‘It’s Relevant for All Our Relationships’

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‘It’s Relevant for All Our Relationships’

(Photo: Rocket Republic via Flicker)John Piper, founder of DesiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary, speaks at the MLK50 Conference hosted by the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and The Gospel Coalition in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 5, 2018.

Reformed theologian and author John Piper has argued that the biblical idea of “gender roles” applies to all relationships — not just marriage.

During a podcast posted on the desiringGod.com website on November 2, Piper read an email he received about whether gender alone should affect the way a Christian views his or her identity, and if gender alone should change the way he or she behaves, outside of marriage.

“It seems most questions of this type get answered related to gender roles within the family, and not at the level of mere gender alone, even among singles,” the reader said.

Piper began by asserting that gender alone — that is, our sexual maleness or femaleness alone — is an “essential part of our God-given identity, whether we’re married or not.”

“You are who you are everywhere you are, and with whomever you are,” he said. “Your core identity as male or female does not change according to your audience or your relationships.”

Scienctific research has…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

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Full extent of Church of England’s involvement in social action revealed

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Full extent of Church of England’s involvement in social action revealed

That means 80 per cent of congregations are involved in one or more forms of social action.

The biggest area of work is in food banks – with 60 per cent, or nearly 8,000 churches – involved in either running or supporting food banks through volunteers, donations and providing venues.

Nearly a third of Church of England churches run or support parent and toddler groups; just over a quarter lunch clubs; and 22 per cent, community cafes. Holiday clubs and breakfast clubs, often providing meals to children from low income families, are supported or run by nearly 17 per cent of churches.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said: “From food banks to debt counselling and lunch clubs to language classes, these figures spell out for the first time the sheer scale and range of our churches’ commitment to their communities.

“We are doing more to love and help people in need than at any time since 1945.

“We don’t just do this to be ‘nice’ but because our faith in Jesus Christ compels us to act.”

The Bishop of Rochester, Rt Rev James Langstaff told Premier: “We have a great many projects, debt advice projects, foodbanks, initiatives in dementia care, initiatives around fostering and adoption – promoting those opportunities, a whole range of things.

“At one level it’s good news, but it’s also deeply worrying that we are having to do this, but it’s in our DNA, it’s what we…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.

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Comedian ridicules wounded veteran – Denison Forum

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Comedian ridicules wounded veteran – Denison Forum

It took Pete Davidson twenty-five seconds to offend millions of Americans. The Saturday Night Live “comedian” was making fun of political candidates last weekend when he came to Dan Crenshaw, a Republican candidate for Congress from Texas.

Crenshaw is a former Navy SEAL who served five deployments overseas. In 2012, he was hit by an IED blast in Afghanistan. His right eye was destroyed in the blast and his left eye was severely damaged.

After several difficult surgeries, Lieutenant Commander Crenshaw eventually regained sight in his left eye. He deployed twice more, to the Middle East in 2014 and South Korea in 2016.

He was medically retired in September 2016 after ten years in the SEAL Teams. He was decorated with two Bronze Stars (one for Valor), the Purple Heart, and the Navy Commendation Medal with Valor. He then completed his master’s degree in Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is now running for Congress in the Houston district where he grew up.

Davidson, commenting on the patch Crenshaw wears over his damaged right eye, made a remark about the veteran that is so offensive I won’t repeat it here. Crenshaw replied on Twitter: “Good rule in life: I try hard not to offend; I try harder not to be offended. That being said, I hope @nbcsnl recognizes that vets don’t deserve to see their wounds used as punchlines for bad jokes.”

Crenshaw later described Davidson’s performance as “mean spirited,” but said he didn’t need an apology: “I want us to get away from this culture where we demand apologies every time someone misspeaks. I think that would be very healthy for our nation, to go in that direction. We don’t need to be outwardly outraged. I don’t need to demand apologies from them. They can do whatever they want. They’re feeling the heat from around the country right now, and that’s fine.”

Three facts explain the negativity of our culture

Why are our politics so angry today?…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Denison Forum.

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Asia Bibi’s lawyer becomes a ‘prime target’

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Asia Bibi’s lawyer becomes a ‘prime target’

Saiful Mulook told reporters at The Hague that he had no idea where Asia Bibi was.

He said local United Nations staff urged him to leave the country on Saturday following her acquittal by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

 

“I was put on a plane against my wishes,” Mulook said.

“I am not happy to be without her. I would have been much happier if I was in the same place as her. But everybody said I was a prime target.”

Bibi was convicted in 2010 of blasphemy and sentenced to death after being accused of insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. She has always denied any wrongdoing.

AP Photo/Shakil Adil

Supporters of Pakistani radical groups burn a poster of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

 

Since news of her release spread, more than 11,000 people have protested on the streets of several major cities in Pakistan. On Friday, 5,000 Islamists gathered in the capital Islamabad calling for the public execution of the mother-of-five.

Some of the protesters also called for the judges in the case to be killed.

AP Photo/B.K. Bangash

 

Mulook said he hadn’t been informed “for security reasons” whether Bibi remained in police custody or where she would want to seek asylum.

France and Spain have offered Bibi asylum.

Meanwhile, rival politicians in Pakistan’s National Assembly have been filmed having a physical fight over

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.

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Should the Pastor Have Visibility to Members’ Giving?

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Podcast Episode #482

SUBSCRIBE:
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Groups that get donations usually have visibility of who gives what. But what about a church? Should a pastor know who is giving and how much? Today, we discuss.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

  • Changes in a church member’s giving patters often indicate changes in a church member’s life.
  • There is a myth that older church members are the biggest givers. That’s often not true. They’re often more consistent with their giving but give less than younger members.
  • One major reason church giving has dropped is because pastors fail to ask.
  • The biggest objections to a pastor having visibility to church giving typically come from the non-givers and the low-givers.

The seven considerations we discuss are:

  1. First, understand the different levels of visibility.
  2. Second, understand that giving to non-profits other than churches is increasing, but church giving is decreasing.
  3. Pastors are expected to have visibility in all other areas of discipleship.
  4. The problem of placing non-giving or low-giving leaders.
  5. How do you say thank you?
  6. Why pastors are often fearful of asking individual members to give.
  7. Realize that the biggest objections to visibility typically come from the non-givers and the low-givers.

Resources mentioned in today’s podcast

Episode Sponsors

Vanderbloemen Search Group is the premier pastor search firm dedicated to helping churches and ministries build…

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

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UNICEF and Amnesty International urge Christian pupils’ release

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UNICEF and Amnesty International urge Christian pupils’ release

The United Nations’ arm dedicated to children said it “strongly condemns” the kidnapping at a Presbyterian school near the regional capital Bamenda late on Sunday.

The organisation said: “UNICEF strongly condemns the reported attack and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all the children abducted.

 

“UNICEF is deeply concerned about these reported acts of violence. Attacks on schools are a violation of children’s right and schools should be safe spaces and protected at all times.

“UNICEF is concerned by the escalation of the conflict in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon and calls on all parties to allow humanitarian access to people in need in the affected areas.”

 

A video posted on social media showed suspects kidnappers expressing support for a separatist movement which seeks to create an independent state in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions.

One of the world’s leading human rights organisations, Amnesty International said the incident marked a “chilling echo” of the 2014 kidnappings of the Chibok schoolgirls – many of whom are Christians – in Nigeria.

 

Samira…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.

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Joyce Meyer Devotional 6 November 2018 — Be Kind to Those Who Aren’t Kind to You

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Topic: Be Kind to Those Who Aren’t Kind to You [Joyce Meyer Devotional 6 November 2018]

And be kind to one another… — Ephesians 4:32

Christmas is the season of good cheer, but it often becomes a season of stress…so much shopping, wrapping, cooking, baking and visiting with friends and relatives. Before you know it, people are losing patience and snapping at one another. It’s easy to become unkind.

I’ll never forget something my daughter told me a long time ago. She said that her goal was to learn to love or to treat with kindness, goodness and mercy every single person she encountered who was unkind or ugly to her. She said, “That’s my goal. I want to submit to God in my emotions and the way that I handle myself so that when I’m out in public and someone mistreats me, I respond with kindness.”

She said, “One of the things that God has shown me that really helps me to do this is, when someone is grouchy toward me, I can get angry and frustrated or I think: I don’t know what this person is going through. Maybe right now her back hurts terribly. Maybe she has a horrible migraine headache. Maybe this grumpy man at the meat counter at the grocery store has a child who just died last week. Maybe he is carrying a financial burden that feels too heavy for him. Maybe that woman’s husband walked out on her and is living with another woman. Maybe this man has just been told he’s losing his job at the end of the week.

We don’t know what’s going on in people’s lives.

Kindness will cause you to slow down and give people some space and some grace. People are under so much stress that half of the time they don’t even realize what they’re doing. Life was not meant to be the way it is today. We were not meant to live at the fast pace at which we live, with thousands of things coming at us at once. Stress and overload are the disease of the twenty-first century, and it makes people grouchy. People don’t have time for each other anymore. We don’t even have time to talk to anyone.

I think we’ve lost sight of some important things in life and that we need to put kindness back on our priority lists!

Love Others Today: Help me, Lord to be especially kind to people who are not kind to me.

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read “Joyce Meyer Daily Devotional HERE’’

From Joyce Meyer’s Ministries.

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Gratefulness for Greatness by David Ibiyeomie

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Gratefulness for Greatness by David Ibiyeomie

Topic: Gratefulness for Greatness

You cannot be great until you are grateful. That you are working hard does not determine how successful you will be. No man prevails by strength. It is only those who are grateful to God that receives his grace.

Ecclesiastes 9:11 (KJV) I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

The man called Paul had a very rough background but out of all the disciples, after Jesus, Paul was the most impactful. Paul then declared that it was grace.

1 Corinthians 15:10 (KJV) But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

A man’s altitude will be defined by his level of gratitude. When you are grateful, you become graceful and when you are graceful you become successful.

The man called David was a shepherd, the least of his family but David was very thankful and praiseful. People who are thankful and praiseful to God do not have stress because they have God’s special line; blessings are automatic for them. The gates to God is always open to them.

Psalms 100:4 (KJV) Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Always give God quality thanksgiving and do so cheerfully. Appreciate God in the fire, in the cold, privately, publicly, in bad times, in good times and you will see that you will not sweat to make progress. If you are too big to be grateful to God, then you will end up a great fool like the rich fool.

Also Read: Divine Power by David Ibiyeomie

Samuel Johnson said “gratitude is the fruit of great cultivation; you do not find it among gross people.”

You cultivate the habit of gratitude. Gratitude unexpressed is ingratitude, when you are given something immediately say “thank you.” Gratitude unspoken is unknown.

Jeremiah 13:16 (KJV) Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.

Gratitude must be given at the right time. God hates ingratitude, Christians sow and work and cry yet they suffer because they forget to say “thank you Lord” for the little they have.

Being grateful moves the hands of God to release blessings to us, he preserves the blessings also through thanksgiving.

Malachi 2:2 (KJV) If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings.

God multiplies the blessings through thanksgiving, thank God for the small one and that little one you have will be multiplied.

John 6:11 (KJV) And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

The loaves and fishes Jesus took was little, but after he gave thanks it multiplied such that there were remnants.

As you continually give thanks, may God continue to bless and increase you!

Also Read: Other Inspiring Messages by Pastor David Ibiyeomie

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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MFM Daily Devotional 6 November 2018 – Tarrying In The Upper Room

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MFM Mountain Top Life Daily Devotional 6 November 2018 By Dr. D.K Olukoya – Tarrying In The Upper Room

TOPIC: Tarrying In The Upper Room (Mountain Of Fire and Miracle Ministries, MFM Daily Devotional 6 November 2018)

FIRE SCRIPTURE: Acts 1:13-15

MEMORY VERSE: “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” – Isaiah 65:24

The MESSAGE:

To tarry is to wait, to linger, to remain or to sit back in expectation. The “Upper Room” is an abode where God meets and communicates with His people, it is a designated place where you commune with God daily. It is not a “lower room” where powers of darkness belong. It is a room of transfiguration where you meet God in order to study His word, pray and meditate on the Scriptures. It is a place where God reveals important things about your life and others to you. When you tarry in the upper room, it means you are waiting on the Lord in prayers. When you tarry, you receive strength. When you tarry, you will run and will not be tired, or be weary. As Christians, if we want to receive strength to conquer the powers of the enemies, we must always be ready to tarry in the upper room.

Hannah got tired of her situation and decided to discontinue crying over it. She tarried at the altar of prayer by waiting behind and remaining in Shiloh. This decision gave birth to Samuel. Many are in such a situation today, they cry and have sleepless nights over certain problems instead of tarrying in the upper room. Until Hannah tarried, her conception of Samuel did not come. Instead of shedding irrelevant petty tears over issues, go and tarry in the upper room. Another example is king Solomon. After being enthroned, he decided to wait upon the Lord and by so doing, he was abundantly blessed.

After praying and not receiving answer, Daniel waited in persistence until there was response from the throne of grace. The disciples of Jesus obeyed His instruction by waiting patiently until they received power. An emboldened Peter powerfully preached the gospel and it spread all over the world.

Beloved, we need to tarry in order to receive power from on high. We need to give God our time because He cherishes our attention. We need to learn how to stay calm before Him so as to hear and receive instruction from Him. Do you need power? Do you want to manifest the power of God physically? If ‘YES’, the first step is to patiently tarry at the upper room, for the Lord’s arrival. Obey all His instructions then you will be empowered to launch out. God is always ready for those that request His attention. The question is, ‘Are you ready?’

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE:
DEVELOPING IN THE SCHOOL OF HOLINESS REQUIRES A PERSISTENT TIME ALONE WITH GOD.

PROPHETIC WORD:
Power and anointing to wait patiently upon the Lord shall come upon you.

PRAYER POINTS:

MORNING
1. Idolatry powers of my father’s house limiting my prayers, die, in Jesus’ name.
2. Vagabond spirits of my parental lineage preventing me from waiting upon the Lord, die, in the name of Jesus.
3. I refuse to be restless, I shall remain calm to hear God clearly after the order of the young Samuel, in the name of Jesus.

EVENING
4. Power of God to destroy the power of darkness, my life is available, possess me, in Jesus’ name.
5. Spirit of fear, my life is not your candidate, dry up and die, in the name of Jesus.
6. Fire of God to become terror against demonic ministries around me, come upon my life, in the name of Jesus.
7. Holy Ghost fire, incubate me for power, signs, wonders and miracles, in the name of Jesus.

“If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read MFM Mountain Top Life Daily Devotional HERE

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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DCLM Daily Manna 6 November 2018 – Unprofitable Servant

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Topic: Unprofitable Servant [DCLM Daily Manna 6 November 2018 Daily Devotional by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]

Text: Matthew 25:14-30 (KJV)

Key Verse: “And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth“ (Matthew 25:30).

MESSAGE:

Beginning with a lord who travels “into a far country”, the parable moves on to tell of how he leaves his servants with various amounts of resources to work with. No one is left without something to keep him busy while the master was away. Naturally, their lord expects good returns for this generous investment. Two of the men made judicious use of what was given them, while the third buried what was given to him. He buried himself as it were!

It is worthy to note that the parable was presented towards the end of our Lord’s ministry on earth. The allegory is correctly called the parable of the talents because what the Lord describes as “goods” were really talents or gifts, abilities and resources, which God has graciously given to everyone He created, including the sinner and the rebellious.

The Lord expects the sinner and the backslider to apply the gifts of existence and their free will to respond to the gospel of salvation offered by Christ. He expects them to turn from sin, believe in Him and escape the wrath of God. Believers are also endowed with enormous resources to exploit to serve God. They have been blessed with physical energy, time, education, the living gospel, the sanctified Church, the Holy Ghost’s power, modern Information Technology tools and so on. We must use these gifts to seek lost souls as we await the Lord’s return.

The diligent Christians must not be like the unprofitable servant. Rather, they should channel their skills in administration, music, writing, electricals and electronics, oration, mentorship, teaching, etc., towards bringing souls out of the pool of sin and edifying believers in the church of God. As stewards of all that the Lord has given, profit must be made in His service.

Thought For The Day: Don’t be over-protective of your talents; use them for the kingdom of God.

Bible Reading In One Year: Mark 13

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read Deeper Christian Life Ministry, DCLM Daily Manna HERE

DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.

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.

The post DCLM Daily Manna 6 November 2018 – Unprofitable Servant appeared first on Flatimes.

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