Kenneth & Gloria Copeland Devotional 15 June 2018 – Cast Your Cares on Him

Topic: Cast Your Cares on Him [Kenneth & Gloria Copeland, Friday June 15, 2018]

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. – 1 Peter 5:6

When I first learned to cast my cares on the Lord, I was down in south Texas preaching a meeting that no one was coming to. I’m telling you, people were staying away from that meeting by the thousands; and after a service or two with just the preacher, one or two others and me in attendance, I was starting to sweat it. But the Lord said, Cast that care on Me, so I did.

I started walking around grinning and whistling. I told the devil, “I’m not going to frown or have one worried thought. I came here to preach and that’s what I’m going to do, and it’s God’s business whether anyone shows up or not. I couldn’t care less!”

I went around so happy I felt downright foolish. The devil said, “What’s the matter with you? Don’t you even have sense enough to worry over something like this?” I suppose people were saying, “I guess he’s too dumb to worry. I think it’s because he’s never been to seminary. He can’t tell a landslide from a flop.”

But I told the Lord, “I have my care rolled over on You, and if no one shows up but that one dear old woman, she’s going to be the most preached-up old woman in the state of Texas because I’m going to preach just the same as if there were a crowd.”

I didn’t realize then what was happening, but that carefreeness put me in a noncompromising position with the devil. He couldn’t get to me anymore. He couldn’t get me in fear and unbelief anymore. He couldn’t pressure me and get me to compromise because I didn’t care. I’d given all my care to God!

Are you ready to be free of care? If you are, just make this confession of faith:

“I’m a believer. I’m not a doubter. The Word works in me. And at this moment, I humble myself under the mighty hand of God. I cast all my care over on Him. From this moment forward, I refuse to worry. Instead, I will pray. I will use my faith and believe, and He’ll exalt me over the problem and over the devil. For I belong to Jesus and He cares for me!”

Scripture Reading: Psalm 55:16-22

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read “Kenneth and Gloria Copeland’s Daily Devotional Here’’

This message was written by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, the leader of the Kenneth Copeland Ministries (www.KCM.org) that specializes in teaching principles of bible faith – prayer, healing, salvation and other biblical topics.

Our Daily Bread Devotional 15 June 2018 – “Lovable!”

Topic: “Lovable!” [Our Daily Bread 15 Friday June, 2018]

Read: Jeremiah 31:1–6, Bible in a Year: Nehemiah 1–3; Acts 2:1–21

I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. Jeremiah 31:3

“Lovable!”

That exclamation came from my daughter as she got ready one morning. I didn’t know what she meant. Then she tapped her shirt, a hand-me-down from a cousin. Across the front was that word: “Lovable.” I gave her a big hug, and she smiled with pure joy. “You are lovable!” I echoed. Her smile grew even bigger, if that was possible, as she skipped away, repeating the word over and over again.

I’m hardly a perfect father. But that moment was perfect. In that spontaneous, beautiful interaction, I glimpsed in my girl’s radiant face what receiving unconditional love looked like: It was a portrait of delight. She knew the word on her shirt corresponded completely with how her daddy felt about her.

How many of us know in our hearts that we are loved by a Father whose affection for us is limitless? Sometimes we struggle with this truth. The Israelites did. They wondered if their trials meant God no longer loved them. But in Jeremiah 31:3, the prophet reminds them of what God said in the past: “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” We too long for such unconditional love. Yet the wounds, disappointments, and mistakes we experience can make us feel anything but lovable. But God opens His arms—the arms of a perfect Father—and invites us to experience and rest in His love.

Prayer: Lord, hard things in our lives can tempt us to believe we are unlovable. But You say otherwise. Please help us to receive the life-transforming gift of Your everlasting love for us.

No one loves us like our Father.

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read “Our Daily Bread Devotionals HERE

This message was written By Adam Holz [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]

Trump’s Halt of War Games Could Weaken Defenses in Korea – Urban Christian News

President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend major U.S. military exercises in South Korea could weaken allied defenses, depending on the length and scope of the hiatus. But the potential for diplomatic damage seems even greater.

The United States, South Korea and Japan were making a public display of solidarity Thursday over the outcome of Trump’s summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. But analysts and former officials with experience in U.S.-Asia policy were shaken by Trump’s failure to inform the Asian allies — or even the Pentagon — before mothballing the military maneuvers.

“Those exercises are critically important because they are deterrence,” said Chuck Hagel, a former defense secretary in the Obama administration. He welcomed Trump’s willingness to talk to Kim but worried that the president has underestimated the complications he has introduced for the Pentagon by suspending the military drills.

“You don’t just shut them on and off like a water faucet,” he said.

The exercises in question go well beyond routine training, which apparently is unaffected by Trump’s decision. Large-scale exercises are done to ensure that evolving tactics, procedures and plans can be carried out smoothly and that U.S. and South Korean forces are in sync. They also are a means of showing allied solidarity, which is part of the psychology of deterring enemy attack.

The U.S. has stationed combat troops in South Korea since the Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice and no peace treaty. The more than 28,000 U.S. forces serve as a military tripwire against North Korean…

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TREM Devotional 15 June 2018 by Dr. Mike Okonkwo – We Are All Members Of One Body

Topic: We Are All Members Of One Body [TREM Devotional Friday June 15, 2018]

“Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.”Ephesians 4:25

One of the things every believer must come to terms with is the fact that we are all one body. It is not about tribe, tongue or denomination. The things that bind us together are stronger than everything that may try to divide us. The time has come for the Church to realise that we are one. Whether you are black or white, rich or poor; tall or short, as long as you have confessed Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, we are one.

If the Church of Jesus Christ understands this fact, then the devil will be unable to get us because the lines that divide us are too thin compared to the bonds that tie us together.

Every Church has a unique assignment, don’t get me wrong. We are all planted in different churches to fulfill the divine mandate, however all of us are one. When next you hear someone tearing down a man of God, whether the person belongs to your denomination or not, stop the person. We must begin to see ourselves not in the light of the church we attend, but in the light of the fact that we all belong to ONE Body – The Body of Christ.

Before you criticize that man or woman of God, stop and think: How far have you gone in the assignment God has committed into your hands? How faithful have you been? Have you made mistakes? Did you expect people to understand and help you out of the situation? If your answer is yes, why then are you pulling down another? If you are conscious of the assignment and consumed with carrying it out, I am very certain that you will see less of other people’s errors.

No one has appointed you the ‘Minister of Criticism’. Let us stop wounding our strong and killing our wounded. Be conscious of the fact that the field is white for harvest and so every hand should be on deck to get the job done.

Further Reading: Ephesians 4:11-25

Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Nehemiah 1-3; Evening- Acts 2:1-21

“If you missed yesterday devotional click HERE to read TREM’s Daily Devotional by Dr. Mike Okonkwo’’

Written by Dr. Mike Okonkwo; Is the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM); a versatile man of God with over 30 years of dedicated service unto the Lord.

Billy Graham Devotional 15 June 2018 – Practice Good Stewardship

Topic: Practice Good Stewardship [Billy Graham’s Devotional Friday June 15, 2018]

Redeeming the time . . . — Ephesians 5:16

We are stewards of our time. God has given each one of us a little “chunk of eternity” called time. These golden moments of opportunity are doled out to us for our benefit and for God’s glory. If we use them wisely, they are woven by God’s omnipotent hand into the fabric of eternity. Henry Thoreau cautioned, “You cannot kill time without injuring eternity.” “He who has no vision of eternity,” said Carlyle, “has no hold on time.” “Only one life, ’twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last” is the sentiment of every man who desires to be a good steward of his time. We are entrusted with a small portion of the capital of time. If we invest it wisely, it will pay dividends throughout eternity.

Prayer for the day: Take away my procrastinating nature—how easy it is for me to waste time. I want to be able to leave a legacy of time spent for You, Lord, because that is eternal.

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.

Saudi-Led Troops Fight Rebel Forces South of Yemen’s Hodeida – Urban Christian News

The Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s exiled government captured a town south of the port city of Hodeida on Thursday as fierce fighting and airstrikes pounded the area on the second day of an offensive to capture the strategic harbor that is the main entry point for food in a country teetering on the brink of famine.

A Saudi military spokesman said the forces were drawing closer to the Red Sea port in a campaign aimed at driving out Iranian-aligned Shiite rebels known as Houthis, who have held Hodeida since 2015, and breaking the civil war’s long stalemate.

International aid agencies and the United Nations have warned the assault could shut down the vital aid route for some 70 percent of Yemen’s food, as well as the bulk of humanitarian aid and fuel supplies. Around two-thirds of Yemen’s population of 27 million relies on aid and 8.4 million are already at risk of starving.

The United Arab Emirates ambassador to U.N. agencies in Geneva maintained the Saudi-Emirati coalition had no choice but to act.

“Should we leave the Houthis smuggling missiles?” Ambassador Obaid Salem al-Zaabi told a news conference. “This comes from this seaport. We already gave the United Nations the chance to operate from this seaport, and (the Houthis) refused.”

The ambassador’s comments contradict the conclusions of a U.N. panel of experts that said it was unlikely the Houthis were using the port for smuggling arms. In a report in January, the panel cited the fact that ships coming into the port face random inspections, require U.N. approval and that no weapons have been seized since…

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SBC Resolution on Rejecting Gay Therapy Bans Fails to Come Up for Vote

(Photo: Baptist Press/Matt Miller)On a show of ballots, messengers defeated an motion to replace the executive committee of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary trustee board. Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention proposed 20 motions during two 15-minute scheduled segments of the 2018 annual meeting in Dallas June 12.

A Southern Baptist Convention resolution that denounced gay conversion therapy bans and “homosexual identity politics” failed to go through at the denomination’s annual meeting.

Robert O. Lopez, a professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas, who submitted the resolution, explained to The Christian Post what happened.

“The resolution was declined in committee and never came up for a vote. Attempts to revive it from the floor failed when time was called,” said Lopez.

The SBC Committee on Resolutions explained why the measure did not go through.

“While the Committee believes that the Southern Baptist Convention messengers would agree that ministries seeking to provide biblical counsel to those with same-sex attraction is needed as evidenced by the over two dozen resolutions addressing homosexuality over the last forty years, as well as Article XV of The Baptist Faith and Message, the Committee concluded…

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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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Pence Addresses Southern Baptists after Debate over Whether He Should

Pence Addresses Southern Baptists after Debate over Whether He Should



Vice President Mike Pence touted President Trump’s meeting with North Korean President Kim Jong Un in a speech before Southern Baptists and urged their continuing prayers as the administration moves ahead with negotiations to seek peace on the Korean Peninsula.


The speech drew cheers from a friendly crowd as Pence tallied accomplishments popular with evangelicals in areas from abortion to aid for persecuted Christians abroad. Concerns raised one day prior about the denomination appearing too cozy with one political party faded to the background when he took the stage.


“While strong American leadership has accomplished much, he and I both know that the effective and fervent prayers of a righteous people availeth much,” Pence said on Wednesday (June 13), referencing the Book of James from the New Testament. “Let’s all pray, pray for peace for the Korean people and the world.”


The day before his speech, a messenger, or delegate, requested reconsideration of the plans to welcome Pence. He was overruled.


Pence, in a speech that sometimes resembled a sermon, pulled out of his pocket a small card he said he received on the tarmac of Andrews Air Force Base from the three American hostages who arrived from North Korea a month before Trump’s meeting with Kim. On it they wrote their thanks for the vice president’s prayers and the administration’s efforts to…

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

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Most So. Baptists Laud Pence’s Speech, but Some Want Politics Left Out of SBC

(Photo: Bob Carey/SBC)Vice President Mike Pence speaks to the more than 9,600 messengers at the 161st Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas, on June 13, 2018. Pence thanked Southern Baptists for carrying the “timeless message” of the Gospel “every day with such faithfulness to the American people.”

DALLAS — The majority of Southern Baptist messengers applauded Vice President Mike Pence as he spoke at the denomination’s annual meeting on Wednesday, but some say politics should be left out of the Christ-centered event.

African-American Pastor Bruce Kirk of Alpha Missionary Church in Bolingbrook, Illinois, said it’s not the messenger but political messages that have no place in a convention made up of both Republicans and Democrats. He told The Christian Post that, in his opinion, the SBC needs “a smack on the wrist” for allowing Pence to talk about politics instead of “sticking to the script,” and solely focusing on what Jesus Christ has done in his life.

But other pastors, like Jeremy Butler who leads Rio Mimbres Baptist Church in New Mexico, said Pence’s speech was edifying and he felt buoyed by his support for their work in local communities.

“I like that he encouraged pastors. He encouraged us to…

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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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University of Zambia Denies Report UNESCO Is Funding Degree in Witchcraft – Urban Christian News

The University of Zambia denied on Wednesday that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is funding a degree program at the institution to train students in witchcraft.

Damaseke Chibale, a spokesman for the university said in a statement to the Lusaka Times, which previously reported that UNESCO was funding witchcraft studies at the school, said UNESCO is providing the university with $340,000 in funding to develop a degree program in Intangible Cultural Heritage studies connected to the organization’s Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage that was passed by the UNESCO General Conference in 2003.

“At that time, the international community recognized the need to raise awareness about cultural manifestations and expressions that until then had no legal or programmatic framework to protect them,” the organization explained.

The convention recognizes intangible heritage “such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe, and traditional craftsmanship knowledge and techniques.”

“Zambia, as a nation and a people, is rich in these intangible cultural heritage which include Gule Wa Mukulu and Makishi Dance, which were inscribed on the UNESCO Safeguarding List in 2006,” Chibale said.

While the practice of witchcraft is culturally embedded in Zambia, a landlocked country in south-central Africa with an estimated population of under 18 million people, it is also illegal.

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Source: Christian Post

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