service.

So we have flags. We wave flags.

I know.

It’s weird to outsiders, and I get that. But I guess I can admit now that most of what we do as Christians is a bit weird to outsiders and so just roll in the weird altogether.

I’m not a flagger myself but I have an unreasonable love for people who wave the flags. I’ve reached the point in my story when I want all the crazy. All of it. I want the sloppy prayers and the hope and the flags and the unreasonable and embarrassing expectations for the voice of God to break through my life and the unprofessional dancers and the praying in tongues and the Eucharist and the Book of Common prayer being read aloud like it’s slam poetry in an old warehouse. I want anointing oil in my purse and ashes on my forehead.

Part of my own story is that I went for a big wander outside of my my mother Church, encountering different and new and ancient ways of experiencing and knowing and being changed by our big and generous God as if I were encountering occasional cups of water while in the desert, drinking each one down as if they were sustaining me for the next leg of the journey. But at the end of the story – or at least at the point of the story where I am right now, who can say if this is the end? – I came home.I came home to the school gyms and the folding chairs, the humble people of God also thirsty for the inbreaking of the Holy Spirit, imperfect and sometimes disappointing and unabashedly sincere and utterly beloved to me. 

Read the rest of the article here

The Startling Truth About Water on Mars

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There is a lot of excitement in the media today about water being discovered on Mars and its implication for finding life there. Some people seem to think that finding water means we have found life.

Let’s put aside the assumption that life must be common in the universe because it arose “spontaneously” on earth then evolved totally by chance to produce us, and look at the logic being ignored by many people.

Back when I did maths at High School one thing that was emphasised in the more advanced subjects was the difference between “necessary” and “sufficient” conditions in proofs.

For example, apart from the number 2, it is necessary for a number to be odd if it is to be prime. However it is not sufficient to show that a number is odd to prove it is prime.

Another example is it is necessary for a car to have fuel in the tank in order to drive it, but that is not sufficient- you need a driver with the key, air in the tyres, an engine that works, and much more.

Returning to Mars, we know that water is essential for life. This is so axiomatic that the scientists looking for life on other places, make that the starting point in their search. No water no life.

But life requires more than water. It needs carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and, above all else, energy.

Water is a necessary condition but it is not sufficient.

Some scientists are so pessimistic about the ability of life to spontaneously emerge from the primordial soup that they believe that the existence of life on earth in itself suggests there must be an infinite number of parallel universes to allow for the possibility that on just one planet in one of those universes life arose all by itself.

To me that is grasping at straws. It makes much more sense to believe in a Creator who made everything that is out of nothing. As Genesis 1:1 says “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Megan Hill: I Don’t Want Happy Vibes, I Want Prayer

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In Christianity Today, Megan Hill writes:

 

We communicate that happy thoughts are a legitimate alternative to prayer. We incidentally equate the two. I doubt most of us would be satisfied if the boss chose to pay us in Monopoly money or the waitress delivered plates of plastic play food to our table. This kind of indifference—prayer or good wishes, take your pick—denies before our unbelieving friends the Bible’s rich teaching on what prayer really is.

Prayer is not a magic incantation or the smoke gone up from blown-out birthday candles. Prayer is substantive and effective and absolutely necessary.

Read this excellent article here

J. Lee Grady: 7 Quirky ‘Doctrines’ That Should Be Debunked

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J. Lee Grady writes about some quirky doctrines that need to die:

7 Quirky ‘Doctrines’ That Should Be Debunked

 

If the preaching isn't biblical, then it isn't the truth.
If the preaching isn’t biblical, then it isn’t the truth. (iStock photo )

Jesus said the truth sets us free. But the opposite is also true: Lies put us in bondage—even if the lies are spoken from a pulpit by a sincere minister or a Christian celebrity.

In my international travels I’ve sat in countless meetings and heard countless examples of bad theology. While traveling in Romania, for example, I discovered that women are sometimes told they cannot receive communion if they are having their menstrual period. (No one could explain to me how this prohibition is actually enforced.) In some Nigerian churches, it is taught that a pastor shouldn’t have sex with his wife the night before he is scheduled to preach.

These are extreme examples of twisting or misunderstanding a Scripture (usually from the Old Testament) to create a religious rule. But this butchering of the Bible doesn’t just happen in developing countries. It happens everywhere, creating religious superstitions that make us look silly to the world. Some of these concepts are repeated so often that they become a part of our Christianese lexicon. People nod and say “Amen” without realizing these statements have no basis in Scripture.

It would be impossible to list all of the quirky doctrines I’ve encountered during my years in ministry, but I’ll start with these:

1. The children of ministers must carry on their parents work. David passed his inheritance to Solomon, and Solomon gave his scepter to Rehoboam. Then somewhere along the way some pastors invented the idea of a monarchy in the church—teaching that ministers must be succeeded by their sons or daughters. This certainly can happen. But nowhere in the New Testament are we told it is a rule. Leaders are appointed and anointed by the Holy Spirit, not determined by family lineage.

2. Don’t touch the Lord’s anointed. David refused to kill King Saul when he had the opportunity because he feared God and waited for Him to vindicate him (see 1 Sam. 24:6). But this verse has been manipulated to discourage church members from asking honest questions about a leader’s behavior or decisions. We are called to submit to our spiritual leaders, but it is not wrong to disagree with them as long as we have a respectful attitude.

3. Christians who commit suicide go to hell. This idea has created untold pain in the church, especially in families with loved ones who suffer with mental illness. The idea is that a person can never be forgiven of suicide since they can’t pray for forgiveness after they commit the sin. But the whole message of grace in the New Testament teaches us that God’s love is greater than our moments of weakness, depression or mental instability. If our salvation totally hinges on whether we immediately pray for forgiveness after every transgression, then we are all doomed. Jesus paid for our sins, and those who trust Him will enter heaven in spite of their frailties and bad decisions.

4. The husband is the priest of the home. I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard this statement from a pulpit. Contrary to what many Christians believe, this is not a Scripture. Actually the Bible teaches clearly that we are all priests (1 Peter 1:9), and husbands and wives function together as priests for their family. It is a heresy to suggest that a wife must go “through” her husband to approach God. The Bible does say the husband is “head of the wife” (Eph. 5:23), but this implies connection and oneness, not domination or control.

5. Christians can receive “mantles” from other people. The prophet Elijah threw his mantle on his disciple Elisha so he could carry on his ministry (see 2 Kin. 2:13). Ever since this isolated incident occurred, people have been asking famous preachers to pray for them so they can “receive their mantle.” Recently it was reported that some charismatics were going to the graves of revivalists to pray for their anointing to come upon them. That’s silly. In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit imparts his anointing. Someone may lay hands on us, but they don’t have to be famous or have a big following. Let’s stop worshiping people and seek the Holy Spirit’s power instead.

6. “Jesus only” baptism. Early Pentecostals began a famous dispute during the early 1900s over the proper formula for water baptism. Some insisted that people should be baptized “in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,” as Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19. But a breakaway sect of “Oneness” Pentecostals insisted then, as they do today, that people must be baptized only “in the name of Jesus,” as Acts 2:38 instructs. And Oneness believers teach that people who are not baptized according to their formula will not go to heaven. It’s time to retire this hair-splitting argument and recognize that Christians are saved by their faith in Jesus alone, not by words recited at their baptism.

7. People with strong faith don’t suffer. The oldest book in the Bible is Job—the ancient story of a faithful follower of God who endured suffering. Yet today we have dozens of famous televangelists who tell audiences they can confess their way out of trails and tribulations simply with positive thinking. Some even suggest you can buy your way out of difficulties by giving in their “miracle” offerings.

Never trust a preacher who promises you a shortcut around suffering. We must stop promoting a false gospel that offers instant success, fame and wealth. Jesus promised we would have trials (John 16:33), yet He gave us assurance that our faith in Him would help us overcome in the end. Let’s preach the truth, expose the lies and break free from Christian superstitions.

J. Lee Grady is the former editor of Charisma and the director of The Mordecai Project. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady. Check out his ministry atthemordecaiproject.org. 

Failed Predictions

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JD King writes:

The Rapture’s In 1988? What Can Be Learned From Failed End-Times Predictions

Over the last season I’ve been pressing into worship and enjoying more of the presence of the Lord. I’ve also been having wonderful outings with my beautiful wife and children. I keep thinking, how can I bring more encouragement and assist in the expansion of the Kingdom of God in this hour?

Yet, every time things begin to advance, feet start dragging and someone “slams on the brakes.” Bible-believing Christians are supposed to be talking about “doing life together” and growing in the purposes of God. Yet, most are continually distracted by politics, fear, and apocalyptic end-time scenarios.

I sincerely desire to laugh, love, and leave a legacy, but it can be extremely difficult. Many so-called “prophets” are talking about societal breakdown and catastrophe. In their sensationalist best-sellers, they claim to have witnessed the “signs of the times.”

This is so prominent that a message of “good news” and hope is extremely difficult to find these days (and sometimes it’s even rejected).

You probably already know this, but this isn’t the only generation that has made these claims. In fact, over the last century there have been countless assertions about “harbingers” and “signs of the apocalypse.” Leaders in previous eras also insisted they deciphered the Book of Revelation and understood the alarming headlines.

So, the pessimistic, cataclysmic claims aren’t new. They’re actually part of the lengthy tradition of anxiety and failed prognostications. In fact, speculative predictions about the end have characterized American Christianity for at least three generations. One would like to think that this madness would ultimately cease, but it never really does.

I’ve found that people keep making these kinds of end-time assertions. Yet, an honest analysis would show the “track record” isn’t good. Thousands of “undeniable” claims in previous decades were proven to be wrong.

Let me remind you of some of the things affirmed in the past.

Read the rest of the article here

The Question That Changes Everything

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We were blessed beyond measure last weekend when we hosted Steve and Christina Stewart of Impact Nations.

Impact Nations takes teams of people from wealthy countries such as Australia and take them to poor countries to minister healing and preach the gospel. A typical day on a Journey of Compassion, as they are called, might involve medical clinics in the day time and evangelism rallies at night. In many different settings, they pray for people to be healed and they are.

img_7803We were taught how to pray for healing and how to expect healing to happen, not because we are good but because God is good.

During the meetings we had several opportunities for people to receive healing. One person reported healing from Motor Neurone Disease, another improved peripheral vision.

The question that changes everything is very simple: “May I pray for you?” Those 5 words allow God to come into people’s lives who do not even think of God or of prayer, but recognise that they need help.

My highlight was going to a poor part of the town to knock on some doors. I normally hate that kind of thing, but somehow this seemed like fun. The assignment was to offer people a small bag of fruit- apples, oranges and mandarins- and then ask if we could pray with them. We talked with people and shared something of God’s love. Where people felt like their life was pretty good and they had nothing to pray about, we simply prayed God’s blessing on them.

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What was amazing was there were no grumpy people. We had ten pairs of people armed with three bags of fruit and all reported positive responses. I think people are happy to be offered something simple and there was no attempt to coerce people to be “religious.”

We also had some people visiting from other parts of NSW, including Dee and Mark McAllister who do prophetic dance.

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Should Adulterous Pastors Be Restored?

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Here is a thoughtful article from “Christianity Today”  about how the church should handle pastors who fall from grace. The author makes the strong distinction between forgiveness and restoration to ministry. I don’t know that I agree with everything in the article but it’s worth a read.

Should Adulterous Pastors Be Restored?

The Bible’s teaching about returning fallen ministers to the pulpit.
R. Kent Hughes and John H. Armstrong/ SEPTEMBER 4, 2015

“Genuine forgiveness does not necessarily imply restoration to leadership,” former CT editor Kenneth Kantzer once wrote after the moral failure of several prominent evangelical leaders. Yet the impulse to link forgiveness with restoration to ministry remains strong. Here two pastor-theologians argue for the importance of keeping separate the restoration to the body of Christ and restoration to pastoral leadership.

The North American church is seriously vexed by the question, “What shall we do with an adulterous pastor?” Over the past decade, the church has been repeatedly staggered by revelations of immoral conduct by some of its most respected leaders. How do we respond to those who have sexually fallen and disgraced themselves, shamed their families, and debased their office?

The typical pattern goes like this: The pastor is accused and convicted of sexual sin. He confesses his sin, often with profound sorrow. His church or denominational superiors prescribe a few months, or often one year, in which time he is encouraged to obtain professional counsel. Then he is restored to his former office, sometimes in another location. He is commonly regarded as a “wounded healer,” one who now knows what it means to fall, to experience the grace of God profoundly.

While each situation must be handled with pastoral wisdom, and some fallen pastors indeed might someday be restored to leadership, we believe this increasingly common scenario is both biblically incorrect and profoundly harmful to the well-being of the fallen pastor, his marriage, and the church of Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus was tempted in all points just as we are, yet it was his testing, not any failure, that made him strong. If we do not think clearly, we may be subtly encouraging people to grievous sin so they might experience more grace and thus minister more effectively. Incredibly, in the present context, some are saying things that imply just this notion.

The Forgiveness Approach

The commonly held view. reasons that a repentant and forgiven minister who was previously qualified for pastoral office remains qualified on the basis of God’s forgiveness. Was he qualified previously? Has he confessed his sin? Has God forgiven him? Then we must also.

This logic rests upon the unbiblical assumption that forgiveness of sin is equivalent to the “blamelessness” (or unimpeachable character) required of pastors in 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:6. If this thesis is accepted, all God requires is that a fallen pastor be forgiven.

But this confuses the basis of our fellowship with Christ with public leadership and office in church. No one argues that the fallen minister cannot be forgiven. No one should argue that he cannot be brought back into the fellowship of Christ’s visible church. But to forgive a fallen pastor and to restore him to membership in the church is much different than restoring him to the pastoral office.

The “forgiveness approach” is inadequate because it does not deal realistically with two facts: First, adultery is a great sin; and second, pastoral adultery is an even greater sin.

Full article here

Human Rights Commission to Consult About Religious Freedom

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I suppose this is, well, needed. But here is the problem- once we consider that human rights are granted by Government then we give them the ability to take rights away.

I wouldn’t trust the Human Rights Commission with my freedom.

From the Bible Society:

National conversation about freedom of religion set for November

NEWS | Tess Holgate

Thursday 3 September 2015

A new roundtable is set to put a spotlight on religious freedom in Australia, intended to spark a discussion that many commentators say is long overdue.

This November will see the Human Rights Commission convene their first religious freedom roundtable, with the aim of “stimulating much needed dialogue on exercising religious freedom in 21st century Australia,” said Commissioner Tim Wilson in a press release.

“Religious freedom is not only central to human rights, it is inextricable from other fundamental freedoms such as freedom of thought, conscience, speech and association, as well as property rights. But religious freedom cannot be unlimited. It has to be exercised with a respect and mindfulness of the rights of others such as equality before the law and government, and the freedoms of those without faith,” said Wilson.

In a speech for University of Notre Dame last year, Senator George Brandis wrote, “one of the fundamental freedoms of which we have heard far too little when we speak about human rights is the right to religious freedom. In fact, not only has religious freedom been neglected; it has actually been the subject of open attack from those who dominate much of our political discourse.”

In his speech, Senator Brandis explored the connections between the liberal view of society and traditional Christian theology, concluding that the former is a direct product of the latter.

Tim Wilson at the National Press Club. Credit: Australian Human Rights Commission.

“Religious belief is central to the human condition. Faith provides a means to help people that cannot be explained, even though it might be apprehended. It can also enable us to see ourselves as part of something larger, and thereby free ourselves from our base, everyday selfish concerns. Faith also has a unique ability to provide consolation in the face of life’s vicissitudes and to help us cope with its hardship,” says Senator Brandis.

“The Australia we know today is home to a diversity of faiths, united by tolerance, mutual respect and a commitment to democracy. Australians are free to choose their religion, and are able to practice their beliefs without intimidation and without interference, within the framework of Australian law and any attempt to interfere with that freedom is a profound outrage against our nation.”

Lyle Shelton, managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby says the roundtable is a positive move. “Tim Wilson is showing tremendous goodwill in wanting to address issues of religious freedom in Australia. I appreciate his desire to ensure there is religious freedom in this country.”

Shelton says the issue of religious freedom is most pronounced where there is a clash of rights. “Certain rights can come into conflict with the very important right of religious freedom and freedom of conscience. I don’t think we’ve worked out how to adequately address this.”

These competing rights make resolution “very difficult,” says Shelton. “The political debate at the moment is that if you don’t support people’s right to sexual expression, then somehow you are bigoted. While the debate remains framed like that, then it’s going to be very difficult [to find a resolution].

“Until we see a change in the way that this debate is conducted, I think the logical extrapolation is that it’s going to be hard for freedom of religion and freedom of conscience.”

Shelton wants to see a renewed emphasis on human rights as explained in the United Nations charter. “We’ve got to see the principles of the UN applied. That is, that religious freedom and freedom of conscience are a higher right that the right of sexual expression.”

Gordon Preece, director of the Ethos EA Centre for Christianity and Society thinks of it more as a balancing act, saying, “the balancing of religious freedom, which is a fundamental freedom, with things like sexual freedom is really important, and requires a lot of fine tuning.”

Preece is not naïve about the challenges to religious freedom in Australia, suggesting that one of our biggest challenges is figuring out how to make space in a secular society for both those who see religious freedom as an ultimate and fundamental freedom, and those who see sexual freedom as ultimate.

“It’s a big challenge for our society because sexual freedom is seen as an identity issue rather than just a behavioural issue. And then it lays claims on ultimate position. When it does that, that’s when you really get the clash with religious freedom because it will not book any competitors.”

This clash of freedoms is not going to be resolved with one sit-down at a roundtable.

“I think it’s going to be an ongoing conversation, over time. There are some major philosophical and worldview clashes which may not be able to be completely resolved – at the level of worldview – but may be able to be accommodated with compromises that allow for various groups to still have a sense of maintaining their integrity.”

Preece admits that finding and agreeing on such compromises will take a lot of grace and good listening – something that social media, and even mass media is not very good at doing.

“I think it’s important to try and develop non-adversarial forums that are face-to-face and allow the humanity of all parties to come through,” says Preece.

The challenges to religious freedom aren’t stopping any time soon. “In Victoria,” Preece says, “the Greens are proposing a bill that would drop religious exemptions in relationship to employment of practising gays in schools.”

“So [the roundtable discussion] is a good thing, and it’s good that Tim Wilson is proposing it. I think it’s helpful that this is coming to light now.”

The Human Rights Commission is calling for submissions from faith-based and other interest groups. Submissions close September 25.

– See more at: http://www.biblesociety.org.au/news/national-conversation-about-freedom-of-religion-set-for-november?utm_content=bufferb3ea2&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer#sthash.mMCXSjN3.dpuf