Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has denounced Wells Fargo for withdrawing donations from a state voucher program because some of the schools students are choosing to attend oppose homosexuality and transgender ideology.

Last month, Wells Fargo, along with Fifth Third Bank, withdrew donations to the Step Up for Students program after The Orlando Sentinel reported that some of the schools involved in the program have conservative policies on LGBT issues.

“We have reviewed this matter carefully and have decided to no longer support Step Up for Students,” said Wells Fargo in a statement, The Hill reported.

“All of us at Wells Fargo highly value diversity and inclusion, and we oppose discrimination of any kind.”

In an interview with Family Research Council President Tony Perkins earlier this week, Rubio said Wells Fargo and others withdrawing support from the scholarship fund were only hurting the less fortunate with their decisions.

Rubio explained that the scholarship program allows parents to choose which school to send their children to and many of the options are schools without official biblical stances on LGBT issues.

“Doing what they did is not going to hurt those schools. Those schools are not going to abandon the Bible over a government program. They existed before this program,” said Rubio.

“Who they are hurting are low-income kids, because they are not going to be able to go to school and probably not go to a school that doesn’t have those policies, by the way.”

Rubio said he believed that this was an example of “corporate America” trying to “buy themselves into the good graces of broader society” or to cover for major internal problems, such as Well Fargo’s recent series of scandals.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Michael Gryboski

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UPDATE: 12 AM, FEB. 9: By Sunday morning, deaths from the coronavirus reached 811, surpassing SARS, and the number of confirmed infections rose to 37,198, most of them in Hubei province, according to Chinese officials.

As the death toll from the coronavirus reaches 724 and the number of confirmed cases rises to 34,546, Christians in China — where the illness originated — are distributing masks and sharing the love of Christ on the streets in the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.

While fear and insecurity have gripped the 11 million residents of Wuhan, a city in China’s Hubei province, Christians there have been out on the streets giving out masks and sharing the love of Jesus and the hope the Gospel brings, according to Christian Broadcasting Network’s Asia correspondent Lucille Talusan.

“They’re very courageous,” she was quoted as saying. “They give out masks and they say that they are Christians and they share the love of Christ and point to Jesus to bring hope to them and their families and the whole of China. … This is really a break-through.”

The coronavirus originated in Wuhan about two months ago and can lead to respiratory illnesses which are fatal in some cases. While at least 724 people have died from the disease and 34,546 people have been confirmed to have the illness, the actual numbers are believed to be much higher, according to Bloomberg.

Earlier during the week, a Chinese pastor living Wuhan, identified only as “A Wuhan Pastor,” wrote to the international faith community, urging them to pray and revealing that fellow pastors from around the world had been reaching out.

“It is readily apparent that we are facing a test of our faith,” the pastor wrote. “The situation is so critical, yet [we are] trusting in the Lord’s promises, that his thoughts toward us are of peace, and not evil (Jeremiah. 29:11), and that he allows for a time of testing, not to destroy us, but to establish us.”

SOURCE: Christian Post, Anugrah Kumar

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A Florida woman, who filed a federal complaint after her homeowners association barred her from continuing to host a Bible study in the social room of her own condominium complex, has reached a settlement allowing her to carry on with the religious activity, a legal group that represented the Christian woman said.

The agreement states that Donna Dunbar, a Seventh-day Adventist lay minister who runs a nationally recognized soup kitchen with her husband, “may continue to use the social room on a weekly basis to hold a Bible study without being subject to special rules or restrictions,” said First Liberty Institute in a statement, calling the settlement “excellent news.”

“Her victory is more proof that we are taking part in a historic turning point when people of faith are reclaiming religious freedom at an unprecedented rate,” the group said.

Dunbar, a retired senior citizen, started a small women’s Bible study last year in the common room of the Cambridge House complex in Port Charlotte, Florida, for two hours on Monday mornings. Less than 10 friends, some of whom are not Cambridge residents, attended the study.

Around three months later, Dunbar was told by the then-treasurer for the Cambridge House Board of Directors that the group would have to acquire insurance for the meetings. No other groups were required to purchase insurance to use the common areas for their meetings. After disputing the need for insurance, Dunbar went ahead and complied with the demands so that the weekly Bible study could continue.

However, the Cambridge House board of directors then passed a resolution stating, “Prayers and other religious services, observations, or meetings of any nature shall not occur … in or upon any of the common elements.”

SOURCE: Christian Post, Anugrah Kumar

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Native missionaries in a country in West Africa did not know what to expect when they went to preach to inmates at a prison they had never visited, in a town unknown to them.

After a more than six-hour trip on rough roads that put them in town in the hottest part of the afternoon, they had to rely on people in the street to help them find the prison, the native ministry leader said.

They had a plan for how to proclaim Christ in a way that would most resonate with the inmates, but some things you couldn’t plan for in the 92-percent Muslim country. They were stunned to be greeted by a social service officer who had witnessed their preaching in the prison closer to their ministry base.

The social service officer began shouting to the prison personnel eating lunch in an adjoining room, according to the ministry leader.

The message seemed to be the last chance for the inmates and the only hope God offered them.

“These people that you see here among us have transformed the lives of detainees and prison officers during their stay in our prison, and I myself was present that day,” the officer told those eating. “Please rise to welcome those partners who came from far away. I know them, they always come with good news – they are Christians, men with a big heart, to come to see us.”

In a country that is less than 1 percent Protestant Christian, the ministry leader said the officer’s testimony opened hearts in their favor before they had even begun.

“Without further ado, the other leaders stood up to walk towards us,” he said. “Each one came in turn, to present himself to us according to his name and rank. Thank you, Lord – suddenly the atmosphere had changed, and joy and peace invaded everyone’s hearts.”

The prison warden led them to his office to welcome them, and the missionaries presented the soap, toothbrushes and other hygiene products they had purchased for prisoners in the sanitation-depleted facility.

The prison officials felt a great relief to see all the donated items, the warden told him.

“The warden testified that we were the first partners to come to them to offer them such gifts,” the leader said. “He said, ‘Our prison is totally lacking in sanitation products and materials,’ as he pointed to the reserves, which was almost exhausted. ‘The detainees have really been in need for a very long time,’ he continued. Seeing the amount of donations, the entire penitentiary team continued to thank us.”

SOURCE: Christian Aid Mission

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This is Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International with the Whyte House Family Devotional Reading of Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening podcast. This is Episode #23.

Charles Spurgeon was a prominent English Particular Baptist preacher. He was very influential among the Christians of various denominations during his age and even today, and is commonly called the “Prince of Preachers”. After some time of alternately searching for God and running from God, he had a powerful encounter which led him to give his life to Christ. Spurgeon was only 16 when he preached his first sermon and he began publishing books shortly afterward. At the time of his death, he had preached nearly 3,600 sermons and published 49 volumes of commentaries, sayings, anecdotes, illustrations and devotions. Spurgeon said, “encouraging thoughts are like honey to the heart”, and wrote this devotional in hopes that its uplifting messages for each day of the year would bring comfort and refreshment to our walk with God. He was inspired by Isaiah 50:4 which reads, “He wakeneth morning by morning. He wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned” and Psalm 63:5-6 which says, “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips; when I remember Thee upon my bed, and meditate on Thee in the night watches.”

1 Corinthians 3:23 reads: “And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.”

“Ye are Christ’s.” You are his by donation, for the Father gave you to the Son; his by his bloody purchase, for he counted down the price for your redemption; his by dedication, for you have consecrated yourself to him; his by relation, for you are named by his name, and made one of his brethren and joint-heirs. Labour practically to show the world that you are the servant, the friend, the bride of Jesus. When tempted to sin, reply, “I cannot do this great wickedness, for I am Christ’s.” Immortal principles forbid the friend of Christ to sin. When wealth is before you to be won by sin, say that you are Christ’s, and touch it not. Are you exposed to difficulties and dangers? Stand fast in the evil day, remembering that you are Christ’s. Are you placed where others are sitting down idly, doing nothing? Rise to the work with all your powers; and when the sweat stands upon your brow, and you are tempted to loiter, cry, “No, I cannot stop, for I am Christ’s. If I were not purchased by blood, I might be like Issachar, crouching between two burdens; but I am Christ’s, and cannot loiter.” When the siren song of pleasure would tempt you from the path of right, reply, “Thy music cannot charm me; I am Christ’s.” When the cause of God invites thee, give thy goods and thyself away, for thou art Christ’s. Never belie thy profession. Be thou ever one of those whose manners are Christian, whose speech is like the Nazarene, whose conduct and conversation are so redolent of heaven, that all who see you may know that you are the Saviour’s, recognizing in you his features of love and his countenance of holiness. “I am a Roman!” was of old a reason for integrity; far more, then, let it be your argument for holiness, “I am Christ’s!”

PRAY.

Thank you for listening to the Morning and Evening podcast. If you do not know the Lord as your Savior, here is how you can be saved from Hell and walk with the Lord morning and evening until you go to that wonderful place called Heaven when you die:

First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”

Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 18:8: “Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Now that is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.

Romans 10:9 & 13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved… For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, and you want to trust Him for your Salvation today, please pray with me this simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. I am sorry for my sins, and today I choose to turn from my sins. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior and I choose to follow Him as Lord from this day forward. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.

If you believed in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the Cross, was buried, and rose again, allow me to say, congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”

If you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior today, please email me at [email protected] and let us know. There is some free material that we want to send you. If you have a prayer request, please e-mail that to us as well, and we will pray for you until you tell us to stop.

God loves you. We love you. And may God bless you.

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The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of BCNN1. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author(s).

Larger churches will have a more difficult time staying larger.

At least, that is my postulate according to our early research.  And to be clear, I am defining a larger church by the size of its largest worship service, not by its total attendance. It looks like churches that are intentional about moving to more services, more venues, and more sites can indeed get larger.

This research is based on the attendance size of an individual service, not on the cumulative size of a church’s combined services. In simple terms, it will become increasingly difficult for a church to replace lost attendees at large worship gatherings.

Here are some of my thoughts:

SOURCE: Christian Post, Thom S. Rainer

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The children want to learn. The teachers want to teach. But neither the school in the Peruvian jungle village nor the schoolkids have enough money for school supplies like notebooks.

“Children go to school without notebooks, and teachers cannot do their job,” the leader of a native ministry said.

A young boy in one village told his mother, an ethnic tribal Christian, that he could not remember anything the teacher said, and that his teacher could not give him assignments because he had no notebook. His mother replied, “Let’s pray to God to provide.”

She had no idea how they might obtain paper, pencils and the backpacks for little ones to transport them over rough, uneven paths, but hours away by motorcycle native missionaries were preparing to bring school supplies.

She had no idea how they might obtain paper, pencils and the backpacks for little ones to transport them over rough, uneven paths.

“When the boy saw our ministry distributing school supplies at his village,” ministry leader said, “he ran toward his mother and said loudly, “God has answered us, Mom!”

In another remote, ethnic village, teachers had given native missionaries a list of needed school supplies. The team arrived to deliver the exact items needed as well as new clothes for children 3 to 5 years old, the age group most lacking, the ministry leader said.

“The teachers thanked us, saying, ‘God really thought of us, because many of the children come to school from far away, walking and without school supplies. Now we will be able to work!’” he said.

On one three-hour trip to deliver school supplies to 250 ethnic Ashaninka schoolchildren, the ministry team had to fight through fierce rains.

“The rain was so strong that it was impossible to move towards their destination,” the leader said. “They arrived very wet to the jungle village where the parents with their children were waiting for them to receive the school supplies that had been offered.”

The students ranged from kindergarten to high school.

“On that cold and rainy morning, approximately 250 school-age children were able to receive school supplies,” the leader said. “After they shared the Gospel, they began to distribute the school supplies grade by grade. Upon completion, the parents and authorities of the tribal village thanked our team for this selfless gesture towards them. Finally, we distributed Bibles among the local teachers and village authorities.”

SOURCE: Christian Aid Mission

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When Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic, spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., last week, she prayed for the persecuted, listing religious persecution around the world, but did not specifically mention Christians.

“Oh, Lord, we thank all gathered at this prayer breakfast for lifting our voices for the poor and the persecuted, the millions who are missing or murdered because of their faith,” Pelosi prayed at the event Thursday, according to The Daily Signal. “Let us pray for the Panchen Lama and all the Tibetan Buddhists imprisoned in China or missing for following their faith,” she continued.

The House speaker also prayed for the “1 to 3 million Uighurs in China forced from their homes and incarcerated in camps,” as well as for “Raif Badawi in Saudi Arabia and for all the writers and religious free thinkers imprisoned for speaking their minds.”

Pelosi then prayed for “priests, rabbis, pastors, and religious leaders around the world whose freedoms have been stolen because of what they believe … countless Muslims and other religious minorities, often unseen and unnamed, who have been abducted, oppressed, and abused because of who they are and what they believe, their faith.”

In its 2020 World Watch List, leading Christian persecution watchdog Open Doors USA released its annual data report, saying this year highlights a drastic increase in attacks against Christian buildings and the imprisonment of Christians.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Anugrah Kumar

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