The Houston Chronicle says more of them lived and worked in Texas than any other state and “left behind more than 700 victims, many of them shunned by their churches, left to themselves to rebuild their lives.”
They say their database includes youth pastors, ministers, Sunday school teachers, deacons and volunteers.
The Southern Baptist Convention network is the biggest Protestant group in America with over 15 million members and an important part of their ecclesiology is their autonomy and opposition to a hierarchical structure.
Their independence has advantages but has also resulted in less accountability, with no such thing as a central database of preachers or convictions.
In 2007, victims of sexual abuse in the church asked to have a register of convicted sex offenders from the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). No list was created and they asked again in 2018. The Houston Chronicle then began to compile a collection of all the abuse allegations from ten years before the victims asked for a list to be made and the ten years after.
They then verified the allegations with court databases, prison records and sex offender registers across 20 states.
The Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express have now verified that 220 people of the 380 have been convicted of sex crimes or received deferred prosecutions in plea deals.
Tim Tebow Surprises Students with Special Needs at Prestonwood Baptist Church
PLANO, Texas— A group of students got the surprise of a lifetime this past Friday morning when Tim Tebow showed up unexpectedly at Prestonwood Baptist Church. That evening the church was hosting one of his foundation’s Night to Shine prom events for special needs students.
The students are enrolled in St. Timothy Christian Academy, a ministry partner of Prestonwood Christian Academy. The school for students with learning differences in grades 1 through 12 is housed at Prestonwood Baptist Church. The 26 students were gathered in an atrium area for a meeting when Tebow stepped out of the elevator.
“I was surprised it was him,” said Noah Sullivan. “It’s my first time meeting him. He’s great.”
Jacob Phegley, another student, said, “I think it’s very cool that he’s here. He’s very nice. I liked when he said we would all be crowned king and queen.” Tebow wasn’t kidding: later that night, Jacob would be crowned “King Jacob Phegley.”
Started by the Tim Tebow Foundation, Night to Shine is a prom night experience for people (ages 14 and older) with special needs. This past Friday, more than 650 churches in America and across the world held their own Night to Shine events, celebrating over 100,000 special needs students in their communities.
This was Prestonwood Baptist Church’s fourth year hosting Night to Shine. More than 600…
According to Open Doors, a charity that serves the persecuted church, the whereabouts of Raymond Koh are still unknown despite a Human Rights Commission.
On 13 February 2017, Koh was abducted with military precision that implied a coordinated attack by trained individuals.
In the attack, which was caught on CCTV, at least 10 men in black SUVs blocked a major road during broad daylight, bundled Raymond out of his car and abducted him in under a minute. He has not been seen since.
The charity is urging the Malaysian Government to step up efforts to locate Pastor Koh and three other individuals who it says went missing around the same time. Christian husband and wife, Joshua Hilmy and Ruth Sitepu, were last seen in November 2016 and Shia Muslim activist, Amri Che Mat, was abducted in a professional operation very similar to that of Raymond Koh also in November 2016.
Zoe Smith, Head of Advocacy at Open Doors, said, “The facts of this case are utterly outrageous. We urge the new Malaysian government to expose the truth behind these abductions and to root out the corruption which allegedly led to their disappearances.”
A whistleblower has claimed that Raymond Koh was targeted for having a minority faith and that the abduction was carried out with the full knowledge and approval of the then Inspector General of Police, Khalid Abu Bakar.
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Job 9 poignantly describes the pain innocent victims feel when God seems to fail them.
Job pictures the omnipotence of the One “who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea . . . who does great things beyond searching out, and marvelous things beyond number” (vv. 8, 10).
But this omnipotent God seems impervious to Job’s cries for help: “If I summoned him and he answered me, I would not believe that he was listening to my voice. For he crushes me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause” (vv. 16-17). In fact, according to Job, “When disaster brings sudden death, he mocks at the calamity of the innocent” (v. 23).
This must be how many victims of sexual abuse feel…
Page, who is openly gay, replied to a tweet that said Pratt was about to discuss his “spiritual side” during an appearance on a US talk show.
She said: “Oh. K. Um. But his church is infamously anti lgbtq so maybe address that too?”
Page (below), known for starring in films including Juno and Inception, later added: “If you are a famous actor and you belong to an organization that hates a certain group of people, don’t be surprised if someone simply wonders why it’s not addressed.”
Jurassic World star Pratt, 39, has now responded to the controversy and defending his place of worship.
However, he did not specify which church he attends, amid conflicting reports online.
Writing on his Instagram stories, he said: “It has recently been suggested that I belong to a church which ‘hates a certain group of people’ and is ‘infamously anti -LGBTQ.’ Nothing could be further from the truth.
“I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone.”
Pratt said the church was, “there for me every step of the way” during his divorce from actress Anna Faris, and that it offers “love and support” regardless of “sexual orientation, race or gender”.
Pratt added he is not a “spokesman for any church” and that “we need less hate in this world, not more. I am a man who believes…
Topic: Fear Not! [Joyce Meyer Devotional 12 February 2019]
…the Spirit helps us in our weakness… — Romans 8:26
Satan is a liar. He lies to people and places images on the picture screen of their minds that show defeat and embarrassment. For this reason, we need to know God’s promises (His Word) so we can cast down the lies of the enemy and refuse to listen to him.
Fear seems to be an epidemic in our society. Are you afraid of anything? Is it rejection, failure, the past, the future, loneliness, driving, aging, the dark, heights, life, or death? The list of fears that people experience can be endless.
Satan never runs out of new fears to place in any individual’s life. At least not until they firmly make their mind up that they will not live in fear.
You can trade in pain and paralysis for power and excitement. Don’t allow feelings of any kind to dominate you, but instead remember that God says, “Fear not.” We must be determined that we will obey Him in this area. Fear may present itself as a feeling, but if we refuse to bow down to it, that is all it is… a feeling!
Prayer Starter: Father, help me to “fear not” as I go about my day. When I am anxious, nervous, worried or fearful, remind me of Your great love. Help me to lean on Your Word and constantly expose the lies of the enemy. Thank You for being with me today and always. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Topic: Connect To The Word [TREM Devotional 12 February 2019]
“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63 KJV
Beloved, you can continuously connect to the supernatural by connecting to the Word of God. The Word is Spirit, which means if I have the Word of God, I am operating in the Spirit. “It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing” Stop looking for ‘I must see it before I know it is supernatural. Since I didn’t see, He has not moved.’ No, it is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. When the Bible talks about flesh, it is talking about carnality. Carnality is not totally a bad word. It means people who walk by their sight, who go by their feelings, who go by what they hear and who go by what they touch. ‘Until I can see and touch it, I won’t believe God has done it.’ That is carnality!
Jesus said it is the Spirit that makes alive. It is the Spirit that energises you. “The flesh profiteth nothing. The word that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” That means if I connect to the Word, I will be operating in the Spirit and life, in Zoe, God’s kind of life! When I am connected to what He said about me, I will be operating in the Spirit. Not only that, I will be walking in His own kind of life. When you received Christ into your life, your life moved from natural to supernatural. Everyone that is born-again is supernatural. You are not ordinary! The only reason you live in this natural world is to express your supernatural manifestation.
Your assignment is to connect to the Word. “For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12 KJV) Only the Word has the capacity to penetrate every aspect of man.
Further Reading: John 1.1-14, Isaiah 55:10-11
Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Leviticus 13; Evening- Matthew 26:26-50
Written by Dr. Mike Okonkwo; Is the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM); a versatile man of God with over 30 years of dedicated service unto the Lord.
MFM Mountain Top Life Daily Devotional 12 February 2019 By Dr. D.K Olukoya – Too Busy To Pray (I)
TOPIC: Too Busy To Pray (I) (Mountain Of Fire and Miracle Ministries, MFM Daily Devotional 12 February 2019)
Bible In One Year: Leviticus 13; Matthew 26:26-50
FIRE SCRIPTURE: Daniel 6:3-11
MEMORY VERSE: “Pray without ceasing.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:17
The MESSAGE:
One of the evil of our time is that Christians become too busy with all kinds of activities and abandon prayer; their lifeline and life wire. Some become so busy, engrossed and passionate about their career and business that they don’t even observe their Quite Time before they get out of the house in the morning and are too tired to even pray by the time they return very late in the night. Their lives have become such an unpleasant routine. Some ministers too are guilty of this. They are so busy with church programmes and activities day in day out, that they hardly devote sufficient time to personally wait on the Lord and renew their own strength.
Failure to do Quite Time (study the Bible and pray consistently everyday), is one of the causes of powerlessness in our age. Modern day Christians are too busy to seek God, too busy to pray and too busy too study their Bibles. Many are busy serving tables instead of focusing on the ministry of the word and prayer. How are they serving tables? The same people who have no time for the word of God and prayer devote their time and God-given resources to throwing parties and attending parties almost every weekend. They give quality time to their career and business but no time to develop their spiritual lives. That is why many are very vulnerable and are easy preys for the devil. They are empty and defenseless spiritually. They receive just one blow from the devil and they are on the floor.
If you are too lazy to study the word and pray and build quality relationship with God, your life will be dry and meaningless. There is no true success outside God. When such spiritually lazy folks run into problems, they go to pastors who pray for them, then tell them to fast and give them prayers to pray. They often tell such pastors, “Sir, I have never fasted before. In fact the doctor said I have ulcer. I am on a medication. Can you help me to do the fast and the prayer? Just tell me any amount to pay. I will pay it.” Those are the lazy Christians. They are only deceiving themselves.
MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE: PRAYER DOES NOT CHANGE GOD BUT IT CHANGES THE ONE WHO PRAYS.
PROPHETIC WORD: Your prayers shall bring you dumbfounding testimonies.
PRAYER POINTS:
MORNING
O God, help me to understand the privilege and benefits of prayers, in the name of Jesus.
Anything assigned to keep me from praying, die, in the name of Jesus.
Father, deliver my spiritual life from dryness, in the name of Jesus. EVENING
I reject satanic distractions, in the name of Jesus.
O Lord, plug me into the socket of Your power, in the name of Jesus.
I will not abandon God’s word and prayer to serve tables, in the name of Jesus.
O Lord, deliver me from spiritual laziness and ignorance, in the name of Jesus.
MOUNTAIN TOP LIFE is a daily devotional by Dr. D.K Olukoya (General Overseer, Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministries, Worldwide)
Flatimes Notice Board: Until you are born again, God ever abiding presence will never be with you. You must be born again to enjoy continuous victory. Please say the displayed prayer below in faith:
Lord Jesus, come into my life. I accept You as my Lord and Personal Saviour. I believe in my heart You died and rose from the dead to save me. Thank You Lord for saving me, in Jesus name Amen.
If you just prayed the prayer of salvation online please send your testimonies and prayer request to [email protected], 07026385437 OR 08141320204.
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