Billy Graham Devotional 8 December 2018 – The Throne of Grace

Topic: The Throne of Grace [Billy Graham Devotional 8 December 2018]

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace . . . — Hebrews 4:16

Praying is simply a two-way conversation between you and God. Thousands of people pray only when they are under great stress, or in danger, overcome by uncertainty. I have been in airplanes when an engine died; then people started praying. I have talked to soldiers who told me that they never prayed until they were in the midst of battle. There seems to be an instinct in man to pray in times of trouble. We know “there are no atheists in foxholes,” but the kind of Christianity that fails to reach into our everyday lives will never change the world. Develop the power of prayer. Man is more powerful when he is in prayer than when he is behind the most powerful guns. A nation is more powerful when it unites in earnest prayer to God than when its resources are channeled into defensive weapons. The answers to all our problems can be had through contact with almighty God.

Prayer for the day: My time spent in prayer with You, dear Lord, is the highlight of my day. To know You are waiting to have this communion humbles me. Yet You say I can come boldly—this I do now, knowing You hear me!

“If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read Billy Graham’s Daily Devotional HERE

Written by Billy Graham, Founder of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association(BGEA). BGEA exists to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ by every effective means and to equip the church and others to do the same.

The post Billy Graham Devotional 8 December 2018 – The Throne of Grace appeared first on Flatimes.

Student Leaders at Wheaton College Declare African American Pro-Life Speaker Caused Them to Feel ‘Unsafe’

Student Leaders at Wheaton College Declare African American Pro-Life Speaker Caused Them to Feel ‘Unsafe’



Wheaton College students claim that an African American pro-life activist made them feel “unsafe” and “unheard” while he spoke about abortion and racial justice during a campus forum. 


Wheaton College Republicans asked Ryan Bomberger to speak at “Black Lives Matter, In and Outside the Womb,” an event held on campus. 


Bomberger accepted the invitation and delivered a 50-minute presentation in which he discussed the impact abortions have on the black community. 


“Planned Parenthood was birthed in eugenic racism. They’ve never severed that timeline. They never severed that connection. How do you sever from your past if every year you give out the Margaret Sanger award? You don’t give out rewards for people you don’t hold in high regard,” he stated.


Following the presentation, a 30-minute Q&A session was held for the students which gave them a chance to ask questions. Bomberger stayed past the scheduled time in order to answer additional questions. 


Six days after the forum, Bomberger was denounced in an open letter by Student Body President Lauren Rowley, Student Body Vice President Tyler Waaler and EVP of Community Diversity Sammie Shields. In the letter, which was written to the university, the students criticized Bomberger’s visit writing,


“The speaker…made several comments at the event that deeply troubled…

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School Must Remove 70-Year-Old Wise Men Display or Face Lawsuit

School Must Remove 70-Year-Old Wise Men Display or Face Lawsuit



A Michigan ‘civil rights’ group is threatening to sue the Newaygo Public School District if they do not remove a Wise Men and a star display from the top of an elementary school building.


According to CBN News, the Michigan Association of Civil Rights Activists (MACRA) put the county on notice after allegedly getting a complaint from a resident.


Mitch Kale of MACRA insisted that display was a clear violation of the Constitution and noted, “We’ve asked the school to remove what is in essence a nativity scene, from the top of the school, and from school property.” 


He continued, “If this were on private property it wouldn’t be an issue.”


CBN reports that the school district’s Superintendent Peggy Mathis, argued in a now-deleted Facebook post, that the display was not really meant to be religious.


She wrote, “Newaygo Public Schools has a legitimate secular purpose for the display. We are both upholding the community’s tradition of celebrating a public holiday and attempting to point towards the importance of wisdom, knowledge, and open-mindedness.”


According to a local news station, 9 & 10 News, most citizens in the small town want the display to stay as it has been Newaygo Christmas tradition for over 70 years.


“It’s just a symbol of our community,” Newaygo resident Amy Postma told Eastern Michigan’s 9 & 10 News. “It’s always been there, and we love it….

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Pakistan expels World Vision and Catholic Relief Services

They had been accused of “deliberately spreading disinformation” and “non-compliance” by the country’s government – which did not give more details.

In a statement seen by Premier, World Vision said it had handed over responsibility for its poverty-reduction and health programmes to the state and had compiled with a 60-day deadline to leave.

 

It continued: “World Vision regrets the effect that the cessation of our work will have on the vulnerable communities with whom we worked, but respects the Government’s right to decide who may work in the country.”

Its expulsion follows a two-year battle by World Vision to formally register in Pakistan. The charity had been appealing a decision in December 2017 not to grant registration.

 

World Vision was employing in Pakistan 31 members of staff – using funding from Canada and the US.

The international organisation first began operating in Pakistan 13 years ago. Since 2015, it says it has helped 800,000 youngsters.

The statement continued: “[World Vision] will continue to discuss the possibility of…

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Austin, Texas City Code Could Force Churches to Hire LGBT Employees

Austin, Texas City Code Could Force Churches to Hire LGBT Employees



Austin, Texas churches may be required to hire homosexual and transgender employees if a city ordinance is implemented.


Under the ordinance, the city would guarantee “the opportunity for each person to obtain employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age or disability.”


“Nondiscrimination is a core value in Austin and we need to defend it,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler told KXAN-TV.


In response, the U.S. Pastor Council and the Texas Values organization are suing the city of Austin over the ordinance. The groups are arguing that the city code forces churches to act against their religious beliefs. They are asking the city to apply exceptions to religious groups.


“The bottom line is that a threat to any of our Constitutional protections is a threat to all of our Constitutional rights,” said Texas Pastor Council President Dave Welch.


“Forcing churches to violate core convictions is not acceptable,” he added. “Once government does so, all of our Constitutional protections are essentially gone – all gone, for all of us, across all America.”


However, a city of Austin spokesperson said the city would defend the ordinance.


“The City is proud of our anti-discrimination ordinance and the protections it provides. The ordinance reflects our values and culture respecting the dignity and…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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Kenya’s President urges Christians to respect all faiths

Uhuru Kenyatta comments were made at a Bible translation fundraising dinner to help translate the holy book into more local languages.

He told attendees at the Nairobi Club Ground on Thursday evening: “I’m a very proud Christian and I’m very proud to be President of a God-fearing nation.

 

“We are a country that knows God and that appreciates his power. And I myself can speak for what he has done for me in my own life.”

Islam is second largest religion in the country next to Christianity.

Kenya has seen increased tension amongst Christians and Muslims as a result of al-Shabaab militants launching several attacks in northeast Kenya.

Mr Kenyatta urged Christians to fully embrace religious teachings as a way of overcoming the national challenges.

 

He continued: “And when we see our Hindu brothers and sister, we must give them their space to do that which they believe in.

“When we see our Muslim brothers and sisters, let them have space, just as much as we as Christians are demanding our space.

“Let us also respect all other faiths and say that ‘we are all children of God’.”

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and receive more stories like this straight to your inbox every morning.

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Secular Economist Proves Religion’s Positive Impact on Poverty

Secular Economist Proves Religion’s Positive Impact on Poverty



Does a recent scientific experiment involving 6,000 households mean that being religious will cause people to earn more money?


That’s what the latest episode of a popular economics radio show and podcast, Frekonomics, was trying to answer. 


Host, Stephen J. Dubner, talked with three men who conducted a scientific experiment in the Philippines: James Choi, a finance professor at Yale; Dean Karlan, academic economist, president and founder of Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA); and David Sutherland, Chair of the Board of International Care Ministries (ICM). 


Choi works with Karlan at IPA. They told Freakonomics that they wanted to study a Christian ministry to find out if religion causes real-world success in people’s lives or if it’s just a coincidence – a correlation, not a causality. But they had a hard time finding a Christian ministry to be a part of their experiment. Why? Because whichever ministry that agreed to the parameters would agree to not preach religion to a group of people (control group) – that’s how the scientists would be able to compare results, after all. 


But ICM took a look at the parameters and quickly agreed because they were interested in learning if what they were doing was really working. If the experiment suggested otherwise, Sutherland told Dunbar that ICM would want to be aware of that and change their program to…

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Welcoming William Wells Denison into the world

William Wells Denison was born yesterday at 10:20 am in Dallas, Texas. He is the second son of Craig and Rachel, our younger son and his wife. Craig is the author of First15 and Chief Strategy Officer for our ministry. Janet and I are thrilled for them and our entire family.

Meeting my fourth grandchild yesterday (they will call him “Wells”) was a deeply emotional experience for me. I was filled with gratitude to God for the miracle of his life and so happy for Craig and Rachel. Janet already has a Christmas stocking with his name on it hanging by our fireplace. Our family is so blessed and truly grateful.

The two most important days in our lives

It’s been said that the two most important days in our lives are the day we are born and the day we discover why. I disagree. The two most important days of our lives are the day we are born and the day we are born again.

God was Wells’s father before Craig was. The One who “determines the number of stars” and “gives to all of them their names” (Psalm 147:4) knew his name before we did. The Lord told Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5). Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me” (John 10:14).

God made Wells for himself. He made him for eternal life with his Father in heaven. He made you and me for the same reason. He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to salvation (2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:4).

A train painted like Air Force One

George H. W. Bush was eulogized yesterday at his home church, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston. His body was then taken to College Station, Texas, where it was interred next to his wife, Barbara, and their three-year-old daughter, Robin.

The president’s remains were transported from Houston on a train specifically built to honor his life. The Union Pacific train was led by a locomotive dubbed “Bush 4141” and painted to resemble Air Force One.

Like most…

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Nativity scenes banned at UK shopping centre

Managers at Thistles in Stirling declined a request to host props and figurines representing the first ever Christmas, saying customers would not approve.

A spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh told the Scottish Sun: “At this time of year, Christmas cribs grace many public squares all across the British Isles, bringing joy to nearly all who encounter them, regardless of their religion.

 

“It seems just a wee bit, well, Grinch-like for the Thistles Shopping Centre to ban the Christmas crib and, in the true spirit of Christmas, we would certainly ask them to reconsider their decision.”

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Church of Scotland told the newspaper: “We find it very disappointing that the true meaning of Christmas has been completely lost here.

 

“When a shopping centre can focus purely on commercialism to the exclusion of the reason for the celebration of Christmas it is a sad day for all of us.”

A member of the Legion of St Mary’s Association, Margaret Patterson complained to her local MP, Stephen Kerr, who took up the matter with Thistles.

 

A reply he received from the shopping centre said: “Thistles shopping centre prides itself on being religiously…

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Amazon founder gives £11.8m to Christian charities

Catholic Church-run shelters in the New Orleans, Miami and Seattle areas of the US are each receiving $5 million from a charity created by Mr Bezos and her wife, MacKenzie.

He said: “We hope these grants provide the additional resources these leaders and their organisations need to expand the scope and impact of their efforts.”

 

The charities are among 24 organisations each taking a share of $97.5 million in grants. All the groups selected either help tackle homelessness or provide pre-school care in deprived areas.

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami said it was “grateful” to the Bezos family for the funding it received through the Day 1 Families Fund.

Beyond The Barricade Photography/Wikimedia Commons

 

Chief executive, Peter Routis-Arroyo said: “We are grateful to Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos for their generous and timely Day 1 Families Fund grant that allows Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami to be at the forefront of providing social services to children and families experiencing homelessness in the tri-county area of South Florida.”

Denny Hunthausen from Catholic Community Services of Western Washington told Northwest Catholic the grant it received “will have a considerable impact on family homelessness in Pierce County”.

Seattle City Council

 

Meanwhile, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New Orleans said extra…

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