Joseph Prince at Hillsong Conference 2015 in Sydney

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Joseph Prince at Hillsong Conference 2015 in Sydney

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Hillsong Conference 2015 – Worship by Hillsong and preaching by Joseph Prince

Kevin Palau Explains How He ‘Stumbled’ Into His Calling and Became ‘Captivated by Unity’

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Kevin Palau Explains How He ‘Stumbled’ Into His Calling and Became ‘Captivated by Unity’

Christian Post Report – NEW YORK — Ever since witnessing just how much evangelism coupled with good works can impact communities and even bring Christians together, Kevin Palau, son of popular Latin American evangelist Luis Palau, says he has been captivated by the idea of “unity.”

(Photo: The Luis Palau Association)
Kevin Palau, president of The Luis Palau Association.

It all began 30 years ago, when he started working with The Luis Palau Association, the organization supporting his father’s global evangelism ministry. But instead of working there for three decades, Palau was only supposed to be at the nonprofit for one year. That’s what he had in mind anyway.

As Palau explains in his book Unlikely: Setting Aside Our Differences to Live Out the Gospel, after graduating from Wheaton College, he was hoping that a stint supporting his father’s ministry would be a good way to help pay off the student loans he had accumulated over the years.

“What I thought I was gonna be doing was … when I joined the Palau Association, it was gonna be just for one year and I was gonna be a missionary to the Muslim world,” Palau told The Christian Post in May.

“That’s what I thought God was calling me to do through my four years at Wheaton College. I always had a heart for world evangelism, and my thought was that’s a place where it’s challenging and few people do it, so that’s what I was gonna do. It was this unexpected blessing to be captivated by unity,” said Palau, who is today president of The Luis Palau Association.

It’s that “idea of unity in the Body” reflected in John 17:20-23, Palau added, that has motivated him over the years to help people develop meaningful and sustainable partnerships to transform their communities.

Palau, married father of three, is credited with establishing a new evangelistic crusade model that incorporates “a season of service” with the kind of mass gatherings that typified the Rev. Billy Graham’s stadium preaching, and which his Argentinian evangelist father adapted.

The first-ever Season of Service that set the mold for the many others that would eventually follow occurred in 2008 in Portland, Oregon, where The Luis Palau offices are located.

CityServe, as it is now called, organizes Christians of varying stripes and denominations to undertake service project to meet their city’s needs, as outlined by city officials. The current focus of Palau’s CityServe campaign is New York City. The $10 million campaign, launched in September 2014 and bringing together 1,700 churches, culminates with a gathering of 60,000 people this month at the iconic Central Park.

Though bringing Christians together in this way was not in his original career plans, Palau said if here were not working for his father’s ministry, “I’d probably be doing something to try to work for unity in the Body related to the Gospel.”

He added, “I’m just so grateful to God that I was born into the family I was and in a way stumbled into what I’ve been doing. I’m just so grateful for the friends I’ve made, for the pastors that I have the privilege of serving. And frankly for the time, to be alive for such a time as this.”

Acknowledging the literal violent persecution that some Christians face today in parts of the world as well as the persecution the early Church faced, Palau suggested that believers in the West should put the criticism and legal pressures they face in society in perspective.

“I’m not saying that’s nothing, but for goodness’ sake, let’s be joyful, let’s trust God, let’s live in such a radical way that people say, ‘This is not normal. They way they love each other the way they love the community, their confidence in this message, even though I may disagree with it, there’s something different about this people.’ So to be alive for such a time as this, I think the greater the darkness and the challenge the more we have a chance to shine,” Palau said.

As for his book, Palau told CP that he hopes it will encourage and inspire leaders to consider what they can accomplish with unlikely partners and in unlikely places.

“Whether this is the best of time or the worst of times, this is the time that God chose to put us here on Earth,” Palau added. “I think that anyone that reads the book will be really encouraged that it’s possible to see major Gospel impact and kingdom-building work happen even in places where people would scratch their heads and say, ‘How is that possible in the very proudly progressive place that’s very unchurched.’ You know what, it’s very possible if we’ll just live like we’re supposed to. So I hope it inspires people, encourages people.”

Email this CP reporter at nicola.menzie(at)christianpost.com | Follow this CP reporter on Twitter.

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Source : Christian Post

Pope Francis: ‘Many Grave Sins Were Committed Against the Native People of America in the Name of God’

World News

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(Photo: Reuters)
Christian Post Report – Pope Francis arrives at the international airport in La Paz, Bolivia July 9, 2015.

Pope Francis apologized Thursday for what he called the Roman Catholic Church’s complicity in committing “grave sins” against Native Americans “in the name of God” during the oppression of Latin America in the colonial era.

In an address in Bolivia at the Second World Meeting of Popular Movements, a congress of global activists working to mobilize and help the poor, Pope Francis also called for a global social movement to break down the “new colonialism” that has exploited the poor and promoted inequality and materialism according to a report in The New York Times.

“Some may rightly say, ‘When the pope speaks of colonialism, he overlooks certain actions of the church,’ ” said Francis. “I say this to you with regret: Many grave sins were committed against the native people of America in the name of God.”

He continued: “I humbly ask forgiveness, not only for the offense of the church herself, but also for crimes committed against the native peoples during the so-called conquest of America.”

Bolivia, according to the report, was severely exploited during Spanish rule. The country’s silver deposits helped finance the Spanish empire, bankroll European colonialism in other places and filled the treasury of the Vatican.
Evo Morales, Bolivia’s president is a longtime leftist critic of the church praised Pope Francis – the first pope ever elected from Latin America – prior to the pope making his statement.

“For the first time, I feel like I have a pope: Pope Francis,” said Morales said.

When the pope addressed the issues of inequality in the new economic system, the people cheered when he encouraged them to organize and fight against exploitation and oppression.

“I would even say that the future of humanity is in great measure in your own hands, through your ability to organize and carry out creative alternatives, through your daily efforts to ensure the three Ls — labor, lodging, land,” said Francis.

“Human beings and nature must not be at the service of money,” he added. “Let us say no to an economy of exclusion and inequality, where money rules, rather than service. That economy kills. That economy excludes. That economy destroys Mother Earth.”

Despite his condemnation of global economic system however, Pope Francis said he did not have a solution to it.

“Don’t expect a recipe from this pope,” he said. “Neither the pope nor the church have a monopoly on the interpretation of social reality or the proposal of solution to contemporary issues. I dare say no recipe exists.”

Contact: [email protected]; follow me on Twitter @leoblair

Source : Christian Post

Pope Francis Calls Unfettered Pursuit of Money ‘Dung of the Devil’ That Enslaves People and Ruins Society

World News

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(Photo: Reuters/David Mercado)
Christian Post Report – Pope Francis looks to the side as he attends a World Meeting of Popular Movements with Bolivia’s President Evo Morales (not pictured) in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, July 9, 2015. Pope Francis on Thursday urged the downtrodden to change the world economic order, denouncing a “new colonialism” by agencies that impose austerity programs and calling for the poor to have the “sacred rights” of labor, lodging and land. In one of the longest, most passionate and sweeping speeches of his pontificate, the Argentine-born pope also asked forgiveness for the sins committed by the Roman Catholic Church in its treatment of native Americans during what he called the “so-called conquest of America.”

Pope Francis has called the unfettered pursuit of money “the dung of the devil” in a strongly worded condemnation of the global treatment of poor people. Speaking on Thursday at the World Meeting of Popular Movements in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, Francis also told Christians it is their “commandment” to fight for the “just distribution of the fruits of the Earth.”

Francis, who is on a tour of several South American countries, told the Bolivian faithful that as the scientific community warns, “irreversible harm” is being done to the ecosystem, which is “brutally punishing” entire populations. He then referred to the “unfettered pursuit of money” as the “dung of the devil,” which leaves behind the service of the common good:

“Once capital becomes an idol and guides people’s decisions, once greed for money presides over the entire socioeconomic system, it ruins society, it condemns and enslaves men and women, it destroys human fraternity, it sets people against one another and, as we clearly see, it even puts at risk our common home.”

In his lenghty speech, which can be read at full on the Vatican Radio website, the Roman Catholic Church leader also said that “working for a just distribution of the fruits of the Earth and human labor” is not simply a moral obligation, but a “commandment” for Christians.

“It is about giving to the poor and to peoples what is theirs by right. The universal destination of goods is not a figure of speech found in the Church’s social teaching. It is a reality prior to private property. Property, especially when it affects natural resources, must always serve the needs of peoples. And those needs are not restricted to consumption,” Francis continued.

“It is not enough to let a few drops fall whenever the poor shake a cup which never runs over by itself. Welfare programs geared to certain emergencies can only be considered temporary responses. They will never be able to replace true inclusion, an inclusion which provides worthy, free, creative, participatory and solidary work.”

American Catholic priest James Martin said in a Twitter message that Francis “just used the strongest language I can remember a pope using about the rights of the poor and of social justice.”

While the pope has been accused by some conservative commentators, such as American radio host Rush Limbaugh, of promoting Marxism, Francis has insisted in several speeches that his remarks on the poor have nothing to do with politics.

“Oh, this priest speaks about poverty too much, this bishop talks about poverty, this Christian, this sister talks about poverty. Well, they’re a bit communist, aren’t they?” Francis said back in June.

He added, however, that “poverty is at the very center of the Gospel: If we remove poverty from the Gospel, no one would be able to understand anything about the message of Jesus.”

In the concluding remarks of his speech in Bolivia, Francis said that the future of humanity does not lie in the hands of the world’s leaders, but in the hands of the people of the world.

“It is fundamentally in the hands of peoples and in their ability to organize. It is in their hands, which can guide with humility and conviction this process of change. I am with you,” Francis urged.

“Let us together say from the heart: no family without lodging, no rural worker without land, no laborer without rights, no people without sovereignty, no individual without dignity, no child without childhood, no young person without a future, no elderly person without a venerable old age.”

Source : Christian Post

Megachurch Pastor Ron Carpenter Jr. Says People Can Be Born Predisposed to Be Gay, but ‘Jesus Can Straighten’ It

Church and Ministry

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(Photo: Screen Grab via YouTube)
Christian Post Report – Megachurch pastor, Ron Carpenter Jr.

In a sermon which has ruffled some of his congregants and general critics alike since he delivered it last Wednesday, megachurch pastor Ron Carpenter Jr. of Redemption World Outreach Center in Greenville, South Carolina, says he believes people can be born predisposed to homosexuality but “Jesus can straighten” the iniquity.

“I believe much of homosexual activity is iniquity. Doctors don’t believe it, they say they couldn’t find a gene. Well, sin don’t have a gene,” said Carpenter in a recording of the sermon titled “Biblical Truth on Same-Sex Marriage” that was posted to YouTube. The sermon is almost 1 hour and 20 minutes but he shared his personal thoughts beginning at the 1 hour 12-minute mark of the video.

“You can’t open up somebody’s body and find sin. The Bible says iniquity travels three and four generations. The word ‘iniquity’ is not sin. The word ‘iniquity’ means bent or twisted and everybody is born bent toward something. So I disagree with a lot of people who say you can’t be born that way, if it’s an iniquity you can be,” said Carpenter.

“An infant already predisposed to alcoholism, an infant already predisposed to never holding down a relationship, an infant already predisposed to panic attacks, an infant already predisposed to diabetes, and an infant already predisposed to a twisted lifestyle,” he said, indicating homosexuality.

“That’s why Jesus said you have to be born again. Because the first time I was born, I was born (bending), but here comes Jesus (straightening). Somebody tell your neighbor Jesus will straighten things out,” he continued.

Carpenter explained that he could not support same-sex marriage because the Bible condemns it, and because he fears God he intends to maintain that position.

“If God forbids me to bless it, I don’t care what’s happening in our culture. I fear God. I am man enough and I love you enough for you to be mad at me right now. But prophetically, you’re finding it hard to be mad at me,” he said.

He then asserted that homosexuality is generational and will only get worse with each generation if it isn’t dealt with, according to Scripture.

“I think with homosexuality, somewhere, something got planted that wasn’t supposed to be there. Somewhere in you, your bloodline or in your family something got planted. Something God didn’t want there, something God didn’t intend and the twist began. And every generation commits the sins greater than their father committed it,” added Carpenter.

“So the reason you can dance in the street is because your father had to hide in a closet. But if you’re dealing and struggling with homosexuality, according to the Word, you’re not the first generation in your family that’s dealt with it. You was [sic] just the first one that lived in a society that would let you speak,” he noted.

Moments before he made an altar call addressing those in his congregation who are struggling with homosexuality, he spoke frankly to the church.

“There are people that you want your lifestyle and you don’t want to hear another word that I got to say, and I release you and I love you and I’ll be here if you need me. And we’ll be here if you need us and we’re not mad at anybody,” he said.

He continued, however: “I believe the Spirit of the Lord is in this place. There’s another group of people that that lifestyle has touched your life and it’s not fun and you’re not happy. You’re in turmoil, you’re in struggle. You’re one of those statistics I’ve read. You don’t want it, you don’t like it, you feel isolated, you feel alone. You hear the jokes and you want to crawl under the table because you don’t want anyone at the table to know your struggle.”

Several people came forward after he made the altar call and he prayed for them.

Two days later, after sparking a broad discussion online with his comments, Carpenter addressed his critics in a Facebook post.

“I knew Wednesday night when I addressed these current issues it would open me up to many opinions … I braced myself for that. I don’t know that I got everything right, I gave it my best shot. I welcome honest discussions on my Facebook page and give you the right and privilege to disagree with me. However, vulgarity will not be tolerated and will immediately be removed from my page. No matter what your opinions may be, I just asked for everyone to keep it clean … thanks Ron C,” he noted last Friday.

Tay Hagood, a lesbian, was among those who disagreed with Carpenter.

“I am a lesbian. I found comfort in knowing that i can be homosexual and saved, and that i can still go to heaven. But, then I’m struggling with the not inheriting the kingdom part. I love my partner, who is obviously of the same sex. We put God in all that we do, and he still blesses us,” wrote Hagood.

“Do I throw our love away, and be alone because I’m physically not attracted to men? I’d be lying to myself and living a lie to pretend to be heterosexual. It all boils down to which misery works best for me. … 1: not inheriting the kingdom because i love my girlfriend; 2: inherit the kingdom by being alone or heterosexual, and still be miserable. I love the Lord, but I can’t help who I am, nor who I love,” she ended.

In reply, Carpenter noted: “Thank you for your honesty. … God doesn’t want you miserable, God wants your life to be abundant and you to fulfill your purpose … know that you are on my heart and I will pray for you.”

Contact: [email protected]; follow me on Twitter @leoblair

Source : Christian Post

Pope Francis Calls Unfettered Pursuit of Money ‘Dung of the Devil’ That Enslaves People and Ruins Society

Church and Ministry

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