Kristie Higgs, 43, was accused by bosses at Farmor’s School of making homophobic comments on her personal Facebook page, after she questioned sex education lessons at her own child’s primary school.
She said she had legitimate concerns over new Government guidance on sex and relationship lessons, however she was told her claim that children at the school were being indoctrinated, amounted to homophobia.
The posts by the Christian mother-of two were only visible to her friends.
Roger Kiska from the Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting her, told Premier her dismissal, was grossly unfair.
“Losing your job for gross misconduct – which is really the worst black eye you can have, as far as employment – that suggests that you’ve committed fraud or done something incredibly egregious – it makes you almost unemployable.
“So this is obviously taking a tremendous toll on her.”
The first post shared began with her writing in capital letters “please read this they are brainwashing our children!”
She then went on to urge people to “please sign this petition, they have already started to brainwash our innocent wonderfully created children and it’s happening in our local primary school now”.
The rest of the post, written by another mother, highlighted that a government consultation on whether to make relationships and sex…
Telling the Passover Story in the Shadow of the Pittsburgh Massacre
(RNS) — After losing her mother-in-law in last October’s Pittsburgh massacre, Marnie Fienberg quit her job.
A federal contractor in communications strategy who lives in northern Virginia, Fienberg couldn’t go back to work after the shiva, or seven days of Jewish mourning, were up.
Later she realized she couldn’t cook a Passover seder either.
For a dozen years before the shooting, Fienberg and her mother-in-law, Joyce, had prepared the meal at the heart of the holiday together. Joyce Fienberg was used to cooking the seder meal — a ritual reenactment of the story of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt — for as many as 25 guests. She always made matzoh ball soup, sometimes three different kinds — her regular recipe, a heartier whole-wheat version, and a gluten-free version.
That was typical Joyce. She doted on her guests and their dietary choices, wanting each and every person at her table to feel cared for and loved.
This year Marnie Fienberg will do Passover differently. She has envisioned an ambitious project called “2 for Seder” that has caught on as a way to overcome anti-Semitism by better acquainting non-Jews with the Passover story of the biblical flight from slavery to freedom.
Using her communications expertise, she partnered with trusted Jewish groups that liked the idea, from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh to the…
Autopsy of a Deceased Church highlighted 12 reasons churches die. This week, we are looking back at what we’ve learned in the five years since it was published and highlighting a new related video resource.
Some highlights from today’s episode include:
Corporate worship should be a priority and not just one activity option among many for church members on the weekend.
A self-centered attitude among church members is a main factor in church deaths.
Stay true to the Word no matter the cost.
An outward focus transforms the attitudes and culture of a church.
Vanderbloemen Search Group is the premier pastor search firm dedicated to helping churches and ministries build great teams. They’ve helped thousands of churches just like yours find their church staff and are uniquely geared to help you discern who God is calling to lead your church.
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The fire that devastated the historic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was an accident, according to the president of the Paris region. Donors have already pledged millions of dollars to rebuild the medieval landmark, one of the most iconic in the world.
The Cathedral was begun in 1163 with the laying of the cornerstone and largely completed by 1345. The cathedral towers are both 226 feet tall. They were the tallest structures in Paris until the Eiffel Tower was completed in 1889.
Around four hundred firefighters battled the blaze for nine hours before extinguishing it. The cathedral’s iconic spire fell, but the towers were saved.
The Notre Dame Cathedral is a significant metaphor for religion in our times.
French President Emmanuel Macron described the devastating fire as the “emotion of an entire nation.” Thirteen million people visit the cathedral each year, making it one of the world’s most beloved structures.
The words “Submit to God thru Islam” and “Muhammed is his prophet” were displayed in black spray-paint on the outside of Midway Presbyterian Church, according to local police.
The Anderson Police Department has offered a reward for information that leads to any arrest linked to the vandalism of the church.
Members of the church, which dates its origins back to the 1800s, covered the windows ahead of the thunderstorms on Sunday night.
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43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Love is a subject that almost every one can teach theoretically but our emphasis this month will be on the doing of it. First component of love as shown to us in john 3:16, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son; the first prove of love is giving.
To love is to recognize value in someone. When you love God, you recognize God’s value and want to demonstrate it by giving to Him in celebration of His worth or value. There is absolutely nothing on this planet that is anywhere near God’s value: so what do you do? You give him your life.
When you recognize and value people, then you recognize the gap between their reality and their potential. You want to bridge that gap by giving. God recognized value in us; He demonstrated this value by giving the life of His only son because He wanted to bridge the gap between where we were as sinners and our potential as the righteousness of God.
The second prove of love which is a derivative of the first is forgiving. To forgive means to cancel a debt. In this instance, they are emotional debts. To forgive is to refuse to hold feelings of resentment or animosity against someone. When we love, we give and forgive.
The question today is who should we love? Matthew 22: 37–40 say love the Lord your God with all your heart, might and your soul, which is the first commandment. The second one is like it; love your neighbor as yourself. We are to love God and secondly we are to love other people. Who qualifies to be your neighbor? That would be anyone that lives in your vicinity, family members, and your colleagues in the office, someone that is not far from you.
Jesus breaks is down in Matthew 5 saying love the ones that hate you. The ones that persecute and curse you. Love your enemies. You can’t figure out what to do to your enemies better than God. Our attention here is being drawn to the fact that in our relationships with people, their actions should not change our nature. Our actions should not be reactions to what they do but it should be something that emanates from our own nature.
God makes the sun to shine during the good and the bad and rain to fall because our actions can never change Him. God is love; the worst hatred from anyone will never change the love nature of God. If God is love and we have the nature of God then we are love.
If the only measure of our capacity for love was the good things that we have been doing to other believers, to people that are nice to us and you know there’s a blessing for that because it’s a commandment from the bible. There is a blessing for giving.
Pastor Samuel Adeyemi is the Senior Pastor of Daystar Christian Centre, a fast growing, life changing church committed to “raising role models” based in Lagos. He is also the President of Success Power International.
Most Rev Justin Welby tweeted his support for those mourning the 13th century landmark after flames destroyed its roof and brought down the iconic spire.
He said: “Tonight we pray for the firefighters tackling the tragic Notre Dame fire – and for everyone in France and beyond who watches and weeps for this beautiful, sacred place where millions have met with Jesus Christ.
“Nous sommes avec vous [we are with you].”
Hundreds of fire fighters were called to the scene after a blaze broke out at around 6pm UK time. It was not until 3am on Tuesday that the incident was declared under control.
Fr Aiden Troy from the English-speaking Roman Catholic Church of St Joseph’s in central Paris told Premier: “There’s a sense that something [of the building] has been saved.
Tonight we pray for the firefighters tackling the tragic #NotreDame fire – and for everyone in France and beyond who watches and weeps for this beautiful, sacred place where millions have met with Jesus Christ. Nous sommes avec vous.
— Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) April 15, 2019
“I was looking at the headlines of many of the French newspapers this morning, and it’s like the heart has been torn out of the city.
[There is] a great sadness and, almost…a great numbness.”
The fire, which is not being treated as arson or terror-related, was described as “heart-breaking” in a statement released by the…
Hundreds of firefighters tackled the historic blaze through the night, battling to stop it wreaking complete destruction of the treasured facade after flames torched the roof, sending its spire crashing to the ground before crowds of horrified Parisians.
Meanwhile, teams raced to recover what treasures they could from the 850-year-old Gothic masterpiece, which housed priceless artefacts and relics of huge religious and international significance.
The blaze, which broke out as the last crowds of tourists ended visits at around 6pm BST (7pm local time), was finally declared to be “completely under control” nearly nine hours later.
However, it is expected to take several days to completely extinguish all remaining pockets of fire, dampen down hotspots and secure the world-famous edifice.
Attention is beginning to turn to what may have caused the landmark, part of which was being restored, to fall victim to such a disaster.
The Paris prosecutors’ office said police will carry out an investigation into “involuntary destruction caused by fire”, indicating authorities are treating the blaze as a tragic accident for now.
Arson, including possible terror-related motives, was earlier ruled out.
Visiting the scene on Monday night, French president Emmanuel Macron…
Topic: A Blissful Home is God’s Plan for You (Part 1)
Dear Reader,
Here we are again on another segment of family life. With the number of mails and testimonies I have received from readers, I believe that the Lord has been reaching out to you through His Word and putting new life into your homes. But if you are reading this column for the first time, by the time you are through, something new and thrilling would have happened to your family, in Jesus’ name.
Family life is very precious in the heart of Almighty God. He plainly reveals His interest in the family to us by making it the very first institution that was established after the creation of man. No wonder He said in Genesis 2:18, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him’.
It was also the instrument that God desired man to use in order to fulfil His first and foremost commandment to ‘Be fruitful and multiply … replenish … subdue … and have dominion…’ (Gen. 1:28). This means that the success of any man (or nation) would be tied to their family life.
It is, therefore, unfortunate that the family lives of many individuals are in shambles. Some have hit the rock, while others care less about their families. Satan himself has made the family his target for attack. Many individuals have their minds poisoned against their families. The issue of family to some others is dead and not to be revisited for any reason. Even some Christian families still struggle to keep their family life and fellowship alive; this is not God’s plan for your family!
Indeed, God’s plan for you is for your life and family to be alive and full of sparkle, joy and excitement. Even if the whole world is hostile to your existence, the thought of your family life and members should ease off the tension and stress confronting you. The Lord has designed the family to be a place of security, where you can be corrected when wrong and still be loved and appreciated at the same time. It is a place where you don’t have to stand alone (isolated), for ‘it is not good that man should be alone’. The family is where others are willing to stand by you and help you get on the right track in life. God’s Word makes it clear that new life is available for your family.
Family life doesn’t have to be a drag or a dead matter. As you learn more in this edition, your family will become a blissful one, in the mighty name of Jesus.
If you want to enjoy God’s plan for your family, the first thing you need to do is to understand and accept that family is of divine origin, not an earthly one. It is God that originated it. Whatever God establishes or sanctions is not to be taken lightly. Your family is not something you can afford to be indifferent about. You can’t say, ‘If everything is fine with my husband or wife, fine’. Or “If we are not on speaking terms then, I will just disappear from home.” Or “If my children pass their exams, I will give them a gift and if they don’t, it’s their mother’s fault.
You must be ready to make God the centre of your family life. If you are not ready for that, then enjoying a successful family life will only remain a dream to you and never a reality. Anyone who is not ready to mind God is definitely not ready to enjoy a blissful family, because the breath of God (His Word) will have no access to his (or her) home. Give God His rightful place and the attention that is required to your family. You do this by paying attention to His Word and obeying His instructions. And “When you have followed the Lord’s instructions, His glory will appear to you” (Lev. 9:6). For every instruction you obey, God’s glory begins to come into your home and family life. Your family shall be an example to other homes because of how bright each member appears spiritually, mentally, socially and physically.
Here is a touching testimony: ‘I have been married for over 12 years, but what I am enjoying now, I’ve never enjoyed since I got married. I thank God for His Word to me through you. You taught … and laid emphasis on wives being submissive to their husbands in everything, just like the church submits to Christ. My understanding opened and I told God, “Lord, from this day, I know that obedience is the key”. And ever since that day, I have been enjoying what all my fasting, binding and all couldn’t deliver to me. I thank God that now it’s like I am wedded anew. And just yesterday morning, to confirm God’s faithfulness in my home, my husband gave me a cheque for ₦100,000, which I cashed this morning. I now enjoy peace, love and harmony’.
– Adebayo, L.
The beginning of letting God have His rightful place is to be a born-again child of God. The Bible says, ‘And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge…’ (Ezekiel 22:30). God is looking for one person in your family that he would use to touch and affect the other members. And you are that person. If you want to be born again, then say this prayer: Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me my sins and cleanse me with Your Blood. I accept You as my Lord and personal Saviour. Make me a child of God today. Thank You for delivering me from sin and satan to serve the blissful God and thank You for accepting me into Your Kingdom.
Congratulations! If you prayed this simple prayer of faith with me, you are now born again and a child of God. He loves you and will never leave you. Read your Bible daily, obey God’s Word and seek Christian fellowship (John 14:21).
With this, you are guaranteed all-round rest and peace in Jesus’ name! Call or write to share your testimonies with me through [email protected], 07026385437 OR 08141320204.
For more insight, these books authored by me are available at the Dominion Bookstores in all Living Faith Churches and other leading Christian bookstores: Marriage Covenant, Making Marriage Work, Building a Successful Home and Success in Marriage (Co-Authored).
Pastor Faith Oyedepo is the wife of Bishop David Oyedepo, the founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide a.k.a. Winners’ Chapel, and Senior Pastor of Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland, Ota, Nigeria.
“For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,” says the LORD, “plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” — Jeremiah 29:11 (AMP)
God’s plan for the people of the nation of Israel was only for their good. Yet they wandered around in the wilderness for 40 years on what was actually an 11-day journey. Why? Was it their enemies, their circumstances, the trials along the way, or something entirely different that prevented them from arriving at their destination in a timely manner?
God called the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt to go to the land He had promised to give them as a perpetual inheritance—a land that flowed with milk and honey and every good thing they could imagine, a land in which there would be no shortage of anything they needed—a land of prosperity in every realm of their existence.
But the Israelites had no positive vision for their lives—no dreams. They knew where they came from, but they did not know where they were going. Everything was based on what they had seen in the past or what they could presently see. They did not know how to see with “the eye of faith.”
We really shouldn’t view the Israelites with astonishment because most of us do the same thing they did. We keep dealing with the same problems over and over again. The disappointing result is that it takes us years to experience victory over something that could have and should have been dealt with quickly.
I come from a background of abuse. My childhood was filled with fear and torment, and my personality was a mess! I built up walls of protection to keep people from hurting me, not realizing that while I was locking others out, I was also locking myself in. I was filled with fear and believed that the only way I could face life was to be in control so no one could hurt me.
As a young adult trying to live for Christ and follow the Christian lifestyle, I knew where I had come from, but I did not know where I was going. I felt that my future would always be marred by my past. I thought, How could anyone with a past like mine ever be all right? It’s impossible!
But Jesus had a different plan. He said, The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me . . . to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity] (Luke 4:18 AMPC).
Jesus came to open the prison doors and set the captives free—and that included me. However, I did not make any progress until I started to believe that I really could be set free. I had to get rid of my negative thinking and replace it with a positive vision for my life. I had to believe that neither my past nor my present could determine my future. Only then could Jesus free me from the bondage of my past—and free me, He did. What a marvelous miracle!
You may have had a miserable past; you may even be in current circumstances that are very negative and depressing. You may be facing situations that are so bad it seems you have no real reason to hope. But I say to you boldly: Your future is not determined by your past or your present!
Most of the generation the Lord called out of Egypt never entered into the Promised Land. Instead, they died in the wilderness. To me, this is one of the saddest things that can happen to a child of God—to have so much available and yet never be able to enjoy any of it.
Start believing that God’s Word is true. Mark 9:23 assures you that with God all things are possible. Because you serve a God who created everything you see out of the unseen realm (see Hebrews 11:3), you can give Him your nothingness and watch Him go to work on your behalf. All you have to do is have faith in Him and believe His Word—He will do the rest!
Prayer Starter: Dear Father, I thank You for loving me and having a vision—a good plan—for my life. I pray that You will help me overcome any negative thoughts of problems, past or present, that come against my mind, and make my life what You want it to be. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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