Christian exhibition one-stop shop for churches

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Christian exhibition one-stop shop for churches

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The Christian Resources Exhibition (CRE) in Surrey this week was designed to provide churches with all their service needs.

Thousands of attendees could find church-orientated products, from stained glass to sound systems, cassocks to conference venues, bibles and bespoke heating systems. There were also some quirky items- such a ‘holy socks’.

Brett Pitchfork, CRE’s organiser told Premier: “It’s a big bazaar of everything you can imagine – and an awful lot you probably wouldn’t have thought of that are useful for those working in church leadership.

“We’ve got a flight simulator from the Mission Aviation Fellowship so you can actually have a go at flying a plane in a simulator in some of the conditions the MAF pilots would be doing.

“There are so many different things and lots of different speakers as well.”

Around 200 organisations took part in the event, which also had dozens of seminars available.

Pitchfork added: “Today I bought some holy socks for my Grandson. Why? They were Noah’s ark socks and I thought he’d love them.

“We’ve got a lot of people coming in from churches, people who are involved in leadership – everyone from the Sunday school teacher through to bishops are here to explore what’s new and what’s available to their ministries.”

Listen here for the full interview. Premier’s Cara Bentley began by asking what the exhibition is like:

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How Soon Before David Wilkerson’s Earthquake Vision Comes to Pass—Or Has It Already? .

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How Soon Before David Wilkerson’s Earthquake Vision Comes to Pass—Or Has It Already? .

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As natural disasters pummel all corners of the earth, David Wilkerson’s words in The Vision and Beyond sound frighteningly accurate.

In a recent episode of The Jim Bakker Show, Bakker himself reads from the book and discusses how these prophecies may be coming to fruition.

Take a look.

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Utah High School Cheerleaders Scream N-Word in Video

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An Instagram video of five high school girls screaming racial slurs and profanities has gone viral, urging school administrators to investigate the offensive clip.

REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File PhotoA protester holds up an anti-racism sign as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S., July 28, 2016.

The five white teenage girls have been identified as students from Weber High School in Pleasant View, Utah. School administrators were made aware of the video when it started making rounds on social media.

In the 10-second clip, the group of senior and junior girls dropped expletives.

“We are shocked by the conduct of these students and the contents of the video,” a statement from the Weber School District reads. “School officials have started an investigation and the matter is being taken very seriously. We are trying to determine when the video was made, where it was filmed, why the students would engage in such conduct, and how the clip ended up on social media.”

A report by KTVX stated that Utah, based on a study conducted by the FBI in 2013, had the most number of reported hate crimes among other states in the country with a history of hate crimes.

Jim Dabakis, a state senator, once said that the perpetuity of such crimes is due to Utah’s ineffective actions, that the state does so little to fight them.

The school’s initial findings from the investigation seem to suggest that an app generated such expletives. They believe that the girls may have uttered an incoherent phrase like “surgeon cuff” which barely makes sense. Moreover, they believe that the original clip was initially uploaded to the app which played it backwards and then produced the profanities.

Netizens took to social media to condemn the video, parents included. Many are convinced that the school is only trying to make excuses for the girls’ misconduct.

The school has yet to determine how the students involved would be disciplined, but expulsion from the cheerleading squad is one of the possible consequences.

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Christian Aid supports eco-lodge made famous by new Daniel Radcliffe film

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Christian Aid supports eco-lodge made famous by new Daniel Radcliffe film

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‘Jungle’, which debuts this week, is based on the real-life story of Yossi Ghinsberg who survived getting lost in the Amazon Jungle.

Ten years after Ghinsberg escaped, he set up an eco-lodge with the indigenous community of San José de Uchupiamonas that helped rescue him.

The lodge, Chalalan, is supported by Christian Aid through its collaboration in ACRE (Access to Capital for Rural Enterprises).

The group supports small and medium sized enterprises and helps them to become investment-ready and to access the long-term capital they need to grow.

Rodrigo Mariaca

 

Made using local materials and solar-powered electricity, the lodge employs 40 people and invests in health and education projects that benefit the 750 people living in San José.

Its visitors are taken on jungle treks by indigenous guides who share their knowledge about the wild life and stress the importance of protecting the forest that is threatened by deforestation and the effects of climate change.

Ghinsberg said: “Chalalan is a beautiful, sustainable and profitable project made by and for the local people. I wanted to give something back and this was the best way I knew how. It is an enchanting place and anyone who wants to experience the Amazon is in good hands here. “

 

Ghinsberg said working with the film’s director and Radcliffe has been ‘overwhelming’.

He added: “I never imagined that my story would be told in this way. Any attention that Chalalan receives as a result of this, is just fantastic.”

Christian Aid said it hopes the film will “help shine a light on Ghinsberg’s humanitarian efforts in Bolivia and on the importance of supporting enterprises in poor rural settings.”

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White People Don’t Understand the Depth of America’s Racism .

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White People Don’t Understand the Depth of America’s Racism .

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Young Boy Denied Kidney Transplant Because Father Violated Probation

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A hospital denied a 2-year-old boy a life-saving kidney transplant when they learned of his father’s probation violation.

REUTERS/Keith BedfordSurgeon Karim Zalazun looks at a monitor displaying a donor kidney for patient Adam Abernathy, who participated in a five-way organ transplant swap, in New York, August 1, 2012.

Anthony Dickerson was supposed to donate his kidney to his son, AJ Burgess, who was born a month early and came without functioning kidneys. Dickerson is a 100 percent match for the toddler.

When Emory Hospital learned that Dickerson spent time behind bars for violating his probation, they denied the family the surgery. He was arrested for possession of firearms.

Janet Christenbury, the hospital’s director of media relations, told the Daily News that their policies for organ transplantation are meant to maximize the chance of success for organ recipients and minimize risk for living donors.

She emphasized, “Transplant decisions regarding donors are made based on many medical, social, and psychological factors.”

The hospital reportedly agreed to reevaluate the case in 2018 if Dickerson maintains good behavior for three to four months prior to donating his kidney.

The surgery was scheduled early in Oct. but Dickerson was arrested by authorities in Gwinnett County just before that.

Carmella, AJ’s mother, is worried that her son will not make it to 2018. She said that the toddler needs bladder surgery. More importantly, the boy’s body is failing. A few months ago, the two-year-old suffered a stroke, which only made the transplant more urgent.

“‘He’s been through a lot,” the mother said. Unconvinced about the hospital guidelines, Carmella believes the hospital is punishing their boy for his father’s actions.

AJ could be placed on the kidney transplant waiting list but chances of getting an immediate transplant are slim. The National Kidney Foundation suggests that the patients on the list would have to wait three to five years on average. On the other hand, AJ, being a child, will be one of the priorities.

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Five Unintended Consequences of Short Pastoral Tenure

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Five Unintended Consequences of Short Pastoral Tenure

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By Jonathan Howe

Not a week goes by when I don’t hear of a pastor leaving one church headed to another. It happens. We all get that. Unfortunately, some of the names or churches mentioned are the same ones I heard just months earlier. For this post, I’ll refer to anything shorter than 6-9 months tenure as a “short pastorate.

While some circumstances do call for quick pastoral turnover, it’s hard not to wonder if some churches fire their pastor (or the pastor bails) too quickly. Regardless of which side cuts the other loose, the church and pastor are nearly always worse off as a result. The unintended consequences of short pastoral tenure take their toll on both sides.

  1. Members lose trust in the pastors, and pastors lose trust in churches. This seems obvious, but if a pastor leaves a church and the church feels like the pastor burned them in the process, the next pastor will find the deck stacked against them. If the pastor is the one burned, there will be a greater scrutinizing and distrust of the next church—if there is a next church.
  2. Your current church will wonder if it will happen to them. If you had a short pastorate at your last stop, the church you go to will inevitably wonder if the same will happen to them. Trust is hard to gain and easy to lose. Short pastorates eat up trust on both sides of the equation.
  3. The staff is demoralized. Regardless of where the blame for the short pastorate lies, the staff is left to pick up the pieces after a pastor leaves. They have to answer the questions, deal with more uncertainty, and try to move forward in a new normal they weren’t expecting—and one they often contributed little to.
  4. The vision of the church is clouded. When a new pastor comes in, a new vision and direction is usually cast. After a short pastorate, there is great uncertainty about the vision and direction of the church. Do you continue in the direction the last pastor was leading? Do you return to what it was before the short pastorate? Does someone internally rise up and cast a new vision? Those are just three options. And it’s likely that different areas of the church will gravitate to a different one. Then you have a whole new set of problems.
  5. Financial waste. This is the most practical consequence of a short pastorate. Financial resources are expended to find a new pastor only to turn around and spend that much or more to do it again within just a few months. It’s a wasteful use of funds. Money for ministry becomes money for mistakes.

In closing, if you’re in a situation and considering leaving your church after just a few months, I exhort you to reconsider and pray earnestly. Far too often “God told me” becomes a convenient cover for “this is hard, and I want out.” Churches, the same goes for you. Far too often “God told us” becomes a convenient cover for “we don’t want to change.”

Jonathan Howe serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives at LifeWay Christian Resources as well as the host and producer of Rainer on Leadership and SBC This Week. Jonathan writes weekly at ThomRainer.com on topics ranging from social media to websites and church communications. Connect with Jonathan on Twitter at @Jonathan_Howe.

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China’s president urges party to promote ‘Chinese’ religion

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China’s president urges party to promote ‘Chinese’ religion

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President Xi Jinping opened a twice-a-decade national congress by highlighting the need for the party to take on a more forceful role in society and economic development, and better address “grim” challenges facing the country.

Speaking at the Great Hall of the People near Tiananmen Square in Beijing, Xi laid out his vision of a ruling party that not only defends national security but also provides moral guidance to ordinary Chinese people as well.

Chinatopix via AP

 

He told hundreds of delegates in his three-and-a-half-hour address: “The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is no walk in the park or mere drum-beating and gong-clanging.

“The whole party must be prepared to make ever more difficult and harder efforts.

“To achieve great dreams there must be a great struggle.”

Xi is expected to get a second five-year term as party leader at the gathering.

He also pledged that the party would have “zero tolerance” for corruption and said it would “continue to purify, improve and reform itself”.

 

China’s President has in the past warned that religious influences could infiltrate the country from abroad.

The country is currently ranked 39 in a list compiled by Open Doors of the 50 worst countries in the world for Christian persecution.

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Open Heavens 19 October 2017: Thursday daily devotional by Pastor Adeboye – All Things Work For Good

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Open Heavens 19 October 2017: Thursday daily devotional by Pastor Adeboye – All Things Work For Good
Open Heavens 19 October 2017: Thursday daily devotional by Pastor Adeboye – All Things Work For Good

Topic: All Things Work For Good — Thursday 19, October 2017.

Memorise: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28

Read: Acts 8:1-8 (KJV)

1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.

6 And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

7 For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.

8 And there was great joy in that city.

Bible in One Year: Ephesians 5-6, Philippians 1, Daniel 9:16-27, Hymn: Sing Hymn 4 – Through The Level Of God Our Saviour

MESSAGE:

When we look at the situation of the world today, we can be tempted to think that God has withdrawn from the world He created, but nothing could be further from the truth. Our God is very much in charge of His created order. He has never and He will never lose grip of His created universe. One reason why some people think it is immoral to link God with what is happening in the world today is the evil that permeates the world as a result of sin being perpetrated by the men and women of this age. Such people believe that if God is involved in the affairs of this world, then the terrible things we are witnessing today should have triggered His direct intervention. Such opinions are not new; they were also expressed by some people at the time of the early Church, to whom Peter responded with the words of 2 Peter 3:9:

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

Coming up next: Open Heavens 20 October 2017: Friday daily devotional by Pastor Adeboye – Importune Prayer Or Vain Repetitions

The events described in today’s Bible reading showed God’s people living in a very difficult time. The persecution of the early Christians by the Jews, which claimed the life of Stephen, caused the believers to scatter all over the then known world, in a bid to escape further persecution by the Jews. However, the dispersion resulted in the spread of the gospel. Philip, who was initially commissioned to minister to the widows of Jerusalem, became a city-wide evangelist in Samaria. The Bible testifies thus about him:

“5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. 6 And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.” – Acts 8:5-6

You can therefore see that indeed, all the things that happened in Jerusalem, including the scattering of the disciples, worked together for the salvation and deliverance of the people of Samaria and other parts of the world. My prayer for you is that all the things you are passing through this season will work together for your good in Jesus’ Name. However, only those who love God have all the assurance of all things working together in their favour, especially those who are called according to God’s purpose. Therefore, ensure that your love for God is sincere, so that your expectations will not be disappointed.

Prayer Point: Father, in accordance with Your word, let all things begin to work together for my good in Jesus’ Name.

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.


An Earth-Shaking Sign of the End Times You Might Have Overlooked .

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An Earth-Shaking Sign of the End Times You Might Have Overlooked .

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The Resurrection, rapture, War and Second Coming all happen at the same time, are part of the same release of power, which also shakes the whole earth. (Pixabay/Angelo_Giordano)

Yeshua taught that there would be many earthquakes in different places around the world in the end times (Matt. 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11). Earthquakes can sometimes be the result of a clash of spiritual forces behind the scenes. There was an earthquake when God visited Elijah at Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:11-12), and in the time of King Uzziah (Zech. 14:5; Amos 1:1).

Earthquakes can occur as the result of our prayers, prophecies and praises—when combined with the work of angels and the fire of the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:25-26; Rev. 8:3-5;  Rev. 11:13, 19). There was an earthquake at Mt. Sinai (Ex. 19:18) and also at the time of Yeshua’s crucifixion (Matt. 27:54) and resurrection (Matt. 28:2).

The word for earthquake in Greek is seismos (as in “seismic” and “seismograph”). In Hebrew there are two words. One is simply the word for “shaking” and used in Modern Hebrew for an earthquake, re’idah ×¨×¢×™×”×”.

In Biblical Hebrew there is another word, ra’ash ×¨×¢×©, which can be translated as noise, earthquake, shaking or rattling. The sound of the voice of the Lord can actually shake the earth (Heb. 12:26). This word ra’ash also describes the sound at the supernatural manifestation of the glory of YHVH (Ezek. 3:12-13).

This word is found in three significant prophecies about the end times:

  1. Resurrection: There is a vivid and detailed picture of the physical reconstruction of bodies at the moment of the resurrection in Ezekiel 37:1-14. At the moment of the resurrection, there is an earthquake shaking, rattling noise: ra’ash (verse 7).
  2. Great War: When the forces of Gog and Magog attack Israel in the end times, God releases a fiery power to destroy them. This causes a great earthquake: ra’ash (Ezek. 38:19; Is. 29:6).
  3. Second Coming: When the forces of evil reach Jerusalem, the Lord descends to fight them; His feet stand on the Mount of Olives and a huge earthquake takes place, which splits the mountain in two: ra’ash (Is. 29:6; Zech. 14:4-5).

These passages indicate that the Resurrection, the War and the Second Coming take place at the time of the great earthquake and are part of the same event. Since the rapture is described as coming at the same time as the Second Coming and the Resurrection (Matt. 24:31; Mark 13:27; 1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:15-17; 2 Thess. 2:1), it is clear that they are all connected.

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