The post Billy Graham Devotional 16 August 2019 – Hunger for Righteousness appeared first on Flatimes.
Florida Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Abortion Law Requiring 24-Hour Waiting Period
A Florida court has overturned a circuit judge’s ruling that women should not be expected to adhere to a waiting period before obtaining an abortion.
In a victory for pro-lifers, the First District Court of Appeal effectively re-legitimized a 2015 law requiring women to wait 24 hours before making a final decision to undergo a termination procedure. The case will now be passed back to the Leon County circuit court for reconsideration.
Writing the majority opinion alongside Judge Harvey Jay, Judge Timothy Osterhaus argued that, as per state guidelines, a 24-hour waiting period is needed to ensure “informed consent” from the woman seeking an abortion.
“Rather than singling out and burdening abortion procedures with arbitrary requirements, the state’s evidence indicates that the 24-hour law brings abortion procedures in Florida into compliance with medical informed consent standards and tangibly improves health outcomes for women,” Osterhaus added, according to the Miami Herald.
In January, the now-retired Leon County Circuit Judge, Terry Lewis, argued that the waiting period law was unconstitutional, violated privacy rights and acted as an unnecessary hold-up for women seeking to abort their baby. Lewis also issued a summary judgment without holding a full trial – something the appeals court deemed unfair.
The appeals court majority…
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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.
Using Part-time Ministry Leaders in a Revitalization or Replant
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When a staff member leaves, most churches automatically search outside the church for a replacement. Today we offer a different perspective on staffing.
Episode Highlights:
- Raising up leaders from within to serve on staff is typically a healthier approach to staffing.
- It’s often a lot easier to hire someone that fire someone.
- When you hire someone from within the church, it takes much less work and time to get them up to speed.
- Not every ministry position can be split from a single full-time person to multiple part-time people, but it’s worth considering when an position comes open.
The six reasons we discuss are:
- The perspective of fresh eyes
- Opportunity for new ministry and new ministers
- The cost issue
- Coming from the missionary perspective
- The key issue of training
- Creating empathy
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Revitalize & Replant is sponsored by the North American Mission Board and ChurchReplanters.com. More than 10% of churches in North America are at risk of closing and the North American Mission Board is committed to reversing this trend by decreasing the death rate of existing churches while simultaneously increasing the birth rate of new churches. To learn more about what it means to become a replanting pastor or to explore resources for replanting and revitalization in your own church, visit ChurchReplanters.com.
Submit Your Question:
Do you have a question about church…
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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Thom Rainer.
Man who challenged Christians in ‘gay cake’ case to challenge Supreme Court’s verdict at European Court
Mr Lee is going to challenge the idea that a business can have religious beliefs and argue that owners’ opinions are separate from their company’s.
In 2014, Mr Lee asked a Christian-owned bakery business to make him a cake that said ‘Support Gay Marriage’ on it, which they refused to do due to their Christian beliefs.
After losing in lowers courts, the McArthur family who own Ashers bakery won their case at the UK Supreme Court in 2018, with Justice Lady Hale saying they had not been discriminatory for refusing to bake the cake.
She said that was because they weren’t refusing the customer because of his sexuality but were opposed to the message – no matter who had asked for it.
Now, Gareth Lee, a gay rights activist, is taking the case to the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that the UK court “failed to give appropriate weight” to his human rights.
Justice Lady Hale addressed the couple’s freedoms as stated in the European Convention of Human Rights in October 2018, saying: “The freedom to not express an opinion which one does not hold is also protected by Article 10 of the convention…
“This court has held that ‘nobody should be forced to have or express a political opinion in which he does not believe”.
Daniel and Amy McArthur lost their initial case before they won at the Supreme Court.
The Equality Commission first took up Mr Lee’s case in 2014 and…
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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.
Police attacked in Philadelphia: Three vital responses
That’s the sentiment of a woman protected by police officers amid an unfolding crisis in Philadelphia last night.
Officers went to a house to serve a state narcotics warrant when they came under fire. Nearby daycare centers with dozens of children inside were evacuated. Women were escorted from the building where the suspect was located. Police urged residents to avoid the area.
Some of the officers responding to the incident had to escape the building through windows and doors. Six officers were injured, but the Philadelphia mayor said they have been released from the hospital and are in “good spirits.” SWAT officers helped evacuate two other officers and four women who had been trapped inside the home.
After almost eight hours, the suspect surrendered just after midnight. The city’s police commissioner identified him as Maurice Hill, age thirty-six, and stated that he has an extensive criminal history.
The death of Officer Andre Moye, Jr.
Much attention has been focused recently on those killed by police officers. Scrutiny has especially centered on allegations of police misconduct.
But much less attention has been paid to officers who have died in the line of duty.
As the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP) notes, “When a police officer is killed, it’s not an agency that loses an officer, it’s an entire nation.” The ODMP lists seventy-three line of duty deaths this year, 163 last year, and 908 in the last five years.
One example is Officer Andre Moye, Jr. with the California Highway Patrol. He conducted a traffic stop in Riverside, California, last Monday. As he completed paperwork to impound the vehicle, the suspect retrieved a rifle from it and opened fire.
Officer Moye was mortally wounded but was able to radio for assistance. Officers responded and engaged the suspect in a prolonged shootout. Two other officers…
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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Denison Forum.
No evidence Christian schoolgirl was abducted, Malaysian police say
The 15-year-old, who disappeared from a jungle resort, had been dead for two or three days by the time she was found on Tuesday, investigators said after a post-mortem examination.
A police chief, speaking to reporters at a hospital morgue, said no evidence of abduction or kidnapping had been uncovered “for the time being”.
Nora, who was born with the brain defect holoprosencephaly and was described by her family as “vulnerable”, went missing from the resort of Dusun on Sunday August 4.
Her body was found beside a small stream about 1.6 miles (2.6km) from the area where she had been on holiday with her parents and two siblings and was unclothed when it was discovered, police had previously said.
It was found in an area that had previously been searched by rescuers.
Two days after Nora went missing, her family said they did not think she would have wandered off alone and believed she had been abducted.
The Quoirins said her condition meant she was not independent and had difficulty walking.
But Negeri Sembilan state police chief Mohamad Mat Yusop said on Thursday that the post-mortem examination had found no evidence that the teenager had been abducted or raped.
He said: “For the time being, there is no element of abduction or kidnapping.”
He said she had died from intestinal bleeding, most likely due to starvation and stress.
He added: “The cause of death was upper…
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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.
