Michael Brown on An Orthodox Jew and a Messianic Jew Denounce ‘Christian’ Anti-Semitism

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Michael Brown on An Orthodox Jew and a Messianic Jew Denounce ‘Christian’ Anti-Semitism

In the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic, we all pray and guard our behaviors in order to ensure the health and safety of ourselves and of our neighbors to prevent its spreading. Meanwhile, noted anti-Semitic “Christian pastor” and “broadcaster” Rick Wiles has proven that while there will be a cure for coronavirus, there is no cure for the older and no less deadly virus of Jew-hatred.

Most recently, Wiles said that the coronavirus is spreading via synagogues and is a punishment from God. “Stay out of those things; there’s a plague in them. God’s dealing with false religions,” he said in a broadcast on his network that’s become one of the leading propagators of anti-Semitism. “God’s dealing with people who oppose His son, Jesus Christ. He’s dealing with the forces of antichrist. And there’s a plague moving upon the earth right now, and the people that are going into the synagogues are coming out of the synagogues with the virus.”

Also blaming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jewish organizations, Wiles said, “Let me tell you, Mr. Netanyahu, God is spreading it in your synagogues. You’re under judgment because you oppose His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Wiles’ recent comments are not unique. One might say he’s never met, or invented, an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that he didn’t like. He’s gone so far as to blame the fumbled Iowa caucus results earlier this year on “the Jews.”

Before the outbreak of the deadly virus, Wiles demonstrated the unique and paradoxical ability of being an anti-Semitic political contortionist, blaming “the Jews” for controlling both the political right and the political left. One glaring example is his blaming “the Jews” for the failure of the app that was used to count Iowa caucus votes, with the contradiction that “the Jews” also wanted to promote the success of openly gay, former presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg. That these are in open contradiction (the failure of the app that was used to promote a candidacy of someone who did well in Iowa) demonstrates how Wiles has found a way to make his anti-Semitic cake and eat it too, with a cherry on top.

And of course, he perpetuates the baseless claim embraced by anti-Semitic adherents of replacement theology over the millennia that “the Jews” killed Jesus, ultimately meaning that all Jews through all generations are responsible for the death of Jesus. With Easter coming, the time when Christians celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection, calling out “Pastor Wiles” has never been more timely or critical, as he, quite horrifically, carries out his dangerous incitement in Jesus’ name, the name in which countless anti-Semitic pogroms and murders have taken place. This is the perfect time to renounce such non-Christian madness.

SOURCE: Charisma News

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Kelly Edmiston on Hope During the Coronavirus

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Kelly Edmiston on Hope During the Coronavirus

“Hope.” If I am honest, it has always been a sentimental word for me.

Hope suggests passivity to me. I like outcomes to be guaranteed, goals to be measure-able, and rules clear, and then followed precisely. I have always prided myself on being the kind of person who makes things happen, not “hopes” that they will happen. Why hope for something when you can instead spend your energy making it happen? (Read, a little controlling and a little type-A).

The problem with this is, there are some things I can’t make happen, lots of things I can’t control and many rules that, even if I follow them precisely, don’t guarantee the outcomes that I seek.

During this COVID 19 pandemic, I have learned and re-learned this every day, sometimes multiple times a day. The most difficult thing about this pandemic for me is that it exposes what I fear the most:

That I do not have control over what happens to me or my loved ones. That no matter what I do, I cannot protect them from COVID 19. But the truth is, I cannot protect them from anything. And I have never been able to. Any moment in my past that told me otherwise gave me a false illusion of control. Now the illusion has dissipated and I am forced to live with reality every day.

And herein lies my greatest suffering.

It is this suffering that has led me back to this word that I once thought sentimental. “Hope.”

Paul says this about hope:

“…We even take pride in our problems, because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. This hope doesn’t put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5

Right before this, Paul has spent an entire section (all of Chapter 4) talking about Abraham. And I imagine him thinking of Abraham as he wrote this in Chapter 5:3-5.

Abraham is the Patriarch, or Father, of our Christian faith. This is one thing that Paul says about him:

When it was beyond hope, he had faith in the hope that he would become the father of many nations, in keeping with the promise God spoke to him: That’s how many descendants you will have. Romans 4:18

You may remember that the “beyond hope” nature of Abraham’s faith was due to the fact that his body was “as good as dead and his wife Sarah’s womb as good as dead” (Romans 4:19). Abraham was 75 years old when God promised him that he would be the father of many nations (Genesis 12:4). But despite his age and Sarai’s barrenness, Abraham still believed that God would give him a child, and that from this child many nations would come. He was 100 years old when he finally received his promised son, Isaac (Genesis 21:5). You can read the whole long saga in Genesis 12-21.

Source: Christianity Today

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Selena Gomez Says She is Reading and Leaning on the Bible During Coronavirus Quarantine

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Singer Selena Gomez revealed she’s leaning on Scripture during the coronavirus quarantine in America. 

Gomez joined her former Disney Channel peer Miley Cyrus for her new show on social media called “Bright Minded.” Cyrus has been hosting interviews during the quarantine on Instagram Live. In her latest episode, she said she’s “learning things every day” amid the virus outbreak, to which Gomez responded by sharing some of the things she does to keep her mental health strong.

“I read Scripture and poetry and everything and there’s just one line that says, ‘I choose to see the goodness in the land of the Lord,’ for me speaking personally and it’s because we weren’t really prepared for this specifically,” Gomez shared. “But I know that there are moments where this is where we test each other, like how are we going to treat each other?”

The “Rare” singer said that as she walks her dog, she’s seen a change in her neighbors.

“People walk by and then you switch sides; they’re saying ‘hi’ and they’re being friendly and they’re being kind and that’s something that I hope happens, as well as that,” Gomez said.

She added, “This can be a time to be gentle with ourselves, like you said, taking breaks from all the noise, even taking breaks from social media for a second and just being outside or being with my [fur] babies outside and just breathing in air. I think that that’s something that’s really important.”

SOURCE: Christian Post, Jeannie Law

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Greg Laurie’s Palm Sunday Online Service Had 1.3 Million Viewers, Including President Trump, With 11,207 People Making Decisions to Give Their Lives to Christ

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Greg Laurie’s Palm Sunday Online Service Had 1.3 Million Viewers, Including President Trump, With 11,207 People Making Decisions to Give Their Lives to Christ

California megachurch pastor Greg Laurie’s Palm Sunday webcast service drew 1.3 million people, including President Donald Trump, with 11,207 people making decisions to have a relationship with Christ.

Harvest Christian Fellowship, a multicampus church based in Riverside with campuses in California and Hawaii, said on Monday that “a lot of new people visited us” because of Trump’s tweet, where he announced that he would be watching the service.

“Palm Sunday is the beginning of a Holy week for many people of Faith and a great day to lift our voices in Prayer,” Trump tweeted on Saturday. “I will be tuning into Pastor @greglaurie at @harvestorg Church in Riverside, California tomorrow at 11:00 A.M. Eastern.”

In a Facebook post, Laurie said that he was “as surprised as anyone” when he heard Trump say he would tune in for the service.

“I knew he might send a Tweet out about this, but I was not sure when,” Laurie explained. “It’s not like he does not have a lot on his plate! I am thankful the President feels it is important for us as Americans to attend Church, even if it is only online now. Thank you, President Trump!”

Laurie, known for hosting evangelistic crusades at stadiums, mentioned that Trump had hoped to join Harvest’s upcoming Easter service in person but “unfortunately that has not worked out.”

Although Trump said that it is “sad” that people have to watch Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday services on their computers, Laurie cited a verse from Matthew to stress that Jesus said that when ‘two or more are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst of them.’”

“So we are having church in the home or wherever you are watching us,” he said. “The Lord is here with us.”

During the service, Associate Pastor Jason Powell said that the online response the church has received as been “unbelievable.”

“We never anticipated this work that God was prepared to do,” Powell said. “So what we did is we said, ‘Lord, this is what we got.’ We offered our fish and loaf, so to speak. God has multiplied and cast a seed far beyond what we could imagine. The past three weeks, did  you know we have had over 1 million people that have joined us online for Harvest at Home.”

SOURCE: Christian Post, Samuel Smith

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World Vision US President Says ‘All Hands on Deck’ for Pandemic

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World Vision US President Says ‘All Hands on Deck’ for Pandemic


World Vision US President Says ‘All Hands on Deck’ for Pandemic

(RNS) — World Vision U.S. President Edgar Sandoval Sr., like many Americans, has been working from home in recent weeks. But he continues his mission to help vulnerable children and families across the globe during the coronavirus epidemic.

World Vision staff are working with church volunteers — responding simultaneously for the first time in this country and globally — to provide needed food and supplies and help faith leaders train local communities on ways to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

The evangelical Christian humanitarian organization estimated it has helped about 4.3 million people worldwide with coronavirus preparations. It plans to reach 5 times that number in the next six months.

In the U.S., staff and volunteers have helped more than 2,700 children and adults with emergency aid since March 20. They’ve also provided much-in-demand health supplies — tens of thousands of masks, gloves and gowns — to U.S. health care workers.

Sandoval, who describes himself as a “Bible-based Christian” who attends nondenominational churches, spoke with Religion News Service on Wednesday (April 1) about the challenges ahead.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You have been president of World Vision since 2018. How would you compare the coronavirus to any other global crisis you have faced since you started?

This is probably the most uncertain and concerning situation…

… Read More

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

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Supreme Court Declines to Hear Catholic Church’s Challenge to D.C. Metro’s Ban on Religious Ads

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The Supreme Court denied hearing a petition from the Catholic Church on Monday challenging the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s policy banning religious advertising as a violation of the First Amendment.

The case was set in motion after WMATA refused to run a Christmas ad from the church in 2017. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit previously upheld the ban on religious messages on buses and trains and in stations as lawful and free from discrimination, The Washington Post reported.

While Justice Neil M. Gorsuch and Justice Clarence Thomas agree that the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit was wrong, the Supreme Court chose not to review the case because Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was involved with the lower court’s ruling, had to recuse himself from the case.

“Because the full Court is unable to hear this case, it makes a poor candidate for our review,” Gorsuch wrote.

In his dissent, Gorsuch argued that WMATA’s policy is a clear case of “viewpoint discrimination.”

“At Christmastime a few years ago, the Catholic Church sought to place advertisements on the side of local buses in Washington, D. C. The proposed image was a simple one — a silhouette of three shepherds and sheep, along with the words ‘Find the Perfect Gift’ and a church website address. No one disputes that, if Macy’s had sought to place the same advertisement with its own website address, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) would have accepted the business gladly,” he noted.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Leonardo Blair

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Tyler Perry Leaves $21,000 Tip for Staff at His Favorite Atlanta Restaurant After Getting Takeout During Coronavirus Pandemic

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Tyler Perry Leaves $21,000 Tip for Staff at His Favorite Atlanta Restaurant After Getting Takeout During Coronavirus Pandemic

After creating the star-studded #HesGotTheWholeWorldChallenge to raise COVID-19 awareness, Tyler Perry decided to use some of his $600M fortune to help the staff at one of his favorite restaurants in Atlanta.

On Sunday, the 50-year-old movie/TV mogul left a $500 tip for each of the 42 out-of-work servers employed at the West Paces location of Houston’s while picking up a to-go order, according to TMZ.

Perry’s $21K tip serves as a bit of a cushion for the struggling workers, who might have to wait up to 20 weeks for a $1,200 (and $500 for each child) stimulus check from the federal government.

As of Sunday, 219 people in Georgia have died from coronavirus and a further 6,742 have been infected, according to 11Alive.com.

On Thursday, Governor Brian Kemp issued a stay-at-home order (but kept beaches, parks and churches open) after drawing criticism for not being aware that ‘this virus is now transmitting before [asymptomatic] people see signs.’

Tyler (born Emmitt Perry Jr.) is well known for his generous charitable acts and he employs 400 people at his 330-acre military base-turned-studio in Atlanta featuring 12 sound stages, which he acquired in 2015.

SOURCE: Daily Mail, Cassie Carpenter

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P!nk Says ‘I’ve Never Prayed More in My Life’ After She and Her Three-Year-Old Son Contracted Coronavirus

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In the midst of quarantine parenting, things got scary for P!nk, who tested positive for COVID-19 alongside her 3-year-old son, Jameson.

The singer, who revealed her diagnosis earlier this week, had a long discussion about her family’s experience with the coronavirus with friend and author Jen Pastiloff on Instagram on Sunday (April 5). The live chat was part of a “Chat and Feed” series to raise money to feed people in need.

“I haven’t dressed up in three weeks. I really needed it. Thank you for the opportunity,” P!nk said as she began to talk about this “crazy time.”

“We have been really, really sick,” she noted, though they are doing better now. “My 3-year-old, Jameson, has had the worst of it. I’ve had many nights where I’ve cried and I’ve never prayed more in my life.”

“At one point I heard myself saying, ‘I thought they promised us our kids would be OK.’ And it’s not guaranteed. There’s no one that is safe from this,” said P!nk, who later described her 3-year-old as “perfectly fine” before contracting COVID-19. Although she and Jameson fell ill, her husband Carey and daughter Willow did not.

“Jameson’s been really, really sick,” she explained. “I’ve kept a journal of his symptoms for the past three weeks, and mine as well. He still, three weeks later, has a 100 temperature … It’s been a roller coaster. It’s been a different roller coaster for both of us.”

SOURCE: Billboard, Ashley Iasimone

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Ed Stetzer on How the Coronavirus is Pushing Us to a Better Way of Church

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Ed Stetzer on How the Coronavirus is Pushing Us to a Better Way of Church

Ed Stetzer is executive director of the Billy Graham Center, serves as a dean at Wheaton College, and publishes church leadership resources through Mission Group. The Exchange Team contributed to this article.

Life looks rather different today than it did a month ago. All parts of life—home, community, work, even church. In fact, the Sunday morning gathered experience has been dethroned as the primary focus of our churches. Yes, it’s a painful thing for those of us who like to get together to learn and pray and worship together. We are simply following the tradition that Christ-followers have lived out for millennia.

And yet, for the sake of those around us, we cannot be together. For a season. For the sake of our world. It’s hard, and lonely.

But I would argue that in the midst of all this pain, some good can come.

Dethroning the Queen

I played competitive chess in high school. When you want to better yourself in competitive chess, you and your competitor take the queen off the board and you play with the other pieces.

Here’s why: When you have inexperienced chess players, the queen is zipping around the board taking knights and various pawns. What is happening is that the whole game, the whole board, is revolving around the queen.

That’s fine unless you play against someone in competitive chess. In this case, you won’t have a chance. If you want to win in chess, you have to use all the pieces and use all the pieces well.

That can apply to church as well.

If our churches are to be effective at gospel work, we need to engage all the men and women that God has given us. They’re not pieces and they’re not pawns, but neither is the Sunday morning worship service the queen. Right now, the queen of Sunday worship has been removed for some time and looks remarkably different than she did even last month.

The queen is dethroned. There is a sadness about this, sure. But I would argue that this allows us to look at the board differently.

In fact, we must not let the queen back if it means that the people of God are put back on the bench. We must not go back to seeing church as Sunday morning. It was never all about the weekend, and too many pastors who said that made it too much about them.

We are being given a new opportunity to do things differently. We are being given a great opportunity for all of God’s people to join Jesus on mission and for the church to look and stay looking different.

Now, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not devaluing the gathering of God’s people. I’m not discounting the place of the ordinances or the sacraments. Those deeply matter— I’ve written on them extensively. And we will gather again. However, I am saying something that almost all evangelical traditions believe— that God’s people should be engaged in God’s mission, and too often they are not.

Church is too consumer, and needs to be more about mission.

It’s a Different World Out There

We are being reminded lately that God can do more in a couple of months than we can accomplish in decades. For decades, we’ve been having a conversation about being on mission and how God is mobilizing his church on mission. Maybe, I would argue, it’s time for the conversation to turn into greater action.

It’s time to do it.

Source: Christianity Today

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Justin Bieber Says He and Hailey Are ‘Praying for Those Who Have Endured Loss and Discomfort’ Amid Coronavirus Pandemic and Are ‘Working on Ways to Help Those in Financial Crisis’

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Justin Bieber penned a note to fans on Instagram to say that he is praying for, and wanting to help, those whose lives have been affected by the COVID-19 virus.

“As we all know things right now are definitely uncertain. Our routines, structure, and plans are all altered due to a horrific virus that is sweeping our nation,” Bieber wrote on Saturday (April 4). “There are people who have lost love ones and also people battling for their lives. I woke up today healthy which I am so grateful for but I know there are people who didn’t. I write this to acknowledge the people who don’t have it so easy.”

 

 

As we all know things right now are definitely uncertain.. Our routines, structure, and plans are all altered due to a horrific virus that is sweeping our nation. There are people who have lost love ones and also people battling for their lives. I woke up today healthy which I am so grateful for but I know there are people who didn’t. I write this to acknowledge the people who don’t have it so easy. I want to say that Hailey and I are praying for you, we are praying for those who have endured loss and those who are enduring a great deal of discomfort due to this virus. We understand there are a lot of people who can’t afford to stay home right now, people who don’t know how they are going to pay their bills. There are people facing extreme anxiety and worry. We are currently working on ways to help those in financial crisis and will let you know how you can help as well . We love you and we are in this together .

A post shared by Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) on

“I want to say that Hailey and I are praying for you,” he said, “we are praying for those who have endured loss and those who are enduring a great deal of discomfort due to this virus.”

“We understand there are a lot of people who can’t afford to stay home right now, people who don’t know how they are going to pay their bills. There are people facing extreme anxiety and worry. We are currently working on ways to help those in financial crisis and will let you know how you can help as well. We love you and we are in this together,” wrote Bieber.

SOURCE: Billboard, Ashley Iasimone

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