Today’s Scripture: “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ…” –(2 Corinthians 2:14, NKJV)
Topic: Victory is Always on the Way [Thursday October 19, 2017]
Isn’t it wonderful to know that God promises to always lead us into victory? That means no matter what is going on in your life today, no matter what’s happening in the world around you, no matter what anybody says, you should always be thanking God because victory is always on the way! You don’t have to wait for everything to be perfect before you decide to celebrate what God is going to do in your life. Praise is putting action behind your faith. In the middle of adversity or a tough time, start making a list of who you’re going to invite to your victory celebration. That means if you’re in the hospital, start planning what you’re going to do when you get out. If you lost some money when the stock market went down, start planning your coming-out-of-debt party. When things don’t look good in the natural, remember, we serve a supernatural God. With God leading you into victory, you can always plan for increase. You can plan for restoration. You can plan for a comeback. And you can plan for victory because He is leading and guiding you in Jesus’ name! A Prayer for Today: “Heavenly Father, I give You thanks and praise today for the promise of victory. Give me Your vision for the future so that I can move confidently into the abundant life You have for me in Jesus’ name. Amen.” From Joel Osteen Ministries.
Today’s Scripture: “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ…” –(2 Corinthians 2:14, NKJV)
Topic: Victory is Always on the Way [Thursday October 19, 2017]
Isn’t it wonderful to know that God promises to always lead us into victory? That means no matter what is going on in your life today, no matter what’s happening in the world around you, no matter what anybody says, you should always be thanking God because victory is always on the way! You don’t have to wait for everything to be perfect before you decide to celebrate what God is going to do in your life. Praise is putting action behind your faith. In the middle of adversity or a tough time, start making a list of who you’re going to invite to your victory celebration. That means if you’re in the hospital, start planning what you’re going to do when you get out. If you lost some money when the stock market went down, start planning your coming-out-of-debt party. When things don’t look good in the natural, remember, we serve a supernatural God. With God leading you into victory, you can always plan for increase. You can plan for restoration. You can plan for a comeback. And you can plan for victory because He is leading and guiding you in Jesus’ name! A Prayer for Today: “Heavenly Father, I give You thanks and praise today for the promise of victory. Give me Your vision for the future so that I can move confidently into the abundant life You have for me in Jesus’ name. Amen.” From Joel Osteen Ministries.
Revitalization is needed in many churches today but churches often do not see the needs. Today, we cover sign unseen signs that churches in need of revitalization exhibit.
Today’s Listener Question:
FROM DAN
I’ve been in ministry for a little over 13 years and have done a little consulting on the side. I know you have a history of doing consultations as well. Other than demographics and stats, what are the signs that you look for in consultations to determine if a church is dying or just plateaued.
Episode Highlights:
If your church is going to fulfill the Great Commission, go where the people are. Don’t expect them to come to you.
Often the first areas that get funding cuts in dying churches are the same ones that would be vital to future growth.
Numerous, successive short pastorates are often a sign of a very unhealthy church.
The six signs that we cover in this episode are:
Sign 1: The commute
Sign 2: Worn out ministries
Sign 3: Declining ministry funds for children and students
Sign 4: Culturally comfortable conversations
Sign 5: The pastoral parade
Sign 6: The 1988 facility
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Revitalize & Replant is sponsored by the North American Mission Board and ChurchReplanters.com. More than 10% of churches in North America are at risk of closing and the North American Mission Board is committed to reversing this trend by decreasing the death rate of existing churches while simultaneously increasing the birth rate of new churches. To learn more about what it means to become a replanting pastor or to explore resources for replanting and revitalization in your own church, visit ChurchReplanters.com.
Submit Your Question:
Do you have a question about church revitalization or replanting for us to use on the podcast? Visit the podcast page to submit your question. If we use it on the show, you’ll get a copy of Autopsy of a Deceased Church and Reclaiming Glory.
Cross-Shaped World War I Monument Ruled Unconstitutional
A judge has ruled that a cross-shaped World War I monument in Maryland is unconstitutional because it “has the primary effect of endorsing religion and excessively entangles the government in religion.”
According to The Huffington Post, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled 2-1 that the Peace Cross, which has been on display since 1925, should be taken down due to its alleged endorsement of religion.
“The Latin cross is the core symbol of Christianity,” Judge Stephanie D. Thacker wrote in the decision. “And here, it is 40 feet tall; prominently displayed in the center of one of the busiest intersections in Prince George’s County, Maryland; and maintained with thousands of dollars in government funds. Therefore, we hold that the purported war memorial breaches the ‘wall of separation between Church and State.’”
Those who support the cross monument say they will appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. Many argue that the monument represents history and the “valor,” “endurance,” “courage,” and “devotion” of serviceman rather than explicitly endorsing religion.
The Peace Cross was erected to honor 49 men from the area who gave their lives serving their country in World War I.
Introducing native plants is another way congregations can help boost butterflies, bees and moth populations, Arocha UK said.
A fresh call by the Christian conservation charity for more to consider joining their ‘eco churches’ initiative was prompted after a new study concluded flying insect populations have been “decimated” in Germany.
Conservation director, Andy Lester told Premier: “It is serious; many places are reporting insect losses of over 70 per cent in the last 20 years.
“Those are catastrophic declines and, if they are to continue, then we are in real difficulty.”
Research published in the Public Library of Science ONE journal reported a decline of more than three-quarters in the biomass of flying insects over a 27 year period.
Lead researcher, Dr Caspar Hallmann from Radboud University in The Netherlands, said: “Since 1989, in 63 nature reserves in Germany the total biomass of flying insects has decreased by more than 75 per cent.
“This decrease has long been suspected but has turned out to be more severe than previously thought.”
Under the ‘eco churches’ initiative, churches commit to praying about environmental issues and preaching on the care of God’s earth in sermons, Bible study groups and youth groups.
Biologist at the University of Sussex, Dave Goulson said the findings are extremely worrying for everyone, explaining: “Three quarters of the crops we grow depend upon pollenating insects.
“They’re food for umpteen other organisms so, if we lose the insects, we’d lose of our birds.”
Click here to listen to Premier’s Alex Williams speaking with Arocha UK’s Andy Lester:
VidAngel has been engaged in a protracted legal battle with Disney, 20th Century Fox, Lucasfilm, Warner Bros, New Line Cinema, Marvel and Turner Entertainment. (HolgersFotografie/Pixabay)
Join us on our podcast each weekday for an interesting story, well told, from Charisma News. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.
VidAngel, the market-leading entertainment platform empowering users to filter language, nudity, violence and other content from movies and TV series on Netflix, Amazon Prime and HBO—using modern streaming platforms such as iOS, Android and ROKU—launched its new platform in June 2017. VidAngel has also added to its recent success with original content from VidAngel Studios, which launched in January 2017.
VidAngel has been engaged in a protracted legal battle with Disney, 20th Century Fox, Lucasfilm, Warner Bros, New Line Cinema, Marvel and Turner Entertainment. These seven Hollywood studios are seeking to eliminate filtering and choice, arguing that the 2005 Family Movie Act—a law that expressly permits filtering in the home—does not apply to modern devices and should remain legal only for outdated technology. In response, VidAngel has mounted a robust legal defense. Today’s filing represents another legal step to protect the future of filtering.
Neal Harmon, VidAngel CEO, has issued the following statement:
We have filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11. It’s an important step to protect our company—as well as its creditors, investors and customers—from the plaintiffs’ efforts to deny families their legal right to watch filtered content on modern devices. It also gives us breathing room to reorganize our business around the new streaming platform, promote and perfect the new technology and seek a legal determination that the new system is fully legal and not subject to the preliminary injunction entered in California.
It’s important for our fans to know that VidAngel will continue to offer our filtering service, and to add new content and new customers during the reorganization process. We are also actively hiring additional engineers to further accelerate the continued development of VidAngel. Our original series, Dry Bar Comedy, is exploding and has had over 16 million minutes viewed in the last seven days. Our customers can filter movies on Amazon, Netflix and HBO on Amazon, and we still have millions in the bank to fight this all the way.
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(Photo: The Christian Post/Leonardo Blair)International evangelist, Morris Cerullo inside his suite at the New York Hilton Midtown Manhattan Hotel on Wednesday, December 14, 2016.
International Pentecostal televangelist Morris Cerullo was granted approval Tuesday to build a $131 million religious-themed resort and conference center following a vote by the San Diego City Council.
Cerullo’s World Evangelism website revealed that the Legacy International Project has been backed by the council after the project’s environmental impact report and development permit were approved in a 7-2 vote.
The project will be built over the 18-acre site of the former Mission Valley Resort, and will reportedly include a new 127-room hotel and restaurant. It will also host a replica of Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall, and will screen biblical films at a domed theater.
“It’s a wonderful, wonderful vote to cause us to rejoice that San Diego finally can greet people with their desires that make San Diego a better city,” said Teresa Cerullo, wife of the televangelist.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that members of the LGBT community spoke out against the building plan, but said their concerns were based solely on a potential increase in traffic.
Morris Cerullo World Evangelism maintained, however, that traffic caused by people visiting the Legacy Center would not exceed permitted limits, and would not contribute to a significant impact on traffic in the area.
Councilman Scott Sherman, whose district includes Mission Valley, spoke about potential concerns with the religious nature of the project: “We can’t take into consideration a lot of this ancillary discussion about religion and values.
“We should not be using that as a benchmark for whether it’s allowed. What’s important is whether it meets guidelines set forth by the city, and I believe it does,” Sherman added.
“We have property rights and it’s very important we don’t abridge those property rights, especially when it comes to matters of religious organizations.”
Councilwoman Barbara Bry said that she still has concerns about the traffic, though she also voted in favor of the development.
“We are not allowed to address what we like or do not like on this site,” she said. “I know it will upset many people close to me, but my job is to look at what we are allowed to decide on.”
Project Manager Jim Penner said that people’s concerns will disappear once the center opens in 2019.
“Everyone comes to a point in life where they’re influenced by past experiences but once they come and walk through the center after it is finished, they will see it as a place of welcome, and any concerns they had will evaporate fairly quickly,” Penner said.
“We now have the opportunity to be able to prove it to them but before it’s built, it’s hard to give them that experience.”
Cerullo’s ministry spread around the world following major international preaching missions he organized. He has met some controversy, and was indicted for failing to report his total income for over three years in the 1990s, though charges in the case were dismissed.
Cerullo, 86, told The Christian Post in an interview in December that he has battled serious health issues, but has recovered after being bedridden for nearly eight months in 2016.
The televangelist told CP that it was God’s healing that restored him after vasculitis, a family of uncommon diseases that feature inflammation of the blood vessels with no known cause, left him unable to move.
“This is probably the greatest miracle I’ve ever seen in my life. You know I’ve seen thousands and thousands of people miraculously cured but nothing like this. I was given up by the doctors. I was paralyzed, they had me in a wheelchair for maybe seven, eight months this year,” Cerullo said at the time.
The All Faiths Network, which is open to people of every faith and belief, has written an open letter requesting representatives from groups, communities, interfaith organisations, and business groups to add their signatures to the petition.
The charity’s concerns were echoed by 29 Parliamentarians from 14 countries of the Council of Europe who, on 13th October, signed a statement about religious freedom in Russia.
The declaration highlighted that, despite the Russian Constitution guaranteeing every citizen the right to freedom of religion or belief, Russian authorities “continue to foster an atmosphere of intolerance, discrimination and persecution against religious minorities throughout the entire Federation”.
It went on to say: “Evangelicals, Lutherans, Baptists, Pentecostals, Methodists, Presbyterians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Scientologists and others have been targeted, with some of their members sentenced to pre-trial imprisonment based on the 2002 Extremist law, while in reality being held for simply engaging in peaceful religious beliefs and activities.”
Earlier this year, the country’s Supreme Court heeded a request by the government to recognise the Jehovah’s Witnesses movement as “extremist”.
According to the Interfax news agency, Justice Ministry lawyer Svetlana Borisova said in court that the Jehovah’s Witnesses “pose a threat to the rights of the citizens, public order and public security”.
The open letter addressed to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of religion or Belief, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other officials also called for the international community to send a message to the Russian authorities to immediately release members from the Scientology group.
Senator Marco Rubio is unapologetically vocal about his faith.
Rubio discussed his faith, among other critical issues, with Faith Nation hosts David Brody and Jenna Brower on Capitol Hill.
“Faith is the single biggest influence on my life, and it’s a positive influence.”
In addition to his faith, the senator revealed his conviction towards family values.
“The most important institution in the society is the family … When you are raising a child, you are raising a future taxpayer who’s going to help fund Medicare and Social Security. Our tax code should take that into account.”
Rubio was optimistic about the administration’s assistance with Puerto Rico, despite adverse remarks from San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz Soto.
“I don’t have any questions about the Trump administration’s commitment to Puerto Rico. But it’s going to be a long road, and I think everyone needs to understand that.”
Referring to his faith again, some have criticized Senator Rubio for tweeting Bible verses in the morning, a habit he unapologetically favors.
“I’ll continue to do it … if they don’t like it, they don’t have to follow me.”
Reprinted with permission from CBN.com. Copyright The Christian Broadcasting Network, all rights reserved.
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The Surface Book 2 is slated to arrive on November 16.
Microsoft has declared that its upcoming Surface Book 2 is much better than Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro in more ways than one. While the upcoming Microsoft laptop-tablet hybrid has a lot to offer, it is said that one thing that obviously sets it apart from its Apple counterpart is its screen.
In a press briefing last week in line with the upcoming release of the Surface Book 2, Microsoft’s corporate VP of devices Panos Panay declared that the Surface Book 2 is more powerful than Apple’s MacBook Pro, and part of the reason for which is due to the Surface Book 2’s higher screen resolution.
“That includes the fact that (Microsoft’s laptops) are both delivering more than 30% pixels in both (13-inch and 15-inch models),” Panay said.
Tech pundits opine that the 13-inch Surface Book 2 is, indeed, an obvious winner in terms of the graphics processor department when compared to the MacBook Pro, thanks to its Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050.
After all, the 13-inch MacBook Pro does not even come with its own Discrete graphics as it only counts on the built-in Intel graphics chips. As the Discrete graphics is a big deal for people who play games, render video, or run any kind of virtual reality, the 13-inch Surface Book 2, indeed, has an upper hand over the MacBook Pro of the same size.
However, it is apparent that the advantage of the 13-inch Surface Book 2 over its MacBook counterpart is not confined to the graphics department alone. While the latest version of the tablet-laptop hybrid packing a dual-core chip that matches that of its Apple counterpart, its battery can last for 17 hours, or 7 hours longer than that of the 13-inch MacBook Pro.
On the whole, the 13-inch MacBook Pro beats the 13-inch MacBook Pro in many aspects. Despite this, though, its price tag only begins at $1,499, or $300 cheaper than the $1,799 starting price of the 13-inch MacBook Pro.
The Surface Book 2 hits the store shelves on Nov. 16.
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