Brooklyn Pastor A.R Bernard of Christian Cultural Center was joined by award-winning actor Denzel Washington on Instagram Live Thursday where they discussed Washington’s spiritual journey and relationship with God.

In the 33-minute video, Washington noted that he had given his life to Christ three times when he was younger, Fox News reported.

In one of those moments, the “Training Day” actor described a “supernatural” encounter with the living God back in the 80s during a church service.

“I was filled with the Holy Ghost and it scared me. I said, ‘Wait a minute, I didn’t want to go this deep, I want to party,’” Washington, 65, said of a time at Bishop Charles E. Blake’s West Angeles Church of God in Christ.

 “I went to church with Robert Townsend and when it came time to come down to the altar I said, ‘You know this time, I’m just going to go down there and give it up and see what happens,’” Washington continued. “I went in the prayer room and gave it up and let go and experienced something I’ve never experienced in my life.”

After the service, the Washington reached out to his mother about the intense experience.

He said, “I felt like I was going up in the air, and my cheeks were filled.” In response, his mother asserted, “’Oh no, that’s the devil you’re purging.’”

Washington added: “It was a supernatural, once in this…

The Archdiocese of St. Louis in Missouri is trying to protect a statue of King Louis IX of France as protesters call for its removal.

The statue, which stands in front of the St. Louis Art Museum in Forest Park, Missouri, depicts King Louis IX riding a horse.

“The history of the statue of St. Louis, the King is one founded in piety and reverence before God, and for non-believers, respect for one’s neighbor,” the archdiocese said in a statement on Sunday, the Christian Post reports. “The reforms that St. Louis implemented in French government focused on impartial justice, protecting the rights of his subjects, steep penalties for royal officials abusing power, and a series of initiatives to help the poor.”

Protestors, however, say the statue should be taken down because of the king’s history of persecuting Jews. Demonstrators have started a change.org petition asking for the statue’s removal and calling for the city to change its name from St. Louis.

“In 2017 St. Louis removed the Confederate Monument in Forest Park after protests. In 2020 the statue of Christopher Columbus was removed from Tower Grove Park. It is now time for St. Louis to take the bold step to remove the statue of King Louis IX from Forest Park and rename the city,” the petition says.

“For those unfamiliar with King Louis IX, he was a rabid anti-semite who spearheaded many persecutions…

Disney Channel and Nickelodeon once limited their celebration of LGBT Pride Month to social media platforms, but are now broadcasting commercials placing the issue in front of America’s children.

A June commercial sponsored and aired by the Disney Channel featured a smiling Raven-Symoné, who is lesbian, discussing LGBT pride, even though she never says “gay,” “lesbian” or any other word in the acronym.

“We’re in a new age where it’s not just black and white anymore. We have purple, red and the entire rainbow,” Raven-Symoné says in the ad. “Everybody wants to be treated with respect and it’s beautiful. I love being able to come together with all walks of life – all ages, all colors and celebrating the unity of being our authentic selves. Pride to me is strength. Pride is selfless. Pride is friends, family. Pride is you.”

The Disney Channel ad ends with the phrase “Celebrate Pride” sprawled across the screen against a rainbow background and the Disney Channel logo. The commercial ran over the weekend during an episode of Bunk’d (TV-G).

Nickelodeon broadcast ads in June featuring various LGBT individuals. For example, an ad on Sunday during The Loud House (TV-Y7) spotlighted actress Amandla Stenberg, who is lesbian. The commercial includes images of Stenberg and “Pride Month” graphics.

“We celebrate the activism of Amandla Stenberg,” a…

A U.S. federal judge sided with houses of worship Friday in an injunction against New York officials, saying it’s likely unconstitutional to restrict churches and synagogues to 25 percent capacity while allowing recent protests and not similarly restricting businesses.

The lawsuit was filed by the Thomas More Society on behalf of two Catholic priests and three Jewish congregants against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, claiming a violation of the First Amendment’s protections of free exercise of religion and free speech and freedom to assemble, as well as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. 

An order by Cuomo limits houses of worship to 25 percent capacity during the pandemic.

Judge Gary L. Sharpe, in a 38-page decision, ruled the houses of worship had demonstrated a likelihood to succeed in their lawsuit.

Houses of worship, Sharpe wrote, had been singled out by the state’s orders.

“On its face, the 25% indoor capacity limitation applies only to houses of worship,” wrote Sharpe, who was nominated by President George W. Bush. “…  “[I]n other words, no other secular entity, save for those that remain closed in their entirety until Phase 4 or beyond, are limited to only 25% capacity.”

Sharpe also criticized Cuomo and de Blasio for limiting houses of worship while supporting mass gatherings of…

NEW DELHI, June 29, 2020 (Morning Star News) – Under pressure from an official in the ruling Hindu nationalist political party, police in Uttar Pradesh state, India have released without charges a suspect in the attempted killing of a pastor last month, sources said.

“When we entered the police station for the identification process, the attacker was treated like a VIP, not as a criminal,” Deepak Kumar, brother-in-law of the pastor, told Morning Star News. “He was released the same day, even after we insisted that he is the one.”

Four men ambushed 39-year-old pastor Dinesh Kumar as he left Mohiuddinpur village, Mau District on his motorbike on May 28, beating him with clubs so severely that he lost consciousness. A deep wound to his head required 16 stitches, a cut on his arm seven stitches, and he sustained internal injuries; seeing the wound on his arm, a doctor asked his wife if he had been shot.

“They had no intentions to threaten me – they attacked to kill me,” Pastor Kumar, of Jamalpur village, told Morning Star News.

Police went to Pastor Kumar while he was still in the Intensive Care Unit of Prakash Hospital in Mau to ask if he knew the names of any of the assailants, and he did not give one, the head of the Madhuban police station told Morning Star News. Pastor Kumar said he later called the police station to report that he recognized one of the assailants.

“I had…

One church has been demolished by officials using cranes and heavy-duty machinery as Christians in China continue to be persecuted.

ChinaAid, a non-profit Christian organization for the human rights of Chinese citizens, reported that 200 communist officials stormed into Sunzhuang Church in Henan province on June 12.

The officials responsible for the demolition were from the Zhengzhou High-Tech District Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau, despite not showing legal documents.

The report by ChinaAid went on to note that the officials threw out chairs and additional church property.

Some church members did not fare well upon apprehension by officials. One woman was hospitalized after being knocked unconscious by officials who pushed her to the ground. Similarly, another woman was also taken to the hospital after officials beat her.

One male church member had also been arrested. The church was then demolished following the raid, the report asserts.

Sunzhuang Church had been a part of China’s branch of government-run churches since the early 1990s. The Christian Post reported that the church had also joined the Three-Self Patriotic Movement in June 2012, as they were permitted by the communist government to construct a brand new church building.

Then in June 2013, Sunzhuang Church was issued a demolition notice by the Sunzhuang Village Committee because congregants failed to comply with the…

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has published its handbook on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

According to the Christian Post, the handbook, “Lutheran Introduction to Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Gender Expression,” was created by ReconcilingWorks, a Lutheran ministry that helps “all sexual orientations and gender identities.”

“Many LGBTQIA+ people have learned by experience that they are not truly welcome in church, even in churches that state, ‘All are welcome here!’ says ReconcilingWorks in the introduction of the handbook.

“A general statement of welcome is often heard as meaning ‘everybody but me,’ so it can take a special effort to communicate an authentic welcome to LGBTQIA+ people,” the ministry said.

The handbook is meant to help congregations reach out to members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

“If you don’t know which identity terms, pronouns or titles to use, and find yourself getting ‘stuck’ on terms, re-center yourself on the fact you are talking about a person,” the handbook says. “It is also ok to ask which pronouns one prefers, or just avoid using gendered terms. Remember, all you need to welcome someone is their name.”

The handbook also defines gender identity as “a person’s innate, deeply felt psychological identification as a man, woman or another gender,…

(RNS) — Kyla Rodriguez’s two children had a blast earlier this month at Immanuel Lutheran Church’s Vacation Bible School.

Every morning during the weeklong Rainforest Explorers-themed program, 3-year-old Carson and his little sister Madison, nearly 2, prayed and sang songs. They ate rainforest-themed snacks and made tissue paper rainbows and colorful toilet paper roll parrots.

And they did it all without ever leaving their home in Merrill, Wisconsin.

The virtual Vacation Bible School, or VBS, was hosted by Immanuel, their grandparents’ Missouri Synod church in Seymour, Indiana. Carson and Madison received backpacks in the mail ahead of time, stuffed with the materials they’d need for crafts and other activities. Then each day, they’d tune in to watch prerecorded videos for stories, songs and instructions.

The kids were especially excited to see their grandpa, a pastor at the church, on TV, according to Rodriguez.

“They liked the songs and the crafts and it was something fun to do, especially right now. We don’t have things like going to story time at our local library,” she said.

“So it was fun to have something to do during the day that they liked, that was just a little different from our normal days right now.”

Like so many other things, VBS programs look a little different this summer amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A beloved summertime tradition for many…