The Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee will launch a task force to examine the activities of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, the convention’s public policy organization headed by the theologian and author Russell Moore.

Southern Baptist leaders fear controversy over Moore could lead to a drop in donations.

Moore, 48, who has been president of the ERLC since 2013, has been an outspoken critic of Donald Trump since the president began campaigning for the White House. In 2016, Moore called Trump “an arrogant huckster” and wrote an essay for the National Review citing “Trump’s vitriolic—and often racist and sexist—language about immigrants, women, the disabled and others.”

In response, Trump attacked Moore on Twitter, calling him “a terrible representative of Evangelicals and all of the good they stand for.” The same tweet called Moore a “nasty guy with no heart!”

The request for an inquiry came from the Cooperative Program Committee, an SBC body that deals with giving from churches to the convention’s national ministries.

Mike Stone, chair of the Executive Committee, said in a news conference Tuesday (Feb. 18) that committee members have heard anecdotal accounts of churches withholding money or reducing giving because of concerns about the ERLC. He said that local church leaders and state Baptist leaders have expressed concerns in private but not on the record. The task force will give them a place to officially lodge their concerns.

Stone added that the Executive Committee does not know if concerns about the ERLC have indeed caused giving to drop. He also said that there is a lot of “fake news” about the convention and about the ERLC and that the task force will try to find the truth.

In early February, Baptist Press, the official news service of the SBC, reported that giving to the Cooperative Program was up about 3% from last year. Last year Baptists had given $64.5 million by the end of January. This year, giving totaled just under $66.5 million by the same point in the year.

Similar complaints were raised against ERLC in 2017 over Moore’s anti-Trump comments. At that time, Moore met with Frank Page, the former president of the Executive Committee, and the two agreed to work together for the good of the convention.

Stone said the task force is not an attempt to remove Moore from office.

“I am fully aware that we may find, as we did in 2017, that what we’re hearing is not as significant in fact as it is in perception,” Stone said. “And what we want to find is just where the facts would lead us.”

He added, “Southern Baptists can joyfully and in a unified manner resolve this question so that it does not continue to be a potential source of discussion that distracts us from our mission, which is to take the Gospel of Christ to the ends of the earth.”

Moore does not report directly to the committee. However, the committee does oversee the funds from the denomination’s Cooperative Program, which in turn awards funding to the ERLC. Stone said that while ERLC’s trustees govern the commission’s activities, the Executive Committee has a responsibility to act when giving is affected.

Moore is the second ERLC president in a row to face controversy. Longtime ERLC President Richard Land was censured in 2012 by the commission’s trustees for plagiarism and insensitive comments about race on his radio show. He retired the following year.

Given the controversy the organization has generated, Stone was asked if the ERLC had outlived its usefulness and whether funding the commission was still a good use of Cooperative Program funds.

He said he expects the task force will look into that question.

The task force will “review the past and present activities” of the ERLC, said Stone, and “assess whether the actions of the commission and its leadership are affecting Cooperative Program giving or the further advancement of the Cooperative Program.”

Elizabeth Bristow, ERLC press secretary, told RNS in a statement that the commission relies on the “sacrificial giving of churches.”

“We hear from our churches every single day with questions about some of the most complicated issues imaginable,” she said. “In every case, we work to serve our churches with gospel-focused answers.”

The statement added that the ERLC occasionally gets questions about its work from churches.

“Thankfully those questions are easier to answer,” Bristow said in the statement. “That’s because, every day the men and women serving at the ERLC stand for the unborn, advocate for religious liberty, work to address the crisis of sexual abuse, and labor to equip men and women to answer ever-changing questions in light of the everlasting promises of our Lord.”

SOURCE: Charisma News

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Pastor Carter Conlon is stepping down as senior pastor of Times Square Church to focus on his prayer ministry, according to a recent post on his Facebook page.

Conlon, who has served at the church for 26 years, will transition to a new position: chairman of the board and general overseer of Times Square Church.

Conlon asked the church to consider Pastor Tim Dilena as his successor. His nomination was approved, and on May 5, Dilena will assume the role of senior pastor.

According to the post, Conlon has felt the Lord lead him to call the nation to pray for the last decade. His Time to Pray ministry includes a nationwide radio ministry, conferences, various leaders and a book, It’s Time to Pray, published by Charisma House.

David Wilkerson, founder of Teen Challenge and author of The Cross and the Switchblade, started Times Square Church in 1987 in New York City. Since then, the church has grown to be an interdenominational congregation of more than 8,000 people representing over 100 nationalities.

Conlon joined the church staff in 1994 and was appointed senior pastor in 2001.

SOURCE: Charisma News

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Ravi Zacharias asks for prayer as he prepares to undergo emergency spinal repair surgery this Thursday, Feb. 20.

“Dear Friends, Many of you know that I have struggled with serious back issues for years,” Zacharias tweeted. “Recently the pain has intensified and I have battled several flare-ups. This Thursday I will undergo emergency spinal repair surgery and I ask for your prayers.”

In a full statement posted on the Ravi Zacharias International Ministries website, the renowned apologist says he has had serious back issues and has struggled since having two surgeries.

“The Lord brought comfort and strength and gave me eighteen good years after my first surgery,” he wrote. “But over the last year, I have battled several flare-ups, and after my last trip to the Philippines and Sri Lanka, it’s a miracle I got home on my own two feet. A subsequent CAT scan and MRI showed no option but to go into a surgery immediately. It’s time for a serious repair job that will take me off the road for close to eight weeks. The surgeon has said he will have to remove two of the screws that are loose and anchor my fractured sacrum in two places to the pelvis. That’s in lay language, but I have the best of doctors and surgeons who have loved this ministry and want to see me positioned for the distance. The doctor has described it as an emergency, but he is equally confident of success.”

SOURCE: Charisma News

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I hope this hasn’t happened to you: You meet with a doctor only to later discover that the person you met with wasn’t a doctor at all. You met with a counterfeit doctor, a person masquerading as someone else.

We don’t have to look very far in the news to see how often this actually happens:

—In August 2018, a 23-year-old man was sentenced to prison for impersonating a physician at two California hospitals. He roamed the halls of the hospitals wearing a white coat with a stethoscope around his neck, and even diagnosed a patient.

—In February 2016, an 18-year-old man in Palm Beach County, Florida, was arrested after opening his own medical clinic and impersonating a doctor. He was arrested after an undercover officer made an appointment and was examined by the teen. He was sentenced to more than three years in prison.

—In August 2012, a man pretended to be a doctor in South Carolina and treated as many as 500 senior citizens through a collection of primary care facilities for seniors. He used stolen documentation belonging to a friend, an actual doctor, to gain approval to “practice medicine” at the South Carolina clinic. He faced two years in prison.

All of these instances are reminiscent of one of the greatest counterfeiters of all time, Frank Abagnale. Now 71, and working as an American security consultant for the FBI, Abagnale was the subject of the critically acclaimed 2002 film Catch Me If You Can. Before being caught and serving prison time in France, Sweden and the United States, Abagnale successfully created eight different identities for himself including an airline pilot, a lawyer, a physician and a Federal Bureau of Prisons agent. He supported himself by forging checks worth millions of dollars—he was so good that the FBI eventually employed him to help them learn how to stop forgers.

And then there was the most expensive counterfeit operation in modern times—the Bernie Madoff “Ponzi scheme” on Wall Street. An actual respected financier and investment counselor on Wall Street before being caught, Madoff’s fraud resulted in losses of $65 billion to investors by creating the illusion of sky-high returns. In typical Ponzi scheme fashion, new investments were used to pay previous investors fantastic payouts, payouts that attracted more new investors. No such cycle is sustainable, of course, and Madoff was sentenced to prison in 2009 for 150 years.

These are all sad stories. Our hearts grieve for those who, for whatever reasons, feel the need to perpetrate such counterfeit illusions and for those hurt by their actions. These stories, and others like them, raise the question: How can we protect ourselves from counterfeiters as we go about our daily lives? In general, the phrase caveat emptor comes to mind: “Let the buyer beware.” It’s up to us to carry out due diligence in this world—to check the details, read the fine print and “kick the tires.” As our parents told us, “If something doesn’t seem right, walk away.” And, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

Counterfeits in the realm of medicine, finance, art, telephone scammers and knock-off consumer goods are prevalent, and we must remain alert. But there is another realm in which counterfeit activity can be even more devastating: the world of spiritual activity and truth. Sadly, we’ve seen too many examples of spiritual counterfeiters in today’s world.

SOURCE: Charisma News

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My recent op-eds here received many positive responses—as well as a few negative ones. The charge of being a hypocrite if you support the president is often at the top of the list. But hypocrisy means to intentionally deceive someone (for example, who I am on Sunday is not who I am on Monday). We are not dealing with hypocrisy here. So what are we dealing with?

We have two primary issues playing out. Number one, many are simply not going to embrace the president’s agenda. I truly believe that this is a spiritual battle. There’s a big push toward globalism, abortion on demand, sexual perversion, socialism, open borders and so on. And it’s often Christians who serve as our moral compass to get us back on track.

Calling us hypocrites is really just a defense mechanism for those who don’t want to see the truth. For example, when I talk about ungodly entertainment, I’m labeled a fundamentalist. When I talk about purity and abstinence, I’m labeled legalistic. When I talk about defending babies, I’m labeled as being against women. When I talk about marriage being between a man and a woman, I’m labeled a homophobe. When I support the current president, I’m labeled a hypocrite. And on and on it goes. (Subscribe here on YouTube to hear sermons.)

Anytime you stand for truth, you will be labeled. Granted, the truth must come from a loving, gentle heart. The truth will offend, but our attitude should not. Many people on the conservative side also need to pray before posting something derogatory on social media. We are dropping the ball on both sides. For example, when I released an op-ed about distorted facts, a lot of people thought that I was writing something against the president (click here to read it). The mean emails I received from “conservatives” were just as nasty as ones from liberals. Folks, we can all use a lot more grace and humility, including me.

The Real Problem: The Battle Over Truth

The more concerning issue is that many claiming to be Christians embrace liberal theology, and most of them are against President Trump. This group typically has a problem with the inerrancy of Scripture as well as difficult truths, such as repentance, judgment and sin. So it’s no surprise why they don’t like op-eds, social media posts or anything grounded in truth. They also welcome anti-scriptural agendas (the LGBTQ onslaught comes to mind), and they mock those who aren’t willing to throw their Bibles away and follow the crowd. Need more proof? It was liberals calling themselves “Christians” who primarily came against my article regarding what the Bible says about homosexuality.

So, one must ask the question regarding political hot buttons: When Hollywood and most of the media is on your side, are you sure you’re on the right side? The Bible encourages us to be peacemakers, but not religious negotiators. In our zeal to reach others, we cannot compromise the message just because we want to be liked. We must speak the truth.

SOURCE: Charisma News

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Award-winning filmmaker and actor Alex Kendrick attended the 28th annual Movieguide Awards where he revealed the plans for the next Kendrick Brothers film.  

“We are shooting a movie this summer,” Kendrick told The Christian Post in an interview last month at the popular award show that honors faith and family content.

“We’re very excited about that and it’s a true story and it’s going to grab your heart. We love it!” he exclaimed.

The popular Christian actor said he and his brother, Stephen, who’s also his producing partner, “love the subject matter and what’s going to happen” as a result of it.

“We think it’s a very timely movie,” he assured.

Kendrick said he expects the film to be released in 2021.

The brothers are used to making original content such as their No. 1 box-office hit “War Room,” but their next film was actually brought to them by a friend.

“We normally do write our own movies but this one was so powerful when we read it and we saw how it was very timely for today’s culture,” Kendrick told CP.

“As we began researching a way to shoot it, it became very obvious the Lord was opening the door to do it,” he said.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Jeannie Law

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Prayer Motivator Minute #911

E.M. Bounds said, “Those who know God the best are the richest and most powerful in prayer. Little acquaintance with God, and strangeness and coldness to Him, make prayer a rare and feeble thing.”

This is Daniel Whyte III with the Prayer Motivator Minute #911 here to remind you that there is still great power in prayer to God Almighty in the holy Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our prayer motivator verse from the Word of God today is Psalm 145:18-19 which says: “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.”

Our featured prayer motivator quote today is from Oswald Chambers. He said: “When a man is born from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve that life or nourish it. Prayer is the way the life of God is nourished. Our ordinary views of prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves; the Bible’s idea of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.”

PRAYER

Now, if you are listening today, and you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, allow me to show you how.

First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”

Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Now this is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.

Romans 10:9-13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Until next time,

Remember, friend, Pray, Think, Do! God Bless You!

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Xia Baolong, a former deputy and ally of President Xi Jinping, has been appointed by the Chinese government as the new director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office. It’s a move seen by some political analysts that Beijing intends to tighten its control over the city.

The Guardian reports Xia’s reputation comes from his 2014 campaign to tear down thousands of Christian crosses and many underground churches in the Zhejiang province. Xia, 67, later took command of the province, serving as party secretary until 2017. 

Hong Kong saw months of anti-government protests drawing thousands of people over an extradition bill that would have required suspects to be sent to the mainland for trial. The city later withdrew the bill that sparked the protests – the most flagrant challenge to Beijing’s authority since the United Kingdom turned over its former colony to mainland rule in 1997. 

Willy Lam, an adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told The Guardian Xia’s appointment is “bad news for Hong Kong”. 

“It signals that China will bring Hong Kong under closer scrutiny and tighten control over all aspects of the city,” he said.

Professor Ying Fuk Tsang, the director of the divinity school at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said the appointment of a close ally of Xi might also attempt to intensify ideological control in Hong Kong.

“He has a track record as a hardliner. If the central authorities want a crackdown, he would not spare any efforts,” he said. “This would definitely have an impact on Hong Kong’s civil society.”

After a key Chinese Communist Party meeting known as the Fourth Plenum last November, the party released a statement saying “National interest should take priority over the “two systems” policy that has allowed Hong Kong extensive autonomy since the handover from British colonial rule, and warned that it would not tolerate “any actions that split the country.”

As CBN News reported in November, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy opposition won a landslide victory in the district council elections, winning the majority of the vote for 452 district council seats. It was seen as a clear rebuke to city leader Carrie Lam over her handling of recent violent protests in the city.

Speculation has also swirled that Beijing may be preparing to replace Lam when matters settle down.

Meanwhile, oppression in the communist country continues on many levels. On Wednesday, China said it had revoked the press credentials of three The Wall Street Journal reporters over a headline for an opinion column deemed racist by the government.

The expulsions come after the Trump administration on Tuesday designated five state-run Chinese news outlets that operate in the United States as “foreign missions,” requiring them to register their properties and employees in the US. China said it reserves the right to respond to what it called a mistaken policy.

The headline on the Journal’s opinion column referred to the current virus outbreak in China and called the country the “Real Sick Man of Asia.”

Like most foreign media companies, The Journal is unavailable within China and its website and stories are blocked by online censors.

China has in recent years refused to issue or renew credentials for foreign journalists, but this is the first time in decades that it has actually revoked their documents, effectively expelling them from the country.

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