Dr. Robert Spence, former president of Evangel University, died yesterday, Feb. 19. He was 84.

Spence suffered a stroke on Feb. 16, 2020. According to a statement from Evangel’s current president, Carol Taylor, Spence passed away peacefully, surrounded by family.

A public memorial service will be held on Sunday, Feb. 23, at 3 p.m. at the university. The event will be livestreamed at evangel.edu. Before the service, a visitation will be held between 1:30 p.m. and 2:45 p.m.

“The family has asked me to extend its gratitude to you for your love and support,” Taylor said. “Please continue to keep the Spence family, and especially Dr. Spence’s beloved wife, Anne, in your prayers.

“… President Spence lived his life with great integrity and dignity in service of the King of Kings. His service to Evangel and Springfield cannot be overstated. I am reminded of the words of Jesus in Matthew 25, in which He says: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ While we mourn his passing, let us also remember that he is now rejoicing with our Lord and Savior.”

SOURCE: Charisma News

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Officials at Brigham Young University in Utah said Thursday that the school’s policy on “homosexual behavior” had not changed despite reports that a recent update to their Honor Code signified students would no longer be disciplined for engaging in same-sex relationships.

“Just know that the Honor Code remains the same and as we have [done] so often in the past, we handle the questions that arise on an individual case by case basis,” a representative from BYU’s communications office told The Christian Post Thursday.

In a brief statement released Wednesday, BYU officials said the updated Honor Code was published to be “in alignment with the doctrine and policies of the Church” reflected in the recently released general handbook of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“The updated Honor Code applies to all Church institutions of higher education. As in the past, each campus maintains its own dress and grooming standards. The updated Honor Code continues to be a principle-based code that reflects the moral standards of the Church. It allows each campus to support and guide its students on an individual basis according to the principles outlined in the Honor Code,” the school said.

The updates to the code, however, show that the school had removed language classifying “homosexual behavior” among violations of the Honor Code  that “may result in actions up to and including separation from the university.”

“Brigham Young University will respond to homosexual behavior rather than to feelings or attraction and welcomes as full members of the university community all whose behavior meets university standards. Members of the university community can remain in good Honor Code standing if they conduct their lives in a manner consistent with gospel principles and the Honor Code,” the old language for the Honor Code noted.

“One’s stated same-gender attraction is not an Honor Code issue. However, the Honor Code requires all members of the university community to manifest a strict commitment to the law of chastity. Homosexual behavior is inappropriate and violates the Honor Code. Homosexual behavior includes not only sexual relations between members of the same sex, but all forms of physical intimacy that give expression to homosexual feelings,” the now-deleted language in the code noted.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Leonardo Blair

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Now that the Boy Scouts of America has filed for bankruptcy as a result of a deluge of sexual abuse suits, there is an obvious question that must be asked again. Seeing that the BSA leadership was well aware of the long history of male-on-male sex abuse, why on earth did it cave in to homosexual activism? Why did it open the door for openly gay scouts and then scout leaders?

On July 15, 2015 I wrote an article titled, “Boy Scouts’ Moral Suicide Continues.”

I noted then that “the barely hidden, dirty secret of the Boy Scouts of America is that for decades now, several thousand cases of man-on-boy sexual abuse have been swept under the rug, with private payoffs taking the place of open court cases – and to be perfectly clear, the men involved in these cases were normally Scout leaders.

“If such was the case with the ban on openly homosexual leaders in place, what happens when that ban is removed? And how do the Boy Scouts figure out who the bad apples are first? Or are the boys the guinea pigs in this poorly conceived experiment?”

Again, this is not to say that most gay men would abuse gay boys. And it is not to say that heterosexual men would do any better if they were left alone with heterosexual girls.

But is to say that there’s a reason that you don’t have straight men (without women) overseeing Girl Scout troops. And there’s a reason that you should not have gay men overseeing Boy Scout troops. (Or, for that matter, older gay teens left alone with younger straight boys.)

In April, 2019, I noted that, “The open secret is no secret anymore. The tragedy is being uncovered for the world to see. As headlines now announce, ‘Sexual abuse scandal rocks the Boy Scouts of America as it is revealed “more than 12,000 members were victims of perpetrators who will soon be revealed in ‘perversion files.”’

“But,” I continued, “this is only the beginning of the travesty.

“Not only has the BSA allegedly covered up thousands of cases of sexual abuse of children, but while this was going on, the BSA actively opened the door to gay scouts and even gay scout leaders. It’s as if they were inviting the complete implosion of their organization.

“And they did so at the expense of vulnerable children, some of whom have been scarred for life.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Michael Brown

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A Pentecostal pastor in Michigan who ordained his six daughters as ministers earlier this month says if God didn’t want women to be leaders in the church, he “wouldn’t anoint them.”

Responding to questions from The Christian Post about his decision to ordain his daughters as ministers while some denominations, such as the Southern Baptist Convention, oppose having women in leadership roles, apostle Keith Barr of Keith Barr Ministries, said he is not going to argue with the Holy Spirit on the issue.

“The Bible says in the last days, in Acts, it shall come to pass that ‘I’ll pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, old men shall dream dreams. Young men shall see visions,’” he said.

“This is a time when we’re experiencing a massive outpouring around the world and God is using men and women. So the people that would argue, I would tell them, ‘if the Holy Spirit does not want women to be in leadership, then He shouldn’t anoint them,’” Barr said.

“If that was true [women should not be leaders in the church,] then He wouldn’t anoint them,” he reiterated, pointing to influential female evangelists such as Aimee Semple McPherson, founder of The Foursquare Church that has more than 8.8 million members in over 90,000 churches across 146 nations.

He also pointed to his own mother, Patricia Barr, who after giving her life to God in 1963 went on to start the Revival Center in Pontiac, Michigan, in March 1980 with pastor Barr, her eldest son. She led the independent Pentecostal ministry until she died in 2005, leaving her son at the helm.

“My mother was a powerful woman of God. God used her mightily and the spirit of God would come over her so strong in the service and sometimes the Spirit would make my mother shout and dance. And my mother could dance her way through a minefield,” Barr said.

Pastor Barr ordained all six of his daughters, Gina, Katrina, Christina, Sabrina, Angelina, and Tina, who range in age from 24 to 38, during a special service with his congregation earlier this month.

“They’ve been in ministry with me their whole lives. They started out with singing, working in our local church, evangelism, missionary work. They have been with me to many countries” such as Mexico, Barr told CP.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Leonardo Blair

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World-renowned Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias has asked for prayers as he undergoes spinal repair surgery on Thursday. 

A prolific author, debater and academic, Zacharias runs an international apologetics organization, RZIM, and is widely sought after for his eloquent answers to life’s biggest questions.

In a note posted to his Instagram page and on his website, Zacharias, 73, explained about back issues, two prior surgeries and the resulting pain that he has had to endure because of it. 

Dear Friends, Many of you know that I have had serious back issues and struggled after two surgeries. Recently the pain has intensified and I have battled several flare-ups. This Thursday I will undergo emergency spinal repair surgery and will be recovering until the beginning of April. I seldom talk about personal challenges but am making an exception because I know you will pray for me—and for my family and the @rzimhq team. Thank you for serving our Lord alongside Margie and me. Your prayers mean more than you’ll ever know. The wear and tear of travel are literal and figurative. I will keep you posted from time to time. I thank God for great medical expertise and look forward to a speedy recovery and being on the road again. But for now it’s time to face the pain and the discipline of healing. Ezekiel asks the question, “Can these dead bones live?” The answer is a resounding “Yes” as God breathes new life into them. The Lord has never forsaken me and He is by my side. I am a blessed man. As I recover, I will pray, read, and write. I share an update on the blog (link in profile).

A post shared by Ravi Zacharias (@ravizacharias) on Feb 19, 2020 at 11:16am PST

“Dear Friends, Many of you know that I have had serious back issues and struggled after two surgeries. Recently the pain has intensified and I have battled several flare-ups. This Thursday I will undergo emergency spinal repair surgery and will be recovering until the beginning of April,” he wrote.

Zacharias then asks for prayers, not only for himself but for his family and his ministry team. 

“I seldom talk about personal challenges but am making an exception because I know you will pray for me—and for my family and the @rzimhq team. Thank you for serving our Lord alongside Margie and me. Your prayers mean more than you’ll ever know,” he wrote.

The apologist then reveals, “It’s time to face the pain and the discipline of healing,” and uses Ezekiel as an example. 

“The wear and tear of travel are literal and figurative. I will keep you posted from time to time. I thank God for great medical expertise and look forward to a speedy recovery and being on the road again,” he continued. ” But for now it’s time to face the pain and the discipline of healing. Ezekiel asks the question, “Can these dead bones live?” The answer is a resounding “Yes” as God breathes new life into them. The Lord has never forsaken me and He is by my side. I am a blessed man. As I recover, I will pray, read, and write.

Zacharias added on his blog that the surgery would take him off the road for close to eight weeks and his doctors were confident of its success. He also promised to post updates on his recovery to his website. 

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“I have white advantage, male advantage, straight advantage,” Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby recently told the Church of England’s General Synod.

The leader of the Anglican Church spoke as the Synod readied for an important vote to apologize “for the conscious and unconscious racism experienced by countless black, Asian and minority ethnic Anglicans in 1948 and subsequent years.”[1]

But Welby was disturbed by what he described as racism continuing in the Church. The Archbishop of Canterbury told his audience that “there is no doubt when we look at our own Church that we are still institutionally racist.”

While they’re at it, the Anglican leaders should “lament and apologize” to African and Asian Anglican leaders for trying to force on them a theology of sex and marriage the nonwhites see as violating the Scriptures and ignoring their concerns.

A good way of curing the “whiteness” over which Archbishop Welby is so ashamed is to take seriously the nonwhite bishops who serve the Church globally, beyond England, with its trendy waves of politically correct faith and practice.

Kenyan Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit is an example. Sapit told Religion News Service that he would not attend the Lambeth Conference — the gathering of Anglican bishops every ten years — because, among other things, “God’s plan of marriage is between a man and woman for procreation. Homosexuality is a sin before God.”

Hardly anything would solve the “institutional racism” of the Church of England as dramatically as enlarging the influence of the conservative bishops of Africa and Asia.

And by the way, such a move would help the American Methodist Church as well. It is now divided over same-sex marriage, homosexuality and related issues. Both the Western Anglicans and Methodists would see churches growing and thriving, as are their conservative congregations and movements.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Wallace Henley

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FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) — Ed Stetzer, executive director of the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism at Wheaton College and recently named chairman of the 2020 Southern Baptist Convention Resolutions Committee, preached in chapel at The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Feb. 13 on the need for Christians to see through “Gospel lenses.”

Stetzer preached 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, deriving four points from the passage. The first, Stetzer said, is that Christians have a new perspective — specifically, they now see through Gospel lenses.

Humorously referring to his tendency to frequently adjust his glasses, Stetzer said Christians today must do likewise with their Gospel lenses, particularly in today’s culture where cable news and social media fan the flames of divisiveness.

“We have a new life, a new way of looking, new lenses through which we see the world, but they need adjusting in a tumultuous time,” he said. “And as Christian leaders, we need to help churches, Christians, and followers of Christ everywhere to adjust their lenses and see things rightly.”

Second, Stetzer said Christians have been sent on a mission of reconciliation. He again encouraged the Southwestern Seminary family to lead out in this regard, making everyday evangelism a common practice in their own personal lives in order to encourage such a practice in their fellow believers.

“If you want an evangelistic church, you have to live an evangelistic life,” Stetzer said. “You can’t lead what you won’t live. And at the end of the day, we need your life and your church not to be a cul-de-sac on God’s Great Commission highway.”

Source: Baptist Press

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ST. FRANCISVILLE, La. (BP) — Ten years ago, on a beautiful Sunday morning near the shore of Lake Victoria, I was reminded again of the priority of prayer. I was visiting International Mission Board missionaries who focus on planting churches and training church leaders on the many African islands stretching across the north end of Lake Victoria.

That morning, the missionaries brought us to a church plant in a small fishing community at one end of the long, narrow island. The building where the church met was made of sticks and mud. Hardened floors and walls were made of dried manure. The pastor of this fellowship gave me the privilege of preaching to my brothers and sisters in this faith community, and I was overwhelmed by the joy of the opportunity.

The worship in song during the service was wonderful. I didn’t understand a word, so I made up my own words of praise to the Lord, joining in — as best I could — with the clapping and singing to the rhythmic beat of the drums.

Although our time of worship in song and in the Word was special, the time after the service was especially significant to me. When I expected most would leave for lunch, the people began to gather around us. Many of them fell to their knees. Some began to pray while others just gazed toward us. Our interpreter explained, “They want you to pray for them.”

In that moment, I was reminded once more of the priority of prayer. And in that moment, my heart longed for more moments like this at the end of worship services in my country. I wished that we would hunger for God more than we hungered for the Sunday lunch special at our favorite restaurant.

Source: Baptist Press

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