“Love Thy What?”: 7 Ways to Befriend Your Neighbor During COVID-19

 

Our culture didn’t need any assistance in further isolating ourselves, and yet a global pandemic has managed to do just that. Each day we hear stories of people who yearn for community and friendship. Singles and shut-ins are just two examples of the loneliness epidemic. So how do we combat that both in normal times and in times of COVID?

The problem with back porch living

I’m no expert on American housing, but it seems that the last few decades have seen a migration to the homeowner’s backyard. Gated neighborhoods, two-car garages that seal us off at the push of a button, privacy fences, and even fire pits have conspired to remove the front porch in favor of the back porch. Add the threat of a highly-contagious virus, and it’s the perfect mix for boxing ourselves off from the world.

What we gain in comfort, we lose in community. Gone are the days of front porch swings and rocking chairs, sipping lemonade while waving a friendly hello or having an impromptu conversation with a neighbor who stops by. Locked in our living rooms or sequestered on the back deck, we miss natural, easy opportunities to connect.

I recognize that this is a first-world problem that not even everyone in the first-world has. I realize that COVID is a real threat to our health and that of our neighbor. That said, I’ve discovered that many of us will take any excuse to stay in the backyard. While I believe that hospitality is the new apologetic, I’ll be the first to admit I’m not always quick to live…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Thom Rainer.

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We’re living in a ‘kairos’ moment, repentance is necessary: Christian leaders

Visitors flock to the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. | Upsplash/Jacob Creswick

Christian leaders are gathering together in the nation’s capital to focus on repentance in tumultuous times and what some believe is a “kairos” moment in history.

“Without repentance, we have nothing else. That is the foundation of the order of God in Scripture and in all things,” Kevin Jessip, president of Global Strategic Alliance, told The Christian Post.

Jessip and several others are assembling in Washington, D.C., this week to pray and cry out to God for revival. Known as The Return, a national and global movement of prayer and repentance, the 10-day event began with the Feast of Trumpets (Sept. 18) and will end with the Day of Atonement (Sept. 28). This is also known as the Days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. This year, it also coincides with the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower. 

When people go from rebellion to redemption, there is a process, he explained. First, there’s repentance to reconciliation, then restoration, and then comes revival.

Jessip believes that a righteous praying remnant of believers has been seeking God for this for many years.

“I believe God has…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

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NC church honors local police officers with Visa gift cards, appreciation plaques

Members of the Long View Police Department receive recognition during an event held at Open Door Baptist Church in Hickory, North Carolina in 2020. | Open Door Baptist Church

As police officers across the United States face low morale amid a wave of social unrest and calls for the defunding of police departments, a North Carolina church has taken it upon itself to express support and appreciation for its local police force. 

Open Door Baptist Church in the town of Hickory, North Carolina held a special service earlier this month to honor the 19 members of the Long View Police Department. 

Police Chief T.J. Bates spoke at the event, where officers were presented with $100 Visa gift cards and plaques of appreciation

In an interview with The Christian Post, Pastor Shawn Davis explained that the decision to hold the event was made after holding a meeting with Bates. During the meeting, Bates spoke of the low morale among the officers.

Davis hopes that his gestures of goodwill will provide the Long View Police Department with a much-needed morale boost.

“We prayed over them and asked for God’s blessing, safety, and protection,” he said. “We let them know we appreciated their service…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

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Twin Sisters Kidnapped, Pastor and Three Other Christians Killed in Nigeria

Twin Sisters Kidnapped, Pastor and Three Other Christians Killed in Nigeria


JOS, Nigeria, September 22, 2020 (Morning Star News) – A church elder was shot as his daughters were kidnapped in northwest Nigeria on Friday (Sept. 18), days after a pastor and three other Christians in a north-central state were killed earlier this month.

Hassana and Hussaina Garba, teenaged Christian twin sisters, were kidnapped from their home beside their Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) worship building in Kwakware village, Kankara County in northwest Nigeria’s Katsina state, sources said. The kidnappers shot their father, ECWA elder Ibrahim Garba, in the stomach in the 10:30 p.m. assault, and sources said he was receiving hospital treatment.

Kidnappings by various criminal elements have become rampant in Katsina state the past few years, with the high number committed by predominantly Muslim Fulanis prompting Gov. Aminu Masari to warn last year that the tribe risks being targeted by vigilantes.

Kwakware area resident Charles Yahaya said kidnapping has long been a problem in Katsina state but has intensified.

“Testimonies and exhibits at the crime scene show that the kidnappers were very organized, very informed on their target and heavily armed,” Yahaya told Morning Star News by text message. “This is one incident among many. It is the sustained and targeted kidnapping of Christian girls in northern Nigeria, after which they are forcefully converted to Islam…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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Kenosha Church Remains Unscathed after Rioters Burn Block to the Ground

Kenosha Church Remains Unscathed after Rioters Burn Block to the Ground


Since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the later death of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Kenosha has become the epicenter of national unrest.

According to CBN News, protests erupted in 140 cities throughout the spring and summer. While some people wanted to make their voices be heard concerning racial injustice, others took it to another level as violence was carried out in several cities by rioters.

While people were having a tough time from the COVID-19 pandemic, others suffered tremendous losses as looters and arsonists ravaged their businesses, stores, and even churches.

Axios reports that the riots are the most expensive in insurance history, with costs amounting from one to two billion dollars.

Nevertheless, one Kenosha Church has a miraculous story to tell. Speaking to CBN News on The Prayer Link was Pastor David Montgomery and his wife Verne’t from Kingdom Word Global Impact Ministries.

The couple shared how their church was the only building left standing after rioters burned down the entire block of buildings on which the church is located.

“Several men were with me and we actually stood outside of the building while there was protesting and then it turned into rioting and you would have never thought that they would touch a church. We had a rock go through one of our windows and we were yelling ‘hey this is a church’,” Pastor Montgomery explained.

While the…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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D.C.’s Ban on Indoor and Outdoor Church Services Sparks Suit from Prominent Congregation

D.C.’s Ban on Indoor and Outdoor Church Services Sparks Suit from Prominent Congregation


A prominent Washington, D.C. church filed suit against the city and its mayor Tuesday, seeking to overturn a ban on mass gatherings that prohibits congregations from meeting not only indoors but also outdoors during the pandemic.

The lawsuit by Capitol Hill Baptist Church (CHBC) against Mayor Muriel Bowser says the city’s current ban on in-person church gatherings of more than 100 people violates the church’s rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution’s First and Fifth Amendments, including its rights to assemble and worship without government interference. Prior to the pandemic, the church had around 1,000 attendees on a Sunday. Its pastor, Mark Dever, has authored several books.

According to the Washington Post, the suit, filed in federal court, requests an injunction against the city. Significantly, the suit says the church should be able to meet in D.C. “if conducted with appropriate social distancing practices.”

Under current D.C. rules, the church won’t be able to meet in the city until a vaccine is developed, according to the suit.

The mayor and the city “have specifically and explicitly targeted in-person religious gatherings,” the suit says. Because of that, the restrictions are “not neutral on their face.”

Capitol Hill has been meeting at locations outside the city.

“The Mayor’s orders prohibit gatherings of over 100 people for…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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First complete sign language Bible available after nearly 4 decades

The complete Bible is now available in American Sign Language for the first time ever. | Deaf Missions

After nearly four decades, the complete Bible is now available in American Sign Language for the first time ever.

Deaf Missions, a ministry dedicated to communicating “the Gospel of Jesus with Deaf people through their heart language, culture and identity,” began the project in the early 1980s. 

In 2016, the mission partnered with Wycliffe USA, American Bible Society, Deaf Bible Society, Deaf Harbor, DOOR International, Pioneer Bible Translators, and Seed Company to complete the project, according to Mission Network News.

The final books needed — Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel — were completed this fall. Now, the entire Bible is available to the world’s 70 million people who are deaf for free online, through social media, and on a smartphone app. The translation was led by people who themselves are deaf and trained in the biblical languages.

“Roughly 98% of the worldwide population of Deaf people have never encountered the real Jesus,” notes the Deaf Missions website. “What is the number one issue Deaf people face when it comes to knowing Jesus? The answer boils…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

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Jim Caviezel Says The Passion of the Christ Sequel Might Be the Biggest Film in World History

Jim Caviezel Says The Passion of the Christ Sequel Might Be the Biggest Film in World History


Actor Jim Caviezel says he just received the third draft of The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection and told Breitbart News “it’s going to be the biggest film in world history.”

In an exclusive interview on Breitbart News Daily with Alex Marlow, Caviezel said he will once again play Jesus in the film that mainly focuses on Jesus’ resurrection. While Caviezel released these details on the new sequel, he also talked about his faith, its effects on his career, and his own upcoming film, Infidel.

Caviezel spoke about how he was blacklisted in Hollywood for playing Jesus but said he had “no choice” but to defend the film.

“I had no choice. I had to defend it. I had to fight to survive. The film exploded. It was off the charts. You’d think, ‘Oh, you’re going to work a lot.’ No, I didn’t. I was no longer on the studio list. That was gone. … Because of what I do as an actor — that’s my skill — it was given to me from God. I didn’t give it to myself, but it’s something in which I have a great range. … I really felt that faith was much bigger than the industry and Hollywood, and bigger than the Republican or Democratic Party or any of that,” Caviezel told Breitbart News.

Caviezel also insisted that The Passion’s sequel is especially important in today’s culture.

“It’s so imperative in this time. These films can’t be made now. The films they…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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United Methodist regional body supports changing logo, claims it’s unintentionally racist

CrossRoads United Methodist Church in Phoenix, Arizona is seen here in a Feb. 13, 2010. | AP Images/Matt York

A regional body of the United Methodist Church has voted to approve a petition recommending that the mainline denomination change its insignia, claiming it is racially insensitive. 

Delegates at the UMC North Texas Conference approved the petition last Saturday during their business session in a vote of 558 in favor and 176 against. 

Sponsored by the Rev. Elden Cowley, the legislative item called on the denomination to create a new insignia to replace the cross and flame logo that has existed since the 1960s.

During the legislative session, which was mostly virtual in nature, one delegate inquired as to whether it would be better to wait until after next year’s general conference.

At the heart of this query was the expectation many have that the UMC will approve an amicable separation proposal in 2021 to resolve their long-standing debate over LGBT issues.

In response to the question sent online, Cowley said “we could” wait, but added that he would still “feel very confident with moving along with this now.”

Cowley lobbied in support of changing the logo in an…

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Students Gather around Flagpoles for 30th Annual See You At The Pole Event

Students Gather around Flagpoles for 30th Annual See You At The Pole Event


Students around the world still gathered, both in-person and virtually, for Wednesday’s See You at the Pole event.

This year, the SYATP organization had a livestream video so that students could still participate. The Annual Global Day of Student Prayer is held on the fourth Wednesday of September each year.

This is the 30th year of the annual student event and in the midst of a global pandemic. Organizers say the theme is “Return. Restore. Revive.”

The theme comes from 2 Kings 23:25, which says, “Before him, there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.”

“As a nation, we need to return to the Lord and repent for present and past sins,” said First Priority Greater Birmingham Ministry Director Debi DeBoer. “Only then can relationships be restored and healing begin. Awaken our hearts, revive us or we can slumber and watch another generation be without hope,” DeBoer said.

In Wappingers Falls, New York, where schools are closed, students from a local high school gathered at a local park and spread out to pray in masks around a flagpole.

SYATP began in 1990 when a group of 10 students in Burleson, Texas drove to three different schools one night and prayed at the flagpoles. Later that year, youth leaders invited other students…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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