The post Billy Graham Devotional 24 August 2019 – Root of Sin appeared first on Flatimes.
Open Heaven 24 August 2019 – Songs of Victory
The post Open Heaven 24 August 2019 – Songs of Victory appeared first on Flatimes.
Report Reveals 40 Priests Sexually Abused Minors over 70 Years at Vermont Catholic Church
A report from Vermont’s Roman Catholic Church has revealed “credible and substantiated” allegations of sexual abuse of minors by 40 priests in nearly 70 years.
The report says none of the priests are still working in ministry and many are dead, the Associated Press reports.
“While most of these allegations took place at least a generation ago, the numbers are still staggering,” said Bishop Christopher Coyne, who leads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, which covers the entire state.
All of the allegations except one occurred before 2000, according to the report.
The report came after Coyne commissioned the investigation when the Vermont attorney general’s office began its own investigation of abuse at a now-closed Catholic orphanage in the state.
Coyne said the abuse “has been our family secret” and that it is time for the truth to surface so families can begin to heal.
“Family secrets can be toxic,” Coyne said during a news conference at the diocese’s South Burlington headquarters. “Harmful past experiences, unspoken, unaddressed and known only by a few, fester like neglected wounds.”
The report investigated the records of 52 priests in the state, but the seven-member committee could only substantiate allegations against 40 priests.
Committee member and abuse survivor John Mahoney said Rev. Edward…
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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.
Pentatonix’s Matt Sallee Talks Faith, Church, New Worship Album: ‘I Can’t Live without God’
The newest face of the acapella group Pentatonix is a former minister’s kid who wasted no time in finding a home church when he moved to Los Angeles to join the quintet.
That church, subsequently, wasted little time in getting him to join its worship team.
Matt Sallee has been the bass singing “deep voice” in Pentatonix since 2017, when he joined it and began touring the U.S. and then the world with the famous group. And although Pentatonix remains his primary gig – he’s on the road six months out of the year – he sings with the worship team at Expression 58 church in Glendale, Calif., when home.
That worship team, known simply as E58 Worship, released its inaugural worship album, Make Way, this month. It was recorded live.
Sallee grew up singing and helping lead worship in churches. His father is a music minister.
“I actually believe that God sent me to this church,” Sallee told Christian Headlines, referencing Expression 58. “… I remember walking in the church and just feeling this huge rushing wind of the Holy Spirit. It’s something I can’t even explain. It was so incredible. And I just remember watching, worshipping and being so immediately engaged in worship and free from all stigmas of what worship really means.
“I really didn’t necessarily want to be a part of the worship team at first because, you know,…
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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.
Charity delighted by PM’s call to protect religious freedom
The Prime Minister said on Friday, the UK will do “everything possible” to champion religious freedoms.
In a statement which highlighted the plight of persecuted Christians he promised to implement recommendations recently made by the Bishop of Truro on protecting people from persecution.
Mr Johnson committed to using the UK’s “global reach” to help people facing the same issues elsewhere in the world.
In his statement he said: “We will do everything possible to champion these freedoms and protect civilians in armed conflict, including religious, ethnic or other minorities.”
Release International were one of the organisations that contributed to the research for a Foreign Office report which was conducted by Bishop Philip Mounstephen.
Speaking to Premier about the significance of Mr Johnson’s commitment, Release spokesman Andrew Boyd said: “Religious freedom is the most fundamental freedom you could possibly have and goes right to the heart of government policy.
“If you don’t have freedom of religion, you don’t have freedom of belief. If you don’t have freedom of belief, you don’t have freedom to think ,you don’t have freedom to speak, you don’t have freedom to associate with other people.”
“This is the best news we can hope to hear.”
The report highlighted that 80 percent of religious persecution across the world is experienced by Christians.
Boyd went on to say: “The…
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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.
Hindu Nationalism Increasingly Evident in India, Sources Say
HYDERABAD, India, August 23, 2019 (Morning Star News) – The Hindu nationalists shouting at Christian leaders who were summoned to a police station in southern India asked what gave them the right to lead Christian congregations in a Hindu country.
“Who gave you the permission to run a church in a Hindu country?” they shouted, falsely accusing the three church leaders in Muthapudupet, in the metropolitan area of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, of using foreign funds to convert Hindus, according to the son of one of the pastors, who was also present.
The approximately 200 Hindu nationalists were waiting for Ekklesia Pentecostal Blessing Church’s pastor Sekar, who goes by a single name, pastor Paul Kumaran of Yengaraja Yesuraja Church and church leader Pandari Bai of Grace Home Church after they were summoned to the T8 Muthapudupet police station on July 5.
“They shouted at us and were issuing threats that they will demolish Christian buildings,” Pastor Sekar’s son, Livingston Sekar, told Morning Star News. “They were screaming aggressively, and my father cautioned that we should not have a fight there.”
Leaders of the Hindu nationalist Hindu Makkal Katchi party (Hindu People’s Party) warned them that there should be no Christian worship in the area, Sekar said.
“Pray only with your family, your own brother and sister inside four walls of your house – if any…
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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.
‘We’ve got to get better at being able to talk about struggles’, TV presenter Simon Thomas’ message to Christians
Thomas, has been speaking out as he launches his book Love, Interrupted which tells the story of his own grief after his wife Gemma died from acute myeloid leukaemia – a rare form of blood cancer – at just 40 years old in 2017.
Speaking to Premier, he said too often Christians shy away from talking about difficulties because it challenges their faith and interrupts “cosy church”.
The former Blue Peter and Sky Sports host has won praise for the way he’s dealt with his grief publically, encouraging others in the process.
He thinks the church, as a whole, needs to up its game when supporting members.
“I think what Christians struggle with a little bit when it comes to bereavement; is when it comes to death at the wrong time in life – when people have their lives stolen from them.
“It shakes people’s faith and it interrupts cosy Christianity; it’s a stark reminder that we are not protected from any of this stuff. And I think sometimes Christians shy away from talking about it because it’s challenging their faith, but it’s also holding a mirror up to them that says, ‘this could have been you’.
“I think we’ve got to get better at being able to talk to each other, particularly guys in the church – talking about our fears; talking about the things we struggle with.
“I’m not advocating that we just go on about how difficult life is, but it’s giving people the…
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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.
MFM Convention & 30th Anniversary – Watch Live HERE
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Priscilla Shirer Shares How Overcomer Reminds Viewers to Put Their Identity in Christ
Priscilla Shirer – the daughter of influential pastor Tony Evans – is starring in the Kendrick Brothers’ new movie Overcomer.… Read More
Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.
Why is the Amazon Rainforest on Fire? – Urban Christian News
The Amazon is burning at an alarming rate as tens of thousands of fires lay waste to the world’s largest tropical rainforest.
Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research said there have been 74,155 fires in the Amazon this year as of Tuesday, according to its satellite data: an 84% increase from the same period last year.
The Amazon is often called “the lungs of the world,” absorbing greenhouse gases that would otherwise harm the planet. It also is home to a number of indigenous people who rely on the forest’s resources.
Here’s why it’s on fire and why it’s become such a big problem.
Why is the Amazon on fire?
People who want to clear land in the Amazon for business prospects are cutting down portions of the forest, leaving them out to dry and setting them on fire. With the trees out of the way, they have room to grow agriculture or to raise cattle.
This practice is illegal but is not being monitored by Brazil’s government, according to Nigel Sizer, chief program officer of Rainforest Alliance. Not only is the government turning the other way, President Jair Bolsonaro is encouraging the practice, Sizer said.
“With confidence, we can say that a lot of that is illegal and is…
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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Urban Christian News
