Pastor Jamal Bryant Says His Heart Is Broken by Christians Making Mockery of Ex-Prostitute’s New Year’s Eve Testimony

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Pastor Jamal Bryant Says His Heart Is Broken by Christians Making Mockery of Ex-Prostitute’s New Year’s Eve Testimony

(Photos: Screen shots via Facebook)Pastor Jamal Bryant (L) of Northwest Baltimore’s popular Empowerment Temple says the church is failing Christians like former prostitute Sonia Menzie (R).

Pastor Jamal Bryant of Baltimore’s Empowerment Temple church says his heart and spirit have been broken by the mockery being made by Christians of what he says is a sincere testimony of a former prostitute during a New Year’s Eve church service.

The woman shown in a video that appears to have been first shared on social media by @TrevonPowell, gives her name as Sonia Menzie (phonetic spelling). It is unclear which church the testimony was shared at but Menzie began describing in graphic terms what her life used to be like as a “prostitute” before her testimony was cut short by church officials. The video has since been shared by millions of Christians and others online, mostly as a joke.

Bryant said that a number of Christians sent him the video, but he doesn’t believe Menzie’s testimony should have been treated as a laughing matter and argued that the church failed her by not allowing her the opportunity to be honest about where God brought her from.

“She said, ‘when I was in school,’ this woman is now in her 30s. She’s going back to her teen years, she started in prostitution. So…

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Christian brothers shot dead in Egypt

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Christian brothers shot dead in Egypt

The two victims were killed in the southern Giza district as they celebrated New Year’s Eve, security sources said.

Witnesses speaking to Egyptian newspaper Sada el-Balad identified the siblings as Adel and Ashraf Azar, who were friends of the shop’s owner, who survived the attack.

The assailant drove up on a motorcycle taxi and opened fire in the early hours of Monday morning.

Local newspapers said that the raid lasted five minutes.

While nobody has claimed responsibility for the assault, it parallels with the recent deadly attack on Mar Mina church in Helwan, just east of Giza, claimed by Islamic State.

 

The gunman also rode to the site on a motorbike.

IS militants have targeted Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority since December last year, with church bombings that killed more than 100 and wounded scores.

It is feared there will be more attacks against Christians before Coptic Christmas is celebrated on 7th January.

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Matt Redman Shares the Real Story Behind His Viral Megahit .

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    FEMA Will Allow Churches to Receive Disaster Relief Aid

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    FEMA Will Allow Churches to Receive Disaster Relief Aid


    FEMA Will Allow Churches to Receive Disaster Relief Aid


    Churches and houses of worship will now be able to apply for federal natural disaster assistance.


    The United States Federal Emergency Management Agency announced this week that it would allow churches to apply for assistance.


    The change comes after three churches and two synagogues filed lawsuits after suffering damage from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.


    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June in favor of a Missouri church that sued the state over funding for playground resurfacing.


    “In light of the Trinity Lutheran decision, FEMA has considered its guidance on private nonprofit facility eligibility and determined that it will revise its interpretation of the aforementioned statutory and regulatory authorities so as not to exclude houses of worship from eligibility for FEMA aid on the basis of the religious character or primarily religious use of the facility,” the document reads.


    Religious freedom supporters and leaders say they are happy with the change.


    “Just like charities, houses of worship that serve our communities and are impacted by natural disasters like Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, should not be disqualified from disaster assistance simply because they are religious in nature,” said Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma. “I’m pleased that FEMA is taking this important step to include houses of worship into its list of eligible entities for aid.”


    Three…

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    Mennonite Church USA’s Largest Conference Leaves Denomination Over Homosexuality

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    Expand | Collapse
    (Photo: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson)A wedding cake is seen at a reception for same-sex couples at The Abbey in West Hollywood, California, July 1, 2013.

    The largest Mennonite conference in the United States has officially split from the Mennonite Church U.S.A. over changing views on homosexuality.

    The Lancaster Mennonite Conference, which has over 179 congregations across New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio and over 70,000 members, officially left the denomination on Monday after about 82 percent of voting congregational leaders chose in November 2015 to take such an action.

    The shifting leniency of the Mennonite Church USA, an Anabaptist denomination, toward same-sex marriage was one of the reasons why the conference felt the need to split.

    Conference Moderator L. Keith Weaver told Lancaster Online that church polity, vision and governance were other reasons for the change.

    Churches within the Lancaster Mennonite Conference were given two years to decide whether or not they wish to remain in the conference.

    According to Lancaster Online, there were only 17 churches up in the air about whether they would leave the conference. Nine of those churches decided to remain affiliated with the conference, while eight left the conference and joined the Mennonite USA’s…

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    Open Heavens 4 January 2018: Thursday daily devotional by Pastor Adeboye – Only Believe

    CM Editor
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    Open Heavens 4 January 2018: Thursday daily devotional by Pastor Adeboye – Only Believe
    Open Heavens 4 January 2018: Thursday daily devotional by Pastor Adeboye – Only Believe

    Topic: Only Believe — Thursday 4, January 2018

    Memorise: He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. – John 3:18

    Read: Romans 8:31-39 (KJV)

    31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

    32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

    33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.

    34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

    35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

    36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

    37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

    38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

    39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

    Bible in One Year: Genesis 8-10, Revelation 3:7-22, Hymn: Sing Hymn 10: My Faith Looks Up To Thee

    MESSAGE:

    Whenever I ruminate over the many-sided blessings embedded in the Good News that came through our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, my heart is filled with great joy. I equally find it fascinating that no elaborate process involving complexities is required for us to access these blessings. Jesus did the hard work and made things simple for us. One of such blessings is freedom from condemnation. The righteous judgment of God against sin has brought all of mankind under condemnation. This is the reason why no man can escape the pain of guilt that results from sin, or the consequences that follow it. Romans 3:23 says,

    “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

    Romans 6:23 further says,

    “For the wages of sin is death,”

    However, the Good News is that Jesus Christ gives us freedom from the condemnation that had put a seal on the destiny of all mankind. In Romans 8:1, this Good News says,

    “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

    Those who are in Christ Jesus can now live a life free from guilt of sin or the feeling of inadequacy resulting from past misdeeds. Their conscience is liberated from condemnation because they know their sins have been washed away by the precious blood of Jesus (Revelation 1:5). What does it take to access these blessings of freedom? Only Believe! Believe in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, believe He is who He says He is, and believe in the work of salvation He has completed. How do you know you truly believe all these? When your actions and confessions reflect what you claim to believe, that is when you truly believe.

    Another blessing of the Good News that you can have access to by faith is the truth that Jesus Christ, though rich, became poor, so that through His poverty, you might be rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). Your faith in this article of the Good News will prevent you from doing diabolical or criminal things to get rich, because you know that your prosperity lies in the sacrificial life that the Master has lived. Believing in the words and works of Jesus gives us contentment, the absence of which brings many sorrows to those who want to be rich by any means (1 Timothy 6:6-10). Beloved, do you believe all these? If you do, live your life by the ideas of the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will forever be free from condemnation, now and in eternity.

    Prayer Point: Father, please help me to live according to Your will, so that I may not be condemned with this world. Grant me grace not to lose sight of the words and works of Jesus. Amen.

    Hymn 10: My Faith Looks Up To Thee

    1. My faith looks up to Thee,
    Thou Lamb of Calvary,
    Saviour divine!
    Now hear me while I pray,
    Take all my guilt away,
    Oh, let me from this day
    Be wholly Thine!

    2. May Thy rich grace impart
    Strength to my fainting heart,
    My zeal inspire!
    As Thou hast died for me,
    Oh, may my love to Thee
    Pure, warm, and changeless be,
    A living fire!

    3. While life’s dark maze I tread,
    And griefs around me spread,
    Be Thou my guide;
    Bid darkness turn to day,
    Wipe sorrow’s tears away,
    Nor let me ever stray
    From Thee aside.

    4.Whenlife’s swift race is run,
    Death’s cold work almost done
    Be near to me.
    Blest Saviour, then in love,
    Fear and distrust remove;
    Oh, bear me safe above,
    A ransomed soul!

    Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries.

    iOpenHeavens is the electronic version of the Hard Copy. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC.


    Pastor drowned trying to save colleague

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    Pastor drowned trying to save colleague

    Kelly Carke from north eastern Texas succumbed to strong currents while undertaking a rescue attempt in Costa Rica, where he was serving as a missionary.

    The New Covenant Church in Tyler, the city where Mr Carke came from, wrote on Facebook: “Losing Pastor Kelly has been hard on everyone.

     

    “He was incredibly loved and appreciated by everyone he came in contact with. He knew no stranger, as he was a friend to all.

    “Kelly was an incredible husband, father, youth pastor, and man of God.

    “We will miss him terribly, and our love goes out to the Clarke family.”

    The youth pastor, who moved to the Central American nation to serve local tribes, had been swimming with his family and the family of another church leader when he got into trouble.

    Mr Carke came to the rescue of Pastor Manuel, when he began to struggle after trying to reach his son who was swept into a riptide. Both Mr Manuel and his son later escaped to safety.

     

    Writing on a GoFundMe page which is raising money for his family, Kelly Carke’s brother-in-law, David Beard said: “We want to thank each and every one for their support both financially and the prayers.

    “Kelly lived what he loved and loved what he lived.

    “He lived to for Christ and spread His love and he loved living this out.”

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    World War Tweet? .

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    Largest Group of Mennonite Churches Leaves Denomination

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    Largest Group of Mennonite Churches Leaves Denomination


    Largest Group of Mennonite Churches Leaves Denomination


    The Lancaster Mennonite Conference, the largest group of Mennonite congregations in the U.S., has officially separated from the broader Mennonite community after a long-term disagreement over sexuality and the church.


    The LMC, with 179 churches in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York, voted to leave the Mennonite Church USA, the umbrella organization of Mennonite congregations, in November 2015. The decision to leave went into effect Monday (Jan. 1).


    The two groups fractured over the definition of marriage — an issue roiling virtually every U.S. religious denomination in the wake of the 2015 Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. The LMC opposes same-sex marriage and members were increasingly uncomfortable with some Mennonite Church USA policies that affirmed it, including hiring policies that address LGBT people.

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    Priest thankful Storm Eleanor didn’t damage church

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    Priest thankful Storm Eleanor didn’t damage church

    Winds gusting up to 100 miles per hour caused flooding, travel disruption and damage to buildings.

    Fr Tony Finn from St Augustine’s Parish Galway told Premier the extent of the storm had made people in the area have to find shelter.

    Speaking about his church’s close encounter with the storm, he said: “If the church was flooded, it would mean a lot of damage, it would mean a lot of people wouldn’t be able to attend our services and it also would mean maybe closure for some time.”

     

    Flooding did occur in parts of Galway where 97mph gusts were recorded.

    The Met Office’s yellow warning’s still in place for Wales, England, most of Northern Ireland and parts of southern Scotland.

    Fr Finn said many people underestimated the strength of the storm.

    The Latin Quarter Galway/PA Wire

     

    He told Premier: “We knew that there was a storm coming but we didn’t think that it was going to be this bad because it came so fast and it went so fast.”

    The UK and Ireland have been left counting the cost of the storm after violent winds tore a destructive trail across the country and plunged thousands of homes into darkness.

    As the storm bore down on the UK and Ireland, tens of thousands of homes and businesses suffered power outages.

    They included 55,000 properties in the Republic and 20,000 customers in Northern Ireland.

    Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, which provides power to 3.8 million people across northern…

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