4th of July Celebrations at Church ‘Might Work Against Jesus’ Great Commission,’ Warns Scholar

(Photo: Reuters/Mike Segar)A man waves an American flag as he watches a July Fourth parade in the village of Barnstable, Massachusetts July 4, 2014. Barnstable, which is located on Cape Cod in Massachusetts and was first settled in 1639, is celebrating its 375th anniversary in 2014.

Fourth of July celebrations in church seeking to tie being America too closely to being Christian might work against Jesus’ Great Commission and wrongly tell non-Christians they must become Americans, a Southern Baptist scholar has warned.

“I love patriotic music, fireworks on the National Mall, and the country they’re honoring. But I confess I’m not a fan of celebrating America inside Sunday’s sanctuary,” wrote last week author Jonathan Leeman, an elder at Cheverly Baptist Church in Washington D.C., who is also editorial director for Christian ministry 9Marks.

“It just might work against Jesus’s Great Commission,” Leeman wrote in The Gospel Coalition, ahead of Sunday service and of the 4th of July, Independence Day.

The author reflected on Christian gatherings around the world, and asked readers, “should churches divide between nations, or between those who identify with Christ and those who don’t?”

“Church gatherings represent nothing if not a celebration of our heavenly, not earthly,…

… Read More

—-

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

قالب وردپرس

How to Choose the Finest (Ripe) Watermelon Ever

Many people have no idea how to select a watermelon. They just knock on this over-sized fruit as if they know what they are doing, it may be good to use, but is it difficult to master the knocking technique. Sometimes we think that unless you’re an experienced farmer, buying a juicy, tasty, fully ripe, and sweet watermelon is hit or miss. However, it doesn’t have to be if you look for a few things when you’re picking out your melon. In fact, you can tell whether a watermelon is ripe without actually cutting it.

Today, we would like to share some tips from experienced farmers that will help you to choose the finest watermelon ever. Enjoy!

1. Look for “webbing”: These web-like brown spots on the watermelon mean that bees touched the pollinating parts of the flower many times. The more pollination, the sweeter the fruit is.

Looking for webbing in Watermelon.

2. Look for the field spot: The yellow spot, known as the field spot, is the place where the watermelon rested on the ground. Ripe watermelons always have creamy yellow or even orange-yellow spots, not white.

field spot in Watermelon

Look for the field spot in Watermelon.

3. Pay attention to the size: It is better to choose neither the largest nor the smallest watermelon. Select an average-sized fruit. And note, please: large or small, the watermelon should feel heavy for its size.

Watermelon Size

Pay attention to the size of Watermelon.

4. ’Boy’ and ’girl’ Watermelons: Many people do not know that farmers differentiate watermelons by gender. For example, ’boys’ are bigger, have an elongated shape, and a watery taste. The ’girls’ have a rounded shape and are very sweet.

’Boy and girl Watermelons

’Boy’ and ’girl’ Watermelons.

5. Inspect the tail: A dried tail indicates that the watermelon is ripe. However, if the tail is green, it probably means that the watermelon was picked too soon and will not be ripe.

Watermelon's Tail

Inspect the tail of the Watermelon.

Courtesy: Mak-Migro FARMS LTD

The post How to Choose the Finest (Ripe) Watermelon Ever appeared first on Flatimes.

Justin Welby calls for bold leadership on climate change at London Stock Exchange

Archbishop Justin made bold calls regarding the issue after opening the market on Monday morning at the London Stock Exchange.

Speaking to delegates at the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) Summit, he said: “As investors, the Church is aware of its responsibility to make sure that we manage things in a manner that is aligned with Christian values, witness and mission.

 

“We recognise, however, that we cannot do this alone. We cannot just come in and lecture, then go away. We are one actor among many. And that is why the TPI is an example of how the Church, in partnership with others, can play a leading role.”

Also at the Summit, the Church of England Pensions Board invited participants to work with them in the development of a new low carbon index that would build on the data and analysis produced by the TPI.

 

Alan Fletcher, chair of the Pensions Board’s Investment Committee, said: “We are committed to doing all we can and creating an index we believe will both meet our investment needs, minimise our exposure to poorly rated companies, reward…

… Read More

—

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

قالب وردپرس

A Campaign to Blitz the Country with ‘In God We Trust’ Laws Takes Root

A Campaign to Blitz the Country with ‘In God We Trust’ Laws Takes Root



As the summer heat waxes and state legislative sessions wane, the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation has scored a few small but significant victories.


This year, five state legislatures passed laws mandating that every public school prominently display the U.S. motto, “In God We Trust.” The addition of Arkansas, which passed such a law in 2017, brings to six the number of states with public school mandates, including Alabama, Florida, Arizona, Louisiana and Tennessee.


Those laws, mostly sponsored by legislative prayer caucuses in about 30 states, were inspired by the foundation’s 2017 manual known as Project Blitz, a 116-page guide for state legislators listing 20 model bills of which “In God We Trust” is the first.

… Read More

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

قالب وردپرس

Priest apologises after kicking family out of funeral

Fr Michael Briese was recorded on numerous mobile phones arguing with people just a few feet away from where the body of Agnes Hicks, 54, lay in repose in an open casket.

The family is then seen carrying the casket out of the church only to be joined by police officers that the family claim were called by Briese.

 

Briese from St Mary’s Parish in Newport wrote a public apology to the family that he was sorry, adding: “Two minutes can change a life.

“In an emergency medical situation, two minutes can save a life. But can two minutes erase a quarter-century of a person’s life and commitment to serving and caring for his community and those entrusted to his care? I hope not.”

Hicks and her family were eventually escorted to another location for the funeral Mass, which was performed by another priest.

 

In an interview with Fox 5, Hicks’ daughter Shanice Chisely said the priest had “disrespected our family, he disrespected my mother. He called my mother ‘a thing’.

“He said, ‘get this thing out of my church! Everyone get the hell out of my…

… Read More

—

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

قالب وردپرس

July 4 terror plot thwarted in Cleveland

FBI officials announced yesterday that they prevented a terror attack planned for July 4 in Cleveland. Demetrius Pitts, also known as Abdur Raheem Rahfeeq, was arrested Sunday morning by the joint terrorism task force.

An FBI undercover agent began meeting with Pitts after he went on social media to express hatred of the US and allegiance to al Qaeda. The agent developed a relationship with the would-be terrorist, who told him of his plans to plant a bomb at a Fourth of July parade.

In other news, Trooper Nicholas Clark was among the responders to a 911 call early Monday morning in Erwin, New York. He was shot and killed. Trooper Clark was twenty-nine years old and is survived by his parents and a brother.

The unnamed FBI agent and Trooper Clark are just two of many Americans willing to risk their lives for their fellow Americans.

Why the Battle of Gettysburg was fought

The Battle of Gettysburg ended on July 3, 1863. It is typically considered the most important engagement of the American Civil War. Why did this critical battle begin when and where it did?

The History News Network answers our question: it was because of a shoe.

The “Brogan” was the standard issue soldiers’ shoe during the war. It was made of two pieces of leather stitched together to a wooden sole with four eyelets and a cowhide lace. It was typically made straight last, meaning that the left and right shoes were identical.

As uncomfortable as these shoes were, they were essential to a soldier’s survival. A soldier with shoes had a significant advantage over his barefoot enemy. And the weather and outdoor conditions on which soldiers marched and fought made footwear essential.

On June 30, 1863, responding to rumors of a Brogan-filled warehouse in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Confederate Major General Henry Heth ordered Brigadier General James Johnston Pettigrew to “take his brigade to Gettysburg, search the town for army supplies (shoes especially), and return the same…

… Read More

—

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

قالب وردپرس

I’m as likely to become Pope as Prime Minister, says Rees-Mogg

The arch-Eurosceptic insisted he was not “personally ambitious” and said he was not aware of a £750,000 war chest reportedly raised by supporters for an eventual leadership bid.

 

Pressed over whether he could put himself forward as a candidate for leader, he said: “There isn’t a contest.

“I am technically eligible to become Pope, which is open to all Catholic males, but the College of Cardinals has not elected a non-cardinal since, I think, Urban IV.

“I’m very unlikely to be the next Pope and I’m very unlikely to be the next Prime Minister, for exactly the same reason. Though technically eligible, it is not the way history will go.”

He joked: “The papacy would be fantastic. I would be infallible, which is better than is given to most politicians.”

Speaking in a podcast for ConservativeHome, Mr Rees-Mogg named Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Environment Secretary Michael Gove as “first-class candidates” to succeed Theresa May when there is a vacancy.

And he appeared to tip Mr Javid as the more likely choice, noting that, during periods in power, the Conservative Party has always chosen a former chancellor, home secretary or foreign secretary as its leader.

Asked if the party might depart from that tradition, the North East Somerset MP said: “It’s very unlikely, because Sajid has shown so successfully in his relatively brief period as Home Secretary that holding the…

… Read More

—

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

قالب وردپرس

How to Deal With an Angry Church Member

Podcast Episode #446

SUBSCRIBE: iTunes • RSS • Stitcher • TuneIn Radio • Google Play • iHeart Radio

I get asked this question on nearly a daily basis. Pastors from all over are wanting to know how to deal with angry church members.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

  • Responding to anger with more anger just escalates the situation.
  • Sometimes people who are lashing out in anger just want to know they’ve been heard.
  • Social media is not the place to try to end a heated argument.
  • The visceral reaction is to argue with someone who is angry with us—the spiritual reaction is to pray for them.
  • Sometimes pastors make decisions that make church members angry. It happens.

The seven ways you can deal with an angry church member are:

  1. Don’t respond in anger.
  2. Listen and repeat.
  3. Consider bringing in a third party.
  4. Try to determine the source of the anger.
  5. Dispel any factual errors calmly.
  6. Offer possible solutions.
  7. Pray with the person.

Episode Sponsors

Applications are now open for Vanderbloemen’s fall pastor coaching network at their Houston headquarters in September and November. There are two networks – one for Lead Pastors and one for Executive Pastors. Each group is limited to 16 people. It’s a roundtable, close-knit network where you will grow as a leader so that you can grow your team and ultimately grow your church.

If you’re interested in joining, visit vanderbloemen.com/coaching for more information.


The ministry landscape is changing, and the need for…

… Read More

—

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

قالب وردپرس

Compromise Reached in German Government’s Standoff Over Migration – Urban Christian News

Chancellor Angela Merkel and her rebellious political allies broke an impasse over immigration that threatened to bring down Germany’s coalition government by agreeing on a compromise late Monday that both sides said addressed their concerns.

Merkel has been at odds for more than three weeks with Interior Minister Horst Seehofer over his insistence that migrants who have sought asylum elsewhere in the European Union should be turned away at Germany’s borders. Seehofer leads the Christian Social Union, the sister party to the chancellor’s Christian Democratic Union.

Merkel was equally steadfast in arguing that such a unilateral action would cause other countries to close their borders and jeopardize the passport-free movement that is a hallmark of Europe’s Schengen zone.

But the two emerged from about five hours of talks saying they agreed to establish “transit centers” on Germany’s border with Austria where asylum-seekers would be evaluated and, if it turned out they already had applied for protection in another EU country, sent back to that country.

Individuals who are rejected by those countries will be pointed back into Austria “upon agreement” with Vienna, according to the deal that Merkel called a “very good compromise.”

“The spirit of partnership within the European Union is protected, and at the same time it’s a decisive step to regulate and organize secondary migration,” she told reporters without taking questions.

It was not immediately clear whether Austria had already agreed to the provision. Whether the two conservative parties would be…

… Read More

—-

Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Urban Christian News

قالب وردپرس

Australian bishop sentenced to year’s detention for child sex abuse cover-up

Newcastle Magistrate Robert Stone ordered Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson to serve at least six months before he is eligible for parole.

But Wilson will not immediately go into custody. Mr Stone will consider on August 14 whether Wilson is suitable for home detention. He could live with his sister near Newcastle.

 

Mr Stone in May found the 67-year-old cleric guilty in the Newcastle Local Court of failing to report to police the repeated abuse of two altar boys by paedophile priest James Fletcher in the Hunter Valley region north of Sydney during the 1970s.

Wilson faced a potential maximum sentence of two years in prison.

Survivors of abuse who protested against the church outside the court on Tuesday called on Wilson to resign as archbishop.

The sentencing was another step toward holding the church to account for a global abuse crisis that has also engulfed Pope Francis’ financial minister, Australian Cardinal George Pell.

Some lawyers said they expect many more clerics to be charged in Australia as a result of Wilson’s test case.

Darren Pateman/AAP Image via AP

Australian Archbishop Philip Wilson arrives for sentencing at Newcastle Local Court in Newcastle, Tuesday, July 3, 2018.

 

Prosecutor Gareth Harrison last month told the magistrate Wilson must be jailed to send a message that such institutional cover-ups will no longer be…

… Read More

—

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

قالب وردپرس