Taher, a Rohingya Christian pastor, and his 14-year-old daughter were abducted from their shelter in a refugee camp in Bangladesh on the morning of January 27. The previous night scores of men attacked 22 Christian families living in Kutupalong Camp 2 in Cox’s Bazaar. The attackers beat up residents, vandalized homes, and looted personal property in the sprawling Rohingya refugee camp. At least 12 Rohingya Christian refugees were injured and hospitalized following the attack. A makeshift Christian church and school were also smashed. After the attack the families relocated to a United Nations transit center and filed a police case against 59 alleged assailants.

The Benar News Agency and Radio Free Asia have reported that camp residents believe that the attackers are linked to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), an ethnic Rohingya armed group. An ARSA representative denied and condemned the attacks on Christians, saying the assailants were harming the group’s fight for Rohingya rights.

Taher’s wife, Roshida, fears that her husband has been killed and her daughter abducted. She told Human Rights Watch that, “No one can give me any clear information, but my relatives told me that my daughter has been forced to convert to Islam and marry.”

SOURCE: Human Rights Watch, Brad Adams

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Christian pastor and author Greg Laurie has tasted the bittersweet fruit that life has to offer. He has written 70 books, started a church, lost a son, become a grandpa, achieved national recognition in radio and media — all while never knowing his real father. The one constant throughout it all was his belief in God.

When Laurie spoke with Fox News in a phone interview to share his thoughts on faith, he mentioned the passing of basketball legend Kobe Bryant, to highlight what a profound effect his death had on ordinary people and how they should respond.

“Sometimes it takes a wakeup call to get someone’s attention,” he began. “Because you can have everything this culture offers — every toy, every possession, every accomplishment. But death comes to every person. And this was sort of a collective wakeup call to the whole nation when we lost Kobe Bryant. Someone who was so young and vibrant. People obviously had a connection to him, even if they were not a fan of the Lakers.”

Laurie said though tragic, Bryant’s death serves as a staunch reminder of life’s impermanence. This tragedy should inspire us to reflect on our own mortality and use those feelings to sort out what’s really important in life, he added.

“It’s just a reminder that you don’t know when life will come to an end,” Laurie explained. “Only those who are prepared to die are really ready to live. And I don’t suggest that as something morbid.

“Years ago, in another century, people would write a phrase over their legal documents which was ‘Memento Mori.’ That means, think of death,” he continued. “That was not meant to be depressing, that was meant to remind the person — no matter how much money you have in your account, no matter how successful you are, you’ll leave it all one day.”

The California native is an avid lover of Jesus Christ and credits his faith in God with helping him, and his wife Cathy, overcome the death of their son Christopher who passed away 11 years ago after a car accident. He was 33.

“I’ve always believed this and I’ve always taught this, but when our son died unexpectedly 11 years ago, it was just jolting,” he said.

“It was life-altering. It was in many ways, devastating. But the hope that we have that keeps us going is we know that our son is not only a part of our past but that he’s also a part of our future. And we have the hope that, as Christians, we’ll be reunited with our loved ones who have proceeded us to heaven. So I’m confident I’ll see my son Christopher again.”

The nationally syndicated radio host said he still sees Christopher in his dreams and is initially filled with joy to talk to him. He soon realizes, however, that it’s only a memory and that he’ll have to wait until the next life to actually communicate with him.

“I know a lot of other people who have lost loved ones have dreams about them and I’ve had dreams about my son,” Laurie said.

“And in the dream, I’m always in a place where he’s there. And I’m thinking to myself, ‘Wait you’re alive! ‘And in every dream, I’m so happy to see him and I talk to him. And I’m so sad because I know I’m going to lose him again. Because at some point I realize, I’m in a dream. It’s such a deep, internal desire for communication. But I think it’s also a little glimpse of being reunited with them one day again, as well.”

Laurie, who is senior pastor of several congregations, including Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., and Harvest at Kumulani in Kapalua, Hawaii, then spoke about the backlash against faith and Christianity in the public square, but remained convinced that those who denounce God out of a sense of rebellion will likely still seek his help down the road and still have a relationship with him.

“I think this is a challenge in every generation,” he said. “In my book ‘Jesus Revolution,’ when we looked at [Jesus’] time in history — in many ways, it parallels today. You had huge political turmoil. You had riots in the streets. It looked like culture was unraveling.”

There have been many moments throughout humanity that have caused us to question whether or not we are witnessing the death of God, Laurie continued. But what makes God so special is the ability to have a personal relationship with him that transcends earthly concerns and anxieties.

SOURCE: Fox News, Nick Givas

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A Kalamazoo pastor was arraigned in Kalamazoo County District Court on a charge of assaulting a deacon at his church.

The Rev. Stricjavvar Floyd Strickland, executive senior pastor at Second Baptist Church, was arraigned Wednesday, Feb. 12, on one misdemeanor count of assault and battery stemming from a a Dec. 15 incident, according to court records.

A warrant for Strickland’s arrest was issued on Feb. 10, according to court records. Strickland posted a $500 cash bond with the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Feb. 11, according to court records.

After arraignment on the charge, Strickland is due back in court for a pretrial conference Feb. 18.

Strickland spoke to members of the media following his arraignment Wednesday morning, calling the allegations “ludicrous” and saying he was assaulted first on the day in question.

“All that I did was try to prevent further assault,” Strickland said. “We look forward to defending my name in this case and prevailing in high fashion.”

SOURCE: MLive, Ryan Boldrey

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The Atlanta Metro Baptist Association has severed ties with the First Baptist Church of Decatur over what it calls a “misalignment” of biblical standards.

First Baptist’s Senior Pastor David Jordan, though, thinks it boils down to the fact that the church has ordained gay deacons and is an LGBTQ-inclusive congregation at a time when the association has taken “a pretty hard right turn.”

“I don’t think anybody likes to be kicked out of anything, but in a way, we can feel good about it because we are being kicked out for a very worthy cause,” Jordan said. “It’s sad that people have this kind of mindset.”

The Clairmont Road church was notified of the action in a Jan. 31 letter from Atlanta Metro Baptist Association Executive Director Jimmy D. Baughcum.

The letter does not mention LGBTQ issues.

It says the church’s “misalignment with the qualifications of a member church by affirming, approving, or endorsing practices or behaviors that do not align with biblical standards as outlined in the Manual of Procedure adopted by the association in May 2019.”

Baughcum declined to elaborate.

“This is an association and church matter and I have committed to speak about it only with those within the church and faith community at this time,” he said in an email Thursday.

The letter also says that the Decatur church has not sent a representative or messengers to any Atlanta Metro meetings in the past two years.

However, Jordan, who came to the church from Charlotte, North Carolina, two years ago, said members have frequently volunteered at the association.

Jordan was visited by association officials last November.

The conversations started off on a good note, but the “tone quickly changed to basically you are in very clear violations of our bylaws. The wording was basically it’s your choice, you can either go quietly or we will vote you out. I told them that is your issue, not ours.”

He said the Atlanta-based association has been a good support system for churches through partnership in local missions, help for struggling churches and combining resources “but clearly we have a different vision of what a church should be.”

This is not the first time the historic church, which has an active membership of about 700 people, has been at odds with a Baptist association.

The Georgia Baptist Convention in 2009 severed its 148-year relationship with First Baptist Church of Decatur after it called a woman, the Rev. Julie Pennington-Russell, as its pastor. The church is now part of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

SOURCE: The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Shelia Poole

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A fire swept through a Haitian children’s home run by a Pennsylvania-based religious nonprofit group, killing 15 children, officials said Friday.

Rose-Marie Louis, a child-care worker at the home, said that the fire began around 9 p.m. Thursday and firefighters took about 90 minutes to arrive. The orphanage had been using candles for light due to problems with its generator and inverter, she said.

About half of those who died were babies or toddlers and the others were roughly 10 or 11 years old, Louis said.

Late Friday afternoon, police raided another home also run by the Church of Bible Understanding and took away several dozen children in a bus over protests from employees.

The fire happened at the group’s orphanage in the Kenscoff area outside Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital.

“It could have been me,” said Renadin Mondeline, a 22-year-old who lived in the home with her son, now 6, for about two years until she started making enough money as a street vendor to start renting her own place to live last year. “These little girls inside were just like my baby.”

Rescue workers arrived at the scene on motorcycles and didn’t have bottled oxygen or the ambulances needed to transport the children to the hospital, said Jean-Francois Robenty, a civil protection official.

“They could have been saved,”′ he said. ″We didn’t have the equipment to save their lives.″

The Associated Press has reported on a long-standing series of problems at the two children’s homes run by the Church of Bible Understanding.

“’We are aware of the fire in the children’s home in Haiti,” said Temi J. Sacks, a spokesman for the group, which is based in Scranton, Pennsylvania. “It would be irresponsible for us to comment until after all the facts are in.”

The Church of Bible Understanding lost accreditation for its homes after a series of inspections beginning in November 2012. Haitian inspectors faulted the group for overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and not having enough adequately trained staff.

Members of the religious group were selling expensive vintage building fixtures like banisters and chandeliers at high-end stores in New York and Los Angeles and using a portion of the profits to fund the homes.

The Associated Press made an unannounced visit to the group’s two homes, holding a total of 120 kids, in 2013 and found bunk beds with faded and worn mattresses crowded into dirty rooms. Sour air wafted through the bathrooms and stairwells. Rooms were dark and spartan, lacking comforts or decoration.

The Church of Bible Understanding operates two homes for nearly 200 children in Haiti as part of a “Christian training program,” according to its most recent nonprofit organization filing. It has operated in the country since 1977. It identifies the homes as orphanages but it is common in Haiti for impoverished parents to place children in residential care centers, where they receive lodging and widely varying education for several years but are not technically orphans.

“We take in children who are in desperate situations,” the organization says in its tax filing for 2017, the most recent year available. “Many of them were very close to death when we took them in.” The nonprofit reported revenue of $6.6 million and expenses of $2.2 million for the year.

SOURCE: The Associated Press, Even Sanon, Michael Weissenstein and Ben Fox

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What was expected to be a “plug and play” transition from one church to another has become a contentious legal battle with millions of dollars at stake as Redemption Church moves to evict Relentless Church from property in Greenville.

Redemption Church, the Upstate-born megachurch founded by Pastor Ron Carpenter and relocated to San Jose, California, filed an application for ejectment against Relentless on Jan. 2, alleging Relentless has not fulfilled its financial obligations as a tenant of the property that Redemption still owns. But officials at Relentless, the newly formed church led by celebrity Pastor John Gray, have claimed that they have made all of their required monthly payments to uphold lease of the property.

Use of the 17 acres off Haywood Road, the 4,000-seat sanctuary and the fitness center next door will be determined by the court once arguments and responses are complete.

Redemption’s sole request to the court is that Relentless be ejected from the properties whereas Relentless’ counterclaim asks the court to enter judgment against Redemption and award actual and punitive damages.

The two megachurch pastors’ cases are built on several key agreements, listed below, that are in dispute. Further arguments were filed in court Friday, further cementing each side’s argument in the dispute.

► A transition agreement was signed by both Carpenter and Gray on Dec. 9, 2017, and it was included in court filings for the eviction case.

► Under the agreement, Gray would be appointed as the new senior pastor, president and chairman of the board of the Greenville ministries, including the sanctuary and The Imagine Center fitness center, effective May 13, 2018.

► Gray was promised full discretion to lead the ministry “in the vision God has given him for their future in propagating the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

► Gray would have discretion to select a new name for the Greenville ministry in consultation with the ministry board, “so long as the new names are not confusingly similar to ‘Redemption’ or any Redemption-related entities.”

► Redemption agreed to ensure $1 million would be in a savings account by the transition date.

► Redemption agreed to pay Gray up to $75,000 in moving expenses.

► Part of the agreement included a retirement package for Carpenter, granting Carpenter a $6.25 million retirement payout in annual payments of $250,000 for 25 years, along with a retirement property in The Cliffs residential community in Landrum.

► The agreement also allowed Carpenter to maintain access to the Redemption television studio space to use for Carpenter’s ongoing ministry endeavors as needed.

► The mortgage balance on the church’s sanctuary was $8,715,250. The monthly mortgage payment for the Redemption sanctuary would be $69,994.

► The mortgage balance on The Imagine Center was $3,720,649.48. The monthly interest-only mortgage payment would be $18,603.25 with an annual principal payment of $500,000.

► Redemption has said the intent of the agreement was for Gray to assume leadership of the Greenville ministry under a rebranded name and for the Greenville church to be responsible for all of the ministry’s mortgage debt.

► Instead of rebranding the Redemption ministry, Gray chose to incorporate an entirely new entity, The Relentless Church. Gray emphasized a desire to purchase the Greenville assets through Relentless, according to the complaint.

► Both parties agreed to the asset transfer agreement, but Gray refused to execute and deliver the agreements, Redemption’s complaint states, so Redemption rescinded its previous approval.

► Due to a failure to execute the proposed leases, Relentless has been occupying the properties on a month-to-month basis, according to the complaint.

► Relentless has been unable to pay the debt on The Imagine Center, and it has failed to relieve Redemption of its debt and operational costs for the sanctuary, according to the complaint.

► Redemption moved to evict, but Relentless has refused to vacate, the complaint states.

SOURCE: The Greenville News, Daniel J. Gross and Nathaniel Cary

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Gospel Light Minute – Dustin Colquitt (#264)

He is an American football punter for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. He played college football at Tennessee and was selected by the Chiefs in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He is the Chiefs’ longest tenured player and is the longest tenured special teams player of any team. His career highlights and accomplishments include: Franchise record for longest punt (81 yards); Franchise record for games played by any position (238); Franchise record for seasons played (15); Franchise record for punting yards (50,393); Franchise record for punts (1,124); and 3rd most punts downed inside of the 20 in NFL history (462). He is a 2x Pro Bowler and a 2x team nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award for co-founding and working with TeamSmile, an organization that offers free dental care to underserved children. Hailing from a family with a distinguished lineage of punters, referred to as “Football’s First Family of Fourth Down,” he joined his 2x Super Bowl-winning father and Super Bowl-winning brother by earning his own Super Bowl ring and forever being known as a Super Bowl champion when the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in a comeback victory in Super Bowl LIV (54) in 2020.

Throughout his career, he has been active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Athletes in Action, the sports ministry of Cru Ministries, using opportunities to profess his faith in Christ to football fans and anyone who will listen. While he plays for Chiefs Kingdom in the NFL, he lives for a greater purpose: to represent and enlarge God’s already victorious Kingdom on earth.

In a 2015 video for FCA, the longtime Chiefs punter said he believed “God put me in this position as a punter and in sports — professional football — because I think He wants something out of me to be able to share with other people. As a Christian, I think God has given me that platform to say, ‘Hey, I’ve allowed you to do a lot of things, and I need you to speak My Name. He always finds a way to put people, His people, in situations where He can spread His Word and spread His Kingdom.”

His name is Dustin Colquitt.

This is the “Chief of Sinners,” Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International, reminding you of what the Bible says, that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” like you and me. Just as Dustin Colquitt trusts Jesus Christ as his Saviour, may I encourage you to do the same. Here is how:

1. Accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7:20: “For there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good, and sinneth not.” Romans 3:23 reads: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” In fact, I am the chief of sinners, so don’t think that you’re alone.

2. Accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”

3. Accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” The Bible says in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

4. Accept the fact that you cannot do anything to save yourself! The Bible states in Ephesians 2: 8, 9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

5. Accept the fact that God loves you more than you love yourself, and that He wants to save you from hell. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

6. With these facts in mind, please repent of your sins, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and pray and ask Him to come into your heart and save you this very moment. The Bible states in the book of Romans 10:9, 13: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Dear friend, if you are willing to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, please pray with me this simple prayer: Heavenly Father, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.

If you believed in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried, and rose again, allow me to say, congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”

Remember, friend, Believe by faith. Share the faith. and Keep the faith!

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Stephen Willeford was widely hailed by supporters of the Second Amendment as the model “good guy with a gun” in 2017, when he grabbed an AR-15 rifle and pursued and shot at a gunman killing churchgoers in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

Two and a half years later, the gregarious plumber has embraced the moniker Good Gun Guy Wille in speeches, church security training and now in a campaign for local county commissioner. If he wins, he wants to make Wilson County a “Second Amendment sanctuary” that would defy any restrictions state politicians might put on guns.

“I never had such a voice,” Mr. Willeford said. “Now people are willing to listen to me.”

He is one of three men in Texas touched by shootings at churches who are drawing on their experiences to run for public office in March’s Republican primaries.

Pastor Frank Pomeroy, who lost his teenage daughter and 25 other congregants in the Sutherland Springs church shooting, is challenging a popular Democratic state senator.

In North Texas, firearms instructor Jack Wilson was already a candidate for county commissioner when he took down a gunman Dec. 29 at the West Freeway Church of Christ.

They aren’t the first people to run for office after being involved in gun violence. But the Texas candidates stand out because they are using their experiences to boost gun-rights campaigns.

Mark Kelly, the husband of former Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and a former astronaut, is running in Arizona for the U.S. Senate as a Democrat, calling for greater gun control. Ms. Giffords was shot and six others were killed in a shooting spree in 2011. In Georgia, a Democratic gun-control advocate, Lucy McBath, whose son was killed in a shooting after an argument at a gas station, won a U.S. House seat in 2018.

J.T. Lewis, whose younger brother was among 26 killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, is running for Connecticut state senate as a Republican. Mr. Lewis’s platform calls for greater school safety measures, including armed guards, and he supports expanding background checks for those who want to buy guns.

Harel Shapira, a University of Texas sociology professor who does research on guns and right-wing politics, said he isn’t surprised by the campaigns in his state.

SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal, Elizabeth Findell

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A four-alarm fire destroyed a church in Elizabeth, New Jersey overnight, officials said. 

Fire officials received a call reporting the blaze at Shiloh Baptist Church in Elizabeth around 3:15 a.m. Sunday.

At one point, the church was fully engulfed in flames, video from the scene shows. A building next door was evacuated as a precaution, officials said.

Church Pastor William Ingram was visibly shaken as he spoke to reporters at the scene of the blaze.

“I don’t have any idea [what happened]. It was fine yesterday evening, so, I don’t know what happened,” he said. “This was a shock, when I got the call this morning.”

“We were anticipating waking up this morning coming to church to worship… and you wake up to this. [But] that’s the nature of life, and you know, that’s why we have faith,” he added.

SOURCE: NBC New York

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Holden Matthews, the 22-year-old son of a sheriff’s deputy with alleged ties to satanism who was charged last year with torching three historically black churches in Louisiana, pleaded guilty to his crimes Monday and confessed that he was trying to raise his profile as a “black metal” musician.

A release from the Justice Department said Matthews pleaded guilty to three counts of violating the Church Arson Prevention Act, as well as one count of using fire to commit a federal felony.

Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church in Opelousas was the third historically black church over 100 years old that Matthews burned to the ground in a span of 10 days last spring. St. Mary Baptist Church in Port Barre was the first reported church fire on March 26, 2019, while Greater Union Baptist Church in Opelousas went up in flames a week later.

Matthews admitted to setting the fires because of the religious character of these buildings in an effort to raise his profile as a black metal musician by copying similar crimes committed in Norway in the 1990s, the Department of Justice said.

He also admitted that after he set the third fire, he posted photographs and videos on Facebook that showed the first two churches burning. He further revealed that he took the photographs and videos in real time on his cell phone while watching the churches burn.

“The Department of Justice will remain unwavering in its protection of the freedom to practice religion without the threat of discrimination or violence,” Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “Matthews admitted to setting fire to three churches because of their religious character. His disgraceful conduct violated the civil rights of the churches parishioners and harmed their communities.”

U.S. Attorney David C. Joseph of the Western District of Louisiana said, “Today, the defendant has taken responsibility for the burning and destruction of three of our churches. The freedom to safely congregate and worship in our churches is a fundamental right of all Americans and will be vigorously protected by my office and our law enforcement partners.”

SOURCE: Christian Post, Leonardo Blair

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