It’s a typical Friday afternoon and as soon as Bishop Jakes starts talking it becomes clear that not only does he have something to say, but that one better sit back and get ready to take notes.

In a culture and world that’s so uncertain, Bishop Jakes’s voice is what’s needed. Although Friday for most people is a down day, for Jakes its anything but.  

Jakes has taken on a new assignment to create the STEAM Academy, a branch of his T.D. Jakes foundation, to meet the needs of kids and adults who have been left behind. “I want to be that bridge in helping people,” Jakes told Christian Headlines in an interview.

When asked, why he decided to take on leading a foundation that requires raising millions of dollars from corporations, Jakes asserted that he’s on a mission for God.

“Eighty percent of the jobs in future America will involve science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM). I want to make sure that we are bridging that gap in helping people get the jobs that they need in the future,” Jakes shared.

If numbers are any indicator, the foundation is headed in the right direction. According to the bishop, last week, 5,000 kids participated in the STEAM online camp. 

But, for Jakes, it is not just about the number of kids enrolled in the program, it is also about the impact the program is having on the kids.

“I’ve been involved in this type of work for years, since my days of doing prison…

(RNS) — Church bells and shofars sounded across the country as a group of family and friends — a reduced crowd due to the coronavirus pandemic — gathered Thursday (July 30) to remember Rep. John Lewis at his funeral service at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

The civil rights leader’s life was marked by his deep Christian faith.

He famously preached to his family’s chickens as a boy, before being ordained a Baptist minister when still a young man, and was the youngest speaker at the March on Washington alongside the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Lewis’ beliefs motivated him to march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, where he was badly beaten by police for the right of African Americans to vote, a cause he later took up as a congressman.

And so it was fitting that his funeral was marked by powerful moments of faith.

The service was led by the Rev. Raphael Warnock, King’s successor as pastor of Ebenezer Baptist, and included messages by the Rev. James Lawson, members of Lewis’ family, his congressional staff, three U.S. presidents and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

They all spoke from Ebenezer’s pulpit in praise of a man whom Warnock described as “a living, walking sermon about truth-telling and justice-making, and he loved America until America learned how to love him back.”

Here are five more faith moments from Lewis’ funeral.

1. Churches rang their bells

Ebenezer…

JERUSALEM, August 3, 2020 (Morning Star News) – Dozens of foreign Christians in Turkey have been forced to leave the country or have been banned from returning in what appears to be government targeting of the Protestant Christian community, rights advocates say.

Many, like Carlos Madrigal of Spain, have been serving in leadership roles in Protestant churches in the country for years. Such foreigners have lived in the country for decades, forming families and buying property, according to a researcher at Middle East Concern (MEC).

Madrigal has lived in the country for more than 19 years on a clergy visa as the spiritual leader of the Istanbul Protestant Church Foundation (IPCF), according to a press statement from the group. At the airport in November 2019, he was issued a stamp in his passport that he realized would keep him from returning to Turkey if he left the country, so he decided to cancel his trip and appeal the decision, according to published reports.

Madrigal appeared on Turkish television in June to point out that he could see no clear reason why he was banned from the country, the MEC researcher said.

Noting that the ban against Madrigal was issued in November 2019, the IPCF stated, “It is with great sadness that we must inform you that since 2019, it has been made increasingly difficult for foreign Protestant clergy serving in Turkey to be resident in our…

A large majority of American conservatives say the political climate prevents them from saying what they believe, according to a new Cato survey that also shows liberals are far less likely to feel the need to self-censor.

Cato asked Americans of all ideologies if they believed the “political climate these days prevents me from saying things I believe because others might find them offensive.”

A full 77 percent of Americans who label themselves conservative or “very” conservative agreed with the statement, compared to 64 percent of moderates, 52 percent of liberals and 42 percent of those who consider themselves “very” liberal.

Overall, 62 percent of Americans say they self-censor due to the political climate.

Cato asked the same question in 2017. Since then, conservatives, moderates and liberals all have experienced a 7 percent increase in the percentage who say they self-censor.

Still, “strong liberals stand out … as the only political group who feel they can express themselves,” Cato’s Emily Ekins said in an online analysis.

A total of 58 percent of those who call themselves “very” liberal say they feel comfortable saying what they believe, compared to only 23 percent of conservatives and those who call themselves “very” conservative.

“The strong feeling of having to self-censor is likely somewhat rooted in a media and political culture…

Two representatives of Students for Life of America were arrested Saturday by Washington, D.C. police while writing “black preborn lives matter” in chalk outside a Planned Parenthood, even though the group says it had permission from the city.

SFLA said in a news release it had “applied and received a permit to paint the street outside of the D.C. Planned Parenthood” and even complied “with the D.C. police department’s request to purchase special temporary paint.”

D.C. city officials earlier this year allowed protesters to paint “Defund the Police” on a city street.

SFLA representatives arrived at the area in front of the D.C. Planned Parenthood Saturday morning and were met with several police cars. Police initially warned the group they would be arrested for using temporary paint and then said they would be arrested even if they used chalk.

When Students for Life staff member Warner DePriest and college student Erica Caporaletti began painting “black preborn lives matter” in chalk, they were arrested.

“Mayor Muriel Bowser had opened the streets of the city for ‘free public expression,’” the group said in a statement. “What we didn’t know was that you could only do that and not get arrested if the mayor agreed with what you expressed.”

SFLA says it will sue the city.

“We will no longer be silent, we will no…

John MacArthur’s California church is facing possible fines from the county if the church keeps hosting in-person services.

According to The Christian Post, MacArthur’s Grace Community Church is reopening despite lockdown orders from Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“We will obey God rather than men,” MacArthur said in a video statement Friday. “We’re going to be faithful to the Lord and we’re going to leave the results to Him. Whatever happens is going to be what He allows to happen. But He will be on our side because we will be obedient and faithful to His word.”

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials have reportedly told MacArthur he could face “repercussions such as fines and even possible arrest.”

The department’s Environmental Health division “is investigating and will be reaching out to the church leaders to let them know they need to comply with the Health Officer Order,” according to Religion News Service.

MacArthur said he isn’t sure “what the Lord has for us,” but the church will continue meeting for in-person services on Sundays.

“We will meet as the church of Jesus Christ because we’re commanded to do that. We will sing, we will pray, we will fellowship, we will proclaim the Word of God far and wide and even around the world through this livestream opportunity that we have,” he said.

MacArthur said other church…

One week after publicly repenting for failing to preach the whole Gospel, evangelist Todd White said his mission now is to now “wake up” the “dysfunctional” and “sleeping” American Church. 

“Last week, I shared, ‘I repent for not preaching the full Gospel,’” White, founder and president of Lifestyle Christianity, said in a sermon delivered Aug. 2. “If any of you think that you know it all about the Gospel, you’re deceived. I don’t care who you are, I don’t care what theologian you are, I don’t care if you’re a doctor of theology, if you’ve got your masters of divinity. If you think you know it all, I’m sorry, you’re wrong.”

“I have stepped into a new awareness of why I’m really here,” he emphasized. “I feel like I just got saved. I feel like I’ve just met Jesus.”

White, a drug addict turned evangelist, said his mission now is to “wake up a sleeping church.” 

“I’m very concerned for a large majority of the body of Christ that says that they’ve met Him and…

Fires were set by rioters in front of a federal courthouse on Friday night in Portland, Oregon, as the city entered its 65th consecutive day of protests.

According to Breitbart, Ian Miles Cheong, the managing editor for Human Events, noted that Bibles were being burned outside of the federal courthouse.

“Left-wing activists bring a stack of Bibles to burn in front of the federal courthouse in Portland,” Cheong wrote in a thread on Twitter.

He added, “I don’t know what burning the Bible has to do with protesting against police brutality. Do not be under the illusion that these protests and riots are anything but an attempt to dismantle all of Western Civilization and upend centuries of tradition and freedom of religion,” he concluded.

I don’t know what burning the Bible has to do with protesting against police brutality.

Do not be under the illusion that these protests and riots are anything but an attempt to dismantle all of Western Civilization and upend centuries of tradition and freedom of religion.

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 1, 2020

Journalist Andy Ngo backed Cheong’s claims writing, “Antifa protesters in downtown Portland have started burning American flags in the street. They are also burning Bibles.”

Antifa protesters in downtown Portland have started burning American flags in the street. They are also burning Bibles.

— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 1, 2020

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