Trump Becomes the First President Since Eisenhower to Change Faiths in Office

CT  OCTOBER 27, 2020 

More than 180,000 people have stopped identifying with the Presbyterian Church (USA) in the past four years, according to official church numbers. Now there’s one more: President Donald Trump.

Trump told Religion News Service last week in a written interview mediated by spiritual advisor Paula White-Cain that he doesn’t consider himself to be Presbyterian. He was confirmed in the church and has called himself Presbyterian numerous times over the years. But no more.

“I now consider myself to be a non-denominational Christian,” Trump said in the statement. “Melania and I have gotten to visit some amazing churches and meet with great faith leaders from around the world. During the unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak, I tuned into several virtual church services and know that millions of Americans did the same.”

While the mainline denomination has previously challenged Trump’s affiliation, his recent departure seems to be the result of the president slowly moving away from his childhood church and toward a more evangelical faith.

The Return

The Return September, 2020

The Return is an end-time movement with one purpose – the return to God – individually, corporately, nationally, globally – and the end-goal of world revival. It crystalized on September 26, 2020, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and in gatherings and events throughout the nation and the world. Millions took part and the Lord powerfully moved. 

Now we move forward together for worldwide revival and the end-time harvest foretold in the Scriptures.

Another Gospel, Another Jesus

 

Kanye West Will Appear at Joel Osteen's Sunday Service

TMZ11/12/2019

Kanye West may have his biggest audience yet for a Sunday Service, because we've learned he's agreed to take the stage for Joel Osteen's incredibly popular Sunday ritual.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Ye and Joel have been talking fairly regularly recently ... they've become friends, especially since Kanye has doubled down in his devotion to God.

We're told the plan is for Kanye to show up at Joel's 11 AM service in Houston this coming Sunday at the Lakewood Church. Kanye will walk up to the pulpit and have a conversation with Joel that will last between 20 and 30 minutes.

Our sources say Joel wants his congregation -- which stands 45,000 strong -- and his TV audience -- which stands at 10 million in the U.S. alone -- to hear how Kanye has overcome significant adversity in his life.

As one source put it, "Kanye used to be about nothing greater than himself. Now it's all about a higher power." BTW, Kanye has echoed this sentiment before. We're told Joel will ask Kanye to contrast his life then and now.

Churches are opening their doors to businesses in order to survive

CBS March 16, 2019

Sunday looks very different from Monday at White Rock United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas. During the week, a florist fills out orders next to an artist working on a project. Down the hall, students practice tai chi.

Declining attendance at America's churches -- a persistent trend in recent decades -- has forced some to take a novel approach to keeping their doors open: renting out otherwise empty space during the usually quiet mid-week, CBS News' Omar Villafranca reports. 

Larry Duggins heads up the Missional Wisdom Foundation, a group that helps congregations become a place for commerce. "Churches close when they can't get beyond that, unless they have some extraordinary other way to get people to come attend," he said.

Senior pastor Mitchell Boone admits White Rock Methodist needed a miracle to stay open.

"We were spending way too much money to keep the doors open and the lights on and the staff paid and Sunday morning going, and so it was clearly a move out of desperation," Boone said. "We were close to death."

Their prayers were answered when they opened their basement up for business. In addition to creating a mixed workspace for startups to rent, the church reached out to groups in need. An African refugee group that sews bags and other products now rents a room from them.

Leila James, who has been a member of the church for 44 years, said other church members weren't fully sold on the idea of renting out space. But James, the daughter of a preacher, ultimately embraced it.

"I attended the yoga class and I remember one day we got the giggles because we were just enjoying it so much and we thought, 'Well, this is the way church should be. We should be able to have other aspects of our lives here,'" she said.

Peace is common denominator of all major religions

Oikumene  March 2019

The Christian Conference of Asia gathered over 100 participants representing seven religions including Christian, Buddhist, Islamic, Jewish, Bahai, Hindu and Sikh to meet with the participants of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace Reference Group to discuss relevant issues about religion and their implications to the Asian society.

“Continuous interfaith dialogue is key to better mutual understanding, tolerance and respect and long term-peace and stability” said Dr Mathews George Chunakara, representing Christianity, general secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia, at the Inter-Religious Fellowship and Dinner Reception in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on 4 March. “In several situations in Asia, although the churches and Christians are small in number, and the Christians are small in number, and the Christians are only a microscopic minority, they are directly involved in peace building in various ways. They are upholding the dignity and rights of people and communities irrespective of their religious and faith identities. Peacefulness is a common denominator of all major religions”.

False revival coming.

The pontiff calls for Christian Unity

Asian News  09/28/2018

Vatican City  – Pope Francis spoke Friday to participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, whose theme was “Pentecostals, Charismatics, and Evangelicals: Impact on the Concept of Unity”. In his address, the pontiff called for overcoming mistrust and prejudices that exist between the Catholic Church and other Christian movements.

For him, “The constant growth of these new expressions of Christian life is a very significant phenomenon, which cannot be overlooked. [. . .] First of all, we have the duty to discern and recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit in these communities, trying to construct bonds of authentic fraternity with them. This will be possible by multiplying the opportunities for meeting and overcoming mutual distrust, motivated many times by ignorance or lack of understanding. And I would like to offer you a personal experience and declare a mea culpa. When I was provincial [superior], I had forbidden Jesuits to enter into relationships with these people - with the Catholic Renewal - and I said that more than a prayer meeting it seemed like a “samba school”! Then I apologized, and as a bishop I had a good relationship with them, with Mass in the cathedral ... But it takes a journey to understand.

Evangelical Leaders Uniting for Spiritual Warfare

 

CP Aug 28, 2018

About 100 evangelical leaders were invited to dinner at the White House Monday night for what was a prayer-filled event that's been compared to a church camp meeting and a campaign rally.

Dubbed a "state dinner" for evangelical leaders, the event was held specifically in the "honor of evangelical leadership." The dinner was attended by dozens of evangelical pastors, evangelists and activists who've been involved in informally advising the administration including well-known figures like Franklin Graham, James Dobson, and Greg Laurie.

The dinner was also attended by Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of Homeland Security Ben Carson, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and Ambassador at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback. The event was officially hosted by first lady Melania Trump.

"We are here today to celebrate America's heritage of faith, family and freedom," Trump told the crowd. "As you know in recent years, the government tried to undermine religious freedom but the attacks on communities of faith are over. We've ended it."

Evangelical Leaders: ‘We’re More Powerful When We Stand Together’

CBN News 

Rev. Samuel Rodriguez and Rev. Johnnie Moore are teaming up to form The Congress of Christian Leaders in hopes of fostering unity in the Body of Christ.

But don't let the word Congress confuse you. The men say the group is non-partisan and interdenominational.

"The CCL is the embodiment of our conviction that we are more powerful when we stand together for righteousness and justice," Rodriguez explained.

A California church is getting ready to stand in the light of Queen Beyonce's music.

Huffington Post 19/04/2018

San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral is planning to host a Beyoncé Mass on April 25, using the pop icon’s music to celebrate black female spirituality.

The Wednesday evening service is part of The Vine, a weekly contemporary gathering organized by Grace for San Francisco’s “urbanites and spiritual seekers.” The Beyoncé Mass promises to help attendees discover how the musician’s art “opens a window into the lives of the marginalized and forgotten ― particularly black females.”

The Rev. Jude Harmon, founding pastor of The Vine, pointed to how Jesus used ordinary stories to preach the gospel ― parables about vineyards, day laborers, stewards, and other figures that would have been familiar to his audience. He said the upcoming Mass uses a familiar part of modern culture ― Beyoncé lyrics ― in the same way.

Evangelicals and Pope Francis United

Charisma News   4/6/2018

A lot of attention has been focused on St. Francis of Assisi after Cardinal Bergoglio took the name of Francis upon his election as Pope. As well we should, because St Francis taught his followers to share the Gospel more by what they do than what they say.

But this week, on April 8, we mark the life of another Francis who, it is believed, is also a role model for the new Pope. On that date in 1541, Francis Xavier began his extraordinary missionary journey to the East. Over the next 10 years, he traveled through 50 kingdoms and baptized over 1,000,000 people. He founded churches from India to Japan, earning the title "Apostle to the Indies."

Beyond his importance as an Asian missionary, Francis Xavier pioneered a return of Christian missions to its gospel roots. The medieval model of missions called for conquest and forced conversion, as exemplified by the Spanish conquests and failed conversations in the New World. Francis Xavier showed that heartfelt conversion won by the love of God was not only more scriptural, it was more effective. In that sense he is the father of all modern Christian missions.

Francis Xavier lived in an age of upheaval, when Europeans had begun challenging the pagan kingdoms of the East for commerce and, later, military supremacy. The European traders were interested in gold, not God, but they undermined the power of the pagan kings and the pagan gods they claimed to represent. The traders also curtailed the power of the Islamic merchants and stopped the Islamic expansion into the Far East. As a result, societies which had been closed to Christianity became more open, and Christian missionaries were able to present the Gospel. For Francis Xavier, a million baptisms followed.

These European powers eventually spread their empires throughout the world, replacing pagan kingdoms in the Americas, Africa and Asia. While these nations were seldom, if ever, interested in spreading Christianity, many missionaries followed in the footsteps of Francis Xavier and brought God's love to the colonized peoples. Today there are thriving Christian communities in the Americas, Africa and Asia because of these missionary efforts.

Also, today, we find that it is Europe which has abandoned its Christian roots and fallen into darkness. So it seems somehow to be fitting that the new pope taking the name Francis would come from a place which was Christianized by missionaries like Francis Xavier and would now return to Europe to preach a new evangelism to the lost Europeans.

We pray for Pope Francis, a man of the Spirit and a uniter of Christians, that he will help lead the whole church to challenge the European societies and open them to the gospel as the Europeans did to the pagan world 500 years ago.

We pray also for the unity of the church and a spiritual awakening of the church to enable it to be faithful in our generation as Francis Xavier was in his

The ecumenical agenda at Kairos 2017 event

The largest megachurch in the world

 

May 01, 2017 · By Matthew Bell

If the building didn’t have a giant cross out front, it could easily be mistaken for a sports arena.

But this is Yoido Full Gospel Church, a Pentecostal congregation belonging to the Korean Assemblies of God — a household name in South Korea. The institution is also known as the largest megachurch in the world, with a congregation approaching 800,000 people, according to church officials. 

Protestant megachurches, defined as those with at least 2,000 people in attendance every week, don't just operate all across the United States. This is a global phenomenon. 

Successful megachurches are operating in South America, Africa and Asia as well. And yet, no city has more of them than Seoul. The South Korean capital has 17 megachurches in all. 

Still, Protestant evangelical leaders in South Korea are facing a new challenge. Their public image has taken a hit in recent years due to a series of scandals, and the era of boundless growth for their congregations appears to have come to an end. 

Sunday services at Yoido Full Gospel Church start at 7 a.m. and run the whole day, until 7 p.m. They’re not in the same building at the same time, but officials say nearly 200,000 people attend worship services every week at the main church in Yeouido, an island in central Seoul that sits in the Han River. 

Yeouido Island is also where the South Korean National Assembly building is located, along with several big media companies. 

The scene inside the main sanctuary of the Full Gospel Church is impressive. There are seats for about 15,000 worshippers. Giant video screens carry simultaneous translations of parts of the service in Chinese, Japanese and English. Audio headsets are available with translations from the original Korean into numerous other languages. The choir has about 120 vocalists decked out in white robes and backed up by a full orchestra. 

Talking with members of the congregation on the main steps outside of the church, several people echo a sense of awe. They say they can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit at Full Gospel Church, and that’s what keeps them coming back.

At certain times during the service, people in the pews close their eyes, raise up their hands and even speak in tongues, creating a real revival atmosphere.

“When I was in my 20s, I went to another church. But it was kind of superficial,” says Lee Chong-sook, a 55-year-old attending Sunday morning service with her husband, their two young-adult children, and Lee’s sister-in-law.

“When I first walked past this church and I heard the preaching, I started to cry. It touched my soul. I felt joy and I felt healed from pain and sorrow,” Lee says.

The message from the pulpit would sound familiar to a lot of Christian evangelicals in the US. It’s about a strict interpretation of the Bible, with a focus on the power of prayer and positive thinking.    More